Guyana Times - Saturday, November 30, 2019

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4123

saturday, november 30, 2019

PPP/C unveils 20202025 manifesto See story on page 3

...to create 50,000 jobs, distribute 10,000 house lots annually; lower taxes, electricity and water rates …to independently manage oil revenues to benefit all Guyanese

International observers approved for 2020 elections – Harmon Bandits rob Enterprise home after family Motorcyclist dies after returns to Guyana colliding with minibus See story on page 12

See story on page 16

…US currency, passport taken

Page 16

PRICE

$80 vat included

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Fast food P8 outlet employee charged for $19M robbery

Suriname court convicts President P17 Bouterse of murder for 1982 executions

New regulations, rules for P7 importers sourcing items from Florida, USA

Nurse battling for life after struck by P16 speeding car

Ex-soldier P16 wanted for AK-47 in pit latrine turns self in to cops

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SATURday, november 30, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

news

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SATURday, november 30, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

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

Saturday, November 30 – 05:30h – 07:00h and Sunday, December 1 – 08:00h – 09:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Saturday, November 30 – 06:30h – 08:00h and Sunday, December 1 – 07:10 – 08:40h.

PPP/C unveils 2020-2025 manifesto

...to create 50,000 jobs, distribute 10,000 house lots annually; lower taxes, electricity and water rates …to independently manage oil revenues to benefit all Guyanese

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

WEATHER TODAY Partly sunny skies are expected throughout the day. There will be clear skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

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

PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

High Tide: 06:35h and 18:45h reaching maximum heights of 2.45 metres and 2.54 metres.

By Rupa Sewnaraine

Low Tide: 24:08h and 12:19 reaching minimum heights of 0.58 metre and 0.80 metre.

wednesday, november 27, 2019

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

T

he People’s Progress Party/Civic (PPP/C) on Friday unveiled its

much-anticipated plans and policies targeting key sectors for the intended benefit of all Guyanese as it prepares for the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.

At Freedom House on Friday afternoon, executives of the Party along with a crowd of supporters converged for the release of excerpts of their manifesto outlining projects for the years 2020 to 2025.

According to PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali, this is a holistic plan which involved the input of thousands of Guyanese in order to find a comprehensive strategy to tackle all sectors.

“This process was quite different than what we’re historically accustomed to.

The process was inclusive. It had views from all cross-sections of society, various stakeholders, members of the Diaspora and leaders from all walks of life, farmers, fishermen, students and people in the academic arena. What we’re sharing with you is excerpts from this process, an outline of a strategy, a vision and plan that is holistic, systematic, targeted, result-oriented, people-centred and people-driven,” Ali directed.

According to the Party, its plan is to provide Guyanese with more jobs, particularly jobs for a new generation of Guyanese with

higher education, vocational skills, and higher disposable incomes. While the public sector will continue to be a major employer, the private sector will be further incentivised to create more and better-paying jobs.

The PPP/C stated that it will provide the enabling environment and incentives for expansion of existing businesses and emergence of new businesses by removing obstacles to business growth, offering a fiscal regime that encourages investment, providing an empowering regulatory framework in which businesses can operate in a globally competitive manner and promoting skills-training to provide

support wealth creation and not serve as a disincentive to the expansion of business opportunities. In addition, the policy will be geared towards accelerating social spending and expanding infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo positioned that all aspects of the Party’s plans post-elections are implementable rather than mere promises.

“We had to avoid what parties do, that is, they make all sorts of promises and we, the People’s Progressive Party, decided against that when crafting this manifesto. That we’re not gonna make promises just to garner votes that we’d never be able to implement. You’ve

employers with a pool of highly-trained and skilled human resource.

In addition, as part of the Party’s fiscal and monetary policy, there will be a continuous review of taxation to

seen the outcome of this with this Government. Every single idea that is in this plan here is implementable, has been costed and will be implemented,” he clarified.

Their plans cover im-

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

proved healthcare, education, disposable income, utility services, infrastructure, jobs and all other sectors which are considered crucial

for social and economic development. Adding to that, it points to smaller communities and sections of the population which are often overlooked.

Turn to page 7

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SATURday, november 30, 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

Lawlessness on our roadways

E

arlier this week, a video was posted on social media showing a minibus conductor opening the door of a moving vehicle and dancing while placing his body outside the vehicle, gripping only the outer part of the doorway.

And as if that were not enough, the driver of the minibus was also seen opening the door on the driver’s side, dancing and putting both his legs outside of the moving vehicle as he held on to the steering wheel. In the process of exhibiting this irresponsible behaviour, passengers were seen cheering them on.

The Traffic Chief has since indicated that the names of the driver and bus conductor and the number of the bus are yet to be identified. He also made an appeal for the public to assist with the identification of these men, so that they can face strict penalties.

As expected, within moments of its posting, the video went viral and sparked outrage among members of the general public.

Some persons have expressed the view that much more should be done by the authorities to curb the high level of lawlessness which still happens in our society. In particular, the incident has again placed the issue of minibus operators and their conduct in the spotlight.

It could be recalled that a Code of Conduct was established to guide the operations of minibus operators. Some issues which the code of conduct was supposed to address include: the mode of dress, general conduct of drivers and conductors, overloading, loud and lewd music, driving under the influence of alcohol, and the manner in which drivers and conductors speak to passengers. However, since the introduction of the code, it is not clear to what extent drivers are complying therewith, and what possible action is being taken to ensure that there is compliance.

Many are of the opinion that the standards in relation to public transportation here are very low, and there is urgent need to raise those standards in keeping with what obtains in other countries. Hence the introduction of the code was seen as a step in the right direction in terms of bringing an end to the lawlessness which exists, since the code compels operators to offer a more professional and well-run service. From the video referred to above, it is clear that several aspects of the code were breached.

While formulating a code for minibus operators is a good move, there is need for stricter monitoring and compliance, as drivers and conductors are seen openly acting outside of what is expected of them. For example, some are seen openly consuming alcohol while transporting passengers to their various destinations. While some passengers may speak out against such actions, others are afraid that they will be attacked.

Additionally, while there are various factors which impact on road safety, there is little doubt that the single most important factor in a general sense is enforcement of the traffic laws. The relevant legislation in relation to driving under the influence, loud music in vehicles, overloading, speeding, etc, are in place, but if the laws are not adequately implemented, they become useless.

It is well known that Guyana has very high road fatality rates when compared to other countries in the region. This past month alone, almost every day there were reports in the media of a road accident resulting in injuries or fatalities. Just recently, the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) reported that from January 1 to April 2019, there was a 20.8 per cent increase in fatal accidents and an almost 20 per cent increase in road deaths related to accidents.

That said, the fact that persons were heard cheering on the conductor and driver while they were carrying on with their irresponsible behaviour raises even more serious questions about the level to which standards in the society as a whole have fallen. It is clear that those in the moving vehicle saw nothing wrong with the actions of the operators. It perhaps never crossed their minds that their lives and those of the public were in danger, and they should have requested to disembark the vehicle, or ask the conductor and driver to desist from behaving in that manner.

There is need for all stakeholders, including community leaders, religious groups, schools, and so on, to continue working with children and young people to ensure they are given the right guidance to make responsible choices and lead productive lives.

Serious work is needed on all fronts to curb the lawlessness.

A group of young masqueraders performs to the delight of the crowd on Friday evening at the Annual Christmas Tree Light-up at Rahaman’s Park, Greater Georgetown. Masquerade is synonymous with the festive season

Guyana, stop! Where are we heading?

Dear Editor, During this week, there’s been a series of events that took place, and it raises many people’s eyebrows.

There’s been more than one deadly accident occurring in two days. Is there a rush, or are the drivers just careless/drunk? Even though there’s Police presence all over, the mayhem still continues.

Careless accidents and causing death by dangerous driving attract some serious jail time, and drivers are still killing people on the road. Are they just desperate to get into jail? They could go there without killing innocent people, especially children.

Videos and allegations of school bullying have been circulating on social media for quite a while, but recently, the latest video circulating is of a male student physically assaulting a female student, both attending Richard Ishmael Secondary, based on the news reports from the various news agencies.

Now, our Education Minister has made a statement that has many people peeved at her, and they have launched an attack on her. While I was attending school, there were many fights. I was even involved in a few, but none was with females, or I never witnessed a boy assaulting a girl in that manner. Well, her statement has me scared for my children going to school, because she seems to condone what happened to the young lady, and her erroneous statement would only encourage more violence against the female gender!

For a minister to make a statement like that is very embarrassing, especially when Guyana is becoming popular with the oil discoveries and everyone has an interest.

Another video is circulating of females ‘busing’ down one another; and eventual-

ly a fight breaks out, which manifests into a group fight.

Sadly, mostly males could be heard in the background either encouraging or saying what they would do sexually to certain females in the scene.

What is really sad to see is that one of the females is seemingly pregnant, and between the crowd and fights, small children/child could be seen. The fight escalates to a point where two of the females ended up in what looks like a middle walk or small trench, and one of the fighters was attempting to drown the other, until another went to the rescue.

The situation could have ended up worse, and I am wondering if those involved would have been prepared to face the consequences?

Editor, the firing of the gun by the security guard at MovieTowne and the quick dismissal of the guard is highly commendable, but then we have to question the sanity of these young men who are given guns by security firms for people’s protection. Are they capable of handling themselves properly should an event occur and there are patrons/shoppers around, especially if it’s a crime?

Speaking to a few of these guards a couple of days ago at Regent Street, they informed me that they would be glad if someone or a set of persons decided to try robbing anywhere around.

Their exact words were, “They don’t have race or age; they would make them a strainer”.

Even though that might sound comforting to hear, it is also very scary, because criminals have no particular time when they commit a crime, and should they decide to commit a crime when the place is crowded, then we all would have to pray.

Since under the PPP’s time, many security firms were established by private

individuals for their own protection, and most of the security personnel were given a handgun, which they kept on their persons at all times, even if they are not working.

To date, that practice if still ongoing, and I am personally concerned because, as was demonstrated by the security at MovieTowne, they could get carried away and do something contrary.

Finally, Editor, we would see many videos from other countries that show scenarios similar to what is now flooding social media; and, quite frankly, I am under the impression that the overseas videos are motivating our locals to do the same. It’s as if they are competing, which is very dangerous, and they have no regard for their actions at said time. Some could clearly be seen looking to see if they are being filmed, and then starting to act up more.

Then we have cases wherein people are filming

the Police when they are executing their duties. some have some serious attitudes towards the lawmen, that started here too. The sad thing about it here is that these dunces here do not know the law, but they are trying to intimidate or provoke the Police to do something drastic.

What these people fail to understand is that things could get out of hand here, and they would not be given any satisfaction. in other developed countries, justice might be served there, but in Guyana, it’s a different situation.

Guyana, stop! Look at where we are heading. All of this is happening because of our careless actions, and it is nothing to be proud of! We are going too fast. It cannot be that we are frustrated, I am wondering if the oil is already flying to our heads.

Yours respectfully, Sahadeo Bates

No to Theocracy Dear Editor, Since the first year I have voted in a Regional and General Election, I have noticed people talking about supporting God-fearing parties. I have always wondered what that means because there are many religions in Guyana— with Islam and Hinduism making up a significant portion of the Guyanese population even though we live in a Christian supermajority.

The reason I mention this is because lately, the religious in the political climate has been appearing constantly and it has gone to the point where we will be having a new political party professing to be “God-fearing”. Now, being God-fearing is of itself is not a red flag, but this party has said that they want to govern Guyana according to Biblical standards (guess the

other religions will have to take a hike) and somehow all this is seen as a good thing.

As a result, I have decided to outline the reasons why a country being guided by Biblical standards is a bad thing: Lack of condemnation on slavery and even encouraging it. It could be argued that Slavery was different in that era; read Luke 12:47 and Ephesians 6:5 for advice on good slave-keeping.

Lack of condemnation of rape, and even encouraging people to stone the victim to death for not calling out. (Deuteronomy 22:23–29) Complete banning on homosexuals (Leviticus 18:22) and killing those who are (Leviticus 20:13).

Freedom of Speech will be stifled and Freedom of Religion as well. turn to page 5

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SATURday, november 30, 2019

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

Mr Kissoon has propagated falsehood about TIGI

Dear Editor Mr Freddie Kissoon sometimes wields his Kaieteur News (KN) column like a blunt instrument, and with it, he recently bludgeoned his way into a matter about which he lacked basic informa-

tion. Consequently, he propagated falsehood about TIGI and used this as his basis for essentially calling us hypocrites.

Mr Kissoon framed his approach as holding us accountable, but who holds him accountable? In

an attempt to convey what he reportedly overheard of a conversation between Alfred Bhulai (a TIGI director) and Mr Donald Rodney, Mr Kissoon wrote that “Donald then indicated to him [Alfred Bhulai] that he [Mr Rodney] has

not received a reply from the institute in relation to what is happening to his appeal over his conviction for participating in the murder of his brother, Walter Rodney” (Kissoon, November 22, 2019, in KN).

Government hasn’t any compassion, care, or even concern for the travesty unfolding in the sugar belt Dear Editor, The struggles of sugar workers to receive a raise in pay have continued to attract the attention of the nation and must have tugged at a few hearts as they become aware of the painful situation that exists. Our Union has with regularity pointed out that the workers’ wages have not been improved since 2014 as the “good life” bunch has not seen it in their heart to grant them any increase in pay.

The GAWU has recognised and appreciates that there is some amount of sympathy for the workers to benefit from increased rates-of-pay, noting that the injustice that has been meted out to the workers has upset very many.

The situation has seen several officials of the Government and the governing parties making statements recently to defend a situation which clearly cannot be convincingly defended.

We saw the AFC Treasurer and Mr Granger’s son-in-law, Dominic Gaskin, in the November 16 Stabroek News seeking to distance the Government by saying “I don’t think you can blame the Government if the Board of Directors does not see it fit to give their workers a raise…”.

