Guyana Times Saturday December 7, 2019

Police trainees treated to annual Christmas luncheon

P12 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4130

saturday, december 7, 2019

PNCR executive admits coalition failed to deliver manifesto promises 4 houses destroyed in Bent Street blaze Page 7

Page 2

Opposition Leader calls for broadened probe of SOCU’s top officials US Govt assisting GECOM with voter education – Ambassador 12 injured in Linden-Soesdyke Highway accident Page 9

See story on page 3

Page 9

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Persons with disability P8 heighten call for easier voting access …calls for independent voting

Child sodomised in washroom

3 male primary school students implicated P11 – CCPA Director Conductor P2 dances on moving minibus: Police probing viral video

Man beaten by Police during arrest demands justice P7 …as OPR launches investigation

Vandalised cables

GTT offers $5M reward for info on vandals P3

Rape charge P10 recommended for mom, older daughter who allegedly raped alleged rapist

2 news

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

4 houses destroyed in Bent Street blaze

Firefighters dousing the inferno at Bent Street, Georgetown

A

n early morning fire at Bent Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, has left several persons homeless after four homes were destroyed and neighbouring buildings scorched.

On Friday morning, the

occupants were awakened from their slumber to find their dwellings engulfed in flames. The only option was to rush to safety as the flames swept through the wooden structures.

Reports are the fire started at about 05:00h at the

properties located between Hardina and Haley Streets on Bent Street, Georgetown.

The fire initially started at one of the back houses and quickly spread to two others in front and another on the adjoining lot.

Guyana Times understands that Natasha Morrison resided with her two sons in the first house that was engulfed. The second was occupied by Venezuelan nationals while the third housed another family. The three houses were all flattened in the aftermath.

Meanwhile, one person resided in the neighbouring house at Lot EE Bent Street, where the second storey was damaged. The owner, Harvey December, resides in front of the same lot and was thankful his home was saved. He indicated that his wife alerted him that a fire broke out at their neighbour’s property, to which he became alarmed. They quickly rushed over and removed a family friend, who was staying at the house be-

A section of the aftermath

fore it was razed.

“My wife wake me up. I was sleeping and she said ‘Fire!’ so all I did was come downstairs and we had to move a family friend who was staying. We had to move her out the house and make sure we get our documents.

We didn’t really move anything because it didn’t make any sense,” December recalled.

His son, Yannick December, detailed that all of the houses were occupied by families with children, all of whom were taken to safety. The Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Prison

Service provided resources to ensure that the inferno was brought under control. Neighbouring buildings were drenched with water to prevent the fire from spreading. This action saved his father’s house and the homes of many.

“I do know that the fire started at the back. There were some children in all three homes that were destroyed at the back there.

Where the fire started,

there were two children in that home, there were some Venezuelans I think in the other building next to it and in the last one, there was a family with also two children,” he explained.

The close proximity of the houses coupled with the morning breeze accelerated the spread of the fire. By the time the fire was brought under control, nothing was saved and charred debris littered the property.

“Of course, most of these homes are wooden so it didn’t take long for them to catch afire and the heat was so intense. What I would say is that the firemen did a wonderful job in containing the blaze.”

The Guyana Fire Service has launched an investigation to determine the cause and origin. While a complete assessment is pending, losses are estimated in the millions. (Rupa Seenaraine)

Conductor dances on moving minibus: Police probing viral video

Conductor dancing on the top of a minibus at the bus park near Stabroek Market

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ust 10 days after a video went viral, which showed the reckless behaviour of a minibus driver and his conductor, another video surfaced on social media on Friday showing a conductor dancing on top of a moving minibus at the minibus park at the Stabroek Market area. Additionally, passengers were seated inside the bus and the music emanating from the moving vehicle was preposterously loud.

The video went viral just minutes after it was shared on several social media platforms.

When contacted, Traffic Chief Linden Isles said ranks from the Guyana Police Force are in search of the conductor.

“An officer called me, and he said that the owner [of the minibus] is coming to Eve Leary and they are still trying to get the bus to tow the bus in,” the Traffic Chief said.

Meanwhile, in the previous incident, a minibus conductor was seen in a video which went viral, dancing to music in a moving minibus with its door wide open, and the driver of the same bus

was seen placing his feet outside of the moving vehicle as he was driving.

Commenting on that issue, the Traffic Chief said that the driver in that incident was arrested. However, Police are still searching for the conductor.

“That person was arrested, that person was in custody as of yesterday (Thursday)…I don’t know if he attended court already, but I know he was in custody. The driver was arrested but we didn’t get the conductor,” he stated.

Following the incident, President of the United Minibus Union (UMU), Eon Andrews had said that based on the Terms of Reference and Code of Conduct that is enforced by the police, the men were committing an offence.

“What is very concerning is that the commuters were cheering them on, obviously too, the music that was being played there was lewd music, and I would like to believe that those persons were mostly the younger generation”, he explained.

news

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Saturday, December 7 – 02:00h – 03:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Sunday, December 8 – 02:30h – 04:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, December 7 – 13:10h – 14:40h and Sunday, December 8 – 13:40h – 15:10h.

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

WEATHER TODAY

Intervals of thundery showers are expected throughout the day. There will be light rain showers in the evening and cloudy skies for the rest of the night.

Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Northerly to Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 24:28h reaching maximum 2.22 metres and

and 13:15h heights of 2.31 metres.

Low Tide: 06:44h and 19:13h reaching minimum heights of 0.95 metre and 0.90 metre.

US Govt assisting GECOM with voter education – Ambassador U nited States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch has announced that a number of United States agencies have come on board to assist citizens with voter education as part of the electoral process.

On the sidelines of an event on Friday, she indicated that United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department and other agencies agreed to lend support after requests were made by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“The State Department and USAID is providing assistance, primarily towards voter education, both in Georgetown and along the coast, but also in the hinterland. This is a very important part of the process and we’re thrilled that GECOM invited us in to assist. We’re aiding and assisting as best as we can,” the diplomat told reporters.

USAID was independently established by the US Federal Government, primarily for the purpose of administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch

Meanwhile, a number of international observers have applied to scrutinise the entire electoral process in the lead up to and after the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections. After some delay, a number of international observers have been approved to ensure that the 2020 elections are free, fair and credible.

Chairwoman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh had shared that the Commission welcomes the

international observers, noting that they are critical to the process.

In September, officials from the Carter Center would have visited to gain perspective on Guyana’s situation. Following a meeting with the Attorney General, Basil Williams, the Center’s Associate Democracy Programme Director, Brett Lacy told reporters that the organisation is trying to get the various perspectives of the current situation.

“I can say from the Carter Center, we are really just here to listen and we are hoping to meet with different actors to understand everyone’s perspective on current events here in Guyana,” Lacy had said.

Shortly after, the team met with Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo where many matters were discussed, including the “conduct of elections, credible elections and early elections”. He had also facilitated discussions with the ABCE Chief of Missions which included Ambassador Lynch; Deputy British High Commissioner, Ray Davidson; Canadian High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee and Deputy

GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation in Guyana, Philippe Coessens.

GECOM also confirmed that the European Union (EU) would be fielding an observer team for the polls.

Government nominated Commissioner, Charles Corbin was quoted as saying, “The EU team visited.

They have engaged with the Government. And they have indicated they’re prepared to mount an observer mission.

And basically, they have been engaging with other stakeholders in Guyana.”

Vandalised cables

GTT offers $5M reward for info on vandals

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

he Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in the vandalising of its fibre cables on the Linden Highway recently, which has resulted in widespread service disruptions.

GTT’s Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager, Jasmin Harris, said the company has made numerous efforts to put a stop to persons vandalising its cables and is appealing to witnesses and others with knowledge to come forward with information that can help lead to the arrest of perpetrators.

“For 2019, we have had over 10 cases of vandalism to our infrastructure.

We are pleading with the public to report any form of vandalism by calling our 0908 hotline. Such vandalism causes degradation of service and affects

The damaged fibre cable

many customers,” Harris said.

Persons with information are advised to send same to tips@gtt.co.gy.

On November 30, GTT received numerous reports of loss of services in the Linden Highway area. Upon inspection, GTT technicians noticed that the Linden Highway cable was cut, leading to the loss of all GTT services in Linden, Bartica, Kwakwani, Ituni, Mabaruma and Port Kaituma.

“Our technicians were forced to work through Saturday evening into Sunday morning to restore services, putting a strain on our human resources. But more importantly, the service to many was affected. Vandalism has quite a negative, domino impact – and is against the law,” Harris shared.

The company has recorded over 10 cases of vandalism for 2019 which it says millions are spent to repair the cables across Guyana annually.

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guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019

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

Traffic congestion and the holidays

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he traffic congestion on our roads, especially in and around the capital city and other commercial areas at present, is at the point where it is becoming almost unbearable for citizens. It is still the early days into the Christmas season and, already, there is a buildup of traffic in major commercial and other areas; one could only imagine what the situation would be as we head closer to Christmas Eve where persons will be traversing to and from the city to do holiday shopping etc.

Even when we are out of the holiday season, the traffic congestion during rush hours in the mornings and evenings is also very stressful for citizens to cope with, especially those commuting to and from the City.

It is normal to spend more than a half-hour in the traffic when going or coming from work or school, especially in areas along the East Bank and East Coast corridors where there is a huge build-up of traffic almost daily.

The situation at the Demerara Harbour Bridge is even worse. In addition to the bridge no longer being adequate to accommodate the large volume of traffic on a daily basis, many have complained that the traffic is badly managed by ranks. During rush hours, there is bumper to bumper traffic with some drivers bullying their way through and the Police stationed there seem helpless.

Certainly, within the last five years or so, traffic congestion in the city and other main thoroughfares has gotten worse, and there could be a number of factors responsible for this. What we have noticed is that although there has been some improvement to the road network over the years, it has not been to the level that is needed to match the demands of road users. For example, within the last fifteen years or so, several new housing schemes were established and several existing ones were expanded across the country resulting in many more persons commuting to and from the capital city where they go to school or work.

Also, many more persons are opting to purchase their own vehicles, resulting in thousands of new vehicles traversing our roads. So within the last ten years or so, there has been a five-fold increase in the number of vehicles driving on the roads; however, the road network expansion programme, even though improving, still cannot accommodate this massive increase.

That said, traffic congestion is not a problem that is unique to Guyana and certainly cannot be totally eliminated. However, there are ways in which the authorities here could work together to manage the situation more effectively resulting in less hassle for road users. For example, the authorities could seek to ensure that there is more Police presence in certain areas so that there can be a smooth flow of traffic as drivers are known to break the rules and bully their way when there is no Police presence. The authorities could also designate more routes for traffic diversions, especially during rush hours and in areas where there is a heavy traffic build-up.

However, these are just short-term solutions. A longterm solution would be to continue looking at ways in which the country’s road network could be expanded, especially in areas that are heavily populated. The East Bank and East Coast road expansion projects, once completed, will bring much relief to the travelling public. The new roadway will serve as a corridor for communities on the East Bank of Demerara, including Perseverance, Mocha, Providence, Eccles, Peter’s Hall and Aubrey Barker Road. Instead of going through the hectic Georgetown traffic, the new road link will allow drivers the option to divert from the East Coast and onto the bypass road to access the East Bank of Demerara.

We urge the authorities to continue to look at ways in which the road network in Guyana could be further expanded, improved, rehabilitated and maintained. In addition to bringing great relief to citizens’ frustrations, it would help to reduce the number of road fatalities that have reached alarming levels in the country.

IN THE SPIRIT: This beautifully decorated Christmas tree forms part of the Giftland Mall’s Christmas décor as they seek to usher their patrons into the holiday season

Can Guyanese afford to lose another 5 years?

Dear Editor, Guyana has lost five years of infrastructural growth. Blackout and gridlock are now daily features of life in Guyana.

David Granger’s Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, failed to add megawatts to the electrical grid, bridges over rivers and the all-important East Bank to East Coast bypass highway (Ogle Bypass). The constant power outages and ever-growing gridlock on the roads is a direct result of gross incompetence. Patterson was advised by a senior engineer (Egbert Carter) not to begin expansion works on the Sherriff Street-Mandela Avenue road before the Ogle Bypass highway was complete. The daily gridlock is a testament to the avarice that has caused the Ogle Bypass to be delayed.

The Ogle Bypass plan, surveys, feasibility studies, and US$50 million in financing were sitting on Patterson’s desk when he entered Office.

He had one job, get it done.

Patterson, instead, opted for a course guided by greed and corruption. New surveys were ordered, four lanes would not be enough, it would have to be no less than eight.

Then the twelve miles of road from Diamond to Ogle was not enough, the plan was expanded to thirty-two miles with the road being extended from Ogle to Soesdyke. We were informed that a swamp was encountered and needed to be bypassed or drained.

All of this without a foot of the much-needed bypass being built. Would it have been so terrible to build the original bypass with four lanes and

explore extension simultaneously? Surely even the worst of our road building contractors could have built twelve miles of road on sturdy sugar plantation dams in the ensuing four years? The estimated cost of this road project has moved from US$50 million to over US$120 million.

The Government of India, which provided the initial $50 million loan has been approached by Patterson and his colleague Winston Jordan for an extension of credit to $120 million, given their track record, the request has been met with much scepticism and reluctance by the Export-Import Bank of India.

People know a ‘hustle’ when they see it. Result: gridlock.

An eerily similar situation exists with every other major infrastructure project; every year funds are budgeted and expended for surveys and studies of a Linden-Lethem paved road by Granger’s minions. Not a foot of road has been paved to date despite hundreds of millions being allocated. The saga of wastage on feasibility studies on a new bridge over the Demerara River, half a billion spent and not a pile driven; and Patterson cannot even specify a location for the new bridge.

Recently, four miles of existing loam road was paved in Lethem at the cost of $473 million; another $22 million was spent to send ten Ministers and one Director General to assist Moses Nagamootoo with his ribbon-cutting duties. Half a billion dollars spent on four miles of road and a photo-opportunity. The stench of corruption rises to the heavens.

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project would have been pushing 168 additional megawatts into the Guyana grid at no cost to the taxpayers; consumers would have seen the cost of electricity drop by over 30 per cent on monthly bills. Instead, we have lost 17-plus megawatts since 2015, the first time since the 1980s that we have not increased or maintained power output. GPL is struggling to maintain ageing generating sets. Corruption remains an issue, was the recent emergency caused by the shortage of Heavy Fuel Oil supplies caused by lack of proper management planning or a ‘manufactured’ crisis to facilitate the increase in supplier price by US$2 per barrel, one for you and one for me maybe?

Granger’s Government cannot fund infrastructure projects via public-private partnerships as was done by the PPP for the Berbice

Bridge, Granger’s de facto nationalisation of the Berbice Bridge has destroyed investor security in partnerships with the Government and investors have no confidence in Granger or the protection of investments by the Judiciary.

Many investors view the Court of Appeal’s decision that 34 (not 33) is the majority of 65 with morbid fascination and hold it as evidence of a politically biased Judiciary.

As commuters sit in their cars or buses for hours along the only road on the East Bank corridor, further delayed by any mishap, they should think carefully about their future. Should it be on Granger’s imaginary roads going nowhere or on real roads and progress with Dr Irfaan Ali and the PPP? Can Guyanese afford to lose another five years? Elections are on March 2, 2020.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Doesn’t the well-being of sugar workers matter?

Dear Editor, Mr Fritz McLean, a member of the GuySuCo Board, in a letter he authored which appeared in another section of the media on December 05, says “…the mentors and strategists of the sugar union leadership are contriving to rub salt in the extant economic and financial wounds of the industry.”

