Guyana Times Monday, December 17, 2018

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Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 3779

15 Linden families to receive houses P14 under CH&PA housing initiative

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Monday, December 17, 2018

Every sugar worker at risk of losing job – former Agri Minister Page 3

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Bagotville fatal accident

Pillon rider remains P2 hospitalised – Police

...predicts more could be fired in 2019

P9 Poor condition of road at Vive la Force affecting farmers, residents

Women and Gender Equality Commission

Commission calls for establishment of Human Rights Commission Page 9

– urges mandatory paternity leave; specialised training for Judiciary, Police

Construction worker shot attempting to escape from Police Page 2

Govt to establish tobacco council in 2019 Page 7

Tuschen man killed in Linden hit and run

Annandale fatal accident

Chinese P2 Association offers assistance to relatives of victims

E Division beefs up P8 security for Christmas season

Murder P11 accused “Rasta Bean” nabbed

2 News

mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Annandale fatal accident

Bagotville fatal accident

Chinese Association offers Pillon rider remains hospitalised – Police assistance to relatives of victims D

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Dead: Karamchand Khemraj

lthough the person responsible for the death of 15-year-old Karamchand Khemraj and the hospitalisation of 16-yearold Reaz Shaw of Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) remains on the run; the Chinese Association has stepped forward and has offered the relatives some form of assistance. However, this gesture was bluntly refused.

Yacoob Shaw, father of the injured teen who remains in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), told Guyana Times that a member of the Association visited his son in the hospital and was accompanied by a lawyer, James Bond.

He noted that the representative offered the family a helping hand in making sure that the young man is back on his feet as soon as possible. Presently, the young man cannot speak and his eyes remain closed. He would have also sustained injured to his lungs and the doctors have confirmed that the severity of his head injuries has resulted in the teen being non-responsive thus far.

The father noted that he is praying for his son to recov-

Injured: Reaz Shaw

er and return home before he discusses compensation with the Chinese Association. Two Sundays ago, the two young men went to a nearby shop to purchase an item and on their way back on their motorcycle, they were struck from behind by a white Toyoto Hiace ‘pitbull’ minibus which did not stop.

Both the young men were taken to the GPHC where Khemraj died while receiving medical attention. Shaw was admitted in an unconscious state and remains that way to date. Days later, the minibus was finally located covered under a tarpaulin beneath a house at Mon Repos, ECD. The driver was nowhere to be seen but he was identified as a Chinese national. It is believed that his wife encouraged him to hide the minibus but more so, to leave Guyana at once. Police sources confirmed that they might have absconded to Suriname.

Nevertheless, the Chinese Association reportedly approached the relatives of the dead teenager and offered them $1.5 million but the family has since refused as well. The Police are continuing to work with their counterparts in Suriname in an

attempt to nab the man responsible for the fatal accident.

D i v i s i o n C o m m a n d e r Edmond Cooper has confirmed that 20-year-old Trevon Callender who was injured in the recent accident at Bagotville, West Bank Demerara (WBD) remains hospitalised in a serious condition.

Callender was the pillion rider on 18-year-old Dan Batson’s motorcycle which collided with a motorcar head-on resulting in the two being flung into the air on the Bagotville Public Road just outside Batson’s home on Wednesday evening. Batson was said to be turning into his residence.

Batson lost his life while Callender was pitched into a nearby trench and rushed to the hospital in a critical condition. According to reports, the duo was proceeding on motorcycle CJ 2217 without headlamps

Injured: Trevon Callender

Dead: Dan Batson

at about 20:30h when they collided with the car HC 3870. The driver of the car has been identified as a 24-year-old Sisters Village, WBD resident who was reported to be a known speedster. A breathalyser test conducted on him reportedly showed no trace of alcohol.

When Police had tak-

en the driver the retrace his recollection of what transpired, drama unfolded as several of Batson’s relatives gathered, some of whom witnessed the accident and demanded that Police conduct a “proper investigation”. Batson’s 17-year-old cousin was identified as the principal eyewitness.

Construction worker shot while attempting to escape from Police

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construction worker who attempted to disarm a Police Officer in his bid to escape was on Saturday shot twice. The 39-year-old man of Back Street Grove, East Bank Demerara (EBD) who had been on Police radar for a lengthy period, was reportedly arrested at about 17:30h on the day in question.

Police said that at the time of his arrest, the accused was found with two unlicenced firearms along with ten live rounds of ammunition hidden at his premises.

In his bid to escape the ranks, the suspect wrestled with officers and attempted to disarm one of them but was shot in the process. He was taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he is presently being treated under Police guard. It is

The gun and ammo found on the suspect’s premises at Back Street Grove, East Bank Demerara

also being reported that a female who was present at the time of the arrest was also taken into custody as the Police continue to investigate the matter.

In October, Police revealed that there was a 22 per cent increase in robberies, where no instruments were used (39 against 32

cases in the same period last year) and a four per cent increase in robbery with violence (114 against 110 cases).

However, the other categories of serious crime recorded a declining trend.

These included: robbery under arms where firearms were used, which saw

a three per cent decline (464 against 477); robbery under arms where instruments other than firearms were used, recording a 20 per cent decrease (177 against 221 cases); a 36 per cent reduction (39 against 61 cases) in robbery with aggravation and larceny from the person going down by 13 per cent (94 against 108 cases).

Additionally, there were decreases in burglary, which went down by nine per cent (149 against 163 cases) as well as break and enter and larceny which declined by 11 per cent (710 against 801 cases).

Meanwhile, as it relates to murder, the Police had also said there was a 17 per cent reduction recorded with a total of 72 cases at the end of September 2018, compared to 87 during the same period last year.

news

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, December 17 – 13:00h-14:30h and Tuesday, December 18 – a night retraction at 01:30h and a day retraction from 13:30h-15:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, December 17 – 11:45h-13:15h and Tuesday, December 18 – 12:45h-14:15h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals can be expected throughout the day, with clear to partly cloudy skies expected in the evening. Temperatures are expected to range between 20 degrees and 29 degrees Celsius.

Wind: East North-easterly to North-easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.91 metres.

High Tides: 00:12h and 12:41h reaching maximum heights of 2.28 metres and 2.29 metres respectively.

Low Tides: 05:38h and 18:12h reaching maximum heights of 0.96 metre and 0.96 metres respectively.

saturDAY, december 15, 2018

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Every sugar worker at risk of losing job – former Agri Minister ...predicts more could be fired in 2019

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ith the recent announcement by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) that more sugar estate workers could lose their jobs soon, former Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy is of the strong opinion that every sugar worker that remains employed within the industry is on the breadline.

He said the coalition Government’s plan for the sugar industry is unclear, aside from the plans to continuing downsizing. “The injustice continues. It proves that every sugar worker with a job is at risk under this Government.

They must have sleepless nights wondering if the next day will be the last day for their jobs,” he said.

GAWU had revealed that the workers which face dismissal are those that were retained following the closures of the Wales, Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara estates to maintain skeleton operations at the factories. These workers were involved mainly in security, drainage and irrigation and power house operations.

The Union said that the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) had indicated that it was always its intention to have the workers terminated and it is now giving effect to its intent.

But Dr Ramsammy questioned whether any arrangements are in place for their severance, adding that there are still hundreds of Wales’s workers awaiting severance, even after the recent payments.

“Are these newly unemployed workers to be subjected to the injustice of delayed severance payments?”

The former Minister told Guyana Times on Sunday that the recent laying off of more workers proves the associated GuySuCo services such as residential drainage and irrigation services are slowly being abandoned in the former sugar estates. “Who will take up the responsibility?

The NDCs [Neighbourhood Democratic Councils)] or the RDCs [Regional Democratic Councils] or the NDIA [National Drainage and Irrigation Authority]?” he questioned.

According to Dr Ramsammy, none of these arrangements were in place before the closure was made.

He reminded that the expenses of GuySuCo included these non-sugar expenses. But he argued that with or without sugar, these expenses must be incurred and part of the subsidy for GuySuCo included this.

“Now Budget 2019 has been passed and no provisions were made for these expenses. And with the laying off of these workers, GuySuCo is now also abandoning these services,” the former minister pointed out.

Total betrayal

Further, he said the actions of the coalition Government

will equal a day’s pay?” he further questioned.

But more worrying, Dr Ramsammy believes that “the assault on the workers

by Government” is not over.

He feels the country could see even more workers laid off in 2019, adding to the already hundreds that were severed.

“In the end the Government had pursued a path that will see Guyana losing more than US$100 million in export earnings from sugar. It means

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan saying that Government sees sugar workers as “PPP people”. “The action of this Government against sugar workers means that APNU/AFC has deliberately sought ways to remove from the industry and to ensure they create a pathway for what Volda Lawrence describes as “PNC people.”

Dr Ramsammy said he can therefore conclude that “political vendetta” has led to the

that when oil revenue starts coming, instead of adding to our revenues it will merely replace lost revenues. This is unfortunate for Guyana. In the meanwhile, the sugar workers have been made the poster child for injustice in Guyana,” he added.

Finally, the former Agriculture Minister recalled Vice President and

closure and dismissal of sugar workers. “The latest dismissals demand a raised from all decent Guyanese. Those sugar workers and their facilities and any decent Guyanese know they will not hear anything from those who rode on the backs of the sugar workers for the power they now have,” he concluded. (Samuel Sukhnandan)

Former Agriculture Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

towards these workers and the sugar industry as a whole amounts to total betrayal.

While Government has announced that workers are to be given a bonus for reaching the 2018 target of 103,000 tons, he reminded that this is a right and part of the sugar agreement for more than 50 years.

“Workers are entitled to an Annual Production Incentive (API) each year. In 2015 it was reduced. In 2016 and 2017 workers were denied any API on the basis that they did not reach target,” he recalled.

However, he said the bonus was never based only on reaching the target. Workers always were entitled to a bonus based on annual production of a day’s pay for a certain amount of tonnage for the year. Thus, at the end of the year they got one or more days pay based on annual production, not only on reaching target.

“This year if we believe the Government, the workers will get the bonus because they reached the target. The question is what is the bonus based on? How many tons of sugar

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guyanatimesgy.com

mondAY, december 17, 2018

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Brexit and noconfidence votes

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t is a cliché to say that divorces are messy, but with Britain’s efforts to part ways with the EU, we can also conclude that divorce between countries is no different. We have all gone through the reasons why a majority of Britons chose “Brexit” – chief among them being their gripe that decisions on their “way of life” were being made by faceless bureaucrats in Brussels.

But actually, nativist fears of being swamped by Eastern Europeans, who could enter Britain freely as citizens of the EU, was more critical. As a member of the EU, Britain could not simply ban those immigrants as they did with “blacks and coloureds” in the 1960s, when similar fears were raised.

But if the majority of Britishers want to exit the EU, what is preventing them from so doing? Fundamentally, the British want to have their cake (leave the EU) and eat it too -- not having a “hard” border between Ireland, which is part of the EU, and Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain. This issue has been dubbed “the backstop” for Northern Ireland: having an open border between an EU member country (Ireland) and a British county (Northern Ireland) and not have all of Britain be subject to EU regulations. Which was the raison d’etre for leaving the EU in the first place.

One may ask why not accept the “hard” border between Northern Ireland and Ireland by unilaterally departing? And the answer to this conundrum is this is unacceptable to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland, which provide the crucial support for Theresa May’s Conservative Party to continue in Government. The DUP want to continue with their open border with the rest of Ireland. The issue then boils down to pragmatic politics.

While most Conservatives are Brexiteers, there are growing doubts in their ranks about their party leader, May, renegotiating a deal with the EU in time for their January 21 vote for the March 29 Brexit. As it is presently, the deal on the table, from which the EU will not budge, is for the Irish border to remain soft, and be amended solely at the EU’s discretion. But that would result in checks being introduced between the UK and Northern Ireland, and it is feared this may lead to a recurrence of the Irish “troubles” with an effective border in the middle of the Irish Sea. But what is the takeaway for us from the saga unfolding in the “Mother of Parliaments”? One is an object lesson with the PPPC’s no-confidence motion coming up for debate this coming Friday, Dec 22. In Britain, the members of the PM’s own Conservative party moved a motion of no-confidence against her to signal their disapproval of her handling of the negotiations with the EU. While May won the vote 200 to 117, the exercise demonstrated that in the Parliamentary System of government we practise, members of the Government can act on their principles and vote their consciences.

And this is the issue on the table come Dec 22 in our National Assembly. The PPPC will deliver their arguments as to why the PNC-led coalition Government’s handling of the affairs of the Guyanese state has demonstrated that they are unfit to continue in office. But even more importantly, the just concluded Local Government Elections (LGE) allowed the people of Guyana to signal their opinion about the Government’s capabilities. The PPP won 61 per cent of the popular votes, while the PNC was able to scrape together 34 per cent and the AFC 4 per cent.

While it is true there was a low turnout, the major parties participated in their own name, and the LGE can be seen as a poll on the performance of the PNC. On December 22, it is hoped, all the members of the National Assembly – including Government MPs -- will listen to the voice of their people and vote accordingly.

The conventions of parliamentary democracy demand no less.

Miss Philippines Catroina Gray was on Sunday evening crowned Miss Universe 2018 at Impact, Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand

Turkish FM: EU countries turning blind eye to Khashoggi murder

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any European countries are ignoring the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and “closing their eyes” to freedom of the press, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

Commenting on Khashoggi’s killing at the Doha Forum, Cavusoglu said while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was adamant that the investigation reach a conclusion, European leaders were turning a blind eye.

“President Erdogan has been so determined from the beginning to go to the end of this case, and to reach the outcome of the investigation,” he said. “Many European countries who are promoting freedom of media, freedom of expression, are closing their eyes.”

He also said CIA Director Gina Haspel had visited Ankara and it was now up to the United Staes and the European Union to take further action.

“They have also listened to the voice records ... now it is up to them. I am sure they have more information. They have all the intelligence, they have all the details,” Cavusoglu said.

UN investigation

At the conference in Doha, UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a “credible” probe into the murder of Khashoggi, who was killed in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

“It is absolutely essential to have a credible investigation and to have the punishment of those that

calls growing louder for the need for a UN-led investigation that could put pressure on Saudi Arabia.”

Working with Syria

Jamal Khashoggi

were guilty,” Guterres said.

Cavusoglu said Turkey has shared all information it obtained on the murder of Khashoggi but Saudi Arabia failed to reciprocate.

“We shared all information with them … but so far we haven’t been provided any information from the ongoing investigation in Saudi Arabia,” Cavusoglu said at the forum.

Mentioning voice recordings, he said: “You can see very clearly that they planned in advance to kill him.”

Erdogan said on Friday the perpetrators of Khashoggi’s murder were “well known”, and that audio recordings of the killing show that people close to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) were involved.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Istanbul, said there is a growing frustration in Turkey that European countries and the US haven’t taken any action to pressure Saudi Arabia to cooperate.

“The feeling here is that

Saudi Arabia has been dragging its feet, refusing to cooperate, even answering on where Khashoggi’s body is,” Khodr said, adding Erdogan had changed his rhetoric over time.

Khodr noted in the first few weeks Erdogan avoided mentioning Prince Mohammed by name.

However, at the G20 summit held in Argentina from November 30, Erdogan criticised MBS’s explanation of Khashoggi’s killing and in recent days repeatedly said the suspects in the murder case were his closest aides.

