Guyana Times International 28-June-19

INTERNATIONAL THE BEACON OF TRUTH

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You can also read Guyana Times daily edition online at www.guyanatimesgy.com ISSUE NO. 455

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019

Jagdeo open to

proposing foreigner as GECOM Chair

See story on page 5

The High Commission of Canada to Guyana organized a reception on June 24, 2019 to celebrate Canada Day 2019. In her remarks, High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee announced plans to establish a Canada Chamber of Commerce in Guyana. (In photo: Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali and his wife greet the Canadian Envoy in the presence of other invited guests.

Better infrastructural “Brazen arrogance” planning needed …as Guyana prepares for First Oil, says Houston energy Page 5 consultant

…Opposition says of caretaker Govt moving ahead with 2020 Budget preparations

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“Brazen arrogance” …Opposition says of caretaker Govt moving ahead with 2020 Budget preparations

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espite the passage of a No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the Government and the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has said Government should be in caretaker mode, preparations have commenced for 2020’s Budget. This is in implicit violation of the CCJ’s ruling of the functions of a Caretaker Government following a NCM. The CCJ ruled on June 18 that the Government was

defeated by a vote of NCM, meaning early elections must be called. But just three days later, the Ministry of Finance issued a circular to commence preparations for Budget 2020 with specific timelines for Budget Debate in November, which is beyond the proposed date for new elections as proposed by the Opposition in a concession to the exigencies of the appeal by the Government to the NCM’s passage.

The circular, which was leaked to the media, is dated June 21, 2019. The document gives instructions to department heads, permanent secretaries, regional executives and heads of constitutional agencies. The document was issued under the hand of the Finance Secretary, who stated in the correspondence that the missive was penned as the delegated authority of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to Section 13 of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act. In it, they are given deadMinister of Finance Winston Jordan

lines for making submissions to the Ministry and completing aspects of Budget preparations. For instance, these officers were given until August 7, 2019, to hand in their Budget submissions.

The Budget agencies were given between August 19 and September 27 to consult with the Ministry on their submissions. October 10 was named as the date to present the constitutional agencies’ budgets to the National Assembly.

The circular also named November 25, 2019 as the date to present the overall budget in the National Assembly.

Affixing his signature to the circular is the Ministry’s Finance Secretary, Michael Joseph.

In several parliamentary democracies, such as New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan etc., there are explicit “Caretaker Conventions” and in those that do not, the practice is to follow the precedents in these jurisdictions. A funda-

PPP Member of Parliament, Bishop Juan Edghill

mental tenet in these conventions is that only routing functions of the Government must be maintained and there can be no initiative that will bind any new incoming Government to policies with which they do not agree.

On Wednesday, following the issuance of the circular, former Junior Finance Minister Juan Edghill lambasted the Government for issuing the circular. Edghill had also urged these technical officers not to succumb to pressure from the Government and to save themselves from culpability in illegal actions.

“It is unbelievable that a Government that was defeat-

ed by way of a No Confidence Vote on December 21, 2018 who by way of spurious and incredible arguments of a ‘34 majority theory’, used the legal system to buy themselves seven months and counting to implement a Budget that they had no mandate to implement,” Edghill expressed in his statement on the matter.

Edghill noted that rather than offering goods and services to all the people of Guyana, the Government used questionable processes of procurement to award contracts to its “political allies, friends and families to shore up political support”. turn to page 7

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EDITORIAL

Leadership in a time of crisis

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henever a country is facing a crisis, the expectation is for the political leadership to buckle down in immediate, genuine and meaningful engagements with the intention of deriving practical solutions. In these situations, it becomes imperative on the Government of the day to initiate those necessary discussions in the interest of the country.

That said, nothing prevents the Opposition from indicating the need for such talks and making itself available to be engaged at any time. Further, these discussions do not have the luxury of convenient time, for the crisis demands urgent engagements whether night or day to find a way forward. Sadly, these expectations never materialised during the ongoing constitution-related crisis Guyana is currently experiencing.

That is noted in the context of the June 18 ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on matters pertaining to the unilateral appointment of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the December 21, 2018 No-Confidence Motion (NCM).

It was clear from the CCJ that the Constitution was breached in the manner in which the GECOM Chairman was appointed and that the NCM was valid.

Following its ruling, the CCJ offered time for the political leadership to engage with the hope of reaching consensus on resolving the current stalemate. That did not materialise since, shockingly, two days after the ruling, the President wrote the Leader of the Opposition inviting him to a meeting sometime after June 24 – the day when the CCJ indicated it would present its consequential orders. That suggests a lack of intent of President’s behalf to urgently engage the Opposition Leader in the face of a national crisis. It may even suggest that the President is paying scant regard to the current situation engulfing the country even though the Opposition indicated its willingness to meet.

Even more shocking was the response of the lawyer representing GECOM. He said that a new voters’ list can be ready by December 25 at the earliest, a month after what the former Chairman would have advised the President. He also cited holidays during the period offered by the CCJ as prohibitive reasons for related engagements.

One can safely deduce that lawyers’ responses reflect the position of their clients. In the current circumstances, the responses offered from the Government side may suggest a lack of intent to quickly work towards finding a solution. That intent was not obscured throughout the process as the Government demonstrated a preference to delay the constitutional mandate of a successful NCM. Since the NCM, the Government has apparently surrendered to GECOM its role of deciding when elections can be held. That also suggests a position of not necessarily wanting to find an immediate solution. Such scenarios would explain that believed lack of intent to meet even it means burning the midnight oil to have the situation resolve and why holidays were noted as challenges to engage.

This unavoidably brings into question the reactions, or lack thereof, by the President. In assessing these, it would be useful to remind that just recently his most senior Minister, in terms of portfolio held, boldly disregarded the CCJ’s ruling claiming that that court cannot rule on such matters for Guyana.

The President, thus far, is silent on that rejection of the country’s highest court by one of his subjects; just as he is noticeably silent on the frightening developments within the Police Force following the revelations of whistle blowers and alleged public misconduct of some Ministers. The latter two aside, the President seems to miss that he is the Head of State for all Guyanese and in a time of crisis, his leadership must reflect that.

The expectation would be for him to act above the fray of party politics and to endeavour to engage necessary stakeholders to find consensus on national issues. Many are convinced that during his tenure, he missed opportunities to step above the fray in dealing with national concerns. The engagement, as proposed by the CCJ on June 18, was the latest and arguably the most important.

There was no immediate reaching out to the Leader of the Opposition to demonstrate a real and non-partisan intent to put the affairs of the country above his party’s desire. His letter of June 20 may vindicate that belief for it speaks to a meeting sometime after June 24.

That could be any subsequent date including one in November or December. A time frame which seems to be a firm desire in the context of his Government’s wish for when elections should be held; elections that should have already been held as of March 21.

The letter in question was boasted of as being demonstrative of wanting to engage while claiming that a response from the Leader of the Opposition was yet to be forthcoming. The content also speaks to actions not considered to be above the fray.

A mobile vendor at Number 63 Beach, Berbice, Guyana (photo by Girendra Persaud)

Guyana must maintain the HIV/AIDS fight T

he Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a major global public health issue that claims the lives of thousands worldwide every year. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2017, 940, 000 people died from HIV-related causes globally. There were approximately 36.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2017 with 1.8 million people becoming newly infected in 2017 globally.

59% of adults and 52% of children living with HIV were receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2017. Global ART coverage for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV is high at 80%.

The WHO African Region is the most affected region, with 25.7 million people living with HIV in 2017. The African region also accounts for over two thirds of the global total of new HIV infections. It is estimated that currently only 70% of people with HIV know their status.

To reach the target of 90%, an additional 7.5 million people need to access HIV testing services. It should be noted though that many more people with HIV are now receiving life-saving drugs which help to keep the virus under control. But millions of people who need treatment still do not have it. For example, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely affected part of the world, though some countries there have made impressive efforts in reducing fresh cases. For example; Ethiopia, Malawi and Botswana have achieved big reductions in new infections which shows they are capable of controlling the spread of the disease.

Caribbean countries, including Guyana, can boast of several successes in relation to our HIV response.

Programmes to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, reduce new HIV infections and treat people living with the virus have yielded encouraging results.

Additionally, the Caribbean is the only developing region that has approached the near-universal coverage of antiretroviral medicines to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

According to official statistics, the Caribbean leads the world in the rates of its reduction in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

In Guyana in particular, there is a steady decline in the number of new reported cases of HIV infection among a significantly higher number of persons coming forward to be tested. The programmes that have been implemented have resulted in significant progress being made and should certainly be continued.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud, was quoted in this newspaper recently as saying that Guyana continues to forge ahead with achieving the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) “9090-90 targets”. This target seeks to have 90 per cent of people living with HIV become aware of their infection, 90 per cent of the people diagnosed with HIV linked to antiretroviral treatment (ART) and 90 per cent of those on ART adhering and having undetectable levels of HIV in their blood.

Dr Persaud noted that there have been significant improvements in the 90-9090 programme, but there

were a few challenges that the Public Health Ministry continues to battle with in order to successfully achieve this goal.

Recent statistics from the Education Ministry revealed that Guyana has a higher percentage of its HIV+ population on treatment than the total percentage of the Caribbean Region. Last year, of the 8369 persons estimated to be infected in Guyana, 66 per cent (5557) were successfully put on treatment.

That said, Guyana cannot become complacent as the gains made over the years, due to the efforts of the previous and current administrations and other health partners, could be reversed. In order to sustain the advances made, the government and other development partners need to put more money and effort towards ensuring that their HIV programmes can be sustained. For example, more needs to be done to address the prejudice and social inequities that operate to make some people, both more vulnerable to HIV infection and less likely to access prevention, testing, treatment and care services. Young people, men who have sex with men and sex workers are among the populations that need targeted investments and more protective environments through a combination of social dialogue and increased tolerance.

The battle against HIV/ AIDs is one that is ongoing.

It is therefore wise to continue reassessing where we are at present, what could be done differently and what sort of interventions and resources are need to ensure that Guyana is on top of its game in meeting the relevant HIV/AIDS targets.

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open to Better infrastructural Jagdeo proposing foreigner planning needed as GECOM Chair …as Guyana prepares for First Oil, says Houston energy consultant

By Kristen Macklingam

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s Guyana continues to prepare for a booming oil and gas industry, the government is being urged not to forget to develop its infrastructure.

Energy Consultant from the Callender Law Firm in Houston, Texas, Edwin Callender, underscored the importance of infrastructural planning during an Oil and Gas Business Training Conference on Thursday morning at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown.

He explained that in preparing Guyana for the oil and gas sector the entire country needs to be able to participate in infrastructural planning so as to ensure that catastrophes do not arise in the near future.

“You have to consider the environmental impacts and the power plants and hydro power. Of course everyone knows Guyana means land of many waters and so that should not be abandoned because it is a renewable source of energy and it is very clean.”

According to Callender, already there is too much congestion on the major roadways and this will only get worse if the government does not plan to address this from now.

“People coming down the East

Edwin Callender

Bank, the East Coast, the traffic jams are really terrible. If you had additional industry put into this same general area because people live here what is going to happen? It would be really, really terrible…so a lot of thought has to be put into the industrial park, the pipelines where they are going to go, the liquid hydro-carbon storage, processing and handling facilities and where those are going to go.”

The Energy Consultant stated that another key factor that must not be overlooked is the development and the moderniza-

tion of the national grid.

He pointed out that although focus is being placed on the benefits that it will reap from a booming oil and gas sector, the management and improvement of the grid is essential in stabilizing the advancements in the infrastructural development of the country.

“These are all the things that should be considered and need to be considered and dealt with in a consorted strategic way. A piecemeal approach to this business is not going to cut it. There has to be some kind of central strategic unit either in the government or chartered by the government that does that planning and of course comprised of Guyanese experts dealing with all of these matters.”

This two-day conference which commenced on Thursday morning is being hosted by the Callender Law Firm for the second time in two years. Plans are on-going to ensure that this oil and gas and energy business training conference is done on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, Guyana is now home to the world’s largest new deep-water oil discovery, with principle explorer ExxonMobil pushing for the development of the oil reserves and production scheduled to begin in 2020.

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Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo

head of the much anticipated meeting with President David Granger on the appointment of a new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has said that in addition to the 18 nominees that were previously identified for the post, he is also looking at some new names including foreign nominees.

During his weekly engagement with the media on Thursday, Jagdeo said he is hoping that the President will look at the eighteen names that were previously rejected, but in case he still does not find favour with any of those nominees, a new list will be presented.

According to the Opposition Leader, he needs to meet with the

Head of State to first determine how they will proceed with the new appointment, that is, whether they will select someone from the new list or come up with an entirely new list.

Former GECOM Chairman, retried Justice James Patterson was forced to step down after the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled last week that his unilateral appointment was flawed and unconstitutional. The court urged that the two sides meet and come up with a consensus mechanism on the new appointment.

President David Granger last Friday extended an invitation to the Opposition Leader to meet and Jagdeo has since accepted the invite.

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Government Ministers Immature rhetoric of preemptive strikes and “war,” and intimidation in Guyana should be reprimanded for ‘idiotic’ tactics by PNC will increase statement on CCJ

Dear Editor, Two Government Ministers were reported to have said that Guyana is a sovereign country (whatever that means) so the CCJ cannot instruct Guyana how to run its affairs (including holding elections or replacing the Chairman of GECOM).

The Ministers are wrong and are on a war footing for which there is no justification. The statements were made out of complete ignorance.

Although I am not a lawyer, I am versed in constitutional matters and the concept of sovereignty. When I was doing doctoral studies in political science, my field of specialisation was international relations. But students were also mandated to take doctoral courses in each of at least three of five sub-fields.

Two sub-fields I did were American constitutional law and international law. And when I undertook graduate studies in educational management to become an administrator in higher education, one requirement was courses in American Educational Law that focused heavily on Education Constitutional Law. I also taught constitutional law. Thus, I am knowledgeable on constitutional and international legal matters.

I can say without any fear of being contradicted that the CCJ has sovereignty over Guyana

because of a treaty the Government signed (the PNC Government at that) in 1973.

Contrary to what the Ministers feel and say, the fact is, for the record, the CCJ is Guyana’s final court of appeal. The CCJ is part of Guyana’s sovereignty that happens to be located in another territory – not different from say, when the Privy Council was Guyana’s final court of appeal. So those two Ministers must be reprimanded for their statements – words of defiance against the court should be sanctioned (served with contempt charges for attacking the court which is a separate and independent branch of our Government). Can you imagine Government officers telling the Privy Council it had no jurisdiction over Guyana when the court had standing before the dictator Forbes Burnham broke the link without legitimate approval? No wonder the white people laugh at us for our stupidity.

Already the judges in Guyana have shown they don’t know simple maths on how to calculate a majority and experience challenges in understanding what they read in the Constitution.

I usually travel to the UK, India, Singapore, Malaysia, and throughout the Caribbean and in all of those countries, the Guyanese judges

are being ridiculed making the diaspora feel embarrassed and insulted. Now, Ministers of Government are adding to the embarrassment by revealing their ignorance that they don’t know that the CCJ is Guyana’s court.

Those of us who study international law or “domestic law” would now that the CCJ has jurisdiction and even if you are not schooled in law, common sense tells you that the CCJ has jurisdiction over Guyana’s and can compel Government officials or citizens to carry out acts.

The CCJ can also order the arrest of officials for contempt although it has never done so in its history – that is the power of the court. The court should issue firm consequential orders and oversee their implementation itself since the Guyana courts seem to lack the ability to understand simple language.

The two Ministers and others who made idiotic statements need a lesson on the concept of sovereignty and judicial jurisdiction.

How can we have regional integration if we dismiss the rulings of the CCJ? Chastising or even firing the Ministers will send a signal that the Government respect the rulings.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

The world is watching you President Granger Dear Editor, Retired Justice James Patterson, the illegally appointed Chairman of GECOM, has finally vacated his post. This is a commendable act, and I say: “Enjoy your retirement years in peace”.

This gentleman, in his golden years, was made to suffer ridicule and shame by his president, who, for 20 long months, dragged him through the mud, all because he was a willing participant in a grand scheme of things.

However, that has all ended.

We are accustomed to the cliché “all good things must come to an end”; however, conversely, all bad things must come

to an end, and that ‘bad thing’ is Mr Patterson, who had to go.

Now, as much as I ridiculed Mr Patterson for being so obstinate in allowing that illegal process to take root for so long, my sternest rebuke is for Granger; he is the one who crafted this great fraud, and he is the one whom we will castigate.

Mr Granger, what made you think that you could outrun the law of the land? The inevitable was always there as a stern reminder lurking at every turn: the supreme law of the land must be adhered to. Mr President, you cannot outrun the long arm of the law. It finally caught

up with Mr Patterson, and it will also catch up with you.

In this regard, we turn our gaze on you, Mr President, and I use this term with great reluctance, because, in the present circumstances, you are an illegal occupant yourself. So, I say to you, Mr Granger, you are next in line. We are looking forward to you being in strict compliance with Article 106 (6) and (7).

In less than a week, we expect your full cooperation with this aspect of the Constitution. There should be no further delay, the world is watching!

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Dear Editor, The former PNC Prime Minister, Hamilton Green, declared himself an expert in elections saying, “As one who has been in the Election business since we first had universal adult suffrage…” in his recent letter, “Statement

by GECOM Chairman is ludicrous”, and said a call for elections in 60 days is “preposterous” because the “integrity of the Voters’ List is a sine qua non”.

Mr Green (and the current fallen Government) wants to expand the list but can only do so by destroying the law. It is a legal impossibility because the law is clear: elections must be called within 3 months following the aftermath of the No-Confidence Motion.

To vote thereafter is to alter the standard that qualifies a legal ballot.

Said another way, unless the Opposition agrees to an extension, an election called after three months will be illegal, as each ballot cast would exist outside the ambit of the law. President Granger, who says he respects the Constitution, wants what he calls a “credible” election. But his

“credible” election is, as a matter of law, an illegal election.

The Opposition should not agree to any so-called “credible” but illegal election or ask its supporters to cast votes that are unprotected by the law.

It has no reason to defy Articles 106 (6) and 106 (7), now triggered by operation of law on December 21, 2018. The Leader of the Opposition must not tamper with the sacrifice of Mr Charrandas Persaud, who fled for his life after voting his conscience.

Now that this “conscience” vote has been upheld, the weight of the evidence is upon Government. As expected, the denials, lies, exaggeration, immature rhetoric of preemptive strikes and “war,” delay and intimidation tactics

by Government members will increase. This is a deliberate strategy to intimidate even the CCJ. Each must be countered by obedience to the Constitution.

The CCJ must be reminded that this is an emergency election following a No-Confidence Motion. It is not the usual election that emerges after a Government’s statutory five-year term ends. The law does not

state anywhere that following a No-Confidence Motion, there must be house-to-house registration. The CCJ should not now try to write new law into the Constitution under any banner of compromise. One cannot compromise by breaking the law.

Secondly, on a less important note, Mr Green is being disrespectful when he tries to declare himself as an election expert. His is a history of ballot suppression because he and the late President Forbes Burnham were grand architects of a culture of voter disenfranchisement.

Mr Green’s newfound admiration for voter rights is nothing but Government’s tune for the day. This simple comparison exposes his lack of credibility.

He complains about the GECOM Chairman staying on the job illegally, but he does not object to his role as a strongman in multiple illegal PNC administrations.

With a fallen Government at hand, led essentially by the PNC, the present is quickly becoming the past.

Sincerely, Rakesh Rampertab

Conflict of interest?

