Guyana Times Sunday April 19, 2020

Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4260 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

Sunday, April 19, 2020

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Govt to spend over $1B to rebuild flood-prone Ocean View Hotel

Bandits beat, rob elderly couples in P17 Berbice …storm rice farmer's home

Former US P12 consular officer calls on US to impose personal sanctions on Granger, Nagamootoo

…decision unbelievable – Dr Irfaan Ali …deal scandalous – Dr Frank Anthony

Page 3

GECOM, APNU/AFC destruction of democracy: Day 48

PPP/C tells GECOM Chair to assert her authority Page 2

…says too many questions left unanswered

Guyana's COVID-19 death toll rises to 7 P10

COVID-19 positive nurse urges better nutritional meals for persons in isolation Page 9

… given bread, sardine, sausage, no fruits, Vitamin C

ERC says P17 COVID-19, electoral impasse double blow for Guyanese – calls for compassion, cooperation to fight pandemic

3 busted with gun, narcotics

P12

152 Canadians stranded in Guyana taken home

…another flight set for Monday P13

2

NEWS

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

PPP/C tells GECOM Chair to assert her authority

…says too many questions left unanswered

P

eople’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo has written Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairwoman Claudette Singh urging her to assert her authority to ensure the recount of votes is a transparent, timely, fraudfree one.

The letter, which was written on his behalf by party executive and lawyer Anil Nandlall, also upbraids her for the email she sent to her six Commissioners on Friday. In that email, she had announced that no more than 10 work stations would be used for the recount.

Absent from the email, however, was any mention of when the recount would start and for how long. Instead, such a serious decision was deferred to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, the Head of the National Task Force.

According to the party, this leaves a serious loophole to be exploited by those bent on rigging.

“Your email, based on your own assurances, was supposed to advise on fundamental procedural and substantive issues regarding how the recount is to

proceed. It was expected to advise on crucial issues such as the timeframe for the exercise. The international observers, including the Caricom high-level team, may not be willing to participate in a process that is open-ended in the current public health climate.”

“You have also given no guidance on the issue of transparency, which is so vital to the integrity of the process. We reiterate that telecasting or live streaming of the process in its entirety will enhance the transparency of the process to a great extent. Additionally, you have made no recommendation [for] how the process would be effectively oversighted by the representatives of the political parties,” they also wrote.

Party agents insufficient

In the letter, it was pointed out that the mere presence of party agents is insufficient, as they must be able to scrutinise the tabulation process and the inputting of data to ensure that the correct total is calculated.

They noted that this would prevent what happened during the count of the Region Four votes, when

Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo deviated from the Statements of Poll (SoPs) and began using a spreadsheet with numbers that did not match the SoPs. “Your email has raised more questions than it provided answers, however, I must convey our profound disappointment [in you] ceding a large part of your responsibility in this exercise to some anomalous Task Force established by Nagamootoo. If at all, you should be informing that Task Force of your plans.”

“The world knows that Mr Nagamootoo is part of that cabal working assiduously to prevent the disclosure of the credible results of these elections because he stands to benefit by squatting longer in office. Consequently, he has a vested interest in ensuring the prolongation of this exercise.”

Questioning GECOM’s disregard for provisions in the Representation of the People Act despite her being a former Judge, the party urged that she re-examine their proposals and implement recommendations that will aid the timely conclusion of the exercise, rather

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

than hinder it. This includes the removal of “politically toxic and tainted” persons from the Secretariat and their replacement by neutral staff.

Email

On Friday Singh communicated to Commissioners that there should be no more than 10 work stations for the recount of the ballots cast countrywide during the March 2, General and Regional Elections.

The missive from Justice Singh noted that the dictate of no more than 10 working stations would be “subject to the availability of the requisite equipment and technology to display the ballots.”

However, the Opposition – People’s Progressive Party/ Civic – had proposed 20 work stations, which will take 10 days to complete the entire process.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Gunraj, along with fellow Commissioners Bibi Shadick and Robeson Benn, had submitted a recount proposal to counter the one for a 156-day recount which was previously submitted by GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield.

According to their proposal, which caters for a 10day recount using 20 work stations, their expectation is that those entitled to be there under Section 86 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03 will be catered for. Such persons include party agents and observers.

The plan specifies that each tabulation work station shall be comprised of authorised GECOM staff, as well as representatives from each of the contesting political parties and accredited observers, with the original Statement of Recount (SoR)

being used to tabulate.

The GECOM Chairperson had indicated that each of the work stations to be used at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre should tabulate its own results and that for security reasons, all the work stations should be located inside the Conference Centre building.

Additionally, the GECOM Chairperson advised that she has written to the caretaker Prime Minister and Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force with some specific requests.

According to Justice Singh, “he has since indicated that an urgent meeting of the Task Force would be convened to discuss same and a response would be provided shortly.” It was unclear up to press time whether that meeting was convened.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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

Sunday, April 19 – 03:00h – 04:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Monday, April 20 – 03:30h – 05:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

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…decision unbelievable – Dr Irfaan Ali …deal scandalous – Dr Frank Anthony

S

ince the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Government has been retrofitting the flood prone Ocean View International Hotel, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, into a COVID holding facility. Caretaker Finance Minister Winston Jordan has since revealed that over $1 billion will be spent on this project.

Jordan made this revelation during a Zoom interview with the Department of Public Information. He was asked whether Government would be providing stimulus help to families and businesses, to which he pointed out their various expenses.

“We have had to open centres to receive these different cases, the biggest one being Ocean View Hotel and convention. And retrofitting that facility will cost is in excess of $1 billion. Just to retrofit it,” Jordan said, adding that to retrofit and outfit it will cost in excess of $1 billion.

“And that will exclude running costs you would have once the facility gets up and running. And then we have the other facilities that have been earmarked, the gymnasium, the old GBC facility. That will probably be more costly than Ocean View.”

cases there.

“So, having another hospital where you have COVID-19 patients is not a bad thing. But there are other Government buildings and hospitals that can be utilised. But here is it, instead of the Government using one of its own buildings, has decided that they will use a private place. If the arrangements are disclosed, perhaps we can say this is a good thing. But we don’t know.”

Deal scandalous

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

tion, in case we see a surge of patients coming in. The Georgetown Hospital obviously would not have enough space,” he said, adding that because of the hospital’s sta-

According to Anthony, spending in excess of $1 billion to retrofit a building is a lot of money. In addition, he noted that it raises questions as to why the Government did not spend this money retrofitting a building they own.

“They could have used another facility, preferably one of the hospitals and con-

Caretaker Finance Minister Winston Jordan

View Hotel is in private ownership. What we don’t know is what arrangement the Government has with the private owner. Is there a contract? How much money

Operational costs not included

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DRAW DE LINE

01

Govt to spend over $1B to rebuild flood-prone Ocean View Hotel

$1687.50 $1708.10 0.00%

Jordan further said that this sum does not include the operational costs for the facility.

Meanwhile, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali slammed the arrangement in a social media post on Saturday. Expressing his incredulity over the arrangement, he pointed out that not only is in excess of $1 billion being spent to retrofit it, but it is also being rented for $22 million per month.

However, he did not disclose the exact nature of the arrangement. In an interview with this publication, former shadow Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony questioned what the arrangements are.

“We would like to see the contract, what are the arrangements, what obligations they would continue to have going forward. How long will this contract be in place? And if in a year’s time this thing is over, what happens? Is the Government going to be reimbursed for all this investment they made into the building?”

Anthony noted that in principle, having another hospital is not a bad thing. However, he criticised the secrecy around the Government’s arrangement with the private owner of Ocean View and noted that transparency is necessary to pronounce on whether it is a good arrangement or not.

“From a health response, we need to ensure we have capacity for hospitalisa-

Flood-prone Ocean View International Hotel

tus as Guyana’s main hospital, it would be too disruptive to host an influx of COVID

vert a section of that into a unit for COVID patients.

As far as I’m aware, Ocean

will they pay this person per month?”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

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SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

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

Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 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

PNC/APNU/AFC reducing Guyana to a laughing stock

T

he story of our inexorable descent into the limbo of becoming a laughing stock in the global state system began with the successful passage of the No Confidence Motion (NCM) on Dec 21, 2018. After conceding defeat in the Parliamentary Chambers, where the historic vote was carried, PM Nagamootoo and PNC Chair Volda Lawrence boasted that this was a vindication of the coalition’s democratic credentials. No Confidence Motions, they pointed out, were an integral aspect of Parliamentary democracy in our Westminster based system in that it compels a government to be accountable to the representatives of the people, without the procrustean imperatives of the party whip.

David Granger, then President, agreed with this assessment of the NCM and announced he was ready to face the electorate. GECOM also announced they would be ready to conduct the mandated elections within three months (March 21, 2019), since the list of electors used for the recently concluded Local Government Elections was still valid. But thrown a legal straw that claimed the 33 votes which carried the NCM in the 65-member House, was not a majority because “half-men” had to be created and then conjoined, the APNU/AFC took recourse to the courts all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). They were veritably laughed out and the NCM declared to have been validly carried.

But the humiliation of our country and its citizens did not just reverberate within the Caribbean. Because of the recent massive oil-find and the fact that our Common Law deliberations are shared with the rest of the Commonwealth, the ridiculousness of a government that was voted into office by a majority of 33 to 32 claiming that 33 was not a majority of 65 went around the world and back. It credentialled us as being a cardcarrying member of the “sh*thole” fraternity.

One would have thought, therefore, that the PNC/ APNU/AFC combine would have considered salvaging this reputation just when we were about to acquire the wherewithal to finance our own development out of our hole. But it was not to be. As the world knows by now, the combine subsequently attempted to blatantly rig the elections, which they had been forced to finally schedule a year after it should have been held, through legal guerrilla warfare. The denouement arrived tried to rig this election through the manipulation of a simple tabulation of the SOP’s for Reg 4, in the presence of the international observers and the diplomatic community.

It would have been one thing if the rigging had been attempted, say, via having phantom voters at the polling stations. But after counting more than half of the Reg 4 SOP’s to everyone’s satisfaction by having individual GECOM’s SOP’s compared to those in the possession of party representatives, to suddenly switch to “spreadsheets” compiled behind the scenes, was too much. In the uproar precipitated by this rigging stratagem, international observers were as incensed as the opposition political parties. The picture of the ABCE ambassadors stalking out of the counting center was worth the proverbial thousand words. The PNC/ APNU/AFC recourse to the courts mirrored their post NCM manoeuvres and further sullied the country’s reputation.

But no one thought the comedy of heavy-handed actions to hold on to power – for instance, to drag out the Court-ordered recount for over a month with no end in sight - could be topped. But topped it was by the just revealed hiring of a Washington lobbyist by the head of Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, on behalf of the government of Guyana. Inter alia, caretaker President Granger and Harmon were listed as “US Citizens”, which poses an insurmountable obstacle to them running for office in Guyana.

If, in fact, they are not – as Granger claims for himself – then they would have committed a Federal crime for which they could be prosecuted.

But it is more than high time that this denigration of our country’s reputation by the PNC/APNU/AFC combine be halted. The GECOM Chair must finally rise to the occasion.

Guyana’s sovereignty has been compromised Dear Editor, The APNU/AFC/ Government of Guyana dossier disseminated by Joe Harmon in the “Capitals” of the world in a foolhardy attempt to defend intransigence of the Granger Administration following the brazen/bizarre attempt at electoral fraud makes for interesting reading. The dossier contains a narrative of PPP/China collusion and makes claims of a ten-thousand-acre military base for the People’s Liberation Army and of granting citizenship to the point where Chinese are supposedly ten per cent of Guyana’s population, more than Amerindians! As with any document, however, it must be fact-checked and in so doing, I have come across some interesting bits of information that show a pattern of continuous and growing Chinese involvement in Guyana’s affairs under the APNU/AFC/ Granger Administration.

In 2016, the Chinese officials presented a master-plan for the development of every sector of Guyana to a team that included Raphael Trotman.

Following this, a close relationship between the

Government and Huawei developed and a costly Artificial Intelligence software and hardware has been installed in Georgetown and that includes facial recognition, phone tracking, license plate tracking, and communications monitoring capabilities. This system has not been utilised to fight crime to date. It has been labelled the ‘Smart City’.

It is a public record that many of the top brass of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) have attended military courses in China and there have been unusually large donations of vehicles, weapons, and ammunition the GDF. There was secret testing of weapons in the Tacama savannahs that may have involved new technologies.

China is paying the entire cost of Guyana’s diplomatic team to the G77.

This team provides support for the Chairmanship of the Group which is held

by Guyana. I believe this act is a betrayal of the trust placed in our country by the G77 members and has blackened the country’s name for the foreseeable future. What price is Guyana paying for this benevo-

lence? Who gave the green light to this subversion of our sovereignty? This must be answered forthwith.

China is the only country (of nine) to provide Agrément for a new Ambassador, all of whom were appointed shortly before the Elections and who (Ambassadors) were asked to take up appointments by April 9th. Canada and the UK are among the nations who refused to accept the diplomats.

In 2019 senior officials in leading Chinese oil companies visited Guyana for a series of high-level meetings including a three-hour one-on-one meeting with Joseph Harmon. Kevin Granger (nephew of David Granger) has emerged as the de facto Minister of oil and was involved in all talks and negotiations.

After the international condemnation of Mingo’s declaration, APNU/AFC elements took to social media platforms to denounce America and even posited that Exxon should seel its interest to a Chinese company.

I believe key elements in Granger’s Administration are colluding with China for protection of personal gains

made through corrupt practice, the use of Bart Fisher who “has represented the Government of the People’s Republic of China (19992000) on international trade matters… and Fisher currently is Senior Advisor for the CITIC Group, which is the third-largest enterprise in China” is no coincidence.

Editor, after doing the due diligence on this ‘dossier’, I can see why David Granger was so eager to distance himself from the contents and to disavow knowledge of the contents and the lobbying firm of JJ&B LLC. If Granger had not made such a mockery of the Commission of Inquiry tool, this dossier and the China/ Granger connection would certainly be grist for that mill. Guyana’s sovereignty has been compromised clearly with the financing of the G77 team; will the special military relationship be exploited by the Chinese Government as a ruse for testing American resolve in the region? We have been placed in perilous waters, mere minnows swimming among global sharks.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Guyanese must demand that election results accurately reflect their wishes Dear Editor, Recently, while conducting a study on why elections fail, I obtained advance warning that an attempt was being planned to perpetrate electoral fraud in Guyana in its March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. Correspondence with both the Carter Center and the EU observer mission setting out the measures necessary to mitigate against the fraud went unheeded.

Now, six weeks after the election, with GECOM having decided to recount the ballots, Guyana is at risk of extending the delay through failure to adopt systems and procedures that will address the problems that will arise when the steps set out in the Representation of People Act are followed.

Copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs) and tabulation of the results from the SoPs are in the public domain.

What will happen when the public discover differences between those results and the results of the recount, particularly if it changes the result of the election? There will be a public outcry that has the potential to destabilise Guyana more than it already is.

It is the Guyanese people’s right to demand that steps are taken to ensure that the results accurately reflect their wishes.

The recount procedures set out in the Representation of People Act do not address the steps that must be taken when irregularities are uncovered. That is a recipe for disaster.

What is missing are the

audit controls that must be adopted in the event of irregularities: • What happens when the tamper evidence controls on the ballot boxes are missing or damaged?

• What happens when the recount figures differ from the original SoPs? In both cases, an independent audit must investigate whether there is evidence of ballot stuffing, and that the ballots in the ballot boxes are those that were handed to voters at the Polling Station.

The audit should take place as the recount uncovers the discrepancies, not later. This prevents further delay in the announcement of the result and will mitigate against the potential that evidence is compromised.

These steps will greatly enhance the credibility of the results when they are eventually announced.

Guyana is not the exception in having failed to address the steps that must happen when exceptions arise. But, it now has the opportunity to lead, setting up measures that will make Guyana’s voters secure in the belief that the result is credible, and give the international community the confidence that the Government has been deservedly elected.

That will put Guyana back on track towards the economic growth it deserves, rather than the path of failed states that is common to countries where electoral fraud is the norm.

Respectfully, Roy R Dalle Vedove

Matters of national importance

Dear Editor, Like the SoPs which cannot see the light of day to verify its claim it won the elections, so too the proof that its supporters paid the lobbying firm will not see the light of day.

In an unrelated matter, an advertisement in the media on April 18, 2020, by Parliament Office that despite COVID-19, the Office will be operating to conduct “essential services”.

Would these ‘essen-

tial services’ be related and have anything to do with the fact that the constitutional deadline for convening Parliament is fast approaching?

When will the COVID-19 National Task Force con-

vene an urgent meeting to deal with and give a response to “some specific requests” from the GECOM Chair on the recount?

Sincerely, Shamshun Mohamed

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

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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

It is fair to demand a full, Claudette Singh has adequate explanation failed this nation

Dear Editor, I write as an addendum to my letter of April 17, 2020, in which I referred to the payment to an American PR company, JJ&B LLC, using taxpayers’ money to present in Washington, DC, “a tissue of lies” to excuse the attempt to steal the General Elections result by officials of GECOM. Since writing my letter, Mr Joseph Harmon has issued a statement saying that this company was paid for its services by APNU/AFC and not the Government.

I have checked the dossier Guyana Elections 2020

filed by JJ&B LLC with the US Department of Justice.

The dossier, however, lists the as the “Name of Foreign Principal” as the “Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana” and “If the foreign principal is a foreign Government, state: a) Branch or agency represented by the registrant – Ministry of the Presidency” and “b) “Name and title of official with whom registrant engages – Joseph Harmon, Director General, Ministry of the Presidency”.

Clearly, therefore, JJ&B LLC has registered with the US Government as being en-

gaged by the Government of Guyana and not by APNU/ AFC and could not, therefore, have been paid as Mr Harmon has publicly stated, or, JJ&B LLC has submitted a fraudulent registration of whom they represent.

I believe it is fair, therefore, to demand of Mr Harmon a full and adequate explanation as to exactly who did engage the services of this PR company and exactly how they were paid.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

Dear Editor, Since March 4, 2020, GECOM has made a concerted effort to test Guyana’s democratic credentials. Since then the process has not been smooth although it has been peaceful. Guyana now sits on a tinder box of revulsion against the political cheats helped along by their enablers in GECOM. I am now asking this question – Has the Chairman of GECOM been compromised?

This email does not help her case.

From all the evidence

at my disposal, I am clear in my mind that Chairman Claudette Singh has failed this nation. Her leadership style comes across as disengagingly introverted. These types of people meet and plan a lot but achieve very little from these planning meetings since they lack the governance competence to make timely decisions. Nowhere in her actions are we seeing someone who is a thoughtful “solutions engineer” that is totally focused on the key criteria to complete this election cycle – a credible process,

transparent actions and timeliness of the results. Even the Prime Minister of Trinidad had his say on this confounded nonsense coming out of GECOM since March 4, 2020.

It is time the Madam Chair rolls her sleeves up and gets down to doing this nation’s work. The Madam Chairman’s output clearly explains what is “not value for money” as we were all taught in business school.

We must do beter.

With regards, Sasenarine Singh

Dire need for legitimate Govt Dear Editor, Mediocrity, short-termism policies and handicapped visionary leadership are costly to national development much less incompetent leadership.

I wish to express my deepest concern on a matter of national importance, regarding the recent disclosure by the Ministry of Finance that the refurbishment or rehabilitation of the Ocean View Hotel will cost taxpayers in excess of $1 billion.

I am more so deeply perplexed on what is the justification for this exorbitant expenditure which was not even subjected to the correct legal procedures of tendering for the project. The justification so far is unclear though COVID-19 has been touted as regards the rationale. It has also been noted in some sections that the hotel in question is in receivership. While I have not been able to confirm this at the time of writing, if this is true, then this leaves much to be desired as there will certainly be a plethora of legal ramifications.

