Guyana Times International 26 October 2018

INTERNATIONAL

NY-based Guyanese donates over G$1M to dismissed sugar workers Page 5

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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Guyana prepares to show off ‘modern’ airport WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018

ISSUE NO. 421

See story on page 11

The promise of a new day, as the sun is about to rise: This photo shows a plane at one of the Boarding Bridges at the now modernized Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) in Guyana. The new Arrivals Terminal and Boarding Bridges became fully operational a few weeks ago and continuous efforts are being made to ensure all systems under the passenger treatment/loading conditions are acceptable and meet international standards. (CJIA photo)

PPP moving to CCJ over GECOM Chairman’s appointment Page 5

A group of young New York-based Guyanese participated in a Cancer Awareness Walk at Ocean Parkway Wantagh Jones Beach, New York, on October 21st 2018. Cancer survivor Parvattie (Jenny) - second from left - originally from Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara, has successfully fought cancer to be an inspiration and a pillar of strength to others who are suffering from the disease.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 3

Guyana’s Top Cop says Police reforms to be visible by March 2019

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ommissioner of Police, Leslie James has said that reform of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will be more visible by March 2019.

Addressing media operatives at his first press conference since taking the reins of the crime-fighting agency, the Commissioner said, “As you would have recognised, we are deliberately rolling out a plan which flowed from recommendations and by March 2019 there will be a much-reformed Guyana Police Force (GPF). Three broad categories are being dealt with and these are Human Resource Management, Training and Infrastructure.”

Accordign to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Commissioner said with the upgrade of police stations, citizens can expect a higher quality of service by ranks of the Force. Under the Citizen Security Strengthening Programme (CSSP) a number of police stations are to be upgraded to reflect modern crime-fighting methods.

“I must report that those stations are outfitted with modern type units, for example, the one-way mirror, units dealing with forensic type interviews, domestic violence among some others. That is all towards ensuring

Leslie James being sworn in as Top Cop

better interaction between members of the communities and the policemen and women who would be deployed at the various stations. They will be in a much comfortable environment and it will bolster our efforts to

give better service to the citizenry,” Commissioner James was quoted by DPI as saying.

One such police station was recently commissioned and is being used as the Head Quarters of “E” Division,

Region 10, at Mackenzie Linden while another is expected to be commissioned shortly, in Aurora Region Two, Pomeroon-Supenaam.

According to Commissioner James, the new GPF’s hierarchy is also making moves to strengthen the Force’s training capacity and has revived several boards it deems important to its growth.

“In terms of our further development, our training institutions across the country Georgetown, Berbice and Essequibo, they will also see much-needed reform. We have also looked at our Training Board and at our Traffic Advisory Board among some others. We have sought to re-establish those boards because it was determined that they are very important once this Force is to remain relevant. Even in our PR department, you will see shortly, a boost in terms of what was recommended to us,” the Top Cop said.

Commissioner James on Thursday held his first press conference, 56 days after being appointed. He succeeds Retired Commissioner of Police, Seelal Persaud and takes the helm from acting Commissioner, David Ramnarine.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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EDITORIAL

GECOM decision: Darkness at Noon Key legislation lacking in Guyana A dance being performed at the Evening of Cultural Performances in Georgetown (DPI photo)

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arkness at Noon is a 1940 novel by Arthur Koesler about the consolidation of the Soviet dictatorship by Stalin. The title is thought to be an allusion to the unnatural darkness that occurred at midday in the story of Christ’s crucifixion. After months of clear sunshine in Guyana, there were prophetic dark clouds over Georgetown last Thursday when the Appellate Court affirmed President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman, in the absence of the “consensus” with the Opposition Leader, which each of the three Justices conceded, was demanded by the constitutional clauses they were interpreting.

Against the background of a slew of other unilateral actions by the President that fly in the face of other constitutional stipulations were enacted to curb the inordinate powers of the presidency conferred by the Burnhamite 1980 Constitution, it would appear that the Appellate Court is oblivious to the need to contextualise their interpretations historically, to appreciate the “intent of the framers”, which they insisted formed the basis of their decisions.

For instance, one Justice repeated Granger’s obdurate contention on the need for a Judge to be appointed to the GECOM chair by claiming it was “envisaged that a Judge would be impartial” even though Article 162 (2) was explicitly amended to widen the field of nominees. The historical context was that the rigging, which started in 1968, had been facilitated by ex-Justice Sir Donald Jackson, a former Chief Justice, who was the chair of the Guyana Elections Commission up to the 1978 referendum.

His successor, Sir Harold Bollers, another former Chief Justice, oversaw the rigged 1980 and 1985 elections. It was not surprising that among the changes to ensure ‘free and fair” elections, the Carter Centre proposed and was accepted by amending Article 162 (2) to broaden the extant “judicial” criterion for appointing the GECOM chair to include, “any other fit and proper person”.

But more pertinently, according to Article 162 (2), the person was to “be appointed by the President from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition after meaningful consultation with the nongovernmental political parties represented in the National Assembly. Provided that if the Leader of the Opposition fails to submit a list as provided for, the President shall appoint a person who holds or has held office as a Judge”. In 1992, a former diplomat, Rudy Collins was appointed Chairman of GECOM in accordance to Article 162 (2) from the People’s National Congress Opposition list, the “fit and proper” criterion, as was all succeeding Chairs.

The rationale for the Opposition Leader to have a meaningful input in the selection of the GECOM chair in reaching a “consensus” with the President, thus goes to the heart of the need for the electoral process in an intensely divided polity to be legitimised by the competing parties. The endorsement by the Appellate Court of President Granger’s unilateral action to choose his own candidate will only encourage further authoritarian antidemocratic actions.

The same Justice opined that the President could not be directed to choose from a list submitted by the Opposition Leader because that could lead to an “unreasonable fettering of his discretion”. But Article 162 (2) was amended precisely to “fetter” the President’s previous unilateral choice. He could only act unilaterally if no list was submitted. The Judge ignored that intent of the framers by suggesting: “That could possibly lend itself to politicking, abuse by one… Again such an interpretation may also attempt to elevate the Leader of the Opposition to a position over and above the norms associated with his authority.”

By granting the President “unfettered” power in this crucial appointment over the gatekeeper of the process to select governments and the President, the court is going not only against the spirit of the post 1992 constitutional changes to “fetter” the previous Imperial Presidential regime, but also against their letter.

“Consensus” means “a general agreement”, which is absent without the Opposition Leader’s input via his list.

…political analyst says as time draws closer to first oil

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s the time draws closer for first oil, which is expected in the first half of 2020, Government has been making plans to prepare for this new sector, which has the potential to transform the economy, improve infrastructure, and advance the social services in the country.

However, much has been said about the Government’s slothfulness in looking towards implementing key pieces of legislation that would guide the sector beyond that critical year.

Adding his voice to that argument is former Government minister and political analyst Dr Henry Jeffrey, who feels Government’s approach is questionable.

“From the little that I read in the press, I am not impressed that we (Guyana), or the Government, has its hands on all the major pulses,” Jeffrey told Guyana Times International in a recent interview.

He opined that the coalition Administration has not inspired in the Guyanese populace any significant hope that it knows what it is doing in this sector.

He said, “We have now set up an Energy Department. We have a head who doesn’t know anything about oil, and we will have to depend on somebody as the chief technical head who worked with a foreign Government for 6 months.”

Dr Jeffrey was referring to Dr Mark Bynoe, who is experienced in the area of climate change and other environmental issues.

On the other hand, the technical head he referred to is Matthew Wilks, who was appointed Oil and Gas Adviser in the Department of Energy within the Ministry of the Presidency. Wilks has worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, among several other countries.

It was, however, reported that Wilks had, in January of this year, joined a company called Spring Stone Energy Limited, and had worked

there until he took up the post at Guyana’s Department of Energy.

There has been great suspicion that the company lists Matthew Edmund Wilks as its director and Amanda Catherine Wilks as a director, finance manager and secretary of the company. The company also has two shareholders, it has been reported.

“You can have hundreds of years working for the industry itself, but you have to know the ramifications with working with pressures, particularly a place like Guyana. And what does that mean? If you work with the Government of Australia, the relation with them and the Opposition might be a normal democratic thing.

It’s not here,” Dr Jeffrey stated.

Local content

On the issue of local content, the political analyst also expressed disappointment at the manner in which this issue is being dealt with by both the Government and those within the local private sector, whom he feels should be demanding certain benefits.

“I think the local content was perhaps one of the first legal documents we should have had. Up to now we are still messing around with it. And people are saying, ‘Don’t worry we’ll look after you’. There is no rule that you have to use services in Guyana,” he added.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) had submitted a model local content legislation to the Government, saying that the move is part of safeguarding the rights of Guyanese businesses. The Chamber has expressed disappointment that there has been no legislative framework since 2015, when the first oil discovery was made.

President of the GCCI, Deodat Indar, has contended that the draft Local Content Legislation, if adopted by the APNU/AFC Government, would fill that gap and correct the wrongs being done to Guyanese businesses.

The draft Local Content

Dr Henry Jeffrey

Policy has in recent months been criticised for lacking provisions which would safeguard against exploitation by companies, especially since there have been intensified reports of local companies being bypassed for contracts and services.

While Dr Jeffrey recognises the work the private sector has been doing in regard to the draft Local Content Policy, he said, “I see they are doing things, but they have always been relatively weak. If it were a case of Jamaica, it would have been a different game.

Yes, they are pressing, but they are still in that initial stage; and maybe the entire political structure has made them so.

They are not as vocal, pressing and pushy as they would have been normally expected to be.”

The second review of the local content policy is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year. Government has said it is important for the new legislation to be ‘balanced’, since a ‘too strongly national’ local content policy can jeopardise the efficiency or the viability of the company being relied on to harness the resource.

Guyana is now home to the world’s biggest new deep-water oil discovery. United States oil giant ExxonMobil has been keen to push development of the oil reserves. Production could begin in 2020 with production of some 500,000 barrels of oil a day. (Samuel Sukhnandan)

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

PPP moving to CCJ over GECOM Chairman’s appointment

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xecutive Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Zulfikar Mustapha, is making his final bid to rescind President David Granger’s unilateral appointment of retired Justice James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM), by challenging the Appellate Court’s decision at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

In documents seen by Guyana Times International on Wednesday, Attorney Anil Nandlall, who represents Mustapha, filed leave to appeal the October 19, 2018 decision of acting Chancellor Madam Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards and fellow Appellate Court Justices Dawn Gregory and Justice Rishi Persaud that effectively declared Patterson’s appointment constitutional.

Nandlall is also petitioning the Trinidadian-based court to grant an order that security for costs be fixed in a “reasonable sum” in addition to further orders and/or directions that the court may find “just and appropriate”. The Attorney General is listed as the respondent in the matter.

In Mustapha’s sworn affidavit, seen by this newspaper, he stated that he intends to appeal the said decision of the Court of Appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice, having observed that the Appellate Court “incorrectly construed, misconstrued, incorrectly applied and mis-

ruling was handed down unanimously on Thursday last while acting Chief Justice Roxane George’s similar ruling was announced on June 8, 2018. Mustapha had filed his case one year ago (October 23, 2017) but

Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall

applied Article 161 of the Constitution of Guyana and failed to redress the breach of the said Constitution by the State”.

He said the issues which have arisen in the case are of great general, public and constitutional importance, as “free and fair elections are the foundation of democracy, good governance, and the rule of law”.

“Guyana has an undisputed and universally recognised history of fraudulent elections presided over and administered by successive Elections Commissions chaired by two former Chief Justices of Guyana who were unilaterally appointed by the then Head of Government/ State,” he noted.

Local ruling

The applicant’s CCJ bid follows the rulings of local courts. The Appellate Court’s

GECOM Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson

PPP Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha

the Appellate Judges agreed with Justice George that Justice Patterson’s appointment was not unconstitutional, saying the President was empowered to appoint a Judge, retired Judge or someone with the qualifications if he judged the Opposition Leader’s list unacceptable.

The Opposition Leader had sent three lists of six nominees which totalled 18 but all three were rejected by the Head of State, who observed that they were unacceptable. Justice Gregory in her decision observed that the manner in which the

Ex-cop found guilty of raping 3-yr-old girl

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Convicted child rapist: Deon Aaron

3-year-old Deon Aaron was, on Wednesday, found guilty of raping a 3-year-old relative by a 12 member jury during a trial at the High Court in Guyana.

The ex-policeman was unanimously found guilty before Justice Jo Ann Barlow, who delayed sentencing until November 8 until a probation report is supplied.

Aaron was charged for raping the child on March 14, 2016, at Friendship Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara,

ment was filed well before the date before LGE was proclaimed.

The most senior Judge had however outlined that once the President found the list, in what the framers of the Constitution opined as

where he engaged in sexual penetration with the child.

Reports indicate that Aaron raped the child who was left in his care by her mother.

However, when she returned home, she started to complain of pains and not feeling well.

This prompted her mother to inspect her and it was then that she noticed that her daughter had been raped.

He was arrested by Police after the matter was reported to them.

three lists were submitted did not achieve consensus.

Justice Persaud determined that any move towards unilateralism was wholly unacceptable and that it could lead to abuse and would not be motivated by good faith. He however outlined last week that there was nothing to suggest that the President acted “unconstitutionally, illegally or unreasonably in appointing the retired Judge. “The appointment of a former Judge results itself in impartiality and fairness and can only lead to establishing the intended balance prescribed for as a whole,” Justice Persaud had observed.

Chancellor CummingsEdwards had declared that Mustapha’s case had no bearing in affecting the elections process as the challenge to Justice Patterson’s appoint-

President David Granger

“not acceptable”, he could select a Judge, retired Judge or one that holds the relevant qualifications. Justice Cummings-Edwards in fact held the view that this decision was in keeping with the proviso to Article 161(2) of the Constitution declaring that Justice George’s High Court decision upholding the appointment was correct.

She had observed too that the retired Judge was qualified to serve in the Chairman’s post, having served in the Commonwealth, with Guyana being included in this category.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Concerns about Serious questions remain elections rigging for GECOM on what took in Guyana place on Nomination Day are valid

Dear Editor, Only last month, the Leader of the Opposition made a reasonable assumption that Guyanese fears of a rigged election are valid and based on some stark realities which have taken place and are currently taking place.

These existing realities that have been affecting our electoral process in recent times have left no doubt in my mind that the People’s National Congress (PNC) has set the stage to attempt to rig the Local Government Elections (LGE) and by extension, the General Election in 2020 and future ones as well. We have seen that since 2015, in an effort to regain party paramountcy, the PNC has been systematically silencing the voices of its coalition partner the Alliance For Change (AFC), not unlike what it has done with the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) since it joined the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) slate.

Over the years, we have heard and seen increasingly less about the WPA and the same has happened to the AFC in just three years. The AFC is not relevant anymore. The PNC has a game plan which is working well and by the 2020 General Election, the AFC would have been relegated to probably a worse status than the WPA. But a point to ponder is the PNC is aware that it could never win a majority on its own without the AFC, since it had lost in 2011 despite the WPA forming an alliance with that party under the umbrella of the APNU, so is the PNC trying to get rid of the AFC or is it trying to make it more pliant to its political manoeuvrings? There will be no Cummingsburg Accord in 2020 and after this LGE, the AFC will be totally consumed, and the PNC will reign supreme once again!

The game plan of the PNC may appear to be simple, but it has more far-reaching consequences.

Not only will it expose the AFC’s already diminishing strength, but the result will also afford an estimate of the numbers needed to rig. These numbers will be quite revealing.

The PNC is aware that the AFC contesting solo will be beaten badly and the few remaining supporters and members who have not already crossed over to the PPP will jump on the PNC’s gravy train.

Many have started to do

that. This is the number which will be of great interest to the PNC to reactivate its rigging machinery. Therefore, based on this estimate, the PNC will know exactly what rigging measure is needed and the areas which should be targeted and will structure its rigging machinery accordingly. We have seen in the past that the PNC has used various measures such as padding of the voter’s lists, multiple voting, tampering with the ballot boxes, fake statements of polls, controlling the election machinery by inserting its members and supporters, Police failure to prevent or correct violations of law, PNC supporters who were not accredited were allowed in and out of polling places, fingers of many PNC supporters were not dipped in “electoral” ink to show that they voted, fingers of some PNC supporters were washed after being dipped in ink, and partiality by polling officials to PNC supporters.

All of these are still relevant, and some have been practised in a small way in the last General Election in 2011. It is expected that these will see some sharp honing processes at this LGE. We have also seen that Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) is not averse to taking sides with APNU and the AFC when it comes to the flawed electoral process leading to the upcoming LGE. We have also seen that the courts have also bluntly refused to give a fair and proper interpretation of our Constitution with regard to Article 161(2) on the unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman, despite harsh criticisms from the Transparency International, the Private Sector Commission, the Association of Concerned Guyanese in the USA, the Indian Action Committee and a host of other local and international organisations. The recent High Court decision to uphold the unilateral appointment of GECOM’s Chairman by the President is an unequivocal indication that our democracy is under threat by the PNC and the PNC’s flag is now flying high over our courts.

Future rigging of elections is not a creation of an overactive imagination.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor, In relation to matters of expenditure of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) — and in particular the queries regarding voters’ education activities, which are woefully inadequate — a proposal should have been submitted to GECOM for approval.

Further, the CEO, Mr. Lowenfield, MUST be able to provide timely information in respect to the execution of tenders and who were the evaluators. He should also provide copies of the evaluation report, substantiate the position of the National Procurement & Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) or Cabinet, and state whether mobilisation was paid in advance and a performance bond was established.

The Auditor General’s report made reference, and there were serious questions in respect to the millions of dollars that were spent on voters’ education. Some of the questions were related to where, when and how the public relations company receive the contract. It is more serious that when the issue was raised about voters’ education, Lowenfield first claimed ignorance and pretended that he was unaware of what is happening. However, he admitted that he “instructed that this be done, especially in the hinterland and far-flung areas, but that he had no knowledge if had been done”. This is indeed a very serious matter!

The fact is that the

Commissioners are part of the overall management of GECOM, and the law and procedures of the organisation allow for establishment of a Finance SubCommittee, approved by the Chairman, which must report at the meetings of the Commission.

Relative, therefore, are the following queries: Who are the Commissioners that currently constitute this Sub-Committee?

And why is what are required and necessary so difficult to be obtained by Commissioners?

Unequivocally, if the management is not submitting financial information, the Commissioners should not sign off on any request for approval. It is recalled that, only recently, ‘selected’ members of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Development Board were charged and placed before the courts for issues related to the activities of the organisation.

It cannot be that the system is designed to work in one way for a particular set of people, and blatantly discriminate against another.