We also saw on the same day, in <<< Guyana Times>>>, PNCR Chairperson Volda Lawrence reported having said: “…that the workers’ unions and GuySuCo would have to iron out any change in wages amongst themselves”. Again, seeking to distance the Government from the issue.

The distancing act continued when we saw Finance Minister

Winston Jordan, according to a November 20 Newsroom article, reportedly saying“[a]ny possibility of a pay increase for sugar workers, who have not seen an increase since the current Government came into office, must be dealt with the board of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo)”.

But the Agriculture Minister took the cake. Mr Holder is quoted in the November 21 <<< Guyana Times>>> as saying “[w]e would like GuySuCo to be able to benefit from the bonus public servants are benefitting from now, in terms of increases.

But where will the funds come from?” Holder, whose days are numbered as his party has given up his Ministry, has effectively contradicted what his three colleagues told the media.

In effect, Holder is saying that Board is straight-jacketed. We hasten to remind that the Board was appointed by the Government and, therefore, must be guided by the Administration’s policy and stance.

Of course, we should note too that the editorial of the November 18 Stabroek News pointed out “…the Government has shown no willingness to assist even in a one-off payment to sugar workers whose pay has been cut by inflation over the period.” Clearly, as the Stabroek News and others, including GAWU, have pointed out, the Government has, if not anything, a moral obligation to alleviate the troubles faced by the workers who belong to a state-owned corporation.

But so far, the Government

No to Theocracy... from page 5

It should be noted that arguing these points as being of the Old Testament is invalid since the 10 Commandments are from the Old Testament.

Editor, this is just but a few points to consider when using Biblical guidance to run a country, particularly one whose Constitution is defined as secular. The Biblical way undermines the tenets of what makes a nation democratic and leads justifications for human rights abuses using divine commandments.

As a whole, religion has no place in governance and politics and it should remain that way.

This is not to discriminate against Christians (whose persecution complex would surely be on high alert by now) as all religions should stay out of politics, but it’s just that Christians are the majority calling for God-fearing governments.

All laws that have a religious

basis, such as the Criminal Offences Act Section 352 and 353 should be repealed (notice how it specifies males alone as if females cannot technically commit the same act) should be repealed.

Prayers as well should be more inclusive at National events, as such, I suggest that instead of praying three prayers, we take a minute of silence, so that everyone, no matter their religion, can say their prayer, even if they are a minority religion, and they will be able to say it together.

Editor, this is not to say that Christians are bad people or that we should not trust them, just to identify what a Biblical Government (Theocracy) would stand for. As always, I hope people co-operate for a better Guyana, no matter which party is in power.

Amir Khan Secular advocate

has remained essentially unmoved and stoic. Of course, their actions cannot be delinked from what was printed in the, so far, unreleased White Paper on the Future of the Sugar Industry in Guyana which is dated March 16, 2017. That paper which was, apparently, authored by the Ministry of Agriculture at page 4 says “[m]ost of the employees of GuySuCo are supporters of the Opposition political party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)”.

The sentence is a clear and profound explanation of why the sugar workers are maligned and discriminated against by the

Granger clan. The Government has one sole consideration; that is, whether you are deemed a supporter or not. Remember, Mr Granger said in his interview with Kaieteur Radio recently that “[t]he population of Guyana is not only confined to the sugar estates…” It is yet another clear indicator that the Government really hasn’t any compassion, care, or even concern for the travesty unfolding in the sugar belt.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

Tax-free raises

Dear Editor, I am writing with concern about the above title.

I don’t believe that in any other part of the world, the Government can discriminate between the public and private sectors the way it does here.

All private sector workers should note how they have been discriminated against with re-

gard to the taxes due on any wage increases, especially retroactively.

If the Government truly wanted the people to benefit, this waiver should have been across the board and not for Government employees alone.

Sincerely, Dr Madhu P Singh, MD

Allow students to learn and master self-defence techniques Dear Editor, I believe the time has come for the relevant ministries/organisations such as the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Ministry with responsibility for Sports to keep a closer eye on what is being presented in some quarters to the people of Guyana, particularly the younger people, as the art and combat sport of Karate-do.

My first concern has to do with the significant role that some “Masters”, as they call themselves, plays in the depletion of Guyana’s scarce foreign reserves when they frequently arrive from overseas, host a grading examination, convert the fees paid by the students to be graded into foreign exchange and then cart it back to the country that they live without paying any PAYE, VAT or other local taxes.

One has to wonder whether audited and qualified accounts for these Karate clubs are submitted to the relevant authorities on a yearly basis and whether all of them operate in compliance with the laws of Guyana. It has been observed that foreign karate students from Barbados and elsewhere are setting up dojos here.

One is left to wonder if these individuals are properly accredited and have the requisite immigration status to be working and teaching in Guyana.

Money is seeming to make some people in this sport do some stupid things, not the least of

which is watering down a martial art for mass consumption in pursuit of profit. Traditionally, students were graded every four to six months, now, some of these “Masters” are travelling every two to three months to Guyana to test the students. Of course, not only do the students have to pay to be examined but they also have to purchase the new coloured belt that they have been moved up to.

I would like to suggest that more emphasis be placed on training and learning in these karate schools, instead of the new accent of selling them these little pieces of cloth [coloured belts] that don’t mean much without the skill to back them up.

There are dojos popping up all over the place, in Georgetown, in Bartica and all over the country but how will prospective students know whether it is just another “black belt factory” or whether it is a serious martial arts school.

Persons seem to be becoming instructors overnight. One day they get their black belt, the next day they are calling themselves a Sensei or teacher.

Let us return karate-do to an activity that allows students to learn and master self-defence techniques, improve their physical and mental health, build their self-esteem and strengthen their self-confidence and not just be a money-making enterprise.

Sincerely, Amakali Morgan

This is false information. Mr Rodney was not awaiting a response about our position on his victimisation, or on what is happening with his appeal over his conviction. Furthermore, I wish to clarify that Mr Rodney did not ask TIGI to make a public pronouncement or express support for him, or to make any official contact with any organisation or institution, or to otherwise intervene in any way.

TIGI has met with Mr Rodney previously. He described his situation and the next steps he planned to take. We fully supported, and remain in support of him in his fight for justice. At that meeting, Mr Rodney requested our support in finding a lawyer to work with him on his case. To date, despite our efforts, we have been unsuccessful at securing legal support.

The search was open-ended, but we understood the urgency. In the intervening time, Mr Rodney has had many points of contact with our directors, and have discussed various matters. However, I concede that it is reasonable for him to expect that our search would have concluded by now, and to have expressed his expectation of a final response to one of our directors.

Nothing in Mr Kissoon’s column suggests that he understood the issue about which he wrote.

If indeed he did not, there arises the question about the ethics involved in pronouncing decisively on something without verifying his information. If instead, he did understand, he could be accused of creating mischief by providing a perverted account.

It appears that Mr Kissoon engaged his imputation algorithm to fill the gaps in what he overheard.

At present, I have no information suggesting that this is an anomaly in his method.

Mr Kissoon mentioned that TIGI was undecided about an issue related to Mr Rodney’s circumstances. His column again does not convey an understanding of what this is about. I say no more on this, but it continues to baffle me that, under such circumstances, one can feel justified in advancing the conclusions made about TIGI. The conclusions appear to be both independent of and untempered by, the quality of the evidence. Again,

I have no information suggesting that this is an anomaly in his method.

In his November 22 column, Mr Kissoon also turned attention to me personally. Prior to this, he had written about me on a few occasions. I responded once (See KN of February 18, 2018) and explained my perspective on the matter. I will not rehash it here, but I wish to clarify that my role as the President of TIGI is to act on behalf of the organisation, and not myself, and I will not drag TIGI into matters of personal benefit to me.

In the column, Mr Kissoon appears to have sampled reality to support a narrative. I appeared along with a University of Guyana colleague on the May 20, 2019 episode of Plain Talk to discuss matters at the University of Guyana at the request of university colleagues. Mr Kissoon’s May 30, 2019 column lauded my appearance and contributions in that episode. His remaining gripe was his belief that I should have made public pronouncements sooner, but he concluded with the words, “I salute you!”

Fast forward to November 22, he reprises his pre-May 30, 2019 accusations while ignoring what happened in-between. This has left me wondering whose hypocrisy is on display.

I think Mr Kissoon truly believes in speaking out about issues of corruption and abuse of power in the workplace. The overarching issue, however, is a fixation on pronouncements in the media while ignoring all other fora at which people speak out and get involved in the solutions. Yet, I am unable to find a column from him addressing the pressuring of a Kaieteur News reporter to stop writing about suspected fraud on the part of an active politician. That reporter ultimately left the organisation. It cannot be that Mr Kissoon would write about me as he has and ignore this matter; that would be hypocrisy. I, therefore, assume that I will eventually find that column by him.

Troy Thomas, PhD TIGI President

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Foundation

Keeping the holidays peaceful for kids

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eeping the holidays peaceful and joyful for the kids is critical given the multiple stressors parents experience at this time. Travel plans, family get-togethers, finances and budgets, children being home from school, meal planning, and differences in cultural, spiritual, and religious practices can trigger significant conflicts. Hence, as the holidays approach, it is important for parents (married or divorced) to be mindful of arguments and negotiations, and the need to keep the holidays pleasurable for kids.

Unfortunately, the first Monday after the holidays is marked as “Divorce Day’ and January as the “Divorce Month” in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The Huffington Post, The Guardian, and The Independent report that there is a surge in calls to divorce attorneys the first week after the holidays. The stressors of multiple decisions and negotiations during the holidays frequently overburden the couple and the family system. These trigger points may lend themselves to high conflict and resentment, which could lead to the increase in calls to family attorneys, mediators, and divorce therapists. Sadly, approximately, 40-50 per cent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce, likely affecting about 1.5 million children each year (Scientific American).

It is, therefore, critical that parents come up with a prevention and coping plan for the upcoming stressors, so that they can minimise the conflict. Doing so is adaptive for the entire family, and may allow the children to have a joyful and peaceful holiday season. This may be particularly true of children of divorce, who may get caught in the divorce tug-ofwars of schedules, gift-giving competitions, and sibling rivalry, as each parent pulls on the children for the holidays.

The following tips and tools can be helpful in keeping parents (divorced and married) focus on the positives, compromises, and resolving conflicts in healthy ways and in the best interest of their children:

The most important part of the holidays

If you are divorced or married, ask your children what is the most important and meaningful part of the holidays for each of

them. Write it down and read it each day to remind yourself what the kids hope for this holiday season.

Parents should ask each other what is the most important and meaningful part of the holidays for each of them. Write it down and read it each day to remind yourself of the true focus of the holiday season.

If you have religious, spiritual, or celebratory differences, be respectful of your partner’s needs and wishes, and genuinely join in. Celebrating in multiple ways teaches children tolerance, respect, and acceptance for diversity.

Financial struggles?

If you have financial struggles, come up with a mutual goal or budget prior to the holidays, so that you prevent arguments and conflicts in the moment. Stick to what you have agreed to.

If you are divorced, avoid placing the child in the middle and tugging on them to join you for the holiday. Create a fair, simple, and consistent turn-taking system where the children split the major holidays between the parents, and there is zero pressure on the child to make an impossible choice.

Empathise

Practise being an empathic and supportive listener. Empathy, validation, and emotional listening go a long way in decreasing tensions and conflicts during the holidays. Listening empathically and trying to understand your partner’s or even ex-partner’s needs and wishes allow negotiations and decisions to occur in kinder ways that are healthier for parents and the children.

Keep siblings together for the holidays.

Sibling relationships are the longest relationships we have, and the sibling bond can serve as an effective buffer to difficult life transitions. Siblings spending holidays together is an important part of their development, their memories, and their relationship.

If things go wrong, avoid the blame game.

If children witness parents blaming the other (divorced or married), parents are putting the child in a bind. This can burden the child with anger, guilt, and confusion, which can impair his/her ability to cope and enjoy the holidays.

Parents and family members frequently have different ideas on the ‘best’ way to celebrate the holidays. Just because you disagree with your partner’s or ex-partner’s ideas, you should avoid all ‘put-downs’ of the other parent.

Unless it is a critical issue that is genuinely harmful for the child, parents should maintain a neutral and cooperative stance with each other in all their messages to the children. This cooperative stance allows children to continue to feel love and attached to both parents, and prevents a disruption in the child’s alliance and trust with each parent – which is key to a healthy family system and in the best interest of the child.

Compromise, compromise, compromise.

Marriage, divorce, and parenting are complicated terrains of our lives; but the more we compromise and the more we are flexible, the more likely our children will continue to thrive, and truly enjoy the holidays with joy and peace.

Holidays and celebrations can be complicated to navigate, especially with children. Parents are faced with many choices and decisions, and the holidays may be unusually tricky and painful, as they can trigger strong emotions, needs, memories, and power struggles for parents. It is best if parents (married or divorced) can implement the tips and tools provided above, to minimise conflict and leave the kids out of emotional tug-of-wars, so that their children can genuinely enjoy the holidays with joy and peace. (psychologytoday.com)

You’re a kid.

Go play!

…time dedicated to freewheeling, spontaneous play is eroding

By Blake Griffin Edwards

I

t is difficult to know how to strike a perfect developmental balance, but we do know this: we now live in the digital age. And, in spite of its virtues, it has diminished our capacity for responsive attunement to our children’s tireless energies and budding desires. Perhaps that is not all bad. Our children need both playful interaction and free, independent play. Ultimately, what is undeniable is that learning as well as bonding best occurs when there is a significant component of play and reciprocal interaction.

CS Lewis’s mother died when he was two years old, and his father wasn’t one to play much. Meanwhile little Clive – known as “Jack” for the rest of his life after he began calling himself after his dog Jacksie, who was run over by one of the first cars in Northern Ireland, when he was four years old – created with magazine clip-outs and tape a world called “Animal-Land” in one room of the family home. Over the next few years, he and his brother wrote stories about a fictional world based on Animal-Land called “Boxen”. And, as you may already know, he would later write seven more books influenced by those early worlds while a professor at Oxford University.