“The feeling here is that Turkey cannot go alone. It needs the help of the international community to put pressure on Saudi Arabia, but at the same time it has to make sure not to hurt the relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Khodr said.

“Turkey repeatedly said that this is about a crime; this is not about the relationship with Saudi Arabia. But if Turkey insists on pushing this further, that relationship could be damaged. There are

Cavusoglu also spoke about Syria, saying Turkey would consider working with Syrian President Bashar al-Assadif he won a democratic election.

Assad, whose family has ruled for nearly five decades, managed to stay in power thanks to massive Iranian and Russian military support, but large parts of Syria remain outside his reach, including regions in the north, which are under Turkish control, and in the east, which is governed by a US-backed Kurdish-led coalition.

Cavusoglu said he believed Trump was considering a policy of leaving Syria.

Outgoing UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Sunday said peace in the war-wracked country could be won through a post-war “inclusive constitution”.

De Mistura is trying to set up a UN-backed constitutional committee for Syria that would include 50 members chosen by Damascus, 50 by the opposition and 50 by the United Nations, before stepping down later this month.

“One can win territorially in conflict, especially if one has strong military support from friends, but the issue is can you win peace,” he told the international conference in Doha.

“We are getting into that phase,” which includes reconstruction, rehabilitation and the return of refugees, de Mistura said. (Aljazeera)

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mondAY, december 17, 2018

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APNU/AFC Budget 2019 failed to address the depressed communities Dear Editor, The Theme of the 2019 Budget 'Transforming the Economy, Empowering People, Building Sustainable Communities for a Good Life', could have been considered impressive if those objectives outlined could be achieved throughout the length and breadth of this shattered nation after almost four years of mismanagement and incompetence by APNU/AFC coalition Government.

This APNU/AFC Government has elevated incompetence to the highest possible level where "incompetence" is being worshipped by the President, Prime Minister, Ministers of Government, APNU/AFC Members of Parliament and whenever and wherever they give speeches they attempt to glorify the perceived "good life".

The leader of the opposition Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and Opposition Members of Parliament highlighted the inefficiencies, deficiencies, corruption and mismanagement that existed in the 2019 Budget.

The Budget presentation by the Opposition Leader

Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has expanded the cracks to now huge holes in the failed APNU/AFC Government.

Berbice (Region six) can be considered the most affected region in the entire country, since the targeted demolition of the two sugar estates (Rose Hall and Skeldon Estate) left its 5000 workers on the bread line.

The people of Region six were hoping that this 300.7 billion dollars 2019 Budget would have at least initiated the revitalisation of the sugar industries, subsidised the water or electricity, or even created investments that would assist in absorbing the thousands of laid off workers in Region six.

The sugar workers’ situation is worsened with each passing day, for example a few days ago sugar workers (Rose Hall Estate) of Canefield East Canje; their water supply was disconnected by GWI for a meager $3000 and would need $7000 to be reconnected, with increasing pressure, it can be considered "criminal" by this APNU/AFC coalition Government.

The Central Government continues to trample re-

Guyana’s political culture is not evolving fast enough Dear Editor, What we are dealing with here is a political culture that has been developed over 50 years of the PPP and PNC fighting each other. Both sides believe that they are right and only they have the solutions to Guyana's problems.

Some would advocate that we need to rid ourselves of both the PPP and PNC to move forward, which is wishful thinking.

People in society are not listening to what is being said; they are just listening to what their side says without trying to understand the point-of-views being expressed by others.

You need to get the PPP and PNC to reconcile their differences and work for the betterment of all Guyanese.

The alternative is a permanent divorce.

Until someone comes along who can make a greater impact on the political scene by eroding both the PPP and PNC support base then Guyanese are in for more of the same.

What about the AFC? Well, the AFC was formed

with the intention of breaking away from the past, to fight the racial politics. But its strategy morphed into fighting to get into power.

It sided with the PNC to get power only to now find itself powerless.

What needs to change?

Clearly something needs to change so that every Guyanese can feel included regardless of who is in power. What needs to be changed is that the PPP and PNC needs to publicly acknowledge that they do not singularly have the solutions to all of Guyana’s problems. And, that they need the other side’s real input.

This is not a proposition for shared governance, as the PPP and PNC still need to demonstrate that they can work together for the national good. Those who propose shared governance may get it only on paper.

Consensus politics is about working together, building trust, mutual understanding and mutual respect.

Yours Faithfully, Sean Ori

gional authorities in executing projects in the region because of the fear of the region exposing their corruption.

Millions are being spent for the installation and maintenance of street lights in region six, but unfortunately, as soon as you cross the Berbice bridge a road block welcomes you by the Public Security Minister and the Guyana Police Force, but only three of the fifteen street lights are working and as such you cannot even see the police or the road barriers during the night. What is even worse, is the Canje Bridge only having five of twenty lights in working order, the nurses from New Amsterdam Public Hospital use this bridge almost every night.

Unfortunately the various Ministers blame the regional authorities for their deficiencies.

This APNU/AFC coalition Government is trying to build a first world country on a donkey cart economy. Ross Perot said "The Budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, the public debt should be reduced and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled".

Regards, Zamal Hussain

Harsh social and economic conditions (Pt 2) Dear Editor, In the Finance Minister’s 2016 Budget speech he admitted to “acts of dishonesty and duplicity, mismanagement of resources, opaqueness of transactions and a disregard for basic internal controls, among others… absence or non-existence of functioning Internal Audit Departments.

The Audits identified many instances where the laws governing the entities and their operations were violated with impunity, in particular the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act and the Procurement Act”.

Unfortunately, this horrendously sad state of affairs has permeated and eaten at each and every stratum of Government agencies and departments. It now appears as though there is a ‘license to steal’! The Auditor General’s Report 2017 has confirmed this and yet in the 2019 Budget Speech there is no material plan to ensure that the $300.7 billion will result in value for money for the masses which will now have to bear a huge tax burden of $199.5 billion, an increase of $28.3 billion more than 2017, an average increase of 23 per cent in withholding, excise, income and value-added taxes!

It is now conclusive that Budget 2019 will not address the hordes of instances of mismanagement, allegedly fraudulent

and corrupt transactions highlighted in the Auditor General’s Report as the national budgets continue to haemorrhage uncontrollably due to the lack of transparency and accountability.

This Coalition Government wants us to believe that corruption no longer exists!

In conclusion, Minister Jordan himself gave a vivid account of Guyanese expectations in his 2019 Budget speech. He stated that when “one contemplates the transformation of Guyana's economy, one conjures up many images of our future. At a minimum, one thinks of every family being able to afford a healthy lifestyle, with all the basic needs of sustenance, shelter and education being met,

and all this being achieved within sustainable communities, where environmental responsibility and personal safety are paramount.

Together, these images combine to create a desirable collage, and that is just the beginning”. However, he failed to deliver this ‘desirable collage’ not only through his poor budgetary allocations but by his willful neglect to adequately address the deficiencies in the internal auditing and control systems to ensure that Guyanese can have value for money! The transparency and accountability mantra is now dead!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf RDC Councillor Region Six

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mondAY, december 17, 2018

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By James Lehman, MSW

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s parents, it’s easy to focus on the children and lose sight of ourselves and our needs as adults at this time of year.

So, when we look at how to manage family and behaviour problems during the holidays, we need to look at the effect the season has on us and on our children.

Perhaps the biggest problem we face as adults during the holidays is the increase in stress. We are often overwhelmed by the amount of work we need to get done on the job and the amount of pressure we feel due to social obligations at this time of year. Add in the stress of gift buying (especially in divorced and blended families) and we feel a tremendous emotional fatigue – which means we have fewer emotional resources with which to manage our children. An adult who is emotionally fatigued and anxious is less able to be there for their children emotionally.

Parents have to keep in mind that their resources – both emotional and financial – are under a lot of stress at this time of year. Many emotional demands are placed upon you, and there’s very little outlet to talk about your stress as a parent because everyone’s acting so “happy.” Parents can often confuse excitement with happiness. The holidays are an exciting time. But they’re not happy times for many

Foundation

people. The truth is, the holidays are a lot of work–primarily done by parents. We tend to feel our economic deficits more critically at this time. When you feel like you can’t afford to get your child the next cool, hip thing, you feel like you’re not taking care of your family.

It’s important to realize that if your child’s behaviour seems more trying during these times, it’s very likely because that behaviour is being magnified by your increasing emotional fatigue and decreasing emotional availability. Part of how you should manage children with behavioural issues through the holidays is to keep in mind that these children will need more emotional resources from you, not less. So, in the frenzy that is the holidays, parents need to realize what’s really important and plan and organise their lives so that they have the emotional resources available for their children.

Let’s look at how the holidays affect children. It’s important to note that there is a subset of children who actually do better over the holidays because the demands to function are not placed on them. For instance, there’s no homework to do, so Johnny acts better around the house. There are no school behaviour problems to trigger frustration, so he’s more cooperative. So, unfortunately, it’s not that a miracle has occurred with

your child’s behaviour over holiday break. It’s the result of having fewer behavioural triggers. But it does show you that your child has the ability to behave appropriately. You can look at it as a strength that he does indeed possess.

For most other children with behavioural issues,

tween parents and children.

I mean more planning by parents on the part of children. Give more thought to preparations even for simple things like shopping.

Parents should work out a schedule where one of them is shopping while the other is watching the children.

While the idea of taking the

“It’s important to realize that if your child’s behaviour seems more trying during the holidays, it’s very likely because that behaviour is being magnified by your increasing emotional fatigue and decreasing emotional availability.” idea. Decrease the stress on yourself and keep the children at home. It’s helpful for both parents to stay at home for the very stressful parts of the day, such as after work and dinner time. So instead of one parent going home after work and the other parent going shopping, they both go home after work and then one parent goes shopping after dinner. Dinner and getting homework started are stressful times of the day, and, truthfully, the most important times of the

the higher levels of excitement or anxiety in the home at this time of year can lead to lower impulse control.

Children have less structure to contain their excitement and emotions. This creates two things. One is that you will see your child acting out more. Two is that the meltdowns you see will be more frequent and more intense.

What you can do now to make the holidays easier for everyone

Children need more limits, not fewer limits at this time of year.

By increased limits, I don’t mean more fights be-

children along to shop for dad may sound fun, it may not be. If you want to take Sarah along with you to shop for her brother, think twice. Depending on the age and temperament of your child, it may not be a good

day, regardless of the holiday.

Don’t let your children be aimless. Find ways for them to occupy themselves.

Don’t forget, if children are on vacation, they have less structure in their day. They’re going to get into more trouble and conflict because the opportunity is there for them to do it. Parents have to plan for that, and plan ways to manage that time. Plan outings for the week with your children. Plan tournaments. If you have a couple of children in your house, plan a holiday Monopoly or Yahtzee tournament that lasts a couple of days or even a week.

Perhaps two tournaments in a week. If you have a big family, borrow a couple of board games from your neighbours. Have a tournament where children are involved in creating the number of games, the times and the prizes. This is a good idea for any time with your children, but especially during holiday break.

Get your children involved with baking and wrapping up cookies to take to a homeless shelter. Schedule it as a project. What items you’ll need

to make the cookies. When you’ll do the shopping. Who will bake and who will pack the boxes. Then deliver them together. If you’ve never done this with your children, try it this year. It’s really inspiring for children. I know. I did it with my son.

Communicate with your spouse – in private – about things that bother you. It’s very important for parents in intact families to communicate with each other and share frustrations privately at this time when your home becomes very public. Make an extra effort to talk together about problems at work or with the children and resolve them privately, issue by issue, out of range of curious children and well-meaning relatives who don’t know what’s happening in your home day to day.

New rule: no complaining about the inlaws from December 15 to January 3. I always suggest this to parents. Make a pact with your spouse that neither of you will complain about your in-laws from December 15 to January 3.

Keep a journal instead and write in it. If you can’t stand your mother-in-law, don’t complain to your spouse about it, especially in front of the children. Write in the journal, and keep it to yourself. It’s not a good time to share these thoughts with your spouse.

Use some basic Maths: work out your gift buying budget beforehand and stick to it. Don’t play deep pockets. You’ll end up with a spouse who resents you and children who feel falsely entitled. If you are in a two-parent household, determine how much you’re going to spend together on the children and stick to it.

If you’re a single parent, do the same thing. If parents can’t agree on gifts, they should take turns. You buy Michael’s gifts; I’ll buy Sarah’s gifts.

And then LET GO. I put that in capital letters for a reason. Many parents have a tendency never to let go.

They keep buying to bring happiness to the family or to meet the children’ demands.

LET GO. Buy what you can afford and nothing more.

(empoweringparents.com)

TO BE CONTINUED

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Govt to establish tobacco Authorities seek settlements over courts – analyst council in 2019 …says negotiation more effective in

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erious steps will be taken to prosecute individuals and businesses that do not adhere to the laws related to the Tobacco Control Bill which sets out tough fines for violators.

Health Minister Volda Lawrence has announced that the Government is currently fine-tuning the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the establishment of a tobacco council in Guyana.

The Minister said the document is still being crafted but is expected to be presented to Cabinet for approval before the end of this year. The council could be established as soon as January 2019.

Lawrence confirmed that no one has been charged since the bill became law in July 2017. However, the Ministry has started a campaign aimed at educating persons on the legislation.

Once the Ministry’s public awareness campaign comes to an end, a timeframe will be set in which to begin to institute penalties for the legislation through the council.

The Bill provides for the adoption and implementation of tobacco-control policies in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

T h e legislation serves as the legal regulator for administration, inspection and enforcement, while providing legislative protection from exposure to second-hand smoke by eliminating public smoking.

The new law bans smoking at all indoor workplaces and certain outdoor places, such as in any waiting area or queue in a public place, including but not limited to, any public transport stop, bus stand or bus park. It also clampdowns on advertising campaigns launched by any tobacco company.

Penalties in the form of fines and prison sentences for certain transgressions are also included.

These range from a fine of $200,000 for persons who breach the new regulations, along with six months imprisonment, to fines for business entities of up to $9 million.

recovering State assets

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Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

Former Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy under whose leadership the first draft of this Bill was created has said that tobacco is the world’s greatest extra-judicial killer. The United Nations (UN) has agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a better world by 2030.

With the SDGs, there is specific recognition of the importance of the NCDs, Dr Ramsammy said, while noting that there is also recognition that tobacco is a killer a n d glob-

ally, there is need for collective action to reduce and eliminate the negative impacts of tobacco.

“Now that the SDG has embraced the goals of the FCTC, it is time we are more robust in our action to stop big tobacco. In this regards, we must strictly enforce our agreements in the FCTC to increase taxes on tobacco.

Research has shown clearly that increased taxes do reduce tobacco use,” he added.

Increased challenges

Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) Representative, Dr William Adu-Krow has said 80 per cent of premature deaths from tobacco occur in low or middle-income countries, like Guyana, which face increased challenges

to achieving their development goals.

Dr Adu-Krow said in 2017, 15.4 per cent of the adult population were smokers of tobacco, with 26.6 per cent of the total smokers being men and 3.3 per cent being women in Guyana.

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey that was conducted here in 2015 among youths between the ages of 13 and 15 found that 14.8 per cent of students – 19 per cent boys and 10.4 p e r cent of girls – are users of tobacco products.

Dr AduKrow has also stated that tobacco use is a threat to individuals, regardless of their gender, age and ethnicity and even their cultural or educational background.