The fact is that there are serious questions for many Returning Officers and GECOM Commissioners to answer regarding what took place on Nomination Day. It is therefore very worrying that Lowenfield refuses to share the list of duties and responsibilities of the ROs and Presiding Officers. It is imperative that the GECOM Commissioners demand the list of duties of all the GECOM staff

members, and a proper account from the public relations firm that is hired to do what is supposed to be done.

While there are serious concerns about how staff members are being employed at GECOM, concerned citizens are more interested in the lavish spending and high life of some GECOM staff members. It is time the Auditor General tell the public what is happening at GECOM in respect to the questionable hundreds of millions of dollars of excessive spending.

Further, what is the DPP doing about the matter? Were the documents forwarded to the DPP’s Chambers?

In view of the attitude and behaviour of the Chief Elections Officer and his accommodation by the ‘big four’ in the Secretariat, there absolutely is neither trust nor confidence in what GECOM is doing. The time is most opportune for the nation to rise up against this blatant disregard by GECOM, and its lack of accountability and transparency in implementing policies.

While this is a constitutional agency, there must be public accountability for taxpayers’ money, and to the people. Every action must be taken to ensure that the rights of citizens are not trampled upon via Lowenfield’s Town Clerk’s approach, and apparent eroding grey matter of the Chairman.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Berbice Bridge fiasco an election gimmick gone wrong Dear Editor, The Board of the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI), led

by Dr Surendra Singh, has proposed a hike in the tolls paid to use the Berbice River Bridge. It is a very steep rise in the tolls, which, according to the latest report, is due to commence on November 12, 2018, the very day set for Local Government Elections.

Immediately there was a train of events that followed: the pro-People’s National Congress electronic media in Guyana began churning out the propaganda news of the ‘evils’ of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and their corrupt arrangement in regard to that bridge. I even got a call from my PNC friend, who parroted the same sentiments.

My response was: when the PPP/C ran the affairs of that bridge, there was no hue and cry, absolutely no problems whatsoever. However, the problems began only when this PNC-led administration came to power, and no one ever asked that sane question ‘Why?’ I told my PNC friend that that alone should have set the alarm bells ringing in his

head, far less the gullible press.

But to those who are out to vilify the PPP/C, those questions are of no consequence; only spread the propaganda filth far and wide, sow discord and confusion at a time when elections are due.

So the desired effect is already in the air, or at least so they thought: create panic among Berbicians – a place where the Alliance for Change (AFC) gained most of its votes.

Put the people on a panic alert, so that they can run back into the arms of a party that fooled them stupid, and when they got into office, hung them out to dry.

The AFC is trying its utmost to scare Berbicians stone cold with that steep rise. It is trying another shot at this to scare Berbicians into believing that it is really the PPP/C who is responsible for that steep, precipitous rise in tolls, all because the PPP had engineered a corrupt deal with shareholders of the bridge.

The propaganda theory is that Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP had brokered a corrupt transaction with the expressed design to fleece Berbicians of millions of

hard earned dollars, and the results of that underhand deal are only at this time materialising.

That ruse has backfired on the AFC, in that the Chairman of the BBCI is an AFC supporter, so why sabotage his own Government? It is not a situation that Persaud is an ex-AFC man, no; he is a current member of that party, which Minister Patterson is the Minister in Government.

So are we to believe that Dr Persaud wants to embarrass his fellow party buddy? Absolutely not! Persaud is in collusion with the minister, spreading the scare tactic, after which the minister himself would come riding into town like the knight in shining armour to rescue Berbicians.

But we are seeing them through and through with that trick, and I can tell them it will not work. Their theory is that the minister comes in and says he would not assent to a rise in tolls; he would have so “earned” the badge of Berbice’s saviour.

We will not be fooled into submission again.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

news 7

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana records increase New York-based Guyanese donates over G$1M to in tax collection

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he Auditor General’s 2017 report shows while the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has collected more taxes than was anticipated, revenue inclusive of rent and royalties has declined due to lower gold declarations.

In the end of year budget and reconciliation report, it noted that the projected revenue for 2017 was G$186 billion.

Instead, Government actually collected G$195 billion in current revenue. This includes duties, levy, personal in-

this number had subsequently climbed. The final amnesty ended September 30.

“Amounts totalling G$15.837 billion were estimated to be collected from customs duties, trade and other taxes, fees, fines and licences for the period under review while actual collections paid into the Consolidated Fund totalled G$18.890 billion,” the report also states.

“This represents a positive variance of 19 per cent, equivalent to G$3.053 billion.

while also anticipating foreign sales to amount to 88,208 ounces with US$111.5 million in revenue in the same period.

When it was laid in the National Assembly in August, the Finance Ministry’s Midyear report had recorded contractions in several of the traditional sectors, including mining. Finance Minister Winston Jordan, in addressing the National Assembly about the country’s economic performance, had admitted as much.

He had noted that the

Gold declarations take a downward spiral

come and withholding taxes.

The highest earnings came from the internal revenue category. Personal income tax collection grew by G$2.5 billion. This, according to the Government, is because substantial arrears payments were recovered from self-employed persons through various initiatives. One of the initiatives GRA has been trying is a tax amnesty.

In September of this year, GRA Commissioner General Godfrey Statia had disclosed that billions of dollars were collected as of the end of August through the implementation of the amnesty.

According to Statia at the time, GRA had managed to collect over G$5 billion so far and this figure may increase. Statia also reminded that this was the last extension that will be granted to the amnesty, while encouraging defaulters to pay.

The tax amnesty worked by allowing taxpayers who file and pay all principal taxes on or before June 30, 2018 to have all their interest and penalties waived, while those who filed and paid all principal taxes between July 1, 2018 and September 30, 2018 would have 50 per cent of interest and penalties waived.

At the end of the previous amnesty which ended in June 2018, it was announced that G$3 billion was raked in, but

Notwithstanding the positive performance, there were substantial shortfalls for the revenue categories of Export Duties, Stamp Duty, Overtime Fees, Warehouse Rent and Charges and Liquor Licence totalling G$48.806 million,” the report notes.

The GRA was also able to recover G$950 million from 27,000 suspicious Income Tax returns, after reviewing them. But Value Added Tax (VAT), royalties from gold declarations and rent also declined significantly.

Excise taxes, which are applied to imported and manufactured goods, also saw a downturn. According to the Auditor General, the reduction in excise taxes was mainly due to lower than projected vehicular imports. The increased collections in some categories, the AG went on to note, were able to cushion the shortfalls from gold and other categories of collections.

Gold

It was reported in May of this year that the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) projected total declarations to be 800,000 ounces, including Canadian-owned Guyana Goldfields projected to declare 200,000 ounces and Troy Resources, its main competitor, 100,000 ounces.

Additionally, the GGB had projected that purchases would be 96,000 ounces for the first quarter of 2018,

gold sector suffered a decline of 9.1 per cent. This is equivalent to a decrease of 288,114 ounces in gold declaration. The report also revealed that this represented a 19.4 per cent shortfall, below the original projection set by Government.

The Minister in his report also noted that there are a number of downside economic and fiscal risks to the economy, both domestic and external, which can frustrate the achievement of the various revised targets.

dismissed sugar workers

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A representative of the donor on Wednesday distributing cash gifts to dismissed sugar workers

n overseas-based Guyanese has donated in excess of G$1 million in cash and other items to dismissed sugar workers in East Canje and Skeldon, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

Each of the worker received G$5000 along with lunch on Wednesday. Some of the former estate workers were also given school bags for their children.

The donor, who asked for his name not to be published, left Guyana in 1982 at age 19.

He told Guyana Times International that in New York where he currently lives, many Guyanese are disappointed with the move by Government to close two of the three sugar estates in Berbice.

In December last year, Government closed the Rose Hall and Skeldon Estates in Region Six, leaving thousands of workers on the breadline.

Last year, 1851 workers were dismissed from the Skeldon Sugar Estate, 1181 from the Rose Hall Estate, 1480 from the East Demerara Sugar Estate and 251 from the Wales Sugar Estate.

The donor said the Diaspora wanted to send a strong reminder to President David Granger that Region Six depended heavily on sugar and with the closure of two of the three sugar estates in the region; all other sectors have been affected.

After several months of protest action by the dismissed workers backed by the Guyana Agricultural and

General Workers Union (GAWU), Government gave the former workers half of their severance package and promised the balance before the end of the year.

The full package was due to the workers upon their dismissal.

Since then, commercial activity in East Canje and the Upper Corentyne has slowed significantly.

According to the donor, the Guyanese Diaspora has over the past months been very supportive to the affected workers and their families.

Regional Chairman David Armogan, who attended the donation ceremony, told Guyana Times International that some of the workers have close family members living in the Diaspora and as such the impact of the closure is also being felt overseas, since they have to financially assist their relatives in Guyana.

“It has put more stain on them because they have to be handing money and other things to send to their family members back home and some of those family members also worked with the estate before they left Guyana, so they understand what has happened and how serious it is. That is why whenever a Government Minister goes to New York, he or she is greeted with scores of protesters because those Guyanese recognise what the Government is doing to their country,” Armogan said.

(Andrew Carmichael)

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Singh, Brassington challenge

AG no-show in court, case delayed

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he High Court challenge to the misconduct in public office charges against two officials of the former Government was delayed and rescheduled to early next month after Attorney General Basil Williams was a no-show for submissions.

The Court was told that the AG had to attend Cabinet at the time the matter was slated to be heard on Tuesday and could not appear in Court although the hearing was fixed almost one month ago. Former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Chairman Winston Brassington are challenging their misconduct in public office charges that were brought against by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Their challenge came up before acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC, in chambers at the High Court on Tuesday.

It was expected that open court proceedings would have continued, but this was not the case on Tuesday. Justice George adjourned the

valued at G$245 million by the Government’s Chief Valuation Officer, but QAII paid G$809.5 million for the property – more than three times the Government’s valuation as Guyana Times had reported.

At the last court hearing, the acting Chief

with the definition of a public officer. He had observed that the particulars of the offence for which the men were charged had “no reference” that Singh and Brassington are public officers, saying that this was a fundamental defect.

Former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former NICIL Chairman Winston Brassington

matter to November 1, 2018 when the AG’s side should be responding to submissions by the applicants. This was according to lawyer for the applicants, Anil Nandlall, who told reporters that prior to Tuesday’s hearing, the AG’s Chambers were always represented by a team of the Solicitor General and other lawyers.

“Hopefully, he shows up or someone authorised by him shows up who is prepared to do the arguments because the case is fixed,” Nandlall noted on Tuesday.

The defendants, who were released on G$6

million bail each, denied the charges levelled against them by SOCU earlier this year. The men are accused of selling various properties at prices the State now contends were grossly undervalued. The charges relate to the sale of several plots of land on the East Coast of Demerara to National Hardware Guyana Ltd for over G$598 million; the sale of land to Scady Business Corporation for G$150 million, and to Multicinemas Guyana Inc for G$185 million.

Another set of charges was later filed against Singh and Brassington,

over the sale of the former Sanata Textiles Complex to Queens Atlantic Investment Inc (QAII). This, like other charges, was also challenged in the High Court.

It was alleged that between October 26 and December 20, 2010, the men acted recklessly when they agreed to the sale of the Sanata Textiles Complex to QAII. According to the charge, the 18.976-acre property was sold for G$697.8 million, but it was valued at G$1.04 billion. However, according to privatisation documents published by NICIL, the property was

Attorney General Basil Williams

Justice heard further arguments from Attorneys representing Singh and Brassington where Nandlall disputed the application of the British common law principle to Guyana’s laws, having cited conflicts with this country’s Constitution

He had stated that it would be a worrying development for citizens to face charges for having accepted a lower valuation where the lower valuation was calculated by Government’s own Chief Valuation Officer.

Business magnate Yesu Persaud: Celebrating his achievement

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he life and achievements of local business tycoon and philanthropist, Dr Yesu Persaud, is being celebrated as the University of Guyana (UG) kicks off a lecture series in his honour.

The lecture series will highlight Dr Persaud’s seminal contributions to Guyana through his audacious authenticity in business, entrepreneurship and civic contributions.

The work of the local business tycoon, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, spans many continents, two centuries and several successful business ventures, while his civic and philanthropic work has been and continues to be highly impactful.

At Tuesday’s launch of the inaugural symposium, a long list of close associates of Dr Persaud lined up to speak and reflect on the various aspects of his life to a packed gathering.

Recalling his childhood on the Diamond Estate, retired Major General Joe Singh spoke of the challenges Dr Persaud faced growing up and the resilience displayed on his journey to become one of Guyana’s top entrepreneurs.

“Growing up on a sugar estate at that time, experiencing all of the challenges that is associated with a stratified society, the colour-bar, discriminatory employment practices and poverty, it would have been a miracle if the young Yesu Persaud envisaged that he

Yesu Persaud shares a light moment at Tuesday’s inaugural symposium alongside UG’s Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith; and Deputy VC on Philanthropy, Alumni and Civic Engagement, Paloma Mohamed-Martin

would rise to the zenith of the business world. Many in his position would have given up…

His ambition to rise above his circumstances through education and qualifications was complemented by his adaptability, his versatility, his courage, his loyalty and commitment, and his deep spiritual and family values,” Singh stated, as he read excerpts from Dr Persaud’s autobiography Reaching for the Stars – The life of Yesu Persaud.

The Guyanese icon is currently working on his second book, a continuation of his autobiography.

Dr Persaud’s entrepreneurial skills is evident in the highly successful Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), which produces the international-award winning brand –

El Dorado Rum. The company’s current Chairman, Komal Samaroo, who has worked under Dr Persaud for several years before becoming his successor in 2014, reflected on the leadership style and visions of the business tycoon.

After achieving a business miracle when he took over a bankrupted DDL and transformed it into a successful company, Dr Persaud was the brain behind the first-ever Indigenous private bank – Demerara Bank Limited, which he still chairs – and also paved the way for small businesses to thrive in the country with the establishment of the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED), which finances and trains entrepreneurs.

While Dr Persaud was a trail blazer in Guyana, his impeccable work was far-reaching with impacts on both the Caribbean and Latin American regions.

Highlighting this aspect of his work, former Barbadian Senator, Maxine McClean, described Dr Persaud as a true exemplar of a committed entrepreneur and businessman, adding that his contributions in business, banking, civil society and philanthropy clearly demonstrates his business acumen and civil consciousness.

McClean, who is also a professor, further noted that much can be learned from Dr Persaud’s work.

“We need to utilise the full essence, the wealth of information that really dwells in your contribution because in the end of the day, what this country, this Region, this world can learn from your experience, your success, your contribution is capturing a wide-ranging foci,” says the Barbadian Professor as she calls on institutions to draw on his wealth of contributions.

Among the other speakers, who highlighted key aspects of the life of Guyanese icon were: Professor David Dabydeen; Chief Executive Officer of IPED, Ramesh Persaud and local businessman Stanley Ming.

Over the years, Dr Persaud has collected a number of national and internation-

al awards for his work and contributions including: the Gandhi Organisation Plaque for his contribution in promoting Indian culture in Guyana; the Glory of India Award and Certificate of Excellence by the India International Friendship Society in 2005 and the following year, he was honoured in India with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for his outstanding contributions in business and Indian history and culture.

Nationally, Dr Persaud is the recipient of Guyana’s Cacique Crown of Honour for the development of new industries in Guyana in 1983 and the Golden Arrow of Achievement for his work in developing and expanding the distillery industry in Guyana. In addition, he also received the Pepsi Cola International – Slice and the Caribbean Network Enterprises Inc inaugural Indo Caribbean Male Lifetime Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievements in New York.

Moreover, the diversity of his contributions, the calibre of his leadership and the values he laid down as the sine cos for success in business, good governance and democracy, and philanthropy have all been recognised by tertiary educational institutions such as University of Warwick, University of the West Indies (UWI) and more recently University of Guyana (UG). (Vahnu Manikchand)

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Reputed wife identifies Teen battling for life gunman during ID parade after being hit by wood

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he reputed wife of murdered Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara handyman Christopher Swamy has positively identified a suspect — arrested on Sunday following the shooting — as one of the gunmen involved in the shooting death of her husband.

This development has been confirmed by ‘C’ Division Commander Calvin Brutus during a telephone interview with Guyana Times International on Monday.

Commander Brutus said the suspect was picked out during an identification parade on Monday, but reportedly gave Police several alibis, which they are probing.

Brutus further informed that the home of the alleged perpetrator has been searched by Police, but nothing evidential was found. He, however, added that the Police would continue their hunt for the second suspect.

Guyana Times International understands that the suspect is holding out that he was not at Swamy’s home when Swamy was gunned down.

The father of two was gunned down on Sunday after four armed men invaded his Lot 161 Mon Repos Pasture, East Coast Demerara (ECD) property.

…17-year-old remanded to prison for attempted murder

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Dead: Christopher Swamy

Based on information received, the late Swamy, his wife, his sister-in-law, and friends: 28-year-old Rawle Williams and his spouse Marcia Williams, 38, were liming and imbibing in front of the home when, at about 01:30h, they were confronted by two masked men, one of whom was brandishing a handgun.

Police say the suspects relieved Marcia Williams of a cellphone and an undisclosed sum of cash, after which they assaulted her husband to the head. It was during the commotion

that Swamy was shot to the chest. The men then fled the scene.

Swamy and Williams were rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where Swamy was pronounced dead on arrival and Williams was admitted.

A post mortem performed by Dr Nehaul Singh on the body of Christopher Swamy gave the cause of Swamy’s death as gunshot wound to the left chest. In addition, a warhead has been recovered from Swamy’s body. Investigations are ongoing.

“Is frustration mek I choke the woman and take she things” – man tells court

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well-known character to the Police found himself back in the court of law on Tuesday after being slapped with three counts of robbery that he committed on a family while they were relaxing on the Georgetown Seawall.

Christopher Niles, of Fourth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, admitted to one of the three charges that were read to him in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.

The first charge stated that Niles robbed Bibi Mangru of a purse valued G$20,000, which also contained G$20,000, and a Samsung Galaxy cellular phone valued G$35,000 while she was at the Kingston, Georgetown Seawall on October 20, 2018. Niles admitted to the offence after it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

The two other charges stated that on the same day and said location, the 24-year-old man also robbed the Virtual Complainant’s daughter, Mahoni Mangru, also of her purse, G$50,000 along with her cellphone.

Mahoni’s husband, Tekchan Balgobin, also fell victim when the unemployed defendant took his valuables

worth G$90,000 while using personal violence while committing the robberies. He denied these charges.