A few years ago, my daughters were restless, so I turned a couple of couches on their side and engineered a magnificent tent with an assortment of rods, a ladder, blankets, pillows, and a string of lights. That tent stayed up for weeks and prompted our own adventure into Narnia— we actually read a couple of Lewis’s Chronicles inside of it. Very recently, we built another one together, and for weeks, they could be found reading in that playful nook.

Reading is critical in stoking the embers of the imagination. There is often no better educational tool than a good story. Yet, let me be clear – we don’t teach our children how to play. Rather, as with Lewis himself, an innate curiosity and creativity drive their own wildly imaginative masquerades into make-believe. Such play not only deters future boredom and gloom, promoting resilience; it also catalyses developing competencies.

Today, increasingly, parenting goes the way of education, in that it feels increasingly standardised, micromanaged, pressured, busy, and tedious. Why has the culture of parenting changed, or is it even fair to say that it has?

Many parents don’t know how to play. Many of us live overly task-oriented lives. In our free time, we know how to scroll and click, the technological voyeurs we are. We live in a culture where every morsel of our time and energy is to be utilised. Positive feedback loops increase both our desire for and our response to the kind of external validation we can find through social media, and we increasingly run the risks of finding it there. We need more proximal relationships and more playful lives. (Excerpt from psychologytoday.com) TO BE CONTINUED

NEWS

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PPP/C unveils 2020-2025...

Infrastructure

Part of the manifesto speaks to the improvement of key infrastructure and the creation of 10,000 house lots every year. The PPP is all set to remove the Value Added Tax (VAT) on building materials, facilitate affordable financing for homeownership and support new housing schemes.

There are plans to improve community and hinterland roads which have been neglected for an extended period of time. Along with that, improvements will be made to the drainage and irrigation system to prevent flooding in communities.

Support will be given from central government for the establishment of a bypass road with connections to Mocha, Eccles and the Demerara Harbour Bridge.

For the hinterland thoroughfares, 2000 miles of roadway will be built and maintained.

Projects expected to roll out include a deep-water harbour at the Berbice estuary, the Linden-Lethem roadway, the four-lane highway from Georgetown to Timehri, a high-span bridge across the Demerara River and duty-free zones.

Supporters during the launch of the manifesto

Slashed utility bills

As it relates to power and water woes coupled with higher fees, the Party has assured that cheaper and reliable services will be offered to the common man.

Reinstated water subsidies to pensioners, affordable water rates and widening the distribution of treated water are some of what can be expected.

Along with the resuscitation of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, investments will be made in solar and wind-generated power for remote areas. The Hinterland Electrification Programme will be expanded along with the development

of microgrids for large areas.

The liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, which was promised but never executed under the coalition, will be completed. This will ensure cheaper access to data and bandwidth. A State-sponsored project will ensure subsidised access to poor households, while the reinstated One Laptop per Family programme will provide the tools for greater learning and connectivity.

Productive sectors

Within the PPP/C’s tenure in office, they have promised to restore the 30,000 jobs which have been lost in recent years, along with diversifying the economy to of-

fer more employment with higher wages.

In the draft manifesto document, rescuing the productive sector is an important aspect on their agenda to benefit the agriculture, mining and other industries.

In agriculture, the sugar estates are to be reopened and re-energise the local economy in sugar communities by providing support and partnerships with the private sector. An expansion of the rice industry can be expected by securing new markets for the produce. Farmers will benefit from a reverse in the increase in land rents and drainage charges.

For mining, the VAT on machinery will be reversed with revert on the two per cent royalty rate. Roads leading to mining communities are to be upgraded and the working conditions of workers will be improved.

The Party has documented a reverse in VAT also for forestry equipment, re-tooling the industry and maintaining primary roads.

For cattle and livestock, grants and concessions for these farmers will be given.

Those involved in fisheries will see a reverse in the increase of licensing fees and taxes on equipment. Anti-

piracy efforts will be undertaken by utilising GPS systems and drone monitoring.

Managing oil revenues

The Presidential Candidate sought to vocalise that his Party will ensure that the oil revenues are managed independently without any political interference.

While Guyana has been blessed with the boom of oil, Ali asserted that all other sectors will be developed equally and the benefits will be tenfold for the Guyanese people.

“It is not the only saving grace. Oil and gas, yes, is a blessing. It will help us to get there faster but we must address three important issues – the issue of proper management, the issue of transparency and accountability and the issue of benefits for all Guyana. We have to free the oil and gas sector of political control. We have to make it independent, technically sound, locally driven in the sustainable pathway”.

Education

Free tertiary education can be expected under the leadership of the PPP/C within five years along with

From page 3

the provision of 20,000 online scholarships. Generous tax incentives will be offered for private institutions to create a ripple effect and pave the way for affordability.

The Opposition Leader detailed, “All private educational institutions, a corporate tax waiver on income arising from fees and any earnings in the sector, from nursery to university.

So if you establish a nursery school or a university in Guyana, you don’t have to pay corporate tax on income arising from time”.

E-learning for hinterland students, expansion of Information Communication Technology (ICT), incentives for teachers, enhancement of services for children with special education needs and the reinstatement of the $10,000 cash grant is promised. This grant was piloted under the last PPP administration, cushioning the expenses for students in the public education system.

After graduating, stable employment will be easily achieved as jobs will be created in various new segments of the economy. The expansion of business opportunities and newer avenues will present thousands of openings for youths.

New regulations, rules for importers sourcing items from Florida, USA

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ll food importers, particularly from the State of Florida in the United States of America (USA), are being subjected to new rules and regulations implemented by the Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GAFDD) that will take effect from January 31, 2020.

According to a press release from the Director of the GA-FDD, Marlon Cole, as requested by the laws of Guyana in the Food and Drug Act Chapter 34: 03, section 32: 2 and the Food and Drug Regulation 13, all importers must present a Free Sale Certificate or Certificate of Health for food imported from the State of Florida.

“Such certificates can be

obtained from the Florida Health Department located at 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, Florida 32399, from Florida Food and Drug Administration, 15100 NW 67th Avenue, Hialeah, Florida, 33014 or Florida Agriculture Department, 2700 N Young Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida 34741. Please be advised that as at 23rd July 2019 Enterprise Florida has notified the GA-FDD that issuance of Free Sale Certificates has been discontinued due to our no recognition of that entity as a competent authority”.

Cole explained that the GA-FDD will also notify popular warehouses in the State of Florida of the need to ensure that export of food to Guyana is accompanied by the re-

GA-FDD Director Marlon Cole

quired Free Sale Certificate/ Certificate of Health as of January 31, 2020.

“These warehouss include Sam Club 13360 Cortez Boulevard, Brooksville,

Florida; Jetro Cash and Carry, 2041 NW 12TH Avenue, Miami, Florida, 33127 and COSTCO, 2225 Grand Cypress Drive, Lutz, Florida 33559 among others,” the release added.

Just earlier this month, the GA-FDD and a businessman were reported to have gone to the Court over GY$40 million worth of food that authorities say are substandard.

The businessman, Faizal Asif Iqbal Alli, initially denied the allegations levelled against him.

He had threatened to take the GA-FDD to court if perishable and other items are spoilt or lost.

“You do appreciate that most of the items involved

are perishables and, therefore, time is of the essence.

My client insists that I inform you that the total value of the two containers currently detained, approximate to a market value of in excess of forty million dollars and if they perish or are lost as a result of unlawful actions and or omissions, legal proceedings would be an inevitability,” stated Alli’s lawyer, Anil Nandlall in a letter to the Director of the Food and Drugs Department, Marlon Cole.

The GA-FDD alleged that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency attested to the wholesomeness of the products on a Health Certificate that was used to facilitate the trade of the items from Canada to

Guyana.

However, based on examinations and sampling of the containers’ content, the Food and Drugs Department says expiry dates were deliberately removed and extended with a date marking machine.

Also, some of the damaged areas on boxes where the original date was removed are now concealed using a sticker bearing the Canadian flag.

The Guyanese food inspectors say they also found that some of the products were deliberately removed from the original container or packages and placed into bulk containers void of labelling details. All the items, the GA-FDD says, are suspected to be expired or short-dated.

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Fast food outlet employee charged for $19M robbery

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hirty-three-year-old Candacy Stuart, a former supervisor at local fast food business Royal Castle, was on Friday placed before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where she answered to three counts of theft charges.

Stuart, who is now a vendor, pleaded not guilty to all charges when she appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

The first allegation detailed that between January 2, 2019, and February 27, 2019, at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD), while being a clerk or servant at Royal Castle, she stole $4.6 million in property of the said business.

The second charge alleged that between January 2, 2018, and September 29, 2018, at Sheriff Street, Georgetown, while being a clerk or servant, stole $8.7 million in property of Royal Castle.

Meanwhile, the final charge stated that between October 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018, at Diamond, EBD, while being employed being a clerk or

Charged: Candacy Stuart

servant at the aforementioned entity, stole $5.9 million in property of Royal Castle.

Facts presented in court on Friday revealed that during the abovementioned time-frame, the establishment had an internal audit conducted to inspect its financial accounts. During this period, the millions mentioned in the charge were unaccounted for.

This led to a Police report being made and an investigation launched.

At the end of same, Stuart was indicted for the offence.

However, Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd successfully obtained bail for the mother of three.

The Chief Magistrate granted the defendant bail in the sum of $300,000 and ordered that she lodge her passport with the court and report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Fraud Department every Friday until the conclusion of a Preliminary Inquiry trial.

The matter was adjourned to December 5, 2019.

“Ratty” to face jury for 2017 murder of minibus driver

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27-year-old man was on Friday afternoon committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder of minibus driver, Tedroy James, also called “Six Head”, who was shot and killed in the village of Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara (EBD) two years ago.

Orwin Peters, called “Ratty”, a mechanic of lot 48 Norton Street, Bagotstown, EBD, was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge which stated that on July 11, 2017, he murdered James in the course or furtherance of a robbery.

Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore on Friday afternoon ruled that after considering the prosecution’s evidence, the Court opined that a sufficient case had been made out against Peters and as such, committed him to stand trial in the High Court.

Reports about James’ murder state that on the day in question, the Route 32 minibus driver, who was a resident of Suddie Housing Scheme, Essequibo Coast, Region Two, was shot dead around noon when he attempted to drive away from

Orwin Peters, called “Ratty”

armed bandits, who robbed several passengers on his bus.

James was said to have sustained a single shot to his head and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) moments after the shooting but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

It was a Police release shortly after the man’s murder that stated that James was driving his minibus BTT 976 along the EBD roadway in the vicinity of Mc Doom when he stopped to put off a passenger there.

Just as the passenger was about to disembark the minibus, two male suspects, including one armed with a handgun, pounced on the unsuspecting passengers and began to rob them.

James, reacting to this, sought to take his passengers to safety and attempted to drive away from the location in a move to prevent the bandits from hurting or robbing more persons.

However, the armed bandit fired one shot to James’ head before he and his accomplice fled the scene.

The matter was then reported and Peters was subsequently arrested and charged for the offence.

Dem guh watch…

A

…de elek-shan

s the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency observed - when he announced that several bodies were approved by the Foreign Affairs Ministry as “observers” of our upcoming elections (March 2?) - this has been a practice from “time immemorial”!

Maybe he exaggerated matters a tad, but we know what he means, don’t we?? And it’s for that reason that your Eyewitness ain’t that complacent about the elections not being rigged! And that’s what the Observers are supposed to prevent, aren’t they??

The point is, as Harmon was alluding, there wereElections Observers back in 1968, 1973, 1978 (referendum), 1980, and 1985 – and these were all massively rigged by the PNC. The PNC not only kept on ruling but constructed the Burnhamite dictatorship on the backs of such results as their 2/3 majority they awarded themselves in 1973. So what if, for instance, in 1980, the British Parliamentary Human Rights Group Observer team pronounced the elections “more crooked that barbed wire? Or that it was headed by Lord Avebury – a Peer of the Realm??

So yes, the Carter Center, EU, OAS, Commonwealth Secretariat will be coming to oversee, as the Opposition Leader said, “quality control” over the process. And folks are excited that the Carter Center will be back, because they “returned free and fair elections” to Guyana back in 1992, didn’t they?? Well, that’s the myth that’s been created but we know it wasn’t exactly so. As President Carter himself recounted, when marauding PNC mobs stormed the elections headquarters after preliminary results indicated the PPP would win, IT TOOK A CALL FROM THE SITTING PRESIDENT OF THE US of A to Desmond Hoyte, to accept the results. And muster out troops to force Hamilton Green to stand down!!

Good thing Hoyte had the foresight to bypass the rabidly Burnhamite David Granger and appoint Joe Sings as the head of the GDF back in 1990, or our history would’ve certainly been quite different!! And now you know why Granger’s first act as President was to award Green an OR and a fat pension!! The question today, of course, will be what will the present sitting president of the USA do if polling stations in PNC strongholds are overrun by PNC partisans after 6:30 pm when night has fallen?? Or if the data is corrupted in GECOM headquarters - even though former Elections Chief of Canada, Jean-Pierre Kingsley will be there “to offer advice on best practices in operational matters”?

While your Eyewitness accepts that Observers are necessary, he KNOWS they aren’t sufficient to prevent PNC rigging. Cause, as we saw in Bolivia recently, even the Observers have their agendas!!

We gun watch dem?

…de H2H shuffle

But even before those Observers arrive, we’ve got to get that Official List of Voters (OLE) right, right? Or else, those Observers might be properly observing scads of folks who could be voting twice, or voting illegally etc. How’d they know the difference if the names are there since all of us natives look alike!?! So where do we stand on this process that’s already consumed almost a year – in a country where at most there are 600,000 voters. India (with 900 million voters) and other parliamentary democracies, takes 3 months.

