Guyana Times International 26-Apr-19.pdf

34 majority of 65 “just doesn’t add up” Page 7

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

for FRee distribution guyanatimesinternational.com

…new electoral mathematics! – Fmr Electoral Assoc Chair

You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com ISSUE NO. 446

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019

CJIA fees increase

Volume increase could have offset repayment – Jagdeo Page 3

…flacks government for not knowing of increase

RODEO TIME: The Rupununi Rodeo is perhaps one of the most anticipated events of the National Calendar. Thousands of locals and tourists flocks the Rupununi for the rodeo spectacle that lasts over three days

Granger reshuffles Cabinet

Dawn Hastings-Williams appointed new Minister of State Page 5

...as govt dual citizen MPs resign

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 3

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

CJIA fees increase

Volume increase could have offset repayment – Jagdeo

…flacks government for not knowing of increase

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

O

pposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday said that government not knowing of the increase in fees at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) is unacceptable and had government gone along with the original

plan then the increase in volume would have covered the repayment.

“The plan (under the PPP) was to use the airport as a mini-hub to connect with Northern Brazil through Roraima, Suriname, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, North America and Europe through those KLM flights coming through Suriname…it would have meant that there would have been an increase in traf-fic.

You can often do what you want by increasing traffic that is why the size (of the airport) mattered.

By increasing traffic you don’t need to adjust fees because you now operate on volume,” Jagdeo ex-

plained when questioned by reporters at his weekly press conference.

“First of all we have to get what we paid for at the airport and we are not getting what we paid for... the size matter and the number of standing aircraft. Sometimes we have up to four standing aircraft on the tarmac and that puts us at capacity

already and that is why we (the PPP) designed for 8 (air) bridges…Volume growth could have offset any repayment. But if they had to do an increase they should have had consultations with everyone and government should have known,” he added.

The former President further related an increase in volume would

have meant that there would have been more services to the non-traditional sectors alluding to freight service.

He said that it would have meant that the cost for freight services would have decreased with larger aircraft coming to Guyana.

Business Minister, with the responsibility for

Tourism, Dominic Gaskin said that the increase in fees would have a negative impact on tourism since most people book flights based on price.

He said that the increase just does not happen arbitrarily rather it involves all sorts of assessments on the impact it will have on the industry.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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EDITORIAL

A chilling effect T he recent action by either or both the President and the Prime Minister, to have the Police investigate a speech of the Opposition Leader is very worrying for free speech in our country, since it creates a “chilling effect” on that foundational right of a democratic society. This chilling effect is the “inhibition of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction”. It is universally acknowledged that democracy began in the ancient Greek city states, where Euripides (480–406 BC) offered one of the earliest declaration of the importance of that value: “This is true liberty, when free-born men, having to advise the public, may speak free.”

More than a millennia and a half later, as the democratic imperative took hold against monarchical absolutism, John Milton, in his “Areopagitica” of 1644 reiterated this sentiment: “Give me liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” Freedom of speech was encoded in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In democracies, freedom of expression is essential for citizens to participate in politics and society. If democracy is to mean “rule by the people, of the people and for the people”, then the people must be informed of any and all issues of the day so they can make informed choices and decisions on matters that will affect them and their country. In the speech

by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, were two objected-to comments allegedly made at Babu Jaan in early March, at the commemoration of the death of former President Cheddi Jagan.

Against a background of the successful December 21, 2018, No-confidence Motion (NCM) being endorsed by the Chief Justice in the High Court, by which the President and Cabinet were to have resigned to comply with Article 106 (6) of the Constitution, the Opposition Leader told his Berbice audience: “When the Ministers or (President David) Granger or (Prime Minister Moses) Nagamootoo come here after the 21st of March, you say to them, walk behind them, chase them out.

They are going to be illegal.” The said Cabinet had also taken a decision to unilaterally close two sugar estates in Berbice, throwing some 4000 Berbicians out of work.

After People’s National Congress MP Barbara Pilgrim – who had replaced Alliance For Change Member of Parliament Charrandas Persaud in the National Assembly – filed a complaint about Jagdeo’s remarks with the Ethnic Relations Commission, Jagdeo explained: “I made it clear at Babu Jaan that we are a party that does not believe in violence, we are not going to be burning people’s businesses, we are not going to be beating people on the streets, but the Government would become illegal after March 21 and therefore there will no longer be Ministers, so when they come to the communities, when they come to the communities…the people of Guyana should treat them as illegal, they should walk behind them and chase them out of your communities”.

Yet, after this explicit explanation, the Police acted upon the President/Prime Minister’s complaint and questioned Jagdeo about the above statement and also whether he had described the two officials as “jackasses”. The tape, however, clearly showed Jagdeo describing the two officials as “Judases”, as a metaphor for “betrayers”, presumably for reneging on their parties’ 2015 campaign promise not to close sugar estates.

The term “chilling action” on free speech was first articulated

by Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black in 1952: “Our own free society should never forget that laws which stigmatise and penalise thought and speech of the unorthodox have a way of reaching, ensnaring and silencing many more people than at first intended. We must have freedom of speech for all or we will in the long run have it for none but the cringing and the craven. And I cannot too often repeat my belief that the right to speak on matters of public concern must be wholly free or eventually be wholly lost.”

Free speech must not be allowed to be fettered by political expediency.

The Kanuku Mountains are a group of mountains in Guyana, located in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region. The name means 'forest' in the Wapishana language, a reference to the rich diversity of wildlife found there. (Photo by Subhash Haimraj)

Where are we safe?

O

n Easter Sunday, Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, was rocked by multiple bombings on churches and hotels that resulted in, up to press time, the deaths of some 321 persons with hundreds of others injured. Many were killed as they worshipped on Christianity’s holiest of days – the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. From all appearances, the bombings were carried out with precision and were well-coordinated.

The shock of this horrific incident swiftly resonated beyond that country’s borders as the world watches on in the aftermath, searching for answers. This follows just over a month ago the shootings in New Zealand, where a gunman opened fire in two mosques killing 50 worshippers during their sacred Friday prayers.

Like Sri Lanka, that was felt across the world as the lives of innocent beings were made valueless as in the case on October 27, 2018, when 11 persons from the Jewish community were killed while in worship at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.

There were many such incidents over time in various parts of the world. Seventeen students killed at the Majority Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, on February 14, 2018. In that same state, 49 were killed inside a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016. Fifty-eight concertgoers were killed in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017. Twenty were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut on December 14, 2012 and 77 killed in Norway on July 22, 2011.

In addition, there were many fatalities resulting from shootings at various work sites in some countries and vehicles deliberately crashed into crowds with the intent of maximising casualties. Clearly, from these incidents persons were not safe whether they were at a holy place of worship, school, at work, at an en-

tertainment spot or taking a stroll on the street. In every instance, each would have believed that their safety was not an issue.

These acts of terrorism continue to ask the question; where are people really safe?

Those places are generally expected to be – not the least, at home. Sadly, there is no guarantee even in the latter. Take for instance here in Guyana, with its share of acts of terrorism as seen in the Lusignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek Massacres, crime continues seemingly unabated as every day the news is inundated with stories of unsuspecting persons being robbed, beaten and some killed in what is supposed to be the safety of their homes.

Last week, the Government embarked on a Cabinet outreach in Berbice. Ministers with their entourage were there, as was the requisite security for such an undertaking.

From what has been reported, it appears that the presence of the increased security did not deter criminals who went about their task seemingly without bother. As a result, some residents, including the elderly, were robbed and beaten. This is not confined to Berbice, but prevalent across the country.

Sunday last, a Bartica man was shot dead and a miner who witnessed it was abducted. Just recently, a moneychanger was robbed and killed by bandits early in the morning a stone’s throw away from Parliament Building; a visiting cruise ship director was beaten and robbed on returning to where the vessel was docked and there were reports on social media of a mob allegedly robbing a few foreigners at a city car park, which has become notorious for robberies and which continues to seemingly go unchecked by the authorities.

In the past, there were even reports that some schoolchildren were robbed of their lunch money. The question of safe-

ty is one Guyanese continue to grapple with as fear grows with every passing day. Some frustrated residents are of the opinion that their safety does not matter. When the Berbice situation is taken into consideration, especially when, reportedly, criminal acts were perpetuated even as officials were present in the county, residents cannot be faulted for feeling that way.

Shortly after that outreach, it was reported that some suspects were arrested following a Police operation. More than likely, the crime situation in Berbice would have been brought to attention during the said outreach. It seems fair to ask whether the authorities were aware of the situation prior to the Government engagement.

Surely, they must have known; therefore, the question must be asked: why wasn’t it done before? With that in mind, could it be that the operation was to demonstrate a swift response from the outreach to show the Government listens and takes action?

If there is any truth in that, then there is serious cause for worry since it can suggest that prior cries, through media reports and the victims, probably went unheeded. Similar sentiments are warranted for the situation at the city car parks given the continuous rampage of criminal activities there. Many are asking, why does it continue given the Government’s boast of being able to combat crime? Where is safe in Guyana with crime unabated?

These seem fair questions from fearful Guyanese; questions for which the Government and the citizens will have different answers. The sad irony from Sri Lanka is that on the day the resurrection was celebrated, many were killed. The value of human lives is, therefore, questioned. That question of value is posed to the Government here.

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Granger reshuffles Cabinet

Dawn Hastings-Williams appointed new Minister of State

...as govt dual citizen MPs resign

Newly-appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency Dawn Hastings-Williams

T

he Chief Justice, in the case of Compton Reid v.

Speaker of the National Assembly et al, declared, on January 31, 2019, that it was unconstitutional for a person holding dual citizenship to be elected as a Member of Parliament. This ruling was affirmed by a majority decision of the Court of Appeal on March 22, 2019.

In light of that ruling government dual citizen Members of Parliament, Carl Greenidge, Minister of For-eign

Newly-appointed Minister in the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing An-nette Ferguson

Affairs; Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency all tendered their resignations with took effect on April 25, 2019.

President David Granger, in an address to the nation, said the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana is the country’s supreme law and adherence to the Constitution

Newly-appointed Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency Tabitha Sara-bo-Halley

is an essential element of democratic governance and the maintenance of public trust.

“I have a duty to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with the Constitution at all times. I have, in accordance with the Courts’ rulings, accepted the resignations of Mr. Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Mr Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of

Newly-appointed Minister in the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs Simona Broomes

the Presidency and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Minis-try of the Presidency.

These resignations take effect on 25th April 2019. I thank these Ministers for their stewardship as members of my Cabinet and of the National Assembly since May 2015.

Their ster-ling public service has been to our nation’s benefit,” he said.

The resignations of these Ministers have created vacancies in

Newly-appointed Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs Va-lerie Patterson-Yearwood

the Cabinet and the National Assembly. It is necessary, in the circumstances, for their ministerial responsibilities to be reassigned and for the transfer of some junior ministers.

“I now announce the following appointments: Mr Hemraj Ramkumar, as Minister of Business; Mrs Dawn HastingsWilliams as Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency; and Mrs Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, as Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry

Newly-appointed Minister of Business Hemraj Ramkumar

of the Presidency,” the President said.

It was also announced that Minister Annette Ferguson will now serve at Minister in the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing; Simona CharlesBroomes as Minister in the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs; and Mrs Valerie Patterson-Yearwood, as Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

APNU/AFC Ministers are “celebrities” costing taxpayers $50M per hour to interact Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC coalition Government’s recently held outreach in Region Six was a testimony of its eroding support and its failure to resolve issues that are confronting residents of Region Six. The President (ag) Moses Nagamootoo and his Cabinet’s sudden diversion to a Cabinet meeting at State House, New Amsterdam, was a deliberate tactic.

This was a calculated strategy to delay the Ministers in order to avoid embarrassment, knowing that residents would not respond to the outreach and at the same, protest instead of meeting with the Government Ministers.

The APNU/AFC coalition Government’s gimmickry of, “Bringing the Government to the people” is a very expensive venture with no positive results.

The millions expend-

ed on these outreaches is a desperate political campaign attempting to support a collapsed regime.

The Ministers reluctantly arrived at Tain Campus at approximately 15:00h, forcing their way and almost hitting the protesters on the roadside because of the speed of these Ministers’ vehicles.

This incident was seen by police officers at the location and was brought to their attention too. Imagine, only staff and APNU/AFC activists were there to receive the Ministers, they were forced to leave the location in less than an hour because persons were not there to interact with them.

The President (ag) Moses Nagamootoo, had his staff do a photoshoot to show that he was meeting a resident while the Minister of Communities,

Ronald Bulkan, and REO of Region Six Kim Williams Stephen were speaking with two ministerial advisers in the Communities Ministry attached to the region, Mr Baker and Mr Butcher. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper captioned that as Minister and REO reaching with residents. That was so blatantly desperate and disgraceful.

On the contrary, when the PPP/C was in Government, they reached out to the masses during outreaches. In 2010, President Jagdeo said during an interview that of all his duties, he enjoys meeting with the people in the nation more and that it is during those outreaches, when he can interact with the people with an ambience of camaraderie and an atmosphere of relaxation and speak with them with cordiality on a one-

to-one basis is where he gets to learn first-hand whether the systems the Government has put in place are successful and where and how the breakdown occurs, if and when it does.

This method by the PPP/C Government was responsible for 23 years of good governance and development in Guyana.

When we reflect on where we were and how we emerged with a young man thrust unceremoniously into the leadership of a nation in the throes of political upheaval, infrastructural devastation, bankruptcy and severe social dislocations, coupled with problematic neighbours and a distrustful, uncooperative international dynamic, which saw its major industries taking a battering in the global marketplace with the added advantage of an international iden-

Band of ‘good life’ Ministers once again wasted taxpayers’ dollars

Dear Editor, By definition, an outreach means providing a service or services to people in such areas where they may not have access to such service or services. The recent ‘outreach’ sponsored by the coalition Government which brought various Ministries to the University of Guyana, Berbice Campus at Tain is a misnomer and should be deemed more of a political gimmick and campaign strategy aimed at subsiding the fallout created by the December 21 No-Confidence Motion.

Editor, Berbice is not a remote area which is cut off from civilisation whereby the coalition Government is unaware of what is going on a daily basis. Every issue affecting every Ministry is highlighted in the various media including social media. There is a group called Moving Guyana Forward where a multitude of issues are raised and it is a group which has many Ministers and Government officials on it as well as various stakeholders.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister’s Regional Office at Port Mourant is very active and would normally receive hundreds of complaints on a monthly basis, resulting in monthly reports being

generated and sent to the Prime Minister directly. Therefore, this ‘outreach’ being an attempt to listen to problems and bring speedy resolutions to these problems is absurd, to say the least, and it suffocates our intelligence.

Moreover, this coalition saying that they are only effective by listening to peoples’ problems personally and on a one to one basis is simply trying to appease the people to get their votes.

It is also an attempt to say that there is a complete breakdown and disconnect between the layers of Government. This is far from the truth since problems affecting the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) are channelled to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) which is then transferred to the Central Government.

Issues such as roads, streets, lights, water, drainage and irrigation are ventilated on numerous occasions but when budgeted for, they never see the light of day at the Central Government level. I have seen that a certain Minister on social media said that the Regional Administration of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is in the hands of the PPP and that they are responsible but she failed

to acknowledge that the holder of the purse is her Government. The region’s development is stymied by the poor budgetary allocations.

It must be noted that the region’s approved Capital Budget for Agriculture for 2018 is a mere $221 million of which $106 million will be used to purchase a bulldozer while $114 million will be transferred to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority for drainage and irrigation works. It will need a miracle from the Lord for this to adequately provide for a region which depends on agriculture.

That is the reason why agriculture is dying a slow death in the region.

Furthermore, the NDCs will receive a princely sum of $5 million each and are expected to repair all the streets, provide for drainage and irrigation and garbage disposal. This is the empowerment of NDCs which the coalition boasts about.

Editor, the plight and woes of the dismissed sugar workers have been echoing incessantly since 2018 and the cries of anguish fell on deaf ears.

Are these Ministers in the coalition blind and deaf to the sufferings of these people? They need jobs, they are living in abject poverty and are

unable to send their children to school. They have resorted to literally begging from relatives and friends. The coalition is providing training but where are the jobs? There is a limited market for plantain chips, cook-up rice and dog food! Until now, the privatisation process of the closed estate is still ongoing with no information available as to its status. It would seem that the bidders have all since fled.

Many of the dismissed sugar workers were hoping to be re-employed.

In addition, the elusive $30 billion bonds are yet to be used for its intended purpose, which is upgrading the remaining estates and the construction of two co-generation plants and production of white sugar. On the other hand, heavily indebted small rice farmers are being forced to stop rice cultivation. Their cries are not being heard by this Government. So why an ‘outreach’?

The coalition’s band of ‘good life’ Ministers once again wasted taxpayers’ dollars on an exercise in futility. Their ‘shelf life’ has long expired!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councillor Region Six

tity paralleling that of Jonestown, we must complement the PPP/C Government and the stewardship of Bharrat Jagdeo.

The APNU/AFC coalition Government is definitely failing the people in three basic ways, as Guyanese are ruefully discovering, 1. The Government is failing to deliver vital services, these services can be delivered but it is done poorly and expensive while favouring political cronies 2. The Government is crunching Guyanese

people under their feet as Government officials accumulate more power, wealth with no transparency or accountability 3. The Guyanese people show that trust in the Government has sunk to historic lows and is still dropping.

These basic failures have shown that the APNU/AFC coalition Government cannot rectify or regain the trust of the people.

Regards, Zamal Hussain

Justice Patterson re-victimising female victims

Dear Editor, GECOM Chairman, Justice (retired) James Patterson in a recent letter to the media on the crisis of domestic violence and femicide, stated, “Our women folk must bear some responsibility. It is not wise to be cute and clueless. Women must understand that you have a duty to upgrade yourselves”.

This excursion into the age-old tactic of blaming the victim was, in the words of one member of The Caribbean Voice, “unnerving” and elicited “disbelief”. The fact is that research clearly shows that abuse has nothing to do with the ‘cuteness’, educational status or social standing of victims.

Domestic violence and abuse stem from a desire to gain and maintain power and control over an intimate partner (see wheel of power and control below).

Abusive people believe they have the right to control and restrict their partners, and they may enjoy the feeling that exerting power gives them.

They believe they can get away with the abuse and far too often they do. In effect, abuse is a choice.

Additionally, Justice Patterson’s remarks, that, “Women have been infected by the orgies of violence and both genders seem to have outsourced their brain,” seems like an attempt to tar both the abused and the abuser with the same brush so as to provide an escape for the abuser by implying that the victim is equally to be blamed.

Justice Patterson

adds, “I also understand how women could goad us to fury”. While he follows this up with “Yet, that is no excuse for us to wage a donnybrook in the home of which the headship rests on us,” this remark does not nullify the import of the previous one, which seeks to blame women for their abuse. Again, mountains of research make it clear that provocation (of any and all sorts) is not a cause for abuse.

The second part of the latter remark: “home of which the headship rests on us [men]” is rather startling since the concept of men as head of households reinforces the abuser who feels a sense of entitlement and believes that his life should take priority. As well, abusers often believe that their own feelings and needs should be the priority in their relationships, so they use abusive tactics to dismantle equality and make their partners feel less valuable and less deserving of respect in the relationship.

The Caribbean Voice strongly urges opinion shapers and influencers in our society to always premise their remarks about social issues such as abuse on the facts and the evidence, which are available in mountainous amounts at the click or rolling of a mouse these days. To do as Justice Patterson did in his letter provides justification as well as fuel to abusers while it also re-victimises victims.

Sincerely, The Caribbean Voice

news 7

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

34 majority of 65 “just doesn’t add up”

…new electoral mathematics! – Fmr Electoral Assoc Chair Professor Emeritus Errol Miller, a retired professor from the University of the West Indies versed in election matters, has waded into the debate on the no-confidence motion that was passed while calling on the Caribbean Court of Justice to render a decision that adheres to legal principles.

In a video broadcast dubbed Caribbean Commentary, Professor Miller, who is also a former Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Electoral Organisations, noted that the formula used to invalidate the passage of the 2018 no-confidence motion in Guyana’s Parliament simply does not add up.

He noted that if the same rationale used in Guyana’s case was used in Trinidad, then the twin island’s 41 House divided by two would equal 20.5 members, which rounded to a whole number would be 21, plus one, equalling

Former Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Electoral Organisations, Professor Emeritus Errol Miller

22. According to Miller, this would mean 43 votes to 41 members. A similar situation would hold true in Jamaica.

“More votes passed than is constitutionally eligible constitutes electoral malpractice in all Caribbean countries. It is commonly referred to as over voting. More votes cast than there are eligible persons to cast them.”

“One can only hope

Mahdia man jailed for gun possession

A

Jailed: Ozario DeSantos

miner was on Tuesday jailed for two years when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on gun and ammunition charges.

Ozario DeSantos, 27, of Lot 111 Miles, Princeville, Mahdia, Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni), admitted to both charges.

He admitted that on April 20, 2019, at Garraway Stream, Potaro River, he had in his possession a .32 pistol along with six matching rounds of ammunition in his possession.

The prosecution’s case stated that ranks from Mahdia Police Outpost went to DeSantos’ residence in relation to a report which was made against him. The ranks conducted a search on his person and the unlicensed pistol was discovered on his waist.

In a plea of mitigation, the unrepresented man told the court that he uses the firearm for protection.

Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield told the court that the accused is known to the law since he was convicted in 2017 for a similar offence. He further stated that the man was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in absentia.

Prosecutor Mansfield told the court that DeSantos was released on bail during the trial in 2017 when he had appeared at the Linden Magistrate’s Court but he never returned to court. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued for him. In relation to this present charge, DeSantos was jailed for two years and fined $50,000. He will also have to serve the threeyear sentence that was pending. Sentencing will run concurrently.

that the members of the learned profession representing both sides of this case before the CCJ will ensure that all legal procedures and all technicalities are strictly observed in a timely manner and that the varying points of view are argued with the highest levels of logic, facts and eloquence, such that the facts to be decided by the CCJ are with respect to law and merit.”

The no-confidence related matters before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) are expected to be heard on May 9

and 10. The three cases deal with Christopher Ram vs the Attorney General of Guyana, the Leader of the Opposition and Joseph Harmon; Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo vs the Attorney General of Guyana, Dr Barton Scotland and Joseph Harmon; and Charrandas Persaud vs Compton Herbert Reid, Dr Barton Scotland, Bharrat Jagdeo and Joseph Harmon; the last of which deals with Persaud’s eligibility to vote in the House.