However, the prosecution is contending that on October 20, 2018, the family was on the seawall when the elder Mangru saw the defendant riding past her on a bicycle and he then stopped a short distance away from where she was sitting and started to assault her daughter. Upon seeing that, the woman allegedly went to her daughter’s rescue only to be assaulted too, by the man who has had previous brushes with the law. They were subsequently relieved of their valuables by Niles, who later made good his escape on his bicycle.

Niles, after admitting to taking the woman’s purse, told the court that the family drove behind him, hit him off his bicycle and took the purse he had stolen. Further, he told the court, “Is frustrated, I frustrated mek I jump off my bike and choke that woman and take away she things and ride away.”

For the charge to which he admitted, Magistrate McLennan jailed him for 18 months.

The trial for the other two charges will begin on October 31, 2018.

Father of the injured teen, Peter Livingston Senior

a Retraite, West Bank Demerara (WBD) teen Peter Livingstone Junior is presently battling for his life at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) after he was struck to the head with a 2×4 piece of wood allegedly by a 17-year-old fellow villager last week.

Guyana Times International understands that the incident occurred near Livingstone’s home in La Retraite village just after 19:30h on Friday.

Reports are that the now injured teen and the suspect, who are known to one another, were teasing each oth-

er on the day in question when an irritated Livingstone picked up the piece of wood and hit the suspect to the shoulder. The suspect then allegedly grabbed the same piece of wood and lashed Livingstone to his head, leaving him in an unconscious state on the ground.

Realising what he had done, the alleged assailant took Livingstone to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), from where he was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital owing to the fractures he reportedly sustained to his skull.

The suspect, a weld-

er who resides at Old Road, La Retraite, has been remanded to prison by the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate before whom he appeared on Monday.

He has been slapped with an attempted murder charge.

Peter Livingstone Sr is hoping that his son would recover from his injuries, as he is waiting to be admitted to the Guyana Police Force, having completed secondary school two years ago.

“We’re trusting God first and foremost for a speeding recovery of our child. As he is my only child, my expectation is greater than if he was one of many,” the man told this newspaper.

The father further said his son is slowly coming around, and is now able to respond to family members using sign language. This newspaper has been told that the Junior Livingstone is still battling some swelling to his head. The defendant, meanwhile, will return to court on November 8.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Union roasts APNU/AFC over increase in Berbice Bridge tolls …says bridge was a wise investment

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he impending toll increases to use the Berbice River Bridge has attracted the attention of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), with the Union on Tuesday rapping the Government for its less than mature approach to resolving the matter.

On Tuesday, FITUG stressed that Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) supplies the entire country with agriculture produce and thus, higher tolls would result in higher prices for groceries.

The Union noted the seriousness of the situation, from both the economic point of view and the future of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), which has shares in the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI).

“We recognise too that the BBCI has been seeking for some time now to engage the Administration on measures to avert what is now impending,” the Union observed. “Sadly, we have heard from the Bridge [Company] that its attempts, on several occasions, have simply been ignored. It seems, from all appearances, the Government is un-

The Berbice River Bridge

concerned about consequences of its stonewalling.”

“In recent days, we have seen the Administration engaging in an active media campaign, which has its political hints, in denouncing the BBCI proposed increases. On this score, we urge the coalition, which had promised to halve the tolls, to end its childish propaganda games and get serious in addressing a matter which has several serious consequences.”

The Union noted that the coalition Government was elected to lead and should therefore demonstrate genuine leadership by sitting with BBCI executives without

further delay and engaging in sober discussions on measures to avoid the toll rise.

“It is time for the Government to get serious and end its petty politicking. The substantial hike will impact a large number of Guyanese whether they are required to traverse the bridge or not. Berbicians will be gravely affected.

Already the region is reeling from the loss of thousands of jobs occasioned by the Administration’s short-sighted decision to close Rose Hall and Skeldon estates.”

“The toll hike, we see, will put the region’s economy into a further tailspin. It comes on the heels of the draconi-

an increases in fees for Government services, the taxing of essential items, and the several other measures which have served to push the cost-of-living higher than the moon as it is. As we see it, no man, woman or child would be spared, and the already high cost-of-living will jump astronomically.”

Migration

The Union noted with concern that the likely hike in the cost of goods and services may very well be out of the reach for many in a region which has been hit hard by the policies of the coalition Government.

“The situation could very well force many to migrate outside of the re-

gion in order to cope with the new circumstances of life in the region. Given the region’s importance to the agricultural sector, among other things, this will do the country no good. Moreover, given the dearth of job opportunities in many towns and villages, such tolls hikes could very present a new host of problems for residents.”

“For those of us who may not be required to utilise the bridge, we should not think that we will not be unaffected.

With the large quantity of agricultural produce coming from Region Six, the new toll costs will be passed on to us in higher prices for the food we purchase. For our nation’s workers, confronted by an already too high cost-of-living, such increases would only add to the nightmare of contemporary life in Guyana.”

Wise investment

FITUG also noted that the Berbice Bridge was a wise investment and brought to Guyanese people and especially Berbicians, who for some time had complained about the inefficiencies of the ferry system.

“The advent of the bridge brought us as Guyanese closer together and the now critical

link opened several doors for our economy. While FITUG cannot agree with a hike to the tolls and we noted that similar sentiments came from both the Government and the parliamentary Opposition, at the same time, we cannot be deaf to the dire straits the BBCI has found itself.”

From media reports, the Union said, it is aware of the large indebtedness the company has to its investors including NIS. “This further heightens our concerns that should the status-quo remain and the Bridge in unable to reach its obligations, our workers, without a doubt, stand to be affected. Some workers could be doubly affected as their pension savings, which have been invested in the bridge, could also be lost. This for us is simply unacceptable.”

Increases The increases were announced by BBCI Chairman, Dr Surendra Persaud, during a press conference recently.

According to Persaud, they were formally informed by Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson that Government would not agree to their previous requests for an increase.

Region 2 farmers forced to destroy 1000 acres of rice overtaken by bugs

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aving already faced reduced prices for their paddy and increased production costs, farmers in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) are encountering even more challenges since they say they were forced to destroy over 1000 acres of their rice at State Farm, which lies aback of Dartmouth on the Essequibo Coast.

Guyana Times International understands that in their bid to prevent a complete annihilation of the crop, some of which was badly damaged, the farmers set the crops on fire due to ‘Blast and Bug’ infestation on Tuesday.

This publication was told that over 10 farmers, who rented the farmlands from Caricom Rice Mills Limited, said due to heavy rainfall for the past three crops, the land had to be prepared under water. It was stated too that the little sunlight that prevailed was blamed for the bug infestation as this was the “ideal weather” pattern for the breeding of bugs.

The farmers said they are appealing to Government to assist them to return to the land as they are afraid of losing everything since many of them have loans with commercial banks and other lending institutions. Most of the rice farmers are in the business for over 20 years and said they never experienced

An Essequibo Coast rice farmer lights his field afire

such challenges in the industry.

They claimed that a test was done on a plot to assess the damage, which reportedly found that more than 95 per cent of the grains were damaged.

It was stated further that for the remaining portions, it will not be feasible for them to reap and transport their produce to the rice mills. Some of the farmers even complained of sleepless nights owing to their losses and debts.

“How can we explain to the banks; where are we going to find the money to repay the loans, how can we take

care of our families, our children have to go to school,” were the cries of the farmers.

They united and are calling for Agriculture Minister Noel Holder to meet with them to sort out solutions regarding how their livelihood can be sustained.

It was only last month that the Region Two farmers accused Government of “turning a blind eye” on the industry, when they were engaged by Anna Regina Deputy Mayor Darshan Persaud. They claimed that

the current Administration was not doing enough for rice farmers, saying this would have a great impact on one of the main sources of food and foreign currency earner to the country. Following the recent destruction of the crop, the farmers say they are desperately seeking an intervention.

Persaud had told Guyana Times International that the complaints of farmers extended to accusations that millers were taking out 24 per cent of the earnings as dockage fees which translates to about G$1200 per bag of paddy. When looking at the expenses for cultivation, many farmers said they were not in a financial position to plant the next crop.

Farmers had also said that even though Regional Executive Officer Rupert Hopkinson was seen “boasting on Facebook about developments of parks and recreational facilities in the region”; there was much need for the servicing and maintenance of the regional machinery. They had explained that this is vital in the maintenance of farm to market roads, trenches, dams and other key areas in the agricultural sector. Regional Chairman Devanand Ramdatt had noted that more than 80 per cent of the region’s 50,000 plus residents are directly or indirectly connected to the rice industry.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana ready to show off ‘modern’ airport – Minister Patterson

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One of the signs leading to the boarding gates at the CJIA

he Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project is still on schedule to be completed by December 31, according to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson.

Work on the runway,

which began in 2013, resumed in late 2016 after the loan was restructured under the coalition Government.

In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Minister Patterson said the new

Arrivals and Departure sections have been opened to passengers.

He added that two of the boarding bridges were operational while two others would be operational next month.

“There are other ongoing works at the airport: we’re preparing a new access road, a new roundabout at the airport and some internal works. So, CJIA is up and running. With the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conference coming up in November and American Airlines starting operations on November 14, we hope to show off the country and attract other carriers as well,” Minister Patterson explained.

The new Arrivals terminal, which became operational in September, has already been commended by passengers. The outstanding work includes placement of hoardings (billboards) and striping of the runway (to reduce the risk of aircraft over-shooting the runway, or over-flying during take-off). The striping can only be done after the laying of asphaltic concrete on

Passengers in the Arrivals section of the CJIA

the runway has been completed.

Further, when the project is completed, other minor works will be done during the oneyear defects and liability period, Minister Patterson said. “… even when all the works are completed, there is a one-year defects and liability and commissioning period. Therefore, while the project will be handed over, you would see a workman or two going around to en-

sure that everything is functioning. We’ve commissioned all the washrooms in the new terminal building, but after three months we have to check it up,” Minister Patterson said.

On completion, the G$31.2 billion (US$150 million) expansion project is expected to have four air passenger boarding bridges for Arrivals and Departures; a 450-seat Departure area, escalators and elevators in

addition to an extended runway catering for larger categories of aircraft. The Airport has also incorporated Guyanese craft and pictorial images in keeping with a request made

by President David Granger to ensure that the Airport is uniquely Guyanese.

Earlier in the year, the Ministry had sought more than G$346 million in supplementary funding to cater for two air bridges and see the project to completion.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

of conduct coming soon for Corentyne labourer Code minibus operators in Guyana accused of raping school teacher freed

…victim burst into tears

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Rape accused: Sunil Sundar

labourer who had been accused of raping a school teacher at her Corentyne home between November 2 and 3, 2017 was on Monday set free by a mixed Berbice jury.

The 7-5 male majority jury returned the verdict after more than two hours of deliberation.

Sunil Sundar of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder had been accused of raping the teacher.

During the trial, State Prosecutor Mondel Moore called seven witnesses, including four Police officers, the victim and her husband.

The victim related the incident to the court, saying that on the night in question she heard the

door open and thought it was her husband. It was shortly after midnight she recounted.

The woman detailed to the court the heinous act, and also told the court that when Sundar had left, she reached for a cellular phone and realised that it was stolen.

She also told the court she was able to inform relatives and also name the perpetrator.

The woman’s husband told the court that he and Sundar were working in the backdam and were having a drink.

He related that Sundar disappeared and never returned.

The prosecution’s case was that Sundar left the woman’s husband in the backdam

and went to the house, knowing that the woman was alone at home.

Initially, upon his arrest, Sundar had admitted to the act, claiming that it was consensual.

In an unsworn statement, he repeated the story to the court, and claimed that as he was leaving the house, the woman saw two of his friends and it was then she claimed that she was raped.

The victim did not go into the courtroom to hear the verdict, but remained outside.

Following the not-guilty verdict, she broke down in tears.

Her father told this newscast that the judicial system is unfair. “I feel very bad; very, very bad. The decision is not right, if a person gets rape, and you go through all that process to have the accused to go before the court, and then at the end of it he gets off.”

He said the decision means that the lives of other females are in danger, as he pointed out other incidents as he referred to Sundar.

Meanwhile, Sundar was taken back to the New Amsterdam prison, where he is on remand for a break-and-enter charge. That matter is engaging the attention of the Magistrate’s Court.

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resident of the United Minibus Union (UMU), Eon Andrews, is proceeding in discussions with Business Minister Dominic Gaskin to have a code of conduct for bus operators implemented before the end of November.

This was on Monday related by Andrews during an interview in which he reiterated the importance of having a standard behavioral pattern set for those operators, since the system is currently “out of control”.

He informed that UMU members would be meeting during the week to sort out this matter, along with other pressing issues. “I expect that the code of conduct should be implemented before the end of November, or sometime before November, because this thing is really necessary,” he stated.

According to him, a few of the things the code of conduct would seek to address are: the “mode of dress; general conduct, such as not overloading buses; the loud (and) lewd music; driving under the influence of alcohol; the way they speak to their passengers, and that kind of stuff.”

He said that as soon as the Business Ministry, in partnership with the Union, drafts the code of conduct, representatives of the various minibus routes would be summoned to meet with the Business Ministry and the UMU. Drivers of the various routes would later be engaged by the Business Ministry and the UMU. He explained, “We will have to let the Government do a release endorsed

by us (the UMU), because I don’t think the bus drivers will have a choice. It’s about time that they up their game.

They have to up the quality of their services being offered for what (they require) people (to) pay (them)”.

Andrews had, in a previous interview, said the code of conduct was extremely vital, especially with the booming oil and gas sector expected to come on stream by 2020. He explained that the sector would reel in tourists and other important persons, who will at some time be made to use public transportation, whose operators are presently unprepared to be the ambassadors they ought to be.

The UMU had initially announced plans to establish a code of conduct for bus drivers back in August, when plans were revealed to increase minibus fares

by G$20 for 10 operating routes.

The announcement to set a standard behavioural pattern for public transportation operators was well received by passengers, as far too many commuters would have vented their anger on social media at the ruthless behaviour of drivers in the different routes.

Although some passengers have welcomed the initiative, others have been more concerned about the drivers living up to what is expected of them. In relation to this concern, Andrews has assured that a hotline would be implemented to facilitate passengers making reports of breaches made by transportation providers in this regard.

Commonwealth delegates impressed with Guyana’s Smart Classroom

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elegates of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) were impressed after a demonstration of how Guyana’s Smart Classrooms work. The delegates are currently in Guyana for the 12th Biennial Conference.

They were given a hands-on tour of the operations of one of the classrooms by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development’s (NCERD) Information Technology (IT) Coordinator Marcia Thomas. The IT Coordinator informed the delegates that the smart classroom was born out of a need to meet the needs of the people, especially those

in the hinterland regions. Thomas explained that it is also in keeping with Guyana’s green agenda since the room is powered by solar energy.

Many of the delegates were amazed by the system which can effectively contribute to the education process for a large population. Thomas explained that prior to the system’s implementation, teachers were trained to effectively deliver lessons to their students using the new technology. She also indicated that the teacher conducting the lessons has full control of every student’s device.

“With the help of the e-Governance unit, we have started connecting all the schools in Guyana. So, every child will have access to ed-

Information Technology Coordinator Marcia Thomas (centre standing) addressing the delegates of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) on how the Smart Classroom works

ucation. Every day we have master teachers in here teaching, every child who missed school can log into smart class

Guyana and pull up that lesson,” she is quoted by the Department of Public Information as explaining.

Thomas also highlighted that shortly, an application (APP) will be launched to further enhance the smart class-

room. This APP will provide access to hundreds of textbooks, free of cost, for students.

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana Govt, teachers’ union sign wages agreement …union says looking forward to a better pact in 2019

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resident of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, who on Wednesday signed an agreement with the Education Ministry for a 12 per cent increase for 2016 and an eight per cent increase for 2018, has noted that the Union has learnt its lesson and is looking forward to brokering a better agreement come 2019.

He made this statement while addressing media operatives at the Ministry’s 26 Brickdam, Georgetown office after the two agencies inked the agreement to raise public school teachers’ salaries.

“We recognise that, as a Union, there are several things that we would have requested that were not granted, but nonetheless we believe that it’s a work in progress to go forward. We look forward to a new agreement in the new phase in 2019 that we can have more benefits given to our teachers, but looking at the present agreement we believe that our teachers are going to benefit from outstanding clothing allowances, they’re going to benefit from increases that dates back to 2016,” Lyte said.

Moreover, the GTU President pointed out that the Union has “learnt so many lessons” and is now better prepared for the next bargaining process with the Education Ministry.

He explained that he believes the agreement made will better satisfy teachers and their families and even result in classrooms being better serviced.

On the other hand, General

Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Adele Clarke and GTU President, Mark Lyte signs the agreement as other officials from both sides look on

Secretary of the GTU, Coretta McDonald during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International said she believes the Union should have been more diligent in its doings.

“As a Union we needed to do a little more work, we needed to be a little more diligent in what we were doing, but it’s a learning experience and come 2019 our teachers, if it’s going to be a threeyear or a five-year agreement, our teachers will see many more benefits coming their way,” she stated.

McDonald pointed out that the GTU has been working along a with a team to put their documents forward for arbitration and is seeking to have their draft proposal for 2019 ready by the first week in December to submit to the Education Ministry.

“Those teachers who would have felt neglected over the past years and they weren’t being able to gain access to their benefits, I want to say to them rest assured GTU has been there for you, we

will continue to be there for you and your benefits are intact,” she added.

Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson told reporters that the Ministry looks forward to working with the GTU in future. “I think the signing today is symbolic that we intend to have a working relationship with all our stakeholders, all our partners and we consider the Union to be an integral part of what we do the Ministry of Education…we intend to work with all of our partners including the Union that we consider to be maybe our greatest partners in this process.”

Increases

According to the agreement seen by this newspaper, for the year 2016, teachers who earn below G$100,000 per month will benefit from a 12 per cent increase while teachers who earn G$100,000 and over monthly will gain an eight per cent increase.

For the year 2017, teachers who earn below G$100,000 per month will get an eight per cent

increase and those who earn above this amount will receive a six per cent increase.

Meanwhile, for 2018, there will be an across the board eight per cent increase for all teachers.

Non-salary issues

With regard to non-salary issues, teachers will continue to receive the approved rates for improved qualifications, the agreement said. These include G$4000 for certificate in education, G$6000 for diploma in education, G$10,000 for a Master’s degree; G$30,000 for a doctoral degree and G$10,000 for special needs teachers.

In addition to an G$8000 per annum uniform allowance, “Increases for clothing, station/ hard lying, risk and travelling allowances will be considered in line with the review of these allowances for the wider public service,” the agreement says.

