Guyana Times Sunday July 12, 2020

Caricom Reparations Committee Chair calls for Guyana’s elections' declaration on recount results Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4344 guyanatimesgy.com

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THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

PRICE

Front Page Comment

How many times will the Guyanese people allow the PNC to mock not only our Constitution and our political institutions, but us as a people? This confounded nonsense of using all manner of very transparent stratagems to subvert the will of the Guyanese to elect a Government of their choice in the March

WHAT'S INSIDE:

2 elections, is now more than “eye pass”, as we say in the vernacular. The latest outrage is particularly egregious and it is high time that those in authority – conferred upon them by our sovereign people via the Constitution – rise to the need of the hour and act to prevent the PNC from pushing us into becoming a failed State.

Lowenfield illegally discards elections' recount figures

…uses Mingo’s fraudulent figures to submit Elections' Report …as APNU/AFC Commissioners boycott meeting …new meeting set for Monday See story on page 7

Only democratic solution for Guyana is recount results – OAS

Pages 12 & 26

…Guyana waited long enough for result – UK Minister

GECOM has constitutional mandate, duty to fire Lowenfield – PPP Page 10

Lowenfield’s illegal act

$120 VAT INCLUDED

No need for protest or violence P12 – Phillips on deceitful CEO report …urges Guyanese to give GECOM chance to arrive at solution

Masks finally P26 coming off, identity of rigging cabal being laid bare – Chris Ram

Don’t feel hurt, congratulate Dr Irfaan Ali ꟷ GCCI to P22 Granger …tells de facto president to be a statesman, concede defeat

Ganja farmers arrested, fields destroyed P8

Page 10

Report shows deep-seated plot to fraudulently install an APNU/AFC Govt

Page 3

…insult to Guyanese, int’l community ꟷ Ali

Glenn Lall P24 takes Govt to court over land giveaways …seeking order quashing Finance Minister's rushed deals

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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

Sunday, July 12 – 10:00h – 11:30h and Monday, July 13 – 11:00h – 12:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, July 12 – 09:05h – 10:35h and Monday, July 13 – 10:10h – 11:40h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Lowenfield’s illegal act

Report shows deep-seated plot to fraudulently install an APNU/AFC Govt …insult to Guyanese, int’l community ꟷ Ali

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

WEATHER TODAY

Expect light rain showers and thundery showers during the day. Partly cloudy skies will prevail at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East South-Easterly to Easterly to East North-Easterly to North-Easterly to North NorthEasterly between 1.34 metres and 3.57 metres.

High Tide: 09:25h and 21:54h reaching maximum heights of 2.29 metres and 2.25 metres.

Low Tide: 15:24h reaching a minimum height of 0.94 metre.

PPP/C President-elect, Dr Irfaan Ali

T

he report submitted

by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, which uses the already discredited declaration of embattled Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, has been described as a slap in the face of Guyanese by People’s Progressive Party/ Civic’s (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali. Ali made these comments on Saturday, shortly after Lowenfield submitted a fraudulent report to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, for her to use to declare a winner of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Dr Ali did not mince words as he denounced Lowenfield’s actions.

According to Ali, Lowenfield in justifying his fictitious report deliberately distorted the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling to suit his own ends.

“What Mr Lowenfield presented to GECOM today as his report, is an insult to all Guyanese. It’s an insult to all observers of the March 2020 elections. It is an insult to all political parties that contested those elections. It is an insult to the international community,” Ali said. He pointedly said that Lowenfield ought to understand that “we operate in an environment in which information flows at a very rapid pace. Not only Guyana, the world at large is in possession of the same CCJ ruling he’s trying to distort. He can’t continue to op-

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erate as though he doesn’t understand it. It is clear Lowenfield has an agenda, by any and all costs to have a declaration made in favour of APNU/AFC.” According to Ali, Lowenfield’s actions were as if he is a “law unto himself” and will not be tolerated. He noted that the PPP will continue to peacefully push for the will of the people to be respected.

“We must not allow all Guyana to suffer because of this selfish individual. This singular person is exposing all of Guyana to sanctions that are unimaginable. As a country, as a people, we will suffer. This cannot be the future we want for our children, for Guyana.”

Selfish actions

Moreover, he expressed sadness that at a time when Guyana as a nation should have been focusing on COVID-19, the selfish actions of a few continue to derail any attempts to help those who are impacted directly and indirectly by the virus. According to him, the very stability of Guyana is at stake.