In the case of Ram vs

the Attorney General, the political activist had petitioned the High Court to have Government resign and President David Granger call elections within 90 days as stipulated by Articles 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution.

The Court of Appeal had ruled in a 2:1 split decision that a majority of 34 votes would have been needed to validly pass the no-confidence motion brought against the Government last year.

While Justice Rishi Persaud had dismissed

the appeal and conferred with the ruling of the High Court, his colleague appellate Judges allowed the State’s appeal.

Both Justices Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Dawn Gregory opined that while 33 is the majority of the 65-member National Assembly, the successful passage of a no-confidence motion requires an “absolute majority” of 34, and not the “simple” majority of 33 that has been used to pass ordinary business in the House.

Volume increase could have...

On that note, Jagdeo said he shares similar sentiments with the Minister but questioned how the gov-ernment was not aware of the increase prior to it being announced.

“It could affect tourism but how do you run a government and don’t know,” he questioned.

With effect from April 1, 2019, the Cheddi Jagan International Airport announced that there will be an increase in its airport security fees and the introduction of an airport passenger’s service charge.

In light of this new development, Caribbean Airlines in a statement issued stated that the new fees/charges for a round trip will be US$35 or an equivalent of GUY$7,315. Departing passenger will be required to pay US$17 while arriving passengers will pay US$15 payable in Guyana Dollars at the pre-vailing foreign exchange rate.

In response to the hike, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday protested the refusal of the management of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) to hold talks about the ad-verse impact of the increases on both the passengers and the airline.

The global air transport body says CJIA’s continued refusal to cooperate with IATA on both the proper calculation and implementation of such fees and charges, has now led to a situation where airlines have been forced to manually collect the additional amounts from both arriving and departing passen-gers.

“It is completely unacceptable that passengers are being inconvenienced in such a manner. This is a direct result of the airport’s management refusal to engage with IATA on a process which is standard prac-

tice across the globe. As a consequence, our member airlines have unfortunately no choice other than to manually collect the additional fees and charges,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice Presi-dent for the Americas in a statement.

IATA called for immediate dialogue with the CJIA management and Guyana’s Ministry of Public Infra-structure on the implementation process related to the increase in the government-mandated Airport Security Fee and the introduction of a new Passenger Service Charge at Guyana’s main airport.

IATA has worldwide standards in place enabling airlines to collect government-imposed fees, service charges and taxes as part of an airline ticket. These are then transferred to the respective govern-ments.

“This has provided a smoother travel experience for passengers, by

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eliminating the former practice whereby many governments manually collected some of these fees and taxes at airports,” IATA said.

Furthermore, IATA says it wants clarity from the airport operator on how the fees and charges have been calculated, as again international standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Document 9082, were not followed.

“As such we urgently call on the management of Cheddi Jagan International Airport to engage into the requested dialogue, so passengers are no longer inconvenienced, and member airlines can return to their normal business.

This will ensure the sustainability of the aviation sector in Guyana and facilitate the growth of tourism and trade, thereby contributing to a vibrant and healthy economy,” Cerda said.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

US murder accused extradited

Two weeks after a Guyanese, Troy Thomas, lost a High Court challenge to stop his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for a 2011 murder, he was handed over to US authorities on Wednesday.

This was confirmed by Director of Prisons (ag) Gladwin Samuels, who would only say that he handed over Thomas, an inmate in the local prison, to be extradited.

However, the US embassy in Guyana confirmed on Wednesday that Thomas was en route to the North American country to face the two criminal acts allegedly committed in New York over seven years ago. “[Wednesday] evening, he will be in the custody of the New York Police Department, and [Thursday] morning he will appear before an American judge in court to face charges. Thomas’s extradition reflects over one year of close coordination between the Government of Guyana and the US Embassy,” a press release from the embassy stated.

The US Embassy thanked the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, the Public Security Ministry and the staff at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport for their close cooperation and commitment to justice.

“Corruption and criminal activity rob the Government and citizens of Guyana of money that could have been spent on education, healthcare, and important infrastructure

work. Extraditions are an important law enforcement tool in fighting transnational criminal organisations. Today, a fugitive from justice is being extradited to the United States to stand trial, creating a new precedent,” the American Embassy noted.

Furthermore, in recognition of this positive step forward, US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, said “The Government of Guyana’s actions over the past year clearly indicate its dedication to law and order and established norms of international criminal justice – Guyana is moving in the right direction. Establishing a roadmap for future extraditions, bringing a fugitive to justice, making Guyana a safer place for Guyanese citizens – this is the best example of rule of law existing in Guyana”.

Thomas has been accused of murdering Keith Frank, 20, a Guyanese who was shot and killed on December 11, 2011, outside a Richmond Hill, New York party. He has also been accused of inflicting injuries upon Dr Katherine Maloney.

He then fled to Guyana.

Since 2012, authorities in the US had issued a wanted bulletin for the murder suspect. As such, in 2018, US Attorney General and Secretary of State sent an extradition request to the Guyana Government, which was served to the Foreign Affairs Ministry by the country’s Embassy here. As a result of the request, Thomas was apprehended by the Guyana Police Force last year and was

Extradited murder accused: Troy Thomas

being kept in custody at the Lusignan Prison.

But Thomas attempted to use the local courts to stop his

extradition. In fact, a hearing in the Magistrates’ Courts last year resulted in Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus ruling in December that Thomas be extradited to the US to face the charges levelled against him.

In committing Thomas for extradition, the Magistrate, among other things, ruled that she believed the fugitive was Troy Thomas, although he insisted that his name was Marvin Williams.

In June 2012, a US judge issued a warrant for his arrest in the name of Troy Thomas.

However, Thomas moved to the High Court to further block his extradition. He challenged, among other things, his “illegal” confinement and argued in an affidavit that he

is being unlawfully detained and subjected to legal processes unsupported by any legal basis or foundation.

Thomas applied to the court for leave to issue a writ of habeas corpus, directing the Commissioner of Police to show cause why he should not be immediately released.

However, High Court Judge, Justice Navindra Singh dismissed the application by the prisoner. He ruled on April 4, 2019, that there is sufficient evidence against Thomas to warrant his extradition to the US. In addition, Thomas was ordered to pay $450,000 in court costs.

The extradition took effect on Wednesday after Thomas did not appeal the High Court ruling.

Rupununi farmer gets 9 years for killing friend

F

ifty-four-year-old Martin Salvadore on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaugh-ter when he appeared before Justice Navindra Singh at the Georgetown High Court to answer for the crime, which was committed in October 2014.

The charge detailed that on October 16, 2014 at Nappi Village, Central Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo), he killed Wilson James.

Salvadore, who made his first court appearance in 2014 at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, was ini-

tially charged with murder, but opted to plead to the lesser offence at the High Court on Wednes-day.

The State’s case was presented by Teriq Mohammed, along with Tuanna Hardy and Abigail Gibbs. Meanwhile, defence counsel Mark Conway, in a plea of mitigation, told the court that his client has been attending regular church services while in prison.

The court heard that on the day in question, Salvadore and the now deceased man were imbibing when a scuffle ensued. Both parties were armed, with a cutlass and bicycle bar

respectively, when Sal-vadore inflicted several chop wounds about the victim’s body.

James was rushed to the Lethem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Before sentencing, Justice Singh advised Salvadore to avoid consuming alcohol when he is released from prison and to enjoy the remainder of his life.

As such, a nine-year sentence was handed down.

Justice Singh ordered that the years Salvadore spent on remand be deducted from the sentence.

3 new Councillors take up positions in Region Five RDC T

hree new councillors have taken up positions in Region Five’s (Mahaica-Berbice) Regional Democratic Council (RDC) but were not given recognition, forcing the April RDC meeting to be adjourned.

The adjournment made it the 15th consecutive month that the RDC has not been able to hold a successful statutory meeting. Additionally, over the past three years, only a few successful monthly meetings were held.

In 2016, coalition councillors refused to allow any dialogue at the statutory meeting, saying that they wanted the Regional Chairman, Vickchand Ramphal, to apologise to President David Granger. In December of that year, however, the President said he wanted no apology and ordered the two sides to work together for the betterment of the region.

In May 2017, they walked out after the Regional Executive Officer (REO), Ovid Morrison, demanded an apology from the Chairman.

The REO said his creditability was at stake after the

The three new councillors (from right to left) Frank Wilson, Emerson Benjamin and Marian Fordyce

Chairman called for an investigation into allegations that two NDC officials had used a National Drainage and Irrigation Authority machine to carry out personal work.

Morrison said he saw the machine being used and is of the opinion that since he stated that he saw the machine carrying out personal work, no investigation is needed and calling for an investigation is an insult to his integrity.

The standoff continued until December of that year when both sides agreed to give residents a New Year’s gift of them sitting during 2018 to bring resolutions to some of the many issues affecting the region.

That promise was short lived.

At the April 2019 meeting, Chairman Ramphal said he saw three persons sitting in the meeting and was told mo-

ments before that they were new councillors.

The three new councillors are Frank Wilson, Emerson Benjamin and Marian Fordyce who replaced Carol Joseph, Dolston Huston, who resigned, and Renie McCalmont, who never took her seat.

All three councillors are from the coalition.

The Region Five RDC has eighteen seats with the coalition occupying eight.

Ramphal said the agenda which was set by the REO did not indicate that new councillors were to be introduced.

The announcement by the Chairman resulted in a heated debate and after some time, the Chairman adjourned the meeting saying that it was going nowhere.

Addressing the media after the RDC meeting, Ramphal said that when he arrived, he saw the three persons and upon inquiring he was told that they are new councillors.

“It is customary that whenever a new councillor is appointed to the Council the information will be shared with the Chairman and councillors.”

He added that he was surprised that the REO, as Clerk of Council, would have sworn in three councillors without informing the Chairman or the RDC. He explained that the meeting was adjourned after coalition councillors heavily rejected what he said and as a result of showing no respect to the standing orders which govern the RDC. He added that he was also being disrespected.

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US State Dept report

Govt denies influencing Judiciary G

overnment’s Chief Legal Advisor, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, has denied a recent US State Department report which raised concerns about Guyana’s legal system.

The US State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in its Investment Climate Statements for 2018, expressed concerns that the lines in the separation of power appeared blurred when it comes to the Executive and the Judiciary in Guyana.

However, AG Williams rejected this finding.

“I don’t agree with that. We don’t influence

Attorney General Basil Williams

the courts. We don’t interfere with the courts; the courts rule against us a lot of times so I don’t know how they can ar-

rive at a statement like that,” Williams contended.

The State D e p a r t m e n t ’ s

PCA received over 500 complaints in 2018

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ome 513 complaints were made against members of the Guyana Police Force last year, according to the Police Complaints Authority Chairman, Justice William Ramlall.

The PCA is responsible for receiving complaints of specific cases of misconduct by members of the Police Force.

Of the 513 complaints made, 159 were rejected, 276 are closed, 98 are pending investigation and five were referred to the Police Service Commission or the Police Disciplinary Authority for advice.

Justice Ramlall explained during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) that when someone

makes a complaint, they are interviewed almost immediately by one of the eight investigators of the PCA. A statement is then taken and acted upon once there is merit to the complaint being made. This is necessary since many times; persons were found to have made false reports against officers.

Some of the areas a complaint can be lodged against an officer include neglect of duty, assault, unlawful arrest and unlawful stop and search, among others.

Once a matter is investigated and the officer is found guilty, penalties are suggested to be handed down by the Authority.

Last September, Justice Ramlall was sworn in by President David Granger as Chairman of the PCA.

Investment Climate analysis on Guyana states that the Executive appears, in practice, to have some influence over the judicial branch.

“Though the Constitution of Guyana provides for the independence of the Judiciary, in practice, the Executive has some influence over the judicial branch of the Government. The hearing of civil matters is a slow process and many perceive it to be unfair,” the report states.

It went on to acknowledge that the judicial system is generally perceived to be slow and ineffective in enforcing legal contracts.

“Suspected corrupt practices and long delays make the courts an unattractive option for settling investment or contractual disputes, particularly for foreign investors unfamiliar with Guyana.

In order to redress this obstacle to investment, the [Government of Guyana] GoG, with support from the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), established

a Commercial Court in June 2006.”

However, the US 2018 Investment Climate Statement did point out that there are no known examples of Executive interference in the court system that has adversely affected foreign investors.

Nevertheless,

it advises that given Guyana’s growth potential and the burgeoning oil and gas sector, there is need for expansion and strengthened capacity-building efforts to be made in the near future.

According to the report, sufficient legislation exists in Guyana to support foreign investment in the country.

The problem, the report notes, is the implemen-

tation of relevant legislation, which it said continues to be inadequate.

Only recently, newly-accredited US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch, said Guyana can do better in terms of the way business is done here, especially with the country on the cusp of becoming an oil-producing nation.

Over the years, Guyana has been ranking low on the ease of doing business indices.

In fact, the most recent report from the World Bank last November showed that there was a decline in investors’ confidence here.

The World Bank’s 2018 Report rated Guyana at 134 among 190 economies in the ease of doing business, eight places down from 2017’s global ranking of 126.

Ambassador Lynch told a group of local journalists during an interview earlier this month that coming out of the engagements with the Private Sectorstakeholder bodies here since her arrival, is the need for Guyana to provide a more conducive environment to do business.

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Region 1 residents severely Students to stage affected by drought UG fees hike

“walk out”

UGSS President, Devat Ramroop

The University of Guyana’s (UG) decision to hike tuition fees is not sitting well with the University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS), which has planned a walk out on Friday to voice their concerns over what has been described as the “unlawful charges”.

This was revealed by the President of the UGSS, Devat Ramroop, in an interview with this publication on Wednesday. She said that the students will be walking out of classes at 16:10h.

“It’s not a protest, it is a walk out.

A walk out meaning we’re just pausing all activities for 10 minutes and assemble on the tarmac and we go back to class after 10 minutes. It’s just a statement to say that we don’t think business should go on as usual.”

Ramroop explained that the University has been hiking tuition fees much to the dislike of the students. She said that most persons who attend the University are already under a lot of financial strain and increasing the fees would mean that some students may be forced to drop out.

Single parents, the UGSS President added, will also be forced to adapt their budgets just to ensure that their children complete their studies and hopefully find a job amidst reports of the high unemployment rate.

“So 2017 we had a 15 per cent increase, then in 2018 we had 10 per cent and now in 2019 we’re having another 10 per cent,” she complained.

According to her, these increases were approved by the governing bodies in 2015 for the three consecutive years

that followed.

She said she hopes to send a message on Friday to both the Government and the administration of the University that they cannot continue “business as usual”.

Furthermore, the UGSS President said that they are gathering young people to raise their voices on this issue so that the strain can be less on both parents and students who attend the University.

She added that the UGSS has already met with some 5000 youths, who have responded positively towards calling for free tertiary education, adding that she is hoping to gain about 20,000 more in support.

The student body’s request for free tertiary education comes at a time when UG is bracing itself for a financial audit into spending as it has been accused of lavish disbursements in insignificant areas.

This publication spoke with several students at the University just recently who said that they believe that the financial audit is long overdue.

Another student complained that while tuition fees are being increased, students are forced to work in hot classrooms and use filthy washrooms.

In the meantime, this publication was told that the Auditor General’s Office has already commenced the preparation stages to kick-start the audit.

The University of Guyana Workers’ Union had first requested a financial audit into the spending of the University as it is allegedly unable to properly account for its expenditures and more so, offer a salary increase to its staffers, although tuition fees have been increasing annually.

In a release to the media, UG ViceChancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith had revealed that the Ministry of Education, in a recent letter, advised of a request made to the Auditor General’s Office for a special audit.

Notwithstanding the Union’s gripe with his administration, Griffith claimed to welcome the move for an audit into UG’s finances.

Griffith has already defended the institution’s financial position saying that monies went towards upgrading the infrastructure, among others.

(Davina Ramdass)

T

he dry weather season continues to affect residents and farmers in hinterland communities throughout the country. Residents of Region One (Barima-Waini) are complaining of the negative impacts of the lack of access to potable water. Residents and farmers continue to suffer the harsh effects of the dry spell since there is not enough being done by the water company to offer substantial relief.

Residents reached out to Guyana Times International on Wednesday to express concerns over the situation and their dissatisfaction with the lack of adequate resources by Guyana Water Inc (GWI) to offer assistance to them.

Leon McIntosh, a resident of Port Kaituma, told this publication that the dry spell is severely affecting the residents and no assistance is being offered by the utility company. “This is a very uncomfortable situation here. We are suffering. There is no water.

Springs are dry and we are left to find water the best way we know how,” he said.

He added that there is scheduled pumping in most villages and this is not enough due to the number of persons from all the communities that have to access the limited water. “So it’s like everybody from all communities flocking one place to get the little water available there. The Government has to do better than this,” he said.

Meanwhile, farmers are also suffering losses and are facing extreme difficulty in feeding their families.

Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley

Nathaniel Caesar, who also reached out to this newspaper, said that he will be unable to feed his family since he depends on farming for his daily bread and the lack of water is seriously affecting him and other farmers in the area.

“We are facing hardships.

Everybody.

Nothing can be done without water and this is going on since the dry weather start and nothing ain’t really being done by the Administration to help in the long-term.

Every year is the same thing,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an invited comment on Wednesday, Region One Chairman, Brentnol Ashley told Guyana Times International that the dry spell is severely affecting all communities in the region as the water level of the GWI springs dropped drastically and pumping is being done periodically once per week and three times per week in some areas. This, he said, is having harsh effects on residents since there is

very limited access to potable water. He added that as a result of the dry spell, the rivers are salted, making it impossible for residents of riverine communities to access.

Subsequently, those residents are walking for miles to access the limited water supply available in springs.

“The severe water shortage is putting a strain on communities,” he said. Ashley further stated that the GWI is making efforts to bring some relief to residents and officials are expected to visit the areas this week to assess the situation and determine what can be done to offer assistance urgently.

He confirmed that the lack of water is also affecting farmers in the area who depend on farming for their livelihood. Guyana Times International was unable to reach the public relations department of GWI for a comment on the efforts being made by the company to offer relief to the residents in the region.

CH&PA signs $400M road upgrade contract

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he Central Housing and Planning A u t h o r i t y (CH&PA) on Wednesday signed a $400 million contract with 15 contractors to upgrade roads in more than five regions.

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan and CH&PA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lelon Saul, were present at the signing. The contractors were called on to be committed to delivering quality products.

“We will not tolerate unnecessary variation and poor quality work; we have a robust monitor and control mechanism.

Likewise, it is expected that you will have your own monitoring and control mechanism for the delivery of quality prod-

Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan (centre) and CH&PA’s CEO, Lelon Saul flanked by the contractors

ucts,” Saul is quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying, adding that the project will have a positive impact on the country’s economy.

Bulkan explained

that the contracts would provide for the upgrading and consolidating of housing schemes.

“This Administration has been engaged in the past three years with the task of consolidating

the infrastructure within housing schemes that we inherited where the infrastructure was incomplete, where roads were not to the proper standards, the drains, the water supply, the electrici-

ty. In excess to $4 billion dollars to date has been expended in the consolidation exercise in existing housing scheme,” the DPI quoted the Minister as saying.

Among the schemes

that will benefit are those in Region Three – La Parfaite Harmonie, Belle West and Zeelugt Phase Two; Region Four – Herstelling, Farm Phase One, Good Hope Phase Two, and Section D NonPariel; and Tabatinga, Lethem, Region Nine.

The work will commence as early as next month and is expected to be completed before the end of the last quarter.

Some of the contracting companies listed on the project are XL Engineering, Puran Brothers Disposal Incorporated, Eron Lall Civil Works, Bardon Construction Services and Guy America Construction Incorporated, among others.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Parliament meets for the first time since No Confidence vote

…no election preparation fund on agenda

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he National Assembly of Guyana will meet for the first time on Friday following the dramatic passage of the December 21, 2018 motion of no confidence against the APNU-AFC administration.

The 113th sitting of the Eleventh Parliament will commence at 14:00h on Friday, April 26, 2019.

However, what is noticeably absent from the Order Paper is the request for the allocation of funds for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to prepare for elections. Following the passage of the no-confidence resolution, President David Granger said the first thing on his parliamentary agenda would have been the allocation of some $3.5 billion to GECOM in order for it to commence preparations for the hosting of General and Regional Elections.

Despite this commitment, the Parliamentary agenda tells a different story. The Opposition,

Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) had already indicated that they will not be participating in the sitting of the National Assembly until the issue of the validity of the no-confidence motion is definitively dealt with at the level of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The Coalition Government was initially defeated by virtue of a motion of no confidence, brought by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, on December 21, 2018.

The nail in the government’s proverbial coffin was delivered when former Alliance For Change (AFC) Parliamentarian, Charrandass Persaud, vote his conscience in favour of the motion -33:32.

Article 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution which states, respectively: “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.” And

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

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

Government has initially accepted the results of the NCM but later backpedalled when it agreed with former AFC Executive and Attorney at Law, Nigel Hughes

President David Granger

that 34 yes votes were required for the successful passage of the NCM. This led to the government heading to the courts challenging the validity of the motion as well as the dual citizenship of Persaud.

Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George had ruled that the motion was validly passed and that although the constitution is clear that dual citizens are not allowed to be Members of the National Assembly, Persaud’s vote was valid.

This ruling was appealed by Government and the Appeal Court of Guyana ruled 2:1 that

the motion required 34 yes votes to be validly passed. However, they upheld the ruling on dual citizens resulting in PPP’s Chief Whip Gail Teixeira and MP Adrian Anamaya resigning. MP Odinga Lamumba is expected to follow suit.

On the government’s side, Minister of State Joseph Harmon, Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge, Public Service Minister Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, and Business Minister Dominic Gaskin are all dual citizens.

The PPP has since appealed the decision and the CCJ is sched-

uled to hear the case on May 10.

On GECOM side, the elections body said it needs in excess of $3 billion to carry out its elections mandate.

Additionally, it has indicated that they will be proceeding with the house to house registration since the voters’ list expires at the end of April.

However, there are no provisions for GECOM’s additional funds’ request on the Parliamentary agenda. In fact, according to the Order Paper, several reports will be circulated as well as the introduction of bills.

These include the Interception of Communications (Amendment) Bill 2019; the Procurement (Amendment) Bill 2019; the Custom and Trade Single Window System Building 2019; the Customs (Amendment of Schedule) Bill 2019; the National Accreditation Council (Amendment) Bill 2019, among other businesses to be conducted.