While we are unsure what Mr McLean means when he says “...the mentors

and strategists of the sugar union leadership…” we wish to tell him that decisions of the Union are taken by the Union and the Union alone. We say this bearing in mind that it appears the GuySuCo Director is inferring that the workers recent protest action was influenced by persons outside of the Union. This, of course, is a clear disconnect from reality.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019

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

Granger must now stop using the Big Lie theory to justify his failure to deliver “the good life” Dear Editor, Here we go again. On one of his rare interviews last Thursday as a guest on a radio programme, Hot Seat, the now illegal President David Granger tried to justify his Government’s failure to deliver “the good life” promised to the people of Guyana during the 2015 elections campaign.

He said his Government inherited “a number of woes from the former PPP Administration which have somewhat curtailed the pace at which the Government wanted to move”. Once again, and as always, he blames the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) for leaving him a “bad hand” which was “a major draw-back for the development of Guyana”, and insists that the APNU/AFC coalition had done its best to turn around the decline.

Editor, I cannot allow this hogwash to go unchallenged, and I dare the APNU Presidential Candidate to debate our Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali, on this issue. That is, if he has the cojonies to do so. Apart from being illegal and unconstitutional, Granger is nothing more than a bold-faced liar who, as a historian, must have studied Joseph Goebbels’ (the Nazi Propaganda Minister)

Big Lie theory that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

On Thursday, October 13, 2016, the then President Granger addressed Members of Parliament in the National Assembly and said, “Your Government entered a depressing financial landscape in May 2015”.

Then, on August 17, 2018, during his address to delegates attending the PNC Twentieth Biennial Congress, the Leader of the PNCR again propagated that the situation which the coalition inherited on assuming office was worse than could have been imagined… “It was a hellish inheritance”.

Let’s not be fooled. This “Big Lie” that Granger keeps repeating is merely an attempt to excuse his Administration for the rapid decline in every sector of the Guyana economy, compounded by the rape of the treasury.

Since 2015, more than 30,000 Guyanese are now jobless. The exchange rate to the US Dollar has been fluctuating on the street around the $215 mark, and at one point was as high as $235.

Not surprising, Historian Granger has never once mentioned the deplorable, bank-

rupted state of the economy that the PPP/C inherited in 1992 after 28 years of PNC dictatorship. But don’t take my word for it, readers can log on to the link provided below to view the severe crisis that the PPP/C inherited in 1992, a report based on a World Bank economic mission which visited Guyana in OctoberNovember 1991: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/ en/840881468033639594/pdf/ multi0page.pdf As you are aware, the World Bank is an independent international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital projects. They are not affiliated nor are friends of the PPP/C. By comparison, the following is what David Granger and his APNU/AFC coalition inherited from the PPP/C in 2015: Despite the riots and destruction by fire perpetrated

by PNC thugs after the 1992, 1997 and 2001 elections aimed at destabilising our country, the average growth rate in Guyana from 2006 to 2014 was 4.5 per cent per annum, compared to 0 per cent growth in the years prior to 1992.

In 2014, the last full year of the PPP/C in office, Guyana’s GDP was US$3.1 billion. Our

Double standards on corruption Dear Editor, In the last decade of the PPP’s administration there was a heighten drive for transparency, accountability, good governance and adherence to rule of law in Guyana. The Government and those deemed connected to the administration were constantly being skewered in the news and visas of the former were being revoked as a matter of routine. Media houses exhibited great power and the diplomatic community was very assertive in its stance against corruption.

The charge in the local media was led by numerous accountability, governance and constitutional experts. The Government faced accusations left, right and center about corruption, financial mismanagement particularly as it concerned the consolidated fund, conflict of interest and nepotism.

Even those in the capitalist private sector were beginning to feel guilty about making profits. Around the same time the PNC had managed to re-invent itself despite its own history of corruption and election rigging. Soon after the coalition got into office it immediately launched over 50 forensic audits, COIs and Enquiries costing hundreds of millions. Several of those audits were awarded, without tender no less, to auditors who had been staunch PPP crit-

ics. Notwithstanding, nothing of substance came from the audits which means PPP was effectively thrown out of office on a fake trumped up charge.

In a similar vein to the sole sourcing of the auditors, the APNU/AFC coalition very early on recruited and thereby neutralized many of the former advocates of good governance. These folks are now busy promoting and defending corruption, bad governance, nepotism, blatant conflict of interest and violation of the constitution.

Others have gone silent perhaps ashamed of what they have birthed. The result is a media today which has lost its zest for transparency and accountability giving meaning to the old adage, “monkey know which limb to jump pon.” But while the actions of the former transparency advocates can be explained by the fact that many are really propagandists, the withdrawal of the diplomatic community from the corruption issue raises a major question.

There is no doubt that corruption has risen to astronomical levels since this Government has risen to power. For example, there is the Durban Park project, the never ending airport and road projects - where more is spent for less, pharmagate scandals, land and concessions giveaways to poli-

ticians and friends – deals which were made while the Government under caretaker status, the scandalous 99 year parking meter contract, GECOM radios deal, the fritter on overpriced Drones announced only two days ago and the most egregious of them all: the incomparable US billions oil giveaway for a measly 2% and the secret stash/ pittance of a bonus. On top of all that the Government continues to occupy office illegally one year after it easy defeated in a No Confidence Motion. Then there is GECOM, a study in deception, seemingly doing all it can to facilitate this caretaker Government remaining in office indefinitely by delaying and preventing free and fair elections.

Suddenly it is clear that there is one standard for the PPP and another for APNU/AFC. And that accusation could be leveled against the diplomatic community as well. Why is the diplomatic community which was so assertive against corruption and keen on rule of law, so quiet in the face of all these violations?

The answer to that question is perhaps most troubling. It perhaps also explains the arrogance and disdain of this caretaker Government and GECOM for the Guyanese people.

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

Gross International Reserve held at the Bank of Guyana at the end of 2014 was US$665.6 million. The PPP/C reduced the external debt to just 39.5 per cent of GDP, down from over 600 per cent of GDP in 1992. At the end of 2014, the total assets held at commercial banks were $421.8 billion.

Most of it has disappeared now from Government’s reckless borrow and spend policy.

When the PPP/C left office, Guyana’s Gold Reserves were $25 billion. Now this too has rapidly declined to $1.9 billion in 2018. Interestingly, after the PPP/C gained office in 1992, it was discovered that certain PNC Ministers used to smuggle suitcases of gold bars through diplomatic channels to New York.

Now, a similar racket has been exposed and the Administration is very silent about it. I’m talking about the US bank account that was established in the name of a senior Minister of Government with Capital One Bank in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, in 2016. Since then, five million US dollars (US$5

million) has passed through that account. Perhaps if some SOCU officials were not so busy stealing the evidence, and were not so partisan, they would have had a genuine case of organised crime to go after. But back to the bonanza that APNU/AFC inherited in 2015.

The APN/AFC coalition inherited more than US$500 million of resources that were already secured by the PPP/C to finance developmental projects. These included: US$30 million for China Exim Bank to construct a new Cheddi Jagan International Airport, and you know how that ended up; US$66.2 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to fund a road network upgrade and expansion project; US$64.6 million from the IDB and EU to fund a power utility upgrade programme; US$50 million from the India Exim Bank to fund the East Coast to East Bank bypass road; US$34.4 million from the Caribbean Development Bank to fund the West Coast Demerara highway upgrade project; US$31.7 million from

the IDB and EU to fund a water and sanitation infrastructure improvement project; US$15 million from IDB for a new Citizens Security project; US$12 million from World Bank for a Flood Risk Management project; US$10 million from the World Bank for a new Secondary Education Improvement project; US$10 million from the World Bank for the University of Guyana’s Science and Technology Support project; and US$7.5 million from the Caribbean Development Bank to fund a sugar industry mechanisation project. Now they are shutting down the sugar industry, and the few remaining workers are on strike for a much-needed pay increase.

After being the beneficiary of such a buoyant economy, David Granger must now stop using the Big Lie theory of Joseph Goebbels to justify his failure to deliver “the good life” to all Guyanese.

Sincerely, Harry Gill PPP/C Member of Parliament

Doesn’t the well-being... from page 4

Mr McLean then says we are seeking “…to rub salt in the extant economic and financial wounds of the industry.” But what about the wounds inflicted on the sugar workers? Hasn’t too much salt been rubbed in already?

Isn’t it unfair that they are left behind? Doesn’t it bother Mr McLean that sugar workers pay rates have remained parked in 2014 while they exist in 2019?

The letter writer, given his vantage point, is well aware of the representations being made for sugar workers to be granted a pay rise. Given his long association with sugar, Mr McLean would well know that this is the longest period, in the era of state-ownership, that sugar workers have remained without any improvement in wages. It is now more than 1,800 days since sugar workers last benefitted from a rise in pay, hasn’t enough salt already been rubbed into their wounds?

The GuySuCo Board member next says “…it will be difficult to navigate a middle ground position bearing in mind management’s recent articulation to the sugar unions of the corporation’s financial circumstances.” What is this ‘middle ground’ that is referred to? The most recent engagement between the Union and the GuySuCo concerned a presentation on the Corporation’s plans for the future. We shared, through a press statement our views about that engagement. Several aspects of that statement were pub-

lished by several media entities. We would want to believe that Mr McLean would have seen the statement and if he has not, he can visit the Union’s website to obtain a copy. In that statement, we mentioned during our engagement with GuySuCo the matter of a pay rise.

The Corporation which was led by no less than its Chief Executive acknowledged that this matter was a burning issue. There was general recognition that a pay rise to workers is needed and must be addressed. At that meeting, the GuySuCo team expressed optimism that discussions taking place would lend to some positive movement.

The letter writer strangely digresses saying “[w]ith negotiations in progress for the sale of closed estates at a critical stage, not only will the ongoing unstable industrial situation in the industry jeopardize a favourable outcome for the vendors…”.

It appears, Mr McLean missed that the Government had indicated that divestment of the sugar estates have been put on pause. The August 16, Guyana Times

quoted Finance Minister, Winston Jordan as saying “[t]he sale of the estates has been delayed… and I don’t think at this stage, given our status as interim, we will want to engage in any major privatisation at this time.”

While there is continued focus on the bottom-line, we ask what about the bottom-line of the workers and their families. Isn’t this important too? Don’t their and their families matter or are they just another factor of production, faceless and nameless, without any need or want? Mr McLean would remember the days when sugar carried the country on its back. He would recall when the efforts of the same workers he accuses of ‘rubbing salt’ ensured that the country moved forward.

Even today the industry it is one of our nation’s critical and few foreign exchange earners, doesn’t that count for something? Don’t the people in the industry matter?

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary, GAWU

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By Robert Dawson, PhD

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eelings determine what we think and what we do to survive.

Every emotion you have is necessary for survival, and that includes feelings that we don’t want to have like anxiety, depression, unhappiness, anger, envy, and jealousy.

There are ways to influence the feelings produced by instinct (drugs – medication, alcohol, nicotine, party drugs – to disrupt your brain) or to lessen the distress of instinct (activity to distract you).

Selling you on ways to change your feelings is a lucrative and a “repeat business” because instinct will ensure the return of emotions that you need for survival.

So whether the “business” is the accumulation of money, power, possessions or popularity; the use of drugs; the distraction of work and relationships, you will always need more. All of these methods produce a temporary change, but the change never lasts.

Feelings, both positive and negative, are necessary for your survival

When feelings are negative, we have to stop trying to change or replace them. We have to accept the inevitability of feelings, both negative and positive. We have to get better at achievement in spite of the interference and distraction of emotions.

Human instinct has evolved to favour pessimism as a better survival strategy than optimism. Although we can see this negative bias in others, it is much harder to see it in ourselves Why? Because this bias is automatic and unconscious.

Humans have an innate fear of feeling bad and need the help of others to provide protection and good feelings. When we feel bad, we feel unsafe. To feel safe, we have to feel good. To feel good, we need to get from others a combination of attention, approval and sense of im-

Foundation portance.

Without realising, we are always manipulating recognition, approval, and importance in the eyes of our parents, family, friends, co-workers, our peers, our community.

Really, what does it matter if not everyone likes or approves of you? Well, logically, it doesn’t!

And it shouldn’t.

But it does, it just does. How much it does varies from person to person based

tions of others (and next at yourself), and you will see the search for RAI steering and driving the behaviour of everyone, in every situation.

Understand this, and you are ready to have an impact on your feelings and the feelings of people around you; whether working, playing, relaxing, cycling, avoiding, spending, partnering, parenting, retiring.

Food for thought on maximising RAI in various life activities: All

on their genetic inheritance and life experience. But it does matter for everyone.

It also matters as far as your instinct is concerned because historically the attention that you get from others is a factor affecting your survival. Without realising it, instinctive survival drives us to pursue the goal of seeking attention directly through our actions, or indirectly through the activities of our children, family, team, friends, beliefs, values, and religion.

Here is an acronym to remember our needs: RAI Recognition Approval Importance Sufficient RAI = Safety = Contentment = Positive Mood = Satisfaction = Happiness.

Insufficient RAI = Threat = Discontentment = Depression = Dissatisfaction = Unhappiness.

Look around you at the ac-

RAI is not equal, RAI that you get from others has more impact on your feelings than the RAI you provide yourself.

Your instinctive assessment of others’ motives sways the impact of the RAI that you get from others.

Delivering RAI, rath- er than pursuing RAI, is more likely to result in return RAI that lasts longer and is more impactful than the RAI you provide yourself.

As unlikely as it seems, spending $100 on others is more likely to make you feel better and for longer than spending $100 on yourself.

However, your feelings, whether positive or negative, are continually changing. Your emotions will change sooner or later whether you spend $100 or keep the $100 in the bank.

Focus

You don’t get to choose your feelings consciously – your instinct automatically selects emotions to maximise your survival in the current circumstances.

As circumstances are continuously changing, so are your

feelings. If you don’t want to feel the way you are currently feeling, you have two options: Wait, do nothing – if circumstances change while you wait, so will your feelings. If things don’t change while you wait, your emotions won’t change, but they will fluctuate in intensity.

The intensity of feelings continuously varies over time – either getting stronger or weaker.

Or Do something. Any activity requires your attention and this requirement will weaken your current focus on your feeling.

While the action may be mental (eg crosswords) or physical (eg exercising, singing, helping), it has to be something that requires some of your attention and that you are able to start and continue in spite of the way you are initially feeling.

Weakening the self-focus demanded by a feeling by shifting to other-focus is the most potent method to reduce the strength of an emotion.

The Art of happiness is the art of focusing on your actions instead of your feelings. a) Saying “I am over it!” where the ‘it’ refers to a feeling, will focus your effort on continuously measuring your mood; “Do I feel better or worse than yesterday?” b) Saying “I am over it!” where the ‘it’ refers to present life events, will focus your effort on actions and their impact on your circumstances.

You guide action and create change in your life circumstances by using RAI. (Recognition, Approval, Importance) Through actions of recognition, approval and importance (valuing others), your actions impact on the level of safety felt by people around you. This impact affects how they, in turn, treat you. Focus on influencing how people respond to you and your instinctive assessment of your safety will change.

If this sub-conscious appraisal moves towards ‘increased safety’, your feelings will improve as will your satisfaction and happiness. (Excerpt from psychologytoday)

By Elizabeth Dorrance Hall, PhD

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or the “black sheep” of the family, the holidays can be an especially stressful time. Societal expectations that holidays are spent with families of origin require people who do not see their families during the holidays to explain why not over and over again.

Those who do see their families but don’t feel like they belong or feel excluded from their families are likely entering an emotionally taxing time of the year. If you know a “black sheep”, as these marginalised family members are known, you can help make this time of the year a little easier for them.