“All of this is occurring at a time when our country and our people are faced with many difficulties. The COVID pandemic, for example. Our efforts, our attention, should be focused on ensuring that we combat this COVID pandemic. Bring relief to families, businesses, to ensure that we stem the spread of COVID and support communities that are affected.”

“But the selfish acts of

GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield

De facto President, David Granger

a few is distracting us as a nation from focusing on the real issues and problems. As I speak to you, many families are without an income, food, the ability to pay for essential services. We cannot pursue policies to put back money in people’s pockets and secure their livelihood, return life to normalcy, stabilise our country.”

The national report had shown that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 217,920.

Justice Singh had written to Lowenfield and instructed him to prepare a final report based on the recount.

Instead, Lowenfield had submitted a report invalidating over 115,000 voters based on unsubstantiated allegations of dead and migrant voters, made by the APNU/AFC. Lowenfield’s actions caused an immediate uproar and the varying sides found themselves in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for the Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case.

Among other decisions, the CCJ ruled on Wednesday

that the Chief Elections Officer must produce a final elections report as ordered by the Chair, Justice Claudette Singh. The CCJ also ruled that Lowenfield’s report which arbitrarily disenfranchised voters was invalid and that the concerns raised by the APNU/AFC coalition must be addressed in an elections petition.

The GECOM Chair wrote Lowenfield again, instructing him to submit his report so that the President could be declared. In his fraudulent report he submitted on Saturday, Lowenfield included the fraudulent declarations of embattled Returning Officer for Region Four Clairmont Mingo, which inaccurately shows that the PPP/C gained 80,920 votes while the APNU/AFC received 116,941 votes in Region Four.

The inaccuracy of those numbers was widely proven during the recount exercise, as it was unearthed that Mingo heavily inflated the votes in favour of the APNU/ AFC to give them a false victory.

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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

This confounded nonsense

T

he highest court in the land, the CCJ, has ruled on all the objections and issues that were raised by the PNC in our High and Appellate Courts to the events that followed the orderly and efficient elections of March 2. These incorporated the blatant manipulations by Reg 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo in front of the world to the SOP’s that had him fraudulently adding votes to the APNU/AFC slate while reducing those of the PPPC. Even though Mingo was in contempt of court for not adhering to the legal requirements for his count, GECOM CEO Lowenfield used the fraudulent figures to submit a Report to the Commission. These, the Chairwoman held in “abeyance”.

A Recount of the entire country’s 2339 Ballot Boxes was agreed upon by the Caretaker President Granger and Opposition leader Jagdeo. The start of the Recount was interrupted so that an order (60 of 2020) could be gazetted to provide constitutional and statutory authority and would be conducted by officers of the GECOM Secretariat. The Recount confirmed that the SOP’s provided immediately after the elections by the PPPC and other parties were substantially accurate and that Mingo had committed fraud.

We do not have to follow the PNC’s labyrinthine manoeuvres through the court system – first the High Court, then the Court of Appeal and finally, the apex Caribbean Court of Appeal - in their desperate attempt to prevent a declaration by the Commission of the elections results based on the recount numbers. When the CCJ finally ruled that it was the recount numbers that should be used, the PNC fell back, as they had done in the beginning when they realised they were losing the elections, to using a strategically placed loyalist in the GECOM Secretariat to throw a spanner into the works. Then it was Mingo, on Saturday, it was Lowenfield.

Instructed by the Chair, who utilised the legal reasoning and constitutional and statutory authorities cited by the CCJ, Lowenfield was supposed to present his Report. This he refused to do, at a meeting which the govt Commissioners did not attend, replying instead that he needed “clarification” on several points in the instructions. These points had already been litigated and pronounced on by the CCJ and he was told that the directions needed no gloss, and he should proceed as originally instructed. Lowenfield yesterday submitted his Report using the fraudulent Mingo numbers, which had been exposed as such, by the recount. These numbers show the APNU/AFC as winning the elections. This is the “eye pass”.

What is ahead? The GECOM Chair has already scheduled a meeting for tomorrow morning at 11 am. Even if the Govt Commissioners do not attend the three Opposition Commissioners and the Chair would constitute a quorum which could then consider the CEO’s report which is “advisory”, reject it and then take judicial notice of the Certificates of Recount that had been designated by the CCJ as certifying the valid votes cast, to make their declaration.

