Guyana Times Monday, July 27, 2020

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4359

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

PRICE

Electoral coup d'état

APNU/AFC Govt a “danger” to Guyana and its people – PPP/C

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

P15 10 new COVID-19 cases recorded in 24 hours — active cases now jump to 169

Lethem man busted with large quantity of smuggled beers from P2 Brazil

...Int’l observers, Ambassadors’ position threatens ...Int’l See story on page 3 stability of Guyana – APNU/AFC

Only way out for APNU/AFC is to concede – Ramkarran Page 7

...says ... says coalition has shown it cannot be trusted with political power

Civil society condemns Green for advising Granger to shun Constitution Page 9

3 killed in separate accidents in 1 day

Magistrate P8 Alex Moore files $50M lawsuit against DPP for defamation

Heavy winds wreak havoc in Linden P2

Pages 11 & 13

— PSC Head says comments “shocking, appalling”

Troy Resources denies being culpable for geologist’s death

Page 13

— PRO says aggrieved family received $8M, including insurance, since last year

Wanted rapist nabbed with illegal gun, P8 ammunition

2 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Heavy winds wreak Lethem man busted with large quantity of smuggled beers from Brazil havoc in Linden

A

Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) resident was arrested on Saturday after he was intercepted with more than 250 cases of beer that were smuggled from neighbouring Brazil.

The discovery was made by ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) near

H

they intercepted the Lethem man attempting to transport the smuggled beers.

At the time, the suspect was attempting to load onto the tray of his pick-up vehicle, the alcoholic beverages which were hidden under a clump of bushes near the Guyana-Brazil border.

The smuggled items

The smuggled beers hidden behind a clump of bushes

The suspect’s vehicle loaded with the smuggled beers from Brazil

Guyana’s border with Brazil.

According to reports from the agency, the suspect (name given) was found with some 251 cases of the smuggled beer.

It was noted that CANU ranks were conducting a routine operation in the Region when

have all been handed over to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for further investigation.

Meanwhile, CANU said on Sunday that it would continue to “conduct surveillance operations and provide support for its fellow inter-agencies to minimise and eradicate illicit

narcotic and related activities nationwide”.

Even though Guyana’s borders have been closed since March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities here have been grappling with monitoring the border communities especially those along the Brazilian border.

Only last month, there were reports of another Lethem resident being arrested for smuggling a quantity of beers and rum from the bordering town of Bon Fim in Brazil.

It was reported that on June 3, 2020, Police went to Mango Grove crossing in Lethem, where they discovered a 36-year-old man pushing the items in a wheelbarrow.

They confronted the man and discovered that the items included 52 cases of Brazilian beers, 40 cases of Black Stone rum and four boxes of cosmetics – all of which were seized.

Places on the porous border such as the Mango Grove crossing have been a cause for worry for citizens in nearby communities in Guyana as well as authorities, since Brazil is one of the countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region that have been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Portuguesespeaking nation currently has over two million COVID-19 cases with deaths exceeding 80,000.

eavy winds early Saturday morning wreaked havoc at a section of Canvas City, Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) as several electricity poles and trees in the area were uprooted resulting in power outages and damage to a car.

There were also reports of numerous areas within the township experiencing unusual heavy winds late Friday evening.

A recent public service announcement issued by the Hydrometeorological Office warned that Tropical Storm Gonzalo was expected to create weather conditions which might have resulted in thunderstorms over the weekend.

The tropical depression was reportedly upgraded to a

An uprooted utility pole after the high winds

tropical storm on July 22, the Hydrometeorological Office not-

The car that was damaged by an uprooted pole

ed in the release, according to information from the National Hurricane Centre.

It was reported, however, that the storm was not expected to directly impact Guyana unless its trajectory changed towards the south-west.

Linden has been experiencing heavy rainfall accompanied by lightning and thunderstorms over the past weeks which has reportedly led to an increase in power outages. Tropical Storm Gonzalo has since dissipated.

There were also reports of flooding in areas such as Silvertown, Wismar and Republic Avenue, Mackenzie.

The township has been on the receiving end of a number of freak storms, over the years, which have resulted in severe damage to homes and infrastructure.

NEWS

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MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, July 27 – 10:00h – 11:30h and Tuesday, July 28 – 11:00h – 12:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, July 27 – 09:05h – 10:35h and Tuesday, July 28 – 10:15h – 11:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

Electoral coup détat

APNU/AFC Govt a “danger” to Guyana and its people – PPP/C

...Int’l observers, Ambassadors’ position threatens stability of Guyana – APNU/AFC

WEATHER TODAY Expect sunshine during the day. There will be thundery showers and clear skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

Winds: South South-Easterly to North-Easterly to North North-Easterly to East North-Easterly to East South-Easterly to South South-Westerly to SouthWesterly between 1.78 metres and 2.68 metres.

High Tide: 09:46h and 22:13h reaching maximum heights of 2.44 metres and 2.43 metres.

Low Tide: 15:42h reaching a minimum height of 0.81 metre.

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$44.34/barrel

+0.07

Rough Rice

$210.83 /ton

-0.86

London Sugar

$350.30/ton

0

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1919.30

$1920.30

Low/High

$1899.60

$1943.80

Change

+18.00

+0.95%

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

T

he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) on Sunday called out the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition over its outrageous and delirious claims made regarding Guyana’s protracted elections process, which is nearing its fifth month.

In a statement on Sunday, the APNU/AFC called for “a credible vote, since in the bundle of tabulated votes rests several votes which are fraudulent.”

It also went on to claim, among other things, that there is “a carefully orchestrated plan to oust a legitimately elected Government and to implement regime change by some entities and not a genuine desire to assist Guyana at his difficult time.”

In addition, the coalition noted that 63 letters were sent to the GECOM Chair and the Secretariat over the last three months and only received six responses.

“As a major stakeholder in these elections, we find this totally unacceptable and reiterate that fraudulent votes must be excluded in a final count. These concerns must be addressed if we are to move forward,” the APNU/AFC stated.

Further, the coalition has accused the the International Observers and Ambassadors of the ABCE countries of tuning a blind eye on the alleged eletorial fraud.

However, in response, the PPP/C said that the coalition’s latest ramblings are inane and incredulous.

“The delusional author of this statement repeats the outrageous allegation of a national and international conspiracy to oust the APNU+AFC from Government. If anything at all, this statement is proof to the world that the rigging cabal has clearly lost their minds and remains a threat of danger to Guyana and its people,” the party said in a subsequent missive on Sunday.

According to the PPP/C,

the coalition’s utterances cannot be intended for sane, right-thinking Guyanese but seemed to be written for a “captured” David Granger, who the party said needs repeated convincing of the line being pushed by the coalition’s Joseph Harmon and others. This statement, the PPP/C added, will no doubt be taken to Granger as “evidence” of the delusional notion of an electoral victory.

Moreover, the PPP/C went on to say that the statement rehashes a set of issues that have long been overtaken by events and judicial pronouncements from both the High Court and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) – Guyana’s apex court.

The party pointed out that the APNU/AFC continues to recite the ridiculous and unsubstantiated allegations it made during at the recount exercise, that is, accusing the PPP of rigging. It further attacked Order 60 of 2020 – also known as the Recount Order which was used to conduct the exercise – as well quoted Justice Brassington Reynolds’ ruling in the Court of Appeal in the Eslyn David case, which was set aside by the CCJ. The Trinidad-based regional court in its judgement of July 8, 2020, ruled that the decision handed down

by Guyana’s Appeal Court – the judgement that was used by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) to dump over

Caretaker President David Granger

100,000 votes – was invalid. The CCJ also invalidated the CEO, Keith Lowenfield’s June 23 report and stated that the certified results of the National Recount must be used for any declaration of the March 2 elections results.

The 33-day exercise, which was supervised by a team of Caribbean Community (Caricom) scrutineers, show that the PPP/C won the elections with a landslide victory, having secured 233,336 votes while the caretaker APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.

“Having regard to known events, subsequent to the National Recount exercise, it must be clear to the ordinary reader that the author of this statement is in dire need of psychiatric attention. In the author’s schizo-

Retired Justice Claudette Singh

phrenic mind, he/she erases the existence of a report produced by David Granger’s most “legitimate interlocutors”, the Caricom team, who dismissed their allegations of irregularities as erroneous, unsubstantiated and of nuisance value only, while endorsing the recount as credible and transparent and calling for the results of the recount to be used as the basis for the declaration of the final results of the elections,” the PPP/C said on Sunday.

In addition to ignoring the CCJ’s ruling, the PPP/C further outlined that the coalition similarly omitted to mention a word of the Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George’s recent judgement in the Misenga Jones case, in which she dismissed the case based upon the identical sentiments expressed in the very statement.

TURN TO PAGE 8

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guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

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

Suriname’s change of government E

nmeshed in the travails wrought by the PNC’s naked grab for power by blatantly rigging the March 2 elections, most Guyanese understandably did not pay much attention to the elections held in next-door Suriname on May 25. But even though that government had been headed for the past decade by President Desi Bouterse, who had been convicted of murder the previous year, after some initial hitches, the Elections Commission announced preliminary results within three days and certified them on June 16, with some minor adjustments. Objections were raised on the count in two of the ten regions, but these were settled without any problems.

From the onset of modern politics in Suriname in the 1950s, political parties have been ethnically based with the two major blocs – “Creole” and “Hindustani” (as the Indians were called) forming a coalition that led to the country being labelled as practising “consociational” democracy by the founder of the concept, Arend Lijphart. The Creoles were split into what we called in Guyana “Coloured/Mixed” and African segments to join other major groups - Maroons, who were descended from escaped slaves who had carved out an independent existence in the interior, Amerindians and Javanese (Indonesians) who had also been brought in to work on the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery in 1863.

The results of the May 25 elections showed that the Indian-based VHP, headed by Chan Santokhi emerged with the largest number of seats – 20 – an increase of 11 in the 51-member Parliament while the incumbent NDP of Bouterse could only muster 16 seats – a drop of 11. ABOP, headed by Ronnie Brunswijk who had led a Maroon rebellion against one of the earlier Governments of Bouterse after the latter’s coup d’état, garnered eight seats, which was an increase of three. Another Maroon-based party BEP earned two seats; the Javanese party PL, two seats and the original Creole party, NPS, three.

As can be discerned, Suriname has a multiplicity of parties (there were 11 others on the hustings) reflecting its multi-ethnic diversity. But unlike Guyana and Trinidad, which share a similar social structure, they have been more open about their ethnic bases and consequently were always open to coalitions since none of the ethnic groups – of which the Indians were the largest – formed an absolute majority. After Bouterse’s coup in 1980, while his party was solidly Creolebased, he defined his government as “national” as opposed to “ethnic”, by recruiting “ethnic” candidates into his party, as well as coalescing with splinter Indian and Javanese parties. In this way, his NDP shared more characteristics with Trinidadian and Guyanese major parties that utilise the same strategy, as well as promoting Creole culture as “national”.

Directly after the preliminary results were announced three days later on May 28, coalition talks were initiated

by VHP (Indians) with ABOP (Maroons); NPS (Creole); and PL (Javanese) and on May 30 a coalition was announced, agglomerating their 33 seats. The portfolios of government were agreed upon, with Santokhi designated their Presidential Candidate and Brunswijk as Vice President. In the Surinamese political system, these last two positions are elected by the National Assembly and need a two-thirds supermajority. They were nominated on July 7, and with no other nominations made, the Assembly voted them in by acclamation on July 13. They were sworn in on July 19 in a ceremony that the outgoing President Bouterse attended and participated in.

Apart from the salutary lesson demonstrated by Bouterse in accepting the will of the people and handing over power to his elected successor, Suriname has other lessons for Guyana. Of recent, there have been sustained calls for “shared governance” by partisans of PNC/APNU/AFC, to justify its refusal to vacate office on the back of its blatant attempt to rig the elections.

But while there has been a history of coalition governments in Suriname, their history has demonstrated that there needs to be trust performatively established between the parties.

The PNC has demonstrated it cannot be trusted.

APNU/AFC needs to realise declaration using recount figures first, election petition after Dear Editor, If it was not obvious before, it should now be obvious to all that the APNU/AFC coalition resides in an alternative universe – one where the National Recount, court decisions and various reports from Elections Observation Missions, among others, are warped to suit their deluded reality.

The APNU/AFC coalition, only today, issued a press statement replete with, to put nicely, delusional notions and sheer falsehoods.

Out of these falsehoods, they have come to the ridiculous conclusion that they have won the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, and attempts are being made to deny them this victory. Nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, it is the coalition that has made a series of nefarious attempts to steal the elections and deny the true will of the Guyanese people.

In their statement, they have once again repeated the often-debunked claims of fraud discovered during the recount and are asking GECOM to investigate these claims before making a final declaration. Both GECOM and Guyana’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice, have made it quite clear that the only avenue to deal with these unfounded allegations is the High Court, through an election petition, after a final declaration election has been made. However, the APNU/ AFC coalition would have GECOM exceed its authority and invalidate votes in order

to give them a victory.

It would be instructive for the APNU/AFC coalition to read the ruling of the CCJ in its judgement on July 8, 2020, where it was clearly stated that: “The Chairperson of GECOM was therefore perfectly entitled and right to take the position that these allegations if pursued, should be addressed by an election petition filed in the High Court as contemplated by Article 163.” Also, the High Court in its ruling of July 20, 2020, reemphasised this and further stated that the only data that could be used for the declaration of the results of the elections would have to be the recount results or data.

It should also be noted that the claims of fraud were dismissed by the Caribbean Community (Caricom) team report – the same team that the coalition leader, President David Granger, called the “legitimate interlocutors” in the National Recount process.

This was made quite clear in their report, where they basically called out the coalition for engaging in a fishing expedition. For the avoidance of doubt, the Caricom team’s report said: “The Team did not view the objections raised by the APNU/AFC as materially relevant to the recount of the ballots…we simply have no evidence as to who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the alleged “ghost voting” and voter impersonation…nothing that we witnessed warrants a challenge to the inescapable conclusion that the recount results are accept-

able and should constitute the basis of the declaration of the results of the March 2, 2020 elections.

Any aggrieved political party has been afforded the right to seek redress before the courts in the form of an election petition…we are, however, of the unshakable belief that the people of Guyana expressed their will at the ballot box, and as a result, the three-person Caricom Observer Team concludes that the recount results are completely acceptable.”

However, as they are wont to do, the members of the coalition are selective in their reading of reports and court decisions.

For those of us attempting to derive logic from the illogicality coming from the APNU/AFC coalition camp, we remember that it was none other than David Granger who admitted that the ‘so-called’ evidence of irregularities in the elections was in Joseph Harmon’s possession – evidence that he is yet to address publicly. On June 14, 2020, Granger had said: “Evidence (of irregularities) has been compiled... that evidence is available from our Election Agent, Colonel Harmon.” Also, it was David Granger who admitted that he had not even seen a single Statement of Poll from the March 2, 2020 Elections.

In the same interview of June 14, 2020, Granger had said: “What I can say is that the spreadsheet that I was presented with of the SoPs indicated quite clearly – I hav-

en’t seen the individual SoPs myself – they indicated quite clearly that the numerical advantage was in favour of the APNU+AFC. I never saw the SoPs myself. I saw the spreadsheet and I am satisfied that the spreadsheet was accurate.” The logical action that Guyanese would expect from the coalition if it persists with the unfounded claims being made is to make public the ‘evidence’ of irregularities and, more importantly, make public its Statements of Poll.

One can only conclude that the APNU/AFC coalition knows fully well that their allegations are only red herring being put out there to comfort their base.

Instead of responsible action, the APNU/AFC coalition prefers to see our image on the global stage be dragged through the mud, whilst our citizens continue to suffer.

The stability and wellbeing of this country depend on the democratic will of the people being recognised.

The time has reached for the APNU/AFC to stop all these shenanigans and allow the Government of the people to be sworn in. They can still salvage whatever credibility they have left and concede.

Our people are suffering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn in the country. The coalition can bring relief to us all by doing the decent and honest thing.

Concede!

Yours truly, Sherwyn Greaves

APNU/AFC considering a coup as its number 1 option to stay in power

Dear Editor, Mr Paul Tennesee yesterday stated Guyana has been in a dictatorship since March 2019. He is right. I fully agree with him. David Granger and APNU/AFC have utilised the Judiciary and constitutional bodies such as GECOM to extend their time in office. But now Guyana is on the verge of an attempted coup d’état to consolidate the dictatorship.