One in 10 deaths around the world is caused by smoking, according to a major new study that shows the tobacco epidemic is far from over and the threat to lives is spreading across the globe.

There were nearly one billion smokers in 2015, in spite of tobacco control policies having been adopted by many countries. That number is expected to rise as the world’s population expands.

One in every four men is a smoker and one in 20 women. Their lives are likely to be cut short – smoking is the second biggest risk factor for early death and disability after high blood pressure.

Tobacco is responsible for seven million deaths per year worldwide. This includes 900,000 persons who die from diseases related to exposure to tobacco smoke.

If current trends continue, tobacco use will kill 10 million people per year by 2020.

eports suggested that the State Asset Recovery Agency (SARA) has taken steps to recover assets through negotiation. According to one political analyst, this is something that should have been done a long time ago.

In an interview with Guyana Times, Political Analyst and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Henry Jeffrey noted that this is something done around the world when countries try to recover state assets.

He noted that investigators may have put the proverbial cart before the horse by arresting persons and approaching the courts without putting effort into negotiation and reaching a settlement.

The political analyst pointed to the benefits of going to persons with a figure and negotiating payments to recover the value of the asset, versus going to the courts and possibly getting nothing. “(Only) when the people say no, they’re not paying. But that was political grandstanding. Now they gone back to the very thing they should have done in the first (place). Why you (have to) carry people in front of station, drag them here, drag them there, for something you have now gone back to the very same thing you should have done.”

Dr Jeffrey noted that such prosecutions can take years in order to build credible cases. He noted that many countries go the route of reaching out of court settlements, in a way that ensures the state is still reimbursed.

“There are examples and precedents all around the world, showing it takes years.

Plus you have to get the best people…

(SARA) is there to try to get back the nation’s funds. Well that’s what they should do in the first place.”

“That should have been the first move, instead of dragging people around and in the end, return to the same (approach) to tell them to pay. Now if they don’t want pay that’s a different matter. But it was political grandstanding.”

SARA Director Professor Clive Thomas was quoted saying in sections of the media on Sunday that some persons who were sold land at the Pradoville Two Housing Scheme had chosen to settle with the agency.

Political Analyst, Dr Henry Jeffrey

He had noted that the State Assets Recovery Bill provides for them to negotiate settlements. In addition, Jeffrey revealed that the Police Legal Advisor, retired Justice Claudette Singh had recommended this approach.

Recently, audit firm Ram and McRae called for SARA to be scrapped altogether, in its ‘budget focus’ published review of budget 2019. The firm had listed some qualms with SARA, including the agency’s failure to have its annual plan and Code of Practise tabled in the National Assembly.

Pointing out that the $285 million the agency is set to receive in 2019 is an increase from last year’s amount, Ram and McRae was critical of this lapse. Also, the firm had been of the view that SARA has failed to live up to its expectations of recovering assets.

SARA Deputy Director Aubrey HeathRetmeyer has previously defended his agency’s performance by noting that 2018 will make the agency’s first full budgetary year.

He had said the agency is still in its infancy stages.

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

E Division beefs up security for Christmas season

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olice in E Division (Linden-Kwakwani) have assured residents and visitors that security has been beefed up leading up to the festive season.

The Division recently rolled out its Christmas Policing Plan with the aim of minimising criminal activities, reducing traffic congestion and road accidents and providing a safe and secure environment for citizens, visitors, businesses and shoppers.

Through the policing presentation, conducted

by Divisional Commander Linden Lord, it was noted that the Division was divided into three sectors.

These sectors are commanded by Sector Commanders, in the areas of Amelia's Ward (Sector one), Mackenzie (Sector two) and Wismar (Sector three). As is customary, Police checkpoints are established at key

E Division Commander, Linden Lord

areas including Bamia, Tri Junction and Mabura.

It was also noted that there will be an increase in Anti-Crime, traffic, boat, bicycle, motorcycle, ATV mobile and marine patrols, with ‘Traffic Operation Safeway’ in full effect.

Additionally, residents

and visitors can expect roadblock exercises and searches. The Division will also be conducting profiling of "known characters".

There will be monitoring of post offices during payout of Old Age Pension, as well as key and vulnerable points such as businesses, commercial banks and other financial institutions.

It was also noted that there will be the deployment of Community Policing Groups (CPG) and Neighbourhood Police in various communities alongside uniformed ranks.

The CID patrol is expected to be operating out of Mackenzie and networking with the headquarters at A, B and F policing divisions.

Areas of focus at Mackenzie include the Linden Highway, Mackenzie and Wismar Market Squares, Retrieve, Republic Avenue, Coop Crescent,

Greenheart Street, as well as Pine Street and others.

According to the Division, foot and bicycle patrols will be conducted between 07:00h and 13:00h and from 12:00h to 19:00h daily with motor cycle and vehicle patrols conducted on a 24hour basis.

Foot patrol timings will be adjusted to accommodate late shopping between December 22 and 24 and then again between December 29 and 31.

Marine patrols will also be conducted in the Demerara River between Kairuni and Coomacka Mines.

Security at the Christmas Eve night late shopping and social gathering at Republic Avenue and Burnham Drive will also be facilitated from 18:00h to 02:00h the following morning, the Division has noted.

Data operations student tops YEST Programme in Region 6

Valedictorian Shanera Rudder during her speech

Youth Director Melissa Carmichael-Haynes addressing the graduates

ifty-one students in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), who have successfully completed the Youth Entrepreneurial Training Programme (YEST), were empowered to make a difference in their communities and to use their new skills as an avenue to achieve a productive life.

During the Vrymens Erven Training Centre’s (VETC) 15th graduation ceremony at the Guyana

sonal and national development.

Youth Director Melissa Carmichael-Haynes told the graduates “…you have skills and ability that you can utilise to not only develop yourself but also develop your respective communities. You will be faced with many challenges and hurdles, but if you believe in yourself and have a purpose in your heart to achieve the goals that you have set for your life, then, those goals will be achieved.”

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Teacher’s Union Hall in New Amsterdam, the graduates received certificates in data operations, general cosmetology, food preparation and home repairs.

Sponsored by the Education Ministry’s Department of Culture, Youth and Sport, the YEST Programme provides technical, vocational, entrepreneurial and life skills training to youths between the ages of 16-25, in a disciplined environment for per-

Carmichael-Haynes also encouraged them to work diligently to make a change in their country and endeavour to be the best in the business world.

Data Operations student, Shanera Rudder, who emerged as valedictorian, told her colleagues that as they celebrate “more than a decade of learning, we should feel proud that we did not give up. On this occasion, we are surrounded by all the persons who made it possible for us. These people played a major role in our lives and for that, we owe them our gratitude.”

Acting Administrator of the VETC, Cleveland Rose, highlighted that in the institution’s projections there will be further facilitation of the recruitment and training of 200 youths in all disciplines, with more staff training sessions being conducted. Additionally, there will be an expansion of the training facility to a standard conducive to learning.

To date, the Vrymens Erven Training Centre (VETC) has successfully qualified 467 youths across the Ancient County and will commence training for the 16th batch on January 7, 2019.

Looking back…

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…at Gajraj

ews of the passing of former Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj came as a surprise to most. He was comparatively young – just 65 – when fellas decades older than he was are being appointed to high level Government positions. To most, the GDF officer who became a lawyer will be remembered for his service to the nation during what PNC-leader David Granger has referred to as “the troubles”.

Starting in 2002, this was the frontal attack on the Guyanese state by a band of gunmen holed up in the village of Buxton – which became a “state within the state”. The more than half of Guyana’s population below 26 years old mightn’t remember what those dark days were all about. The gang – with its core of 5 prisoners who’d shot their way out of Camp Street Prison – began by targeting Policemen.

Pretty soon, cops were falling like ninepins, and in the next two years, more policemen were killed than in the entire 100+ year history of the Police Force. But the gunmen didn’t stop there, they announced on TV they were “African Freedom Fighters”. They became terrorists – those who unleash violence on civilians to bring pressure on governments -- when they turned their (gun) sights on innocent Indo-Guyanese in the villages surrounding Buxton.

Dozens of the latter were killed with no mercy shown.

One more egregious instance was when a wheelchairbound man mourning the death of his wife at her wake was doused with gasoline by the “Freedom Fighters” and set alight. The question that you may be asking, dear (young) reader, is: “What were the law enforcement personnel doing when all this mayhem was being committed?”

Especially on their own ranks – Policemen!

And the answer, sadly, is that they were making much noise, but taking very little effective action. For instance, GDF soldiers stationed in Buxton refused to pursue the gang when crimes were being committed in full sight.

Their answer was “not our job, man!” They insisted, when “joint operations” were being conducted (with the Police), that only the latter could make actual arrests.

It was at this time, when the very foundations of the state were being shaken, that several squads of gunmen were organised to take on these terrorists. One of these was dubbed the “Phantom Squad” by Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon, and it was alleged that Minister Gajraj was coordinating their activities. A Commission of Inquiry (CoI) set up by President Jagdeo to investigate these allegations found no such link.

Gajraj was subsequently made Ambassador to India, and later to Bangladesh. His passing will stir up a lot of memories.

And to many who were targets of the gunmen, he will be remembered as a hero.

…at Linden boosts

The promise of the Chairman of the PNC to take care of friends and members of the party is proceeding full pace in Linden. The Chronic ran two stories yesterday that Chronicled their latest efforts – “300 jobs for Lindeners” and “More funds for LEN” – Linden Enterprise Network.

The 300 jobs will be facilitated by spending $60 million to repair the former Guyana Stores building to house a call centre. More than that amount had already been spent to no effect. LEN, which is a $160 million fund to offer loans to prospective businesses, was also bumped to $218 million. Jordan, however, revealed that “house loans” would now be given from LEN. LEN was reinstated immediately in 2015 by the new PNC Government, and succeeded the Linden Economic Advancement Fund (LEAF) which had succeeded the Linden Economic Advancement Programme (LEAP) – both of which had doled out BILLIONS to Lindeners to stimulate businesses and create jobs. To no effect.

So the Government keep throwing money at the problem, because they want to show they are “doing something” for “the boys”.

…at Masqueraders

Christmas is around the corner. How’d we know?

Well, you can’t drive down any of the major streets of Georgetown or the HIGHWAYS without having to come to a stop by Masqueraders demanding payment!

It’s we culture!!

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Women and Gender Equality Commission

Commission calls for establishment of Human Rights Commission – urges mandatory paternity leave; specialised training for Judiciary, Police

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he Women and Gender Equality commission has recommended, among other things, the implementation of paternal leave in the public and private sectors and the establishment of the Human Rights Commission; the absence of which has affected its work.

This is contained in the commission’s seventh annual report, covering the years 2017-2018 which was recently presented to the National Assembly. The commission had visited a number of locations and consulted with various local and international organisations in the months preceding this report.

“The commission is still constrained by the non-functioning of the Human Rights Commission, which has a number of specific mandates as is outlined under article 212 G of the constitution of Guyana,” the commission noted in its report.

The commission urged that the Human Rights Commission be established

with the appointment of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer. A total of 18 other recommendations, including the introduction of paternity leave into the law, were made.

In fact, the commission wants this to be included in contracts of employment and also in collective bargaining agreements. It also urged that work places be required to provide facilities for child care.

Recommendations were also made for legislative and judicial changes. The commission urged that on-going specialised training be given on the Sexual Offences Act and the Domestic Violence Act, specially catered for judges, magistrates, police officers and others involved in the criminal justice system.

According to the commission, a sexual harassment policy and a harmonised code of law on women’s rights should also be implemented. In the case of the latter, the commission recommended that the code be harmonised with interna-

tional laws and best practise.

“The code should be harmonised with international law obligations and with other national laws to ensure that there are no gaps in the protection afforded to women. The code should be written in simple accessible language as far as is possible.”

“Conduct training workshops and provide women with information on their legal remedies including redress for criminal offences and remedies against discrimination. Guyana should improve access to justice for rural women by having mobile courts,” the commission also urged, adding that this suggestion was made by now acting Chief Justice Roxane George.

The commission also advised that Government investigate and report on conditions for women prisoners.

It noted the importance of cross-checking such conditions with the standards set in the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-

are also recommendations for increasing child support.

Lack of will

The Commission’s Chairperson, Opposition MP Indranie Chandarpal

custodial measures For Women Offenders.

It was also advised that Articles 149 (6), 152 and 154 (6) of the Constitution of Guyana be repealed.

According to the commission, these respective articles provide loopholes for discrimination against women and the denial of fundamental rights. There

At a press conference last year, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn, had stated that there is an obvious lack of will in the fight against gender inequality amongst the Guyanese population.

According to previous World Bank statistics on international levels of employment, the ratio of female to male labour force participation in 2013 showed that women globally are less likely than men to participate in the labour market, that is, less likely to be employed or actively looking for work.

The World Bank explained that “female participation in employment is high and the gender gap low in many low-income countries where women are engaged in unpaid subsistence agriculture, although they are less involved in paid activities outside the household.

Women also tend to be active in high-income countries, where over two-thirds of the female adult population participate in the labour market and the gender gap in labour force participation rates is less than 15 per cent on average.”

The study had placed Guyana at the 154th spot, which showed the country’s ratio increasing from 48.2 per cent in 2003 to 52.9 per cent in 2013. It was noted that while the figure is still lower than the average of 68.4 per cent for Latin American and Caribbean (developed) countries, it shows that Guyana is moving in the right direction.

The Commission is chaired by Indranie Chandarpal of the Women’s Progressive Organisation.

The Deputy Chairperson is Cheryl Sampson from the National Congress of Women. The other Commissioners are drawn from the labour unions, regional women’s affairs committees, culture and ethnic groups and the Private Sector.

Poor condition of road at Vive la Force affecting farmers, residents – complain of high taxi prices, overwhelming bushes

Potholes are reappearing along several sections of the road network

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esidents of lower West Bank Demerara (WBD) community of Vive la Force have vented their frustrations over the less than desirable road infrastructure they have to contend with, which causes them much discomfort and also affects the livelihood of many farmers in the area.

On Sunday, Guyana Times visited the village which lies up the Demerara River.

Cash crop farmer Abel Charles noted that the deplorable road conditions extend all the way into villages beyond Vive la Force.

He indicated that this situation makes it more difficult for his fellow farmers to transport their produce from the village to market sellers in the Wales area and elsewhere. Having noted that the road conditions cause more expense, he revealed that many producers are forced to utlise

alternative modes of transport to get their goods out of the back dams.

“We need the road to bring out our goods; it is very costly. We have to use the river and it is very dangerous so we are asking those in authority if they could assist us because our roads have many holes,” the WBD farmer stressed.

Currently, there is what appears to be an all-weather road in place which has been graded down.

However, the farmer explained that because of the absence of a pitched structure, the roads worsen in the current raining weather patterns as the potholes begin to appear.

“When the rain falls heavily, we can’t use out tractors; we have to fetch our goods for miles. With the closure of Wales Estate, it affects business but people could still survive but we asking Government also; they need jobs,” the

cash crop farmer outlined, adding that the dams in the area need grading.

Car drivers are also complaining about the roads too, with one of them telling Guyana Times that it forces them to increase fares due to wear and tear.

It was explained that with the current rains, there is buildup of sand at the bottom of the vehicles which cause damage.

“This road really need some attention so that we can be able to reach in and out a little more faster because when you can take three minutes to meet outside, you taking about 25 minutes,” Shafiq Samsudai observed.