My research shows that events like family holiday parties, Christmas services, and formal dinners are times when marginalised family members (black sheep) report feeling either very excluded and disapproved of or very included.

This was surprising to me – the same events could make one person feel bad and another feel better.

It turns out that it wasn’t the event itself that made someone feel excluded, but the communication that occurred at the event that mattered. This means that the holidays are a great opportunity to make a family member who usually feels different and ostracised feel like they belong instead.

You can do this by being an ally and following the five strategies I’ve outlined below to make the holidays a little less of a burden for a family member that identifies as different.

Make sure they feel included

Marginalised family members, or black sheep, in my research report that they can feel marginalised and excluded one minute and included the next at family gatherings depending on what is going on. Be aware and use perspective-taking to identify when your family member might feel excluded. Extend an invitation to play a game or join you on the couch watching a movie. You may think, “Oh, they’re family, I don’t need to formally invite them”, but gestures like these can go a long way if your family member is feeling like they don’t belong.

Don’t single them out

Unwanted attention can further strain relationships and make your family member feel even more uncomfortable in a probably already uncomfortable situation. So, pay attention to them, but not too much attention. This is a fine line that you likely know better than anyone if you know the person well.

Ask about their lives, but don’t pry, especially when you are in front of others

They may not feel comfortable talking about certain aspects of their lives in front of anyone. If you think they would benefit from talking about their personal lives, these conversations may be best had one-on-one over a drink or two. If you can steal away for some one-on-one time with your family member, you can build and maintain your relationship while letting them know you are on their side.

Remember to provide emotional support and help them analyse their problems before offering advice (if you offer advice at all). Research has found that the sequence of giving advice matters and that emotional support should come before problem analysis.

Advice should come last if at all. I would steer clear of offering advice unless they ask for it explicitly. People tend to dislike unsolicited advice they did not ask for.

Help steer the conversation clear of topics that might make your black sheep family member feel alienated, outcast, or different

If you can, have a conversation with your family member first to find out whether they feel comfortable talking about X. X is usually whatever it is about them that is “different” from the rest of the family – it could be politics, values, interests, religion, or relationships. Well-meaning family members may bring up these issues thinking they are making harmless small talk or just catching up on the person’s life. If that happens –or worse, someone brings up the issue to make your black sheep family member feel bad on purpose – you can jump in and bring up a new topic.

Let your black sheep family member know you are happy to see them and that you are happy they are taking part in the family gathering

Letting a loved one know they are important to you and you want to spend time with them is called assurances, and is an important relationship maintenance strategy. This strategy is likely even more important for family members who do not feel like they belong the way the rest of the members of the family do. Unlike other family members, assurances like “you are important to me” and “I love you” may not be a given for the black sheep. Family events can be really hard to show up for if your family member knows they will likely leave feeling disapproved of or bad about themselves and their family relationships, so be sure to let them know you are happy to see them and that they are there. (psychologytoday.com)

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

PNCR executive admits coalition failed to deliver manifesto promises

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he People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) has publicly admitted to not fulfilling promises outlined in its pre-2015 elections manifesto after the coalition Government took office.

This admission was made by PNCR Executive, Aubrey Norton during the party’s press conference on Friday at its Congress Place, Sophia headquarters.

In an attempt to defend the coalition’s failure to deliver on its promises, the executive said that no political party can deliver “all” its promises.

The former presidential advisor, whilst respond-

PNCR Executive Aubrey Norton

ing to a question, which requested his views on the

performance of his party, stated that the party is satisfied but further added that there are indeed a few unfulfilled promises but chose not to expound further. “…the PNC is satisfied.

We have delivered a lot of services, there are things that we didn’t deliver that we promised,” Norton said.

Only on Thursday Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo called out President David Granger for misrepresenting Guyana’s reality. Jagdeo pointed to the issue of unemployment, high crime rates among other issues which continue to pervade Guyana, but noted that the President claims

differently.

The Opposition Leader further pointed to some broken promises of the APNU/AFC Government, this included the liberalisation of the communications sector which was not achieved, and the aspects of the Cummingsburg Accord which were unfulfilled, specifically the role of the Prime Minister in chairing Cabinet and aiding in ministerial appointments.

“They broke all the promises. They broke every single one of these promises but either way, the people of this country are getting shafted. That’s it. What bothers me, though, is that

President David Granger

he’s not pressed on issues” Jagdeo asserted at his week-

ly press conference.

But most recently, sugar workers flogged the coalition Administration for failing to raise their salaries, which was a promise made during the 2015 campaign trail.

President of the Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU), Komal Chand stated that the APNU/AFC coalition, since it took office five years ago, has done more harm than good to the thousands of persons employed in the sugar belt and that many persons continue to suffer as a result of the Administration’s actions or lack thereof.

Man beaten by Police during arrest demands justice …as OPR launches probe

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32-year-old father of two is calling for justice after he was badly beaten by Police Officers, who he claims wrongfully arrested him for stealing fish.

Quincy Letlow was Thursday morning allegedly assaulted by Police Officers at the Meadow Bank Wharf.

Letlow, who has been working there for some four years, was accused of stealing of fish worth $6,000.

The incident, which was captured on camera, has since gone viral on social media. In the video, Letlow was heard asking the cops to allow him to inform his brother, who was at the

wharf before they took him to the station, but instead, he was tackled to the ground by a uniformed cop.

Another Police Officer, who donned casual wear, used handcuffs to beat the man to his face while he was still pinned to the ground.

Later in the video, the man had gripped onto the edge of the Police vehicle and the rank who had assaulted him used the handcuffs once again to hit his knuckles repeatedly.

Eventually, the rank ventured to the Police vehicle and retrieved his gun which he pointed to the man’s face.

During the ordeal, Letlow’s pants came off and

Quincy Letlow

the Police eventually pushed him into the Police vehicle and took him to the Police

station.

“Me ain’t resist arrest,” Letlow told Guyana Times during an interview on Friday. He is appalled that the ranks treated him with such brute force.

Letlow told this newspaper that he was further beaten whilst in the Police vehicle.

“The Police who did beat me (name given) put a gun to me mouth and say ‘alyuh does play yual is bad boy’,” Letlow said, noting that the officer threatened to kill him.

He was released from Police custody on Thursday night around 22:00h.

The man claims he is in-

nocent.

“Me ain’t went no where around deh (where the snapper got stolen),” he expressed.

In fact, he claimed that when the Police arrested him, there was clearly no fish in his possession and that the person who accused him of stealing admitted that he has no evidence to support his allegation.

In fact, he said the vendor had decided not to proceed with the matter after his brother volunteered to repay the $6,000.

Currently, Letlow says he is in tremendous pain from the beatings he received and as such, is unable

to return to work. He says his chest is paining and he is spitting and urinating blood.

In a brief statement on Friday, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) said a thorough investigation into the incident has been launched by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR).

The man hopes that at the end of the investigation, he and his family get justice.

“I want justice. I deh in pain, I can’t work, my girl belly big (pregnant) and she gah look me now,” he stated.

Letlow is the father of children aged nine and 10; his wife is currently pregnant.

8 NEWS

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Persons with disability heighten calls for easier voting access …call for independent voting

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ith Guyana heading into elections mode for the 2020 polls, persons with disabilities have intensified requests for provisions be made for them to exercise their franchise as any normal person.

On Friday at the National Library, a conference was organised by the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCPD) as a step towards ensuring independent voting. Recommendations were drafted so that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) could be previewed to some of the challenges facing those with a disability.

Ganesh Singh, who has been a strong advocate for persons living with a disability, expressed that many of them are living on the fringes of society where there are limited opportunities. However, their right to vote must be upheld. It was estimated that some 30,000 persons living with a disability in Guyana are within the voting age. While they are willing to go out and cast their ballots, policies must be implemented for them to successfully do so.

“This is a critical time for Guyana…Next March will be National and Regional Elections and we, as a disability community, can have a say in the future of Guyana by voting. But we can’t just go and vote if we don’t understand the process,” Singh expressed.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Council, Cecil Morris insisted that all these efforts are

to ensure that the disabled community is provided with equal opportunities. For years, they have been advocating for policies to be crafted, allowing persons with various disabilities to vote.

“Every time its elections, we make our pleas to Government, to GECOM, everybody, to give us, persons with disabilities, the kind of respect that is due to us. We must be able to go at polling stations without a hassle and cast our vote. It’s important to us to play a part, especially at this point in time, in the development of Guyana.

We need to get our rights…and things that are due to us. One of the things that is needed is for people to understand that as a person with disability, you have the right as any normal person,” Morris positioned.

Fundamental right

United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah Ann Lynch was also in attendance, where she emphasised that voting is a fundamental right and inclusivity must be regarded beyond race, religion, gender and also, a disability.

This, she said, can be achieved by employing simple measures.

“The right to vote is an important form of enfranchisement in any democracy but exercising the right to vote requires access. In Guyana, access isn’t always easy for persons with disabilities. I have come to realise that there are specific measures that can

GCPD Chairman Cecil Morris

make voting more accessible, for example, providing options for blind or visually impaired Guyanese to vote privately and independently; outline special instructions for voters who are deaf and building ramps [and] slip-resistant surfaces for the physically impaired,” she outlined.

Challenges

Some of the challenges when voting includes access for wheelchair users. Many times, polling stations are situated on the upper flat of buildings, where accessibility becomes a major issue.

Persons suffering from a vision impairment have requested templates for them to put over the ballot paper, which will allow them to vote independently. In the past, they were tasked with enabling a proxy to conduct this process on their behalf.

Morris, who is also President of the Guyana Society for the Blind, had indicated to Guyana Times in March that during the General Elections in 2015, templates were introduced for them to us.

However, the templates were not utilised by officers at the polls.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 15 per cent of the world’s population lives with some form of disability. Of this figure, two to four per cent experience significant difficulties in functioning.

General and Regional Elections are slated for March 2, 2020 – indicating that there is less than three months to introduce these provisions.

(Rupa Seenaraine)

2014 murder

Gold miner jailed for 14 years over death of “Saka”

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Convicted: Mark Atkinson

ark Atkinson called “Bounga” was during this week sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for the 2014 murder of 30-yearold Bevon Anderson, which occurred at Blackwater Landing, Konawaruk, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).

At the conclusion of his trial before Justice Gino Persaud and a 12-member jury at the Suddie Supreme Criminal Court, the 41-year-old man was found guilty. The prosecution had successfully contended that on June 3, 2014, at Black Water Backdam, Region Eight, he murdered Anderson.

Reports indicate that the two men were involved in a confrontation prior to the killing.

Atkinson also has a second murder charge pending. He is yet to face a trial for the murder of Daniel Lima, a Brazilian, between August 12 and 13, 2015, at Burning Spur, Konawaruk River, also in Region Eight.

As it relates to the capital offence of murder of Lima, Atkinson claimed it was self-defence.

He said Lima, who was in the habit of making threats with the same gun used to murder him, dislodged a loaded firearm in his direction.

He went on to say that he did what he had to do to protect himself, since Lima had chopped him.

What’s the plan…

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…on O&G?? hile we’re all focusing on Christmas, which is nigh upon us, we seem to be forgetting that so is “first oil”. Is this because the oil operator informed us that the first million barrels will be heading up to their refineries in Galveston? And the Energy Director claimed this was because the “first lift of oil has too many impurities”!! Notice that the oil company stayed mum… since this would’ve opened them up to serious, severe snorts in the industry!!

But even with the oil company ensuring that the PNC Government doesn’t get its grubby big paws on the oil money before they’re booted out in March, you’d think they’d want to keep up pretences that they have a plan – at least for their party faithful – wouldn’t you?? So let’s talk a bit about what this PNC Govt should’ve been doing over the past four years. Just so you don’t get suckered by the Manifesto verbiage they’re hatching. Your riposte to them should be, “How come alyuh a now buil’ latrine, when yuh ready to sh*t??”

What’s most dispiriting about the PNC’s paralysis is the oil industry’s been around for over a century, and object lessons abound!! Let’s break this down. There are two ways in which the country can benefit after oil is struck. First comes the “Local Content” aspects that can provide employment and other benefits to service the industry. And then comes the use of the revenues that the Government receives from signing bonuses, royalties, and profit-sharing.

On “Local Content”, we knew from the beginning that while we don’t have the capabilities to drill under one mile of water and bring up oil, there are other support activities we could’ve been trained for. And demand that we be hired! Take, for instance, something like repairing or even fabricating gantries and other equipment that need top quality welders, machinists, fitters, etc. We were once able to construct ships at Sprostons which became GNIC after Burnham nationalised it and brought it to the ground.

So how come the Govt didn’t start training tradesmen like these at its Technical Institutes and bring them up to ISO standards?? What the Government did instead was to shutter the premier training institute in Guyana for mechanical and electrical tradesmen – the GuySuCo Training School at Port Mourant!!

Why your Eyewitness picked this sorta training is that it is transferable to the needs of what we should be doing with the revenues that will come our way – building, at a minimum, the infrastructural basics that we so sorely lack for any kind of development. Building bridges, roads, factories, skyscrapers and other steel-framed buildings…

Gwan dat side, PNC!! Yuh na ready! …just being Shaggy??

Looking around at the economic wasteland he created: unilaterally and vindictively firing 7000 workers in the sugar industry and allowing four estates worth at least $200 BILLION to revert to bush, gold mining firings (Troy), Bauxite firings (RUSAL), Plywood Firings (Barama) etc – Granger excuses himself and his Government by claiming he was handed a “bad hand” by the PPP!! Talking about rubbing your doo-doo on the other fella’s bamsie!!

The PPP handed the PNC the most consistent growing economy in the region; an upper Medium Income Level Country rating after inheriting a debt-ridden “Highly Indebted Poor Country” ranking with rats gnawing at babies’ toes at GPHC; with poverty rates reduced from 43% to 36% in its first decade, educational standards rebuilt, not to mention 6 months’ reserves in the treasury!! The PNC is worse than the prodigal son who frittered away his inheritance and is now for another chance, by crying “Wasn’t me!!”

The PNC fooled Guyanese once and was shame on them. If we allow them to fool us again; shame on us!! …on tourism?

The Tourism Head complained that “Too many festivals are just an excuse for rum drinking when they (reps from the 10 Regions) should be bringing out the cultural resources of the regions.”

But isn’t rum drinking emblematic of our culture??

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

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Opposition Leader calls for broadened probe of SOCU’s top officials

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pposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has called for a more broadened probe into allegations of corruption at the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and, more so, what he called its “top-level political officials”.

Jagdeo made the call at his weekly press conference and on the heels of a Police investigation which was launched into Assistant Police Commissioner and former Head of SOCU, Sydney James, following recommendations from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers.

Acting Crime Chief Michael Kingston on Wednesday confirmed that Police were advised by the DPP to further investigate several issues at SOCU. Kingston was tightlipped on the details of the investigations; however, reports indicate that it involves gold and cash which were confiscated and went missing while in SOCU’s possession.

The Unit has been under fire for some time now with several allegations of corruption and improprieties being made against it by persons it would have investigated and had business dealings with.

Earlier this year, a forensic audit into SOCU’s

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

operations was launched by the Guyana Police Force (GPF). Following the audit, accusations were made against officials attached to the Unit regarding falsified invoices bearing forged signatures. According to reports, there was even a case of an official who alleged that his signature was forged.

Other irregularities that were unearthed include falsified records as well as missing documents.

There were also reports of listed expenditure being concocted and receipts being backdated.

The probe into the operations of the whitecollar crime-fighting Unit was triggered when the former British adviser to

SOCU, Dr Sam Sittlington, made a number of startling allegations against the Unit.

Following the allegations, James was subjected to questioning over allegations of improper spending, as part of the investigation and audit which stemmed after the termination of the British adviser.

