Guyana Times Saturday July 27, 2019

31 cops being trained to tackle noise nuisance P15

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

Issue No. 3997

THE BEACON OF TRUTH saturday, JUly 27, 2019

Massive protests demanding elections held countrywide

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Hundreds P10 of farmers under threat in Berbice – Regional Chair …as Water Users Association unable to provide drainage services

New multimillion CCTV command P10 centre activated

See story on page 11

…criminals, vehicles can now be easily tracked, monitored

Trio busted with cocaine P8 at EBE remanded

Page 7

Claudette Singh is new GECOM Chair …diplomatic community lauds move

Caretaker Govt continues to abuse State resources – Jagdeo Page 3

…says monies spent will have to be repaid

Oil and gas sector

Finance Minister downplays importance of local content legislation P9

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

news

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Saturday, July 27 – 13:30h-15:00h and Sunday, July 28 – 01:00h and at 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, July 27 – 12:30h-14:00h and Sunday, July 28 – 13:35h-15:05h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals are expected in the early morning hours followed by light clouds, with sunny intervals returning in the early afternoon hours. Thundery showers are expected from the mid-afternoon to late evening hours. Partly cloudy conditions are expected thereafter. Temperatures will range between 22 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Northerly to Southerly to Northwesterly between 1.78 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 00:27h reaching a maximum height of 2.25 metres.

Low Tide: 05:53h and 18:20h reaching minimum heights of 0.90 metre and 0.97 metre.

Wednesday, JULY 24, 2019

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Caretaker Govt continues to abuse State resources – Jagdeo …says monies spent will have to be repaid

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t a time when the Government should be in a caretaker mode, the coalition administration is continuing with activities outside of its routine role – something which the Opposition says is an abuse of State resources.

During a televised interview last week, President David Granger admitted that as an interim Government, the coalition cannot pass a budget, sign new contracts or agreements, conduct any State visits and would have to limit spending, among other things.

“We obviously have to keep Government running; routine functions of Government. I cannot undertake State visits and sign agreements with foreign countries. We have to limit our expenditure. We have to ensure that we do not embark on any controversial projects,” the President had said.

Despite this, however, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo pointed out that the caretaker Government is still operating outside its routine functions. One such activity, he highlighted at his weekly press conference on Thursday, was the recent Investors Conference held in Trinidad and Tobago, which Jagdeo said was hosted using large sums of taxpayers’ money in a period when the Government should really be operating in a caretaker role.

“They didn’t even do it when they had full powers but suddenly, they decided to go to Trinidad and Tobago and have an investors’ meeting. But what can they promise investors now? Nothing, because they can’t sign agreements and so on,” the Opposition Leader noted.

That conference, which was held last week Friday, was also flagged by a Trinidad Member of Parliament, who bashed one of his government ministers for attending the event hosted by the caretaker Government.

Nevertheless, Jagdeo went on to say too that the coalition is still spending taxpayers’ monies on its politically-motivated ministerial outreaches.

A notice circulating from Government announced another one of the coalition’s “Bring Government to the People” outreach, this time in the Upper Mazaruni region on August 1.

The programme details visits of: Indigenous Peoples Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock to Imbaimadai Village and Paruima

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Village; Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams to Jawalla Settlement; Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan to Waramadong Village and Government Member of Parliament Mervin Williams to Kako Village.

According to the Opposition Leader, this is a clear abuse of the State’s resources.

“Areas they’ve neglected and never been to in four years (while in office), now four ministers are going to the Upper Mazaruni on Cabinet/ministerial outreaches. That is not limiting expenditure and that is not a routine function of the government… Routine functions of the government mean ensuring that the light is on, water keeps flowing, that people get paid – the public servants, etc.

– not with ministerial involvement but at the technical level. So they contin-

ue to use taxpayers’ money in this manner although the President claims that they should limit expenditure,” he asserted.

To this end, Jagdeo posited that the monies spent by the caretaker coalition ministers will have to be repaid if the PPP gets into office since the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) made it clear that the Government should be in a caretaker or interim role and the Head of State has even admitted that his administration is in an interim role with limited authority.

“So any minister who goes on these activities that are not consistent with routine functioning of the government or make expenditure and the technical officers who approve these expenditure will have to repay the money. Because we’re gonna take legal actions against any minister

and all of the technical officers who approved these expenses. We will either surcharge them or make it a charge against the State’s obligation to them or take legal action because this is an abuse of State resources,” Jagdeo stated.

Concerns have been mounting over recent weeks over the coalition’s apparent disregard of the CCJ’s rulings and subsequent consequential orders by insisting that it cannot function with limited authority.

In fact, Finance Minister Winston Jordan had received much flack after it was disclosed that he had commenced preparations for a new budget cycle. But on Friday, he explained that while the coalition may not be able to present a national budget this year, preparations are nevertheless being done.

“In post-elections, you only have three months to prepare a budget, so you have to do the ground work now. And to end all the noise and so on, in the last elections when the present Government won (in 2015), there was a substantially prepared budget there and we used that. Otherwise, we would not have been able to present budget and even though, we had three months, we presented budget one and a half months ahead of schedule in 2015, and that could only be possible because ground work was done before,” Minister Jordan said.

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SATURday, JUly 27, 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

Food security

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recent report, titled ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’, has stated that an estimated 820 million people worldwide did not have enough to eat in 2018, up from 811 million in the previous year. The annual report is based on a global assessment by leading UN agencies on food security and nutrition in relation to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

Included once again in the report are worrying statistics which should force governments and international development partners to do more to end hunger and malnutrition, and to ensure that countries take urgent steps towards being food secure.

According to the report, the pace of progress in halving the number of children who are stunted and in reducing the number of babies born with low birth weight is too slow, which also puts the SDG 2 nutrition targets further out of reach.

The report has found that hunger is increasing in many countries where economic growth is lagging. It also found that income inequality is rising in many of the countries where hunger is on the rise, making it even more difficult for the poor, vulnerable or marginalised to cope with economic slowdowns and downturns.

According to the report, the situation is most alarming in Africa, as that region has the highest rates of hunger in the world, and those rates are continuing, slowly but steadily, to rise in almost all sub-regions. In eastern Africa in particular, close to a third of the population (30.8 percent) is undernourished.

In addition to climate and conflict, economic slowdowns and downturns are driving the rise.

The report mentions that the largest number of undernourished people (more than 500 million) live in Asia, mostly in southern Asian countries. Together, Africa and Asia bear the greatest share of all forms of malnutrition, accounting for more than nine out of ten of all stunted children, and over nine out of ten of all wasted children worldwide.

Here, in this region, while agriculture and agriculturerelated issues have dominated discussions at almost every level, many are of the view that regional heads have not taken the kind of action to ensure countries are food secure. It could be recalled that, in 2002, former President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who had lead responsibility at the time for Agriculture in the Caricom quasi cabinet, had sought assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture to boost the region’s efforts in ensuring it is food secure.

One year after, Jagdeo proposed that the region build on its past efforts to develop a common agricultural policy, and requested that the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) support the Caricom Secretariat in developing a framework for repositioning agriculture in the region.

In underlining the problems the agricultural sector faces in the region, Jagdeo had stressed that, in the changing global environment, the sector was neither providing for food security nor earning the foreign exchange needed to cover the region’s growing food import bill.

In addition, at a Caricom Heads of Government Conference in Grand Anse, Grenada, Mr Jagdeo had presented a paper, titled “A Framework for the Repositioning of Caribbean Agriculture”. In that framework, he had stressed the need for a regional policy and strategy aimed at strengthening food security and alleviating poverty; and in January 2005, then President Jagdeo’s proposal was formally dubbed the “Jagdeo Initiative”, with the theme, “Strengthening Agriculture for Sustainable Development”.

The declining role of agriculture in the region, the continuing loss of preferential markets for the region’s traditional products, and the rapidly increasing extra-regional food import bill are among the serious and challenging issues highlighted in the “Jagdeo Initiative”. However, while there has been much banter on the topic, many are of the view that not enough was done to strengthen the region’s agriculture sector and bring it to a level envisaged in the “Jagdeo Initiative”.

There is need for countries in the region to better organise themselves and their individual farming sectors, and encourage young persons to embrace new technologies to see farming and agriculture as a business.

While Guyana is on the cusp of becoming an oil-producing nation, and much attention is being placed on this new economy, it is hoped that the authorities here will not place other traditional sectors, among which are agriculture, mining and manufacturing, on the back burner. Guyana must continue to make the necessary interventions to ensure the country produces enough to meet the demands of its citizens, and to even take advantage of the export market.

A heatwave in western Europe forced many to find ways to stay cool. Here a brown bear cub and its mother eat ice-covered fruits in their enclosure at a zoo in Servion, Switzerland. This week saw record temperatures recorded in a number of countries, including France, Belgium and Germany (BBC photo)

Venezuelan elites accused of food corruption scheme U nited States officials have accused President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela of a corruption scheme in which his officials, family members and business partners made off with large sums of money meant to feed the country’s starving population.

The allegations appeared Thursday in a new round of sanctions targeting three stepsons of Maduro and a Colombian business partner of theirs named Alex Saab, among others. American officials said that for years the men had used shell companies and no-bid contracts to siphon off Government money, largely from Venezuela’s Staterun food programme, for their own profit.

“Alex Saab engaged with Maduro insiders to run a wide-scale corruption network they callously used to exploit Venezuela’s starving population,” United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

He added: “They use food as a form of social control, to reward political supporters and punish opponents, all the while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars through a number of fraudulent schemes.”

The economic collapse of Venezuela has left hunger widespread, leading to malnutrition among Venezuelan children and some families eating offal rather than meat.

In 2016, Venezuela’s Government set up the Local Committees for Supply and Production, known by its Spanish ac-

A photo made available on Thursday by the Venezuelan presidential palace shows President Nicolás Maduro speaking with members of the military in Caracas [Miraflores Palace, via Reuters]

ronym CLAP, to distribute food boxes at subsidised prices.

The new system also allowed Maduro wide control over the food supply of the country at a time when millions of Venezuelans were hungry.

American officials say it allowed a number of elites to profit as well.

According to the sanctions, Saab, a businessman whom they identified as a Colombian national, began his illicit dealings with Maduro’s stepsons in 2011, after winning a contract to build Government housing. The stepsons — Walter, Yosser and Yoswal Flores — opened doors for Saab and his business partner, Álvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, to pay bribes to top Government officials in return for even more lucrative contracts.

Saab then used his relationship with Maduro’s

circle to import food, using companies registered in Hong Kong and Mexico to package supplies and launder money.

Saab, however, brought in “only a fraction of the food” that he was contracted to import, while he “reaped substantial profits,” according to the Treasury Department.

Sanctions

Three American officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the arrangement was not unusual for CLAP: The system had routinely shaved its expenses by buying lower-quality food or less food than budgeted. The money saved was funnelled to loyalists of Maduro, the American officials said.

In addition to sanctioning Saab and Maduro’s stepsons, the US sanctioned around 20 other in-

dividuals and companies they said were involved in the scheme.

A Trump Administration official said the sanctions would not stop food or medicine from being sent to Venezuela to ease shortages during the crisis.

A second official said that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has so far provided US$246 million in regional assistance to Venezuelans who have fled to Colombia and other neighbouring countries.

Maduro, who is under sanctions and no longer recognised by the US as President, did not comment on Thursday. In the past, his government has denied wrongdoing, saying American accusations are part of an “economic war” to bring down his government. (New York Times)

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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

Any disrespect for the laws of our country will be totally rejected Dear Editor, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan made all the right noises at the recent Noise Management Training Programme for police officers. He vowed, yet again, and in public, to ensure the enforcement of the laws governing noise nuisances, to reduce discomfort caused by noise pollution, and to build “a culture of law and order across the country”.

Well, much can be said about the current state of law and order in Guyana where double standards, hypocrisy, bullyism, bribery, corruption and favouritism make up much of the accepted culture. The Minister is not unaware of this.

However, I will take him at his word and I am, therefore, looking forward to spending a peaceful Mashramani and Carnival come 2020 at

my Queenstown residence by which time I and most other citizens expect that Guyana will be viewed around the world as a democratic country where law and order are respected and upheld by everyone including the Government.