The Opposition leader gave a recap: of 370,000 persons registered during the HtH, 305,000 were on the NRRD. The “extra” 65,000 could’ve been new registrants. Only 37,300 were over 18 but further checks by GECOM discovered 17,000 on the PLE. So we’re left with 20,000 possible new registrants – which cost $3.5Billion to gather!!

Since there’s scads of time to March 2, (?) Jagdeo allowed he’d accept them on the OLE - provided there’s a joint verification exercise.

Peace BEFORE Christmas??

…others feasing

Jagdeo suggested that sugar workers could’ve been given a wage increase by GusSuCo from the $30Bond that was floated with Guysuco’s assets or from the billions from scrap metal.

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

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Guyoil reduces fuel prices by 2%

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he Guyana Oil Company Limited (Guyoil) has announced a reduction in fuel prices, which took effect on Friday, November 29, 2019.

According to the company, these decreases were possible due to the lowered acquisition cost the company received from its supplier.

The new prices represent a six-dollar decrease for Super 95 Gasoline, seven-dollar decrease for ULSD and ten-dollar decrease for Kerosene respectively and it is applicable to all Guyoil Service Stations nationwide.

For retail, Super 95 gasoline is now being sold at

$208 per litre, compared to the previous price of $214 per litre.

For wholesale, it is being sold at $198 per litre compared to the previous $204 per litre.

Kerosene is now being retailed at $149 per litre compared to the previ-

ous $159 per litre; it is being sold wholesale at $139 per litre compared to the previous $149 per litre.

And for ULSD, it is being retailed at $255, down from $232 per litre. ULSD is being sold wholesale at $215 per litre compared to the previous $222 per litre.

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International observers approved for 2020 elections – Harmon

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n preparation for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, Government has announced that a number of international observers have been approved to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible.

This disclosure was made

by Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, at his post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday.

“There are some applications that have been made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and those applications have been approved and, therefore, would have been sent to the Elections Commission. Most of what I can say is that I am aware of right now the Carter Center, the OAS (Organisation of American States), the Commonwealth Secretariat and some others. These are interna-

tional organisations that have been observing elections from time immemorial. Those applications that have gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been approved,” Harmon said.

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh recently said that the Commission welcomes the international observers, noting that they are critical to the process.

Earlier, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo contended at previous press conferences that GECOM had declined help from organisations like the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

After the Opposition Leader’s contention, it was announced that GECOM would be benefiting from the technical expertise of retired Chief Electoral Officer of Canada’s elections body,

Jean-Pierre Kingsley.

His appointment is being funded by the Canadian Government. According to GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, the Canadian High Commission here had offered the elections body technical assistance in the form of providing an expert and the seven-member Elections Commission had accepted the offer, which resulted in the former Canadian Electoral Officer being appointed.

Meanwhile, General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday said that the international community will be deeply involved in providing oversight during the electoral period.

The Carter Center along

with other international agencies were invited via a letter from the caretaker coalition administration to oversee the operations after calls from the parliamentary opposition. They are expected to observe the events leading up to the polls and during Election Day itself.

“We are working assiduously and we’re covering every base to ensure that the elections are transparent. I know for a fact that the international community is heavily engaged in the process to ensure free and fair elections in Guyana…

The Government has finally relented and issued the letter of invitation to the European Union, to the Carter Center and to some other organisations to observe the elections,” Jagdeo posited.

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New Miners’ Association President calls for unified front

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e w l y - e l e c t ed President of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association (GGDMA), Andron Alphonso, has called for unity in the industry to project a single front to promote mining interests in Guyana.

He made the call on Wednesday last at the GGDMA’s Annual General Meeting where he was elected unopposed to succeed Terrence Adams as President.

Noting that he needed to meet with the new executive to chart the way forward, Alphonso nevertheless outlined a number of areas he

said he would be putting to the body.

This included a continuation of the fight to ensure that policies detrimental to the industry were not adopted.

“As your new President, I will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure that there’s no policy or any agendas that will result in the desolation of our industry. We fought many dragons over the years and the reality with this industry is that even six presidents ahead of me will still have fights to fight”.

Alphonso stated that the Association will continue to lobby for the entire sec-

New executives of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association

tor and added that another area of focus for him will be to build consensus with sister organisations and secure a unified mining industry to boost those lobbying efforts.

He also pledged to work for more mining incentives, including recouping some of those they had previously enjoyed.

Alphonso also noted that he has been the youngest member on the Association’s executive for years and said he will be working to bring more youth into the organisation.

“We need new blood, we need the next generation to step up and come to these meetings, have meaningful participation in the direction in which this Association is going. That is something that we’re definitely going to be working on, to bring that younger element into the Association”.

Meanwhile, Alphonso also took note of the general elections which are due next year and urged his membership to vote for the political leadership that represents mining interests. He stated that a study done by the Association has shown that some 100,000 Guyanese adults are involved either directly or indirectly in the local mining industry and

that could be a source of significant political influence.

“Now, if you’re looking at 100,000 people and let’s say the voting population is approximately 400,000 or thereabouts. We represent, you could say 25 to 30 per cent of the voting population. That equates, I think it’s 5000 a seat; that is about 20 seats in Parliament. Our miners and everyone who works in our support industries represent that. We are the swing vote”.

“This Association is an independent Association; we’ve always been and we will maintain that.

However, one thing we can agree on is that we want our membership to vote on a mining agenda and think about the future of mining, which party is going to ensure that you could continue to ply your trade, maintain your independence in this oil economy.

Mining has to continue to be an economically feasible activity period, that’s it. I’m not saying there aren’t things we need to improve on, there’s always room for improvement, miners need to obey laws, be more responsible, but this Association would never endorse any policy that we know would bring an end to our industry in no way, shape, or form,” Alphonso declared.

He urged the members to put the needs of their families, the industry, and Guyana above any international agenda.

The other members elected to the 2019-2021 executive management committee are Vice President Hilbert Shields, Immediate Past President Adams, Secretary Azeem Baksh, Treasurer Patrick Harding, Organising Secretary Alfro Alphonso, and Committee Members Terry Singh, David Bacchus, Dabria Marcus, and Charles DaSilva.

IPED provides mental health counselling for its employees

T

he Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) on Thursday announced that all employees completed training sessions on customer engagement and that all managers and leaders completed sessions on emotional intelligence.

The sessions, conducted in October, were part of an ongoing effort by the company to secure employees’ mental health for their own well-being and then for the people they serve every day.

Two years ago, IPED contracted a psychologist to do an assessment on challenges workers are encountering on and off the job. This exercise was done using group and individual sessions. This helped in improving working relationships and pro-

ductivity. It contributed to changes to some policies and processes and provided insights into areas of training and development.

In addition, the company introduced its Wellness Programme whereby each employee is given the opportunity to speak to a therapist for two hours paid for

by IPED. These services will contribute to supporting the mental health of employees and indirectly their families.

Commenting on the ongoing programme, IPED Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ramesh Persaud said, “We are aiming to have a happy workforce committed to achieving our vision of improved livelihood of micro and small business entrepreneurs.”

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Region 10 lagging on countrywide MDA campaign

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s the countrywide Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign against filariasis continues, health officials have noted with concern that Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) is lagging behind other Regions in attaining its 65 per cent drug distribution rate.

The two-week “Take Your Pill” campaign initiative which entails the distribution of ivermectin, DEC and albendazole (IDA) tablets officially commenced in the Region on November 18 and is expected to wrap up on December 1.

However, Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Communicable Disease and Environmental Health Advisor, Dr Jean Alexandre, noted earlier this week that the Region had only attained a 37 per cent drug distribution rate, which places it below the intended achievement rate.

As such, he is advocating for residents in the Region to take their pills, re-emphasizing that they are safe.

“Every one Guyanese has to take their pills except children under 2, pregnant women and people who are seriously ill. Meaning someone who cannot go about his or her normal life without assistance. Why I am saying that and we need to pay

mours that the pills were linked to the deaths of at least two persons in Guyana recently, noting that Post Mortem Examinations have proven otherwise.

Alexandre urged persons who have not yet taken their pills to visit the nearest health centre, especial-

RDC staff taking the filariasis drug during distribution at the Council on Friday

attention to that because we know they have a lot of chronic diseases out there.

If you are hypertensive you can take your anti-filarial, if you are diabetic, if you are on medication you have to take your filarial drugs,” Alexandre noted.

He explained that pregnant women are, however, not required to take the tablets.

“The filaria pills are saltbased tablets, they are safe... the Government doesn’t allow pregnant women to take it. It’s just to reduce any risk because we don’t want to take any chances, but testing this tablet on pregnant women has not given any bad result. But as we don’t

want to take any chances, we see pregnant women are out,” Alexandre said.

He warned that if the Region fails to meet its 65 per cent of the population intended target by Sunday, when the initiative is expected to wrap up, then it would be the only one in Guyana to have the mass drug elimination campaign in 2021 as the triple-drug therapy aims at eliminating filaria in Guyana by the end of 2020.

Alexandre highlighted that other Regions are already recording successful drug distribution rates so far as he urged the Region to come up to par.

He also dispelled ru-

Region 10 Division rolls out Christmas Policing Plan

Regional Commander Hugh Winter during his presentation in the presence of other senior Police ranks

P

olice Divisional Headquarters in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has officially rolled out its 2019 Christmas Policing Plan which commenced on November 15, 2019, and will continue until January 15, 2020.

Regional Commander Hugh Winter, during the recent presentation at the location at Mackenzie, Linden, indicated that ranks have already commenced work according to the Plan within the Region.

The boundaries of the Regional Division have now been extended to include Moblissa (North), Ebini River (East), the left bank of the Kupakari River South and the left bank of the Essequibo River (West). In delivering the Policing Plan, Assistant Superintendent Jermaine Harper explained

that around the holidays, there is usually an increase in shopping, visitors – including overseas-based Guyanese returning home for vacation— increased activities in business areas, with a likely increase in road traffic, resulting in congestion and a likely increase in opportunistic crimes.

He noted that the focus of the Division includes minimising the occurrence of criminal activities, reducing traffic congestion and road accidents as well as providing a safe and secure environment for citizens, visitors, businesses and shoppers.

This, he told business operators and officials who were present, can only be effectively achieved through collaboration.

“We cannot do this alone.

That is the reason why all of you persons are involved

today. To make sure that we work together. Because there is so much that Police can do...but when you, in the business community, and others are actively involved, you can help us to police the community and to help the community be safe”, he noted.

The Division is divided into three sectors which will be commanded by sector commanders in charge.

These sectors include Amelia’s Ward, Mackenzie and Wismar.

Inspector Harper pointed out that the areas of focus for Amelia’s Ward during the season include the entire South and Central area and traffic black spots (areas prone to accidents) at Moblissa and Bamia along the Linden Highway as well as the Obama Drive Public road. During the specified timeframe, according to the Plan, an ATV patrol, AntiCrime vehicle patrol, motorcycle traffic patrol, 2 bicycle patrols and 2 beat patrols will be deployed at Toucan Drive, Amelia’s Ward while the Linden Highway will benefit from a four-wheel traffic patrol.

The areas of focus for Mackenzie include the Mackenzie Market Square, Retrieve, Republic Avenue, Co-op Crescent, Green Heart and Pine Streets and traffic black spots at Sir David Rose Avenue, Kara Kara Public Road and the Five Corner junction.

Turn to page 16

ly those who were unable to take their pills during the currently ongoing house-tohouse visits.

Chairman of the Linden Hospital Complex Management Committee, Mortimer Minho welcomed the initiative by PAHO and the Public Health Ministry

and encouraged residents to participate by taking their pills. He stated that the initiative is one which speaks directly to the health and well-being of residents and the response to cases of filaria in Linden and other parts of Region 10.

16 news Motorcyclist dies after Bandits rob Enterprise home after family returns to Guyana colliding with minibus …US currency, passport taken M A SATURday, november 30, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

otorcyclist died after colliding with minibus An alleged drunken motorcyclist was on Friday killed after he reportedly collided with a minibus along the Anna Regina Public Road, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supename).

Dead is Bissoonnauth Ramnarine popularly called “Lora”, a rice farmer of Devonshire Castle Old Road, Essequibo Coast.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at Public Hospital, Suddie shortly after 15:45h on Friday.

Based on reports received, Ramnarine who allegedly was under the influence of alcohol was riding his

The motorcycle Ramnarine was riding at the time of his demise

motorcycle heading home from Anna Regina when he lost control of the motorcycle and slammed into the back of a minibus.

After the collision, he reportedly fell onto the road-

way and sustained injuries.

He was subsequently picked up and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital but he did not make it. The driver of the minibus was detained as investigations continue.

Nurse battling for life after struck by speeding car

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she was struck by the car at Queenstown Village, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

It was reported that Bissoon, attached to the Suddie Public Hospital and originally from Bartica, Region 7 (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), was at the time heading to meet another colleague.

A resident who heard the impact and observed the accident rushed to Bissoon’s assistance.

The injured woman was

Injured: Darcia Bissoon

picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and later transferred to the GPHC. The driver, who remained on the scene, was taken into custody and is assisting with the investigation.

Region 10 Division...

The Mackenzie area will see the deployment of an anti-crime fourwheel vehicle patrol, a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) fourwheel vehicle patrol, 2 motorcycle traffic patrols, 5 bicycle patrols, a motorcar traffic patrol, 5 bicycle patrols and 5 beat patrols comprising of 14 ranks.

Meanwhile, the areas of interest for the Wismar area include the Wismar Market, One Mile, HalfMile, Block 22, Wisroc and Blueberry Hill and policing of traffic black spots along the One Mile Public road, Burnham Drive and Tri-Junction (Rockstone-Mabura).

Inspector Harper pointed out that the Wismar area is one of particular focus as it is one where a lot of petty

crimes occur.

With regards to security on the rivers, he noted that marine patrols will be deployed in the Demerara River between Kairuni and Coomacka Mines.

Checkpoints will also be established at Bamia, Tri Junction and Mabura.

Additional activities would include anti-crime, bicycle and marine patrols roadblocks, cordon and searches, intelligence gathering, profiling of known characters and traffic patrols.