For example, if it is indeed in receivership, who is financing the $1 billion? If it is Government, then will the Government own the property? If the Government will not own this property, I have also noted that some persons are saying that the property will be rented? What would be the justification to rent a property for millions of dollars per month after injecting over $1 billion to refurbish? Editor, these are pertinent concerns which the nation needs forthright clarity about from the Minister of Finance if he has not so done.

To put this into perspective, one would recall that the Specialty Hospital Project which was struck down by the Government when it was in Opposition in 2012 was estimated to cost some $1.2 billion. At that time, the then Opposition disapproved the project because they contended it was controversial.

Notwithstanding, the project was good for Guyana and disapproving it was not the best solution. There are mechanisms in place through the respective Parliamentary committees which the Opposition sits on, the Procurement Commission as well is an ex-

ample of institutional frameworks that have been established to address the concerns regarding financial accountability and transparency to minimise and/or prevent unethical transactions.

Furthermore, they could have reverted the Government to restart the process by involving their participation, rather than completely abandon the project. Had this been done, today we would not have to expend over $1 billion out of thin air with no sensible and meaningful justification.

Grappling with COVID-19

Moreover, in view of the current political fiasco coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana is now grappling with the effects – especially the economic impact on the economy. Businesses are shutting down; employees have been halved in some cases and the crisis would only worsen without a proper Government in place to address these issues.

Regulatory relaxed measures have been forthcoming by the Central Bank on the monetary side, while little has been implemented on the fiscal side.

In these respects, the next nine months, Guyana is likely to experience its worse economic recession for the first time over the last two or three decades. As such, tremendous uncertainty lies ahead for the remainder of 2020 – also these events have only been compounded with a sharp dip in oil prices which means that the projected oil revenues for 2020 will drop from US$300 million to under US$100 million.

Countries around the world have responded to the crises engendered by the global pandemic – COVID-19, with appropriate economic rescue packages both on the monetary and fiscal side. The US Government, for example, recently approved a massive US$2 trillion stimulus package to address the impacts on the economy.

Measures sufficient?

The question remains, however, are these measures sufficient to cushion the impacts of a crisis and for how long given the potential gravity of these crises. With this notion in mind, it is notewor-

thy to examine key economic indicators and contextualise some numbers under a few given scenarios. Assuming that COVID-19 is brought under some control over the next six to nine months and the political crisis is resolved within this timeframe, the banking sector as of January 2020 has total liquid assets of $163 billion of which $93 billion represents the total reserves in the banking sector and $40 billion of this sum constitute excess reserves. Though the Central Bank has issued a directive to the financial institutions to not classify loans during this period as non-performing, the current state of the non-performing portfolio is close to some $30 billion.

It goes without saying, therefore, that the existing portion of non-performing loans will only increase in value during a period of prolonged crisis.

This $30 billion then, already eats into the $40 billion excess reserve – that is to say, the excess reserves in the banking system will evaporate in a period of nine months if the crisis period deepens.

Liquidity strength of banking sector

Another good indicator to examine the liquidity strength of the banking sector is the loan to deposit ratio. This ratio shows a bank’s ability to cover loan losses and withdrawals by its customers. It also indicates whether the bank has adequate liquidity to cover loans in the event of an economic downturn resulting in loan defaults. The loan to deposit ratio currently stands at 56 per cent (total loans of $254 billion/total deposits of $457 billion). An ideal ratio is about 80-90 per cent which means, if the local banking sector were to up this ratio to 90 per cent - this will only translate to about $155 billion, provided that all things remain equal, to inject into the economy in the form of loans to cushion and/or stimulate spending and investment in the economy.

In terms of employment and income distribution, by looking at the last labour force survey, there were approximately 241,000 persons that make up the total employed workforce. If one were to take

this number and multiply it by per capita income of US$4800, this will give an average of $250 billion in income distribution (at minimum wage) in the economy, which will work out to about $20 billion per month. Suppose about 25 per cent of the working-class are out of employment for the next nine months and/or earning reduced income perhaps by 50 per cent, this would be about $180 billion or $125 billion in loss of income for the most vulnerable, working-class people.

Editor, this is only employment and the working-class.

We also have to consider the impacts on businesses which would need some kind of relief measures as well.

Private Sector cannot do it alone

I have noted that some commentators have called upon the Private Sector to rise to the occasion and offer relief measures to the vulnerable. However, the Private Sector has already stepped up to the occasion in many respects but it cannot do this alone. The Private Sector pays billions of dollars in taxes and is the largest employer in the economy. This is a job for the Government which needs to roll out an economic stimulus package by simulating a number of scenarios. If companies are not producing, the borders are closed, this means imports are down and exports are down, therefore, revenues are down. I anticipate that trade will be down by over 50 to 70 per cent over the next nine months and companies’ revenues will be down perhaps by an equal or greater level than 70 per cent. Hence, by factoring these variables into the equation, the country would need a stimulus package to the tune of over $500 billion alone aside from the normal national budget to manage the country and other developmental projects which is about $300 billion. The 2020 budget, therefore, which may not come until November 2020 if the current deadlock with the elections continues, would have to be of a size almost close to a 100 per cent of GDP – that is, $600 - $700 billion. Where are we getting this kind of money from?

The Government deposit ac-

counts at the Central Bank has racked up a deficit of over $80 billion which once stood at a surplus of over $15 billion in 2015. Oil prices will continue to be at record low levels as long as the global pandemic continues to keep countries in lockdown mode. If we factor the Central Bank deficit balance into the total stock of national debt, then this would bring the total stock of debt to over 60-70 per cent of GDP and this does not consider the overdraft balance on the Consolidated Fund (CF) which stood at $137 billion up to 2017. I presume at this point the CF balance is perhaps close to $200 billion since the Finance Minister stopped reporting on the CF balance in 2017. Editor, these are recipes for bankruptcy and economic crises.

Dire need for legitimate Govt

Editor, in summary, the dire need for a legitimate Government in place becomes more paramount to handle

these matters. The Minister owes the nation clarity on the issues raised herein – on the $1 billion Ocean View Hotel project. Greater and swifter efforts are needed for the crafting of an economic stimulus package. This is not the time for politics. All the politicians from all sides should have been working together on crafting an economic stimulus while quickly facilitating the national recount so that a legitimate Government can be installed quickly, a legitimate Parliament functioning and an Opposition to get on with the business of the country.

If we do not do this, the working-class people will suffer, businesses will collapse, people will starve, and the economy will crumble. The recovery will be a long haul if we do not fix our political economy quickly.

Yours sincerely, JC Bhagwandin, MSc, Exec Ed

SEE ADDITIONAL LETTERS ON PAGE 16

6

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers. This is the first part of Social Studies Paper 1, 2011.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes 1. WRITE YOUR CANDIDATE NUMBER ON THE ANSWER SHEET AND UNDERLINE THE SUBJECT. 2. This test contains 40 questions. You are required to answer ALL questions. Four responses are given for each question.

The responses are A, B, C and D. Only ONE response is correct.

SOCIAL STUDIES

3. If you are not sure of the answer to a question, then choose the one which you think is BEST. On your answer sheet, draw a heavy black line through the letter you have chosen.

4. BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION NUMBER IN THE BOOKLET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU HAVE USED ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET.

The picture below describes how· some persons spend their leisure time. Study it carefully then answer questton 1. ·

Here is an example done for you. letter next to the answer you have now 1. The capital of Guyana is chosen.

(A) Linden (B) Georgetown ANSWER SHEET A B C D 6. REMEMBER, each answer MUST only be shown (C) Rose Hall (D) Lethem by a heavy black line on your Answer Sheet.

A heavy black line has been drawn through the letter B on the answer sheet because 7. Remember only ONE answer must be provided Georgetown, the correct answer, is next to B. for each question.

5. If you make a mistake, erase the line cleanly, then draw a heavy black line through the

2. (a) The 2010 Wor1d Cup Football was held in the

continent marked __________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) (i) Shade the continent of Australia.

(1 mark)

(ii) Give two ways in which the continent of Australia

is different from the other continents.

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

Study the map of Guyana below, then answer question 4.

____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

(c) Name the ocean at C. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) 1. (a) Name the place where the people spend their leisure time. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) What activity are the people engaged in? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) State one other plaoe in your community where people

go for recreation and relaxation. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(d) Give two reasons why it is important for you to engage

in leisure activities. ____________________________________________________ (2marks) Below is the map of the world. Study it carefully, then answer question 2.

The graph below shows rainfall in Guyana for the year 2009. Study the graph carefull then answer question 3.

4. (a) Name the national region that is shaded ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

3. (a) (i) Name the month with the highest rainfall. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(ii) Name the driest month. ___________________________________________________ (1 mark) (b) What is the average rainfall for April and November? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) (c) What are two outdoor activities that people usually

parlicipate in during the months with low rainfall?

(b) (i) In which natural regi911 is the river at X found? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) (ii) State tow ways in which the river benefits the residents of this region. ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) (c) Name one economic activity of the people·who live in the shaded area. _________________________________________________ (1 mark) Study the picture below, then answer question 5.

____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

5. (a) Name one mineral that is mined by pork-knockers.

________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) (i) Identify one Administrative Region in which the

mineral named in

(a) above is found.: _________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(ii) State one tool that pork-knockers use to do their work. _________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) Describe two dangers that pork-knockers face on a daily basis. _________________________________________________ (2 marks)

7

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

8 NEWS

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 outbreak

Immigration status may prevent persons with symptoms from seeking health services – IOM rep

D

eepening economic crisis has resulted in many Venezuelans fleeing their country in search of a better life in Guyana. But with the COVID-19 pandemic at hand, many of these persons might be scared or reluctant to inform authorities if they display symptoms of the virus.

This was communicated by Chief of Mission of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Robert Natiello on Friday, during a discussion facilitated by the Public Health Ministry on the epidemic. At present, Guyana has confirmed 63

IOM Chief of Mission Robert Natiello

positive cases of COVID-19.

With fear about their im-

migration status, many migrants would choose to conceal their symptoms, rather than visiting a health facility. This could prove significantly dangerous in containing the virus.

“Some of the migrants may not have regular migration status so I have some concerns there because those folks may be less willing to seek health services if they don’t feel well and if they are showing signs of the flu or the virus so this is a worrying situation,” Natiello stated.

It was indicated that refugees are regarded as the most vulnerable in the pop-

ulace, which has resulted in appeals to render assistance.

“Migrants and refugees can be among the most vulnerable populations when it comes to the issue of this pandemic and also in regards to other natural disasters as well. Globally, IOM has increased its work and we have issued a global appeal in the amount of 116 million dollars,” he stated.

He praised the fact that a large fraction of Guyanese doctors can communicate with the Spanish-speaking migrants, making it a little easier to address their concerns.

“Fortunately, we have a solid cadre of medical workers in Guyana who speaks Spanish because they have undergone medical studies in Cuba. That helps us and I think that puts us in a good position.”

However, the Chief of Mission zeroed in on the need for countries to render assistance to everyone residing within their borders, without discriminating against citizenship or migration status.

“We provide access and allow access for everyone who is in the country.

According to UN conventions and international treaties on human rights, it is important to mention that states are responsible for the wellbeing of persons who are in their territory. With borders closed, it is more difficult for people to return home and so it is important to assist those persons who are here, regardless of their migration status,” Natiello commented.

Three weeks ago, Head of the Civil Defence Commission, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig said they have been paying close watch in the border regions for movement of migrants.

Efforts were continuing, especially in the Region One (Barima-Waini) zone since it is especially one of concern, owing to the high traffic of migrants from Venezuela.

The United Nations has already warned that the coronavirus (COVID-19) will bring increased illegal border crossings by neighbouring Venezuelans, looking to flee the already beleaguered state.

Guyana shares a 3000-kilometre largely unpatrolled and unprotected border with Venezuela and according to a recently-released United Nations report, “…with new or revised entry requirements imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability of refugees and migrants to regularly enter and stay in some countries has decreased”.

The state…

Y

…of the recount our Eyewitness hadn’t expected Claudette Singh to come out from behind a burning bush, or down any mountain with a couple of stone tablets with carved instructions on the recount. But heck…after doing her dance of a thousand veils for months, he thought at least she’d send some clear-cut instructions to get this recount on the road. An expectant nation had cast their eyes on her, seeing that she could cut the Carterian Knot in the Elections Commission with her casting vote.

As it is, after her cryptic e-mail, we now need a Haruspex to figure out what’s ahead for us. What’s a “Haruspex?” you ask, dear reader? Well, in the ancient Roman Religion, it’s “a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry.”

So, we may as well get some “sheep guts” and start inspecting away!! What were we looking to find out? Well, for one, when the heck we could get this blasted count out of the way, and install a government to deal with the greatest threat we’ve faced in a century. And we’re not even talking about the PNC and Burnham from the 1970s!! Nah… this COVID-19 is even more dangerous than the Influenza epidemic of 1918, which infected half-a-billion persons worldwide (a quarter of the world’s population then) and killed 50 million of them – including 12,000 in then British Guiana.

Now, what did we need to be instructed on if we were to even get that count? This was no secret, since the rejected plan of her CEO, Lowenfield, had enumerated them all in his risible proposal that started the 156-day duration. Very simply, all she had to do was to keep her promise: that she wouldn’t allow a constitutional crisis to explode upon us by ensuring that we had a new Parliament sworn in by April 30!! If that were to be accomplished, she already had a plan at her disposal: the one from PPP commissioner Sase Gunraj, which called for 20 stations, and detailed the number of persons at each station; the number of daily working hours; a starting date for the recount; and, of course, the live streaming of the count from the same feed that would be used by the CariCom validation team.

As it is, we’re left to Haruspice even her one gnomic statement: “not more than ten stations”. She says she’s concerned about the social distancing challenges posed in this age of corona; and, of course, this is her excuse for sending it off to that notorious slacker Moses Nagamootoo.

And what about excluding the riggers within GECOM? Those entrails are beginning to stink!! …of the criminal conspiracy Now we know why Granger was bouncing up stages during the campaign, and swaying to the beat of Farmer Nappy. He was preparing for his performance of Shaggy’s “Wasn’t me!” Which he just unloaded onto a stunned nation, including even his most rabid supporters. Says he doesn’t know anything about the hiring of the Sudanesedefending lobbying group in Washington!! And he’s no US citizen.

Well, he better not think he can get away with playing both sides against the middle. He -- or whoever hired this firm -- is facing some serious jail time wearing those oh-socute orange jumpsuits because of statements contained in the filing!! But imagine his chutzpah to blame the media for reporting those statements, which his right-hand man Harmon is on record (still up on the APNU Facebook page!) declaring that “the government needed to be defended”.

If Harmon was running a rogue operation out of the MotP, then Granger better start pointing his finger in that direction!!

He should remember what happened to Noriega, onetime US ally!! …the coalition Even though the filing of the lobbyist was on behalf of the APNU/AFC government, we haven’t heard a squeak from Nagamootoo or Ramjattan.

Or will they join Granger in squealing, “Wasn’t me!”??

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

NEWS

9

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 positive nurse urges better nutritional meals for persons in isolation “I have friends who would send stuff and I would ask them for vitamin C and fruits. Any fruits we get in here is what persons send for us and not from the Government. We know we can’t depend on the Government for everything, but there are people in here that have no family or can’t afford to get fruits. They need to do something better so we can beat this virus.

I feel we should be treated a bit better than this,” the young man said.

Joining health profession

Rene Atkinson

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he immune system is referred to as the body’s defence force and in the battle against disease, having a healthy one is of paramount importance.

In the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) era, it is very important to have a properly functioning immune system to remain healthy and fight the virus in the event one contracts it.

To maintain a healthy immune system, one must eat a well-balanced and nu-

tritious diet along with regular exercise.

It is on that premise that Registered Nurse Rene Atkinson is calling for better meals to be served to patients battling COVID-19, particularly at the Diamond Isolation Facility – where Atkinson is also battling the disease.

“We are not getting the required nutrients and it is

providing is not ideal for anyone. There are people who are in here that are sicker than I am and their body needs the nutrition, but that cannot be accomplished with them serving us bread and sardines in the morning. The immune system needs to be strengthened to fight off this virus,” he related during a telephone interview with Guyana Times.

It is recommended that COVID-19 patients eat proper food, get exercise, and also consume fresh fruits since there is no specific

treatment at this time for the virus. At the Diamond, East Bank Demerara facility, patients are served bread at least twice per day along with a lunch that consists of white rice and some stew.

Atkinson told this publication that since he was moved there, on Monday, April 13, he was not served any vitamin C pills nor fruits. Being a nurse for over

Atkinson hails from the Moruca Sub-District in Region One (BarimaWaini), but has been living in Georgetown for a number of years while being a nurse.

He remembers while being a secondary school student, he was stung by a stingray and subsequently had an infected wound which caused him to be hospitalised for a few weeks. It was during his time at the hospital he was inspired by the level of care he received and made a decision to join the health profession.

After school, he taught for a while but never felt quite comfortable. However, when he joined the staff at the Hospital in Moruca, he felt “at home”. He would shortly venture to the Georgetown School of Nursing, where he successfully completed the three-year course and served several villages throughout Guyana.

The 26-year-old started working at a private medical facility just over a year ago and a few weeks ago he came into contact persons who were exposed to a patient who tested positive for COVID-19.

On April 3, when Atkinson left work, he developed a fever followed by an itch in his throat. It was from then he started developing a persistent headache with a fever. He called the COVID-19 hotline where they urged him to quarantine himself and monitor his symptoms and he did just that.

Between April 3 and 9, his symptoms increased to the point where he began feeling generalised weakness coupled with diarrhoea and joint pain.

Difficulty breathing

“I started to get severe joint pain which is like somebody beat you up, all your fingers and so paining…I kept hydrated, I got bed rest and took a lot of fluids and the herbal tea and so on.

The meals patients receive at the isolation facility

my main concern at the moment. The place is clean and well-maintained so that is not the problem. It is just that the stuff that they are

five years have allowed him to understand how the immune system works and at this time he is wishing that more could be done for them.

Saturday night (April 11) I started to experience shortness of breath and getting difficulty breathing. That took me through the whole night and I couldn’t sleep…I was in contact with the hotline every day and around 4 (04:00h) in the morning it started to get worse and I told them I was not getting to breathe properly, what should I do? Should I go to the hospital? Are you going to send somebody to evaluate me? However, they could not send anybody, because they did not have the resources at that time, so they told me if it continues then go to the hospital,” Atkinson recounted.

With difficulty breathing, Atkinson presented himself at the East Street entrance of the Georgetown Public Hospital where he related his prognosis. His vitals were recorded after which he was taken for an x-ray. He was swabbed and then went home. On Easter Monday, he received the results of his test which confirmed he was positive for COVID-19.

“It was positive, but by Monday I was already starting to feel better. I didn’t have the fever and I barely had the joint pain and that was when the coughing started. This dry cough.

After I got the results, they told me that I needed to be isolated and I would be transferred to Diamond.

They brought me here on Monday night and I have been recovering ever since,” he said.

Atkinson lived with two persons who both tested positive for the virus and are also in isolation. He noted that while he now only has a dry cough, he has been recovering.

Adhere to guidelines

“My main advice is to adhere to the guidelines and don’t socialise. You can socialise by video calls and chats but don’t go out unless you need to. Wear a mask and wash your hands on a regular basis. Don’t touch your face because prevention is better than cure. Do the right thing,” the nurse advised.

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

The novel coronavi-

rus 2019, which causes COVID-19, is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 that had not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respirato-

If anyone is experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus, they are asked to call the hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067, and a team would be sent to their location. The Regional Hotline numbers are Region One (Barima-Waini) – 674-8047; Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) – 682-4210; Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) 254-1261, 254-0313; Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – 231-1166, 226-7480, 6246674, 624-3067; Region

ry syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

The Public Health Ministry is calling on all citizens to heed the health advisories and observe the correct hygiene measures and precautions. Citizens are also asked to always practise social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation so as to reduce the spread of the coronavirus diseases.