Dear Editor, The revelation that ExxonMobil paid the travelling expenses of the Minister of Petroleum’s wife, First Lady Sandra Granger; Head of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe; and that of the entourage is extremely disappointing to learn.

It would seem that the Granger Administration is incapable of comprehending what constitutes ethical and acceptable behaviour.

In sports coaching, we look for ‘teaching’ moments, and then there are times when repetition of mistakes is so glaring that the coach must take the ‘hairdryer’ approach, made famous by Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United fame, and bellow at players.

This is not a teaching moment; that was in 2017, when five members of Granger’s Cabinet went on an all-expenses-paid junket to ExxonMobil’s head-

quarters in Houston for as yet unspecified reasons. First Lady Sandra Granger should have been better advised, and her office should have stood all expenses for her participation in this ceremony.

The naivety of the Minister of Petroleum, President Granger, is stunning, and again raises questions in regard to his competence in any area of governance.

Dr Mark Bynoe, who has spent his time as Head of the Department of Energy engaged in talks with primary school children and in churches delivering sermons on ‘Christian oil and gas’, has seminally failed the people of Guyana by not producing a working Local Content Policy, regulations, and enforcing legislation.

Dr Bynoe is a professional, and must have known that he cannot, and must not, accept any gift, paid expense,

or reimbursement of any kind from any entity, more so one which he is expected to regulate. Dr. Bynoe has compromised his office and himself beyond personal repair.

Arguments about the suitability of the First Lady for the launching of the FPSO are a distraction, for that is not in question. The facts are that the Head of the Department of Energy and the wife of the Minister of Petroleum accepted an improper gift of travel; these are unquestionable facts, damming ones.

Editor, Mrs Granger and Dr Bynoe, no doubt, met with officials from companies such as SBM (Liza Destiny Constructor) who are notorious for bribing government officials all over the world. For example, SBM ordered a hull for the Liza Destiny weeks before being awarded the contract by ExxonMobil; and, six months later, were charged under the turn to page 7

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Campbellville woman “Brazen... robbed, beaten by armed bandits

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CCTV footage showing the robbers escaping after robbing the Campbellville woman

n Austin Street, Campbellville, Georgetown woman is now traumatised and nursing injuries to her head after she was beaten and robbed by gunmen who invaded her home in a brazen daylight robbery on Wednesday morning.

The woman, 49-yearold Baljinder Kaur, was at home with her maid when the three armed men invaded at about 10:00h.

This newspaper was told that neighbours heard screams emanating from Kaur’s residence and shortly after saw men with a black bag exiting the premises. One of the men was seen placing a gun into his pants’ waist as they escaped. Persons in the area, realizing that it was a robbery, rushed over to Kaur’s home and found her with a blood-

ied face.

“It had a huge burst on she forehead, she said they come with two guns, they use one to lash she in the forehead, but they didn’t do the maid anything,” a neighbour who went to the woman’s aid revealed.

The neighbours are contending that the bandits seem to be familiar with the area.

“These people know what they were doing, they didn’t spend any time. How they know that at that exact time these people had this cash in the house? This thing happened within five to ten minutes; because my aunty said when she saw the people them go in there, she watch to see what they were doing and then she went to stir her pot and by the time she came back, they come out and she said look the boys

Conflict of...

Foreign Corrupt Practice Act by the United States Department of Justice.

Other countries have had cause to prosecute SBM for corruption: The SBM Offshore probe in Brazil is referred to as Operation Black Blood.

Brazilian prosecutors allege that at least US$46 million in “undue payments” were made in Switzerland between 1998 and 2012 in relation to contracts for floating oil production, storage and offloading ships (FPSO).

Renato Duque, former Petrobras executive, allegedly asked SBM sales agents for US$300 million for the ruling Workers’ Party, to fund its 2010 election campaign.

SBM has been

from page 6

awarded another contract by ExxonMobil to build the second FPSO vessel. These are costs that would be repaid by Guyana. We cannot become blind to the dangers posed by acceptance of gifts from those we are entrusted to do business with on behalf of the people of Guyana.

ExxonMobil officials are aware that gifted travel compromises Government officials, and yet they continue to dangle carrots. The deep waters of oil production are filled with sharks; let us use every caution of ethics and anti-corruption to avoid the fatal bites.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

them coming out,” another neighbour remarked.

Kaur was rushed to the hospital where she received several stitches for the head wound.

The gunmen reportedly escaped with over G$1.5 million and some G$600,000 worth of jewellery. The money was withdrawn from a city bank on Tuesday to use for construction work on the house.

This publication understands that this was not the first robbery that was carried out on the woman, whose husband is a businessman.

Just two weeks ago, the man had parked his vehicle in front of his premises when it was vandalized and the vehicle’s battery was removed.

The matter was reported to the Police who visited the scene and are said to be investigating.

The letter, which was sent to all heads of Budget agencies and departments including constitutional bodies, came eight days after a definitive and explicit ruling from the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and in face of the operationalization of Articles 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution.

“Is someone being delusional, or is it plain stubbornness? Or maybe it is a mentality that is being exposed that this Government believes that it can continue to hang on to power indefinitely. How desperate can one be? So the charade continues. Government operatives used an argument of the ‘34 majority theory’ to implement the 2019 Budget, and now they hope to use the argument of House-to-House registration to buy themselves more time, so that they can formulate, prepare, and present a 2020 Budget,” he added.

The former Junior Finance Minister noted that, Winston Jordan, who resigned on December 21, 2018, is presumptuously pursuing a path of provocation by causing the circular to be issued.

“We, in the PPP/C parliamentary Opposition, will not allow this folly and untamed ignorance, coupled with the brazen arrogance of this APNU/ AFC Government to go unchecked.

No Caretaker Government, which is the current status of this Granger-led Coalition, should be allowed to be this blatant and disrespectful in its conduct. To pursue this illegality is to create an environment for collision and confrontation, rather than conciliation and preserving the well-being of our people. “ He added that the provisions in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act provide for a Budget by March/ April 2020.

“A Budget which defines the vision, priorities and programmes for the prosperity and development of all the people of Guyana by a Government that is legal, constitutional and democratically elected through free and fair elections is the only one that will be accepted”.

Legal implications

Meanwhile, when asked about this new development, Attorney-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin explained that the issuance of a Budget circular at a time like this is not in keeping with the Court’s ruling. He pointed out that

from page 3

Parliament, in fact, has to be dissolved following the passage of a NCM, so elections could be held.

Datadin, who played an important part in the recent CCJ cases as the legal representative for former Alliance for Change (AFC) Parliamentarian Charandass Persaud, found the move puzzling.

“The Government can’t engage in doing a budget. What they have to do, the country has to go to an election. We anticipate that will happen within the next three months of the Court’s ruling.”

“So we find it very strange that they issued a circular to that effect… because of the No- Confidence Motion, Parliament is supposed to be dissolved forthwith. This is certainly not in keeping with the current situation and it’s certainly not in keeping with the ruling of the Court,” Datadin added.

“A Budget which defines the vision, priorities and programmes for the prosperity and development of all the people of Guyana by a Government that is legal, constitutional and democratically elected through free and fair elections is the only one that will be accepted”.

Legal implications

Meanwhile, when asked about this new development, Attorney-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin explained that the issuance of a Budget circular at a time like this is not in keeping with the Court’s ruling. He pointed out that Parliament, in fact, has to be dissolved following the passage of a NCM, so elections could be held.

Datadin, who played an important part in the recent CCJ cases as the legal representative for former Alliance for Change (AFC) Parliamentarian Charandass Persaud, found the move puzzling.

“The Government can’t engage in doing a budget. What they have to do, the country has to go to an election. We anticipate that will happen within the next three months of the Court’s ruling.”

“So we find it very strange that they issued a circular to that effect… because of the No- Confidence Motion, Parliament is supposed to be dissolved forthwith. This is certainly not in keeping with the current situation and it’s certainly not in keeping with the ruling of the Court,” Datadin added.

8 news

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

CJ calls on media to be more cautious when reporting on suicide, domestic violence

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iven the high prevalence of suicide and other social ills in Guyana, acting Chief Justice, Roxanne George on Friday, during a workshop hosted for the media, underscored the need for helplines to be placed at the end of such reports to proffer assistance from Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

“Might I suggest that the Guyana Press Association (GPA) take the initiative, if it has not done so already, to partner with our leading NGO’s on gender based violence so as to set guidelines for Guyana and get the permission to place helpline information at the end of each story,” the Chief Justice stated.

Justice George added that if such a method has been practiced before, then it needs to be considered for revision and/ or recommitment, on the part of the media, to follow such guidelines.

Her call comes at a time when Guyana has been listed among the countries with the highest suicide rates in the world.

But Clinical Psychologist attached to the Public Health Ministry, Balogun Osunbiyi recent-

smeared when victims are rushed to the hospital and are treated.

UN meets with Education Ministry to discuss language barrier

Law amendment

Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George

ly told Guyana Times International that these eyebrow-raising figures have decreased significantly.

In 2012, according to Osunbiyi, suicide death rates in Guyana stood at 44.2 per cent. However, over the years, this high percentage has decreased with 2016 figures standing at 29 per cent and 24.67 per cent in 2017.

Although the figures for 2018 have not been officially released, this newspaper was told that suicide-related deaths were down by at least 50

per cent.

While these numbers may be good for the country, The Caribbean Voice had a different view on the matter.

In fact, the Managing Director of the agency, Bibi Ahamad, believes that the numbers have not significantly decreased and that the Health Ministry might be trying to paint that picture.

She said that the numbers suggested that the figures may have been reduced, but many suicidal attempts are

When it comes to the safety and protection of domestic violence victims, the local Judiciary is very strict and is, in fact, seeking to up its game in this regard.

Already, media personnel can be fined G$2 million for identifying complainants and witnesses in sexual offense cases.

As explained by the Chief Justice, such cases are “deeply personal” and “traumatic” for not only victims, but their children and other relatives, and reporting in a reckless manner can leave lifelong scars and labels on these persons.

As such, she explained the need for an amendment to the law to allow for in-camera hearings of domestic violence cases, in addition to sexual offenses.

She said, “…we may have to seek amendment to the law to provide for in-camera hearings of criminal cases that are domestic violence related, like the provisions in place for sexual offenses cases.” (Davina Ramdass)

Cop nabbed with passports to face disciplinary charges

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he police constable who was nabbed earlier last month with several Guyana passports in his home is expected to face disciplinary charges soon.

This is according to Deputy Police Commissioner and Crime Chief, Lyndon Alves, who told Guyana Times International on Sunday that this has to be done now that the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed such.

“He will be charged departmentally; it is a disciplinary charge that is under the Police Act and that is what he is being charged under….

Under this charge, if someone is found guilty then the Commissioner would determine the way forward.”

He stated that the investigation into the allegations levelled against the rank in question has been completed and at this point, the fate of that policeman is yet to be determined by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

“The person can be

Influx of Venezuelans

Deputy Police Commissioner and Crime Chief, Lyndon Alves

fined, can be dismissed, the person can be demoted. It depends on the discretion and nature of why he was charged”, the Crime Chief noted.

In early May, based on intelligence gathered by certain members of the GPF, ranks swooped down at the constable’s home and discovered a quantity of Guyanese issued passports.

The rank in question was said to have been at his workplace when other policemen confronted

him about the accusation and he was subsequently placed under close arrest.

He was later placed under “open arrest” and still remained employed as a member of the GPF. The Crime Chief had previously told this publication that while investigations into the matter had still been ongoing at that time, the duties of that policeman had been changed.

“He is still on the job since the investigation

has not been completed as yet. But he is not at the Immigration [office].

He is now under open arrest.”

According to the Crime Chief, the police constable had initially been placed under “close arrest” where his freedom was restricted and he had been confined.

However, based on the investigations up to a few weeks ago and in keeping with the law when it relates to the rights of individuals who are being investigated for breaches or breaking the law, that has changed.

“Like I said, he is under open arrest but still we are investigating so I cannot say what the outcome is at this point.

Open arrest is where you move around and you can perform your duties but there is still limited freedom. So at this point, he is performing duties assigned by the GPF but has been removed from the location where his alleged involved with the passports reportedly occurred,” Alves had explained.

T

Representatives from Voices GY presenting the findings from a study

he United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) recently presented the findings of a study conducted in Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini), to assess the situation which found that there is a need for infrastructural development, education and cultural reintegration among others.

The Education Ministry met with the team from Voices GY on Friday, where an assessment was conducted on behalf of the UNHCR. In a post on social media, the Ministry said, “The needs assessment focused primarily on education for Venezuelans and returning Guyanese in that region. Some of the major issues that were highlighted today (Friday) following the study were the existence of a language barrier, cultural integration and infrastructure”.

“As such, recommendations were made by the UNHCR and the Voices GY representatives to address these issues so that there can be improved access and quality of education in the communities that are located in that region,” it added.

Meeting with the team were Education Minister, Nicolette Henry, Chief Education Officer (CEO), Marcel Hutson, Senior Secondary Education Officer, Ameer Ali and Technical Facilitator, Kerwin Jacobs.

The parties committed to future collaborations to fill the gaps and achieve their objectives in the education sector.

While there has been no formal request from the Guyana Government for funding, the United States (US) says it stands ready to provide aid to help with the influx of Venezuelan migrants in Guyana.

Currently, Guyana is benefiting from US funding through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and

the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to facilitate the thousands of Venezuelans fleeing their homeland.

In March, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) injected some US$1.6 million into Trinidad and Tobago to assist with Venezuelans moving there.

Thus far in Guyana, there are approximately 5800 Venezuelan migrants – double the amount recorded six months ago – and this number is expected to increase daily.

On this note, US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch noted that while the situation is not a “serious concern” to the Guyana Government as yet, it may soon become one due to the heightened influx of migrants from the neighbouring Spanishspeaking country.

“In the past, the majority of Venezuelans have been on the border. But a few weeks ago, there was a vessel with about 140 Venezuelans that came right into Georgetown. So that is an indicator that maybe things are worsening a little bit,” she noted while adding that recently she met a Venezuelan working in a restaurant in Berbice, which is quite a long way from the border.

The current crisis engulfing Venezuela is now in its fifth consecutive year and according to a new United Nations report, almost a quarter of the once-wealthy South American nation’s population is in dire need of help, with a whopping 94 per cent of Venezuelans living in poverty.

International media reports say the internal report highlights that some seven million Venezuelans “or about 24 per cent of the total population currently living in the country are estimated to have urgent priority needs for assistance and protection”.

NEWS 9

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Finally! …Guyana Forensic Lab to begin DNA testing

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lose to five years after it officially opened its doors, the Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL) is now able to conduct critical tests that will aid in the fight against crime.

On Wednesday, the spanking new equipment funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was commissioned at the lab which is housed at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown.

Director of the G$1.049B building Delon France listed the newly added features.

“The laboratory is now a national pioneer for human identification using Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing and it enables us to conduct three main things: DNA testing for comparison or matching evidence to a suspect, paternity testing, family mapping or family testing where you can use the family DNA to identify a suspect even if we don’t have that particular suspect’s DNA. We can match a crime scene to a family member and then we can narrow it down through investigation of who actually committed the crime,” he explained.

The Director noted that these tests can be conducted using samples from the human cheeks, semen and vagina, hair, blood and most

Guyana Forensic Science Laboratory

importantly, finger prints or touch.

When the building was first commissioned it had four departments including toxicology, documents, trace evidence and chemistry with six non-analytical departments namely security, quality system, information system, facilities operations, evidence and administration departments.

Following its launch,

however, the GFSL opened two other departments, namely the Forensic Radio Evidence and the DNA aspect which was commissioned Wednesday.

Acknowledging that the wait for such services was indeed a lengthy one, the Director informed that four persons are being trained to use the long awaited equipment. In addition, a number of training sessions are also

on schedule for crime scene personnel of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

Important to note, is that plans are afoot to establish a national DNA database.

“With future expansion in mind, there are plans to establish a national DNA database that would require legal intervention and amendments to Chapters of the Laws of Guyana, especially the Police Act Chapter 16:01

Section 35 which should include DNA records to facilitate this venture,” France pointed out.

Meanwhile, a smiling Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, said the commissioning of such services was good news for the country as he explained how it will aid in crime fighting.

He informed, “The Scanning Electron Microscope will be used for gunshot residue testing, and the presence or absence of this residue can corroborate with misstatements and testimony and provide investigational leads…this forensic equipment is important in crimes involving firearms and the discharge of those firearms”.

While on investigations, he also assured that unresolved crime related matters, including murder, rape or found body parts can now come to a closure with the aid of the new tools.

Along with reducing the time for an investigation, these equipment will also help to cut costs as usually about G$1.5 million is spent on a DNA test. This will be slashed to about G$60,000.

Although the G$1.049B building was opened since July 2014, the forensic laboratory was unequipped with the required tools it needed.

10 news

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Canadian Chamber of Commerce to be established in Guyana

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Canadian Chamber of Commerce will soon be established in Guyana to foster increased trade activities and a better economic relationship between the two countries. This has partially stemmed from a vast number of companies which have expressed interest in the country’s potential.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee, made the disclosure earlier this week, positing that her country has been Guyana’s largest trading partner.

“Newfoundlanders have been trading with Guyanese for hundreds of years. We exchanged our cod for your rum…In recognition of the growing Canadian presence in Guyana, I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Guyana. Some of you might not be aware that Canada is Guyana’s largest trading partner.”

With an official launch later this year, interested stakeholders can contact the Trade Commissioner at the Canadian High Commission in

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chatterjee

Georgetown.

Chatterjee went on to say that remittances from Canada to Guyana have accounted for nearly US$208M over the past five years. Additionally, mining companies have taken great interest in the gold resources, with 10 mining companies in various stages of exploration and production.

These include Guyana Gold Strike, Sandspring, and Reunion among oth-

"There’s no conclusion as yet" - Agri Minister says on US catfish ban I t has been over one year since the United States imposed a ban on the exportation of catfish from Guyana. To date, the Agriculture Ministry has fostered discussions, but there has been no definite conclusion on when the sanction would be lifted.

Speaking with Guyana Times International, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder recently posited that discussions with his US counterpart would continue in the future.

“We’re still in talks with the Americans. There’s no conclusion as yet … We will have discussions later and then we’ll get closer,” Holder said.

Last February, he had pointed towards the bureaucratic movement between the Fisheries Department of the Agriculture Ministry and the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department of the Public Health Ministry as one of the main challenges against compliance with the USimposed catfish ban, which was enforced to achieve standardisation of seafood entering the country.

Holder had stated that while work has been done to lift the ban, it was an international issue which had to be dealt with in a holistic manner. At that time, “nothing new” had emerged from discussions, and they were working towards an arrangement to adhere to the standards set out by the United States of America.

“There is nothing new on it. It’s the question of coming to an arrangement with the US concerning our adherence to their rule or how we can best adhere to it. We just can’t lift the ban, because it is worldwide and not just against Guyana,” the Minister said.

He sought to mention that if the Food Safety Authority – which was brought into force by the Food Safety Bill – was established, the process would have been faster than having two Ministries involved.

“We are working with the US. If we had the Food Safety Authority in place, it would have been way much faster but what is happening here is that you have two different ministries involved … the Ministry of

Agriculture Minister Noel Holder

Agriculture Fisheries Department and the Ministry of [Public] Health Food and Drug Department, so the bureaucratic movement between Ministries have some challenges.”

The Food Safety Bill was presented to the National Assembly in 2016, providing for a Food Safety Authority, which would spearhead all aspects of food production, including preparation and transportation for exportation.