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GTU opens 1st Triennial Delegates Conference G

uyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) opened its first Triennial Delegates Conference on Tuesday evening in the Bertram Hamilton Auditorium of the Union’s Woolford Avenue, Georgetown headquarters.

The conference will conclude on Friday.

GTU’s membership is being represented by delegates from all three counties – Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara.

President of the GTU, Mark Lyte in his address, said that the Union is proud to be recognised as one of the oldest and most vocal trade unions in Guyana.

He is quoted by the Department of Public Information (DPI) as saying that there has been an improved relationship between the Education Ministry and the GTU. He said that the Union recognises that healthy partnerships are paramount to any successful partnership.

He added that as a stakeholder in the delivery of education to the Guyanese populace, the GTU is committed to ensuring that regular meet-

A section of the gathering at the launching of the GTU’s first Triennial Delegates Conference

ings are held and decisions taken, are carried.

He said that there must be a continued collaboration between all stakeholders in the education sector to ensure the smooth implementation of policies.

Further, the GTU President said that the Union has experienced several achievements over the last three years. He said that several of those achievements were directly related to the honouring of specifics agreed to

in the last Memorandum of Agreement between the Ministry of Education and the GTU. Regarding the business of the Triennial Delegates Conference, Lyte said that the event seeks to engage each participant in meaningful discussions so that the future of the Union can be brighter.

“As a union, we are not limiting ourselves to trade union matters but also to the business of education and the relevant chang-

es we need to vehemently support which are critical to the advancement of an educated nation,” DPI quoted him as saying.

Education Minister, Nicolette Henry in delivering her message said that the contributions of teachers and the GTU to the development of Guyana are recognised and respected.

She said that with this recognition, like so many other countries, Guyana is working assiduously to strengthen its human and

social development platform and that a key part of this effort is the preparation of empowerment of citizens with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to realise sustainable development.

She said that the Ministry is aware that the Guyana Teachers’ Union has responsibility for ensuring that the working conditions and welfare of teachers are satisfactorily met.

Moreover, Minister Henry noted that this

year, the two parties are back at the negotiating table working towards even more favourable outcomes.

During the opening session, the GTU showed its appreciation for those members that have made significant contributions by distributing several awards. There was also the awarding of the Presidential Medal to three members. Those members that have passed away were also remembered.

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Child neglect highest reported form of abuse – CCPA

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CCPA Director Ann Greene

he Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) received 4917 reports of child abuse in 2018, with neglect accounting for the majority of those cases.

Many parents, due to a busy schedule or other reasons, fail to give their child the attention he or she deserves, which takes a toll on that child without some parents even noticing.

According to the Child Care Department, some 2431 cases of child neglect were recorded last year. In trying to reach out to the public on this matter, the CCPA recently posted on its social media page that the most effective strategy there is when it comes to parents preventing child abuse is communication.

“Parents need to talk to their children every day to learn as much as they can about their child’s daily activities [such as] their feelings, concerns or problems.

Adults must listen to their children with open minds [and] they must not be judgemental or keep interrupting the child’s flow as he or she speaks,” the agency stated.

It further noted that at an appropriate time, parents can feel free to ask questions or simply ask the child about anything which may have

raised a red flag during the conversation.

The CCPA said that children will not speak openly with adults if they feel that they will either get into trouble or upset their parent in some way.

It also noted that if a child feels that the adult is not really concerned about him or her and only pretends to be listening, eventually the child will desist from sharing their feelings.

The Ministry of the Presidency had said, “According to the statistics, 60 per cent of child neglect occurs when a child is between the ages of 4-13 years old, while 83 per cent of child sexual abuse occurs when a child is between the ages of 8-18 years old”.

But Director of the CCPA, Ann Greene is of the view that this number is far less than the actual statistics since abuse is a “hidden crime”.

“Child abuse is a hidden crime and, particularly, sexual abuse is behind closed doors and some of the victims, they literally do not have a voice to report abuse, meaning many children are being abused and they can’t report.

So even if we do get a report, that’s the tip of the iceberg,” Greene was quoted as saying.

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Consumer Affairs Unit estimates over 50% of businesses violate consumer laws

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he Consumer Affairs Unit (CAU) branch of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) last year conducted its first countrywide inspections to businesses where it was discovered that over 50 per cent of them were breaching the Consumers Affairs Act with regard to the issuance of receipts and warranty on products, among others.

In a report compiled by the Commission, it was explained that a total of 159 businesses were inspected in Regions Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo), 10 (Upper Demerara-

Berbice) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica) where most of the inspections were done due to the proximity and the level of commercialism.

According to the Unit, officers focused their attention on clothing, footwear and accessories, electronics, appliances, household items, stationery and office supplies as well as hardware and building materials during which some 55 per cent of businesses were found to be uncompliant.

“During the initial inspection exercise, 45 per cent of the businesses were in conformance with the Consumer Affairs Act

while the majority, 55 per cent of businesses, failed to be in compliance with one or more sections of Part IV – Duties of Suppliers of the CAA,” the Commission reported.

It was keen to note that in Region Three, 100 per cent of the busi-

nesses were ignorant of their roles as vendors and as a consequence, failed to fulfil their duties.

Over in the most popular commercial area, Region Four, some 37 per cent of inspected businesses failed to meet their requirements while 63 per cent were compliant.

Meanwhile, in Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), 56 per cent and 60 per cent of businesses were compliant.

“On the other hand, only one-third of businesses in Region Nine were in compliance while the remaining two-thirds were non-compliant.

Likewise, a substantial proportion of businesses in Region 10 failed the inspection with only one business meeting the requirements,” CCAC revealed.

It was explained that those businesses were inspected using a compliance checklist which encompassed the duties of suppliers.

Here it was found that the top three infringements were related to the return of goods, issuance of receipts and warranties.

Although all goods providers are mandated to conform to the current return policies, issue receipts and offer warranty, a whopping 57 or 36 per cent of the inspected businesses failed to adhere to the return policy while 53 or 33 per cent issued no receipts to their custom-

ers and an additional 41 or 26 per cent of businesses did not offer warranty or did not align with the criteria stated in the Consumer Act.

Re-inspection

For the Consumer Affairs Unit, re-inspection is critical if the objective of a safe market for customers is to be achieved. With this in mind, uncompliant businesses were given one month to correct their flaws and an applaudable 65 per cent of re-inspected businesses were able to erase their mistakes.

The Commission said another phase of re-inspections will be conducted in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Four (Demerara-Mahaica) during the first quarter of this year.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP requests suspension of all GECOM statutory meetings

…until CCJ decides validity of No Confidence vote ...says Govt has no intentions of holding elections this year

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he fact that the order paper for the April 26 sitting of the National Assembly has been sent out with no mention of any funds being sought for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has not gone unnoticed by the Opposition.

In an interview with Guyana Times International on, GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick expressed concern over this telling omission. She noted that this was despite Government promising to put GECOM’s funding on the parliamentary agenda at the next sitting.

“Interestingly, and I pointed this out at our meeting today, the President had promised one of the first things on his parliamentary agenda was to get funds in the amount of $3.5 billion to GECOM. The order paper has no such thing on it. I said until we know the tasks that we have to follow, meetings should be held until after the decision.

“I am certain the Minister of Finance doesn’t have $3.5 billion to give for any election. So, the game is being played and I won’t be a part of it. Basically, the Government is saying we don’t have to have an election in 2019. We will have elections in 2020.”

Meanwhile, a statutory meeting set for Tuesday at GECOM ended abruptly, with People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-nominated Commissioners requesting such meetings be put on hold until the no-confidence motion-related matters were adjudicat-

ed.

On Tuesday, the statutory stalemate continued as PPP Commissioners walked out and the GECOM meeting was adjourned.

Speaking to this publication afterwards, Commissioner Shadick revealed that GECOM has no plan that catered for not holding house-tohouse registration.

That very house-tohouse registration exercise is currently before the courts, as a United Kingdom and Guyanese citizen has filed a legal challenge against it. In her affidavit, she had ar-

gued that the exercise would disenfranchise her and many others.

This had come after GECOM was warned to desist from houseto-house registration or face the law. Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall subsequently filed legal proceedings against the Commission.

In the legal documents seen by this newspaper and filed by Nandlall on behalf of his client, Bibi Zeenatoun, Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and GECOM are named as respondents.

In the fixed date ap-

plication, the former AG sets out that the houseto-house registration was unconstitutional.

It is noted that they are seeking a declaration of this and the fact that the exercise will exclude qualified registrants currently on the National Register and the official list of electors.

In particular, the application is seeking a declaration that Zeenatoun herself will be excluded and thus, have her constitutional right to vote breached.

But with this case before them, Shadick noted that GECOM seemed

to be making no effort to steer away from houseto-house registration.

“Because they’re not making any moves to refresh the list that is going to become invalid on the 30th of this month.

So from the first of May we have no valid list of electors. So, everything has to wait to the end of house-to-house registration, whenever that is.

They have no start date for this exercise.”

Nevertheless, Shadick noted that GECOM Chairman, Retired Justice James Patterson has insisted meetings would continue to be called.

The no-confidence motion-related cases, whose outcome would determine if Guyana is to have early elections or not, will not be heard by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) until May 10. Meanwhile, the current list of voters expires this month end.

GECOM has previously said house-to-house registration would not start until June.

Roger Khan petitions for early US prison release S haheed Roger Khan has filed a petition for early release from prison in the United States, where he is serving a 15-year sentence for drug trafficking to that country. He is scheduled for release on July 8 this year.

However, Khan, who prepared the petition himself, filed a petition in March for early release, pursuant to good-time credit acquired under the First Step Act (Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act) – which revises sentencing laws and expands re-entry and early release programmes.

He is challenging the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP’s) failure to properly calculate and award his good-conduct credit and as such, filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

The court documents, seen by Guyana Times, state “COMES NOW, Shaheed Khan, petitioner pro se, and prays this court to expedite this emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus… because the

time required for a normal briefing schedule will result in the incarceration of petitioner beyond the length of sentence he is supposed to serve”.

According to the petition, Khan wants the US court to order the BOP to recalculate his good-conduct credit under the First Step Act, which would see him being released earlier than July.

Khan explained in the emergency petition that the First Step Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in December 2018 and seeks to ensure that all inmates within the Federal Bureau of Prisons receive the full 54 days of good-conduct credit, since the BOP’s previous “erroneous interpretation” resulted in inmates only receiving 47 days per year in actual practice.

“Not only was this provision made retroactive, but Congress’ intent – as evidenced through its statements during floor debate – was for this provision to be applied immediately. Yet, the BOP has decided to interpret when to apply the correction of their previous error in a manner that goes against congressional intent,” the petition outlined.

It went on to say that the BOP has decided to take the absolute strictest stance in an

Roger Khan

effort to wait until the very last second to apply this legislative correction. This means, as was highlighted in the petition, that the BOP will not apply the good-conduct credit fix until after July 19, 2019, which ensures that thousands of prisoners, like Khan, will not benefit from the passage of the First Step Act. “Here it is clear when one reads the congressional floor minutes during debate and passage of the First Step Act that Congress intended this provision to be applied both

retroactively and immediately. They even conducted an analysis which calculated that almost 4000 inmates would be immediately released from custody due to this change.

Bringing the focus back to the instant matter: petitioner Khan has a projected release date of July 8, 2019. Yet, with the application of the First Step Act’s recalculation of his good credit time, Khan would have a projected release date of mid-to-late March 2019 – a benefit of approximately three months. Yet, since the BOP is not projected to apply the fix until after Khan is released, he will not receive the benefit this legislative enactment was targeted for,” the emergency petition argued.

To this end, Khan is requesting the court to “…order the BOP to recalculate his good-conduct credits now with the application of the retroactive section 102(b) of the First Step Act”.

He further cited in the court document that once his sentence is completed, he will be deported, hence it makes sense economically for him to be granted the full extent of his good-conduct credits, adding that the faster he returns to his country, the less the US taxpayers will be burdened by the cost of having to unneces-

sarily continue paying for him.

As a result of Khan’s emergency petition, Magistrate Judge Lisette M Reid of the US District Court of Florida, on April 16, granted the request.

According to the court document, “… a shortened period for the response is being provided in this case. No motions for extensions of time will be granted excepted under the most extraordinary circumstances which may require a show-cause hearing”.

Moreover, in accordance with US laws, Khan has named his warden at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Miami, Bryan Dobbs, as the respondent in his habeas petition.

To this end, the Magistrate Judge has also ordered that the respondent files a memorandum of fact and law to show cause why this petition should not be granted and all supporting documentation necessary for the resolution of this petition.

Khan was sentenced in 2009 to 15 years’ imprisonment after he pled guilty to arms trafficking, drug trafficking, conspiracy and witness tampering. He was nabbed in neighbouring Suriname back in June 2006 after fleeing Guyana illegally.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Despite Constitutional Independence for Judiciary

Executive displaying some influence over Judiciary – US State Department Report

T

he United States (US) Department of State, in its Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs report, has raised concerns about Guyana’s legal system when it comes to settling cases, noting that many perceive the hearing of some civil matters to be unfair and in some cases, influenced.

According to the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs in its investment climate statements for 2018, the Executive appears in practice to have some influence over the judicial branch.

“Though the Constitution of Guyana provides for the independence of the Judiciary, in practice, the Executive has some influence over the judicial branch of the Government.

The hearing of civil matters is a slow process and many perceive it to be unfair,” the report states.

The report acknowledges that there are no known examples of Executive interference in the court system that has adversely affected foreign investors. But it warns, however, that the judicial system is generally perceived to be slow and ineffective in enforcing legal contracts.

“Suspected corrupt practices and long delays make the courts an unattractive option for settling investment or con-

Guyana’s Supreme Court

tractual disputes, particularly for foreign investors unfamiliar with Guyana. In order to redress this obstacle to investment, the [Government of Guyana] GoG, with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), established a Commercial Court in June 2006.”

But the report advises that given Guyana’s growth potential and the burgeoning oil and gas sector, there is need for expansion and strengthened capacity building efforts to be made in the near future.

According to the report,

sufficient legislation exists in Guyana to support foreign investment in the country. The problem, the report notes, is the implementation of relevant legislation, which it said continues to be inadequate.

All companies should conduct due diligence and seek appropriate legal counsel for any potential questions prior to doing business in Guyana,” the report states.

The report noted that Guyana’s legal system, like most Commonwealth countries, follows the English Common Law system, with

some traces of the RomanDutch legal system, particularly in the areas of land tenure.

“In early 2005, legislative amendments were made to allow Guyana’s accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final Court of Appeal.

Guyana’s Supreme Court of Judicature hears both criminal and civil matters.”

The State Department noted that judgements of other courts within the Commonwealth are considered judicial precedents if the local laws are silent on the matter.

This is similar to the no-confidence cases filed by the Government after the No-confidence Motion was passed against it last year.

Since Guyana’s Constitution makes no mention of an absolute majority being required to pass the vote, Government referenced Parliaments in other jurisdictions in a bid to reverse the motion.

Indeed, the Court of Appeal ruled in a 2:1 split decision last month that a majority of 34 votes would have been needed to validly pass the No-confidence Motion brought against the Government last year.

While Justice Rishi Persaud had dismissed the appeal and conferred with the ruling of the High Court, his colleague appellate Judges allowed the State’s appeal.

Both Justices Yonette Cummings-Edwards and Dawn Gregory opined that while 33 is the majority of the 65-member National Assembly, the successful passage of a no-confidence motion requires an “absolute majority” of 34, and not the “simple” majority of 33 that has been used to pass ordinary business in the House.

This case has since been passed on to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), where it will come up for hearing next month.

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Region Six launches Immunisation Week

G

uyana has joined the rest of the world in the fight to ensure that persons are immunised against deadly diseases. The Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Health Department on Tuesday launched its Immunisation Week of activities.

In 2017, the number of children immunised worldwide was 116.2 million; the highest ever reported. Since 2010, 113 countries have in-

Healthcare providers host an awareness walk on Tuesday in Berbice. In photo, workers walk through Main Street, New Amsterdam, to bring awareness of the importance of immunization

troduced new vaccines, and more than 20 million additional children have been vaccinated.

Despite those figures, all of the targets for disease elimination including measles, rubella, and maternal and neonatal tetanus, are behind schedule, and over the last two years, the world has seen multiple outbreaks of measles, diphtheria and various other vaccine-preventable diseases. The World Health

Organisation (WHO) said most of the children missing out are those living in the poorest, marginalised and conflict-affected communities.

According to the WHO, countries must intensify efforts to ensure that everyone receives the lifesaving benefits of vaccines.

This is the seventeenth year that World Immunisation Week is being observed in the Americas and the aim is to immunise 70 million persons

against some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

This year, immunisation week is being observed under the theme “Protect your community, do your part�.

In Region Six, the health department is promoting vaccines for 9-16-year-olds to prevent certain types of cancer.

Director of Regional Health Services Jevaughn Stephen said that persons are first being encouraged to ensure that all family members

are immunised and then to extend that care to their neighbours. If all are to do that, he explained, the entire community will be immunised.

The Health Services Director noted that most of those who have been visiting health centres in the region to be immunised are persons from out of the country.

In fact, most persons are foreigners from Brazil, Venezuela and Suriname.

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UG Special Audit to being in two weeks – Auditor General

Vice Chancellor of UG, Professor Ivelaw Griffith

I

n light of the request recently made by the Education Ministry to have a special audit into the finances of the University of Guyana (UG), the Auditor General’s Office has already commenced the preparation stages to kick-start that process.

This is according to Guyana’s Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, who told Guyana Times International in an interview on Saturday that the “groundwork”

Auditor General of Guyana, Deodat Sharma

will commence shortly.

“We [Audit Office] were contacted and are planning to go in and start the special audit quite soon. I have contracted an auditor, outside of my office, who does work there, contracting an auditor [is] what is usually done by my office. I asked him to complete a Terms of Reference for this, this is in addition to the normal audit that takes place,” Sharma explained.

The Auditor General noted that the

Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry had officially written to him, requesting this special audit, but before his Office could begin its work, the necessary meeting had to take place.

“Meetings were held with the Education Ministry officials, of course, they had to be held first so that we could be briefed.

Then there were meetings with the Unions from UG but I am not at liberty to discuss what transpired in

those meetings.

However, what I can say is that I am hoping to go into UG to start the special audit within two weeks from now.”

The request for the special audit came in light of an appeal made to the Ministry by the two workers’ unions at UG. However, the administration of the University on Thursday said such a move is welcomed so as to clear up any misinformation about the present financial state of UG. “The administration welcomes the opportunity to clear the air on the allegations and assertions by the Unions and other individuals…

We have long indicated such, both directly to the UG Unions and in my two recent memoranda to the University Community,” said Vice-Chancellor of UG, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, in the release.

The request made by the two Unions to the Education Ministry birthed from the fact that UG’s administration, in January of this

The University of Guyana

year, stated that the institution was not in a position to pay further salary increases for 2018, having paid a four per cent salary increase to academic staff and three per cent to non-academic staff, both taxfree, in December 2018.

On February 13, 2019, in an update to the members of the UG Community on the industrial climate at Turkeyen and the call by the Unions for a fo-

rensic financial audit, the Vice-Chancellor noted that the administration is willing to have its financial position examined by any competent and independent auditor.

Meanwhile, UG’s administration was accused of wanton spending, including hosting several events and standing the expenses of meals and accommodation for guest speakers.

After being in power for 4 years

Coalition Government blames PPP for CJIA project delays

Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson

E

ven though it inherited and took control of the project almost four years ago, the coalition Government has thrown the blame for the delays to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project at the feet of the former Administration.

According to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson in a statement via his social media account on Monday, the coalition Government is not at fault as it has done its best to make do.

Patterson related that in 2015, the

Government had the options of scrapping the project altogether, continuing with the original scope of works but exceeding its budget or downsizing the project to keep within the project cost.

“Cabinet, after deliberations opted for option C – with the guidelines that the contract sum remains at the same level, that the runway be completed to international specifications, the terminal buildings must be able to adequately accommodate the projected passenger

increases and that no unnecessary residents of Timehri North be removed,” Patterson said.

Claiming that the absence of preliminary reports hampered the project, Patterson went on to accuse the former Administration of allowing extra sand filling and determining the cost of the sand.

“Thus, the volume of sand filling required moved from 4.4 million cubic metres to 10.1 million cubic metres – this is due to the fact that the South West section is at a lower elevation

A model of the final proposal

than the North East.

The cost per cubic metre was also determined by my predecessor.”

“The decision to also extend the runway in the South West direction was taken by the then [People’s Progressive Party] PPP Government since 2013.

This decision resulted in additional excavation and sand filling,” Patterson claimed.

Even though Patterson said the airport specifications were downgraded to limit cost overruns, Government went to the National

Assembly last year to request $346.5 million in supplementary funds towards the purchase and installation of two additional air bridges.

In 2019, taxpayers are expected to hand out even more funds as the project remains in an incomplete state.

Minister within the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Annette Ferguson had told the media in January that additional works are still to be carried out on the multi-billion Guyana dollar facility.

According to documents seen by Guyana Times International, as of January this year, outstanding works to be completed include the South West runway extension pavement works and sections of the Departure Terminal; namely Immigration, Security Screening, and Duty-Free concessions areas.

Meanwhile, as of January CHEC has been paid US$132 million. When payments to the consultant and local contractors are also factored in, that sum rises to US$142 million.

Government’s contract with CHEC expired in December of last year.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

News 25

Guyana Goldfields’ former Executive Chairman was fired over conflicts of interest

A

n investment disclosure report filed by Guyana Goldfields with Canadian regulators has revealed exactly why the company parted ways with its former Executive Chairman in July of last year.

The document, a Management Information Circular (MIC), was filed in the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), a database run by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA).

In the Circular, the company documents its grievances against former Chairman Patrick Sheridan, who is at the forefront of a proxy battle for the management of the gold company.

According to the company, its list of grievances includes a report compiled under Sheridan’s watch in 2012 which it says mislead persons about the gold reserves at Aurora.

The company related that the 2012 resource model overestimated the actual ounces of gold at the mining site.

Goldfields commissioned an independent technical report, carried out by Roscoe Postle Associates, which concluded that the gold reserves were as much as 38 per cent lower compared with the previous figure.

“As CEO and interim [Chief Operations Officers] COO, Sheridan was ultimately responsible for overseeing the preparation and development of the Sheridan Resource model,” the MIC states. “It has been conclusively determined that the model significantly overestimated the contained ounces at the Aurora gold mines.

This is the most significant operating challenge the company faced in the past year.”