Having exhausted every attempt to thief the March 2 elections, APNU/AFC is now actively considering an old-fashioned coup d’état. In the last several days, there have been clear, ominous, sinister signals a coup d’état is now their number 1 option.

APNU/AFC has given unambiguous signals they have no intention of demitting office. Even as the US has already imposed visa restrictions for persons engaged in thieving the March 2 elections, even as Caricom, the OAS, the Commonwealth, PROSUR, the ABCE countries, the UN have stepped up the pressure, David Granger’s sycophants are emboldened in messaging

that APNU/AFC must no longer dither, but proceed with an old-fashioned coup d’état.

Anil Nandlall calls this option the Road to Perdition and he deemed those proposing such an option a “bunch of wild men”. Ralph Ramkarran this week warned APNU/AFC is firmly on this road. Bharrat Jagdeo warned APNU/AFC several weeks ago, this is a non-viable option. But APNU/ AFC is recklessly careening onto this pathway.

The clearest signal came on Saturday, when an old rigger, Hamilton Green, on Mark Benschop Radio, urged David Granger as Commander in Chief to seize power. He demanded Granger must dismiss GECOM, discard the election, ignore the Judiciary, cast aside local civil society and international stakeholders. He incited Granger to use the army for an old-fashioned coup d’état.

This old rigger is one of the people Anil Nandlall calls “wild men”. Hamilton Green is blunt, demanding Granger cast aside the Constitution and the laws - just use the army and thief the Government.

While Anil Nandlall called him a wild man, make no mistake, this was carefully-planned messaging, testing the waters, checking to see the response from civil society and the international community. But Bharrat Jagdeo, the PPP’s General Secretary, anticipating this option, already warned the PPP will fiercely reject any APNU/AFC coup to thief the Government. The international community already also clearly issued warnings, a coup will not be tolerated.

While Hamilton Green did not disguise his coup proposal, others have also pursued the coup option. Vincent Alexander, a GECOM Commissioner, another graduate from the rigging college, another one of the “wild men”, on several occasions, demanded the elections be voided, Granger stays in power, reorganises GECOM, prepares a new national registration system and then hold new elections in time for 2025.

Alexander even published a 16-page document calling for new the elections. This might

not be an old-fashioned coup, using the army to seize power, as Green has recommended, but it is still a coup. They have Lampy and Pampy on NCN, James Bond and a set of USbased PNC riggers, using social media to spread the message that Granger must forget the elections, just seize power.

After the Chief Justice rejected their request to legitimise their fraud at GECOM last week, they recognised the Judiciary pathway towards thieving the election is evaporating. Joe Harmon issued a statement that APNU/AFC will not accept any GECOM declaration unless it uses the Mingo/Lowenfield fraudulent results, something GECOM and both the CJ and the CCJ already rejected. The statement threatened if the PPP and the other political parties support peace and stability, they will accept the Mingo/Lowenfield declaration.

Outside of the blunt threat for violence, the statement is clearly signalling a coup. It might not be an old-fashioned coup d’état, but a coup is a coup.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

5

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Some irresponsible attorneys may have contributed to present election impasse Dear Editor, It is troubling and worrisome as to what is happening in the dear land of Guyana, regarding the incomplete election process, COVID-19 repercussions, the escalating crime situation, the economic stagnation, the unlimited health problems, unemployment and starvation and other political and social depravities. In addition, there is great concern also pertaining to the breakdown of law and order in the country. We are sadly privileged to witness many partisan and prejudiced actions or inactions being played out in the streets without corrective measures applied by the relevant authorities.

Many illegal demonstrations and gatherings are privy by one political party in the presence of the security force and the law is not enforced by the protectors of this country.

Such favours will not be accommodated to other stakeholders. COVID-19 restrictions prohibit these activities and they pose dual dangers, health and physical, to the rest of the nation.

It is heartening to note that the Bar Council of the

Guyana Bar Association said, “The Bar Association once again condemns the recent inflammatory, malicious and racially charged statements, made over the past two days, through various forms of media, targeted again at the Court of Appeal in yet another pending election matter.” Further, it is commendable that the Bar Council also said, “For the third time this month, we are moved to once again speak, as we have previously done condemning attacks on the judiciary, attorneys-at-law and generally, persons in the lawful exercise of their profession and duties.”

While this speaks well of the Guyana Bar Association, the peace-loving Guyanese wish that they would not apply the brakes there but, venture further and also review their members who are guilty of possible disciplinary action pertaining to the flagrant disregard for questionable professional code of ethics. The grass-root opinion from the man in the street feels that, in a limited layman’s terms, the oversight, disregard, delay or refusal to take any visible or verbal action that

would reflect condemnation and not condonation of such attitude, behaviour and duty of some of the irresponsible attorneys, may have possibly contributed to the election process being dragged out at a snail’s pace.

The gross speculation is food for thought whether this is directly or indirectly a deliberate incident or, simply a coincident and whether consideration is meritorious.

But, the loud sound of silence speaks volumes and can persuade an influence that may negate areas of doubts, confusion and ignorance. Again, there is no insinuation for accusation in any shape or form but, the perpetual frivolous and vexatious litigations presented by only one set of Councils over the very repetitive issues with similar results do raise eyebrows and frustrate the patience of the public. Of course, the legal luminaries from the Bar Association would be the better judges for this assumption and their point of view will be well respected and accepted. Any clarification and or guidance would certainly be most welcome from the learned Bar Council.

The other sore point is the transparent lies and deceits that are fed and foisted to the public and tongue twisted at the highest level to misrepresent facts and disguised for the convenience of probable illegitimate and illegal activities by certain councils. This has been almost a daily and disgusting practice for too long and Guyanese feel the Bar Association should publicly denounce this exercise and disassociate itself. This is highly unprincipled and does not represent the teachings and expectations of the Bar Council in no uncertain terms. This is of great concern and a dangerous precedent is allowed to become a norm.

Editor, Guyanese still remain in the dark and are unaware of what goes on behind the scenes inside closed doors. That is why many things come as a surprise and they are ill-equipped and unprepared to handle many issues and circumstances and are not properly advised and/ or lack the necessary knowledge in many situations.

Respectfully, Jai Lall

PNC leadership and its monarchy tendencies

Dear Editor, The behaviour of the PNC leadership since it first assumed Government in 1964 (which was a token of the Cold War era and a deliberate means of ousting the PPP and Comrade CB Jagan from Government by the western powers) has been one that always exhibited monarchy tendencies over Guyana.

As such, the PNC leadership has demonstrated that after Guyana’s independence; instead of the British installing the 1966 Westminster

Constitution they should have established an order of succession for the PNC elites as the new monarchy of Guyana and shelved the democratic process of elections for choosing a Government by the will of the people, which would have given the PNC leadership their so-called right to rule over Guyana without democratic elections and the rule of law.

The PNC’s (with all of its name changes) inability to win an election by a democratic process from 1968 to

2020 (I still maintain that the PNC-led – APNU/AFC did not win the 2015 national election by 4506 votes until the PPP elections petition case is heard and a ruling pronounced thereto) is a clear case of its nature to rule Guyana as if this country is their backyard.

Further, and again, the PNC monarchy tendencies were at full display and enforced by the 1978 fraudulent referendum, which firmly paved the way for the 1980 Constitution and foist-

ed its dictatorial rule over Guyanese as their subjects.

Clearly, what is being unfolded at present with the PNC leader and de facto President David A Granger to concede defeat and demit office after losing March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, is the same monarchy and dictatorial tendencies this country has to endure every passing day since the year 1964.

Sincerely yours, Paul Ramrattan

Irfaan Ali is the elected President of Guyana Dear Editor, The situation in Guyana since the March 2, 2020 elections has reached a point where democracy is under constant assault by dictators who are toiling to stamp out the last vestiges of domestic dissent to spread their harmful influence of dictatorship.

The APNU/AFC coalition is increasingly persistent in breaking down institutional safeguards and disregarding the rights of the critics and the majorities in pursuing their populist agendas. The brutality of the APNU/AFC regime

and the ethical decay of democratic principles are combined to make Guyana increasingly uncomfortable in demanding a new Government that was democratically elected.

Elections are meant to remove unpopular autocrats from power, but authoritarian leaders such as David Granger will fight tooth and nail to remain in power, unfortunately, despite being forced to concede power by the weight of domestic opposition and international ultimatum, Granger refused to accept the defeat of the March 2 elections, and continued to shelter

under the judicial system, that already ruled for his removal from Government As Guyanese in a democratic system, we must be eternally vigilant to protect our rights and keep Granger in check because if Granger’s cabal senses that Guyanese are apathetic to the affairs of the elections, they will have the confidence of amassing power for their own benefit. We must not allow ourselves to be overtaken by apathy in the affairs of our country because this can lead to sustained dictatorship.

There is nothing called good

or benevolent dictatorship, however flawed a democracy may be, it is the only system of governance that gives rights to its citizens to make a choice to remove non-performing leaders from power by the power of the ballot.

Granger must remember that the ballot of Guyanese is far more superior than his excuses.

The results of the elections is a testimony that you have failed the majority of Guyanese over the last five years.

APNU/AFC considering...

Everyone in APNU/AFC is aware they lost the elections. Even ordinary supporters know APNU/AFC lost the elections. Besides the vast majority of Guyanese, the whole world knows that APNU/AFC have been trying to thief the elections. APNU/AFC now realise their plan to use GECOM to thief the March 2 elections has failed. They now also recognise they miscalculated with the assumption Justice Claudette

Singh will willingly serve as part of the rigging cabal within GECOM. Further, APNU/AFC has discovered the Judiciary will not help them to thief the elections.

The Judiciary has demonstrated it is not easily intimidated, refusing to become a willing instrument to thief the elections on APNU/AFC’s behalf. This is why APNU/AFC is now on the Road to Perdition, as Anil Nandlall has described.

The vast majority of the Guyanese people, not just the PPP and the new political parties, but also civil society, and the whole world have already forcibly signalled they will not stand idly by and allow this bunch of “wild men” and “wild women” in APNU/AFC to take the Road to Perdition. No coup will succeed in Guyana. But amidst the threat of a military coup, David Granger has yet another opportunity to show he has an ounce

Sincerely, Zamal Hussain

FROM PAGE 4

of decency and honesty by denouncing all the “wild men and women” in APNU/AFC and rejecting all calls for a coup d’état.

The PPP won the March 2 elections and while APNU/AFC continues to huff and puff, continues with their jiggery-pokery, sooner than later, Dr Irfaan Ali will be sworn in as Guyana’s 9th President.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

The international community needs to act strongly to preserve democracy Dear Editor, Guyanese and the international community are very much worried about the brazen and unbridled threats to democracy that is permeating the land.

Following the successful passing of the historical No-Confidence Motion on December 21, 2018, Guyana has gradually slipped into tyrannical rule as perpetrated by Granger and his racist PNC clan.

Those anxieties are very much justified because as I write, it is 154 days and counting since the March 2, 2020 elections were held and GECOM is yet to make the final declaration of a winner. Added to that, we have witnessed the decimation by the PNC, APNU/AFC of the supreme law of the land, the Guyana Constitution and the flagrant disregard for the court rulings.

The Constitution clearly sets out the holding of elections in three months after the passing of a NoConfidence Motion against the Government. Well, the elections came thirteen months after and to date Granger and his clan still squats in Government.

The abuse of the Judiciary has been relentless. Most recently, the Guyana High Court, where the PNC activist Misenga Jones was seeking to block their accomplice, the GECOM CEO Mr Keith Lowenfield, from using the recount votes for the election’s declaration.

Madame Chief Justice Roxane George was decisive, the language was forthright, strong and unambiguous. The APNU/ AFC challenger to the GECOM process was “whipped with many stripes”. All their declarations and orders sought were clinically demolished by the CJ. Using words like “hopelessly flawed” referring to Mr Basil Williams was more than embarrassing. Mr Keith Lowenfield was admonished in the sturdiest terms such as inferring that he cannot be a “lone ranger”. She was totally dismissive of Jones’ requests and very explicit in her rulings.

But alas, Mr Harmon, in what has become the standard operational procedure (SOP) of the PNC, wasted no time in spinning a web of deception and falsehoods, he revived his unsubstantiated claims of fraud that had been already addressed by the country’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The rulings are public knowledge. He said the High Court sidestepped the issue of fraudulent ballots in the tabulated votes at the recount and went on to threaten that the APNU/AFC will not allow a Government to come to power on fraudulent votes.

Mr Aubrey Norton said the rulings are more based on politics than law, already insinuating that the Chief Justice is meddling in politics. They have withheld their usual character assassination of the Chief Justice for she is a highly respected Guyanese Jurist.

They are weighing the negatives that are likely to follow knowing that the CJ is of the same ethnic ilk of their main support base.

One has to understand that this entire scenario being repeated by the PNC, APNU/AFC about the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and the National Recount has got nothing to do with votes and the allegations of fraud. The sad reality, the absolute truth is that it is about a few in the PNC promoting their dirty racist underpinnings. The PNC African political leadership beginning from Forbes Burnham, smart and cunning but an ingrained intellectual racist. Some in the diaspora are obsessed with Afrocentrism and “black power”. These self-styled intellectuals are all downright racists.

The likes of David Hinds, Rickford Burke, Mark Benchop based in the USA, one would hope that that the US criminal investigative lens are focused on them, are bold and forefront on the subject. Those locally; Lincoln Lewis, Eric Phillips, Henry Jeffery, to name a few, are speaking the same language.

They all promote their racist agenda with impunity which seems not to bother the ERC. The PNC is grounded in pathological racism and is of the unshakable and fanatical mindset that Guyana was willed to them by the departure of the colonial powers and that they have the absolute right to govern.

Guyana is their prized inheritance.

That bunch of parasitical racists’ objectives were always set in motion and very evident.

Their resort to the abuse of the Judiciary was to allow for the extension of their illegal occupation of Government and prolong their carnage and pilfering of the national treasury. Mr Harmon said the CCJ got it all wrong, they refused to implicate the PPP in the fraud committed. Granger and his clan have finally stepped out of their disguised game box and have made their intents pellucid. Mr Harmon said, “we will not bend”.

They prefer visa restrictions and sanctions than to allow the elected PPP/C Government to take office.

The international community needs to act strongly to preserve democracy The regurgitating of their mantra that thousands of blacks were killed during Jagdeo’s rule is inciting. One PNC disingenuous leader said over five hundred thousand black youths were killed. The APNU TV live daily shows belching the twisted narratives each day are the positions taken by the PNC leadership and are tailor-made to suit the charge that black lives are at risk once the PPP goes back to office. With Granger’s refusal to concede and their support base so incensed, the worst is possible.

Respectfully, Parasram Persaud

6

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish CXC English and Mathematics questions with specimen answers.

CXC QUESTIONS

MATHS

ENGLISH

B

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 2 Cont’d

Enter FERDINAND and ARIEL, invisible, playing and singing FERDINAND enters with ARIEL, who is invisible and playing music and singing.

ARIEL:(sings) Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands.

Curtsied when you have, and kissed The wild waves whist.

Foot it featly here and there, And, sweet sprites, bear The burden. Hark, hark!

SPIRITS: (dispersedly, within) Bow-wow.

ARIEL: The watchdogs bark.

SPIRITS: (offstage) Bow-wow.

ARIEL: Hark, hark! I hear The strain of strutting chanticleer Cry “Cock-a-diddle-dow.”

FERDINAND: Where should this music be? I’ th’ air or th’ earth?

It sounds no more, and sure, it waits upon Some god o’ th’ island. Sitting on a bank, Weeping again the king my father’s wrack, This music crept by me upon the waters, Allaying both their fury and my passion With its sweet air. Thence I have followed it, Or it hath drawn me rather. But ’tis gone.

No, it begins again.

ARIEL: (sings) Full fathom five thy father lies.

Of his bones are coral made.

Those are pearls that were his eyes.

Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell SPIRITS: (within) Ding-dong.

ARIEL: Hark, now I hear them.

SPIRITS: (within) Ding-dong, bell.

FERDINAND: The ditty does remember my drowned father.

This is no mortal business, nor no sound That the earth owes. I hear it now above me.

PROSPERO: (to MIRANDA) The fringèd curtains of thine eye advance And say what thou seest yond.