Meanwhile, on the part of the Public Health Ministry, former junior Minister Dr Karen Cummings was quoted as saying that “progress” has been made on their end, but she did not elaborate.

Last December, Holder was questioned by Opposition officials as to what Government has been initiating to lift the ban after some G$14.7 million was set aside for the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism as part of Guyana’s contribution to international organisations.

Then Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira questioned whether Guyana could get help from this very organisation, to which Holder replied in the affirmative. She also enquired whether legislation was being drafted to assist Guyana with gaining compliance.

ers.

Three companies in Toronto namely CGX, JHI and Eco-Atlantic will be drilling offshore Guyana. Presently, 12 partnerships exist between the two countries in the oil and gas sector.

LearnCorp, which focuses on technical oil and gas training, is currently training 24 people from Guyana to work on the Liza Destiny Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Just last year, an American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) was opened in Guyana to create a fair business environment for small enterprises.

The President of AmCham Guyana, Zulfikar Ally, was quoted as saying, “We see this Chamber as a chamber that will help to facilitate investment into Guyana. There are 116 chambers all around the world and… our job will be to help to facilitate and guide [businesses].”

AmCham said its purpose was to “promote America–Guyana bilateral trade opportunities and activities, to improve market access for AmericaGuyana goods and services, to provide an economic, social, and policy platform for its members, and to encourage networking and build business connections, among others.

The current board comprises a dynamic mix of both local, regional, and US directors who are eager to dedicate their service, knowledge, and expertise to ensuring a productive start for the chamber.

Over 300 reports of

financial crimes received

in 2018 – FIU Director

F

or the year 2018 alone, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has received more than 300 reports of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to money laundering and even corruption.

This is according to FIU Director Matthew Langevine, in a recent interview with Guyana Times International.

According to Langevine, of these 300 reports, his Unit’s investigations would have led to more than 25 intelligence reports being completed. These reports, he said, were then forwarded to FIU’s sister agency, the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

“Based on those intelligence reports, which would have covered a number of areas, including suspected drug trafficking that would have led to suspected money laundering, there were a number of cases related to suspected tax evasion, and corruption-related cases,” Langevine explained.

“So, we’ve been working hard. I think we can look forward to the first annual report being published by the FIU within the next month or so, as required by the recent amendments to the [Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism] AML/CFT Act.” Langevine explained that their work encompassed not only the reports they have shared with their counterpart, but also training and outreaches with other stakeholders. When it comes to challenges his Unit faces, Langevine identified receiving data from reporting entities as the number one challenge.

“One of the important things for the FIU is receiving data, information from the reporting entities. I think one of the challenges we continue to encounter is that there are still a number of sectors not reporting to us.”

“Specifically, in the areas of the designated non-financial entities. The lawyers and accountants come to mind. On the positive side, we’ve recently had a couple of workshops with those entities and I think it was well-received, especially from the accounting side”.

The FIU is an autonomous agency that investigates financial crimes.

It operates under the AML/CFT Act. The Unit has to work closely with oth-

FIU Director Matthew Langevine

er agencies, including the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Gaming Authority.

But while the FIU has been walking the straight and narrow path, its sister agency SOCU has been beleaguered with problems, since an audit into its operations was carried out by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

The audit into SOCU, an arm of the Police, was first ordered by Police Commissioner Leslie James in February following claims of grave mismanagement which included the misuse of its operational fund.

The audit of the financial records of SOCU subsequently uncovered serious irregularities, including the falsification of records, and it has recommended immediate transfers and a fraud investigation of several of the discrepancies, sources say.

It has resulted in Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan announcing in May of this year that several SOCU ranks would be transferred or even have their services terminated based on the findings.

Added to this, SOCU has had several of its cases tossed out by the courts, including one involving a number of charges against former Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) executives and Guyana Bank of Trade and Industry (GBTI) Directors.

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

news 11

Indian Envoy says better tabulation process needed for faster election results in Guyana

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s Guyana prepares for General and Regional Elections in a few months’ time, outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam believes that the country needs to have a better tabulation and compilation process so as to reduce the lengthy delays in delivering the poll results.

Having observed the 2015 General and Regional Elections as well as two Local Government Elections – 2016 and 2018 – during his five-year tenure here, High Commissioner Mahalingam explained during an interview with Guyana Times International one thing that would ensure the timely delivery of election results was the fast tracking of the tabulation process and the way in which the results from each polling station get to the elections body headquarters.

“I’ve seen definitively (the delays in declaring elections results here). It’s not desirable for the anxious voters to wait for a week to get to know their results because it can lead to other complications. So, therefore, it is advisable, and it is better, to have a better system of compilation of the votes from each polling centre to a centralised location in a secured way, which can be used for declaring the results in the fastest way possible,” the Indian diplomat asserted.

Only recently, India was highly praised for delivering timely elections and election results within a short period. According to the Indian diplomat, his country uses electronic voting machines and that is how Indian’s elections body was able to declare election results after 900 million voters exercised their franchise over a period of 39 days in seven phases.

He noted that while it was up to Guyana to decide on whether to pursue e-voting, finding a less time-consuming and efficient way of tabulating election results would be an “extremely useful step” for Guyana at this point in time in the absence of electronic voting.

Moreover, the High Commissioner disclosed that his country has already sponsored several officials from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to be trained on electoral processes in India. At least, six persons have benefited from the country’s

Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Venkatachalam Mahalingam

Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and GECOM is being encouraged to nominate more staffers for training, Mahalingam added.

The Indian High Commissioner is not the only foreign diplomat to recommend faster tabulation of election results in Guyana. Last year, then United States Ambassador Perry Holloway had also touted the idea.

“I’m still a big believer that electronic tabulation can go a long way towards getting the results quicker… It would be nice to be able to almost have near or as close as to instantaneous [results] as you could … I think electronic tabulation go a long way for that and I think it’s a way to ease in the greater electronic voting… The tabulation, I think, is very doable and I think it’s a way to get started,” Holloway had contended.

The need for electoral reform, and constitution reform as a whole, has long been highlighted and during the campaign trail leading up to the 2015 elections which got it into office, the A Partnership

for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) coalition had committed to have these reforms but was yet to take tangible steps to do so – something it has received much criticism for.

Over the years, there have been numerous and repeated recommendations for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to undergo reform. In fact, elections observer groups, both internationally and regionally, have been insisting that while GECOM’s purpose for existence is to administer free and fair electoral processes, Guyana should consider reforms that would reduce or eliminate the politicised composition of the elections body in order to ensure independence and impartiality.

Currently, the elections oversight body is constituted using the Carter Centre model that was introduced for the 1992 elections to guide the composition of GECOM. This model provides for three members each from Government and the Opposition; and the Chairman to be appointed by the President from a list of names submitted to him by the Opposition, a process which many say has since exhausted its usefulness.

In fact, this was the position taken by President David Granger back in September during a press conference, where he said that the matter would be included on the agenda to be discussed with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo.

In turn, Jagdeo had said that he was open to having these discussions with the Head of State, but only if the new method proposed would ensure complete impartiality at GECOM. However, President Granger’s willingness to host talks on the matter was made at a time when he was under heavy criticism over his unilateral appointment of Retired Justice James Patterson as the new GECOM Chairman in 2017 after rejecting three lists of six nominees each submitted by the Opposition Leader.

Patterson has since stepped down after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) last week ruled that his appointment was flawed and unconstitutional. The two leaders are expected to meet sometime soon to discuss the appointment of a new GECOM Chair.

12 news

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Justice Patterson steps down G

uyana Elections Commission ( G E C O M ) Chairman, retired Justice James Patterson, has stepped down and handed in his resignation for the position, which the Caribbean Court of Justice recently found, that he was unconstitutionally holding.

This announcement was made on Tuesday after Patterson met with President David Granger. The vacating of the position came days after public pressure for the CCJ ruling to be accepted.

In a statement following the meeting between Granger and Patterson, Government’s commitment to accept the

Justice (ret’d) James Patterson taking the oath of office as GECOM Chairman (File: )

ruling invalidating Patterson’s appointment was reiterated.

This would mean that Government has finally accepted the CCJ’s rul-

ing that the President does, in fact, have to give reasons before he

can reject an entire list of candidates.

While Patterson’s stepping down was his way of formally demitting office, the step is in actuality a matter of fact gesture. This is since the CCJ has already recognised that by virtue of its ruling, Patterson was already fired from his position.

According to CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders on Monday during the post-judgement hearing, GECOM, in fact, has no legal Chairman since the court ruled on June 18 against Patterson’s appointment.

“In relation to the GECOM case, by concluding that the procedure was flawed

and in breach of the Constitution, the inexorable result unless that result is somehow stayed, is that there isn’t a GECOM Chairman. And that process has to be re-engaged,” he had said.

In addition, Attorney General Basil Williams, when questioned about Patterson’s continued presence at GECOM, had confirmed that by virtue of the ruling, Patterson was, in fact, no longer the GECOM Chairman.

“Well, I am sure that question would be addressed when the time comes but you know the decision of the Court is that the appointment was void ab initio so in effect there is no Chairman,” he said.

Serial rapist to spend “He deserves to be 62 years behind bars punished” – victim J

ustice was served to three victims on Wednesday morning, after their attacker, who made them subjects to sexual assault, was sentenced to 62 years in prison for the heinous acts committed in the years 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Twenty-two-year-old Leon Jordan of Lot 102 Front Street, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara (WCD) re-appeared before Justice Brassington Reynolds at the Sexual Offences Court of the Demerara High Court.

Jordan, on his previous Court appearance, pleaded guilty to three rape charges which were levelled against him. The first charge detailed that on February 2, 2012, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16, another stated that on January 13, 2013, in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of a child aged 14 years. The final charge detailed that on October 25, 2016, he engaged in sexual penetration of a 28-year-old woman.

State Counsels Seeta Bishundial and Abigail Gibbs presented the prosecution’s case, while Defence Attorney Maxwell McKay represented Jordan.

Short facts were presented by Prosecutor Bishundial in relation to each of the charges. The Court heard that in relation to the first charge, at about 14:30h on February 2, 2012, the seven-year-old victim had just finished her day at school and was awaiting her older brother to travel home together. However, the accused, who is known to the victim, rode up on a bicycle and said he would take her home after doing an errand for the child’s mother. After the victim expressed some reluctance, the accused grabbed the victim onto his bicycle and threatened to stab her if she screamed, in addition, Jordan took the victim to the seawall and committed the act.

Facts relating to the second charge revealed that the 14-year-old victim was on her way home when Jordan approached her, and being armed with an ice picker, he demanded her to jump onto his bicycle. As such, Jordan took the victim to a deserted, bushy

…accused to spend 19 years in jail for raping teen

S

JAILED: Leon Jordan

area and performed the act.

Finally, the facts into the last charge detailed that the mother of five was on her way to work, when the convict rode up and informed her that something was wrong at home.

Heeding the information, the victim made her way back home only to be later attacked and dragged into a clump of bushes by Jordan. The victim put up a fight but was overpowered by her rapist, who bit off her eyelid and spat in on the ground. Nevertheless, she managed to free herself and ran, and was later taken to the hospital to seek medical attention and undergo surgery to restore her eyesight.

Each of the victims’ impact statement disclosed the trauma and nightmares they face whenever they recall the horrific incident. One of the victims stated “I screamed that day for help and no one came to my help….I told him to stop and he wouldn’t stop… .I am full of emotions,” she cried.

As such, Justice Reynolds in addressing the Court, stated that there are no mitigating factors for Jordan, and as such sentenced him to 12, 15, and 35 years respectively on the three charges. Justice Reynolds further ordered that the sentence will run consecutively and that Jordan become eligible for parole after serving 30 years.

ixty-six year-old George Robin, once highly respected for being a leader in his community, was found guilty on a rape charge and sentenced to 19 years in prison on Tuesday.

The No 30 Village, West Coast Berbice resident was recently found guilty by a 12-member jury of the offence, which detailed that on February 6, 2017 he engaged in sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16.

A probation report presented to the Court revealed that the convicted man was known in his community for being a leader and contributing to the area. It was further disclosed that Robin was a former rank in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Guyana Police Force (GPF).

However, the report investigations had found that Robin was also well known in the community for his perverted behaviour towards young girls in the area. It added that when teenage girls would visit the grocery shop owned by the convict, he would usually make sexual remarks that would make them uncomfortable. Similar incidents also occurred in school environments where Robin worked as a vendor.

Meanwhile, an impact statement prepared for the victim has re-

Jailed: George Robin

vealed that the affected teen has suffered from depression and emotional trauma.

“I feel depressed and angry. I would like for him to go to jail, he deserves to be punished.

I would like to forget about it but I don’t know if I ever can,” the impact statement noted.

Defence Attorney Maxwell McKay, in his plea of mitigation, asked the Court to consider the contributions Robin has

made to the community, along with his age and medical status, since he suffers from hypertension and diabetes.

As such, Justice Brassington Reynolds, in handing down his sentence, stated that considering these factors, Robin will spend the next 19 years in prison where he will benefit from medical services and religious teachings, and will also grant him time to reflect on what he did.

news 13

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Questions being raised as to who is instructing GECOM’s lawyer W

ith no meeting of the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) since June 4, 2019, who has been instructing the electoral body’s lawyer, Stanley Marcus?

Marcus, SC, has been leading GECOM’s case before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in relation to the NoConfidence Motion related cases.

Marcus told the CCJ on June 24 that GECOM must have House-To-House Registration and that the earliest a voters’ list will be ready is by December 25, 2019 – pushing elections which ought to have been held since before March 21, 2019 – to next year.

But the burning question is, how is GECOM’s lawyer arriving at these positions when the Commission has not met to deliberate on these matters. Who is instructing GECOM’s lawyer?

Commissioner Sase Gunraj is also in the dark.

“The Commission as a whole did not meet or discuss the appointment of Mr Marcus as Counsel for the Commission and I am not sure who is instructing him,” Gunraj told reporters.

He was also astounded by the arguments being ad-

Senior Counsel, Stanley Marcus

vanced by Marcus. “I sat in the Court in astonishment, as the purported, and I use this word very deliberately, the purported Counsel for the GECOM, Mr Stanley Marcus is deliberately pronouncing and expounding on the provisions of the National Registration Act and the other attendant legislation that deals with the refreshing of the list…In fact, my astonishment grows because I am not sure who is instructing him.”

Patterson, a former High

Court Judge who claimed he was an acting Chief Justice in Grenada in his CV because of a “slip of the pen”, was unilaterally appointed to the position of Chairman of GECOM by the President in October 2017. At the time, President Granger had already rejected, with no reason, the three lists submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo. These lists comprised a total of 18 names of former judges, persons eligible to be judges and prominent members of civil

Linden man slapped with wounding charge A

32-year-old man, who allegedly wounded another during an argument over missing belongings, was granted bail at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday.

Dillon Lester, of Lot 279 Half Mile, Linden Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice), denied the charge when it was read to him by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

It is alleged that on June 5, 2019 at Granny Backdam, Region Seven (Cuyuni- Mazaruni), he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Michael Miller.

The prosecution’s case stated that the Virtual Complainant (VC) went into the backdam to look for workmen.

According to the Prosecutor’s case, on June 4, 2019, the VC left his haversack and went to work; however, upon returning, he discovered that items were missing. He then proceeded to inquire about the missing items from others, and based on the information he received, he went to confront the defendant.

It was during that confrontation, which ensued a heated argument, that the defendant allegedly pulled out a knife and dealt the VC several stabs resulting in injuries.

The man was rushed to the Linden Hospital where he received treatment.

The matter was then reported and the defendant was arrested. Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield did not object to bail;

Dillon Lester

however, he asked that special conditions be applied if the defendant is released. He was released on G$70,000 bail.

The case will continue on June 16 at the Linden Magistrates’ Courts.

society.

The list of nominees had included anti-corruption advocate Christopher Ram, current Bar Association President Teni Housty, former GECOM Chairman, Retired Major General Joe Singh, Justice of Appeal BS Roy (ret’d), Justice William Ramlall (ret’d), Oneidge Walrond-Allicock, Attorney-at-Law and former Magistrate, Kashir Khan, Attorney-at-Law Nadia Sagar and Gerald Gouveia.

The President was heavily criticised for his actions and it is the court challenge filed

by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustapha that eventually resulted in Patterson’s appointment being ruled unconstitutional.

Throughout his time at GECOM, Patterson was criticised for favouring the Government-nominated Commissioners with his tie-breaker vote. In one such case, Patterson used his casting vote to break a deadlock and appoint current Deputy Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Roxanne Myers, over the previous DCEO Vishnu Persaud.

This is despite Persaud scoring higher marks than Myers during the evalua-

tion process. An investigation by the Ethnic Relations Commission subsequently found that Persaud was the more qualified candidate.

Additionally, more controversy soon dogged the former Chairman after the passage of the No-Confidence Motion.

Despite constitutional stipulations, in February 2019 Patterson again used his deciding vote and sided with Government Commissioners – this time to pass a motion that new elections could not be held in 90 days as constitutionally mandated.

On February 19, 2019, three issues in relation to elections preparation were put to a vote.

The first being elections cannot be held in 90 days; the second issue had to do with funding for elections, and the third was for GECOM to return to normalcy.

While there was a deadlock with the Government Commissioners voting for the motions and the PPPnominated Commissioners voting against, Patterson used his casting vote to ensure the motions were carried. The rest is history, with Guyana now several months outside of the timeframe when elections should have been held.

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Opposition Leader says willing to meet President anytime, and daily to chart way forward

File photo: President David Granger and Opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo during a previous engagement

I

n wake of the landmark decisions by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which declared that the Government was toppled by a No-Confidence Motion, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has indicated his availability to meet the President any time to appoint a new Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairman and discuss the way forward.

This was indicated in a letter from People’s Progressive Party Executive Member and former Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, to Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon.

Harmon had previously written to Jagdeo, on President David Granger’s behalf, inviting him to meet the President whenever convenient after consequential orders were issued on Monday by the CCJ. But the CCJ did not issue those orders when it met and the invitation was left open.

In the letter, Teixeira writes, “l wish on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Bharrat Jagdeo, MP, to inform you that Mr Jagdeo is prepared to meet with the President at any time, and, on a daily basis if needs be, to address the appointment of a new Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission consistent with the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice on June 18, 2019.”

Teixeira went on to request that Harmon bring the parliamentary Opposition’s letter to the President’s attention as soon as possible and to suggest that Harmon contact her in order to coordinate the meetings between the President and the Opposition Leader.

The unilaterally-appointed GECOM Chairman, Retired Justice James Patterson has since stepped down from his position, after the CCJ found that his appointment was unconstitutional and derived from a flawed process.

With the Opposition pushing for elections this year in keeping with the Guyana Constitution, it means the position must urgently be filled.

At the CCJ’s post-judgment hearing on Monday, requests were made by lawyers for the President to be given seven days to appoint a new chairman. Opposition Leader Jagdeo has already said he could provide a list of candidates to the President to choose a Chairman from.

The Court had subsequently decided to give the two sides until July 1 to make written submissions on the consequential orders they would like to be handed down. It also decided that consequential orders will be issued on or before July 12, before which the CCJ urged President Granger to meet with Jagdeo, with their lawyers if necessary.

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‘No need for House-to-House registration’ …systems in place for youths to register and vote

P

ersons who are currently not on the Official List of Electors can become registered in time for early elections without House-to-House registration.

The last House-toHouse registration was done in 2008.

Thereafter, various cycles of continuous registration were done to ensure persons were given unlimited opportunities to get registered from as early as the age of 14.