Several mothers explained that the situation is most dire when school is in session and some children have to leave home after 06:00h to arrive in time for opening bell at 08:00h.

Mother of five, Sharda Narine said with the end

of sugar operations, many cannot readily afford fares for taxi and would have to walk for miles to schools at Patentia; the village where public transportation officially terminates on the West Bank.

“We really think the road need to do; the children going out to school.

When the van coming in here to us, we paying more,” she said.

Vive la Force, Vriesland and other communities beyond Patentia are not part of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) system, despite many large

Sharda Narine, a mother of five

Cash crop farmer, Abel Charles

pockets of inhabitants residing in those areas.

Several residents, includ-

ing Narine, said it would be a benefit to their community. (Shemuel Fanfair)

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Fly Jamaica passengers still to receive refunds A passenger who was scheduled to leave Guyana’s shores on December 11, 2018 after booking his flight five months in advance with Fly Jamaica, has expressed frustration at the airline for “dragging its feet” in relation to refunding passengers their monies.

Vikask Ramnarine, who was destined for JFK airport, New York, said that he was only informed of the cancellation of the flight when he made calls to the airline and was told to return eight weeks later for a full refund of his airfare.

“On Thursday and Friday my relatives told me to call just to make sure that the flight is on, since all these things going on with that particular airline, so I did and I was told by the staff that everything is ok and I am schedule to fly on the same day.”

“On Saturday and

Sunday I called back only to be told that the flight has been cancelled, but still no one called to say anything”, Ramnarine related.

Ramnarine noted that he decided to visit the company’s Carmichael Street office to express his dissatisfaction, only to be told by the staff that they “don’t have any arrangements in place” and nothing could be done.

“I understand that the process to refund customers will take time but I expected this period be at least 3 days since this was not our fault and it’s very

unfair that we have to wait 6-8 Weeks for our money to be returned to us. Also taking into consideration the airline held this money since August 2018 and they do not have any service to provide, no instant refund”.

According to him the company owes him a total of US$720 which is equivalent to GYD$144,000.

Recently, a source close

to the Airline had refuted the claims of inconvenienced and frustrated passengers who complain of not being refunded their tickets’ cost.

The representative who spoke with Guyana Times said, “All the flights that were cancelled or (passengers who) were affected are having a total refund.

If you want to cancel from us because you need to book another carrier, I am not sure how they are gonna go about doing that, but they are free to come into the office and have that clarification done with accounting or they can call the local number and have clearer information as to how we are going about that.”

She said that in addition to the local office, Fly Jamaica also has international offices in the United States where queries can be made.

Although the sale of tickets has been put on hold, the source related that operations are expected to resume in January.

Just recently, a disgruntled passenger expressed his frustration in a

letter to this newspaper explaining, “I had purchased a ticket before the incident to travel to Guyana on December 21 and return to Toronto in January 2019.

I contacted Fly Jamaica to find out if my flight would be cancelled and if I could get a refund. They claimed that the flight will not be cancelled, and, therefore, I will not be getting a refund.”

Residents in Masakenari to expect extensive development

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t a community meeting held in the Amerindian Village of Masakenari, in the deep South of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), Permanent Secretary of the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry, Alfred King, revealed the community is about to experience major developments in 2019.

According to King, plans are in place to improve the trail connecting Parabara and Kassaikaytu, as well as to the education and health services within the area.

The Permanent Secretary stated that the upgraded trail will be of great benefit since it would make transporting supplies and travelling easier for residents. Additionally, King explained finance was provided to the Hinterland Entrepreneurial Youths (HEYS) programme in order to continue and expand.

“We will not stop there, we will continue to work through the presidential grants to how best we can improve your livelihood.

In the area of governance, we are working with your

A section of the Masakenari community

Toshao on a village improvement plan to also improve your education and health,” King said, according to Department of Public Information (DPI).

Ministerial Advisor Mervyn Williams along with Deputy Commissioner, Guyana Protected Areas Commission, Denise Fraser who were also present at the

meeting, grasped the opportunity to applaud the community for being the first to become a protected area.

“The trend of waiting to receive instructions is being reversed and this village has led the pace. Therefore, this land is yours and will remain yours, no one will take it from you.”

It was revealed that

the sum of $20 million was provided to extend the Amerindian Hostel at Princes Street, Georgetown to accommodate approximately 200 people who come from the hinterland with medical issues, as well as plans to construct a dormitory facility for the hinterland students who are pursuing tertiary education.

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Tuschen man killed $424.1M allocated for oil in Linden hit-and-run and gas preparations A 2019 Budget plans

– millions set aside for capacity building, vehicles and scholarships

With less than two years to go before first oil, Government has been criticised for the slow pace of preparation

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burning question has been what preparations Government would make for oil and gas in its penultimate budget?

It turns out a total of $333.2 million in capital funds has been allocated by the Government for petroleum and energy management.

The 2019 Budget estimates also detail that current expenditure, which among other things will go towards employment and other recurrent costs, was $90.9 million. Specifically, wages and salaries are expected to cost the Treasury $20.5 million.

According to the budget estimates, however, only three positions are currently filled in the Department of Energy. In addition, the estimates show that all these employees are employed on a contractual basis. $43.3 million is earmarked for ‘other goods and services purchased’. Under this heading, $30.3 million will be spent on security services, while $5 million will be spent on training that includes scholarships. Under a heading named ‘other’, a sum of $12 million is ear-

marked.

Meanwhile, $100 million is earmarked for building expenses; $200 million for institutional support for the oil and gas sector; $28 million for purchasing vehicles and the remainder for the purchase of furniture and equipment.

Preparation for oil

With little over a year to go before first oil, Government has been criticised for the slow pace of preparation. For instance, critical measures like a national oil spill strategy; a constitutional agency to regulate the sector; a national oil company, a local content policy and a Sovereign Wealth Fund are either still in the planning stages or have only been discussed.

This does not include several worrying fiscal indicators, which have caused audit firm Ram and McRae to project reduced earnings from first oil for Guyana if these trends are allowed to continue.

One such trend is the Government’s fiscal deficit, a case where mon-

ies are sourced more from loans than from revenue.

According to the firm in its Budget focus, Guyana risks less money going towards the Natural Resources Fund and more going towards making up for the deficit.

“The danger of deficit financing is that all things being equal, oil revenues for the early years after first oil will simply go to bridging the deficit and little left for investments and savings,” the firm noted.

At a recent event hosted by the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had warned that earnings from oil and gas in the first few years may fall short of the “rosy picture” being painted by the Government.

He had even posited that Government may not even get the chance to use the earnings from oil revenues as they see fit, on account of the debt racked up from domestic borrowing.

Soon after this, however, Minister of State Joseph Harmon was quoted disputing this prognosis.

labourer met his demise in the wee hours of Sunday after he was driven over by a motorcar along the One Mile Public Road, Wismar Linden. Dead is 25-yearold Intiaz Muhammad of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo.

Based on reports received, a hire car bearing registration number HC 8814 driven by Jermaine Jackson of Wisrock Linden was proceeding along the One Mile Public Road when the driver alleged that a vehicle was proceeding in the opposite direction with bright light thus he became blinded.

As such, he claimed that he drove over Muhammad who was lying at the side of the road. He reportedly stopped for a while but drove away.

However, Muhammad was picked up by an ambulance and taken to the Linden Hospital Complex where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Based on Police investigations, the driver was arrested and is being questioned in relation to the accident.

The motor car was impounded as Police continue their investigations. This accident occurred one day after Police Commissioner Leslie James warns drivers

Police Commissioner Leslie James

against fleeing from accident scenes.

The Top Cop warned all drivers who are involved in accidents to abstain from driving away from the scene, especially when persons are injured.

He made that statement on Friday after observing that, despite being unharmed, persons are leaving accident scenes to avoid any culpability for their actions.

“We’ve seen persons getting involved in accidents, some fatal, and leaving scenes; and when we investigate, there appears to be no reason for (them) leaving those scenes. There was

no threat to the driver, but they were aware that they did strike a human being, a reasonable person,” James detailed.

While noting that this is a serious offence, he warned that matters of this sort would be seriously addressed, to ensure that persons are prosecuted for such offences.

“If you are involved in an accident, Police stations are spread across our country.

Make a report to the nearest Police station. It’s a stance we’ve taken, and we’ll be addressing this matter seriously,” James warned.

Murder accused “Rasta Bean” nabbed W anted murder accused Deion Evans, also known as “Rasta Bean”, who allegedly shot and killed 24-yearold Xavier Boyal at Puruni Landing on November 12, 2018, was nabbed by the Police on Saturday.

This was confirmed by F Division (Interior locations) Commander Kevin Adonis who stated that the suspect is being questioned in relation to the murder.

He is expected to be transported to Georgetown where he will be arraigned with the capital offence. The now dead pork knocker who hailed from Waramuri Mission, Moruca River, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini) was shot during an altercation.

It was reported that Boyal who was employed by a dredge owner of Supply, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, and was working at Rock Creek, Puruni River.

The Police stated that on the day in question, Boyal left Rock Creek along with one of his co-workers, 20-year-old Orlando Marks, and went to a popular disco at Puruni Landing.

At the location, Marks was engaged in an altercation with an unknown man during which he was punched to his face.

Upon seeing this, Boyal reportedly intervened and pushed the assailant away.

After sometime, Marks and Boyal left the disco and were heading to their mining camp.

Around the same time, a food vendor was starting his car when Deion Evans, also called “Rasta Bean”, joined the vehicle and instructed him to drive.

The driver was ordered to take him to a specific location but on their way, the suspect whipped out a gun from his pants waist and pointed the gun towards the windscreen.

He reportedly discharged a round which struck Boyal who was walking along the side of the road.

The now dead man fell to the ground and it was this time the suspect exited the vehicle and escaped but not before discharging another round. Boyal was reportedly shot trice. A 9mm shell was found on the scene.

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mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

Linden seniors honoured for their service and contributions Government is committed to its senior citizens and value their contributions.

This, she said, is reflected in the progressive increase in old age pensions since 2015.

“I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for the contributions you have made throughout the years, and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.”

Minister Lawrence, in bringing holiday greetings to the seniors, said this Christmas is even more

I

T

Social Cohesion Minster, Dr George Norton assisting on Sunday

Annette Ferguson.

Present also was Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira, Linden Mayor Waneka Arrindell and Regional Chairman Renis Morian.

In brief remarks, Corbin said it is with compassion and humility that the event continues to be hosted as a means of giving back. As he reflected on those who

tion to work with,” she said.

Minister Ronald Bulkan and Minister George Norton also brought greetings of cheer and longevity as they wished the seniors a prosperous 2019. They also thanked the Corbin family for continuing to give back to seniors in this regard.

The seniors then enjoyed a sumptuous threecourse meal, festive music, good laughter and a short cultural programme before heading home with their gifts and hampers.

Copa Airlines, Banks DIH bring Christmas cheer to senior citizens

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence serving the seniors

n honour of their years of service and positive contributions to their town and their nation, scores of Linden senior citizens were feted for the Christmas season by various Ministers of Government.

The grand luncheon and Christmas programme was hosted by former People’s National Congress Reform Leader Robert Corbin, his immediate family and siblings (all of Linden), as a means of giving back, and in memory of their parents.

The annual event, which has been hosted for 20 years, is supported by Ministers of Government.

This year, Social Protection Minister Amna Ally presented hampers to all the seniors.

Bringing greetings of good cheer were Social Protection Minister Amna Ally; Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence; Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan; Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton; and Minister within the Public Infrastructure Ministry,

special, knowing that in the New Year the seniors will be taking home a little more.

“I just want to thank you for the opportunity you have given to me to serve you. It has been a wonderful three years and we all endeavour to have many more years so that we can continue to support each other and build this beautiful country of ours and the reason we can do it is because of you, who ran the race before and you have set us a very firm founda-

have passed on, including his parents, he commended the seniors for caring themselves in order to see another year drawing to a close.

Corbin then asked them to pray for President David Granger, who is recovering from medical treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Minister Amna Ally reaffirmed that this

he partnership between COPA Airlines and beverage giant, Banks DIH ltd, brought Christmas cheer to 250 senior citizens living in the East Coast communities of Ogle, Cummings Lodge and Industry.

The two companies donated 21 cases of 24-oz ginger beer to the OgleIndustry-Cummings Lodge Senior Citizens Group as a timely and welcome gift for invitees to the Group’s 65th annual social event for less fortunate persons 65 years of age and older.

The companies presented their donation to the Group at a brief handing over ceremony attended by Brand Manager of Non-Alcoholic Malts, Banks DIH, Clayton McKenzie; COPA Airlines staff; and Group representative Marlon McKellar.

COPA Airlines and Banks DIH representatives said they were pleased to give meaningful support to this positive and active Group as they brighten the lives of less fortunate senior citizens during the Christmas season.

While accepting the companies’ donation, McKellar said, “We would like to express our gratitude to your organisation for assisting us in making this 65th event for our anniversary a success. Thank you very much

Representative of the Ogle-Industry-Cummings Lodge Senior Citizens Group Marlon McKellar (second from right), receives a donation of soft drinks from Copa Airlines’ Sales Manager, Nadine Oudkerk (second from left), and a member of her team

for your assistance.”

On behalf of the donors, Copa Airlines’ Sales Manager, Nadine Oudkerk said the company is pleased to support a cause that would benefit the elderly and less fortunate in society.

“Copa Airlines gives back to society in ways that are meaningful. We are pleased to help in whatever way we can to make a difference in the lives of the less

fortunate.

“We are also heartened that the Group has been doing its bit to assist the elderly members of the communities it represents. Keep up the good work and we hope that the senior citizens enjoy what has been planned for them.”

The senior citizens social activity was held at the Cummings Lodge Secondary School on December 16, at noon.

The Sri Satya Sai Baba Organisation of Guyana-Demerara Chapter took Christmas cheer to Essequibo on Sunday, where residents were treated to a rich cultural presentation and gift distributing exercise

13 UG Vice Chancellor available to talk with unions news

mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

– 1 week after request made for Labour Dept intervention

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lthough negotiations among the University of Guyana administration, the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) have stalled, Vice Chancellor of the University. Professor Ivelaw Griffith says he is now available to meet with all parties.

His decision comes just one week after both unions had announced that they have now requested the immediate and direct intervention of the Government, through the Department of

Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith

Labour, following failed attempts to have their concerns regarding salary in-

creases heard at the level of the governing Council of the UG administration.

The Vice Chancellor said recently that although the argument is that the UG administration is trying to impose a salary increases on the workers, he claimed it was untrue. However, the Unions claimed that a delay tactic was being used to force the staff into accepting the imposed three and four per cent salary increases for 2018.

But the UG principal told sections of the media that that percentage could be increased although he could

From left: UGWU Executive Khemraj Narine; UGWU President Bruce Haynes; and UGSSA Chairperson, Dr Jewel Thomas during a press conference held in November

not make a promise to increase wages to eight or nine per cent. He said UG can-

Berbice couple take craft to a higher level

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hree years ago, Anthony and Naomi Caesar refused to purchase a birthday gift for their daughter’s first birth anniversary. They instead wanted something unique, which could stand out at the party they had thrown. They wanted all the decorations for the party to be different.

“We were looking around for stuff at various party stores, but all had the same things that everybody else was using; so I decided to make decoration with the materials at (our) disposal,” it was related to this publication.