To reduce the discomfort of the long-suffering residents of Queenstown and Kitty – I have written about this ad nauseam and will not go into the facts again – I expect that

the Government of Guyana will ensure that the noise level of the music accompanying the respective parades will be within the legal limits, that the Mayor and City Council will not allow their vendors to pollute the environment with ear-splitting levels of noise, that all the police on duty will ensure the laws are upheld, and that lawbreakers will be charged, including the large corporations which add consid-

To brand PSC as a PPP organisation is dangerous Dear Editor, Guyana today is in a very, very troubled place. The Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, together with other rural Chambers like the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Berbice Chamber of Commerce and Development Association, the Linden Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Development, Bartica Chamber of Commerce and the Region Five Chamber of Industry and Commerce are all sectoral members of the Private Sector Commission.

Together, these Chambers are made up of hundreds of members and it is extremely disingenuous to conclude that they are all PPP supporters. So to brand the Private Sector Commission

a PPP organisation and attack its Chairman, who was unanimously elected, is quite dangerous, as it seeks to erode the credibility of the premier private sector institution in Guyana, whose collective membership is the largest employer in the country and which is in the forefront of fighting to guard the democratic values of our country and ensuring the Government is in compliance and adherence to the Constitution.

The Private Sector Commission recently sent two letters to Mr Keith Lowenfield, Chief Elections Officer, in the main, showing how the present voters’ list can be refreshed and used in the upcoming polls. A lot of questions asked of the CEO were

mainly ignored. However, thereafter, a vicious, racist and extremely nasty attack was launched on the PSC and its Chairman, Mr Gerald Goveia, by Elections Commissioner, Desmond Trotman. The hate that spewed from his pen showed the dangerous levels this country is descending into and the Government of the day has to take full responsibility.

The fact that Mr Lowenfield recently confessed that the present list can be refreshed through Claims and Objections, is proof enough that the PSC letters to him may have had their intended effect and which has exposed the partisanship of Mr Trotman. His attack on Chairman Goveia is strongly condemned by

our Chamber.

The Central Coretyne Chamber of Commerce is calling on the President to appoint most urgently, a Chairman of the Elections Commission and hence, start the process of preparations for the elections. We also feel the haste to start House-toHouse Registration without a Chairman in place was unwise and ill-advised.

By issuing this statement, our Chamber may also come under attack, but it’s a small price to pay for us to ensure democracy and adherence to the Constitution of the country.

Sincerely, Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce

erably to the pollution.

Noise pollution is not only about the small bars and restaurants and the wedding houses with their deafening music but some of the main offenders come from officialdom itself and if a Government itself is disrespectful of the laws of a country, it is the utmost hypocrisy that it should expect its citizens to comply with any regulations at any level whatsoever.

It is the primary duty and responsibility of a Government to uphold the country’s laws as stipulated by the Constitution which must be honoured as an inviolable document in which resides the rules that govern the very civility and moral accord of a na-

tion. Without that respect, as Minister Ramjattan full well knows, all is chaos, confusion and discord.

He is also aware that complying with the country’s laws is not a piecemeal affair whereby he or any of his colleagues in Government have the authority to decide which laws to enforce and which ignore.

As citizens, we continue to hope that the double standards and corruption that prevail, and that any disrespect for the laws of our country will be truly and totally rejected. Then we will be able to move forward as a nation.

Sincerely, Ryhaan Shah

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019

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Foundation

…how to approach this common complaint with teens

By Alisa Crossfield, PhD

“T

hat’s not fair” was, at one point, the single phrase my kids uttered most. It typically resulted from a perception that they were being treated differently. We spent a lot of time explaining that each person is treated based on their own situation and not based on what the other child does. Luckily, the use of the phrase has decreased dramatically over the past couple of years.

Notice how I said decreased.

It most definitely has not disappeared.

This week it came up twice, though not in the form of those

exact words. My instant internal response was to cringe—both because I find it annoying and because I try so hard to be “fair” that the accusation stings.

Perhaps it is because of the sting that I took a different approach this time around.

My kids typically split emptying the dishwasher. They have even chosen which part each prefers and, luckily, those are not the same parts! On occasion, I will ask one kid to do the entire process.

On this particular day, I asked my daughter to do the whole thing.

It was evening and my son was actually home.

However, he had just gotten home after a particularly gruelling day

and my daughter had been relaxing for a few hours. I explained that to her when I asked her to empty the dishwasher.

She complied but not without complaint.

The complaint sounded something like “how come he gets a break when he is tired, and I don’t.”

I will admit I did not feel like having this debate. Emptying the dishwasher is not a major chore and I don’t think it needs to be a big deal to help out. That said, I would be upset too if I felt like others got a break when they were tired, and I didn’t.

So, instead of arguing, I validated that I could see why that would bother her.

However, the

conversation didn’t stop there. I realised her point was valid, but it wasn’t based in fact. I asked her if she knew that I asked her brother to do some of her chores on Sundays when she works at the barn all day and he has the day off. That stopped her.

She hadn’t realised.

How would she have since I never pointed it out? She had made an understandable assumption, but she hadn’t checked the facts.

Knowing the facts made us both feel better.

The idea of checking the facts, however, did come back to bite me later in the week. This time, as my daughter packed her own lunch, she pointed out that I did a lot more for my son when he was her age.

I checked the facts.

She is totally right! I told her as much.

The problem is I think her independence is a good thing, so I certainly don’t want to backtrack.

Luckily, she doesn’t want to either. Once I acknowledged she was right, I asked her if she thought something needed to change, or just wanted the difference acknowledged. She just wanted it acknowledged and was happy to move on. I think she deserved that validation.

Life isn’t fair. We all need to process that fact and help our kids do the same. That said, it is a great idea to check the facts to see if our perceptions of inequality are accurate. If they are, a little valid. (psychologytoday.com)

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n oil spill can happen on the ocean when a ship carrying big containers of petroleum oil starts to leak. Or if an oil drilling rig malfunctions, as with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident off the coast of Louisiana.

Oil spills can also affect our rivers and other freshwater. If an oil pipeline that travels over land springs a leak, the oil can find its way into the local waterways and groundwater. Oil can also get into our rivers and waterways through stormwater.

Spilled oil sticks to the fur and feathers of birds and animals that live on or near the water, and is hard to remove. That’s why animals are so affected by oil spills!

In this activity, kids will build a simple model of a river habitat (complete with “birds” and “mammals”) and then create an oil spill. Then they will test different tools to clean up the river.

Supplies

Basics • Aluminium roasting pan or plastic tub • Water • Vegetable oil • Paper towels • Habitat materials • Large rocks to create an island • Sticks and moss or pieces of lettuce • Fake fur or craft pompoms and feathers • Blue food colouring (optional) Clean-up materials • Cotton balls • Sponges, cut into small pieces • Plastic spoons • 12-inch pieces of string • Dish soap (Dawn® works well)

Get kids thinking ...

Let’s get started!

First, create a habitat: • Place the rocks in the pan or tub • Add 2-3 inches of water, to mostly cover the rocks (bigger ones can be poking out). Add blue food colouring if you have it.

• Add the sticks and lettuce or moss (the “plants”) and the feathers and fake fur (the “birds” and “animals”) to the water.

• Next, create the oil spill! Pour 2-3 tablespoons of oil into the water and observe what happens.

How does the oil react with the water, the plants, and the animals. What happens when you blow on the oil in the water? Record your observations on the chart on the next page.

Now try each of the clean-up materials and see which ones work the best. What are the best materials for cleaning the birds and animals? What effect did detergent have on the oil? What is the string best for?

(The string can keep the oil in a smaller space but can’t clean it up.)

Think about what happens when oil mixes with water. How easy do you think it is to separate the oil from the water? What happens to the fish, birds, and other animals that come in contact with the oil? (startwithabook.org)

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Claudette Singh is new GECOM Chair …diplomatic community lauds move

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Retired Justice Claudette Singh

ticular, I wish to thank the Hon Madam Justice Desiree Bernard, Madam Justice Claudette Singh (retired) SC, Mr Ralph Ramcharan SC, Timothy Jonas and Ronald Burch-Smith, Attorneys-atlaw, and others with whom I consulted but who indicated that their current commitments do not permit them to serve in the office of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, at this point of time”.

Further, the Opposition Leader thanked all the persons involved, from both the Parliamentary Opposition and Government sides, in the negotiations to arrive at a final selection of a GECOM Chairperson. He noted too that he will be writing to the persons who agreed to have their names submitted as nominees for the post of GECOM Chairperson to personally thank them for their willingness to serve Guyana.

Jagdeo’s submission of his list of six nominees to President Granger

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fter weeks of consultation, Retired Justice Claudette Singh has been named the new Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). She was selected by President David Granger from a list of six nominees submitted by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday.

Justice Singh, a former Justice of Appeal, is the first female to be appointed to the post at the helm of GECOM. She was appointed a Senior Counsel back in January 2017 and is currently the Guyana Police Force (GPF) legal advisor. She is expected to be officially appointed to the post early in the new week.

Justice Singh’s selection as Chair of the Elections Commission comes after weeks of consultations between the President and the Opposition Leader, as well as their representatives.

In June, the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that former GECOM Chair Retired Justice James Patterson’s unilateral appointment back in 2017 by President Granger was flawed and unconstitutional. Justice Patterson stepped down from the post, paving the way for a new appointment.

However, the regional Court had recommended that the President and the Opposition Leader hammer out the nominees in order for there to be consensus in the new appointment. This triggered a series of engagements between the two sides.

Prior to Friday’s selection, President Granger had already found four of the Opposition’s candidates “not unacceptable”.

The Head of State had even went ahead and submitted two names— Attorney Kesaundra Alves and Justice Claudette La Bennet – to be considered, but they did not find favour with the Opposition Leader.

As such, with two more spots available, the Opposition had presented four more new candidates last week and was supposed to get a feedback at Friday’s meeting.

However, at a press briefing later that day, Jagdeo explained prior to the meeting, he had met with Justice Singh and she agreed to have her name placed on the list. The retired Judge was initially considered by the Opposition for the post back in 2017, but had indicated her unavailability at the time.

Nevertheless, the Opposition Leader explained that during Friday’s meeting, the President accepted another one of the Opposition’s nominees from the four new names.

They then discussed Justice Singh, whom received consensus from both sides. This meant there was a list of six nominees – all not unacceptable to the President.

“I emerged from that meeting and the President wrote me, triggering the formal process now, inviting me to submit the six names, which I did shortly thereafter. He has since written me and made public that he has selected Justice Claudette Singh to be appointed the Chairperson of GECOM from the list of six names that I submitted to him,” the Opposition Leader noted.

The other nominees in Jagdeo’s final list of six were: Retired Judge Justice BS Roy; Attorney-at-Law Kashir Khan; Conflict Resolution Specialist Lawrence Lachmansingh; Attorney-at-Law Ronald Burch-Smith, and Retired Judge Justice William Ramlall.

Nevertheless, the Opposition Leader said he is happy not only with the selection of Justice Singh, but with the fact that they were finally able to resolve the issue of the appointment of a new GECOM Chair.

“I am sure that people will be happy that finally we have resolved the issue for the new Chairperson for GECOM… We’re very, very happy with this development. The process was consensual; the names on the list enjoy my confidence and the confidence of the President. They were found not unacceptable to him and, therefore, he chose from a list of six

President Granger's response to the Opposition Leader, indicating that he has selected Justice Claudette Singh as the new GECOM Chair

names that I submitted to him.

So there was no question of a unilateral appointment being done here and that is a great development for Guyana”.

Fair elections

According to Jagdeo, the newly-selected GECOM Chair, who is expected to be sworn-in on Monday, enjoys the confidence of both sides.

“We believe that she will deliver fair elections and that’s all that the PPP (People’s Progressive Party) wants from any Chairperson of GECOM – fair and timely elections.

We are very, very pleased with the development here today. This brings us closer, one stage closer to election and an election date, which now must be announced with urgency given the ruling of the CCJ, and the imperative of our Constitution,” the Opposition Leader posited.

Agreement

The Opposition Leader added that before he sent his list of nominees to Granger, he met with Singh, who agreed to have her name submitted to the President.

This is not the first time that Singh was considered as a nominee for the post of GECOM Chairperson by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).

Notably, on May 2, 2017, the Opposition Leader in speaking about consultations to arrive at a list of names – prior to the move by Granger to unilaterally appoint now resigned GECOM Chairman James Patterson – talked

President David Granger

about engaging Singh as a possible nominee during consultations.