The recount showed the PPP winning by over 15,000 votes. his is the decision of the people of Guyana in accordance with Art 9 of our Constitution, the supreme law of our land: “Sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives and the democratic organs established by or under this Constitution.

After the declaration by the Chair, however, the Chancellor must swear in the PPPC’s candidate Dr Irfaan Ali.

Provocations from 'Grangerites'

Dear Editor, One more day! This has been the strategy of the Granger cabal since 21st December 2018 one more day in power; one more day to file a legal challenge; one more day to spend; one more day to bankrupt us; one more day to sell state assets; one more day to plunder; one more day to frustrate the will of the people; one more day to defy all those who seek to keep the peace and restore democracy (for it has been lost).

The last 568 days have tested the patience, restraint, and decency of the Guyanese people. "We are a peaceful people, struggling the struggle, and we don't ask for trouble, just ask around", so goes the first stanza of Dave Martin's patriotic song Not a Blade O' Grass, and much of it holds true since the song first hit the airwaves in the '70s.

But these are neither ordinary nor easy times. There is a real hunger in hundreds of communities; it is painful to watch people struggling the struggle with very little hope of providing decent meals for their families.

Those who can help do so sometimes wondering if they

would be the ones needing assistance tomorrow.

The very best of Guyana has been demonstrated in the way we have been our brothers’ keepers; conversely, the very worst has been shown by the Granger cabal’s callous disregard for the populace. The cabal's energy is directed to plunder, the plight of the people be damned! The two billion dollars (and counting) COVID hotel/hospital conversion is a money pit from which funds are being siphoned while precious little is being done to alleviate national suffering. This inaction by the cabal has not gone unnoticed, and pressure/anger is building to spillover point.

Guyanese need to remain a 'peaceful people', for any devolution into violence would lose us within a forest dark, with the straightforward pathway all but lost, to paraphrase Alighieri.

David Granger has enlisted a cast of shameless characters in his quest to continuously delay the transition of administration to Dr. Irfaan Ali and the PPP/C, who were the clear winners of the elections of 2nd March 2020.

Keith Lowenfield's sub-

mission of Mingo's numbers is a show of contempt for all the persons who participated in the elections: the voters; the GECOM staff at every polling station; the party polling agents; the observer missions from the OAS, Commonwealth, Carter Center, CARICOM, UK, USA, Canada, AMCHAM and the PSC. Granger then added insult to injury by engaging with CARICOM as "the most legitimate interlocutor".

Maybe Granger needs the CCJ to tell him what his own words mean.

It is an accepted truism that 'A stitch in time saves nine', and Guyana needs that 'simple interrupted stitch' in the form of personal sanctions for all of those seeking to benefit from electoral fraud. Without urgent action from international actors, this peaceful country would one day descend further into this hellish 'inferno' to a level lower than the current limbo. If/when that happens, we may as well replace the 'Welcome to Guyana' sign at Timehri with 'Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate'.

Let us all come together and teach the Grangers

of this world the meaning of the proverb, ‘Bucket ah guh ah well every day, one day di bottom ah guh drop out; meaning: If you repeatedly engage in the same risky behaviour every day, eventually it will end in disaster for you.

Editor, I cannot stress enough how desperately many are trying to control their actions in the face of the daily provocations from the 'Grangerites'. Those incitements from Granger's acolytes are aimed at creating tensions and causing an eruption of violence.

The callous attempts to use the Black Lives Matter movement to cause division among Guyanese is reprehensible.

I end with a warning by way of a quote from Dante's Divine Comedy; it is intended for those who promote violence: "But fix thine eyes below; for draweth near The river of blood, within which boiling is, Whoe'er by violence doth injure others."

(Canto XII, lines 46-48, page 61)

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Burnhamism taken to greater heights and remodelled by Granger Dear Editor, The late LFS Burnham would have been so proud of his prodigy. David Granger has taken Burnhamism to such an unprecedented height, and has remodelled it to such an extent as to make it indelible in the hearts of Guyanese for generations to come. Granger is trying to rig the 2020 Elections in full view of the world.

For clarity’s sake, Burnhamism is synonymous with the worst form of dictatorship experienced by Guyanese for 28 years, from 1964 to 1992. Social and economic conditions worsened almost on a daily basis during that period, and it was even criminal to put food on the table; and Guyanese used whatever means were available to them, mostly illegal, to flee to all parts of the globe. This exodus ironically saved the day for those Guyanese friends and relatives who remained at home.