There will also be enhanced monitoring of Post Offices located at Wismar, Ituni and Kwakwani during the pay-out of Old Age pension. This, Inspector Harper said, has been a continuous process whenever there is a pay-out process at the

with the family and we went to bed late. Then I hear something knock and I come out and open the door but me didn’t see nothing so I go back and lay down. When my sister get up around 04:30h, she holler out that she purse open and throw out here,” Khan related.

This prompted them to check the house. A discovery was made on the lower flat that the door was pried open, the grillwork on the window was cut and some panes were removed. They believe that the suspects then used the staircase to gain entry into the upper flat.

“They cut the grill on the window and take out three louvres. They bend the grill and open the door and go

upstairs. They go up in my sister room and search and find she purse and take out all the money. The next sister, they go in her room and carry way she bag and passport and green card. She had some US and Guyana money,” Khan explained.

Over US$3500 was taken along with some Guyana currency, a passport, green card and some other items.

Khan said he is grateful no one was injured. A report was filed as Police continue their investigation.

Guyana Times was told that robberies are frequent in the area. Just last week, it was reported that a Nonpareil, ECD home was broken into for the fourth time and several items were stolen.

Ex-soldier wanted for AK-47 in pit latrine turns self in to cops

The scene where the accident occurred

hirty-six-year-old Darcia Bissoon, a nurse of Windsor Castle, Essequibo Coast, is now battling for her life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICT) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after she was struck down by an alleged speeding motorcar early Friday morning.

Guyana Times understands that the nurse was attempting to cross the public road at about 08:00h on Friday when

n Enterprise, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home was broken into and robbed on Friday morning by unknown suspects, just hours after the family returned to Guyana.

Based on information received, family members believe that that the criminal act was carried out sometime around 03:00h at the Lot 291 Fourth Street, Enterprise residence.

Faruk Khan told Guyana Times that he is the caretaker of the property whenever his sisters are overseas.

They would have returned during the week and he opted to stay with them at the house. On Thursday evening, they were having a family gathering with other relatives and retired to bed at about midnight.

A short time had elapsed when he heard a sound which woke him from his slumber.

Upon checking, nothing was amiss. However, on Friday morning, one of his sisters got up and noticed that her purse was on the floor. Her money and some other documents were missing.

“We had a get-together

from page 15

Post Offices.

He said during the specified period, there will be strict monitoring of key, vulnerable points such as business locations, commercial banks and other financial institutions. In addition, Community Policing Group (CPG) members and Neighbourhood Police will be deployed in various communities alongside uniformed ranks.

Also at the presentation, Regional Chairman Renis Morian raised concerns over crowd control during the Christmas season, given the increase in open-air functions and social activities.

He suggested the need for more Police advisories and correlation with the Linden Fire Department in this regard.

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ays after Police issued a wanted bulletin for an ex-soldier for questioning in connection with several crimes, including possession of an Ak47, he turned himself in to the custody of the lawmen in the presence of his lawyer.

Steve Richard Bacchus was reportedly in the house when his uncle, 51-year-old Godfrey Bacchus, and aunt, 34-year-old Stacy Cort, were busted with two illegal guns, cannabis and ammunition.

The ex-soldier managed to escape after Police swooped down on their Sophia, Greater Georgetown home.

His uncle and aunt made their court appearance on Thursday and were remanded to prison until December 4.

It was reported that the Policemen, acting on intelligence, went to the house and conducted a search during which the items were found along with a large sum of local and foreign currencies.

However, prior to arriving at the couple’s North Sophia home, investigators had swooped down at the residence of the suspect’s grandmother who lives in the same area.

When a search was carried out in her home, it was discovered that a large sum of money had been stashed inside of a hidden cardboard shoe box.

Police detained the elderly woman and then made

Ex-soldier, 27-year-old Steve Richard Bacchus who had been wanted by the Police, turned himself in to the cops on Thursday

their way to the construction worker’s home where the suspect would usually frequent.

Guyana Times understands that the ex-army rank has been under the Police’s radar for some time. He is closely linked

to a known criminal whose name, in the Guyanese criminal underworld, is “Mafia”.

The 27-year-old suspect is also said to work for another criminal and engaged in various illegal activities on a large scale.

news

17

SATURday, november 30, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Suriname court convicts President 2 busted with over Bouterse of murder for 1982 executions 40kg ganja in Diamond

Suriname's President Desi Bouterse (Reuters/Florence Lo/Pool)

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court in Suriname on Friday convicted President Desi Bouterse of murder for the execution of 15 opponents in 1982 during an earlier term as military ruler of the South American country after he and other soldiers led a violent coup to seize power.

The court sentenced Bouterse, who is currently in China on an official visit, to 20 years in prison.

Bouterse has dominated much of the history of

Suriname since its 1975 independence from the Netherlands. He led the country of 560,000 people through the 1980s, assumed office again in 2010 and secured re-election five years later.

The military court on Friday ruled that Bouterse had overseen an operation in which soldiers under his command abducted 16 leading Government critics – including lawyers, Journalists and university teachers – from their homes and killed

15 of them at a colonial fortress in Paramaribo.

One trade union leader survived and later gave testimony against Bouterse.

Bouterse, who has steadfastly denied the charges, will have two weeks to appeal the decision.

Critics have vilified the 74-year-old president as a dictator who has clung to power in the country, sandwiched between Guyana and French Guiana on the north-eastern shoulder of South America.

In 1999, he was convicted in absentia of drug trafficking by a court in the Netherlands though he has denied any wrongdoing. A Suriname Judge in 2005 convicted Bouterse’s son, Dino, of leading a gang that trafficked in cocaine, illegal arms and stolen luxury cars.

As a junior military officer, Bouterse took part in the 1980 coup against Suriname’s first Prime Minister, Henck Arron, and immediately promoted himself to Army Chief-of-Staff,

Iwokrama to launch new initiatives

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he Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) will be launching three new initiatives as part of its anniversary celebrations.

Iwokrama will, on Saturday, November 30, be formally observing 30 years of the commemoration of the pledge of nearly one million acres of Guyana’s intact rainforest to the international community at the 1989 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In a press release, Iwokrama said the initiatives will be launched during a ceremony at the Umana Yana.

While it did not disclose what the projects are, Iwokrama said they will help to raise awareness and promote the Iwokrama Rainforest.

In 1989, President Hugh Desmond Hoyte offered the 371,681 hectares of rainforest to the international community for research.

In 1995, an Iwokrama Agreement was signed by President Cheddi Jagan and the Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku.

Then in 1996, the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conversation and Development Act (1996) was passed by the Parliament of

Guyana.

The legislation oversaw the establishment of the Centre to manage the forest area and to promote the conservation and the sustainable and equitable use of tropical rainforests in a manner that will lead to lasting ecological, economic and social benefits to the people of Guyana and to the world in general.

Over the years, Iwokrama has been doing just that in all aspects of its operations from tourism, research, community development and even sustainable forestry.

Iwokrama has made significant strides over the years. Numerous new species of flora and fauna have been discovered within the rainforest, including a new species of lizard (Gonatodes timidus) and a new species of poison dart frog (Allobates amissibilis).

In 2002, the state-of-theart canopy walkway was installed in the Iwokrama Forest with support from the Canadian International Development Agency.

In 2007, the first phase of the model low-impact sustainable timber harvesting operation started in the Iwokrama Forest. Today, this sustainably harvested wood is being used on the rehabilitation of the St George’s Cathedral.

In 2009, a ground-breaking agreement for climate and forest partnership between the Guyana Government and the Kingdom of Norway was signed by President Bharrat Jagdeo and Norwegian Minister of International Development and the Environment, Erik Solheim in Fair View Village within the Iwokrama Forest.

Over the years, many other milestones have been achieved inclusive of research and science programmes, projects related to cultural heritage, climate change, use of participatory video techniques to preserve heritage information.

In 2016, Iwokrama, via its second phase of timber harvesting, got its second international certification.

Iwokrama has had visits from the President, Prime Minister, Commonwealth Secretary-General and Prince Harry.

“We stand very proud with regards to capacity development over the years where we are seeing many persons that were trained or worked at Iwokrama now in leadership positions as community village leaders, as conservation leaders in key agencies around Georgetown as well inclusive of Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund, Protected Areas Commission to name a few. This impact may not be as visible but surely has had the most significant impact on conservation development in Guyana. We are proud,” Iwokrama said.

As it looks forward to the years ahead, Iwokrama says it remains fully committed to fulfilling its mandate.

becoming effective ruler of the Government.

Bouterse left the army in late 1992 and went into business and politics, heading the National Democratic Party (NDP) and remaining a prominent if controversial national figure.

Bouterse and his pro-military NDP have consistently tried to obstruct court proceedings, which began in 2007. In 2012, the NDP-controlled National Assembly passed an amnesty law giving him immunity in 2012, but a court ruling later invalidated that.

(Reuters)

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wo men were taken into Police custody after they were busted with more than 40 kilograms of ganja at Diamond New Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara.

Based on reports received, ranks of the Police Narcotics Branch swooped

down on the house during an intelligence-led operation. The cannabis was reportedly found in several sections of the house. The two men who were at home at the time were arrested and are being processed for court.

Logos Hope promises to culturally entertain visitors

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ogos Hope will arrive in Guyana in a matter of hours and will be opened to the public December 2 through December 10, 2019.

This unique vessel with international crewmembers offers exclusive on board events for people of all ages, in addition to its array of quality, affordable books. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to meet the crew in the book fair and attend the events on the ship!

Guests can experience

unique cultures and hear stories from people representing many nations around the world. They can look forward to a time of friendship and community while enjoying an interactive cultural programme.

All events have limited seating and tickets for those can be uplifted at Java Coffee Bar in Giftland Mall or MovieTowne, or on board the Logos Hope.

Logos Hope offers an expanded selection of over 5000 titles of books at affordable prices. The rest of the Visitor Experience deck is also open for the public to explore. From the Welcome Area – which introduces the vessel through a short movie and interactive displays – to the International Café – which has ice cream, drinks and snacks for sale

– there is sure to be something for everyone.

The floating bookstore

is operated by GBA Ships eV, an international charitable organisation registered in Germany. Since 1970, the organisation has welcomed over 45 million visitors up the gangways in more than 150 countries and territories around the world.

MV Logos Hope will be opened to the public from December 2 at the Guyana National Shipping Corporation (GNSC) Wharf. The entrance fee is $200 for children over 12 years old and adults.

Senior citizens and children under 12 will be admitted free, but must be accompanied by an adult.

18 Around the world saturday, november 30, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Police shoot dead man who C’bean warned to brace for continued killed 2 in London stabbing, “drier-than-normal” pattern next year call it terrorist attack A

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ritish Police on Friday shot dead a man wearing a fake suicide vest who stabbed two people to death in London and injured three more before being wrestled to the ground by bystanders, in what the authorities called a terrorist attack.

The attacker went on the rampage just before 14:00h, targeting people at Fishmongers’ Hall near London Bridge in the heart of the city’s financial district – the scene of a deadly attack by Islamist militants two years ago.

Out on the street, half a dozen bystanders tackled the suspect to the ground and grabbed his knife.

A video posted on Twitter showed Police dragging one man off the suspect before an officer took careful aim.

Two shots rang out. The man stopped moving.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has called a snap election for December

The scene on London Bridge in the aftermath of a reported shooting in London, Britain, November 29, 2019

12 and is due to host NATO leaders including US President Donald Trump next week, praised those who took on the man for their courage and said Britain would never be cowed.

“I ... want to pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery of those members of the public who physically intervened to protect the lives of others,” Johnson told reporters in Downing Street.

“For me they represent the very best of our coun-

try and I thank them on behalf of all of our country,” Johnson said. “This country will never be cowed, or divided, or intimidated by this sort of attack.”

He said the incident was now thought to have been contained and vowed that anyone else involved would be hunted down. Downing Street said he would later chair a meeting of the Government’s emergency security committee. (Excerpt from Reuters)

jobs, an end to corruption, and better public services.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned over reports of the continued use of live ammunition against demonstrators” and called for “maximum restraint”.

Abdul Mahdi’s statement said he would present his resignation to Parliament so lawmakers could select a new government.

It came after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani

called for a new government.

“In response to this call, and in order to facilitate it as quickly as possible, I will present to Parliament a demand [to accept] my resignation from the leadership of the current government,” the statement signed by Abdul Mahdi said.

The statement did not say when his resignation would take place. On Sunday, Parliament will hold an emergency session to discuss the crisis.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Iraq unrest: PM Abdul Mahdi to resign after bloodiest day in protests

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raqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi is to submit his resignation, his office says, after more than 40 people were killed on the bloodiest day since anti-Government protests began.

Iraq’s top Shia Muslim cleric condemned the use of force against protesters and called for a new government.

About 400 people have been killed in protests since the start of October, and at least 15 died on Friday.

Iraqis are demanding

Thousands stage global climate protests before UN summit

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ens of thousands of protesters have rallied in cities across the world, demanding more action on climate change and aiming to force political leaders to come up with urgent solutions at a United Nations conference next week.

The demonstrations kicked off in Australia on Friday, where people affected by recent devastating wildfires joined young environmentalists protesting against the Government’s pro-coal stance.

Students in Sydney and other major cities walked out of class, saying more should be done to combat the country’s bushfire crisis, which many see as a result of climate change.

“Our government’s inaction on the climate crisis has supercharged bushfires,” 18-year-old

regional forecaster says the 2020 dry season is not expected to be as dry as this year but has warned that the effects of the drier-than-normal 2019 rainy season will continue into the new year.

“The forecast for the dry season is, in a way, probably not as extreme as for the previous dry seasons, which is probably good news for agriculture in that in parts of the region, at least, we expect rainfall not to be not as dry as last year. So for those farmers who grow crops, particularly in the south and eastern Caribbean, it shouldn’t be as bad as last year,” said Dr Cédric Van Meerbeeck, a climatologist at the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH).