Sittlington, an Irish consultant and fraud expert who was contracted by the British High Commission to provide institutional support to SOCU, was fired in February after it was discovered that he had established a local security company.

The move was considered a conflict of interest since the firm, dubbed the Fraud Company Limited, deals with much the same areas as SOCU. The fraud expert has long contended that he was wrongfully fired.

The parliamentary Opposition, People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has meanwhile maintained that SOCU, which was set up to fight money-laundering and other white-collar crimes, had become a political Unit under the APNU/AFC regime.

The PPP had said that Sittlington was going beyond his advisory role and was taking on executive functions. It was pointed out that Sittlington was going

Former SOCU Head Sydney James

on operations such as raids and arrests.

James was eventually sent on leave by the Government to facilitate investigations and an acting Head of SOCU, Althea Padmore, was appointed.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan has said publicly that with all that has happened, James will not be returning.

SOCU was established in 2014 on the recommendation of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) and was intended to be a Police unit operating under

the authority of the Police Commissioner but with a close relationship to the FIU. However, besides the fraud allegations, SOCU has failed to secure convictions in the cases it brought to court.

It was only in March of this year that contempt of court charges brought by SOCU against eight top executives of GBTI were thrown out by the Magistrates’ Courts.

The charges brought by SOCU against Guyana Rice Development Board officials were also thrown out.

12 injured in LindenSoesdyke Highway accident

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welve persons were treated for minor injuries after the minibus in which they were travelling toppled at Long Creek, LindenSoesdyke Highway on Friday.

This newspaper was told that the Route 43 minibus was at the time transporting footballers from Linden to Georgetown when The scene of the accident at Long Creek, Linden-Soesdyke Highway on the driver lost control of Friday the vehicle. transported to the Linden newspaper was told that no Following the accident, Hospital Complex for one suffered major injuries. the injured persons were medical attention. This

10 NEWS

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Rape charge recommended for mom, older daughter who allegedly raped alleged rapist ...perpetrator to also face child rape charge

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mother and her older daughter, who physically assaulted the alleged rapist of their 15-yearold relative before stripping the man and forcing the wooden handle of a hammer inside his anus are expected to be charged for rape committed on the alleged rapist.

The female duo was arrested in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), on Wednesday morning shortly after the incident took place but they are pres-

ently on station bail.

Meanwhile, the 28-yearold alleged rapist, a miner, who was hospitalised after the assault and rape, was discharged from the medical facility and taken into custody.

Police Commander of Region Seven, Senior Superintendent Linden Lord, when contacted told Guyana Times on Friday that the file about the incidents has been completed and will be dispatched to

the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Monday.

He stated that in the meanwhile, the two women and the alleged rapist were placed on station bail, pending the advice that comes from the DPP on the way forward.

According to Commander Lord, in light of the actions of the two women, the recommendation by detectives is that they be charged with rape committed on the al-

leged rapist, however, the final say is with the DPP. On Wednesday the alleged rapist had the tables turned on him after the sister of the underage female with whom he forcefully had anal sex teamed up with her mother to reportedly teach him what they described in their statement as an “unforgettable lesson”.

He is the boyfriend of the young girl’s sister and is said to usually visit their home in Bartica.

Reports are that in the wee hours of Tuesday, the alleged rapist was at the home with the 15-year-old

girl consuming alcohol.

The teenager, who ended up sitting at the edge of her bed at some point, became intoxicated and it was then the miner reportedly took advantage of her.

Hours after the ordeal, the teen contacted her mother and after notifying the woman about what occurred, she along with her older sister met with their mother.

The alleged rapist was also requested to meet them.

As he turned up at the address, he was invited to sit on a chair.

Guyana Times under-

stands that the 15-year-old’s mother bluntly asked the suspect if he engaged in anal sex with her younger daughter and the man denied. This newspaper was told that his teen girlfriend left her seat and dealt several punches to his face before lashing him repeatedly about his body with a mop stick.

While this was happening, the aggravated mother went to her kitchen, retrieved a knife from the cupboard and dealt the miner several chops about his body.

After the beating, the suspect confessed to having sex with the 15-year-old but claimed he had “oral” sex with the girl and not anal sex.

The man’s girlfriend then left the room and quickly returned with a hammer.

Not satisfied, the women then allegedly threatened to kill him. Less than a minute later, the woman and her older daughter teamed up to rip his clothes off and forcefully insert the wooden part of the hammer (handle) into his anus.

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Persons partying urged Child sodomised in washroom to get designated drivers 3 male primary school students

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n light of the numerous celebratory activities slated for this festive season, Acting Police Commissioner, Nigel Hoppie is urging members of the public, who are operating vehicles and will be imbibing, to get a designated driver.

At the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Annual Trainees’ Christmas Luncheon on Friday, he said that it is expected that many persons will participate in consuming alcoholic beverages at social events and activities that are being held to celebrate the Christmas season.

However, he pointed out that too many fatal accidents have occurred for this year already, specifically in the month of November, and, therefore, drivers on the roadways must take more caution during the festive season.

“In November, as you would have learnt in the media that we had 15 accidents which resulted in 21 deaths.

Three of which were children and so as we go down for the remainder of the year we need to ensure that we be our brother’s keeper.”

According to the Acting Police Commissioner, if all drivers exercise diligence while operating vehicles and practice upholding the road regulations and laws then the country’s roadways would not be claiming so many lives.

“While we conduct our business, we conduct a certain amount of responsibility and in our use of the road especially as drivers, we need to be cognisant of the five Cs. These are care, courtesy, caution, common sense and consideration…. and we will certainly make our roads a better place towards the end of the year.”

Less than three weeks ago, Traffic Chief, Superintendent Linden Isles had acknowledged that

implicated – CCPA Director

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Acting Police Commissioner Nigel Hoppie

in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) – the East Bank Demerara Sub-Division (Region Four (B)) – special systems have to be put in place since this is a section where most of the serious accidents have been recorded.

“If you look at the statistics it would show that in 2018 we had 16 accidents with 24 deaths and in 2019 we had 17 accidents with 25 deaths. So special emphasis will be placed in that area. Also, we could look at Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) where we had 14 accidents with 14 deaths in 2018 and 15 accidents with 15 deaths in 2019.”

However, the Traffic Chief noted that January 1 to November 10 of this year reveals that there has been a four per cent decrease in accidents and a six per cent decrease in deaths related to accidents comparative to the same period in 2018.

Road carnage

Just a few days ago, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo stated that the road carnage situation is not a political one in nature and recommended that all stakeholders should contribute towards finding a comprehensive solution.

“There is carnage on our roads and we have to find a way of stopping it. We don’t

have all the answers and I’m sure they don’t too,” he positioned.

He also asserted that those culpable must take responsibility for their actions. Meanwhile, Jagdeo clarified that if any political party promises to lower these statistics, it is untrue since a collective approach is required.

“It’s a combination of education, strong regulations, taking tough actions and people have to take responsibility too. People have to take personal responsibility for these issues because sometimes, you have one crazy person. Any [political] party that says to you that they can stop this will be lying to you,” he expressed.

His comments come in light of President David Granger’s response to the increased carnage, outlining a three-point approach for road safety. Road users were urged to observe the Guyana Police Force’s code of behaviour.

The caretaker President further pointed out that the “insane increase in road fatalities” was due to persons driving at excessive speeds, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving without due care and attention and driving on roads which are congested or unsafe for other road users, particularly pedestrians.

hree primary school students have been implicated in the alleged sodomy of the six-yearold boy, who complained to his parents that he was sexually assaulted in the washroom of his East Coast Demerara (ECD) school.

This is according to the Social Protection Ministry’s Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) Director, Ann Greene, who told Guyana Times on Friday that the traumatised child is receiving the necessary care he requires.

According to Greene, the CCPA, which is spearheading the probe, is in receipt of information that three other students were involved.

However, Greene stated that the matter is still under investigation and that the six-year-old child will be subjected to the forensic interview on Monday.

This interview will be conducted in the presence of relevant authorities and video recorded so that the boy would not have to repeat the story and endure more emotional and/or mental fatigue, she added.

Police Commander of Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) Subdivision C (East Coast Demerara), Assistant Police Commissioner, Royston Andries-Junor, confirmed that investigators are currently probing the incident, which was reported to law enforcement authorities earlier this week.

At that time, the Commander explained that in matters relating to child abuse in any form or manner, there are channels

Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) Director Ann Greene

which have to be followed and that the first step is to ensure that the child (victim) receives the medical attention and counselling he/she may need before the Police take a statement.

As such, the CCPA is currently playing their part of the investigation before the child speaks to Police ranks.

He added that at this juncture, the most import-

ant part is that the child is taken care of and receives the care he needs in order to recover as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry, in a release to the press Thursday evening, stated that it has been made aware of the issue via social media.

According to the Ministry, a probe was launched from its end.

12 NEWS Police trainees treated to annual Christmas luncheon saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

home. Hicken along with other senior ranks toasted to the batch of recruits.

“We recognise over the years that the Commissioner and his senior administrative team are bent on ensuring that recruits are treated to a Christmas luncheon, having them feel home away from home, creating a new family. It is important too to understand that they’re

A section of the recruits at the Annual Trainees’ Christmas Luncheon

S

enior ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Friday hosted their Annual Trainees’ Christmas Luncheon at the Police Officers’ Mess Annex to celebrate with almost 400 recruits.

Loud cheering and applause filled the Annex as participants enjoyed the entertainment-packed programme which was in keeping with the spirit of the Christmas season.

Attendees enjoyed performances in various forms of song, dance, skit and poetry.

Recruits were served and catered to by senior ranks of the force with various options of tantalising foods, non-alcoholic drinks and snacks. The faces of the recruits lit up with bright smiles as they were being served by senior ranks and top officials of the Police Force.

sparing no efforts to ensure this reality becomes a success”.

Deputy Commissioner Nigel Hoppie, during his speech, also reiterated the sentiments expressed by Hicken on the importance of this “age-old” tradition.

At the event, incentives were also awarded to in excess of 30 ranks of the force attached to the kitchen for their outstanding contribu-

tions.

Among top officials serving the recruits at the luncheon on Friday were Assistant Commissioner of Police Maxine Graham, Superintendent Commandant Stephen, Regional and Branch Commanders, as well as Heads of various administrative departments within the Police Force.

Global Tours launches vacation packages for Guyanese

G

A top rank of the Police Force serving recruits at the luncheon

Force Training Officer Clifton Hicken, speaking at the luncheon, stated that the senior ranks of the force are committed to pampering new recruits annually

in the form of a luncheon.

He said that it is a form of welcoming them to the profession whilst also fostering an environment where trainees are able to feel at

uyanese will no longer have to dream about having oncein-a-lifetime adventures around the world since Global Tours and Travel Company (GlobalTT) will now be offering these types of experiences worldwide at discounted prices.

The company has partnered with several major airlines, cruise lines, car rental companies, top hotel brands and chains, destination service providers, vacation rental properties, and other travel product and service companies to offer all-inclusive vacations and packaged holidays to the people of Guyana.

According to a statement on Friday, GlobalTT said that their consultants will be planning and sorting accommodations, airport shuttles and other ground transport and flights, so that their customers will not have to worry about these little details but to just focus on their vacation ahead.

GlobalTT will also be of-

GlobalTT Cruise Ship

fering destinations that are sometimes overlooked by many Guyanese travellers and those familiar hotspots, offering new reasons to return.

According to the company, it will be catering for all budgets with their vacation packages. Some of their tours include places such as Havana, Varadero, and Holguín along with the more than 60 other destinations in Cuba available to be explored by the clients of GlobalTT. Jamaica and Panama were also indicated.

In its North American Division, GlobalTT is ex-

pected to offer special packaged tours to Miami, New York City, Washington, and Toronto— the capital of Ontario.

For cruisers and wouldbe cruisers, as a travel partner of the well-known Carnival Cruise Line, Guyanese will have the opportunity to set sail for less on their vacations with Carnival’s outstanding roster of cruise vacations.

Meanwhile, in 2020, the company announced that they will be offering special tours to attractive sites in Dubai and China which they call the ‘Taste of China’ tour.

NEWS

13

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Private sector to benefit from ‘Tis the season of giving training at Centre of Excellence

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embers of the private sector will soon be able to benefit from the training provided by the Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT).

This was disclosed by Public Telecommunications Minister Catherine Hughes during an interview with the Department of Public Information.

According to the Minister, currently, only members of the public sector benefit from the programmes offered by the CEIT. These include JAVA Programming, Data Communication & Networking, and Advanced Web Technologies among several others.

“I am happy to say that we are now in discussion with the Indian Government and we are going to make the facility and the training opportunities also open to those persons in the private sector”.

Students in a classroom in the Centre for Excellence in Information Technology

Highlighting the importance of the facility, Minister Hughes said “we are working to incorporate the use of technology more into the way we conduct business in Guyana; the way the Government operates. Therefore, the Centre of Excellence is key to ensuring that we can train people”.

The CEIT is a centre of academic engagement and excellence and the Government’s leading provider of research-informed ICT education and projects for the public sector. The facility is just one of the many efforts by the Ministry of Public Telecommunications aimed at promoting the use of technology in Guyana.

Silvie’s Industrial Solutions (SIS) donated several personal care products to the Hauranruni Girls’ Home. On Friday, the management of SIS commended the Hauranruni Girls’ Home for providing over 53 years of unmatched service to the less fortunate by providing the love of a real home to deprived and homeless children. In photo, SIS Senior Accounts Officer Telisha Persaud presents Pastor Deoram Timram with the donation

US probe finds Cambridge Analytica misled Facebook users on data

U

S regulators concluded Friday that British consultancy Cambridge Analytica – at the centre of a massive scandal on hijacking of Facebook data – deceived users of the social network about how it collected and handled their personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said its investigation launched in March 2018 concluded that the now-defunct political consulting firm "engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting."

The FTC said the British firm, which worked

on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, made "false and misleading" claims when it offered Facebook users a "personality quiz" – stating it would not download names or any personally identifiable information.

The case created a firestorm over data protec-

Cambridge Analytica's former CEO Alexander Nix (Photo: AFP)

tion when it was disclosed that Cambridge Analytica was able to create psychological profiles using data from millions of Facebook users through the harvest-

ing of the data.

The personality prediction app was downloaded by 270,000 people but also scooped up data from their friends, and fed into an ef-

fort by the firm to predict the behavior of individual US voters.

It was not immediately clear what impact the FTC findings would have.

The FTC issued an order which prohibits Cambridge Analytica – which closed in 2018 – from making false misrepresentations on how it handles personal data, and requires compliance with a US-EU privacy agreement.

The FTC reached a settlement earlier this year with Cambridge Analytica's former CEO Alexander Nix and app developer Aleksandr Kogan that requires them to delete or destroy any personal informa-

tion they collected.

The company claimed in 2018 it had been ruined by "numerous unfounded accusations" that made it impossible to keep the business afloat.

Facebook's own investigation found that some data from 87 million users in the US and elsewhere had been compromised by the firm, and claimed the practices violated the social network's terms of service.

Facebook, which did not immediately respond to a query on the FTC decision, paid a record $5 billion penalty early this year in a settlement with the regulator over mishandling users' private data. (AFP)

14 NEWS

saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

OPEC and its allies agree to TSTT pensioners deepen oil production cuts surviving on TT$500 a month E nergy ministers from some of the world’s largest oil producers have agreed to deepen recurring production cuts by an additional 500,000 barrels per day (b/d) through to March 2020.

OPEC and non-OPEC allies, often referred to as OPEC+, decided to implement tighter oil production policy at a biannual meeting in Vienna, Austria on Friday.