The couple used brown paper bags and Mickey ears photo frames to design their decorations, thus making them unique. They had then never imagined that their ideas would eventually turn into a business venture.

Today the business is called A N & K Crafts.

Anthony explained that he uses foam boards, foam sheet ,velvet cloth, felt, dry leaves, green sea moss, wire, wood, sand, stones, cardboard, paper, plastic, feathers and other things to create ornaments and indoor decorations. In fact, those are the things that host homes crave at this time of the year.

While much of the materials gathered were from

the bins of stores and from around the community, about sixty per cent of what is needed has to be purchased.

Foam, velvet, green sea moss, decorative stones, paper, plastic craft wood and craft sticks are some of the materials used to make the decorations.

“We might not get the right materials in Guyana, so we might have to improvise or order it from overseas,” Anthony said as he

spoke of some of the difficulties associated with the craft business.

Currently, the couple sell their craft production on the pavement in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

“Some people are amazed with the work, and probably have doubts in their minds when I say that the work was done by the family. My understanding is that most Berbicians move away from craft and prefer the Chinese mass (produced) flower and

home decor. Probably they are cheaper and affordable, but not long lasting; that’s my take,” he declared.

Anthony says that while he is not directly involved in the export of his craft, many of his customers indicate that they are sending the items overseas for family members or friends.

The business of craft which might -- in other parts of the world and to a lesser extent in other parts of the country -- become a flourishing business, does not enjoy the same success in Berbice, he explained.

The young entrepreneur, who is expected to celebrate his fourth wedding anniversary today, says sometimes the situation gets depressing.

“Because people come up and say they (the craft items) are really nice and neat, but those same people do not buy. It sometimes leaves me wondering if (the items are) so great, why you don’t buy something then? I say to myself, ‘It is great, but not to be put in their homes.’

“But then there is that one customer who would come and make you want to continue pressing on,” he revealed.

Persons who wish to purchase décor can check out Anthony Zar’s Facebook page.

not afford it. “We are willing to sit down and talk… I’m available but we are not going to be talking only about salaries,” he said.

According to him, UG has not had a collective bargaining agreement since 1976, and as such, he would like to have that and other issues discussed with the unions.

He reiterated that the discussion must not be centred on wages only but other performance issues facing the University.

Professor Griffith said while salary increases are important, the performance of the university holds the same importance. “I also want to talk about grades and I made it quite clear that no one who has outstanding grades is going to get a salary increase,” he stated.

The unions have said they had attempted to negotiate this year’s salary increases with the University’s administration since January 2018, when they first wrote to the Vice Chancellor to request the start of negotiations. The agenda for the negotiations could not be agreed because the administration refused to let the Unions’ agenda items discussed first.

According to the unions, their number one agenda item was ‘wages and salaries for 2018’. They claim it is disingenuous for the Vice Chancellor to claim “he has been forced to ask for the unilateral increase because he could not get the admin-

US diplomat renews call for Venezuela to respect treaty

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he Essequibo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ECCI) held its annual dinner at the Anna Regina Town Hall on Saturday Evening where US Charge d'Affaires and Ambassador (acting) Terry Steers Gonzalez called on Venezuela to respect the treaty signed in Geneva on February 17, 1966 in resolving the Guyana/Venezuela Border controversy.

In addition, he said with the discovery of oil, Guyana can soon become an oil-rich nation, while reiterating that if the industry is not monitored as it should, it can be a failure.

He warned that politicians should not get involved and the Government should have a Natural Resource Fund, which must be transparent, enviable and nonpartisan and should

US Charge d'Affaires and Ambassador Acting Terry Steers Gonzalez and members of the Essequibo Chambers of Commerce on Saturday evening

be managed by an independent body.

The US Charge d’Affaires noted that there will be an imaginable amount of revenue coming into Guyana and with good financial management, Guyana can become

an oil-rich state and ultimately transform the country.

Meanwhile, ECCI President Suean Seewnarayan also echoed the call for a well-planned and organised oil industry.

Meanwhile, Regional Chairman Devanand Randatt said after a series of meetings with the regional heads of the security forces – Police, Army and fire – he was assured of a peaceful and crime-free holiday sea-

son.

Furthermore, Randatt told the gathering that after meeting with the Guyana Power and Light (GPL), he was also told that there will be a stable flow of electricity during the season.

istration to agree to discuss these matters.”

The UG administration has refused to negotiate wages and salaries with the Unions, as they failed to attend a conciliation meeting which was scheduled by the Department of Labour.

In early November, the unions had refused to sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) put forward by the administration since it includes the non-submission of grades by lecturers as the sole performance issue.

The unions maintained that the Vice Chancellor was attempting to use staff performance as a distraction to “cover up what appears to be the sheer greed of demanding the same percentage salary increase as persons earning far less than those senior members of administration”.

Despite these concerns, well-placed sources at the University have noted that the Union’s demands do not take into account existing allowances that were put in place to incentivise staff. According to one, these allowances include the University’s policy of waiving tuition for eligible staff who studies at the university.

One week ago, the unions issued a joint statement saying, “The University’s administration has made it clear through its actions that it is attempting to force staff into accepting the imposed increase. The University’s staff rejects this attempt, and call on the Department of Labour to intervene before the situation deteriorates further.”

The unions have said the offer to the unions to meet to discuss 2018 negotiations was made on Friday, November 30, 2018. In response to a request for clarification, Professor Griffith made it clear that the administration would have no time to meet with the unions before that date.

According to the unions, the administration has already indicated via a memorandum to staff that they intend to pay the unilaterally imposed increase before the University closes. The University closes on Friday, December 21, 2018, for the Christmas break.

Professor Griffith says he is willing to meet with these unions and the Department of Labour on Wednesday, December 19.

14 news

mondAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

15 Linden families to receive houses under CH&PA housing initiative

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n a matter of weeks, fifteen Lindeners will be owners of their own homes as contractors are performing finishing touches on the housing units that were built by the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

The 15 houses are the first set of 60 two-bedroom flat and elevated houses, located in Phase Three, Amelia’s Ward.

The project is being done in four batches with each group expected to take approximately 120 days to complete.

Contractor Michael Bonds from Michael Bonds Construction which was awarded a contract to complete three of the houses, described the process as “very smooth,” with no hiccups from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA).

“The process was very smooth, even with payments. Our payment was on time and everything was done accordingly and with high expectations,” Bond relayed.

The housing units that will be completed in a matter of weeks in Amelia’s Ward

Other contractors noted that the entire project created a positive spin-off since over 80 Lindeners were employed by the four contractors, while the busy environment also attracted hucksters and food and beverage vendors.

Construction of these housing units commenced after access roads, electric-

ity and water supplies were made available in the area.

Thirty of the 60 will be flat concrete houses which will cost $5.3 million and the other 30 will be concrete houses on stilts.

These will cost $6.3 million. Some $100, 000 of those respective costs will go towards paying for the land.

Owners had to be prequalified at commercial banks for the units and priority was given to youths and Government workers. Two such persons are Registered Nurse Abigail Thompson and Nigel Newton, a mechanical engineer employed by the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Thompson told the media that she is a mother of two and applied eight months prior to pre-qualifying. “Don’t give up, apply once you reach the age, you might be selected.

It makes me feel honoured to be selected today, to own my own home soon,” she said as she encouraged other youths to do the

same.

In 2019, CH&PA will be commencing similar construction in the Wisroc Scheme.

The process of getting the lands transferred from the Wisroc Housing Cooperation via the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission to the CH&PA is currently underway.

177 graduate from BIT NTPYE training in Region 5 S everal youths were among 177 Region Five (MahaicaBerbice) residents who were presented with certificates last Tuesday after completing foundation training courses in various technical and vocational skills.

The graduates have completed the Government’s National Training Project for Youth Empowerment.

(NTPYE) programme. The initiative was a collaboration between staffers at the Mahaicony Technical and

Regional Education Officer Deon Lyn Lewis

A successful graduate receiving his certificate on Saturday

Vocational Training Centre (MTVTC) and the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

The trainees completed Level One in motor vehicle repairs, electrical installation, welding, plumbing, heavy duty machinery repair and maintenance, data operation and general office administration.

Staffer of the Region Five Administration, Therese Jordan welcomed the graduates while Regional Education Officer Deon Lyn Lewis and Technical Officer of the BIT, Lindsworth Castello addressed the gathering.

In his remarks to the graduates, Castello said their certification means that they can now proceed to formal entry into any of the Technical Institutes to pursue higher levels of training leading to a diploma; or enter tertiary institutions

where they can obtain degrees in their professional field of interest.

He also noted that the graduates can also use their newly-won credentials to obtain employment or establish their own businesses to provide services to their communities, the Department of Public Information (DPI) stated.

According to Castello the BIT/NTPYE was started in 2005 and has been getting stronger each year.

It currently provides training to persons in every Administrative Region in Guyana. He said that the programme in Region Five began in 2014 and hundreds of young people have seized the opportunities offered to achieve Level 1 or foundation training in various technical and vocational skills.

He said the BIT/NTPYE programmes for 2019 will

commence early in the New Year and urged the graduates spread the message that “the BIT Board welcomes all applicants as it continues to fulfil its mandate for competency-based vocational training for employment of all interested Guyanese.”

Speaking on behalf of the Regional Executive Officer Ovid Morrison, Jordan urged the graduates to forge ahead to higher levels knowing that they would receive the full support of the Administration and the Government. REDO Lewis urged them to be professional, honest and sincere in all their endeavours and to continue to build on their accomplishments.

Cultural presentations were included in the hour-long graduation exercise which was held in the MTVTC boardroom.

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monDAY, december 17, 2018 | guyanatimesgy.com

VOX POPULI

What the people say

I SAY...

What other stringent efforts can the Traffic Department put in place to help prevent the number of fatal accidents occurring on our roadways?

Dmitri Nicholson

“They can be more regularly looking at the issue of traffic violations than picking and choosing which violations are important. To hold a campaign here and there but nothing on a regular basis.”

Toquain Lopes

Dan Rahim

“More traffic officers on the road patrolling it and at strategic points too.”

“Well they can have more traffic Police at areas that are highly at risk for accidents to happen, and also they can place more strict penalties for drivers who are caught speeding.”

Quince Jones

Neillanda David

“They could place more speed bumps on the road, specifically at the places where accidents are more likely to happen so as to help solve the problem of drivers speeding. And besides that, they can place more traffic lights at places that doesn't have.”

“They can hall in those bus drivers and have them do refresher driving course and enforce the use of bus stops, overhead bypass and pedestrian crossing... many buses causes 60 per cent of accident by stopping anywhere on the road to pick up and to put off passengers.”

Caesar McAlmont

“Have more officers doing patrol, being at pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. Have more speed bumps, and do this all year round not just certain seasons.”

Jason Singh

“As a start they could probably place more traffic officers on known busy areas of the roadways. Drivers must also be respectful of these officers and the rules they help to enforce. Also, I think the Guyana Police Force could invest in speed trap cameras so that drivers who speed dangerously along isolated roadways can be identified and the necessary disciplinary actions taken.”

Lester Glenn

“It's the drivers that need to be more careful but more street lights might be needed. And for those persons who can't see properly ,do not drive unless you have your specs.”

Davika Seeraj

“The entire Guyana Police Force needs to increase their patrol at busy locations. They should maintain order and check for persons driving under the influence of alcohol or those that are speeding since these are the two main causes of accidents during this time.”

Javed Khan

“Traffic Police can make their contribution to preventing road accidents by helping the drivers running smoothly on the crowded roads. They can ensure proper navigation and working traffic lights on highways to prevent accidents.

Traffic Police regularly can take a check on drivers who drink and drive, as they are more responsible for road accidents. They can also put hoardings or signboards highlighting rules for safe driving.

Traffic Police can also ensure that roads are properly constructed, bad roads are also responsible for road accidents. Proper speed breakers should be there to control the high speeding car to avoid accidents.

Traffic Police can promote driving safety solutions to keep the drivers safe on road and keep them away from accidents.”

Tiffany Halley

“They have to start with the foundation. The Ministry of Education can fit it into the school curriculum so that the future generation will be well knowledgeable on the safety tips when driving.

Secondly more Police ranks need to be placed at certain hang out spots. Well they are improving roads so that’s not an issue. However, we need to come to a place where we can put our driving practices into practice, not just like in front of coffee but we need something more technical whereby we can teach prepare future drivers for the road.”

Orelle Levans

“Amend the punishment for those who are really guilty. For example those who speed, drive under the influence and those who ignore traffic signs. Put these perpetrators away for a long time. Right now a driver can be seen driving after a fatal accident. The laws of Guyana are so archaic and complicated. I hope a good review takes place. My niece and nephews grew without a father because of the failing law.”

Lincoln Zephyr

Naren Persaud “Have cameras on the roadways, that is working cameras installed by the stop lights, junctions, turns and they should be monitoring it 24/7 by they own district/division.”

“I think the Traffic Department needs to do a whole lot more public consultations on the proper use of the traffic. It needs to be more efficient and constant. I think the introduction of more traffic lights on a number of those major roadways are needed to help intercept speeding by motorists.”

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guyanatimesgy.com

monDAY, december 17, 2018

Regional

Anger grows after death of Guatemalan migrant girl held in US T

he family of the young Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of US border officials after crossing the border is disputing the American Government’s claim that she had not had food or water for days beforehand.

Anger is growing over the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, seven, which emerged last week and immediately sparked uproar about harsh immigration and border policies being pursued by the Trump administration.

On Saturday, lawyers for the family released a statement insisting that the girl had been fed and hydrated and appeared to be in good health as she travelled through Mexico to the US southern border with her fa-

Jakelin Caal Maquin, seven, died in Texas in the custody of US border officials last week

ther, intending to seek asylum.

She had not been travelling through the desert for days, the family asserted, before being taken into custody by US officials along with many other migrants on December 6, 2018.

Jakelin died less than two days later, according to immigration officials.

Jakelin’s father, Nery Caal, said the group they were traveling with was dropped off in Mexico about a 90-minute walk from the border, and Jakelin had not

been deprived of food or water and appeared to be in good condition.

However, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials signed her off as in good health, and left Jakelin and her father Nery Caal waiting nearly eight hours for a bus to take them to a larger centre.

Before they boarded the bus in the early hours of the morning, her father told officials that his daughter was sick and vomiting; by the time they arrived an hour and a half later her breathing had stopped. A helicopter rushed her from New Mexico to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, but treatment came too late and she died 27 hours after entering the US. (Excerpt from The Guardian)

Court grants Jamaican students permission to challenge Immigration Division

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High Court Judge has given three Jamaican students permission to challenge the decision of the Immigration Division to refuse to renew their student permits that would have allowed them to remain here to study Hinduism at a school in Central Trinidad.

Justice Ricky Rahim has granted leave to Ravi Rambarran, the students’ sponsor, to file for judicial review and seek an injunction preventing the deporta-

tion of the students back to Jamaica.

The State has however agreed not to deport them until the case is determined by the Judge. The matter has been adjourned to February 22, 2019. In July, the students went to the Immigration Division in July to renew their permits and on September 25, they again met with an immigration officer who stamped “approval” on the permits, and the extension fees were

paid. Their school fees were also paid by their sponsor.

But the lawsuit notes that on October 12, 2018, another immigration officer contacted the school, telling them their permits were declined and that the institution was liable to a fine of TT$50,000 for having the three remain there.

