Guyana Times Monday March 23, 2020

GWI intensifies water treatment amid COVID-19 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4234

P14

THE BEACON OF TRUTH MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

PRICE

GECOM, APNU/AFC destruction of democracy: Day 22

PPP willing to fight for democracy for long haul – Jagdeo

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

CJIA to lose millions due to airport shutdown

P12

Page 3

...says will not give up until ballots are counted ...will not recognise illegitimate President

Court must follow Constitution on recount Page 14

PGS employee allegedly stole millions from client P13 – went on shopping spree

Pedal cyclist killed in hit and run P11

...or Guyana will become a failed State – Ramphal COVID-19 precautions

Guyanese urged to practise social distancing Burnt teen IAPC cites ‘grave says boyfriend concerns’ set her on fire about during argument Guyana’s elections …boyfriend claims she attempted suicide

– driver turns self in after fleeing scene

Linden motorcyclist P2 remains in unconscious state – suffered severe injuries to throat, jaw

Page 12

The Rotary Club of Georgetown Central has partnered with the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) to install a public handwashing station at the Stabroek Market Square on Sunday as a preventative measure to curb the spread of coronavirus

Page 8

Page 10

Govt cited for lack of enforcement of laws against forced labour P13 – State Dept report says fines too low to deter child labour Linden double murder

Accused expected to make court P2 appearance soon

2 NEWS Linden motorcyclist remains in unconscious state MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

– suffered severe injuries to throat, jaw

N

ineteen-year-old Eon “Junior” Patterson, who crashed into a house at Block 22, Wismar, Linden on Thursday, remains a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital in an unconscious state.

This was confirmed by the teen’s sister, who told Guyana Times that her brother suffered major injuries to his throat and jaw.

“He’s still unconscious, so the doctors are working on him still ... his throat is damaged and his jaw is broken...,” his sister relat-

ed.

It was reported that the young man, of Block 22, Wismar, was rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) in critical condition after he lost control of the motorcycle he was riding and slammed into a house.

He was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital owing to the severity of his injuries. Based on reports, the accident occurred a short distance away from the teen’s home.

The young man’s sister explained that she had asked him to purchase an

Injured: Eon “Junior” Patterson

item at a nearby shop, but she was unaware that he took her fiancé’s motorcycle, which had been parked underneath the house.

After some time had elapsed and he did not return home, the young man’s sister said she started to call out for him. She recalled standing in the house when she saw him passing the house at a fast pace and soon after heard a crashing sound.

She noted that after realising what happened, she sent her sister to check on him and she returned to

the home, revealing that he was lying outside a house in an unconscious state.

At the time of the accident, Patterson was not wearing a helmet. His sister noted that if he had been wearing a helmet, his injuries would not have been that severe.

The owner of the house

had stated that she and her children were inside when they heard a crashing sound and ran to the front where they saw the young man lying on the sand and the motorcycle next to him.

An alarm was raised and the young man was taken to the hospital.

Linden double murder

Accused expected to make court appearance soon

Dead: Imogene Gordon and her fiancé, Royston John

T

he suspect in the murder of his ex-lover and her fiancé which occurred in Linden on Wednesday last is expected to make his court appearance in the new week.

The bodies of 49-year-old Imogene Gordon of Lot 177 Prosville, Wismar, Linden and Royston John of East Berbice-Corentyne were discovered lying in blood at the woman’s home with multiple stab wounds.

John was reportedly discovered lying on his back while Gordon was lying face down in the lower flat of the incomplete two-storey house.

Post-mortem examinations conducted on the bodies of the two have since given the causes of deaths as multiple incise wounds which include cuts and stabs.

It was reported that on the day in question, Police were summoned to the scene after a report was lodged that screams were emanating from the house. Upon arrival at the location, ranks made the gruesome discovery. The knife suspected to be the murder weapon was found about six feet away from the woman’s body.

The woman’s ex-lover – a Linden business-

man, has since been arrested for the murder. The Regional Commander, Superintendent Hugh Winter told Guyana Times that the case file would be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) today for legal advice on the way forward.

It was reported that only recently, Gordon had filed a Police complaint against the suspect with whom she had once shared a common-law relationship.

Reports are that the woman had complained that the 48-year-old businessman had threatened to chop off her hands and feet.

He was arrested and charged in connection with these allegations on March 10, 2020 and later appeared at the Linden Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Dylon Bess where he pleaded guilty to the charge. He was placed on a six-month bond to keep the peace.

He was arrested by Police on Thursday morning in the vicinity of Prosville where the incident occurred and was transported to the Linden Hospital Complex, where he was treated for a gaping wound in the hand.

The suspect remains in custody as the investigation continues.

NEWS

3

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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

Monday, March 23 – 04:30h – 06:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Tuesday, March 24 – 05:00h – 06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Monday, March 23 –16:15h – 17:45h and Tuesday, March 24 –16:45h – 18:15h.

PPP willing to fight for democracy for long haul – Jagdeo

…says will not give up until ballots are counted …will not recognise illegitimate President

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

Sunny intervals will prevail during the day. There will be partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to East North-Easterly to North-Easterly between 1.34 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 16:26h reaching a maximum height of 2.60 metres.

Low Tide: 10:02h and 22:18h reaching minimum heights of 0.66 metre and 0.61 metre.

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020

LOTTERY NUMBERS L

09 13 15

17 21 23

05

FREE TICKET

Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

01 07 13 19 24 LUCKY 3

9

5

2

9

Afternoon Draw

8

1

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

03

04

06

14

15 17 18

PAY DAY

SUPER PAY DAY

FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2020

01 03 09 14 17

03 09 11 12 21

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators Crude Oil Rough Rice London Sugar

US$

Change %

$26.98/barrel $239.4 /ton $344.40/ton

Live Spot Gold

-5.52 -4.45 +1.92

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask $1498.80 $1499.80 Low/High $1476.80 $1518.50 Change +0.00 +0.00%

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

W

arning that they will pursue individual sanctions and will not recognise David Granger as President should he be sworn in without a recount, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday made it clear that the Party was prepared for the long haul if necessary.

In a statement to his supporters, Jagdeo emphasised that the Party’s resolve would not weaken if the coalition’s intention was to have Granger sworn in without a proper count of the votes being done. He warned that instead, sanctions would be pursued against those who facilitate this.

“The fight will continue to the end. If they think there’s any weakening of resolve, if they think people are losing strength or courage or we’re not prepared for the long haul, they’re very wrong about this. We’ll take this all the way. Granger needs to know, if he’s sworn in (illegitimately), he’ll be met by protests everywhere he goes… we will not be part of any parliament,” he said.

Jagdeo also noted that A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), instead of challenging the Statements of Poll (SoPs) that the PPP released, is clutching its close to heart.

“Until now, they have not challenged a single Statement of Poll that we uploaded. We uploaded 879 Statements of Poll, supported by the tally sheets, showing how the results were in Region Four. As a consequence of that, they won Region Four, but we won the elections overall by over 15,000 votes. That’s nearly four times more than they won in the last elections.

“They have not uploaded a single Statement of Poll. APNU has all of those too, they got those on election night. Just imagine if we had uploaded fake Statements of Poll. They would have uploaded theirs and pointed out all the fake ones we uploaded. But they have not done so,” he said.

President Granger has consistently said that he

would respect the court and not have himself sworn in before the process is completed. He has also constantly reiterated GECOM’s independence and his non-involvement in recent events, even though the court case blocking the recount was filed by an APNU/ AFC candidate.

“GECOM has not done so. Granger knows this. He can easily say where are APNU Statements of Poll?

Granger saw the Caricom (Caribbean Community) statement, where they documented the transgressions of Mingo. They pointed out, as we did, that in some cases there were more votes than electors, which is impossible.

“Yet he wants more proof that there is something fraudulent. He says he’s

came to supervise the recount, he had told them he did not trust the President.

According to Jagdeo, they had pointed out that it was Granger who had invited them and he had decided to give the initiative a chance.

Jagdeo noted that the international community was more aware than ever about what it was dealing with.

“I’ve been in contact with the international community and they too are outraged with what has happened here and are resolute that the attempt to steal power before our very eyes does not succeed,” Jagdeo said.

It has been weeks since the elections were held, with no winner declared. The international community has already warned Guyana that it could be isolated and even sanctioned if a President is

Four results, an agreement was brokered with Caricom to supervise a recount on Monday last, of the votes from all the regions.

In fact, it was President Granger who had sought CARICOM’s help.

The Arthur Chung Conference Centre was chosen as the venue for the recount. The various party agents waited all day, but no recount occurred as GECOM first announced that an agreement would have to be signed, then that it was awaiting legal advice.

As the party agents stood guard over the ballot boxes, GECOM officials, then a fumigation crew from the Public Health Ministry and then Police dressed in riot gear arrived and began herding party agents out of the compound.

Scores of persons gathered on Cowan Street, Kingston, Georgetown overlooking the Guyana Elections Commission on Sunday evening

sticking with the court process, when in fact his people initiated the court process to sabotage an initiative that he himself said he wanted,” the PPP General Secretary said. Jagdeo noted that when Caricom first

sworn in on the flawed results, resulting in an uneasy standoff between the international community and the Government.

After days of procrastination and the derailment of the verification of Region

The Caricom officials, having witnessed all of this and then being stymied by the injunction, left the country. The European Union (EU) and Carter Center observation missions soon followed suit.

4

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 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

Shifting the goalposts I

n the wake of the crisis precipitated by the blatant manipulation of the elections results in the tabulation of Reg 4 SOPs by elements in GECOM, led by the Returning Officer (RO), which has led to almost universal condemnation and threats of “consequences”, most have called for the stalled election process to be consummated with a recount – either total or only Reg 4.

However, two groups drawn from primarily the African Guyanese constituency – ACDA and the WPA – while calling for a total recount, have tied it to a commitment by whichever party that wins to form a power sharing government of national unity. This government would be constituted for a stipulated period, during which constitutional reform would be initiated to alter the mode of governance to a permanent power sharing arrangement.

These groups, in our estimation, are ignoring our still unfolding history with such a “national coalition” that the PNC claimed was formed in 2015 when the “six parties” in APNU coalesced with the AFC and won the elections. The PPP has always held itself open for a more inclusive form of government, but in response to such calls from the PNC under Desmond Hoyte in 2002 just before he passed away, with the PPP’s long history and knowledge of the PNC, it insisted that there was a need for more “trust” to be developed between the two parties.

Historically, the PNC had always counted on the reflexive support of the key institutions of the state – the army, the police, the public service, and other putatively “autonomous” institutions, such as GECOM – which allowed them to literally and figuratively “flex their muscles” even out of office.

When they ran for office as the APNU/AFC coalition, the PNC included several “power sharing” proposals that would be implemented immediately, and promised more following constitutional reform. None of this occurred, and the PNC faction ran the government without any consultation with their “partners”.

The WPA complained bitterly about this state of affairs. Its actions over the past five years in Government certainly could not have inspired any confidence in the PPP that the PNC’s ideal of “paramountcy” had been tempered over time. In its 2015 Manifesto, the PNC explicitly abjured any commitment to power sharing, and one has to ask why should the PPP believe that the PNC would not use their reflexive support in the state institutions to render the PPP impotent in any coalition government, as they did to the AFC? Especially when they massively buttressed those institutions with massive recruitment from their constituency.

But those who are beating the “shared governance” model, now that it is clear the PNC have lost the elections and have shown their true colours in their reaction to the loss, are ignoring a most significant development, which bodes well for Guyana. This is the fact that, in Guyana today, no one ethnic group commands an absolute majority: as of the last census, Indian Guyanese are 39%; African Guyanese 31%; Mixed Guyanese 19% and Indigenous Peoples 11%. This means that for any party to win an election by an absolute majority, that party would have to be able to step outside of its traditional constituency and reach across the historic divide to garner “cross-over” votes.

This was ironically proven in 2015 by the APNU/AFC coalition when they ousted the PPP from office, even though the latter had the advantage of incumbency. If the PNC have lost this election, as is clear by their desperate attempts to rig it, it means they were unable to retain the support they agglomerated in 2015. As in any democracy, what they ought to have done was to accept the will of the people and engage in some collective self-retrospection to find out where they “went wrong”, and recalibrate for the next elections in five years’ time.

At long last we have reached a point where we can practise democratic politics, and it is this development we would be derailing if the PNC were allowed to get away with their rigging.

An installation entitled “Umbrella Sky Project” created by Portuguese artist Patricia Cunha and composed with pink umbrellas is pictured in Paris, France (Reuters/Benoit Tessier)

Guyanese must not allow Granger to be a dictator Dear Editor, It is evident that David Granger is using the court system and GECOM to ensure that he remains in power despite the consequences that will confront Guyanese.

In this modern era, strongmen or dictators like Granger have learned that it’s easier to stay in power by rigging elections than by not holding them at all.

Right now, Granger does not realise that those who rig elections are outfoxing not only their own citizens but the international community as well.

But as Guyanese, unless we learn how to identify those strategies and address them, then the quality of future elections will continue to decline. Over time, this is likely to call into question the basic legitimacy of democracy, as people

will grow frustrated with elections that fail to bring change. One of the main things that democracy has going for Guyana today is that despite its limitations, it remains the preferred political system of most people living in Guyana. But this support has limits.

If democracy continues to generate instability and tension without actually delivering accountability and inclusion, authoritarian alternatives will start to look increasingly attractive.

That’s the reason why this March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections result is critical so as to ensure that the democratic process is not being maligned, while transparency, fairness and the rule of law prevails.

Elections and other political processes are pivotal to the quality of a country’s governance and can either

greatly advance or set back a country’s long-term democratic development, as well as the country, regional, and global foreign policy priorities.

The most fundamental principle defining credible elections is that they must reflect the free expression of the will of the people.

To achieve this, elections should be transparent, inclusive, and accountable, and there must be equitable opportunities to compete in the elections. These broad principles are buttressed by several electoral process-related obligations, as well as a number of key rights and freedoms, each of which is derived from public international law. The electoral cycle approach depicts elections as a continuous, integrated process made up of building blocks that interact with and influence each

other, rather than as a series of isolated events.

The exclusion of the media and the integral role of the Guyana Police Force to facilitate and muzzle the flawed process and Guyanese is a testimony that Granger has no intention in allowing democracy to prevail.

As such, we must commend the strong leadership of the PPP/C especially Dr Bharat Jagdeo, Dr Irfan Ali, Zulfikar Mustapha, Anil Nandlall etc, the various media entities and reporters, civil society, PSC and all other conscious Guyanese, to continue this battle both locally and internationally.

Guyana must stand against dictator Granger and his cabal.

Dear Editor, Like many other Guyanese, I have been finding the letters of Mr GHK Lall learned and erudite and entertaining yet, even so, a little troubling in its studied purveying of us the PPP/C as being much the same as the PNCR/APNU/AFC. Not so.

Great and significant are the differences between us in beliefs, world view, actions and history.

I have before me the recent opinion: I am not interested in who should win but all that is lost. At this time of crisis, I must go beyond recognising those letters as pieces demonstrating the art of great writing. At this time of crisis, I will be frank: I do think that however well in-

tended they have been and continue to be, the views advocated such as this one have been sweet nourishment to those in the leadership of the PNCR/APNU/AFC who have been having their way in an open bullied grabbing of our 2020 elections, dressing it up as a win and making a travesty of our laws. To see and yet not see all of that is to excuse and greatly nourish those perversions.