The new deal, which is much larger than many analysts had expected, will see OPEC+ reduce total oil output by 1.7 million b/d.

The energy alliance has said it plans to review the policy at an extraordinary meeting on March 5-6.

Oil prices rallied shortly after the OPEC+ announcement. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $64.70 on Friday afternoon, up around 2%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $59.63, over 2% higher.

However, Brent crude futures remain around 15% lower when com-

pared to an April peak, with WTI down almost 12% over the same period.

Compliance quotas Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told reporters on Friday that the oil-rich kingdom’s quota would be an additional 167,000 b/d through to March 2020.

Sitting alongside OPEC delegates at a press conference shortly after the meeting, Abdulaziz explained his country would also extend a voluntary cut of 400,000 b/d. This means the energy alliance’s total cuts would effectively amount to 2.1 million b/d, he said, before emphasizing that OPEC+ would only be able to achieve this figure with improved compliance.

OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia has been adamant those that have previously been overproducing — such as Iraq and Nigeria — must comply with the group’s quota.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow’s quota would be 300,000 b/d during the first three months of 2020. This measurement ex-

cludes gas condensate — a high-value light crude extracted as a by-product of gas production.

However, Brent crude futures remain around 15% lower when compared to an April peak, with WTI down almost 12% over the same period. The energy alliance was prompted to act after global oil prices tumbled in mid2014 due to an oversupply, but U.S. shale producers are not a part of the deal and shale oil supply has grown exponentially.

The US is now the world’s largest oil producer hitting 12.3 million b/d in 2019, according to the US Energy Information Administration, up from 11 million b/d in 2018. It produces more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia now, although there are signs that production growth is slowing in the States.

Along with rampant shale supply, faltering demand due to a global economic slowdown, exacerbated by the Sino-US trade war, has once again threatened to unbalance oil supply and demand dynamics. (CNBC)

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn clash over Brexit in BBC debate

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oris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over Brexit in the final head-to-head debate before the 12 December election.

During the live debate, Corbyn said Labour would bring Brexit “to an end” by negotiating a new deal and putting it back to the public in a referendum, alongside a Remain option.

Johnson said he had “a wonderful deal”, and would use it to take the UK out of the EU on 31 January.

Other topics covered included the NHS, security and Northern Ireland.

Early on in the debate hosted by Today presenter Nick Robinson - the Labour leader said he would negotiate a new withdrawal agreement with the EU within

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn: BBC election debate roundup

three months before putting it to a final say referendum - alongside Remain - within six months.

The prime minister countered by saying he already had a withdrawal agreement in place, and would use it to leave the EU next month if he won a working majority in Parliament.

But Nick Robinson challenged Johnson, pointing out that while he had a withdrawal deal in place, he did not have a trade deal with the EU, and so could not rule out a no-deal exit in January 2021.

Coming into the event, Labour and the Conservatives had spent

the day arguing over how Johnson’s Brexit deal might affect Northern Ireland.

Labour said a leaked document showed Johnson’s agreement would have a “devastating” impact on Northern Ireland.

When the subject arose in the debate, Corbyn said of his rival: “He spoke at a DUP conference and said there would be no [trade] restrictions [after Brexit] whatsoever, we now know there are restrictions.”

But Johnson was met with applause from the audience when he said he found it “slightly curious” to be lectured about the union

by Corbyn, referring to the Labour leader’s past support for those who want to see a united Ireland. (BBC)

TSTT re­tirees protest outside the TSTT’s Edward Street office in Port-of-Spain calling on the company to treat them better

A

bout 200 retirees from Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TSTT) say they currently have to survive on less than $1,000 in pension per month.

This despite an over $700 Million surplus in the pension plan which was started years ago by employees.

The pensioners have been protesting their low-paying pensions for years and again took to the streets outside of TSTT’s Edward Street office in Port-of-Spain to call on the company to treat them better.

Communication Workers Union (CWU) SecretaryGeneral Clyde Elder told Guardian Media that the former employees have been suffering for far too long.

He said the State now needs to amend the pension laws so retirees can have peace of mind and the ability to sustain themselves through their old age.

“We need to change the pension laws, we need to re-

vamp the pension laws, we need to address those pension laws because until we don’t, pensioners will not get the justice they deserve,” Elder said.

He said the amount paid in pension is usually twothirds of the last salary paid to an employee before they retire.

But in the case of the men and women who were employed with the Trinidad and Tobago Telephone Company Limited (TELCO) and retired years ago, that last salary did not amount to much.

He appealed to TSTT increase the amount paid, saying pensioners had also lost a lot of the purchasing power they once had with their money.

“Some people’s pension for the month is just about $500, some is $800, some just about $1,000, in this day and age, that cannot be right and on top of that, there is enough money in the plan to ensure they get an increase in their pension,” Elder said.

Elder said TSTT told the union in previous conversations that the pensioners should apply to the state for government pensions.

One pensioner, Reginald Thompson said he does not even get the $3,500 pension that citizens get from the state when they retire. He said pensioners are struggling to pay their medical bills and keep food on the table with the meagre pensions.

“Pensioners cannot see about their health, they cannot take care of their standard of living, their standard of living has gone beyond poverty,” Thompson said.

Guardian Media reached out to TSTT for a response and the company said the CWU has been invited to a meeting to discuss the issues related to the pensioners and the Pension Fund Plan for December 17.

TSTT said it remains committed to working with the union for the wider benefit of its employees and the organisation. (T&T Guardian)

news

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saturday, DECEMBER 7, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

White House tells Democrats it will not participate in Trump impeachment hearing

T

he White House said on Friday it would refuse to take part in hearings in the US

House of Representatives set for next week that will consider what articles of impeachment to bring

against President Donald Trump.

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman

Several killed in central Baghdad as assailants fire live rounds

A

t least seven protesters have been killed in Baghdad in an attack by unidentified men near the Iraqi capital’s main protest camp, according to reports citing medical and security s@ources.

Gunmen on pick-up trucks late on Friday attacked a large building near the al-Sinak bridge where anti-government protesters had been camped out for weeks, witnesses told the AFP news agency.

The attackers forced the protesters out of the building and live rounds could be heard after the altercation.

State television said the building had been torched “by unidentified men”.

Medics, who had earlier given a toll of three dead, said dozens of other demonstrators were wounded and expected the toll of seven could rise even further.

One female medic at a

President Donald Trump

Demonstrators on Friday taking part in the ongoing antigovernment protests in Baghdad [Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters]

field clinic nearby said she had treated at least five people for light stab wounds.

The attacks come one day after a string of suspicious stabbing incidents left at least 13 wounded in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Iraq’s leaderless weeks-long protest movement.

Al Jazeera’s Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said the reported

violence marked “a very unusual escalation”.

“What we’ve seen so far is casualties occurring because of direct confrontations between protesters and security forces near the front lines.”

More than 400 protesters have been killed and nearly 20,000 wounded since anti-government demonstrations erupted on October 1.

(Al Jazeera)

4 dead in suspected New York murder-suicide

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wo adults and two children were found dead in a quiet suburban Westchester home Thursday, in what police are reportedly investigating as a murder-suicide.

Cops responded to a brick house on Romer Ave. in Pleasantville at about 1:50 p.m. after officials at the kids’ school noticed they didn’t show up for class, Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner said.

The house is near the

village’s middle and high schools. Pleasantville is about 34 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.

The victims were all members of the same family, Grutnzner said. Police are treating the house as a crime scene, though Grutnzer did not reveal anything about the victims — including what caused their deaths. Police sources told WABC that cops are investigating it as murder-suicide.

“Our hearts are broken at the news of this incredible tragedy. This is a very small community and it impacts all of us in this small village,” said Mary Fox-Alter, the superintendent of the Pleasantville Union Free School District.

Schools will be open Friday, an emotional FoxAlter said, adding that the district will provide grief counseling to anyone in need. (NY Daily News)

Argentina’s new central bank Head Pesce likely to shun Macri-era orthodoxy

A

rgentina’s incoming central bank head, Miguel Angel Pesce, will need all his guile to navigate the country’s myriad economic challenges: interest rates above 60%, drained foreign reserves, tough fiscal targets and roaring inflation.

The low-profile economist, most recently president of provincial Tierra del Fuego bank, has indicated he will seek to shift policy away from the more orthodox stance the bank has followed under conservative President Mauricio Macri, who hands over power on Dec. 10.

Pesce, 57, a former central bank vice president who

led the bank temporarily in 2010 under then President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has backed lowering interest rates and striking a “social pact” to help cool fast-rising prices.

“The orthodox approach to inflation is wrong. They are trying to contain inflation with monetary policy, monetary restriction and the interest rate - and this has not worked,” Pesce said in September in a televised interview.

“It is important to have a social pact not only addressing the issue of income and salary increases, but also that there is an agreement not to increase prices,” he added.

His brief spell leading the central bank came after the bank’s president Martín Redrado resigned after refusing to implement an order from Peronist Fernandez de Kirchner to use foreign reserves to pay off mounting debt. Pesce who has chided Macri’s administration for treating the central bank as a “sacred cow” - waved through Fernandez de Kirchner’s request, prompting some to question his defense of central bank autonomy and independence.

He told Reuters this week that his choice in 2010 had been simply a matter of abiding by the book.

(Reuters)

Jerrold Nadler, White House counsel Pat Cipollone called the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry “completely baseless” and said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had ordered Democrats to proceed with articles of impeachment “before your committee has heard a single shred of evidence.”

“We don’t see any reason to participate because the process is unfair,” said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We haven’t been given any fair opportunity to participate.

The speaker has already announced the predetermined result and they will not give us the ability to call any witnesses.”

Nadler rejected that criticism and expressed disappointment, saying in a statement: “The American people deserve answers from President Trump.”

Pelosi on Thursday asked the Judiciary Committee to draw up articles of impeachment formal charges - against the Republican president.

The committee could draft and recommend the articles by next Thursday and the full Democratic-led House could vote on them

by Christmas, imperiling Trump’s presidency as his 2020 re-election campaign looms.

Pelosi in September launched the impeachment inquiry into Trump’s

request that Ukraine investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender for the Democratic nomination to face the president in the 2020 U.S. election.

“House Democrats have wasted enough of America’s time with this charade,” Cipollone’s letter said. “You should end this inquiry now and not waste even more time with additional hearings.”

He quoted Trump as saying, “If you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a fair trial in the Senate, and so that our country can get back to business.”

Trump has made clear his lawyers will present a defense in the Republicancontrolled Senate, where he believes he will receive fair treatment.

Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee, who had also faced a Friday deadline to identify witnesses they want to call before the panel, submitted a list of eight, including Biden’s son, Hunter, the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who led the Ukraine probe. (Reuters)

Queens Bishop arrested after allegedly confessing to sexual abuse

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he spiritual leader of a Queens church was busted for sexually abusing a pre-teen parishioner across nearly three years, with the accused predator confessing his sins to the victim in a recorded confrontation, officials charged Friday.

A four-page criminal complaint described the victim meeting with Bishop Jesse Milagrosa on Oct. 28, 2018 to discuss the childhood abuse and record the creepy cleric’s admission to the alleged crimes. “That was my mistake,” the bishop told the victim, according to the complaint. “If you want to report this, I’ll pay the consequences. I know I’m going to prison, I know it will be for a long time, and that’s it.” Milagrosa, the longtime head of Our Lady of La Salette Church in Bayside, was ordered held on $250,000 bail after his Queens Criminal Court arraignment Thursday night on 11 felony counts for his long-running sexual targeting of the 12-year-old church member, authorities said.

The charges include predatory sexual assault against a child and criminal sexual acts.

The victim later turned over the damning recording to NYPD detectives. Prosecutors said the 69-year-old bishop, speaking in Spanish, also confessed to police that he had oral and anal contact with the underage victim from 2011 to 2014.

“The defendant is accused of using his position as head of the church to take advantage of an innocent child for his own sexual gratification,” said acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan.

The youth was an active member of the parish and spent much of his free time outside of school with Milagrosa before the religious figure began assaulting the boy in May 2011,

officials said.

Though nominally a Catholic parish, Our Lady of La Salette Church is unaffiliated with the Brooklyn Archdiocese. The church was built in 2000 and operates outside the auspices of the Vatican.

“Bishop Milagrosa is beloved by his congregation,” said his attorney Jeffrey Pittell. “We deny these accusations and urge everyone to avoid rushing to judgement, and instead wait for the outcome of the judicial process.”

If convicted, Milagrosa faces 10 years to life behind bars, authorities said. He is due back in court on December 20. (NY Daily News)

16

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, december 7, 2019

Regional

Dominica elections: Skerrit wins again

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n his election victory speech tonight, Prime Minister and leader of the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) Roosevelt Skerrit called for restraint, respect and calm in the country.

In his address to the nation at 21:15h. Skerrit put a hold on all celebrations which would traditionally follow an election win and declared Sunday as a day of national peace, prayer, reconciliation and healing.

“I am asking for all churches to hold services at 10 in the morning so that the entire country will be praying at the same time while appealing to all candidates who contested the elections earlier today, to lead by example and attend

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has led the Caribbean island, home to 75,000 people, since 2004 [Photo by: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

the services”.

Skerrit, who won his fourth term as Prime Minister and the DLP's fifth consecutive victory at the polls, said given

all the tensions of the last few weeks leading up today’s election, he asked all DLP candidates to suspend celebrations until next weekend.

He said next weekend, when there is a greater sense of calm, they would then hold the victory parties, motorcades and celebrations.

Skerrit also announced there will be a national ecumenical service of thanksgiving at that time.

The party’s leader, in his 14-minute address, said: “As Prime Minister, I cannot allow the United Workers Party (UWP) campaign of road blocking, recklessness and intimidation and abuse to continue indefinitely and unabated. There must and will be

Brazil Police crackdown on gold smuggling on Venezuela border

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razilian Police launched an operation on Friday to break up a smuggling ring that it said had exported 1.2 tonnes of illegal gold bought since 2017 from wildcat miners in the frontier region between Brazil and Venezuela.

Federal Police carried out 85 search warrants in five states as part of an investigation centred on the northern state of Roraima.

They also searched the offices of a company called RBM in Sao Paulo suspected of laundering the gold prior to export, a Police spokesman said.

The company, which specialises in buying precious

metals, based in Caieras in the interior of Sao Paulo, did not reply to a request for comment. According to the company’s website, its motto is: “We work to transform your product into value.”

The gold originated in the Indigenous Yanomami reservation in Roraima, which straddles the border with Venezuela and where the number of illegal miners has soared into the thousands since last year, the spokesman said.

By some accounts, 10,000 wildcat miners have invaded the Yanomami reservation since the election of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who said he

plans to end a constitutional ban on mining on tribal lands.

Gold mined in southern Venezuela was also coming over the border, and three Venezuelan businessmen were being sought by Brazil as members of the criminal organization, the Police said in a statement.

The Police estimated the gold smuggled by the gang was worth more than $55 million. Several federal and state revenue officials are under investigation for helping to launder the illegal gold with documents that said it was scrap metal.

(Reuters)

Jamaica sends legal shipment of cannabis to Canada

M

ore than 10 kilogrammes, or roughly 22 pounds of legal cannabis, were recently exported to Canada by licensed Jamaican cannabis company, Global Canna Labs.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw made the disclosure at a CanEx Investment Summit at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Downtown Toronto, Canada, last Thursday.

Under the theme, 'Reducing barriers and finding ways to bridge the legal cannabis trade between Canada and the Caribbean,' the shipment was hailed

by Shaw as a significant step in the development of Jamaica's nascent medical, therapeutic and scientific cannabis industry,” a release from the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) said.

Shaw, meanwhile, reinforced the Government's commitment to put the finishing touches on import/export regulations for the cannabis industry.