“Mr Sheridan also resisted efforts to re-direct the company’s exploration towards near mine brownfield targets which could supplement the Aurora Mine’s reserves and resisted undertaking the work necessary to update the Sheridan resource model,” the company also stated in its report.

According to the company, Goldfields also suffered poor governance and a dysfunctional dual reporting management structure. The company also spoke of conflicts of interests which occurred under Sheridan’s watch.

Here, Goldfields pointed to the company’s 2011 sale of its

Peters Mine Gold project and Aremu Gold property for US$2.4 million. These projects were sold to GPM minerals, another Canadian company, which eventually sold them to a company named Bartica Investments Limited.

While Goldfields alleged Sheridan was also shareholder of GPM at the time of the transaction, this publication was able to confirm that Sheridan was at some point in time contracted as a consultant with GPM… a contract he held as of 2018.

Goldfields alleged that as recent as 2018, the Peters and Aremu properties were purchased by another gold company, G2 Goldfields Incorporated. This publication was able to verify that Sheridan sits as the Executive Chairman and CEO of G2 Goldfields.

“Of course, Mr Sheridan’s interest in a competing exploration company in Guyana also represents a serious commercial conflict with the company,” Goldfields stated, noting that based on these records Sheridan backed candidates should not be put in positions of power in the company.

Sheridan and former Goldfields Country Manager, Violet Smith, were recently sent packing in a major shakeup in the company.

Sheridan and a number of shareholders, have been pushing for the current Board of Directors to be replaced owing to declining share values.

In a statement on January 11 of this year, the concerned shareholders had formally written the Toronto Stock Exchange, asking the body to monitor any proposal made by Guyana Goldfields for signs of entrenchment, shareholder dilution or attempts to structure around regulatory shareholder approval requirements.

According to the missive, Guyana Goldfields has lost over CAD$1 billion in value since 2016 because of the Board’s operational failures, irresponsible actions and risky decisions.

To add insult to injury, it added, while shareholders have lost over 80 per cent of their investment since 2016, the Board has continued to reward itself handsomely and has offered no plan to turn things around.

These matters are expected to come to a head at a special company meeting scheduled for May 22.

Former Goldfields Executive Chairman, Patrick Sheridan during a meeting with President David Granger back in 2015

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EBD overpasses vandalised

P

edestrian overpasses along the East Bank of Demerara have been vandalised over the past weeks and authorities are urging vandals to refrain from such unlawful acts.

The Public Infrastructure Ministry on Wednesday said that over the past weeks, its engineers have inspected and observed theft and vandalism at these overpasses.

During an inspection,

The damage to the overpasses

engineers observed that the elevator’s glass door at Providence, EBD, was smashed and electrical and solar panel lights were stolen while at the Diamond overpass, wires were disconnected from the camera systems and both the no cycle and disable signs were stolen.

Further, the corrugated electrical wire cover was removed, the earthing connection was vandalised and its protective cover was stolen, the release said.

Citizens are being asked to report such activities to the nearest police station or the Ministry’s Public Relations Department on 592-227-0799.

A US$364,000 contract was awarded for the construction of a pedestrian overpass at Diamond and a US$1 million contract for those at Houston, Peter’s Hall and Providence.

The overpasses were constructed to ensure pedestrians can cross the

road safely.

During the construction of the overpasses, security cameras and other measures were put in place to nab perpetrators.

The Public Infrastructure Ministry has in the past complained about the vandalism of its traffic lights.

Since the overpasses have been completed, there have been and continue to be mixed feelings about the struc-

tures, with some taking advantage of the facility while others find the stairs too tedious and time-consuming, opting instead to quickly dash across the road.

However, Minister Patterson had implored pedestrians to use the overpasses as they would guarantee their safety.

The contract for the overpasses at Houston, Eccles and Peter’s Hall was awarded to B and J Civil Works in the sum of US$1,034,326.

Meanwhile, there were separate contracts for the Providence and Diamond overpasses which were both awarded to S Jagmohan Hardware Supplies and Construction Services to the tune of US$364,247 and US$364,727 respectively.

Trinidadian supervision firm – RM Engineering Limited – was recruited to oversee the construction of the overpasses.

NEWS 29

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he memories of me ripping the pages out of my old exercise books are so fresh that it feels as though it was just yesterday.

Although it was over a decade ago, I still remember secretly stealing ‘pointers’ from my grandmother’s broom along with her spools of thread. And oh boy, do I remember the thrashing I received for shredding the bedsheet to make a tail for my kite.

You see, there was always this competition among us to prove who the ‘baddest’ kite maker was. I had a legacy left behind by my father that I needed to keep up despite no one expecting me to.

My father was perhaps the best kite maker in our village since many of the residents would come to Uncle Michael’s house for him to frame a kite or help them uniquely paste it.

Every kite my father made would soar to unimaginable heights and remain there for most of the day and well into the night. There are even stories of the kites he made being airborne for days and many knew those stories.

The elaborate kites were never my thing as I am more on the simplistic side of things. It means that the intricate kites created by my father did not appeal to me.

I thoroughly enjoyed the days of my Easter vacation running in the sugarcane fields of my

neighbour, getting covered in soot but having a ball of a time running behind our good old caddy. The caddy ole punch one of the kites that have sentimental value to a lot of Guyanese.

It was the first kite I learnt to make because it was the most simple and required the least effort. I would sneak into the house while mommy was away at work and rip a page or two from the old exercise books, then rush to my grandmother’s house and ‘borrow’ a spool of thread to fly this kite.

Armed with my pages, two pieces of ‘pointer’ and my threat, then the creation of a masterpiece begins. The process is quite simple since all it involves is the marking of an X to cover the paper and using the ‘pointer’ to thread along the line and voila you have a kite.

The trick, however, is not in how you make the kite rather it all rests in the loop. Any veteran kite maker would tell you that no matter how pretty your kite looks if the loop ain’t proper then you might as well just retire that thing as a showpiece.

The art of loop making is not something one

punch is an iconic part of Easter celebrations, the tradition of making them is dying and rapidly so. The generation now, despite knowing of the famous kite,

can get in a jiffy rather it requires expert skills and patience. It takes many trials and errors before once can conquer the art and make a loop that would ensure your caddy soared to unprecedented heights and stay there all night.

However, not only is the perfect loop required to ensure a successful caddy rather the secret of your success lies in the tail. The tail which is the star of the show should be as graceful as a ballerina’s attitude. It should be flowing like the when Eminem spits verses. In other words, it must be a talented tail and preferably cotton or polyester.

Though the caddy ole

seems disinterested in part taking in its creation.

Overall, as time progresses the younger generation is moving away from the actual flying of the kite to the more ornamental aspects of Easter Monday celebra-

tions and that is the decking out in extravagant clothing and hanging with friends taking unlimited selfies.

Although Easter is about the sacrifices of Jesus Christ, the kite flying is somewhat cultural since it has no significance to Christianity.

Rather kite flying is an ancient past time of the Chinese people and is believed to be incorporated in the Caribbean culture because of their arrival to this part of the world.

The caddy ole punch is a symbolism of a time when simplicity mattered. The caddy came about, according to many, as a substitute to parents being unable to afford the more extravagant kites during a time when resources were scarce to come by.

However, it has now become a part of the fabric of our society and those who grew up in that era reminisce on the fun they had running through the fields raising their kites.

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On a slow news day…

I

…the Mueller Report was released

t was as if the mountain had laboured and produced a mouse. After two years of bated breath and high drama, the Mueller Report was released – all 448 pages in two volumes. For those of you, dear readers, who might’ve been distracted with filming the black hole millions of light years away, here is a short synopsis of the reason for the Inquiry.

The FBI, under its Director James Comey, had since 2016 been investigating alleged links between associates of Trump and Russian officials who had, among other things, hacked the e-mail of Trump’s opponent in the Presidential elections, Hillary Clinton.

Democratic Congressmen promptly demanded the appointment of a Special Counsel to investigate Trump for obstruction of Justice. Trump had leaned on his Attorney-General to derail the investigation, and fired him after he refused to do so. Both sets of investigation were taken up by Justice Department’s Special Counsel.

This department – analogous to our Ministry of Legal Affairs – appointed a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel), who’s an independent “lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest (situation) exists for the usual prosecuting authority”.

Robert Mueller, who was himself a former head of the FBI, was sworn in by the Dep AG. The details of the investigation shouldn’t detain us too much, but it demonstrates the importance of institutions of government being shielded from the Executive, in which there is the existential compulsion to act outside its remit to further partisan, or even — as is evident in this instance — personal interests. At every step of the investigation, Trump and his associates lied, cheated, and ran elaborate misdirections to stymie the investigation.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight felony counts; his personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to making hush payments in violation of campaign laws; his foreign affairs advisor and long-time advisor were also indicted.

Trump only escaped charges for two reasons: “firstly, to abide by an authoritative opinion that a sitting president cannot stand trial. Secondly, sealed charges could leak, and Mueller felt a charge would impair the president’s governing ability and potentially pre-empt constitutional processes for addressing presidential misconduct.”

With a footnote reference to impeachment!! A word to Beneba mek Quashie tek notice!

…a biblical tale

4:4 And it came to pass that the PNC/AFC were very overwrought after the NCM and the betrayal by the Berbician Charrandas who had worshipped at their feet.

4:5 And the PNC/AFC, taking the forlorn Berbicians up into the beaches of No 63, shewed unto them all the kingdoms of the world that would be delivered unto them.

4:6 And the PNC/AFC said unto them, All this wealth and the good life will we give thee, and the glory of them: for that was delivered unto us in 2015 with our 50% raise and outriders; and to whomsoever vote for us will we give it.

4:7 If thou therefore wilt not support the accursed PPP but rather offer us thy fealty, all shall be thine.

4:8 But Jagdeo of the PPP had foreseen this wooing by the PNC/AFC and had verily taught the Berbicians to say unto them, “Get thee behind us, PNC/AFC: for it is written, We shalt support only the party that hast stood by us in bad times and good, and the PPP only shalt we support.”

4:9 And so it was the PNC/AFC were thusly chased out, and in anger they sent their centurions to seize the PPPite Jagdeo.

…Mass Games returning?

Minister of Social Cohesion, George Norton, has said 5000 students will be hauled from across the country to participate in the Flag- raising Ceremony this May 26, Independence Day. In fulfilling Burnham’s legacy, as he promised, is Granger thinking of bringing back the North Koreaninspired Mass Games??

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FEATURE 33

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he afternoon sun was shining brightly into the halls of the church illuminating the stained glass that formed part of the pulpit.

The feeling of witnessing such serenity is incomparable but I was transported to a place where I felt at peace, not only with myself but also with the world.

I got goosebumps on my arms as Father Randolph Reynolds of the St Sidwell’s Anglican Church began

with the opening prayer.

I was there to witness something I had never heard of until a few days before April 12, 2019. At first, I was sceptical of going to Church to witness the Stations of the Cross since I was under the impression that it would be long, drawn out and boring but I would be the first to say it was completely

opposite.

We got to the Church a few minutes before the actual staging of the Stations of the Cross and I just took my seat at one of the pews and awaited the arrival of Father Reynolds whom we had passed in the yard as he was greeting worshippers. When he took

his position at the Pulpit and declared “let us pray” and began uttering the opening prayers, I immediately felt a calmness wash over me.

It was the first time I was experiencing the Stations of the Cross as well as the first time in an Anglican Church. I was taken aback by the beautiful stained glass as well as the images of Jesus Christ-Son of God, that I saw lining the walls of the Church. It was the first time I saw images in a Church and would later learn the reason for those images.

Stations of the Cross is a reenactment of what happened on the first Good Friday when Jesus was condemned to death. Father Reynolds later told me that the Church in its history has taken on board the actions and things that occurred along the path to Golgotha where Jesus subsequently was nailed to the cross.

This enactment serves to remind the Church year after year and to help the church understand the depths of Christ’s suffering and death and to take us to the point where he rose from death, con-

quering death at Easter.

“During the period of Lent, Churches across Guyana engage in this practice to remind generation after generations that as Christians we must not only be au fait but become stronger believers in the faith, serving God through Christ, living lovingly among ourselves, caring for each other, using our bodies and talents and gifts to do what God created us to do and that is to live in union with him,” Father Reynolds said.

The message the Church is trying to send with Stations of the Cross is that the actions of everyone should be influenced by Jesus Chris. Stations of the Cross’s climax is usually on Good Friday-the day when Jesus was crucified. Believers would spend

hours in deep meditation and stories of the cross is being retold in various forms.

“We are happy to find the following growing and I trust that even our young people who are Churchoriented and those who are not, to come on board and to follow the path of Christ. Remembering the struggles, the pain he bore, the insult he took just for our sins and we will find glory in the long run.

Let us trust God and trust his love and embrace

his love in our day to day walk with Jesus Christ,” Father Reynolds said.

Stations of the Cross is a series of 14 pictures depicting the events outlined in the Passion of Christ.

The arrangement of the 14 pictures follows a series with the first being the CONDEMNATION of Jesus Christ to death. It is followed by Jesus BEARING the cross, THE FIRST FALL –Jesus falls the first

time under the cross, HIS MOTHER- Jesus meets his blessed mother, SIMON OF CYRENE – the cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene, VERONICA – the face of Jesus is wiped by St Veronica; THE SECOND FALL – Jesus falls the second time, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM – the women of Jerusalem mourn for our Lord, THE THIRD FALL – Jesus falls for a third time, STRIPPED – Jesus is stripped of his garments, NAILED – Jesus is nailed to the cross, CRUCIFIED – Jesus dies on the cross, DEAD – the body of Jesus is taken down from the cross, and BURIED – the body of Jesus is laid in the tomb.

The images are usually mounted on the inside walls of a church but may also be erected in such places as cemeteries, corridors of hospitals and religious houses. The exercise of visiting and praying in front of each of the stations stems from the early practice of Christian pilgrims. It is believed that the pilgrims visited the scenes of the events that happened in Jerusalem on the first Good Friday and took the same route as Jesus did on that fateful day.

In Guyana, the churches install the 14 images to depict the Stations of the Cross to trace the events of the first Good Friday. They stop at every station, meditate and pray for forgiveness and blessings. The entire experience is one that is humbling and serves as a reminder of the reason for Christ’s presence on earth.

34 FEATURE

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

In this image, movie producers created the scene where Jesus was whipped before crucifixion

Jesus as he was nailed to the cross

The dead body of Jesus was placed in a stone tomb on Good Friday, but was empty on the following Sunday when believers went to check on his body

By Davina Ramdass

F

or some, Easter is just about the excitement that comes along with the making and flying of kites, but for Christians, it is a highly significant holiday with deep spiritual roots. In fact, the story of Easter itself is a spine chilling one that makes Christians feel almost guilty as they remember how Jesus, the son of God, came and died for the sins of mankind.

Father Terry Davis of the Anglican Diocese of Guyana told the story of Easter as he made sure to note that the story began way back at the beginning of time.

He explained how the first humans, Adam and Eve sinned against God by being disobedient and the only way for the world to be rid of sin was through the Son of God who had to die so that man could have eternal life.

The death of the holy one only happened after Jesus was born and performed wonders that drew men unto Him. He also had 12 disciples along with thousands who followers who went everywhere he ventured to preach the Gospel.

However, there was one of his 12 chosen disciples who sold him to the soldiers who came to arrest him after the last supper on Holy Thursday.

Before Good Friday is observed, Christians observe Palm Sunday in remembrance of Jesus who had walked through the streets of Jerusalem before he was crucified. As he rode on the back of a mule, believers had thrown palms on the roads to signify his purity. This occasion is also observed in the Churches as they themselves take to the streets with their palms.

Following Palm Sunday, Christians observe Holy Thursday which according to the Holy Scriptures was the day Christ had his last supper. Father Davis said believers observe the day by washing their feet in the Church, as Christ himself had

Christians being marked with the symbolic cross on the forehead during an Ash Wednesday service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception this year

washed the feet of his disciples before he was crucified the next day.

Good Friday

On this day the Bible

he came to earth and silently bore his pain.

Jesus had been fasting, according to Father Davis and was weak but was made to carry

only an auspicious day for Catholics because they end their 40 days of fasting here, but is also a day that Christians look forward to as they

or to Easter. While it is called the 40 days of Lent; in actuality, it is 46 days since Sundays are not counted.

According to Father Davis, the day is observed with Easter vigils in their respective churches with prayer services. He noted that candles are lit and various scriptures are recited in the sanctuaries as they remind themselves that Jesus is the light of the world.

Easter Sunday Easter Sunday is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Father Davis explained the logic behind this as the scriptures say, He arose on the third day.

“In our time we measure time by 24 hours, we use clocks and watches and so on but in those days, they hadn’t these gadgets. They measured time by the moving of the sun and so their day

Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday before he was crucified

says that Jesus was hauled before the Courts and was subsequently crucified for simply preaching the Gospel.

Some spat on him, they ridiculed him and terrorized his body before nailing him to the cross.

Jesus endured lashes on his back that ripped his flesh off, it was then seasoned with salt as the Jews continued to mock him, asking that he saves himself if he indeed is the son of God. Jesus was however fully aware of the purpose

a cross on his battered back. The son of God had his hands later nailed to the cross and a crown of thorns was placed on his head. He later died and was laid to rest in a tomb on Friday evening.

Churches across the world, the religious leader said, observe this day with prayer services and reflect on the sufferings of Christ. Moreover, he said it is a time of repentance and self-examination.

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is not

are reminded that they have hope for salvation.

Prior to Holy Saturday, Catholics and Anglicans would have observed Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of their 40 days fast, referred to as Lent. Ashes are used to mark churchgoers on the forehead with a sign of the cross, to symbolise repentance for sin. The ashes are collected from burnt palms from the last Palm Sunday.

Lent is usually observed for 46 days pri-

was measured by sundown and sun up. Their month was measured by the moon…when Jesus was placed in the tomb at sundown on Friday, Sun up on Saturday was one day. From sun up on Saturday to Sundown on Saturday was the second day and from sundown on Saturday evening to sun up on Sunday morning (marked) three days,” he explained.

Easter Monday

Easter Monday is a light day that believ-

ers use to celebrate the resurrection of Christ through kite flying.

Some believe that kites symbolize Jesus rising from the dead but Father Davis says the practice has nothing to do it as it is a merely cultural practice. He noted that there was nothing wrong with kite flying, however people in other countries especially China, fly kites as a form of recreation.

Pentecostal celebrations

While not all Pentecostal (another denomination) Christians fast, Pastor Ravindra Shiwnandan endorsed the explanation of the significance of Easter, as shared by Father Davis.

Church services are not commonly held on Holy Thursday, but Good Friday services usually draw a massive crowd of believers and non-believers, who goes out to Church to thank God for sending His only Son. Pastor Shiwnandan explained, “Easter represents the manifestation of the victory that happened on the cross on Good Friday. So on Good Friday, it is when Jesus Christ completely destroyed the works of Satan (the evil one) in relation to Satan wanting to hold humanity captive through death.

What Jesus did on the cross was to show the devil and the rest of the world that He has the power of death and life in His hand…He went down to hell, took the keys of hell and death from Satan and arose from the dead on Easter”.

Why is Easter celebrated at a different time every year?

Many have been curious about why Easter is celebrated on a different date every year but Christians look for a specific phase of the moon before they decide on the date for the Holiday. It is also celebrated after the fasting period of Lent.

FEATURE 35

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Mohanlall Seulall

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aster is a time for reflection as well as a time for us to celebrate the sacrifices of Jesus Christ. It is a time where many families take advantage of the fact that school and pack their bags and head out on vacation. One of the most popular vacation spots during this period is the Essequibo Coast because of its wide open spaces and the quietness that follows.

The parents in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) take advantage of holiday time to spend quality time with their children, friends and relatives who would visit the Region.

I Essequibo Coast, a Region with big open spaces, comes to life on Easter Monday with families and friends enjoying the afternoon breeze, joining their kids in kite flying. But there are also several activities that would lead up to the actual Easter Monday shinding.

On Good Friday, there is a different level of peacefulness that washes over the Region and for the better part of the day, Christians would spend that time in meditation and prayers. The Cross Buns Sellers are usually the loudest on Good Friday morning filling the air with their uniquely composed songs: Hot Cross Buns Hot Cross Buns One a penny Two a penny Hot Cross Buns If you have no daughters Give them to your Sons One a penny Two a penny Hot Cross Buns If your sons don't like them They're the only ones

One a penny Two a penny Hot Cross Buns Get them while they’re hot And eat them by the ton One a penny Two a penny Hot Cross Buns.

On Easter Sunday some of the children will go to the open spaces to fly their kites but many will prefer to go to the lakes and other places to have picnics with families and Friends.

On Easter Monday the fun starts in Charity where residents visit the market to do their final shopping and by midday, the crowd will be moving to the beaches along the coastline to fly their kites with their children, relatives and friends.

Easter of today is not as enjoyable and exciting as the old days and the skills and techniques of kite making are gone with time. The sound of the many locally made kites that once used to dance, sing and filled the skyline with its many bright and beauti-

ful colours, styles and shapes are now being replaced by the many foreign imported plastic kites that are very silent, dumb, and there is nothing to pull your attention.

Tony Monroe, a local Kite maker for over 30 years and of Henrietta, Essequibo Coast said that the Easter of today is not like the Easter of long ago. He said that today children are not getting the real fun of kite flying due to the many imported kites adding that in the olden days Easter used to be more fun for the family with parents getting fully involved in kite making.

He said that Easter used to bring the family together when it came to kite making and design with the children choosing their ‘patchwork’ design, and type of kite they wanted.

Some of the kites made then were Box, Bird, Man, Woman, Plane, Cross and many other designs to get the children excited.

The frame of the kites was made from pointers from your mother’s broom and pasted using the ever

faithful gamma cherry. If you were adventurous then you would even pop one or two of those sticky cherries in your mouth.

Monroe said that as a little boy Easter was the dream of every child since they got the opportunity to be with the family and to participate in making the best kite to show off on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Easter Sunday the children will be up very early to get the opportunity to be the first person to get their kite in the air because it was believed then that the Lord Jesus Christ will raise and go up to heaven with the first Kite and the kids were excited to be that lucky person.

He said that kite singing was a big thing then since people will arrange competitions to prove who has the loudest singing kite, best patchwork, neatest pasted kite and much more. "Scall Bread" was every child's fear that was the term used when the kite fell into trenches and ponds, and the kite paper got wet and loses its colours, it becomes all white like bread.

Munroe said that he is still in the kite making business, but due to the heavy importation of foreign plastic kites into the Country, he is presently selling only about 140 kites ranging from $500 to $3000.