Duty-free concessions

In keeping with the agreement, teachers will be granted the opportunity of having 100 du-

ty-free concessions per annum for vehicles up to 1800cc. All-terrain vehicles (ATV’s) and outboard engines up to 75HP will be granted to eligible teachers in the riverine and hinterland areas.

The agreement explains the criteria required for all heads, principles and deputy heads, deputy principles, head mistresses and masters or administrators of the various grades of school.

Hinterland benefits

According to the new contract, teachers and their families who serve in the interior will be given a “return fare to the coastland” once per term and teachers who are from one area in the hinterland but serve in another area will benefit from this initiative.

Housing

Along with a number of other issues, the two also agreed that a committee of six persons will be established to prepare a position paper on the granting of house lots to teachers revolving loan fund, the agreement stated.

Although fewer smiles were seen on the faces of the GTU executives when they accepted the offer, Lyte told Guyana Times that the Union is satisfied with the amount being given to teachers.

It was explained by him that the increases for teachers will be paid in two tranches. “The increases are going to be paid in two tranches because you know what teachers receive in 2016 would have an impact on 2017 and 2018, so we are going to have payments being done in December and payments being done in January 2019.” (Davina Ramdass)

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Guyana testing Sexual Offences, Child Abuse Registries

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lthough the much-anticipated Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Registries were launched back in September, sources have indicated that they were yet to be officially opened to the public.

An officer attached to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) said that the software has been set up and was being tested to ensure all aspects were intact.

Back in August, CCPA Director Ann Greene revealed the Agency’s plans to have the Registries launched during Child Protection Week.

The Child Abuse Registry will be helpful in providing information in relation to a person’s biography. Greene pointed out that the perpetrators of sexual abuse would be publicised and exposed to the public, who would be able to access the requisite information on the Internet.

“People were clamouring for that, and so I gave a commitment to launch the Child Abuse Registry. It is really to put online the persons who would have committed offences against children. If anybody wants to employ anybody, you could run the Child Abuse Registry,” she explained.

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

“A lot of information will be made available

CCPA Director Ann Greene

through the Registry; (like) the type of abuse, the person’s age, their name, where they’re from, and so on. Because when we set up this database, we can do drafts and look and see where the abusers are. We can pull up the map and see where they are,” she revealed.

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

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

The Social Protection Ministry first announced plans to establish this type of registry back in 2016. The then Government Information Agency (GINA) had reported that the Ministry would be embarking on a series of community outreaches countrywide to develop a registry to ensure that all vulnerable individuals and families were accounted for.

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State-of-the-art operating theatre for Region 2 hospital

Nikita Edwards: Linden’s newest attorney-at-law

By Kizzy Coleman

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Regional Executive Officer (REO) Rupert Hopkinson and contractor Rakesh Samaroo after the contract signing on Monday

G$40.9 million contract was signed on Monday between the Government of Guyana and Rakesh Samaroo of Builders Hardware for the construction of a state-of-theart operating theatre at the Suddie Hospital. Signing on behalf of the Government was Regional Executive Officer (REO) Rupert Hopkinson, who said that he was very happy that Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) would finally get a state-of-the-art operating theatre.

He noted that the Region requested this through its budget a long time ago, but he was, nevertheless, happy that it was approved in 2018.

Hopkinson stated that he had full confidence the contractor would do a good job because of his track records, and hoped that the project would be completed within the four-month peri-

od estimated.

Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr Afarah Khan was supportive of the project, and as such, would seek the advice of the Regional Engineer with respect to monitoring the project.

Minister within the Public Infrastructure Ministry, Annette Ferguson encouraged the contractor to use local skilled persons in the area.

She also called for quality work.

Presently, the theatre at Suddie Hospital cannot deal with all of the current cases and as such, patients who have to undergo major surgery are transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital or even the Georgetown Public Hospital.

When completed, the operating theatre at Suddie is expected to take care of all relevant patients in Region Two.

Indigenous residents receive licensed firearms

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Residents from communities in Region Seven (Cuyuni Mazaruni) pose with their newly-licensed firearms

ndigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock handed out another batch of licensed firearms to Indigenous residents from communities in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the distribution was done over the weekend in the Indigenous community of Kamarang, Upper Mazaruni.

“We’re very pleased to be able to deliver on our promise … I think good things come to those who wait, and today you have a good thing in your hand for your livelihood,” Minister Allicock told residents.

Earlier this month, Minister Allicock and Ministers of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan and Public Affairs, Dawn HastingsWilliams issued firearms and licences

to residents from 12 villages in Region Seven.

This weekend’s distribution is a follow-up to the previous one, Minister Allicock noted. He explained the visit was needed to resolve application issues for some residents.

Recipients of the licensed firearms were also briefed on the safe handling, usage and storage of their weapons, by members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). The newly-licensed firearm holders were also supplied with ammunition.

Back in 2015, residents had turned in their unlicensed firearms during the Public Security Ministry’s amnesty programme. The Ministry’s plan was to regularise the system, conduct safety checks, and allow for firearm holders, including Indigenous people, to be licensed.

n a simple but significant ceremony held at the High Court last week, Nikita Edwards was admitted to the Bar Association of Guyana.

Her words after taking her oath before Chief Justice Roxanne George were, “Don’t let anybody tell you that you cannot do it, and do not let any situation tell you that you cannot do it. If you want it, fight for it.”

And a fight it was for the 30-year-old Edwards, who hails from the mining town of Linden. Born as one of four children to parents whose occupations were cook and baker respectively, this vibrant young woman knew at an early age that any dream of hers had to be attained through diligent efforts.

Edwards was taken under the wings of an aunt and a grandmother who provided for her, but she yet faced many financial challenges. Fortunately for her, though, her potential was noticed by many strangers, who assisted her.

From a young age, she developed a love for the NBC hit series Law and Order, which focuses on the apprehension and prosecution of criminals.

Edwards relayed: “Growing up, I always watched Law and Order.

I always admired how the lawyers would dress and go to court; and one time, my grandmother told me, I was sleeping and in my sleep I was yelling, ‘Objections, Your Honour!’ So, from a young age, I always wanted to become a lawyer,” Edwards detailed.

After completing her secondary education, Edwards knew that she wanted a career in the judicial field; however, her financial circumstances were such that would prevent her from pursuing same, so for a little while Edwards contemplated teaching,

Attorney-at-Law Nikita Edwards

but later questioned that decision.

“Sometimes you have so many dreams, but you also know that your family would not have the financial means to assist you. And for some people, you throw away your dreams because you also know that, and the reality is you don’t have it. But I was encouraged to keep pressing. Like I said, I contemplated teaching, but then how can I be a teacher and tell children that they could be the best that they could be when I myself wasn’t even trying to be the best that I could be?”

Edwards reasoned.

Nevertheless, she commenced her studies at the University of Guyana in 2009 with the belief that God would bless her efforts; and bless her efforts He did.

Reflecting now on her achievement, Edwards commended herself for taking the leap and hoping for the best possible outcome to her journey.

“You ask yourself, ‘How am I going to find G$6 million to pay for law school?’ I still needed to live, I still needed to eat. I applied for a scholarship and I got through, and I knew that that was the grace of God. And I’m here to-

day. Hugh Wooding was two of the best years of my life. I met folks that I would keep forever. I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything in this world,” the attorney said.

Further, Edwards expressed her gratitude towards her family and friends who, according to her, made it possible for her. And, as such, she shares her accomplishments with them.

Her journey, she hopes, acts as a testimony to encourage young persons in Guyana with a fire in their hearts for something great to keep pushing after their dreams.

Justice George encouraged Edwards thus: “Legal Aid collaborates with Rights of the Child…I’m happy that you have started there.

Expect to keep the high standard of work, and always overcome obstacles. Be assured that that part of your journey has ended, but similar assiduous is needed.”

She added, “Be careful, and be frank with clients. Earn your reputation. Start from day one. Command the respect of the court and your colleagues; and do yourself, family, and whoever you may work for proud.”

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APNU/AFC in full campaign mode in Linden

…as LGE draws nearer

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resident David Granger recently took the Local Government Elections (LGE) sensitisation campaign to the mining town of Linden, where he encouraged local leaders to pay attention to address-

APNU, with President Granger declaring it the most exciting rally hosted so far.

In his presentation, the Head of State said Government was trying to use LGEs to transform Guyana.

is that win, lose or draw, we’re going to have Local Government Elections, because it is the people’s entitlement. It is their constitutional obligation,” he noted.

The President stressed too that local

Some of the members pay keen attention to their leader

ing issues at the local level.

Addressing members of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and community members at the Egbert Benjamin Centre, the President pointed to the importance of LGEs in shaping local democracy.

Members of the coalition were in full campaign mode, endorsing the

“This is what we’re trying to do throughout Guyana: use the Local Government Elections to transform Guyana. Not to remain stagnant, but to change things, provide better services for the children and residents of these villages …

We didn’t go into Local Government Elections to lose, we went in to win. But what we said

representatives must serve constituencies and pay attention to local issues to ensure that the needs of all residents of various constituencies were satisfied. He also pointed to what he termed “civil resistance” or “civil war” by some Regional Chairmen whom he said did not cooperate with Central Government, noting

that this was prohibiting progress.

“And that is what’s holding back this country. That is what is holding back development…

It is you, the representatives of the residents of those communities who must inform, instruct and direct your representatives about how to provide services for the respective communities…All politics is local, and Local Government Elections is meant to solve local problems.

This is the importance… that is why you’re empowered,” Granger stated.

The Leader of the APNU also noted that candidates must prove themselves as leaders to serve their constituencies and that central, regional and municipal levels of governance must work together.

He said it was hard to explain the importance of LGE, since they had been absent for so long that people did not seem to understand what they were all about, as he emphasised that training for leadership starts at LGEs. “We are in the stage, my brothers and sisters, by which we are in the brink of a new form of

President David Granger addressing the audience

democracy, not only one that will promote the development of Linden, but one that will empower the residents to make them more conscious of the needs of their various communities … So, most important is that this is an exercise for real democracy in that you can identify your candidates … It’s good to be involved in decision making … because you are accountable, you are responsible,” he posited.

Further endorsing the coalition, the President said the APNU ‘train’ was not going to stop, noting that it has built a relationship of

trust between candidates and members of the constituencies.

“APNU is a party which brings the depth of PNC experiences … We serve the working people and we’ve served this community for decades, but even so we must still mobilise…,” he said.

The President also noted that he saw Linden as playing a critical role in leading the towns across Guyana as he pledged that the party would increase the number of street lights, provide more solar energy and improve solid waste management among other things.

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Young lawyer in support of Guyana setting up own law school

…says lecturers must be of high standard

By Shemuel Fanfair

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young law school graduate who has recently been admitted to the local bar says that while she supports the establishment of a local law school, the standard of any lecturer placed there would have to be in keeping with that of international counterparts.

Speaking to Guyana Times International last week, twenty-three-yearold Shivani Lalaram expressed much elation at being part of what she said is a prestigious profession, having been admitted in a ceremony presided over by Justice Sandil Kissoon in the presence of her family, friends and well-wishers.

The former Queen’s College student and graduate of the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad has set her eyes on a Master’s degree focusing on Environmental and Energy issues, given Guyana’s impending oil & gas sector.

However, for the foreseeable future, she will

gather experience in criminal law first, having gained some experience as an intern in that area.

Lalaram told this publication that she has also been exposed to civil law. While noting her rewarding experience studying overseas, she told this newspaper that any institution established in Guyana must be of a high standard comparable to what obtains overseas.

“If they were to establish a law school in Guyana, they would definitely need to ensure that the tutelage that you receive at Hugh Wooding and at the other law schools in the Caribbean is received here. Additionally, in order to do that, we need to be able to compensate the lecturers and the tutors. Aside from that, I think it would be a good initiative for us to have,” Lalaram noted.

She outlined that she is not the first legal practitioner in her family, as her extended relatives Kamini and Sonia Parag

Shivani Lalaram moments after her admittance to the bar at the Supreme Court in Georgetown

are already into law practice. The new attorney credited her success to the sustained support of her family members, who continue to play an integral role in her success, even after her father had passed away.

This occurred during the time she undertook studies pertaining

to her Legal Education Certificate (LEC) in Trinidad.

“My major difficulty was losing my father while I was at Hugh Wooding, but it kind of encouraged me and pushed me a little further, because my dad was the voice I heard every single time I felt that

I couldn’t do it anymore,” she stressed.

She has encouraging words for current University of Guyana students pursuing their Bachelor of Laws qualification, saying that much focus should be placed on being well-rounded individuals.

“It is a very presti-

gious profession, and you do have to give to it to get out of it; and you need to have the passion for it. I would also say to them that whilst it is a jealous mistress, you have to remember to balance it. You cannot be just in your books. Ensure that whether you do a sport or whatever else, ensure you tie that into your study, because studying alone will not allow you to come out as rounded, as it’s a rounded profession,” Lalaram, who is the sibling of a doctor stressed.

Many local observers believe that Guyana should have its own law school, since only the top 25 Guyanese students gain automatic places at the Hugh Wooding Law School, while the others enter via a written entrance exam.

However, the Caribbeanbased Council of Legal Education has not approved the establishment of a local law school in Guyana owing to the wording of a treaty that governs its functions.

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Guyana’s Public Security Minister blasted for ‘poor’ performance

…Opposition Leader points to several riots, jailbreaks under his watch

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or each of the three years that the coalition Government has been in office, there were jailbreaks and riots at various prisons, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has noted.

Addressing a recent press conference, the former Head of State said that this pointed to the incompetence of Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and, by extension, the Government.

“Ramjattan’s incompetence knows no limit.

So, we have had another fiasco at the prison. We warned about this … but he is impervious to criticism,” Jagdeo stated.

The Opposition Leader believes that Ramjattan has underperformed in every single area of his responsibility, stating that crime was on a rampant increase and the Minister has made a mess of the prison system.

He recalled that the then Opposition used to argue that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration was weak on law and order, which has now come back to haunt them.

“Because almost three years you had some burning of the prison and loss of life … because of the incompetence … they created this moral haz-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

ard by their own acts,” he asserted.

On Monday October 15, 2018, three inmates from the Lusignan penitentiary, one of whom has since been recaptured, scaled the fence of the Holding Bay area and escaped.

Later that night, several inmates at the facility started a riot over the food they were served and in retaliation, ranks opened fire on them resulting in at least 10 of them being injured.

At a press conference following these incidents, Ramjattan lamented that he did not know what else could be done to address the troubles within the prison system.

“I don’t have any oth-

er suggestions … for their security, for the citizens’ security as to what we can do there … So, look, the thing gives me headache every night,” the Minister stated.

He went on to disclose that the requests made to various international agencies for funding to address the state of affairs within the prison system have been rejected and now the only solution would be to await money Guyana will earn from oil production in two years’ time.

Back in early July 2017, eight prisoners, a few of them high-profile criminals, escaped from the Camp Street Prison.

There was a huge riot that led to a massive fire which destroyed a large

section of the penitentiary. While most of them were recaptured, a few remain on the run.

With the transfer of most of these prisoners to other prisons, 13 of them escaped from Lusignan Prison. Two escapees, Paul Goriah and Cobena Stephens, are still on the run. Another major riot erupted there, and there were calls for investigations based on the inhumane conditions of the facility.

In March 2016, the Camp Street Prison was destroyed when prisoners started rioting under similar circumstances.

Seventeen inmates died because of burns, smoke inhalation and injuries received during the unrest. It was the worst prison riot in Guyana.

Jagdeo said the coalition was warned about its actions after March 2016, as it related to the fact that after the prisoners set fire to the jail, they secured a meeting with a member of the executive.

“They created a moral hazard there … where it ends?” he questioned, noting that prisoners have been given the impression that if they resorted to riotous actions, their demands would be met.

He said, “In the long term, their actions will affect us … we have to

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

be extremely cautious about our approach (with the release of prisoners and not sow the seed for another crisis in the future).”

Minister of State Joseph Harmon said Friday that Ramjattan has met with a team of persons with expertise to discuss possible solutions to address the issues facing the Guyana Prisons Service (GPS).

Ramjattan not disclose what was discussed or whom he had met with.

The Private Sector Commission (PSC), in a letter to Minister Ramjattan, indicated its concern on a number of issues affecting the prisons in Guyana and, by virtue of this, public safety in the country.

The Commission noted that in a recent meeting of the Management Board of the Prisons, it was highlighted that there was a general lack of adequate security at all of the prisons, a lack of fire prevention systems, the lack of transportation to enable movement of prisoners and food where necessary, and the inadequacy of the current complement of prisons to safely house the prison population.

It further stated that while the Commission is concerned about the safety and security of the public, it is also disturbed by the less-than-humane conditions under which the inmate population at the Lusignan Prison is housed.

Boat captains in Mazaruni River crash that left 10 dead listed for High Court trial

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fter five years of being wracked by emotional turmoil, relatives and dependents of ten persons who perished when two boats collided in the Mazaruni River on January 22, 2013 will finally get closure at the trial of the captains of those boats, scheduled for the current session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.

Boat captains Devon Thomas and Cabesh Persaud had each been placed on G$1 million bail at their arraignment on manslaughter charges in the Georgetown Magistrates Courts in April 2013.

When their matter comes up for trial, they are each expected to be indicted on 10 counts of manslaughter.

Thomas had been captaining the “Matheran”, a vessel which had been carrying 13 passengers, while Persaud had been captaining the “Dube,” which had had six passengers.

Ricky Bobb

Keanu Amsterdam

Deon Moses

Zaheer Baksh

The allegations detail that on January 22, 2013, while being the captains of two travelling speedboats, they killed a total of ten occupants who had been on board the two vessels in an incident that occurred at Crab Falls in the Mazaruni River.

The persons who perished were Kevon Ambrose, 25,

of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo; Keanu Amsterdam, 17, of Barr Street, Kitty, and his 27-year-old brother Ricky Bobb, whose body was recovered afterwards; Jermaine Calistro, 27, of Boodhoo Housing Scheme, EBE; Jewan Seeram of Tuschen, EBE; Deon Moses, 33, of Norton Street, Wortmanville; Ulrick

Grimes, 39, of Salem, EBE; Christopher Ramnarine, 21, of Parika, EBE; Zahir Baksh, 34, of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara; and 48-year old Brazilian national Francisco Olivera Alves.

Justices Sandil Kissoon, James Bovell-Drakes and JoAnn Barlow are on rotation for the current sitting of the

Assizes.

Justice Kissoon is the lone judge currently presiding over cases that include murder and attempted murder, while Justice Bovell-Drakes is scheduled to preside later in the session. Madame Justice Barlow is hearing cases at the Sexual Offences Court.