MIRANDA: What is ’t? A spirit?

Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, It carries a brave form. But ’tis a spirit.

PROSPERO: No, wench! It eats and sleeps and hath such senses As we have, such. This gallant which thou seest Was in the wrack. And, but he’s something stained With grief that’s beauty’s canker, thou mightst call him A goodly person. He hath lost his fellows And strays about to find ‘em.

MIRANDA: I might call him A thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble.

PROSPERO: (aside) It goes on, I see, As my soul prompts it.— Spirit, fine spirit! I’ll free thee Within two days for this.

FERDINAND: (seeing MIRANDA) Most sure, the goddess On whom these airs attend! — Vouchsafe my prayer May know if you remain upon this island, And that you will some good instruction give How I may bear me here. My prime request, Which I do last pronounce, is—O you wonder!— If you be maid or no.

MIRANDA: No wonder, sir, But certainly a maid.

FERDINAND: My language! Heavens, I am the best of them that speak this speech, Were I but where ’tis spoken.

TO BE CONTINUED

NEWS

7

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Only way out for APNU/AFC is to concede – Ramkarran ...says coalition has shown it cannot be trusted with political power

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran

A

Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is steadily running out of options to hang on to power and their only way out lies in the party conceding defeat and allowing a smooth transition of power.

This is according to former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran, who noted in his most recent writings in the “Conversation Tree” that it will take courage for APNU/AFC to “eat humble pie” and admit that they were wrong. But at the end of the day, it is their only way out of the mess that they created.

“There can be no doubt that with the end of the road approaching, the APNU+AFC coalition is in

a mess. It is a mess of their own creation and they are losing sympathy. In this era of slim majorities, instead of going into opposition and planning for victory in 2025, they decided to go rogue,” Ramkarran wrote.

“This is a route that APNU has travelled before, between 1968 and 1992, under a different name and in a different era. It has no future, long or short term.

Today, instead of promoting the worthy aspects of Burnham’s legacy, they have chosen to embrace the worst. It would mark them forever as a party that cheats, that cannot be trusted with political office.”

According to Ramkarran, APNU/AFC started its descent into the political mess it is in since 2019, when they refused to accept losing the No-Confidence Motion.

Ramkarran recalled that the coalition embarked on a scurrilous drive to overturn the passage of the motion.

After the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the motion was validly passed, APNU/ AFC then argued that the court never set a date for the election and therefore, they could hold it whenever they felt like.

The coalition’s antics continued with their attempts to invalidate the recount through the courts. Things have gotten so bad that APNU/AFC, through caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Karen Cummings, told the Organisation of American States (OAS) that the CCJ invalidated the recount.

This is in fact not true.

The way forward

The Court of Appeal is scheduled to rule on the Misenga Jones case, which seeks to force the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to use fraudulent declarations to declare the winner of the March 2 elections, on Thursday.

Ramkarran noted that when the court rules and GECOM makes a declaration based on the recount results, APNU/AFC will have truly run out of wiggle room to avoid giving up power. They will either have to concede defeat or bully their way past GECOM and the courts.

“The first possibility, and one that appears to be the most likely, is that APNU+AFC will brazen it out and refuse to give up power. But how will that work? If the GECOM declaration is not accepted, a President cannot be sworn in and Parliament cannot

Caretaker President David Granger

be convened. The President and Government would be officially illegal.”

“Spending, the most important lubricant of a lawful and democratic Government, is now limited under Article 219 (3) of the Constitution to the public services until budget estimates and an Appropriations Bill are passed. Signs of illegal spending are already obvious. There is no law, instrument, mechanism or device in existence that would enable an illegal Government to govern legally, or with a modicum of normalcy.”

Ramkarran further

added that the People’s National Congress (PNC) dictatorship of the former President Forbes Burnham at least had the façade of democratic power, won through rigged elections.

But if APNU/AFC were to go a similar route, their undemocratic hold on power would be naked since they weren’t even successful at rigging the elections.

According to Ramkarran, for APNU/ AFC to hold on to power in such extreme circumstances, they would have to curtail rights such as freedom of expression, since such a takeover is likely to draw an outcry from the people of Guyana.

He said an APNU/AFC dictatorship would spell the end of parliamentary rule, civil liberties and constitutional rights. Freedom of movement would be prohibited; spies would be used and arrests of political activists would be a way of life.

“To reject GECOM’s declaration and stay in office, a full-blown, military or military-backed coup would have to be effected.

A group of civilians, or of the military, or a combi-

nation of both, backed officially or unofficially by the security forces positioned, as if ready for battle at sensitive points, would have to declare that it is taking over the reins of Government.”

“Ubiquitous state security would be part of daily life. There would be rule by proclamation. There would be political and financial isolation by the international community. Poverty will escalate,” Ramkarran also wrote.

He, therefore, urged APNU/AFC to do the right thing, return to the opposition benches and work hard on regaining the trust of citizens and possibly win at the 2025 elections. The only way APNU/AFC can succeed is by offering a creative political agenda and obtaining the support of the majority of the electorate.

“It will take political courage to eat humble pie and reverse course as an opposition, but this is the only way out unless APNU+AFC chooses to repeat the 1968-1992 PNC’s torture of Guyana,” Ramkarran stated in his column.

8 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Magistrate Alex Moore files $50M lawsuit against DPP for defamation

M

agistrate Alex Moore is seeking $50 million in damages from Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, for defamation of character.

This publication has been informed that the decision to sue Ali-Hack stemmed from a letter which was sent to the Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings Edwards, and Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George captioned: “Re: Conduct of Magistrate Alex Moore in the charge of the Police vs. Marcus Bisram for the offence of murder, Contrary to Common Law.” Magistrate Moore is contending that the letter has significantly injured his character, credibility, and reputation, which has led to public ridicule, distress, and depression, among others.

Magistrate Alex Moore

Besides, it is stated that the letter contained the word “malice,” prior to the claimant taking up duties in Berbice. The claimant indicated that Ali-Hack made false statements of him when he was a sitting Magistrate at the Sparendaam Court. In fact, the claimant said that

APNU/AFC Govt...

Jones, an APNU/AFC supporter, had moved to the High Court to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from using the recount results for the declaration of the 2020 elections – held over four months ago.

In her July 20 decision, Justice George upheld the previous judgement by the CCJ and ruled that GECOM must make a declaration based on the recount results, thus dismissing the application filed by the coalition agent.

The Chief Justice also contended that the Chief Elections Officer, “cannot act on his own” and has to act based on the direction of the Elections Commission.

She further set aside the initial declarations made by the 10 Returning Officers,

FROM PAGE 3

noting that these were overtaken by the recount results.

Lowenfield has consistently failed to comply with the directions of the seven-member Commission, and submitted several of his elections reports using fraudulent figures. In his last report, he even included the fraudulent numbers declared by embattled Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, who was found to have heavily inflated the figures in Guyana’s largest voting district in favour of the caretaker coalition.

Nevertheless, Jones has since challenged the Chief Justice’s ruling and after a marathon hearing of arguments of Saturday, the Appeal Court will deliver its decision on Thursday, July 30.

the Police Commissioner was requested to send all files from the claimant’s court to the defendant since “he is doing things that he has no authority to do.”

Moreover, Magistrate Moore outlined in the court document that the DPP is said to have wrongly accused him of dismissing cases even though the majority of witnesses were present.

Also, he noted that the DPP claimed that he was abusing his powers by instituting fines instead of imprisonment.

Concerning the letter referencing “Marcus Bisram,” DPP’s Ali-Hack has been pushing to have Bisram committed to stand trial for the murder of carpenter Fayaz Narinedatt.

Bisram was accused of ordering the death of Narinedatt between October 31 and November 1, 2016. On March 7, 2017, an arrest warrant was issued for the USbased Guyanese, who was overseas at the time.

The warrant was issued on the allegation that Bisram instructed five other men – Harri Paul Parsram, Radesh Motie, Niran Yacoob, Diodath Datt, and Orlando Dickie – to kill Narinedatt because the carpenter reject-

The PNC serpent…

O

DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack

ed Bisram’s sexual advances towards him.

The five men have since been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder. However, the charges against Bisram have been dismissed. However, after the charge was dismissed, Ali-Hack had ordered the Magistrate, who dismissed the charge, to commit Bisram to face a trial in the High Court.

This led to him being rearrested. That committal was recently quashed by High Court Judge Simone MorrisRamlall, who ruled that there was insufficient evidence to continue the charge against him. As such, he was freed.

Wanted rapist nabbed with illegal gun, ammunition

A

man who was wanted by Police for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl was arrested at Apaiqua Landing, Upper Mazaruni River, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), with an illegal

firearm and several rounds of ammunition.

Based on reports reaching Guyana Times, the wanted man, who hails from Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was arrested on Saturday.

However, upon his arrest, a search was conducted on his person during which one 9mm pistol along with four live rounds of matching ammunition was unearthed.

In addition, one 9mm magazine and two 12-gauge cartridges were found in his possession.

He was immediately arrested and taken to the nearest police station, where he was later transported to the Bartica Police Station.

The police have since lodged the gun and bullets as they continue their probe into both the rape allegation and the possession of firearm and ammunition.

…hisses

ne great observer of the human condition with its omnipresent danger of sliding into unimaginable depravities once expanded on “the banality of evil”. She was referring to the incredible ordinariness of the German soldier Adolph Eichmann, who consigned most of the six million Jews to be murdered in concentration camps. The act was unquestionably evil as you can get – but the man responsible was so BANAL, not only in his demeanour but in his life. The lesson, of course, is that evil isn’t necessarily done only by folks with horns and tails!!

And this brings Moses Nagamootoo to your Eyewitness’s mind as he reads the man’s latest excretions in his Chronic column. So banal…yet so evil. Said Nagamootoo: “The APNU+AFC Coalition of Parties has stated that it remains “open to dialogue” on the way forward for Guyana.” It, “was both an invitation to the major opposition PPP for talks and a curtain-raiser to what seems to be a positive signal for power-sharing.”

Notice the vapid third-person stance – as if he’s some bystander and not the person solely responsible for the PNC to once again have their knee on the necks of the Guyanese people.

This man (?) totally destroyed the possibility of “shared governance” in Guyana to satisfy his venality and greed. His – and Ramjattan’s – AFC gave the PNC the critical 10% to allow the coalition to govern from 2015.

More pertinently, they gave Granger the opportunity to announce to the world that they had a “national coalition”, since they were bringing in Indians to join the PNC’s monolithic African-Guyanese support base.

This was going to be a ground-breaking “power sharing” agreement starting from the top where Granger would concede chairing of Cabinet meetings with him and the AFC would get 40% of the Ministries. It was even signed, sealed and delivered on Valentine’s Day as the “Cummingsburg Accord”.

But from day one when he and Ramjattan were given “Larwah” – in the words of their old comrade Donald Ramotar – neither of them even grunted!! Nagamootoo was never allowed to Chair Cabinet and Ramjattan’s Home Affairs Ministry was split down the middle with half going to Winston Felix and the remainder directly run by Granger. He couldn’t even say “coo” when Granger refused his recommendation for COP – after decapitating the entire top brass of the GPF and replacing them with his loyalists!!

But Nagamootoo let the cat out of the bag when he confessed, “For Guyanese citizens, not versed in nuances of political opportunism or skullduggery, the call for dialogue at this time is an SOS distress signal.”

A distress signal all right – from an evil man trying to save not his “soul” but his “a55”!!

...speaks with forked tongue

Nagamootoo continued with his third-person account when he wrote “The Coalition said it is (making its offer) “in the national interest, and with a view to maintaining stability and peace”. It assured further that “the APNU+AFC Coalition is prepared to act responsibly to bring a resolution to the ongoing political situation”.

Can you believe this snake??

“The on-going political situation,” he announced, “of course is the prolonged delay in the declaration of results for the March 2 elections, including a 33-day recount process and attendant legal proceedings, that have combined to place Guyana in its deepest crisis ever.”

Who created the “ongoing political situation”? Has he listened to Caricom, the US, EU, UK, Canada, the OAS, Commonwealth, etc?? The man had the temerity to cite the opinion of Jimmy Carter yet his government refused to allow the Carter Center from returning to observe the recount!!

Are they all wrong, with the PNC and Moses Nagamootoo right??

No...but he’s just trying to save his 33 pieces of silver!!

...attacks GECOM’s Chair

After their scorched earth tactics to everyone saying they cheated, the PNC’ve now turned on GECOM Chairwoman Claudette Singh. They’re livid she wants Lowenfield to use the recount numbers.

And make the PPP win? Jezebel!!

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

NEWS

9

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Civil society condemns Green for advising Granger to shun Constitution — PSC Head says comments “shocking, appalling”

Regional Elections were held, yet a winner has not been declared. While a recount has shown that the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) won the elections, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) has made a concerted effort to delay the transition of Government.

Already, the United

PSC Chairman, Retired Captain Gerry Gouveia

Former presidential Ramon Gaskin

ecent comments by People’s National Congress (PNC) stalwart Hamilton Green that President David Granger must “put aside” the Constitution and act, continue to draw criticism from sections of society.

In an interview with this publication, Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman, Retired Captain Gerry Gouveia expressed shock at Green’s comments.

He noted that without the Constitution, politicians would run amok.

“I am appalled that a man like Hamilton Green would make such a statement. Because the very foundation of our country and the rule of law is premised on that Constitution.

And the Constitution is the only thing that we as citizens have, to corral our politicians and make sure they follow the law.”

In explaining the damage that such advice can have on a country, Gouveia

pointed out its potential to chase away investors and erode business confidence.

Countries that do not respect the constitutional rights of citizens are unlikely to respect the rights of investors.

“The good news is this is a different time. And I believe with every fibre in my body, that the international community will never ever for one minute, one second, condone that type of illegality. So, it’s unfortunate that he said it. The Private Sector is shocked that he would even say it.”

Meanwhile, political analyst and former presidential adviser Ramon Gaskin also criticised Green’s statement. In an interview, Gaskin reminded that President Granger, like all constitutional officers, swore an oath to uphold the Constitution.

“President Granger swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, when he became President. So, to say

R

adviser

PNC stalwart Hamilton Green

President David Granger

to him now to put it aside, would be in violation of the oath that he took. Secondly, the whole question of putting aside the Constitution does not arise. Guyana has always had a Constitution.”

“There’s a reason why we have it. The Constitution is the supreme law of Guyana.

You cannot have a country with no laws and the Constitution is part of the law. So, to talk about putting it aside, is nonsense.”

“The Constitution is the supreme law of this country and Granger is elected to uphold the Constitution and all the Judges are elected to uphold the Constitution.

And the head of the military and the police. So, if he wants to put it aside, he’d be up against all those people who are sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

Green, a former Prime Minister under the People’s National Congress (PNC) regime, during an interview on local radio programme “Straight Up Live”, said in a

public message to Granger to “…do what is necessary.

Put aside the Constitution [and] put aside the laws.

You are, at this moment, and will be for a long time, Commander-in-Chief. Take action so that your people, our people and the people of Guyana, will honour you, no matter what it costs.”

His comments were quickly condemned by former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who in his weekly opinion piece, The Unruly Horse, posited that calling upon Granger to toss aside the Constitution and the laws, is calling for a coup.

It has been almost five months since General and

States, on July 15, imposed sanctions on a number of Government and electoral officials who were found to be undermining Guyana’s democracy. The United Kingdom subsequently announced that it has already started the process of putting “consequences in place” against individuals in Guyana; while Canada is likely to follow suit. (G3)

10 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Montrose 3-vehicle smash-up

Conflicting reports surface following death of taxi driver – family says he had plans to reunite with his wife

By La’Wanda McAllister

T

he shock is still very raw for the family of a 41-year-old man who was killed following a three-vehicle collision on the Montrose Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD), on Saturday afternoon.

Eric Suk Mangal, also known as Trevor Mangal or “whistle”, a taxi driver of Lot 52 Industry Crown Dam, ECD, succumbed to severe injuries sustained from the accident.

It was reported that at about 15:20h on the day in question, motor car PXX 2522, in which the now dead man was an occupant, slammed into two parked vehicles.

An eyewitness noted that after hitting the two vehicles, the car spun several times before hitting the median and coming to a halt. Mangal was reportedly flung out of the car, and fell onto the roadway. He died on the spot.

As paramedics arrived on the scene, Mangal was examined and pronounced dead. The body was taken to

Dead: Eric Suk Mangal

Lyken’s Funeral Home.