“But in terms of long-

term drought, which relates to water storage, the very large water reservoirs in the islands and in Belize, we still face challenges in the same places that are now experiencing drought,” Van Meerbeeck told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on the sidelines of the Dry Season Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF), which ends here on Friday.

Van Meerbeeck said the situation is quite different in the Guianas, where, particularly in the coastal areas, they have just started their secondary wet season and have had a reasonably wet to extremely wet couple months and year.

“So they have enough water and now going into the wet season, which is predicted to be wetter than usual even, that leads to

concerns of flooding beyond the typical flooding that already occurs.

So probably that is one of the major concerns for Guianas.”

Van Meerbeeck said that the situation with the lower than usual rainfall is not as widespread as with the drought of 2009 and 2010 and 2014 to 2016.

“But where there is drought right now, it can be very, very intense. Like in Belize, they have had the worst drought in many, many years, at least since the 80s. Barbados can end up in its driest years on record so 2019 could be the driest year on record in Barbados and there are parts of Trinidad that are still suffering from the long-term drought.”

(Excerpt from CMC)

Trinidad: Soldier arrested for sexual assault of 12-year-old boy

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sergeant in the T&T Defence Force was arrested by officers of the Special Operations Response Team (SORT) yesterday for the alleged rape and buggery of a child.

The officer was cornered by officers of SORT at around 13:30h outside a beauty salon and spa on Delhi Street, St James.

Officers tracked the suspect, after discovering a 12-year-old boy.

An internal police communication document obtained by Guardian Media stated: “A senior member of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment (TTR) is engaging in sexual activity with a 12-year- old boy. It was reported that the TTR member driving Motor Vehicle (number given) had made plans to meet with the boy on November 28th, 2019 outside a school located in the St James area.”

The statement added that between 12:00h and 13:40h, SORT officers and the Child Protection Unit (CPU) conducted surveillance at an educational in-

SORT at the scene on Delhi Street, in St James on Thursday

stitute in St James when the sergeant was observed driving his vehicle in the vicinity of the educational institute.

It noted that the SORT officers intercepted the vehicle and the suspect was arrested by police and a party of officers of the CPU. The statement said that officers of the CPU later “conducted a confrontation” with the child victim and the soldier and the child positively identified him.

Video footage of the man surrendering to the heavily armed officers emerged on social media hours after the arrest.

When Guardian Media

arrived at the scene, the officers were still searching the suspect’s car, while he sat in the back of a TTPS SUV. Residents said they knew little about the situation apart from seeing the man leave his car under the watchful eye of armed officers and subsequently placed in a police vehicle.

The incident prompted some traffic disruption in St James, as the officers awaited a wrecker to remove the vehicle after they placed the suspect in a police car. The car was eventually loaded onto the wrecker and taken away. (Excerpt from T&T Guardian)

Abril Pérez Sagaón: Shooting sparks feminist outcry in Mexico

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Students take part in a ‘Fridays for Future’ climate change rally in London [Peter Summers/Getty Images]

Shiann Broderic, one of the event’s organisers, whose home was destroyed in a bushfire, told Reuters News Agency.

Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who is travelling across the Atlantic by sailboat

to attend the UN climate talks in Madrid, sent a message of support to protesters.

“Everyone’s needed. Everyone’s welcome. Join us,” she said on Twitter.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

he former head of Amazon Mexico is wanted for questioning after his wife was apparently killed by a hitman in Mexico City.

Abril Pérez Sagaón was shot dead in a car on Monday in front of two of her teenage children.

Juan Carlos García has not commented publicly.

The couple were in the middle of a divorce battle and García had been freed on bail after a prior allegation of violence against her.

Pérez said he had beat her with a baseball bat when she was asleep in January and she

formally accused him of attempted femicide (murder of a woman because of her gender).

García was held in pre-trial detention for 10 months, but the judge released him at the start of November, downgrading the charge to domestic violence.

According to Mexican media, the judge - named as Federico Mosco González questioned the intent of the alleged crime, saying that if Garcia had wanted to kill her, he could have done so as she was sleeping at the time.

She had a restraining order against her husband and

was trying to get custody of their three children.

El País newspaper said she had moved out of Mexico City but, according to relatives, she was briefly back in the capital on Monday to attend a meeting linked to the custody battle.

A motorcyclist ambushed her vehicle while she was on her way to the airport afterwards.

No charges have yet been issued, but the killing has sparked fierce debate in Mexico about the wider problem of gender violence.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

saturday, november 30, 2019

19

round-up:Davis leads Lakers

in New Orleans return A

nthony Davis scored 41 points in his return to New Orleans, and the Los Angeles Lakers won their ninth straight game, beating the Pelicans 114-110 on Wednesday night.

Davis was roundly booed whenever he touched the basketball in the city where he played his first seven seasons before demanding a trade from New Orleans, which sent him to the Lakers in July.

LeBron James added 29 points and 11 assists as the Lakers improved their leagueleading record to 16-2. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points.

Jrue Holiday had 12 assists and 29 points, but just four in the second half, as the Pelicans squandered a 16-point, thirdquarter lead. Brandon Ingram, one of three players Los Angeles traded along with a group of draft choices for Davis, had 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Clippers 121, Grizzlies 119 Montrezl Harrell tipped in the game-winner with 2.3 seconds remaining, capping a raucous fourth-quarter rally as visiting Los Angeles beat Memphis to earn its seventh straight victory.

The Clippers were led by 24 points and 10 rebounds from Harrell, and 24 points from Lou Williams. Moe Harkless scored just five points, getting the start in place of Kawhi Leonard, but provided a winsealing block of Jaren Jackson Jr.’s shot in the final seconds that would have tied the score.

Jonas Valanciunas posted game highs of 30 points and 16 rebounds for Memphis.

Rookie guard Ja Morant endured a slow scoring start, but he scored nine of his 20 points late in the fourth quarter, and dished a gamehigh 11 assists for the night.

Warriors 104, Bulls 90 Alec Burks scored six of his 23 points in a fourth-quarter flurry as Golden State won for just the second time at home all season.

Eric Paschall scored a team-high 25 points, and both Burks and Omari Spellman recorded double-doubles for the Warriors, who had lost three straight and 10 of their previous 11 games. Burks had a nice all-around game with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Spellman produced 13 points

and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Zach LaVine poured in a game-high 36 points for the Bulls. Tomas Satoransky added 19 points, seven rebounds and a team-high seven assists, and Wendell Carter Jr. grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with eight points.

Trail Blazers 136, Thunder 119 With a hot start and a strong third quarter fueled by their starting lineup, Portland picked up a blowout win over visiting Oklahoma City.

It was a balanced scoring effort for Portland in its return home from a 2-4 road trip, led by 27 points from Damian Lillard. CJ McCollum added 22 points, Hassan Whiteside 21 points and 16 rebounds, and Carmelo Anthony 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Abdel Nader came off the Oklahoma City bench to score a team-high 23 points. Chris Paul added 16 points as the Thunder lost for the fourth time in their past five games.

Wizards 140, Suns 132 Bradley Beal scored 35 points and made four 3-pointers, and Thomas Bryant tied a season high with 23 points and added nine rebounds as Washington gave up most of a 21-point lead but held on to win at Phoenix.

Ish Smith tied a season high with 21 points and had seven assists, and Davis Bertens had 16 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Wizards, who rebounded from two of their lowest-scoring games of the season by shooting 57.3 percent and making 19 treys.

Devin Booker had 27 points and eight assists, Ricky Rubio had 18 points, and Dario Saric, Cam Johnson and Cheick Diallo had 17 points apiece for the Suns, who had eight players in double figures.

Bucks 111, Hawks 102 Giannis Antetokounmpo posted his 18th consecutive double-double to start the season, leading Milwaukee past visiting Atlanta for its ninth win in a row.

Antetokounmpo scored 30 points and added 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. He is the first player since Hall of Famer Bill Walton to start a season with 18 straight double-doubles. The Bucks also got 16 points from Khris Middleton, who returned from

Embiid, who shot 0-for11 on Monday in a loss at Toronto, went 10-for-19 against the Kings, leading the 76ers to their eighth straight home win. Ben Simmons also recorded a double-double for Philadelphia with 10 points and 14 rebounds to go with five assists and two steals.

Buddy Hield paced the Kings, losers of two straight, with 22 points.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) dunks over New Orleans Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor (8) during the first quarter at the Smoothie King Center (USA TODAY Sports)

a seven-game absence caused by a left thigh contusion.

Atlanta was led by Jabari Parker, who had a career-high 25 points in the first half and finished with a season-high 33 and 14 rebounds. Trae Young added 29 points and four rebounds.

Hornets, who have defeated the Pistons twice this month in home games. Graham added a career-high 15 assists. For Detroit, Griffin posted 26 points, Kennard notched 16 points, and Andre Drummond had 14 points and 21 rebounds.

Celtics 121, Nets 110 Kemba Walker scored a season-high 39 points in his return from a neck sprain as host Boston held off Kyrie Irving-less Brooklyn.

Jaylen Brown had 22 points and 10 rebounds as six Celtics scored in double figures.

Boston won for the third time in its last five games.

The Nets also placed six scorers in double figures, led by Garrett Temple and Joe Harris with 22 and 21, respectively. Despite hitting 21 3-pointers as a team, Brooklyn saw its four-game winning streak end.

Timberwolves 113, Spurs 101 Andrew Wiggins poured in 26 points as visiting Minnesota defeated slumping San Antonio to capture its second straight game on the road and its first win in the Alamo City since 2013.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 points and took 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, while Keita Bates-Diop added 16 points, Okogie had 11, and Gorgui Dieng and Jarrett Culver each scored 10 points for Minnesota.

San Antonio, which has lost five straight games at home, missed seven of its last eight shots from the floor over the final four minutes. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 22 points, and DeMar DeRozan scored 20.

Hornets 102, Pistons 101 Charlotte finally figured out how to close a game, riding a season-high 19 points from Bismack Biyombo to a victory against visiting Detroit.

The Hornets, who dropped three games by fewer than 10 points in a four-day span last week, had help on Detroit’s botched final possession, hanging on to snap a fivegame losing streak.

PJ Washington scored 17 points, Devonte’ Graham tallied 16 points and Miles Bridges had 15 for the

Magic 116, Cavaliers 104 Evan Fournier scored 19 of his season-high 30 points in the first half as Orlando recorded its first road victory, topping Cleveland.

Fournier made four 3-pointers to highlight his performance for the Magic, who lost their first seven road games before winning the finale of their four-game trek.

Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross each scored 16 points, and Mo Bamba made all five of his 3-point attempts to match Markelle Fultz with 15 points.

Collin Sexton scored 20 points on 8 of 14 shooting while playing in his 100th consecutive game to begin his NBA career. Cedi Osman scored 14 points and Tristan Thompson added 13 for the Cavaliers, who fell for the eighth time in the last nine games.

Pacers 121, Jazz 102 T.J. Warren scored 23 points, and Domantas Sabonis added 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead Indiana to a victory over Utah in Indianapolis.

Malcolm Brogdon finished with 22 points and eight assists for the Pacers, who earned their fourth consecutive win.

Jeremy Lamb added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 30 points to lead the Jazz, who dropped their second straight.

Donovan Mitchell added 26 points while Rudy Gobert chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds. Gobert returned to the lineup after a two-game absence caused by a sprained ankle.

76ers 97, Kings 91 Joel Embiid rebounded from the first scoreless game of his career with a gamehigh 33 points, leading host Philadelphia past Sacramento.

Rockets 117, Heat 108 James Harden made seven 3-pointers and scored 34 points to help Houston cruise past visiting Miami.

Russell Westbrook added 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as Houston halted a three-game slide.

Danuel House Jr. scored a career-best 23 points to help the Rockets avenge a 129-100 loss to the Heat in Miami on Nov. 3.

Tyler Herro scored 22 points off the bench for Miami, which was without star Jimmy Butler due to illness.

The loss was just the second in the past eight games for the Heat. Miami’s Kelly Olynyk added 19 points, and Bam Adebayo recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Raptors 126, Knicks 98 Pascal Siakam scored 31 points and grabbed eight rebounds as host Toronto won its eighth straight home game to start the season, a franchise record, in a blowout of New York.

The Raptors have won 15 of their past 16 games against the Knicks, including the past seven in a row. Siakam, who did not play the fourth quarter as the starters were rested, finished 5-for-8 on 3-point attempts.

Fred VanVleet added 15 points for the Raptors.

OG Anunoby contributed 13 points and a careerbest 12 rebounds, and Chris Boucher had 13 points and 12 rebounds. Julius Randle scored 19 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Knicks. Toronto-born RJ Barrett added 16 points.

(Reuters)

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GUYANATIMESgy.COM

saturday, november 30, 2019

Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival…

Intense rivalry exhibited on 2nd night T

he seco n d day of the Diamond Mineral Water Indoor Hockey Festival has drawn to a close, and some teams have already begun to emerge as likely challengers for this year’s trophy.

The GBTI GCC Tigers brushed aside the challenge of the Saints by a 4-1 margin

broke the deadlock by converting a crossed ball into the cage.

By then pressure from the GCC started to produce cracks in the well-organized Saints’ defence. Marzana Fiedtkou scored a second goal for the GBTI girls before the half, and Captain Sonia Jardine and Ashley DeGroot completed the four GCC goals by full time.

gained a penalty stroke, which was converted by Minsodia Culpepper, but it was not enough to avoid the 2-1 loss to the Spartans.

The lone Lucozade Veterans match of the evening saw Queen’s Park stamp their authority on the competition with an impressive 5-2 win over Old Old Fort. Former Guyanese national player Jerry Bell, now

GBTI GCC’s Ashley DeGroot breaks out of defence against Saints

A Trinidadian Defence Force player in possession against Old Fort

to chalk up their second convincing victory in as many matches of the ExxonMobil women’s division. Queen’s Park enjoyed a hard-fought win over the Bounty GCC men in their festival opener, while Old Fort managed to achieve their second draw of the festival, this time against debutants TT Defence Force.