Paul Glavine, president and director of Global Canna Labs, who also spoke

Global Canna Labs President and Director Paul Glavine (centre) is in good spirits as he speaks with Cannabis Licensing Authority Director Delano Seiveright (left) and Douglas Gordon, and Founder and Manager of CanEx, last Thursday at the CanEx Investment Summit in Toronto, Canada

at the summit, told current and potential investors that the company was gearing up for further exports to Australia and other nations while opening dispensaries in Kingston, Montego Bay and other locations.

According to Glavine, the company is also moving to enhance its processing and packaging facilities and build out linkages with Jamaica's tourism industry.

Global Canna Labs is one of the leading medical cannabis companies in Jamaica and operates under a Tier

3 operator's licence on its 270,000 square foot facility in the heart of Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The Tier 3 licence is the highest-issued licence by the CLA for the cultivation and production of medical cannabis.

This recent export of cannabis inflorescence/flower was the first shipment of this quantity, and CLA Director Delano Seiveright told the Jamaica Observer that previous shipments were relatively minor. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

respect for law and order in this country”.

Skerrit said it was only by God’s grace and mercy that no one was seriously hurt in the lead up to the elections.

“In the interest of the country, I call on the UWP’s leadership and supporters to halt the conduct and behaviour of the

last few weeks. Concede defeat and let the country come together”, he said, noting that an Opposition is an important institution in a democratic society.

The Prime Minister appealed to Dominicans to move forward in unity.

“We must all now put

Dominica first in communities, families and at a national level, there must now be peace. Let’s hold on to Dominica strong”.

Skerrit assured the country that the DLP is committed to the dual task of healing and building the country. (CMC)

Bolivian Minister seeks Israel’s help in fighting alleged leftist “terrorism”

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olivia’s interim Government wants Israel to help local authorities fight “terrorism” in the South American country, the Interior Minister told Reuters on Friday, alleging plots by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other leftists to destabilise regional governments.

Without providing details, Arturo Murillo said Bolivian Police were investigating radical leftists allegedly linked to Maduro and drug-traffickers whom the government said had instigated deadly unrest in the country after former President Evo Morales resigned last month.

Morales had been set to finish his third term in January but had faced weeks of protests following an election that he won but which was dogged by accu-

Bolivia's new Interior Minister Arturo Murillo addresses the media in La Paz, Bolivia

sations of vote-rigging. He has blamed his downfall on a coup after security forces withdrew their support for him.

The interim government of President Jeanine Anez, a former opponent of Morales who was the highest-ranking official when he and his vice president

fled to Mexico, has since swung Bolivia’s politics sharply to the right.

She has strengthened the standing of the religious right, resumed strong ties with the United States and Israel, and sent hundreds of Cuban doctors and Venezuelan diplomats home.

Her Government has also set up police units to conduct counter-terrorism operations. TV footage broadcast on local media has shown police in face masks with guns in training sessions.

“They’re tough and not messing around,” Murillo said of the units. “We’re going to keep preparing them.”

Murillo said several countries had helped train the police and that he has asked Israel for support as well. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Barbados: Sugar money paid to farmers

A

lthough poor rainfall is likely to affect the 2020 sugar cane harvest, reaping will start on a positive note.

For the first time in several years, private sugar cane farmers will start a new harvest without outstanding arrears.

On Thursday, Chairman of the Barbados Sugar Industry Limited, Mark Sealy, told the Nation that while the weather was a concern going into the new year, farmers got up-to-date payments for the 2018 and 2019

harvest and thus were in a better position to prepare for the coming crop.

He said farmers received the $2.72 million for interim support for 2018; and $1.8 million in interim pay and a final payment of $2 million for this year’s harvest.

“We do not want the public to have the impression that we are rich; this is a marginal business,” Sealy said. “We delivered 56,000 tonnes of sugar cane and this was part of the price that was agreed for the 2019 crop.”

(Barbados Nation News)

Barbados Sugar Industry Limited Chairman Mark Sealy

T&T: PNM councillor sworn in, UNC members fail to show

T

he lone PNM councillor elected in the Mayaro/ Rio Claro Regional Corporation took his oath of office at the council chambers earlier today.

However, all five of the UNC councillors failed to show up and none gave any official explanation for their absence.

The Corporation's Chief Executive Officer Ashmead Mohammed called the meeting at 10 am but no councillor was present.

Perez walked in just after 10:30 am.

Mohammed reconvened the meeting saying there was a possibility that the

others were caught in the traffic caused by the closure of the Unipet has stations.

When the meeting was called at 11 am, Mohammed made a roll call. He called the names of the councillors three times but there was no answer.

The lone PNM councillor elected in the Mayaro/ Rio Claro Regional Corporation took his oath of office at the council chambers earlier today.

However, all five of the UNC councillors failed to show up and none gave any official explanation for their absence.

The Corporation's Chief Executive Officer Ashmead Mohammed called the meeting at 10 am but no councillor was present.

Perez walked in just after 10:30 am.

Mohammed reconvened the meeting saying there was a possibility that the others were caught in the traffic caused by the closure of the Unipet has stations.

When the meeting was called at 11 am, Mohammed made a roll call. He called the names of the councillors three times but there was no answer. (T&T Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, december 7, 2019

17

Around the World

China to waive tariffs on some US Australia bushfires north of soybeans, pork in goodwill gesture Sydney ‘too big to put out’

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hina on Friday confirmed that it will waive import tariffs for some soybeans and pork shipments from the United States, as the two sides try to thrash out a broader agreement to defuse their protracted trade war.

Several industry sources in the United States and China interpreted the announcement as official confirmation of duty exemptions on up to 10 million tonnes of soybeans and an unknown volume of pork sources said were offered to importers earlier this year.

China had imposed levies in response to tariffs launched by Washington over allegations that China steals and forces the transfer of American intellectual property to Chinese firms. Tariffs on US soy imports are currently 33 per cent while levies on

A

Pork vendors’ stalls at a market in Beijing, China, November 11, 2019

pork are up to 72 per cent.

Importers with duty-free quotas have been required to pay the tariffs and later apply for refunds, a process that traders said caused delays in unloading shipments.

Friday’s announcement appeared to remove that step, industry sources said.

The waivers come amid negotiations to conclude a ‘phase one’ deal to de-escalate a 17-month trade war that has roiled financial markets, disrupted supply chains and

weighed on global economic growth.

It is not clear how much US soy China will buy in coming months as the Brazilian harvest looms, said Darin Friedrichs, senior Asia commodity analyst at INTL FC Stone.

Exemptions for pork are likely to be in higher demand, with less than two months until China’s Lunar New Year holiday, the country’s peak consumption period.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Nairobi building collapse: Several killed, more feared trapped

A

t least two people have been killed in Kenya’s capital after the collapse of a six-storey residential building, as rescuers struggled to reach those feared trapped under a mountain of rubble.

It was not immediately clear how many people were inside when the structure fell on Friday morning. The Kenya Red Cross said in a Twitter post 11 people had been rescued by late afternoon.

As rescue operations continued in Nairobi’s Tassia estate, scores of people clustered around the pancaked structure waiting to find news of their family and friends.

The Associated Press news agency quoted officials as saying two people had been killed, with at least eight injured.

Separately, Reuben Ndolo, the Nairobi Regional

A woman rescued from the rubble is carried by rescuers at the scene of the building collapse in Nairobi [Baz Ratner/Reuters]

Police Commander, told Reuters news agency: “Three people have died, and 27 others have been rushed to hospital. One was seriously injured.”

“Tragedy has struck us again,” public works official Gordon Kihalangwa said.

“Some people have been trapped inside and we are doing our best to free them.”

Building collapses are common in Nairobi, where housing is in high demand

and unscrupulous developers often bypass regulations.

After eight buildings collapsed and killed 15 people in Kenya in 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered an audit of all the country’s buildings to see if they were up to code.

The National Construction Authority found that 58 per cent of buildings in the capital were unfit for habitation. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Washington blacklists Iran-backed Iraqi militia leaders over protests

T

he sanctions announced on Friday are the latest US targeting of Iraqi individuals or armed groups with close links to Tehran as Washington ramps up economic pressure to try to counter Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Washington would be ready to impose further sanctions on others over the killings of protesters if the violence did not stop, David Schenker, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, told reporters in a briefing.

The sanctions target Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq

Iran-backed militia and his brother Laith al-Khazali, another leader of the group, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.

They also target Hussein Falih al-Lami, security chief for the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), Iraq’s state umbrella group of paramilitary factions, which is dominated by groups backed by Iran, including Asaib.

Security forces have killed more than 400 mostly unarmed protesters, Police and medics say.

On Friday, gunmen killed at least six people near Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, Police and

medics said.

Iraqi protesters say the groups that dominate the Government have kept people poor and jobless through corruption and failed to repair the country despite two years of relative calm after the defeat of Islamic State.

Asked whether sanctions were designed to distance the militia leaders from the process of forming a new Government, one of the Treasury officials said: “The timing is quite deliberate... Iraq’s people are demanding a Government that is free and clear of foreign interference.” (Excerpt from Reuters)

“mega blaze” raging across a 60km (37 miles) front north of the Australian city of Sydney cannot currently be put out, fire officials have warned.

The blaze across 300,000 hectares (1150 sq m) is just an hour’s drive from the nation’s most populous city.

People who cannot defend their property from approaching fires have been told they should leave immediately.

Since October, bushfires have killed six people and destroyed more than 700 homes across Australia.

The severity of the blaz-

es so early in the fire season has caused alarm, and prompted calls for greater action to tackle climate change.

Several fires have combined to form the mega blaze north of Sydney, although more than a dozen locations are affected across New South Wales.

At one point on Friday, nine fires had been raised to emergency level warnings, although these had decreased markedly amid a brief respite in conditions later in the day.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) Deputy Commissioner, Rob Rogers

told ABC: “We cannot stop these fires, they will just keep burning until conditions ease, and then we’ll try to do what we can to contain them.”

He said the 60km stretch from Hawkesbury to Singleton was “just fire that whole way”.

The RFS website listed five fires roughly in a line from Nullo Mountain to Wollombi as out of control at 05:00 local time on Saturday (18:00 GMT Friday), with another out of control at Green Wattle Creek, southwest of Sydney. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Pensacola shooting: Saudi student kills 3 at US naval base

T

he gunman who killed three people at a US naval base in Pensacola, Florida, is a Saudi student, officials say.

The suspect, a Saudi military member in training at the site, was shot dead after the attack in a classroom.

The local sheriff’s office confirmed eight others were injured in the attack. The shooter used a handgun.

It is the second shooting to take place at a US military base after a US sailor shot dead two workers at the Pearl Harbour military base on Wednesday.

Authorities were alerted to the shooting at the base on the waterfront southwest of Pensacola at 06:51 (12:51 GMT).

“Walking through the crime scene was like being on the set of a movie,” said Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan.

Two officers were shot in the limbs but are expected to

The US naval air base in Pensacola, Florida

recover.

According to its website the naval airbase, which is still in lockdown, employs more than 16,000 military and 7400 civilian personnel.

President Donald Trump said that King Salman of Saudi Arabia had called to “express his sincere condolences and give his sympathies to the families and friends of the warriors who were killed”.

Trump said the Saudi King told him that “this per-

son in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people”.

Timothy Kinsella, the base Commanding Officer, said he was “absolutely in awe of the response” to the attack.

An investigation was taking place and names of victims would not be released until next of kin had been notified, the US Navy said in a statement. (Excerpt from BBC News)

As unions turn the screws, French PM says pension reform unavoidable

F

rench Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Friday nationwide strikes in the public sector would not weaken his resolve to reform the pension system but promised workers would be spared a brutal transition to the new regime.

Philippe said he was not seeking confrontation with trade unions, which on Friday called for mass protests and strikes over plans to streamline one of the developed world’s most generous pension systems to continue next week.

The Government wants to replace a byzantine system comprised of more than 40 separate pension plans, each with varying benefits, with a single, points-based system under which for each euro contributed, every pensioner has equal rights.

On Friday, commuters

A French SNCF railway worker on strike holds a CGT labour union flag as he walks on a platform at Nice railway station as the nationwide strike continues against French Government’s pensions reform plans, France, December 6, 2019

faced severe disruption getting to and from work for a second day and the state-run SNCF railways said train services would remain impacted through the weekend and on Monday. Schools and hospitals were also left understaffed.

The strike pits trade unions determined to safeguard worker protections against President Emmanuel Macron, a

41-year-old former investment banker who took office in 2017 on a promise of opening up France’s highly regulated economy.

The outcome will hinge on who blinks first - the unions who risk losing public support if the disruption goes on for too long, or the President whose two-and-ahalf years in office have been rocked by waves of social unrest. (Excerpt from Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, december 7, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS

dilbert

(April 20May 20)

Peanuts

Take the initiative to find out the truth. Someone you least expect will misinterpret you or lead you astray. Question others’ motives and follow the path that feels right.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

What you say will be more effective than what you do. Don’t let emotions take the reins, or bedlam will ensue. A calm exterior and positive encouragement will bring good results.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Step into the spotlight, do a little presentation and charm your way into someone’s heart. Romance is in the picture, leading to exciting possibilities. Let your imagination take the wheel.

VIRGO

Make personal financial adjustments and then move on to enjoyable pastimes.

You’ll have just as much fun if you spend less money on loved ones and offer them more time instead.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

A lifestyle change will give you the nudge you’ve been looking for. Get involved in projects that interest you, or travel to broaden your horizons.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Calvin and Hobbes

Keep going until you are happy with what transpires.

Refuse to let the actions of others influence you. If you stick to your game plan, you will make a difference.

A relationship will need tender, loving care. Balance, integrity and understanding will play a role when it comes to engaging in activities that require a partner. Protect what’s important to you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Change should begin with you. Take a moment to decipher what you want, whom you want to spend time with and how best to proceed. Romance is encouraged.

Aim high and don’t stop SAGITTARIUS until you get what you want.

(Nov. 23Home, family and personal Dec. 21) relationships should be your priorities. Fashion a warm and welcome setting and host an event.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOr LAST PUBLISHED puzzle AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Concentrate on whatever task needs to be done. If you let your emotions take charge, you will not be satisfied with the results you get.

Stay focused and finish what you start.

Give yourself a chance to digest what’s going on before you make a decision or move.

Time is on your side, and getting your facts straight will make a difference.

If you look for the good in everything and everyone, you will do well. A change to your financial situation looks promising. Your creative imagination will lead to something prosperous.

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

19

round-up: Harden withstands elbow, helps Rockets top Raptors J

ames Harden scored six of his 23 points in the fourth quarter after leaving the game briefly at the end of the third with a head injury and the visiting Houston Rockets defeated the Toronto Raptors 119109 Thursday night.

After Harden attempted a running floater near the end of the third, Serge Ibaka accidentally hit Harden in the head with an elbow or forearm. Harden was on his back for a few minutes before going to the dressing room on his own power. He returned early in the fourth quarter.

Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting just 7-for-27, while Ben McLemore led the Rockets in scoring with 28 points and eight 3-pointers.

Pascal Siakam had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row. Fred VanVleet added 20 points, Kyle Lowry had 19, Norman Powell had 14 and Ibaka 10.

Washington Wizards 119 Philadelphia 76ers 113

Bradley Beal had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Washington held on to upset visiting Philadelphia to end a three-game losing streak.

Rookie Rui Hachimura had a team-high 27 points and Davis Bertans added 25 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers for the Wizards, who had lost three straight.

Joel Embiid totaled 26 points and 21 re-

on Friday.