At a minimum, commend Dominic Gaskin; commend Joe Singh and CN Sharma.

At a minimum, denounce the open nationally and internationally evident acts which successfully frustrated the transparent counting of District Four votes and denounce the purported dec-

laration of fraudulent numbers on which some number of persons are actively or passively colluding in accepting, hell-bent on imposing a Government of their own choice.

If it is that the leadership elite of the PNCR/APNU/ AFC cannot stomach living with the PPP/C in office - then let them put that on the table and with the true reasons why - we may then know whether there are prospects for reconciling or whether we should be resigning ourselves to a parting.

As I laid out in my letter, “We Guyanese may be approaching our moment of truth and reconciliation”, I am very much aware of the

challenges we face in coming together from our different distant starting points.

I do believe that the leadership elite of the PNC earlier and the PNCR/APNU/AFC now, dismayed and alarmed by the slow but growing success of the PPP and PPP/C, in bringing Guyanese together, in spite of all our real and perceived faults, find it imperative for them to keep the PPP/C out of office, however openly and brazenly and bizarrely, and at whatever cost to our people and nation.

And in that, the letters of GHK may have been their unwitting, unintended ally.

With regards, Zamal Hussain

To see and not yet see

Sincerely, Samuel A A Hinds

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 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

Mr President, you have both courage and wisdom to do the right thing Dear Editor, I would appreciate if you can print in your letter columns my open letter to the President as follows: Mr President, I know it’s hard being you at this time. But you cannot be spared this trial.

It falls upon you. The future is in your hands.

I do not believe that you should rely on GECOM anymore.

It is inexplicable to me is that even though CEO Lowenfield has first-hand knowledge that the count for Region Four is wrong for he has copies of the SoPs and like the PPP and APNU would have had his own tabulation done ahead of time, he has failed to act to preserve the integrity of GECOM.

He is responsible for the performance of all persons within GECOM including the ROs. He has the responsibility to act. It is his job. It is his failure. He has the authority to correct the Region Four count.

His failure to act would imply that he is in collusion with the RO. The Chairman also cannot claim ignorance of the issue. She should have ensured that her CEO carry out his functions with integrity or have him sanctioned and replaced. The buck stops with her.

Her failure to act would also imply some form of involvement or approval of the invalid count.

Her failure to act cannot be acceptable.

Therefore, Mr President,

I do not believe that GECOM is independent and as such you should not rely on them.

There are other actors involved using the judicial system. We have a judicial system where some of the most senior Judges when hearing submissions on the No-Confidence Motion, accepted that 33 is not greater than 32. This does not give me confidence that the outcome from this judicial process will be fair and impartial.

However, I urge that everyone should still have patience and wait for the judicial decisions.

The President, you, the Opposition Leader and Caricom have all agreed to a recount; which is being frustrated by actors with

Dear Editor, Granger’s record since 2015 shows that he is duplicitous and manipulative. Before he got elected, he swore he would not close GuySuCo’s estates. He promised jobs. In fact, he got into office on the promise of jobs for the youths. We all know how that went. He told them to go make plantain chips and tamarind ball. When it came to the Constitution, Christopher Ram exposed him as a seri-

al abuser.

This is a man who must know 34 is not the majority of 65 because we slid into office with a 33 majority but still went all the way to the CCJ to get confirmation because it bought him more time.

This is also a man who when challenged on the Carter formula, determined that he had the right to submit names to himself. I, therefore, do not buy the talk of a faction in the

PNC/APNU. Granger is in charge. It is possible that he was momentarily shaken by his son-in-law’s outpouring and hence the Mottley episode but within a few hours, he was back to normal.

Granger is therefore not being controlled by anyone, he is simply being himself.

Which army man would knowingly tolerate mutiny within his ranks?

Talk of a faction overrated

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

other agendas. These agendas cannot serve the best interests of the Guyanese people.

Mr President, all of these can be solved by you acting on your own resolve.

Mr President, you can nip these efforts where they are by simply making it clear that you will not allow yourself to be sworn in without recounts as agreed by you, the Opposition Leader and Caricom; thus making all of these injunctions and legal shenanigans

irrelevant.

Mr President, you could do that; you should do that and you should do that very soon. You do not need anyone’s approval to do this. It is simply your personal decision. You will find solace in knowing that such a decision will be founded on the principles of honesty, decency, integrity and fair play. It is your call and your call alone.

Let us not contemplate any other outcome.

Please be guided by my

daily prayer; God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

Mr President, you have both the courage and the wisdom to do the right thing.

God Bless you. God Bless Guyana.

Dear Editor, I read with interest a piece in your daily newspaper, Guyana Times of Sunday, March 22, 2020, appearing on page 5 written by one Mr Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine.

It was a very well written and refreshing narrative, and I wish to say that I compliment the writer, as I fully support his views with respect to making a case for treason.

I, therefore, feel that as soon as the new Government gets sworn in, that is to say, the PPP/C, and with Mr Mark Phillips as our main point man, the new Prime Minister, by the Chancellor, that the following take place within 100 days of

Phillips assuming the Prime Ministerial portfolio of our Beautiful Guyana: that all evidence is accumulated and placed in a file by a, perhaps, joint team effort comprising of Caricom law enforcement officials and Guyanese law enforcement officials and that any and all treasonous individuals are brought before the courts of Guyana and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

When France was going through turmoil, subsequent to that period, all those who injured France paid by being executed by guillotine swiftly. Justice must prevail the world over.

Editor, Mr Roopnaraine rightly stated that catastrophe is in store for Guyana,

yes, the same Guyana that borne and bred us, the same Guyana we all truly love so so much, and she has been injured by these reckless persons, not to further leave out from the equation that Madam Justice with her blindfolds on and the scale of justice in her hands, has been a silent witness throughout the entire façade, but cannot see, as her hands are holding her scales of justice and can’t remove her blindfolds, as Guyana awaits such catastrophe.

Sincerely, Sase Shewnarain

“A case for treason”

Yours truly, M Shabeer Zafar Barrister and solicitor, Windsor, Canada

6

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s 2020 National Grade Six Assessment Practice Tests, complete with answers. This is the second part of Science Paper 1 and the answers to the first 20 questions.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST 3

SCIENCE

PAPER 1

MARCH 11, 2020 Reading Time: 10 minutes Writing Time: 60 minutes

READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY 1. This test has 40 questions. You have 1 hour 10 minutes to answer them.

2. Each question has four possible answers:

(A), (B), (C) and (D). Read each question carefully then choose the correct answer.

3. On your answer sheet, find the number that matches the question you intend to answer.

4. Shade the circle which has the same letter A, B, C or D, next to the answer you have chosen.

Questions 21 and 22 refer to the following diagram which shows a very young plant.

21. Which of the parts labelled above stores food for the young plant?

(A) W (B) X (C) Y (D) Z 22. The part of the young plant that grows from the plumule is labelled (A) W (B) X (C) Y (D) Z 23. Which of the following instruments can be used to measure how fast the wind is moving?

(A) Barometer (B) Wind vane (C) Anemometer (D) Thermometer Question 24 refers to a simple illustration of the water cycle shown below.

24. What does E represent?

(A) Clouds (C) Water vapour

(B) Rain (D) Water in oceans

25. Which of the following activities will most likely reduce pollution?

(A) Using animal manure for farming (B) Burying non-biodegradable waste (C) Cutting down a large number of trees (D) Building larger chimneys for factories 26. Humans benefit from the rainforest because it provides them with (i) food (i) water (ii) medicine (A) (i) and (ii) only (B) (i) and (iii) only (C) (ii) and (iii) only (D) (i), (ii) and (iii)

Sample Question 1. Carbon dioxide is a (A) mixture ANSWER SHEET (B) liquid A B C D (C) gas (D) solid The correct answer is “gas”, so (C) has been shaded.

5. If you want to change your answer erase it completely before you fill in your new choice.

27. All of the following are methods of conserving water in the home except (A) washing small loads of clothes.

(B) bathing with a bucket of water.

(C) purifying waste water for human consumption.

(D) washing the yard with water used for rinsing clothes.

28. Which of the materials below is a good conductor of heat?

(A) Rubber (B) Wood (C) Glass (D) Iron Question 29 refers to the diagram which shows the heating of a bottle which has its mouth covered with a balloon.

29. Which of the following statements explains why the balloon is inflated?

(A) The bottle contracted.

(B) The heat was turned off.

(C) The air in the bottle expanded.

(D) The surrounding air contracted.

30. A suspension can be made from mixing (A) sugar and water.

(B) mud and water.

(C) salt and water.

(D) coffee and water.

Question 31 refers to the position of the sun, moon and earth as shown in the diagram below.

31. Which of the following is represented by the illustration above?

(A) New moon (B) Full moon (C) Lunar eclipse (D) Solar eclipse 32. Which of the following is a natural source of heat and light?

(A) Sun (B) Moon (C) Oven (D) Candle

6. When the supervisor tells you to begin, turn the page and work as quickly and as carefully as you can.

7. If you try a question and find that you cannot answer it, leave it and go on to the next one.

You may return to that question later.

8. You must not use calculators for this assessment.

DO NOT TURN OVER THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

33. The water cycle can occur repeatedly because water (A) cannot be compressed.

(B) is essential for all living things.

(C) changes state by heating or cooling.

(D) evaporates only from seas and oceans.

34. Which of the following is not an example of a physical change?

(A) Cutting up a sheet of cloth (B) Mixing sugar and water (C) Ice melting into water (D) Baking a cake Questions 35 and 36 refer to the diagram of a circuit as shown below.

35. What type of simple circuit is represented in the diagram above?

(A) Series (B) Parallel (C) Parallel series (D) Series parallel 36. What effect will there be in the circuit if Lamp B is damaged and the switch is closed?

(A) Only Lamp C will light.

(B) Only Lamp A will light.

(C) Lamps A and C will light (D) Lamps A and C will not light.

37. Lina hangs her T-shirts outside. Which two weather conditions would be best for drying her laundry?

(A) Windy and stormy (B) Windy and cloudy (C) Sunny and windy (D) Sunny and cloudy Question 38 refers to the diagram of a simple machine in use as shown below.

38. Which type of simple machine is used above to remove the cork from the bottle?

(A) Lever (B) Screw (C) Wedge (D) Inclined plane 39. Which of the following objects possesses potential energy?

(A) A ball rolling on the field (B) A stretched rubber band (C) An electric fan switched on (D) Water falling from a mountain Question 40 refers to the use of a simple machine as shown below.

40. The force that the man is acting against is (A) friction.

(B) electrical.

(C) magnetic.

(D) gravitational.

1. A 2. B 3. B 4. A 5. D 6. B 7. B

Science PAPER 1 ANSWER KEY 8. C 9. C 10. A 11. B 12. B 13. D 14. B

15. C 16. D 17. A 18. B 19. C 20. C

NEWS

7

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana has to abide by rules governing democratic States – former diplomat ꟷ can’t forget obligations to int'l democratic norms ꟷ withdrawal of observers sent a message

Former diplomat and Foreign Affairs Minister Rudy Insanally

W

hile Guyana is a sovereign nation, it cannot forget its international obligations to democratic norms and principles. This is the view of former Foreign Affairs Minister and diplomat, Rudy Insanally.

In an interview with this publication, Insanally was asked about the withdrawal of several observer missions from Guyana and the fact that the international community has largely condemned the counting of the electoral votes as lacking transparency.

Officials from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), as well as European Union and Carter Center observation missions, had a front-row seat to the several controversies that erupted over the Region Four votes. They have all since left the coun-

try.

“Our behaviour, if you can call it that, was likely to attract these steps taken by some of our friends on the international scene, to express their displeasure with the conduct as they see it,” Insanally remarked.

“So, there are various forms of expressing that dissatisfaction, with the political powers in countries.”

“And those steps I think were intended to send the message to Guyana and its politicians. There may be other factors, but it would seem in the circumstances that we can conclude they had had enough of their participation and therefore withdrawing their contribution.”

Insanally, who served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 2001 to 2008, acknowledged that Guyana is an independent nation that must make its choices going forward, on behalf of its people. But he emphasised that these choices must be made bearing in mind that Guyana does not operate in isolation.

“Certainly, we are an independent nation, we have a right to conduct our policies as we see fit, for the benefit of our people. At the same time, we cannot forget that we do not live in some small village but in the wider international community.”

“What you have today, operating in that community, is a certain set of rules and laws which are intend-

ed to govern the actions of democratic states. So, I would think that we ought to examine our political stance and see where it is necessary to remedy some of these lapses and decide on our own basis whether what we are doing deserves that kind of treatment.”

Insanally noted that there are international codes of behaviour, including an international criminal code and an International Court of Justice (ICJ) that enforces such codes. And he noted that while Guyana may have lost the support of those who support democracy, the ball is in the country’s court to decide how it goes from here.

Since the elections were held nearly three weeks ago, a winner is yet to be

The Carter Center became the latest observer mission to withdraw from the country, citing security concerns

its the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from conducting a recount.

GECOM itself had come in for much of the criti-

“Certainly, we are an independent nation, we have a right to conduct our policies as we see fit, for the benefit of our people. At the same time, we cannot forget that we do not live in some small village, but in the wider international community… So, I would think that we ought to examine our political stance and see where it is necessary to remedy some of these lapses.” – former diplomat Rudy Insanally announced. The majority of observers who scrutinised the tabulation process have pronounced it to have not been credible and a current court case prohib-

cism, with repeated attempts being made by the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to subvert the process go-

ing unchecked by the Commission.

Only the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) nominated Commissioners have voiced their disapproval.

The international community has warned Guyana that it could be isolated and even sanctioned if a President is sworn in on the flawed results, resulting in an uneasy standoff between the international community and the Government.

After days of procrastination and the derailment of the Region Four verification of results, an agreement was brokered with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to supervise a recount on Monday last of the votes from all the regions.

In fact, it was President David Granger who had sought Caricom’s help. The

Arthur Chung Conference Centre was chosen as the venue for the recount. The various party agents waited all day, but no recount occurred as GECOM first announced that an agreement would have to be signed, then that it was awaiting legal advice.

As the party agents stood guard over the ballot boxes, GECOM officials, then a fumigation crew from the Public Health Ministry and then Police dressed in riot gear arrived and began herding party agents out of the compound.

The Caricom officials, having witnessed all of this and then being stymied by the injunction, left the country. The European Union and Carter Center observation missions soon followed suit.

8 NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Burnt teen says boyfriend set her on fire during argument …boyfriend claims she attempted suicide

A

15-year-old girl of Lot 70 Timehri Circuit Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD) continues to battle for her life at the Burns Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital after her 27-year-old boyfriend allegedly set her on fire.

The suspect has been identified as 27-yearold Shawn Smith, also of Timehri, EBD. He was subsequently charged and re-

manded to prison.

The teen reportedly told her mother that two Sundays ago at approximately 22:30h, the suspect doused her with kerosene and set her alight at his place of employment.

He worked as a security officer at Madewini, LindenSoesdyke Highway.

However, on the night in question, the young man told the Police that he and the teen were involved in

a heated argument during which she poured the kerosene on her body in an attempt to commit suicide.