When a person who was registered since he or she was 14 turns 18, their name is transferred to the voters’ list.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has pointed out that, therefore, there is no need for House-to-House registration, as was evident during the 2015 General and Regional Elections.

“We’ve had General Elections in 2015 and we did not have Houseto-House registration.

It’s absolutely false— a fallacy to claim, that House-to-House registration is a necessity for preparing a list to go to General and Regional Elections,” the Opposition Leader posited during a recent press conference.

He further reasoned that during the Local Government Elections, the voters’ list still facilitated what was accepted by all stakeholders as credible elections.

Government has been pushing for House-to-House registration, saying that it is a necessity before elections and that young people will not be able to vote without it.

But this is not true.

A claims and objections period can be embarked upon to ensure

persons who are not registered get the opportunity to do so.

“In the claims and objections period, which is a short period, any person who is not on the list can get on the list in that period, any person who is in the wrong area and requires a transfer can get a transfer,” Jagdeo explained.

Furthermore, he explained that “people who would have attained the age of 14 as of October 31, 2018 have been registered through the last continuous registration process and so their names would be extracted and added to the voters list”.

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) attorney, Stanley Marcus, told the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that the only way the elections body can prepare for elections is through House-to-House registration; with a voters’ list being ready by December 25, 2019 – the earliest.

But GECOM’s very own legal officer, Excellence Dazzle, submitted a legal opinion to the Commission stating that House-toHouse registration is not a necessity and that a claims and objections process can address the current concerns about the voters’ list.

However, this was rejected by the Government-aligned commissioners, who began to tarnish the Attorney’s character.

According to Jagdeo, these actions and delaying tactics prove that the coalition Government is hesitant to head to the polls. “This Government fears elections; they know what is going to happen”.

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Accused in Berbice “revenge� murder remanded T he accused in the Berbice River revenge murder was on Monday remanded when he appeared in a New Amsterdam, Berbice court.

Roy Gladstone appeared unrepresented before Magistrate Peter Hugh and was not required to plea to the indictable charge.

It is alleged that on June 18, 2019, at Sand Hills, Upper Berbice River, the 28-year-old man murdered Elvis Benedict, a 40-year-old chainsaw operator. He

was remanded to prison until Thursday.

Reports are the two men had an ongoing feud, which dates back several years. According to reports, Benedict allegedly went to the home of the accused with a cutlass and made several threats which led to a confrontation.

On June 19, one day after the threats were made, Benedict was found lying at the side of the road by a lorry driver with multiple injuries. He was picked up and ferried to the New

Dead: Elvis Benedict

Amsterdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Murder accused: Roy Gladstone

However, before he died, he reportedly phoned a relative and

related that he was injured by the accused, who was later arrest-

ed and handed over to Police.

An autopsy performed on the body by Government Pathologist Dr Vivekanand Bridgemohan gave the cause of death as shock and haemorrhage resulting from multiple injuries. The body reportedly had lacerations to the lower back, centre, arm and jaw.

Meanwhile, the accused will be returning to court on Thursday for a decision on the jurisdiction in which the matter is to be heard.

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Businesses, passengers paying hefty sums to get goods into Mahdia

E

ven as the Administration continues to downplay the deteriorated state of the Linden to Lethem road, which has been creating hardships for road users, particularly minibus operators and businesses, the condition of the trail continues to worsen.

With no efforts being made by the Administration to remedy the issue, road users are left to push through by any means necessary to secure their daily bread.

Minibus operators, who over the past two weeks were forced to park their buses due to the state of the road, are now back on the trail but this time with a new initiative whereby they transport passengers and goods up to a certain point that their minibuses can reach then transfer those goods and passengers onto pickups and ATVs that continue the journey into the mining town.

This in itself is posing new challenges for passengers and businesses who now have to pay two fares to get into Mahdia.

Further, consumers are feeling the squeeze as businesses were forced to inflate their prices to offset the transportation cost.

A route 72 minibus operator, Lionel Gilkes,

who spoke to Guyana Times International on Monday, explained that he along with other operators took the decision to go back out to work since they were facing economic hardships and were not able to take care of their families. “We had to make a decision, it’s hard on that trail. You see these pictures, seeing is one thing but actually having to drive there, that’s something totally different.

But I was home for three weeks, no money. We had to do something and this is the best we could do. We thought the strike would have allowed for the Government to do something for us even if is to say they will fix parts and when, anything, but nothing.

It’s clear this Government is not for the poor people, they are for themselves alone and their families,” he stated.

Further, a smallscale businessman, who gave his name only as Perry, also reached out to this publication and said that businesses are now forced to pay double fare to take their goods into Mahdia.

He explained that a usually G$8000 trip is now costing as much as G$16,000 and sometimes G$20,000 to get goods into the town.

“This is stress for us that have to pay dou-

A pickup transporting goods into the mining town

Antigua and Barbuda warns citizens against sponsoring visits of non-nationals

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he Antigua and Barbuda government Monday warned nationals against engaging in a practice of volunteering to act as sponsors to facilitate the visit of non-nationals to the country In a statement, the Department of Immigration said it wanted to advise all persons that the act of serving as a sponsor for a non-national “is a serious undertaking that comes with many responsibilities,” adding: “it is therefore not something to be taken lightly.

“The person acting as a sponsor is responsible for ensuring that the non-national obeys the laws of Antigua and Barbuda during the period of his/her stay and to return to his/her country

of origin at the expiration of his/her legal time in Antigua and Barbuda.”

The Department of Immigration said it has observed that persons are presenting themselves as sponsors for individuals visiting the country and that soon after the person arrives, forego all responsibilities related to the non-national.

“The Department wishes to inform all sponsors that they are responsible for the visitor and should he/she wish to cease being a sponsor, that he/she should visit the Department of Immigration accompanied by the non-national and make this known to the department. This is to ensure that proper monitoring of the non-national for the remaining time in the country. “

The Department gave no indication as to whether or not those persons were engaged in any scheme to circumvent the immigration rules here, but said that it also wanted to notify all non-nationals who are out of legal time and are desirous of remaining in the country, to visit the Department to have their status regularised.

“The Department wishes to inform all persons who are in breach of this regulation that it is an offence to remain beyond the time that they are permitted to be in the country.

Therefore, anyone found in breach may be subject to the penalties prescribed in the Passport and Immigration Act,” the statement added. (CMC)

ble to get our stocks into Mahdia. Usually, it’s about G$7-8000 per seat which would take you straight into Mahdia…now you have to pay that plus an additional 8 or more depending on how much goods you have. When you calculate that, it’s

a lot. Imagine now you gotta up your prices just to offset this exorbitant sum, it’s killing the people man. Is poor people.

This is pure suffering.

This Government doing bare stupidity. Killing out the small man… pressure too much on the people. I hope peo-

ple opening their eyes and seeing well is what really going on here,” the frustrated Perry opined.

This ongoing issue of the deteriorated Linden to Lethem road has been a bother for those traversing that roadway. Several concerns were raised in this regard by those users who reached out to this publication on several occasions to have their views heard.

Videos, photographs and live feeds complaining of the state of that road were also shared on social media over the past weeks.

Meanwhile, Toshao of Toka Village, Region Nine (Upper TakatuUpper Essequibo), Eugene Isaac in a video aired on the Government’s Department of Public Information website last week claimed that nothing is wrong with the road. He rather commended the Government’s “great work” being done on the said roadway.

He said the Linden to Lethem road was in great shape as it is not impassible but only has a “few holes”.

The Public Infrastructure Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Krest Cummings, last week in an invited comment on this issue told this publication that the Ministry was in discussions with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on the way forward with regards to the much-needed repairs to the road.

However, when contacted on Monday for an update on those discussions, Cummings was unable to offer an update up to press time.

US-based Guyanese lands in Court for firing shots with illegal gun …claims gun was for his “protection” while in Guyana

A

n overseas-based Guyanese will soon be arraigned before a court of law for discharging a loaded firearm in the air on Sunday night, thereby scaring a number of residents at Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).

Reports are that the man, who is on vacation from the United States, was spending time with relatives at Parika. This newspaper was told

that the overseas-based Guyanese was caught driving a car and firing shots as he made his way through the streets of the village.

A Police source told this publication that the man admitted to owning the illegal firearm, which he claimed he had obtained to “ensure his safety” for the duration of his stay in Guyana.

Speaking with this newspaper, Commander

of “D” Division, Edmond Cooper, said the Police received reports from residents in Parika that shots were being fired, and upon a prompt response by the Police, the man was nabbed.

“We caught him with the illegal firearm in his possession. He was immediately arrested and placed in our custody. He will be placed before the court before this week is out,” Cooper confirmed.

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Caribbean auditors urged to identify regional gaps A

s the 11th C a r i b b e a n Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (CAROSAI) Congress opened on Monday morning IN Georgetown, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Irfaan Ali urged regional leaders to analyse the existing gaps that would, in turn, help their respective countries to leapfrog into the future.

The official opening ceremony of the fiveday regional conference was held at the Ramada Georgetown Princess Hotel.

The event is being hosted from June 23 to June 27, under the theme “Vision of Performance; for Relevance and Success”.

According to Ali, “For us to understand this vision, we have to have a perfect analysis of the gaps that exist in the Region and these gaps do not necessary have to do only with audit – [it may be] governmental gaps, national development priorities and

Executive Members of the CAROSAI conference poses for a photo with PPP Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali; Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun; Auditor General, Deodat Sharma and Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence

differences within the Region itself and how our audit institutions and our audit framework is aligned to national development and regional development.”

In this regard, he told the regional gathering that emerging issues have to be dealt with, which may even include climate change.

“To ensure success, we have to have professionalism, we have to

have trust, the population must trust the audit office, we have to ensure there is independence and that independence must be safeguarded and supported by all kinds. We have to build … institutional capacity. We have to ensure we have the right human resources trained and placed in the right places,” he recommended.

Eighteen countries are participating in the

11th Congress.

Auditor General Deodat Sharma explained the reason behind the conference.

“This Congress aims to highlight the incredible contributions of members of [Supreme Audit Institutions] SAIs and success stories that would help to forge a better future for the SAIs,” he said.

He explained that the presentations over the

next few days will be centred on performance audits, debt management to investment needs, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in an effort to strengthen the countries’ values of professionalism, credibility, and accountability among others.

Meanwhile, Program Officer at the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation, Marc

Belanger shared how happy he was to be in Guyana and how timely such a forum was.

“The theme, “Vision of Performance; for Relevance and Success” is a very timely and topical one given the pressures on Governments and SAIs. The sessions over the next few days will reflect this theme.

Those who attended yesterday’s (Sunday) executive workshop on root cause analysis saw just how much we need to focus on accountability in our performance on audit work,” Belanger pointed out.

The packed event will allow these delegates to review the Organisation’s achievements over the period 2016 to 2019, analyse data, discuss the SDGs and foster conversations on strengthening human resources and use of technology to improve the quality of public sector auditing among other issues.

On the last day of the meeting, the visitors will get a taste of the world’s best eco-tourism destination through a visit to a popular nature resort.

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Jagdeo says sections of GPF treating issues in political fashion I n light of People’s Progressive Party/ Civic Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira writing Police Commissioner Leslie James over recent comments made by Finance Minister Winston Jordan and Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo in defiance of the CCJ ruling, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo is confident that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) will do what it is mandated to do.

But in the same breath, he stated that while he has confidence in the country’s security forces, there are attempts in certain quarters to treat issues in a “political fashion” especially when the Government is being accused of a crime.

“Anytime this Government breaks the law they just duck the issue or not pay attention [to] it. And then an attempt to magnify or expand anything that the Opposition remotely does not even as half as egregious as what they are doing to magnify those and to launch big probes etc into those. So that is what I am worried about, the trend that is creeping in and it is confined to a few leaders of the Police Force that we know of,” the Opposition Leader told

reporters at his recently held press briefing.

Jagdeo emphasised that actions are only being attributed to a few leaders and not the GPF by extension.

“Our policemen work hard. Many of them have issues and they have big concerns about what is going on in the GPF. There are individuals there who take direction, these are the people who have to be probed, a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into these individuals, they are the ones who are breaking down all the systems in there.”

Less than a week ago, in a letter to the Top Cop, Teixeira referenced media reports quoting the two officials while on a Government-sponsored outreach in Bartica.

She referenced Jordan’s call for citizens to be ready to protest for house-to-house registration. She also made reference to Jordan saying “war break” as he called for street protests.

Another reference was made to Jordan saying that regardless of the CCJ ruling, house-to-house registration must be carried out. Meanwhile, she referenced quotes attributed to Nagamootoo, in which he warned of

“trouble” if house-tohouse registration was not completed.

In her letter to Police Commissioner Leslie James, she reminded him of his calls on March 21 for Guyanese to remain calm and keep the peace.

She also reminded him that he had warned at the time that persons breaching the law would be held According accountable. to Teixeira, these statements are inciting and a threat to public order and safety.

“Your statement of March 21, 2019, is more relevant now than then, as we have now the rulings of the CCJ, the highest court, and we are all, therefore, expected to abide by the CCJ rulings

that the No-Confidence Motion is valid and elections must be held within the shortest time,” Teixeira wrote.

“I, therefore, call on you as Commissioner and the custodian of public safety and order to carry out your mandate vigorously and to publicly defend, preserve, and protect the rule of law and the Guyana Constitution in our nation.”

Since the ruling of the CCJ on Tuesday last, which stated that the APNU/AFC Government was defeated by the Opposition’s No-Confidence Motion in December of last year, Jagdeo noted that the responses by the APNU/AFC coalition Government and

President Granger have been in defiance and portray non-acceptance despite their public declarations and that the President is unwilling to act in accordance with the country’s laws.

The Constitution says that following the passage of the No-Confidence Motion, the President and Cabinet must resign and elections held within three months of the Motion. That deadline elapsed since March 21, 2019, with Government having spent much of the time in court seeking to overturn the Motion rather than ensuring elections were held.

The latest Government official to join the bandwagon in publicly declar-

ing non-acceptance of the powers of the CCJ is State Minister, Dawn HastingsWilliams, who on Friday rejected the CCJ’s appellate jurisdiction.

During a bizarre protest staged by several Government Ministers and a few A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) supporters outside the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM’s) headquarters, where they were calling for houseto-house registration before elections are held, Hastings-Williams voiced her blatant disregard for the CCJ as Guyana’s final court of appeal by saying that that court has no authority to issue any consequential orders today, since Guyana is an independent state with its own laws. is the “GECOM only authoritative body that will inform the Government whether they’re ready or not for elections. CCJ cannot rule, Guyana has its own institution. Guyana is an independent country with its own independent laws,” the Minister said.

Hastings was joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings, who also called for house-tohouse registration before elections.

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Ali hopes to restore G$10,000 per child cash grant, water and electricity subsidies …once elected P PP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali has outlined several initiatives which he plans to introduce to improve the standard of living for all Guyanese once his party returns to power.

With thousands of jobs lost under the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Government and the rising cost of living in Guyana, PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali in a recent interview explained his plan to correct this situation, starting with employment creation.

He added that as a party, the PPP has already said that it will be reopening the sugar estates which were closed by the Government, leaving thousands on the breadline.

“We already spoke about reopening the sugar estates, that will help to create income that will help to have the issue of disposable income and spending power corrected in a number of these communities,” he explained.

Government ordered the closure of several sugar estates based on what it has called a “cost-saving measure” which resulted in thousands of workers from Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon being dismissed.

On another corrective measure, Ali committed to the reintroduction of the G$10,000 per child cash grant.

In fact, Ali intends to have this allowance increased to G$50,000 per child after a five-year period.

The PPP presiden-

PPP Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali

tial candidate pointed out that he believes the money will be useful especially for single parents and deprived families across the country to meet the needs of their children.

Ali said he has also taken note of the water and electricity subsidies for pensioners, something he wishes to reintroduce in Guyana.

“Over a five-year period we are talking about water subsidies for the pensioners of G$2.5 billion, that is being taken away from pensioners so we also have to ensure that we return this and these are things that are going to be done immediately,” he assured.

Additionally, he promised to remove the 14 per cent Value Added

Tax (VAT) added to these services by the coalition Government. According to him, these taxes have had tremendous effects on the cost of living for people across Guyana, something he observed during several outreaches to parts of the country.

The coalition Government withdrew the electricity and water assistance programme which had started under the previous Government. For many, this was viewed as a very unpopular move which led to severe hardships for our senior citizens.

Senior citizens had argued when the initiative was scrapped by this Government that their small increase in pension cannot equate to the benefits that were offered through the provision of electricity and water subsidies.

Prior to 2016, pensioners across Guyana received relief from Government through water and electricity subsidies, coupled with a monthly pension.

Further, Ali promised to reinstate bonuses for joint services ranks – an initiative which was scrapped by the APNU/AFC coalition.

“One officer told me that he utilised his bonus to buy a freezer and he is using that freezer at home to supplement his income because he is selling chicken and the freezer helps to keep the chicken throughout the week…he tells me that that has been able to supplement his family income to the extent that he pays his monthly mortgage out of that small business,” Ali shared as he alluded to the importance of the bonus salary.

Canadian envoy underscores acceptance of elections result

A

President David Granger with Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee shares a toast on Monday

s Guyana prepares to head for the polls, Canada is also following with their elections in October, prompting the High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee to underscore some outcomes which should prevail.

During the celebration of Canada Day 2019 on Monday evening, the Diplomat pointed out that election preparations are underway in Canada, and are being overseen by an independent body that is unaffected by political parties or government.

“Speaking of elections, there is one coming up in a few months.

Election preparations are currently underway by an independent, non-partisan body answerable to parliament and not to

Government or any political party. Naturally, I’m speaking of our Canadian election,” Chatterjeet positioned.

Elections Canada is the agency responsible for these arrangements and reports directly to the Parliament, somewhat similar to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). She hinted that while it is uncertain who will prevail, there will be a “clash” of policies. But the final proclamation will not resort to violence.

She said, “It is still early to know who will form Government in Canada’s nest elections.

There will be a clash of policies and ideas but there will be no clash of fists. When the election is decided, there may be tears but there will be no

violence. I can guarantee you that whoever loses will accept it as the will of the people.”

The High Commissioner asserted that there were differentiating factors of race religion and ethnicity in the past but it was bridged by consensus and led the way for the country’s success.

“We are not better than you and we’re certainly not perfect.

Canada’s independence was forged by brokering among very distinct regions, ethnicities and religion. Consensus and compromise are hallmark Canadian values and led the way to Canada’s success.”

On another note, the Canadian envoy reminded of their support towards Guyana, dating

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo shares a photo moment Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee during Canada Day celebrations

back to 1964 and before the massive oil discoveries.

“We were here when you had no oil. We have accompanied you in all stages of your development when very few were here to support you. We are not your donor. We are your partner and you can continue to count on Canada as we cultivate our gardens of liberal democracy,” the diplomat expressed.

In response, President David Granger mentioned the respect for internal affairs and sovereignty which has existed between the two nations.

“Guyana and Canada have founded their friendship on the principles of mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, mutual respect for each oth-

er’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, cooperation for mutual benefit, respect for international law and treaties and the maintenance of international peace and security.

Guyana acknowledges, and expresses its gratitude to Canada, for its strong support for our sovereignty and territorial integrity over the past five decades,” the Head of State said.

He added, “Canada has provided assistance to Guyana in a wide range of fields including education, the environment and climate resilience, indigenous peoples’ development, governance, justice administration, public administration, private sector development, social development and of course, support for

the National Assembly.

Canada has been a leader in the global efforts to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

It continues to provide support to small states seeking to build greater environmental resilience.”