He had said then, “In par-

Consensus

Meanwhile, in a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency earlier on Friday, it was noted that Justice Singh satisfies the criteria for the appointment as GECOM Chair

and also satisfies the ruling of the CCJ for a consensual appointment.

According to the missive, President Granger appointed the retired Judge in an effort to bring the process to a speedy and favourable conclusion.

“This was aimed at ensuring that the Elections Commission could resume its normal functions with the aim of conducting General and Regional Elections in the shortest possible time,” the Government missive stated.

Diplomatic community

On the other hand, this consensus moved by the two political leaders was lauded by the western diplomats here in Guyana.

The US Embassy posted on its Facebook page, “We commend Guyana’s leadership for agreement on an Elections Commission Chairperson, in compliance with the Caribbean Court of Justice ruling. We encourage continued collaboration toward free and fair elections”.

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner Greg Quinn said in a tweet on Friday, “I welcome this extremely positive development. I look forward to meeting the new GECOM Chair. All relevant actors are to be congratulated on this agreement”.

Adding to the commentary, Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Lilian Chatterjee tweeted that the selection of a new GECOM Head is, “Progress for the citizens of Guyana”.

The CCJ ruled on June 18, 2019, that the December 21, 2018, passage of the NoConfidence Motion was valid, triggering General and Regional Elections within three months.

8 News

SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Trio busted with cocaine at EBE remanded

T

hree men, who were earlier this week allegedly busted with over two kilograms of cocaine by ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), were on Friday hurled before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to the offence.

Charged for the offence of trafficking narcotics are 48-year-old Deopaul Gordeen of Lot 1155 Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE); 47-year-old Mohammed Inshan of Zeelugt, EBE, and Amit Kumar,41, a machine operator of Lot 275 Tuschen, EBE. The charge against the men alleged that on July 23, at Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), they had in their possession 2.64 kilograms of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The trio denied the charge after it was read to them.

CANU Prosecutor Narissa Leander stated that on the day in question, ranks attached to CANU were conducting an observance exer-

Playing…

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Deopaul Gordeen and Amit Kumar

cise when they saw the number one defendant (Gordeen) handing over the suspected cocaine to the number two defendant (Inshan), who then gave same to the number three defendant (Kumar). Kumar subsequently placed the illegal drug in the car.

According to the prosecutor, soon afterwards, ranks approached the defendants and conducted a search on the vehicle and the drug was

found concealed in a plastic bag inside of a lunch bag.

The trio was arrested and taken to the CANU office, where they were questioned.

Leander further informed the court that there is video evidence of the handing over process.

Attorney-at-Law Damion Dasilva represented Gordeen while Inshan and Kumar were represented by attorneys Siand Dhurjon and Marcel Bobb respective-

Mohammed Inshan

ly. Each attorney requested that their clients be released on reasonable bail, noting that they are not a flight risk.

However, the prosecution objected to bail citing the penalty the offence attracts and the prevalence of same.

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan remanded the men to prison and adjourned the matter to August 12, 2019, at the Leonora Magistrate Court.

Fisherman remanded for wounding drinking partner

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enior Magistrate Leron Daly on Friday remanded a 25-year-old Albouystown, Georgetown, resident when he appeared before her at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged for unlawfully wounding his friend.

Kevin Allicock of Lot 32 James Street, Albouystown,

pleaded not guilty to the charge, which detailed that on April 17 at Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Joseph Barker with the intent to maim, disfigure, or cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard that on April 17, 2019, the Virtual Complaint and Allicock were

both imbibing whilst playing around with knives. During the said activity, the defendant armed himself with one of the knives and dealt Barker a stab to his neck.

The police report was made and Barker was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he received medical attention for his wound.

Prosecutor Richard Harris in court on Friday revealed that the victim had to be readmitted to the health facility for treatment for the said wound. On that note, the prosecutor objected to bail.

The unrepresented man was remanded to prison. The case will continue on July 29, 2019.

…as caretaker President ome folks think the pressures that have come down on the PNC-led coalition following the NCM have gotten to David Granger and that’s why he’s acting so bassidy!! Like summoning the Diplomatic Corps and civil society representatives to State House in separate meetings to explain what he and his Government were doing about the CCJ’s consequential orders on the NCM – but just reading a prepared statement and then disappearing without even taking a single question!! Was he just playing the fool?

Now we know for a fella who has more than a passing acquaintance with journalism, Granger is deathly afraid of being questioned! Maybe he’s afraid of going off-script and would be bitch-slapped by his handlers?? But Jeez!!

These were people who’d be even more deferential that the fawning local press corps!! Lincoln Lewis of the TUC afterwards said he was disappointed since he had some questions on some issues that he wanted to clear up.

But seriously folks, do you think Lewis would’ve lobbed anything but puffballs at Granger after he’d remained so consistently anti-Jagdeo and PPP in his defence of the PNC?? Lewis might have some skirmishes on some Government policies, but when it comes to the big enchilada – elections to return the PNC to power – he (and the rest of Guyana) knows which side of the fence he’s on!! And then there were the diplomats. They’re trained to be…well…diplomatic!! No awkward questions from that quarter!!

So the question remains: why did Granger diss these strategic groups?? And the answer is, he’s suffering from what’s been dubbed the “Hubris-Nemesis Complex”. As the fella who coined the pathology explained, “Hubris is the capital sin of the arrogant, self-exalting leader who believes that he has the ability and the right to get away with whatever he wishes, even if this means violating accepted standards of conduct and mocking the cardinal virtues of life”.

“Nemesis, on the other hand, was the goddess of divine vengeance. If the gods on high became angry that some mortal was exceeding his fate, she might intervene in human affairs to restore equilibrium; she could be devastating with Hubris”. But in fellas like Granger, the two contradictory impulses have been internalised so that while fully consumed with hubris, Granger projects these sentiments onto those who’ve earned his ire – here Jagdeo and the PPP – and will do whatever it takes to destroy the latter!!

But what the diplomatic community and civil society have to be wary of, is the leader suffering from the HubrisNemesis Complex – like Burnham back in the day – can turn their fury on even those who think they’re friends!!

And that’s what Granger’s Louis XIV behaviour signalled!! …the race card Well, how dare the Head of the Private Sector Commission, Gerry Gouveia – who represents the constituency that stands to suffer the most harm if the political contretemps spill over into violence – write to GECOM’s CEO Lowenfield to express the body’s concern over going ahead with H2H registration??!! Never mind that immediately after the letter, Lowenfield recanted and accepted most of the points Gouveia made!!

One Government Commissioner in GECOM, WPA’s Desmond Trotman, came out swinging at Gouveia and accused him of “racism”: “What I found most disconcerting is the tone you adopted – a tone consistent with that of a white slave owner, who, in the presence of his overseers, is penalising a delinquent slave for failing to carry out the instructions of “massa”. When I read that part of your letter I was filled with anger and I imagined the treatment of my forefathers by yours, as they were beaten”.

And imagine that Gerry’s Portuguese forefathers died like flies as indentured servants under “Massa’s” whips!! …dumb with numbers The PNC just confirmed they’re so mathematically challenged, even the CCJ won’t be able to straighten them this time like with their claim that 33 wasn’t the majority of 65.

Now they’re insisting they’ll get a 2/3 majority in Parliament!!

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

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Oil and gas sector

Finance Minister downplays importance of local content legislation

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t a time when local stakeholders are actively pushing for a local content policy to be in place ahead of next year’s scheduled first oil, Finance Minister Winston Jordan said such legislation is not important.

Speaking at a weekly press conference held on Friday by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the largest party in the APNU faction of the coalition Government – Jordan pointed out that activities in the oil and gas sector are moving full steam ahead without that critical piece of legislation.

“While legislation is important, we should not make it the be-all and end-all.

Many companies that are coming here aren’t waiting for local content and other legislation – they are moving ahead. And if various pieces of legislation represented the level of development, Guyana would be a very developed country because [we have] got legislation virtually for everything,” he posited.

Nevertheless, the Finance Minister explained that Director of the Department of Energy, Dr Mark Bynoe has indicated that the local content legis-

lation is all about finished and will be available for public consumption fairly shortly.

But Jordan went on to insist that, “The proof of the pudding is always in the eating and how we implement the legislation. Do we have the bodies to implement the legislation, the systems, and so forth, in place? So yes, local content [is] absolutely important, absolutely vital that we get it but don’t wait for local content legislation.

Use existing legislation to ensure that we get parts of the pie while we putting in the local content legislation so that we could get a fair, level playing field about how we operate with nationals and foreigners as they come into our country”.

In recent years, however, pressure has been mounting from stakeholders, including the diplomatic community here, for the coalition Government to have a local content policy in place so that Guyanese can benefit from the budding oil and gas industry.

Local Private Sector bodies and other stakeholder agencies had expressed dissatisfaction with the slothfulness in which the local content laws are being developed. Calls are constant-

Finance Minister Winston Jordan

ly being made for the policy to be finalised before first oil in the first quarter of 2020, when United States oil giant, ExxonMobil is slated to commence production in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.

Back in May, however, Dr Bynoe had told reporters at a press conference that the local content policy would be ready long before production commences.

The local content policy would guide the State in guarding against local companies being bypassed for contracts and services while foreign companies and workers are favoured.

But specialists in this field have opined that

Guyana needs to place emphasis on having active and direct participation of local companies in the budding industry.

This is the belief of Executive Director of the Ghana Oil and Gas Services Association, Nuertey Adzeman, who told reporters here earlier this month that the best approach to achieve this is to make it mandatory for foreign companies to enter into a joint venture with a local company in order to operate in the country.

“In our part of the world, local participation requires that every foreign contractor coming to do business in the oil and gas field should have

an indigenous partner, who should have a minimum of 10 per cent stake of equity in the business and have his role cut out well and, therefore, a JV [joint venture] needs come out of that…and the contract will be awarded to the JV company, and not the individual companies.

That is the best way to go because the country spend would be maintained and you will see your numbers go up and that is where you need to put your priority at,” the oil consultant stated.

Moreover, Adzeman pointed out that Guyana should also focus on building capacity at the middle level of the oil value chain where technical and vocational skills are needed so that the country can have its own pool of petroleum technicians and experts.

This, according to his colleague, Business Development Manager Loveland White, will allow Guyana to eventually take over and have locals run the oil and gas industry down the line.

“Local content regulation goes beyond employing a number of Guyanese to work with the operators. They need to build capacity and they need to have knowledge transfer. There should

be a succession plan… You should be able to transfer knowledge to Guyanese to take over. So you give yourself a number of years to hand over full operations to Guyanese to take over and they’ll manage their own resources,” White contended.

Against this backdrop, however, Adzeman posited that another area is that Guyana should consider supporting indigenous companies to get into oil production themselves instead of having to rely solely on the expertise and resources of foreign companies all the time to develop the oil and gas industry.

“You need to start thinking about that… putting indigenous Guyanese, as we have done. Identify a few Guyanese and give them block and when we find something, everything remains in house,” he noted.

Building on this, however, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Nicholas Boyer said he can foresee local companies taking advantage of the opportunities available in on-shore and near-shore explorations where the complexities and risks behind the engineering are low.

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

New multi-million CCTV command centre activated

…criminals, vehicles can now be easily tracked, monitored

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new multi-million-dollar CCTV command centre was activated on Friday and will be used to monitor criminals, suspects, and vehicles involved in crimes.

According to Head of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) Floyd Levi, the command centre will enhance the capacities and capabilities of security agencies.

He added that the NDMA is prepared to not relinquish, but to make this facility available, “it is our network corporation centre to members of the security sector so that they can commence oper-

ations here immediately. I know that there are certain pieces that have got to be put in place. There is identification of personnel, there is training and the other logistics to make this happen”.

He stated that this centre, which is located near the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, has been dubbed the National Emergency and Response Command Centre, pending the approval of the Cabinet and that works on the construction of a brand new building to house this centre will commence within the next month.

During a tour of the facility on Friday, Public Security

Minister Khemraj Ramjattan explained that the command centre is a part of the country’s broadband strategy and is in keeping with a smart city direction that will prompt efficient public security services in Guyana.

According to Ramjattan, the pilot programme will begin in Georgetown, but eventually it should be extended to all regions of the country.

Meanwhile, Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes, who was also present at the event, explained this intelligence surveillance system, with specialised and modernised cameras and equipment, will offer di-

rect benefits to Guyanese citizens. Most of all, it will ensure their safety, she noted.