The teen sustained third-degree burns on more than 70 per cent of her body.

In an interview with Guyana Times, the teen’s mother, Joy DeAbreu stated that her daughter “is coming around one day at a time, not fully yet”.

The aggravated mother said that her daughter

Man hospitalised after losing control of cement-laden truck

A

39-year-old man of Nonpareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD) is in stable condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital after he lost control of a cement-laden truck on the ECD Public Road at Happy Acres on Saturday.

Acting Regional Police Commander Philip Azore told Guyana Times that the man, who was identified as Kwasi Hykes, was driving at a fast pace along the ECD Public Road in a motor lorry bearing registration number GVV 301.

However, he lost control of the truck when he attempted to navigate a turn

The cement truck that crashed into the guard rail

at Happy Acres.

As a result, the truck flipped several times before crashing into a guard rail after which it slammed into a concrete fence.

At the time of the accident, the driver was the

only person in the truck.

He was taken from the wreckage and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted.

An investigation is underway.

told the doctors that it was her boyfriend who set her ablaze after he accused her of being unfaithful.

“I never heard that come out she mouth; my daughter is a beautiful girl and is still a beautiful girl and she would never destroy herself,” DeAbreu stated.

According to the mother, her daughter’s relationship with the suspect started in early January and was abusive from the beginning.

“Since in January, this relationship starts and she said since then it is very abusive until this thing happened. But she never confronted me because anytime she tell me or her father, she done know her father would have locked he up,” DeAbreu posited.

She related that her daughter went to use the washroom, but at the same time she received a telephone call from the suspect and left home with her knowing.

“Me and she eat together and I [slept] late that night because I was watching [television] and she said ‘mommy I am out to the wash room and she going wash her hands and she going to come in back and I waiting and within 15 minutes I went outside and I called for her and me ain’t hear no response, but at the time my phone been missing.”

The mother further recalled, “I was trying to see where is my phone, but I couldn’t find it and I say maybe Crystal gone with it and yes she did went with my phone and maybe the person called when she said she going and wash her hands and she went to the workplace,” DeAbreu stated.

After setting the teen on fire, her mother said, the suspect threw several packs of flour on her with the intention of hiding the burns.

But it was his co-worker who found the teen and called out for him. She was first taken to her home, but later rushed to the Diamond hospital where she was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“When he come right, he come with a pack of flour in he hands, he [flour] her skin from top to bottom and she was hollering for him and she was saying hospital ‘Mommy, I got burnt take me to the hospital before I die’,” DeAbreu said.

After realising what had transpired, the victim’s mother, along with the suspect, quickly placed the teen in a taxi and transported her to the city hospital.

Smith was hauled before the courts last week where he was charged and remanded for unlawful and malicious wounding the teen.

He is expected to make his next court appearance on Thursday at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court.

Speaking…

G …finally?

ranger’s claim to fame (and legitimacy) was he’d been able to cobble together a coalition that “represented” the people of Guyana. Well, two of those parties in the coalition are now saying there should be a recount of the votes. Meaning that, like Granger’s son-in-law, Gaskin, they really don’t believe Mingo’s numbers. Granger and his supporters will probably retort that these two parties don’t really count ‘cause they don’t have any support from the masses. But that would remove the veil behind which he was dancing his seven dances of legitimacy, wouldn’t it?!! Old people do say that, “all smart fly does land in cow backside”!!

And then there were two. Don’t even think of “four” since even Granger can’t even remember the name of Keith Scott’s “party” and his PNC comrades cussed out Allicock’s GAP folks from Reg 9 for being “ungrateful”!

They really believed the racist stereotype of Amerindians voting for anyone who gives them a handout! The question rises as to where’s the AFC leaders in all of this drama??

Well, looks like Trotman and Patterson have gone home to the PNC. Prodigal sons and all!

In the job he was given after 2015 – being a weekly Chronic columnist – Nagamootoo confessed that his sonin-law asked him to do something in the present political crisis: “If it feels wrong to take action, it is the right time.

If it feels right to take action, you are too late.” And guess what?? At a time when old PNC stalwart and architect of the Burnhamite regime Sonny Ramphal had advised that Granger should submit to a recount, all Nagamootoo could come up with was, “before the declaration of the elections results, the political leaders must commit to a government of national unity.” Not even a word about a recount!! Even the WPA, which had defended the PNC for five years, called for a recount!!

And Ramjattan?? After he’d surfaced all hot and sweaty to accuse the PPP of bringing in Russian agents to “hack the elections” where only pencils and paper were used, he hasn’t been sighted. He did say that two of the three Russian Agents had been deported, but the third was loose. Could it be that because the Police Force is all taken up with “Total National Defence” against all those protesters keeping vigil over the ballot boxes at GECOM, he’s personally tracking down the Missing Russian Agent??

But we know, Dear Reader, Ramjattan and Nagamootoo really can’t back out. They had made the classic Faustian bargain: traded their souls to Granger for “power”. If the PNC can’t get back in, Nagamootoo at least has his pension.

Ramjattan will be reduced to panhandling on Regent Street!!

…or tilting at windmills

Both ACDA and the WPA didn’t just call for a recount.

They made it conditional on a “government of national unity”, by whichever party wins the election!! But there’s a problem with their proposal: raised back in 2015 by Granger who’d not only promised Nagamootoo a Prime Ministership on steroids, but a reduction of his presidential powers. “IT WASN’T CONSTITUTIONAL”!!

If it wasn’t constitutional then to alter the constitutional stipulations governing the formation of the Executive by a victorious party, how can it be constitutional now??

And the WPA and ACDA are sticklers for the Constitution, aren’t they?? Heck…they’re insisting that GECOM be in charge of the recount – Mingo and all – because the Regulations of the Representation of the People Act – not even the Constitution – says that!!

But ACDA and the WPA are tilting at windmills. Fighting a battle that’s now been resolved. If the PPP won the elections, that means African-Guyanese have moved on and voted across the divide!!

But that would put ACDA and WPA out of a job, no??

…on COVID-19

This coronavirus pandemic isn’t the occasion for us to mess around. Our counterattack must be headed by an expert team – from across the divide.

Not by Volda Lawrence who only has “wuk” for PNC people!!

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

NEWS

9

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 plan

Volda Lawrence must act without infringing constitutional rights – Attorney

T

he Executive Order issued by President David Granger under the Public Health Ordinance may give subject former Minister Volda Lawrence radical powers to address the COVID-19 spread, but it should not interfere with constitutional rights of the people.

Speaking with Guyana Times during an interview, legal practitioner and Chairman of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Timothy Jonas explained that even though the Constitution does not affect pre-existing legislations, the former Public Health Minister when acting in accordance with her powers is constrained from treading on the constitutional rights.

He stated that while Lawrence may be making a decision to prevent a spread of the disease, acknowledgement must be not to transcend beyond this requirement – resulting in a violation of their constitutional privileges.

Article 40 1(C) of the Constitution states that every person in Guyana has

Former Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

the fundamental right to “protection for the privacy of his home and other property and from deprivation of property without compensation.”

A such, Jonas explained, “The Act pre-states the Constitutions, it is there in the Constitution stating that the Constitution does not affect preexisting legislation, it continues to be effective. However, when that Minister acts, for example, making an order

under that Act the Minister has an obligation not to interfere with the constitutional right, the Minister needs to make sure that the order the Minister is making does not tread on the toes of the Constitution beyond what is absolutely required under the Act.” The order, which has since been gazetted, states that the “President considers that immediate action is necessary to address COVID-19 and declares COVID-19 as an infectious disease” warranting the special orders.

According to the Official Gazette, under the order, the Public Health Ministry shall take measures to “restrain, segregate and isolate persons suffering from the disease, or who may be likely from exposure to the infection suffer from the disease.”

Additionally, the Public Health Ministry shall speedily bury or cremate the corpses of persons that died as a result of the coronavirus in addition to providing curative care.

It said too that the Public Health Minister

Attorney-at-Law Timothy Jonas

may “remove, disinfect, and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease”.

The former Minister has also been empowered to prohibit or restrict the movement of persons within, to and from an infected area.

On Saturday, former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament, Dr Vindhya Persaud said the Public Health Ordinance has no

direct measures listed to combat the deadly disease since it was just “copied and pasted” from a 1945 health ordinance by the coalition Government without being revised.

Dr Persaud highlighted that no changes were made to the ordinance, which, according to her, becomes evident when both the 1945 and present-day edicts are examined and no direct measure for COVID-19 is found listed but rather those for other infectious diseases.

“If you compare what they put and you compare the 1945 public health ordinance which was used, it’s a cut and paste. Basically, what they have done is listed everything from that 1945 health ordinance and utilised it in the gazette… so they have not looked at the measures dealing directly with COVID-19 they just listed measures from an old ordinance. What they’ve done is changed Governor to Minister of Health and what they’ve excluded is the Central Board of Health. This one would’ve given the Minister

of Health overarching power to do a lot of things,” Dr Persaud had identified.

The edict has already been met with public consternation and great concern, which Persaud strongly agreed with, while making mention of the fact that other countries plagued with the disease have not taken such a harsh course of action, adding that in Guyana’s case, locals who may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 will be afraid to report same.

“If you look at the cases around the world there are more deaths and more cases in many other countries and none of them would’ve put out such draconian and harsh measures, I think this is counter-productive because what it will do, even if people have symptoms they’d be afraid to report it, they will be afraid of the measures that can be taken…its either sinister and opening the door for them to do things to people or its stupid, someone just cut and paste and put it there,” she was quoted as saying.

10 NEWS IAPC cites ‘grave concerns’ about Guyana’s elections MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

T

he International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC) has joined a long list of concerned stakeholders to express its concern surrounding the March 2, 2020 polls and the controversial aftermath which ignited.

The Association is a

addressed instantly.

In fact, the situation was labelled as one of “grave concerns” in light of the fact that it was opposed by all opposition parties, observers and even the international community.

“Given our membership’s active involvement in elec-

IAPC asserted.

The Association went on to say that indeed, this premature declaration of unverified data for District Four lacked transparency. For this, they pledged agreement with the ruling of Chief Justice Roxane George that the data should be ver-

Guyanese casting their ballots on March 2

worldwide organisation, involved in the consultation of political parties and Government worldwide.

In an issued release to the media, the IAPC called out the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for its decision to make APNU/ AFC Leader David Granger the de facto winner and urged for the matter to be

tions at the highest levels of Government worldwide, a decision by Guyana’s electoral authorities to declare the current President the de facto winner of the election in spite of the fact that Judges, international observers, world Governments and all of the opposition parties strongly object must be addressed immediately,”

ified before making an announcement.

“The attempted premature declaration of election results for Region Four, in violation of the court injunction, did not follow the country’s law and lacked transparency. Additionally, we were aware that Guyana’s High Court recently ordered a verification of votes from

Region Four in last week’s disputed General Election.”

Thus far, the United States Embassy, British High Commission, Canadian High Commission, the delegation of the European Union, the Commonwealth, Caribbean Community and many local bodies have called for the preservation of free and fair elections.

As such, it was indicated, “At the IAPC, we believe and fight for fair, free and credible election processes in countries throughout the world.

Such elections are vital for any legitimate Government and especially important for the maintenance and reinforcement of democracy in Guyana. We call on all sides – the Government and the Opposition – to ensure proper procedures are followed to enforce the laws.”

After the controversy unfolded, the international community united in rejecting the illegal declaration and urged GECOM to return to the statutory verification process.

In a joint statement issued by British High Commissioner Gregory Quinn, United States Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee and European Union Ambassador Fernando Ponz-Canto, the

group noted that “based on our observation of today’s GECOM proceedings at their Region Four office and the fact that the full count was not completed, we question the credibility of the Region Four results published by GECOM”.

“We urge the Guyana Elections Commission and all relevant actors to expeditiously complete the tabulation on the basis of the Statement of Polls. We call on all Guyanese to remain calm and patient and for all leaders to exercise responsibility and restraint,” the envoys, representing the most powerful countries in the world, said.

Appalled

The western democracies’ sentiments were in sync

with the local business community which insisted that the electoral process that undergirds democratic governance should not be subverted.

Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) made it clear that they are appalled at GECOM’s attempts to trample on the statutory process.

“The PSC is appalled at the blatant and deliberate attempts by GECOM to destroy our democracy by derailing the tabulation process of the 2020 elections results and attempts to subvert the will of the people. It is clear to all that the Chairman of GECOM is allowing without objection the attempts to perpetuate election fraud under her watch,” the Commission enunciated.

CORONAVIRUS HOW TO HANDWASH? (COVID-19) WASH HANDS OR USE HAND SANITISERS

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

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)

NEWS

11

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Do not panic shop – Jordan tells Guyanese ꟷ says panic shopping driving shortages in stores

By Jarryl Bryan

I

n the wake of reports that stores have begun limiting the sale of certain products to cut down on panic shopping, former Finance Minister Winston Jordan has urged Guyanese to stop panic shopping as this very act is driving shortages in the various supermarkets.

In an interview with this publication on Saturday, Jordan noted that there is no justification for persons going out and buying certain products en masse since this will hinder other persons from being able to buy the same products.

“My message to anybody is not to panic buy. Because in essence, panic buying also creates the shortage.

In which case then, severe restrictions would have to be put in place so people should just go about their business normally, buying foodstuff.”

“I could understand panic buying things like bleach and sanitiser. But food and

Former Finance Minister Winston Jordan

so forth, the markets aren’t going to shut down.

We didn’t say shut down the supermarkets. Those are going to be open. They might restrict the number of people who can go in [at a time]. But people should go about their business lawfully and it will work out.”

After Guyana got its first four cases of coronavi-

rus, the Government had ordered the closure of the airports to all but outgoing and cargo planes, as well as those with special authorisation, for two weeks.

Jordan admitted that imports have been affected to an extent, but that it is not an indefinite situation.

“In many places, the ports have shut. But the ports have not been shut indefinitely. People are more careful.

The commerce has slowed considerably throughout the world. So, you may not get your supplies in the amounts you requested. And you may not get it in time. It may take some time,” he said.

“So even with panic buying, when it’s finished and there is no replacement, what will you do? Buy what you need. And in some cases what you can’t get, you may have to switch to something else.”

Jordan also noted that unlike some countries, Guyana can self-produce much of its food. The Minister went on to urge

persons not to panic and to be as self-sufficient as possible until the situation returns to normal.

“Guyana is better off than a number of places.

We have our markets; we grow a lot of our own food.

And in many cases, we rear our chickens and pork and so forth. So, we don’t necessarily depend on all those imports.”

COVID-19

Presently, Guyana has recorded five cases of the COVID-19 virus. Ever since the announcement of the first case, Guyanese flocked the supermarkets and stores to stock up on food supplies, especially flour and canned goods. Items such as toilet paper and disinfectants were also flying off the shelves.

The craze to stock up led to National Milling Company of Guyana Incorporated (NAMILCO) advising its customers to end their panic buying of flour, which has been prevalent among many house-

Pedal cyclist killed in hit and run

ꟷ driver turns self in after fleeing scene

A

61-year-old pedal cyclist was killed on Saturday evening in an apparent hitand-run accident along Brickdam, Georgetown.

The dead man has been identified as Vibert Tyrell of Lot 381 North, East La Penitence, Apple Drive, Georgetown.