J e r a m i Grant chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets, while Monte Morris had 15, Malik Beasley and Jamal Murray 14 apiece, Juancho Hernangomez 12 and Paul Millsap 10. Mitchell Robinson paced the Knicks with 17 points in New York’s fifth straight home defeat and eighth consecutive loss overall.

Phoenix Suns 139 - New Orleans Pelicans 132 (OT)

Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) drives to the net against Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet (23) and forward OG Anunoby (3) at Scotiabank Arena (USA TODAY Sports)

bounds (along with eight turnovers), and Tobias Harris scored 33 points for the Sixers, who had won four straight and eight of nine.

Denver Nuggets 129 - New York Knicks 92

Will Barton led eight Nuggets in double

Leicester manager signs new deal to 2025

L

eicester City manager Brendan Rodgers had signed a contract extension committing him to the club until 2025.

The former Liverpool manager, 46, dismissed speculation earlier this week linking him with the vacant Arsenal job following Unai Emery's sacking.

Rodgers had signed a deal until 2022 when he joined the Foxes from Celtic in February.

Leicester have won 17 of their 26 Premier League matches under him and are second in the table.

Rodgers said: "I've inherited an outstanding team of staff that are dedicated to progress and improvement and we have a group of players that are a joy to work with every day."

Leicester's next Premier League game is away at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Everton manager after 18 months in charge

Everton have sacked manager Marco Silva after 18 months, with the club in the Premier League relegation zone after their Merseyside derby humiliation.

Wednesday's 5-2 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield was their ninth of the season and leaves them 18th in the Premier League after three successive losses.

Silva, who took charge in May 2018, won 24 and lost 24 of his 60 games.

Shanghai SIPG boss Vitor Pereira is a contender to succeed Silva, while David Moyes' return can not be ruled out.

Former striker Duncan Ferguson has been put in temporary charge and will manage the side against Chelsea on Saturday.

The club said they aim to appoint a new manager "as swiftly as possible".

Everton are now searching for their fourth permanent boss since Roberto Martinez was sacked in May 2016.

Former Everton manager Moyes has been considered as a potential interim successor, but the suggestion has sparked a largely negative reaction from supporters and it remains to be seen whether majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri and his boardroom colleagues ignore that and invite the 56-year-old Scot to return.

Moyes spent 11 years as Everton manager, and his return has been seen by fans as a retrograde step given his lack of success since leaving for Manchester United in 2013.

He was sacked at United and Real Socieded and was in charge of Sunderland when they were relegated from the Premier League before having a short spell at West Ham. (BBC Sport)

figures with 17 points as visiting Denver ran away from New York.

The one-sided victory allowed the Nuggets, who snapped a two-game losing streak, to pull their starters early on the front end of a back-to-back set that finds them in Boston

Devin Booker scored 44 points as Phoenix improved to 2-1 on its four-game road trip with a victory in New Orleans.

Booker made 13 of 24 field-goal attempts, including 5 of 11 on 3-pointers, and all 13 free throws to lead six Suns in double figures. Frank Kaminsky added 20 points, including a game-high six in overtime.

Cameron Johnson scored 18, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Ricky Rubio had 13 points and 15 assists, and Mikal Bridges scored 11.

JJ Redick scored 26, Jrue Holiday had 23, Brandon Ingram added 21 before fouling out, Lonzo Ball had 20 points and 11 assists, and Jaxson Hayes scored 17 for the Pelicans, who lost their seventh game in a row since a 124-121 victory at Phoenix on Nov. 21. (Reuters)

Chelsea transfer ban reduced after appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport

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helsea can sign players in January after having their Fifa transfer ban reduced following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Premier League side were given a two-window ban by Fifa in February for breaching rules on signing young players.

Cas halved the ban to one window, which was served during the summer.

It also reduced the fine for the London club from 600,000 to 300,000 Swiss francs (ÂŁ230,000).

Chelsea play Everton on Saturday (12:30 GMT) and manager Frank Lampard said talk of transfers at the club was now "a discussion we can take up".

"It's a positive outcome for us," he said. "It allows us the potential to look at the market going forward.

"So I'm pleased from a footballing level. It was never my business to get involved in the reasons why or the legal side of it."

Chelsea were given a transfer ban after 150 rule breaches involving 69 academy players over several seasons, according to the judgement published by Fifa.

Cas found that the Blues "did violate"

rules "related to the international transfer of minors" and "to the first registration of minors" but "for a significantly smaller number of players" amounting to "about a third of the violations found by Fifa".

The Cas verdict added: "In addition, the violations of other RSTP (Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players) rules were found to be less serious than those attributed to Chelsea by Fifa."

Details of the case which was recently published on a Fifa legal website showed Chelsea claimed many academy players were only triallists and did not play in organised matches.

Chelsea lodged an appeal to Cas against the Fifa punishment, which was also prompted by an investigation into the Premier League club's signing of foreign under-18 players.

Fifa bans the transfer of under-18s to different countries unless the moves meet strict criteria, such as the parents moving to the country for non-footballing reasons.

The rules were introduced to help protect children from exploitation and trafficking.

(BBC Sport)

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

Jaguars aiming for 6th successive title as 4-Day season looms G

uyana Jaguars will begin their title defence on January 9, 2019 against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Two West Indies Championship matches will be played at Jamaica’s Trelawny Stadium next year. It will be the first time in 11 years that the ground will be staging four-day matches in the Championship, which begins on Thursday, January 9.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has scheduled the fifth-round match between Jamaica Scorpions and Leeward Islands Hurricanes from February 13 to 16 at the venue, along with the sixth-round match between the Scorpions and Guyana Jaguars from February 27 to March 1.

CWI director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, said the stadium is scheduled to stage a Twenty20 International in two years’ time and this was part of the process to get the ground in shape. “It will be good to see the Trelawny Stadium hosting regional cricket again after so many years with this effort from the Jamaica Cricket Association to build its capacity in western Jamaica,” said Adams.

Only one West Indies Championship match has been played at the ground in the past, when current West Indies team operations manager Rawl Lewis led Windward Islands to a three-wicket victory over Jamaica in 2009. The ground has staged five other first-class matches – two involving international teams touring the Caribbean, and three involving West Indies A and counterparts from Sri Lanka and England. The stadium was completed in 2007 before the ICC

Cricket World Cup 2007 West Indies and can seat 25,000.

Adams said he was excited about the forthcoming West Indies Championship season and working with the new West Indies senior selection panel – under chairman Roger Harper – to identify the next wave of players to stake their claims for the West Indies Test team. “A new season is always an occasion for optimism as we expect performances from both established and rookie players within the system,” said Adams. “I’m sure the new Selection Panel under Roger Harper will be keen to cast their eyes over this competition which will wrap up our 2019-20 cricket season.”

Guyana Jaguars are the five-time, defending champions of the Championship. They open the tournament on the road, when they travel to Antigua to face Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in a day/ night contest played with a pink ball. The Championship marks a decade since CWI were the first member of the ICC, cricket’s world governing body, to play a pink-ball match in its first-class competition, when Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago played from January 15 to 18, 2010. Pink-ball matches have now become a standard part of the Championship and each team will play two of these games – home and away – under the tournament format.

The other first round matches feature: Trinidad & Tobago Red Force battling Scorpions at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad, and Windward Islands Volcanoes tackling Barbados Pride at the Arnos Vale Cricket Ground in St. Vincent. (CWI)

MATCH SCHEDULE (Play in all matches start at 10 am daily, except where indicated)

Round 1

January 9 to 12 Hurricanes vs Jaguars – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (2 pm daily) Red Force vs Scorpions – Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad Volcanoes vs Pride – Arnos Vale Cricket Ground, St. Vincent

Round 2

January 16 to 19 Scorpions vs Volcanoes – Sabina Park, Jamaica Pride vs Jaguars – Kensington Oval, Barbados Red Force vs Hurricanes – Brian Lara Cricket Academy

Round 3

January 23 to 26 Jaguars vs Red Force – Guyana National Stadium, Guyana (9:30 am daily) Scorpions vs Pride – Sabina Park Volcanoes vs Hurricanes – Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, St. Lucia (2 pm daily)

***BREAK***

Round 4

Team Guyana Jaguars have been a dominant force in the past five seasons (Brandon Corlette photo)

February 6 to 9 Jaguars vs Scorpions – Guyana National Stadium Hurricanes vs Pride – Warner Park, St. Kitts Volcanoes vs Red Force – Windsor Park, Dominica Round 5 February 13 to 16 Scorpions vs Hurricanes – Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica Pride vs Red Force –

Kensington Oval Volcanoes vs Jaguars – Grenada National Stadium, Grenada ***BREAK***

Round 6

February 27 to March 1 Scorpions vs Jaguars – Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica Pride vs Volcanoes – Kensington Oval Hurricanes vs Red Force – Warner Park Round 7 March 5 to 8 Red Force vs Pride – Brian Lara Cricket Academy Volcanoes vs Scorpions – Grenada National Stadium Jaguars vs Hurricanes – Guyana National Stadium Round 8 March 12 to 15 Red Force vs Volcanoes – Brian Lara Cricket Academy (2 pm daily) Hurricanes vs Scorpions – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground Jaguars vs Pride – Guyana National Stadium (2 pm daily) ***BREAK***

Round 9

March 26 to 29 Pride vs Scorpions – Kensington Oval (2 pm daily) Hurricanes vs Volcanoes – Vivian Richards Cricket Ground Red Force vs Jaguars – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad Round 10 April 2 to 5 Jaguars vs Volcanoes – Guyana National Stadium Scorpions vs Red Force – Sabina Park (2 pm daily) Pride vs Hurricanes – Kensington Oval

R Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures Rapid Chess Open…

Drayton prevails over top field to be crowned champ

C

onfronted with perhaps the most competent slate of players ever to have been fielded in a local chess tournament, Anthony Drayton, Guyana’s only chess player with a FIDE ranking above 2000, and currently the 2019 Senior National Chess Champion, prevailed over the competition to emerge overall winner.

The tourney was the R. Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures Berbice Rapid Chess Open, organized and held by the Berbice Chess Association at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus on Sunday, December 1st, 2019; and the field of players included two former senior national chess champions of Guyana: Wendell Meusa (2009, 2013, 2018) and Kriskal Persaud (2007, 2008).

Although Meusa ended the tournament with six points as Drayton did, he lost to Drayton when the two clashed in an earlier round; while Davion Mars, Treasurer of the Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), ended on five-and-a-half points to secure the third prize.

Former champ Kriskal Persaud had to be content with the fourth prize of Best Berbice Player, having ended on four-anda-half points. The fifth prize went to another Berbician, Omesh Dyal, who ended on four points to garner the Best Junior Player Award. Dyal, who hails from Port Mourant, Corentyne, is a fourth form student at Queen’s College, Georgetown. He credits his prize-winning performance in this competition to his playing the game at Queen’s College almost every day during the recess and lunch breaks.

Besides the first four prize-winners, who are all FIDE-rated, the field consisted of another ten FIDE-rated players, among them Loris Nathoo, Justino Da Silva, and Shiv Nandalall.

The Berbice Chess Association (BCA) wishes to express its sincere gratitude to R. Sookraj & Sons Outback Adventures for their sponsorship of this competition. The BCA also thanks the University of Guyana Berbice Campus for allowing the use of its premises for the competition to be staged.

Anthony Drayton (right), receiving the 1st prize from Yuvindra Sookraj, Operations Manager of R Sookraj & Sons

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

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Rio Indoor Streetball Championships…

Final 8 battle for semi-final berths tonight B

attle lines have been drawn, and the fate of the final 8 teams still in the inaugural Rio Indoor Streetball Championships tournament will be decided this evening when the quarter-final round kicks off at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue to determine the final 4 teams to contest the semi-final round.

The four matches programmed for the evening are expected to awe the large gathering that is expected to descend on the venue to witness the thrilling action.

Tournament hosts and proverbial dark horse Rio All-Stars will open the night’s proceedings in a match against Future Stars from 20:00hrs. Rio All-Stars, who possess quality players in Andrew Murray, Jermin Junior, Job Caesar and Kelsey Benjamin, will fancy their chances of progressing to the semifinal round.

However, standing in their way will be the quartet of Kevin Cummings, Keron Solomon, Jamal Cozier and Rondell Bowman of the Future Stars; and speculation is rife as to which team will emerge winner.

A major rivalry will be revisited in the second match, which starts from 21:00hrs. Gold is Money take aim at Leopold Street, and will depend on the expertise of Randolph Wagner,

Jamal Pedro, Keifer Brandt and Phillip Rowley to shift the balance in their favour; while Darren Benjamin, Carl Tudor, Mark Jhalu and Okeene Fraser will be tasked with ensuring a Leopold Street win.

In the third match, National heavyweights Sparta Boss oppose the pride of the East Coast of Demerara: Beterverwagting, aka BV, from 22:00hrs.

Considered among the favourites in this event, the East La Penitence boys will be expected to repel the challenge of their opponents. Leading their charge will be the star-studded cast of Gregory Richardson, Sheldon Shepherd, Eusi Phillips and Ryan Hackett.

The final match of the evening can be described as a virtual final: Bent Street will be locking horns with Back Circle from 23:00hrs.

Many pundits consider Bent Street the safe choice for a team appearing in the final because of their plethora of national team players, such as Daniel Wilson, Clive Nobrega, Pernell Schultz, Akel Clarke and William Europe.

However, Back Circle are giants in their own right, and with the fate of the entire East Ruimveldt community on their shoulders, a clinical showing will be expected from the quintet of

Selwyn Williams, Stephon McLean, Jermin Beckles, Delon Kelly, and surprise package Trayon Bobb.

According to an official release from tournament coordinator Three Peat Promotions, “The excitement and anticipation in the air and within the respective communities cannot be described. The teams are well oiled and geared to produce thrilling action, which will certainly entertain and provide drama for the large spectatorship.”

The release further said, “This level of preparation and anticipation certainly bodes well for the remainder

Balram Narine dominates Flying Ace Track Attack

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alram Narine, a top racing cyclist of Berbice, displayed skill and tenacity on Sunday last to emerge victorious in the 10th annual Track Attack event, staged at the Rose Hall Community Centre Ground in East Canje, Berbice.

This Flying Ace cyclist won the 2000-metre race, the 3000-metre Open, the 25-lap race and the 5000-metre race.

Andrew Hicks also recorded a win on the day, but it was Narine who dominated the event.

In the juveniles’ category, Jeremiah Joseph won both the 2000-metre and 3000-metre races, while National Juvenile Champion Mario Washington won the juveniles’ 5000-metre race, as he did the eightlap race.

Dashone Rigby won both two-lap events in the BMX race.

Organized by Flying Ace Cycle Club Coach and Organizer Randolph Roberts, Track Attack was hailed a success, and hosts of sponsors came on board. The event featured some top cyclists in Berbice and some top performers in the recently concluded National Schools Cycling Championships, which were dominated by Berbicians. National Junior cyclist Ajay Goopilall, Balram Narine, Andre ‘Padlock’ Green, Mario Washington, Ralph Seenarine and Jeremiah Joseph were all on show in Track Attack.

Among the sponsors of the event were the New Building Society Limited (NBS); Hand-in-Hand Group of Insurance Companies; Courts; Nand Persaud Rice Mill; J’s Supermarket; Ming’s Optical; John Lewis Styles; A. Ally and Sons; Rafik Mohammed Constructions; Radar Security; Leony Cipriani of Fix It Electronics; Lloyd and Kim’s Fashions, and Furniture World.

Balram Narine receiving his trophy after a dominant show

of the knockout section, as the teams are desperate for a place in the final four and a chance at the coveted prize of one million dollars. Once again, we have to thank the sponsors for coming on board and making this a reality, which is certainly a blessing for the players, who deserve the recognition for their efforts throughout the years.”