Saints managed to last a scoreless quarter against pre-tournament favourites the GBTI GCC Tigers in their ExxonMobil ladies division matchup, but as soon as the second quarter began, striker Gabriella Xavier

Saints managed through Shania Azeez to pull one goal back before the final whistle to produce a final score of 4-1 for the GCC. The Spartans managed to nudge Red Wyne in the other ExxonMobil ladies match of the evening, with Abosaide Cadogan scoring a double for the Spartans.

Both goals came in similar fashion, as speedy right winger Sarah Klautky outpaced her marker, drew the goalkeeper, and slipped the ball across the open goal for the waiting Cadogan.

Red Wyne made a surge of sorts at the end, and

playing for Queen’s Park, was the high- scorer of the match with a double, while teammates Azad Ali, Rob Wyatt and Reiza Hussein each added a single for the victors.

Jason DeSantos and Aderemi Simon were the goal scorers for Old Old Fort.

Queen’s Park returned in the men’s division to all but match their veterans’ achievement with a 5-3 beating of Bounty GCC. The high-paced match was competitive throughout, and the scores were settled at 3-3 at the half. Jerry Bell and Shawn Lee Quay, how-

ever, each scored a goal for Queen’s Park in the final quarter, to give that team a 5-3 win.

Arrielle Bowen, Dominic Young and Marcus Pascal were the other goal scorers for Queen’s Park, while Dwayne Scott with a double and Kareem McKenzie with a single were the scorers for GCC. The matchup between Trinidad & Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) and YMCA Old Fort men’s team proved to be the most entertaining of the evening. Christopher McKey was the lone scorer in the first quarter, slamming home a rebound for

TTDF. Shots rained on goal but were deflected by some fine goalkeeping at both ends, before Old Fort’s Theodore Thierens drew the scores level at 1-1 just before the half.

Old Fort then advanced their score by one in the third quarter through an Aderemi Simon penalty corner, but McKey scored his second for TTDF to keep things even.

Old Fort took the lead once more with 10 minutes remaining in the match, but the persistent TTDF drew the scores five minutes later, and the match ended at 3-3 with a final penalty corner goal by Keshen Johnson.

The PEPSI Hikers looked cool and collected as they demolished Saints by 10-0 in the remaining men’s match of the evening. While the Saints side provided flashes of skill, the experience of the Hikers proved too much for the young unit to overcome in any meaningful manner.

Randy Hope and Robert France each managed hattricks for the Hikers, while teammates Devin Munroe and Aroydy Branford each scored two goals.

Matches continue today at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, and the finals are set for Sunday evening.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Bottas top despite bizarre Grosjean crash

V

altteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton to a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Bottas was 0.310 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was 0.076secs faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the season’s final race weekend began.

In an unusual crash for a practice session, Bottas and Haas’ Romain Grosjean collided at a chicane.

The Finn dived for the inside at the end of the second long straight and Grosjean turned in having not seen him.

Both cars suffered extensive damage and showered the circuit with debris, causing the session to be stopped for seven minutes while the track was cleared.

Bottas and Grosjean were called to the stewards after the session, and the Mercedes driver was given a reprimand for his actions.

Until his crash, Bottas was on excellent form around Yas Marina on Friday, fastest in both sessions, but he has a grid penalty for excessive engine usage and will start the race from the back of the grid.

Hamilton, Leclerc and the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel were covered by just 0.125secs, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fifth and 0.435secs off Bottas’ pace but nearly half a second ahead of his team-mate Alexander Albon.

In an unusual feature, the Ferrari drivers’ times were set on a second timed lap, the team choosing to run two sets of soft tyres on low fuel rather than the usual one.

And Leclerc’s time came following a heavy brush with the barriers on his first run at Turn 19, where team-mate Vettel crashed in the first session.

Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi also came

Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes Benz has a new engine (Reuters)

to grief at Turn 19, although he managed to spin while avoiding hitting anything.

Mercedes ended the session emphasising their strength with some impressive pace on the race-simulation runs, with Hamilton comfortably quicker than Verstappen and Leclerc when running the soft tyre with a heavy fuel load.

“It’s been a bit of an unusual Friday for me,” said Hamilton. “I was struggling to get into the rhythm, but you have your good and bad days.

“I’ve been trying to explore some new avenues with the car. We already know where it works well, so I’m pushing the car into different places, just trying to see if there’s anywhere else I can exploit the car and the tyres for the future.”

Bottas said: “It’s been a good day out on track; the car was well-balanced from the getgo.

“The end of my FP2 session was compromised by a minor incident with Grosjean; I thought he had seen me going for the overtake on the inside, but by the time I realised that he hadn’t seen me, there was no way for me to escape anymore.” (BBC Sport)

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saturday, november 30, 2019

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Colonial Medical Insurance Regional Super50…

West Indies Emerging Players storm into Super50 final ꟷ Nedd, Sinclair tighten screws

T

he West Indies Emerging players participating in only their second season in the domestic list A competition, battled into their maiden finals appearance with a

the West Under 19 TriSeries and 2020 World Cup Squads.

One of the highlights of West Indies Emerging players run into the finals has been there eccentric

our senior players absent due to West Indies duty, it’s a positive that we got to the semi-final, which highlights that the depth in Barbados cricket is strong.

(CWI)

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Kevin Sinclair doing his trademark celebration

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Emerging Players celebrate a wicket with Sinclair

tense three wicket victory over six-time tournament winners, Barbados Pride via the Duckworth-LewisStern Method.

Déjà Vu Moment

On November 25, before the Emerging players got their lifeline into the semi-final after the USA defeated the Guyana Jaguars - the Emerging players were bundled out for 78 by Trinidad And Tobago Red Force in that 10 wicket loss.

When the Emerging players won the toss and sent Barbados into bat, the way they routed the opposition displayed that the Floyd Reifer coached unit had clearly done their homework on the pitch and Barbados.

“Bowling with new ball as a spinner is very difficult but I backed myself,'' said player of the match, Guyanese left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd “When Trinidad beat us, they bowled first and the pitch had a lot of assistance for the spinners. So we felt putting Barbados into bat, considering they had come from different conditions in St.Kitts would would be helpful to us.”

Celebrating in Style

Four West Indies Emerging players members in Kimani Melius, Ashmead Nedd, Leonardo Julien and Jayden Seales were recently selected in

and exuberant wicket celebrations in the field.

This was best encapsulated by Guyanese off-spinner Kevin Sinclair.

During his metronomical spell of 10-125-2, in the seventh over he sent back Barbados Captain Jonathan Carter (3) and all-rounder Kyle Mayers without scoring, as they slumped precariously to 17/4 and they never recovered after that.

The Resistance

Throughout all interruptions due to rain, reduced overs and floodlights cutting off, with such a paltry target to chase all the Emerging players needed was one or two players to be a resistance against the Barbados bowling attack.

22 year old Grenadian Roland Cato (25 not out) proved to be that man until the end despite wickets falling around him, until lower-order batsman Keon Harding flicked Chemar Holder mto the long-on boundary to secure the victory.

“We could sit back and complain about the pitch and the fact that we only had one day to practice but at the end of the day we had a job to do and didn’t execute”, said Barbados Pride Captain Jonathan Carter “However with much of

Ashmead Nedd

Barbados Pride Innings LS Boucher c †Da Silva b Harding 5 KY Ottley b Nedd 0 Z McCaskie run out (Harding) 40 JL Carter c †Da Silva b Sinclair 3 KR Mayers lbw b Sinclair 0 NR Kirton b Cariah 26 TT Walcott † lbw b Nedd 0 AR Nurse (c) lbw b Nedd 25 J Bishop c Drakes b Cariah 1 ML Cummins c †Da Silva b Ned d 11 CK Holder not out 2 Extras 6 (b 1, lb 1, nb 1, w 3) TOTAL 119 all out (31.3 Overs, RR: 3.77) Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Leniko Boucher, 1.6 ov), 2-7 (Kjorn Ottley, 2.2 ov), 3-17 (Jonathan Carter, 6.1 ov), 4-17 (Kyle Mayers, 6.3 ov), 5-72 (Zachary McCaskie, 19.1 ov), 6-72 (Tevyn Walcott, 19.2 ov), 7-86 (Nicholas Kirton, 24.6 ov), 8-106 (Ashley Nurse, 27.5 ov), 9-108 (Joshua Bishop, 28.2 ov), 10119 (Miguel Cummins, 31.3 ov) BOWLING A Nedd (9.3-0-29-4) KJ Harding (3-0-14-1) K Sinclair (10-1-25-2) DC Drakes (2-0-12-0) JJ Levy (3-0-16-0) Y Cariah (4-0-21-2)

West Indies Emerging Team Innings (target: 111 runs from 43 overs) K Melius c Boucher b Bishop 18 L Julien st †Walcott b Nurse 117 Y Cariah (c) lbw b Nurse 2 J Da Silva † c †Walcott b Holder 27 JP Greaves c Cummins b Nurse 5 RO Cato not out 25 K Sinclair c & b Cummins 8 DC Drakes c Nurse b Cummins 3 KJ Harding not out 9 Extras 14 (lb 2, w 12) TOTAL 112/7 (38.4 Overs, RR: 2.89) Did not bat: JJ Levy, A Nedd Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Leonardo Julien, 6.4 ov), 2-24 (Yannic Cariah, 8.2 ov), 3-30 (Kimani Melius, 9.3 ov), 4-43 (Justin Greaves, 14.1 ov), 5-76 (Joshua Da Silva, 26.2 ov), 6-87 (Kevin Sinclair, 29.4 ov), 7-100 (Dominic Drakes, 35.5 ov) BOWLING ML Cummins (7-1-22-2) KR Mayers (4-1-12-0) AR Nurse (9-1-35-3) J Bishop (10-1-19-1) CK Holder (8.4-2-22-1)

Injured Liverpool midfielder out until next year

L

iverpool midfielder Fabinho will be out until next year with the ankle injury he suffered against Napoli.

The Brazilian went off after 19 minutes of Wednesday's Champions League group game, which the Reds drew 1-1, after he fell awkwardly making a challenge.

Liverpool said the 26-year-old had "suffered ankle ligament damage" and will be out "until the new year".

"Losing a player of the quality of Fabinho is big.

Really bad," said Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.

"It is bad news.

Timeframe - we are not sure 100% but looks pretty sure he will not be involved in Christmas fixtures.

"We have to replace him and we can replace him.

Now it's important that he does the right things and is back as soon as possible.

"Until then, we have to find solutions. We are not

Fabinho has been a key player for Liverpool this season (Reuters)

the only team with injured players and that's what we have to deal with, and we will."

The Reds have 11 games over the next 34 days in the Premier League, Champions League, Carabao Cup and Club World Cup. Fabinho has started 12

out 13 league games this season and all five European fixtures.

Liverpool are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League and host Brighton - a game Fabinho would have been suspended for anyway - on Saturday at 15:00 GMT. (BBC Sport)

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saturday, november 30, 2019

GUYANATIMESgy.COM

Rio Indoor Streetball Championships…

Banks DIH 15/15 Softball Cricket League continues…

Action continues tonight Teams qualify despite weather F T

he exciting group stage of the inaugural Rio Indoor Streetball Championships has ended, and the “round of 16” stage kicks off tonight at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.

The opening game in this round will pit the pride of the West Demerara region, Showstoppers, against the lone remaining East Coast Demerara outfit, BV, from 19:00hrs, and fireworks are anticipated.

This match will be followed

by Future Stars coming up against surprise package Kingston at 19:30hrs, while the newcomers and consequently still the dark horses, Rio All-Stars, would be aspiring to teach Tiger Bay a lesson from 20:00hrs.

In the fourth match of the night, which begins at 20:30hrs, the ever-dangerous Leopold Street would battle the experienced Alexander Village.

Traditional giants Broad Street and Back Circle will then take centre stage at 21:00hrs in the fifth affair, with perennial contender Gold is Money tackling Albouystown from 21:30hrs.

National heavyweights Sparta Boss would be battling Avocado Ballers from 22:00hrs, whole tournament favourites Bent Street match skills with Sophia from 22:30hrs.

According to an official release from tournament coordinators Three Peat Promotions, “We are now at the business end of the tournament, where the objective is simple: win and progress, or lose and go home. The tournament

Part of the action on Thursday evening at the National Gymnasium

has witnessed quality and entertaining football from the start, and the knockout round promises to be even more exciting and competitive, as the best teams have advanced and will face-off. The battle lines have been drawn, the fans have selected their favourites, and we expect a wonderful night of action.

“It’s D-Day in the National Gymnasium” The correspondence further said, “We would also like to thank the fans for their support during this inaugural venture, as well as the lawmen, who have carried out their duties with aplomb. The officers have ensured that a safe environment is realized and created every evening, much to the satisfaction and appreciation of the fans and players, who have witnessed and experienced an incident- free championship.”Meanwhile, on Thursday, in the final group round, Bent Street, Showstoppers and BV were among the winners.

Showstoppers defeated

Stabroek Ballers 4-1, the goals coming compliments of Stephon Jupiter who scored in the 5th and 14th minutes; and Delon Lanferman and Keanu Lawrence, who scored in the 3rd and 7th minutes respectively. Seon Taylor scored for Stabreok in the 4th minute.

BV dominated Avocado Ballers 4-0, with Akin Curry scoring a hat trick of goals in the 4th, 6th and 9th minutes; while Shemar Fraser finished things off in the 18th. Bent Street dominated the showdown with LA Ballers, and emerged winners 4-2. Scoring for Bent Street were Colin Nelson in the 6th and 14th minutes, Daniel Wilson in the 17th, and Adrian Aaron in the 19th minutes. Simeon Moore scored for LA Ballers in the 12th and 16th minutes.

In other results, Leopold Street and Tiger Bay battled to a scoreless draw, while the Broad Street and Ol Skool contest ended in an identical result.

Future Stars and Albouystown also played to a 0-0 score line.