Reports are that around 22:00h, the elderly man was riding his bicy-

cle along Brickdam when he was struck down by a speeding car which fled the scene but not before the driver picked up his broken license plate.

Nevertheless, a broken mirror that carried the registration number, PXX 3934, was found at the scene.

However, when contacted, Regional Commander (ag) Phillip

Azore said the driver of the motor car who struck the man down turned himself in on Sunday.

“The person came in about noon today [Sunday] with his lawyer so he is currently in custody and investigations are ongoing. The car is also with us.”

Meanwhile, on that same day, a handyman who was identified by villagers

as “Dennis” or “Presy” was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Reports are that just before 04:00h on Saturday, persons in the area heard a loud crash and upon inspection, saw the motionless body of the man lying on the roadway as a 212 motor car sped away from the scene.

Namilco has come out strongly against panic buying of its products

holds during the COVID-19 threats.

In a notice to the public, NAMILCO had indicated that the hoarding of flour is not endorsed at this time.

With the normal buying pattern, there would be a constant supply of Thunderbolt and Maid Marian products.

“Namilco is advising all customers and consumers that there should be no panic buying or hoarding of flour. We guarantee you that we have adequate quantities of all NAMILCO Thunderbolt and Maid Marian products, providing your normal pattern of buying is maintained. We also have adequate quantities of

all raw materials necessary to maintain production,” the company had stated.

According to the World Health Organisation, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Local health authorities have advised that if anyone is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, they should contact the hotline on 2311166, 624-3067, 624-2819 or 624-6674 and a team would be sent to their location.

12 NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 precautions

Guyanese urged to practise social distancing

T

he novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is taking the world by storm and with five confirmed cases in Guyana, precautionary measures have been heightened.

Speaking extensively on the topic on Sunday, Internal Medicine Specialist, Dr Ghansham Singh; former Executive Director of the Health Sector Development Unit and Member of Parliament, Dr Frank Anthony; and Cardiologist Mahendra Carpen zeroed in on the much-discussed virus which has proven deadly.

COVID-19 is the newest discovered coronavirus which emerged last year in Wuhan province, China.

It is related to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The disease causes respiratory illness similar to the flu with symptoms such as coughing, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty

Dr Frank Anthony

breathing. In some cases, it is asymptomatic.

While the virus can live on surfaces for many hours, sanitisation coupled with the washing of hands is the recommended precaution until there is a cure.

However, the medical professionals pointed to another requirement – social distancing. This entails keeping at least six feet away from another person,

since the virus can spread through droplets after a cough or sneeze.

“The basic thing with social distancing is to keep at least six feet away from each other. That is good enough distance. That is premised on if somebody sneezes, the droplets tend to go maybe three feet and they will probably fall to the ground.

So that is what they’re basing that rationale on. If you are out of reach, then when somebody sneezes, you wouldn’t be able to pick up that infection. It’s all very logical,” Dr Anthony shared.

“Eighty per cent of the people that become infected will have very mild disease with little or no symptoms and that is why quarantining and social distance is so important,” Dr Singh added.

During this time, persons are advised to stay at home or refrain from large, clustered gatherings. It is advised that hands should be regularly washed with soap

Dr Ghansham Singh

for no less than 20 seconds.

The panel indicated that while demand is focused on sanitisers or disinfecting aerosols, regular liquid soap is proven to be effective.

Presently, the data leans to a higher infection rate for elders and males.

“The difference between male and female is a couple percentage points, but they have been able to identify that. The epidemiological

data is showing that more male than females.”

Dr Carpen further explained, “As the disease moved away from mainland China and gone to European [countries] and North America, teenagers and young adults are becoming more and more affected.

The thought process as to why, we’re not sure. There are some suspicions that the social practice of this group may influence the severity of their lung involvement.”

Practices such as vaping and other respiratory involved activities have been identified, but have not been backed as yet by clinical evidence.

To fend off the possibility of being severely affected, the idea of boosting the immune system was also highlighted. It was noted that natural products work in greater strength than supplements. It was explained, “We need to improve our own immunity. If we im-

Cardiologist Dr Mahendra Carpen

prove the host’s immunity, it’s your defence force and that’s in addition to the social distancing and quarantine and hand washing.”

Once someone suspects they have COVID-19 symptoms, they can contact the national COVID-19 hotline on toll-free numbers 227-4986 or 624-3067, after which they would be screened by a medical team.

CJIA to lose millions due to airport shutdown

T

he significant reduction of passengers at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) over the next two weeks will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the entity’s revenue.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CJIA, Ramesh Ghir said as a result of COVID-19, the airport has modified its operations for outgoing and incoming flights to Guyana.

“Within the two to three weeks it is going to cost us over 200 million in revenue”, he said.

The CEO said concessions such as the car park, duty-free shops, and food and beverage shops will be extremely affected. Looking past this challenge, Ghir said that stakeholders and staff of the airport will be paid their regular salaries.

“We are going to retain all our employees and have them paid all through this period of time. We did ask for some of them to work from home. We are also trying to avoid congestions and have our employees protected at the airport…in some instances, we have asked

Cheddi Jagan International Airport

employees to utilise their leave during this period.

Ghir further added that following the COVID-19

outbreak, screening was put in place by the airport’s health facility for foreign passengers, particular-

ly from China. However, the CEO said that they were unable to detect Guyana’s first COVID-19 case.

“We did review our CTTV cameras and we were able to identify every airport employee or passenger that would have been in close contact. That information was shared with the Ministry of Health… at least two of the employees of the airport were actually asked to self-quarantine themselves”, he added.

On Tuesday, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA)

Egbert Field announced that airports in the country will be partially shut down, effective Wednesday 18, 2020. This was due to the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the Director General, the shutdown mainly applies to incoming international passenger flights at the CJIA and Eugene F Correira International Airport.

The shutdown does not apply to outgoing flights, cargo flights, medevac flights, technical flights, and any other specially authorised flight.

13 Govt cited for lack of enforcement of laws against forced labour NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ꟷ State Dept report says fines too low to deter child labour

W

hile there are laws against forced labour and for the protection of children from child labour, a key finding from the State Department in a 2019 report is that the Government did not sufficiently enforce these laws.

According to the State Department’s 2019 report on human rights practices, the penalties are in the first instance too small to deter persons from breaking the labour laws. This is especially so when it comes to child labour laws.

“The law prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labour, but the

Government in general did not effectively enforce the law despite an increase in awareness and inspection programmes. Penalties for forced labour under trafficking-in-persons laws include forfeiture of property gained as a result of the forced labour, restitution to the victim, and imprisonment.”

“Administrative labour law penalties are small monetary fines, deemed insufficient to deter violations and rarely enforced.

Country experts reported that forced and compulsory labour occurred in the gold mining, agriculture,

The mining sector was cited by the report as one of the chief culprits for the worst cases of child labour

and forestry sectors, as well as domestic servitude.

Children were particularly vulnerable to forced labour and sex trafficking.”

The Department also

Iran leader refuses US help cites coronavirus conspiracy theory

I

ran’s supreme leader refused American assistance to fight the new coronavirus citing a conspiracy theory claiming it could be man-made by the United States Government.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments came on Sunday as Iran faces crushing US sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets.

While Iranian officials in recent days have increasingly criticised those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead echoed Chinese officials about the possible origin of the coronavirus.

“I do not know how real this accusation is but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?”

Khamenei said. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.”

He also alleged the vi-

rus “is specifically built for Iran using the genetic data of Iranians, which they have obtained through different means”.

“You might send people as doctors and therapists, maybe they would want to come here and see the effect of the poison they have produced in person,” Khamenei said.

There is no scientific proof offered anywhere in the world to support Khamenei’s claims.

However, his comments come after Chinese Government spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted earlier this month it “might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe[s] us an explanation!”

Lijian likewise offered no evidence to support his claim, which saw the US State Department summon

China’s Ambassador to complain. A Chinese state newspaper tweeted on Sunday another allegation trying to link the virus to Italy, similarly hard-hit by the outbreak.

Wuhan is the Chinese city where the first cases of the disease were detected in December.

In recent days, the Trump Administration has increasingly referred to the virus as the “Chinese” or “Wuhan” virus, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) used the term COVID-19 to describe the illness the virus causes.

A US senator from Arkansas has trafficked in the conspiracy theory it was a man-made Chinese bioweapon. Relations with China and the US have been tense under President Donald Trump amid a trade war between the nations.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

noted that while the law prohibits children younger than 15 from being employed, it does not sufficiently prohibit some forms of child labour. The report cited what obtains in technical schools.

“No person younger than 18 may be employed in industrial work at night.

Exceptions are for those ages 16 and 17 whose work requires continuity through day and night, including certain gold mining pro-

cesses and the production of iron, steel, glass, paper, and raw sugar.”

“The law does not specifically prohibit the use, procuring, or offering of a child for the production and trafficking of drugs. The law permits children younger than 15 to be employed only in enterprises in which members of the same family are also employed.”

The State Department also said that the law does not provide enough protection for persons younger than 18 to ensure that they are not in work environments hazardous to their health and safety. It again cited issues with the enforcement of the existing laws.

“The Government did not enforce laws effectively. The Ministry of Social Protection collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Geology and Mines Commission, Guyana

Forestry Commission, National Insurance Scheme, and Guyana Police Force to enforce child labour laws,” it said.

“Fines for child labour offences are low and were not sufficient to deter violations. The Government infrequently prosecuted employers for violations relating to child labour. Child labour occurred and was most prevalent in farming, bars and restaurants, domestic work, and street vending. Small numbers of children also performed hazardous work in the construction, logging, farming, and mining industries.”

According to the State Department, reports indicate that the gold mining industries and domestic servitude account for the worst forms of child labour. Not only was it illegal, but children in the gold mines were exposed to hazardous chemicals including mercury.

PGS employee allegedly stole millions from client – went on shopping spree

A

security officer attached to the Professional Guard Service (PGS) was arrested after he was accused of robbing the entity of $10 million on Wednesday last.

The 50-year-old man of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was employed with the company for a number of years.

According to reports received, he and a team went to collect money from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and whilst there, he

was left in the escort van along with the money.

When his colleagues returned, they realised that the 50-year-old man was nowhere to be found and the bag containing the money was missing.

They immediately made a report at the Timehri Police Station and an investigation was launched by members of the Major Crimes Investigation Unit.

However, on Saturday, the unit dispatched a team to the man’s La Parfaite Harmonie home where they

managed to capture him along with a substantial amount of cash and jewellery.

The police are working on the theory that he might have gone on a shopping spree after stealing the money.

As such, the items were confiscated and he was arrested.

When this publication made contact with the owner of the security firm, he confirmed the robbery but declined to make any further comment.

14 NEWS

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Court must follow Constitution on recount

...or Guyana will become a failed State – Ramphal

F

ormer Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Sir Shridath Ramphal has weighted in on Guyana’s political crisis and called for the court to follow the Constitution in making its judgment or else the country will become a failed state.

“By so doing it will allow all the parties and the people of Guyana to move forward

lawfully and in fulfilment of their solemn pledge to each other – a significant part of which should be to return to the recommendations of the 1998 Herdmanston Accord which called for constitutional reform and outlined the process to achieve it,” Ramphal added.

He noted that in each of the three Constitutions - 1966, 1970 and 1980 - the

first Article made the same declaration: “Guyana shall be a sovereign democratic State”.

“The 1980 Constitution [which was part of the project for “Modernisation of the Justice Administration System”] which prevails today, declares: “We, the Guyanese people, proud heirs of the indomitable will of our forebears, in a spir-

it of reconciliation and cooperation, proclaim this Constitution in order to…. forge a system of governance that promotes concerted effort and broad-based participation in national decision-making in order to develop a viable economy and a harmonious community based on democratic values, social justice, fundamental human rights, and

COVID-19

Former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal

Social distancing, isolation must be taken seriously – PAHO

By Shemar Allen

T

he fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is intensifying around the world and in an effort to contain the spread of the deadly virus, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) representative, Dr William AduKrow is recommending that social distancing and isolation be taken seriously.

This comes in light of Guyana receiving its first imported case of the COVID-19 over two weeks ago when 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall travelled from New York to Guyana on March 5. The woman showed signs of pneumonia and was said to be diabetic as well.

It was reported that she visited a private medical institution where she was suspected of having the virus, owing to her symptoms, and was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died a few days later.

Posthumous tests revealed she was positive for COVID-19 which caused an immediate panic in the health care system. Further tests have revealed that her husband, child and a relative are all carriers of the virus.

Initially, the Public Health Ministry placed the family on self-isolation.

However, there were reports of the family allegedly holding a wake for Baboolall, which resulted in a number of persons coming into contact with the infected persons.

As such, Dr Adu-Krow stated that based on statistics coming out of China, it showed that if the country had started social distancing three weeks before they did - the transmission of the virus could have been reduced by 93 per cent.

As such, he made a special call for social distancing in Guyana to start now.

“I would like to share some research which came from China done by the European Union - they said if China had started social distancing one week before

they did, they would have reduced the transmission by 66 per cent.”

He further added that “If they had started it two weeks before, they would have reduced the transmission by 86 per cent, if they had started it three weeks before, they would have reduced the transmission by 93 per cent. The time is now, we need to put the measures in place. We need to start the social distancing now,” Adu-Krow explained.

Mandatory quarantine/ isolation consequences

The MoPH last week decided to impose a mandatory quarantine on those who are tested positive for the virus, as the Ministry established four sites for isolation.

These sites have been facilitated to deal with persons of three categories – suspected cases, probable cases, and confirmed cases.

The suspect category is for persons who have been exposed in one way or the other to the virus.

But the PAHO representative is contending that “the 80 per cent that have moderate condition should have home isolation or self-quarantine and the 1020 per cent that have severe may be admitted to the hospital depending on the case but otherwise strict home isolation, the 5-10 per cent that is critical, definitely no hospital.”

Dr Adu-Krow is also of the belief that persons who do not adhere to strict self-isolation must be institutionally isolated.

“I think that persons who do not adhere to strict self-isolation must be institutionally isolated – that is the only way we are going to control. China took drastic measures – now they were running in the thousands when all of the rest of the world had only a few cases at a time. Between 10 am yesterday (Tuesday) and 10 am (Wednesday) China increase their number by 24 and the whole of the world in thousands. If they are saying eight out of that 24 is imported, we need to take isolation seriously,” Dr Adu-

Pan American Health Organisation Representative, Dr William Adu-Krow

Krow posited.

In addition, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Shamdeo Persaud also recognised the fact that there are now “more deaths outside of China” where the virus originated from.

The USA, Canada, Brazil, and Chile are the hardest hit in that order in the region of the Americas.

In descending order in the Caribbean, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and St Bartholomew make up countries that have so far recorded COVID-19 patients.

Dr Persaud stated that port surveillance; home and facilities isolation; case finding and early detection and contact tracing and follow-ups are strategies the Ministry has placed to interpose person to person transmission.

Around the list of strategies to slow down the spread of the virus is closing borders, suspension of conveyance, which is preventing airlines, vessels, and vehicles from entering the country, social distancing and limiting private and public gatherings.

The CMO advised that where there are clusters of cases and local transmission there should be public health policies including control measures, Government orders, and quarantine. He also said there must also be “coordination and collaboration on technical guidance and support for preparedness and response for fragile and vulnerable populations.