“What we are really showing you is how, through technology, we are able to guarantee a higher level of service to citizens in Guyana…I think this takes us up a notch… we are moving ahead in this area”.

Minister Hughes added that it was two years ago that this project, through the country’s National Broadband Strategy and Programme, was started and is funded by the China Exim (ExportImport) bank and implemented through the services of Huawei.

A worker at the NDMA giving a demonstration of how the new CCTV command centre operates

Hundreds of farmers under threat in Berbice – Regional Chairman …as Water Users Association unable to provide drainage services

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undreds of rice and a large number of cash crop farmers operating in the Black Bush Polder

(BBP), Berbice area and the front lands in Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) are facing extreme difficulties

in sustaining their livelihoods due to the lack of drainage and irrigation services by the BBP Water Users Association.

Regional Chairman David Armogan

Regional Chairman of that region, David Armogan told Guyana Times on Friday that this is by no means the fault of the BBP Water Users Association. He stated that the blame lies solely on the Government for not providing the financial support that is necessary to upkeep drainage and irrigation services.

“The areas are now under threat because the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority did not give any money to the BBP Water Users Association to clean the drainage and irrigation system so they are all clogged up. If you get heavy rainfall, it might result in flooding and if there is no rainfall and

you need water to be pumped then it is not going to go anywhere. This is the only Water Users Association in the country that was not given a subvention this year but all the others were given money,” Armogan told this publication.

According to the Regional Chairman, he contacted the Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder, via telephone to notify him about the issue and that as a result, the BBP scheme would be closing, coupled with the fact that the area’s rice production is under “serious threat”. However, the response was not positive, he explained.

“He said to me when the people in Black Bush decide to pay their full rates then he will consider to see what he can do.

The rates are small, $1200 per acre, which cannot sustain the expenditure in terms of keeping the scheme going and that is why all through the years, all the Governments, have been putting money in the BBP Water Users…because it is a Government responsibility to make sure that drainage and irrigation is provided for rice production.”

Armogan noted that the water that is pumped from Black Bush Polder supplies

a wide range of villages in Corentyne and as such, a large number of cash crop farmers will suffer severe losses if the issue is not corrected soon.

“I have written the Minister last week, pointing out the seriousness of the issue at hand and I have carbon copied the letter to the President. I had spoken to the Minister before and every NDIA meeting I have been raising this matter.

But I am told that the matter is with Cabinet and Cabinet needs to look at it but while Cabinet is pussyfooting, the scheme is suffering.”

He reminded that Berbice has always been known for its sugar, rice and cash crop production and that already, thousands of sugar workers in that region are suffering from the effects of the flailing sugar industry and closure of estates.

“We already in a situation where sugar is closed down, then now, if the rice people are closed down then we are dead.

The Berbice area not only produces rice but also a lot of cash crops which people have to eat. A lot of our production also goes to Georgetown so we need this matter taken care of urgently because too many people will suffer,” Armogan added.

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Massive protests demanding elections held countrywide

ed.

Protesters picketing in front of GECOM’s office on Church Street

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massive countrywide protest demanding Regional and General Elections and against the ongoing House-to-House Registration which will cause a delay, ensued on Friday as People’s Progressive Party supporters picketed in front of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) offices.

Organised by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), persons also called upon President David Granger to announce a date for new polls as is constitutionally mandated.

Court proceedings have already been filed to terminate the “illegal” registration exercise, which began last Saturday, by the Guyana Elections Commission as many took to the streets to voice their concerns over the

current political dilemma.

The country was swarmed with peaceful picketing as placards voiced the immense need for the elections body and the Head of State to respect the Constitution of Guyana.

Former Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds was among the protesters in Georgetown as he urged the President to call a date for new polls.

His calls came after Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield confirmed earlier this week that the Official List of Electors can be renewed with a Claims and Objections period, rather than to formulate a new list.

“We are calling on our President to name a date

for elections now. We’re calling on GECOM and Mr Lowenfield to start the preparations for elections September 18. He has come out saying that the list can be refreshed with a Claims and Objections period and he should get on with that and suspend the House-toHouse Registration,” the former Prime Minister relayed.

Hinds told media operatives that Guyanese have a right to express their concerns when legal frameworks, such as the Constitution, are violated or misinterpreted. He clarified that Cabinet should resign and accept its caretaker status.

“We need all our people in Guyana. Whether they vote for us or any other party, they have a part in this.

They should also be holding

out that the Constitution be respected now. Our reading of the Constitution and the CCJ ruling is that the President must call the date for elections. He and his Cabinet and all his people should be handing their resignations and then as the Constitution says, they should stay in office in a caretaker mode so he is the person that has to set the date for elections.”

The President made a shocking statement on Thursday that there is no timeline for elections, even though the Caribbean Court of Justice’s orders prescribed that the constitutional deadline for elections must be upheld. Chief Justice Roxanne

George provided clarifications which indicated that the deadline for elections will end on September 18, 2019. With this activity in play, there is a great possibility that the Constitution will not be honoured.

As such, Executive Secretary of the PPP/C, Zulfikar Mustapha reiterated the opinions of many that GECOM is violating the Constitution by proceeding with the exercise.

Mustapha said, “GECOM is violating our Constitution, especially the Chief Elections Officer. GECOM should have never embarked on a Houseto-House Registration because the CCJ has ruled that election will have to be held within three months”.

He further stated, “We are seeing is a violation of our Constitution and we

are urging that GECOM should stop the House-toHouse Registration and they should immediately embark on preparation for national and regional elections”.

Adding to that, Member of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall reiterated that House-to-House Registration will not be completed in time for the election deadline, resulting in a substantial delay.

“We are protesting the unconstitutional action of GECOM where they have proceeded on Houseto-House Registration…

This House-to-House Registration is going to take us beyond September 18,” the Opposition MP suggest-

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had pointed out on Thursday that the work plan for the registration activity contained a 290 day period for the registration exercise which will run until February 2020.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) simultaneously picketed the three Guyana Elections Commissions (GECOMs) in Berbice as part of its countrywide protest of GECOM. In Region Five, (MahaicaBerbice) the exercise was held in front of GECOM’s Fort Wellington office where scores of persons held placards and chanted slogans accusing GECOM of not acting

in accordance with the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The party’s regional supervisor, Faisal Jaffer Ali, explained that they were there to ensure that democracy prevails. He made mention of the dictatorship tendency of the coalition Government, which he said is stifling democracy.

“What we are seeing in Guyana is an attempt [by] this illegal caretaker Administration which is led by David Granger, who

seems not to understand or to play ‘hard-ears’; the guy is definitely shameless. He is barefaced not to want to adhere to the constitutional provisions in our country; not to want to respect the Judiciary of our country and the Caribbean because, in addition to what the Constitution says, the CCJ ruled that elections must be held in accordance with the Constitution, and that is three months. So, elections should be by the 17. September,” Jafarrly emphasised.

Meanwhile, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) the party’s supervisor, Zaman Hussain, explained that party supporters are

dissatisfied with the steps taken by GECOM. He said these are contradictory to the CCJ’s ruling and referred to the House-to-House Registration which commenced almost a week ago, saying it is an illegal act.

More than a hundred and fifty party supporters protested outside of GECOM’s office on Princess Elizabeth Road in New Amsterdam and almost a similar number did the same at GECOM’s Corriverton office.

Region Six’s Chairman,

David Aragon, who was also on the picket line, told reporters that apart from the GECOM issues, the party wants to send a strong message.

Meanwhile, similar protests were also held in other areas of the country including Mabaruma and Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini); Anna Regina, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Region Five (MahaicaBerbice); Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni); Lethem, Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) and

Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice).

Meanwhile, last Friday hundreds of People’s Progressive Party supporters gathered outside of the Guyana Elections Commission’s headquarters in Kingston after the body decided to proceed with the prolonged registration.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was baffled about the legal basis on which GECOM’s CEO advanced with the exercise. Jagdeo added that from the Opposition’s perspective, Lowenfield acted in a rogue manner since he did not formally inform the PPP about the confirmed start of new House-to-House Registration.

Earlier this week, an interim conservatory order to block GECOM from continuing its House-to-House Registration was not granted as Chief Justice (CJ) Roxanne George required more evidence as to the unconstitutionality of the exercise. The affidavits on this matter are to be submitted on Monday and the court will resume the hearing on August 2, 2019.

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Scenes from countrywide pro

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protests demanding elections

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SATURday, JUly 27, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

GB&GWU continue Role of Local Govt being BCGI, negotiation for Collective amplified – President Labour Agreement

…subvention increased for Councils

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egional officials and councillors converged on Thursday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre for the second annual National Conference for Local Democratic Organs, seeking to bridge the gap between central and local Government authorities.

Themed “Advancing national development through empowered and innovative local democratic organs in the green economy”, the forum serves as a platform to recognise the contributions made by local democratic organs and how they can be improved.

Moreover, Regional and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils have a chance to collaborate on projects or initiatives to effect change on a wider level.

Stakeholders were addressed by President David Granger, who lauded the contribution of local government towards community development.

He stated that Local Government has reached the entire population in providing a safe space for them to come together as a social unit.

“Local Government is aimed at satisfying basic needs of our people, particularly at the community level.

It is concerned with ensuring safety, secure and economically sustainable communities. We’re all products of communities. The community is a social unit that

President David Granger

must be preserved, must be protected [and] must be improved so that it can continue its vital role of socialising present and future generations,” the President acknowledged.

Adding to that, other living conditions are shouldered by these organs, and moreover are seen as “a great burden to bear”.

The Head of State also sought to mention the role of Councillors, who he believed can climb the ladder in the regional democratic system after serving the people and being au fait with operational processes.

“Councillors at the Local Government level are the custodians of our communities. It is them who must ensure that the citizens can enjoy safety, security and sustainable econo-

mies within their communities… Local Government is boosting community development. It is invigorating village economics … Local democratic organs are vital elements of our system of local government.”

Subventions

His words followed that of the Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan, who announced increased subventions and the introduction of stipends for councils.

However, he is of the belief that Councils should be able to garner revenue from the constituencies.

He also stated that citizens should not look at Central Government to improve conditions but rather their municipalities.

While citizens have grown accustomed to looking to Central Government for everything, NDCs have complained in the past about the few resources they have to cover all constituents. In most cases, the money is insufficient to conduct major works while in other cases, the Government has been accused of stymieing the work of local authorities whose residents are not supporters of the Government.

T

he Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) continues to represent its workers as they negotiate with the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated for a new Collective Labour Agreement.

Initially, 61 workers had downed their tools in February of this year against the subsidiary of Russian Aluminum company (RUSAL) for a mere one per cent salary increase.

This resulted in a series of protests and the blockage of a section of the Berbice River which leads to the company’s operation located at Aroaima, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

On March 20, the deadlock finally ended when both parties signed a Terms of Resumption (ToR) which included the reinstatement of all dismissed workers and

those laid off during the dispute. It also cited that there would be no victimisation or change of conditions for the reinstated workers; no compensation for time not worked during the dispute; return of the check-off system; and clearance of the Berbice River.

In a statement, the Union explained that they have so far conducted activities in an “un-inhabited atmosphere”, where workers are operating but anxiously awaiting the ongoing negotiations.

“The Union has been able, to date, to conduct its activities in an uninhibited atmosphere. Workers are, however, still mobilised and are anxiously awaiting the outcome of a new Collective Labour Agreement which is to be realised from the on-going negotiation will continue on Friday.”

The team was led by General Secretary, Lincoln Lewis; BCGI Branch President, Ephraim Velloza and Secretary Leslie Junor.

Some of the demands from these workers include improvement in vacation benefit, increase in wages and salary and education allowances for workers and family. The Union has promised to represent these workers until they are alleviated from current working conditions.

In the past, there was some amount of struggle for the Union to be accepted by the company. During a meeting at the Labour Department, BCGI representatives said that the company did not recognise the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union.

The Union was later given its due recognition.

Repeat offender on armed robbery charge

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young man, who is presently before the Courts for three counts of armed robberies, was yet again remanded for a similar offence when he appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Friday.

Odinga Haywood, 22, of Charlestown, stood before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly and denied that on May 29, 2019, at Charlestown, Georgetown, while being armed with a gun, he robbed Julius Hope of two cellular phones valued $96,000 and $10,000.

Prosecutor Richard Harris did not present facts into the matter but objected to bail being granted on the basis that Haywood is a known character to the Police and is currently before the Courts on similar

Remanded: Odinga Haywood

offences.