Guyana is on the brink of an unsteady political climate ever since the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Tuesday threw out Government’s arguments, ruled that the No Confidence Motion on December 21, 2018 was indeed validly passed.

The Court found that 33, and not 34 as the Government and supporters have argued, was the majority the Opposition needed out of 65 Members of Parliament (MPs) to pass the motion.

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T

he term marriage, in the English context, was first was first seen in 1250-1300 CE but the idea of marriages predates this date with every culture having their version of the proverbial passage of life. The main goal of marriage, earlier on, was to act as an alliance between families.

Throughout history, and even today, families arranged marriages for couples. Most couples didn’t marry because they were in love, but for economic liaisons. The people involved didn’t have much to say about the decision then.

In our modern world, some marriages are by proxy, some involve a dowry (the bride’s family giving money or presents to the groom or his family,) and some require a bride price (the groom or his family giving money or a present to the bride’s family).

Few may have any courtship or dating, but most have deep-rooted traditions.

Different periods of time and various cultures have very dissimilar histories when it comes to women. Ancient Egypt, in theory, gave women equal rights, but it wasn’t always practiced. Medieval women, on the other hand, faced dual responsibilities to religion and marriage.

One nearly universal marriage tradition is that of the engagement ring. This custom can be dated back

to the ancient Romans. It is believed that the roundness of the ring represents eternity. Thus, the wearing of wedding rings symbolizes a union that is to last forever. In fact, it was once thought that a vein or nerve ran directly from the “ring” finger of the left hand to the heart.

During the Victorian era romantic love became viewed as the primary requirement for marriage and the rituals of courting became even more formal. An interested gentleman could not simply walk up to a young lady and begin a conversation. He had to be formally introduced and only after some time was considered appropriate for a man to speak to a lady or for a couple to be seen together.

Once formally introduced, if a gentleman wished to escort a lady home from a social function he would present his card to her and at the end of the evening the lady would review her options and chose who would be her escort! She would then notify the lucky gentleman by giving him her own card requesting that he escort her home.

Almost all courting took place in the girl’s home, always under the eye of watchful parents. If the courting progressed, the couple might advance to the front porch. It was also rare for couples to see each other without the presence of a chaperone, and mar-

feature 29

riage proposals were frequently written.

As early as the 12th Century, Roman Catholic theologians and writers referred to marriage as a sacrament, a sacred ceremony tied to experiencing God’s presence. However, it wasn’t until the Council of Trent in 1563 that marriage was officially deemed one of the seven sacraments, says Elizabeth Davies, of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Marriage vows, as couples recite them today, date back to Thomas Cranmer, the architect of English Protestantism. Cranmer laid out the purpose for marriage and scripted modern wedding vows nearly 500 years ago in his Book of Common Prayer.

Wedding cakes were initially thought of as a luxury item, as the refined sugars needed to make pure white frosting were very expensive. In fact, the term “royal icing” came about thanks to Queen Victoria and her extravagant, multitiered white-frosted wedding cake.

Today, weddings are very extravagant and the concept of marriage has evolved into something beyond the imagination. Traditional roles have been reversed with women being breadwinners in some cases and men being stay at home dads.

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This confounded nonsense…

H

…by PNC must stop

ow much more shame and embarrassment must this PNC government and its myrmidons be allowed to bring upon the Guyanese people?

When are we going to stand up and say, “No more!!”?

Your Eyewitness, of course, is referring to the CCJ’s “post-judgement hearing” that was held on Monday – when the eminent justices had to literally roll their eyes at the submissions of the “government side” as to what consequential orders ought to be issued.

Mendez for the Opposition side was extremely succinct: just follow the very clear language of the constitution and issue orders accordingly, he advised the court! On elections, since the 3-month period from Dec 21 had obviously expired PLUS another three months, the Opposition Leader (OL) graciously allowed the government ANOTHER three months – which would bring us to Sept 24th. On the GECOM Chairman, he proposed ONE week to consult with the President and submit a list and for the President to select one of the names. Story done!!

Delicately asking as to whether the lawyers or their principals for the two sides had met, the Court was informed that they hadn’t! Chief Justice Saunders ruefully remarked, “The same degree of urgency that is expected of the court we don’t see in the behaviour of the political directorate!” Mendez didn’t seek to cast blame for the failure to meet – much less fail to reach a consensus; but Basil Williams slyly claimed that the president had “immediately” invited the OL to a meeting but hadn’t even received a reply!! A Senior Counsel and AG being so duplicitous!”

As Mendez calmly pointed out later, Granger’s invitation had explicitly stated the meeting was to be AFTER Monday’s post-judgement hearing!! But that’s the sort of low-down behaviour that’s standard for the PNC, isn’t it? That behaviour was also very clear in Basil Williams total focus on insisting that the President remains the president until AFTER the elections – whenever that is held!! So he’d give no effect to Art 106 (6) which is pellucid: “The President and Cabinet SHALL resign” immediately after an NCM!!

Williams eagerly grasped at a straw thrown by Marcus, the GECOM shill, that Art 106 96) was merely “directory” and not mandatory! More half-men!! The Court was forced to pin him down on this concoction and asked whether he was saying that Art106(6) “three months” was of no effect! Williams then extrapolated that notwithstanding Art 106(6) the President retained total discretion on setting the dates for elections!!

Reminded about his client’s RECOMMENDATIONS, he launched into a long soliloquy on the need for a president to hold off the Venezuelans on our western border!! Pathetic!!

Enough is enough!!

…by GECOM must stop

The high-paid Counsel for GECOM, Marcus, once again made a “mocking stock” of himself and his client. He bobbed and weaved – like Williams – in answering the simple question as to what was his client recommending! He even mixed up the relevant sections of the Constitution he sought to buttress his argument– such as that was!!

But he exploded a bombshell to the Court that visibly shocked the Justices, who’d been emphasising that the Constitution had clearly stipulated elections after an NCM HAD to be within THREE months! Clearly exposing the tag-team arrangement the PNC had with GECOM, he claimed the best date for presenting a list of electors for elections was going to be Dec 25!!

Knowing that nothing happens in Guyana between Christmas and New Year, he was incredibly telling the Guyanese people that elections wouldn’t be until some way in Jan 2019!!

Their ploy to revert to the Assembly and the PPP refusing an extension, Granger then resorts to Art162 (2) and proclaims the election based on GECOM’s “hardship” date!

Enough!!

…WILL end!!

But old people have long experience with folks like the PNC when they say, “time longer than twine”. Your Eyewitness has faith there are enough decent folks who’d given the PNC-led coalition a chance.

And have now decided Guyana must do better!!

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FEATURE 33

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Q

uite often we take our teachers for granted, we know they are there to impart knowledge and their presence is all but appreciated. As students, the happiest

opportunity to become whatever we aim to. They inspire us to be our authentic selves.

Realising the impact their Visual Arts teacher made in their

letters detailing how she impacted their lives. The change she helped them foster and guidance she provided.

Christian Graham wrote “Dear Miss

times in school almost always occurred when our teachers missed a class or were busy doing some form of administrative work.

We only truly realise how much our teachers are undervalued when we enter the world as learned adults and have an outside view of how much they sacrificed, how much they went above and beyond the call of their professions, and how they nurtured us not only intellectually but emotionally as well. Teachers are really the heroes of the world and the true creators of every other profession.

Without teachers, we would all be illiterate and ignorant. Our critical thinking skills would remain underdeveloped and creativity stifled. It is their nurturing that affords many of us the

lives, some students of the Vreed en Hoop Secondary School decided to put pen to paper and express their deep appreciation for the nurturing and guidance.

Miss Halcyon Doris is more than just a teacher to her students.

She is the embodiment of something far greater. She nurtures them, mothers, them and is the executor of tough love when the need arises. For that, her students greatly value her input and advice as they battle their way through secondary school and life in general.

Her shoulder is always available and her ears are always willing.

In a move that not only surprised Doris but also brought her to tears, the outgoing students wrote her small

Doris…I particularly enjoyed our discussions about the impact of schooling on young people and about using technology to forge closer relations with clients…”

“Dear Miss Halcyon Doris, when I first walked into the school I had no idea what I should expect from you…you taught me to be open and to take a stand. You taught me that there is no such thing as weakness…you showed me that my past does not define me,” Mokeba Best wrote.

Doris’s personality is larger than life and it transcends to the work she does.

Persons around her describe her as bubbly, passionate, fierce and all so important, confident. Apart from being daddy’s little girl, she drew strength from her

mother because of the level of passion and drive she possesses and is trying to inspire her students to channel their efforts towards realising their true potentials.

For her students, Ms Doris is the best teacher they could ask for since her classes are not only about being taught rather it involves the holistic experience of learning in an envi-

ronment that is comfortable. She affords each of her students individualised attention so that they are prepared when it comes time for them to sit their examination.

34 FEATURE

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

heir love, even after 33 years of marriage, can be felt in the room. It is larger than their combined presences and so loud that it speaks to the great relationship they have cultivated.

Their love is so infectious that it inspires you to achieve just that.

However, that love was not easily achieved, rather they were forced to walk a road paved with broken bottles just to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today they can sit together and say that the struggles were all worth it.

They now have their answer to the many times they asked the question “Is all of

this really worth it?”

Spending over three decades working on understanding someone else and loving them unconditionally only makes you a better person and that is exactly how Pastor Raphael Jackman and his wife Hazel see themselves. They see themselves as two young at heart lovers but also as a couple who has been through more than their fair share of challenges as they navigate the often prickly path of marriage.

“Marriage is not about money, it is not totally wrapped up in love. It is a commitment made to each other with God being the soul. He is watching over to make sure that everything goes well. The promise you made in your vows must be upheld as the truth because you would be lying to man and God,” Pastor Raphael said when describing the institution of marriage.

His understanding of the institution comes after a lot of trials and errors. In his own

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

words, “the Raphael Jackman we see now and hear now is not the same person that met with Hazel Ann Forde thirtysomething years ago”.

Their story is one that seems as though it was plucked from a script for television. It starts when Pastor Raphael was just a young boy entering the world of work. He got a job at the then Guyana Airways Corporation as an Office Assistant/ Messenger and Hazel was his coworker.

However, she was in some ways his boss since she was the Secretary to the General Manager.

Her position and the con-

fidence she exuded somewhat intimidated Raphael but he already felt she was the one.

“While doing my duty as an Office Assistant I set eyes on this young lady and said ‘wow’ and I went home and told my cousins that I saw my wife.

I did not say anything to her and my cousin asked where she was and I told him that she was working where I am working.”

A few months after that encounter, Raphael finally plucked up the courage to go and speak with Hazel about his attraction towards her.

Because of their vastly different backgrounds, Hazel laughed at him since he was nothing she envisioned her boyfriend, and possibly husband, to be like.

“She said something to me that made me a dreamer even to this day. She said ‘little boy you are dreaming’ and I said wow. Now today, thirty-something years later, I am still dreaming because she is here

with

me.”

For Hazel, it was not an immediate attraction, rather, it took some time.

“The first interaction I never thought that anything would develop out of the relationship because he was not the type of guy I was looking for. There was not anything in him to make me feel he would be my boyfriend and eventually husband but things developed after. Like he said, it caused some stirs in our family especially mine but deep down inside I felt that he is Mr Right,” she said.

Nevertheless, their unimaginable journey began with them coming together to overcome the countless barriers that life would throw their way. Their faith, patience and resistance were tested and sometimes they passed with flying colours but other times they would fail and learn from their mistakes. Initially, they did not get married and Hazel would give birth to their first son, Yaphet, and when she became pregnant again with their second son, Yohan, they decided that it was time to get married.

Their wedding, however, was very unconventional at that time but it was everything they envisioned.

Armed with two cases of rum, Raphael and Hazel made their way to the United States of America to get married. They would use the money from the rum to host their small wedding that was just family and close friends.

About five years into their marriage was when Raphael began to delve deeper into

his religion and from then, he said, their life has been constantly turning around for the better.

However, their marriage has not been without struggles.

“There were times when I wanted to know that I made the right decision or I tempted to walk but I stuck with the process and here we are today. I would not trade my marriage for anything in this world.”

R a p h a e l came from a broken family in any sense. His parents separated and he had the responsibility of his four sisters and one brother since he was the eldest son at the time. He took on the responsibility and began working at the age of 17 and functioned as a father figure for his siblings so going into his marriage, he was somewhat experienced in the field.

“So coming into marriage and having to address some of the things that I have seen in my family, it helped and it hurt because I had both sides of the spectrum to deal with and I decided that I will not raise a failed family like what I came out of.”

However, Hazel was sheltered from all of those things that her new husband went

through but she was not without her own demons. She had a broken relationship with her father and channelled her frustrations from that on to Raphael but he never relented.

“It has been turmoil.

Sometimes it was very hard not in terms of finances but the relationship. It was rough and I always chasing him, telling him to go and leave but he stayed. We had physical and verbal fights and all sorts of things we went through.

The journey was rough but as we grew older we decided that this is it, for better or worse, till death and we working and for the last ten, fifteen years have been like the best of our marriage,” Hazel said while smiling in the direction of her Raphael.

They both said that marriage requires forgiveness.

Many times Hazel has had to forgive Raphael and vice versa but instead of calling it quits, they worked through their differences. They made sure that at the end of the day they were stronger than they began.

Today, they are both part of the Marriages and Counselling Division at the First Assembly of God Church in Wortmanville. They offer couples counselling post-marriage and continue to impart their wisdom on couples.

“If you spend time together you build that relationship.

We invested in spending quality time together and we are honest and transparent with each other,” Raphael said while noting that their love story is far from over.

“Better is ahead.”

FEATURE 35

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T

raditionally, throughout the world, the month of June is associated with weddings and “June brides”. It is felt that if a marriage is consummated in June, it is perceived as a blessing and the chances of love and affection would unite couples into an everlasting bond.

Whether this is true or not, there are some Guyanese customs to which couples would adhere, regardless of the consequences: “Don’t look back while going up the aisle”; “jumping the broom”a West African tradition; “don’t ever let a dog eat your wedding cake”; “don’t sweep one’s foot with a pointer broom prior to marriage”, are just a few.

The following are some true funny stories surrounding weddings in Guyana.

Cow itch powder or stinging nettle It is believed that a bride must be attired in: “Something old; something new; something borrowed; something blue”, for good luck, and no bad omen would befall the marriage.

However, at one Guyanese wedding, the bride borrowed a glove from her dear girlfriend, not realizing the friend had a crush on the groom.

The friend wilfully laced the glove with “cow-itch or stinging nettle” powder, – a powder that would induce intense itching.

At the wedding ceremony, before the exchange of vows, the problem began. The itching was very severe.

Apparently the powder was transferred and dispersed to certain discrete parts of the bride’s anatomy.

The itching was very noticeable and created an embarrassing scene.

The groom, unaware of the problem, and in disgust, disappeared from the altar and the wedding was called off.

Guess who

To make a long story short, he is still single today at 84.

Catching of the bouquet

The custom where the person who catches the bouquet is believed to be the next to marry is very evident at weddings. Before one wedd i n g

the maid of honour got wind of the plan. When the bouquet was released from the bride, the boyfriend intercepted and caught the bouquet.

The maid of honour was so upset she ranted and raved.

One month later, the boyfriend married someone else.

Dowry

It is customary at a Hindu wedding for the father of the bride to offer a satisfactory dowry to the groom. As long as the groom does not eat, the father has to continue offering possessions. At one such Hindu wedding, the groom was not satisfied with the house and land that were offered. Not until he was promised a number of cows and sheep did he eventually eat, which showed his acceptance.

After the wed-

was waiting outside the church to console him?

Wedding cake

It was also understood that if you are single and you place a very small piece of wedding cake behind your right ear, you would enhance and accelerate your chances of getting married.

A 65-year-oldman, who would remain nameless, attended a well-known Guyanese wedding ceremony.

In desperation he applied enormous amounts of wedding cake behind both ears.

reception, the bride made arrangements with her best friend – her maid of honour who was single – to throw the bouquet in her direction.

Somehow, the boyfriend of

ding, he went to collect his dowry but was greeted with a severe beating by the family members. He then realized that the father-in-law never owned a house or any cattle

in his entire life.

Marriage vows

During a wedding ceremony the preacher asked, “Does anyone know why these parties should not be joined together, speak now or forever hold your peace?” One member of the wedding party shouted, “The groom is gay.”

Without any hesitation the bride blurted out, “So what? I know he is gay, he is always so joyful and happy.”

Rising up first

It is understood that when couples kneel at the altar to exchange their vows, it is thought that whoever gets up first will live longer than the other.

In the haste to get up first, the groom accidentally stood on the bride’s dress causing her to fall prostrate at the feet of the pastor.

Pigeons

It is normal after the wedding ceremony to throw rice grains over the married couple for good luck as they leave the church.

The groom, clad in a white suit, and the bride, wearing a gorgeous white gown, were greeted with a huge amount of rice grains landing on their heads.

Suddenly, a drove of hungry pigeons appeared, stood on their heads, and had a feast.

Simultaneously the pigeons decided to release some droppings which landed all over the married couple, leaving a random polka dot design on the white apparel of the couple. ( By Edgar Henry. Published in the Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc. June 2012 Magazine)

36 FEATURE

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By Mohanlall Suelall

With the first step, let us vow to share our food together With the second step, let us vow to be strong together With the third step, let us vow to be wealthy together With the fourth step, let us vow to be happy together With the fifth step, let us vow to have children together With the sixth step, let us vow to be comfortable with each other With the seven step, let us vow to be friends of each other.

W

hen Jagdeo Singh or Pandit Sugrim as he is known took the hands of Kuntie Singh on April 06, 1978 he made those seven sacred vows to her with God as his witness and she reciprocated them as well. Ever since that day he filled her maang (middle part of the hair) with sindoor (vermillion) Pandit Sugrim has been ensuring that he fulfils every vow he took.

Hailing from the Essequibo Coast, Pandit Sugrim got married when he was just 23 and has been with his wife ever since. He said that there are very few key things that lead to a happy and fulfilling marriage and noted that pure love and contentment trumps all.

"That day when I took that oath between my parents and God to make Kuntie my better half and to start my own family I worked towards achieving my dreams. After marriage, my first goal was to find a place to call home.

I was living with my wife at my parents’ home in Anna Regina, but with hard work and dedication I was able to achieve my first goal and that is

to purchase a house lot in Richmond Housing Scheme where I built my home and started my family.”

The initial stages of their life were not easy but they worked tirelessly to ensure that every goal was achieved. During his early life, Pandit Sugrim worked in the rice fields while Kuntie started a small business to supplement his income and take care of the family.

“Together we got three children, two daughters

and one son. My daughters are now teachers and my son a policeman. Later on, I decided to follow my dream of becoming a Hindu priest (Pandit). My father taught me Hindi, the language that quickly helped me to study and become a Pandit.”

Every decision he made, his wife has been there. She would offer her advice and input so that they could build as a couple and be the kind of model that they envisioned. Never did Kuntie

not support Pandit Sugrim’s dream and in return, he ensured that she was always happy.

After he would have completed his Pandit education, Sugrim built a mandir on his property and started to offer guidance to the residents of Richmond Housing Scheme.

“I saw the reason to build the mandir so as to get them together and to help them to become better citizens. I also started Hindi and Musical classes with the children. Over the years the Mandir grew from a four-post shed into a modern building and presently serving the community.”

Together with his wife, they offer Hindi classes as well as main-

stream academic classes. Additionally, they have set up a foundation

to assist the residents in their time of need whether it is to deal with sickness or deaths.

The couple’s aim for the mandir is to get the young people fully involved in meaningful activities. Over the years the mandir has done many humanitarian services by assisting with medical fees locally and abroad, feeding programmers, as well as other charitable acts.