Five (Mahaica-Berbice) – 624-9000, 624-2000, 6403000; Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) – 6823055, 668-4449; Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) – 675-9131, 654-0405, 6970656; Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni) – 608-7517, Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) 7722206; and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) – 4443007, 444-6127, 444-6137.

10 NEWS Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll rises to 7 SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…as Linden visually-impaired man succumbs

A

49-year-old man died from complications caused by the novel coronavirus on Saturday evening – bringing Guyana’s COVID-19 death toll up to seven.

Caretaker Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence confirmed this, according to a social media post by the Department of Public Information (DPI) late Saturday evening.

The visually impaired man was the first person to contract the virus in Linden, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice). He recently accommodated several guests from overseas. It is suspected that one of the visitors infected him.

He was a patient in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which is located at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Earlier on Saturday, the Public Health Ministry, in its daily update, had indicated that there were five persons in the dedicated COVID-19 ICU. Guyana’s last coronavirus death was recorded on April 7, when former army Colonel, John Percy Leon Lewis, died. The 77-year-old man was first admitted at a private hospital and after showing suspected signs of the deadly virus, he was referred to the GPHC and admitted in the dedicated ICU

where he succumbed.

The country’s first COVID-19 case was recorded on March 11 following the death of a 52-year-old woman, who died days after returning from New York. She is considered an imported case and is listed as ‘patient zero’.

There are now 63 confirmed positive cases in Guyana, four of which are imported and the other 59 were locally transmitted.

On Saturday, the Ministry said there were no new cases in the 24 hours since its last update on Friday. This is despite the country recording its second-largest increase of COVID-19 cases in the week, as there were 18 new cases confirmed.

Nevertheless, according to the Public Health Ministry on Saturday, there are now 14 persons in institutional quarantine while 48 persons remain in isolation.

The total number of persons tested since February 26 has gone up to 305, with

242 being negative results.

Meanwhile, nine persons have recovered from the life-threatening disease thus far. At least five of these recovered persons are relatives of patient zero, who were placed in isolation and treated after also testing positive for the deadly virus.

During her update on Friday, Minister Lawrence had revealed that Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) continues to record most of the confirmed cases with 87.7 per cent – most of which is from Georgetown. It was noted too that the 30-49 age group accounts for the highest number of positive cases, with a 4:1 ratio of males to females.

Pointing to the fact that Guyana’s COVID-19 numbers are climbing rapidly, the Minister implored persons to adhere to the curfew and restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Only Friday, Country Representative of the Pan America Health

Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), Dr William Adu-Krow warned Guyana against lifting the emergency measures too soon, noting that it could result in an exponential spike in the number of cases here.

In fact, he noted that if the measures are lifted as scheduled, then by mid-May there could be as much as 5000 cases in the country.

Last month, PAHO/WHO

had projected that Guyana would record some 20,000 COVID-19 cases. But the country representative explained that this projection was in the event that the country did nothing to curb the spread.

He noted that the implementation of the curfews and restrictions has saved some 240 persons from contracting the virus and at least 25 deaths were prevented. It was projected that by April

15, there would have been 295 recorded.

To this end, Dr AduKrow contended that the enforcement of these curfews and restrictions should continue in order to limit the spread of the virus. He added that given the fact that Guyana’s measures are not as stringent as other countries, there needs to be better policing of the curfews and restrictions to ensure compliance by the public.

Govt to spend over $1B to...

“For how long have they contracted this facility? And then with this extensive expenditure on this facility, we as the Guyanese public need to know why they’re spending all this money there and what is the nature of this contract… we’re being told more than $1 billion is being spent. This is quite scandalous… something is very rotten with this type of arrangement.”

As of April 18, Guyana has recorded 63 cases of coronavirus, with 7 deaths.

Government did not report any new cases for Saturday.

The Pan American Health Organisation has projected that Guyana could see as many as 1400 cases.

While there is a need for more space to forestall local hospitals becoming overwhelmed, the selection of Ocean View International

has raised eyebrows in some places. Persons have questioned the choice of the hotel, due to its susceptibility to the elements. The hotel has previously been flooded by high tides and overtopping since it is in close proximity to the seawall.

Back in 2008, the ownership of the Ocean View Hotel had passed to local businessman Jacob Rambarran. In the run-up to the 2015 elections, Rambarran had endorsed the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

One of the contractors on the renovation is a known People’s National Congress Reform (PNC/R) member.

Special Hospital Project

In 2012, the then Government had started a Special Hospital Project

FROM PAGE 3

and the contract was awarded to an India-based company. The US$18 million project, which was being funded by the India ExportImport (EXIM) Bank via a line of credit (LOC), was dropped in 2016. While in the Opposition, both the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC), before they collated, had opposed the US$18 million project and upon their assumption to office in 2015, decided to scrap the project, which had already expended some US$4 million on certain preliminary works. The coalition Government then approached India to divert the remaining $13.8 million towards improving the country’s primary healthcare service by upgrading three public hospitals across the country.

11

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Understanding the narrative of the “other”

L

ast Wednesday, I was on a panel discussion on a social media platform with David Hinds, to discuss our “divided nation”.

I emphasised that each of the groups in Guyana has its own narrative on why we are in this mess, but each points its fingers at the other in blame. It means that our narratives are in conflict, to allow us to play the blame game. I suggested we need to consciously construct a “national narrative” that would give each group in our country its just desert.

Narratives are stories, and our need to create them appears to be wired into our brains. An event occurs – say, the elections contretemps at Ashmins - and we are driven to explain how or why it occurred. What happened first? What followed? Who were the persons involved?

What did each person do, and what were their choices? What were the background circumstances – social or physical – that Ravi Dev might have brought the event about? We want to know about causation.

And we create narratives. Since very few of us are in a position, or have the inclination, to conduct rigorous enquiries from ground zero, we reflexively also resort to narratives that others might have constructed around similar events. In a word, we fall back on “history” – whether at the micro or macro level. Narratives, then, are not only constructed; they are constitutive as far as they “explain” our experiences. Much of what we are fighting about can be described as “memory wars”.

In assuming there must be some material historical truth “out there”, we should appreciate that we have to be careful to filter out, as best as we can, the inherent subjectivities of all narratives, especially when they concern history “writ large”. Reality may be created by events and processes, but our “experience” of that reality is the “rememberance” of it; that is, “his-story”. History and remembrance are not the same. History is the human narration of that reality as seen by historians, but it is our “remembrance” of the events that structure our responses.

Why is it, we should ask, that the supporters of the coalition PNC/APNU/AFC insist there is nothing untoward in the actions of Mingo in the tabulation of the Reg 4 SOPs, when international observers and ambassadors insist he was pulling a flagrant sleight of hand? Much of it has to do with the narrative we bring to “explain” our experience.

On the panel, I pointed out that African-Guyanese have a historical fear of being “swamped and subordinated” by Indian-Guyanese if the latter get into office via the PPP. To assert, as I have done, that Indian-Guyanese are now a minority in a nation of minorities -- in which either of the two major blocks has an equal chance of securing office through attracting votes outside of their base constituency -- did not cut much ice.

Today, we and all those who would examine our history have the advantage of hindsight and access to a wider array of accounts than those who lived through the events. In attacking the possible “illusions of retrospective determinism” – that things HAVE to be so - we should connect the past with the present in a broader, more unified narrative that is healing rather than destructive. We cannot change the past, but we can certainly change the future.

John Paul Lederach, the “International peacebuilder”, defines constructive social change as “the pursuit of moving relationships from those defined by fear, mutual recrimination, and violence toward those characterized by love, mutual respect, and proactive engagement.” It is time that we take time to listen to the narrative of the “other”, and respect and address their fears.

Lederach has advised that, “Transcending violence is forged by the capacity to generate, mobilize and build the moral imagination.” We must recognize the complexity of relationships, and not fall prey to an “us vs them” mentality.

Moral imagination is a matter of creating links between memory and vision, and is, to a large extent, the vocation of communities.

By shifting the meaning of the past through a differential emphasis on particular events, we can transform how we act in the present. The past may not literally exist - any more than the future does - but it lives on in its consequences, which are a vital part of it.

Our past was not all hate or division.

12 NEWS

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Former US consular officer calls on US to impose personal sanctions on Granger, Nagamootoo

T

rinidad-based Guyanese Attorneyat-Law and former US consular officer Randy Depoo has created an online petition seeking the intervention of the United States of America in the restoration of democracy in Guyana following the blatant attempts at rigging the March 2, General and Regional Elections by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

Depoo addressed his petition to Secretary of State Pompeo and called for personal sanctions to be imposed on caretaker President

David Granger, former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon, caretaker Ministers - Volda Lawrence, Basil Williams, Amna Ally, Khemraj Ramjattan, along with Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and his Deputy Roxanne Meyers, Returning Officer for Electoral District Four Clairmont Mingo, Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission Retired Justice Claudette Singh, and coalition financier Brian Tiwarie.

“As you are aware, Guyana held elections on

March 2, 2020. These elections were monitored by the resident diplomatic missions of the European Union, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Canada. They were also monitored by observer missions from the European Union, the Commonwealth, the OAS, the Carter Center and a host of domestic observer groups,” he wrote in the petition to Pompeo.

“They all concluded that the elections were fair, but the incumbent APNU/AFC [coalition] has colluded with corrupt elements of the ostensibly independent Guyana

Elections Commission (GECOM) to rig the elections by manipulating the results. The Commonwealth, OAS observer teams and a Caricom high-level delegation have declared that there is a deliberate attempt to declare the coalition the winner of the election using fraudulent results,” the petition stated.

He reminded that the Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland, has expressed her concern that if flaws in the counting process are not addressed immediately, this would result in a “serious violation of the

President David Granger

fundamental political values of the Commonwealth.”

In addition, the Immigration Attorney stated that the Organisation of American States (OAS) Observer Mission, which withdrew from observing the counting of the votes, noted that the process “does not meet the required standard of fairness and transparency.”

In cementing his argument, Depoo related that the current Caricom Chairman and Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, who led a five-member Prime Ministerial delegation to Guyana stated that “it is clear that there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason. Any Government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy.”

“France, the United

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Kingdom, Canada, and Norway have also condemned the fairness of the counting process. The right of the Guyanese people to choose their Government is being trampled upon in violation of Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Commonwealth Charter, the Charter of the Organisation of American States, and the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana.

Democracy is under siege in Guyana. We are galloping towards a totalitarian state.

In light of the universal condemnation of the electoral process, we humbly implore you to use your good offices to immediately impose sanctions on the above-named individuals to help preserve democracy in Guyana,” Depoo argued.

3 busted with gun, narco

The gun discovered during the operation

The cocaine that was discovered during the search

The cannabis that was discovered during the search

hree persons were on Saturday nabbed and are in custody following the discovery of illicit drugs and a gun during separate Police operations.

Reports are Police acting on intelligence gathered intercepted a minibus at Mabura, Upper Demerara River, Region One (BarimaWaini), at about 09:00h and conducted a search. During

the exercise, 89 grams of cocaine and 6818 grams of cannabis were unearthed.

As a result of this, two persons were taken into custody pending charges.

Also, on Saturday at Kaneville, East Bank Demerara (EBD), Police unearthed a .38 revolver with two live matching rounds.

Investigations are ongoing.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

152 Canadians stranded in Guyana taken home

…another flight set for Monday

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ith a complete lockdown on commercial flights at Guyana’s international airports, hundreds of persons have been stranded here over the past month.

On Saturday the Canadian High Commission repatriated 152 persons through West Jet Airlines at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, in one of two humanitarian flights. It was the first-ever Canadian airline to operate from Guyana.

The flight manifest comprised mainly of senior citizens and families with children, who were elated to return to their country.

Canadian High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee was present on-

A family makes its way to board the plane

dividuals needed specialised healthcare and medications.

Upon the announcement that flights would be

High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee with the West Jet crew

site to see the passengers off. She told Guyana Times that this was made possible through collaboration with the National COVID-19 Task Force. Moreover, it was essential since some in-

facilitated between the two countries, the envoy indicated that there was an overwhelming response from persons to return home.

“This is the first time a Canadian airline has arrived

Farmer chopped by teenager was aggressor – Commander …file sent to DPP for advice

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he 55-year-old farmer of Naamless, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), who was allegedly chopped by a 19-year-old was said to be the aggressor during the deadly altercation.

Police Commander of Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Assistant Police Commissioner Simon McBean during an interview with Guyana Times said that an investigation revealed that the teenager faced may attacks from Wilfred Kippins but never took heed to them until the altercation.

The Assistant Police Commissioner noted that the teenager is in custody as ranks await advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to determine the way forward.

Based on reports, an ar-

gument ensued between the duo at about 19:30h on April 13. As the argument escalated, the now dead man’s wife intervened and managed to get her husband into the house after which the suspect left.

However, Kippins later left his home and went in pursuit of the teen.

According to the man’s widow, she was told that her husband attacked the 19-year-old and in retaliation, the teen dealt him several chops about his body.

The man was left lying on the roadway in a pool of blood. He was later picked up and rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital, but relatives later took him to a private hospital where he died on Tuesday morning at about 06:45h.

A report was made at the Parika Police Station and the teen was arrested.

in Guyana and we have two flights…The flights sold out within 24 hours for both airlines. Most of them are elderly. They have medical issues, running out of medications,” she indicated.

The next flight will depart from Guyana on Monday with another batch of Canadians. Chatterjee

said if there are other persons who wish to return home and clearance is given; more flights will be facilitated. Some 600 persons had initially expressed the desire to be taken home.

“We’re just very grateful that a Canadian airline has come on a humanitarian flight. They’re not making a profit. They’re just covering their cost,” the High Commissioner detailed.

The shutdown of Guyana’s airports was extended until May 3.

To identify and assist Canadians that would like to return home, the High Commission has asked for them to contact 608-7012, a direct line where information will be provided.

Earlier this month, 28 Canadian citizens were sent back to their home on chartered flights. The passengers were transported on two planes through Trans Guyana Airways to Barbados. Afterwards, they

Persons with medical conditions being assisted onto the flight

were transported to Canada via Air Canada.

At that time, Commission Counsellor, Ray Fankhauser said it was difficult to locate some persons who were off the grid.

Since March 18, all international airports in Guyana were closed to commercial traffic, with only priority to outgoing, cargo, medevac or specially authorised flights.

Guyana joined Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and many

other countries in the closing of their airports to international flights as threats from the virus advanced.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CJIA, Ramesh Ghir had indicated that the significant reduction of passengers would undoubtedly have a significant impact on the entity’s revenue.

As a result of COVID-19, the airport had modified its operations for outgoing and incoming flights to Guyana.

14 NEWS

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Prison Service making arrangements for quarantine facility

I

n light of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, the Guyana Prison Services (GPS) is taking precautions in the event that the life-threatening disease reaches the penitentiary facilities and is now making arrangements to set up a quarantine facility for inmates.

According to the Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, a request has been made to the Public Health Ministry to establish the facility that will house some 250 prisoners. However, he noted that he is still awaiting a response from the Ministry.

Samuels told Guyana Times that the facility will help to combat the spread of the virus if there is to be an outbreak in any of the five prisons across the country.

He noted, however, that there are currently no confirmed or suspicious cases of COVID-19 in the prisons but these steps are still being taken as a precaution.

“We have no cases in the

prison, this is precautionary measures being taken… If, for some reason, someone [in the prisons] should test positive, we will [have] an area where they can be isolated. There will be a need for them to be extracted from the prison facility that currently exists because we are aware of how persons may react if someone in the same facility, while they may be in a different section, is infected with the virus. That has the potential to spark unnecessary issues… So, this is just being on the safe side,” the Prison Director explained to Guyana Times.

He further confirmed that the facility will be at an area outside of the current prisons’ locations.

Asked about social distancing being practiced among inmates within the prison system, which has traditionally been plagued with overcrowding, Samuels pointed out that this is posing as a great challenge since the prison is currently overpopulated.

“We have been practicing many activities of the guidelines that were given as possible, but in an overcrowded prison, social distancing is something you can’t strictly adhere to. But wherever possible, it is being practised,” he added.

The COVID-19 emergency measures enforced by the Public Health Ministry on April 3 to curb the spread of the deadly virus, states that “No person shall visit or be permitted to visit… a prison or correctional facility…”

In light of this suspension of visits, the Prison Service on Wednesday announced the introduction of video calls for inmates to communicate with family members and attorneys-at-law during this period.

The Prison Director explained in a press statement that calls will be made via the Google Hangout application through the means of a cellular phone, iPad, tablet or a computer with a camera and a microphone powered by an internet connection.

Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels

He noted that the application will allow the prisoners’ relatives and attorneys to send a request to the email address of the location where the prisoner is housed, which would then allow the officer assigned to oversee phone calls to process the request.

When asked about how this initiative is going, Samuels told Guyana Times on Saturday that “so far, we are having no problems.”

To aid in this initiative by the Prison Service, the Ministry of Public Telecommunications (MoPT) earlier this week donated 30 tablets to the agency.

Earth Day

‘5Oth Anniversary’ E

arth Day was a unified response to an environment in crisis — oil spills, smog, rivers so polluted they literally caught fire. On April 22, 1970, twenty million Americans took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental ignorance and demand a new way forward for our planet. The first Earth Day is credited with launching the modern environmental movement, and is now recognised as the planet’s largest civic event. From the beginning of the movement, emphasis has always been placed on the power of collective action and the need for political intervention in helping to shape the future of our planet.

April 22, 2020 will mark 50 years since the beginning of one of the largest grassroots movements for environmental action. This year’s theme resounds the call for ‘Climate Action’ owing to the ever-growing climate crisis our home planet is experiencing.

Climate change affects the environment, natural resources, economy, and other aspects of life in all nations of the world. In the early 1900s, our climate started changing due to a persistent increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

This change has been particularly rapid in the last few decades.

Humans have altered the chemical composition of the global atmosphere with substantial implications for climate, which is known as man-made climate change. The warming of the planet due to the increased greenhouse effect is known as global warming.

The time is now for citizens to call for greater global ambition to tackle our climate crisis. In Guyana, the Office of Climate Change, with support from organisations like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Guyana Forestry Commission, is leading the efforts to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE? Get informed Knowledge is power. Learn more about the science behind our climate challenge, and the responsibility that all sectors hold in addressing the issue. Add your voice to the issues that are shaping the climate debate as well as emerging evidence-based data that directly relates to changes in our climate.

Hold yourself accountable Take a personal inventory of your own personal impact on the planet. Remember: if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!

Unplug Can you use energy more efficiently at home? Unplug items when they aren’t in use, buy goods with high energy-efficient standards, and consider making the switch to renewable energy.

All of these measures can help to reduce your personal impact.

Travel smarter Transportation is now the largest source of carbon emissions.

No matter where you live, travel by car or airplane contributes heavily to our shared carbon footprint. Take public transit, or ride or walk when possible; it’s good for your health, your wallet, and the planet.

One bite at a time Your food’s carbon footprint, called its foodprint, is the greenhouse gas emissions produced by growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, cooking, and disposing of the food we eat. Research has revealed the tremendous impact that the mass production of meat, dairy, and eggs has on our planet.

It is important for us to reflect on, and show our support for, our planet and our environment. Although we cannot have a grand celebration, we can still remind ourselves to think about humanity’s values, the threats the planet faces, and ways we can help protect the environment.

Plant a tree This is a great way to teach your children about the importance of trees. For example, trees produce oxygen, and that's something both humans and wildlife need to survive. However, hundreds of thousands of trees are cut down yearly in order to make room for new homes, shopping centres and other building projects.

Planting a tree in collaboration with a child can help restore the balance of the ecosystem, and create a lasting memory for you and your family.