As such, the unrepresented man was remanded to prison and the case will continue on August 23.

Haywood was charged in 2016 for three counts

of armed robbery. Only 20 years old then, the charge against him read that on February 21, at Waterloo Street, Georgetown, being armed with a knife, he robbed Trevor Singh of a Samsung Galaxy cellular phone valued $60,440, Ibrahim Takur of a Samsung Galaxy cellular phone valued $70,000 and Mohamed Takur of an iPhone and headset valued $122,000.

He had pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Haywood was charged for possession of narcotics; however, after pleading guilty to the charge and begging the Court’s leniency, Haywood was given a second chance and ordered to perform two weeks of community service.

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31 cops being trained to tackle noise nuisance

The trainees during the first day of the Noise Management Training

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he second batch of Police ranks is being trained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine and deal with noise complaints, management and investigation.

The two-day Noise Management Training is being conducted at the Police Training Centre, Eve Leary, in collaboration with the Public Infrastructure Ministry.

During the training, the ranks will be informed of the EPA’s role in environmental protection and noise management, while another session will be conducted on strategies that will be taken for joint noise management between the EPA and the Police Force.

On Friday a field exercise was conducted where the ranks used testers to check the level of noise emanating from popular business spots in Georgetown.

EPA’s Executive Director, Dr Vincent Adams said that the training is

coming along in a timely manner and recommitted his agency’s commitment to assist GPF in tackling noise.

According to Adams, the public also has a major role to play in eliminating noise nuisance, which he calls one of Guyana’s most persistent and pervasive issues.

“The agency has reaffirmed its commitment to the Guyana Police Force to strengthen their capacity to manage noise emissions.

I am proud to say that this training is the second of its kind held with the Force with the first being held in November last where officers from across the country were trained. I look forward to the many more training sessions of this kind in the near future,” Adams said.

Deputy Police Commissioner, Clifton Hicken in his brief remarks said more needs to be done to ensure the public is aware of this issue and their rights.

Awareness, he added, should not be limited to the

social and the printed press, “as a recommendation, we should be moving around as a task force and distributing flyers and using other means that can get across to society because they are the people that are affected or what are some of the hindrances for us to have successful prosecutions because when we ask for statements to support the report, that is not forthcoming and because it is not forthcoming, it looks as if the police aren’t taking the appropriate action. So awareness is necessary, the public needs to know their roles if they need to have the noise pollution issue managed”.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan implored the ranks to use the knowledge and equipment that they will be given to clamp down on this issue.

Fifty ranks were already trained in this capacity in November of 2018, with another batch of ranks expected to be trained in October.

GTT cell tower collapses at Diamond

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he Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) cell site tower at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, collapsed in the wee hours on Friday, causing disruption to mobile customers in the area.

A release from the telephone company stated that the tower came crashing down at about 03:00h during bad weather conditions.

Up to late Friday afternoon, the company was still assessing the damages, but they have confirmed that no one was injured because of the incident. This had, however, caused a traffic buildup along the East Bank corridor.

Members of the Guyana Police Force worked to ensure that there was an easy flow of traffic. As such, commuters were urged to proceed with caution since one of the lanes was blocked as a result of the collapsed tower which ended up on the roadway.

The telephone company is already in talks to re-

The damaged GTT tower

construct the tower and is working assiduously to re-

store mobile service to its customers.

50 children benefit from Reading is Fun programme

F

ifty children on Friday graduated from the Reading is Fun programme.

The programme ran for a three-week period and saw participation from children between the ages of five and 13. Themed “Reading is Empowerment”, the activities were aimed at motivating a love for reading among children.

The schedule of activities for the programme included vocabulary and spelling, poetry writing, reading and comprehension, reading for enjoyment and appreciation, short stories and storytelling and phonetic awareness. The children were also treated to educational tours, including a visit to the National Museum and the Botanical Gardens.

The programme— which concluded on Friday with a formal ceremony at the University of Guyana (UG) library — saw the young participants, who hailed from Cummings Lodge and Sophia, Greater Georgetown, awarded certificates of appreciation, while some of their crafts were displayed.

Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin during the closing ceremony said that the Reading is Fun programme is one that is special since it is important for children to learn to read at an early age.

“Help us to produce the

A group of children who participated in the programme

kinds of citizen’s and young people we want in the country, it is very important at this time that young people learn how to read because reading is the foundation of all academic knowledge and if you are unable to read, then you are unable to comprehend complex concepts and to express yourself in the kinds of ways that you want to and most importantly, you are unable to create the kind of life and to come to your best potential,” the Deputy Vice Chancellor expressed to the gathering.

Mohamed-Martin further commended the parents who ensured that their children attended the programme and urged them to continue pursing academic activities for them.

“I want to always commend parents and guardians and aunties, grandmothers, big brothers and sisters that take the time off to bring your children to these kinds of activities, we know that often it is a sacrifice for you because you have to find transportation, time off work; there is a lot of negotiation involved and so it is a choice that you have to make. So we want to applaud all those who have brought their children,” the Professor applauded.

Top National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) students Dave Chowtie and Ethan Bianchini were both presented with congratulatory gifts for their outstanding performance at the programme.

16 news

SATURday, JUly 27, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Mayor gives diplomats tour Guyana achieves target in of dilapidated City Hall diagnosing HIV-affected persons

…in bid to solicit funds for restoration

G

eorgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine on Friday gave several diplomats a tour of the city’s dilapidated structures in a bid to solicit funds for City Hall’s restoration.

In a social media post, the Mayor displayed several images of himself showing the diplomats around the city, especially the deplorable City Hall building, which is long overdue for rehabilitation works.

“The tour was conducted to initiate partnerships and cooperation initiatives in the areas of infrastructure, tourism, commerce, trade, training and many others,” the Mayor said.

In addition to City Hall, the diplomats also toured the Stabroek Market Wharf, which is on the verge of collapse. A few other sites which were toured included the Municipality Day Care Centre and the City Constabulary Training Centre.

On July 8, the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) moved a motion to see the establishment of a restoration fund committee to help fast track the rehabilitation process of the historic building.

Although nine committee members were elected, Mayor Narine had informed that this committee will be extended to include other stakehold-

Mayor Ubraj Narine showing the diplomats around a section of City Hall

ers such as the private sector, the Chambers of Commerce, the National Trust, the Department of Tourism, civil society, and others.

“I believe this (building) is the eye of the City and we all, as councillors, should work in this cohesive way to restore this historic building of our nation,” Narine said.

In February, the European Union (EU) handed over a document to the Mayor in relation to the restoration of City Hall’s deplorable structure and ways in which the space can be utilised to garner independent revenues.

EU Ambassador to Guyana Jernej Videtič made the presentation to the Mayor alongside Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentor.

Speaking with media operatives after discussions between the two parties, Videtič

explained that some £280,000 was expended to craft the document, bringing new ideas to the restoration project. He noted that some plans include using the historic building as a tourism spot, where it can be booked for special events to earn money.

The Georgetown M&CC has pegged the overhaul of the City Hall building at over $400 million, and noted that stakeholders would strive to attain funding for the rehabilitation works.

The building has suffered much neglect over the years even though millions of dollars have been allocated to facilitate repairs, including some $20 million in 2012.

Just recently, the Mayor himself had disclosed plans of relocating some staffers because of the leaking roofs.

U

sing a new initiative, the Public Health Ministry last year managed to achieve a global objective of diagnosing 90 per cent of the population living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

This was revealed on Friday by the Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, who was at the time speaking at the ‘close out’ ceremony of the Advancing Partnerships and Communities (APC) Project which was launched back in 2014.

According to Lawrence, “With the generation of community-level data, targeted testing was conducted using mobile outreaches and collaborating with Private Sector organisations, some 29 of them and faith-based organisations, also another 29. This new strategy of index texting in Guyana improved the overall testing yield, shifting the first 90 from 86 per cent at the end of 2017 to 93 per cent [in 2018]”.

She explained that the initiative also resulted in an increased number of persons being treated as well, which means that the country is moving towards achieving another 90-90-90 goal. This goal aims at diagnosing 90 per cent of all HIV positive persons, providing antiretroviral therapy for 90 per cent of those diagnosed, and achieving viral suppression for 90 per cent of those treated by 2020.

Meanwhile, Chief of

Party for the Project, Lisa Thompson explained the objective behind the fiveyear programme.

Initially, the project was introduced in eight of Guyana’s 10 administrative regions.

Thompson pointed out that the programme was aimed at improving the service delivery and unit costs while strengthening the relationship between Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the subject Ministry among several others.

The strategies were specifically tailored to meet the needs of the population and to ensure the activities were implemented where people were living, working and even playing, which means taking services to the populace rather than having them visit offices for checkups and tests.

She was keen to note that more than 30,000 HIV tests were conducted during this period, 424 of the results showed positive.

In addition, over 70 training sessions were conducted geared towards educating health personnel and others on effective communication with HIV positive persons. She said they were also schooled on how to teach patients to take care of themselves, healthwise and physically, while listing a few achievements of the APC project.

New app for HIV education

At the same event, Minister Lawrence an-

nounced that the Telecommunications Ministry is working alongside the Public Health Ministry to develop a web application which will better inform persons on HIV. According to the Minister, “The APC in collaboration with the Ministry and the Ministry of [Public] Telecommunications began working on an app that would provide information to the general public on HIV and common STIs [Sexually Transmitted Diseases] and where persons can access services should they require the same”.

HIV in Guyana

In August last year, it was revealed that Guyana recorded an increase in the number of HIV cases, with some 961 cases being confirmed.

Statistics showed that over the past three years, HIV cases have been increasing rapidly. Some 705 were recorded in 2015 and 855 in 2016.

Region Four has since earned the title of the region that is most populated with HIV affected persons due to the fact that it is evidently the most populated region in the country.

Trailing Region Four was Region Three, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, with 130 cases of HIV in 2017.

So far, no figures have been released in relation to confirmed HIV cases for 2018.APC Project

guyanatimesgy.com

sATURday, JUly 27, 2019

17

Around the World

Flight attendants, airport staff Trinidad: 2 jailed for join Hong Kong airport protest 14 years for burger vendor’s murder T

housands of protesters, dressed mostly in black, have held a rally at Hong Kong’s international airport to “educate” visitors about the demonstrations currently gripping the semi-autonomous city-state as it braces for another weekend of protests.

Flight attendants and airport staff joined protesters on Friday, with many sitting on the ground in the airport’s main arrivals hall. Some held protest banners, chanted anti-Government slogans and handed out leaflets as travellers looked on.

One group used a television to show a satirical version of an airline safety announcement video detailing the protesters’

demands and warning of demonstrations in the city.

“Kindly put on your masks and black t-shirts ... when attending the assemblies,” the video said, in reference to the colour widely adopted by anti-Government protesters.

Others held “Tourist Warning” signs detailing how Police have fired tear gas at protesters and how a suspected pro-Government gang attacked demonstrators last Sunday, putting 45 people in hospital.

There were no reports of unrest or disruption to flights during Friday’s protest, which was the latest bid to keep up pressure on Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leaders after seven weeks of largely peaceful mass demonstrations fol-

N

Some protesters handed flyers out to visitors as they arrived at the airport

lowed by violent clashes.

An unprecedented challenge to Beijing’s authority since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from the United Kingdom, the protests were triggered by a con-

troversial bill which would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but have evolved into a call for wider democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

US, Guatemala sign controversial migration deal, details unclear

T

he United States and Guatemala signed a migration deal on Friday just days after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on the Central American country if it did enter into a so-called “safe third country” agreement.

The Guatemalan Government said the deal would apply to citizens from Honduras and El Salvador.

It did not say whether it had signed a safe third country agreement.

But Trump, speaking to reporters, described the agreement as such, saying it would “provide safety to legitimate asylum seekers and stop asylum fraud”.

Any safe third country agreement would require migrants, including

Salvadorans and Hondurans, who cross into Guatemala on their way to the US to apply for protections in Guatemala instead of at the US border.

But immigrant rights groups have said that Guatemala is not equipped to take asylum seekers, especially as thousands of Guatemalans flee poverty, unemployment and violence in the country for the US. According to US Government data, Guatemala has the highest number of migrants and asylum seekers apprehended at the US southern border.