10th annual ‘track attack’ cycling set for Sunday

our more teams have advanced to the quarterfinal stage of the ongoing Banks DIH 15/15 Softball Cricket League when games were played at various grounds in East Berbice over the last weekend.

Despite the onset of inclement weather decreasing the day’s activities for teams, the matches were played at the Port Mourant Cricket ground in Corentyne for teams in ‘Zone B’ of the competition, which comprised teams from the Corentyne area, including Lower and Upper Corentyne as far as Moleson Creek and the Black Bush Polder areas.

The highly-anticipated matches saw Turbo United scoring 113-2 to overhaul May Flower’s 111 and win by 8 wickets. Bloomfield Youth made 82, with Franchise replying with 85-3 to win by seven wickets.

No 59 Unstoppable lost to Port Mourant by 9 wickets after making 126, to which Port Mourant replied with 129-1.

Sammy All Stars were bundled out for 63 as Regal Stars replied with 64-2 to win by 8 wickets.

United Boys scraped past Miss Phoebe Youths by one wicket.

Miss Phoebe batted first and made 51, and the United Boys made 52-9.

In another close encounter, Hunters XI defeated # Naught by 3 wickets off the last ball of the match. # Naught were bundled out for 62, and Hunters scraped home with 63-7 off the final delivery.

In second round matches, Port Mourant whipped Franchise XI by 10 wickets, after chasing down the 111-3 made by the Franchise.

Two more matches were being played when rain intervened to put a halt to the day’s activities. Turbo United were on 71-1 verses Regal Stars, and United Boys were struggling on 20-4 against Hunters XI when the heavens opened up.

The four teams that qualify for the quarterfinal playoff form ‘Zone B’ are Port Mourant United, Regal X1, Franchise, and Turbo United.

The qualifiers were decided on matches won, wickets lost and net run rate.

They would join Grill Master, Chase X1, Betsy Ground United and Young Strikers, who had earlier qualified from ‘Zone A’, which comprise teams from East and West Canje, East Coast and East Bank Berbice, and New Amsterdam.

The quarterfinals, semifinal and the grand finale are set

T

T

he tenth annual ‘track attack’ cycling event is set for Sunday, December 1, from 10:00h at the Rose Hall Community Centre Ground in East Canje Berbice.

Organized by Flying Ace cycling coach Randolph Roberts, this event will feature some of the top cyclists in Berbice and some of the top performers in the recently concluded National Schools Cycling Championships which were dominated by Berbicians.

According to Roberts, the event will feature a host of races in the form of 2000 metres, 3000 metres, and 5000 metres. Trophies and cash incentives will be up for grabs as Berbicians continue their rich heritage of cycling.

Outstanding athletes like national junior cyclist Ajay Goopilall, Balram Narine, Andre ‘Padlock’ Green, Mario Washington, Ralph

Seenarine and Jeremiah Joseph are some of the wheelsmen who would be taking centre stage in East Canje this Sunday.

Roberts revealed that this event is usually held before the National Schools Championships, but because of its schedule, the event is being hosted after those championships.

Renowned as the “After- Nationals Track Attack”, a host of sponsors have come on board to support this event.

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

for Sunday, December 8th, under floodlights at the Albion Community Centre ground.

The tournament is being coordinated by Omeshwar Sirikishun. The competition is sponsored to the tune of $700,000 in cash, trophies and other incentives. The winning team would collect $150,000, together with trophies and other incentives. Secondplaced team would collect $100,000, while third-placed team would collect $75,000 and fourth-placed team $25,000. There will be other incentives for outstanding individual players.

Roy Drakes has so far scored back-to-back centuries playing for Chase XI in ‘Zone A’.

Balram Shane Annual Memorial Volleyball Tournament touted as "a great success"

Tournament sponsor Deonarine Balram and Nedd, stoop in front

Ralph Seenarine and Ajay Goopilall will take centre stage

Roy Drakes has so far scored back-to-back centuries playing for Chase XI in Zone A

President of the Guyana Volleyball Federation, Levi

he seventh edition of the Annual Balram Shane Senior Inter-Club Volleyball Competition, organised by the Berbice Volleyball Association, was held on Sunday at the Albion Community Centre Hard Court.

Six teams participated in the day’s competition, four were seniors and two were juniors; and there was play in both senior and junior categories. The four senior teams were Port Mourant Training Centre (PMTC), No. 52 Survivors, Black Bush Polder, and the Rollers of New Amsterdam. The junior teams were Rollers and GuySuCo Training Centre of Port Mourant (GTCPM).

The senior teams were first involved in a round-robin play-off, and the two teams that emerged tops were the Rollers and PMTC. The final was then contested, and defending champions PMTC emerged winners on a 2-0 scoreline, the games’ scores being 25-21 and 25-16.

The PMTC thus took away the coveted Balram Shane Trophy and $20,000O, while Rollers received the second-place trophy and $10,000. #52 Survivors received the third-place trophy and $5,000.

In the junior category, GTCPM defeated

Rollers 2-0, the games’ scores being 25-16 and 25-15. GTCPM thus took home $10,000 for the win, while the Rollers collected $5,000 for placing second.

In comments made, tournament sponsor Deonarine Balram thanked BVA for organising the competition, and congratulated the winners.

He also thanked the teams that participated, and revealed that he had intended to cancel the tournament, but after some persuasion it was decided that the Albion Community Centre, along with other favourable relatives and wellwishers, would continue the activity.

He revealed that he would still have an input in the activity.

He, further, expressed gratitude to all who had supported the activity over the years, thereby making it the success it has been so far.

The Balram Shane Cricket and Volleyball competitions are played annually. These are sponsored by Rose Hall Town Businessman Deonarine Balram of the Balram Shane General Store in memory of his late father Balram Shane. The cricket competition has been played for over 20 years. Albion won this competition for the 15th time this year.

guyanatimesgy.com

saturday, november 30, 2019

23

Windies canter to victory after Afghanistan implode W

est Indies took just an hour on the third morning to wrap up the one-off Test against Afghanistan, winning by nine wickets in Lucknow. Resuming the day on 109 for 7 in their second innings - under floodlights due to poor visibility - Afghanistan could last only 7.1 more overs as Jason Holder picked up the remaining three wickets. Rashid Khan fell to Holder's first ball of the day with Shane Dowrich taking a wobbling catch diving to his right.

Next, with Afsar Zazai trying to farm the strike, Holder flattened Yamin Ahmadzai's off stump when he got the opportunity.

In his next over, the West Indies captain dismissed Zazai too as Afghanistan were bowled out for 120.

Holder finished with figures of 3 for 20, his unexpected decision to bowl after winning the toss two days ago now just a distant memory. Set 31 to win, West Indies eased to the victory but not before Amir Hamza got Kraigg Brathwaite caught behind for eight. The Barbados batsman now averages 12.26 in his last ten Tests with a highest score of 49. For debutant Hamza, it was a good outing personally as he finished with six wickets in the match, apart from hitting 34 from No. 9 in Afghanistan's first innings.

Holder backs Windies in Test championship

West Indies may be ranked eighth in Test cricket right now, but captain Jason Holder believes

that by the time the World Test Championship is done, they have a "realistic" chance of being in the top four.

Holder led West Indies to a nine-wicket win against Afghanistan at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with the match completed in just over two days. Holder himself hastened the end on the morning of day three, making short work of Afghanistan after they had resumed on an overnight score of 109 for 7 on Friday.

They were bowled out for 120 with Holder picking up all three wickets, and West Indies chased their target of 31 in just 6.2 overs.

"I think by the end of the Test Championship, I don't see it being impossible for us to be fourth or fifth in the world," Holder said at the post-match press conference. "That would be a significant achievement in a two-year period. We've got some tough series coming up. We've got England, then South Africa coming to the Caribbean, then we've got New Zealand… all good cricket sides. But I don't think it's beyond us to beat them. We've just got to make sure we keep building and developing. Once we do that, we can compete with any side in the world. A realistic target in two years would be to be ranked three or four in the world."

This Test wasn't part of the World Test Championship, though Holder believed his team did most of what could be asked of them. Holder had chosen to bowl on winning the toss, a decision that came under question early on, because West Indies were playing

with three spinners and there wasn't too much on offer for pacers. However, Rahkeem Cornwall's career-best figures of 7 for 75 meant the desired result was achieved, though via a path that wasn't envisaged at the start of the match.

"We did expect the spinners to play a heavy role in this game, but with the new ball we probably expected a little more from the fast bowlers," agreed Holder.

"As the ball got older, I felt it did a little bit more. Their openers played well and pretty much saw off the new ball. Our spinners really came into effect with the harder ball, so I think it all worked out the way it was supposed t o .

Credit to Rahkeem [Cornwall]. He bowled an exceptional spell in the first innings and then backed it up really well in the second innings, supported well by the other bowlers.

"I don't regret the decision at the toss. In the end, we played a really good cricket game, and we were clinical. I asked the guys to make sure we don't leave any stones unturned. Probably would have liked a little bit more in our first innings in terms of our batting, but having said that, we had a lead of 90. I think leads win games. Once you have a hefty lead, it puts pressure on the opposition."

Top horses confirmed for December 15 Port Mourant meet

P

articipation of some of the country’s top horses has been confirmed for the grand one-day horse race meet on Sunday December 15 at the Port Mourant Turf Club.

Among those top horses that have already been registered to participate are Don’t Over Look, Jus Call Me Bass, Vera’s Finally, Storm Bird, Lucky Star, TNT, Golden Blue Ecko, Not This Time, Justify the Heat, and the newly imported Santa Cruz Lady and Golden Dancer.

The day’s exciting events are set to commence from 13:00h, and eight races are carded for the meet. The ‘B & Lower’ race, the biggest event on the card, would be run over a distance of 1600 metres for a winner’s purse of $600,000.

The race for ‘two-year-old maiden Guyana-bred’ horses would traverse a distance of 1000 metres for a winner’s purse of $240,000, while the race for animals classified ‘H & Lower’ for 2019 non-winners will be run over a distance of 1000 metres for a winner’s prize of $300,000.

Guyana Cup 2019 champion Lucky Star will battle for supremacy (Brandon Corlette photo)

The race for animals classified ‘G3 & Lower’ would also run over a distance of 1600 metres for a winner’s prize of $300,000, while the race for ‘L Class’ animals will be run over a distance of 1500 metres for a winner’s prize of $120,000.

The race for ‘L non-winner class’ animals will be run over a distance of 1300 metres for a first prize of $100,00, while the race for animals classified ‘J & Lower’ and ‘2-year-old Guyana-bred’

will be run over a distance of 1300 metres for a winner’s prize of $240,000.

The race for animals classified ‘K Class’ horses will be run over a distance of 1200 metres for a winner’s prize of $140,000.

Persons desiring further information are invited to contact Kris Jagdeo on 624-6123; R Gajnabi on 6439696; Turbo Jagdeo on 6187278; C Ramnauth on 6971979, or Dennis Deoroop on 640-6396.

The only point that left Holder unsatisfied was West Indies' batting, though thanks to a maiden century by Shamarh Brooks and their own bowling performance, the total of 277 that West Indies got in the first innings proved to be substantial enough.

Looking at the future though, Holder felt that improving the batting was key to his goal of taking West Indies higher up the rankings.

"I've said it in the last couple of series we've played: more responsibility needs to be taken by our batters," Holder said. "Once they do that and take the bull by the horns, I think our bowling attack has shown it can compete with any attack in the world.

We've shown glimpses of brilliance, which is all well and

Jason Holder

good, but consistency is the name of the game. In order to be a world class team, you have to be consistent with your batting. You have to get 20 wickets of course, but you have to set it up with the bat. First in-

nings' count for a lot. If we can put teams under pressure with our first innings scores, more often than not, West Indies will be up there among the top-ranked sides in the world." (ESPN cricinfo)

SCOREBOARD Afghanistan 2nd Innings Ibrahim Zadran lbw b Cornwall 23 Javed Ahmadi c Cornwall b Cha se 62 Ihsanullah run out (Hope/†Dowrich) 1 Rahmat Shah c Brooks b Cornwall 0 Asghar Afghan c Brooks b Cornwall 0 Nasir Jamal b Chase 15 Amir Hamza c Cornwall b Chase 1 Afsar Zazai † c †Dowrich b Holder 7 Rashid Khan (c) c †Dowrich b Holder 1 Yamin Ahmadzai b Holder 1 Zahir Khan not out 0 Extras 9 (b 4, lb 4, nb 1) TOTAL 120 all out (43.1 Overs, RR: 2.77, 160 minutes) Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Ibrahim Zadran, 18.6 ov), 2-55 (Ihsanullah, 20.1 ov), 3-55 (Rahmat Shah, 20.6 ov), 4-59 (Asghar Afghan, 22.1 ov), 5-96 (Nasir Jamal, 31.4 ov), 6-98 (Amir Hamza, 33.5 ov), 7-109 (Javed Ahmadi, 35.6 ov), 8-111 (Rashid Khan, 37.1 ov), 9-119

(Yamin Ahmadzai, 41.4 ov), 10-120 (Afsar Zazai, 43.1 ov) BOWLING KAJ Roach (4-2-5-0) JO Holder (6.1-2-20-3) JA Warrican (12-3-31-0) RRS Cornwall (18-3-46-3) RL Chase (3-1-10-3) West Indies 2nd Innings (target: 31 runs) KC Brathwaite c †Afsar Zazai b Amir Hamza 8 JD Campbell not out 19 SD Hope not out 6 Extras 0 TOTAL 33/1 (6.2 Overs, RR: 5.21, 23 minutes) Yet to bat: SSJ Brooks, RL Chase, SO Hetmyer, SO Dowrich †, JO Holder (c), RRS Cornwall, KAJ Roach, JA Warrican Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Kraigg Brathwaite, 4.5 ov) BOWLING Y Ahmadzai (1-0-8-0) J Ahmadi (1-0-9-0) A Hamza (2.2-1-5-1) R Khan (2-0-11-0)

saturday, november 30, 2019

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

guyanatimesgy.com

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