Munroe also noted that he can produce any kite to suit the customer’s request and said that he can design kites to represent the flags of all the countries in the world if requested.

So this Easter, pack your bags and head to Region Two and experience a truly peaceful holiday.

36 FEATURE

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

P

alm Sunday (first known as Pasha) originated in the Jerusalem Church around the late third or early fourth century. Ceremonies consisted of prayers, hymns, and sermons as people moved through the numerous holy sites within the city.

At the last site, the place of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the clergy would read the biblical account of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Then as evening approached, the people would return to the city reciting: “Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 21:9).

By the fifth century, the celebration had spread as far as Constantinople. It wasn’t until the sixth and seventh centuries that the ritual blessing of the palms was added. A morning procession replaced the evening one and by the eighth century, the Western Church was celebrating “Dominica in Palmis” or “Palm

Sunday.”

Palm Sunday - The Tradition

Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday in recognition of the beginning of Holy Week and Jesus’ final agonizing journey to His crucifixion. Falling on the sixth Sunday in Lent and the Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday is celebrated in all major Christian churches—Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox.

In many Orthodox churches, Palm Sunday is known as Entry into Jerusalem. In some countries, the graves of loved ones are decorated with palms. Since palm trees are not indigenous to colder climates, branches of sallow, willow, and yew are often used.

Today, many Palm Sunday traditions remain much the same as those celebrated in the tenth century. Some ceremonies begin with the blessing of the palms. Afterward, many people take the palms home and place them in houses, barns, and fields.

In many churches, children serve as an integral part of the service since they enjoy the processions. Children often craft crosses from palm leaves which

were used in the Sunday processional.

The traditions of Palm Sunday serve as reminders of the life-changing events of Holy Week.

It was traditional in the Near East to place a cover across the path of someone deemed worthy of highest honor.

The palm branch was a Jewish symbol of triumph and victory (Leviticus 23:40; Revelation 7:9). In 2 Kings 9:13, Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, received the customary announcing of a king with the spreading of cloaks upon the ground. Jesus, the Messanic King, was given a similar honor. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:8)

Palm Sunday - The Remembrance

In the simplest of terms, Palm Sunday is an opportunity to reflect upon the final week of Jesus' life. Jesus did not deny the image that the crowd expected -- the fulfillment of the hopes of Israel that He

would be their earthly king, destroying the Roman government. Instead, Jesus humbly entered Jerusalem to give His life on a cross, saving mankind from sin and death.

One day, Jesus will return gloriously as a mighty warrior in battle (Revelation 19:11–16). Palm Sunday serves as a preparation of one’s heart for the agony of His Passion and the joy of His Resurrection.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Leah Hernandez

E

aster is not just about the baking of delicious cross buns, but more so of the traditional activity of kite flying before, on or even after the Easter holiday. This super-exciting activity simply signifies that Jesus was risen from the dead, as believed by Christians globally. As such both children and adults enjoy themselves yearly as they test their creative skills by making beautiful kites and send them soaring in the open sky.

But on the other side of the line, most persons do not find the time to carefully make their own kites to fly during Easter, while others overall cannot make a kite. But coming to the rescue, are that one in a million persons who make it their priority to spread Easter happiness through kite making, one such person is 25-yearold Collin Domingo of Yarrowkabra, SoesdykeLinden Highway.

I had grasped the opportunity to interact with the talented man, and dur-

By

ing our talk, he took a few steps back down memory lane where he remembered how his kite-career began. He spoke of his childhood years of making ‘caddy ole punch’ for himself, and even as he went into his teens, then to a young adult he was somewhat fascinated and captured by the art of making kites even to this present time.

Domingo who has enjoyed the kite making trade for over five years, gleefully explained that his business is very profitable both financially and emotionally, since seeing the smiling faces of his costumers boosts him to keep his dreams alive.

“Well for me as a young boy, I always find myself busy making caddy-olepunch for me and my other siblings because it was fun to me especially during Easter time. And because of simply finding excitement in making those simple kites back then, that passion grew within me as I got older to become better at my kite making….. today I am very much pleased with what I am do-

Utamu

Belle

A

s a child, growing up in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), one of my fondest memories of the Easter celebrations was picking and gathering itae pointers, gamma cherries and paper along with my family and friends to construct our kites.

This was an exciting season for my friends and I even before the famous evolution of kites as we were our own little innovators constructing our kites as we saw it fit; from the colours to style, sizes and creative shapes, to creating various models and competing with other children in the neighborhood as to who had the best looking kite.

Then there was the good old ‘caddy ole punch’. This we easily constructed shamelessly utilizing pages from our old school

ing cause I put smiles on those children faces when I make the kite of their choice, and seeing my customers and my family happy is what makes me happy” he related.

The father of one explained that apart from his passion for kite making, he also wanted to gap the need for persons travelling from his community to the capital city to purchase kites, especially since not much persons are involved in trade within his environment.

“Ever since I’ve noticed that not much people in Yarrowkabra make kites and actually everybody does travel till to town just to purchase one, I wanted to change that and I saw the opportunity to do it so I went out and grasped it while it is available” he effortlessly explained.

Being skilled specifically in making the starshaped kite, the tradesman without hesitating took some of his time to thoroughly demonstrate the step by step process of making a multicoloured star-shaped kite.

The star-shaped kite

books, pointers from our house brooms and cloth from our ‘old’ clothes. The ‘box board’ kite was a speciality. You ranked high if you could construct your own ‘box board’ or have the most unique looking one with well designed ‘tail’. And then there were the joys and the failures of having the kites raised into the sky, fast running through the neighbourhood in an effort to do so, especially when there was not enough wind for a “good raise”; even crying some days when others laughed at you for not being able to have the kites raised or musing because you managed to do so.

Given that we lived near a ball field, the fun and excitement were never too far away. There were many of these fields in the community at the time before they were taken over by schools and other buildings.

Easter is a Christian celebration which signifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Going to church on Easter Sunday and getting dressed up on Easter Monday to fly your kite as is customary in Guyana was how we always spent the holidays. The grownups would prepare cross buns, another custom attached to the observance, a sweet bun made of raisins or Guyanese ‘fruits’ (sautéd carambola), complete with the makeshift sign of the cross which signifies the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. As a treat, my family would have the cross bun along with milk.

For my cousins and me, we looked forward to rainfall on Good Friday. According to folklore, if you burst an egg into a glass of rainwater on a Good Friday, whatever formation you

which is the most popular of the kites existing in Guyana is basically made with light strips of wood cut to the desired length.

Two of these strips are arranged in an X-frame, with a third strip being placed horizontally between which allows the enjoinment of a thin piece of a coconut stem to the end of the two crossed frames, which is commonly called the nose of the kite.

After, string (or polyethene) is used to be placed around the star-shaped kite which easily allows the attachment and alignment of kite paper by using paper paste.

Most kites are multicoloured which helps in boosting the appearance and bringing out the true beauty of the kite. Various artistic patterns are created out of kite papers to be pasted onto the surface of the kite, the same is also used for the frills and flaps of the kite. The kite’s frills simply look like stripped kite papers and are placed above the flap (or kite ears) on the side of the kite, which enables the kite to ‘dance’ or ‘move’ in

the wind.

Finally, a tail for the kite is vital and can be made from light fabric (preferably old sheets)

see is your destiny. We used to look forward to seeing the form of a ship or an aeroplane- which we believed meant we would become travellers in the future.

The Easter celebrations have always created an atmosphere for bringing families and friends together, through kite flying and other fun social activities.

Here in Linden, kite flying lovers flock various locations every year for that memorable ex-

dykes on the Mackenzie shore, the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) Ground, the Amelia's Ward back road (Mackenzie) and the numerous ball fields (Silvertown, Christianburg, Silvercity) which are located across the community, but mainly on the Wismar shore. These areas are usually abuzz with social activities and events annually on Easter Monday.

The Bayroc Community

perience. Then there are those who travel from various destinations to the community just to find the perfect atmosphere to capture picture-perfect moments.

Since kite flying requires wide open spaces, Linden provides the right setting with countless areas which are situated away from obstacles such as electrical power lines and poles.

In Linden, there are scores of wide open spaces which create the perfect setting for kite flying; which just might explain why so many flocks the community on Easter Monday. Visitors would flock the popular sites such as the Bayroc Community Centre Ground at Wismar and the many

Centre Ground, which is equipped with seating facility is a vast sandy landscape with just the right terrain to facilitate kite flying. There is also enough room for other social activities to be conducted at the same time.

The MSC Ground, also noted for social events is equipped with seating amenities as well and is sometimes opened to the public to facilitate such activities on Easter Monday.

The dykes, with their mesmerizing natural scenery, are perfect for family outings and kite flying, while the numerous ball fields are always opened to the public. And for those Lindeners who don't feel like venturing out, their own back-

and attaching it to one of the kites looped end and leaving the other for the twine(string for holding kite) to be attached.

yards are sometimes transformed into the perfect kite flying spectacle.

On a typical Easter Monday in the community, the skies are laden with kites, as parents join their children in the activities. Families camp out, usually for the most part of the day and have picnics and barbeques.

The more popular venues are often times transformed into party and fete- like settings, complete with music and fun activities and games. Kite exhibitions and competitions for the largest, smallest and most creative kites are also side attractions which draw persons to these venues annually.

For many, the celebrations usually begin with observing Holy Thursday then going to church on Easter Sunday.

While the tradition of children constructing their own kites is becoming more and more nonexistent each year, there are those who ply their trade in the community through the making and selling of kites.

Like numerous other parts of the country, the kite- making activity has taken on a more competitive nature, with annual competitions for the largest, smallest and most creative kites. The usual buzzing of the ‘box board’ kites and the site of the good old ‘caddy ole punch’ leading up to the Easter are also becoming nonexistent in the community. Kite distribution exercises of manufactured kites are now new features of the Easter celebrations.

Nevertheless, Lindeners look forward to the Easter celebrations annually, as a time for spiritual reflection and a means of connecting with family and friends on a social level.

38 FEATURE

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Doctors warn Guyanese turn out in President against numbers on Easter Monday heavy workload

President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, H.E David Granger

P

resident David Granger completed his regime of radiotherapy in Cuba on Saturday, Guyana’s Ambassador to Cuba, Halim Majeed, has revealed.

In a statement on Saturday, Ambassador Majeed said that there has been no complication in this cycle of treatment and his medical specialists are looking forward to his recovery and his return to normalcy.

“The President will continue a schedule of medication prescribed by his doctors and is expected to return to Cuba at a time to be determined by his Cuban medical team. In terms of his resumption of official duties, they have cautioned against too heavy a workload immediately and have advised that care must be taken in pursuing excessive public engagements at this time,” the ambassador said.

He added that President Granger has iterated his gratitude to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and the medical team at CIMEQ. In March, it was reported that the first phase of the President’s medical treatment in Cuba was successfully completed and the Cuban specialists, who are overseeing his medical care for NonHodgkin’s Lymphoma, have expressed their full satisfaction with his response to chemotherapy and his overall physical well-being.

The President’s chemotherapy commenced in November 2018 after he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer which envelopes the lymphatic system.

On October 30, 2018, the President and First Lady Sandra Granger travelled to Cuba for him to undergo medical tests after he had complained of feeling un-

well. Days later, he was diagnosed with cancer.

The President has since reduced his number of public engagements.

According to WebMD, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is cancer that starts in your body’s lymph system.

Lymphoma occurs when the lymph node cells or the lymphocytes begin to multiply uncontrollably, producing cancerous cells that have the abnormal capacity to invade other tissues throughout the body.

According to webmd.com, chemotherapy targets cells that grow and divide quickly, as cancer cells do. Unlike radiation or surgery, which target specific areas, chemo can work throughout the body.

But it can also affect some fast-growing healthy cells like those of the skin, hair, intestines, and bone marrow.

According to the website, some of the most common side effects of chemotherapy are fatigue, hair loss, easy bruising and bleeding, infection, anaemia (low red blood cell count), nausea and vomiting, appetite changes, and constipation.

Radiation therapy treats cancer by using high-energy waves to kill tumour cells. The goal is to destroy or damage the cancer without hurting too many healthy cells. There is no way to predict how radiation will affect you.

You may have few or only mild side effects from your treatment; someone else may have a lot of problems or very severe ones.

Early side effects, such as nausea and fatigue. Late side effects, such as lung or heart problems, may take years to show up and are often permanent when they do.

The most common early side effects are fatigue and skin problems.

H

undreds of Guyanese from all walks of life flocked the various parks and open spaces on Monday to observe and participate in this year’s Easter holiday festivities, as it signifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The favourable weather experienced across the country motivated kite lovers and spectators to take to the different kite flying hotspots.

Decked in their stylish and colourful outfits and enjoying the jubilant atmosphere with their family and friends, they braved the sun to display their creativity and artistic skills with their multi-coloured kites.

When this publication visited the seawall along the East Coast of Demerara, the picturesque view of the kites, especially the popular bird and star-shaped ones, could be seen in the sky from a distance as they “danced” and “sung” whenever the ocean breeze hit them.

At this venue, parents were seen helping their children get their kites into the sky among the many others, which, when taken at a glance, painted a picture of beautiful birds.

Persons who were there to take in the scenery and be part of the festivities could be seen en-

and friends did so. Scores of people were seen on the beaches and open spaces either picnicking or looking at their children having a wonderful time.

In the mining town of Linden, residents came out in their numbers as they flocked various sites across the community which are known for kite flying.

Areas such as the Bayroc Ground, various ball fields and dykes were transformed into fun zones throughout the day.

Though the heat of the day presented some challenges earlier on, this did not deter kite flying lovers and others from venturing out to the various locations. joying the ocean winds under a cool shade, chatting with their family and friends.

Selwyn Henry, an overseas-based Guyanese, whilst being encircled by his family members in their corner of the park, related to this publication that he is visiting his homeland for the Easter holiday and is so far enjoying his stay.

“I’m enjoying my stay here in Guyana.

Of course, I am from Guyana…I love being home because it’s wonderful as kite flying signifies the rising of Jesus Christ” he explained.

Avril Roberts, another overseas-based Guyanese, cheerfully pointed out that she is enjoying herself on Easter Monday and is hoping to be in Guyana to celebrate another Easter holiday. Over at the Joe Vieira Park, West Bank Demerara, the enjoyment factor was much the same. There was music, lots to eat and drink and more so, lots of children with happy faces trying to get their kites in the air.

Reports coming out of Essequibo also suggested that the persons who came out to have a grand time with their family

Children could be seen raising their kites into the air, ably assisted by the grownups in some cases, while others opted to enjoy the cool afternoon vibes later on in the day.

The weather remained perfect for most of the day, providing just the right atmosphere for kite flying and other fun activities.

Fun zones were created in some areas where children hopped on merry-go-rounds, bouncy castles and played games. Families were also observed barbecuing and having picnics.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

After 13th discovery

ExxonMobil adds another drillship to fleet

A

s US oil giant ExxonMobil continues to discover more oil offshore Guyana, it has added another drillship to its existing fleet of three to increase its capacity.

The new drillship, Noble Don Taylor is presently working for Talos Energy in the Gulf of Mexico. Already, the Noble Bob Douglas and the Noble Tom Madden are in Guyana, along with the Stena Carron.

Only this week, Exxon announced its 13th discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well.

The announcement came a mere two months after the US supermajor made double oil discoveries at the Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 wells in the south-west section of the Stabroek Block.

Yellowtail-1, located some six miles northwest of the Tilapia discovery, encountered approximately 292 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.

According to a press release from ExxonMobil, it was drilled to a depth of 18,445 feet (5622 metres) in 6046 feet (1843 metres) of water.

The Noble Tom Madden began drilling the Yellowtail well on March 27 and it will next drill the Hammerhead-2 well.

This latest discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block.

Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area, which ExxonMobil expects to become a major development hub.

The Stena Carron is currently completing a well test at the Longtail-1 discovery and upon com-

pletion will next drill the Hammerhead-3 well.

Later in 2019, the Stena Carron will drill a second well at the Ranger discovery.

The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 development.

ExxonMobil has previously said that there is potential for at least five floating productions, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels on the Stabroek Block producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.

Start-up of the Liza Phase 1 development is on track to begin by the first quarter of 2020 and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, utilising the Liza Destiny FPSO, which is expected to arrive in the country in the third quarter.

Liza Phase 2 is expected to start up by mid-2022. A final investment decision is expected soon, subject to Government and regulatory approvals. Upon approval, the project plans to use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day.

Sanctioning of a third development, Payara, is also expected in 2019, with start-up projected for 2023.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest.

FEATURE 39

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SOCU’s fraud findings diminished its credibility– former AG …financial audit cannot affect cases before court – Harmon

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he financial irregularities found during the audit of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) are testimony to the fact that, with such a record, SOCU can no longer remain part of the law enforcement arm of the State, according to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

He noted that the credibility of the work that SOCU has done and is currently pursuing has been diminished.

Nandlall said the integrity cases that were filed by SOCU in recent times leave much to “wonder about the processes”, in light of alleged findings of fraud in the audit report that has just been concluded.

“A prosecutor is a minister of justice, and his duty is not to seek a conviction, but simply to place before the Court the relevant and admissible evidence. We have had situations where SOCU Prosecutors have refused to hand over to the defence a forensic audit report from which the charge stems which they are prosecuting.

“Prosecutors have a duty to provide such information to the defence, and an accused person has a constitutional right to receive such information as a facility for his defense; and in the Guyana Rice Development Board cases, this facility was denied to the accused persons and their lawyers,”

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall

Minister of State Joseph Harmon

Nandlall said.

According to the former Attorney General, he is one of the persons who assisted in the establishment of SOCU under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration, and he has been one of the victims of that unit’s “malicious prosecution”; but he feels that “the shocking disclosures of corrup-

tion, fraud, abuse of power and the rogue conduct on the part of officers of SOCU” warrant that the Unit be disbanded, because it has lost its credibility.

Meanwhile, State Minister Joseph Harmon told this newspaper that he does not believe the financial audit would affect the cases filed by SOCU

which are currently before the court.

“I have not seen the report, so I will not be able to comment on it; but I just think that it is a far stretch of imagination to basically try to say that the cases are affected in some way because of that.

“I mean, the cases are brought before the court based on what the Police and the Police Legal Advisor (have recommended), and assuming that there is a case to answer. And so, once they have determined that, I don’t understand how some subsequent finding of a financial transaction within the Unit can in fact make the case before the court itself less credible. I find difficulty in making that connection,” Harmon told this publication.

According to recent reports, the audit of the financial records of SOCU has uncovered serious irregularities, including the falsification of records, and it has been recommended that there be immediate transfers and a fraud investigation of several of the discrepancies, sources say.

An audit of SOCU, which is a branch of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), was ordered by Police Commissioner Leslie James in February following claims of grave mismanagement, which included the misuse of its operational funds.

Berbice man killed while First Lady launches ICT attempting to cross road programme at Bina Hill Institute and received injuries about his body. He was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he died while receiving medical attention.

Meanwhile, Police in a statement said that motorcar PTT 8022 was proceeding west along the southern carriageway when the pedestri-

side of the road.

The dead man’s mother Tajkumarie Bronne said she was inside her home when she heard the impact.

According to her, when she ran out from the kitchen, she saw the car speeding away but at the time she was unaware that it was her son who was hit.

Tajkumarie related

A

Dead: Stanley Bronne

pedestrian was on Tuesday killed as he was attempting to cross the Number 11 Public Road, East Coast Berbice. Dead is 30-year-old Stanley Bronne of Lot 8 Number 11 Village, ECB. Based on information received, motorcar PTT 8022, which was being driven by a resident of Block X Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, was heading along the roadway at about 10:45h when the now dead man reportedly emerged from behind a parked lorry and began to cross the roadway.

Reports are the driver of the motorcar allegedly swerved to avoid a collision but the right front of the vehicle collided with Bronne.

As a result of the impact, Bronne fell onto the front windscreen then onto the road

F

First Lady Sandra Granger along with participants and organisers of the programme

The car that was involved in the accident

an reportedly emerged from behind a parked lorry, which was on the northern side of the road, and began crossing the road from north to south. It went on to say that the driver alleged that he swerved south to avoid a collision. According to the police, in so doing, the right front of the vehicle collided with the pedestrian on the southern

that the Police brought the driver back to the scene since he drove away after hitting him.

Bronne leaves to mourn, a wife and two children ages 2-years and 2-months-old along with a mother, father, sister and a brother.

The driver, who passed a breathalyser test, is in custody assisting with the investigation.

irst Lady Sandra Granger on Tuesday morning said that she was pleased to launch the nationally certified programme, the Information and Communication Technology workshop, at the Bina Hill Institute Youth Learning Centre (YLC), Region Nine(Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo).

The First Lady urged the 34 participants to capitalise on the opportunity to learn and use the skills that they would gain to develop their community.

“I always say I do not want to conduct a workshop where people get a piece of paper and at the end of it, to put in a drawer. The workshop must lead to the certifi-

cation that leads to development and employment for the people who take part in it, and those people will be young people like yourselves or women [and] older people, who do the child care and senior care workshop,” Granger is quoted by the Ministry of the Presidency’s Public Information and Press Services Unit as saying.

Meanwhile, Principal of the Institute, Dr Laureen Pierre said that she too was pleased that the First Lady has brought the programme, first of its kind, to the Institute. She noted that although the institution has done well over the years and has produced qualified graduates, it has struggled with acquiring accreditation

and attracting accredited programmes.

“This training programme, as we are told, offers that. This is a new beginning for the YLC and I want to say thank you to the First Lady for taking the initiative of moving us along,” she said.

Dr Pierre also noted that the Institute was receiving much support from the Government, and that for 2019, it received a subvention of over $50 million.

The three-week-long workshop, which is being conducted in collaboration with the Social Protection Ministry’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT), will also include information on STEM Robotics and Microenterprise.

42 NEWS

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Essequibo River farmers fume over loss of income …says diseases destroying crops

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armers along the Essequibo River are expressing dissatisfaction over the loss of crops as a result of a disease killing their produce. This is resulting in a major loss of income for them which prevents them from being able to provide for their families.

Famers are calling on the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to implement new technology to give much-needed assistance and guidance to farmers. Generally, there is a major shortage of plantain materials and as a result, the farmers have to settle for second class materials which is a main contributing factor to the diseases infesting their crops since there is no mechanism in place for properly detecting which of these materials are good and which are not.

Agriculturalist Brijesh Singh, who carried out inspections on some of the farms in the Essequibo River, on Tuesday confirmed that there are three main common diseases affecting the farmers in those areas.