Pandit Sugrim believers that serving humanity is serving God. It is a belief shared by his wife and that has been the reason they have been able to have a successful and long marriage. They plan to spend the rest of their lives together assisting those in need and offering the relevant guidance.

FEATURE 37

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I

t is always thrilling to see one of these in the wild, especially while driving through the rainforest trails in Guyana. Many travelers claim to have seen these big cats chilling on the Linden-Lethem trail.

The jaguar is one of the largest carnivorous mammals in Central or North America and the largest cat in South America. Jaguars vary in color but generally they are tawny yellow with black rosettes all over their body. They usually have a white underbelly, the throat, outer surface of the legs and lower flanks are also white. Some jaguars vary from reddish brown to black.

As for the black jaguars, their rosettes are visible at certain angles. Rosettes may include one or several dots and are great for camouflage in the forest.

Jaguars normally weigh about 123 to 212 pounds and the females are usually 10 to 20 percent smaller than the males.

The smallest female weigh about 79 pounds while the larger males weigh as much as 348 pounds. Their length varies from 5.3 to 6 ft.

The jaguar’s legs are short but this is not entirely a disadvantage since their short legs helps them to perfectly adapt to climbing, swimming, crawling to capture their preys. When compared to a small tiger or lion in a similar weight range their legs are considerably shorter but the advantage is that it is thick and powerful.

Their tail is the shortest of any big cat and it is about 45 to 75 cm in length.

As for the jaguar’s head, it is sturdy and their jaw is extremely powerful having the third highest bite force of all felids. Compared to a leopard, the jaguar’s head is rounder and

their limbs are shorter and stockier just as it is when compared to the lion and tiger.

Diet and Prey of the Jaguar Jaguars are carnivores, feeding only on meat. They are the top predators in the forest and savannahs and instead of chasing their prey they stalk them. A unique technique for the jaguars is to use their powerful jaw and canine teeth to pierce the skull of their prey – it pierces directly through the temporal bones of the skull between the ears of the prey, piercing the brain. It’s very useful for cracking the shells of turtles, one of their favorite prey.

The jaguar may leap onto the back of the prey and sever the cervical vertebrae, immobilizing the target. They also have the deep throat-bite and suffocation technique for killing preys. Other preys enjoyed by the jaguars are armadillos, monkeys, fish, deer, capybaras, tapirs, peccaries, anacondas. They prey on small species such as birds, mice and frogs and in areas where people live, the jaguars will also prey on domestic animals such as dogs and cattle.

Reproduction of the Jaguar Jaguars can live up to 12 years in the wild.

Usually the females reach sexual maturity at about 2 to 2 ½ years. Their pregnancy lasts to about 90 to 110 days and their litter size vary from about 1

to 4 young. The kittens stay with their mother from 1 to 1 ½ years and breeding may occur year-round. The black jaguars may produce either black or spotted cubs, but a pair of spotted jaguars can only produce spotted cubs.

Habitat of the Jaguar They usually live in the rainforests. The jaguar likes to live by swamps, rivers and in dense rainforest with thick cover for stalking prey.

To honour these amazing animals June 11 is dedicated as Day of the Jaguar.

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WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Ramjattan wanted to be AG

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Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

ounding Member and recently elected leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan has disclosed that after his party in coalition with the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) won the 2015 elections, he wanted the position of Attorney General (AG).

However, during a live radio programme last week, Ramjattan said he had to step aside since Basil Williams, a member of People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), also wanted the position. The PNC/R is the largest party in the five-party APNU, which holds the majority in the coalition Government.

“My first choice was Attorney General… [But] Basil Williams was also

interested in that and we had to opt for the next and that was security,” Ramjattan stated.

Over the years, AG Williams, who is also the Legal Affairs Minister, has been heavily criticised for the State losing a lot of cases under his watch. However, both he and President David Granger have defended his performance.

Ramjattan, nevertheless, noted that his expertise in the criminal law area was better put to use as Public Security Minister.

He further posited that his party, the AFC, got what it deserved after coalescing with the APNU in February 2015 to successfully contest the 2015 General and Regional Elections. turn to page 44

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42 NEWS

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Miss World Guyana contestants launch community to take Guyana in a digital direction

K

imberly Adams, a quarterfinalist in the Miss World Guyana 2020 competition, has officially launched her “Beauty with A Purpose” initiative, with the goal of transforming the digital landscape of Guyana.

The initiative, Future Guyana, was designed to tackle the issues of brain drain and lack of innovation in the country by establishing accelerator programmes geared towards providing equal and accessible opportunities in the information technology field.

“While education is a fundamental element in the overall path of progressing this sector, it is incomplete. Our students must be equipped

Kimberly Adams

with the appropriate resources and opportunities after the education leg”, Adams explained.

She further stated that the structure of the community is one that hopes to enforce social

change by creating an initiative driven by the people. As such, she related that the Future Guyana community consists of two key elements: the resource network and volunteer network.

“The resource network is comprised of businesses and organisations willing to lend their resources and time towards our accelerator programmes. This may include office space, mentorship, equipment sharing and so forth.

Our volunteer network is made up of like-minded individuals with a passion for the industry and a drive for change. They have access to the resource network for assistance with designing and

launching these accelerator programmes.”

The Future Guyana community has since established a few resource partners including Nexus Hub Inc, University of Guyana Robotics Club, Sites.gy and more.

“We look forward to expanding this network and developing well thought out programmes for our students and visionaries,” the Guyanese beauty stated.

Having worked in the Blockchain field for the past four years, Adams emphasised the socioeconomic impact technology can have on a country and she has since become an advocate for emerging technologies in developing nations.

More information about the Future Guyana community can be found by visiting www.futureguyana.com or www. facebook.com/futureguyana.

Man allegedly electrocuted in bid to hang self

A

22-year-old East Coast Demerara man was allegedly electrocuted during a bid to commit suicide.

Dead is Vickram Bridgmohan of Phase Two, Good Hope, ECD. The young man reportedly lived alone in a dilapidated wooden house.

He was discovered dead sometime around 11:00h on Sunday by his sister who lives next door. At the time that he was found, Bridgmohan had a wire wrapped around his neck. He is believed to have been mentally unstable.

According to his sister, Seema, she usually cooks for the young man. She explained that Bridgmohan went to her on Sunday morning for food but she was not finished cooking.

The woman said that sometime later that morning, she called for her younger brother to collect his food but after calling several times, there was no response.

As such, she went over to the house to get him.

She further stated that after walking a few steps towards the upper flat, she turned around and saw Bridgmohan in a sitting position with the wire wrapped around his neck.

His back was against the wall which had a fuse box and wires attached.

At the time of the discovery, Bridgmohan was bleeding from his nostrils and mouth, she added.

The upper flat of the building is an open space with the only piece of furniture being a bed.

There were spots of blood, both fresh and stale, around the room and according to the woman, the young man previously had a cut on his hand.

The body of the 22-year-old was taken to Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting a post-mortem.

An investigation is ongoing.

Man charged for stealing chicken

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23-year-old man who is accused of stealing chicken was granted bail at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday.

Omalo Dick, of A Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him

by Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.

The charge stated that on June 22, 2019 at Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, he stole 77 kilograms (170 pounds) of chicken valued at G$51,680 from Rawle Burkette.

Prosecutor Adduni Innis did not object to bail. She did not disclose

Charged: Omalo Dick

the facts of the matter.

Magistrate IsaacsMarcus granted bail in the sum of G$10,000, and the matter was adjourned to July 8, 2019.

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Jamaica elected to serve on UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

NEWS 43 No trace of U.S. couple in Barbados who vanished at sea on jet-ski ride

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INGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica was elected in May to the United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), to serve for a four-year term until 2023.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith made the disclosure on Tuesday during a press conference at her New Kingston office.

She said the ministry continues to promote and lobby for Jamaica's representation on various UN bodies.

“Jamaica will contribute to the global drug agenda by introducing innovative ideas, particularly as they relate to the treatment of cannabis, for which the rescheduling has been proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Drug Dependence. We support this review process, and the work of the WHO, in this regard, is highly valued,” the minister stated.

Established by the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946, the Commission is a policymaking body that guides international action against drugs. The CND is mandated to monitor the world drug situation, develop strategies on international drug con-

Jamaica: Accused quack doctor weeps in court

M

O N T E G O BAY, St James — England McCrane, the woman who is accused of being a ‘quack doctor’ and has been in custody for the past six months, wept openly in court Monday.

McCrane, who has been referred to as “England McCrane”and “Dr McCrane”, was charged following investigations by the Area One Fraud Squad and police in the Corporate Area with forgery, uttering forged documents, obtaining money by false pretence, and breaches of the Medical Act. When the accused appeared in court the clerk said the case file is “taking a longer time to be completed because the person who is to vet the statements collected is on leave and will not return until the July 26”.

On hearing that, McCrane broke down in tears in the prisoner’s dock.

McCrane’s attorney, Martyn Thomas, asked for a time in which the Crown believes the case file will be in a state of readiness, “so that the case can be placed on the trial list”.

He added that his client has been in custody for a long time and argued that if the Crown doesn’t have a trial date he would like to make a bail application.

The clerk then suggested that the earliest possible time for trial could be the end of September.

The disclosure from the clerk apparently agonised McCrane, whose outburst was heard much louder than before.

Thomas subsequently made a bail application.

“The prosecution is

Alicia England / England McCrane

opposed to bail because they say she poses a risk of flight. But, your honour, it can’t be that Miss McCrane is arrested and charged with these offences on a statement given by the complainant, and then she is now investigated while she is in custody,” stated Thomas, as he made his bail application.

Presiding Judge Sandra Wong Small suggested to Thomas that this was not the case.

However, Thomas argued that this must be.

“The prosecution does not have enough to mount a challenge or mount a successful prosecution at this stage and cannot say when they will be in a position to do,” said Thomas. “We would ask that at least that Miss England be offered bail with a combination of conditions.”

Thomas told the court that McCrane, 40, is a mother of three children, ages 12 years, 16 years and seven months old.

He said his client has admitted to one previous conviction to which she was given a suspended sentence for uttering forged documents in relation to an application submitted to a real estate to secure accommodation.

McCrane was later remanded in custody and is to reappear in court today. (Jamaica Observer)

M

Missing: Oscar Suarez and Magdalena Devil

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith

trol and recommend measures to address the world drug problem.

Johnson Smith noted that Jamaica continues to be represented at high levels on important international committees and bodies with the support and guidance of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

In this regard, she informed that Jamaica assumed its seat on ECOSOC for the three-year term 2019 to 2021 as of January 1 this year.

“We are committed to playing an active role on this Council to strengthen its work and to advance Jamaica's interests,” she said. (Jamaica Observer)

ISSING WITHOUT a trace. That seems to be the situation surrounding Monday’s disappearance of American visitors Magdalena Devil, 25, and Oscar Suarez, 32, who went missing at sea after renting a jet ski at Holetown, St James, for a half-hour ride.

Yesterday, police held a joint press conference at Police Headquarters on Roebuck Street, The City, with the Barbados Coast Guard and the Regional Security Systems (RSS) where they revealed the grim news. After 48 hours of both air and sea searches extending as far as St Lucia and St Vincent, there had been no sightings of the couple nor the jet ski.

The news was delivered in the presence of family members Ninfa Urrutia and Susanna Cruz, the mother and sister of Suarez, and Antoine Devil and Eric Pierra, the father and cousin of Devil. While the relatives declined to speak to the media, they appeared worried and anxious. (Barbados Nation)

44 news

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Cops nab 3 suspected bandits in Ruby Backdam

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he Police have reportedly arrested three suspected bandits in Ruby Backdam, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) on Sunday evening while two escaped.

Based on reports received, a resident of Ruby Backdam was driving along the main access road heading home when he came under gunfire.

He reportedly attempted to overtake two cars – a Carina 212 and a Toyota Premio when the occupants opened fire. The man managed to escape and immediately contacted the Police.

A cousin of the traumatised man explained that the Police took close to an hour before they responded to the report.

Nevertheless, he noted that as the Police were making their way into the Backdam, they reportedly intercepted one of the cars with five occupants.

As the car came to a halt, two of the men exited and ran into the bushes. The Police reportedly dis-

Somdat Ramgobin aka Rakesh

charged rounds in their direction, but they managed to escape. The other three occupants were arrested.

The man explained that Police found a gun and ammunition in the motor car. He stated that the residents were fearful given the fact that two men remained at large.

He recalled about two months ago, a businessman was shot and killed during the commissioning of a robbery and believed that the group of men were on a mission to commit other robberies in the area.

Somdat Ramgobin, 46, also known as “Rakesh”, was killed in mid-May when bandits invaded his Parika Backdam home.

It was reported that two men entered the premises – one brandishing a gun – and asked for “Rakesh”. The men then proceeded to call out to Ramgobin who responded, and was immediately attacked with a glass bottle and beaten to his head and body.

The duo then demanded cash and were given some G$600,000 by the now dead man. Unsatisfied, the men then demanded jewellery and after being told that there was none, they took Ramgobin to a bedroom in his house where they shot him to his chest.

Picking sense…

Y

…from PNC’s nonsense

our Eyewitness still can’t get over the PNC’s barefacedness on our Constitution over the consequences of the NCM. And it’s not that they didn’t know beforehand about those consequences.

After the 2011 elections the PNC and AFC had those same 33 seats they got in 2015 – which constituted a parliamentary majority. It’s only because our Constitution doesn’t allow a coalition AFTER the elections, that they weren’t allowed to name the President and form the Government!!

So lo and behold, in 2014, Moses Nagamootoo of the AFC (obviously with the tacit approval of the PNC/ APNU) cited Art 106 (6) and moved a no-confidence motion (NCM) against the PPP Govt of Donald Ramotar. No one in the PPP cried “dirty pool!” – after all NCMs are a regular feature of parliamentary democracies! In fact when the PPP brought THEIR NCM in 2018, Moses Nagamootoo gloated that the PPP had “cogged” the formulation of HIS motion!!

At no time did the PNC say the NCM wasn’t democratically kosher. In fact, PNC GS Amna Ally famously taunted the PPP in Parliament, “Bring it on, big boy!!” But when the PPP did “bring it on”, after loud wails of “Noooo, Charrandas. Nooooooooo!!!” the PNC has been trampling all over the Constitution to prevent themselves from being booted out by the sovereign Guyanese people. First, it was Charrandas was a dual citizen and his vote didn’t count!! That was thrown out by the High Court; the Appellate Court and the CCJ!!

Then they claimed even if the vote counted, 33 wasn’t the majority of 65 – as it had been since 2011!! They’d bought a snake oil concoction that the requisite process to arrive at that claim – dividing MPs into halves and then reconstituting them again – hadn’t been performed!! The High Court threw that rigmarole into the wastebasket, but two justices of the Appellate Court went along for the ride!! They’ve to be hiding their faces after the CCJ derided the halfman abomination!!

So with their backs against the (constitutional) wall, the PNC’s fallen back on their plan B – counting on GECOM – controlled by their unilaterally appointed chair – to drag out the elections date till next year!! Now what’s the point of the Constitution, if it can dictate the elections be held in three months after an NCM but GECOM can simply snicker, “No way, Jose!!”?? The law may be an ass, but not our Constitution!

GECOM’s been sitting on their hands since Dec because of Granger’s Chair’s intransigence and they cannot now be allowed to cite Art 162 (2) – to delay elections because of “hardship”.

This was brought on by themselves!!

…from the PNC’s white noise

The PNC’s demanding new House-to-House (HtH) Registration – but interestingly, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO LAW that supports this demand!!! That’s right!!

In 1967, a National Register of Registrants (NRR) from which the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) is extracted was established from HtH registration. Subsequently, because of PNC’s electoral jiggery pokery over the next two decades, a new NRR was created in time for the 1992 elections registration. But because of the improvement and computerisation of records (such as of deaths) after 2000, the goal was to institutionalise “Continuous Registration” by automatically adding names of persons 14 or older (who are exhorted at scheduled intervals) and eliminating those dead from lists provided by the General Registry Office.

The last HtH registration was in 2008, and as the OL pointed out, there have been two general elections where the PNC didn’t find anyone disenfranchised!! If someone’s not on the list for whatever reason, they can simply have that rectified during the Claims and Objections Period!!

Don’t get confused by the PNC’s white noise!!

…from urbanity

With English-instilled understatement, Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes for the Opposition Leader allowed to the CCJ that he “is YET TO BE SHOWN any law for HtH registration”. And allowed Basil Williams meanderings on HtH. The PNC don’t know urbanity: “Shut up or put up, Basil!!”

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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46 NEWS

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

HP, Microsoft highlight new products for Guyana’s oil and gas sector

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s innovators and leaders in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, Hewlett Packard (HP) and Microsoft, during a discussion with media personnel on Wednesday, introduced to the Guyanese population new products and technologies which could be utilised, specifically in the emerging oil and gas sector.

The inaugural visit by officials of the international companies was organised by Starr Computer Inc, which is a front-runner in providing modern technology to the local market.

The brief discussion, which was hosted at the company’s Brickdam office, saw HP product trainer Luz Romero presenting the feature address in which much emphasis was placed on the security of the compa-

ny’s products.

According to Romero, the company, being developers of new technologies, is focusing on security measures, so that its line of products could be well protected for the benefit of end-users.

“The security pillar is one of our main concerns, because, basically security is something that concerns all of us; some of us think that it’s just an IT problem, that somebody else has to be making the right decisions. But at the end, if we are not part of the solution, we can be part of the threat. So, as the developers of new platforms, of new products, we are making a major emphasis on security trends, so we can be all safe using these new technologies,” Romero explained.

In addition to this, the trainer brought attention to the newest prod-

uct line of work stations, which could be vital for the graphics needs in the oil and gas industry, especially for Guyana.

“In our product line, we have the work stations, it’s a special product line that is meant for those users that have graphics needs, the specific applications that need a lot of performance and reliability … An example of these is the oil and gas industry, oil and gas needs a lot of graphics performance to be able to know where their location should be, what they should do and how they can improve the investments day by day,” Romero noted.

Apart from these discussions, the facilitators also hosted a training programme earlier on Wednesday for representatives from the Government, business and professional sectors,

HP product trainer Luz Romero

which showcased HP products with special emphasis on standard features built into the HP products that protect data and network operations.

At the event, Starr Computer was also presented with the HP Platinum partner award by Caribbean Territory Manager Gustavo Guardian and was now an authorised HP service centre in Guyana.

SHAN RAZACK: May He Rest In Peace

By Sam Sooppersaud

I

t is with a heaviness in my heart that I sit at my laptop to write my account of a Eulogy for Shan Razack, who passed away two weeks ago in Queens, NY at the age of 78. Out of respect for his memory, his religious beliefs, and consideration for his family, I waited until now to pen this article.

Who was Shan Razack? First, I would insist on saying that he was a gentleman, in addition to the other numerous accolades that are being heaped upon him, now that he's gone.

From a very young age, he was a sportsman, playing several different sports. He was a sports organizer, even when still a young boy. He was a scholar, beginning at the elementary school level.

He was a health facility administrator.

Above all, he loved the vocation of cricket journalism. In the era when there were hardly any radios around; absolutely no television, only the printed media, Shan brought many cricket matches alive for cricket lovers, using his pen, paper, and typewriter. It was before the age of the computer. He was a journalist who lived up to his conviction. He wrote the way he felt about and saw things. Not one to write what he felt the readers wanted to read. If there were a topic that interested him, he would delve into it. He did his interviews, his research, and his investigation. Once he felt that he had enough facts on the topic, he would hit his typewriter. He practiced investigative journalism. He was a man of real conviction and character.