There have been numerous national and local initiatives undertaken by various cross-sections of the public to help protect our planet. These involved government agencies, the private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), communities, schools, youths etc.

Look out for the following activities

Please tune into your local radio and television stations for our Earth Day message, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for much information on what you can do to protect this beautiful planet.

Reference: https://www.earthday.org/history/ https://www.earthday.org/campaign/act-on-climate-change/

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: The Environmental Protection Agency, C/O Communications Department, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN; or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Students, teachers want better internet services for e-learning Responding to COVID-19: Crisis Management for businesses

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ith declining consumer demand and the threat from online discount models, the retail sector is an already troubled sector in many countries. To this end, as the COVID-19 outbreak becomes more widespread, retailers are faced with collapses in both supply and demand. Given the spread of the virus around the world, it is unlikely that the collapses in both supply and demand would smoothly occur simultaneously.

The main concern for retailers is whether they can respond to these diametrically opposed challenges in an agile manner, adapting their operations and commercial decision-making rapidly to reflect the new day-to-day reality. In so doing, strong leadership will be needed, not just to attain stability, but to make the necessary decisions, cutting across traditional boundaries and thinking.

Shift from Business continuity to crisis management During this pandemic period of COVID-19, businesses need to revisit their continuity plans to reassure customers and colleagues by managing the inevitable supply chain constraints and demand shocks, and by prioritising critical business activities and creating contingency plans for disruption. Businesses must plan to build a flexible, nimble, crisis management capability now, rather than when it becomes a necessity.

After the initial set of actions that business continuity plans prescribe, management need to steer their responses based on the actual situation that is unique to their operations, which situation would evolve each day. The challenge is to adapt to ever changing circumstances, where the right decisions on store operations, colleague management, logistics and pricing would vary day by day. Existing reporting frameworks, management information tools, and annual or quarterly planning processes are unlikely to be sufficient to provide the necessary visibility and command and control.

Scenario plan to the survival minimum Most firms at this point are in the early stages of their response: managing the immediate issues for their own staff, announcing travel bans, cancelling large-scale events, and implementing quarantine periods. This is critical, yet inadequate. Businesses need to rapidly consider a range of scenarios of how COVID-19 could impact their customers, suppliers, and their own operations.

In this regard, at least three scenarios should be considered: 1. Worst is over in two to three months: acute crisis largely resolved within this time frame, where businesses are back to normal quickly after a material bump in the road.

2. Six months to regain control: more extensive period of disruption over a six-month period leading to a no-growth scenario for the economy, or a limited recession.

3. Twelve-plus months’ ongoing pandemic: virus spreads widely and public remains in heightened state of anxiety, triggering a global recession.

Manage for Supply Constraints As shortages start to appear (either through stockpiling or supply constraints), firms would need to understand which products are most at-risk, and proactively manage their pricing, promotions and logistics to ensure availability of supply for as long as possible. Businesses are naturally doing this already, given their logistics’ expertise.

Deal with the decline in confidence As demand drops, with consumers tightening their belts, retailers would need to focus on the basics: Managing short-term costs; and optimising choice and pricing, while continuing to deliver a “reason to shop” with that retailer. There are opportunities for smart-thinking retailers to make the best of the situation.

Cope with staff shortages and demand drop As the situation worsens, retailers would need to make harder decisions about which activities, stores and channels to maintain and which need to be stopped. At this point, many longer-term investments would no longer make sense, and retailers would need to start making tough decisions about what they can no longer afford to do.

Move to the survival minimum In the most extreme scenarios, retailers would need to retain only those activities which directly support the day-to-day operation of the business. If physical stores are closed, retailers could see volume declines of between 80% and 90%. Without a clear view of what is the bare minimum activity needed for survival, retailers run the risk of incurring excessive costs and losing position to those who can operate more leanly. Of course this needs to be done with care. Cutting investments that are needed for mediumterm survival ends in the same place.

No matter what happens over the next few months, the world of retail is becoming ever more complex, and requires faster and better decision-making across all functions. Taking the right steps now to respond to this new threat would inevitably help retailers survive the new normal.

This crisis management series will be continued next week and in the forthcoming weeks.

Referenced from Oliver Wyman Responses to COVID-19.

(The author is an experienced macro-finance and research analyst, Lecturer and Business & Finance Consultant. The views expressed are exclusively his own, and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper or the institutions he represents. For comments, send to jbbankingadvice@gmail.com).

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ith schools now closed indefinitely, teachers and students are calling for better internet services to facilitate e-learning activities. Additionally, they also want better prices, especially during this time when the COVID-19 pandemic has halted many economies around the world.

Teachers and students are arguing that the current internet services are not sufficient to effectively facilitate virtual classrooms and other e-learning measures.

As such, they are calling on service providers to put measures in place to ensure the internet speed is improved.

Moreover, they are also lobbying for more affordable prices especially for students and teachers of low-income families.

Dernique Vieira, a Communications student of the University of Guyana (UG), said that this epidemic has shown that Guyana needs more service providers, and those providing internet services need to restructure their plan.

“It's sad that I had to cancel almost all of my classes because of how weak the internet is. What is more worrying is that some of us have lost our jobs due to this virus, which means we cannot afford a lot of things anymore. I was hoping that GTT would have some system in place to temporarily lower the cost of their services. Also, with how weak the internet is, the need to have a revamped look on their plans,” the student mentioned.

Meanwhile, Akelia Dey, a secondary school teacher, also shared similar views.

“I am saddened by GTT’s unscrupulous demands on customers. We are faithful customers who have been supporting this company for years. I am a very disgruntled customer and was there an option to choose another service, I would have opted out of my GTT service. I have been paying my GTT service every month up to date. As of recent, due to this COVID-19 and the budgetary shift, I was unable to commit to continuing paying [on] time…,” she noted.

According to Dey, she had asked GTT what systems the company would put in place for customers at this critical time since many people have been laid off or may not be getting a salary/wage this week. In response, the local telecommunications giant said they have extended the due dates for bills.

“That is unreasonable.

If I don't have [money] on the 10th, will I get it by the 17th?... Some of us, their loyal customers, are scraping to survive… Also, the internet connection is weak,

every five minutes my internet drops…” she posited.

GTT had announced the closure of all its stores countrywide and implemented pay cuts across the board for staff.

The company had said it was unable to financially cushion the reduction of bill payments for customers. However, GTT – the country’s main internet service provider – has rolled

out an initiative which will see healthcare workers benefiting from free mobile services.

Nevertheless, President of Starr Computer, Michael Mohan had recently stated that his company is ready to advance virtual education during this period.

He said, “We can solve this problem.

Internet service is very expensive in Guyana...but if the Government was to step in to provide subsidies for students that will make a difference. We at Starr Computers have many different connections with major manufactures… and we have been able to convince them to subsidise the hardware that we carry in Guyana.”

16

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

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

Sentimental allegiance must be far removed Dear Editor, The constitutional crisis in Guyana has amplified over the 47-plus days since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections were held under the auspices of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Our courts have correctly recognised the wide, glaring and blatant undemocratic subversion by politically biased agents within GECOM to derail the true results of these Elections. Yet, the long-awaited assertion of Chairwoman, Retired Justice Claudette Singh over a process of transparent swiftness is still woefully wanting. This is even as critical constitutional timelines approach and other welfare security needs become dire.

Of note, the expansive concurrent global COVID-19 health pandemic is having an increasing impact, while our citizens deserve much more than the scant interim curfew and failing CDC distribution programme Mr David Granger employed.

It no doubt requires the solidity of an organised official and legally empowered Government, together with the coordinated will of all stakeholders to arrest the rapid expansion. This is what Chairwoman Retired Justice Claudette Singh must swiftly ensure.

GECOM’s recent press release of Justice Claudette Singh’s sketchy and full of uncertainty ruling regarding the execution process of the recount of votes emphasises a susceptibility to the twiddling little fingers of PNC agents Keith Lowenfield, Vincent Alexander and their cohorts. At the same time, it advances the implicit recognition of an illegal cabal under Mr Grangers’ agents Moses Nagamootoo and Volda Lawrence, whom he addresses as Ministers.

It appears that Chairwoman Claudette Singh is still affording the overwhelming threats to our country and citizens with sentimental allegiance. As such, it has become necessary for me

to remind that making the GECOM recount process dependent on M Nagamootoo and other beneficiary parties of these elections is a conflict of interest, and one tantamount to being complicit in the resulting delays and the undermining of our faltered democracy at the hands of the PNC/APNU/AFC cabal.

Madam Singh must immediately stop this charade.

Her capping of the number of counting stations now undermines the GECOM Chairwoman’s previous welcomed statement, that she targets the completion of the recount for April month-end.

This lack of logic contained in the statement is evident, given her silence on other relevant information regarding the commencement time or the duration of working hours. Further, the modalities of ensuring the presence of international observers are glaringly absent; and the conditional inclusions regarding the ‘possible’ availability of resources merely give GECOM’s biased Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and the Alexander cabal playing space. Notably, Vincent Alexander now touts that the 10 stations will bring down the recount period to an intolerable 64 days.

Editor, in ensuring the delivery of her constitutional obligations to the nation, the Chairwoman cannot claim ignorance of the obvious abuse of State resources by the illegal Granger cabal. There is no need for diluting the urgency any longer, given the law and the obvious abuse of State resources at the hands of Mr Granger and his agents.

The recently halted partisan distribution of food hampers by the CDC is one example.

Another is the highly questionable abuse in the absence of a Government, with regards to the expending of hundreds of millions on repair/restructuring of the Ocean View Hotel, located at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, into a so-called COVID hospital facility.

Who is really in charge of the APNU/AFC?

There is also no hiding that over the past week, the public and social media was imbued with reports of the largesse use of State resources on behalf of the Grangerled APNU/AFC Government.

The illegal purpose was to pay the contracting lobbying firm JJ&B LLC, which has provided a false dossier in an attempt to whitewash the image of the APNU/AFC party to the United States Government.

Unacceptably, they have done so under the pretext that they were legitimately elected at these elections.

While Mr Granger recently contradicted knowledge of this contract, as he has pretended on numerous other occasions, his high-ranking Commander, Mr Harmon, has spoken to the matter and the dossier identifies him as the notified Government contact person. If Mr Granger does not know of this, then we must ask the obvious questions that include who is really in charge of the APNU/ AFC? On the other hand, is Mr Granger part of the author and executor of the outlandish rigging plot? I am overwhelmingly convinced of the latter.

Editor, the writing is on the wall for many existing business operators whether private or public, who are candidly aware that the accurate forecast is critical to stability in the existing financial and economic framework.

It lends to decision-making informing their profitability, adjustments to threats or sometimes-mere survival. For those involved in trade and other tax-related activities, the alarm bells have been sounded in the statements of de-recognition and exclusions by the ABCE countries, OAS, Caricom, the Commonwealth the European Union to name a few. Coupled to the COVID-19 virus, the degeneration of GECOM’s image and that of Guyana without a recognised Government has emerged a most potent justification of the position taken by these states.

Many corporate or public agencies have recent-

ly been very vocal and one could feel their discomforting apprehension in their fiscal relationships. This relates to the threats of real international sanctions should the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) swear in Mr Granger as President without properly adhering to transparent and credible electoral procedures. In the inherent clear power-grabbing attempts through sickening and undemocratic approaches, the situation exacerbates the level of self-created volatility which when coupled with possible sanctions, will ascertain Guyana’s swifter developmental regression.

In essence, the current political environment characterised by globally observed dubious and fraudulently aligned decisions from GECOM, Mr Granger and APNU/AFC has emerged on one side. The political Opposition together with the rest of the world including our largest trading partners and donors on the other following the Guyana March 2, 2020 Elections.

The threat of a sick and unhealthy population looms and we are still playing a game at GECOM. There are obvious and significant consequences for us Guyanese since GECOM and the unrelenting Granger cabal has drawn overwhelming local and international condemnation.

Although the foregoing is by no means exhaustive, the inherent and inexorable breakdown in acceptable social strata would naturally be counter with increased militarisation establishing the pariah/police state. I, therefore, advocate for immediate changes by the GECOM Chairwoman, which must include the announcement of the immediate commencement date and the removal of clearly tainted persons from the process.

Madam Chairwoman, sentimental allegiance must be far removed from the implementation of a democratic Government.

Dear Editor, Over the past month, The Citizenship Initiative has refrained from statements in the political arena and focused instead on getting help to Guyanese most affected by this pandemic. We believe that food, protective gear and economic assistance should be priorities in the time of a pandemic and we have acted accordingly.

We have to, however, put on record our disappointment and disgust over the behaviour of GECOM in general and specifically with regard to the most recent development in the recount saga.

It is unacceptable that after a relatively smooth process covering nine of the ten administrative regions, the Guyana Elections

Commission has not operated in ‘significant compliance’ with its constitutional mandate to deliver fair, transparent, credible elections in the tabulation of Region Four nor in any of the remedial processes engaged in the wake of Clairmont Mingo’s incompetence.

The Guyanese people have been treated to postponement of meetings to read judgments that were extremely clear, adjournment of meetings to consider basic documents, the full use of a four-day weekend, and time taken for the creation and adjustment of a recount plan that should have been in place a month ago when the recount was first initiated and a site visit to the same venue that was originally selected for the recount

was done. This all from a Commission that has a statutory responsibility to deliver a final result before the constitutional deadline of April 30.

No concern seems to be given as well to the fact that a pandemic is growing in this country, one that not only threatens any recount effort but one that needs a legitimate Government, credibly elected, in place to deal with it.

Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh’s most recent ‘intervention’, one that we had hoped would have provided a definitive way forward, has turned out to be in keeping with the Commission’s behaviour as a whole. Whereas what was needed was a clearcut plan of action with a definitive administrative strategy, a timeframe for action and

assignment of personnel, the public was given a vague document that could be so widely interpreted as to allow a process even longer than the ludicrous 156-day plan originally submitted.

We are, therefore, calling for the presentation to the citizens of Guyana, an explicit commitment to a clear plan with set timeframe for a recount, starting no later than Monday, April 20, and being completed before or not significantly after the constitutional deadline for a Parliament to be in place.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

We need an explicit commitment to a clear plan with set timeframe for a recount

Sincerely, Rondha-Ann Lam Leader/Executive Member The Citizenship Initiative

Jiggery pokery yes, it is what it is Dear Editor, Permit me the space to air my views on the recent jiggery pokery, yes, it is what it is.

“Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon defended Government’s hiring of the lobbying firm on the grounds that the administration has a duty to defend the Government and Guyana.”

Gov’t warns US that PPP poses geopolitical, economic risks to South America.

April 16, 2020 – headlines in sections of the local media.

This is a nightmare.

This is a perfect example of the term “clutching at straws”. Unfortunately, this is dejà vu. If you’ve never read the declassified files on Guyana’s history, then this is the time to do so.

We have made a mistake, more so, I made a mistake when I placed this current defacto Government into power in 2015. I greatly regret it and it’s a mistake I’ll never make again and I will make sure my future generations are well educated on the atrocities of this rotten cabal.

You have stooped so low within that hole you have dug for yourself. This nation just sees you as a bunch of tyrants, thugs, oppressors, incompetent, dictatorial misfits! The scorn of this society and the parasites that will suck this nation dry with no shame. You call yourselves leaders? You are blind, you are pigheaded, stubborn and lack basic morals and ethical principles. Church? For those Christians that see these wolf in sheep’s clothing, your anti-Christ must be near.

Every single sentence of that disgraceful, Machiavellian document is a spit in the face of this nation and her democracy.

Your chronologic account of the election events are erroneous and you were doltish enough to include images of Form 24 with Volda Lawrence’s signature twice on pages 95 and 127 respectively and brainlessly states that your leader, DA Granger is a United States Citizen on page 135.

The dossier of Guyana Elections 2020 has exposed your weakness and your power-drunk ways. At least your forgotten PNCR leader, LFS Burnham was approached by the USA back in 1966-67. Now look at yourselves, look at your foolish ways; running towards in the name of Guyana, defender of the Government and Guyana my two cheeks.

Do you think they will bat an eye at you and your cabal after you have publically asked that leading nation to “stay out of our business,

we can handle things ourselves!” Who poses more of a geopolitical threat to this nation when such statements are blurted out of prominent PNCR loyalist?

This rogue cabal is a pack of saps; they will be the ones to cause a geopolitical crisis with their undiplomatic ways and orientation. Soup drinkers with questionable intentions are never to be trusted. I see right through you and your insignificance rushes out. I pray that this nation, her people and more so the USA can see through this attempt to further hold 700,000 persons at hostage.

I am sure the right thing will be done (permit me to allude to a garbage bin and fire with personalised sanctions to follow).

Two days later.

Mr President issues a statement stating, in summary, that he was not aware of the submissions, it was not done on behalf of Guyana or Government (although the document said so) and that the country did not pay for it. I have this to say.

Mr President has basically withdrawn himself from the atrocities of his right-hand man, Mr Joseph Harmon. Is this genuine or is this his way of saving himself? I think that it’s a way to save himself.

HE President David A Granger, your Administration is compounding or adding to the dilemma we are in. What do you have to say for yourself?

Why isn’t there any press conference with you?

Do you know that your current portfolio is one where you single-handedly spearhead this entire crisis of COVID? Yet you hide or self-isolate and show off the impotence of your leadership?

I am not surprised, I just remembered there are no flights out to Cuba and more so, you cannot use 21st-century technology.

My Guyanese brothers and sisters, it’s about time we lead ourselves or have legitimacy; It’s about time we stand up. Let us not waste time as their weak link has shown itself again for the third time. We will remain a democratic state and not a failed state like those perfect examples, too numerous to mention. My people are not about that life and my generation is here to make that difference we want to see. Let’s do right by our conscience and most importantly, let’s #keepmovingforward.

God bless Guyana.

Respectfully, Dr Josh Kanhai

NEWS

17

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Bandits beat, rob elderly couples in Berbice …storm rice farmer's home

B

a n d i t s on Saturday morning broke into the home of a Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) rice farmer and terrorised the elderly couple before escaping with a quantity of jewellery and two cell

According to the injured woman, the men gained entry into the house by prizing open a window in the bathroom.

“It is a small person, and then he open the door for the others to come in and then they close the door back. I

The Alness house which the bandits broke into on Saturday morning

phones.

According to reports, three masked men who were armed with handguns entered the Lot 56 Alness, Corentyne house at around 03:30h and held rice farmer Samuel Rajgopaul at gunpoint.

However, his 61-year-old wife, Somawattie Rajgopau l, faced the brunt of the attack as she was beaten by two of the bandits.

was sleeping and they go to my husband first. In my sleep, I hear my husband saying ‘what happen to you’.

He think that I putting the light in his face,” she explained.

The woman said the next thing she heard was her husband, who was out of the room at the time, saying “where I would get money and gold”. Those words convinced her to think that he

was dreaming.

“So, I call him, ‘Sam?’ and he said, ‘Yes, thief! Thief!’, he tell me to close the door,” the woman recalled.

She said that is when she noticed a bright light in the house.

At the time, her husband was being held at gunpoint and one of the bandits started to kick at her bedroom door.

“The door had the safety and the lock, and they beating [at the door] and I pushing [to hold it steady] until the door split and the safety break” Somawattie explained.

The woman recalled being grabbed by the neck before being thrown on the floor and asked to hand over cash as she was being kicked at and stomped on.

“I tell them that I don’t have money and gold. All the time I hollering and he say ‘stop hollering’,” she added.

According to Somawattie, she was being held face down while one of the bandits used a torch to search the room.

The man picked up her iPhone which was on the bed and found some jewellery which she had secured in a safe.

“Some of it was Brazilian gold so when he pick it up he think was

ERC says COVID-19, electoral impasse double blow for Guyanese

– calls for compassion, cooperation to fight pandemic

R

ecognising that the country is not only grappling with the ongoing electoral impasse from the March 2 General and Regional Elections but also the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) is calling on Guyanese to come together in this challenging time.