These include the leaf, which is affected by Black Sigatoka, the root, which has to battle Moca Disease and an issue with nematodes since

farmers have difficulty identifying whether there are nematodes or just cockles eating the plants.

Singh said that the shortage of plantain materials is the main contributor to the issue since the farmers are forced to accept materials that may not be of an appropriate standard. Singh explained that enhanced technology by NAREI would assist in tackling such problems and made calls for them to reestablish a bio-diversity laboratory to conduct tissue culturing which would assist the farmers in determining which materials are viable and less susceptible to diseases.

“They are unable to gain advice on appropriate identification and control and as a result, they can’t identify these problems,” Singh said.

He added that there are no mechanisms in place by NAREI for inspection, quality control or certification, therefore, farmers are at risk of purchasing poor quality materials which are destroying their crops and source of income at large. He added that a biotechnologist laboratory at NAREI would offer muchneeded guidance in dealing with such issues which are plaguing farmers countrywide. “NAREI doesn’t even

have a biotechnologist. This is unacceptable. In a technologically advanced period, Guyana is behind. There is a need for specialised people in dealing with this and that is not being done. Enough is not being done by NAREI to improve on these things,” he said.

Over the weekend, farmers in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) made calls for the intervention of NAREI in trapping and bating the palm weevil, which is killing coconut trees in the region.

Singh, who carried out the inspection and discovered the palm weevil, said that it is associated with a nematode which causes the red ring virus of coconuts. Singh said that the farmers cultivate coconuts on a large-scale basis and supply businesses with thousands of coconuts per week and this plague is killing coconut trees.

Singh explained that after the trees started to die, the farmers solicited his help and he carried out a general inspection on a large farm at Waipotosi Island, Essequibo River, where he discovered a few dead coconut trees and dissected one of them and this is where he discovered the palm weevil.

More than ten farmers

Diseased suckers

from Hubu backdam, Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara), are also ex-

periencing the same issue with the plague killing their coconut trees.

CJIA expansion project

Robeson Benn calls for full probe

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ormer Public Works Minister under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Robeson Benn, has supported calls for “a full-fledged public investigation” into the controversial Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project, particular the fixed-price contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) which the coalition Government has “tremendously modified”.

“I support calls for a fullfledged public investigation into how a fixed-price contract could be subject to changes in scope and intent,” Benn said in a statement on Tuesday in response to comments made by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson on Monday where he placed blame for the delays of the CJIA expansion project at the feet of the former Administration, despite taking control of the project almost four years ago.

However, in a subsequent missive on Tuesday, Benn explained that Guyana entered into the design and build fixedprice contract with CHEC for the expansion of the CJIA to address issues such as congestion and ageing facilities. He noted that the payment was made on the usual 30 per cent mobilisation advance to the Chinese company, which was

bonded.

“Initial delays in project start-up occurred as CHEC sought to extract an increase in the project sum by US$30 million. Their effort was refused based on international contracting rules for fixed-price contracts and the considered view that they sought increase was not warranted, anyway,” he stated.

Impairing project’s integrity According to the former Public Works Minister, by the time the coalition Government took over the project in 2015, the performance schedules of many national contracts were in difficulty because of budgetary cuts imposed by the then APNU and AFC parliamentary opposition.

“It is now evident that the scope of this project seems to have been tremendously modified with the effect of impairing the project’s original intended validity and integrity…

It is obvious that the Minister is making an attempt, utilising his Facebook page and friends, to assign blame elsewhere for failings on the project after being responsible for the project for almost four years,” Benn posited.

He went on to clear the air on “assertions” made

by Patterson, starting with the project supervision. The

Former Public Works Minister Robeson Benn

Minister had said that CHEC worked for over 18 months without any independent supervision. But according to Benn, before the supervising consultants – MMM Group Limited in association with Caribbean Engineering and Management Consultants (CEMCO) – came on stream in July 2014, the Ministry’s Works Services Group (WSG) undertook supervisory responsibility of the project from its commencement in January 2013.

This WSG resort, he noted, was not unusual and natural

and necessary in the circumstances to maintain project schedules. Furthermore, in addressing the allegations of allowing extra sand filling and determining the cost of the sand made by the Public Infrastructure Minister, Benn pointed out that the sand had to be provided free of royalties, which are costs that would have been charged back to the project, anyway. He added too that the sand provided was designed to allow for placement of an engineered fill, at levels of compaction and stability to provide for a safe, stable runway extension.

He posited that CHEC had examined the project site before entering into the design and build fixed-price contract and advised that changes be made to the initial runway extension.

“On detailed geotechnical examination of the planned northern extension by CHEC resulted in their advice that the entire length of fill to the north would be excessive and a decision was made to share the 1000 metres extension between the north and south of the runway – 50:50.”

This was taken as the optimised solution to the issue as an extension of 1000 metres to the south would have, indeed, required more fill based on elevation and deepen of the

swamp sediments – pegasse and soft Demerara clay as the river was approached beyond 500 metres of extension. In fact, the soil conditions beyond 500 metres on direction of the extension were unsuitable because of volume of excavation and fill required,” Benn clarified.

In 2012, the then PPP/C Administration secured a US$138 million loan from the China Exim (Export-Import) Bank to fund the expansion and modernisation project, for which Guyana was slated to inject some US$12 million.

However, even though Patterson said the airport specifications were downgraded to limit cost overruns, the coalition Government went to the National Assembly last year for $346.5 million in supplementary funds towards the purchase and installation of two additional air bridges. In 2019, taxpayers are expected to hand out even more funds as the project remains in an incomplete state.

But according to Benn, with this new deadline having also passed, “we are, apparently, now being asked to prepare ourselves, via Facebook, to accept less for more in the result along with experiencing excessive and prolong delays related to this project”.

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Essequibo conservancy fishes died from lack of oxygen – Minister Holder

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Agriculture Minister Noel Holder

he hundreds of dead fish that were on Saturday discovered floating in the conservancy canal that runs between the Richmond Housing Scheme and the La Belle Alliance Housing Scheme in Region Two(Pomeroon/Supenaam) are said to have died from lack of oxygen.

This explanation was proffered by Agriculture Minister Noel Holder, who told Guyana Times International on Monday that more enquiries are being done to verify the conditions that led to this magnitude of fish dying.

“But as it is, the water where they lived is relatively low, resulting in limited oxygen for their survival.

That, coupled with the fact that the vegetation in the area — the shrubs and weeds in the water where the fish were — needs oxygen too to survive. So, due to the vegetation not being removed, (less) ox-

ygen was available for the fishes,” Minister Holder explained.

He explained that although the issue is a Regional one, the Agriculture Ministry is still playing a role in helping to avoid a recurrence of such a situation.

Guyana Times was told that, through the Agriculture Ministry’s National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), more water is expected to become available in that conservancy and in nearby canals.

“I have the NDIA currently focusing on pumping additional water into the canals of Region Two, which are being affected by the dry weather and lack of rainfall presently. The one hymac that we have in that particular area is presently under repair, but we are working to remove the vegetation,” the minister told Guyana Times.

Minister Holder further stated that once the overgrown shrubs and weeds are cleared, at least one source of threat to the fish’s supply of oxygen would be eliminated.

Over the weekend, residents in the areas contiguous to this canal have complained that the stench emanating from the dead fish was both unhealthy and unbearable.

When the dead fish were discovered, an investigation was immediately launched, and preliminary findings are that the fish could not obtain enough oxygen to susrvive.

According to several residents, the water is stagnant, and they are unable to use the water (as had previously obtained) for household chores and other activities.

In fact, the area where the fish are floating is polluted with boxes and tins, as well as other items that appear to have been dumped by persons in the water.

Photo wed11- Dead fish floating in the conservancy that runs between the Richmond Housing Scheme and La Belle Alliance Housing Scheme, Essequibo

Exciting Mother and Daughter Pageant 2019 planned

The organiser, Dr Sulan Fung-Browne and founder Ingrid Fung along with representatives from MovieTowne Guyana and Nigel’s Supermarket

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he 28th Annual Mother and D a u g h t e r Pageant, which is slated for May 11, is expected to be much bigger and better this year with the introduction of a red carpet show.

The red carpet affair, which is being made possible through a partnership between the organisers of the Mother and Daughter Pageant and MovieTowne Guyana, will be a pre-show to the actual pageant.

The 2019 theme of the event is “The superpower of love” and as such, the event will be celebrating and tailored around “love”.

Twenty-two pairs of mothers and daughters will be competing in three categories: The Always Senior, the Middle category and the Igloo Junior category.

According to Dr Sulan Fung-Browne, who organised the pageant with her mother and founder of the event, Ingrid Fung, the aim this year is to incorporate public interest in pulling off a successful event.

“We always like to orient our show around the theme of love. This year, I see through MovieTowne, a lot of adults are into the superheroes, Avengers and all these other things, so I have decided to talk to the people in the language they know because even though these superheroes, everybody has their own strengths, if you demonstrate love, it will be the best strength ever demonstrated. So the superpower of love is definitely the thing that we want to celebrate” Fung-Browne explained.

Fung-Browne noted that Guyanese will finally have that Oscar/ Grammy’s type of experience with the event that the Mother and Daughter Pageant is hoping to pull off.

The new red carpet event and show will be hosted by popular radio and television personalities Feliz Robertson and Gordon Moseley.

“It’s something that you definitely want to be a part of. We have noticed that the patrons dress to death for this

show and so we want to put the spotlight on them for a change so before the show will be the red carpet from 6 to 8 where you can come, have your interviews, take your pictures, you hang out a little bit in the lobby and you have a fun time…don’t let us just look at the TV and see the Grammy’s and Oscars and wish that we could’ve been a part of it, you can be a part of it this year” Fung-Browne noted.

Meanwhile, The New Nigel’s Supermarket, another partner, will be handing out massive prizes not only to the contestants, but also to the attendees.

Additionally, Nigel’s Mommy and Me promotion is allowing the Guyanese public to win prizes for their mothers on Mother’s Day. In that promotion, persons are asked to write about what makes their mother special and to drop those letters in boxes located at their various branches countrywide.

Jamaica debt falls below 100% of GDP, first time since 2000

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he International Monetary Fund (IMF) is projecting that for the first time since 2000, Jamaica’s public debt will fall below 100 per cent – to 98.7 per cent for 2019.

In a release following the fifth review of the country’s performance under IMF stewardship (a 36-month stand-by arrangement with access to US$1.66 billion), the fund was complimentary of several aspects of the economy, noting that unemployment is near alltime lows, business confidence is high, and the economy is estimated to have expanded by 1.8 per cent in 2018, buoyed by mining, construction and agriculture.

International re-

serves are also estimated to be comfortable under a more flexible exchange rate. All quantitative performance criteria at end-December 2018 were met, and the structural benchmark to table in parliament amendments to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Act was completed in October 2018, the fund said. On the flipside, the fund noted that in December 2018, inflation was 2.4 per cent, triggering staff consultation under the Monetary Policy Consultation Clause. It remained at the same level in February 2019.

The Jamaican authorities continue to view the agreement as precautionary, the bank said, and to use it as an insurance policy against

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness

unforeseen external economic shocks that could lead to a balance of payments need, though strong implementation of the reform programme continues.

Achieving higher growth calls for action

from both the public and private sector, the Jamaican Government over the coming fiscal year plans to reduce the primary surplus by half a per cent of GDP to 6.5 per cent, without compromising the medi-

um-term public debt anchor. This fiscal loosening supports growth and social spending by providing resources for security, infrastructure, school meals and transportation. Further, cuts to distortionary financial taxes will help support economic activity and job creation. The private sector should capitalise on these fiscal measures to increase investment, and create new opportunities for advancing financial inclusion, the fund said.

Public sector governance shortcomings should be immediately addressed, and can be achieved by, among other things, empowering the integrity commission, passing regulations to solidify a transparent

and competency-based process for board appointments to public bodies’ boards, and reducing the number of public bodies.

An ongoing commitment to strengthen domestic institutions is needed as Jamaica prepares to exit from the fund financial arrangement later this year, the IMF said. It also recommended overhauling the public sector compensation structure by streamlining allowances and making it performancebased, prioritising and reducing government functions and size, and upgrading public bodies’ governance as policies critical for fiscal sustainability. (Trinidad and Tobago Newsday)

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Fly Jamaica likely to be hauled before Courts – CCAC

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he embattled airline, Fly Jamaica, is likely to be taken to court over compensations owed to hundreds of passengers who were left stranded as a result of the crippling crash it encountered last November at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) at Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

On Monday, Consumer Affairs Officer, Feyona Austin-Paul from the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) explained that such action may be timely as months would have already elapsed.

Nevertheless, she said that the airline has been engaged by the Commission and, in fact, will be meeting next week to pave the way forward.

Initially, the airline had promised the

The Fly Jamaica aircraft that crash-landed

Commission to begin payments in March but failed to do so due to lack of funds. In fact, subsequent to this announcement, Fly Jamaica even made their staffers redundant by March month end.

In light of this, the consumer officer explained, “They will be treated just like a normal supplier and the [Consumer] Act will be enforced against them”.

She noted that it was too early to determine whether the Commission will be forced to take the airline to court or if passengers themselves would have to make that

move. Already, two lawsuits have been filed against the airline, with the most recent order issued in December.

That lawsuit was filed by a Canadian law firm to represent passengers who claimed they were injured during the crash landing at the airport.

The notice of the class action suit stated that it was seeking compensation for not only the passengers who were on board the flight OJ256 destined for Toronto, Canada, but the families who were affected as a result of the crash.

That lawsuit came days after Canadian

firms Howie, Sacks and Henry and Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman filed a case against the airline for injuries and losses incurred as a result of the crash.

That lawsuit was filed on November 23, 2018.

Of the 120 passengers on board the Boeing 757 flight on November 9, 2018, along with eight crew members, at least six were injured during the crash landing.

An 86-year-old woman died one week after the incident as a result of brain swelling.

The flight left the CJIA for Toronto at about 02:10h on November 9, 2018, from the CJIA, but after reportedly encountering hydraulic issues, the pilot returned to the airport where the aircraft crash-landed about 02:53h.

Reminder…

Y

…of the 1st PNC disaster

our Eyewitness joins the rest of the Caribbean to mourn one of its most loyal sons – Sir Alister McIntyre. He was part of what is now a seemingly extinct species – the public servant who spent his youth becoming educated at the highest level, and then the rest of his life actually SERVING the Caribbean public. There are many reasons for us Guyanese to honour the memory of this great man.

Appointed as Caricom Secretary General in 1974, he became intimately knowledgeable of our local politics, being posted to its headquarters at the Bank of Guyana Building. This served him in good stead when in 1989 he was appointed the UN Secretary General Good Officer for the Venezuelan border controversy.

But in that same year, he was associated with an event that was to play a critical role in the return of free and fair elections in Guyana, and which saved us from a downward spiral that was just about to plunge our country into a black hole, from which there is no return or exit. He must be remembered for this over everything else! This was the October 1989 report of the Commonwealth Advisory Group – which became known as the McIntyre Report, because of the lead role he played in compiling it – on Guyana’s economic and social situation, after 25 years of PNC rule.

The PPP and the other Opposition parties had been documenting for years the disastrous results of the PNC’s political dictatorship and its economic adventurism into “co-operativism”, but it was as if they were yelling in the middle of the proverbially empty forest. But the eponymous McIntyre Report, conducted on behalf of the Commonwealth by a leading Caribbean intellectual and economist, was the shot heard across the world and which shattered local, regional and international silence over the Burnham dictatorship.

The Report concluded that Guyana had plunged from being the second most developed British colony in 1964 to being barely above Haiti by 1989!!

And that this situation was “clearly unsustainable”.

10,000 Guyanese were fleeing annually and debt service payments and interest amounted to 140 per cent and 53 per cent respectively of export earnings.

The foreign debt amounted to US$2.1 billion with debt service payments amounting to 105 per cent of current revenue.

Sugar, rice, bauxite and forestry had all been run into the ground as was the rest of the 80 per cent of the economy the PNC had nationalised. Rats were chewing babies’ toes at Georgetown Hospital and “white mouth” stalked the land. The US took notice and the rest is history.

RIP Sir McIntyre! The nation hopes the CCJ will follow in your illustrious footsteps!

…of pressures on judiciary

The US State Department issued a very timely reminder of the “influence” the Executive Government of the PNC exerts over the Judiciary.

You may think it’s not as bad as during the Burnham dictatorship when the PNC flew their party flag over our Court of Appeal – then our apex court. But from what every Guyanese has seen since 2015, Granger is a president who doesn’t even genuflect to the law as did Burnham.

Now what your Eyewitness has to remind you, Dear Reader, about is that in our dear land of Guyana, the Judiciary doesn’t just mete out justice to criminals out there. In politics, we are taught that there are three parts of the government – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary – and they’re supposed to “check and balance” each other. But in our Westminster System, the Legislature (the National Assembly) is controlled by the Executive!!

And that leaves only the Judiciary to hold off the creeping dictatorship! The last 2-1 majority decision on the “33 not-greater-than 32” by the Appellate Court left many scratching their heads.

Will it be “E tu, CCJ?”

…Ankoko

As our case inches forward at the World Court on the Venezuelan controversy manufactured over our settled border, let’s not forget that they’re occupying our half of Ankoko Island.

Not a blade of grass!!

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cops probing Venezuelan links with T&T gangs

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he TT Po­ lice Ser­ vice (TTPS) is mon­i­tor­ing the con­nec­tions be­tween Venezue­lan crim­i­nals who have been iden­ ti­ fied in T&T and the lo­cal gangs. And TTPS and oth­er se­cu­ri­ty agen­cies are al­so mon­i­tor­ing the move­ ments of Venezue­ lans en­ter­ing T&T legal­ ly as well as il­le­gal­ly.

Act­ing Na­tion­al Se­ cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Ed­mund Dil­lon con­firmed this in Par­lia­ment on Tuesday when he was grilled by Op­po­si­tion MPs Rod­ney Charles, Roodal Mooni­ lal and Vidia GuyadeenGopeesingh on re­ ports about il­le­gal Venezue­ lans in T&T and crim­ i­ nal links with lo­ cal gangs.

“A num­ ber of mon­ i­ tor­ing and in­tel­li­gence gath­er­ing ex­er­cis­es are tak­ ing place right now from the TTPS,” Dil­ lon

said, de­tail­ing ac­tiv­i­ties.

Dil­lon, act­ing for an ab­sent Na­tion­al Se­ cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Stu­art Young, was grilled about the sit­u­a­tion following re­ports that 25 Venezue­ lan na­ tion­ als were held for il­le­gal­ly en­ter­ing T&T and claims that lo­ cal gangs are be­ ing in­ fil­trat­ed by cer­tain no­to­ ri­ ous Venezue­ lan drug car­tels.

He said Im­mi­gra­tion au­thor­i­ties were cur­ rent­ly in­ter­view­ing those who were held for en­ter­ ing T&T il­le­gal­ly at var­i­ ous po­lice sta­tions across T&T. “At the end of those in­ter­views, once it's con­ firmed they en­tered il­ le­ gal­ ly, they'd then be charged and placed be­ fore the court. Pend­ ing that, what hap­ pens in the court will de­ter­mine de­por­ta­tion,” Dil­lon said.

Asked if any of the 25

Minister of Housing and Urban Development Edmond Dillon

were linked to a no­to­ri­ ous gang al­leged to have in­fil­trat­ed T&T bor­ders,

Dil­lon said, “The peo­ple ap­pre­hend­ed are be­ing in­ter­viewed by Im­mi­

gra­tion au­thor­i­ties. Un­ til such time as the in­ for­ma­tion comes from those in­ter­views, I”ll not be able to an­swer that.”

On what the TTPS is do­ing to ad­dress the in­ fil­tra­tion of lo­cal gangs

by Venezue­lans, Dil­lon added, “The ques­ tion seems to have arisen from an ar­ti­cle by Mark Bas­ sant which in fact was based on a Mas­ter's the­ sis done by an in­ di­ vid­ual in 2015. Even so, that in­for­ma­tion is sort of dat­ed. “ N o t w i t h­s t a n d­i n g that, the TTPS has put a num­ ber of mea­ sures in place to deal with il­ le­gals en­ter­ing T&T from Venezuela and oth­ er places. They've es­tab­ lished/strength­ened the li­ai­son with In­ter­pol to deal with/iden­ti­fy crim­i­ nals who are on In­ter­pol's data­base, en­ter­ing T&T. “They've strength­

ened the li­ai­son be­tween lo­cal in­tel­li­gence units, the Strate­gic Ser­vices gan­ Agency (SSA), Or­ ised Crime and In­ tel­ li­ gence unit and oth­ er lo­cal in­tel agen­cies to mon­i­tor the move­ments of Venezue­lans, il­le­gal­ly and legal­ly, in­to T&T.” Asked if Venezue­lans res­i­dent in T&T who are fa­cil­i­tat­ing the in­fil­tra­ tion have been iden­ti­fied and if they'll be de­port­ ed, Dil­lon said, “In mat­ ters such as these in­ves­ ti­ga­tions are the or­der of the day, there­ fore a num­ber of in­ves­ti­ga­tions are tak­ing place. til such time as “Un­ those in­ves­ti­ga­tions bear the kind of fruit that's re­ quired, then we move to a state of de­por­ta­tion. So a num­ber of in­ves­ti­ga­tions are tak­ ing place re­ gard­ ing il­le­gal Venezue­lans in T&T.” (Trinidad & Tobago

Guardian)

Trini ISIS bride regrets moving to Syria 3 killed in Top Bellefield, Jamaica A T&T woman who mar­ ried an ISIS fight­er in 2014, said she re­ gret­ ted her de­ci­sion even be­fore she ar­ rived in Syr­ ia with her new hus­ band and her then 12-year-old son.

Gailon Law­ son was among four for­ eign women in­ter­viewed by the As­so­ci­at­ed Press (AP).

She is among tens of thou­ sands of ISIS fam­i­ly mem­bers, most­ ly women and chil­ dren, who are cur­ rent­ ly crammed in­to squalid camps over­ seen by the US-backed Kur­dish-led forces who spear­head­ed the fight against the ex­ trem­ist group. She is at the Al-Hol in­tern­ment camp in north-east­ ern Syr­ia.

Law­son, 45, said she be­gan to re­gret her de­ ci­ sion even be­ fore she reached the “caliphate.”

The night she crossed in­to Syr­ia in 2014, peo­ ple had to dash across in the dark­ness to evade Turk­ish bor­der guards.

“I saw peo­ ple run­ ning, and that's when I re­alised it was a mis­ take,” she said.