The correspondence added, “The fans must also be commended for their unwavering support during this period, because, without them, the format would not have grown in this exponential manner, and would not have

provided the platform for players to be compensated for their talents. Fans and players are of similar importance as sponsors.”

The release concluded thus: “Finally, the lawmen must also be praised for their contributions in making the tournament incident-free by carrying out their duties admirably. They have provided the requisite security needed to allow for an enabling environment for officials, spectators and players.”

The grand finale of this tournament is slated for December 14th at the same venue.

Wozniacki to retire after Australian Open

F

ormer world number one Caroline Wozniacki said on Friday she will retire from tennis after January’s Australian Open — the venue of her sole Grand Slam triumph.

The 29-year-old, who triumphed in Melbourne last year, said her retirement had nothing to do with her health and that she wanted to accomplish more in life off the court with her husband David Lee, a professional basketball player.

The Dane had opened up about her battle with rheumatoid arthritis in October last year, saying there were days when she found it hard to get out of bed, but finished the 2018 season as the world number three.

"I've accomplished everything I could ever dream of on the court," Wozniacki wrote on Instagram here "I've always told myself, when the time comes, that there are things away from tennis that I want to do more, then it's time to be done.

“In recent months, I’ve realized that there is

a lot more in life that I’d like to accomplish off the court.

“Getting married to David was one of those goals and starting a family with him while continuing to travel the world and helping raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis (project upcoming) are all passions of mine moving forward.”

Wozniacki, who was engaged to golfer Rory McIlroy in 2014, has won 30 WTA singles titles and also represented Denmark at three Olympic Games from 2008 to 2016.

She had a barren run this year as she coped with injury problems and was unable to add to her last title triumph at the China Open in 2018.

(Reuters)

Caroline Wozniacki

22

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

GFF-ALWAYS Championship Cup 2019…

Matches continue today at Providence C

ompetition in the Guyana Football Federation (GFF)-ALWAYS Championship Cup featuring six female clubs is set to continue today at the GFF National Training Centre at Providence, East Bank Demerara.

Today’s double-header will see Lady Panthers taking on Foxy Ladies from 13:00hrs, with the main attraction being the match involving the Guyana Police Force and Fruta Conquerors, which commences at 14:30hrs.

Sunday’s action will see Lady Panthers and Fruta Conquerors engaging each other from 13:00hrs, followed by a clash between Santos and the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

All teams are being urged to be at the playing venue at least one hour prior to the start of their respective matches, in order to facilitate a prompt kick-off.

In last weekend’s opening matches, Fruta Conquerors recorded the largest mar-

gin of victory when they whipped Santos 100, while the Guyana Police Force lost backto-back matches to Foxy Ladies 0-2 and Lady Panthers 3-0.

Conquerors were led to their huge win

by Abiosi Heywood, who led with a hat-trick (19th, 29th, 39th); and by a brace from each National forward Tiandi Smith (15th, 36th), Lakeisha Peasron (10th, 55th) and Shayma Daniels in the 44th and 52nd minutes.

The other goal came off the boot of Shanic Thornhill in the 62nd minute.

Foxy Ladies, in their 2-0 win over Guyana Police Force, got their two goals either side of play from Shontel in the 11th minute and Janel Edmonson in the 36th minute.

Lady Panthers’ 3-0 win, which was also over the GPF, was built around strikes from Bliz Hope in the 13th minute, Albau Marquez from the penalty spot in the 55th minute, and Shavey Reuben in the 60th minute.

Cycle Awards Ceremony set for today ꟷ Briton John set to claim top award

The female Fruta Conquerors are proving to be tournament front-runners

BCB Banks Beer 2-Day 1st Division cricket…

National players set to make return as round 2 bowls off today S

Briton and Jamual John and Michael Anthony ended in the top three of the points qualification system

A

fter a highly contested year in cycling, top cyclists will be awarded for their performances recorded throughout the year in an awards ceremony set for today, Saturday December 7, at the St Stanislaus Secondary School auditorium from 18:00h.

The top cyclists will be awarded in four categories: Seniors, of which Briton John, Michael Anthony, Jamual John, Curtis Dey, Paul De Nobrega and Andre Green are the top riders in that order.

For the Juniors, the National Junior Cycling Champion Ajay Goopiall will be awarded the top cyclist in his category.

Ralph Seenarine and Sherwin Sampson are the other junior wheelsmen who performed exceptionally well in their class. In the Veterans’ category, Under-50 rider Junior Nyles, Paul Choo-Wee-Nam and Alex Mendes appear in that order. In the Over-50 category, Ian Jackson, Kennard Lovell and Andy Spencer will be awarded in that order.

In the female category, Denise Jeffery, who enjoyed a good year, copping the National Road Race and Time Trails championships will be awarded the top female cyclist in 2019.

The Most Improved Cyclist in 2019 will be awarded to Briton John, who, riding for the first year as a senior cyclist, won that category as well. Winner of the Most Races in 2019 will be awarded to Jamual John, who won 10 races during a successful 2019 cycling season.

(Brandon Corlette)

Jagnandan aims to take volleyball to the next level

U

pon culmination of the first ever Spikedown 2K19 volleyball tournament, Young Achievers volleyball club prevailed as the champions and thus cemented their place as the dominant club in Guyana.

Andre Jagnandan, one of the organizers of the tournament, is optimistic that, come 2020, a bigger tournament will be staged, and everything would be on better terms.

In the finale, Demerara teams Premier Eagles and Young Achievers came up against each other in a highly- anticipated grudge match, in which Juan Velasquez and Creston Rodney stepped up their game to allow Achievers to take a convincing lead in each set, and eventually win the tournament 3-0.

After the tournament, Andre Jagnandan was asked how he had viewed the playoffs.

He told Guyana Times Sport, “It was a successful tournament, everything went smoothly; all out-of-town teams were adequately accommodated. The tournament drew a lot of

locals to watch the games, which was the main aim of the tournament. It was livestreamed, so we got a lot more views, and moreso, the players enjoyed themselves.

“SPIKEDOWN was lauded as the biggest tournament in volleyball history in Guyana. Well, a coordinator can create more exposure for players through regular tournaments and sponsorship, but when teamed up with the GVF and the NSC, the door opens for international relations; so, I'm hoping to be at the forefront of multiple national team games next year.”

Jagnandan also revealed his desire to host a female volleyball championship in 2020. He noted that most of the planning for this new tournament will be partnered by Kristoff Sheppard, the second organizer of Spikedown 2K19.

Jagnandan boldly declared that his vision is to revive volleyball at UG and push for an interschool tournament, and that he would be contending for position in the Demerara Volleyball Association (DVA) elections.

ome of the country’s top cricketers from the ancient county of Berbice will take centre stage as the second round of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) Banks Beer 2-Day First Division tournament continues.

After a break, the second-round fixtures will commence over the weekend, Saturday December 7, and Sunday December 8, with four venues set to host matches. Port Mourant will host the Rose Hall Town (RHT) Namilco Thunderbolt Team at the Port Mourant Community Centre Ground.

The Thunderbolt Team had drawn their first-round encounter with Rose Hall Canje, and will be aiming for a winning result with the return of West Indies Emerging Trevon Kevin Stanislaus in Player action during Sinclair. round one Besides Kevin Sinclair, the RHT team will rely on newly appointed skipper Eon Hooper, Shawn Pereira, and Junior Sinclair, among others.

Trounced by Albion in the first

round, Port Mourant will be equipped with West Indies Under-15 batsman Rampertab Ramnauth, who scored a half-century in the first round against an Albion team that featured Devandra Bishoo.

The Albion team will play Rose Hall Canje at the Rose Hall Canje Community Centre Ground; and Jonathan Foo, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Bramble, Devandra Bishoo, Rajiv Ivan and Kelvin Umroa are some of the big names expected to turn out for Albion.

Rose Hall Canje will rely on the services of promising West Indies Under-15 fast-bowler Isai Thorne and first round centurion Kedar Amsterdam.

In the other fixture, Blairmont will host Tucber Park at Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice. The return of Guyana Jaguars’ paceman Nial Smith will boost confidence in the Tucber Park team as they confront a young and vibrant Blairmont team.

Home team Blairmont will have the expert services of Shabeer Baksh; Kevin Jawahir, who scored a brilliant century in the first round; and Javid Karim.

The Blairmont unit will also enjoy the services of National Youth players Seon Glasgow, Nigel Deodat and Marvan Prashad.

The fourth fixture will see Young Warriors and West Berbice battling for supremacy at the Young Warriors Ground.

Additionally, the Trophy Stall Under-13 final is set to bowl off today, Saturday December 7.

Albion and Rose Hall Town will lock horns at the Area H Ground from 10:00h. ( B r a n d o n Corlette)

Kedar Amsterdam bats during the opening round (Brandon Corlette photos)

23

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

Imperious Kohli writes off Williams and West Indies A

n unmistakable sign of greatness was demonstrated

by Virat Kohli as he sealed India's sixth straight successful chase at home, which was also their second-highest successful chase overall.

For a large part of the chase, Kohli kept fighting himself, unable to find his touch, but he found a way to turn a start of a nine-ballthree and a run-a-ball 20 in a two-run-a-ball chase into a match-winning 94 off 50.

And he didn't play all that well.

Let is sink in. That's greatness right there

Animated, furious at himself and the opposition, Kohli had a capacity crowd live the chase with him. At one point, he hit a six and mocked Kesrick Williams's signature celebration, wherein Williams pulls out an imaginary notebook from his pocket and pretends to strike off the batsman's name.

This was a rare high-scoring T20 match, where the side scoring fewer runs in boundaries ended up winning. India managed 120 in boundaries, as compared to West Indies' 134, but West Indies made up for it with

Shimron Hetmyer reached his maiden T20 fifty

pecially in dewy conditions.

That, though, was with a series lead in hand. In the series opener against West Indies, they stuck to chasing. West Indies knew they had their task cut out. From

Nor did Lewis's wicket for 40 off 17 in the sixth over slow them down. When King fell in the 11th over, Shimron Hetmyer immediately hit Ravindra Jadeja for four.

against legspin. Instead, Shivam Dube was hit for 13, and Jadeja for 12 in the next. However, by getting the wickets of Hetmyer and Pollard in the 18th over, Chahal may have made sure West Indies don't make an absolute killing of the final few overs. Jason Holder's nine-ball-24, though, took them to a total India have never chased successfully before.

Rahul charges at West Indies

Dew was going to play a part, but India still needed a quick start to this chase.

Back as opener in Shikhar Dhawan's absence, KL Rahul provided just that.

He went after Holder in the second over, and then made sure India didn't fall streets behind when Kohli struggled for a start upon the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma.

Along the way, he became the third-fastest to 1000 T20 International runs in terms of innings taken to get there.

The Kohli show

King Kohli wrote off Kesrick Williams, who yielded 60 runs in 3.4 overs

the extras they conceded: 21 to India's four, not counting leg-byes, which are not a sign of ordinary discipline.

West Indies refuse to slow down. The last time India won the toss, they chose to bat against South Africa, knowing fully well defending is their weaker suit, es-

the moment Evin Lewis got stuck into Washington Sundar in the first over, West Indies were on a mission to get themselves a defendable total. It didn't matter that Lendl Simmons fell in Deepak Chahar's first over. Brandon King hit the third ball he faced for four.

Chahal makes the difference

It seemed India may have missed a trick not bowling the legspin of Yuzvendra Chahal the moment Kieron Pollard walked out. It was 107 for 3 after 11, when Chahal could have exploited Pollard's weakness

At the other end, though, Kohli was just not himself.

But in being that, he was more himself than he can ever be. At every shank, he kept admonishing himself. Then he tried harder, and shanked harder. West Indies, generous with wides, were smart with their changes of pace. Perhaps a word or three flew too. A border-line no-ball call for height went West Indies' way. Kohli reacted to everything, especially to the bowlers' interaction with him. Many a great batsman is known to go in their shell and only respond to chirping once the job is done, but Kohli was thriving on it. He was perhaps looking for it. Who knows if there

was any chirping?

All we know is that Kohli was not happy, and he was willing himself to concentrate harder. Reading body language is usually fraught with risks, but you could obviously say Kohli on this night was in some other zone. And with every single he took, the asking rate went up. At the halfway mark, India needed to go at 11.9 an over. Hayden Walsh then bowled a lovely over, but Kohli got away with an inside edge for four. In the next over, Holder set him up for the slower bouncer, which has brought him success with Kohli before, but this top edge sailed over for six.

Then h e smacked a full toss for four and fought with the umpires for a noball. The man was fighting every inch, hyper-aware of everything.

In the 13th over, Williams bowled two noballs, but it was still obvious that Kohli was struggling for timing against him.

Amid all this, Rahul drilled Khary Pierre

straight to long-off. India still needed 78 off 39, and Kohli had only just begun to find his bearings.

Endgame

India promoted Rishabh Pant, which brought them double dividends. Apart from the right-left combination, it meant the legspinner Walsh didn't bowl anymore.

And Pant made sure of that with the first ball he faced, getting down on a knee and smacking Pierre for a six.

Kohli fed off it, and went after Holder in the next over.

Nineteen runs came off five balls, and at 55 required off 34, India's win probability had gone from 27 to 73 according to Cricinfo's forecaster.

Trying big hits, Pant and Shreyas Iyer fell to keep West Indies interested, but Kohli was never going to come back with the chase unfinished.

Not on this night.

(Cricinfo)

KL Rahul charged onto a half-century and reached 1000 T20 runs in the process

SCOREBOARD West Indies Innings LMP Simmons c Sharma b Chahar 2 E Lewis lbw b Washington Sundar 40 BA King st †Pant b Jadeja 31 SO Hetmyer c Sharma b Chahal 56 KA Pollard (c) b Chahal 37 JO Holder not out 24 D Ramdin † not out 11 Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6 TOTAL (20 Overs, RR: 10.35) 207-5 Did not bat: K Pierre, KOK Williams, SS Cottrell, HR Walsh Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Lendl Simmons, 1.2 ov), 2-64 (Evin Lewis, 5.4 ov), 3-101 (Brandon King, 10.1 ov), 4-172 (Shimron Hetmyer, 17.1 ov), 5-173 (Kieron Pollard, 17.3 ov)

India Innings (target: 208 runs from 20 overs) RG Sharma c Hetmyer b Pier re 8 KL Rahul c Pollard b Pierre 62 V Kohli (c) not out 94 RR Pant † c Holder b Cottrell 18 SS Iyer c & b Pollard 4 S Dube not out 0 Extras (b 4, lb 2, nb 3, w 14) 23 TOTAL (18.4 Overs, RR: 11.19) 209-4 Yet to bat: RA Jadeja, Washington Sundar, DL Chahar, B Kumar, YS Chahal Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Rohit Sharma, 3.2 ov), 2-130 (KL Rahul, 13.3 ov), 3-178 (Rishabh Pant, 16.2 ov), 4-193 (Shreyas Iyer, 17.6 ov)

BOWLING W Sundar (3-0-34-1) DL Chahar (4-0-56-1) B Kumar (4-0-36-0) RA Jadeja (4-0-30-1) YS Chahal (4-0-36-2) S Dube (1-0-13-0)

BOWLING SS Cottrell (4-0-24-1) JO Holder (4-0-46-0) K Pierre (4-0-44-2) HR Walsh (2-0-19-0) KOK Williams (3.4-0-60-0) KA Pollard (1-0-10-1)

saturday, DECember 7, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Page 23

Imperious Kohli writes off Williams and West Indies

GFF-ALWAYS Championship Cup 2019…

Matches continue today at Providence

Page 22

Jaguars aiming for 6th successive title as 4-Day season looms

Page 20

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