In a recent statement, the ERC made a stirring plea to everyone to remain peaceful and demonstrate “love and compassion” toward each other in the current novel coronavirus crisis.

The Commission reminded that it is a non-political body that was established since 2002 with the support of all sides in Parliament and among its functions is to “Encourage and create respect for religious, cultural and other forms of diversity in a plural society.”

“The ERC recognises that the March 2020 elections impasse and the coronavirus pandemic have dealt a double blow to the social, cultural and economic life of every Guyanese,” it noted.

Only recently, the ERC had urged all political leaders to work in the best interest of the country by endeavouring to diffuse tension and not to encourage behaviours

that are counterproductive to peace and unity.

The Commission had stated, “The need for responsible utterances and actions by all, is reiterated as peace and unity are in our hands.”

Nevertheless, in its most recent missive on Friday, the ethnic relations body underscored the importance of Guyanese coming together and maintaining harmony.

It said, “…the Commission desires that in maintaining national harmony, everyone put their head, heart and hands together in their village, neighbourhood or town to fight the disease. In that regard, the relevant collective actions required of all citizens will hopefully overcome the threats all are facing.”

Furthermore, the ERC went on to remind persons that the deadly coronavirus is not restricted to any ethnic-specific group or groups, warning that anyone can be affected.

On this note, the Commission committed to endorsing any initiative which fosters cohesion and

understanding as the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic in the months ahead.

It further lauded the actions of many agencies and individuals both in the public and private sectors that have already been rendering selfless services to preserve the health and well-being of everyone during this health crisis.

The ERC said it is mindful of the inundated tasks to manage and safeguard lives, and as such, has specially commended all medical practitioners and support staff in the health system who are on the front line for their unremitting dedication to curb the spread of the pernicious coronavirus.

To date, Guyana has confirmed 63 positive coronavirus cases with seven deaths in total. Nine persons who were infected with the deadly virus have since recovered. Of the 63 cases, the Ministry said four are imported while the other 59 are locally transmitted cases. A total of 305 persons have been tested thus far for the coronavirus.

Currently, there are five persons in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Injured: Somawattie Rajgopaul

a lot of good gold and then he start demand for money.”

She said she attempted to pull the mask off of the face of one of the bandits.

“The mask go back on his face and he get more mad and he start to stamp me again. Then he hold me on my throat and say he gon kill me now and asking ‘where the money’.”

Nevertheless, she related that shortly after, the bandits quickly exited the building, leaving with $500,000 worth in jewellery and two cellular phones.

Somawattie said when she recognised that they were under attack she called out to a neighbour but he had already left for the market.

Police reportedly responded to the report in about ten minutes and took the 61-year-old woman to the Port Mourant Hospital, where she was treated and sent away.

The police are investigating the robbery. However, no arrests were made up to press time.

Meanwhile, another elderly couple on the Corentyne were also brutalised by four armed bandits on Saturday morning.

It was reported that the couple was preparing to leave for the Port Mourant Market, where they sell vegetables, when the bandits pounced on their Public Road, Nurney Village, Corentyne home.

The bandits managed to get hold of approximately $100,000 in cash and before escaping, banged the head of the 64-year-old wife into a concrete wall.

Tuschen-Uitvlugt NDC begins sanitisation of public spaces

T

he Tuschen-Uitvlugt Neighbourhood Democratic Council, in collaboration with the National COVID-19 Multistakeholders’ Response Forum activated by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali along with businessmen, has commenced sanitising public places and busy streets through the communities from Tuschen to Uitvlugt, East Bank Essequibo, as a measure to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

During an interview with Guyana Times, Chairman of the Tuschen-Uitvlugt NDC, Vishal Ambedkar stated that human resource

Workers spraying the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground

the Public Health Ministry said that there were no new cases but five persons are in the Intensive Care Unit at Georgetown Public Hospital.

A worker sanitising the Tuschen Health Centre

is important and as such, must be protected against the deadly virus.

On Friday Guyana recorded six new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country up to 63 as of April 18, 2020. In an update on Saturday,

“As you are aware, the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising and the Council agrees that our most important resource, our human resource, must be protected. It is evident that preventative measures are the only sure way of being safe from the virus.

And so with the Tuschen-

Uitvlugt NDC residents, members of our business community, and the COVID-19 NSF formed by Dr Irfaan Ali formulated a plan to be more proactive in this regard with our limited resources,” the Chairman posited.

Health centres, post offices, market places and main streets in the various villages were sprayed with disinfecting agents.

The Chairman acknowledged that wearing a mask will not protect everyone against the virus 100 per cent until persons start to take the guidelines set out by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and the Public Health Ministry seriously.

“We want to advise the public that mask alone does not prevent the spreading of the virus, we need to practise good hygiene to wash our hands and face. Take special care when bringing items into your home, wash and sanitise to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. Eat foods to build our immune systems. Let us all do our part in keeping each other safe, please practise social distancing,” Ambedkar explained.

18

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

Bogota's poor, homeless get some LIAT extends suspension help amid quarantine hardship of passenger services

S

ome of the neediest residents of Colombia’s capital Bogota have started receiving food donations, while dozens living on the street were given a chance to shower and change clothes, as the city rides out a fiveweek lockdown to contain the coronavirus.

Residents of the Andean city, home to about seven million, had set tires on fire and blocked roads in isolated Thursday protests to demand help during the quarantine.

The Government has budgeted 18 trillion pesos (about US$4.43 billion) to shore up an inadequate healthcare system and fund welfare payments during the lockdown that runs un-

A Colombian soldier wearing a face mask delivers a box of food aid to a poor family, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bogota, Colombia April 17, 2020

til April 27.

But many families who get by in informal industries like street selling, construction and recycling are now cut off from work and

are scrambling to make ends meet. Many say they have received no aid at all.

Others have been luckier.

On Friday, army sol-

Maharaj said this could prevent many of them from replanting crops.

He noted that the expansion of military assets off the coasts of Venezuela could also threaten T&T’s rice supply which comes from Guyana.

Farmers usually use the proceeds of their profits to reinvest in farming and Maharaj said if support is not given, farmers will have no means of planting back

produce and this will trigger domestic food shortages.

Saying that the agricultural sector has suffered from a history of underinvestment and failed policy, Maharaj warned, “If there is no desire to address food security for T&T in the face of a global pandemic, we are in grave danger if the conversations are anecdotal and piecemeal.”

Noting that manage-

diers in gloves and masks distributed boxes of rice, beans, sugar, salt, canned meat, toilet paper and bottled water to residents of the Egipto neighbourhood, whose steep streets wind up the skirts of the Andes.

Meanwhile, the Mayor’s office offered showers, toiletries, changes of clothes and meals to people living on the street - some of whom have been rendered homeless due to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus has killed over 150 people in Colombia and infected nearly 3500. Giving people a way to shower and change will prevent them from becoming vectors, city officials said. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Economist: Food shortage looms in T&T

A

food crisis is coming in T&T unless the Government begins food security planning, saID agriculture economist Omardath Maharaj.

Speaking to Guardian Media, Maharaj said since January he has been calling for officials to pay attention to agriculture and food production in this country.

With farmers experiencing difficulties in getting their goods to market,

ment of a country’s food supply chain was not an easy task, Maharaj said leaving the production of food solely to be determined by market forces and farmers’ private investment horizon is untenable.

He noted that it is the Government’s responsibility to help farmers and fishers when they are facing a crisis. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

L

IAT will extend the suspension of passenger services to May 15 given the current environment.

Chief Executive Officer, Julie Reifer-Jones explained that extension of the suspension was based on a review by the Board of Directors and Executive Management of the airline.

“Several destinations have extended their border closures and instituted strict travel restrictions which mean that passengers are unable to travel.” ReiferJones noted that the airline was however still operating cargo flights to several destinations.

The airline has issued an updated travel adviso-

ry for all affected passengers. Passengers booked during the period of suspension will automatically have their bookings cancelled and will receive a full credit. Passengers will be able to rebook as soon as the airline resumes passenger services.

Reifer-Jones acknowledged that this was an extremely difficult time for the airline, its employees and other stakeholders across the region. While the airline continues to operate with a skeletal staff, she advised that the airline was working to resume operations across the LIAT network as soon as it was feasible to do so.

(Excerpt from Antigua News Room)

Deported from US, Guatemalans fear infection in mass quarantine

Cuba reports highest recovery of COVID-19 patients in one day

T

he Director of Epidemiology and Hygiene in Cuba, Dr Francisco Duran, on Saturday reported that 35 persons have been healed from COVID-19 – the highest number in one day.

Based on this, 227 people have been cured from the virus.

According to Duran, in the past 24 hours, only one death has been reported for a total tally of 32 since the beginning of the outbreak 38 days ago.

In his daily press briefing on the situation of COVID-19 in Cuba, Duran said there are currently 725

patients hospitalised with the viral infection, of these 710 are progressing favourably, with 10 critical and 5 in serious condition.

There are 2866 people admitted under strict clinical-epidemiological quarantine, and of these, 1968 are suspected of the disease and are continuously tested.

In the past 24 hours, Cuban institutions carried out 1895 tests and 63 new positive cases were detected, for a cumulative total of 986 since the outbreak began in early March, for an infection rate of 3.9 per cent. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Dr Francisco Duran

Nurses who tend to COVID-19 patients to receive more benefits

T

he Government has carved out a package to incentivise the group of nurses that specifically deal with patients infected with COVID-19.

That’s according to Minister of Health Molwyn Joseph who said, “our nurses will get an additional $1000 a month as a COVID risk pay.”

In addition to the money, “we are providing them with vitamins to build your immune system. We are provid-

ing them with a home away from home. I don’t like the term away from home but a facility where they can stay after work rather than going home to their families”.

He said this was requested by the nurses, adding “the Ministry is providing them with support, with transportation to do their shopping and other chores that they would wish to do because they are the ones on the frontline and with all the intensity and the anxiety, we

want them when they leave from work they can find a place of relaxation”, the Minister revealed.

“If they have to go shopping and as a matter of fact, we have spoken to some of the supermarkets to give them special privileges of accessing the supermarket rather than having to stand in line”, he added.

Minister Joseph said the Infectious Disease Control Center at the Old Holberton Hospital facility will be com-

missioned next week and “we have residential facilities for the nurses right on the spot. So, when they are through working, they don’t have to go anywhere, they sleep there, they have their facilities there, their kitchen, everything right at the same spot. This is a unique development in the handling of infectious diseases. I don’t know if there’s any such facility in the Caribbean.”

(Excerpt from Antigua News Room)

Guatemala's Health Ministry personnel, suits and masks, disinfect themselves at for Guatemalan migrants who arrived in deportation flights, as the spread of the (COVID-19) continues in Guatemala City, 2020

M

ore than 230 deported Guatemalans being held in mass quarantine at a sports centre in the Central American nation’s capital are fearful they may have been exposed to the coronavirus after compatriots flown home from the United States tested positive.

President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday a dozen randomly selected people from a deportation flight on Monday tested positive for the coronavirus when examined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Giammattei suggested more on the flight had tested positive as well. The infected deportees are interned in a hospital in Guatemala City.

However, at least 234 Guatemalan deportees are now quarantined in the Ramiro de Leon Carpio sports complex a few blocks from the Guatemala City airport, according to the nation’s migration institute, including some from the flight that arrived on Monday.

wearing protective a temporary shelter the country on US coronavirus disease Guatemala April 16,

Flights deporting Guatemalans from the United States were on Thursday temporarily suspended after reports of the mass infection.

Guarded by Police, relatives of the quarantined returnees are leaving clothing and personal hygiene products in bags that migration agents check before handing over.

Despite recommendations for social distancing to curb the spread of the virus, rooms are packed with about 20 beds and bunk beds, separated by about 1 metre.

Family members also said they are concerned disease might spread at the complex and said they had not received information about how long their loved ones would be held.

Deportees have faced tightened entry restrictions, put in place by Mayors of different departments, with some Mayors even prohibiting their entry. Other Mayors have threatened to expel families from their hometowns. (Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

19

Around the World

France reports 642 more coronavirus Coronavirus: Japan warn of deaths, total infected 19,323 – official doctors health system ‘break

F

rance on Saturday reported 642 more deaths from COVID-19 in hospitals and nursing homes over the last 24 hours, but registered new falls in the total numbers of coronavirus patients in hospitals and intensive care.

The new deaths — 364 in hospitals and 278 in nursing homes — brought the total toll in the country from the epidemic to 19,323, the French health ministry said in a statement.

However in a continuation of a trend seen over the last days the number of coronavirus patients in hospital fell by 551 to 30,639.

The numbers in intensive care meanwhile fell by 194 to 5,833.

This was the fourth consecutive day there has been a fall in the numbers in hospital and the tenth day in a row there has been a fall in the numbers in intensive care.

“The fall in the demand

for equipment and human resources in intensive care is continuing, but it is still at an exceptional level, far higher than the usual level in France,” the statement said.

France has been in lockdown since March 17 in a bid to slow the spread of the epidemic. But President Emmanuel Macron announced this week that the lockdown could begin to be eased from May 11.

Schools could gradually

reopen then, he said — but cafes, cinemas and cultural venues would remain closed, and there could be no summer festivals until mid-July at the earliest. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Health Minister Olivier Veran are due on Sunday to give a news conference on how France is dealing with the virus. They are expected to be pressed on how the lockdown can be eased from May 11. (AFP)

US stay-at-home frustration spreads: coronavirus-battered NY says may be past the worst

D

emonstrations to demand an end to stayat-home measures that have pummelled the US economy spread to Texas on Saturday as the governor at the epicentre of the US coronavirus crisis said his state of New York may finally be past the worst.

New York, which has recorded nearly half the country’s deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the highly infectious virus, on Saturday reported 540 coronavirus-related deaths for April 17, down from 630 a day earlier and the lowest daily tally since April 1.

The number of patients in the state requiring intensive care and ventilators to help them breathe was also down.

“If you look at the past three days, you could argue that we are past the plateau and we’re starting to descend, which would be very good news,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his daily briefing.

Persons protesting the extended stay at home order

Some 2,000 people were still being hospitalized with COVID-19 every day, Cuomo said, and he noted 36 of the latest New York deaths occurred at nursing homes, which have been ravaged by the pandemic nationwide.

In neighboring New Jersey, both the number of new hospitalizations and new coronavirus cases were also slightly down from the day before, Governor Phil Murphy said. But he added: “We are not out of the woods, we have not yet plateaued.”

Illinois reported 125 new

coronavirus deaths and an additional 1,585 cases but said the growth rate was slowing.

Murphy said he had a “concerning” call with Senate minority leader and fellow Democrat Chuck Schumer, who told him there was no momentum in the U.S. Congress for direct aid to states whose economies were suffering from the stay-at-home orders aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

Without federal aid, the state will see “historic” lay-

Canada, US strike deal to extend border restrictions by 30 days

P

rime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada and the United States have struck a deal to extend current border restrictions between the two countries by an additional 30 days, as the U.S. moves to exempt Canada and Mexico from export restrictions on personal protective equipment (PPE).

“This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe,” Trudeau said regarding the border deal during his daily COVID-19 briefing on Saturday.

The border was originally closed March 21, restricting non-essential travel between Canada and the U.S. Over the past month, it remained open for trade and commerce, with exemptions also granted for emergency response and public health purposes.

The initial agreement was

set to expire Tuesday.

Trudeau thanked Public Safety Minister Bill Blair for his work leading discussions with U.S. officials about extending the measures.

“It’s another example of the excellent collaboration between our two countries,” he said.

Trudeau said Thursday that reopening the US-Canada border would not be happening “anytime soon,” a day after US President Donald Trump said he hoped it would be “one of the early borders to be released.” Trudeau also referenced Canada’s continuing efforts to shore up its stock of medical and protective supplies, announcing that the production of millions of face shields — which protect the whole face and can extend the life of medical masks — is underway at a manufacturing company in Toronto. (CBC)

offs, he said.

More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month as closures of businesses and schools and severe travel restrictions have hammered the economy. But an influential research model said late on Friday the strict adherence to the orders imposed in 42 of the 50 U.S. states was a key factor behind an improved outlook for the country’s coronavirus death toll.

(Reuters)

Gunman opens fire on Brooklyn street

Video captures moment gunman opened fire on Brooklyn street, Police said

A

brazen gunman opened fire on a Brooklyn street, striking a rival in the head, video shared Saturday by police shows.

The suspect was arguing with the 39-year-old victim’s son on Prospect Place and Nostrand Ave. in Crown Heights about 7:40 p.m. on Apr. 11 when he pulled a pistol and fired several shots, police said.

Surveillance video shows the suspect walking down the middle of the street with the gun in his outstretched hand, then pulling the trigger at someone off-screen.

The victim was shot in the head but managed to take himself to Interfaith Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, authorities said.

The gunman, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, was last seen running west on Prospect Place, police said. He was still on the loose Saturday. (NY Daily News)

down’ as cases surge

Japan, which initially appeared to have the virus under control, has recorded a flurry of new cases

D

octors in Japan have warned that the country’s medical system could collapse amid a wave of new coronavirus cases.

Emergency rooms have been unable to treat some patients with serious health conditions due to the extra burden caused by the virus, officials say.

One ambulance carrying a patient with coronavirus symptoms was turned away by 80 hospitals before he could be seen.

Japan, which initially appeared to have the virus under control, passed 10,000 confirmed cases on Saturday.

More than 200 people have now died with Covid-19 and the capital Tokyo remains the worst-affected area.

Groups of doctors at GP surgeries in the city are assisting hospitals with the testing of potential coronavirus patients in order to ease some of the pressure on the health system, officials say.

“This is to prevent the medical system from crumbling,” Konoshin Tamura, the deputy head of an association of GPs, told Reuters news agency.

“Everyone needs to extend a helping hand. Otherwise, hospitals would break down,” he added. (BBC)

Trump warns China could face consequences for virus outbreak

U

US President Donald Trump

S President Donald Trump said on Saturday that China should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic.

“If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, yeah, I mean, then sure there should be consequences,” Trump told reporters at a daily briefing. He did not elaborate on what actions the United States might take.

Trump and senior aides have sharply criticized China for a lack of transparency after the coronavirus broke out in its Wuhan province. This week he suspended aid to the World Health Organization accusing it of being “China-centric.”

Washington and Beijing, the world’s two biggest economies, have publicly sparred over the virus repeatedly. Trump initially praised China’s response to the outbreak, but he and other senior officials have also referred to it as the “Chinese virus” and in recent days have ratcheted up their rhetoric.

Trump said the US-China relationship was good “until they did this,” citing a recent first-phase agricultural deal aimed at quelling a trade war between the two countries.

He said the question now was whether what happened with the coronavirus was “a mistake that got out of control, or was it done deliberately?”

“There’s a big difference between those two,” he said.

Trump also raised questions about a Wuhan virology laboratory that Fox News this week reported had likely developed the coronavirus as part of China’s effort to demonstrate its capacity to identify and combat viruses. Trump has said his government is seeking to determine whether the virus emanated from a Chinese lab.

Trump also again cast doubt on China’s death toll, which was revised up on Friday. China said 1,300 people who died of the coronavirus in the central city of Wuhan - half the total - were not counted, but dismissed allegations of a cover-up.

(Retuers)

20

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

Archie

Channel your energy into something doable. Physical (March 21- activity will eliminate stress.

April 19) If you spend time with someone who enjoys the same things you do, it will bring you closer together.

ARIES

TAURUS Sit tight until you have (April 20- everything in place. Making May 20) a premature change will limit your time and ability to take advantage of another opportunity. Someone’s motives are not honorable.