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12 bodyguards assigned to Mayor, fmr Mayor of Georgetown amid staff shortage

...CoI Chairman says ‘this is ridiculous’ F or many months, there has been an ongoing public decry that the City Constabulary is shortstaffed and cannot effectively carryout its duties.

However, this reflects differently from the fraction of staffers that are used as bodyguards for present and former employees.

Currently, there are 191 officers employed by the City Constabulary with 67 auxiliary guards but according to Constable of the City Constabulary, Andrew Foo, the “requirement” is some 345 persons.

“Our authorised strength should be 345. We currently have 191 in terms of staff and 67 security guards.”

Out of the limited amount, eight were appointed to provide protection for the Mayor, Patricia ChaseGreene and four for the former Mayor, Hamilton Green.

This figure does not include other members of the Council who are also provided with security.

The Chief Constable’s competence and control over the department which he presides was questioned on Wednesday at the Commission of Inquiry (CoI)

financial resources to pay an increased workforce.

There has been an increase in robberies around Georgetown, especially at the Stabroek and Bourda Markets which are considered “criminal hotspots”.

In the midst of the bodyguard crisis, John Walters

that he does not possess a relevant licence or a supernumerary precept. Walters affirmed these allegations during his witness statement.

The CoI also heard, among other things, that no conclusive investigations were carried out for several

Former Mayor, Hamilton Green

into City Hall’s operations.

“The former Mayor, Hamilton Green has one Lance Corporal and three security guards. The current Mayor has eight.” Puzzled as to why so many security personnel are needed, the Commissioner Justice Cecil Kennard replied, “This is ridiculous… Who would harm her? This is a wastage of money and that is why City Hall is bankrupted.”

Foo noted that he would have asked on a number of occasions for additional officers to be employed but it was the Council’s decision to assign these bodyguards to the respective City Hall associates.

Back in July, the Chief Constable would’ve indicated in an interview with this media group that there was a freeze in the hiring process since there weren’t enough

Mayor, Patricia Chase-Greene

who is a bodyguard of Royston King was issued a firearm despite the fact

activities at the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

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- single mother shares her story

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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ne of the most painful decisions for parents is the dreaded one of parting with their children, but more often than we realise circumstances force parents to part with their children for various reasons, and Nakeshia Best is still coming to terms with that decision she was forced to make.

The single mother from Skeldon, Berbice in Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) took the fateful decision to send two of her three children to live with their maternal grandmother after she could no longer afford to provide financially for them. You see, Best was one of the thousands of workers who were unsympathetically handed redundancy letters

when Government decided to shut up shop at the Skeldon Estate at the beginning of this year.

“The last day I worked was December 29 (2017) and since then I looking for work. I was a part of the fertiliser gang for over five years and that money I used to use to take care of the children and after I stop working I just can’t afford it anymore. It just hard,” Best tells me.

All adults, particularly those with a family, set out certain goals and have dreams that they work towards and Best had those same dreams, but all she could do now is try to survive and not get kicked out of the apartment she rents.

She said that during her short tenure as a part of Guyana’s largest workforce, she initiated the

Nakeshia Best and her youngest child

process of acquiring her own land but then tragedy struck.

“I had a big dream and a lot of dreams of getting my own land and building my own house and afterwards estate close down and everything just washed away.”

Now she barely works for $2000 per week as a domestic help. Best related that she would launder clothes for a family every Wednesday and Saturday and that is all the income she has been getting ever since the beginning of the year.

To provide more insight into the reasons that forced her to part ways with her two eldest children who are only eight and 14 years old, Best tells me that her rent is $10,000 per month and she earns about $8000 per month.

Apart from meeting her monthly rent, she would have to buy food and ensure that the children attend school as well as meet the demands of her three-year-old.

“Life changed completely and because some days the children them going to school and some days they can’t and till eventually the two big one I had to send them by my mother in Georgetown and get a transfer and so for them because it is really hard for me up this side,” the 29-year-old tells me.

She said that employment opportunities were scarce in her area and even further afield thus making earning any money harder. Best has

applied for a number of jobs, since her unfortunate and abrupt termination, but has received no response as yet.

“Since June I applied for a Special Constabulary Officer position and until now them didn’t even call and say yes that we have the job or no we don’t. That is how the whole Berbice is and we can’t do nothing about it at all. We just have to go with the flow and see where life takes us, but all I can say is that things hard. It really hard here and we need to get a break because we suffering here and no-

body coming up with no plan to help,” she says.

Best would have received all of her severance pay from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), but it was so meagre that she utilised it all paying bills, rent; shopping for groceries and sending her children to school.

Now she has zero savings and as the breadwinner of her family, she is struggling to keep the roof over her head and that of her three-yearold.

She says now all she can do is be strong and persevere because she

believes that bad phases do not last for long and she is strong enough to weather this storm and come out with minimal damage.

“I may feel broken now, but I will find a way to put the pieces back together. I will get back to a state where I can take care of my children again and we all can be under one roof. I miss them a lot and because of the money situation I can’t even see them when I like, but very soon, very soon,” she said optimistically. (Times Sunday Magazine)

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t is considered a ‘man’s world’ but there are several women who continue to champion this field and they are doing it in a sustainable way. The field, is the mining sector.

Belina Charlie has built a livelihood through mining.

She has been in the field for 18 years. It was sometime in 2006, while working as a receptionist at a local guest house in the city that she met a Brazilian, who would later become her partner.

“He was just like me, we were just the same level, we had nothing but, he was into mining before, he came to Guyana. So, he wanted to work here,” Belina said.

She took a week off from work to travel into the interior. That week marked her entrance into the mining industry. However, the first week in the interior, according to Belina, was “really rough”. Along with her partner, Belina said, they opened a taxi service and also purchased a dragger (gold mining equipment), sometime later.

In 2012, Belina was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The diagnosis and illness curtailed her movements between the interior and the coast where she lives. Belina would commence treatment for the cancer.

Belina Charlie

“I did my first session here in Guyana then I went abroad, I went to Brazil to do the other chemo, I wasn’t finding medication because I have to buy my own medication. And I run everywhere, every pharmacy, every hospital to see, if I could get, even public, they didn’t had chemo, I had to go to Brazil. After the chemo… ..I….I lost my memory, even my sight, I lost. I couldn’t (watch) television, I wasn’t seeing (the) television, it was blurred, I didn’t remember that I had family, I didn’t even know where I came from but the only thing I know was that

I was right here”.

She added that if she was never diagnosed with cancer, things would have been different. Belina is most passionate about the production aspect of her business. She reiterated that to be a miner, one has to be strong.

Belina is a mother of one; a son, and does not want him to take up a career in mining because according to her, it’s really hard work. Her son is in Miami, USA, at the moment, pursuing studies in the aeronautical field. “……I want him to go higher, that is my dream for my son. Not because I got sick or I run brucks, I just want my son to stay away but I tell him to go. I told him you do not worry about what happening here, you worry about what you have to achieve,” she said.

She had battles with at least one Indigenous community. She had 72 legal river claims that were being challenged in the courts by the community.

Going back to mining, Belina noted that as a woman, she has faced discrimination, but noted that, “as a woman, you don’t have to bother with what people say about you, you have to go on and you have to be strong”.

Presently, in a male-dom-

inated field, she has between 30 and 40 men working with her and so far, she has earned her respect in that field.

For women wanting to get into mining, Belina advises that, the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation (GWMO) is willing to assists

In 2017, Belina was sponsored by Rio Tinto Group, an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world’s largest metals and mining corporations to be a part of the International Women in Resources Mentorship Programme that was organ-

in the process.

Belina and some of her workers underwent a number of mining related training programmes relative to sustainable mining. This is an area that her operation adheres to.

Along the way she has received support from the GWMO and her partner.

ised by the International Women in Mining.

Balancing work and family life has its challenges but Belina does it all well. She is hopeful though, that one day she can become a rancher and get into farming. She also remains an active member of the GWMO. (Michael Younge)

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Gutless…

R

…AFC leaders

alph Ramkarran is a well-meaning fellow… but he’s either incurably optimistic or preternaturally naïve. Pointing to the studied silence of the PNC-led Government on the constitutional reform they’d promised – to open up the political space in Guyana – he repeated an earlier suggestion: “The AFC’s Ministers should leave the Government, sit in the back benches, support the Government if they wish, but insist on constitutional reform in return for their continuing support.”

Your Eyewitness choked on his coffee when he read that!! Does Ramkarran really hope the AFC leaders will do that? Which one? Trotman has already returned home to the PNC – even though the old guard hasn’t taken him into its bosom. But that’s grist for another mill. In the meantime, he ain’t going nowhere! A bird in the (PNC) hand – small as it may be, bereft of oil – is worth dozens in the AFC’s “dead meat” bush! Similarly, Patterson, who’s taken to the PNC (venal) ways like a shark smelling blood, is also “home”.

That leaves Nagamootoo and Ramjattan. Now this is what surprised your Eyewitness the most.

Ramkarran knew these two fellas for donkey years in the PPP; did he ever see either one of them do anything for “principles”?? Ramjattan jumped ship because he saw no way up the ladder under the much younger Jagdeo, who was picked ahead of him by the Jagans. Egged on by a certain big power that wanted the PPP out (again!!), he really thought he could leverage their support all the way to the presidency.

Now that he (hopefully) realises he was just a pawn in the chess game that ousted the PPP, he now knows there’s no hope for him in any future dispensation. If he quits the PNC for the principle of constitutional reform – as pushed in the APNU/ AFC coalition Manifesto cited by Ramkarran – that ensures them and the PPP getting pieces of the (power) pie. But he’s gonna be anathema to both!!

He wouldn’t be just between a rock and a hard place – he’ll be between Limbo and Purgatory!!

As for Nagamootoo, surely Ramkarran knows more than anyone – after he declined to be a Minister in the Jagan’s government – how spineless and self-serving this fella is. He’d rather have his dozen outriders, mega salary, air-conditioned “big house” and write his cringy columns! (Even on his belly, thank you, since he’s incapable of standing up!)

And if it’s only for another two years, there’s that mega pension that’ll keep him supplied with “daaru” for the rest of his days!!

So no…there ain’t gonna be no rebellion from the AFC. They’ll go quietly into the night, hoping some crumbs will be thrown their way. …on PNC bullyism In his Chronic column this week, Nagamootoo wrote he saw three groups outside Parliament to greet Granger: “coalition supporters”, sugar workers and marijuana advocates. The sugar workers – mostly from Berbice where 4000 workers were thrown on the breadlines – were there to demand their severance pay which had been delayed for a year.

But by the time Nagamootoo wrote his column at least two days later, he must’ve seen the video of what transpired outside Parliament while he was soaking in Granger’s speech – which he would be reporting on for the Chronic. In the video, the true face of the PNC was bared – belying the platitudes on “sugar workers’ welfare” Granger was spouting to the National Assembly.

The male and female “coalition supporters”, bedecked in green, were taunting the sugar workers, in the most vicious manner possible. One man repeatedly shouted into their faces: “This is Georgetown! Our country!! Did you get visa to come heah??” Well, Nagamootoo is also from Berbice.

But he earned his visa by selling his conscience for a mess of pottage! …or realpolitik?

Your Eyewitness guarantees that nothing will come out of the murder of Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Turkey, from the international community.

There, money is the balm that smothers all qualms!!

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FEATURE 33

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Cancer Warrior, Volda Lawrence, tells her story a lot of medical people so I would be in a meeting and they would notice my hands. It would always attract someone’s attention and all I would do is smile inside.”

Triple-negative breast cancers respond better to chemotherapy than breast cancers that are hormone-receptor-positive. This meant Minister Lawrence spent adequate amounts of time in the office even as she was recovering.

“I had my chemotherapy, and I would come to work in the morning,

pointed a public health minister, better insight into how she could represent women and health issues.

“I met persons from all walks of life, I met persons young, old, in between, I met persons who had family support and persons who had no family support, I met persons who were on their third round, having gone into remission… so I made a lot of friends.”

Thankful for life From the time of her diagnosis, throughout recovery and to date,

to advocate for women to know their status relating to cancers and seek urgent treatment once they have tested positive. She said it is better to know than to be unaware of important lifethreatening diseases like these.

“Once you know, you can have corrective treatment. If you don’t know you’ll continue to go down that hole and your health will deteriorate, it may cost you more and you will be more of a burden to your family because you are

Public Health Minister more than one year after cancer, engaging students in Orealla.

G

uyana’s Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence calls herself a “cancer warrior” because she believes she has fought for her life and for the opportunity to live another day to inspire others.

Minister Lawrence was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer in January 2017.

This diagnosis came at a time when she was settling into a new appointment, as a senior Public Health Minister.

Partaking in a routine annual feature, the Minister took a pathology test for breast cancer cells; the results of which returned negative for estrogen receptors (ER-), progesterone receptors (PR-), and HER2 (HER2). Testing negative for all three means the cancer is triple-negative. That is, the growth of the cancer is not supported by the hormones, estrogen and progesterone, nor by the presence of too many HER2 receptors.

Triple-negative results account for about 10-20 percent of all breast cancers.

Ever since that diagnosis, Minister Lawrence has submitted herself to the many changes that came with her new health status.

She shared her story, as a Cancer Warrior instead of a survivor with DPI. The public servant has fought to be an inspiration and a pillar of strength to others, often at their low point, after confirming their status of cancer.

“Survivor has its own meaning, its own connotations. I believe that anyone who would have been able to beat cancer, would have had to war (fight) for it. You can’t just sit down and believe you are going to survive.”

Minister Lawrence said.

First reaction to diagnosis

Minister Lawrence’s diagnosis of breast can-

cer came as a surprise since there was no history of cancer in her genealogy. She questioned the doctors as to how she could have missed this and then realised that the usual mammography examination wasn’t enough.

“In most cases, persons with the type of breasts that I have should do an ultrasound as a backup.”

As she moved forward, preparing to bravely take on the battle against breast cancer, Minister Lawrence decided to be her own source of encouragement and relied heavily on her faith, in God, which kept her positive.

“I sought God and one may say why would you do that? You are told that you have something that could kill you, how could you do that?… I sought God because I knew He is the author and finisher of my faith so I thought if this is what he is going to give to me it has to be for some reason.”

While many would regard telling friends and family as a means of having support, Minister Lawrence did the opposite.

“I spoke to many of my relatives and friends, but not all of them. I carefully selected those who I wanted to speak to at that time and the persons who I chose also had strong faith. Believers, who I knew would not pity me and wouldn’t treat me like an egg,” she said laughingly.

Cancer Warrior: Game plan

After the diagnosis, Minister Lawrence took some time out and engaged in soul-searching and rediscovering herself, but she also found herself questioning God about her situation.

However, being a woman of strength, she quickly bounced back, recognising that she could touch many lives with her testimony in hand.

“I wanted to know, what can I do with this situation, how best can I use whether I have three months, four months or four years or even one hundred years, what is it that Volda Lawrence can use this experience for, how can I touch other persons lives?”

During treatment, “I talked to a lot of persons, I read a lot of books about persons who shared their stories and I realised that they all had their own stories to tell and I had one of my own.” She added.

In her quiet moments, Minister Lawrence began to charter her own course and devised a game plan to deal with her diagnosis of breast cancer; something she never imagined would affect her.

“I did make some changes, but I didn’t have too much change to make because many years ago I started to take stock of my lifestyle, I started looking at my eating habits I started exercising and all of that. Two things I said to myself,” She added, “one, I will do what the doctor says; I will eat and drink whatever the doctor says to and two, I will not bother with all these things that people will tell you.”

Even as she followed her doctor’s orders, she remembered her commitment to her country, to serve the people of Guyana. After three surgeries, she would still go to the office and work.

“In 2017 I had three operations and I would still turn out to work; that had my Doctor going crazy, he would call saying tell the Minister to go home, she needs to rest…”

Black Fingers

“When you are taking chemotherapy, your fingers tend to get black… Medical people would know this and I have been dealing with

Minister Lawrence at a breast cancer awareness lecture for high school students at St. Rose’s High School

leave at midday go and have my chemo at home then I’ll get up in the afternoon and either come back to work or go and do something, once I got a good rest I was good to go again.”

During the radiation treatment phase, the Minister made lots of new friends all who related to her fight against cancer. This gave the non-medical professional who had just been ap-

Minister Lawrence has received spiritual upliftment from those at her church who pray for her continually.

“A lot of strength came from those church elders, my mother…”

This is where her confidence to move on grew.

She says now that, “every morning I wake up is just a privilege.”

Moving forward

Minister Lawrence has taken the firm stance

sick all of the time.

As the Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence desires to see women of all ages have access to screening services for cancer, free of charge and once they receive a positive diagnosis move on to governmentfunded treatment which will give them hope as this year’s cancer awareness theme suggests.

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“T

wo packs sausage fuh $500.”

“Come get yuh bora, fresh garden bora.” “I got nice tops fuh yuh wife, bai; come buy two.” These are some of the words one would hear on passing through what was once the busiest place on the West Bank of Demerara on Friday. That place was the Wales Market, but now the once-busy area is a ghost town with very few vendors on a Friday.

“Right now, what I can tell you, this market is a dead place. Almost everybody stop coming to sell, since the estate close down, because it was mostly the estate workers who used to buy and now them people nah got money, so they got to economise and business too bad to still sell deh,” former vendor Hemraj Mangru said. But how

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

did the once-busy market become a virtual ghost town? The answer presents itself right before you: the closure, in 2016, of the Wales Estate, the largest employer on the West Bank of Demerara.

It has been almost two years since the closure, and former workers are still trying to find employment, while the economy of the village and those further afield are still grappling with the economic shock.

Businesses are continuing to see a decline in sales, since most of the people are economising – cutting back on spending not because they want to, but because they are forced to. Many of the workers who lost their jobs at the estate are high school dropouts or those who never went to school thus making the task of finding employ-

ment ten times harder.

When the Administration decided to close the estate, it did not come up with an alternative plan to cushion the effect of the massive shock to the economy. Apart from offering some of the workers employment at the Uitvlugt Estate, West Coast Demerara, there was no contingency plan and the workers were virtually given no options as to how to go about getting jobs.

Most of them atA section of the almost abandoned market tempted to join the fisheries sector, applyNot underplaying ing to various fish/sea- Security Service had to protest for their salaries, the struggles of the refood processing plants, since they were forced to trenched workers, but but very few were sucgo unpaid for months. back to the issue of the cessful. Those who know “When you do get dying institution that is to read and write a bit were given employ- your pay, then it short the Wales Market. The ment with various secu- and them does bring vendors said that afrity services, but those some ‘Jim cock bring ter the closure of the esemployed by Sentinel ram goat’ story and tell tate, they attempted to you how hours short and continue vending there, all kind of thing, but we but it was not the same can’t say nothing be- and over time they were cause we need the mon- forced to pack up shop ey. We punishing, bud- and look for alternative day; this life nah easy at markets, since the inall,” one of the former es- come of most residents tate workers, now a secu- has all but vanished. rity officer, said.