Guatemala and the US had been negotiating such an agreement for months, and Trump threatened Wednesday to place tariffs or other consequences on

M

Idlib had been met with a “collective shrug” and the conflict had fallen off the international radar, while the UN Security Council was paralysed, she said.

She said the civilian targets were unlikely to have been accidental and warned that those carrying out the attacks could be charged with war crimes.

Last week, the UN said more than 350 civilians had been killed and 330,000 forced to flee their homes since fighting escalated on April 29.

But that figure has now been revised, adding 103 extra deaths in the past 10 days alone. The estimate for the number displaced stands at more than 400,000.

The Government - which is backed by the Russian air

Locals and Central American migrants use a makeshift raft to cross the Suchiate River from Tecun Uman in Guatemala, to Ciudad Hidalgo in Chiapas State, Mexico [Quetzalli Blanco/AFP]

Guatemala if it did not reach a deal.

It’s not clear how the agreement will take effect.

Guatemala’s Constitutional Court granted three injunctions preventing its govern-

ment from entering into a deal. The court said Morales could not sign the safe third country agreement without prior approval from Congress, which is on a summer recess.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

A Syrian man saves a baby from under the debris following air raids in Arihah district of Idlib, northwest Syria [Muhammed Said/Anadolu Agency]

force - said the increase in attacks was due to repeated truce violations by jihadists linked to al-Qaeda who dominate the Opposition stronghold.

Russia has denied reports earlier this week that it carried out airstrikes on a market and residential areas which left at least 31 civilians dead. (Excerpt from BBC News)

R

ussia on Friday warned British media operating on its territory that they should be ready for consequences after Britain’s media regulator fined the State-financed RT television channel over its coverage of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal.

Relations between London and Moscow sank to a post-Cold War low over the 2018 poisoning of Skripal, a mole who betrayed hundreds of Russian agents to Britain’s MI6 foreign spy service.

Britain said Russian military intelligence poisoned Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a Sovietdeveloped nerve agent known as Novichok. Russia repeatedly denied any involvement and said Britain staged the attack to stoke anti-Russian hysteria.

Britain’s media regulator Ofcom said on Friday it had fined RT 200,000 pounds (US$248,740) for breaching impartiality rules in broadcasts over the poisoning,

T

proceeds of slavery during the 18th and 19th centuries, the UWI said in an advisory.

The signing is to be held at the Regional Headquarters Building, Hermitage Road in Kingston at 10:00h.

“This will be immediately followed by a press conference, which will discuss some of the major announcements under the MoU’s terms of reference, and the broader significance in the Caribbean and global reparations discourse,” the UWI said.

Speakers for the event include UWI Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and University of Glasgow, Chief Operating Officer, Dr

(Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

According to UWI, the MoU is part of a programme of reparative justice that will see the establishment of a joint GlasgowCaribbean Centre for Development Research

David Duncan.

The MoU signing will be streamed live online at

www.uwitv.org or Security Check Required , the UWI said. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

the conflict in Syria, and Ukraine’s polices on Nazism and gypsies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement it regarded Ofcom’s actions as part of “an anti-Russian campaign” intended to limit Russian media’s activities in Britain.

In the same statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry complained about Russiarelated stories reported by Reuters, the Guardian and the BBC. Russia has repeatedly said in the past it will subject British media in Russia to the same treatment RT gets from British authorities, suggesting it may move to fine British outlets for alleged impartiality failures if the punishment for RT stands.

Russian officials say RT is a way for Moscow to compete with the dominance of global media companies based in the United States and Britain, which they say offer a biased world view.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Belize reporting outbreak of dengue fever

UWI and University of Glasgow to sign MoU on slavery research B he University of the West Indies (UWI) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Glasgow on Wednesday, July 31 to study the effects of slavery and possible reparations.

According to UWI, the MoU is part of a programme of reparative justice that will see the establishment of a joint Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research.

The partnership agreement was reached following a landmark study which the University of Glasgow undertook into the extent to which it benefited from the

robbed them of jewellery, electronics and money.

Charles is from Diego Martin and Independence Avenue, San Fernando, and Hope is from Cocoyea Village.

Chatoor, a pensioner, was shot and died three weeks later at hospital.

State attorneys Hema Soorjansingh and Candace Nanton prosecuted. Attorneys Renuka Rambhajan and Kevin Ratiram represented the men.

In passing sentence, St Clair-Douglas said the robbery was committed for financial gain and fixed 28 years as a starting point.

Charles and Hope have previous convictions, he added, the former with conviction in 2004 for robbery with aggravation, house-breaking and larceny.

In 1996, Hope was convicted for guns and ammunition.

Russia warns British media after RT fined for coverage of poisoned spy

Syria war: World ‘shrugs’ as 103 civilians killed in 10 days ore than 100 people, including 26 children, have died in airstrikes on hospitals, schools, markets and bakeries in north-west Syria in the past 10 days, a top UN official says.

Human rights chief Michelle Bachelet blamed the attacks in rebel-held areas on the Government and its allies.

But the attacks were met with “apparent international indifference”, she said.

Syria and its ally Russia have both denied targeting civilians in airstrikes in the Idlib region.

Speaking to reporters, Bachelet criticised the “failure of leadership by the world’s most powerful nations”.

The rising death toll in

igel Charles and Marlon Hope were jailed Thursday for 14 years and 11 months for the 2006 murder of burger-cart owner Harry Chatoor, of St John’s Village, near San Fernando, Trinidad.

Justice Hayden St ClairDouglas handed down the sentence in the San Fernando High Court after the guilty verdict delivered by a jury in April in accordance with the murder-felony rule.

The rule of felony murder applies in a trial when the victim is killed by the accused while in pursuit of a lesser crime. The principle is based on a judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that not every murder warrants imposition of the death penalty.

The State alleged that Chatoor and his family were asleep at their home and Charles, 51, and Hope, 46,

elize is reporting an outbreak of dengue fever with health authorities saying that the country has so far recorded more cases than it when there was a record number of just over 600 cases in 2015.

Figures show that for the seven months of this year, the number of cases so far is already more than twice the figures for the entire 2018.

The Health Ministry said most of the new cases are in the north, with the Orange Walk District reporting the highest number of confirmed cases.

The figures show there are 230 confirmed cases in Orange Walk District with Corozal having approximately 100 less cases followed by Stann Creek with 105 cases and Cayo just under 100 cases.

Dengue is caused by

the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that breeds in open containers that hold water and the authorities are urging residents to do their part in eradicating the problem.

“We are looking at laboratory surveillance, looking at confirmed cases. We had seen an increase of more than usual at the beginning of the year, but it had been a gradual increase. However, in the past five to six weeks, we have noticed a drastic increase in the number of cases,” said Lorna Perez, Surveillance Officer in the Ministry of Health.

Statistics show that children between the ages of five and nine and adults up to 39 years contribute to the bulk of those reported with dengue fever and Perez, said that across the region, there have been outbreaks of the deadlier dengue haemorrhagic fever. (CMC)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, JUly 27, 2019

ARCHIE

ARIES

Lighten up and have some

(March 21- fun. Taking a day trip or getApril 19) ting together with someone

who makes you laugh will ease stress and promote a change that will improve your life. Romance is encouraged.

Make only necessary TAURUS changes.

Something you ex(April 20May 20) pect to be cheap will end up breaking your budget. Joy comes from within and from surrounding yourself with people you love.

dilbert

Express your feelings GEMINI rather than letting some(May 21- one take advantage of you.

June 20) Taking command will help you gain respect and encourage you to put yourself first.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Peanuts

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Refuse to let someone disrupt your plans. Don’t be afraid to do your own thing or to explore your options.

Standing your ground will help you gain equality.

Your charm will draw attention. Before you make a promise, be sure you can follow through on it. Your reputation will wobble if you say one thing and do another.

Don’t labor over someVIRGO thing you can’t change.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22) Spend time with people who

Calvin and Hobbes

bring you joy. Focus on life, love and happiness.

Draw on your experiLIBRA ence toVisiting a friend or (Sept. 23- relative will give you the Oct. 23) boost you need to sort out distressing matters you face at home or work. Don’t spend impulsively.

SCORPIO

SUDOKU

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Anger will hold you back.

Make plans with someone who brings out the best in you.

Love and romance, along with personal growth and physical improvements, should be your priorities.

A passionate approach to SAGITTARIUS whatever you do will draw (Nov. 23- interest and support. A roDec. 21) mantic adventure will bring you closer to a loved one and improve your lifestyle.

THURSDAY’S WORD

solution for LAST PUBLISHED puzzle

Don’t limit what you CAPRICORN can do. Decide what will (Dec. 22make you happy and follow Jan. 19) through with your plans.

You can’t please everyone, but this time it’s essential that you satisfy yourself.

Stick close to home and AQUARIUS spend time with the people (Jan. 20you love and trust. Make Feb. 19) adjustments that will add to your comfort and improve important relationships.

You’ll do and feel your PISCES best when helping others, but (Feb. 20- don’t let anyone take advanMarch 20) tage of your kindness or generosity. Be honest about the way you think and what you expect in return.

saturday, JUly 27, 2019

19

13th Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships…

Industrial Safety Supplies Inc donates 30 cones to mark route A

s Guyana continues its preparations to be historic host of the 13th edition of the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships, the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) has received the boost of another corporate partner – Industrial Safety Supplies Inc. On Friday afternoon, GCF President Horace Burrowes was presented with 30 cones that would be used to mark the turnaround point of the race, which would be held during the period August 10-11.

Crystal Kallu, Administrative Assistant of Industrial Safety Supplies Inc., in handing over the items to Burrowes, said the company have been very supportive of sports and the development of young people, and has no hesitation in partnering with the GCF to bring off this event, which Guyana would, for the first time, be hosting.

“It is an absolute pleasure for Industrial Safety Supplies to be making this contribution to this championship, which we are told would be attracting about 20 nations. The safety of the riders is of importance, and therefore we trust that our contribution would go some distance

in ensuring a safe and enjoyable championship by all the cyclists, male and female,” Kallu said.

GCF President, Horace Burrowes, in response, thanked Ms. Kallu and Manager of Industrial Safety Supplies, Hemant Narine, for coming on board without hesitation, and promised that the cones would not only serve to ensure the Junior Caribbean Championships are well-run, but that the items would also help to enhance races that would be held locally.

“The GCF would like to express sincere gratitude to you for this contribution. It is true that Guyana would be hosting these championships for the first time in our history, and we therefore want it to be the best ever in the history of the CCF. We can assure you that your partnership has taken us a step closer in achieving this objective,” he assured.

Under the auspices of the Caribbean Cycling Federation (CCF), the Junior Cycling Championships will be held in the green town of Bartica, in Region Seven, in a collaboration between the Township of Bartica, the National Sports Commission, and the Guyana Cycling Federation.

GBTI-sponsored lawn tennis camp concludes T

he summer tennis camp sponsored by the Diamond, EBD branch of the Guyana Bank for Trade & Industry Limited (GBTI) concluded on Friday.

The conclusion of this camp featured final matches in five categories, namely: red ball, orange ball, green ball, yellow ball and adults final.

In the red ball match, a seesaw encounter saw Jonathan Jordan emerging victorious 10-8 over Niomi Erskine. In the orange ball match, Raymond Paul won 10-2 against Wazim Juman. In the green ball match, Shania Juman defeated Timmax Ferreira; while in the yellow ball match, Ronela Jordan defeated Gerald Scotland 4-2 and 4-1.

The adults’ competition was easily won by Renata Jordan 10-7 as she made light work of her opponent Monique Boyan.

At the end of the camp, GBTI Diamond Branch Manager Roxanne Welcome, in remarks

Part of the action at the camp

One of the participants receiving her certificate from GLTA VP Christy Campbell

made at the venue -- the GBTI Diamond Branch’s Lawn Tennis Courts -- said, “The summer camp that was offered is a health alternative for the

children during the summer.

“We don’t want you to sit and scroll, but we want you to do some physical activity. We believe that while it’s good to have an education, it is essential to be fit also. So this has been our 8th year sponsoring this competition, and we want to continue to do so in the near future.”

Vice President of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GTTA), Christy Campbell, said this has been the largest turnout since the camp was inaugurated.

A total of 65 students participated.

Campbell also noted that the large turnout speaks well for youth development in tennis, while highlighting the effort of Junior Coach Andre Erskine, who has been a part of the camp for the last three years.