GEMINI (MAY 28June 20)

Keep working toward your goal. Don’t waste time on trivial matters. Stay focused and intent on personal improvements, meaningful relationships and a healthy lifestyle.

Romance is in the stars.

CANCER

Try something unique. A (June 21- creative idea can be the turnJuly 22) ing point in your life that encourages you to follow your heart. Pursue what excites you and brings you joy.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Peanuts

Don’t overanalyze things or let someone interfere with your plans. Keep your life simple, consider what you enjoy doing most and get on with your day. Share your feelings with a loved one.

Get together with close friends or relatives. Listen to someone with experience and utilize some of the advice he or she offers to make your life better. A change will be the pick-me-up you need.

Take care of your responsibilities and focus on personal gains. A physical challenge will be stimulating and will encourage you to live a healthier lifestyle. Romance is encouraged.

SCORPIO Explore one of your ideas (Oct. 24- and expand your interests and Nov. 22) connections. Attend a trade show or event that could help you develop a valuable skill.

Stick to the truth and stay SAGITTARIUS away from people who like to (Nov. 23Dec. 21) meddle or exaggerate. Start a project that will add to your comfort or bring you closer to a loved one.

You can think big, but CAPRICORN when it comes down to follow(Dec. 22ing through on your ideas, you Jan. 19) are best off sticking to simple, practical plans that you know you can handle on your own.

Calvin and Hobbes

You’ll have an excellent AQUARIUS idea that can turn into a lu(Jan. 20crative endeavor. Put some Feb. 19) thought and muscle behind your plan, and you’ll be happy with the results. Romance is in the stars.

PISCES You’ll have plenty of ide(Feb. 20- as, but not all of them will Mar. 20) be realistic. Don’t jump into something too quickly. Now is not the time to take a risk.

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

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21

ECB to announce postponement of England/Windies Series T

he England Cricket Board (ECB) is expected to announce postponement of the upcoming series against the West Indies, as that body continues to figure out the game’s scheduling in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The series, which consisted of three Test matches, was scheduled to begin in London on June 4,

and was to be followed by matches at Edgbaston and Lord’s, starting on June 12 and June 25 respectively; but as the world battles to contain this pandemic, playing the series in the heavily-hit England looked increasingly unlikely.

Initially, it had been suggested that the West Indies would be willing to step in and host the series, but Cricket West Indies

T&T PM ignores ousted TTFA president

– set to use Home of Football for coronavirus fight

T

rinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, has ignored the concerns of ousted Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) President, William Wallace, and has completed negotiations with the organization’s Normalisation Committee for use of the Home of Football to house those suffering from the effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Speaking at a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday, Dr Rowley said the building could accommodate up to 72 people. “It has been offered to the Government, and the Government has accepted the offer. It has been evaluated and found to be excellent, and (I am advised) that it can accommodate up to 72 persons of a category that will be designated by the Chief Medical Officer and the Minister. This is as good as any accommodation you can get anywhere in Trinidad and Tobago,” Dr Rowley has said.

He also indicated that the facility would be outfitted by the private sector, and should be available within a week.

“Within a week or so, that facility could be available; there are one or two things to be done. I may also add that the private sector has been approached to put in some outfitting items, and the private sector has come forward and has committed to ensure (installation of) whatever is required to make it comfortable and fully utilised. It is offered to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago at no cost,” Dr Rowley clarified.

The multi-million-dol-

CEO, Johnny Grave, was quick to paint the suggestion as a highly unlikely scenario.

With all professional sporting activities halted until May 28, the ECB has had to reckon with the

prospect of starting the season later than expected.

The West Indies could have the option of playing the series in two potential windows either side of their home Test series against South Africa

at the end of July. The series could be squeezed in at the start of that month, or in September, which would allow England to play their three-Test series against Pakistan, as planned in August. (Sportsmax)

Reaction to coronavirus pandemic…

Leon Bailey Foundation gets going with groceries for three communities in Jamaica

TTFA’s William Wallace

lar facility was opened in November 2019, but was temporarily closed one week after by Wallace, who claimed the facility did not have property insurance or fire approvals.

Wallace has said he does not have a problem with the use of TTFA facilities to help in the fight against COVID-19, but he believes that Government’s negotiating with the Normalisation Committee offers it legitimacy when he is the rightful head of the TTFA. “This Committee has no legal or other standing in Trinidad and Tobago. As you are aware, the TTFA was formed by an Act of Parliament (Act 17 of 1982), and is to be governed by its Constitution. The Constitution of the TTFA places the responsibility for negotiating and entering into any contracts or agreements on the President of the TTFA, a post I have held since the 24th November 2019,” Wallace has written in a letter to the Prime Minister.

The FIFA-sanctioned Normalisation Committee is being run by Robert Hadad.

C

assava Piece, Grant’s Pen, Commons, and Stony Hill are some of the first communities in Jamaica to begin benefiting from the Leon Bailey Foundation.

Leon Bailey and his manager Craig Butler, through his Phoenix Academy, had recently announced a partnership to help alleviate the inevitable hard-

ships that would come to especiall y poorer communities amidst economic downturn that is a symptom of the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

Reports are that more than 100 people from the communities have benefited from the Foundation’s gift of groceries.

“We see the needs of our people, and will do our best to help where it counts most,” said Bailey, a Jamaican winger who plies his trade for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga.

Before the spread of COVID-19 shut down football the world over, rumour had it that Bailey was the target of English Premier League clubs. This had been

rumoured of him not for the first time in his fledgling career. Chelsea FC have been rumoured as frontrunners for the star’s signature, after it was said that t h e club had b e e n

Jamaica’s Leon Bailey

preparing an £85 million bid.

However, there is also interest inside of Germany, with Bayern Munich said to be on the lookout.

While there is no football, and obviously no transfer business, Bailey has found a way to give back to his country. According to a report in the Jamaica Observer, recipients would be receiving groceries every two weeks.

The package of groceries includes flour, rice, corned

beef, salt fish, baked beans, sausages, condensed milk, cooking oil and toiletries.

“We want to help as best as we can, and are giving out packages each day, so they can at least cook food and be okay for the day, and tomorrow we come again,” said Butler, who is in Jamaica while Bailey remains in Germany.

In a video message, Bailey implored other sports stars and those who have the means to join in his campaign to help fight the spread of the coronavirus.

“Anyone who wants to help the movement and play a part can reach out, and together we can overcome this obstacle. So please, guys, be safe, stay strong, and look forward to better days. (Let’s) keep our fingers crossed and believe in God,” he said.

The Leon Bailey Foundation is a partnership involving Bailey, the Phoenix Academy, and Empire Entertainment.

(Sportsmax)

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COMOM

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

International wins leave Alesha Jackman hungry for success

By Jemima Holmes

S

Alesha Jackman, in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, revealed what enticed her to get involved in the combative sport of boxing.

port is often considered a man’s world, and in the discipline of boxing, the ring is dominated by male competitors, with the occasional woman or “I have a two carving out a small cousin path for themthat boxes, selves. and before As the I wrote Tom Jones Common song goes, this world “would be nothing without a woman Entrance, he or a girl”. had a fight at I n the Gymnasium t i m e s and the coach past, Guyanese was by us…I fans marvelled told the coach at the sight that I want to of Gwendolyn box when I fin“ S t e a l t h ished Common Alesha Jackman B o m b e r ” Entrance; and as O ’ N e i l , soon as I finished Guyana’s most success- the exam, he said, ‘Okay’. ful female boxer, dominat“To me, I like everything ing the opposition in a box- about the sport; because, ing match. While O’Neil had ever since I was growing travelled to USA, Trinidad up as a young girl, I always and Tobago, Nigeria and liked to fight and stuff like South Africa (just to men- that,” the young pugilist tion a few venues) for fights, shared. what had most fascinated More often than not, some who had witnessed sports like boxing and marher in action was to see a tial arts are casually assoGuyanese female so domi- ciated with the ability to nant and successful in this fight outside of competition. combative sport.

Because of this, Jackman

broaden one’s horizons outside of Guyana. After winning “best female boxer” accolades at the School Boys and Juniors Tournament last year, Jackman also earned gold at the Caribbean Championships held in Trinidad and Tobago last December, but her hitherto golden moment was yet to come.

Although she has been in the sport for such a short time, the pugilist from the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) Gym shared that her best moment in boxing came earlier this year, at the Ronald Wilson Memorial Tournament in Barbados.

“My best achievement was in February in Barbados. That fight meant a lot to me because it was the first time I (had) fought someone (from) out of the region. Most of the fights I had Alesha Jackman (right) alongside her Guyanese teammates during the Caribbean Championships last year were (with) people in the Caribbean; so that was defi“Having a sibling in the Pastor and his wife, Denise nitely my best.” Jackman against Abiola Jackman.

Alesha spoke about the resport is nice, sometimes and Simon Harris. Special revealed. lationship she shares with it’s tough.

When we have thanks to Ramnaresh The teenager went on to her sister in and to fight against each other, Sarwan; the Director of share her mindset as she Sport, Christopher Jones; out of the we don’t always keep the took on the Canadian Chloe composure and most peo- Paula Daniels from Action Jenkins in that lightweight ring. ple don’t believe we’re sis- Gear Plus; Coach Murray; encounter, which she won ters, because we fight hard Kiana Europe; my gym by way of unanimous deciagainst one another. But at mates Shemar Halley and sion. the end of the day, she’s my Keevin Allicock, who (are) “Firstly, in the first always two of my biggest sister and I love her.” round, -- she was a good As with many successful supporters; and the people fighter, too -- something told athletes, the teenager has in my area, who are always me (to) give up this fight, a list of persons who are wishing me good luck and and I looked at my always in her corner with stuff like that,” Jackman decoach and words of encouragement. tailed. was like, With the right work “Firstly, God is ‘No man, I my biggest sup- ethic coupled with a great can’t give up porter; (then) my coach, there is no doubt that this fight; family, especial- Alesha Jackman can emI got my ly my uncle, sister ulate or even surpass the coach, my and grandmother; achievements of the great friends and the President Gwendolyn O’Neil. One my family of the GBA, Mr. thing for certain is that this watching.’

Ninvalle; My teenager holds a wealth of So, I just coach, Sebert boxing talent, and this is had to do only the beginning of her Blake; Mona and what I had Monty Proffitt; my journey to greatness.

Alesha Jackman in action to do, and I got a better chance over her, and I thank God for that,” the teenager said.

Probed about what she took away from that valuable experience in Barbados, Jackman shared that the work ethic and practices of a particular boxer, Sophie he Premier League virus-related deaths plans to try and get Culbourne, impressed her should not be crit- in the UK has since themselves going very much. icised for discuss- risen to more than again,” Wright “I saw a girl fighting in ing how the season should 15,000. has declared. the same weight class as be concluded, says for“Lives come Sixteen of my sister, and it was like mer England striker Ian before anything, the 20 Premier when you see someone fightWright. and the Premier League teams ing and you’re amazed. It’s Top-flight clubs held League have alhave nine games like she had everything a a meeting on Friday at ways said, and they to play this seaboxer needs, and I learnt a which finishing the seacontinue to say, son, with four lot from her; and when gym son in a 40-day window [that football having 10 left. opens, I’ll try,” Jackman was one of the scenarios would reCulture shared. discussed. The Premier sume only] Secretary With the intention to be League has been criti- when it’s O l i v e r classified among the best fecised for holding the meetsafe to do so,” Dowden male boxers in Guyana in ing, but Ian Wright has said Wright. spoke to years to come, Jackman consaid people were wrong to “When you Premier densed the plans she has for “have a go”. hear peo- Ian Wright League her future in the sport.

“It seems like football is ple having a bosses this “Going to the CARIFTA the punching bag,” Wright go at football because the week, and signalled that Games; the Olympics; attold BBC Radio 5 Live.

Premier League are havGovernment was contending more Caribbean The Premier League ing meetings…they have tent for them to start championships, and getting has been suspended since to have meetings, because, contingency planning. better exposure,” she stated.

13 March because of coro- at some stage, things have However, nothing would navirus.

Earlier this to start again. be taken forward withWhen local bouts are month, it said play would “Just because footout the green light from staged by the Guyana resume only when “it is ball is a game…it’s still the Government, in acBoxing Association (GBA), safe and appropriate to do a business, just like oth- cordance with medical adone might hear of a fight so”. The number of corona- er businesses are making vice. pitting Alesha Jackman

“Football is a punching bag,” says former striker Ian Wright

Jackman and her opponent Chloe Jenkins back in February in Barbados

O’Neil still holds the distinction of being the only Guyanese woman to win a WIBA title, the consequence of a 10-round unanimous decision earned in a light-heavyweight boxing match staged at the National Park back in 2004.

O’Neil has left a legacy that only highly skilled and very courageous young women would hope to emulate in years to come. Her achievement had been a watershed moment for Guyana, but many are now wondering when again would Guyana see a talent like hers emerging.

A little over two years ago, an enthusiastic 12-year-old female emerged on the scene with an eagerness to learn all that she could about boxing. Now 15 years old, that female,

has found herself in situations where her peers would show her respect because of her passion for, and participation in, boxing.

According to the New Central High School student, however, her intention has never been to intimidate anyone.

“The males…were like, ‘I don’t want to fight this girl, she will beat me up,’ and stuff like that; but I never saw it like that, fighting among friends you know.

And the females, even if I want something from them, they would feel like I’m bullying them, but I’m not bullying them. They always gave me the request, and stuff like that,” she shared.

Aside from the respect, another perk of the sport is being given opportunities to

– rejects criticism of Premier League

T

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

Corlette’s Players to watch (Part 3)...

23

Will Smith be the future kingpin of Jaguars seam attack?

By Brandon Corlette

I

n recent times, Guyana Jaguars has been producing fast bowlers who are each making an immediate impact at the Regional level. Nial Smith was one of those players, but prior to his announcement, the likes of Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd have been standout seam options; hence Paul and Shepherd were in the West Indies squads.

In this presentation, the third part of its kind, three young fast bowlers are examined. These seamers may have the opportunity to have an extended run in the Jaguars, while some are hoping to play first-class cricket soon.

Smith, Renaldo AliMohamed and Joshua Jones are the players. Smith has already rocked the Jaguars colours in both the Super50 and Regional 4-Day formats; AliMohamed has played Super50; while Jones, the former Guyana U-19 player, is a prospective player.

Joshua Jones

A well-built figure, Jones has tasted success at the Guyana U-19 level, where he troubled numerous batsmen with his express pace. Now a soldier in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Jones has been putting in the work, and is often seen around the Guyana Jaguars camp.

Hailing from the Essequibo, Jones has been a member of winning Essequibo teams in both the Cricket Guyana Inc. (CGI) three-day and one-day tournaments. In the most recent CGI one-day tournament, Jones claimed figures of 5-18 against West Demerara, including a hat trick.

Jones remains hungry for Senior National selection.

Witnessing Jones at first hand in the nets gives one the impression of a new and improved fast-bowler who needs to be nurtured in order to become a future Jaguars fast bowler.

Renaldo AliMohammed

A former West Indies U-19 player, AliMohamed has participated in two List A matches for Guyana Jaguars in November 2019.

Having worked his way up to senior cricket level during his time at the CGI Academy, this 21-year old, who played five matches at the Youth World Cup in New Zealand, has been a dominant performer playing for the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC).

AliMohamed is a capable all-rounder who has proved himself on numerous occasions. With bat in hand, he enjoyed a purple patch in the latter part of 2018 when he churned out centuries with ease. In most of the Jaguars warm up matches, he continued to show his ability with ball in hand, surprising batsmen with his nippy bowling.

AliMohamed is certainly one for the future if remains patient and disciplined. He will be aiming to make the most of his opportunities.

Nial Smith

Smith made a big statement when he returned in the latter part of 2019 to represent the Lower Corentyne team and ripped through teams at the CGI one-day Franchise league.

He then made it to the Jaguars Super50 squad, but did not have the best of outings. He played only two matches in the Super50, but in the Regional 4-Day Smith was impressive,

taking 20 wickets in seven matches, including a six-wicket haul on debut.

He displayed great pace, and he looked a dangerous bowler when he pitched the ball in a good length area. This Tucber Park lad has also equipped himself with a deadly short-ball that often takes batsmen by surprise.

With Smith already making a name for himself in the Region, he must remain focused to keep striving for greatness when he rocks the Guyana Jaguars armory. The 24-year-old has the qualities to lead the Jaguars’ seam bowling attack in the future, when the big names are on international duty.

CPL eyeing on-schedule start …but wary of potential IPL clash

C

aribbean Premier League (CPL) organisers hope the tournament can still take place as scheduled in September, but plans are being developed to stage it behind closed doors, without overseas players, or in a “social-distancing stadium” in Barbados, if required.

With the Caribbean in lockdown and attempts to stop the spread of COVID-19 proving successful so far -- the death toll is yet to reach double figures in any of the six countries that host CPL games -- it is possible that CPL fixtures could be among the first staged globally, though Chief Operations Officer Pete Russell confirmed the league would try to avoid a clash with a postponed IPL season.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Russell said he hopes that staging the tournament as planned could be “a sign that the Caribbean is open for business again”, once the worst effects of the pandemic have passed.

“It’s good that the Caribbean has locked down early and it hasn’t been hit in the same way as the UK, for example,” Russell said. “We’re looking at different permutations in terms of what could or couldn’t happen, but the lucky thing is that we’ve got a bit of time; we don’t have to force a decision.

“I don’t think there’s any question that we’ll be able to play it. We’re only going to play if it’s safe to do so, but we’ve been approached by a lot of the countries who want it to happen. The reason [for that] is that it’s a big sporting event, and it could act as a sign or a marker that the Caribbean is open for business again.”

With the IPL season currently postponed indefinitely, it has been suggested that the tournament could be played at some stage in September or October, not least with the T20 World Cup in October in doubt. Russell has said that while the CPL would not try to compete for eyeballs with the most lucrative T20 league in the world, he hopes that the IPL could “figure out their own window”.

“We wouldn’t go up against it,” he said. “While I know the BCCI is all-powerful in these things, there has to be some sensible consideration around what players and other leagues are doing.

“I think IPL would want all the West Indian players to

be playing in their tournament; it wouldn’t make sense for them to play at the same time as CPL, when a lot of their stars are playing with us; that would defeat the objective. I don’t think they need to do that either; they can figure out their own window for sure,” he said.

If the tournament does go ahead as planned, it is possible that no overseas players would be involved, because of health concerns and restric- Crowd at Providence Stadium tions on international travel.

CPL organisers are also drawing up plans to hold games while maintaining social distancing within a stadium, a situation which would involve all players staying in the same hotels and the tournament being held at one or two venues, instead of the planned six.

“That’s what people are going to have to look at: How would a stadium look if you were to follow all the guidelines on social distancing? Of course it’s doable! For instance, in Barbados, we would probably be able to do a social-distancing stadium, and it could be at 25% capacity. There’s a lot of organisation that goes into that, but it’s viable.

“The player side is the important bit. It could be that CPL is played without international players this year, and there’s enough Caribbean talent to play without (international players) if we have to. That’s not our preferred option, but it’s doable.

“And then, obviously, you have to go through the whole medical process. Would you quarantine players, or put them all in the same hotel? How would that all work? Even if we don’t necessary use [these plans] this year, it’s vitally important that we’ve done them. That’s my biggest focus at the minute,” he said.

The picture may become clearer next week following an ICC meeting via videoconference, in which board CEOs will

discuss contingency plans; and Russell has been in regular contact with WICB Chief Executive Johnny Grave, to work out how West Indies’ fixtures might affect the competition’s staging. “[The WICB] obviously want to get back playing. They’ve got the England tour -- and I saw headlines today saying that is unlikely to take place -- and then South Africa would be the first team in the Caribbean in August. There’s so much juggling to go on that it’s difficult to know what’s going to come out.