At the time she was a re­ cent con­ vert to Is­ lam who had be­come the sec­ond wife of a man, al­ so a T&T na­tion­al, who ap­par­ent­ly had been rad­i­calised. Days af­ter they mar­ried, they trav­ elled to Syr­ia.

“I just fol­ lowed my hus­band,” she said.

They di­ vorced not long af­ter ar­riv­ing.

Law­ son's biggest con­ cern over the next few ing her years was keep­ son from be­ ing en­ list­ ed as a fight­er. He was ar­rest­ed three times by ISIS for re­ fus­ ing con­

Gailon Lawson

scrip­tion, she said.

Dur­ ing the siege at Baghouz, one of the last outs in Syr­ ISIS hold­ ia, Law­son dressed her son as a woman in robes and a veil, and they slipped out. How­ev­er, Kur­dish se­cu­ri­ty forces de­tained her son. Law­ son has not heard from him in a month.

Law­son and the oth­ er women in­ter­viewed

by AP said mis­ guid­ ed re­li­gious faith, naivety, a search for some­thing lieve in or youth­ to be­ ful re­bel­lion led them to trav­el across the world to join ISIS. They all said join­ing ISIS was a dis­ as­ trous mis­take and in­sist­ed they had not been ac­ bers and had tive mem­ no role in the ter­ror­ist group's atroc­i­ties.

Al-Hol is home to who 73,000 peo­ ple streamed out of the Is­ lam­ ic State group's last pock­ets, in­clud­ing the vil­lage of Baghouz, the fi­nal site to fall to the Syr­i­an De­mo­c­ra­t­ic Forces (SDF) in March. ly the en­ tire pop­ Near­ la­ tion of the camp u­ dren is women or chil­

since most men were tak­ en for screen­ ing by the SDF to de­ ter­ mine if they were fight­ers.

Around 11,000 peo­ ple are held in the for­eign sec­tion of Al-Hol. ter­ The women in­ viewed by the AP said they were de­ ceived by es of an ISIS's promis­ ide­al state ruled by Is­ lam­ic law pro­mot­ing jus­tice and right­eous liv­ing. In­stead, they said their lives be­came a hell, with re­stric­tions, pun­ish­ments and im­ pris­on­ment. try has This coun­ gained a rep­u­ta­tion in re­cent years as be­ing a source of ji­hadists ea­ger to join ISIS. A US State De­ part­ ment re­port de­scribes this coun­ try as hav­ ing “the high­est per capi­ta rate of ISIS re­cruit­ment in the west­ ern hemi­ sphere.”

It is es­ti­mat­ed that about eight fam­i­lies— in­clud­ing about 70 men and dozens of chil­ dren and women—left this coun­try to join ISIS in Syr­ia and Iraq be­tween 2014 and 2016.

Ac­cord­ing to in­tel­li­

gence re­ ports, some of them used bo­gus doc­u­ ments to trav­el to Syr­ia.

The An­ti-Ter­ror­ism (Amend­ment) Act is one of the tools be­ing used tect, pre­ vent and to de­ pros­e­cute ter­ror­ism and the fi­nanc­ing of ter­ror­ ism.

In ad­di­tion to us­ing that law to track and mon­i­tor for­eign ter­ror­ ist fight­ers from this coun­try, lo­cal au­thor­i­ ties have been shar­ ing in­tel­li­gence with the rael in US, UK and Is­ an ef­ fort to de­ tect any lo­cal­ly grown ji­hadist who might try to slip back in­to T&T un­de­ tect­ed.

Among the na­tion­als known to have re­turned were a fam­i­ly picked up from a Turk­ish refugee ter they tried camp af­ and failed to reach ISISheld ter­ri­to­ry. Au­thor­ i­ties have re­port­ed­ly been keep­ ing them un­ der close sur­veil­lance.

In ad­di­tion, two boys who were tak­en to Syr­ia by their fa­ther, an ISIS fight­er, were re­unit­ed er ear­ with their moth­ li­ er this year. (Trinidad &

Tobago Guardian)

R

esidents of Top Bellefield in Manchester were left devastated this morning following the triple murder of a family in their house.

The deceased have been identified as 55-year-old Uriah Morgan, also called Ballie, his common law wife ‘Mable’ and her son 22-year-old Odean Stephenson.

According to Superintendent of Police David Whyte, the bod­ ies were found approxi­ mately 7:30 by a family friend.

Whyte said the bod­ ies had gunshot wounds.

He said no motive has yet been determined for the killing. “…Nobody heard anything or seen any­ thing… the entire com­ munity is in shock and based on what we have heard none of the de­ ceased would have been in anything illegal. The man was a farmer, the common-law wife was the one who sold the produce at the market in Kingston and the stepson had a 12-hour job down at the bakery in

Williamsfield,” he told The Gleaner.

Morgan’s eldest brother Jeffery Pommels said he is at a loss by the killing. “…This morning me wake up fi go me bush because all of us was supposed to go and me hear me neighbour bawl out and say a three a them dead ova deh… when me run ova deh now me get fi under­ stand say a Ballie, him wife and the little boy.

“Boy I don’t know what could cause this… two a them on the bed and the little boy on the ground…this shocking man, I don’t know how this could happen,” he said.

“This is indeed shocking. This is the first time we have heard of something like this because it is a very qui­ et farming hardwork­ ing community…

I just want to encourage the community to re­ main resolute and vigi­ lant… anyone that has any information please pass it on to the po­ lice,” said Councillor for the Bellefield Division, Mario Mitchell. (Jamaican

Gleaner)

47

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Out of the logies O

By Ravi Dev

Development…

I

…or underdevelopment under PNC?

f the PNC are known for one thing, it’s got to be for “talking fat” when it comes to “development”! If someone had dropped in (say, from Mars!) and had listened to them back in 2015, they would’ve thought we would’ve surpassed Singapore by now!! And it’s not just the puffery that’s normal in Manifestos: Industrial estates; new cities; interior mega-farms etc…etc.

They really believed the BS they’d spouted about the PPP’s handling of the economy over the preceding 23 years; and assumed that, once the PPP were gone, development would bloom like sunflowers in the sun with just their spouting rhetoric!

And, mind you, this was AFTER Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP has performed the Herculean task of wiping out the US$2.1 billion debt the PNC had saddled the nation with by 1992; moved us from being a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) to being a Middle Income Developing Country; reduced poverty by 7 per cent in the PPP’s first decade in office, and kept the economy buzzing with the highest growth rate in the region.

Asked from where they’d get the money to fund all the “development” they were yelling about from the rooftops, they said that’d be the easy part. With them stopping the PPP from “siphoning off” into its pockets the billions and billions from the Treasury, they wouldn’t be able to spend fast enough!!

Well, four years have come and gone, and it’s a good thing their supporters didn’t hold their breaths!!

They’ve spent all right – but just on themselves!!

Industrial estates? Maybe they were confused about the SUGAR estates they closed, and thought dismantling of the factories was an “industrial” activity? But even the funds for the scrap metal have all been pilfered, and the activity now has to be audited!! New cities?? Well they DID baptise four old settlements as “towns”…but is that development, without a single new job being created?

There’s also lots of huffing and puffing about hinterland agriculture…but is huffing and puffing “development”?? How do you destroy agriculture in the hand (56,000 acres of drained and irrigated sugar lands on the coast) to just TALK about agriculture in the arid interior savannahs?

But the PNC are simply repeating their history. In 1970, they declared their “cooperative” strategy would create a utopia in Guyana. They’d “feed, house and clothe” the nation in five years: food from farmlands doled out to their supporters along with farming implements; they’d create 60,000 new homes and produce enough cotton at Kimbia to clothe the nation from fabrics woven at the Chinese- donated mill in Ruimveldt.

But it was just fat talk!! By the end of their reign, Guyana was left hungry, homeless and naked!!

Which will be repeated if the PNC’s allowed back after 2020.

Oil? Think Venezuela!

…of hate

Your Eyewitness is not surprised by what occurred over the Easter weekend in Sri Lanka – 207 Christians and foreigners killed in bomb blasts by Muslim militants.

Shocked, but not surprised. Sri Lanka is a Buddhistmajority island which was wracked for decades in a guerilla way by Tamil Sri Lankans against Sinhalese (Muslim and Hindu) Sri Lankans that took the lives of 100,000+ civilians and 50,000+ militants.

After two millennia, Buddhists were considered as the ultimate pacifists after the Emperor Ashoka reflected on the futility of war in dealing with disputes, and decided to spread the message of the Buddha’s “middle path”. But in Sri Lanka it was the Buddist monks who were most extreme about keeping Sri Lanka “pure”. And it’s from Buddhist-majority Myanmar (formerly Burma) that hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas were brutally expelled into Bangladesh. The irony is that the Rohingyas had themselves turned against fellow Buddhists and Hindu villagers.

The message for us Guyanese is that exclusivist religions are always potentially dangerous to peace!

…and investments

The neo-liberal mantra dictates that foreign investment is good. But is that necessarily so? Surely, investments that develop resources beyond our capabilities are okay.

But what about those that displace businesses Guyanese have already created, like Chinese supermarkets? Who approved those?

ne of the unfortunate circumstances of our polarised, identity-based politics is a contested history filtered through the lenses of the separate and often conflicting narratives of our two major ethnic groups.

Take the letter by Mr. EB John, captioned, “It is impossible to omit the critical role sugar industry played in economic and social growth of Indo-Guyanese communities” (SN 4-11-19). Now, in and of itself, that statement is true; but the seemingly inevitable comparison with the African Guyanese sugar workers in his letter does raise some contentious issues.

As Mr. John points out, the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund (SILWF) was established after WWII (1947, to be exact), by applying a levy on exported sugar, to be used for rehousing sugar workers. But he did not note that, simultaneously, the system of “cut and drop” was changed to “cut and load”, which extracted more from workers’ wages than the levy, and which precipitated the Enmore protest and massacre.

This SILWF initiative was a direct result of the Moyne Commission’s investigation of labour unrest in the Caribbean in the 1930s due to the deprivations in the sugar plantations occasioned by Depression-era plunging wages. The Commission was in fact taking evidence in British Guiana in 1939 when five sugar workers were shot and killed at Leonora Estate.

The Commission’s Report, which recommended far reaching political and social innovations, was not circulated, and was not implemented until after the war.

Mr John claims that “Extra Nuclear Housing Areas (ENHA) were exclusively constructed to accommodate INDIAN sugar workers and their families, supplemented by community centres and girls’ clubs.” But this was just not so. The ENHA were directed to accommodate ALL sugar workers and their families WHO WERE STILL LIVING

IN BARRACKS OR LOGIES, because their living conditions had shocked the members of the Commission.

Latrines, for instance, were constructed over drainage canals, which could contaminate irrigation canals from where the drinking water was sourced. And the community centres and girls’ clubs were open to ALL who resided in the surrounding villages.

By 1947, however, most African Guyanese sugar workers had left the barracks/logies, and this circumstance ensured the ENHA ended up with mostly Indian Guyanese sugar workers.

But African Guyanese sugar workers were the overwhelming majority of the skilled and better paid factory workers.

They rented or owned homes generally adjoining the public road, where they settled/bought after Emancipation.

At Plantation Uitvlugt, for example, one section between the Public Road and Bruda Dam housed a number of African Guyanese families on what was called “children property”. South of Bruda, mostly African Guyanese houses stretched south to form the “Casbah” section. There was one large “Barrack” on the Estate Rd housing a number of African and Indian Guyanese families,

and they were all housed in new “cottages” built from the SILWF funds.

Several “cottages”, dubbed “Bajan Quarters”, adjoined logies next to the sugar factory (“Letter A”), and housed a number of families from the 1929 WI brought to work on the sugar plantations from the smaller WI Islands between 1920 and 1928.

The African “Bajans” were granted SILWF loans to build houses in the Casbah section. One vacant section of Casbah (behind the Scots School) was allocated as house lots to other African Guyanese families, as well as the two older sections which were regularized; and SILWF loans for building houses were extended.

Residents of ‘Letter A’ logies were allocated house lots in the cleared land between the Public Road and the Atlantic Ocean – dubbed “Ocean View” – and built houses with the SILWF loans.

Other logies were relocated to ENHA lots created in Zeeburg, De Willem, Meten- meer-Zorg, Zeelugt, and eventually Tuschen.

But what Mr John failed to mention was that, following the Moyne Report, the Government, in 1946, launched a “Central Authority” to provide housing for the “working class”, which was superseded by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) in 1948.

Financing was provided from the British Guiana Building Society Ltd (est 1929 and incorporated in 1940 as the New Building Society). In 1954, the Housing Dept was created, and a vigorous house-building programme commenced, with G$15 million being spent between 1954 and 1959 to produce some 3,500 houses for persons outside the sugar belt.

We shall not extend the analysis to the 30,180 houses the PNC built during 1970-1980; plus the “housing schemes”; and arranging for the nationalised Bauxite Industry to mirror the SILWF arrangement “to reward its supporters and suborn its opponents”, as mentioned by Carl Greenidge in his book.

GPHC health fair attracts hundreds

T

he Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on Wednesday hosted a health fair which was open to the general public and saw many persons capitalising on services done free of cost by trained medical professionals.

The fair was organised in celebration of the institution’s 20th anniversary and featured several departments, private entities and organisations which focused on specialised treatments.

At the public health department, Nurse Nalini Dass-Sutton stated that employees of the hospital can also benefit from their line of services, which consisted of various vaccinations.

She stated that the yellow fever vaccine is extremely important to persons who are travelling to neighbouring countries such as Suriname and Brazil. As such, these efforts are geared towards immunising everyone and moreover, it is seen as a pre-

Testing offered by doctors on the spot

ventative measure to end the spread of these diseases.

“We are offering vaccination to the public as well as our colleagues and trying to immunise our population. We have the tetanus, MMR [Measles, Mumps and Rubella], Hepatitis B for the blood-borne diseases and the yellow fever vaccine,” said the nurse.

She added, “The yellow fever vaccine is very important to some persons who are travelling to some countries such as Brazil and Suriname.

This is an opportunity for persons to be vaccinated”.

The principal services were offered at the optometry unit, as persons sought to have their eyesight tested. By the end of the first hour, some 50 persons were tested and referred to conduct additional tests.

Meanwhile, the Guyana Diabetic Association was represented by some of its members, assisting persons with tests performed by the fundus camera and the HbA1c machine.

President of the Association, Glynis Beaton explained, “We have the fundus camera and will be testing the

retina of over 2000 persons and also, the HbA1c machine to test the last three months of your blood sugar”.

On the other hand, the Paediatric Department introduced a number of techniques to demonstrate the impact of poisoning in children.

Diane Singh, a doctor attached to the department, explained that there are many instances where children ingest substances that are left carelessly around the house. Sometimes, it is in the form of medications which look like edible candy.

A station was set up to teach parents how to store dangerous substances and medications away from young children. In many scenarios, these persons could not tell the difference between the two elements when compared.

They were also taught how to use a thermometer, since it was found that guardians could not clearly tell when their children have a fever.

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sajid Khan on working with John Sara Ali Khan star opposite Abraham: ‘I am under suspension’ to Varun Dhawan

F

ilmmaker Sajid Khan, who was accused of sexual harassment by three women, has rubbished reports that he will teaming up with actor John Abraham for a film.

The Indian Film and Television Director’s Association (IFTDA) had banned Sajid for a year after multiple women alleged the director of sexually inappropriate be-

A

ctor Jacqueline Fernandez will star in the upcoming Netflix original film, Mrs Serial Killer, which will serve as her digital debut. Jacqueline expressed her excitement about the project on Twitter.

She wrote, “Super stoked to announce my new @NetflixIndia Original film, Mrs. Serial Killer is coming soon.

This is going to be fun.”

The film will be directed by Sirish Kunder and produced by his wife, Farah Khan. “Just a very excited PSA that @Asli_ Jacqueline is officially part of the Netflix fam with Mrs. Serial Killer.

Here’s hoping that if we are ever framed for murder, she’s got our back!”

Netflix India tweeted on Wednesday, and shared a black and white picture

haviour during India’s #MeToo movement.

There were reports, however, that John had shown interest in a script which Sajid pitched to the actor and the duo will soon start working on the same.

They have previously collaborated on 2012 comedy Housefull 2.

When asked if he is working with John, Sajid told PTI, “Not true... I’m under suspen-

of the actor, wearing a scarf on her head.

Here’s an official synopsis: “When her husband is framed and imprisoned for serial murders, a doting wife must perform a murder exactly like the serial killer, to prove her husband innocent.”

Mrs Serial Killer was a part of a recent ann o u n c e ment by the streaming giant, in which it revealed that it would produce 10 new original titles for India.

Others i n clude a hor-

ror anthology by Lust Stories directors Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Karan Johar, and content produced by Shah Rukh Khan and Ronnie Screwvala. Karan will also produce an upcoming film called Guilty through the digital arm of his Dharma Productions.

He said in a statem e n t , “Today a filmmaker with an interesting idea has so many avenues to connect with the audience, and Netflix is definitely

sion from the director’s association and am not working since the last 6 months. I will finish off my suspension period for the next few months and only then consider work,” he added.

John, who last featured in spy thriller Romeo Akbar Walter (RAW), is currently filming for Anees Bazmee’s multi-starrer comedy Pagalpanti. (Hindustan

Times)

one of the most exciting among them.

As a content creator, there has never been a better time to tell stories. Guilty is a film that explores a personal, powerful subject where a small-town girl takes on the structures that protect perpetrators of rape. Ruchi Narain is helming the film as a director, and we at Dharmatic, could not be more excited than to see her vision come alive across 190 countries on Netflix.”

Shirish is best known for his critical and commercial flop Joker, which starred Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha. Netflix India will soon release the post apocalyptic series Leila and the second season of Sacred Games. (Hindustan

Times)

W

hen actor Akshay Kumar tweeted a couple of days back about being nervous at venturing into uncharted territory, most thought he’s referring either to a new film project, or is joining politics. As it turned out, the actor got the rare opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with the country’s Prime Minister on all things ‘non-political’. He describes the emotions before, during and after his candid chat with Narendra Modi, that broke the internet all of Wednesday.

The PM is not known to give interviews to a lot of journalists, let alone one to an actor. Whose idea was it for you to do this interaction with him?

I have had the good fortune of knowing our Prime Minister from the days when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. I’ve been meeting him on and off since then. I had seen a side of him — all those years back — when he was much more relaxed, he would laugh, crack jokes. During a recent conversation I had with his office,

we discussed the possibility of bringing that side of him out in the middle of all the election stress. My only condition was that I will not discuss anything political, because frankly, that’s not a subject I’m very up-to-date on. I’m really glad it mutually worked out, without there being any reference to politics.

But the fact that there was no discussion on politics is making some people say your questions were too simple, and lacked depth…

See, I am a simple man.

And I have no hesitation in admitting I couldn’t have asked any complicated questions

in Coolie No 1 remake

about government, policies, or politics. All the big time editors interviewing him anyway ask him questions which have ‘depth’, right? All I wanted to do was ask about lighter, relatable things which a common person would want to know about the man behind the powerful designation of the Prime Minister. I asked him if he likes eating mangoes. Some may find it frivolous but I really wanted to know if he indeed did. What’s wrong with that?

Modiji said he doesn’t get time to watch too much sports, otherwise I also would have asked him which team does he think will win the cricket World Cup.

B

ollywood actor Sara Ali Khan, who made her debut last year with Abhishek Kapoor’s box office dud Kedarnath and went on to feature in Rohit Shetty’s blockbuster featuring Ranveer Singh, is set to star in the remake of Coolie No 1 alongside Varun Dhawan, the makers announced Wednesday.

“It’s official... After 25 years David Dhawan and Vashu Bhagnani come back together to adapt their timeless comedy, Coolie No 1.

The film starring Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan begins shoot this August,” a statement from the makers read.

There were speculations that the ac-

The thing is, maine wahi questions poochhe jo mujhe khud samajh aate hain. I could not have possibly gone there with a script to ask questions on subjects that I do not myself have enough knowledge of, at this point.

In the context of him being active on social media, PM Modi took a good-natured dig at your wife Twinkle Khanna’s critical tweets about him. How did you react?

I did not know where to look. I was stumped by his wit, and the very sporting manner in which he said it. I didn’t know what to reply. I could only laugh embarrassingly and I thought to myself – ‘ek taraf biwi, ek taraf desh ka Pradhan Mantri. Both have powerful portfolios in my life.

It’s best to stay quiet’.

Was there a brief given by the Prime Minister’s Office on the questions to be asked?

How nervous were you?

Arrey, who will give me a brief to ask him about Aladdin ka Chiraag or narrate jokes on Gujaratis? I know people think such things are re-

tor, who made her Bollywood debut with 2018’s Kedarnath would be playing the female lead opposite Varun Dhawan in the modern adaptation of the hit comedy.

The original, which starred Govinda and Karisma Kapoor in the lead, was directed by Varun’s father, filmmaker David Dhawan.

David is returning to direct the new movie, which is produced by Vashu Bhagnani who also backed the 1995 film.

After Judwaa 2, the film marks David and Varun’s second collaboration.

While Varun’s latest release was Kalank, Sara was last seen in Simmba.

(Hindustan Times)

hearsed, but if you would believe me, I’d like to clarify that it was a spontaneous, natural and free-flowing chat. We recorded a nearly one-and-a-half hour interview in a single take.

Not even once was there a repeat take. You wouldn’t have seen me read questions from a sheet of paper. Because I was speaking about things that I was picking up from the answers that he was giving me.

To answer your other question, yes, I was nervous, and I had even written that in my tweet. But I was not nervous because of him, but because of the fact that this was totally new territory for me. All my life, I have been on the other side of interviews. But Modi ji had the knack of making me incredibly comfortable. He was laughing and speaking so naturally, just as you and I are conversing right now, without there being a need for nervousness. When he started speaking so candidly, I also felt totally at ease and asked him whatever I’ve wanted to know about the human being that he is. (Hindustan Times)

HOLLYWOOD 49

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande bash Morgan Stewart for comments about Coachella

J

ustin Bieber is calling out Morgan Stewart for comments she made about the singer’s performance with Ariana Grande at Coachella.

“Just saw a video of you ripping me to shreds saying I was lip-syncing,” Bieber blasted the E! Host in a tweet. “They played the song and I just sang overtop of it. Regardless, why spend your time tearing people down. It’s People like you that are bullies at school that are making kids suicidal.”

The “Sorry” singer continued to confront Stewart in a series of

Martha Stewart “feels sorry” for actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who are embroiled in the college admissions scandal.