However, the dead man’s sister, Natasha Ishrilall, in an interview with Guyana Times said that the family is still in a state of shock by her brother’s sudden death.

The woman recalled that she was at home when she received a telephone call from an unknown caller, informing her that Mangal was involved in an accident, and she should make her way to the hospital.

“Somebody called me

and tell me to go to the hospital and see your brother, I asked what happened to my brother, and they said your brother was in an accident.

That is all I heard from the individual, I don’t know who is the individual but the person knew my number and they called me… “I went straight to the hospital and when I view my brother, he was already dead, he was there on the stretcher lying down,” she explained.

Mangal’s sister said that her brother was at home

having his lunch when a group of his friends came to their house and insisted that he go out with them.

She added that when he left, he did not say exactly where they were heading.

“My sister told me, because she was the one that was home with him, she said that he was at home eating and when the guys came up with white car to take him out. The last words he said to my sister was ‘gosh, them in even giving me no rest. I can’t even eat lil food’. He left and he went with them,” she said.

It is alleged that Mangal was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident and that he was racing with another car. But the family is holding out that he was not driving the car at the time of the fatal accident.

In addition, she could not ascertain if the car in which her brother was travelling was speeding since she has no evidence to prove that.

She is also claiming that there have been several reports of what really transpired on the fateful day.

“We are waiting on the

The car that slammed into the parked vehicles

footage, this is footage, we were made to understand that they are footage. They have cameras there, so we are waiting on that, and that is where the truth has to come out.”

On that note, the woman accused the police of withholding the CCTV footage that has been uplifted from nearby premises.

“I don’t believe that Police should stop the people from showing the video.

That video should have already been out. I was made

to understand that the police is stopping the individual from leaking the video, and that shouldn’t have been done.”

Before Mangal met his demise, he had high hopes of reuniting with his wife that lives in the United States of America (USA). He was described by his family as a hardworking and “very nice person” who would go out of his way for his family.

He leaves to mourn his wife and three children.

Investigations are ongoing.

NEWS

11

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

1 dead, 1 critical following Labourer killed by speeding car while attempting to cross road Mandela Ave accident A O ne man is now dead and another is in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) following an accident on Mandela Avenue, Georgetown, on Sunday evening.

The accident occurred sometime after 18:00h in the vicinity of the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.

Dead is 31-year-old Leon Wilkins of Lot 56 B Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown. Up to press time, the identity of the injured man was not available. He was on a bicycle at the time of the accident.

Guyana Times understands that Wilkins was riding his motorcycle, heading north on Mandela Avenue, reportedly at a fast rate of speed when he collided into the pedal cyclist, who was attempting to cross the road at the time.

The impact of the collision resulted in Wilkins along with his bike sliding for another 100 metres and coming to a halt in front of the Gymnasium entrance.

Both men were picked

Dead: Leon Wilkins

up by first responders and rushed to the GPHC, where Wilkins was pronounced dead on arrival.

After receiving news of the accident, Wilkins’ relatives and close friends rushed to the hospital where they confirmed their worst fears.

The man’s mother said he was at home all day on Sunday but left late in the afternoon to go out.

Meanwhile, the pedal cyclist is said to be in a critical state.

A relative, who did not

want to reveal any information about the injured man, told this newspaper that they were at home when they received a call from someone informing them that he was involved in an accident.

“When we reach at the scene, he was still struggling to breathe… They put he in an ambulance and bring he to the hospital,” the woman related.

According to the relative, the man had visible injuries to his head and limbs.

pedestrian was on Sunday killed after he was struck down by a speeding motor car while attempting to cross the Mon Repos Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Dead is 44-year-old Vickram Budhram, a labourer of Lot 24 First Street North Mon Repos, ECD. Although details of the accident remain sketchy, Guyana Times understands that the fatal accident occurred at about 14:00h.

At the scene, eyewitnesses explained that the now dead man was attempting to cross the road when the motor car, bearing registration number PPP5422, which was being driven at a fast rate, collided with the man. Upon contact, the man was tossed about 80 feet away from where he was struck and landed on the roadway.

Emergency crews responded and found the man lying in a motionless state.

He was subsequently pronounced dead.

The driver of the vehicle involved in the accident is presently in Police custody.

Meanwhile, the man’s daughter, Kareena Budhram, explained that her father had left for work at about 05:00h and did not return. She noted that she was at home just

Dead: Vickram Budhram

after 14:00h when someone from the neighbourhood came to their home and informed her that her father was involved in an accident.

“An uncle from around the corner come by us and told me that my father get knock down and I just drop every-

thing and run out. When I go out, I see him lying down”, she said.

The dead man’s daughter said that she is traumatised by her father’s death and is scared to live without him, since he has been her protector and provider from birth.

“I do not live with my mom; I live with my father and he would take care of me and my two brothers. I am very scared and terrified to be without my father. My father was a good person that worked very hard to take care of his kids”, the teen explained.

The family is calling for answers and justice for their loved one, since they believe his death was too sudden.

Budhram leaves to morn his wife and three children. A probe into the fatal accident is underway. (G9)

12 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Construction worker killed in Banks DIH building collapse laid to rest

“T

ell daddy to open his eyes.”

Those were the cries of the four children of 25-year-old Anthony Lowe of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara (EBD), who died one week after a section of a building collapsed at Banks DIH Limited, on July 8, in-

reflect on the young man’s life. The dead man’s family was inconsolable and still in shock, as they asked the questions “How?” and “Why?” His children were in tears, asking if their father would be able to open his eyes to see them. They are

Ex-Policewoman gets 1-year suspended sentence for dousing lover with acid

Guilty: Cassandra Boucher

A Lowe’s wife and four children

Lowe’s inconsolable mother

juring him and four others.

Family and friends of Lowe gathered at Sandy’s Funeral Home in Georgetown on Saturday to

too young to understand that it was the last time they were physically seeing him.

When Lowe left his wife and four children for work

on that fateful day, he was full of life, and his family had no clue that he would not return.

However, a few hours into the day, his wife received a call that while he and his colleagues were in the process of demolishing a building at Banks DIH Limited, the structure collapsed, trapping them under it.

The men were taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where Jagmohan Bissessar, 61, of La Parfaite Harmonie, West

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

Bank Demerara, was pronounced dead on arrival.

Lowe was admitted in a critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the medical facility, while the others were treated for minor injuries and sent away.

The father of four never regained consciousness as it was reported that he had suffered severe injuries to his brain and lungs.

Lowe left to mourn his pregnant wife, four young children, mom, siblings and many relatives.

n ex-policewoman, who was found guilty of dousing her lover with acid on July 13 was on Friday last slapped with a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to undergo anger management classes.

Thirty-one-year-old Cassandra Boucher of Lot 5 School Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.

Boucher, on her first court appearance, had denied the charge, which stated that on November 7, 2018, at Camp Street and North Road, Georgetown, she unlawfully and maliciously wounded Anthony Paul with intent to maim, disfigure or cause him grievous bodily harm.

During that appearance, the woman’s lawyer, Adrian

Thompson, had told the court that his client had made several reports against her lover for abusing her but nothing was done.

He told the court that on the day in question, his client was defending herself from the constant abuse, and there is a medical certificate to show that she received injuries.

Further, it was reported that Boucher and Paul shared a relationship that subsequently ended after Paul found out that she was pregnant for someone else.

On the day in question, Boucher had called Paul and requested to be taken to the hospital since she was not feeling well.

However, when Paul arrived at the defendant’s home, she got into the backseat of his vehicle, and while being taking to the hospital, she delved into her purse and took out a small glass bottle and threw a liquid on his face and body.

Paul immediately drove to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where he was examined by a doctor and admitted at the medical facility.

The matter was then reported, and Boucher was arrested and charged. She was released on $300,000 bail.

SYMPTOMS

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

Fever People who think they may be affected by coronavirus need to call the Public Health Ministry hotline 227-4986/624-3067 for further advice. They should not go to their GP, A&E, pharmacy or hospital.

If you have come into contact with somebody who may be infected, you may be told to self-isolate. People needing to do so should take "common-sense" steps to avoid close contact with other people.

(Adapted from BBC News)

Headache

Chills

Sore throat

Repeated shaking with chills

Muscle pain

Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have New loss of taste mild illness. or smell

NEWS

13

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Troy Resources denies being culpable for geologist’s death — PRO says aggrieved family received $8M, including insurance, since last year

Geologist Ryan Taylor

T

roy Resources has refuted claims made by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Dr Vincent Adams, that investigations by a Ministry and a Government agency into the death of geologist Ryan Taylor on the job, had found the gold mining company culpable.

In fact, a rep for the company said that it has not even been privy to the Social Protection Ministry and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) reports which stated that Adams wrote the company’s Chief Executive Officer Ken Nilsson and copied to President David Granger.

In an interview with this publication, Ajay Baksh, who is part of Troy’s Public Relations team, explained that the claims made by Adams are untrue.

According to Baksh, “there is no report. The report Adams refers to, no one knows which report it is.

The Ministry has not done or released any report.”

According to him, far

from condemning Troy Resources, in November of last year, the former Social Protection Minister, Amna Ally sent them a letter expressing confidence in the company.

A copy of the letter, which was addressed to Nilsson, was shared with this publication. In it, the Minister wrote that she is happy Troy Resources completed remedial work on the Hicks Extended pit, as requested by GGMC. Ally also wrote that she wishes “to place on record that we are confident that like us, you too are concerned with safety measures and I wish to commend you for this. I must add that our Government has confidence in your company and we look forward for continued cooperation and a cordial relationship.”

Baksh also cited the fact that Troy Resources was awarded a certificate by the National Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in April of 2018. They were also awarded another certificate by the advisory council on May 15, 2019.

The company’s own response on the matter was more reticent. In a statement on Sunday, Troy explained that they were forced to write to the President previously because of “constant attacks and harassment” on the company. According to them, the correspondence involved the President, the regulator and them.

“Accordingly, the com-

pany does not believe that notwithstanding that the press may have obtained copies of sensitive correspondence, that it would be necessary or appropriate to comment publicly on these. In the circumstances, the company prefers not to make any comment on the matter,” the statement from Troy Resources said.

On the issue of claims by the geologist’s mother, June Ann Taylor, that Troy Resources did not compensate them for his death, Baksh denied this. In fact, Baksh was adamant that the Taylor family received a total of $8 million last year, including money from insurance.

“All Troy employees are insured,” he said. “So, this is not like we paid because we admitted guilt or something is wrong. It is a standard procedure. As of today, the records we have show that she’s received $8 million in total. $4 million from the insurance company and $4 million for funeral expenses.”

In his letter, Adams had been critical of Nilsson for writing to President Granger on April 27, 2020, to complain about him. According to Adams, Nilsson’s letter to the President contained several untruths.

In particular, Adams had refuted Nilsson’s claim that the Ministry of Social Protection and the GGMC had found no fault against Troy Resources when they investigated Taylor’s death. Adams had claimed

Public Relations consultant Ajay Baksh

that both the Ministry and the GGMC had found Troy to be responsible.

Taylor was killed in a mining pit operated by Troy’s Karouni, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) operation on October 8, 2019. It was reported that

a slippage occurred, thus leading to Taylor being crushed by fallen rubble.

Immediately after the accident, mining operations at Troy Resources were closed. Both the Social Protection Ministry and GGMC carried out their investigations, with the revenue shortfall causing Troy to fire almost 400 workers.

The investigations were completed, but the reports were never made public.

This publication had reported back in March of 2020 that since the accident, the family of Taylor were yet to receive compensation. In an exclusive interview with <<<Guyana Times>>>, Taylor’s mother, June Taylor, had related that she has been

EPA Director, Dr Vincent Adams

receiving the “royal run around” from the Social Protection Ministry to ensure that Troy Resources is held accountable for her son’s death and more so, get them to offer a financial settlement since the now dead man was the sole breadwinner for the family.

Motorcyclist dies after slamming into cow at Zorg

A

carpenter was on Sunday killed after he lost control of his motorcycle and slammed into a cow along the Zorg Public Road, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

The dead man has been identified as 28-year-old Jagdesh Singh of Lot 102 Pomona Housing Scheme, Essequibo Coast.

Based on information received, the young man was driving motorcycle CE 2037 at a fast pace and swerved to avoid hitting a

Dead motorcyclist: Jagdesh Singh

vehicle, but ended up losing control and hitting with the cow. After slamming into the cow, Singh struck the right side of a

canter that was going in the opposite direction.

As a result of the collision, Singh fell to the roadway and sustained severe injuries about the body. He was picked up and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital where he died while receiving treatment.

The driver of the canter was detained by the Police as they continue their investigations.

Singh’s body was taken to the Onderneeming Funeral Home to await a post-mortem.

14 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

World Mangrove Day

Remaining mangrove forests should be placed under legal protection – Fair Deal Guyana

R

emaining mangrove forests should be placed under legal protection – Fair Deal Guyana Mangroves are a critical element in Guyana’s sea defence and when those mangroves are cut down, thinned, or damaged by garbage and fire, our coastal communities immediately suffer from rising sea levels resulting in farmers losing vital farmland and crops that are essential to this nation’s food security.

Guyana’s coastal belt, some of which is below

Overhead view of a mangrove forest

own unique which allow birds to thrive; would benefit

ecosystems fishes and this in turn the fishing

fresh water and brackish water (a mixture of salt and fresh water).

To survive these harsh

Destruction of mangrove forests

sea-level, depends on inadequate sea-defences.

A Fair Deal For Guyana, a Non-Governmental Organisation, calls on the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) to place all of Guyana’s remaining mangroves under legal protection immediately. The body is a group of Guyanese citizens with a mission to protect the environment.

As the earth undergoes catastrophic global warming from greenhouse emissions, mangroves are critical to humanity’s survival.

Mangroves serve as carbon sinks, absorbing enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and trapping them in flooded soils for millennia.

Mangroves are among the most carbon-rich tropical forests and can store twice as much carbon per area than other forests.

Yet these carbon sink benefits are being wiped out by fossil fuel emissions from Guyana’s oil production.

“How much time we have left on the coast depends to some extent on how well we protect and restore Guyana’s vital mangrove forests,” Fair Deal Guyana’s Deopaul Somwaru, a marine biology major, said.

Meanwhile, international lawyer Melinda Janki noted that: “It is madness to contribute to rising sea-levels, to ocean acidification and to the death of mangroves.”

Importance of mangroves

Mangroves form their

communities, because more mangrove forests mean that fishes are able to reproduce and mature at a much faster rate. Mangroves are a vital nursery for fishes and crustaceans that Guyana’s fishing industry depends on.

Mangroves are also very important buffers of waves, since they reduce the energy with which the waves hit the coast, thus reducing coastal erosion. This prevents flooding and overtopping of man-made sea and river defences during high tides. Mangrove roots also help to bind the soil together which prevents the waves from washing it away, preventing erosion. This proves to be very beneficial along The Low Coastal Plain, since this area is home to 90 per cent of our country’s population and produces the majority of our agricultural output.

The term mangrove refers to over 70 different species of trees. Mangrove forests are known to be one of the most diverse ecosystems on the earth, housing and feeding a wide range of plants and animals, and play an important role in the fight against climate change and coastal erosion.

They store more carbon than terrestrial forests, significantly reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Mangroves are often considered unique plants because of their ability to withstand and thrive in tough environmental conditions such as in water poor in oxygen, salt water,

conditions, mangroves have a variety of unique adaptations: some spe-

cies have the ability to release salt crystals through salt glands in their leaves, black mangroves have pencil-like roots called pneumatophores which stick out of the ground to access oxygen even when submerged, and some practice viviparid (their seeds germinate while attached to the plant before falling to the ground).

Unfortunately, mangroves are under pressure throughout the world and in Guyana.

Cycle of mangroves

Owing to the dynamic nature of Guyana’s coasts, there is a continuous cycle of land attrition (breakdown) and accretion (buildup) of the coastline. As a result, mangrove populations experience fluctuation periods of tremendous growth and death. This is one of the biggest natural threats to our mangrove ecoregions.

In addition, however, anthropogenic factors (human activities) and climate change all leave our mangrove ecosystems vulnerable. This has prompted worldwide restoration efforts, with Guyana being no exception.