“We know that, in the West Indies, what’s good about CPL is that we’re employing cricketers and locals, while not many of them are getting paid at the minute. We’re an important part of that economic ecosystem, as much as we are about playing cricket.

“I wouldn’t put money on it, but we could be the first cricket back, if September is our window. If we don’t play in September, then we can play probably in December.

Talking to all the owners, they definitely want to do it, and for players, it’s important by that stage that they’re getting some income.

“Our intention is definitely to play, but we would only ever do it if everything is right from a safety perspective.”

(ESPN Cricinfo)

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

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

CPL eyeing on-schedule start Pg 23

…but wary of potential IPL clash

CPL Chief Operations Officer Pete Russell

Corlette’s Players to watch (Part 3)...

Will Smith be the future kingpin of Jaguars seam attack?

Pg 23

Renaldo AliMohamed

Nial Smith

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - lezas@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.

April 19, 2020

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Home Gardening during COVID-19

2 Sunday Times Magazine

APRIL 19, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat Seeing the need for a central online location where the Guyanese populace could be updated in real-time about the ongoing battle against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), has led Deopaul Somwaru to create www.caronavirusgy.com.

“This idea started when the second case of the COVID-19 disease was made known to the public. I remember thinking that people should have access to a website that gives them a real-time update of current events of COVID-19 in Guyana. So I started working on that,” the 21-year-old University of Guyana Biology student said.

Somwaru always had a knack for creating things and is especially curious about anything in the science field. Though still pretty young, he has been building computers from since a young age but according to him, the website posed as a bit of a challenge since he is not that versed in the coding field. The homepage of Deopaul’s website He had a vision for the website and needed to accomplish that so he did what was needed to get there – he began learning the necessary coding he needed to know.

“My knowledge was somewhat limited in coding which was essential for the website I wanted. See in this day and age it is very easy to make a website with a few clicks of a button, however, the website I made wasn’t that simple. I needed to insert my own designs that I wanted and the features as well. So essentially I was learning to code as I was coding

Deopaul Somwaru

Important information on the website

Deopaul with a snake during a Biology event at the University of Guyana

Signs and symptoms of Coronavirus

(for the website) so it took me well over two weeks to actually put the website in place. This was done granted I did have an existing understanding of the java and html5 coding languages but my knowledge was just not as in-depth as was required,” he said.

In explaining how the website works, the young man related that it is very simple since it employs an Application Programming Interface (API) – which are a set of functions and procedures that allows applications to be created so that they can access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other services. With the employment of the API, Somwaru’s website is updated in realtime, which means as soon as the Ministry of Public Health releases information the site is updated with all the number of confirmed cases, deaths, recoveries, persons tested and persons

in quarantine.

“The website was officially launched on April 13, 2020. It is updated in real-time meaning as soon as new information is made available my website updates. So if the Ministry announced at 12 pm that we got 2 new cases, my website would also relay that information right away,” he explained.

The website is equipped with a self-testing feature which is a set of questions mandated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). These questions can guide persons into deciding if they need to get tested or not. Additionally, the website also links to the Public Health Ministry’s self-testing application and allow persons to access the COVID-19 hotline contact details along with a link to global stats. www.caronavirusgy.com also gives information on how the virus is spread, how you can protect yourself along with links to various blogs published by the Ministry, WHO, and the Red Cross among a whole host of other verified information.

“One feedback that I’ve gotten is, it’s very ‘graphically pleasing’. The domain is www.caronavirusgy.com and most people would say well it’s supposed to be corona and not carona but coronavirusgy and covid19gy were not available.

At the moment I am also working on a COVID-19 Caribbean tracker,” Somwaru revealed.

Somwaru’s fascination with computers began around the age of 8 when his family got their first computer. According to him, it was one of those huge desktops, a hp Compaq, and he remembers it being very expensive to service them.

Unknown to his parents, he started to tinker with it and by little, he learned about the operating system and the various hardware.

Around age 12, was when it got really interesting when the internet came into play.

“When we got the internet and that’s when my knowledge of computers became more in-depth. By 13 I had built my own computer from scratch and continued onto this day.

I’ve built over 12 computers to date, with various specifications.,” he said.

It was a combination of everything he knew that led him to build his website that now educates in a time of need.

Somwaru is also a talented photographer. According to him, people have a tendency to underestimate his abilities but that never bothers him.

“Most people that know me would quickly realize that I’m very small built especially for my age so I was always looked upon as weak or always underestimated. Not that it bothered me but even boulders have tiny cracks so it does get to me sometimes even if it’s only for a split second,” Somwaru said.

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

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 that had not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

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

The Ministry of Public Health is calling on all citizens to heed the health advisories and observe the correct hygiene measures and precautions. Citizens are also asked to always practice social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation so as to reduce the spread of the coronavirus diseases.

If anyone is experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus, they are asked to call the hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.

guyanatimesgy.com

APRIL 19, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine

3

feature

– a sustainable way to get through this COVID-19 lockdown

O

ne of the things that makes us quintessential Guyanese is the fact that we have the tendency to be self-sufficient in the times of adversities. We know how to make the little we have work and how to work our lands for the benefit of us.

In the time when the entire world is battling the effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) there is no better way to social distance or self isolate yourself than taking up some kitchen gardening. Apart from those who live in the City, almost every Guyanese have access to a little ‘extra’ land at the back of their homes.

Why not put those lands to work for you?

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations urges the safeguarding of our nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic by taking up home gardening. This is one way of controlling what we eat and how our food is grow.

The work of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations around the world suggests that kitchen gardens can supply up to half of all non-staple food needs, as well as a significant number of vitamins and minerals. This makes them an invaluable tool for food security, particularly for vulnerable families and communities that may already be struggling to meet their nutritional requirements.

Growing vegetables such as calaloo (Bhaji) can help families to improve their nutrition by following the food-based dietary guidelines of Guyana which encourages consumption of a healthy, and economical mixed diet.

We know that a healthy diet, high in fresh foods, vegetables, fruits and staples, such as sweet potatoes and eddoes will support a healthy immune system, which is especially important during times of stress and contagion. Home gardening also a valuable form of physical exercise (bending, stretching).

During this time of quarantine and selfisolation, the stress of coping with uncertainty and the “new normal” can be amplified.

Beyond physical health, kitchen gardens can also contribute to supporting good mental health particularly of elderly persons and children by providing them with a productive outlet. Planning, establishing, tending and harvesting kitchen gardens are all activities that keep the mind occupied. These can be Mahadevi’s son and husband transplanting a tree done at the pace of the individual to ensure family involved. With school out and most people working from home, it gives families a lot of time to prepare their plots to grow the food they want to eat.

Starting a kitchen garden is quite easy. First you would need to identify the spot in which you want to grow your crops. Keep in mind some crops grow better while exposed to direct sunlight while others grow better under shades. So understanding the crops which you intend to grow is of paramount importance.

After you’ve identified the spot in which you wish to have your home garden, then you will forge ahead and prepare the soil. This process may be the toughest since involves some amount of manual labour. We would make the beds and prepare our soil by introducing organic manure that it does to aid the growth of our crops.

Then comes the fun part not become stressful or of planting. We can acquire o v e r w h e l m - either seeds or seedlings from the various plant shops ad ing.

One of the have those transplanted into most impor- the prepared beds. We water tant aspects our plants twice per day and of battling the watch the magic happen as COVID-19 disease is by ensuring your immune system is in they grow so that we would tip top shape. That means that you would have to consume reap.

Bear in mind that we have foods that are packed with the required vitamins and nuto ensure that weeds do not trients.

By taking up home gardening, it not only saves us a sub- infest our beds.

The satisfaction of eating stantial amount on our food bills but, it allows us to control how our food is grown. This means the chemicals and what we’ve grown is incomgrowth accelerators large scale farmers utlise are basically parable. It is reward enough to just see our crops grow to non-existent resulting in a healthier produce.

Since social distancing is also the star of the COVID-19 their full potential.

Ever since she has been pandemic battle, home gardening is a time to get the entire

home from work, Jenny Ramdass has taken up home gardening. She says this gives her tremendous satisfaction while also cutting her food bill.

“I can pick greens from my garden and cook at any time.

I have most of the food that we eat here. We have calaloo, eddoes, seasonings, peppers, baigan and other things. It is the best we can get and it is all healthy,” she said.

Ramdass is encouraging others to use this time to get into their backyards and plant something. She notes that if we are unable to eat all that we produce then we would be in a position to help someone in need of some food.

Mahadevi Doobay-Girdhary has always been into home gardening. Now she uses her self-isolating time garden even more. She produces enough food to feed her family. What makes gardening even for special for her is the involvement of her husband and son.

If you do not have a backyard space, upcycle old bottles and containers into plant pots and use that to plant herbs and other crops such as lettuce, cabbage, peppers and others.

4 Sunday Times Magazine

APRIL 19, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

C

OVID-19 was first identified late last year as a cluster of pneumonia cases caused by a new coronavirus.

Doctors have since learned that it’s a respiratory disease, one that especially reaches into your respiratory tract, which includes your lungs.

COVID-19 can cause a range of breathing problems, from mild to critical. Older adults and people who have other health conditions like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes may have more serious symptoms.

Here’s what the new coronavirus does to your lungs.

Coronavirus and Your Lungs SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is part of the coronavirus family.

When the virus gets in your body, it comes into contact with the mucous membranes that line your nose, mouth, and eyes. The virus enters a healthy cell and uses the cell

to make new virus parts. It multiplies, and the new viruses infect nearby cells.

Think of your respiratory tract as an upside-down tree.

The trunk is your trachea, or windpipe. It splits into smaller and smaller branches in your lungs. At the end of each branch are tiny air sacs called alveoli. This is where oxygen goes into your blood and carbon dioxide comes out.

The new coronavirus can infect the upper or lower part of your respiratory tract. It travels down your airways.

The lining can become irritated and inflamed. In some cases, the infection can reach all the way down into your alveoli.

COVID-19 is a new condition, and scientists are learning more every day about what it can do to your lungs.

They believe that the effects on your body are similar to those of two other coronavirus diseases, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Mild and Moderate Cases As the infection travels your respiratory tract, your immune system fights back.

Your lungs and airways swell and become inflamed.

This can start in one part of your lung and spread.

About 80 per cent of people who have COVID-19 get mild to moderate symptoms.

You may have a dry cough or a sore throat. Some people have pneumonia, a lung infection in which the alveoli are inflamed.

Doctors can see signs of respiratory inflammation on a chest X-ray or CT scan. On a chest CT, they may see something they call “ground-glass opacity” because it looks like the frosted glass on a shower door.

Severe Cases About 14 per cent of COVID-19 cases are severe, with an infection that affects both lungs. As the swelling gets worse, your lungs fill with fluid and debris.

You might also have more serious pneumonia. The air sacs fill with mucus, fluid, and other cells that are trying to fight the infection. This can make it harder for your body to take in oxygen. You may have trouble breathing or feel short of breath. You may also breathe faster.

If your doctor takes a CT scan of your chest, the opaque spots in your lungs look like they start to connect to each other.

Critical Cases In critical COVID-19 -- about 5 per cent of total cases -- the infection can damage the walls and linings of the air sacs in your lungs. As your body tries to fight it, your lungs become more inflamed and fill with fluid. This can make it harder for them to swap oxygen and carbon dioxide.

You might have severe pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the most critical cases, your lungs need help from a machine called a ventilator to do their job.

COVID-19 Complications It can take time to feel better after you have pneumonia.

You may feel more tired than usual for a while. You might also find that you can’t exercise like you used to.

Some people had a cough even after they recovered from COVID-19. Others had scarring in their lungs. Doctors are still studying whether these effects are permanent or might heal over time.

Coronavirus History Coronaviruses are a big family of different viruses. Some of them cause the common cold in people. Others infect animals, including bats, camels, and cattle. But how did SARSCoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, come into being?

Here’s what we know about the virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and has set off a global pandemic.

A Leap to Humans Experts say SARS-CoV-2 originated in bats. That’s also how the coronaviruses behind Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) got started.

SARS-CoV-2 made the jump to humans at one of Wuhan’s open-air “wet markets.” They’re where customers buy fresh meat and fish, including animals that are killed on the spot.

Some wet markets sell wild or banned species like cobras, wild boars, and raccoon dogs. Crowded conditions can let viruses from different animals, swap genes. Sometimes the virus changes so much it can start to infect and spread among people.

Still, the Wuhan market didn’t sell bats at the time of the outbreak. That’s why early suspicion also fell on pangolins, also called anteaters, which are sold illegally in some markets in China. Some coronaviruses that infect pangolins are similar to SARS-CoV-2.

Person to Person As SARS-CoV-2 spread both inside and outside China, it infected people who have had no direct contact with animals. That meant the virus is transmitted from one human to another. It’s now spreading in certain communities in the U.S. and elsewhere around the globe, meaning that people are unwittingly catching and passing the coronavirus. This growing worldwide transmission is what is now a pandemic. (WebMD)

guyanatimesgy.com

APRIL 19, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

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ovid-19 has taken away another Guyanese messenger. But his message remains… with us, some of it printed in our hearts, some stuck in our minds, some playing with our imagination, some inspiring a school of thought in literary studies, gone with the wind The message takes many forms namely books, poems, plays, literary studies, lectures, acting roles, directing roles, one-man shows, film making, and numerous prize-winning moments. The message lives on in many forms namely son, brother, husband, father, friend, and kindred relations.

by

Gillian Smith, FAO Representative in Guyana

I

n addition to the impact on health systems, lives and families, COVID-19 is also challenging the global economy and unravelling decades of development in many countries. In the effort to reduce further health and economic dislocation, many countries are taking steps to protect their borders and their trade. In this scenario, it is vital to ensure that the global food trade continues to flow freely and in a safe way that protects livelihoods and health. This is a central message of the joint statement made on 31 March 2020, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Titled mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on food trade and markets, the heads of these Organizations - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO), QU Dongyu (FAO) and Roberto Azevedo (WTO) - called for global cooperation and action to prevent disruptions in food supply chains and trade, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement recognizes the critical interconnectedness of the global food trade. For Guyana, this message is relevant to its agrifood system, because it refers to Guyana’s ability to provide food for both domestic consumption and export earnings. Beyond agriculture production, agrifood systems have a broader economic and social perspective. It encompasses all aspects, from agriculture input supplies, to production and harvesting, processing, food distribution and trade, all the way through to consumption. This broader concept takes into consideration, the critical linkages of all stakeholders and their impact one another’s livelihoods.

Agriculture in Guyana accounts for between 15 – 20% of GDP. Estimates indicate more than half of local food consumption may be provided by local production. Agriculture also accounts for an estimated 30% of the country’s employment and drives export earnings of USD $8M. Sustainable development of the country and its economy, realization of livelihood opportunities, particularly in rural territories, also depends on the success of agriculture. We are all connected to the global and national food supply chains. This is true, whether you produce food for local sale in supermarkets or markets; produce food for export and trade, import food, provide seeds, agro-chemicals and other supplies and services to farmers; run a restaurant, bakery or snackette or prepare food for our families and friends.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a timely reminder that our food systems are vulnerable to external economic shocks, often of a global nature. This pandemic presents us with a timely opportunity to reflect on our vulnerabilities, take stock of our position and reinforce

The message is with us having been broadcasted in Guyana, throughout the Caribbean, in England and further afield.

The last time Michael Gilkes and I met, we were at his Queenstown’s residence, walking around the building with Gilkes doing most of the talking but I am unclear (from this distance) whether the conversation was about selling the property or returning to live, although I am leaning towards the latter. I am sure, however, that the area was quiet and serene and that the house was a homely looking place surrounding by huge trees filled with life, bordered on the west with shady flamboyant trees on the parapet – a place with the ideal climate for writing.

But Michael Gilkes produced wherever he went, leaving his mark and an enduring legacy. And wherever he went, Michael Gilkes kept Guyana close to his breast.

In 1972, his play, ‘Couvade’ – a dream play of Guyana, was performed at the inaugural Caribbean Festival of Arts, where he wooed the hearts of

Guyana and the Caribbean region. In 1992, he won the Guyana prize for Literature with his play, ‘A Pleasant Life’ about the life and work of Edgar Mittelholzer. In 2002, he won the prize again, this time in the category of poetry with ‘Jonestown and other Poems’. And in 2006, he won the Guyana Prize for Literature in the Drama Category with ‘The Last of the Redmen’.

Along with his creative works, Gilkes produced ‘Wilson Harris and the Caribbean Novel’, a source material with enduring value. But his work was far from finish, in 2016, he produced ‘Maira and the Jaguar People”, a film which was set in the Rupununi.

Put all these works together and they add up to a significant contribution to the enhancement and the preservation of a Guyanese Literature.

Gilkes was born in Guyana in 1933, migrated in 1961, and died in England on the 14 April, 2020.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

or introduce measures to address these vulnerabilities. Building resilience into our agrifood systems is the best way to survive shocks.

Even as we react to the inevitable challenges that evolve from the crisis, it is useful to take a longer-term view of our food systems and their resilience in protecting our food and nutrition security.

Here are some ways to build or reinforce the resilience of the Guyana agrifood system:

Monitor global market and trade trends that impact exports. The world is already experiencing an economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), joined other development and financial organizations in noting that global economic slowdown will have multiple impacts on the economies of Latin American and Caribbean countries. In a recent article it noted that the downturn in the global economic situation will weaken already anemic growth in the region, including by affecting value chains, reducing market demand for some products and drops in commodity prices. As an exporter of rice and sugar, Guyana monitors the trends in markets and the potential impact of economic downturn on rice and sugar. Exploring market opportunities, pursuing agriculture production diversification, value-added production and building value chains continues to be a good mixed strategy that will build the resilience of the agrifood system. Timely data collection and analysis in all aspects of the agrifood systems will help the country to plan better and be more agile in global markets.

Collaborate with partners. Working with regional trade partners within CARICOM is also a strategy that can mitigate market uncertainties. Through regional and other organizations, Guyana can also participate in developing common strategies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. As an example, CARICOM has convened its Member States, development and donor partners and other key stakeholders to identify and implement collective response measures to address the risks to food production and trade in the Community and to guide those of individual Member States. At the level of the Latin American and Caribbean region, FAO has supported Ministers of Agriculture in their declaration which defines concrete actions to support agricultural production and trade in the region.

Support national systems that promote the safe distribution of food. Guyana continues to have sufficient food available to meet it’s local requirements. A diverse, nutritious offering of locally produced vegetables, fruits, staples and meat continues to be available. It is a good time to ensure that distribution outlets remain available to the population, par-

ticularly to the most vulnerable who typically feel the stress of changes first and more severely. Effective monitoring of market trends and logistical changes along supply chains is necessary to identify trends that are likely to interrupt or affect supply chains or reduce the competitiveness of traditional markets.

In the longer term, a sustainable and resilient agrifood system in Guyana benefits from a multi-sectoral approach. Supply chains for both food and agriculture inputs, labour supply and availability, food production and distribution, food safety, water and land resources and other related activities are managed by numerous agencies and ministries which must work coherently to ensure a coordinated response to emergencies such as COVID-19.

It is also a good time to identify and reduce points of food waste and loss throughout the agri-food system. In the medium to long term, the strategy of diversification of food production remains very relevant.

Vulnerable groups need special support to ensure access to adequate food. Accessing the agrifood system can be challenging for vulnerable groups such as single-female headed households, rural dwellers, indigenous peoples, the elderly, the unemployed and underemployed and persons living below or on the poverty line. The Guyana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2011 – 2015, notes that in 2006, 36% of the population lived in moderate poverty while 19 %lived in extreme poverty. Although the information may not be recent, there are still varying levels of poverty in the country.