The business mogul was at the Time 100 gala in New York City on Tuesday when she was asked by “Entertainment Tonight” what type of advice she may have for Loughlin and Huffman “about what may be to come” for the two women.

“I just feel sorry for them and they might have made a bad mistake,” Stewart replied.

Stewart, 77, served time in prison after she was convicted on numerous felony charges. She served five months at a women’s prison in Alderson, W.Va., in 2004.

Stewart opened up on her prison stay to Katie Couric in 2017.

“But no one should have to go through that. It’s a very, very awful thing,” she told Couric.

Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded not guilty last

tweets, encouraging her to use her TV show to lift others up instead of tearing them down.

He added, “Imagine if you spent even half the time you spend laughing at other peoples expense actually building people up and encouraging people how much positivity you could bring.

What hurts about this is the fact that you have a platform to make a difference.”

In a separate tweet, Bieber also told Stewart, “You belittle people, rather than try and make people feel accepted and loved you find things to pick apart like

week to charges that they paid $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters into the University of Southern California.

Huffman agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She is slated to

B

ritney Spears addressed rumors that she was being held against her will and said her family was getting death threats in a video posted on social media Tuesday night.

The 37-year-old pop star, who is seeking treatment for mental health, admitted that her situation was “unique” but insisted everything was fine.

“I wanted to say hi, because things that are being said have just gotten out of control!!! Wow!!!”

Spears wrote in the caption to an Instagram post.

“There’s rumors, death threats to my family and my team, and

the world isn’t full of that already.”

After Bieber wrote Stewart, Grande also defended the pair’s performance.

“We also decided to do this ten minutes before my set started. We had 0 sound check, 0 rehearsal,” the “thank u, next” singer commented on Bieber’s thread. “U were singing with the back tracking like most cameos do. People are bored. People don’t know how it feels to be under such scrutiny.

The world was happy to have u on stage again.”

She added, “I don’t like when people try to ruin beautiful moments for my friends that’s all.

Have a good day.”

In a segment of “Nightly Pop” on Tuesday, Stewart said, “I did not realize it was going to be that bad.” She then commented on the singer’s appearance, saying, “He definitely looks like he put an oxy pad on that forehead, but I don’t care. That is f—ked up!”

In March, Bieber opened up about his struggles with mental health, sharing that he was taking a break from music to focus on some “deep rooted issues.”

A rep for Stewart could not immediately be reached for comment. (Page Six)

appear in Boston on May 21 to enter her plea.

Prosecutors have said they will seek a prison sentence on the low end of four to 10 months for Huffman, who was charged with paying $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT score. (Page Six)

just so many things crazy things being said.”

The unfounded rumors about Spears’ recovery sparked a hashtag #FreeBritney among her fans.

Spears continued in the post to assure her fans that she was doing what was best for her at the moment.

“Your love and dedication is amazing, but what I need right now is a little bit of privacy to deal with all the hard things that life is throwing my way,” she wrote.

(Page Six)

D

enise Richards and ex-husband Charlie Sheen are on different pages when it comes to parenting their children.

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star said she took away one of their daughter’s phones with Sheen’s support — only to find that he went behind her back and bought a new one.

“I took the phone away from my kid and her dad was in total agreement on the phone with me about and he supported it,” she said on the BravoTV.com after-show as she sat down with Lisa Rinna. “And then the next day — a new phone number!”

“Oh, he got her a new phone?” Rinna asked.

“Yeah, and that’s hard,” Richards replied.

Richards, 48, and Sheen, 53, share daughters Sami, 15, and Lola, 13.

Richards adopted daughter Eloise, 7, after her split from Sheen.

Still, it seems there aren’t too many hard feelings between the exes, who were married from 2002 to 2006, as she revealed that she asked for his advice before signing on to the reality TV show.

Richards has since moved on, tying the knot with Aaron Phypers in September in front of Bravo cameras. Sheen, meanwhile, split from Brooke Mueller in 2011 after welcoming twins Max and Bob, now 10.

(Page Six)

W

hen it comes to business, Tyra Banks likes to fill her boardroom and offices with diversity — specifically women of color.

“Not only is it important for me to hire women, but my team understands it’s important to hire women of color,” Banks, 45, shared during Wednesday’s TIME 100 Summit on a panel about female entrepreneurship.

Banks, who left “America’s Got Talent” to focus on producing in December 2018 and will launch theme park Modelland this fall, said the changes have to come from the top down.

“I think it’s about mandates,” the model said. “I think if you have

power, that is a platform that just wields so much control — ‘this is this role, it’s a CFO, we will find a woman, will find a woman of color, we will’ — and being very specific. It’s about being that pointed with it.” (Page Six)

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AB de Villiers' 82* keeps RCB's playoff hopes alive into the final three games.

Devastating de Villiers

AB de Villiers heaves one into the stands

I

t was the sort of game that exemplified both why Royal Challengers Bangalore can be so dangerous, and exactly why they find themselves struggling the way they are. A knock of ferocity from AB de Villiers an unbeaten 82 of 44 - led the side to a 17-run victory over Kings XI Punjab, their fourth win in five matches to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Royal Challengers had been behind the eight ball for most of the first innings, after R Ashwin had put them in to bat, but de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis savaged 64 off the last three overs, and out of nowhere they had surged to 202 and taken charge of a game that had till then been controlled by Kings XI. A middle-overs collapse, three wickets falling for the addition of ten runs, had set Royal Challengers back before de Villiers and Stoinis put on 121 for the fifth wicket, aided by Kings XI losing their discipline as the carnage amplified in intensity.

Lost control was a major theme for a disappointed R Ashwin at the end, with Kings XI clinical in their approach to the chase in the first nine overs, only for two quick wickets to send the asking rate surging once more.

From that point on, getting to the target always seemed a bridge too far. Nicholas Pooran's five sixes gave Royal Challengers one last fright, but de Villiers' brilliance had ensured his side had plenty of runs to play with, and plenty of momentum going

The only weakness of AB de Villiers' game is that he showcases his ability so often that it doesn't quite carry the novelty that it would with a player less divinely endowed. Cherish it now, though, or repent at leisure.

Even with the hyperinflation in the currency of T20 run-scoring, it's likely to be a while before such an audacious, improbably gifted cricketer comes along to treat cricket fans the way this South African has been doing for over a decade. He may have hung up his international gloves but with Royal Challengers, de Villiers has been a rare bright spark in a difficult season.

He came in today and watched the Royal Challengers dig themselves into a hole - don't they often? - before launching a counter-offensive so lethal it made Kings XI forget the basic rules of T20 death bowling.

They fed him the ball in the slot, they threw in full-tosses both low and high, and they pitched the ball on a good length.

It was meat and drink for de Villiers, with Mohammed Shami and Hardus Viljoen bearing the brunt of the bombardment as the Kings XI leaked an eye-watering 64 runs in the final three overs.

In comparison, Kings XI managed a paltry 14 runs in their own final three overs, and in the absence of a freak like de Villiers, that 50-run disparity was simply too large to overcome.

ball, bringing two new men to the crease. It coincided with a rising asking rate that would never quite go back down to prebowling-change levels, and with seven bowlers in their arsenal, Royal Challengers had enough saved for their frontline bowlers at the business end.

R Ashwin's misfortune

There were several Kings XI players - mostly batsmen - who ill-deserved to be on the losing side today, but none can be as

disappointed as the captain R Ashwin.

In a game dominated by the big hitting of de Villiers, Stoinis, Gayle and Pooran, Ashwin kept his figures tighter than the taxman's purse.

Sure, three of the overs he bowled came in the middle as Royal Challengers looked to rebuild following a mini-collapse, but he didn't go for a single boundary in his entire spell, and got rid of Moeen Ali with a magical arm ball that slammed into

middle stump.

It exposed the home side's lower middle order, and Ashwin was brave enough to save himself for a final over towards the end just when de Villiers might be warming up.

He returned for the 17th over, giving away just five as RCB's innings looked to peter out. He might have given away just 15 in his four, but the 64 that came off the following three more than undid all his good work. (CRICINFO)

The extra bowling options

Yesterday, Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered for want of a sixth bowler, and Royal Challengers demonstrated the value of extra options to turn to.

Kings XI had amassed 101 in the first nine overs, and with nine wickets still in the bag appeared odds on to gun down 203.

But with his frontline bowlers struggling, Kohli had the luxury of turning to Marcus Stoinis and Moeen Ali. Stoinis struck with the first ball of his second over, getting rid of Mayank Agarwal, who along with Chris Gayle and KL Rahul had been responsible for the flying start Kings XI made.

The very next over, Moeen dismissed Rahul with his first

Hussein to represent Guyana at Pan Am Paralympic Table Tennis Championships

T

he Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) has secured a qualification spot for Gibrain Hussein, and he will be representing Guyana at the 2019 Pan American Paralympic Table Tennis Championships, scheduled for August in Lima, Peru.

Hussein’s qualification spot was confirmed when the GTTA received correspondence from Pablo Perez, Head of Para Table Tennis and Executive Vice President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) with responsibility for Para Table Tennis, who positively responded to the GTTA’s requested petition for a wild card application.

Hussein, with ID 3728, has been playing tournaments in the United States and other competitions in 2018 with a goal of trying to improve his world ranking so he can gain qualification at international events. His highest world ranking at level 10 was 38.

The national paralympic awardee and prominent certified ITTF level two coach, who has been working on several youth development programmes in Berbice, was very elated by the news. He had made many attempts to gain qualification to numerous other para-events, but was hampered by the delay in establishment of the Guyana National Paralympic Committee.

Gibrain Hussein

With regularisation of Guyana’s National Paralympic Committee, headed by Wilton Spencer, the way has now been paved for Guyana’s Paralympic athletes to participate in internation-

al Paralympic activities, and it has now become mandatory that they feature at these games.

The discipline of table tennis has seen recent dramatic growth in participation num-

bers, with 2000 athletes representing more than 100 different countries currently active globally.

The ITTF took over the governance of Para Table Tennis in what was a pioneer move in 2007. According to the Association, a lot of work has been done to improve many areas of the game, such as educating coaches and officials, and developing the players themselves.

They believe there is a bright future for Hussein and for future Paralympic table tennis athletes who aspire to commence the journey of representing Guyana and inspiring other Para Athletes in Guyana.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

CARIFTA 2019: Track and Field team tallies 9 medals T

he Guyanese Track and Field team has ended their Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) weekend on a high, capturing a record nine medals, on the other hand 12 year old Aleka Persaud continues to rack up medals in the pool.

The third and final day of Track and Field competition in the Cayman Islands saw Guyana adding two more medals to the seven accumulated over the weekend. While it is has not surpassed the highest medal count for Guyana at the CARIFTA games, for the first time the 21 member team is returning home with 4 gold medals.

On Easter Monday, Claudrice McKoy added a bronze medal to her gold after she finished third in the Women’s Open 3000M race.

Clocking 10.37.43s, The Munroe College athlete, McKoy, made the podium behind Bermuda’s Isabell Dutranoit (10:21.63) and Jamaica’s KellyAnn Beckford (10:28 13).

Berbice’s Matthew Gordon ensured that he would finish his CARIFTA outing with a gold of his own after missing out on the podium positions in the Boys U17 1500M event.

In the ultimate distance race, 3000M, Gordon focused

Jofra Archer

Aleka Persaud

and pushed his abilities to cross the finish line ahead of the pack. He finished in 9.12.43s, one second before Bermuda’s Nathan Armstrong (9:13.13) and The Bahamas’ Mitchell Curtis (9:16.86).

As such, the largest Guyanese contingent to represent the Golden arrowhead at the regional event finished with four gold, two silver and

three bronze medals. Chantoba Bright (1 gold, 1 bronze), Claudrice McKoy (1 gold, 1 bronze), Anisha Gibbons (1 gold), Joanna Archer (1 silver), Shauqa Tyrell (1 bronze), Adriel Austin (1 bronze) and the lone male Matthew Gordon (1 gold) were the athletes who medaled for Guyana.

Over at the Barbados Aquatic center in Wildey, Aleka

Claudrice McKoy crosses the finish line

Persaud added to her CARIFTA collection with another gold medal.

The 12 year old swimming sensation completed the 100M freestyle in a time of 1.02.39s to take gold. She was closely followed by Harper Barrowman of the Cayman Islands who had to settle for silver (1:03.04).

Despite missing out on the podium in the 200M Individual

medley where she clocked 2:42.42s and placed fourth, Persaud will still go on to represent Guyana at the Caribbean and Central American Championships in the latter half of this year.

There she will compete in the 100M and 50M butterfly and the 100M freestyle. The twelve year old has two gold and two bronze medals so far.

Romel & Robin 9-hole Easter Sunday Golf Tourney

Shaw, Persaud put forth top performances Many of the first-time visitors to the course spellbound by the beauty, serenity and great lawns of the golf course with lots of trees, and ponds for fishing (in rainy season) vowed to return and even bring their kids and spouses to play the game of golf.

O

The sponsors pose with the top performers

n Sunday, the Lusignan Golf Club hosted the second keenly contested and exciting event of the weekend, the Romel & Robin 9-hole tournament which was played in 2 Flights, handicaps 0 – 7, and 8 -14, with prizes awarded for the best first 3 net scores in each category.

In the 0-7 category winners were: Avinash Persaud – 9-time Guyana Open Male Champion – (30/1) – 1st; Vishal Dhanai (31/6) – 2nd; and ‘Skinny’ Deosarran (33/4) – 3rd. In hot pursuit of that Winners Row were ‘Naro’ Jetendra Ganpat (34/5) and Mike Gayadin (34/7). In the 8 – 14 category, winners were: Aasrodeen Shaw (33/8) –

1st; Kurt of ExxonMobil (33/14) – 2nd; and Mahindranauth Tewari (34/9) – 3rd. Close competition in this category was offered from Daniel Bates (35/14), Imtiaz Subhan (35/11), Rabindranauth Persaud (36/9), Videsh Persaud (36/14), and Roberto Mohan (36/14). A special prize went to the Best Female Golfer of the day – Kerry of Exxon Mobil, while Avinash won the prize for the Longest Drive.

And the grand weekend concluded with a bang on Easter Monday as several thousand persons descended on the course to picnic, play games, fly kites and generally relax and enjoy themselves for what

Some youngsters try their skills at putting

turned out to be the largest crowd ever at the LGC. Dozens of kids hunted for Easter Eggs in an activities well-coordinated by Nadia Kalika and Michelle Codrington of

Nexgen, and sponsored by club member Rudy Ramalingum of New Trend Auto, new member Adityanand Persaud, and club supporter Dr Jhagru of the GPHC Emergency department.

9-time Guyana Open Women’s Champion, Christine Sukhram, was on hand to teach newcomers how to putt in a prize winning raffle giveaway. Club President reiterated that the Club

will teach the game free of cost to anyone willing to learn. They ask that interested persons contact the club (2205660/645-0944) or visit their Facebook page Lusignangolfclub for more details.

President of the LGC Aleem Hussain expressed his gratitude to the team of Romel & Robin with all the staff who worked tirelessly to make this weekend enjoyable for so many families. He added “we expect that several new members will come out of this Easter weekend’s activity and based on the reaction of the guests, we feel that the LGC has a great future both in the game of golf and as a fun family destination”.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, April 27, Assuria Insurance Group of Companies will host their inaugural tournament as the LGC kicks off the second half of its season.

With Banks DIH, Torginol Paints, El Dorado (DDL), Kissoons, Macorp and AMCHAM all scheduled to host major events between now and June 15.

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Vast improvement for Junior CARIFTA Chess team

I

Jarrell Troyer preparing to battle

n spite of a weaker closing round than they hoped for, the Junior Chess team that represented Guyana at the 8th CARIFTA Junior Chess Championships is said to have gained valuable experience, in what was the first Regional or International outing for the majority of the team.

Hoping for a late surge after an impressive fifth round of play, the Chess team were unable to finish strongly, thus missing out on any of the team medals.

In Round five, the

team accumulated a whopping 8.5 points.

However, in the following round Joshua Khan, Arysh Ragunauth and Mahes Boodhoo were the only players to bag wins while Savir Gookul, Jaden Taylor and Chelsea Juma clinched draws for the teams 4.5 points.

The fourteen member team bettered their performance in the final round, but were still unable to accumulate more than 10 points.

Jacob McDonald, Jarrell Troyer, Mahesa Boodhoo

The Guyanese Chess team during pre-game preparations

and Mahir Rajkumar won their matches, whilst Ghansham Allijohn, Arysh Ragunauth and Angel Rahim salvaged draws for their 5.5 points in the seventh round.

Despite not being able to cop a team medal, the Guyanese contingent, with their overall 36.5 points bettered their 2018 performance by 250%. This improvement was reward enough for FIDE certified Chess instructor Wendell Meusa who spoke exclusively with the Guyana Times Sport.

“I think team Guyana did fairly okay. As I said, we only had three experienced persons on our team. Every other player never played at a regional of international tournament before but our aims were achieved,” Meusa explained.

Disclosing several challenges faced like moving from hotel to hotel and food poisoning which took a toll on the team at one point, Meusa noted that the players held their focus in order to finish off the competition.

“These kids are high-

ly motivated and they battled throughout the time here to do well for the country. It was very tough, for some of them they never saw some openings, positions, gambits and I had a lot of explaining to do,” he said.

One rewarding factor is for the Junior Championships which was hosted in Curacao, is that the members of the team will now receive a World Chess Federation (FIDE) ID and rating that will contribute positively to their regional and international participation in future tourna-

ments.

Arysh Ragunauth, Jaden Taylor and Jarrell Troyer were the outstanding players in thr tournament finishing with 3.5 out of 7 points.

Looking to the future, Meusa disclosed that the 9th edition of the Junior CARIFTA Chess Championships, next year will be hosted here in Guyana. While further plans will need to be implemented in order to host the tournament locally, Meusa is confident that it will be a boost for the Guyanese team.

(Jemima Holmes)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Andre Russell in West Indies World Cup squad, Kieron Pollard misses out W

est Indies have included allrounder Andre Russell, who has played just one ODI since 2015, in their preliminary squad for the World Cup, but there was no room for Kieron Pollard or Marlon Samuels. Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel returns, two years since his last ODI, while Evin Lewis and Kemar Roach are also included having sat out the recent series against England with injury.

Also overlooked was Sunil Narine, the spinner whose previous ODI appearance came in 2016. He may require surgery on a finger ligament injury but remains keen to return for West Indies at some point. "I don't feel my finger is quite ready for ODI cricket," he told ESPNcricinfo.

Chris Gayle, who has signalled his intention to retire from ODIs after the tournament, is set for a fifth World Cup, while spinning allrounder Fabian Allen won selection ahead of Devendra Bishoo.

Alzarri Joseph was not

considered after suffering a muscle tear and dislocation of his right arm while at the IPL. While questions about who might be included centred on a possible recall for Pollard, following his form at the IPL, or even a comeback from the retired Dwayne Bravo, the return of Russell was the most significant decision by the new selection panel headed by Robert Haynes.

Russell has been hampered by a knee injury since returning to cricket last year following an anti-doping ban. He made one ODI and three T20I appearances on Bangladesh's tour to the Caribbean in mid-2018, but has since played most of his cricket on the franchise T20 circuit - most recently at the ongoing IPL, where has been a talismanic presence for Kolkata Knight Riders.

West Indies will play an ODI tri-series against Ireland and Bangladesh, before the World Cup, and could still make changes to their 15 before the fi-

Andre Russell flicks for six

nal May 23 cut-off.

They recently named their squad to travel to Ireland, featuring fringe candidates such as Jonathan Carter, Shane Dowrich and Roston Chase.

"Based on the new selection policy approach which allowed us to consider a number of players that have not regularly appeared in the side over the

last two years, we had a wide base of talent from which to choose," Haynes said.

"There were a number of tough calls we had to make to settle on our squad of 15, including ensuring there was some continuity in the side, but we believe we have chosen a strong squad of players taking into consideration such factors as experience,

fitness, team balance, current form and conditions.

"In keeping with tournament regulations, we submitted our squad prior to the deadline date of yesterday.

All players named for the tri-nations series could, however, stake a claim to be in the final 15-member squad that will be submitted after the tri-series and before

the final deadline next month."

Gabriel has only played 18 ODIs and missed the opportunity to stake his World Cup case last month, when he was handed a fourmatch ban for on-field comments made to Joe Root in the St Lucia Test. However, Haynes referred to the extra pace he offers as being important if the white ball does not swing.

Roach also missed the series against England, after suffering a stress reaction in his back, but returns to what is otherwise a largely settled squad that pulled off a 2-2 draw against the No. 1-ranked side.

West Indies preliminary World Cup squad: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas. (Cricinfo)

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WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

WDCA/Beacons 50-Over Cricket…

Zeeburg dismantle All Youths I

n a weekend packed with action, Zeeburg Sports Club defeated the All Youths ‘B’ Sports Club by eight wickets at the Zeeburg Cricket Ground in the West Demerara Cricket Association’s (WDCA’s) Beacons 50-Over competition.

All Youths emerged victors at the spin of the toss, and opted to bat first on a hard and flat wicket, with sunny conditions also favouring the team batting first.

In the past, Zeeburg have batted first on their home ground and have gone on to win convincingly; but being strategic, All Youths chose to bat first, because they knew if they were able to set a mammoth total, they stood a chance at defeating Zeeburg.

Regrettably, All Youths were in trouble from the get-go, as they lost key wickets up front and were not able to utilise ‘the power play’ whilst medium pacer Jamal Gomes was extracting swing and bounce from the track.

Gomes, with support from off-spinner Yutesh Dhanpaul and

Jamal Gomes and Yutesh Dhanpaul had standout performances which helped Zeeburg across the line

left-arm spinner Ricardo Adams, restricted the All Youths’ performance, and brought them to the verge of being bowled out within 20 overs.

They, however, managed to last until the 23rd over, but could accumulate only 97 runs, with Ahamid Hannif (17) and Mark Prahalall (20) being the only two batsmen to reach double figures.

Bowling for Zeeburg, Jamal Gomes had 3-29, Yutesh Dhanpaul claimed 3-21, and left-

arm spinner Ricardo Adams bagged 2-36.

Needing a meagre 98 for victory, Zeeburg went about the chase in their typically aggressive manner, smashing the ball to every part of the ground to end their innings on 98-2 in 8.2 overs.

Top scoring for Zeeburg were Dhanpaul (48) and Ronaldo Renee, who was unbeaten on 31. No All Youths bowler was able to contribute any significant figure.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 28, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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