Industrial Safety Supplies Inc Administrative Assistant Crystal Kallu handing over one of the cones to GCF’s Horace Burrowes in the presence of Assistant Manager Stanton Seepersaud

20

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, JUly 27, 2019

Pan American Games 2019…

USA dismantle Guyana Sevens Rugby Team

G

Banks, JCI Guyana host table tennis camp

Part of the action between Guyana and the USA

uyana’s National Sevens Rugby Team continue to count their losses after another dismal showing, this time during their opening encounter of the Pan American Games 2019.

As expressed by team member Patrick King in a previous publication, the Guyanese Sevens Team was keen on having a better showing, given their numerous shortcomings for the 2019 year. However, this was not to be, as Guyana met the well-oiled USA outfit on the rugby field for their first Pan-Am 2019 game.

The encounter was nothing short of a nightmare for the Guyanese, as one conversion after another led to a 31-0 score by the half.

Returning to the playing field, USA was now well aware of the advantage they held over their South American opponents, and

capitalised on this by doubling the score to 62-0 by the game’s finish.

Speaking with media operatives in Peru, team member Osei McKenzie was brutally honest about the team’s performance against the more experienced USA outfit.

“It was subpar based on the skill level and talent that we know we have.

Teams at this level usually perform at a clip higher, because they’re more accustomed to playing at this level; but the guys out there, we couldn’t gain possession, so we weren’t able to execute all the preparation that we had planned,” he stated.

He explained that Guyana lacked consistency, but additional exposure would have enabled them to

bag a win.

“They play more consistently at this level, so it’s to gauge where Guyana is versus them because of their consistent participation, but given more exposure to this level of rugby, we have the skill set and the talent to match up with them,” McKenzie said.

The Guyana Sevens Team in Lima, Peru consists of Claudius Butts, Lancelot Adonis, Richard Staglon, Peabo Hamilton, Vallon Adams, Patrick King, Jamal Angus, Godfrey Broomes, Avery Corbin, Dwayne Schroeder, Ozie McKenzie, Ronald Mayers and Selwyn Henry.

They are expected to come up against Brazil and Chile in their future encounters.

NRA 150th Imperial Meeting

WIFBSC Captain into top 100 of Queens Final

C

aptain of the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFBSC) Team to the 150th Imperial Meeting taking place in the UK, Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite, has continued to be the shining light for the Caribbean.

Sponsored by Secure Innovations and Concepts Inc. of Durban Backlands Georgetown, Braithwaite on Friday shot in the Third Stage of the Queens Final, where the best at the Imperial Meet face off.

This, the 150th competition, makes Braithwaite’s achievement even more satisfactory, because this is his 8th participation in this competition, which is popularly known as Bisley.

The last time he had participated in this com-

petition, he had made the Queens Final.

He ended 91st in the Grand Aggregate out of a total of 200 shooters; while, in the St. George’s competition, he narrowly missed out on the third stage, which had a cut off of 147.19; Braithwaite’s score was 147.15.

Meanwhile, the Guyanese quartet of Lennox Braithwaite, Dylan Fields, Sigmund Douglas and John Fraser, which is also part of the West Indies Team, competed yesterday (Friday) as a nation in the NRA, the Junior Overseas Junior Kolapore Match, and won gold.

They recorded a total of 372.15v, having shot 126.6v at 300 yards, 124.3v at 500 yards, and 122.6v at 600 yards.

WIFBSC Captain Lennox Braithwaite

Coach Candacy McKenzie engaging student athletes (Picture courtesy of JCI Guyana)

B

anks DIH Limited, Junior Chambers International Guyana (JCIG) and ITTF-certified Coach Candacy McKenzie have hosted an Orientation Training and Development Table Tennis Camp over the course of the week.

More than 60 young student athletes have benefited from this 2-day camp, an annual feature that has been growing yearly, and the children of several members of staff of Banks DIH have been introduced to the sport of table tennis in an active and fun way.

Hosted and supported by corporate giant Banks DIH Limited at it thirst Park Headquarters Sports Club, and initiated as part of the Junior Chambers International Guyana, the programme was conducted

by International Table Tennis Level One Coach and Umpire Candacy McKenzie, the former 2017 Sports Coach of the Year.

A bunch of enthusiastic players, all obviously eager to learn, have been exposed

to the fundamental aspects of the game, coordination drills, balancing, 4 basic strokes, serves, and rules of the game among other key aspects, as part of the teach/learn/discover programme.

Coach McKenzie has indicated that she was happy to work with the players, and will be looking to have the players registered and further engaged in long-term training, since she has observed an abundance of talent among them.

McKenzie has, behind the scenes, been doing remedial work in hosting a number of table tennis camps in collaboration with the Guyana Table Tennis Association.

She received her Level One Coaching certification in 2016, in the ITTF Basic Umpires and Tournament Referees Course held here

by ITTF Umpire/Course Instructor Silvia Garro of Argentina.

McKenzie has been a fixture at various local tournaments organised by the GTTA, thereby exhibiting her passion for the sport.

guyanatimesgy.com

SATURday, JUly 27, 2019

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'New kid on the block' Mootoo excited by maiden call-up A

t the tender age of 16, lefthauls came in the final match against Berbice, arm spinner Daniel Mootoo played at the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) ground has earned a maiden call-up at Bourda, where he was adjudged “player of the to the Guyana Under-19 Team which match” for his 4-32. has recently departed for St Vincent Previously overlooked for a Guyana Under-17 & the Grenadines to compete in the call-up, the youngster has performed well under Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional pressure, playing against people way above his U-19 tournament. age group.

Before his departure, Mootoo spoke Mootoo explained that during the Guyana exclusively with Guyana Times Sport, Under-19 team’s one-week training camp at revealing that he was very excited when the Chetram Singh Centre of Excellence at he first got the news of his call-up.

La Bonne Intention, ECD, where 18 players The left-arm spinner of the Demerara were catered for, he benefited greatly from Cricket Club (DCC) told this reporter he is his presence at that activity. deeply gratified to be learning from such players “I learnt a lot, especially in (regard to) as Sachin Singh, Kevlon Anderson and Ashmead the social aspect of players who played Nedd, among others.

Regional Under-19 previously, who He added that he would rate his inter-county produced insights”, Mootoo disclosed. performances as 4/5, since he had limited This humble youth was exposed to opportunities. “Out of five starts, I would rate intense training sessions conducted by myself with a four; because it was only the last coaches Julian Moore and Andy Ramnarine. He two games I had a chance to complete ten said he has learnt from those training sessions, overs”, Mootoo disclosed. and has benefited from interacting with the The talented spinner took two four-wicket senior players in the Guyana U-19 team. hauls in as many matches in the one-day Mootoo’s best bowling figures in his blooming format of the Hand-in-Hand Inter-County career stands as 5-12 against the Gandhi Daniel Mootoo tournament. One of those four-wicket Youth Organization (GYO). (Brandon Corlette)

Albion CC set to host 2nd division 10/10 tournament

A

ction, drama and tension will return to the historic Albion Community Centre Cricket Club on Sunday August 4th, when the Albion Cricket Cluborganised 10/10 second division cricket competition, featuring eight second division teams across the Ancient County of Berbice, gets underway. The first match will bowl off at 9:00hrs local time.

Cash, trophies and other incentives would be awarded to the top teams and outstanding individual players. The final match of the knockout 10/10 tournament will be played under floodlights at the same venue.

Among competing teams are Albion CC, Chesney, Fyrish, and the Jai Hind Cricket Club.

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Organisers say the activity will be used to raise funds for the Albion club.

Some of the Albion CC players who would be involved are: Kelvin Umroa, Jitendra Outar, Joshua Harichand and Anthony February.

The Jai Hind Cricket Club will feature John Sumair, Deoprakash Ramdat and Permaul Mangali.

The Chesney club includes former Stanford T20 star Imran Khan, while Fyrish will feature Moonilall Shivdyal, Ishnarine Shrikisun, Shazad Chinapen and Sayad Perbaksh.

The Albion CC would also host a media launch for this second division tournament on July 30, 2019 at 13:00h local time at the Albion CC. A cocktail reception would precede the launch. Permaul’s Trading and NTN Berbice are thus far among the sponsors for this event.

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Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Georgetown Championships…

Sparta, Leopold, "Gold is Money" among quarterfinalists

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Daniel Mootoo collecting his Player-of-the-Match Award achieved in the inter-county final

Part of the action in the competition

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21

Malinga takes 3-38 in final ODI S ri Lanka's Lasith Malinga took 3-38, including the last wicket of the match, in his final one-day international as the hosts beat Bangladesh by 91 runs.

The 35-year-old, who made his debut in 2004, removed Mustafizur Rahman to seal victory in the first game of the threematch series in Colombo.

He ends his ODI career with 338 wickets at an average of 28.87 from 226 ODIs.

Lasith Malinga

Bangladesh bowled out for

were 223 in

ollowing two nights of excitement in the Group Stages, the Guinness “Greatest of the Streets” Georgetown Championships concluded the final round-robin matchday at the Berlin Tarmac with some exciting fixtures.

In the opening match, Alexander Village opposed Charlotte Street, and the former emerged victorious 5nil.

The goals came compliments of Quincy Porter in the 12th and 14th minutes; while Shem Porter, Leon Yaw and Delon Williams scored in the 8th, 15th and 16th minutes respectively.

In game 2, Broad Street overcame John Street 3-1.

Akeem San was able to score in the 4th minute for Broad Street, but Oswaldo Gill

equalised in the 8th minute to level the scores.

San, however, returned in the 18th minute to score a Guinness Goal and give his side the win.

In game 3, Future Stars won via walkover against Albouystown ‘A’. Organisers have decided to suspend the Albouystown side for one year.

Heading into the fourth match, Sophia shocked Rising Stars by inflicting on them a 4-1 defeat. The goals came via Dwayne Lowe and Gerald Grittens in the 18th and 20th minutes, while Ray Smith’s goal in the 5th minute turned out to be an early consolation goal.

In game 5, Tiger Bay defeated Leopold Street 3-1.

Although Okeene Fraser scored in the 8th minute, Tiger Bay returned the

compliment with James Meredith goals in the 15th and 18th (GG) minutes.

And in the other fixture, Michael Pedro’s lone goal propelled Gold is Money to a defeat of LA Ballers.

In game 7, Back Circle edged North East La Penitence 2-1. The scorers for Back Circle were Adrian Aaron and Jermaine Beckles, who scored in the 5th and 14th minutes despite Keifer Grant’s consolation goal.

The final game of the night saw Albouystown ‘B’ upsetting the in-form Sparta Boss 1-0, thanks to the efforts of Melvorn Ross in the 6th minute.

The teams that advanced to the quarterfinals are Broad Street, Leopold Street, Albouystown ‘B’, Back Circle, Sparta Boss, Sophia, Gold is Money, and Tiger Bay.

pursuit of 315 at the R Premadasa Stadium.

Malinga is the only player to take three ODI hat-tricks, and the only player to take four wickets in four balls.

He is third on the all-

time list of wicket-takers for Sri Lanka, behind Muttiah Muralitharan (523) and Chaminda Vaas (399).

Malinga received a guard of honour from his team-mates at the start

of the game and scored an unbeaten six with the bat in Sri Lanka's 314-8, which featured 111 from Kusal Perera.

The second ODI takes place at the same venue on Sunday. (BBC Sport)

22

saturday, JUly 27, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

West Indies pick Gayle for India ODIs; Campbell, Chase, Paul recalled T

he Cricket West Indies (CWI) Interim Selection Panel has named veteran opener Chris Gayle in the West Indies squad for the MyTeam11 Series against India which is co-sponsored by Skoda and Fena. Left-handed opener John Campbell, fellow batsman Roston Chase and all-rounder Keemo Paul have all been recalled to the 14-member squad for the three-match series which will be contested on August 8 at the Guyana National Stadium, and on August 11 and 14 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.

Gayle said prior to the ODI Series against England last March that he planned to retire following the ICC CWC 2019, but he had a change of mind during the tournament and has made himself available for this series.

The self-proclaimed “Universe Boss” also has the extra motivation of two records for West Indies in this format to chase during the series.

Gayle now has 10,338 runs and needs 11 to pass batting legend Brian Lara (10,348) for the highest aggregate in ODIs for West Indies.