I must assure you the readers, that I feel qualified to pen this piece on Shan because I knew the man; the kind of person he was, even from a very young age.

We lived in the same village, grew up together, went to school together, and immersed ourselves in sports together. We both lived in the Canje District of Berbice at Canefield: he at Old Canefield and me at Canefield Settlement. We both went to St. Patrick's Anglican School (Elementary) and Berbice Educational Institute (Ramlochan High School).

Shan was about three years older than I. But, in the mid-teens we were in the same peer group, doing things together, playing different sports together. A few of our friends whose names I remember were: Morris Sabsook, James and Everette Rodney, Sherlock Sukdeo, Ivor Liverpool (later an anesthesiologist), James Rose (later Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana), and numerous others, the names of whom I cannot remember.

Unlike today in the Canje District where kids ride bikes to school or take taxi cabs, we walked the dusty red-brick

road to and from elementary school. Hey, there were hardly any bicycles around, anyway. Shan, being a few years older than I, was of course, in a higher standard (grade) than I was. But, we did several activities together with our other friends.

At St. Patrick's Anglican School it was the practice to keep an assembly every Friday morning. All the pupils would be herded to the upper floor of the twostory school building. One of the exercises at the Friday assembly was the reading of the names of all the pupils who had earned academic excellence during the week. A kind of performance report.

It seemed that the name Shan Razack was always on that call list. He was a smart kid in school!

When we were growing up, Guyana was then British Guiana, a Colony of Great Britain. Bookers Limited, a firm in Great Britain, owned and managed the sugar factories located throughout the coastal regions of the country. Our village was situated on lands owned

by Rose Hall Sugar Estates, in Canje, Berbice. Almost all of the people who worked were employed by Rose Hall sugar estate. Bookers did not only make enormous profits from sugar, but they also poured money back into social and cultural programs to benefit the workers' children. This they did through the Sugar Industry Labor Welfare Fund.

(S.I.L.W.F.). Each sugar estate had a fully furnished and equipped "Welfare Centre." The Centre was administered by a Welfare Officer, and programs at the center included games for boys and girls—table tennis, volleyball, lawn tennis, soccer (football), and of course, cricket. Other activities included sewing classes, cooking and baking classes, a library, and other social/cultural programs After school, the kids went to the Centre and engaged in various activities.

Shan loved to play table tennis, lawn tennis, volleyball, and cricket. But cricket was his favorite of all the other sports.

He was a bowler; a right-arm wrist spinner, serving up leg-breaks. From a very young age, he was darn good at bowling his leggies. Man, could he turn that cricket ball! He sure could! We played on the Rose Hall Welfare Center Boys' Club team. We also represented St. Patrick's Anglican School in the elementary school cricket competition, though at different times. Many a young batsman fell to his leg-breaks which once pitched outside the leg-stump would careen almost "square" onto the stumps. Some of our friends in those times are still around today.

Unlike many of us friends, Shan did not continue his cricket as he grew old-

er. However, he remained connected to cricket, but in a different capacity. The Welfare Centre library had an extensive collection of books on the sport of cricket—on coaching and the history of the game. Shan was always reading those cricket books and thus fell in love with the journalism part of cricket. He was the one to do the scoring in Boys' Club cricket games. Shan made tedious notes and after the games would prepare a report for the Welfare Officer. He did the same when our high school played a cricket game. Shan Razack would be the one to get up on stage Monday morning after the game and give a full and detailed report of what went on in the game. It was astonishing to see the details with which he made his written and verbal report.

He was stuck on cricket journalism from very young. He was an excellent organizer, also. Whatever game you needed to organize, and against whatever opponent, Shan would get the schedule done.

After we finished our exams, we set out on our various jobs and vocations. I joined the British Guiana Police Force, Ivor Liverpool left to study in the States, James went to further his studies in "town," and many went into the trades. Shan passed several subjects in the General Certificate of Examinations with honors, I must add. He took up employment with the Public Hospital in New Amsterdam, and due to his brilliance exhibited on the job, he received several promotions. Within a short time, he was elevated to the prestigious post of Hospital Administrator and oversaw the entire workings and workforce of the facility.

The mental hospital In New Amsterdam at the time was situated at Fort Canje, and Shan was transferred to the Mental Hospital, NA, to oversee some much-needed changes. He was appointed the Administrator of that institution and remained at that job until

the time that he migrated to the United States. Shan took his love of cricket to the Mental Hospital, NA. He helped build one of the most competitive cricket teams that the Mental Hospital ever had. The team competed in the Davson Cup, Berbice's First Division cricket competition. By this time Shan was a featured cricket writer in the Berbice Times, the Guiana Graphic, and the Daily Chronicle. Excerpts of his articles were frequently used by the famous sportscaster, B.L. Crombie in his nightly sports news broadcasts. As a journalist, Shan covered all the "big" games that were played in British Guiana (Guyana), from Test cricket to Shell Shield cricket (an inter-Colonial cricket tournament) As I mentioned above, Shan was a fearless writer. He wrote his conviction and precisely the way he saw things.

But, one trait the avid writer possessed was, not to write on impulse. He always researched his topic. If there were a rumor in the cricketing fraternity, he would peek and seek, and prod, and question. He wanted to know that whatever he gave his readers, was authentic, substantiated news. He was very much respected among his peers and other cricket writers in the Caribbean, as well as cricketers. He was fair to all in his writings.

Shan moved to the U.S.A. a few decades ago and settled in New York City.

Of course, he immediately immersed himself in the cricket life in New York City, attending games and writing extensively on each game that he watched.

Shan did not shy away from cricket controversy, he addressed them and did his best to help alleviate volatile situations.

As long as there were facts to support his theory, Shan would put it down on paper.

About the time he came to New York City, he met with and befriended Ralph Tamesh, the president of the IndoCaribbean Federation (I.C.F.). The relationship between them became a strong one. Shan began writing articles to be published in the I.C.F. magazine. He also wrote articles for several New York City weekly publications. By this time, I had started "dabbling" in some cricket journalism myself. Shan and I collaborated on numerous articles. In as much as I knew the man from boyhood and his various qualities, his brilliance never ceased to amaze me. His quick-wittedness, his sense of reasoning, and his ability to "see" other people's viewpoint, although they were completely the opposite of his. A true gentleman!

MAY HE REST IN GOD'S HOLY PEACE!

47

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sentencing for teen who killed Perry Mars postponed to July 16

18-year-old Naomi Adams, called “Shortee”

E

Professor Pariedeau Mars

ighteen-year-old Naomi Adams, called “Shortee”, who recently admitted to unlawfully killing overseas-based Professor Pariedeau Mars, also called “Perry”, in furtherance of a robbery, had her sentencing further postponed to July 16, 2019.

The teen, who was represented by Attorneyat-Law Mark Conway on her first appearance, opted to plead guilty to a manslaughter charge which stated that on May 12, 2016 in the county of Demerara, she killed Mars, in the furtherance of a robbery.

Moreover, the trial judge, Justice Navindra Singh had postponed the teen’s sentencing to Monday to accommodate a probation report; however, the sentencing was further postponed to July 16, 2019.

Two other accomplices of Adams – Nikkisha Dover and Orin McCrae – are also expected to be

sentenced after they too had opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

Five teens were originally slapped with a murder charge; however, three of the accused have taken guilty pleas with the other two expected to stand trial.

According to Police reports, 75-year-old Mars, of Bissessar Avenue, Prashad Nagar, Greater Georgetown, was found bound and beaten in his home about 18:30h on the day in question by his wife. He was subsequently rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Investigations revealed that an accused, who was 17 years old at the time was known to the now dead man as she would visit his home from time to time; it was further revealed that the said accused confessed to conspiring with her boyfriend to rob the elderly man as he was home alone that particular day.

Swing voting in Guyana: finally?

By Ravi Dev

C

hanges in the political behaviour of a people will occur only after there have been changes in their moral and cultural consciousness.

Guyanese have no more than a passing acquaintance with democratic governance. Neither the Dutch founders of Guyana between 1621 and 1803, nor the British between 1803 and 1966 practiced democracy.

The PNC wasted its opportunity after Guyana was given “independence” under its stewardship and they proceeded to institute a dictatorship from 1966 to 1992, when they were ousted “democratically” from office by the PPP. Everyone assumed that Guyana embarked on its democratic transition along with so many other countries of that era. One prominent scholar pointed out that the world was in the midst of another “democratic wave”; but that wave seemed to have crashed on the shoals of the PNC after their return in 2015.

Back in 1992, the writer had cautioned: “the history of previous democratic waves should temper our euphoria somewhat.

The transition process is not automatic – there are no irresistible democratic forces marching through history.

At best, there may be a demonstrator effect. The process may also be reversible: democracy has proven to be a most delicate plant to nurture, especially in the inhospitable soil of authoritarian structures. The struggle of the people and the vision of their leaders have always defined the trajectory and range of the democratic transition.

Guyana will be no exception.”

We should note that from the origin of the democratic idea in classical Athens, through the struggles against the crown in England, France and the US, democracy was constantly expand-

ed and altered by its practitioners as it inevitably confronted new exigencies. Democracy was never static. We in Guyana, who want democracy for our country today, should do no less.

There are undoubtedly countless issues that democracy will have to grapple with; but the most important one will be to finally deal with the implications of the racial divisions in our society.

Now, we Guyanese are not unique — all societies have divisions. One universal division is economic class, while other divisions are based on race, culture, ethnicity, religion, and settlement patterns (urban-rural) and these have all proven to be very resilient.

These categories are not mutually exclusive and may occur in varying combinations. In Guyana, for instance, race and ethnicity coincide and are used synonymously. The nature of the political competition and the political culture depend, to a large extent, on which of the cleavages emerge as the most salient, and this outcome, in turn, hinges on various societal contingencies: structural/economic, historical,

political and psychological.

We cannot undo these contingencies – we have to work with them.

Race/ethnicity, in Guyana, transcends class as the dominant cleavage and suffuses politics as well as most other social interactions.

It defines the local political culture. The problem that societal divisions poses to democracy is that when the latter, meaning “rule by the people”, is sought to be implemented, two questions arise: First, who are the “people”? The second question is, how are “the people” to rule?

The “people” are now all citizens over 18 and are to rule via a majoritarian representative Government. The fly in the ointment in all of this, of course, was why would the minority go along with the majority, in this system – especially when each are from different seemingly unchanging ethnic blocs?

The answer by the theorist was that the minority knew that it always had the opportunity of becoming the majority on any given issue – it just had to persuade enough folks that their stand on that issue was the right one. Every dog could have his day.

This answer, however, only addressed an ideal situation, where everyone voted rationally according to his or her interest – unlike the case of Guyana.

But all is not lost. The recent visit of the Ghanaian President should remind us that their land is also torn by ethnic factionalism and voting – but since 1992, their Governments have been regularly alternating.

Their “secret” is that a bloc of “swing votes” have developed, especially in their capital, Accra, and among their youths. Could it be that with no one ethnic group having an inbuilt absolute majority, we will emulate Ghana at the next polls?

Ramjattan says first choice was...

“We deserved what we got and it was because of the APNU side also appreciating what we deserved. They deserved what they got too.

If we gonna fight over the little that some people feel that we got more and so on, it’s not gonna take us any place. And so, it is important that when you form a coalition and worked out a partnership agreement, you do not go crying all about the place that we should’ve gotten instead of 12 seats, 14 or we should’ve gotten more than eight Ministers and things like that.

And similarly, the other side shouldn’t be saying things like ‘oh, they should’ve only gotten five and so on’. It worked

out successfully because we managed to win the elections by a very slim majority. Had we not done the agreement, certainly Donald Ramotar would’ve been there up to now,” Ramjattan posited.

At the AFC’s National Executive Conference (NEC) earlier this month, Ramjattan was not only elected the party’s leader but also secured backings to be its Prime Ministerial Candidate at the upcoming elections – ousting current Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.

In accordance with the 2015 Cummingsburg Accord, signed between the two parties, AFC will have the Prime

Ministerial position while the Presidential post goes to APNU. The Accord has a lifespan of a minimum of three years and maximum of five years and was focused primarily on the General and Regional Elections.

However, the AFC back in 2017 was pushing to have the ‘deal’ reviewed and revised, and had even set up a committee to lead those talks which never panned out.

But the APNU’s point man for the negotiation of the Accord, Carl Greenidge, had stated last November that there were no immediate plans to modify the agreement since it has been working well.

from page 39

In fact, after a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting back in January, the minority party in the coalition Administration also reiterated its commitment to the coalescing pact. But this is despite the AFC in recent years coming under fire for the submissive role it has been playing since joining forces with the APNU. This led to the minority party contesting the November 2018 Local Government Elections (LGE) on its own. The AFC then contended that it is still a force to be reckoned with after garnering between four and 10 per cent of the popular votes.

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

“I

have always been a super expressive person. Somewhere I have become a little more private after I became an actor,” citing this as the reason, Alia Bhatt on Wednesday launched her YouTube channel with much gusto.

The actor, who is currently busy with the much-anticipated film Brahmastra, took time off to try her hand at exploring the world of YouTube. The 26-year-old star is already the reigning queen of other social media platforms like

Twitter and Instagram. But according to Alia, through small YouTube videos, her fans will get an insight into her personal life and what it takes to be a star.

In the first video, where Alia Bhatt introduces the channel to her fans, we get to see several snippets from her real life. From recording the “Tip Tip Barsa Paani” video which she shared on social media last year, to doing hair and make-up in 44 degrees in Benaras for Brahmastra and even shooting the song “Ikk Kudi”, which she crooned along with Diljit Dosanjh in Udta Punjab, Alia shares what all went behind the scenes, including funny instances.

B

J

acqueline Fernandez says filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala is consistently working on the script of Kick 2 and would only reveal the details to her or co-star Salman Khan until it is good enough to become a blockbuster.

Sajid had announced a sequel to his hit 2014 action-comedy which is bringing back the pairing of Salman and Jacqueline.

Asked for an update on the

A

ctor Sonakshi Sinha has said the reports of her doing a biopic on Paralympic champion Deepa Malik are just “speculations”.

There were rumours that Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar are planning to make a biopic on Malik, who became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympic Games when she bagged a silver in shot put F 53 at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.

“It’s all speculation right now. I am not the kind of person who would talk about a film until I’ve signed on the dotted line. People can speculate what they want to but when my films have to be announced, the right people will do it,” Sonakshi told PTI. When asked if she would be interested in doing the bi-

project, Jacqueline told reporters, “He (Sajid) is working on the script consistently for some time now. Knowing him, he is a perfectionist, he won’t come to us without a perfect blockbuster script. We are giving him all the time and space for that.”

The actor was speaking at a Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau event on Monday.

(Indian Express)

opic, the actor said, “I’d be interested in doing a good story, something which challenges me and has a great role for me.”

Giving an example of her three releases this year, Sonakshi said Khandaani Shafakhana, Mission Mangal and Dabangg 3 will all give her a chance to showcase versatility.

“I feel so happy and excited that these three diverse films are coming in the same year, back to back. I am thrilled.”

Sonakshi made her debut with Dabangg in 2010 and will complete a decade in the industry next year.

The actor said she’s happy the way her journey has panned out.

“It has been the best ten years of my

ollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan completed 27 years in the film industry on Tuesday and his fans showered him with love and blessings on the occasion. To express his gratitude, the Badshah of Bollywood shot a video and posted it on his Twitter handle.

In the video, SRK recreated his entry scene from his debut film Deewana which hit theaters in 1992. He left his followers nostalgic as he got on the wheels with the song “Koi Na Koi Chahiye Pyar Karne Wala” playing in the background.

Later, Shah Rukh Khan thanked his fans for “bearing” with him. He said, “I want to say a big thank you for 27

life, the most fruitful, exciting and informative. It has been such a fantastic learning experience that I don’t even feel I’ve completed a decade.”

The actor a d d ed that her

“What you’ll get to see on my YouTube channel is a lot of me being totally unadulterated, what goes behind the scenes. Good days, bad days, funny days, hectic days, simple days, sweet days, just days,” she shares.

Alia Bhatt will be sharing screen space with real-life beau Ranbir Kapoor in her next, Ayan Mukerji directed Brahmastra, that also stars Amiabh Bachchan, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Dimple Kapadia and Mouni Roy. The film’s title logo was revealed amid much fanfare in March this year. The superhero sci-fi film is scheduled to release in the summer of 2020. (Indian Express)

years in Indian cinema which is exactly half of my lifetime on Earth. I have been trying to entertain my fans and many times I have succeeded and many times I have failed. Thank you all for bearing with me since I came on a motorcycle in the film called Deewana singing “Koi Na Koi Chaiye” and riding into your hearts. You not only allowed me to ride into your hearts but also allowed me to stay there.”

Shah Rukh made his Bollywood debut with Raj Kanwar directorial Deewana that released in 1992. The film also starred Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti. He went on to rule the rest of the decade with hits like Baazigar

(1993). Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and many more films.

For now, King Khan is on a break from work. In a recent interview with Filmfare, he said, “I have no film with me right now. I am not working on any film.

Usually what happens is when your one film is coming to an end, you begin work on your next film and I get involved within 3-4 months. But this time I am just not feeling like…My heart doesn’t allow me to..I just felt that I should rather take time out, watch films, listen to stories and read more books.” (Indian Express)

time in the industry has not only taught her to be unfazed by opinions and criticism but also how to handle praise.

“As actors, we know what we sign up for before we get into it. It’s part and parcel and you’ve to deal with people’s opinion, criticism.

“You’ve to deal with praise in the best

way possible because you cannot let it go to your head.

There are lots of things to take care of. But it’s fun. I enjoy the jugglery,” she added.

The actor, 32, said female artistes do have a pressure to look presentable all the time but earlier “it used to be a whole lot more.”

“Now we are more real and stick to our personalities. If I’m stepping out of my house, I won’t be fully decked up, like how earlier actresses were expected to be.

“About fashion criticism, when you just come in the industry you feel ‘oh why are they attacking me, why didn’t they like this.’ But honestly too many people have too many opinions and you can’t please everyone,” she added.

(Indian Express)

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yan Murphy has roped in names like Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden and Ariana Grande for his Prom adaptation.

The feature take of the Tonynominated stage musical, set at Netflix, will also see Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key and Andrew Rannells in key roles.

Sources told Deadline, Murphy will direct and produce the Broadway hit, set to undergo production in December.

Streep will play Dee Dee Allen, a two-time Tony award winner who collaborates with Barry Glickman (Corden) in a flop musical about Eleanor Roosevelt.

After disastrous reviews, they decide, along with Broadway newbies Angie Dickinson (Kidman) and Rannells as Trent Oliver, to attach themselves to a cause to resurrect their careers.

Emma, a high school senior in Indiana who isn’t allowed to take her

girlfriend to the prom, becomes their cause to champion.

Casting director Alexa Fogel is on a nationwide search to find an actor to play Emma.

While Grande plays Alyssa, a popular daughter of the head of the PTA, Awkwafina plays the group’s publicist Ms Sheldon. Key is set to essay the role of Streep’s love interest and Emma’s ally, Principal Hawkins.

Alexis Woodall, Bill Damaschke, and Dori Berinstein are also attached to produce.

Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin are working on the script, with music and lyrics Beguelin and Matthew Sklar, based on the original concept

by Jack Viertel.

Murphy is also attached to produce the soundtrack along with Grande and her manager, Scooter Braun.

The makers are eyeing a 2020 autumn release in theatres during the awards season before it airs on the streaming service.