Guyana's readiness

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released an assessment

in which it ranks Guyana among the few countries in the region least prepared to deal with the effects of the coronavirus epidemic, particularly the negative effects it will have on the economy and tourism.

In the assessment, the IMF rated countries in the Americas from red (least prepared) to green (most prepared). Countries like the United States and Canada were in the green zone. However, Guyana, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras are not so lucky.

COVID-19 was first discovered in 2019 in Wuhan City, China, with 335,377 confirmed cases of the virus and 14,611 deaths.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

Recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

Additionally, MoPH advises that the only facility in Guyana that is capable of testing for COVID-19 is the National Reference Lab operated by the Ministry.

Local health authorities have advised that if anyone is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, they should contact the hotline on 2274986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.

the rule of law.”

He further stated that as citizens of Guyana, we adopt these fundamental laws and make provision for their amendment to reflect changes in our society that is inspired by our collective quest for a perfect nation whose characteristics include the commitments, concepts, and other principles proclaimed in this preamble.

“These were new words, but not new ideas or values. The values and rights, themselves, are changeless. In them are the DNA of Runnymede, of the French Revolution, of the American Founding Fathers; the genes of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America and the Anti-Apartheid struggle in

Southern Africa – in both of which an impoverished Guyana played a noble part.”

“The collective quest for a perfect nation” remains the collective goal of the Guyanese people. If events next week are treated with the solemnity and purpose, asserted in every Constitution of Guyana since independence, based on commitment to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and in the spirit, they proclaim of “reconciliation and cooperation”, our nation has every opportunity to overcome and prosper.

The former Foreign Minister and Minister of Justice of Guyana further added that as the country is expected to choose a path that will lead to either a good Guyana led by a credo of values and principles, or a failed state that has abandoned it.

“Former Minister Dominic Gaskin’s statement prompts me to remind Guyanese that at the moment of independence, we collectively pledged to each other what we would be.”

He noted the thrust of the former Minister’s sentiments and hopes that there is a younger generation of outspoken people like him who can save Guyana.

GWI intensifies water treatment amid COVID-19

T

he Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) has intensified its water treatment mechanism in light of the coronavirus concerns.

The company’s Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako admitted that the company still faces many challenges in delivering potable water to some communities including Amelia’s Ward, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) sections of the East Bank of Demerara, Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini).

“We have some areas on the East Bank that we are unable to distribute water for 24 hours but those areas we hope the customers were able to store enough water in the evening. Amelia’s Ward Phase Three, which is a new area that has been developed recently and that area is at a really high elevation and we are having some technical issues,” Shako told the media.

He further explained the issue in Amelia’s Ward is as a result of a leakage which GWI workers are trying to locate. He, nevertheless, encouraged residents to report such if they encounter any.

On the East Bank, he pointed out that there are

Director of Operations, Dwayne Shako

some deficiencies in terms of supply and demand, however, those areas are receiving water from 05:00h to 10:00h daily.

Moreover, Shako revealed that the company is still experiencing difficulties with its sewage system.

“We are still experiencing some challenges in terms of customers and the usages of the sewage network. We still have customers using a lot of Bounty, a lot of grease, we still have issues where restaurants are not cleaning their grease traps as often as they should and this causes a lot of blockage in the system,” he posited.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

NEWS

15

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

tells UK: Stay NA Town Council to hold Johnson apart or face tougher statutory meeting at Park coronavirus measures

B

The closed Kiddies Park

The Esplanade Park

T

he New Amsterdam Town Council has reversed a previous decision and will use the Esplanade Park for its statutory meeting amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus.

This is according to Mayor Winifred Haywood who made the announcement at a press conference on Friday.

“At first we said that we would close the Esplanade Park but then we realised that it is an open space and people might want to go and exercise and relax. We will try to sanitise the benabs there.”

The pavilion where the meeting is expected to be held

However, the Mayor is appealing to citizens who wish to go to the Park to walk with their own sanitisers since they also have a responsibility to take care of their own health.

She said with the cur-

rent situation and following the guidelines of the Health Ministry, all special and committee meetings have been cancelled.

However, the Council’s statutory meeting set for next week will be held at the

GWI intensifies water...

With water being key to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, Managing Director of the company, Dr Richard Van West-Charles noted that some precautionary measures have been put in place to safeguard the population against the virus, especially being the sole provider of water.

“Because of the critical nature of water to the preventive strategies in this pandemic, GWI has just sought to ensure that the

production around the country is going to be adequate, to ensure that our customers and the population at large would have access to water,” Dr Van West-Charles highlighted.

He further added that “our strategy also sought to address what is happening in our company as a whole in terms of the staffing, the provision to ensure the system continues to run 24/7.

All of our treatment plants or pump stations and business

Park. “We will be having our statutory meeting but we will not be having it in the Council’s Chambers because of the regulations which say that you must be so many feet apart; we will be having it for the very first time at the Esplanade Park,” she confirmed.

The Mayor related that the Esplanade Park offers all that is being recommended for any gathering.

Meanwhile, while the Park has been reopened, the Kiddies Corner remains closed. The Mayor said this is to ensure this safety of children.

FROM PAGE 14

within GWI.” Additionally, he stated that the company’s Executive Directors have been deployed to its out of town offices to ensure that the company has adequate staffing while noting that members of staff with children between the ages of one month and 12 years will be allowed to work from home to ensure that they are properly cared for.

GWI is also working to guarantee that the four quarantine centres established by

the Public Health Ministry have access to a 24-hour supply of water.

To this end, GWI has placed a sink in front of its office to ensure that both employees and customers are sanitised before entering the building.

Charles stated that the company’s sanitisation workers will be monitoring the pump stations within Georgetown to ensure that the sewage system is functioning optimally.

ritain may need to impose curfews and travel restrictions to halt the spread of the coronavirus if people do not heed the Government’s advice on social distancing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Sunday.

Pubs, clubs and gyms have already closed, but social media on Sunday was awash with pictures of people congregating in parks and food markets, apparently ignoring advice to stay two metres apart.

Parks in London are already closing down as authorities struggle to slow the advance of coronavirus through the population, the biggest public health crisis since the influenza pandemic of 1918.

So far 281 Britons have died from coronavirus. The spiralling number of infections means Johnson is in a race against time to prevent a repeat of the tragedy in other countries, including Italy where the death toll reached 5476 on Sunday.

Johnson was blunt as he delivered his message to the public.

“Stay two metres apart.

It’s not such a difficult thing.

Do it,” he said.

“Otherwise.... there is going to be no doubt that we will have to bring forward further measures and we are certainly keeping that under constant review.”

Johnson said tougher measures such as curfews needed to be timed right for maximum impact.

“After all, when the epidemic is hardly spreading at all that’s not the moment to impose curfews and prohibitions on movement and so on and so forth,” he said.

“You’ve got to wait until,

Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference on the ongoing situation with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in London, Britain, March 22, 2020

alas, it’s the right moment to do it and that’s always been how we’ve been guided.”

The latest official statistics show the number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 5683 on Sunday, up from 5018 on Saturday - a more rapid increase than in either China or Italy at the same stage, according to a Sky News analysis.

Speaking alongside Johnson, Communities Minister Robert Jenrick said the Government will write to 1.5 million of its most vulnerable citizens to demand they stay at home for the next 12 weeks to shield themselves from the virus.

Senior doctors in Britain are already thinking about how they may need to ration critical care beds and ventilators if resources fall short.

Britain said on Friday that engineering companies had come up with an emergency ventilator prototype to treat coronavirus patients that could be approved next week, though one industry source told Reuters full production was several weeks away. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Coronavirus: New York warns of France toughens lockdown major medical shortages in 10 days penalties as coronavirus kills medic

T

he coronavirus outbreak in New York will get worse, with damage accelerated by shortages of key medical supplies, the city’s Mayor has said.

“We’re about 10 days away from seeing widespread shortages,” Bill de Blasio said on Sunday. “If we don’t get more ventilators people will die.”

New York state has become the epicentre of the outbreak in the US and accounts for almost half of the country’s cases.

There are now 31,057 confirmed cases nationwide, with 390 deaths.

On Sunday, the state’s Governor Andrew Cuomo said 15,168 people had tested positive for the virus, an increase of more than 4000 from the previous day.

“All Americans deserve the blunt truth,” de Blasio told NBC News. “It’s only getting worse, and in fact, April and May are going to be a lot worse.”

New York now accounts

for roughly 5 per cent of COVID-19 cases worldwide.

On Friday, President Donald Trump approved a major disaster declaration for the state which gave it access to billions of dollars of federal aid.

But de Blasio has continued to criticise the Administration for what he views as an inadequate response. “I cannot be blunt enough: if the President doesn’t act, people will die who could have lived otherwise,” he said. “This is going to be the greatest crisis, domestically, since the Great Depression,” he added, referring to the economic crisis of the 1930s.

Doctors across New York have reported depleted medical supplies and a lack of protective gear for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the outbreak.

Warnings of such shortages have reverberated across the country as other state Governors have pleaded with the Federal Government to

make more supplies available.

In California, officials instructed hospitals to restrict coronavirus testing.

Meanwhile, a hospital in Washington state - once the centre of the US outbreak said it could run out of ventilators by April.

And on Sunday, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said states were “competing against each other” for virus supplies.

“We need millions of masks and hundreds of thousands of gowns and gloves,” he said. “We’re getting just a fraction of that. So, we’re out on the open market competing for these items that we so badly need.” The US Senate is expected to convene on Sunday to vote on an almost $2 trillion (£1.7 trillion) emergency stimulus bill intended to blunt the punishing economic impact of the pandemic. A final vote to pass the legislation is scheduled for later in the day. (Excerpt from BBC News)

F

rench lawmakers approved tougher penalties for defying a nationwide confinement order as the coronavirus death toll rose on Sunday, with a first member of the country’s medical profession among the victims.

Reacting to news of the doctor’s death, Health Minister Olivier Veran paid tribute to medical staff confronting the pandemic and urged other workers to keep key services running, even as the lockdown halts many businesses deemed non-essential.

“The medical profession is making a heavy sacrifice in our country today,” Veran said on LCI television.

The doctor who died was an emergency specialist at the university hospital in Compiegne, north of Paris, where several other staff have tested positive for the virus, according to French media reports.

The coronavirus death toll recorded by French hospitals rose by 112 to 674 on

Sunday, officials said, while the number of confirmed cases increased by 11 per cent to 16,018 over 24 hours.

France’s top administrative court on Sunday rejected demands that it impose stricter confinement rules, but the Government is taking its own advice on tougher measures.

Those caught defying the order - which has exceptions for essential commuting, shopping and solitary exercise - will also face harsher penalties, ranging from 135 to 3700 euros (US$3960) and a six-month prison term for repeat breaches, under the health emergency bill approved by lawmakers.

Supermarket retailer Auchan separately announced a 1000 euro (US$1070) bonus for employees, amid concern over staffing levels in critical areas of the economy and public services.

The Government is considering a tax-free “attendance bonus” for people who need to be at their workplace

to carry out key jobs, officials have said.

“We’re asking citizens to continue mobilising to keep our economy working,” Health Minister Veran said.

“Not for the sake of economic objectives or budgets, but because a single missing link can bring down the entire production system.”

Veran also said France was expecting preliminary results within two weeks from a clinical test of the effectiveness of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19, the condition caused by the virus.

There are as yet no vaccines or treatments approved but trials are underway in the United States and Europe to see whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent, or reduce the severity of, the illness.

French hospitals began testing the anti-malarial and three other drugs on Sunday, research institute Inserm said, as part of a European program involving 3200 COVID-19 patients. (Excerpt from Reuters)

16

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

Regional

Bogota prison riot over coronavirus Brazil's Bolsonaro plays down coronavirus risk kills nearly two dozen as cases top 1500

A

prison riot in Colombia’s capital Bogota late on Saturday left 23 prisoners dead and 83 injured, the Justice Minister said on Sunday, as detainees protested sanitary conditions amid the global outbreak of coronavirus.

Thirty-two injured prisoners are hospitalised, Justice Minister Margarita Cabello said in a video, while seven prison guards were also injured. Two guards are in critical condition.

The Andean country will enter a nationwide lockdown meant to stem infections from Tuesday night. So far 231 people have been confirmed infected with the disease and two have died.

Graphic cell phones videos were posted to social me-

dia late on Saturday showing what appeared to be the inside of the prisons. Some showed small fires, others injured prisoners and guards.

In one video, a man says the incarcerated have been “abandoned like dogs” amid

the virus outbreak.

No prisoners escaped during the riots, Cabello said.

The office of the human rights ombudsman called on the Government to declare a prison emergency which

could allow early release for older prisoners.

Colombia’s 132 prisons have an 81,000-inmate capacity but house more than 121,000 prisoners, according to figures from the Justice Ministry.

The second Colombian to die from coronavirus was a 70-year-old woman in the city of Cali, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

Her daughter arrived in Colombia from Cuba, where she had been in contact with a person from the United States who is positive for the virus.

The daughter currently has a cough, the Ministry said in a statement, while the victim’s 74-year-old husband is hospitalised and positive for the virus. (Excerpt from Reuters)

it gave its first advisory opinion on the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC).

Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis requested a five year opt-out from the enlargement because they were less developed than other members.

The CCJ found that Article 27 (4) of the RTC enables Member States to opt-

out of commitments arising from the decisions of a competent Caricom body or Organ provided that the fundamental objectives of the Community, as laid down in the Treaty and are not negatively affected.

The Court determined that freedom of movement was a fundamental objective of the Caricom in the RTC. It advised that it was lawful for the countries to request

opt-out of the obligations arising from the enlargement decision of the Conference.

The Court stated that the request for and granting of an opt-out further the interests of the community because they allow decisions of the Conference to be taken and implemented in circumstances where those decisions might otherwise have been vetoed. (Excerpt from Antigua News Room)

Prisoners are seen in cell windows inside the La Modelo prison after a riot by prisoners demanding Government health measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bogota, Colombia, March 22, 2020

CCJ sides with Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis on free movement

C

itizens of Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis, who are employed in the agriculture and private security sectors, will be allowed to benefit from an enlargement of the Caribbean Community’s skilled workers list even though both countries opted out of that decision.

This decision was given by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on March 18 as

B

razil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has denied the country’s healthcare system will collapse next month, contradicting his own Health Minister as the number of deaths in the country jumped 39 per cent and confirmed cases topped 1500.

The latest Health Ministry figures on Sunday show that the death toll from coronavirus in Brazil rose to at least 25 from 18 the day before, a rise of 39 per cent, and the number of confirmed cases now stands at 1546, up from 1128.

In an interview with CNN Brasil on Saturday night, Bolsonaro also expressed his frustration with several states’ measures to essentially shut down commerce and restrict people’s movement, saying they have gone too far and are damaging the economy.

“I think Mandetta was exaggerating,” Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil, referring to Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who said on Friday that Brazil’s fragile healthcare system will collapse under the weight of coronavirus by the end of April.

“What we’re doing is lengthening the infection curve. I don’t believe in a collapse,” he said.

Bolsonaro tweeted on

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wears a protective mask during a news conference, amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil, March 20, 2020

Sunday that the Government is distributing around 10 million coronavirus tests, half of which have been dispatched this month.