There are many species of mangroves found in Guyana. However, in restoration efforts, three ma-

A healthy mangrove forest

jor species stand out – these are the black, red, and white mangroves. Of these three, the black mangrove is the most commonly used owing to its high salt tolerance and efficiency in holding the soil together. Their large branched roots help to hold soil firmly in place and provide protection against heavy waves.

Threat

Human activities such as the dumping of garbage, cutting down of mangroves for their bark (which is used in the curing of leather or fishing poles) or forest clearing to create land space along with climate change all threaten

Guyana’s mangroves. This can sometimes lead to areas such as Windsor Forest, West Coast Demerara seeing a complete wipe-out of once-thriving mangrove populations.

Mangroves also provide optimum habitats for apiaries (bee hives), with the insects housed there producing delicious and muchsought-after honey and honey products.

Efforts to protect and extend mangrove coverage in Guyana have so far failed to deliver the expected results. It is, therefore, urgent to put an immediate halt to activities that damage Guyana’s mangroves and to save what remains.

Emancipation celebrations to be held virtually tribute it to other stations who are also interested in broadcasting the material.

From panel discussions to a virtual showcase on the Emancipation Day itself,

educate Guyanese on the history and experience of the Africa Diaspora and African-Guyanese in particular.

Moreover, Guyanese

will also be following the COVID-19 restrictions, social distancing and all of that. The public can expect our calendar of activities from this weekend on social

Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain

I

n light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Emancipation Day 2020 will be celebrated virtually and as such, the Department of Culture has scheduled a week filled with exciting activities.

Under the theme “Overcoming challenges over innovation”, Guyanese can look forward to a funfilled week of activities leading up to Emancipation Day on August 1.

Director of Culture, Tamika Boatswain in an interview with Guyana Times explained that due to the current situation with the COVID pandemic, this year’s Emancipation celebrations will be virtual.

“There will be a number of virtual programmes carried by NCN at our main station, and I think they are going to be able to dis-

A group of dancers performing one of the cultural pieces at last year’s Emancipation celebrations

Emancipation concerts…, we have a soiree, we have a radio programme…a number of virtual activities”, she explained This year’s programme will focus on the African Guyanese and African Diaspora’s experience during slavery. The Director explained that the idea behind the celebrations is to

can look forward to a concert that will showcase music that has come out of the African experience in the Caribbean post-Emancipation.

“We wouldn’t have an outdoor event put on so the performers will go into a studio and rehearse and record it, and then put in as part of the programme. We

media.

This year’s observance is in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Guyana Reparations Committee and the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly (IDPADA-G) and African Cultural & Development Association (ACDA).

NEWS

15

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 new COVID-19 cases recorded in 24 hours — active cases now jump to 169

O

ver the past 24 hours, Guyana has recorded 10 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), thus taking the total number of persons who would have contracted the virus to 370.

On Sunday the Public Health Ministry’s updated statistics showed that 85 tests were conducted in one day and 10 of those returned positive.

On Saturday there were

360 cases of the virus after eight samples turned up positive. Nevertheless, the number of deaths remain at 20.

Meanwhile, there are 169 persons in institutional isolation, 33 in institutional quarantine and four persons in the designated Intensive Care Unit (ICU). To date, the Ministry has tested 4273 persons and 181 of the positive cases have recovered.

Guyana’s latest COVID

fatality was announced on Friday; but the victim, 56-year-old Roger Martindale of Bartica, Region Seven, died since Tuesday. His family is refuting the Ministry’s claim that the man died from the coronavirus after arguing that he was in his last stage of battling Tuberculosis.

This weekend’s COVID-19 statistics reflect a worrying trend of increasing coronavirus cases in the

Mother weeps for justice after son killed in Bush Lot accident

By Shemar Alleyne

T

he death of a child is the most devastating loss. You mourn the loss of their life, potential, and future. Your life is forever changed.

This has been the case for Ameena Diaram, who is fighting tooth and nail to bring the perpetrator of her son’s death to justice.

For the past eight months, the mother of seven-year-old Nifran Nezamdeen has been fighting, and with every passing day of her quest, the much-desired justice seems farther away.

On Tuesday, November 26, 2020, in Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), the life of the lad was snatched away while he was in the company of his mother and sister along with a friend as they made their way home from school.

Nezamdeen, a former pupil of the Latchmansingh Primary School, was

es per 100,000. This was followed by Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) with 38; Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) with 276, and Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) with 74.

This shows that even though Region One has an average population of 26,941 persons, the contraction rate is higher than in other population regions; like Four, which has 313,429 individuals residing there. As

such, persons are 9.5 times more likely to be infected in Region One than in Region Four, and seven times more likely to get infected in Region Seven than in Four.

Globally, there are in excess of 15 million coronavirus cases recorded, while the death toll has reached over 635,000. Guyana faces serious threats from neighbouring Brazil and the illegal movement through its porous borders.

Disappearance of material at NDC

The now dead lad and his sister

hicle as it came to a halt partly submerged in a trench.

After some time, the lad was eventually pulled from under the bumper

Nezamdeen (centre) with his sister, Assiyah, and mother, Diaram, in happier times

struck by a speeding motor car bearing registration number PPP 7721, driven by 21-year-old Ramesh Sewlall. The lad’s sister, Assiyah Nezamdeen, 8, his mother, and 45-yearold Parvatie Babulall were critically injured following the accident.

It was reported that Diaram went to collect her two children from school and was standing in the corner along with Babulall, her child, and others when they were struck by the speeding car.

After the collision, the young Nezamdeen was dragged for some distance and ended up under the ve-

various hinterland regions.

The regional hotspots are Moruca and Mabaruma in Region One; Aranka, Bartica and Sulphur Rose in Region Seven; Itabac and Mahdia in Region Eight; and Lethem in Region Nine.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen GordonBoyle had indicated earlier in the week that a high number of cases were recorded in Regions One (BarimaWaini) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

To this, the senior health official had posited that the Public Health Ministry has been intensifying its efforts in the hinterland region.

“Recognising that our vast stretch of border leaves our residents in those bordering regions very vulnerable to imported cases, we also need to keep a watchful eye on our movement within and between our communities, and I am talking directly to those persons who knowingly have been close to positive persons,” she was quoted as saying.

She had also shared that Region One has the highest incidence rate of 363 cas-

and rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The driver was arrested and upon the conclusion of the investigations, he was charged and released on $500,000 bail by Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh when he appeared at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court.

To this day, his sister, Assiyah, is suffering from severe pain in her hip and leg while their mom has a fractured nose. From time to time, she would cry out for severe pain in the head.

Even after all these

months, Nezamdeen’s father is still in a state of shock since he lost his second son a few months prior to Nezamdeen’s death due to medical conditions.

“It’s hard, but by the grace of God, we are trying hard to stay strong so that we can get justice for Nifran,” Diaram explained in tears.

She explained that since the accident, neither the driver nor his family made an attempt to meet with them or to even express their condolences.

“They did not show any remorse or offer any kind of support to us.”

The family is contending that the driver is walking free, while they are still in pain and grief. In fact, the aggrieved couple explained that they were made to understand that this is not the first accident the driver was involved in.

The grieving mother also vented her frustration at the slothfulness in which the case is being handled as she stated that her son’s first death anniversary is approaching, and she is still awaiting justice.

“Every time I show up at the court, I am only being told to come back on another date, and it would be the same thing again over and over again,” the mother cried.

Prime Ministerial Rep to file private criminal charges against those responsible

Prime Ministerial Regional Representative Gobin Harbhajan

F

ollowing the disappearance of material purchased by the 52/74 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) with the 2019 subvention from Central Government, the Prime Ministerial Representative has threatened to file criminal charges against those responsible.

Gobin Harbhajan is of the belief that the crusher-run was mixed with sand.

“The crusher-run that was at Number 66 Village now it looks like it was mixed with sand and put in the cross streets and one day after with the rain it washed away and look at this all is washing away”.

Harbhajan, who is also a resident of Number 56 Village, which falls within the NDC, is calling for answers, noting that he is of the belief that the residents are

not getting value for money.

“Within the NDC area, if they had placed four tons in every village, they would have been able to do a better job. They wait and then they mix it with laterite and this is what you have. This is unacceptable.”

Harbhajan noted that the NDC Councillors who represent the residents should also be blamed.

“I cannot understand that in this day and age, someone will do such a thing and expect to get away with it,” he said, pointing to the rehabilitated road.

mixture of sand and stone has been placed in several potholes in some sections of the NDC. This publication had reported that for more than one year after the 223 tons of crusher-run was delivered, a large portion of it was still settling at the Number 66 Cemetery and none had been utilised in any of the villages.

The $4.8 million that the NDC received as subventions early 2019 was used to purchase the material.

At a price of $9200 per ton, the NDC, on record, received over 200 tons.

Repairs done on School Street at Number 57 Village

“This is wrong at the highest level. I am a resident of this NDC and I am going to file private criminal charges against those who are responsible,” the Government official added.

It was reported that a

Records at the NDC also indicate that since Guyana Times published the initial story, the NDC spent an additional $100,000 to purchase laterite at a cost of $4000 per ton. The 20 tons were mixed with the stone.

16 NEWS

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

LJP, TNM and URP condemn petition calling for GECOM Chair’s resignation

URP Leader, Dr Vishnu Bandhu

H

eightening support has been pouring out for Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh after a petition surfaced on Saturday calling for her resignation.

The document made its rounds on the social media platform – Facebook – and was signed by a small group of persons, who appeared to be mostly supporters of the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition. Only Friday, coalition supporters had protested GECOM’s Head Office in Kingston, Georgetown.

However, in separate statements over the weekend, several of the new parties that contested the March 2 elections have come to the defence of Justice Singh.

On Saturday, Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) expressed its “disappointment

and disgust” with the calls coming from the “far reaches of the abyss where the dictatorial minions are for her – Madam Chair's, resignation and the petition emanating therefrom.”

The party, in its missive, pledged its support for the GECOM Chair, saying that she continues to conduct herself in line with her lifelong legal training and profession, and in the most objective of manners, poses the obvious threat to people who intend to undermine Guyana's democracy and who want to hijack the will of the people.

Meanwhile, The New Movement (TNM) also in a statement on Saturday noted that amidst the misery and frustration over the past four-plus months, some individuals have emerged with high morals and standards – Justice Singh, the party said, is one of those persons.

“Madam Chair, TNM wants to encourage you to remain in high spirits for the end is near. We have seen the disheartening statements and antics hurled your way by protesters of the sanctioned Government and we are not pleased. We want you to know that this small group’s plans to thwart this entire process will not be fruitful and we are confident that they will not pierce your just heart, Iron Lady. You have shown utmost courage, bravery and patriotism

over the past months and we thank you,” the party stated.

According to the TNM, the nation is looking up to her as it anxiously but eagerly awaits the declaration of the President-elect.

As such, the party encouraged the GECOM Chair to remain steadfast to the true numbers produced during the recount process, which it said was executed and completed in a safe and efficient manner.

“The task ahead is great and only a substantial person, like you, can take it head on. Keep the faith, TNM stands for you and not against you,” TNM noted.

Meanwhile, the leader of the United Republican Party (URP), Dr Vishnu Bandhu on Sunday also threw his support behind the GECOM Chair, saying that not only is she a woman of high standards, moral Integrity and honesty but has also demonstrated loyalty to her office.

“URP supports the Chairman and all of her decisions and trust that she remains the course and delivers to the Guyanese people a fair and impartial declaration of March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections,” the party stated.

Dr Bandhu said that the petition is an attempt, once again by A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) to derail the electoral process.

He reminded that both

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

caretaker President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had agreed to the recount and to accept the results of the exercise. However, he noted that 33 days after millions of Guyanese taxpayers’ dollars were spent for the recount, the APNU/AFC and President Granger are refusing to accept those results.

“Ms. Singh has been fair and impartial in all of her decisions in relation to bringing an end to the current electoral Impasse. Anyone in their right mind will not call for the resignation of such an outstanding Public Servant who has conducted herself admirably as the GECOM Chair. Let us not forget the lengthy process that eventually placed this honourable lady in the position she now holds and executes with utmost legal tenacity and fortitude. The electoral pro-

TNM Leader, Dr Asha Kissoon

LJP Leader Lenox Shuman

cess will be further stymied if she were to resign at this time. APNU/AFC cannot be allowed to prevent a legitimate President from being sworn in,” the URP asserted.

This petition comes on the heels of already heightened online abuse and threats against the GECOM Chair since the March elections.

In fact, back in April, she had reported a death threat on her life to the Police Force.

More recently, however, the attacks have escalated following her decision to discredit the initial declarations of the 10 Returning Officers and use the recount figures for the final declaration of the elections results.

Only last week, a 27-yearold man from Wismar, Linden, was charged under the Cybercrime Act

and placed on $500,000 bail after threatening to kill the GECOM Chair in a Facebook post from a fake profile.

On Thursday last, the three Oppositionnominated Commissioners at GECOM, Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, also condemned the scurrilous attacks on Justice (ret’d) Singh and urged the perpetrators, including senior members of the coalition, to desist from these vile attacks.

The following day, the Private Sector called on the police to step in and take action against those persons hurling attacks against the GECOM Chair.

Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch has also condemned these vile attacks against Justice Singh.

Florida records 9300 new coronavirus UWI to commence cases, blows past New York new academic year on August 30 as scheduled F

lorida on Sunday became the second state after California to overtake New York, the worst-hit state at the start of the US novel coronavirus outbreak, according to a Reuters tally.

Total COVID-19 cases in the Sunshine State rose by 9300 to 423,855 on Sunday, just one place behind California, which now leads the country with 448,497 cases. New York is in third place with 415,827 cases.

Still, New York has recorded the most deaths of any US state at more than 32,000 with Florida in eighth place with nearly 6000 deaths.

On average, Florida has added more than 10,000 cases a day in July while California has been adding 8300 cases a day and New York has been adding 700 cases.

The surge in Florida has continued as the state’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said he will not make mask-wearing mandatory and that schools must reopen in August.

On the contrary, New York state has managed to get the virus under control, with stores and restaurants shuttered and the wearing

T

he University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced that it will commence the new academic year across its five campuses

observance of appropriate public health and safety protocols — provides a significant level of confidence in the reopening of the educa-

halls.

In addition, the UWI advised students seeking to travel to a campus country to pay attention to, and comply

More than 146,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 – nearly a quarter of the global total

of masks mandatory.

The rise in cases also comes as President Donald Trump is pushing to re-open US schools in the fall, despite teachers’ and families’ concerns that children could contract or transmit the disease should they return to the classroom.

After New York, Texas has 391,000 coronavirus cases. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Tropical Storm Hanna, which made landfall on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane, was especially challenging as it was sweeping through an area of the state that has been the

worst hit by the coronavirus.

For the tenth time in July, Alaska set a record for a one-day rise in cases, with 234 new infections on Sunday, bringing the state’s total to 3100. Oklahoma hit a record for new cases five times in July, with 1204 new infections on Sunday bringing the state’s total to 31,285.

More than 146,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 – nearly a quarter of the global total — and there are nearly 4.2 million confirmed cases in the country, or at least 1 in 79 people have been infected. (Reuters)

The University of the West Indies, Mona campus in St Andrew (File photo)

and supporting countries on August 30 as scheduled.

The regional institution says the decision follows a meeting of its Executive Management Team (EMT) to determine its policy regarding the upcoming academic year 2020/2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The UWI EMT resolved that the Caribbean Region's effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic — as informed by science and the

tion sector,” the UWI said in a statement.

The University said it has been working to provide a range of options, which include a hybrid face-to-face and online delivery of programmes at varying levels to meet the diverse needs of its student population, guided by national protocols for health and safety; steps are being taken to maintain physical distancing in classrooms and on residence

with, the protocols stipulated by regional governments.

“Incoming undergraduate students, emerging from CSEC and CAPE can rest assured that there is a space at The UWI where they can achieve their fullest potential.

“Adult learners should see the opportunity to enrol in existing programmes to retool for the restructured economies and new opportunities. (Excerpt from Reuters)

17

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

It’s been an extraordinarily slow and rough road Dear Editor, Guyana’s General Election took place on March 2, 2020, a year after it was constitutionally due, but although the ballots have long been counted — several times, in fact — the country still has not declared the true winner, Dr Irfaan Ali. It’s been an extraordinarily slow and rough road to get to this point, with developments happening in almost imperceptible increments.