He has also amassed 10,393 runs and needs 13 to again pass Lara (10,405) for the most runs by a West Indian in the history of ODIs. “Chris is a very valua b l e player and he brings a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge, he lends a lot to any dressing room and it is great to have him in the squad,” said interim West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer. Reifer said Campbell, Chase and Paul have been brought back to add more balance to the squad, whilst Sunil Ambris, Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel and Ashley Nurse have all missed out on selection for the matches against Virat Kohli’s side.

The rest of the ICC CWC 2019 squad re-

large number of players from the World Cup squad, so there is a lot to build on and I am looking forward to the Series.”

Reifer added:

John Campbell has returned to the ODI squad

mains in place. “We have a mixture of some experienced and young ODI players,” said Reifer. “It is good to have Keemo, John and Roston back, and they will help to bring further balance to the team.

Looking ahead to the series, I think we have a lot to build upon following the World Cup. We have retained a

“We have to start planning now for the World Cup in 2023 and we are looking for a solid squad that we can work with over the next four years. We want to build them into a consistent winning team in this format, so that they have a real chance of success in 4-years’ time. We had a number of young players in the last World Cup squad. We played some decent cricket. We were in match-winning positions, but we just didn’t win the key moments or finish off the games. The players have learnt a lot from the World Cup, and we are looking to improve their skills, their mindsets and playing together as a team. The more they can play together, the better it will be for them.”

Full squad:Jason Holder (c), John Campbell, Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Keemo Paul, Chris Gayle, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope and Kemar Roach.

Tickets for the MyTeam11 ODI Series, co-sponsored by Skoda and Fena, are available for purchase here, or fans can purchase from ticket offices at the following locations: Guyana: Ticket Offices now open Georgetown – Guyana Cricket Board on Regent Street Berbice (RoseHall) -Imran & Son Parika (GR Shopping Plaza ,Main entrance) -The American Closet Trinidad & Tobago: Ticket Offices open on 29th July Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain National Cricket Centre, Couva (CWI)

Chris Gayle

2019 CONCACAF Boys’ Under-15 Championship…

Keemo Paul

BCB supports U-19 players under the Dr Puran Singh Financial Scheme

Guyana drawn in Group E S T

he Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) on Tuesday announced the groups and schedule for the 2019 Concacaf Boys’ Under-15 Championship.

This year’s Boys’ Under-15 will take place August 4-11, at the IMG Academy campus in Bradenton, Florida.

The youth tournament, which will provide access to international football for over 750 boys from across the Concacaf region, will be disputed in two rounds. For the firstround group phase, the 42 participating teams have been divided into three divisions according to the Concacaf Men's Under-17 Ranking as of 2019, ensuring sporting balance and a minimum number of four matches for each team.

Division One will be made up by the top 14 ranked Concacaf teams, as well as Slovenia and Portugal. The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each (Groups A-D). After round robin play, the four group winners and the four second place finishers will advance to the quarterfinals to play for the Championship. The third and fourth place finishers will play an additional match to determine their final position in the division.

In Group A there is Mexico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Curacao while Group B there is United States, Haiti, Guatemala and Suriname.

Group C has Canada, El Salvador,

Slovenia and Guadeloupe while Group D has Costa Rica, Jamaica, Portugal and Barbados.

Division Two will be made up by the next 15 best ranked Concacaf teams and Israel.

The 16 teams have been divided into four groups of four teams each (Groups E-H).

After round robin play, the four group winners will advance to the semifinals to play for the divisional championship. The second, third and fourth place finishers will play an additional match to determine their final position in the division.

Guyana is in Group E with Nicaragua, Cayman Islands and Bahamas, Group F has Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Grenada and Martinique while Group G consists of Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Israel and Belize. Group H has Bermuda, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Division Three will be made up by the lowest 10 ranked Concacaf teams. The teams have been divided into two groups of five teams each (Groups I and J). After round robin play, the group winners will advance to the divisional final, while the remaining teams will play an additional match to determine their final position in the division.

Group I has Bonaire, US Virgin Islands, Anguilla, French Guiana and Saint Maarten and Group J has Saint Martin, Dominica, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands. (CONCACAF)

even players from the Ancient County of Berbice who have gained selection to the National Under-19 Team on Wednesday afternoon received a combined total of $70,000 from the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) under its Dr. Puran Singh National Players Financial Scheme.

Since election of the Hilbert Foster-led Executives of the BCB, every junior and female cricketer selected for national duty has been assisted with a stipend of $10,000.

President Foster has said that, over the last two years, the BCB has pumped over $600,000 into this scheme. Last year, the members of the Under-15 Team received $20,000 each, but other players have received $10,000.

Foster, who has spearheaded accumulation of the necessary funds, has hailed the contribution of Dr. Puran Singh, a Guyanese living in Barbados. He is the brother of another major sponsor of BCB programmes -- Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh.

Since Foster’s election to the presidency of the BCB, Dr Tulsi Dyal Singh has contributed more than $2 million of his own funds to Berbice Cricket, while his brother, Dr Puran Singh, has contributed $300,000 for the stipend project. The BCB, Foster has said, is investing heavily in the development of its youth players, as they are the future torch bearers of the legacy of Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Alvin Kallicharran, Roy Fredericks and Joseph Solomon.

Foster is urging the players to be perfect ambassadors of Berbice and its rich cricketing legacy. He has reminded that the West Indies Under-19

BCB staff member Ruthel Henry handing over the funds to Garfield Benjamin

Team would be selected from performances recorded in the tournament which would be played in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Foster has said the BCB is known across the cricketing world for its outstanding legendary players, its discipline and its high standards, and he has reminded the players that it is their duty to keep the flag of Berbice flying high. Clearly upset, Foster disclosed that he is a bit disappointed with the attitude of some of the players, who already believe that they are superstars.

He advised that being on time and being humble should be natural traits of the players, as the greatest achievement of a successful person is the ability to remain humble and grounded.

The seven players who

received stipends from the Dr Puran Singh Financial Scheme are: Alex Algoo, Kevin Umroa, Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Seon Glasgow, Garfield Benjamin and Leon Swamy.

They have been selected to play for Guyana based on their outstanding performance for Berbice during the Hand-in-Hand Inter County Tournament.

Players’ Representative Garfield Benjamin expressed gratitude to the BCB and Dr. Puran Singh for the stipend. He committed the entire team, including himself, to be perfect ambassadors of the county on and off the field.

He said the players are very appreciative of the hard work of the BCB, which organizes cricket for its youth cricketers at the schools, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 levels.

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, JUly 27, 2019

CPL 2019…

Hafeez set to join St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

M

ohammad Hafeez will be joining the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for the 2019 tournament which runs from 4 September to 12 October. Hafeez will be replacing Rassie van der Dussen who is now unavailable due to international commitments.

Hafeez has played for the Patriots before, representing them during the 2017 tournament, a year where the franchise finished as runnersup, losing in the final to the Trinbago Knight Riders. That season Hafeez finished with 120 runs and seven wickets for the Patriots.

Hafeez brings a huge amount o f experience to the Patriots squad having played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 89 T20 internationals for Pakistan. With more than 5000 runs and 162

wickets he will be an important part of the Patriots squad when they get their campaign underway against the Trinbago Knight Riders in the opening match of the tournament on 4 September. Robin Singh, the Patriots’ Director of Cricket said: “We are delighted to have someone with so much experience in T20 cricket joining our squad for the 2019 season. Hafeez is a fantastic player who has had experience of cricket all over the world. We are certain that he will be a huge success at this year’s event, and we are really looking forward to him joining us at our training camp ahead of the competition.”

Mohammad Hafeez said: “I really enjoyed my time with the Patriots in 2017 and was very pleased to be asked to join them for the 2019 season. The CPL is a competition which has got better every single year and it is great to be involved again after a season off. The Patriots have a really strong squad this year and I am really looking forward to joining up with the rest of the boys.”

Mohammad Hafeez

India A on verge of victory ─ Windies A fall for 180

H

eading into the fourth and final day of play, India A are in firm control of the match against West Indies A, being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. They require another 68 runs for victory.

India A resumed on 2998 early on day 3, but were bowled out for 312 runs scored in 104.3 overs. Former Test pacer Miguel Cummins was chief wicket-taker for the West Indies A team. He finished the innings with figures of 4-40. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall each took two wickets.

India all-rounder Shivam Dube top-scored with 71, while unbeaten overnight batsman Wriddhiman Saha, the final player dismissed, scored 66.

West Indies A were bowled out for 228 in the first innings, and for 180 scored in 77 overs in the second innings.

By Brandon Corlette

W

est Indies and Guyana U-19 batting sensation Kevlon Anderson is aiming to sign off his final Regional U-19 tournament on a winning note.

Presently one of the best youth batsmen in the Caribbean, the solid right-handed stroke-maker and Berbice Under-19 captain is expected to serve as deputy captain to Ashmead Nedd when Guyana open their tournament against the Windward Islands on Sunday July 28, 2019.

Speaking to this reporter on Thursday July 25, during an exclusive interview prior to his departure with the Guyana team for St Vincent and the Grenadines, this multi-talented lad from Number One Road, Corentyne, Berbice said his intention is to help the Guyana U-19 team win the Cricket West Indies (CWI) Regional U-19 tournament for a sixth consecutive time.

Guyana U-19s are heading into this tournament as 5-time champions, and this year the tournament is being played in only the One-Day 50-over format.

“I just want to finish this tournament on a winning note, and being one of the top performers…,” he disclosed.

Anderson had led the Berbice Under-19 team to win the three-day inter-county title earlier this year, but he revealed that in the game of cricket, at some time or the other, every cricketer has a bad outing.

He noted that being a West Indies U-19 selectee puts no pressure on him to perform well, but rather gives him confidence.

Anderson was among 18 players involved in a West Indies training camp held prior to the start of this U-19 tournament.

23

Kevlon Anderson (right) during an interview with Brandon Corlette

“During that camp, I was working on playing spin, being aware of the fielders, picking up gaps, and (on) shot selections at each delivery”, he explained.

He said his aim is to remain focused and concentrate for as long as possible when playing the game. “With that, I know I have the ability to score easily, so it’s just (for me) to

The Windies Team captain, Barbadian Shamrah Brooks, offered some resistance to the Indians in scoring a solid 53, while opening batsman Montcin Hodge scored 36, Roston Chase scored 32, and the explosive Jermaine Blackwood managed 25.

Left-arm spinner Shabaz Nadeem wrecked the Windies A in grabbing 5-47, his second fivewicket haul of the match, while right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Siraj had 3-38 in an India A complete bowling effort.

In pursuit of the requisite 97 runs for victory, India A finished on 29-1, and require another 68 for victory on the

fourth and final day of the match.

Rahkeem Cornwall removed Pryank Panchal for five,

but Abhimanyu E a s w a r a n r e m a i n s unbeaten on 23.

The first ball on this final day will bowl off from 9 : 3 0 h local time.

West Indies A Captain Shamrah Brooks scored a patient 50

remain focused and concentrate for long periods throughout the tournament,” he declared.

Playing for Guyana U-19 team is nothing new to Anderson, this is his third year playing at the Regional U-19 level.

“It’s my third year at this level. I’ve seen what it’s like to play at this level, and my experience would be very important to the team in this tournament. I’ve seen what it takes to win this tournament, so sharing my knowledge with the rest of the guys is vital,” he said.

Apart from being an astute leader and exquisite batsman, Anderson is greatly valued for his right-arm fast-medium bowling. During the 2019 inter-county tournament, he opened the spell of bowling with the new ball and caused some problems with his great pace, creating an early breakthrough for his team.

As one of 14 members in the Guyana U-19 squad, Anderson will be called upon to employ his fast-bowling expertise to assist the other quickies, Qumar Torrington and Leon Swamy.

Anderson is expressing gratitude to the Almighty, his parents and siblings, and to one Serena Williams for helping him to become the cricketer he is. The talented cricketer also made special mention of his neighbour Chris Jagdeo of Chris Jagdeo & Son Construction; Rabani Gajnabi; his Uncle Kishore and his family; and his Uncle Eddie and his family.

Anderson, who played his cricket for the vibrant Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) also expressed gratitude to Club president Hilbert Foster, Anil Beharry, Chris Lachlan and his family, and all the players and coaches who have supported him.

saturday, JUly 27, 2019

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

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CPL 2019…

Hafeez

set to join St Kitts & Nevis Patriots Page 23

West Indies pick Gayle for India ODIs; Campbell, Chase, Paul recalled Page 22

GBTI-sponsored lawn tennis camp concludes

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