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C

Ken Scott with Dhanush on the sets of The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir

anadian writer-director Ken Scott shares his experience of working in India and shooting across the world.

How did you come on board as the director of The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir? (pic saved as ken) I got a call from the producer Luc Bossi and he said that they were adapting the book The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe (written by Romain Puertolas). Dhanush was approached for the lead role and because of my background as a comedian, the producer felt that I lived in that world of comedy. Some of my movies have a feelgood quality like this movie. They sent me the book and the script, and I loved the story. I traveled to Chennai to meet Dhanush in 2017 and we talked about the story, the way we can work together.

Did your trip to India also involve traveling and understanding Indians?

When I came to meet Dhanush, I also tried to find the right location for the movie. Initially, we thought of shooting in Jodhpur. Later, I thought Mumbai worked better after I visited the Worli neighborhood. I loved its small alleys and houses. The character, when he’s young, lives in Worli. As he grows older, he discovers all of Mumbai and then he sets out for the world.

Dhanush’s character keeps traveling from one place to the other. Was it difficult to tackle so much traveling during the shoot?

It was important for me to make the audience experience that journey.

Visually each one of these cultures needed to have a great impact on the lead character as well as on the audience. It became more of a game. Each time we were in a new sequence, we had a different colour scheme and aesthetics. We also had a different type of music. The approach of how we shot a particular scene was influenced by where we were. In Mumbai, we have a lot of vibrant colours. When we are in England, the colours are all faded.

The movie also touches upon the subject of immigration, which is a major issue at the moment?

It’s not a political movie because it’s a fable, a metaphor. It is a comedy but it says something very important to me. It says that if we consider immigrants to be simply another version of ourselves, we will live in a better world. We will have more love for them.

After this, will you be inspired to do more work in India?

I love the shooting process here. I love the culture and working with the actors here. India has a lot of energy. The people here seem very happy.

It seems like a great place to live in.

It’s very different from my hometown in Canada. I would love to work with Dhanush again. He’s a great actor and dancer. His greatest quality is that he makes the audience care about his character. You talk to people about Dhanush and their eyes light up. (Indian Express)

riyanka Chopra Jonas is having a great time in Paris. The actor, along with husband Nick Jonas, is all set to attend the wedding of Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas. Though the date of the grand wedding is yet to be announced, it seems the pre-wedding celebrations have begun.

A few photos of Priyanka along with the American singer Nick, Joe and Game Of Thrones actor Sophie are doing the rounds on several fan pages on social media. The pictures have the Jonas Brothers having a gala time on a yacht with their respective better halves.

While PeeCee and Nick were busy dancing together, Sophie and Joe were seen shaking a leg with the other guests who have probably joined them for the wedding celebration.

O n Monday,

F

ast and Furious franchise stars Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez have started shooting for Fast and Furious 9. Vin Diesel shared a video on his Instagram handle with a caption, “First day completed! Blessed beyond words. #Fast9 2020” In the video, the two thanked fans of the series for their support. Diesel said, “We just completed our first day. It feels like a miracle, one hard-earned, but we’re just so grateful.”

Vin Diesel can be seen

Priyanka also posted a photo with Sophie.

She shared a photo of a twinkling Eiffel Tower and wrote, “And it begins..” along with it.

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner got married in a private ceremony in Las Vegas on May 2. The ceremony took place at Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas and an Elvis Presley impersonator officiated the wedding. The hush-hush ceremony left the fans of the GOT star surprised.

In an interview with Access, Priyanka shared inside details of the wedding.

“It was really funny. We were at the Billboards. Joe, I think, had this idea that he wanted to do this. But we were at the Billboards and he had these little black cards that we all got. We were randomly inviting our friends, like people that we met. We were like, ‘alright, we’re going to set up this wedding now, we’re going to the chapel right from here, and please arrive’,” she said. (Indian Express)

sporting Toretto’s attire in the video. Michelle Rodriguez confirmed her presence in the cast recently after a female writer was brought on board the writer’s team.

This was a condition set

by Michelle to rejoin the franchise. She plays Letty Ortiz in the film and has been a part of the franchise since the first movie.

Nathalie Emmanuel also shared her excitement of shooting Fast 9 on Twitter. She shared, “Day one of shooting Fast and

Furious 9 today… The team is back together”.

Dwayne Johnson will not be coming back for this film and it is being said that John Cena will play the villain in the film.

Fast 9 is yet to receive a title and is being directed by Justin Lin. This will be the tenth film of the franchise and will release in 2020. Meanwhile, the ninth film of the franchise Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw releases on July 31. (Indian Express)

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Shami-Bumrah, Kohli put India one step closer to semi-finals

India 268 (Kohli 72, Dhoni 56*, Rahul 48, Roach 3-36, Holder 2-33) beat West Indies 143 (Shami 4-16, Bumrah 209, Chahal 2-39) by 125 runs

I

ndia's bowlers nullified yet another middling batting performance, pounding West Indies' into the ground long before they could think about any reasonable comebacks.

Having elected to bat, India were kept in check by some disciplined seam bowling from West Indies, whose wickets through the middle overs gave India their second consecutive bout of existential dread surrounding their middle order. But a solid 72 from Virat Kohli, who became the fastest to 20,000 international runs in the process, and timely, staggered attacks from Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni gave India 268.

Mohammed Shami then took four, and the others chipped in as West Indies became the latest team to crash out of semi-final contention.

Shami, the hat-trick hero from India's last game, was at his attacking best once again. He had Chris Gayle swiping to mid-on, and followed shortly by nipping a length ball past Shai Hope's defences to hit off stump. At 16 for 2 in seven overs, West Indies had seemingly already given up the chase.

A laboured 55-run stand for the third wicket between Sunil Ambris and Nicholas Pooran took up 12 overs and had the required rate breach run-a-ball early in the innings. To this context were thrown India's middle-overs bowlers, with all their variations. Hardik, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yuzvendra Chahal and West Indies were simply outdone by their abilities. Ambris was trapped in front, Pooran holed out at long-on,

Holder was expertly done by Chahal, driving to a specially placed extra cover fielder, and Carlos Brathwaite was taken by Dhoni, diving one-handed to his right on what was a below-par wicketkeeping day for him For the most part, Dhoni seemed to be having a below-average batting day as well. Coming in at No. 6, after the promoted Kedar Jadhav had fallen cheaply, Dhoni had time to play in his preferred patient style. At 140 for 4, Kohli was at the other end - a power pair. But with the prospect of Shami at No. 8 and more than 20 overs to play, India were forced, once again, to play within themselves. Dhoni, however, strayed out of his crease and looked to hoick Fabian Allen over midwicket in the 34th over, only to miss and give up on getting back. But Shai Hope spilled the ball, missed the stumping chance, and in his funk from that moment, failed to gather the ball and run Dhoni out as well. It would come back to haunt them.

But the effects of Shikhar Dhawan's injury were seemingly still in play for India. When India bats well, it is usually on the back of a big partnership for at least one of their first two wickets. With Rohit having fallen early, KL Rahul and Kohli were on their way to setting up such a stand. But for the fourth time in five innings, Rahul was undone by his shot selection. Having punched, driven straight, and pulled with control, Rahul went across the line to a length ball slanting into him and was bowled for 48.

Virat Kohli

To their credit, West Indies did have India playing within themselves at that point. All short bowling had been punished early on, but Holder quickly put a stop to this with a simplistic plan bowl an off stump line. He began with two maidens, and barely bowled a single ball in line with the stumps during his first overs. Kohli, especially, could do little against him, and would eventually fall to him, trying to drag one into the leg side from wide outside off.

In the middle though, it was Roach who reaped the rewards.

He emulated Holder's strategy and straightened one past Vijay Shankar, who the spotlight keeps following at No. 4. Jadhav's push up to 5 was also struck down with that ploy and suddenly India's big-hitters needed to be calculative.

In Hardik's case, this meant keeping the slogs out till the last eight overs of the innings, without compromising on his scoring rate. He was the only batsman barring Sheldon Cottrell who struck at a rate greater than 100, despite hitting only five boundaries during his 38-ball 46.

For Dhoni, it was hobbling to 40 off 55 at the start of the 49th over. Oshane Thomas hit the blockhole thrice in the last over, and none of them cost any runs. But his decision to also bowl three short balls took India from 252 to 268.

Dhoni finished with unbeaten on 56, and West Indies were left ruing their choices at death bowling.

The most noteworthy moment early in India's innings was the dismissal of Rohit Sharma, who was given out caught behind off the inside edge on review. Rohit's disbelief was blatantly public, a reaction likely prompted by the seeming hastiness with which third umpire Michael Gough's overturned the decision. Overturning a decision demands conclusive evidence, which Gough seemed to have found relatively early from replays, almost at the first instance of Ultra Edge. While there was a murmur as the ball went past the inside edge, the square angles showed the ball had been between bat and pad when they appeared. Front-on angles suggested daylight between bat and ball, and in all, it seemed much too close for a decision made as quickly as it was. In the end, it didn't play too big a part in the result. (ESPNCricinfo)

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Windies’ fans stay true despite below par World Cup run

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ANCHESTER, England — The West Indies cricket team has endured a mostly lean period over the past decade or more, but has somehow continued to captivate fans far and wide for varying reasons.

At the 2019 Cricket World Cup the maroonclad Caribbean men have lost four of six games and are out of contention for the semi-finals.

But in the stands they still have substantial blocks of supporters and many neutral admirers.

Ahead of Saturday's game against New Zealand at Old Trafford, which the West Indies lost by five runs in a nerve-jarring finish, the Jamaica Observer caught up with some of them, magnetised by the magic that is West Indies cricket.

“I travelled to Manchester for the game, hoping I could bring West Indies some luck. I think they needed to see some more familiar faces in the crowd and not be outnumbered by everybody,” said Margaret Ismond, who is based in London but is originally from Micoud, St Lucia.

Ismond said she has been living in the United Kingdom for 15 years, but it is clear that West Indies cricket stays close to her heart as she sieved through the team's challenges at the tournament.

“The Bangladesh loss (by seven wickets in Taunton) was not surprising because

Bangladesh have now beaten us eight out of 10 times. But I was flabbergasted that our bowlers went for so much — the bowling was too one-dimensional.

“We've looked one spinner short and the bowling at the death has not been good — we've looked flat entering the last 10 overs. The first few games we were exceptional, and we probably got carried away with that style of attack,” she told the Observer.

Diving briefly into the back story of how she became knowledgeable on cricketing matters she explained that things took shape during her early years in St Lucia.

“I grew up not far from where former West Indies captain Darren Sammy is from. He went to the primary school right next to the playing field close to where I lived, so I know him and his family.

“I've always followed cricket but my first interaction was listening to cricket on a Saturday when my sister was following it. I still think that [listening commentary] is still the best way to learn about cricket because since there's no visual, it's usually so descriptive. And lucky for me, I started listening to cricket in the glory days…it was really exciting and we knew what winning meant and it was consistent, so I became addicted,” Ismond recalled.

Englishman Nick Heyes is a West Indies fan when he is not sup-

At the 2019 Cricket World Cup the maroon-clad Caribbean men have lost four of six games and are out of contention for the semi-finals.

porting his homeland.

Heyes, who is from Manchester but now based in London, was at Old Trafford with his girlfriend Eirin Saether for the game against New Zealand.

“My main team is England but if I had to choose a second team it would have to be West Indies. I like the players; I follow them closely in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and I'm a big fan of Chris Gayle.

“I like their style of cricket, the way they bat, that aggressive style. They started off well and then it started to tail off a bit… but I'm still hoping for some fireworks,” Heyes said just ahead of the game.

Saether, who hails from Norway, is a fledgling cricket fan. While Heyes was sporting a West Indies shirt, Saether's replica New Zealand blouse indicat-

ed the direction of her support.

“I'm from Norway and we don't really have cricket, and this is my first-ever game. I used to live in New Zealand — though I've never watched a game there — so we both decided to go out and have fun. I've been watching stuff on YouTube to help me understand the game,” she explained.

Mervin Bain and his two friends Andre Joseph and Aldwin Alston Charles made the trip from Scarborough, Tobago, to catch the encounter in Manchester.

For Bain it's more than the outcome on the day.

“This is an experience — you don't get the opportunity to come to a World Cup in the 'Home of Cricket' every week.

Sport is not only about winning.“You also want to enjoy your-

self and you want to be around Caribbean people with the Caribbean vibe, so you take it for what it is. You'd wish your team would be in a better place and performing better… but it's still 100 per cent support,” he said.

Bain noted that the West Indies brand remains marketable globally.

“People all over just love West Indian cricket; not just West Indians.

Internationally, West Indies is always one of the more popular teams because of our charisma and our playing style,” he said while gesticulating emphatically.

Alston Charles, who hails from Mason Hall in Tobago, was also lured to England by more than the on-field happenings.

“I'm still proud to be here even though it's not likely the West Indies will reach the semi-fi-

nals. It was important for me to come personally because it's an experience to come to a World Cup here in Europe,” said Alston Charles.

Joseph, another visitor to England from Mason Hall, said his dream was to catch a West Indies game at the ICC World Cup. “I'm always interested in cricket — win or lose. I always wanted to watch a live game at the World Cup and this was my opportunity. It's true the team isn't really what it's supposed to be, but at the same time I'm here to watch cricket and have a very good lyme,” he said.

Tyrone Hines, who hails from Montego Bay in Jamaica but is now situated in London, was at Old Trafford with his chidren Kadedra, 12, and Tyrone Jr, 16.

“My dad was a big West Indies fan, a big cricket fan, and the family relocated to the UK but we love the cricket the same way,” said the senior Hines who recalled that he attended Muschett High School before his family moved.

Kadedra was gleeful as she saw West Indies captain Jason Holder, star batsman Gayle, and other members of the team mount a staircase before the start of the game.

“It is my first cricket match and I'm very excited and happy. To be honest, I don't really watch cricket on TV but I did want to come for the experience,” she said. (Reprinted

from Jamaica Observer)

Guyanese women cricketers deserve more opportunities in Windies colours

By Brandon Corlette

A

fter a disastrous series against England in the United Kingdom, West Indies Women will have to examine themselves on their way back to the drawing board. The Caribbean Women team suffered a 3-0 whitewash in the One Day International (ODI) series, and lost the three- match T20 International series 1-0.

In four matches on that tour in England, no West Indian Women surpassed 100 runs in those four innings.

Chedean Nation was the leading batter with a par 98; while Stacy Ann King scored 69 runs. Despite rain affecting the series, West Indies Women displayed a poor batting effort.

The first ODI saw England defeating West Indies by 208 runs, their largest defeat in history. Then the English registered a thumping 121-run defeat against West Indies in a match determined by the Duckworth-Lewis sys-

tem. England then signed off with a 135-run win in that series, then went on to win the lone T20 match by 42 runs, as the others were abandoned because of rain.

In that tour to England, only one Guyanese wore the maroon colours, the seasoned Shemaine Campbelle.

Like most on that tour, the Berbician failed, and even sat out the starting XI at times. Campbelle was among the most prolific batters in the Regional female tournaments earlier this year, where she scored 211 runs in the 50over format at an average of 42.2, including a century against Jamaica.

In addition to Campbelle’s explosive work with the bat, Erva Giddings, her fellow Berbician, was easily the best seam bowler. Giddings, who bagged 10 wickets in the 50-over format and scored 70 runs in the lower order, should have been given her opportunity at the top level.

She has proven her consistency at

the Regional level year after year, and with her left arm swing she would have been a great asset to the team, considering the English conditions.

Meanwhile, Sheneta Grimmond who was picked for the World T20 in the latter part of 2018, has not yet made it back to the West Indies Women squads after sustaining an injury on the buildup to the tournament.

With Deandra Dottin ruled out with injury, Britney Cooper was her replacement. Cooper was tasked with an unfamiliar role, opening the batting along with Hayley Matthews.

Once an out-of-favour Windies player, Cooper scored 57 runs in her six innings on tour, struggling to adapt at the top of the innings. Meanwhile, Grimmond was in the training squad, and she is a specialist opener who would have quickly adapted to playing at the top of the innings.

The next Guyanese player who should have been given an opportu-

nity on tour is Shabika Gajnabi. This young Berbician has been making great strides wearing the tag as the most promising female player in the Caribbean. Gajnabi has been involved in training camps, but is yet to be given her maiden opportunity in the final squad.

Guyanese female cricketers continue to hurt by this type of treatment.

The experienced Tremayne Smartt, who is a good seam bowler, has proved her credentials with the bat in the Regional tournaments, but has not gained the opportunity for higher representation.

Cricket West Indies have promised to invest in Women’s cricket after captain Stafanie Taylor lashed out; these women require a fair opportunity in West Indies cricket. After that poor performance in England, changes must be made for the upcoming Home Series and the 2021 Women’s World Cup.

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Can the Jags end the Soca Warriors’ party?

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hirty to three, that is the ratio of matches that the Trinidad and Tobago national football team have played in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Gold Cup as compared to Guyana.

With more than a decade of experience at this competition, Trinidad and Tobago may appear to be ominous opponents, but according to Golden Jaguars Coach Michael Johnson, the Jags are ready to roar.

This may all be well and true, after all, the Golden Jaguars were not even expected to get this far. Being one of two Gold Cup 2019 debutants, no one expected much of the team hailing from South America, but thus far, they have been able to hold down an explosive USA squad in the first half of their encounter and had it not been for some simple errors on the part of the Guyanese players, the match against Panama would have had a different winner.

To this end, the Golden Jags Coach is

almost certain that if the team somehow correct those errors and run a tight ship in their final Gold Cup 2019 game, they can come out victorious.

“Not only that, we have to be able to stop the silly mundane mistakes we keep making.

When you look at the last game and the second goal, you look at the penalty whether it was a penalty or not, the two goals that could have been stamped out

and then you’ve got a result, and then you take that result into your final game. So if we can cut out a lot of the silly mistakes then I believe that we can get good results,” Johnson stated.

Getting some muchneeded rest after travelling to Kansas, the Jaguars were said to have two practice sessions before tonight’s game. Johnson disclosed that the final session would be used to iron out some of the

past mistakes and simplify their game so that they are ready for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Golden Jaguars and the Soca Warriors are indeed no strangers to each other, having met on countless occasions, given the close proximity and long-standing relationship between the two Caricom nations.

However, despite one too many losses at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago, the Jaguars

pulled off one of their most memorable wins at the Guyana National Stadium in 2014.

With the backing of a boisterous stadium filled to capacity with home fans, the Jags managed to pull off a 2-1 victory over Trinidad in the penultimate round of CONCACAF’s World Cup qualifiers 2014, owing to the brilliance of then national players Ricky Shakes (11) and Leon Cort (81).

The bottom line is,

if the current Golden Jaguars outfit can get into the mind-set that the team held in 2014, there is no doubt that Guyana can witness their first-ever Gold Cup victory in Kansas City, Kansas tonight.

This mind-set seems to be making its way around the Guyanese camp as Coach Johnson explained that the boys were in high spirits.

“They’re in a buoyant mood and we are looking to do well in our final game,” he said.

Further, Johnson, a former Jamaican national player, hinted at the inclusion of some new faces as the Jaguars head into their final hurrah.

“Definitely, one and two faces will now come in and try get us that victory against Trinidad … and I have got full belief in all 23 players as I have said before. I want to give a chance to those who didn’t feature to now come out there and prove me wrong that they should have played in the first two,” the Head Coach stated.

Kick-off for the Guyana v Trinidad and Tobago Gold Cup 2019 encounter is fixed at 18:30h.

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