To date, the lawsuit claims, there has been no official correspondence from the Immigration Division on why the students’ permits

were declined.

The Judge in his order granted Rambarran permission to seek several declarations, and an order compelling the Chief Immigration Officer to make a decision within seven days on their application for an extension of their student permit, and an order that they receive that extension. Rambarran was given 14 days in which to file his judicial review claim. (Excerpt from Nation News)

Critically endangered sawfish gain additional protection in Caribbean

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wo more species have been added to the annexes of the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol, the only transnational legal instrument for the environment of the Caribbean.

At the insistence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands during a meeting last week, regional representatives unanimously decided to recommend Large-Tooth Sawfish and Silky Sharks for (obligatory) protection .

“We are very pleased that our proposals could count on so much support,” said Paul Hoetjes, Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality LNV coordinator of nature policy for the Caribbean Netherlands.

“Through the SPAW protocol, signatory countries have made firm commitments to ensure the pro-

tection of these unique animals.”

A study was published last week classing the Large-Tooth Sawfish as the elasmobranch species most in danger of extinction.

Human activities like overfishing and destruction of vital habitats such as coral reefs and mangrove forests have caused this decline.

The numbers of Silky Sharks have been severely reduced by overfishing around the world and protection is now needed to prevent further decline.

The adoption of the proposal is an important first step toward permanent inclusion in the protocol. The final decision will take place at the SPAW Conference of the Parties in March, after which the protection will come into force. (Excerpt from

Jamaica Observer)

Jamaica’s PM says Nicaraguan Police 'beat' journalists Opposition's vote against SOE will protesting at office raid unleash 20 dangerous criminals on St James

P

Prominent journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, second right, was among those driven away by Police during the protest

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icaraguan Police are reported to have kicked and beaten several journalists who were protesting against raids on their offices. The journalists were outside a police station in the capital Managua, complaining that raids on the offices of a news website were illegal.

Witnesses said riot Police armed with batons dispersed them with force.

Nicaragua has been rocked by months of protests against President Daniel Ortega.

The anti-Government protests were declared illegal by Ortega in September following five months of often violent clashes in which hundreds of people were killed.

He accuses protesters of planning a coup against his Sandinista party government.

In Saturday’s confrontation, a witness quoted by Reuters said at least seven journalists from international and national media were grabbed and kicked

by Police.

who led an anti-Sandinista coalition in 1990 to defeat Ortega in elections.

Police called the journalists “coup plotters” and chased them, threatening to confiscate their equipment, witnesses said. The protest came days after Police raided and ransacked the offices of Confidencial, seizing computers.

Demonstrators in the Central American country first rallied against planned changes to the country’s social security system, but the protests

soon escalated to include the demand for President Ortega to resign.

Ortega, who has been in power since 2007, accuses the demonstrators of planning to overthrow his democratically-elected Government and of inciting violence.

Local human rights groups as well as the United Nations Office for Human Rights have documented alleged human rights violations which range from illegal detention to torture.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

rime Minister Andrew Holness on Saturday disclosed that 20 of the 75 individuals still detained under the state of public emergency (SOE) in St James are some of the most dangerous criminals in the country, and said that the Opposition’s vote against extending the measure will result in them being released back into their communities.

“If you let them out, immediately the crime is going to jump. If you let them out and they can go back into the communities as they like, they’re going to go out and kill witnesses, they’re going to go out and take people’s lives, they’re going to go back to their mayhem,” Holness told the Jamaica Observer.

At the same time, Holness rubbished the Opposition’s argument that most of what is now being done to control

crime in the areas under the SOE can still be done without the emergency measure.

The Opposition, after supporting extensions of the SOE over this year, voted against a further extension in Parliament last Tuesday night, saying that detainees were being subjected to human rights abuses and that the measure was no longer necessary, given the reduction in crimes, particularly murder.

Opposition Leader Dr Peter Phillips had argued that while it may be arguable that the conditions warranting the declaration of an SOE existed at the time it was declared in January this year, they clearly do not exist now.

Phillips, President of the People’s National Party (PNP), reiterated the Opposition’s position at a news conference on Thursday.

(Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

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mondAY, december 17, 2018

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

Japan explosion: Dozens British PM Theresa May slams injured in Sapporo Tony Blair over anti-Brexit moves restaurant blast U K's Prime Minister Theresa May has accused former British leader Tony Blair of insulting Brexit voters by trying to undermine her negotiations with the European Union.

May said in a statement issued late on Saturday that Blair – the United Kingdom's prime minister between 1997 and 2007 – was in Brussels advocating for a second referendum on Brexit.

His move was "an insult

The cause of the explosion in Sapporo is not yet known

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huge explosion and fire has hit a restaurant in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo.

Japanese police say 42 people were injured in the explosion, with one of them in a serious condition.

The cause of the explosion in the Toyohira district is not yet known. Some reports suggested a gas blast.

Images on social media initially showed flames rising from the area with debris all

around, and later firefighters tackling collapsed buildings.

Police sealed off the area amid fears of more explosions. More than 20 fire engines were reportedly deployed.

The emergency services were first alerted to the explosion at about 20:30h on Sunday (11:30 GMT).

Japanese broadcaster NHK said the area affected had both residential and din-

ing establishments and was about 3km south-east of the city centre.

The Japan Times quoted one eyewitness as saying the explosion sounded like thunder. Another eyewitness told NHK that the blast had broken the windows of the restaurant he was working in, and that there were "many injured people".

Officials warned that the number of injured could rise. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Sri Lanka: ousted Prime Minister Wickremesinghe reinstalled

Sri Lankan President Maithreepala Sirisena gives a traditional greeting to re-appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe at the President Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka

S

ri Lanka has an undisputed prime minister for the first time in more than 50 days after one of the two men who have claimed to lawfully occupy the post was sworn in on Sunday, a day after his challenger resigned.

Supporters of Ranil Wickremesinghe celebrated the defeat of a “coup” as he signed official papers in Colombo, marking the end of a crisis that had left the country without a prime minister

or cabinet and on the precipice of a government shutdown.

But analysts warned of more instability ahead for the Indian ocean island including the possibility of increased anti-western rhetoric and resentment towards the country’s Tamil minority.

Wickremesinghe had planned to be sworn in at 11.16am on Sunday morning, an auspicious time according to the Sinhala tradition, but was delayed by the late arrival of Sri Lanka’s president,

Maithripala Sirasena. t augured poorly for a political relationship that has turned toxic in the past 18 months, culminating in Sirasena’s surprise announcement in October that he was firing Wickremesinghe.

Taking the office for the fifth time in his career, Wickremesinghe said his return was a victory “for Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions”. (Excerpt from The Guardian)

Jayapura, but residents didn't panic, a military spokesman said. "I felt it at home," Papua's military spokesman in Jayapura Dax Sianturi said.

Officials are still assessing the impact of the quake, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Indonesia experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of

Fire", where tectonic plates collide.

Last September, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on Sulawesi island killed more than 2200 with a thousand more declared missing.

On boxing day December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck Aceh province, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 in Indonesia. (MSN)

to the office he once held and the people he once served", according to May. "We cannot, as he would, abdicate responsibility for this decision.

Parliament has a democratic duty to deliver what the British people voted for," she said.

May has repeatedly ruled out holding a new referendum, saying the result in 2016 was clear. But growing numbers of MPs believe a "people's vote" is the only

way to break an impasse that risks Britain leaving the EU on March 29 without any agreement at all.

Blair's latest speech on the issue came on Friday as May met EU leaders in Brussels to discuss how to save the agreement. On Sunday, he said in a statement it would be "the sensible thing" to allow parliament to vote on each of the forms of Brexit canvassed, including the deal May agreed with the EU. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Georgia's new pro-Western President seeks unity after vote protests

G

eorgia’s incoming President Salome Zurabishvili vowed to reconcile political divisions and deepen ties with NATO and Europe at Sunday’s inauguration that Opposition protesters were blocked from reaching.

Georgian Dream party, won 59.5 per cent of votes at last month’s runoff which the opposition called rigged and international observers said was marred by unfair use of state resources.

Several thousand opposition supporters made for Telavi in a convoy of cars and buses, but police blocked the road, beating some activists with batons, a Reuters reporter said.

Zurabishvili, 66, daughter of Georgian émigrés and now the country’s first female president, chose for her inauguration an 18th century palace in the eastern town of Telavi as she lost the vote there but wanted to demonstrate inclusiveness.

With the Prime Minister and Government wielding most Executive power, the presidency is largely ceremonial but is still the international face of a nation seeking better relations with the West to counter Russia’s influence.

“The new constitution of Georgia reflects the will of the Georgian people regarding Georgia’s unhindered movement towards the

Georgia's newly elected President Salome Zurabishvili speaks during the inauguration ceremony in Telavi, Georgia, December 16, 2018

European Union and NATO,” she said.

“With the assistance of our strategic partner the United States and European friends, I will contribute to this process.”

Having worked in France’s diplomatic service before becoming Georgia’s Foreign Minister from 2004-2005, Zurabishvili said she would use that experience to promote her nation’s aspirations to join the EU bloc and NATO transatlantic military alliance. (Excerpt from Reuters)

White House prepares for shutdown as GOP lawmakers struggle for an alternative

T

he White House and a number of federal agencies have started advanced preparations for a partial government shutdown, as President Trump and congressional Democrats appear unlikely to resolve their fight over a border wall before some Government funding lapses at week’s end.

GOP leaders are scrambling to find a short-term alternative that could stave off a shutdown, which would start on December 22 absent a deal. But White House officials signalled to lawmak-

ers Friday that they would probably not support a oneor two-week stopgap measure. Some congressional Republicans support such a “continuing resolution,” but the White House rejection has dramatically increased the odds of a spending lapse.

Several budget experts believe a partial shutdown, which would impact agencies that manage law enforcement, homeland security, housing and other programs, could drag on for days, if not weeks. That is in part because Trump believes

the final days of the existing Congress are his best chance to extract $5 billion in funds to partially build a wall along the Mexico border. In early January, Democrats take control of the House of Representatives, giving them more control over the process.

Multiple agencies and senior administration officials are preparing for the possibility that about a quarter of the government – and more than one-third of federal workers – could be left without funding. (Excerpt from MSN)

rushed to hospital following the accident, which took place in Chongqing municipality.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation.

Deadly mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record, despite efforts to improve coal production conditions and crack down on illegal mines.

In October, 21 miners died

in eastern Shandong province after pressure inside a mine caused rocks to fracture and break, blocking the tunnel and trapping the workers.

Only one miner was rescued alive.

In December 2016, explosions in two separate coal mines in the Inner Mongolia region and in north-eastern Heilongjiang province killed at least 59 people. (The Guardian)

6.1-magnitude earthquake rocks China: seven miners killed after skip Indonesia's Papua plummets down mine shaft

A

6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Papua, in eastern Indonesia Sunday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake was about 158 kilometres (98 miles) south-southwest of the province's capital Jayapura at 6:42 pm (0942 GMT), at a depth of 61 kilometres, according to the US Geological Survey.

The quake was felt in

S

even miners were killed and three others injured in an accident at a coal mine in South-western China, state media reported.

The accident occurred at around 18:00h local time on Saturday after the connecting segment of a mining skip broke, causing it to plummet down the mine shaft, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Three injured miners were

18

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mondAY, december 17, 2018

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

dilbert

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

Enthusiasm is great, as long as you don’t let your emotions mess things up.

Whatever you say or do, have a strategy in place and a goal in mind.

Much can be accomplished if you go about it the right way. Lay out a plan, recruit people who have something to offer and put your best foot forward.

Keep things in perspective. It will be easy for you or someone you are dealing with to stretch the truth or offer a false assessment of a time-sensitive job.

Personal growth and change are highlighted. Put some energy behind your strategies for better health, happier relationships and creative ideas. Romance will improve a relationship with a special someone.

Not everyone will be happy with the changes you make, but the ones who are will support and help you get things done. An emotional change will be a wakeup call.

Do what you can to help those less fortunate. Don’t let someone’s extravagance or indulgent behavior get in your way. Choose your path and do what’s right and best for you.

Learn from someone else’s LIBRA (Sept. 23- experience. Get together with Oct. 23) friends or family. Consider making a change that will improve your life. Don’t tolerate someone who is constantly putting you down.

WORD GAME TODAY’S WORD - CRYPTOLOGY (CRYPTOLOGY: krip-TAHL-uh-jee: The study of writing and solving codes.)

SUDOKU

Average mark 30 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 41 or more words in CRYPTOLOGY? The list will be published tomorrow.

final finally finial flab flail flan flay ably alibi ally

lain lily liny bail ball bialy bill billy blain

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” is not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed. To contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe, write to Word Game, Kathleen Saxe, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Copyright 2015, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

Reach out to people who share your beliefs or are heading in a similar direction as you and make arrangements to collaborate. Getting a different point of view will stimulate your imagination.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Fix up your space or spend time with loved ones.

Being a homebody will bring out the best in you and help you prepare for upcoming festivities. Nurture others and pamper yourself.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

YESTERDAY’S WORD - INFALLIBLY

inlay inly naif nail fail fall fallibly filial fill filly

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Getting along with some people will not be easy. Don’t let emotions take charge or opinions lead to arguments.

In the spirit of the season offer help, not hindrance.

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Take care of details at work and address issues you may have about your job or someone else’s. Making innovative suggestions in a positive manner will encourage others to try harder.

Be careful not to upset someone in charge. An act of benevolence will help you overcome someone’s critical point of view. A personal or physical change is encouraged. Avoid negative people.

mondAY, december 17, 2018

19

Lyon establishes substantial lead for Australia V

irat Kohli rose above Australia’s attack and the day-three Perth pitch that had quickened up, but Nathan Lyon’s five-wicket haul earned the hosts a 43-run first-innings lead. Despite Aaron Finch retiring hurt at the stroke of tea after suffering a blow to his right index finger, Australia grew their lead to 175 and left India staring at a daunting chase on a track where the cracks were widening. After Lyon defeated Ajinkya Rahane in the first over of the day and then India’s longer-than-usual tail, Australia closed the day at 4 for 132.

Lyon set the tone, when he found drift to coax an outside edge from Rahane, who could not add to his overnight 51.

Mitchell Starc then attempted to shake up Kohli with rapid short balls, including one 140kph rocket that landed on the India’s captain’s elbow. However, Kohli did not even flinch and went onto swat Lyon against the

break through extra-cover.

In the first over after Australia had taken the second new ball, Kohli imperiously drove Starc straight of mid-off to raise his 25th Test hundred - and sixth in Australia. He celebrated the landmark by pointing his hand to the bat and making a yapping mouth gesture. He then crunched Starc and Lyon through the covers to remind everyone that the bat was doing all the talking.

Hanuma Vihari scrapped his way to 20 in a 50-run partnership with Kohli before Josh Hazlewood hit an in-between length and had him edging behind in the 86th over. Seven overs later, Kohli was given out in rather controversial fashion.