Sao Paulo state, Brazil’s richest and most populous, on Saturday said a statewide quarantine order would take effect on Tuesday and last through April 7, shutting down all but non-essential businesses and services.

A Datafolha poll in Sunday’s Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper showed that an overwhelming majority of Brazilians support many of these drastic measures to beat the spread of coronavirus, although opinion is much more divided on business shutting down. (Excerpt from Reuters)

TT$3M hit ordered Sprawling Mexican border camp ill-prepared against SORT Head for coronavirus

M

igrants in a sprawling encampment steps from the US border in Matamoros, Mexico, have begun to isolate as best they can in their closely packed tents in preparation for the arrival of the coronavirus.

Local authorities and advocates are worried. A large outbreak of the epidemic here would threaten to “collapse” the city’s health system, one official warned.

For months, thousands of migrants, many US asylum seekers returned under the Trump Administration’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy implemented last year, have passed

through the encampment nestled among brush by the river-border.

Cases of colds and flu spread rapidly, and advocates have decried poor health and sanitation conditions in the settlement that currently houses an estimated 2000 people. Border towns like this will soon swell even further: The Mexican foreign ministry said it had agreed to accept Central Americans denied entry by US officials as a result of a new policy implemented by the Trump Administration in the wake of the outbreak.

Migrant populations around the world - often lacking in state-provided

A

Migrants seeking asylum in the US queue for food at an encampment of more than 2000 migrants, as local authorities prepare to respond to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Matamoros, Mexico

healthcare and the ability to isolate themselves at home are seen as among the most vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus.

So far the state of Tamaulipas has recorded just three confirmed cases of the virus, and there are no suspected cases in the camp, Gonzalez De la Garza said.

Critics have lambasted Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for what they say is his relatively relaxed response to the coronavirus. He argues that the country must keep going to limit damage to the economy lest it hurt the poor and the elderly. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Trinidad and Tobago records 50th case of COVID-19

T

he number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, in the twin island republic has now risen to 50.

The Ministry issued an update to a statement on Sunday morning in which the tally of positive cases had increased to 50.

The Ministry stated that all positive cases to date are imported, meaning they originated outside of the country.

The news emerged a day

after it was revealed that 40 passengers from an ill-fated Caribbean cruise had tested positive days after returning home from Guadeloupe.

On Saturday, Health Minister announced that 40 of the group of 68 nationals who returned home last Wednesday from Guadeloupe had tested positive for the virus at the quarantine facility.

The 40 new cases were among 70 nationals who

were on board the cruiseliner Costa Favalosa, which was denied entry to Martinique after leaving Guadeloupe when several passengers aboard tested positive for the virus.

Two women who were also among the travellers from Trinidad and Tobago on the cruise, returned the day before the batch of 68 and tested positive for the virus on their way home and were immediately hospitalised.

However, as a result of this batch of positive tests, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram advised that the remaining 20 quarantined nationals will now face more monitoring and will have to restart a new 14day quarantine period The Ministry has again advised the public to take all the necessary safety precautions to protect themselves from the virus. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

$3 million hit has been ordered on Head of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) Sgt Mark Hernandez. It was reportedly coordinated by a religious leader with the help of a high-risk inmate at the maximum-security prison (MSP).

The Sunday Guardian received information on the hit following the killing of Glean “Shooter” Bain by SORT officers in a shootout on Laventille Road, San Juan, near Ramish and Leela on January 31.

Senior police officers confirmed that Bain was part of an elaborate plan to execute the SORT Head. He was reportedly on his way to pick up a Jamaican hitman flown into the country to help carry out the contract killing, when he was intercepted

by SORT officers and shot dead.

Intelligence officers got details of the threat on January 30 and acted a day later.

Through intelligence gathering, Police found out that the religious leader had reached out to the highrisk inmate and asked him to plan and execute the hit with his foot soldiers on the outside.

Sgt Mark Hernandez

To seal the deal, the religious leader, allegedly with the assistance of a lawyer, paid $1 million upfront in US and TT dollars. The money was given to Bain and the Jamaican hitman as part payment for the job.

The remaining $2 million would have been paid upon completion of the hit.

Bain, with the help of the hitman and other accomplices, found out where Hernandez lived, the type of vehicle he drove and his normal route to work.

The threat on Sgt Hernandez’s life intensified as of March 6 when the high-risk inmate attempted to contact persons on the outside to silence the SORT Head. (Excerpt from Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

OILNEWS Saudi Arabia’s oil price war is backfiring

S

audi Arabia and Russia must have anticipated an oil price crash when they broke up their three-yearlong bromance to push up oil prices. Two weeks later and nearly 4 million bpd of total promised additional oil supply to the market next month, and Riyadh and Moscow are now counting the cost and trying to adjust Government spending. The friends-turnedfoes expect sharp drops in oil revenues in the near term, not only because Brent Crude is barely managing to cling to the US$30 mark these days, but also because the coronavirus pandemic is leading to huge demand destruction.

S a u d i Arabia announced this week that it is reducing Government expenditures

by US$133 billion (50 billion Saudi riyals), or nearly 5 per cent of its budget spending for 2020 after the Government approved “a partial reduction in some items with the least social and economic impact.”

These measures were approved “in light of the noticeable development in the public finance management, and the existence of the appropriate flexibility to take measures in the face of emergency shocks with a high level of efficiency,” said Saudi Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Planning, Mohammad AlJadaan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The Kingdom “has taken measures to reduce the impact of low prices of oil, and additional measures will be taken to deal with the expected drop in prices,” Saudi Arabia said, noting that additional expenditures could be re-evaluated and potentially cut.

Even before the collapse of the OPEC+ talks, Saudi Arabia’s Finance Ministry had asked Government agencies to propose a 20-30 per cent cut in their budgets due to the oil price slide, Reuters reported last week, citing four sources with knowledge of the plans.

It looks like Saudi Arabia bets on tapping cash from its Sovereign Wealth Fund to patch up Government finances with oil prices three times lower than their breakeven oil price.

According to Fitch Ratings, Saudi Arabia needs oil prices at US$91 a barrel in 2020 to balance its budget, all else being equal.

“For countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), we estimate that a change of USD10 in the price per barrel of oil tends to affect Government revenues by 2%-

4% of GDP,” Fitch said last week. The rating agency’s statement came a day after oil prices crashed by 25 per cent as Saudi Arabia – a GCC member, OPEC’s top producer, and the world’s top oil exporter – vowed to significantly boost supply and slashed the price for its oil in a dramatic shift in its oil pricefixing policies of the past three years.

The Kingdom is signalling that it can adapt to today's lower oil prices, but analysts are not buying this claim.

At US$30 a Brent barrel, the Saudi wealth fund will deplete fast and reduced Government spending will stall projects, and the already suffering private non-oil sector will suffer further.

That’s the near-term damage.

The longer-term damage is the lack of funds for the ambitious Vision 2030 plan of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, which was already going downhill even before the oil price collapse as the promised multibillion foreign investment and Saudi investment in “diversifying away from oil” weren’t exactly flowing to the Kingdom.

“I think we are beginning to see that the vision 2030 is not going well,” JeanFrançois Seznec, NonResident Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council, said on an Atlantic Council press call last week.

There is a growing amount of tension among the population, even among the crown prince’s main supporters, Seznec said.

“But he needs to make a big impact. Now, his big impact is to force the Russians to give up and agree to the cuts, and if at the same time it destroys the US shale industry so much the better,” Seznec noted.

The Russians are also bracing for an oil price war, promising up to a 500,000 bpd production increase and assuring the market they have enough resources to cover budget shortfalls at US$25-30 oil for six to ten years.

The coronavirus pandemic and the lower economic activity, coupled with oil prices half the level before Russia and Saudi Arabia broke up the OPEC+ pact, will weigh on Russia’s revenues and budget, too.

Russia’s revenues from oil and gas will be US$39.5 billion (3 trillion rubles) lower than planned, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this week, adding that Moscow now expects a budget deficit. (Excerpt from Oilprice.com)

17

Around the World

Earthquake rocks Croatia's capital Zagreb

A

n earthquake has rocked Croatia's capital Zagreb, damaging buildings and leaving cars crushed by falling chunks of masonry.

A teenager is in a critical condition after a roof collapsed, local media said.

The spire of the city's cathedral also snapped off.

After Sunday's tremor, Zagreb's Mayor urged people to return to their homes given fears about the coronavirus.

The 5.3-magnitude quake is the largest to affect the city in 140 years.

Panicked residents ran out into the streets when it struck around 06:00 local time and were initially told to stay out by authorities.

Falling masonry crushed parked cars

"Keep your distance.

Don't gather together. We are facing two serious crises, the earthquake and the epidemic," Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.

However, Mayor Milan Bandic later said they should return home. "Eighty per cent of Zagreb residents live in structures that have reinforced concrete struc-

tures," he said.

The BBC's Guy Delauney in the region said the earthquake acted as a cue for some residents to head for their holiday homes on the coast.

But by early afternoon Police had closed motorway toll booths and set up control points to prevent people from entering coastal districts, our correspondent reported.

Croatia has more than 200 infections of the new coronavirus.

Several buildings were damaged, including the Parliament. People in southern Austria and Slovenia also felt the tremor. (Excerpt from BBC News)

World Bank moving forward on first US$1.7B in pandemic aid projects

T

he World Bank’s Executive Board is expected to consider later this week the first fast-track funds to help Afghanistan and Ethiopia respond to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank’s President said on Sunday.

In a blog posted on LinkedIn on Sunday, David Malpass said funding for the projects could come out of a US$14 billion Fast Track Facility (FTF) approved last week to help countries deal with the health and economic impact of the coronavirus.

Projects in Afghanistan and Ethiopia were the most advanced and would be presented to the Board this week, he said, teeing them up for formal approval.

Work was also advancing on projects in 14 other coun-

World Bank President David Malpass attends the "1+6" Roundtable meeting at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing, China, November 21, 2019

tries, he said, without naming them.

These projects could then be quickly replicated in other parts of the same country, through funding from other multilateral de-

velopment banks, or in other countries.

In addition, the Bank and the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the Bank, were working to

free up US$1.5 billion in COVID-19 funding in 24 countries by restructuring existing projects, he said, without naming them.

The IFC was also working to start extending trade finance and working capital lines to clients, with regular board action expected on those efforts in the next two to four weeks.

Malpass said Bank officials were in close touch with Finance Ministers and central bankers from around the world to discuss their needs and responses to the crisis.

Bank officials had also identified ways to support countries as they race to procure much-needed medical equipment and upgrade medical facilities. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Italy bans internal travel as a further 651 die from coronavirus

I

taly banned travel within the country on Sunday in yet another attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, as data showed a further 651 people had died from the disease, lifting the number of fatalities to 5476.

A month after the first death from the highly infectious virus was registered in Italy, the Government also issued an order freezing all business activity deemed non-essential in an effort to keep ever more people at home and off the streets.

Amongst the sectors targeted were the car, clothing and furniture industries.

They have until Wednesday to wind down operations and will have to remain shuttered until April 3.

The Interior and Health Ministries issued a separate statement, telling peo-

An emergency contingent of Cuban doctors and nurses arrive at Italy's Malpensa airport after travelling from Cuba to help Italy battle the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), near Milan, Italy, March 22, 2020

ple they had to stay where they were, unless urgent business or health reasons forced them to move to another town or region.

Italy has registered more deaths than any other country in the world, while the number of confirmed cases is second only to China, with

the tally rising by 5560 to 59,138 on Sunday, the Civil Protection Agency said.

However, offering a ray of hope, the latest figures represented an improvement on Saturday, when the death toll rose by 793 and new cases increased by 6557.

“We don’t want to get over enthusiastic or overestimate a trend, but compared to yesterday there is a slight drop in the figures,” said Franco Locatelli, the Head of Italy’s top Health Council, which advises the Government.

Regional leaders have been pushing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for days to tighten the screws as infections have spiralled, but some business leaders and financiers expressed alarm at his decision to shutter more companies.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

DILBERT

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

Offer a detailed analysis of what you want to be done or what you expect. If you speak from the heart and explain your position, you will get the support you need to reach your goal.

Romance is featured.

If you want more, do more. Nothing will be free today, so be prepared to dig in and do whatever is necessary. Relying on others will lead to disappointment.

If you keep things in perspective, you’ll gain ground.

A change will boost your morale and bring you closer to your goal. What you do for others will enhance your reputation.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Focus on maintaining good relationships with your friends, family and peers. A business trip or meeting will lead to benefits if you are willing to compromise.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Follow a path that encourages you to take care of your emotional and physical needs. Don’t let others’ actions or words negatively affect you.

LIBRA

Preparation is essential.

Charm will not seal a deal if you don’t have the skills required. Don’t exaggerate your ability or underestimate the extent of a job.

Proceed with caution.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Set yourself up for advancement. Whether it’s a better-paying job or something you’d prefer to be doing with your time, choose what will bring you the most satisfaction. Argue less and achieve more.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Observe and take action.

Insight into what others are doing and how best to get what you want will lead to success. Make plans to get together with someone special.

Make adjustments to SAGITTARIUS your living space. Be care(Nov. 23ful whom you trust when it Dec. 21) comes to emotional situations. Someone will feed you false information. Limit how much you share.

FRIDAY’S WORD ꟷ

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Learn from the past and make the present better. If someone tries to limit what you can do, counter his or her intrusion and commence your journey. Physical improvement is favored.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Do what you do best. Put in the time required to get choice results. Fair play and a good plan will lead to victory. Be a leader, not a follower.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Use your persuasive way with words to get what you want. A change you make will lead to compliments and proposals. A romantic gesture will be worth considering.

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

19

Tokyo 2020: IOC sets deadline for decision on Games amid coronavirus

T

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are due to start on July 24 (Reuters)

he International Olympic Committee is considering a postponement of Tokyo 2020, and has given itself a deadline of four weeks to make a decision.

The IOC's executive board met on Sunday amid mounting pressure from athletes and national Olympic committees for the Games to be delayed because of the coronavirus crisis.

"In light of the worldwide deteriorating situation... the executive board has today initiated the next step in the IOC's scenar-

io-planning," it said in a statement.

"These scenarios relate to modifying existing operational plans for the Games to go ahead on 24 July 2020, and also for changes to the start date of the Games."

Cancellation is "not on the agenda", said the IOC, but a 'scaled-down' Games will also be considered.

However, postponement - by either several months or probably a whole year - is thought to be the most likely outcome.

The development marks a significant

shift by the IOC, which as recently as five days ago said it was "fully committed" to the Tokyo 2020 Games.

British Olympic Association (BOA) chairman Sir Hugh Robertson said: "We welcome the IOC executive board decision to review the options in respect of a postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

"However, we urge rapid decision-making for the sake of athletes who still face significant uncertainty.

"Restrictions now in place have removed the ability of athletes to compete on a level playing field and it simply does not seem appropriate to continue on the present course towards the Olympic Games in the current environment."

The International Paralympic Committee said it "fully supports" the decision to "investigate potential scenarios".

Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport, said the news was "inevitable" and it was "the correct decision for the safety of athletes, staff and fans".

On Tuesday the BOA, the British Paralympic Association and UK Sport will host a conference call with the chief executives and performance directors of summer Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Athlete representative bodies will also be invited to join the call, which will primarily be used to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, such as the closure of elite training facilities.