Now on a Friday, the

(Barbados Nation)

A

merican Airlines has announced that effective October 22, the airline will be going cashless at Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI).

Passengers will be required to use a credit or debit card to make any transactions at the airport, including purchasing tickets and paying

for checked baggage.

“American has transitioned to a cashless airport environment at many locations around the world, allowing our team members to assist our customers in a faster and more efficient manner,” said Jennifer Carter, American’s general manager for Barbados.

“Cashless transactions reduce the complexity of work for our

streets are virtually clear and there is no shouting of bargains to entice customers. There is no competition because there are no estate workers with their week’s earnings to spend. The vendors are suffering, the former workers are suffering, the community of Wales is suffering, and, by extension, the entire West Bank of Demerara is suffering.

(Times Sunday Magazine)

agents who will no longer have to worry about finding exact change or closing out a cash drawer at the end of the day.

This is positive news for our customers and for our team members at the airport.”

American currently offers nonstop service to Barbados from its hub at Miami International Airport (MIA) operating two daily flights.

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

package that he received from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

“If you go about this community, everybody will tell you the same thing and that is business slow back. This entire community and Enterprise was dependent on the estate and because of that things nah happen here. Even construction wuk hard

of being gainfully employed so that he can retire with enough savings to cover his expenses and that of his wife.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Enmore is Bisnauth, who is still struggling to make ends meet as he seeks to take care of his wife and two children. He was employed at the estate since he was 15 years old. He

Deonauth Bisnauth

T

he old saying “put some aside for the rainy days” comes to mind when one thinks of the plight of retrenched sugar workers, since most of them are suffering because their “rainy days” cookie jar is empty. Among those are 54-year-old Mohamed Farook and 47-yearold Deonauth Bisnauth of Enmore, East Coast Demerara.

Farook was employed at the Enmore Estate for 37 years as a cane transporter. His daily job entailed transporting cane from the fields to the factory in order for them to be processed. He, like many of his colleagues, vividly remembers being handed his redundancy letter. He said that he was close to retiring and then came the bad news, so now all the benefits he would have worked for over the past 37 years disappeared with a single letter.

Since he was handed his letter, Farook has been trying to gain employment since he has a 12-year-old daughter who recently started secondary school.

35

Mohamed Farook

“I have to close my eyes from many things, because there is no income from anywhere.

Seeking employment is hard because I send out application to everywhere and when you go for interview, them does tell you that age is the problem. I have to work, but I can’t get no work and it is hard for us here, because Enmore is dead and nothing nah happen here,” he said.

He said that for now he was planting and rearing what he eats in order to make up for his lack of income. Farook utilises the small space at the back of his home for a kitchen garden, and to rear some broiler chickens and goats.

“I do do some agriculture at the back because you got to eat. I does plant lil’ baigan and so and we does pick from there and cook. It does help save some money.”

He said because of his lack of income, he would delve into his savings which include the half of his severance

to find, because money is not circulating,” Farook says.

For now Farook goes about his days tending to his goats and kitchen garden as well as checking the community and further afield for employment. He still has hope

Part of Farook’s garden

“Me was part of the first set of people that them pay off. When them give me the letter, me get stupidy because me nah know what fuh do. But then them say that we gon get wuk and so, but on to now me ah wait fuh a proper wuk to get money,” he said.

Bisnauth said that since his service was terminated, he has been doing odd jobs around the community for people since he cannot find steady employment because of his inability to read and write.

“I can’t read or write and when you go fuh security wuk, them ah tell you that you got to know fuh Mohamed Farook read and write and me and his daughter nah get wuk. Me does ketch me hand with the NDC [Neighbourhood had accumulated 30 Democratic Council] years of service prior to for four days cleaning being handed his redun- the trench, but that is dancy letter. that. The money does

can’t pay because me got to take care of the whole house and pay all the bills and so. Things rough bad, bai; what me go tell you?” Bisnauth said plaintively.

He said that the severance payout he received was used to build a house for his family and now he has to work towards maintaining that house.

“All this years I work GuySuCo, and me just had couple years more before me retired and them man gone and do this. And we nah get wuk nowhere, bai, and everything ah raise. Next couple months me nah know what we go do in this place,” the dejected man said.

For now he continues to ride his bicycle around the village looking for odd jobs to supplement the $2300 he earns daily by cleaning the trenches in the area.

(Times Sunday Magazine)

36 FEATURE

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

By Lakhram Bhagirat

I

f you met Royston Garnett a few years ago and told him that he would have been unemployed for 10- plus months and struggling to make ends meet, he would have certainly given you a few taps on your head to check to see if everything was in place, but today all he can do is worry about where the next dollar will come from, since he practically is as broke as a church mouse.

I know a lot of you will say that ‘we all go through financial hardships, but it is just a phase and work harder, search harder and make the sacrifices and watch the fruits of your labour develop’. But that is not the case for Garnett, since he has been pushing himself harder, he has been making the sacrifices and he tries to diversify but is limited by his circumstances. He is limited by the fact that he is both mother and father to his three children, two of whom are in secondary school. He is limited by the fact that he lives in a county that has a virtually dead economy caused by the retrenchment of its largest workforce.

Garnett was employed at the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Skeldon Estate for the past 20 years in the shovel gang.

But like thousands of persons, he was handed the dreaded redundancy letter in December of 2017 and according to

Royston Garnett

the 44-year-old, his entire world shattered.

He remembers collecting his letter and the hot tears that started to roll down his cheeks making their way to his toes. His entire body was numb. He didn’t cry for himself, rather he cried for the hardships his children would have to face. Yes, he was pessimistic from the beginning, because he knew that there was only so much he could do for a number of reasons.

Garnett now spends his days going around in search of employment, only to be told that there are not any jobs available for him owing to a number of factors, particularly his age as well as the fact that “business bad”.

“Life is hard right now, because I am not

working at the present moment. You barely getting a two-day mason work and that is what you have to cope with. Businesses also crying out, because the sawmills them telling you that they laying off workers because business bad, so the market people them crying out.

If people nah get money, they can’t buy. Skeldon is a ghost town. Work ain’t doing and everybody just crying out, wondering to know when estate starting, when estate starting back,” he said.

He added that they were told to standby because once the Skeldon Estate became operational once again, they would be rehired, but they were yet to get word as to when exactly that would be.

Garnett says that he

has his 13-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter who are both in secondary school, adding that the expenses associated with their education are sometimes beyond his reach. However, he makes the sacrifices to ensure that every assignment is completed on time, every text book is purchased and every exam paid for.

“I have to make the sacrifices because education is important. My daughter because she is in Form Four, she always have an assignment and sometimes the money don’t come to get it done but I does have to make the sacrifice because is she education.

The boy is only in Form Two and he does get one, one assignment, but not so much like the girl,” he explained.

Just last week, his daughter needed an Integrated Science textbook which was valued around $1500 and he was heartbroken that he could not have afforded to purchase it immediately for her. However, he scraped and found the money to get her the book.

During the course of his time working with GuySuCo, Garnett acquired a plot of land in the Number 76 Village Housing Scheme and took a loan to construct a house for himself and his children to live in.

He said while he was still paying, the dreaded thought of repossession loomed over his head every time he failed

Royston’s two youngest children

to make his weekly payments.

Thus far, Garnett has received half of his severance payout to the tune of $372,000 and he would have utilised a portion to pay six months of his mortgage and the other portion went to managing his household and sending his children to school.

“People might think you get a big sum of money but to me that is still underpaid but we accept and bless because it better than nothing. Mine is finished, because I got a loan at the bank and I paid some down…I don’t have nothing in bank and I owe them for last week and this week and that is S10, 000. I got to try (pay that) before it build up more because that is problem. I ain’t

getting work and that is problem,” he said.

“It rough because I ain’t working and when I used to work and it cut out, I used to make much because I still get something to use and right now I ain’t getting nothing and that make it more hard. I got to find that money to pay the bank and that building up and when I build up, them gon send and call me because they reminded me of it already and I don’t want that,” Garnett added.

Now he spends his days running around trying to find a stable job so that he could provide for his family and give them the life they deserve. (Times Sunday Magazine)

Trinidad: Family narrowly escapes house collapse during torrential rainfall (TRINIDAD EXPRESS)

M

ORUGA grandfather Earl Teesdale said he is lucky to be alive after his house collapsed after torrential rainfall over the weekend.

The wooden pillars of Teesdale’s house at Rest House Trace, St Mary’s, buckled and gave way on Saturday.

Teesdale, 65, his wife Beverly, and his 14 year old grandson, were in the house when it collapsed.

They crawled out unharmed.

Tesdale said his pickup van parked beneath the house supported part of the structure, otherwise the entire house would have crashed down on them.

Teesdale said that earlier that day he noticed that the posts had moved and he had planned with his brothers to do renovations

on Sunday morning. He said the wooden house is over 35 years old.

“The rain fell and the water came up and the house twisted drastically. Just a few minutes before it happened I know the house was leaning so I told my wife to come out the house. I just bathed and was changing when I just heard a crackling.

My wife ran to the back of the house. We didn’t have any time to do anything and it just fell”, he said. “From the rains in previous day, the water came up to the step.

The posts are wooden, so they got water soaked.

The land started to get soft and the weight of the house just kept pushing in it. The vehicle underneath saved it otherwise we and the house would have been flat. My brothers were coming to help push up the house and change the posts. But we didn’t reach to that. We

Residents of this house in St. Mary’s Village, Moruga, view the structural damage done to the house after it collapsed on Saturday.

had plans to fix it”.

“I was surprised that it crashed so quickly. It kept pushing from the northern side. If that van was not underneath there I, my wife and my grandson would have been dead”, he said.

The family has since moved most of their possessions to the house

next door owned by his son.

On Sunday Teesdale said he was visited by Member of Parliament for Moruga Lovell Francis.

Teesdale said he obtained a grant and has also reported the incident at the Office of Disaster Preparedness

and Management.

However he said he ran into problems with paper work since the land had been leased to his grandfather, who has since passed away.

He said he did not have documents to prove that portions of the land had been paid for and was advised to visit the

office of State agencies to try to obtain the documents.

Teesdale said he will try through the State agencies to get the documentary proof, but was also exploring the option of moving to another place.

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WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com A nesting Humming bird

B

ecause of Guyana’s diverse rainforest we are blessed with a variety of flora and fauna. Animals that may be a regular sight for us are quite often considered exotic by tourists. So here are a few animals of our beautiful country. (Photos by Deopaul Somwaru and Subhash Haimraj) (Times Sunday Magazine) Baby Toucan

A beautiful Parrot

A black tarantula

One of the many species of frogs

A tortoise

A scarlet Ibis taking off Woodpecker

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44 FEATURE

Following the closure of four sugar factories last year, and the displacing of almost 5000 workers, the workers have been fighting for their jobs and severance packages. Last year, 1851 workers were sacked from the Skeldon Sugar Estate, 1181 from the Rose Hall Estate, 1480 from the East Demerara Sugar Estate and 251 from the Wales Sugar Estate. Just Friday we saw former Wales Estate workers protesting the National Assembly calling for their severance packages and the government also owes a number of other works the remaining 50 percent of their severance.

(Times Sunday Magazine)

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46 FEATURE

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up­set Bai­ley for years.

God­ dard worked on may Shad­ow songs, like Bass­ man, I Come Out To Play, Jump Judges Jump and Chil­ dren ‘Ting,’ to name a few.

(Trinidad Guardian)

P

im, pom, pi, di, pom, pom…The ‘Bass Man’ is

gone!

Win­ston “The Mighty Shad­ ow” Bai­ ley passed away yes­ter­ day at 3.50 am at the Er­ic Williams Med­ical Sci­ences Com­plex, Mt Hope.

The ca­lyp­so icon, po­et and philoso­pher’s death came mere days be­fore he re­ceived what many said was long ing – an hon­ in com­ orary doc­tor­ate from the Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies’ St Au­gus­ tine Cam­pus for his life­ long con­tri­bu­tion to the coun­try’s na­tion­al mu­ sic and ca­lyp­so in par­ tic­u­lar.

With Bai­ ley’s death yes­ter­day, im­me­di­ate con­cerns were raised by some re­gard­ing wheth­ er he would still be con­ ferred with the hon­ orary de­ gree promised

by UWI – though no posthu­mous­ly.

UWI cam­ pus prin­ ci­pal Pro­fes­sor Bri­an Copeland was quick to put that to rest, how­ev­ er, when he con­firmed that not on­ly would the uni­ver­si­ty still be con­ fer­ring the doc­tor­ate on Bai­ ley, but that it would al­so be cel­e­brat­ ing Sat­ ur­ ing him dur­ day’s grad­u­a­tion ex­er­ cise at UWI Spec. so ex­ Copeland al­ pressed con­do­lences to Bai­ley’s fam­i­ly on be­ half of the uni­ver­si­ty and said he was sad­ dened by Bai­ley’s pass­

Cro Cro: He opened doors for oth­ers

ing be­ fore he could “col­lect his hon­orary doc­tor­ate scroll him­ self.”

Bai­ley, 77, who was di­a­bet­ic, had been ail­ ing for some time and re­mained hos­pi­talised af­ter falling ex­treme­ly ill on Sat­ur­day.

When con­tact­ ed yes­ter­day, how­ev­ er, Bai­ley’s fam­i­ly told Guardian Me­ dia the cause of his death had not yet been con­firmed ly be re­ and could on­ vealed af­ ter an au­ top­ sy was per­formed. How­ ev­er, they dis­missed as ports that he false re­ ex­pe­ri­enced a stroke ur­ day and that on Sat­ this may have been the prob­a­ble cause of death.

“The fam­i­ly is

in dis­cus­sion right now re­gard­ing fu­ner­ ments. We al arrange­ know that peo­ple loved Shad­ ow so they would like to ex­tend their sup­ port to the fam­i­ly. But right now we don’t have a con­fir­ma­tion on the cause of his death, but as soon as we do and fu­ ner­al arrange­ments are fi­nalised, we will make an of­fic­ ial state­ment,” a fam­i­ly mem­ber said. ley’s son, Shar­ Bai­ lan, was un­able to speak dia, with Guardian Me­ as he said he was busy or­gan­is­ing things at the hos­pi­tal. ley won Road Bai­ tles in 1974 March ti­ man) and 2001 (Bass­ (Stranger) and the Ca­ lyp­so Monarch ti­tle

in 2000 with “What’s Wrong With Me” and “Scratch Meh Back.”

He al­so beat out much younger tal­ ent to win the In­ter­na­tion­al So­ tle with ca Monarch ti­ “Stranger” in 2001.

But he was al­so fa­ mous for oth­er big hits, in­clud­ing “Pover­ty is came Hell,” which be­ a poor man’s an­ them, “Yuh Lookin for Horn,” “Feel­ing the Feel­ing,” “Ten­sion” and “Obeah.”

Bai­ley’s death comes ter the mere weeks af­ cul­tur­al fra­ter­ni­ty lost icon­ic pan­nist Ken “Pro­ fes­ sor” Philmore, who ter­ nal in­ died from in­ juries he sus­ tained in an ac­ci­dent last month.

He gave Spar­row, Kitch hell

As news of Bai­ ley’s death trav­ elled, trib­ utes be­ gan pour­ ing in on so­ cial me­ dia from friends, fel­low ca­lyp­so­ ni­ans, var­i­ous Gov­ern­ ment min­ istries and even from the Of­fice of the Prime Min­is­ter.

In a re­lease from the PM’s of­fice, Bai­ley was hailed as a rev­o­lu­tion­ ary who changed the sound and face of ca­lyp­ so.

“His mu­ sic told us sto­ries about our­selves through poignant so­cial com­men­tary which was of­ ten fused with wry hu­mour. Over the years his con­tri­bu­tion to the de­vel­op­ment of our lo­ cal mu­ sic earned him re­gion­al and in­ter­na­ tion­al ac­claim,” the re­ lease said.

It al­so high­light­ed Bai­ ley’s 2003 achieve­ ment of re­ ceiv­ ing the T&T Hum­ ming Bird Medal (sil­ ver) for his

con­tri­bu­tion to the ca­ lyp­so art form. arrang­ Vet­er­an er and pi­ anist Pel­ ham God­dard, who trav­elled ex­ten­sive­ly on tour with Bai­ ley as the founder and leader of the Char­ lie’s Roots band, said, “He made one of the great­est con­tri­bu­tions to ca­lyp­so and gave ‘big guns’ like Kitch­en­er and Spar­row a run for their mon­ ey when he came on the scene.

“Every­body on­ly knew Spar­ row (Slinger “Mighty Spar­row” Fran­ cis­ co) and Kitch (Ald­ wyn “Lord Kitch­ en­ er” Roberts). But when Shad­ ow came out in his first ap­pear­ance at Kitch­ en­ er’s tent, he brought some­ thing dif­ fer­ent that im­me­di­ate­ly caught the at­ten­tion of the peo­ple.”

He al­so de­scribed his “old friend” as a free and “go-lucky-kind” of per­ son who loved good times.

Asked what made Bai­ ley so unique as a ca­lyp­son­ian, God­dard said he was a “rule break­er of mu­sic.”

“He knew his mu­sic, he knew what he want­ ed and he broke all the rules of mu­sic and that is what gave him his hits.”

God­dard said Bai­ley was cheat­ed out of the rights and recog­ni­tion of his 1977 song Every­ body is Some­body, when it was fea­ tured on the sound­track of the 1989 mo­tion pic­ture Lean On Me, which starred Mor­ gan Free­ man. He said at the time, the pub­lish­ er of the song gave the rights to the pro­duc­er of the film, which hurt and

Ca­lyp­son­ian We­st­on “Cro Cro” Rawl­ ins at­ trib­uted his own “come up” in ca­lyp­so to Bai­ley.

He said it was Bai­ ley who took him un­der his wing and start­ ed him off in 1973.

“Every­where you see Shad­ow, you used to see me. Peo­ple used to say I was Shad­ow’s shad­ow,” Rawl­ins said jovial­ly.

He added, “We did so many things to­geth­ er. When I came from south and had nowhere to stay, I lived by Shad­ ow for a long time. Shad­ ow gave me my first gui­ tar when he came back from Grena­da.”

Singing Bai­ley’s The Threat, Rawl­ ins said Shad­ ow was the on­ ly ca­lyp­son­ian at the time who dared to chal­lenge Kitch­en­er and Spar­row.