After Pat Cummins sucked Kohli into a big drive away from the his body, the outside edge died on its way towards Peter Handscomb at second slip. Handscomb suggested that he had grabbed it cleanly, as did

SCOREBOARD

Australia 1st innings – 326 India 1st Innings – 283 Australia 2nd innings MS Harris b Bumrah 20 AJ Finch retired hurt 25 UT Khawaja not out 41 SE Marsh c †Pant b Shami 5 PSP Handscomb lbw b Sharma 13 TM Head c Sharma b Shami 19 TD Paine (c) † not out 8

Extras: (lb 1) 1 TOTAL:(48 Overs, RR: 2.75)132/4 Yet to bat: MA Starc, PJ Cummins, NM Lyon, JR Hazlewood Fall of wickets: 1-59 (MS Harris, 17.2 ov), 2-64 (SE Marsh, 20.5 ov), 3-85 (PSP Handscomb, 25.1 ov), 4-120 (TM Head, 40.1 ov) BOWLING: I Sharma (9-0-331), JJ Bumrah (13-5-25-1), M Shami (10-3-23-2), UT Yadav (80-39-0), GH Vihari (8-4-11-0)

Nathan Lyon celebrates his fiver against India

Kumar Dharmasena whose soft signal was out. The TV umpire Nigel Llong could not detect enough conclusive evidence to overturn Dharmasena’s call in a sequence of events that reignited the debate about soft signals. Kohli flung his helmet off while crossing the ropes, leaving India at 6 for 251, still 75 runs behind Australia’s first-innings 326.

Kohli’s wicket triggered a collapse as India lost their last five wickets for a mere 32 runs, with Lyon claiming the last four. Pant, who was skittish against pace, muscled Lyon for two boundaries, including a massive straight six. However, when Lyon dangled an offbreak wide outside off, Pant

dragged a catch to long-on.

India’s innings ended when Lyon tricked Bumrah with a straighter one. He joined Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan as the only bowlers to have picked seven five-wicket hauls against India in Test cricket.

Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma then let it rip with the new ball, regularly hitting speeds u p wards of 140kph while finding both swing and seam movement. But they lacked support from their fielders or Pant. Ishant could

have had Harris on 1 when he squared him up and had him wafting behind, but Pant misjudged the chance, taking a couple of steps towards the leg side and leaving Cheteshwara Pujara with t o o

much to do at first

slip. Pujara threw himself to his right, but the ball eventually burst out.

Finch got a life on 9 when Ishant cramped him for room, but Pant could not grasp the glance despite a dive. Finch added 16 to his tally before a Bumrah delivery burst off the deck and pinged him on his right index finger - roughly the same area where he had twice been struck by Starc in net sessions earlier in the summer. He subsequently retired hurt and was sent to the hospital for scans.

Harris, too, received a big scare when he was struck flush on the badge of his helmet by Bumrah.

After Umesh Yadav leaked runs, Bumrah returned to tempt Harris into shouldering arms to a length ball that homed in and clipped the top of off stump. Shaun Marsh and Handscomb also fell in quick succession, but Usman Khawaja, the suddenly senior player in the absence of both Steven Smith and David Warner, hit some form.

Travis Head lived on the edge before slashing to third man for the second time in the match. That reduced Australia to 4 for 120, but Khawaja’s unbeaten 41 helped push the lead towards 200 by stumps.

The day, though, belonged to Lyon, who could turn out to be the difference between the two sides in the fourth innings as well. (ESPNcricinfo)

"Canelo" eases to win at Madison Square Garden S

aul "Canelo" Alvarez knocked Rocky Fielding down four times in an emphatic third-round stoppage win in New York.

Mexican Alvarez was heavy favourite and brutal left hands to the body dropped the Briton in rounds one and two, all but ending hope of an unlikely upset.

A stinging right to the jaw again downed Fielding in round three, before another left connected with the body, prompting the bout to be waved off.

Alvarez now holds a minor version of the WBA world super-middleweight title.

Despite the status of the WBA’s ‘regular’ title compared to the ‘super’ title Britain’s Callum Smith holds in the same division, Alvarez can now boast being a world champion in three weight divisions.

The 28-year-old still holds the WBC and WBA titles at middleweight - a division lower - and his move up 8lb only ever looked

Fielding looked resigned to defeat with each knockdown but continued until round three

like ending in victory as he broke Fielding’s resolve early on with a savage display of body punching.

“Fortunately for me he came to attack,” said Alvarez. “That

was the error he made and I did my thing in there.”

With the likes of Hollywood actor Bruce Willis, tennis legend John McEnroe and British world

heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua ringside at Madison Square Garden, Alvarez quickly showed his intent by walking Fielding down to whip a left

to the body which crumpled the 31-year-old Liverpudlian.

Despite boasting about six inches in height advantage, Fielding at no point established range, allowing the onslaught to continue into round two when he again got back to his feet from an almost identical body shot.

He fought back with combinations of his own in pockets but the shots carried minimal power with the fight being played out at Alvarez’s range, ensuring he smothered and soaked up anything that came back his way.

After a right which swept across Fielding’s jaw to down him in three, the Briton was warned “one more” would bring an end to things by the official and it duly arrived, again a left to the body.

“I stood there too long, thought I could mix it with him and shouldn’t have,” Fielding said. “With my height, I should have kept the fight long, at distance. The better man won.” (BBC Sport)

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mondAY, december 17, 2018

Shaqiri doubles see Liverpool beat Man Utd to top

X

herdan Shaqiri came off the bench to inspire a Liverpool victory over a lacklustre Manchester United that takes them back to the top of the Premier League.

Liverpool needed the win after Manchester City beat Everton on Saturday - and it was substitute Shaqiri’s rapid-fire double strike in the second half that gave Jurgen Klopp’s side the three points they fully deserved.

Sadio Mane’s 24th-minute volley from Fabinho’s perfect delivery gave Liverpool the lead their lightning start merited, only for a dreadful error by goalkeeper Alisson to give United an unlikely lifeline before the break when he fumbled Romelu Lukaku’s cross into the path of Jesse Lingard.

United barely offered an attacking threat but were frustrating Liverpool until Klopp introduced Shaqiri with less than 20 minutes remaining, with devastating effect.

Meanwhile, Paul Pogba remained an unused substitute on United’s bench, Jose Mourinho opting instead to bring on Marouane Fellaini at the interval with his side short of inspiration.

There was an element of good fortune about both of the Swiss international’s

Xherdan Shaqiri scored just 144 seconds after coming on as a sub

goals, one deflected in from close range and the other off Eric Bailly to beat keeper David de Gea - but one cannot begrudge Liverpool their victory against this desperately ordinary United side.

Southampton edges past Arsenal

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl apologised to Arsenal counterpart Unai Emery after forgetting to shake hands amid the emotion of a late victory on

his home debut.

The Saints ended Arsenal’s 22-match unbeaten run and won their first home league game since April thanks to Charlie Austin’s 85th-minute header with Hasenhuttl running on to the pitch to celebrate with his players on the final whistle.

“I had to run to my guys because they were waiting. I shook hands later and it was OK,” said Hasenhuttl.

“It’s what I wanted to

feel when I came to the Premier League, this atmosphere after the game, and to celebrate such a moment is something very special for me.”

In a see-sawing encounter, the hosts took the lead after 20 minutes as Danny Ings muscled home a header from Matt Targett’s cross.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan nodded in shortly after for Arsenal, following good work by Alex Iwobi and Nacho Monreal - but Ings

struck again just before the break.

Nathan Redmond’s floated cross was precise and

Ings cushioned a looping effort into the far corner.

Arsenal turned the screw in the second half and restored parity as Mkhitaryan’s shot deflected in off Jannik Vestergaard.

The Gunners had their chances with Alex McCarthy impressing in the home goal, but Southampton were dangerous on the break and Shane Long had a goal rightly ruled offside before providing a teasing cross for Austin’s winner.

The victory takes Southampton out of the relegation zone and up to 17th.

At the final whistle, Austrian Hasenhuttl - nicknamed the ‘Klopp of the Alps’ during his spell at previous club RB Leipzig joined his players’ on-pitch huddle before whipping up more decibels from the home support.

With rivals Chelsea winning away at Brighton, Arsenal are now three points adrift of the top four. (BBC Sport)

Geraint Thomas’s stolen Tour de France trophy replaced

Confusion reigns after Suns and Grizzlies nearly trade for wrong player named Brooks T

he Phoenix Suns traded Trevor Ariza to the Washington Wizards on Saturday for Kelly Oubre Jr and Austin Rivers, according to multiple reports. The deal capped a confusing series of events that unfolded Friday night when a proposed three-team trade fell apart over confusion about whether Dillon Brooks or MarShon Brooks would be included.

The trade, as proposed originally, would have sent Ariza from the Suns to the Wizards, Oubre from the Wizards to the Memphis Grizzlies, and Rivers from the Wizards to the Suns.

The Grizzlies would have sent Wayne Selden to the Suns. A player named Brooks also was to be involved, but that ended up as the hiccup to the deal. The Suns thought the Grizzlies would be sending them Dillon Brooks. Grizzlies officials thought it was MarShon Brooks they’d be trading.

“What happened last night was unfathomable. I’ve never experienced this before,” Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace told reporters on Saturday.

When the confusion cleared, and all the sides had figured out the parts to the trade, Memphis wouldn’t trade Dillon Brooks, and the Suns didn’t want to acquire MarShon Brooks. The mixup happened because the Suns and Grizzlies didn’t talk to each other.

The Wizards were the conduit of information and the identity of the proper Brooks got lost along the way, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

However, the Suns privately claim that they communicated with the Grizzlies directly and were clear about Dillon Brooks, a claim the Grizzlies flatly deny, Wojnarowski reported.

G

Geraint Thomas flaunted the new piece of hardware on twitter

“That forced me to do something I’ve never done in 30-plus years working in this league with seven teams, is to drag two players out of a locker room and tell them they’ve been traded and then eventually have to come back and tell them, ‘Oh, no, you haven’t been traded,’” Wallace said.

MarShon Brooks is a 29-year-

old journeyman from New Jersey, while Dillon Brooks is a 22-year-old Canadian who started 74 games in his rookie season last year.

The Suns signed Ariza, a 33-yearold swingman, to a one-year, $15m deal over the summer, and with Phoenix at 5-24 and building for the future with youngsters, he became a trade chip. (The

Guardian)

eraint Thomas has received a new Tour de France trophy after his original was stolen from a cycling show.

The Coupe Omnisports disappeared after Team Sky, whom Thomas rides for, loaned it to sponsor Pinarello to display at The Cycle Show in Birmingham.

Police are investigating the theft, which came two months after Thomas won the famous race.

The Cardiff cyclist was presented with an exact replica on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch programme.

Team Sky tweeted to thank Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organiser of the Tour de France, for arranging for the new trophy to be made. It is the same as the black and gold handmade cup presented to

the Welshman in the summer.

Thomas also shared a picture of himself with his new trophy, saying: “What a great prize!”

It came on the day Thomas will find out if he has won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award for his widely-admired achievement of becoming only the third Briton to win the Tour de France.

At the time of the theft in September, Thomas appealed for its return and said: “The trophy means a lot to me and to the team”.

Richard Hemington, managing director of Pinarello, said the company had apologised to Thomas, while West Midlands Police said it was investigating the theft. (BBC Sport)

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21

Christianburg-Wismar, Shiva Boys clinch 1st wins in KFC Goodwill Football tourney I

n a tournament that promised riveting action even before the first whistle was blown, the KFC Goodwill Football tournament delivered nothing less on completion of the first period of play on Saturday night.

With the action taking place at the Ministry of Education Ground on Georgetown’s Carifesta Avenue, the four teams -Annai Secondary, Annandale Secondary, ChristianburgWismar Secondary, and Shiva Boys Hindu College out of Trinidad and Tobago -- played their first matches of the three-day tournament with first the Trinidadian visitors challenging the Rupununi boys of Region 9 in a high-paced encounter.

Although known for their skill, the Annai team could not match the Trinidadian side, and were often outplayed. Allowing themselves to be beset by nervousness, the Annai side conceded a penalty to the Shiva Boys early in the encounter, and Gesiah Bishop expertly took the opportunity to deposit the ball at the back of the net for the Shiva Boys’ first goal.

Aside from a bout of single-handed play from Annai Captain Orville Daniels, the first half of the game was mainly uneventful; but the second half saw a more determined Annai Secondary matching pace with Shiva Boys. However, luck was not

The battle between Annai and Shiva Boys Hindu College

on their side, and they netted three offside goals.

Nikel Rawlings of Shiva Boys then added another goal to their tally to seal the victory for Shiva Boys at 2-0.

The second encounter of the night saw a rematch of the ongoing battle between Annandale Secondary and Christianburg-Wismar; and once again the Linden team prevailed. In their previous meet, in the Guyoil/ Tradewind Tankers tournament, the Lindeners had

emerged 5-1 winners. This time around they were made to work harder, but the result was the same.

The attacking sorties by both teams were relentless, but neither side could penetrate the other’s defence. The first player to do so was Omari Glasgow of Annandale, minutes before the first half had expired.

In the second half, Christiansburg-Wismar pulled off a scintillating comeback, with Andre

Mayers netting back-toback goals in the 78th and 80th minutes to give the Linden side the lead.

But the encounter was not over, as Annandale’s Kurt Rudder found the back of the Linden net to equalise the scores. The game was plunged into steamy extra time that bore no fruit, making way for penalties.

Here, ChristianburgWismar proved to be the better of the two teams,

connecting with their target five times as opposed to Annandale’s three.

Christianburg-Wismar and Shiva Boys currently lead the tournament, but Shiva Boys will have the edge on goal difference. The four teams will return tomorrow, December 18, for their second day of play; when Annai Secondary will take on ChristianburgWismar and Annandale will do battle with the Shiva Boys.

“As long as he is alive, Shai Hope will play” – Carlos Brathwaite W

hen the best player on tour is injured, the captain and the team management tend to get nervous. Perhaps many captains would think, or even say in private, that they would do anything to ensure that he or she plays the next game.

Carlos Brathwaite, West Indies' T20I captain, said this about Shai Hope, whose back-to-back unbeaten centuries have been the visitors' only batting beacon in Bangladesh in the past week.

Hope felt dizzy after receiving a blow to the head during Friday's third ODI in Sylhet, but he trained with the squad on Sunday, ahead of the first T20I. "Shai [Hope] is in beautiful batting form, fresh off two back-to-back unbeaten centuries," Brathwaite said.

"Even if Shai has to play with a stretcher, I will volunteer to carry the stretcher between the wickets. He is fine and in good spirits. He is out practising, so hopefully he is close to 100 percent.

As long as he is alive, he will

Shai Hope

play tomorrow."

Brathwaite's side will further be boosted by the return of Evin Lewis, who missed the India tour and the Bangladesh ODIs. "He is one of the better batsmen in the world. For the last 18 months or so, he has three T20I hundreds and also centuries in regional and franchise cricket all over the world.

"He is a definite plus for

any team. It is a positive to have in our side. Hopefully he will deliver some big performances which will help us win the game and the series," Brathwaite said.

But of course, injuries and unavailability have been a major bother for the West Indies. Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Jason Holder are injured, while Chris Gayle has been busy with league commitments.

"We have had some informal chats about it. We can't do much as players if we continue to lose. We don't have much power or say. The group of players needs to find a way to win, regardless of who is and who is not selected. When we start to win, we can pull on experiences on learning how to win games.

"Evidently you become more experienced and con-

fident, and start creating your own brand of cricket. We haven't been able to, because of a lot of chopping and changing for different reasons. The feeling in the dressing room is that whenever a team is picked for a tour, we put our heads together as a unit, and find a way to win games. Once we do that, West Indies cricket will find a way to the top, whichever format," he said.