For these persons, sometimes clustered in communities, measures put in place to reduce the spread COVID-19 can inadvertently reduce their physical access to the complete range of dietary requirements as well as the affordability of food. For this reason, it is vital to ensure that local food distribution (delivery) continues to occur, including in remote communities and locations. The most vulnerable need consistent and systematic social protection interventions against the added pressures due to any changes that may occur in buying food including higher travel costs. It is also important to remember persons who will lose their livelihoods due to reduced economic activities. The International Labour Organization (ILO) recently noted that the current economic and labour crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million.

Promote consumption of nutritious food to promote good health. This is a good moment to encourage consumption of nutritious foods that promote well-being, including support for strong immune systems. Food-based Dietary Guidelines for Guyana provide good messages to caregivers and persons responsible for preparing food, about the importance of health, balanced and affordable meals. Fresh, locally produced fruits, vegetables, staples and meats are a vital part of a healthy diet that has quality nutrients and vitamins. Communicating public awareness messages about matters such as healthy eating and market arrangements will help to maintain confidence in food system, which can avoid negative perceptions.

While school attendance is temporarily suspended, attention should be paid to students who may have been dependent on school meals for part of their diets.

Alternative means should, therefore, be sought for these children to continue to get at least one healthy meal per day. This is an excellent opportunity for the private sector, particularly restaurants to fill this void until the situation returns to the new normal.

There are valuable lessons to be learned from every challenge, including COVID-19.

A resilient agrifood system will support Guyana’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 – zero poverty. All stakeholders in the agrifood sector must support resilience along the value chain to ensure that all people – particularly the poor and vulnerable, at all times – even during pandemics such as this - have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food for a healthy lifestyle. In this way, agriculture-related economic development can thrive. FAO, like other partners, will continue to work with Guyana to promote inclusive market access and will ensure that agriculture can withstand external shocks as well as to position the country to take advantage of emerging market opportunities.

6 Sunday Times Magazine

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APRIL 19, 2020

Feature

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ast week, we focused on the various types of skin burns, which could result in death to your pet, on not treated immediately and with urgency.

Today, let’s look at your pet’s confrontation with toxic (poisonous) agents and materials. As with some skin burns. (see Pet Care article – April 12, 2020) many of the poison episodes experienced by our pets are caused by our inadvertently placing the pet in harm’s way, whereby toxic substances are easily available for ingestion; or by rubbing/bathing/sprinkling the animal’s skin with toxic solutions/shampoos/powders.

Please also understand that all poisons do not have similar courses of action when entering the animal’s body. The poisons may attack either the blood and the circulatory system or the Central Nervous System.

PLACING TOXIC SUBSTANCES ON THE PET’S SKIN TO REMOVE ECTOPARASITES (e.g. Ticks, Mites, Fleas, Lice. etc.)

It is imperative that I stress that dogs do not need constant baths. (Cats clean themselves thoroughly without your assistance). Every time you complete the bathing exercise, you will notice that the first thing that your dog does, after the bath, is to rub itself in the grass/sand/soil probably to remove the intolerable scent that you have just placed on the poor animal.

For you, the smell is pleasant. After all, you don’t want your pet pooch to “smell like dog”. I am sorry to inform you that it is a dog, and regardless of what you do, it will have the odour of a dog.

The message of this contention is that dogs must not be bathed often; rather they must be combed and brushed daily, if you can find the time. This type of grooming stimulates the blood circulation in the skin and has a lot more attendant values relative to the skin’s/hair’s health. It also allows you to bond with your pet and be more attentive to the condition of the skin (lesions, tissue masses, growths or presence of ectoparasites).

However, not lastly because we live in the tropics, ectoparasites abound – many of them blood-sucking and disease-transmitting. You cannot leave these parasites on the animal’s skin.

You must take positive action in trying to remove them. And

N

ow is the perfect time to plan a kitchen garden to grow your own vegetables, fruit and herbs. Apart from the advantage of cutting your food bills, there is nothing tastier or healthier than using the freshest ingredients for the kitchen table, straight from your own garden. The popularity of growing your own in a kitchen garden has led to sales of vegetable seeds overtaking those of flowers.

Whether in a decorative potager, in patio containers, mixed in among the flower beds, or a dedicated vegetable garden, there are many ways to grow your own vegetables.

In this current weather it is the ideal time to begin creating your vegetable garden plot, but ensure you start planning well ahead. At first it may involve a little trial and error but, whether you have a large or small garden, you can add some edibles.

Decide on the size of the plot you would like to create and can manage. A large vegetable garden with room to grow everything will take a lot of work, both in preparation and also maintenance. A tiny plot with dwarf varieties, containers, or produce mixed in among flowerbeds, are better options if your available time for gardening is limited.

THE BEST POSITION FOR A KITCHEN GARDEN

To achieve the best results when growing your own, ideally choose: An open, sunny spot - preferably one that enjoys the morning sun, and around six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily. To grow quickly and well, vegetables need as much light as possible, so track the sun throughout the day to see where shadows fall.

you may very likely turn to insecticides and dangerous chemicals which are easily obtainable over the counter. The advice on usage is often given by the non-knowledgeable person who is selling the chemical. Or, you might follow the dosage rate which is printed on the container and then add a little more than what is recommended.

Here is where the problem arises. As the toxic chemical begins to act by killing, say the fleas, the latter, in an attempt escape the poison, tend to bury themselves deeper into the superficial skin layers. This creates an itch, which the pet tries to counter by biting at its own skin – thus ingesting the poison.

Besides, the poison itself is absorbed by and through the skin and gets into the blood stream. Now, if enough of the poison (chemical) gets into the blood stream, it is carried to all of the cells, tissues and organs of the body. You see where we are going with this! The physiologically important functions of the body begin to shut down – and death is approaching.

Pet owners often tell me that the sellers should have told them about the dangers of the chemicals. Well, you are dealing with a dangerous substance with a potentially deadly endeffect. Perhaps you should ask you vet about the chemicals, dosage rates and dangers before purchasing and administering them. I swear that organophosphates (Sevin dust, Supona, etc.) and Triatox and Jeyes Fluid and old engine oil kill more home animals than any of the terrible canine diseases like Distemper or Parvovirus or Leptospirosis, especially when the animal would have been vaccinated. Besides, why do you think that the person who wants to sell the chemical will be inclined to (or even be knowledgeable enough) to give you any in-depth information.

The antidote for Organophosphate poisoning is a drug called Atropine. Only your vet will have the product and be qualified to administer it.

N.B. DO NOT EVER INDUCE VOMITING IF:

* More than two hours have elapsed since the poison has been ingested. * The animal is in a state of severe listlessness, semi-consciousness or unconsciousness. * The animal is vomiting blood.

RAT BAIT

Just as the ubiquitous rodents are enticed by these nicesmelling pellets or colourful rice grains which are impregnated with poison, so are dogs (cats too, but not so much). Naturally curious, puppies especially find the hidden poison pellets (via smell)

Wind protection is also important, so a permeable barrier, such as a picket fence, hedge or windbreak can filter its effect.

Soil enriched with compost.

WHAT SHOULD YOU GROW?

Grow what you love to eat, and as much as you need. Make a list of your favourite edibles, including herbs, and consider those that are more expensive to buy. Include different varieties of vegetables you enjoy, then look carefully at your space and climatic conditions and narrow your selection.

Aim for a succession of crops throughout the seasons, with small, successive plantings every couple of weeks for a year-long harvest.

A kitchen garden is a great opportunity for growing organic.

HOW TO GET THE BEST VALUE FROM YOUR KITCHEN GARDEN

and i n g e s t these substances.

After the pet has ingested rat bait, the immediate symptoms are: Vomiting; Seizures; Incoordination of Movement.

The later symptoms are: Diarrhea, Blood in Stool, Lethargy (Listlessness); Nosebleeds; Loss of Appetite.

Even as you call your vet, you may wish to administer Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) orally so as to precipitate vomiting.

The dose is 1-4 teaspoonfuls (according to the size of the dog) every 30 minutes. This will only work, if the poison is still in the stomach.

Let me mention, in passing, that I am not a great fan of giving the animal a concentrated saline (salt) solution to create a vomiting reflex. But I suppose that if no other chemical agent is available to induce vomiting, the pet caregiver may wish to introduce the saline solution.

Similarly, giving raw eggs to the dog to encourage vomiting does not seem to be a very effective method. Raw eggs contain enzymes that destroy B-vitamins just at the time when the animal needs every nutrient in its defence arsenal to counter the poison in its system.

Of course, if you have Activated Charcoal in your Emergency Pet Medical Kit (see Pet Care article - April 5, 2020), then give an ounce immediately to pet, while you contact your vet.

Grow high-value crops.

Minimise your time, space and money while getting the maximum results.

Aim for increased yields, taste and value compared to shop-bought produce.

Growing by seed is the cheapest option and the most rewarding way of raising your own crops. Seed swap with family and friends.

Choose crops that are expensive to buy compared to growing them yourself – for example herbs, such as mint, sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary. These are easy to grow and you’ll be able to harvest them fresh for up to nine months of the year. Many herbs are perennial and will keep supplying your kitchen

Over the coming weeks, we will be discussing other forms of emergencies created by toxic encounters (e.g. Insect Stings; Scorpions/Tarantulas/ Snake “bites”/Toad Poisonings/Plant Poisonings; Haemorrhaging).

table year after year.

Select high-yield crops that take up little space. For instance tomatoes, while high maintenance and needing lots of watering and feeding, grow vertically and produce an abundance of fruit. You can’t beat the taste of freshly picked ripe tomatoes.

Grow crops that taste better fully ripened and fresh from the plot.

Salad leaves are a cheaper alternative to bagged ones from the supermarket – and less wasteful as often much of bought salads go unused. Sow a little amount of seed of cut-andcome-again varieties every few weeks for a succession of cropping.

Fruit trees will yield well once established and if short on space try cordons or espaliers against a sunny fence. Choose varieties that aren’t usually found in supermarkets.

PREPARING SOIL FOR A KITCHEN GARDEN

Test the pH levels of the soil in the chosen spot for your vegetable garden to see if it is more acid or alkaline – which can vary in different spots – and to help you select your crops.

Soils are generally on a spectrum from clay to sand, but all will need the addition of organic matter to retain moisture and nutrients.

Clay soil needs breaking up and takes longer to warm up so suits later crops, whereas light soils are good for early vegetables but will need large quantities of manure and compost to avoid water draining away too rapidly. The ideal is loose, crumbly loam, which absorbs

and holds water and nutrients, is well aerated and drains freely.

TYPES OF BEDS IN A KITCHEN GARDEN

Raised beds, filled with a loamy soil from a local garden centre, are ideal for growing small plots of vegetables, and the perfect choice if the soil in your garden is not good quality. They provide good drainage, increase soil temperature, prevent soil compaction, and the sides of the bed prevent soil washing away in heavy rain and act as a barrier to pests You can buy ready-made raised beds for your vegetable garden, or make them yourself..

SOWING AND PLANTING A KITCHEN GARDEN

A combination of plants and seeds may work best; you can pop seed trays inside on a windowsill, then pot on seedlings into the garden. Many vegetable seeds can be sown directly once the soil warms up.

Plan a programme of small, successive sowings and plantings every couple of weeks for a yearlong harvest. Edge plots with contrasting plants, including herbs and flowers, which will mask bare spots as the season progresses.

After harvesting, use fast fillers, such as cut-and-come-again salad greens.

guyanatimesgy.com

APRIL 19, 2020

Vegetable Noodle Soup Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 rib celery, sliced (about 1 cup) 1 medium carrot, sliced (about 3/4 cup) 1 clove garlic, smashed 1/4 medium onion, about 1/2 cup 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup orzo or other small pasta or egg noodles or brokenup spaghetti 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (1-quart box, or 2 cans) Small handful fresh parsley leaves, basil or dill, chopped (about 2 tablespoons) 1/2 lemon, juiced (about 1 tablespoon) Freshly ground black pepper Serving suggestion: Whole-wheat crackers and cheese sticks.

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add all the vegetables, garlic and onion. Season with the salt, and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Add the pasta and cook until slightly toasted and golden, about 2 minutes. Add broth, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook, covered, until pasta is just tender, about 8 minutes.

Stir in whatever herb suits you (or your young eater) and lemon juice. Season with pepper and additional salt, to taste. Fill thermos, pack in a lunch sack with crackers and cheese sticks and send off to school.

Three Bean and Beef Chili Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 onion, diced (1 cup) 1 red bell pepper, diced (1 cup) 2 carrots, diced (1/2 cup) 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 pound extra-lean ground beef (90 percent lean) One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes 2 cups water 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can of chipotles 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano Salt and freshly ground black pepper One 15.5-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed One 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed One 15.5-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

Directions

Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and carrots, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the ground beef; raise the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink. Stir in the tomatoes, water, chipotle and adobo sauce, oregano and salt and pepper. Simmer, partially covered, stirring from time to time, for 30 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook, partially covered, 20 minutes longer. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Pan-Seared Salmon with Kale and Apple Salad Ingredients

Four 5-ounce center-cut salmon fillets (about 1-inch thick) 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 3 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves very thinly sliced (about 6 cups) 1/4 cup dates 1 Honeycrisp apple 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino 3 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds Freshly ground black pepper 4 whole wheat dinner rolls

Directions

Bring the salmon to room temperature 10 minutes before cooking.

Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the kale, toss to coat and let stand 10 minutes.

While the kale stands, cut the dates into thin slivers and the apple into matchsticks. Add the dates, apples, cheese and almonds to the kale. Season with pepper, toss well and set aside.

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Sprinkle the salmon all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Raise the heat to medium-high. Place the salmon, skin-side up in the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes. Turn the fish over with a spatula, and cook until it feels firm to the touch, about 3 minutes more.

Divide the salmon, salad and rolls evenly among four plates.

Lentil Vegetable Soup Ingredients

1 pound French green lentils 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large onions) 4 cups chopped leeks, white part only (2 leeks) 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) 1/4 cup good olive oil, plus additional for drizzling on top 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried 1 teaspoon ground cumin 3 cups medium-diced celery (8 stalks) 3 cups medium-diced carrots (4 to 6 carrots) 3 quarts chicken stock 1/4 cup tomato paste 2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large bowl, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Drain.

In a large stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, leeks, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and cumin for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are translucent and very tender. Add the celery and carrots and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, and lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are cooked through. Check the seasonings. Add the red wine and serve hot, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with grated Parmesan.

Mixed Berries and Banana Smoothie Bowl Smoothie:

1 cup frozen mixed berries 3/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt 1 frozen ripe banana 1 teaspoon honey, optional Toppings for a Smoothie Bowl: 1/4 cup fresh blueberries 1/4 cup fresh raspberries 2 dollops low-fat vanilla yogurt 2 to 3 tablespoons granola 1 teaspoon chia seeds

Directions

For the smoothie: Combine the berries, orange juice, yogurt, banana and honey, if using, in a blender and puree until smooth.

For the toppings: Pour the smoothie into a bowl. Top with the blueberries, raspberries, vanilla yogurt and granola. Sprinkle with the chia seeds.

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APRIL 19, 2020

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Puzzles

85 Long stories ACROSS 86 Amiable 1 Rot (2 wds.)

87 Stonehenge builders 6 Tenant farm 88 Recurring melody 11 Energize (2 wds.)

16 -- measure 89 Tempus - 20 Party nibble 90 Fast-food drink 91 Reduces 21 Sighed with delight 92 Blissful abode 22 Chew the scenery 93 Get more mellow 23 Valhalla host 94 Noted groundhog 24 “Whew!” feeling 25 Green drink 95 Joey 27 Auction shout 96 -- Paulo 97 PBS benefactor 28 Found a roost 98 Gas or electric - 29 Basket willows 99 Israel’s Golda 31 Makes a choice 100 Usher’s beat 32 Nitpicks 102 Keepsake 34 Kind of van 104 Baez or Rivers 35 Heavy fliers 105 Monastic title 36 Band together 106 Lie dormant 37 Fisherman’s fly 110 Strong -- -- ox 38 Whiff 111 Truck floors 40 Adherent 112 -- voce 41 Saddle up 114 Whodunit name 42 Try to impress 115 Andre of tennis 46 Say “ugh” 118 Sheltered 48 Candied items 119 Microscope lens 49 British sailor 120 Meadow rodent 50 Atmosphere 121 Search engine finds 51 Mortarboard 54 Helmsman’s dir.

122 Eagle, to NASA (2 wds.)

125 Guide 55 Dallas cagers 127 Sub -- (secretly) 56 James Earl - 128 -- nous 57 Experienced 129 Loose garments 58 Wearing a cowl 130 Frisky mammals 60 Delight in 61 Break off 131 Troop truant 132 Gave, as an RX 62 Garage jobs 133 Wire nails 63 Used poor judgment 134 Strapped for cash 64 Major conflicts DOWN 65 Has lots of status 1 Druid’s tongue 66 Hindu rope-climbers 67 Envelope abbr.

2 Surfing the net 3 Enticing 68 Lucy Lawless role 4 Orangutan 69 Avian homes Clear the windshield 70 He made a deal with the 5 6 Most wily devil 7 Least typical 71 Ms. Shriver 8 Windy City airport 72 Baja Ms. 9 -- (come clean) 73 Dictatorial 10 Gridiron stats 74 Ward off 11 Show-biz mag 75 Bear follower 12 Returnable bottle 78 Regions 13 Fixes corn 80 Southpaw 14 Western tribe 81 Live by one’s - 15 Cosmetic samples 82 Allot 16 Flung 83 Crabby

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY’S WORD -- TABLOIDS (TABLOIDS: TAB-loyds: Small-format newspapers, often with sensational news.)

Average mark 43 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 57 or more words in TABLOIDS? TODAY’S WORD -- TABLOIDS tail tidal toad toil told aboil adios alit also alto bail bait bald basil bias

biota blast blat bloat blot boast boat boil bola bold bolt laid last list load

lost obit idol iota dais dial distal dolt sabot said sail salt silo silt slab

slat slid slit slob slot soda soil sold solid stab staid stolid

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of "s," such as "bats" or "dies," are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a "d" or an "s" may not be used. For example, if "bake" is used, "baked" or "bakes" are not allowed, but "bake" and "baking" are admissible. 4.

Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

17 Turmoils 18 Fission source 19 They may be split 20 Studies all night 26 Reserves, as a table 30 Left Bank river 33 Heavy hydrogen discoverer 36 Zeroes in on 37 Less convincing 39 At bay 41 Scream and shout 42 Poker pair 43 Refuges (2 wds.)

44 Ship from Valdez 45 Push down 47 Et, for Hans 48 Ties up the phone 49 Can’t get enough of 51 Stingy 52 Ventricle neighbor 53 Trunk 55 Red giant in Cetus 56 Wharf 57 Bering Sea birds 59 Thieves’ hangout 60 Pre-Tina Turner

61 Brash 93 Fixed a loose board 62 Praise to the skies 94 Green veggies 64 Rains on 95 Lasso 65 Breaks 98 Clutter 66 Groupies 99 Internet hookup 68 Dentist’s photo (hyph.)

100 Unaffected 69 What Jack Sprat ate (2 101 Give a lift? wds.)

103 Liege’s subject 70 Wine and dine 104 Yelled insults 72 Medieval laborer 105 Bumped illegally 73 Get going 107 Formed a gully 74 Pay-stub acronym 108 Fictional Queen 76 Too-too 109 Looks curiously 77 Fresco base 111 Traffic-jam noise 79 Curb 112 Cousteau invention 80 Bock cousin 113 Synthetic fabric 81 Determination 115 Mystique 82 Ground cover?

116 Raise veggies 83 Shaman’s quest 117 Part of a.k.a.

84 Bronco-riding event 118 Formic acid makers 85 Custodian, briefly 119 Olfactory input 86 Roulette color 123 Famous numero 87 Awaits carving, as a turkey 124 Moon, in verse 89 Get along (2 wds.)

126 Dog days in Dijon 90 Stubble site SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE 7 91 Part of UCLA