When ExxonMobil announced on June 30, 2016, that it had made a “worldclass discovery” of oil offshore Guyana, the news changed, in one fell swoop, both our country’s economic outlook and its political stakes. By December 2018, Guyana’s Parliament had voted “yes” to a No-Confidence Motion brought by the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) against the governing coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).

Despite the Government launching a legal challenge to the parliamentary vote, it was deemed valid, and all eyes turned to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as it prepared for the impending election.

The latest twist in the ongoing controversy — which has pivoted around the integrity of the election results coming out of Region Four, a stronghold area for the caretaker governing coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) — involves the re-verification of votes.

After many false starts, from blocking of a recount was finally underway by May 6, but it was slow going, with many inconsistencies and accusations of stalling. More than a month later, the media ran a story in which several Presiding Officers from Region Four Polling Stations said their Deputy Returning Officers had instructed them not to place certain key documents in the ballot boxes. By then, the recount had been completed and the results con-

firmed that Clairmont Mingo, Region Four’s Returning Officer, had increased the APNU/AFC’s votes and reduced the votes for the opposition PPP/C during his false tabulation and result.

It seemed that the revelation would result in GECOM having to declare the PPP/C with 33 seats, the winner. In Guyana’s proportional representation electoral system, there are several steps to ensure voter legitimacy on Election Day. Voters must provide photo identification in order to gain access to the voting booth. In casting their vote, the “X” denoting their preference must be clearly located next to the candidate/ party of their choice, and each ballot paper must be stamped on both sides with a six-digit code.

When votes are being counted, these criteria ensure validity. Although the recount did unearth some differences in voting numbers, they were not significant; the final count was similar to the information listed on the Statements of Poll, the data by which election results must be verified.

The initial results declared

by Mingo had been read from a spreadsheet. According to Guyana’s law, the validity of votes can only be challenged through an election petition after the overall election result has been declared and a Government is in place — at which point, an investigation will be done and the case tried in court based on the evidence presented. Such a challenge cannot be made during the process itself.

However, an APNU/AFC supporter challenged the interpretation of the term “validity” laid out in Article 177 (4) of Guyana’s Constitution, an action which questioned the credibility of GECOM’s recount results. The argument hinges on Article 177 (2) (b), which says that where there are two or more presidential candidates, if more votes are cast in favour of one than the other, the chair of GECOM shall declare the candidate with the greater number of

votes to be President, “acting only in accordance with the advice of the Chief Election Officer.”

Keith Lowenfield, however, — despite instructions from GECOM Chair Claudette Singh to include all the votes that were in keeping with the Statements of Poll — is of the opinion that a number of ballot boxes were corrupted. Contrary to what the law allows for, he has said that he’s not prepared to include them in the count. It is unclear how Lowenfield concluded that hundreds of thousands of votes were invalid, and accusations abound that this is another attempt by GECOM to rig the elections in favour of APNU/AFC. The court action contends that the constitutional parameters surrounding the election of a President allow for the term “votes cast” to be interpreted as “valid votes cast,” and seeks to limit the final declaration of results to only the votes that Lowenfield validated.

The Court of Appeal agreed with the interpretation that the wording in the Constitution reading “more votes are cast” means more valid votes are cast. Based on the court’s decision, in disobedience, Lowenfield prepared a new report, comprising votes that he deems to be valid. As many as 115,000 votes that had been counted as valid during the recount process were then subtracted, a move that paved the way for the APNU/AFC coalition to claim victory.

However, the Caribbean Court of Justice got involved.

This decision is at loggerheads with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling. As Guyana’s final appellate court, the CCJ was asked to determine whether Guyana’s Court of Appeal “rightly assumed and/or acted within the jurisdiction conferred by Article 177 (4) of the Constitution.” Its decision read: Unless and until an election court decides otherwise, the votes already counted by the recount process as

valid votes are incapable of being declared invalid by any person or authority.

By the unnecessary insertion of the word “valid”, the Court of Appeal impliedly invited the CEO to engage unilaterally in an unlawful validation exercise. This trespassed on the exclusive jurisdiction of the High Court established by Article 163.

It was inconsistent with the constitutional framework for the CEO or GECOM to disenfranchise thousands of electors in a seemingly non-transparent and arbitrary manner, without the due processes established in Article 163 and the Validation Act. Citing the CCJ ruling, Guyana’s acting CJ has since declared that only the results derived from the recount can be used to make a final declaration, and asked for a new report reflecting the same.

When Lowenfield refused, the CJ issued him another written instruction to comply.

Instead, another applicant, Misenga Jones, approached the court to have the recount figures discarded and Mingo’s original declaration for Region Four used for the preparation of Lowenfield’s report.

The rationale for this motion appears to be that in its ruling, the CCJ said the recount order itself was “in tension” with the Constitution and therefore couldn’t stand — in which case, Mingo’s declaration (along with the declarations for Guyana’s nine other regions) would be the only other figures upon which to base the Chief Election Officer’s report in accordance with Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. The CJ, however, ruled that those declarations were no longer valid since they had been overtaken by the recount figures. She also ruled, with regard to the validity of the recount itself as well as the constitutionality of GECOM having the ability to issue the recount order, that these matters were “res judicata” — a matter that had

There is nothing to talk about at this point

Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC continues to drain the emotional capital of the nation. In their latest propaganda statement, the APNU/AFC claimed that there is “a carefully orchestrated plan to oust a legitimately elected Government and to implement regime change”.

In reality, the rest of Guyana and the international community are bearing witness to a carefully orchestrated plan by the APNU/ ACF to deny a legitimately elected Government from rightfully assuming office. No amount of spin or propaganda will change this fact and any alternative narrative will

continue to be a figment of the APNU/AFC’s imagination.

Contrary to the APNU/ AFC’s claim, there is a genuine desire to assist Guyana at this difficult juncture. This is why the international community has insisted that the will of the people be respected and the declaration of the results be based on the recount.

Without a legitimate Government in place, the international community will not channel resources to Guyana through the APNU/ AFC Government. This much is very clear. Do you think that the World Bank or any other international financial institution (IFI) would have shunned our request for

funds to help fight the coronavirus had there been a legitimate and internationally recognised Government in place?

It appears that the APNU/AFC is growing increasingly uneasy following the recent visa restrictions and the promise of more sanctions to come. How else can you explain their recent call for dialogue? The time for dialogue was five years ago when the APNU/AFC won a razor-thin majority, not now when they lost by approximately 15,000 votes.

And the time for dialogue will come again after the duly elected President and his Government take their

rightful place.

That David Hinds has also suggested that “the leaders must begin to talk” and that “the so-called civil society organisations” facilitate the conversations is yet another apparent act of desperation. This is the same person who not so long ago suggested burning the ballot boxes but is now advocating for leadership and compromise. The electorate spoke clearly on March 2, and their voices must now be respected first and foremost. Until then, there is nothing to talk about at this point.

Yours faithfully, Omchand Mahdu

already been decided upon by both the Court of Appeal and the CCJ, and therefore could not be raised again in court.

Attorneys representing the opposition PPP have insisted that Jones’ challenge of the recount can only be approached through an election petition. As such, they have suggested that the Court of Appeal “respectfully step aside” and allow GECOM to finalise and declare the results of the election.

However, the court heard Jones’ appeal on July 25.

A ruling is expected within the coming week, what an unexpected, shocking and deliberated comments from Hamilton Green, instructing David Granger to toss aside the Constitution and the laws and remain in Government. In other words, he is urging Granger to trample on the will of the people.

Editor, Hamilton Green is urging for the tossing aside of a Constitution which is now responsible for him receiving and enjoying a multi-million-dollar pension package being calculated at almost $20 million annually, in a move that was always being described as a “vulgar” rape of the Treasury. Guyanese, this is outrageous, this is a man who was expelled from the PNC, in 1993, so I am not “utterly shocked” at his proposal to Granger.

The value of Green’s annual pension of $20,580,000, with others benefits to the value of $3.1 million annually, two vehicles provided and maintained by the State and two first-class annual airfares free transportation provided by the State, making a statement like this is insult-

ing to Guyanese taxpayers of this generation, who are prominently wage-earners, to shoulder the burden of excessive pension for people who have so curtailed this generation’s life chances.

Green for a lifetime of politics marked by incompetence and divisiveness is provocative in the context of the current Administration. Green’s entire political career reflects the attributes that have kept Guyana ethnically polarised and, for this reason, securely anchored at the bottom of all Caribbean indicators of social and economic progress in the modern era.

As a young and ruthless politician in the early 1960s, his name figured prominently in the violence from which this society has still to recover. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a leading Government figure in the political repression reflected by Guyana heading the list of countries with most refugee applications to Canada and the mass exodus of Guyanese of all backgrounds to any other country they could find respite.

Those years saw bizarre hardships imposed on the Guyanese people including being criminalised for possession of onions and garlic, blocks-long queues around gas stations due to gasoline shortages and outbreaks of beriberi.

Guyanese, we will not allow the bullies and riggers to trample on our rights to have Dr Irfaan Ali sworn in as our new President Sincerely, David Adams

18

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

Regional

Latin America leads world High Court grants petition in coronavirus cases, for reorganisation of LIAT Reuters count shows

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C

oronavirus cases in Latin America for the first time have surpassed the combined infections in the United States and Canada, a Reuters tally showed on Sunday, amid a surge of infections in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina.

The quickly growing number of cases make Latin America the region most impacted by the pandemic globally, with 26.83 per cent of worldwide cases.

Latin America now has 4,327,160 total cases of the novel coronavirus compared to 4,308,495 infections in United States and Canada, according to the count based on data provided by the governments of each country.

The United States continues to be the individual country with the highest number of infections and deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus,

A gravedigger wearing a protective suit digs a grave to bury the coffin of a person who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Vila Formosa cemetery, in São Paulo, Brazil, July 16, 2020

with more than 4.2 million cases and roughly 146,000 deaths, followed by Brazil, with 2.4 million cases and nearly 87,000 dead.

Mexico, Peru and Chile also are among the top 10 nations in COVID-19 cases.

According to the Reuters

count, the number of people known to have been infected worldwide exceeds 16.1 million.

Health experts have said that official data almost certainly under-reports infections and deaths, particularly in countries with limited testing capacity. (Reuters)

ntigua’s High Court has granted a petition allowing for the reorganisation of the cashstrapped regional airline, LIAT, the appointment of an Administrator as well as staying all proceedings relating to the liquidation of the company.

Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan confirmed that the High Court granted the petition late Friday as the Gaston Browne Administration moves ahead with its efforts to reorganise the airline which owes creditors in excess of EC$100 million.

Browne had disagreed with his fellow sharehold-

In this photo taken on July 25, 2020, protesters and church members march and pray during a protest against gay rights in Port-au-Prince

S

everal thousand members of Protestant churches demonstrated Sunday in Port-au-Prince against the country’s new criminal code, which they consider “immoral” because it penalises discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“If a pastor doesn’t want to marry two men together or two women, he will be arrested and at risk for one to three years in prison,” Pastor Wismond Jeune said, incorrectly, during the protest in

the Haitian capital.

He wore a mask printed with the march’s slogan: “No to immorality, long live the family.”

The new criminal code does not change the content of the Haitian civil code, which codifies marriage and only allows the union of a man and a woman.

But the addition of the words “sexual orientation” to the list of criteria for criminal discrimination was enough

PNM and UNC in tight election race

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he People’s National Movement (PNM) is slightly ahead of the United National Congress (UNC) in a national poll on the August 10 General Elections conducted by HHB and Associates Limited for Guardian Media.

The poll shows that 35 per cent of respondents support the PNM and 29 per cent support the UNC, while only two per cent said they would vote for other parties. However, with two weeks to go before voters cast their ballots, 16

per cent they are still undecided and 11 per cent indicated they would not vote.

HHB and Associates Managing Director Louis Bertrand said new political parties have not influenced the voting population.

“None...not a single one of them. So, third force, yes, but the third force is not there as yet. We have to deal with what we have,” he said.

He said two important caveats must be applied in considering the poll findings: “In the first place the difference in

percentages for the PNM and UNC are only marginally significantly different when adjusted for the error of the estimates of the poll (four per cent.) Secondly, in the first past the post system, overall votes (as derived from a national poll) tell very little or about the potential winner. A party has to win a majority of constituencies in order to win the elections.”

He added: “This is a national poll. This does not indicate who is likely to win.” (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

other,” Astpahan said.

He said the Administrator would assume control of the assets of the airline “and to begin the exercise imposed on him by the legislation, the amendments that were made recently”.

“And it is a very, very important step because it gives the Prime Minister …the opportunity to be able to work with the Administrator and for the Administrator to take a look at everything to be able to come to the conclusion that LIAT (1974) one sort or the other would be able to be reorganised and back in the skies.” (Excerpt from CMC)

Crackdown on illegal migrants

Haitian religious faithful protest ‘immoral’ new criminal code

to anger conservatives, who are also mistaken about the articles punishing incest and bestiality.

“The President is imposing laws on us that will lead us to perdition, laws that will destroy us like Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed,” said Pastor Elinor Cadet, referring to the biblical cities destroyed due to the sinful nature of their residents.

“In Haiti, it is not our custom for two boys to get married, two girls to get married or for a human to marry an animal,” she added, Bible in hand.

Although the two pastors said they were not against homosexuality, many of the faithful -- who sang and danced for hours under the blazing sun — testified to their extreme homophobia.

“We don’t accept this filth.

We know there are homosexuals in the country, but we shouldn’t give them papers: they’re supposed to stay under the table,” said a 40-yearold woman, who declined to give her name. (Excerpt from AFP)

er governments, mainly Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines, to liquidate the airline, which has been serving the Region for decades. Dominica is the other major shareholder Government.

“It was a petition to begin the process of reorganisation by the appointment of an administrator and a stay of all proceedings against LIAT, civil, liquidation proceedings by the shareholders, creditors, to put a stay on it which will give the Administrator . . . appointed by the court to be able to take a deep look at LIAT and to make recommendations one way or the

TT National Security Ministry Stuart Young

T

he Trinidad and Tobago Government Saturday said it would crack down on legal Venezuelan migrants engaged in illegally allowing their relatives and friends from the South American country to enter the island as health authorities confirmed an increase in the number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases there.

National Security Ministry Stuart Young, speaking at the Health

Ministry virtual news conference, said the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS); Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (TTCG) and other national security agencies will be searching for and detaining anyone involved in human trafficking or anyone harbouring illegal immigrants.

Young said that landlords who rent their premises to migrants must enquire as to whether they have the requisite documentation to be here.

“The Police are going to be launching operations. We have picked up a number of Trinidadians…bringing across illegal immigrants and they are going to be charged.

The Police shall be charging them,” Young said, adding that Venezuelans who are here legally would have their documentation revoked if they were caught harbouring

or helping illegal immigrants.

“Anyone found engaged in illegal activity including the harbouring of illegal immigrants, your cards will be revoked. Any (legal) Venezuelan migrant found assisting in harbouring or bringing illegal immigrants into the country, your ability to be here will be revoked and you will be deported. Those who want to transact this business, you’re breaking the law and we will be taking action.’

“All of those persons including landlords who want to capitalise and profit from illegal immigrants, they are putting us at risk from the spread of COVID-19,” he said, warning that anyone caught knowingly harbouring illegal immigrants will be detained and charged and condemned Trinidadians who were assisting in trafficking or harbouring them. (Excerpt from CMC)

Researcher says St Kitts and Nevis’ CBI Programme successful

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British-based Citizenship by Investment (CBI) researcher says that St Kitts and Nevis’ CBI Programme has been very successful.

James McKay, the founder of McKay Research, who developed the CBI Index, a yearly report published by the Financial Times’ Professional Wealth Management (PWM) magazine, told the newest episode of Plan B, a weekly podcast

by London-headquartered government advisory CS Global Partners, that St Kitts and Nevis has scored top points in the CBI Index due to “diligence, citizenship timeline, and mandatory travel and residence”.

“Caribbean countries such as St Kitts and Nevis have over 30 years in the industry,” he said. “These are

James McKay, the founder of McKay Research

not fickle programmes,” said McKay. He added that the twin-island federation’s experience in the investment immigration industry gave it the benefit of knowing “what works and what doesn’t work”, according to CS Global Partners, a

London-based international, industry-leading legal consultancy firm specialising in citizenship and residency solutions.