Trin­ba­go Uni­fied Ca­lyp­so Or­gan­i­sa­tion (TU­CO) head Lu­ta­lo “Broth­er Re­sis­tance,” Masim­ba said Bai­ley was of in­ter­na­tion­al stature when it came to his mu­sic. He cred­it­ ed Bai­ley with chang­ing the land­scape of ca­lyp­so and so­ca mu­sic.

“His per­son­i­fi­ca­tion on the drum and bass led to a dif­ fer­ ent em­ pha­ sis on rhythm as part of ca­lyp­so mu­sic.

He opened doors for oth­ er artistes who thought the door was closed for them.”

Asked if TU­ CO would be plan­ning any spe­cial trib­ute in mem­ o­ ry of the fall­ en mem­ ber, Masim­ ba said if any­thing had to be done they would on­ly pro­ceed af­ter dis­cus­sions with the fam­i­ly.

Pro­duc­er, arranger and friend Le­ston Paul, who worked once with Bai­ley, said; “Shad­ow was an artiste of com­ plex­ it­y. You had to be on a cer­tain mu­si­cal and spir­i­tu­al lev­el to un­der­ stand him. Just as his lyrics were, so was his reg­u­lar con­ver­sa­tion.”

He added that Bai­ ley’s mu­si­cal vi­bra­tions came di­ rect­ ly from his heart and soul.

“An­oth­er leg­end has passed. I will miss him.”

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s tragedy

47

By Ravi Dev

Reporting on…

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…“Granger, Ganja and Goadie”

t’s rather pathetic how the putative Prime Minister of Guyana, Moses Nagamootoo, has embraced his relegation to being the mouthpiece of David Granger’s PNC government. A few weeks ago, in Granger’s “Guyana Review” — now published as an insert in the Stabber News — there was such a cloyingly sycophantic puff piece on Granger that health centres across the country were inundated by readers who couldn’t stop gagging!!

Unfortunately, just when the medical staff might be taking a well-earned break, they’ll be getting another tsunami of “vomiters” who read Nagamootoo’s piece in his Chronic column on Granger’s address to Parliament!! But you’ve got to hand it to the man who’d been promised a testosteroned Prime Ministership and ended up with the “larwah” of a weekly column: he takes that column very, very seriously!!

This week, he wrote that on seeing 3 groups outside Parliament, he “thought immediately that this week’s column should be titled: ‘Granger, Ganja and Paisa’!!

The man is always thinking about his job!! Sadly, it’s a job that rests on the carcasses of the two outside columnists – David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis – whom he knifed in the back. He’s now showing them what kind of columns the PNC boss-man demands: hagiographic and propagandistic!!

Nagamootoo used an extended cricketing analogy in his column, which he captioned, “Light roller on 20/20 pitch”!! Having never played T-20 cricket, he obviously doesn’t know that on such a pitch, the bowler – Granger in this case – would be consistently clobbered for sixes!! He waxed eloquently about the “slow spin” used by Granger, missing his Freudian slip with the word “spin” when used in communication!!

He wrote, “I realised that his was no ordinary address: he was cataloguing achievements just three years after taking office”. Granger was giving his spin on how he’d delivered the good life after three years!

And what were these “achievements”?? Let’s go to the horse’s mouth: “…building a first-class education system, with emphasis on providing access to education, attendance and achievement. The first round of applause greeted the announcement that the Public Education Transport Service has distributed 1,254 bicycles, 28 buses and nine boats to help get our children to school, “without expending a dollar from the Government coffers.”

Imagine that!! Nagamootoo praising the PNCgovernment for “building a first-class education state” with bicycle donations from private citizens! While pissing off teachers – who’re responsible for delivering that education – by refusing to give them a living wage!!

The impasse with teachers, brought on by the PNC’s unilateralism, went unmentioned and unreported by Nagamootoo!!

One may understand “a mouth muzzled by the hand that feeds it”.

But how does Nagamootoo explain his mouth spewing crap? Goadie? …(stillborn) constitutional change Once again, there are drumbeats – faint, but growing in intensity – for “constitutional change”. Your Eyewitness asks, ‘What’s the point?” Two recent events illustrate his scepticism. First, relating to the matter of stipulating constitutionally the need for the PNC and PPP to work together in some sort of collaborative mechanism.

But just read David Hinds’s column for this week.

The caption alone says it all – “The APNU+AFC Coalition has collapsed: It has become a PNC government”.

Of course, your Eyewitness has been saying this all along; but Hinds is a self-confessed “supporter” of the Government, and an executive member of one of its coalition partners, the WPA! This is a view from “inside”.

He details how the AFC – even with the Cummingsburg Accord — had been neutered!

But some may retort that the Accord isn’t a “Constitutional imperative”. Well, what about Art 162 (2)? Wasn’t that a constitutional imperative to foster “consensus” between the parties??

Fact is, until the PNC’s weaned off sucking (unilateralism) eggs, we’re spinning wheels! …the Berbice Bridge With all the hullabaloo over the announced toll increases by the BBCI, the Government still refuses to act. Its primary duty is to other shareholders – especially NIS and commuters.

It should buy out other shareholders and ensure NIS’s long-term cash flow.

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he GECOM decision has once again raised political temperatures in Guyana. The Mahabharat is rather unique among Hindu texts in dealing very extensively with the world of politics and, as I wrote a decade ago, I am once again struck by parallels in that ancient conflict and ours in Guyana. The Mahabharata is about the way we humans deceive ourselves, how we are false to others, how we oppress fellow human beings, and how deeply unjust we are to each other in our dayto-day lives. And all the while holding fast to the belief that our position is “just” and that of others, “unjust”.

But there are no “pure” heroes in the Mahabharata: unlike what is conventionally depicted, the conflict between the two sides is not a battle between “right and wrong”, much less between “good and evil”. The Pandavas, the nominal “good guys”, are not perfect, and several who fight for the Kauravas, the “bad guys” are truly noble. The potential for “good” or “bad” lies in every human being.

In Guyana, our history has conspired to create a tragic situation. Not “tragic” in the sense of terrible things happening – even though we’ve had more that our fair share of those – but in the way

that Hegel interpreted Greek tragedy. His famous interpretation of Antigone as the paradigmatic Greek tragedy might be particularly apt to our situation. He shows in that narrative, both “sides” are morally right: the conflict is not between good and evil but between “goods” on which each is making exclusive claim.

The “sides” I refer to in our country are, of course, the descendants of the Africans who were brought as slaves and those of Indians brought as indentured servants – both to labour on the sugar plantations. Those African slaves were dragged against their wills across the Atlantic to work as chattel, under conditions of mindnumbing cruelty.

“Emancipation” had to be bitter pill to swallow when Indentured labourers (Portuguese, freed West Indians, Africans, Indians and Chinese) were brought in as “scabs” to undercut their demand for higher living wages. It was only to be the beginning of many manoeuvres to deny justice to Africans; but it set the tone of what was to follow.

The indentureds, dominated by Indians, countered that they were unwitting pawns in the British game of “divide and rule”. They could, and did, point to the increasingly meagre wages they were

forced to work for under pressures by new fellow Indian immigrants on the plantations in the subsequent century. Their demonstrated capacity to produce “two blades of grass where there was but one” under the severest pressures, however, formed the basis of their moral claim to justice and equality.

As in the Mahabharat, both sides were promised that if they played by the rules, the “kingdom” would eventually be theirs. While we may rail against the Kaurava Durjodhan (and Burnham) for their overweening ambition, no one can deny that they were leaders of groups who had legitimate moral claims to power. Similarly, the gambling away of the Pandava’s inheritance

by Yudhishthira (at dice) and Jagan (with Kennedy and Duncan Sandys) cannot be glossed over, but does not vitiate the similar moral claims of their supporters.

That the two groups coexisted without major conflicts until the sixties was not coincidental. It was the majoritarian system of choosing who would “inherit” the kingdom in 1957 – as was Emperor-making the ceremony in the Mahabharat – that precipitated the internecine warfare that continues to the present.

It was not surprising that the manipulator (the US/British here, Duryodhan’s uncle in Mahabharat) would inveigle one side to try to grab the entire pie. The “rules”, after all, made an exclusive claim to rule by each group “right”.

But we must concede that those rules do not necessarily make this exclusivity moral. If we accept that, as citizens of this land we are all equal, we must arrange the rules of selecting the rulers in such a manner so that both sides (and indeed all “sides”) feel involved in governance. Our common history of suffering, if nothing else, demands this outcome for the sake of morality.

Before any future elections all parties should commit themselves to such an arrangement through constitutional change. The opposite, I fear, is the war of the Mahabharat, which let us not forget, destroyed almost all sides – including the group backed by God himself.

War, we are taught, has no winners.

Patta Sin in

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atiricus was girding up his loins for battle.

And “battle” he knew it would be when he got to the Back Street Bar where he was headed. The Appellate Court’s decision to go along with Grain Ja’s Burnt Ham-like decision to appoint the GECOM chair would definitely be the topic de jour! And because his leaders Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat, were in the Government, he knew he was in for it.

“Budday!! Wha’ abee deh pan?” asked Bungi, the moment he espied Satiricus. “Wha’ ayu wan’ fuh do wid abee?”

“What are you talking about?” asked Satiricus in feigned ignorance, as he slowly took his seat.

“Na play schupid, Sato!” said Cappo firmly, as he handed Satiricus a beer. “Yuh blasted well know wha’ Bungi a talk about!”

“But just in case you were at Hubu Backdam for the last week,” interjected Hari, “he’s talking about the Court supporting Granger’s GECOM appointment.”

“Oh that?’ said Satiricus, innocently. “But Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat said they weren’t consulted on the decision!”

“Na gi’e me da!” said Bungi. “Na ayuh leada Trat Man bin wid Grain Ja w’en ‘e tell Jagdesh ‘e pick Patta Sin?” “Na only da,” said Cappo. “Afta Granija pick Patta Sin, na Nagga Man seh how PPCEE a bring in “race”? But PPCEE neva’ talk ‘bout de man race!!”

“That’s why Jagdesh called Nagga Man “spineless, a jellyfish, a worm, a sycophant, a parasite, and a slime-bag” at his press conference right after!” grinned Hari.

“I don’t know all of that about my fearless leader, said Satiricus. “He was just giving his opinion.”

“Suh how come, afta’ he and Rum Jhaat lie dat dem na know, wan email show dat Rum Jhaat tell Grain Ja fuh pick who ‘e want!” pointed out Bungi.

“Me bin fu’get ‘bout da email!” said Cappo as he turned to Hari. “Wha’ Jagdesh bin call Nagga Man, again?”

“Spineless, a jellyfish, a worm, a sycophant, a parasite, and a slime-bag,” repeated Hari with glee.

“Rum Jhaat a da too!!” said Cappo, as Satiricus sipped his beer quietly.

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Priyanka Chopra is in awe of her ‘Bae’ Nick Jonas

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hile fans of India’s global sensation Priyanka Chopra are waiting to hear about her wedding date, the actor is busy making memories with her ‘Bae’ Nick Jonas. On Wednesday, Priyanka shared a love-soaked photo with the American singer where the two can be seen striking a romantic pose.

Along with the photo, the Quantico actor wrote, “Bae@nickjonas.”

Priyanka, who will next be seen in The Sky Is Pink, also posted a video of fiance Jonas performing at the TIDAL annual benefit concert. “Amazing @ nickjonas,” read the caption. Other photos from the concert have surfaced on several fan pages. Earlier too, we have seen the Desi girl of Bollywood

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anbir Kapoor is with his father Rishi Kapoor in New York as the latter is seeking medical treatment in the city. But not just Ranbir, even his rumoured girlfriend Alia Bhatt was also there. Alia is now back in the country but from the photos that have now emerged on social media, Alia and Ranbir spent some quality time with Rishi, Neetu Kapoor and a few other friends at a dinner party.

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t looks like Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan, who is studying in Ardingly College in Sussex, London, recently had some fun with her girl gang. Going by the photos, Suhana and her friends let their hair down on the college premises.

A boomerang video of Suhana too is

cheering and hooting for Jonas at his music concerts.

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas made their relationship official in India with an intimate roka ceremony.

The couple have been quite expressive about their love ever since. Their several photos together have often invited frenzy of their fans on social media. The two are expected to tie the knot this year and according to reports, Priyanka has zeroed in on Jodhpur as the wedding destination.

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra will be seen in Hollywood movie Cowboy Ninja Viking, where she will be sharing screen space with Chris Pratt. Her Bollywood outing The Sky Is Pink also stars Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim. (Indian Express)

While Alia has never outrightly spoken about her relationship with Ranbir, he spoke about their relationship being in early stages in an interview with GQ. On Koffee with Karan, Alia seemed to dodge a lot of questions about dating Ranbir but was comfortable enough to admit that the two are friends and colleagues. (Indian Express)

making the rounds on social media.

SRK fans are eagerly waiting for Suhana’s Bollywood debut. She recently made her debut a cover girl.

Oozing confidence and oomph in every shot, Suhana looked every bit stunning in her first ever photoshoot. (Indian Express)

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hah Rukh Khan has called Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge a special journey and thanked all the fans for keeping the film’s iconic characters Raj and Simran’s story alive. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge completed 23 years of running on October 19. Shah Rukh on Tuesday tweeted, “A special journey that began 23 years ago, goes on even today. Your love has kept Raj and Simran’s story alive on the big screen for 1200 weeks non-stop. Thank u for falling in love with us so unconditionally for so many years!”

Yash Raj Films’ eternal classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, directed by Aditya Chopra, re-defined romance in Indian cinema, making it the biggest hit of all time in the history of Bollywood. Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol as the beautiful, in-

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nocent and loveable couple Raj and Simran, this Aditya Chopra film has gone on to make many records. Fondly called DDLJ by fans, the film is still running in theatres as it crossed 1200 weeks without an uninterrupted run at the iconic Maratha Mandir theatre in Mumbai.

Kajol too had recently tweeted, “1200 weeks and still running! Thank you all for all the love that you have been showering on #DDLJ for so many years! It was, it is and will always be an incredibly special film for all of us. @iamsrk @yrf #AdityaChopra.”

The film won 10 Filmfare Awards including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director at the 1996 edition of the ceremony. Dilwale Duhania Le Jayenge was Aditya Chopra’s maiden film as director.

(Indian Express)

he trailer of Vinod Kapri directorial Pihu is out and you actually might end up squinting your eyes by the end of the trailer.

We see a 2-year-old girl trapped inside a house

someone to finance the film. He earlier told The Indian Express, “Most of them questioned me how am I going to hold the attention of the audience for 100 minutes with only one actor, who is a

ask a two-year-old to give another take. The toys that you see in the film all belong to Myra.”

Pihu is produced

by Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur & Shilpa Jindal and direct-

with no way to escape.

Any basic household will look like a death trap if a child is left alone and the trailer describes it as “every parent’s worst nightmare”.

The film stars Myra Vishwakarma in the titular role.

Pihu opened the features section of Indian Panorama in 2017. Kapri had a tough time finding

child? I was worried over the delay as the girl was growing up. I wanted to make the film with her before she turned three.”

On working with Myra, he said, “We gave her time to acquaint herself with the space as well as the crew. We would shoot for two hours a day. There were three cameras placed on the set because you can’t

ed by Vinod Kapri who earlier won a National Award for his documentary Can’t Take This Sh*t Anymore. He has also directed Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho which received rave reviews.

Pihu releases on November 16. (Indian Express)

WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 28, 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Hollywood 49

Legally Blonde actor Selma Blair diagnosed with multiple sclerosis

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ctor Priyanka Chopra is excited about her friend Meghan Markle‘s pregnancy, and hopes the Duchess of Sussex’s new phase is “amazing”. “I would, as a friend, just say that I’m really excited for her,” Chopra told People magazine on Friday at the JBL Fest here.

“I think this is a new phase in every woman’s life, and I hope hers is as amazing as she wants it to be,” added the Quantico actor who had also attended Markle and Prince Harry’s royal wedding in May. She and Markle have been close for several years.

Earlier this week, Priyanka tiptoed around the topic of Markle’s pregnancy, telling E! New”: “I just have a few of my friends who are having babies right now. So I’m like, ‘God, I need to catch up!'”

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nglish actor Tom Hiddleston has opened up about his favourite improvised scene in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). And it doesn’t come as a surprise that the scene is from Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok.

While speaking at ACE Comic-Con, Hiddleston, who plays the Norse god Loki, revealed it was the famous ‘get help’ scene in the film that he likes the most.

Thor: Ragnarok is considered as one of the funniest movies in the MCU. It is also credited for reinventing Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and making the character interesting again. It was said that most of the film’s dialogues were improvised much like other Waititi films What We Do in t h e

At the JBL festival, Priyanka met the Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman. The actor shared a selfie with the ace music composer and captioned the image as, “In the presence of genius.”

On the work front, Priyanka has just wrapped up the first schedule of her upcoming Bollywood film The Sky is Pink, starring Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim and Rohit Saraf. The Shonali Bose directorial revolves around Aisha Chaudhary, who became a motivational speaker after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 13.

Zaira Wasim will be essaying the role of Aisha, Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar will play her parents in the movie. Priyanka and Farhan have earlier shared screen space in Dil Dhadakne Do. (Indian Express)

Shadows and Hunt for the Wilder people.

This improvisation gave an authentic feel to the film’s humour.

According to C i n e m a b l e n d , Hiddleston said, “I think that the one that’s kind of had its own life after the film is ‘Get help.’ We literally just came up with it on the day. As something, this idea that this is a trick that Thor and Loki used to, you know, they used to use it as a game when they were kids and they stopped doing it a long time

ago, but it used to work and it might just work this time. They got one last ace up their sleeve. And the idea that Loki hated it, and he just was like, ‘I don’t want to do it. It’s humiliating.’ And that Thor was like, ‘You’re going to love it! Come on!’ in a big brother way. And then it works. In that moment, I always love the fact that it wasn’t just a funny moment, but actually, you understand something deeper about them as brothers, and I think those moments are really special.”

The ‘get help’ scene was how Thor and Loki escaped the guards of the Grandmaster.

Thor yelled “Get help!” to the guards while Loki pretended to be unconscious.

Thor then threw Loki to the unsuspecting guards, knocking them down. (Indian Express)

ilm and TV actor Selma Blair announced she is dealing with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

In a post, Saturday on her Instagram account, Blair, 46, says she was diagnosed with the disease of the central nervous system on Aug. 16.

Blair says she is struggling with the disease’s effects on her: “I am disabled.

I fall sometimes.

I drop things.

My memory is foggy.