Brathwaite believes West Indies' favourite format can get them the much-needed win in this tour, which would also be a bounce back from their wretched year in T20Is. They have won just two out of 12 games in 2018.

"The people back home deserve a Christmas gift," he said. "We hope to close out the year with a win. We still think T20 is our premier format. We obviously haven't had the results to be in the recent past proud of. But here's a chance to turn things around and ending 2018 in a good way." (ESPN cricinfo)

22

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

mondAY, december 17, 2018

Champions at last! West Ruimveldt cop Smalta Under-11 title

W

Seona France often challenged the highest goal scorer, Martha Chase (30)

A glimpse of the action in the third-place playoff

est Ruimveldt Primary had missed their shot at glory in the male version of this year’s Under-11 Pee Wee Football tournament, but the little ladies of that school rectified that misfortune by lifting the title in the 2018 Smalta Girls’ 11-and-Under tourney.

A total of twelve primary school girls’ teams had gathered week after week at the Ministry of Education ground to showcase their skills in the

half, and produced a much more composed style of play, with Captain Martha Chance giving her team a glimmer of hope when she successfully connected a penalty in the 27th minute.

However, a minute later, North Georgetown’s dreams were shattered as West Ruimveldt captain, Ashanna Rajkumar, secured her side’s third goal; and West Ruimveldt went on to win the encounter 3-1.

Petra-organised tournament; but when the finalists were determined, the two teams left standing were North Georgetown Primary and West Ruimveldt Primary.

The tournament, unfortunately, could have only one winner; thus both sides had brought their ‘A’ game to the final encounter, fully resolved to emerge victorious.

West Ruimveldt were the first to give their opponents the slip, when front-runner

Seona France netted their first goal in the 13th minute. High on excitement, the West Ruimveldt team’s performance improved, to the frustration of the North Georgetown side.

Seona France returned in the 21st minute to extend her team’s lead, as she sailed the ball over her opponent’s wall in a free kick.

But North Georgetown Primary managed to gather their marbles in the second

RHTY&SC/Busta Champion of Champions 1st division

Rose Hall Town upset Tucber Park to stroll into final

– Sinclair duo, Crandon star performers

By Brandon Corlette

T

he cricket season in Berbice continued with the 29th tournament being staged, wherein the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTYSC) and the Busta Champion of Champions-organised first division semi-final matches were played at the Port Mourant ground on the Corentyne.

Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets (RHTGG) defeated Tucber Park by 41 runs in an exciting encounter. It was an amazing day for the Berbice players, who took centre stage at the Port Mourant Ground.

Captained by Shawn Pereira, Rose Hall Town Gizmos and Gadgets (RHTGG) won the toss and opted to bat first, on a dry wicket whereon batsmen had to battle for their runs.

Guyana Under-19-players Kevin and Junior Sinclair went out to bat against the likes of lightning quick Nial Smith, and added 48 runs for the opening partnership, before the upbeat Joel Davis removed Junior Sinclair for 16.

Axed Guyana Jaguars firstclass player Eon Hooper was promoted to bat at number three, partnering the aggressive Kevin Sinclair, who was very disciplined in his stroke play, hitting four boundaries on the large Port Mourant outfield in his innings of 51.

Kwesi Mickle, bowling his

Prior to the headline event, South Ruimveldt had managed to save face by copping the third place trophy.

The 2017 champions held off St. Pius Primary for the duration of regulation time, and Fayon Harry found the back of the net three minutes into extra time for the 1-0 win.

At the presentations, North Georgetown’s Aqueena Griffith was named the best goalkeeper, as she conceded goals

Suriname announce squad for GFF-ExxonMobil International Futsal Festival

A

Vidol Crandon hitting one down the ground (Brandon Corlette photo)

off-spin, removed Kevin Sinclair and then captured Hooper for 18. Thus the RHTGG lost their top three batters with only 91 runs on the board.

Vidal Crandon steadied the RHTGG ship by hitting a topscore of 55, which included three fours and one timely six. Jason Sinclair scored 12, Keith Simpson scored 07, and Jonathan Rampersaud scored an unbeaten 18 to cause the RHTGG to finish their allotted 40 overs on 194-6.

Shamar Joseph picked up 2-42 and Kwesi Mickle grabbed 2-41 for the young but talented Tucber Park side, who, in their turn to bat, started cautiously but lost opening batsman Steve

Deonarine for 01, when he was trapped in front by Eon Hooper.

Malcolm Mickle continued the solid batting, but lost his partner Clifton Lindie for 15, when he chopped the ball on to his stumps to effect an unusual sort of dismissal for himself.

In came the upcoming batsman Garfield Benjamin, and the pair took the score to 763, before Malcolm Mickle was removed for 26 as Junior Sinclair wreaked havoc with his off-spin.

Benjamin played some attractive strokes, in particular the one-bounce boundary that he hit over extra cover. However, he was bowled by Junior Sinclair for an attractive 21 as wickets continued to tumble.

Veteran batsman Devon Clements (02), Kwesi Mickle (02) and Nial Smith (04) were subsequently removed cheaply, but Leon Swammy and Gevon Schultz came together in an entertaining partnership in the latter part of the innings.

Swammy struck two sixes in his innings of 20, while Schultz hit a sparkling 30 that included two maximums.

The target was by then beyond the reach of Tucber Park, and they were eventually bowled out for 153 in 36 overs.

Junior Sinclair was the best bowler on show with 4-24 in his eight overs, including one maiden.

only in the final game.

The highest goal scorer award was shared by South Ruimveldt’s Fayon Harry and North Georgetown’s Martha Chase. Martha’s mother, who had been on the sidelines of every game, was recognised as the most supportive parent; whilst the best coach was recognised as the West Ruimveldt coach.

St. Pius Primary, however, was hailed as the most disciplined team.

s the countdown officially begins for the commencement of the GFF-ExxonMobil International Futsal Tournament, Suriname’s 13-man squad to compete against the eight participating teams -The ZV All Stars, coached by Bryan Weewee with support from Siergfried Eeersel and Tjark Bel -- is scheduled to arrive in Guyana on December 26.

A well-placed source has confided that the Surinamese team is a seasoned team and is competitive in nature, having won the national futsal league in 2017, although currently ranked fourth.

The four-day festival will kick off with six matches being played between 18:00hrs and 00:00hrs, with each match being played on the hour, and culminating with the final match at 23:00hrs.

Scheduled to play the fifth match of the evening, t h e

Surinamese would be coming up against a Georgetown AllStars team.

The other international teams participating in the festival include Morvant Caledonia United from Trinidad and Tobago and a São Paulo selection from Brazil.

The local teams participating are East Coast All-Stars, Linden All-Stars, Georgetown All-Stars and West Demerara All-Stars.

The winning team will pocket $1.2 million, while the losing finalist will receive half that amount. Third and fourthplaced finishers will pocket $300,000 and $100,000 respectively.

T h e Suriname s q u a d r e a d s : Gelton Alphons, Anthony Blijd, Anthony Burnett, Donovan Djemesi, Lorenzo Donner, Raydel Lioe, Ackeini Meusa, Iveraldo Pengel, Benjamin Saling, Silvion Sedney, Shaquille Van Throo, Timothy Tzer and Selassie Zandveld.

guyanatimesgy.com

mondAY, december 17, 2018

Gudakesh Motie finished with six wickets in the match

2018-2019 CWI Regional 4-Day Tournament…

Jaguars demolish Hurricanes in routine encounter

– spinners share 8 wickets

By Brandon Corlette

T

he visiting Guyana Jaguars overran the fortress of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes -- the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium in North Sound, Antigua -- in completing a nine-wicket win over their opposition and registering their second victory in as many matches away from home conditions.

Outstanding performances came from Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie, who shared eight wickets in bowling out the Hurricanes for 138.

Guyana Jaguars were in firm control entering the fourth and final day of the match, and duly wrapped up their second victory. Leeward Islands Hurricanes resumed the day on 130-7, but effectively were playing with one batsman short, in Chandrika; who suffered an injury.

It took the Jaguars some 13 balls to wrap up the Hurricanes’ tail, but Gudakesh Motie made inroads in their innings, snatching the remaining two wickets for the miserly concession of eight runs. Motie removed Jeremiah Louis out caught for 17 by Johnson, and the very next delivery,

23

caught by substitute fielder Terence Wade.

However, Trevon Griffith and Leon Johnson ensured the Jaguars suffer no further damage by completing a nine wicket victory.

Griffith smacked one six and one four in his 16-ball 13, while the elegant Johnson stroked three boundaries in his 19-ball 15.

The Regional 2018-2019 tournament will continue on January 4, 2019 after the Christmas break, when the Guyana Jaguars will play the Barbados Pride at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

3

SCOREBOARD

Guyana Jaguars skipper Leon Johnson

trapped Beeridge leg- before for a golden duck. Thus the Hurricanes innings concluded on 138-9.

Veerasammy Permaul ended the innings with figures of 5-57 in 25.1 overs, while fellow left arm spin-

ner Gudakesh Motie snared 3-11 in six overs to add to his first innings’ haul of 3-23 in 9.3 overs.

Hurricanes set the Jaguars a target of 32 for victory, and achieving same was a literal stroll in the

park for the Jaguars.

Sheno Beeridge, however, did not let the Hurricanes go down without a fight; he removed Tagenarine Chanderpaul for one in the second over of the final innings. Chanderpaul was out

Leewards 1st Innings 182 all out (62.3 Ov) Guyana 1st Innings 289 all out (115.5 Ov) Leewards Islands Hurricanes 2nd Innings 138-9 (58.1 Ov) M Hodge c Johnson b Permaul 15 K Carty c Chanderpaul b Permaul 23 J Louis c Johnson b Motie 17 A Sanunders b Motie 17 D Thomas c Motie b Permaul 1 O Peters c Barnwell b Permaul 8 R Cornwall lbw Permaul 27 D Jacobs c Griffith b Shepherd 0 A Joseph not out 23 S Berridge lbw Motie R Chandrika retired hurt Extras 7 Total (58.1 Ov) 138-9 FOW: 1 - 40(Keacy Carty, 20.3 Ov), 2 - 47(Montcin Hodge, 22.4

Ov), 3 - 57(Devon Thomas, 26.4 Ov), 4 - 61(Akeem Saunders, 29.2 Ov), 5 - 83(Orlando Peters, 36.6 Ov), 6 - 91(Damion Jacobs, 41.6 Ov), 7 - 105 (Rahkeem Cornwall, 48.1 Ov) 8 - 138(Jeremiah Louis, 57.5 Ov) , 9-138(Sheno Berridge, 57.6 Ov) Bowling: V Permaul 25.1-6-57-5) K Joseph 8-1-24-0, R Shepherd 12-3-23-1, C Pestano 7-2-23-0, G Motie 6-1-11-3 Guyana Jaguars 2nd Innings 32-1 (6.3 Ov) T Chanderpaul c Wade b Berridge 1 T Griffith not out 13 L Johnson not out 15 Extras 3 Total (6.3 Ov) 32-1 FOW 1-1 (T Chanderpaul, 1.1 ov) Bowling: J Louis 3.3-120-0, S Berridge 1-0-31, R Cornwall 2-0-8-0

Hetmyer, Thomas could set off bidding wars in the IPL auction M

ini-auctions always throw up randomness and unearth new stars. Ravindra Jadeja, Ben Stokes, Pawan Negi and Tymal Mills are some beneficiaries of these accelerated auctions. Two of them made an impact while the other two fizzled.

What's in store this year?

ESPNcricinfo looks at players who are likely to demand a bidding war.

the odds for a bidding war look good.

Varun Chakravarthy

Shimron Hetmyer

It always helps to play in a series in India in the leadup to the auction. When West Indies toured India in October, Shimron Hetmyer attracted attention with his heavy-hitting. His ability to play spin and clear the boundary with ease makes him a very tempting option.

Hetmyer had finished the ODI series with 259 runs at an average of 51.80 at a strike rate of 140. Before the India tour, he also had a very good season in Caribbean Premier League, scoring 440 runs from 12 innings at 148.14. Hetmyer is available throughout the season and is in form. That's a lot of boxes ticked in an IPL auc-

Shimron Hetmyer

tion: Hetmyer is likely to attract a bidding war.

Oshane Thomas

An important attribute that scouts and analysts look at is bowling speed.

Although the numbers for bowlers who clock more than 140 kph aren't remarkable, speed is a key skill that every team wants to have. Billy Stanlake started well last season while the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Joffra Archer have had

their moments. With every franchise looking for such quicks, one cricketer who has improved his chances is Oshane Thomas. His pace and bounce troubled the Indian batsmen during the recently concluded ODI series. The 21-year-old has taken 26 wickets from 17 T20 matches at a strike rate of 14.3 and an economy rate of 8.27. With a possibility of the IPL being held in South Africa and many franchises, looking for overseas fast bowlers that are available,

Mystery spinners are generally hard to find worldwide, and even more so in India. Look back and you can only think of KC Cariappa from the category, an expensive pick for Kolkata Knight Riders who failed to deliver.

Tamil Nadu's Varun Chakravarthy is the next big emerging talent among mystery spinners. He has seven different variations and had a very good TNPL and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

In the TNPL, he bowled 40 overs (240 balls), of which 125 balls were dots. His economy rate of 4.7 was the best among bowlers who had bowled at least 15 overs He also made an impact in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, finishing as the top wicket-taker in the group stage, with 22 wickets in nine matches at an economy of 4.23. Historically, Indian spinners are expected to do much better than overseas spinners. Time will tell if it is worth it for a franchise to bet on an inexperienced, albeit rare talent. Varun has

already been a nets bowler for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, besides attending a trial with Mumbai Indians. It will not be a surprise if he goes for a big price, considering his skillset, and the fact that his name features early during the auction.

Shivam Dube

Indian allrounders are so few in supply that they invariably go for a lot of money. We saw that with Krunal Pandya and Vijay Shankar earlier this year.

The latest domestic allrounder to make waves is Mumbai's Shivam Dube.

He came to the fore when he hit five sixes in an over against Pravin Tambe in a Mumbai T20 league game.

Over the season, Dube has also shown that he is more than a slogger: he scored a quick 110 from 128 deliveries against Gujarat in the first innings and then followed it up with a patient 55 from 155 balls in the second to be Man of the Match in a game Mumbai lost. With the ball, his 7 for 53 against Karnataka caught a lot of attention. His ability to

Oshane Thomas

score quickly and bowl four overs in a T20 game makes him an asset.

Other players who could surprise: England allrounder Joe Denly, Mumbai seamer Tushar Deshpande, Baroda allrounder Atit Sheth, England batsman Jonny Bairstow, and New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Glenn Phillips. (ESPN cricinfo)

MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2018

Sports is no longer our game, it’s our business

guyanatimesgy.com

2018-2019 CWI Regional 4-Day Tournament…

Jaguars demolish Hurricanes in routine encounter Page 23

– spinners share 8 wickets The old rivalry between Annandale and ChristianburgWismar was reignited

Champions at last!

West Ruimveldt cop Smalta Under-11 title Page 22

Page 23

Christianburg-Wismar, Shiva Boys clinch 1st wins in KFC Goodwill Football tourney

Champions at last! ANSA McAL’s Olivia Chin presenting the winning trophy to the West Ruimveldt team

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