McKay, according to CS Global partners, also spoke about other advantages that Caribbean countries like St Kitts and Nevis have. “[They] also tend to be the most cost-effective,” he said.

“That is always going to be an important factor in any decision-making process.

“A lot of these countries have many, many jurisdictions they can access visa-free,” McKay added. “In addition to that, they also tend to offer quicker processing times. The Caribbean lifestyle is a huge plus for many people as well.”

(Excerpt from CMC)

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

19

Around the World

OILNEWS OIL NEWS Rystad’s new oil demand scenario banks on 2nd wave of COVID-19

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ystad Energy is now changing its base-case scenario for oil demand, banking on a second wave of COVID-19.

The new assumption for the base case now incorporates a mild second wave of the coronavirus, which will stall the global oil demand recovery. While Europe reopens parts of its economy, triggering an increase in oil demand, increases in the number of coronavirus cases in other large oil consumers, including the United States, Brazil, and India will offset those European increases, according to Rystad.

Rystad also added a worst-case scenario—one that sees oil demand to be 3.7 million bpd lower for the remainder of 2020, compared to the above base-case scenario, if full lockdowns are reimplemented globally due to increases in the coronavirus.

Rystad notes, however, that even in this case, where a second wave causes widespread full lockdowns, oil demand will not be as hampered as it was back in April when the virus first shocked the oil markets. This, Rystad suggests, is because the world is now armed with better information with which it could implement more targeted lockdowns and handle increased infections. Also at play is the fact that the economy simply cannot handle another “economic meltdown”.

Rystad now sees its base case calling for oil demand to stay flat through October, before inching slowly up thereafter— but more slowly than Rystad had previously predicted.

For July, Rystad now expects oil demand to average 90.2 million bpd; 90.6 million bpd in August, September, and October; 93 million bpd in November, and 94.7 million bpd in December. This compares to oil demand of more than 99 million bpd last year.

But Rystad’s predictions don’t just have oil demand snapping back immediately after 2020 either. According to Rystad, this second coronavirus wave will last through February 2021.

AnnualiSed, Rystad now sees full-year 2020 oil demand averaging 89.7 million bpd, with 2021 oil demand averaging 97.1 million bpd—still under the 2019 average. In fact, Rystad does not see oil demand snapping back until the end of 2022, when it sees aviation activity as fully recovered. (Excerpt from Oilprice.com)

Nantes cathedral fire: Volunteer admits starting blaze, says lawyer

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church volunteer has admitted starting a fire that devastated the cathedral in the French city of Nantes last week, his lawyer has said.

The Rwandan refugee, who worked as a warden at the cathedral, was rearrested on Saturday night.

No motive for the fire, which destroyed the cathedral's 17th Century organ as well as historic stainedglass windows, has been given.

His lawyer told reporters his client felt "relief" after confessing.

"It's someone who is scared, who is somehow overwhelmed," his lawyer, Quentin Chabert, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The 39-year-old volunteer, who has not been named, was initially detained for questioning after the blaze but then released without charge.

He had been in charge of

locking up the Saint-Pierreet-Saint-Paul cathedral the day before the blaze on July 18.

Officials had previously said that the fire was believed to have been arson and had been started in three different places.

Nantes prosecutor Pierre Sennes said on Saturday that the man had been charged with "destruction and damage by fire" and could face up to 10 years in prison and €150,000 (US$175,000; £135,000) in fines, according to the AFP news agency.

Around 100 firefighters managed to stop the flames from destroying the main structure at the cathedral.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex praised their "professionalism, courage and self-control".

The fire comes about 15 months after a blaze nearly destroyed Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. (Excerpt from BBC News)

North Korea declares emergency in border town over 1st suspected COVID-19 case

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orth Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared an emergency and a lockdown in a border town after a person suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus returned from South Korea after illegally crossing the border, state media said on Sunday.

If confirmed, it would be the first case officially acknowledged by North Korean authorities.

Kim convened an emergency politburo meeting in response to what he called a “critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country”, the

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un holds an emergency enlarged meeting of Political Bureau of WPK Central Committee in this undated photo released on July 25, 2020

by North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang

North’s KCNA state news

reported.

A person who defected to South Korea three years ago returned across the fortified border that divides the two Koreas to the town of Kaesong this month with symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, KCNA reported.

KCNA did not say if the person had been tested, but said an “uncertain result was made from several medical check-ups of the secretion of that person’s upper respiratory organ and blood”, prompting officials to quarantine the person and investigate anyone he may have been in contact with.

One analyst said the announcement was important, not only because North Korea was for the first time reporting a suspected coronavirus case but also because it suggested it was appealing for help.

“It’s an ice-breaking moment for North Korea to admit a case,” said Choo Jaewoo, a professor at Kyung Hee University.

“It could be reaching out to the world for help.

Perhaps for humanitarian assistance.”

North Korea is under economic pressure because of international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Russian Navy to get Seattle protest: Police and hypersonic nuclear anti-racism demonstrators weapons – Putin clash at march

President Vladimir Putin, who says he does not want an arms race, has often spoken of a new generation of Russian nuclear weapons [Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters]

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ussian President Vladimir Putin has said the Russian navy will be armed with hypersonic nuclear weapons and underwater nuclear drones.

The weapons, some of which have yet to be deployed, include the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone, designed to be carried by submarines, and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which can be deployed on surface ships.

The combination of speed, manoeuvrability, and altitude of hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at more than five times the speed of sound, makes them difficult to track and intercept.

Putin, who said he does not want an arms race, has often spoken of a new generation of Russian nuclear weapons he says are unequalled and can hit almost anywhere in the world. Some Western experts have questioned how advanced they are.

Speaking on Sunday in St

Petersburg at an annual naval parade that showcases Russia's best warships, nuclear submarines and naval aviation, Putin said the navy's capabilities were growing and it would get 40 new vessels this year.

He did not specify when it would receive new hypersonic weapons, but suggested that day was drawing closer.

"The widespread deployment of advanced digital technologies that have no equals in the world, including hypersonic strike systems and underwater drones, will give the fleet unique advantages and increased combat capabilities," Putin said.

In a separate statement released via Russian news agencies, the Defence Ministry said testing of the Belgorod, the first submarine capable of carrying the Poseidon drones, was underway and testing of the weapons systems was nearing completion. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Police used pepper spray against protesters in Seattle

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olice in the US city of Seattle clashed with crowds marching in support of anti-racism protests, in one of the most tense of several rallies held across the country on Saturday.

Officers used stun grenades and pepper spray, as protesters set a fire and broke windows. The march was in support of ongoing protests in Portland.

Forty-five people were arrested while 21 officers were injured.

In Austin, Texas one man was killed during a Black Lives Matter march.

Police said initial reports suggested the victim might have been carrying a rifle and approached a vehicle, from where a person shot and killed him. The suspect has been arrested and is co-operating with officers.

The demonstrations have been given renewed energy by violent clashes in

Portland between protesters and federal agents deployed

by President Donald Trump despite opposition from local and state leaders.

In Seattle, thousands of protesters had initially gathered peacefully, carrying signs such as "Feds go home" and "We are living in a police state", and shouting chants of "No justice, no peace".

A group then set fire to the construction site for a youth detention facility before smashing windows of a courthouse and nearby businesses, police said. Authorities said rocks, bottles, fireworks and mortars were thrown at officers, and one of them was taken to hospital with a leg injury.

Police declared the demonstrations a riot and said they were investigating whether an explosive device was used against a police station.

No injuries were reported.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Spain is safe, Minister insists as British quarantine move sows dismay

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pain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the Government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from there, a decision that filled holidaymakers with dismay.

Last year, Britons made up over a fifth of foreign visitors to Spain, which relies on heavily on tourism revenues, meaning the UK move could deal a hard blow to efforts to

restart the Mediterranean country’s economy after months of lockdown.

“Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists,” Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters.

The Spanish Government will focus its efforts on trying to persuade Britain to exclude the Balearic and Canary islands from the quarantine measure, she said, adding that the prevalence of the vi-

rus in those popular travel destinations was much lower than in the United Kingdom.

Spain has seen COVID-19 cases rise in the last few weeks, and Britain announced late on Saturday it was taking the country off a safe-travel list. The quarantine took effect hours later.

The measure upset the plans of many people either on holiday or planning to take one and caused more disruption for airlines and tour com-

panies.

Britain has also advised against all but essential travel to mainland Spain, leaving the islands out of the advice but including them in the quarantine measure.

The opposition Labour Party’s health policy chief, Jonathan Ashworth, slammed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Government for its “frankly shambolic” handling of the measure.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

20

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

Make personal and physical changes that will add pizzazz and push you into the spotlight. Change begins with you, so stop waiting and start doing. Romance is on the rise.

TAURUS

Keep everyone guessing.

Don't commit to anything until you are sure it's what you want. If a change isn't going to make your life better, you are best off taking a pass.

(March 21April 19)

(April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

Don't settle for less; if you want more, do what's necessary and don't complain. Be direct and do whatever it takes. Make independence a priority.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Evaluate your options and consider how best to use your skills to get ahead. Look at a partnership proposal carefully and familiarize yourself with the motives behind it before you get involved.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Gather knowledge, pick up skills and focus on what you want. Refuse to let an emotional incident result in an undesirable change.

Keep the peace and avoid arguments.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

A little will mean a lot.

Consider your options and offer better alternatives.

Intelligence will override inconsistency. Do what's right, and associate with those who bring out the best in you.

LIBRA

Nurture essential relationships and make personal changes conducive to feeling and looking your best.

Don't allow anyone to put you in a vulnerable position.

Say no to demanding people.

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SUDOKU

It will be hard to make up your mind and control your emotions. Learn from experience, and recognize what you must do to get what you want.

Tidy up unfinished busiSAGITTARIUS ness. Clear the way for bet(Nov. 23ter projects. Concentrate on Dec. 21) long-term plans and contracts that can save you money or make you more of it. Show others what you have to offer.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Enhance your skills, technology and attitude, and you'll step into a position that suits your lifestyle. A change at home could boost your income.

Don't follow others.

Consider what brings you the most joy and head in that direction. Personal improvements will give you the confidence to present and promote what you have to offer.

Look over contracts and health, legal and money matters. Your attitude will determine the response you get. Question anything that doesn't sound realistic or honest before you make a commitment.

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

21

Aston Villa survive dramatic finale at West Ham A

ston Villa will play Premier League football next season after a draw at West Ham was enough to ensure they escaped relegation on the final day of the campaign.

Hometown hero, Captain Jack Grealish looked to have sealed a win for Villa with a powerful strike in the 84th minute, but Andriy Yarmolenko's deflected leveller soon after made it a nervy finale for the visitors.

They hung on though and the point, coupled with a defeat for Watford at Arsenal, ensured Villa's survival and consigned the Hornets to the Championship next season along with Bournemouth, whose win at Everton was not enough.

It caps an impressive end to the season for Dean Smith's side, who were seven points from safety two weeks ago, but then put together their first four-game unbeaten run of 2019-20 to survive. It was a game of few chances at the London Stadium, although the in-form Michail Antonio would have made Villa's afternoon a lot more tense had he not blazed a shot wide with just the keeper to beat in the first half.

West Ham secured their own Premier League place for 2020-21 with a draw at Manchester United on Wednesday, ending the season in 16th. Possessing only a goal difference advantage of one over Watford, Villa came into this tense final day with all possibilities on the table – even the prospect that they might lose and stay up, or win and go down.

That this situation even existed in the first place is a feath-

firing in.

That should have been the end of it, but West Ham provided one final scare for Villa at the end of what has been a dramatic, rollercoaster season. Inevitably, Villa will have to spend a portion of the upcoming truncated off-season dealing with rumours linking Grealish with a move away from the club.

But at least they will now be able to negotiate from a relative position of strength as a top-flight club.

Hammers earn their bit of luck

Grealish's goal was his 10th of an impressive season

er in the cap of Smith's side, who fought hard despite seemingly looking doomed to the drop.

A long way from safety and on a three-game losing streak heading into their game against Crystal Palace on July 12, they beat the Eagles, drew at Everton and then recorded a win over Arsenal to edge ahead of the faltering Hornets.

This final point sealed a s e c -

ond-successive season in the top-flight and to some extent justified the lavish spending they undertook last summer. In the end, though, it was one of their own who stood head and shoulders above the rest to earn them the point they needed.

Grealish was neat and energetic without being spectacular for much of the game, but came alive when he was needed. Soon after dancing through the Hammers’ defence and seeing a shot deflected wide, he went one better, finding space on the edge of the box before

Having already secured their place in the Premier League next season, there was a risk that West Ham's players might have played within themselves on Sunday. Villa boss Smith asserted beforehand that his opposite number David Moyes would not allow this from his players and he was proven right.

The Hammers were not at the level that has seen them take seven points from their last three games, but they certainly weren't already on the beach. The biggest testament to this is the manner in which they rallied after conceding so late, when they could have been excused just allowing the clock to run down on a slim defeat.

Their equaliser – coming just a minute or so after Villa's opener – owed plenty to fortune, with Yarmolenko's effort from range looping up off Grealish, over Pepe Reina and in. But it was a moment of luck to cap what has been an impressive last four games of a campaign that has lurched between crises, but has set them up a stable off-season and a fresh start to 2020-21. (BBC Sport)

Dowrich replaced by Da Silva Man United win to qualify for Champions League after taking blow to the face M

anchester United secured a place in the Champions League at the expense of Leicester City with victory at King Power Stadium.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side needed a point from this decisive final-day meeting to confirm a place in the top four - and break the hearts of the Foxes, who were in a Champions League spot for so much of the season.

Leicester needed victory once Chelsea took command at home to Wolverhampton Wanderer,s but their dreams were dashed as Bruno Fernandes scored a 71st-minute penalty after Anthony Martial tumbled under challenge from Wes Morgan and Jonny Evans.

Both sides had their chances, with Leicester City keeper Kasper Schmeichel saving well from Marcus Rashford in the first half and Jamie Vardy seeing a header glance off the frame of the goal after the break.

Anthony Martial was brought down for the penalty from which Bruno Fernandes gave Manchester United the lead

Leicester pressed but could not break Manchester United down and their misery was compounded when Evans was sent off against his former club for a wild, late lunge on Scott McTominay.

Manchester United confirmed the formalities seconds from time when substitute Jesse Lingard robbed Schmeichel and rolled the ball into an empty net.

It is a result that fulfils the usual minimum requirement

of Champions League qualification for Manchester United.

But while Leicester City's fifth-placed finish is highly creditable and earns a place in the Europa League, this will undoubtedly be a huge disappointment and anti-climax after being in a position to reach the Champions League for so long. It will be scant consolation for them that striker Vardy will claim the Golden Boot, as the Premier League's top scorer with 23 goals.

W

Shane Dowrich recieving treatment

est Indies wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich was replaced by Joshua Da Silva after taking a blow to the face on day three as England strengthened their grip on the decisive third Test. Jason Holder (46) and Dowrich (47) ensured the Windies avoided the follow-on, but Stuart Broad (6-31) took all four wickets in the morning session to dismiss them for

197.

There was more pain for the tourists after England started their second innings with a lead of 162 at Old Trafford, Holder the first to be in pain after being struck on the thumb.

The Captain was able to continue, but Dowrich went off the field after a short delivery from Shannon Gabriel went through his gloves and appeared to hit him in the face.

Shai Hope initially took the gloves before the uncapped Da Silva, who will not be able to bat in the second innings, came on to take his place and soon missed a chance to stump Rory Burns. England were 50 without loss in the afternoon session, leading by 222 runs as they bid to regain the Wisden Trophy, knowing rain is likely to wipe out day four.

(Sportsmax)

22

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W

Winston Benjamin

est Indies Captain Jason Holder has earned the ire of former fast bowler Winston Benjamin, who has not liked the way he has treated paceman Alzarri Joseph. According to Benjamin, Joseph has been underutilised by the skipper, making it difficult for him to develop a rhythm and perform at his best.

“It’s not because I’ve worked with this young man, but I think Alzarri has been handled poorly by the Captain from day one, not just this series, and just look at how he is

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

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being used. Here it is that you have a youngster with raw talent and we don’t have a lot of bowlers with raw talent, but how do you get experience, isn’t it by doing what you have to do?” said Benjamin during an airing of the “Good Morning Jojo Sports Show”.