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onder Woman 1984, which was earlier supposed to release on November 1, 2019, will now be out in theaters on June 5, 2020. The announcement comes as a shock for Wonder Woman fans who have been waiting for the sequel since 2017.

Gal Gadot took to Instagram to share the same as she wrote, “Super excited to announce that, thanks to the changing landscape, we are able to put Wonder Woman back to its rightful home. June 5, 2020. Be there or be square!!!

Gal Gadot talks about the changing landscape and one can imagine that she might be talking about the changes being made in the DCEU. As of now, Aquaman is releasing in December which will be followed

by Shazam in April. The Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix is scheduled to release in October 2019 and one can imagine that Wonder Woman 1984 has been moved to make space for this film. Margot Robbie starrer Birds of

And my left side is asking for directions from a broken GPS.” She adds, however, that thanks to the support of the cast and crew of a Netflix show she is filming, as well as her friends and family, “we are doing it. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.”

Blair has co-starred in a number of films and TV shows, including the 2001 hit Legally Blonde.

(Indian Express)

Prey releases in February 2020. The other films still in development are Suicide Squad 2, Batman and others.

Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement, “We had tremendous success releasing the first W o n d e r Woman film during the summer so when we saw an opportunity to take advantage of the changing competitive landscape, we did. This move lands the film exactly where it belongs.”

The Patty Jenkins directorial has become the crown jewel in the DC film universe and is expected to do many times better that its predecessor.

(Indian Express)

Disney exploring Pirates the Carribean reboot with Deadpool writers

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he Walt Disney Company is exploring a reboot of its billiondollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. According to sources, studio officials have met with the Deadpool writing team of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick for the movie, reports deadline.com.

Jerry Bruckheimer will continue to captain the ship as the producer on Pirates of the Caribbean. But it is too

early to say who else might be back and that includes actor Johnny Depp, who essayed the role of Jack Sparrow in the first five films.

All five films have grossed more than $650 million worldwide, with Dead Man’s Chest and On Stranger Tides both topping the $1 billion mark.

Reese and Wernick wrote both Deadpool movies, with Ryan Reynolds joining them on the Deadpool 2 script.

They also penned Life, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and both Zombieland pics.

They are repped by WME. (Indian Express)

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3 national players to participate in Major League Soccer

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hree of Guyana’s national players departed on Monday to participate in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Caribbean Combined scheduled for Bridgetown, Barbados from October 22 – 25.

The three – Ryan Hackett, Kevin Layne and Kevin Dundas -were shortlisted from a six-member player profile submitted by the Guyana Football Federation (GFF).

In an invited comment, GFF’s Technical Director Ian Greenwood said this is an opportunity for the players to grasp.

“This is great opportunity for the selected players to display their talent at the regional level. It is up to them, as individuals, to grasp this opportunity and show what they are capable of. They will definitely learn from the experience and exposure over the next few days in Barbados. We are always focusing on player exit routes for home-group talent, and to strengthen the national team programme,” Greenwood said.

Kevin Dundas said he

Ryan Hackett

is looking forward for the opportunity to make an impression. “I feel really grateful for this opportunity to showcase my skills and talents at this level.

With the help we have been getting from GFF’s technical staff, as well as the technical staff of the senior national team, I hope to go, impress, and make the squad.

“Post the Brazil ‘Train and Play’ encampment, I have been doing a lot of physical work, including agility. I have also been doing ball control work, just to improve and get the final touches right.

I have also been working on fitness, as that’s really great to have; so I can improve on my game

and work hard when I get there,” he said.

Defender Layne said he has put in the necessary work, and will give it his best shot. “I’m very overwhelmed with the opportunity to participate in the MLS Combined in Barbados. For the last few weeks, I have put in a lot of hard work with the senior team, as well as when I’m not active on the field. I have been working to develop my game with guidance provided by the national senior team staff, especially coming out from the Brazil ‘Train and Play’ camp. The experience with the senior team and the work done during the last match against the Turks and Caicos also helped my preparation for this engagement, as I know a high level of performance will be expected of me. So I’ll go and do my best,” he affirmed.

For his part, Hackett said he has what it takes to compete, and will grasp the opportunity with both hands.

“It is a great feeling to be representing Guyana and myself at the MLS Combined. I feel that I just have to be focused,

put my best foot forward, and compete with the other players from across the Caribbean.

“I’m currently a part of the National U20 Team, and also did work with the senior team; so that will help me get ready for this experience, and push me to compete at a higher level. I definitely feel I have what it takes to be selected, and it will be a good moment when it happens. I just need to work hard, listen to the coach, and execute,” he confided.

Guyana is among 15 countries whose players will be competing for a chance to play in the MLS. Others include St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominica, St Vincent & The Grenadines, Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, St Lucia, Montserrat, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Suriname, St Marten and St Maarten.

According to the MLS, should a player be selected, he would be considered for Adidas Allotment.

To the player’s former club upon the player being selected in the 2019 Transfer fee, $50,000 will

go to the player’s former club if the player’s MLS option for 2020 is exercised; Performance fees - $25,000 to the player’s former club once the player starts in 15 official MLS matches; $50,000 to the player’s former c l u b once t h e playe r starts in 30 official MLS matches; $100,000 to the player’s former club once the player starts in 60 official MLS GFF Technical Director Ian Greenwood matches; venues – Future sell-on: the player’s for- Jamaica,October 15 – 18, mer club shall receive 20 and Barbados. It is open per cent sell-on on any to players 18 – 23 yearstransfer fee received by old who have a minimum MLS within the first four of one U20 or senior cap years of the player’s em- since 2017. A detailed eligibility profile was reployment with MLS. This year, the 2018 quired for consideration.

MLS Caribbean Combine is being hosted at two

Double Gold for Barbados in 3×3 Championships

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he Barbados male and female Under-18 teams stunned the competition in the Antilles 3 on 3 Basketball Championships on Sunday evening to become the 2018 champions.

Over the weekend, the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) had become home to 9 Caribbean countries each vying for the coveted championships; and with the conviction that only one winner could emerge in each category, the teams came out with proverbial guns blazing, as they put their ‘best foot forward’ in order to make their home country proud.

O r g a n i s e d by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) and the International Basketball Foundation (IBF), the event got underway following the leadership seminar that was hosted for the tournament’s participants.

Team Guyana, consisting of Akeem Crandon, Andrew Johnson, Nigel Bowen and Shamar France, had the best showing for

The Barbadian teams pose with their spoils from copping both championships

the home team; making it to the semifinal round before suffering a bout of tough luck and missing their spot in the final by just two points.

Guyana and Barbados had had a ding-dong tussle, with one scoring right after the other. Barbados, however, managed to get away from Guyana with a

three-point lead.

Guyana had seen a glimmer of hope when they received two free throws near the expiration of time, but their failure to capitalise resulted in them losing 13-11.

The female final had featured Barbados and defending champions Martinique. Having

shown their mettle in a commanding victory over Aruba in the semifinal, Martinique were again confident of taking the gold; but with the odds against them, the Barbadians exhibited enough determination to create an upset.

Commanding possession of the ball and scoring, the Barbadians

completely frustrated their opponents.

Martinique’s shot accuracy went awry, and they missed one too many chances.

Though they came close in the final minute, the Barbadians held on to their lead for an 8-7 win.

The male final looked similar to the fe-

male final, with a contest between Barbados and defending champions Martinique.

Martinique’s male team came out like avenging angels looking to redeem their homeland, but they failed in their mission, since Barbados took an early lead in the scoring, and held on to it.

The Bajans were again helped by Martinique’s shot inaccuracy in their most important game. With one minute on the clock, Martinique managed to close the Barbadian 6-point lead to a 10-7 challenge, but their accuracy was again faulty, and they missed key shots that could have handed them the game.

Barbados, however, hit a final two-pointer on the buzzer, to take their victory at 12-7 and pick up gold in the process.

When the proverbial dust had settled, Barbados had managed to cop both male and female most valuable player (MVP) prizes.

Alisha Squires was adjudged the female MVP, while male team captain Kiserian Adams was adjudged male MVP.

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Teams from New York, Florida, Canada set for 2018 edition of Guyana Softball Cup W

ith the Guyana Floodlights S o f t b a l l Cricket Association (GFSCA) having officially launched Guyana Softball Cup 8, and all logistics sorted, softball fans will witness two days of intense action under floodlights from October 26-28 in Georgetown and the East Coast of Demerara.

GFSCA Secretary Anil Beharry has stated that he was very excited as the first match was soon to be played. He also thanked the sponsors for the work they have been doing over the years, and for their continuous support.

Beharry went on to say that this event was one of the biggest softball events in the world.

He also said that everything was set in place, and they were ready for action.

With only a day remaining, many business entities have pledged their allegiance and continued support, making fans and players dreams worthwhile as

Members of the GFSCA and sponsors (seated to the front)

they have donated big to the tournament. Some of these entities are Steve’s Jewellery, who will reward the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the Open, Over-45 and Over50 categories with gold pendants in the shape of cricket bats accentuated with diamond studs.

Survival Group of

Companies has also come on board and would be rewarding fans with gate prizes, which will include five hampers and a trip for three couples to local destinations such as Kaieteur Falls and Orinduik Falls.

The registration fee for the Open category will remain at US$400,

with the prize money set at US$4000; while the cost for registration for the Masters categories (O-45 and O-50) is set at US$700. The prize money for the Masters’ categories is yet to be determined.

The tournament will feature teams from New York, Guyana, Canada

and Florida. The category finals will be held on October 28, 2018 at DCC commencing at 10:00h and conclude with the Open finals under floodlights.

Some of the sponsors on board thus far are ANSA McAL, under its Lucozade, Stag and iCool Water brands;

Mike’s Pharmacy; Rubis Guyana; Trophy Stall; Survival Group of Companies; A and R Jewanram Printery; Rohan Auto Spares; Steve’s Jewellery; Ramchand’s Auto Spares; Clear Waters; Busta; WJ Enterprise, and Nand Persaud & Company Limited.

Chris Gayle's absence is background noise for realist Jason Holder J ason Holder has called for a focus on the present as West Indies cricket grapples with Chris Gayle's availability for next year's World Cup, and has urged the younger players in the squad to make full use of their opportunities in India.

"What I say is, Gayle is not here," Holder said ahead of the second ODI. "We've got a pretty young core group of players.

Regardless of what happens after this tour, that is too far and beyond at the present time. I'm just focusing on what we have to do and that is to play cricket here in India with the squad that we have selected. We've got young Chandrapaul Hemraj and obviously Kieran Powell at the top of the order. Hopefully these guys can get us off to a really good start. " During the first ODI, Gayle was at the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League, where he won the title with Balkh Legends shortly after retiring from List A cricket for Jamaica with a century. At the time, Holder had said he would welcome Gayle into the team at the World Cup and that the veteran would not have played in the

Windies skipper Jason Holder is congratulated by Chris Gayle (SportsMax)

qualifiers if he did not have West Indies' best interests in mind.

But Holder's appeal to the youngsters to focus on their game rather than their place in the team adds weight to the words of head coach Stuart Law, who told ESPNcricinfo that senior players like Gayle and Andre Russell have been told that World Cup selection will come down to performances, and suggested that extra room for them in terms of cri-

teria is not yet a given.

"Dre Russ and Chris - Chris has given us his programme for the next three months. I think he and Russ have been told that it'll now be down to performance, which is what selection should be based on. You're talking about two special cricketers there though, " Law said, "so whether or not they get extra room to move remains to be seen.

But for me, you need players with good experience leading into a World Cup,

guiding the youngsters how to play. We're lucky to have Marlon Samuels here. And his job on this tour is to show these kids how to go about a game.

"Who knows what the future holds. But yes, leading into the World Cup, this tour and the Bangladesh tour - you've got to be pretty settled and you go into the England series with the full ODI squad. We'll still be thinking about different positions and how we go. It's an opportunity

for some to keep scoring runs and taking wickets can't ignore it.

"If you have a batsman scoring hundred, and an 80 not out, all of a sudden their name's up in our minds. A bowler coming in taking a four-for, or a five-for in a couple of games, their name's up in minds. So at the moment it's all about opportunity. " In keeping with that philosophy, West Indies fielded two debutants - Hemraj and Oshane

Thomas - in the first ODI and have two uncapped players in Obed McCoy and Fabian Allen available in the reserves, among a few other inexperienced players. But while they hope to give everyone a run in the XI, it is unlikely that the batting order that made 322 in the last game will be changed, particularly on a pitch where India are likely to pick three spinners and form is going to be handy.

"I had a look at the wicket," Holder said.

"Definitely, there is no grass on it. As we have seen, spinners tend to do pretty well here. Our spinners didn't do as well as we would have liked in the last game.

Credit to the two Indians who played outstanding knocks. I felt [Devendra] Bishoo came into his own in the second spell. He got the wicket of [Virat] Kohli, which is crucial for his confidence. It's important for him to be a bit more expressive and look to take wickets. [Ashley] Nurse just needs to just build more pressure and take one or two wickets in the middle overs. The wicket might suit a little bit of spin. Hopefully, whoever is picked delivers."(ESPNCricinfo)

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Jaguars optimistic ahead of U-20 CONCACAF Championships

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ith the National U-20 team’s first match of the CONCACAF Championship just days away on November 2, 2018 against Guatemala, Head Coach Wayne Dover said the team have had a successful training period and he was optimistic that they would represent the country well.

This comment was made as the team had three training matches during the period and conducted a courtesy visit to the National Milling Company of Guyana (NAMILCO) on October 22, 2018.

Dover said the squad played two matches against two select Elite League squads and the Police FC respectively and while the results of the matches were not the key focus, he was satisfied with the steady progress made by the team.

“Results in these games were not the main aim for us. We looked to see the level of implementation of the areas worked on, the execution of the game plan and the consistency with how they have been done. We tried to build on and correct those areas, which were not as strong, so we

NAMILCO Finance Director Fitzroy Mc Leod sits with Managing Director Bert Sukhai (centre), along with GFF President Wayne Forde. They are flanked by members of Guyana’s National U-20 Team

can be more effective. We saw an organised group of players who was collective in their approach and more disciplined to carry out their function,” the Head Coach said.

He added that the final training game, held last Sunday against one of the select elite squads with a heavy presence of current senior national players, was a “good test” as the team seeks to decide its shortlisted players.

“The game was a very good test for us, which

highlighted many areas that we had to return to the training ground to fix. The senior players provided exactly what we wanted and they tested the lads to the point that, at one stage in the game, we had to dig deep mentally to stay in the game and that was the high point for us as a staff. The lads showed a tremendous level of fitness, and we saw a tactical display that clearly border on improvement from the previous games and even some of the ses-

sions done.”

Dover said that the last two weeks were spent focusing on improving the team’s tactics to the level that could bring good performances and results. “We definitely will be going into the tournament very optimistically. We will make ourselves and the country proud. I want to implore the players and staff to continue working as hard as we have done over the past four weeks.

I’m sure we’ll get the just reward.”

Meanwhile, during a courtesy visit to

NAMILCO by 16 members of the team, including technical staff, the company’s Managing Director, Bert Sukhai congratulated the players for making the team.

He said football was a journey and he was very proud of NAMILCO’s role in the development of so many players who came through the youth programmes, especially the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) NAMILCO Flour Power U-17 Intra- Association League. He also stated his company’s continued support for the de-

velopment of football in Guyana and wished the players well.

Other persons present at the visit were GFF President Wayne Forde and NAMILCO Operations Manager Ralf Hemsing.

In an invited comment, Team Manager Daniel Thomas said the team were happy to have visited the company.

“The visit went well. The players expressed their appreciation to the company for sponsoring the U-17 league. It is a sign of positive progression that so many players have played in the GFFNAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power National U-17 League, so we have been able to see the transition and the graduation relative to their skillset and maturity as players and are happy about that. A lot of them also represented Guyana in Martinique,” Thomas noted.

The National U-20 team are scheduled to depart on Sunday, October 28. They have matches scheduled in the first round against: Guatemala, 10:30h on November 2; Cayman Islands, 10:30h on November 6; Curaçao, 12:45h on November 8; and El Salvador, 19:45h on November 10.

Mushtaq Ahmed signs with West Indies as assistant coach

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ormer legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed has ended his stint as spin bowling coach of Pakistan's National Cricket Academy to take up a consultancy role with West Indies. He is set to become the assistant coach and is on a contract that will need him to commit 150 days in a year.

He was to begin with the India tour, but couldn't link up with the squad because of visa glitches - Pakistani nationals have found it hard to obtain work visas for India due to strained political ties. His first assignment will be West Indies' upcoming tour of Bangladesh, where they are slated to play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.

Mushtaq Ahmed (Lord's image)

Mushtaq's contract with the NCA was renewed for a year in April after weeks of uncertainty. At the time, he was also contemplating offers from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies but decided to stay back to put himself in the fray to become Pakistan's spin bowling coach.

However, he signed a month-long contract as spin consultant with Cricket West Indies before rejoining the NCA. Having previously worked with England, Mushtaq was Pakistan's bowling coach for 18 months being replaced

by Azhar Mahmood last year. Since then, he's been an integral part of the NCA set up in Lahore. (ESPNcricinfo)

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West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo retires from international cricket (TRINIDAD NEWSDAY)

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wayne Bravo will not wear West Indies colours again.

On Wednesday night, his letter was made available to the media.

In his retirement statement Bravo, 35, said, “Today I want to confirm to the cricket world that I have officially retired from international cricket in all formats of the game. After 14 years when I made my debut for the West Indies, I still remember that moment I received the maroon cap before walking onto the Lords Cricket Ground against England in July 2004. The enthusiasm and passion I felt then, I

have kept with me throughout my career.

“However, I must accept that for me to preserve my longevity as a professional cricketer, I must do as others before have done, leave the international arena for the next generation of players.”

In Test cricket, Bravo played 40 matches scoring 2,200 runs at an average of 31.42 and took 86 wickets, including his best bowling figures of six for 55.

In 164 One Day Internationals, Bravo scored 2,968 runs at an average of 25.36. He snatched 199 wickets and his best figures were 6/43. In T20 cricket, which he is most known for,

he cracked 1142 runs at an average of 24.29 and took 52 wickets. His best bowling figures in the shortest format of the game was 4/28.

His retirement statement said, “I thank the countless persons who were instrumental to my success, particularly my family and QPCC where I developed my skills at an early age. I thank the many loyal fans who continue to support my journey and who recognize my efforts on and off the field. I am extremely fortunate to have a career that has taken me across the globe into the most prestigious dressing rooms sharing experiences with all the recent legends of this glorious game. I will continue my professional career as

a cricketer and entertainer living as a true champion.”

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