The IOC added: "There is a dramatic increase in cases and new outbreaks of Covid-19 in different countries on different continents. This led the executive board to

Skinner calls for Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic postponement

T

he decision to postpone this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics "needs to be made now", says British Olympic champion Callum Skinner.

The cyclist - who fronts competitor-led movement Global Athlete - says both should be rescheduled "until the Covid-19 global pandemic is under control".

He warned boycotts could ensue, with the health of athletes at risk.

"People think Olympians are superheroes but they are normal people and fall ill like everybody else," he said.

"At London 2012, about 700 out of 10,000 athletes were diagnosed as asthmatic, which puts them in a high-risk category.

Even if athletes don't have Covid-19, they may have a cough so can't compete.

"If the International Olympic Committee does continue to push ahead, we could see boycotts. As the pandemic gets worse and worse and there are more and more societal restrictions put in place, I think the call needs to be made now."

The Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo from 24 July to 9 August with the Paralympics due to be held from 25 August to 6 September.

A statement released by Global Athlete says they have consulted "hundreds of athletes" and Skinner says some are already being affected greatly.

"It's becoming incredibly disruptive. A lot of the ones I'm speaking to aren't able to train anywhere near as normal," said the 2016 men's cycling team sprint gold medallist told BBC Scotland's Sportsound.

"I think around 40% of sports haven't finished their qualification window for the Olympic games as well, so there are a lot of athletes in limbo.

"There's a deeper question as well about your social conscience as to whether you keep training in groups or go to

training facilities, with the pressures that might put on society and the NHS." One of Global Athlete's stated aims is to 'address the balance of power between athletes and administrators' and Skinner is critical of the IOC. IOC president Thomas Bach said on Friday that "different scenarios" for the games are being considered for the first time, but Skinner has called for certainty.

"What has been puzzling from the IOC is the tone they've adopted is one of just continue and carry on," he said. "That's so out of step of what we've seen from the media and government leaders.

"I think it's starting to look quite likely it will be postponed, but athletes need certainty. It seems almost naive, so a little bit of clarity would be a good step forward.

"At a time when health is such a big concern, I don't think anyone else needs the additional stress of trying to fit in training or wondering how the Olympics are going to continue."

On Saturday, USA Track and Field, athletics' US governing body, called for the Olympics in Tokyo to be delayed because of the ongoing coronavirus situation.

It follows a request from USA Swimming for it to be delayed by 12 months.

Meanwhile on Friday, four-time Olympic champion and BBC Sport pundit Michael Johnson expressed fears that athletes could "risk their lives" trying to train for the Games and asked for clarity on the IOC's decision-making process.

"The IOC should communicate the window for deciding on the '20 Olympics," tweeted the former US athlete. "Athletes must keep training but for many there's nowhere to train.

"They may risk their lives and others trying to continue training. Answer isn't just cancel ASAP. But communicate the process to the athletes." (BBC Sport)

the conclusion that the IOC needs to take the next step in its scenario-planning.

"The IOC will, in full coordination and partnership with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, the Japanese authorities and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, start detailed discussions to complete its assessment of the rapid development of the worldwide health situation and its impact on the Olympic Games, including the scenario of postponement.

"The IOC executive board emphasised that a cancellation of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would not solve any of the problems or help anybody."

In a letter to athletes published on Sunday, IOC president Thomas Bach said that "we are in a dilemma" and "a final decision about the date of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 now would still be premature".

He added that to postpone the Games "is an extremely complex challenge" and a cancellation would "destroy the Olympic dream of 11,000 athletes".

In terms of a postponement, Bach warned: "A number of critical venues needed for the Games could potentially not be available anymore.

"The situations with millions of nights already booked in hotels is extremely difficult to handle, and the international sports calendar for at least 33 Olympic sports would have to be adapted. These are just a few of many, many more challenges."

UK Athletics, its US counterpart, and several national Olympic governing bodies have urged the IOC in recent days to delay the Games. (BBC Sport)

Athletes on their own – JAAA cannot afford bailout

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has meant athletes worldwide cannot earn from the different meets all around the world and Jamaican track & field is no different.

Unlike footballers, who get paid a salary, athletes, outside of their endorsement contracts, depend solely on performing for their bread.

With sport shut down, these athletes cannot earn but the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association will not be able to help them.

“With the resources that we have, we are just not able to compensate athletes for lost income,” said Blake in an interview with local newspaper, The Gleaner.

“We have spoken about it at the local level, and we do not have the resources to do so.”

Blake painted a grim forecast for the athletes, saying that based on the way they get paid, there would be no making up for lost income.

“I am not sure they will be able to make up for the lost earnings because they are paid to appear at meets, and if they win, there is prize money,” said Blake. Thus far, the Jamaican government has not included athletes in its allocation of J$25 billion earmarked for COVID-19 relief, however, Blake is not opposed to speaking to the country’s relevant ministries about providing relief.

(Sportsmax)

20

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

USA Track and Field calls Former Manchester for Olympics postponement United midfielder tests positive for coronavirus U SA Track and Field (USATF), the governing body of American athletics, on Saturday called for a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics.

The federation, in a letter to United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) chief executive Sarah Hirshland, asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Games, which are scheduled to run from July 24 to Aug. 9.

“We certainly understand the ramifications of this request, and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc, but the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes (as difficult as that decision might be),” USATF chief executive Max Siegel said in the letter.

The U.S. track and field federation joined another leading U.S. Olympic sport body, USA Swimming, in seeking a delay to the Games.

Neither U.S. Olympic officials nor the IOC were available for comment on USATF’s request.

Athlete representatives of the U.S. Olympic and Paralymic Committee (USOPC) hosted a virtual town hall on Saturday night of nearly 300 prospective Olympians.

Athletes were invited to share their thoughts on how the coronavirus was affect-

ing their training and whether they thought the Olympics should proceed as scheduled, or be postponed or canceled.

In a poll at the end of the two-hour discussion, 25% wanted the Games to go on as scheduled, 41% voted no and another 34% needed more information.

The online meeting follows the U.S. committee’s call on Friday for athletes to continue their preparations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But many athletes from various sports said that was impossible given the public lockdown in parts of the country, and expressed frustration at being told to carry on training given the logistical difficulties.

Meanwhile, the IOC has pressed on during the health crisis, saying the Games will go ahead as scheduled.

The issue has sharply divided athletes globally and USATF said no decision should be made at the expense of the safety and well-being of our athletes.

“We acknowledge that there are no perfect answers, and that this is a very complex and difficult decision, but this position (to postpone the Games) at least provides our athletes with the comfort of knowing that they will have adequate time to properly prepare themselves physically, mentally and emotionally to be able to participate in a safe and successful Olympic Games,” it said.

“We urge the USOPC, as a leader within the Olympic Movement, to use its voice and speak up for the athletes.” (Reuters)

Marouane Fellaini scored 55 goals across all competitions for Everton and Manchester United

M

arouane Fellaini scored 55 goals across all competitions for Everton and Manchester United Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has confirmed that he has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a post on Twitter, the 32-year-old, who is now at Chinese club Shandong Luneng said he hopes "to return to the game as soon as possible".

Chinese media reports

say Fellaini is in isolation at Jinan hospital, which specialises in infectious diseases.

The Belgium international moved to China in 2019 after 11 seasons in England with United and Everton.

Fellaini, who had recently returned to the country to resume training, is reportedly the only Chinese Super League player to have contracted the illness.

A statement from his club read: "The official test confirmed that the player Fellaini has tested positive for coronavirus during the quarantine observation period.

"During this period, the player's body temperature has been normal and there are no other discomforts. He has received further observation and treatment at a designated medical institution." (BBC Sport)

Former Madrid boss dies from COVID-19

Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz died

on Saturday after being taken to hospital with coronavirus.

Sanz, 76, was president at the Bernabeu from 19952000, a period in which Real won the Champions League twice.

"My father has just died," wrote Sanz's son Lorenzo Sanz Duran on Twitter.

"He did not deserve this end in this manner. One of the best, most courageous and hard working people I have seen in my life. His family and Real Madrid were his passion."

Sanz signed players such as Roberto Carlos, Clarence Seedorf and Davor Suker during his time in charge of the 33-time Spanish champions, He lost the 2000 presidential election to Florentino Perez, which sparked Real's big-spending 'Galatico' era.

Sanz's son Fernando, 46, played for Real Madrid from 1996-1999 before spending the final seven years of his career at Malaga. (BBC Sport)

SVREL shuts down Caymanas National Rugby League: Season racing, OTBs until further notice to proceed until Australian Government orders play to stop

Former Wigan half-back George Williams (centre) is in his first season in Australia with Canberra Raiders

A

ustralia's National Rugby League (NRL) say their season will continue until the government tells them to stop.

The season got under way last week but is being played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Australia has introduced restrictions on non-essential services and travel.

"At this stage, our intent is to play on and we remain committed to the continuation of the 2020 season as far as government advice allows it," said NRL chief Todd Greenberg.

"We have, and always will, stringently follow all government health advice and med-

ical protocols to protect the health and safety of the community, and our players."

Australia's domestic football competition - the A League - is also being played without fans.

But while Australian Rugby League chairman Peter V'landys has also outlined his intention for games to go ahead - on Sunday the Australian Rules football (AFL) season was suspended until 31 May. In an interview with Australian broadcaster Channel Nine, former Kangaroos captain Brad Fittler said: "There is a difference between the two sports in that we do a lot less travel

than the AFL. "If there is some sort of way the NRL can go forward that would be on the back of that.

"They (the AFL) have got two teams in Western Australia, two teams in South Australia, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne so it takes a lot of travel. If there is an advantage to the NRL it would be the fact that it is predominantly played in two states.

"I know that there is a huge meeting that is going to go on and I am gathering what happens there is going to be the decider about whether the NRL goes forward and plays any games."

(BBC Sport)

S

upreme Ventures Racing & Entertainment Limited (SVREL) has announced the immediate shuttering of all operations, which includes racing at Caymanas Park and the island’s massive network of OTB operators.

The move come at the end of a week that has seen mixed signals coming from the organisation on the continuation of horseracing, as the battle with the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak turmoil on the global sporting landscape. Last week the SVREL had announced that its operations would be closed but reopened the next day and has now closed again.

According to communication released by the SVREL, after closing operations in line with the Disaster Risk Management Declaration of Disaster Order 2020 but were given the go-ahead to re-open operations.

The Betting Gaming and Lotteries chairman rescinded the shutdown order the following day, but it seems not everyone was on the same page as the company claims it faced some amount of disruptions in its operations.

“SVREL in cooperation with the BGLC and the relevant authorities immediately

shut down operations as per Disaster Risk Management Declaration of Disaster Order 2020. The company was then given the goahead to re-open operations and the OTB network on Thursday, March 19th, after the BGLC Chairman announced a retraction of the notice on Wednesday, March 18th,” the release explained.

“Unfortunately, operations were again affected during spectator less racing on Saturday, March 21st. Police shut down several OTB operations across the country, including Charles’s OTB in Mandeville which was padlocked, effectively shutting out both the owners and customers,” it continued.

“While we have tried to cooperate fully with the orders as we understand them, the situation has become untenable. Based on the feedback coming from our retailers the security forces seem to be unclear regarding the position of the regulator. We cannot put our OTB network at risk for fines, imprisonment, shutdowns, and unnecessary spend.”

The track is expected to continue housing and sheltering horses with all personnel required for those processed mandated to adhere to the social distancing and other required public health protocols. (Sportsmax)

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

CLASSIFIED ADS ACCOMMODATION Aracari Hotel, W.B.D. Accommodation Rates from USD$25. Amenities: Pool, Bar, Restaurant, Gym, Free Parking, Free WiFi. Spend 7 Nights and Get 1 Free. Tel: 264-2946.

ASTROLOGY & SPIRITUALITY Work done by : Djuka. For all Purposes: Healing, Upliftment for Business, Court Matters, Visa, Evil Sickness, Togetherness for lovers, Pregnancy, Jobs, Money Readings, Husband/Wife Seperation. 633-4487 Relationship problem, Pregnancy, Removal of Evil Spirit, Sickness, Jobs, Nature Problem, Skin Problem, Business Upliftment, Blockage, Family Problem, Education and much more. Call for Appointment: Tel# 633-7396/683-5228 Having Problems with Marriage/ Love Relationships, Health, Job, Money, Removal of Obstacles of any kind. Meet me once and change your life. Call 688-2135 Are you suffering from Health, Money, Job, Marriage Relationships problems, Removal of Blockage/ Evil Spirits, Clear Negative Energy, Permanent Protection. Call: 6961857 for appointment.

FOR SALE Mix Breed Puppies for Sale. Contact: Tel- 253-3114/692-0126.

LAND FOR SALE W.B.D, Versailles, Gated Community Lot 14 - 10214 SQ FT. Ph # 264-2948 / 615-2270.

NOTICE

APPLICATION FOR MONEY LENDER CERTIFICATE. PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE MONEY LENDER ACT. I, Cedric Joel Weekes, of Lot 8 Den Amstel Old Road, West Coast Demerara, Guyana is hereby given Notice that I have applied to the Magistrate of West Demerara Magisterial District for a Certificate under the Money Lender License.

Authorising the Grant to me of a Money Lender License to carry on the business of a Pawn Shop at Lot ‘Y’ Blankenburg Public Road West Coast Demerara.

Notice of any objection to the application should be sent forthwith to the Clerk of the Court of the West Demerara Magisterial District and a copy of such notice should be sent to the subscriber Cedric Joel Weekes (Applicant) Dated at Georgetown, Demerara the day, March 2020.

VACANCIES Office Assistant - Maths and English required, knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

Apply to Mima Décor, Lot 8 Sheriff St, GTown or mimadecor12@gmail. com (227-0186) Pump attendant-680-3863, Store helper-624-003, Driver for water canter-680-3863, Porter for water canter-680-3863, House keeper-624-0033 Call or Whatsapp One (1) General Domestic to work in the interior to cook, clean, wash, etc. Accommodation and meals provided. Please contact: 680-2702 Office Assistant - Maths and English required. Knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

Apply to Mima Décor, 8 Sheriff Street, Georgetown, Or Email: mimadecor12@gmail.com. Tel: 2270186/227-0176 Pump attendant -680-3863 Store helper- 624-003 Driver for water canter- 680-3863 Porter for water canter- 680-3863 House keeper- 624-0033. Call or Whatsapp.

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

21

Windies improving with every series, says Captain Pollard W

est Indies "white ball" captain Kieron Pollard sees improvement in his team, but agrees it will take time and there is still more to do.

This was expressed during an interview with host Andre Errol Baptiste on the Isports sports programme on Thursday on I95.5FM. "I am a positive person, so I tend to look for areas that we can improve and areas where we have improved, and things like that rather than just look at the overall picture of results," said Pollard, who expected a better showing from the regional team in its most recent One-Day series against Sri Lanka, wherein West Indies suffered a 3-0 loss.

"We were completely outplayed and completely beaten. I just thought the strides that we would have made in December: firstly against India; pushing the number one team all the way even though we did not win the series, but getting that opportunity to go to India and do that, we did not capitalise on that.

"Yes, we played against Ireland and we won against them 3-0, but at the end of it, we have to play and deal with what’s in front of you all the time, and I was looking forward to an improved performance or something close to what we wanted to achieve," he explained.