Benjamin also suggested Holder has an issue with Joseph and may not think he is as good as people are purporting. “If you’re not happy with an individual and you think there is too much talk about this individual and don’t think he’s as good and you want to prove a point, then you give him short spells, bowl him with the old ball when things are tight and critical, so he never has a break,” said Benjamin He went on to point out that Holder has a responsibility that comes with being captain that, if not managed properly, could be harmful.

“The Captain has the ability to make or break a bowler. The time that you give him the ball to bowl, the confidence that you place in him will determine the frame of mind and if you are going to give me two overs and take me off every minute, the first thing I am going to say is that you don’t have any confidence in me ,so my whole demeanour is now going to change,” said Benjamin.

Benjamin, the mentor of Joseph, was speaking after the first two Tests in the three-match #Raisethebat

Series currently ongoing in England.

In that first Test, Joseph bowled a total of 31 overs to end with match figures of 2-98, while in the second Test he bowled even less, accounting for 25.1 overs for a match-haul of 1-84. Joseph was dropped in favour of spinner Rahkeem Cornwall for the Third Test, which headed into day three on Sunday.

According to Benjamin, there is a certain selfishness in the way Holder rotates his bowlers. “Now, what I have observed with our captain is that he doesn’t bowl unless things are happening and once things are happening the ball belongs to him and he’s not relinquishing that, but as soon as you hit a little rough patch, you go and work this ball for me and as soon as things start happening, he comes back in and cleans up. I have seen those things; I’ve been part of those situations many times.

I’ve gone through that myself,” he said.

What Joseph needs now, more than anything else, Benjamin went on to explain, is experience. According to the former fast bowler, who took 61 wickets in 21 Tests for the

West Indies, that experience can only be had if the Captain allows it.

“You can’t learn experience; you learn skill, you develop skill, but experience is you participating in whatever it is in order to gain the experience.”

The West Indies and England are locked at a game apiece in their three-Test series, with England dominating the third.

(Sportsmax)

Alzarri Joseph

Broad getting 500 wickets would be a ridiculous achievement — Burns E

ngland opener Rory Burns thinks it would be a "ridiculous achievement" for Stuart Broad to reach 500 Test wickets after the 34 year-old finished the third day at Emirates Old Trafford one shy of the landmark.

If Broad can claim one more West Indies batsman on Monday (July 27), he will be just the fourth fast-bowler to pass the milestone of 500 wickets, following in the footsteps of Courtney Walsh, Glenn McGrath and James Anderson.

Broad has already taken eight wickets in the match after dismissing John Campbell and Kemar Roach shortly before the close of day three as West Indies attempt to chase down 399 to win the third Test.

"I didn't actually know he was as close as he was," Burns said.

"Dom Sibley nudged me before he had bowled a ball, and said: 'He's on 497.' I thought: 'We'd better catch it.'

It would a pretty ridiculous achievement to get to 500, and he's chipped in with some handy runs. He's bowling really well at the minute, and hopefully we can keep grabbing them in the slips.

"I'll be standing at gully and hopefully I'm going to catch it if he gets a nick. It's a nice place to be when his tail is up and he's bowling like this. You feel every ball is going to come to you. We'll be standing there waiting to catch it."

Burns shared a 114 run partnership with Sibley, the first time England have had a century opening stand during a home game since

Alastair Cook and Alex Hales in 2016. "Me and Sib have got a very good relationship away from cricket," said Burns. "Test cricket is another level up, and it's about helping each other where you can. He's adapted really well, and when you hear stats like that, it's very pleasing."

Although Burns was dismissed ten runs short of a third Test century, his partnership with Sibley is beginning to blossom and England - finally - might have an answer to their opening conundrum, an issue which has dogged them since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012.

Not that Burns is taking his position in the team for granted.

"You always feel under pressure to keep scoring," he said. "I felt like that at Surrey before Test level.

Runs are currency and you want to keep putting up the numbers. I suppose to a certain extent you can feel settled but I think it's also a dangerous position to put yourself in.

It helps my game that, as a player, I've enjoyed captaincy at Surrey and thinking about other people's games too. I like helping guys like Sibbo [Dom Sibley]."

As England sought quick runs before declaring, Burns upped the ante significantly before being caught behind attempting to ramp the off-spin of Roston Chase. With poor weather forecast for Monday, England will hope they have enough time to try and force a result over the next two days with eight West Indian wickets left to take to reclaim the Wisden

Stuart Broad, Rory Burns and Ben Stokes celebrate

Trophy.

"It was nice to play some different shots, usually I reserve a few of them for Twenty20 practice," Burns said. "It felt good to open up a little bit. I think Joe was going to give me

another over to try and get there but unfortunately I missed out trying to hit the fence. It was good to set up the team in a good position though, that was the most important thing." (cricbuzz)

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

Broad claims 6 in the day as England tighten grip in decider Y

ou know those times - hopefully they're rare - when someone says or does something to offend you and you walk away, seething and speechless. You play it over in your mind and then, much later, you think of the perfect comeback: "I should have said this.

If only I'd said that. I wish I'd shown 'em."

Stuart Broad had the chance few of us get to set that person we think has wronged us straight and he took it, more than once. Left out of the England side for the first Test, won

by West Indies at the Ageas Bowl, Broad made it clear in an interview during the game that he wasn't happy about it. It probably wasn't to everyone's liking, almost certainly not the selectors, but it was decent PR for Broad - he was hungry, driven and eloquent. But he wasn't done there.

"And another thing..." Broad may as well have said has he backed up words with action, his new-ball burst of 3 for 1 from 14 balls helping set up England's victory in the second Test.

"And another thing..." Broad may as well have said as he whacked West Indies' bowlers round Emirates Old Trafford en route to the equal third-fastest fifty in England Test history on the second day of the deciding match of

Dom Sibley and Rory Burns

the series. His 62 from 45 balls batting at No. 9 lifted England's first-innings total to 369 after

a mini-collapse on the second morning had left the hosts 280 for 8.

"And another thing..." Broad only went and took 6 for 31 to help bowl West Indies out for 197 in reply before lunch on Sunday, still 172 runs adrift. England's batsmen rallied round their mate to ensure Broad's retorts were rammed home, Rory Burns, Joe Root and Dom Sibley all adding their own "take thats" as they each passed 50 in guiding their side to a 398run lead.

Burns fell short of a hundred, caught sweeping for 90 to go with his first-innings 57, before England declared their second innings at 226 for 2. Burns shared a 114-run partnership with Sibley - the first for England's openers at home since 2016 - and then another 112 with Root, who remained not out after an momentum-stealing knock of 68 off 56 balls.

With England needing to win the match to reclaim the Wisden Trophy, their tactics were in part dictated by a poor forecast for Monday.

It meant West Indies had to face six overs before the close, and of course it was Broad who helped England make strides towards their goal of taking ten wickets. He had opener John Campbell caught by Root at first slip for a thirdball duck and then removed nightwatchman Kemar Roach, caught behind, to move to 499 Test wickets before stumps.

Broad began the day with two wickets already, having combined well with James Anderson in favourable conditions the previous evening. But that was just the precursor to Broad's spell of 4 for 14 from four overs which ended West Indies' first innings.

Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer opened the bowling on the third morning with Jason Holder not out 24 and Shane Dowrich on 10, their side still 33 runs from saving the follow-on.

The batsmen successfully navigated a spell of shortpitched bowling and secured their first target. Dowrich did well to see off the barrage, given the fact England's bowlers have targeted him with the short ball in this series.

But when Broad came on, he struck with his third ball, removing the dangerous Holder four runs shy of his half-century with a lovely length ball that seamed in and struck the kneeroll, breaking up a partnership worth 68.Woakes thought he had Holder out for 38 four overs earlier to a brilliant diving catch by Ollie Pope at midwicket, until it was revealed he had overstepped for only the second time in his 35-Test career.

Sub wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva missed a stumping

Holder's eventual dismissal, just after he had Sibley out lbw for 56, which included sevhad reached the milestone of 2000 Test runs, en fours. left his side exposed, and Broad swooped.

As soon as Burns was out, Root joined In his third over of the day, Broad had him on the walk back to the changing rooms, Rahkeem Cornwall out lbw for 10 and, three where Broad was preparing to return in full balls later, he drew Roach forward with a ball flight. (ESPNcricinfo) that nipped away off the seam, found an edge and was swallowed by Root at slip to claim his five-wicket haul.

"And another thing..."

RJ Burns c sub (J Da Silva) West Indies 1st Innings Broad wasn't done. He then 90 KC Brathwaite c Root b Broad 1 b Chase claimed last man out Dowrich, DP Sibley lbw b Holder 56 JD Campbell c Burns who top-edged a pull to mid-on, 68 b Archer 32 JE Root (c) not out to give Broad figures of 6 for 31 from 14 overs. Broad is now the Extras (b 6, lb 3, nb 3) 12 SD Hope c †Buttler leading wicket-taker for the b Anderson 17 TOTAL (58 Ov, RR: 3.89) 226/2d series with 14, despite missed SSJ Brooks c †Buttler Did not bat: BA Stokes, that first Test.England's secb Anderson 4 OJ Pope, JC Buttler †, CR ond innings started terribly RL Chase lbw b Broad 9 Woakes, DM Bess, JC Archer, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson for West indies when Holder J Blackwood b Woakes 26 Fall of wickets: 1-114 (Dom had to leave the field after JO Holder (c) lbw b Broad 46 Sibley, 40.5 ov), 2-226 Burns edged a Roach delivSO Dowrich † c Woakes (Rory Burns, 57.6 ov) ery in his direction at second b Broad 37 slip and the ball bounced awkRRS Cornwall lbw b Broad 10 BOWLING O M R W wardly into his left thumb. No KAJ Roach c Root b Broad 0 KAJ Roach 11 4 34 0 sooner had Holder returned to ST Gabriel not out 0 3 ST Gabriel the field after lunch, with his 5 0 19 0 Extras (b 4, lb 5, nb 1, w 5) 15 JO Holder thumb heavily strapped, than 9 2 24 1 wicketkeeper Dowrich was TOTAL (65 Ov, RR: 3.03) 197 RL Chase 14 2 61 1 off nursing a swollen lip after Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Kraigg RRS Cornwall 19 2 79 0 Burns left a Shannon Gabriel Brathwaite, 1.4 ov), 2-44 (John Campbell, 16.6 ov), 3-58 short ball which deceived the WEST INDIES 2ND INNINGS (Shai Hope, 23.2 ov), 4-59 keeper with some late swing, (TARGET: 399 RUNS) (Shamarh Brooks, 25.3 ov), hit the top of his glove and KC Brathwaite not out 2 5-73 (Roston Chase, 34.2 ov), smacked into his face.A bleedJD Campbell c Root b Broad 0 6-110 (Jermaine Blackwood, ing Dowrich spent the rest of 42.3 ov), 7-178 (Jason Holder, KAJ Roach c †Buttler b Broad 4 the day in the changing rooms 58.3 ov), 8-188 (Rahkeem SD Hope not out 4 - he was seen shortly after the Cornwall, 62.2 ov), 9-188 TOTAL (6 Ov, RR: 1.66) 10/2 incident holding a small piece (Kemar Roach, 62.5 ov), 10Yet to bat: SSJ Brooks, RL 197 (Shane Dowrich, 64.6 ov) of ice to his lip - as he was reChase, J Blackwood, JO placed initially by Shai Hope Holder (c), SO Dowrich †, before substitute Joshua Da BOWLING O M R W RRS Cornwall, ST Gabriel Silva donned his gear and took JM Anderson 16 5 28 2 Fall of wickets: 1-0 (John over, making his first appearSCJ Broad 14 4 31 6 Campbell, 1.3 ov), 2-6 ance of the series. In the meanJC Archer 17 1 72 1 (Kemar Roach, 3.1 ov) time, Burns and Sibley set O M R W CR Woakes 18 2 57 1 BOWLING about extending the England JM Anderson 3 2 2 0 lead, their union eventualSCJ Broad 3 1 8 2 ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS ly broken by Holder when he

SCOREBOARD

Simmons defends West Indies batting in 'toughest' conditions S

eries don't come much tougher than travelling to England to face on-song pace duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson. That was the assessment of Phil Simmons, West Indies' head coach, after his side were bundled out for 197 in their first innings at Emirates Old Trafford and then went two wickets down early in their second, needing to bat out the rest of the match to retain the Wisden Trophy.

"Wherever you go it's going to be tough, in England's it's going to be toughest with two bowlers, one there in 600, one there in 500 wickets and it's going to make things hard," Simmons said after play on the third day of the deciding Test, with his side still trailing by 388 runs.

"On this wicket, we showed in the first innings of the second Test that... we were doing what was necessary, we were getting scores, we got a few fifties, but you've got to carry on, and these guys keep coming and they're relentless. So I think it's, it's one of the most difficult places to bat, especially against these two experienced bowlers."

Broad already has eight wickets for the match,

having taken 6 for 31 in West Indies' first innings before dismissing struggling opener John Campbell and nightwatchman Kemar Roach to put them at 10 for 2 in their second and leave himself on 499 Test wickets.Broad and Anderson started the day with two wickets apiece before Broad's 4 for 14 in four overs halted West Indies shortly after they had avoided the follow-on. Anderson, playing his 153rd Test, now has 589 scalps to his name.With the ball only six overs old, the duo are likely to feature heavily when play resumes with England seeking eight more wickets to win the match and reclaim the Wisden Trophy after levelling the series with victory in the second Test.Jermaine Blackwood's 95 in West Indies' first-Test victory at the Ageas Bowl remains his side's highest individual score, while No. 3 Shai Hope is yet to pass 25 for the series.Opener Kraigg Brathwaite, unbeaten alongside Hope at the close, made 65 in the first Test and 75 in the second, while Shamarh Brooks made twin scores in the 60s last week. But the need to convert such starts into big innings is now vital if West Indies have any chance of holding out for a draw and retaining the trophy.

"Yes, we're struggling where the runs are concerned, and we've struggled since after the second innings of the second Test, but all in all, a lot of work has been done," Simmons said. "Guys are going to go home on empty but that's what you want at the end of a series - they've given their all, and if all isn't good enough, you take that, and you work out how you get better.

"We haven't got any centuries in this series so I'm always going to be putting pressure on them to go there. The wicket is still a good wicket to bat on so they have to set themselves targets of getting a big hundred on this wicket. Tomorrow is only the fourth day so we have a lot of time so we've got to show that determination to get big scores."

Rain is expected to wipe out much of Monday, which would still leave England time to bowl their opponents out on the final day, but it would also see West Indies needing to resist for a far shorter period. It may also give Shane Dowrich some extra recovery time after he was hit in the face by a Shannon Gabriel delivery which deflected off Dowrich's wicketkeeping glove. (Cricinfo)

Head Coach Phil Simmons

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2020

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

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Broad claims 6 in the day as England tighten grip in decider Pg 23

Stuart Broad celebrates a wicket

Allicock ranked 19th in the world T

wenty-one-year-old Guyanese boxing talent Keevin Allicock is experiencing a dream week after gaining some international recognition on the boxing stage.

It was only last week that the Albouystown native was nominated for an International Boxing Association (AIBA) award, and now the Olympic hopeful has broken into the top 20 of the international rankings for his weight class.

Allicock has emerged as the only Guyanese boxer to be included in the latest world rankings released by world governing body AIBA. The lightning-quick Allicock is rated 19th in the bantamweight division well ahead of several boxers from China, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Ukraine, and Peru. The achievement breaks Guyana’s world ranking jinx of over a decade. The last Guyanese to hold an AIBA world ranking was Allicock’s brother Dillon. The current World Bantamweight Champion is Mirazizbek Mirzakhalilov of

Uzbekistan.

Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle in congratulating Allicock promised that it was only a matter of time before more local boxers emulated the current Caribbean bantamweight champion.

“We are proud of his achievement and our plan and expectation is that others will follow in his footsteps when the doors of boxing are opened again,” Ninvalle said.

Allicock was part of a quartet of Guyanese boxers stranded in Cuba for 126 days. Colin Lewis, Dennis Thomas, Desmond Amsterdam and Allicock travelled to Cuba in January to prepare for the AMBC Olympic Qualifiers which were later cancelled on account of concern about the spread of coronavirus. Following the closure of Guyana’s borders the four were forced to remain in Cuba until last week. Nonetheless, whenever the next Olympic Games are hosted, be it in 2021 or further in the future, Allicock is keen on representing the Golden Arrowhead at that stage.

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