He cited bowling as one of the main things that his team is doing well, and he said they will continue to work on it.

"We need to be consistent all through 50 overs. Being able to have the team where we want them and stick to certain plans, and at the back end of the innings sort of execute our yorkers and bowl to one side of the field if you getting hit."

Like the rest of the sporting world, cricket is also being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the allrounder was both practical and philosophical on the situation.

"It is not a good time, because of what is happening with people dying across the world and all the precautions that we have to take. We all have to play our part in trying to ensure it does not spread in T&T and the wider world.

"But having said (that), from our cricketers’ point of view, I think it is a good time for introspection; a good time for reflection; a good time

Kieron Pollard

to look at where you are as an individual in your career, and what you want to achieve going forward. You have to take this time to do that, and find a way to keep yourself in physical shape, and mentally as well; because when the bell rings and they say okay, everything is back to normal and we need to go on tour, we might not have enough time to be prepared.

“But, again, you as an individual have to be prepared mentally for you to try to perform at your best," Pollard noted.

There has been a lot of discussion in the region relative to the omission of two named players (Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis) for failing a fitness test (yo yo). Hetmeyer eventually

retook the test, passed it, and was then selected for the T20 Series in Sri Lanka, while Lewis did not retake the test and was not selected.

"As a professional, you want to be fit; you want to be able to perform to your optimum level. And again, there is no question that… you want to do well in life and sports. Guys have been notified as to where they need to be, and again the onus is on you as an individual to try to meet those requirements," said Pollard, who admitted that he had not spoken to Lewis, but intends to.

"I have not had a chance to speak to him since I got back. I am sure (that) shortly, in the next couple of weeks or so, discussions will be taking place. I was looking forward to playing against Powergen this weekend. I would have seen him, and we would have had a face-to-face discussion as to what, where he is at, and those sorts of things. “So, again, that is how I like to do things: face-to-face discussions, because that is the way you get the true essence of what someone is feeling and thinking as well. I haven’t (yet done so), but that time will come.

“But, again, as an individual, we just need to do what is necessary so when the bell rings we are ready for that call," he explained.

On the absence of leading West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach from the Sri Lanka tour, the regional skipper said: "Again, every player has an opportunity to be selected; that is something that has been stated for a long while. At the end of the day, when you select a team, you go on different things: as to where you think the team is lacking, what you need, and hopefully, you have the personnel.

"Kemar Roach, he will always be in contention. He was playing 50-over cricket up to the last World Cup, so no one has been written off in that sense, and he is doing well in this tournament and he is one of the main bowlers for us in the West Indies," Pollard said.

He also spoke on his improved batting scores since becoming captain of the West Indies.

"Going around the world and being a professional has helped me greatly, so even if you look in T20 cricket, runs have been coming more consistently as well; so, I am working on my game personally," said Pollard. (The Guardian)

Tyson Fury suffers a blow, parts with £1.5M

W

orld Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury has reportedly settled a lawsuit with his former promoter Mick Hennessy by paying a sum of £1.5 million.

Following his triumph against Deontay Wilder, the WBC heavyweight king has agreed to pay the sum to his former promoter.

Hennessey registered the court case because he claims the Fury breached their contract.

The Gypsy King made his debut on a Hennessey fight card at the age of 20. back in 2008. Tyson Fury continued to fight under his promotional banner till 2015. After which he went on to defeat Wladimir Klitschko for the IBF, WBO, WBA, IBO world titles.

Following his victory Tyson Fury found himself in a two-yearlong exile from the sport as he battled mental health issues and recreational drugs.

After his long struggle Fury made a return to the ring under the banner of Frank Warren in 2018.

His return saw him draw against

Deontay Wilder.

Tyson Fury signed a multi-year deal with Top Rank amid his negotiations for a rematch with Wilder.

Signing the co-promotion deal with the company owned by Bob Arum, he agreed to move all his future fights to ESPN. Fury is reportedly worth £70 million after his high-profile rematch with Deontay Wilder. His astonishing win against the American fighter now has him set for taking on Anthony Joshua. The all British showdown is worth almost £400 million.

Hennessey seeks legal action against the Gypsy King after alleging that the 31-year-old breached the terms of their contract. However, the pair decided to settle the case a few days before the matter was to be taken to court.

“Both Tyson and Mick thought they were in the right. Mick brought legal action and Tyson decided it was easier to settle rather than go through a drawn-out legal battle.

Both are happy they are now able to move on.”- a source told The Sun

Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury talks about his former promoter Mick Hennessey in his book ‘Behind The Mask’. He talks about how the pair have lost contact over the last few years and that “it’s very sad”.

Fury grabbed the WBC world title by taking on Wilder at the MGM Grand. King dropped Wilder twice

and forced Wilder’s side to toss in the towel in the seventh round.

Fury is set to take on Wilder in a trilogy match that may take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada in July. Following the loss, Wilder invoked the rematch clause to force a third fight. (Essentially Sports)

22

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Rising star Joshua Da Silva speaks with Guyana Times Sport the basics and not try things out of the ordinary. That’s been my main strategy for this year," he confided.

Having some experienced campaigners as his mates in the Red Force team has facilitated him obtaining knowledge to expand his expertise, he disclosed.

"The experienced players have helped a lot. From Jason Mohammed with my batting to Denesh Ramdin with my

By Brandon Corlette

J

oshua Da Silva is a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force team and is also a West Indies Emerging Player, and he certainly is on the rise.

The 21-year-old, who made his ‘List A’ debut for the victorious West Indies Emerging Players team in the 2019 Regional Super50 tournament, has now solidly rocked the Red Force colours in the 2020 Regional 4-Day Tournament.

Guyana Times Sport spoke with this wicket-keeper/bats man, who reflected on life in the Super50 and the Regional 4-Day tournaments.

"My Super50 experience is something I will never forget: from (us being) a bunch of guys who had two days before a tournament to bond and get to know each other, to going all the way and winning the trophy," he declared.

Da Silva disclosed that the foremost intention of

the Emerging Players was to showcase their talent to the world. "We did not make (it into) our home territories’(teams), but we got an opportunity to play the sport we love. I will forever be grateful for the family we became, and the bond we all shared," he explained.

Da Silva finished that Super50 tournament with 331 runs in ten matches, scoring at an average of 41.37. This talented ‘gloves-man’ scored one century and one halfcentury in that successful Super50 campaign, and effected 15 catches and one stumping. He has since attained greater success, and is currently the fifth most successful batsman in this Regional 4-Day season, having scored 507 runs at a stunning average of 50.70. He has a high score of 113* and three half-centuries proverbially ‘under his belt’.

Reflecting on the eight rounds so far played in this

tournament, Da Silva said his goals were to get that maiden 100 ‘under his belt’, and to secure a spot for the entire season.

"I’ve been batting well, so I’m just trying to continue with

keeping, (their presence) has helped me a lot, and shaped me into a much better player.

I ask questions when (help is) needed after an innings," he explained.

Always looking to improve on his performance, Joshua Da Silva declared that he always approaches his team mates and asks what he could have done better or add to his game to become a better player.

Da Silva had this to say about his aspirations regarding the West Indies Team: "Of course I would be aiming for a West Indies call-up, but I'm just playing cricket and focusing on what I can control. (I am) just going to try to keep on scoring runs when I can, and once the opportunity presents itself, I'd give my all and make the most of any opportunity."

Da Silva has expressed gratitude to his parents, who

watch every game in which he is participating, either in person in Trinidad, or on the Youtube stream elsewhere.

"They are always there, and continue to support me. I must (also) thank all my coaches and teammates for the advice and tips," he added. He noted that the 4-Day Championship has been a great challenge. "In the first game, I scored 113 not-out, then immediately after, I had to go and wicket-keep. 190 overs later, that was definitely quite challenging; but that’s my job as a wicket-keeper/batsman.

My fitness levels are much better, and I'm continuing to work towards my goals to get fitter and fitter," he explained.

Joseph, Hope, Pooran to shake things up; Hetmyer still "undercooked" – Lara W

est Indies batting legend Brian Lara has said he sees quite a bit of talent in the squads currently seeking to revive Windies’ domination of world cricket, but there is still work to be done.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Lara has vocalized his conviction that the talented 23-year-old batsman Shimron Hetmyer has personal issues, like his fitness, that he needs to deal with before he is quite ready to take the world by storm.

“People have challenges in different ways, and Hetmyer obviously is a very talented cricketer, someone who plays all forms of the game for the West Indies. If he is unfit, he has to see it as a personal challenge, (because) fitness levels are so very important.

So, if fitness is his problem, I would like to see him face that challenge himself, and

stability useful, even in the T20 form of the game; and that Joseph is a gamechanger with his ability to take wickets.

“I like Nicholas Pooran, he’s settling down and understanding his responsibilities more now.

Shai Hope could play a part in

Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer share a light moment

he’ll be a much better cricketer,” Lara explained.

The former Windies captain, however, has much

more immediate hope for others in the West Indies squad; like Shai Hope, Nicholas Pooran and Alzarri Joseph.

He thinks Pooran understands his role in the team; that the West Indies can find Hope’s

Brian Lara

the T20 World Cup, being that solid guy with a great technique that can hold the innings together. Alzarri Joseph is someone (whom) I look at and say, ‘This guy has got potential, he’s a wicket-taker; he is someone (whom) I’d like to see do well’,” Lara detailed.

“Those are the three players I’m really looking forward to seeing,” he expressed.

As he has said before,

Lara believes the team can learn much from the example of Virat Kohli. Kohli, he said, has worked hard on his fitness; and that, Lara explained, is the perfect lead for Hetmyer to follow.

(Excerpted from Sportsmax)

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

23

We Stand United Cycle Club…

Members receive $600,000+ in uniforms and equipment M

embers of the We Stand United Cycle Club (WSUCC) were recently presented with new uniforms and other equipment as the club continues supporting its members.

Club owner Horace Burrowes procured the custom-made uniforms -- plus tyres, tubes and chains -- in his adopted homeland of the USA, and the items were presented to club members by WSUCC president Franklin Wilson.

Among the members of this club are leading local cyclists Briton John, Warren ‘Forty’ McKay and Raymond ‘Steely’ Newton. These athletes are seasoned campaigners and co-captains of the club.

In handing over the items to club members, Wilson expressed sincere gratitude to Burrowes for his continued commitment to the individual and collective development of the club.

“Mr. Burrowes has shown tangible, unflinching support towards this club over the years, and we must express gratitude to him and his family for their continued support. It is now up to you, as cyclists, to show

gratitude by being the best you can possibly be when you take to the road and track to showcase your talent,” Wilson declared.

“This sport is not a cheap sport, and we are all aware of what it takes financially to equip each rider to be able to perform. So, we are thankful to Horace once again for being the backbone for this club over the years. We have some exciting y o u n g riders, and we intend to give each of you the opportunity to shine for yourself and country.”

Wilson has encouraged the cyclists to be very disciplined, and to follow the advice of the Ministry of Public Health during these testing times of the COVID–19 world pandemic.

McKay and Newton both endorsed Wilson’s statements to the members of the club, especially in regard to the coronavirus, and each implored the riders to protect themselves at all cost.

WSUCC President Franklin Wilson (left), holding up one of the skin suits with veteran Raymond "Steely" Newton as other club members display uniforms and equipment presented to them

They also encouraged club members to equip their cycles with the necessary items, as that would allow them to be safe when riding the roadways; and they encouraged club members to look out for each other.

Burrowes spoke with club members via the club’s WhatsApp group. He said he was more than happy to be able

to continue supporting them, especially the young riders, whom he promised to continue supporting.

“We are happy to have some exciting and talented cyclists, whom I would continue to invest in to see them excel for themselves and our country.

They need the help, and I am committed to assisting. (It is)

something I have been doing for some years now. It’s a sport that I dearly love, and I would continue to give my all to see these guys do well.

“I must also say that we have some very experienced and dedicated stalwarts, the likes of our co-captains; and their experience would serve this club well,” he declared.

The co-captains also expressed gratitude to Burrowes for his commitment to the club and to each rider.

They noted that he has been advising and working with them when it comes to training the club members. It was also pledged that the WSUCC would be focusing on the holistic development of its members.

Cyclists cautioned to avoid COVID-19 lockdown…

COVID-19 while staying fit

Collegiate athletes will be hardest hit ꟷ Coach Francis

A

midst the coronavirus pandemic, Randolph Roberts, coach and organizer of the Flying Ace Cycling Club in New Amsterdam Berbice, is urging cyclists to exercise caution while continuing their training to stay fit.

Roberts is asking cyclists to stay away from crowds while they continue to train. He is advising cyclists to exercise in natural conditions, as that would aid in preventing them contracting coronavirus.

Cyclists, especially from across East Berbice, can be seen daily practising on the roadways.

When the situation returns to normal, Roberts noted, a host of cycle races would be staged in the proverbial “ancient county” of Berbice.

Roberts disclosed that the Mayor's Annual would be the first cycle race in Berbice. It will be circuited around the town of New Amsterdam.

The next race to be staged is the Benjamins’ Race, a 50-miler that was won in 2019 by Andre 'Padlock' Green.

Two major races have thus far been hosted in Berbice in 2020: the Seven

MVP Coach Stephen Francis

C Cycling Coach Randolph Roberts

Seas 40-miler and the Courts 50-miler, and both were organized by Roberts.

Berbician Romello Crawford

won the Seven Seas race, while Team Cocos cyclist Marcus Keiler won the other event.

elebrated Jamaica track and field coach Stephen Francis expects collegiate athletes to be hardest hit by the current shutdown surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, but he insists that all is not yet lost.

The rapid onslaught of this infectious disease has seen postponement or cancellation of sporting events around the globe. In a bid to halt the spread of the virus, many universities in the United States have closed their doors, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association last week took the decision to axe its spring athletics season.

Further afield, pressure continues to mount on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the Tokyo Games, with the latest

news suggesting a decision would be reached in four weeks’ time.

With the universities serving as a home and training base, and a place for healthy competition for athletes who may qualify to take part in the Olympics, which includes several Jamaicans, Francis believes they will be hardest hit.

“The biggest problem I see is the NCs, because that is where you have the most breakthroughs, so to speak; and that’s cancelled,” Francis told RJR Sports.

“Those athletes can’t even train, because their coaches are gone home and the universities are closed; so, most of them are without a coach,” he added.

“But by and large, for most of the world, much hasn’t changed. People still, for the most part, can do their workouts. They can’t compete, but it’s up to the coaches to devise methods for substituting for competition,” he explained.

Francis believes that athletes who miss out if the Olympics are cancelled have no cause for real alarm, as they would still have opportunities to shine.

“Every year you have people that make a breakthrough, but I don’t think you need the Olympics to make a breakthrough. You can make a breakthrough so long as there are meets to be run," Francis declared.

Francis has coached the likes of Olympics and World Champion medallists Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Melanie Walker, Brigitte FosterHylton and Asafa Powell. (Excerpted from Sportsmax)

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Rising star Joshua Da Silva speaks with Guyana Times Sport Page 22

Page 23

Cyclists cautioned to avoid COVID-19 while staying fit

We Stand United Cycle Club…

Members receive $600,000+ in uniforms and equipment

See story on page 23 GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.