The barrels and the remittances began to flow in as Guyanese flowed out.

Then, from 1992 to 2015, Guyanese experienced a steady socio-economic growth as Guyana moved from a low income and highly indebted country to a middle-income country with increasing improvement in the per capita income and the standard of living. The PPP/C had rescued Guyanese from starvation and harsh poverty with strategic social and economic policies, as more Guyanese became homeowners, vehi-

cle owners, and owners of an assortment of appliances which began to make their lives more comfortable.

Guyanese, during that period, could have travelled on vacation to countries such as the USA and Canada; whereas, formerly, they could have only ventured there by ‘back track’ means, endangering their lives and very often resulting in broken homes.

Guyanese were once again living with dignity and self-respect, and were being respected abroad.

Then came 2015. Some Guyanese wanted ‘change’, and fell for the false promises sold to them by the APNU and AFC. They were to get “significant increases” in wages and salaries; sugar workers were to get 20 per cent, and rice farmers were to get $9,000 for a bag of paddy. At the same time, they sang the ‘corruption mantra’, which was swallowed by some as well. Guyanese had forgotten what had happened to them under the PNC for 28 years, and felt that the AFC would keep these corruptors in check.

In fact, Ramjattan had said that if the PNC got out of line, the AFC would side with the PPP/C to support a vote of no-confidence. I knew that was the biggest bluff because I had seen, since 2012, that the AFC was more corrupt than the PNC, and I knew that this unholy alliance would spell only disaster for Guyana. I had begun

a relentless crusade against the AFC, but many ‘top guns’, who later defected, personally attacked me, forgetting that the PNC is never capable of change.

Many youths thought that the horrible narratives related about the 28 years of PNC dictatorial rule were just tall tales, especially when they were urged not to look into the rearview mirror by corruptors like Trotman, Moses and Ramjattan. After 2015, these youths had a rude awakening, and reality kicked in.

They decided to change this in 2020.

All the productive sectors came tumbling down, and corruption became a feature that escalated daily, even though the Coalition had given its ministers 100% salary increase so that they would not ‘thief’.

But not only that, the coalition ministers have squandered our oil patrimony even before First Oil was drawn. These corrupt practices continued even though they have been a caretaker government for more than a year now, and had lost power since March 2nd this year.

They gave away prime lands and contracts worth billions to their cronies even as they continued to illegally remain in government. The electorate rejected them, but they clung to the reins of power as they galloped with great alacrity from one failed legal attempt to another in their quest to remain in office.

Basil Williams squandered more than a billion dollars in nonsensical court cases as the country was plunged deeper into acute emotional distress and economic deprivation.

If there was any doubt that Granger is unfit to be the President of this country, that has swiftly been dispelled as the ‘Sanctimonious Gangster’ continued to lie and deceitfully shift his position, knowing fully well that he lost the 2020 elections.

Further, the current criminal action of Lowenfield to present fraudulent reports of the results of the March 2020 elections, and his refusal to abide by the directions of the Chairperson are dictated by the PNC, led by Granger. Apart from benefiting financially, Lowenfield feels that a Granger dictatorship would exonerate him.

Our dear land of Guyana has been under siege by Granger and his band of domestic terrorists, as we have been held hostage for more than four months while they openly flout the rule of law in Granger’s quest to become the country’s second dictator.

The International community must step on the accelerator to condignly stamp out this form of terrorism, as Guyanese are held captive and their hopes of a bright future become dimmer with each passing day.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 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

Appalling example of The rigging cabal desperate; end is near, President Irfaan Ali’s time is now how a public entity should not be run Dear Editor, By now the whole world has witnessed and rejected an overt, clumsy, brazen, barefaced attempt to thief the elections in Guyana. There is dismay, justifiably so, that 132 days later, the winner of the March 2 elections, the 9th President of Guyana, has not been sworn in, the winning party has not been able to form the new government, the new Parliament is still to be convened.

So that it is clear, the PPP convincingly won these elections freely and fairly. Since 2015, it was the third overwhelming electoral win for Bharrat Jagdeo’s PPP. The PPP won more than 60% of the votes in the 2016 local government elections, more than 66% of the votes in the 2018 local government elections; and now, more than 51% of the votes in the March 2,2020 elections in which a dozen political parties contested.

Dr. Irfaan Ali is the 9th President of Guyana, even if the “truth hurts”. We knew these facts by early Tuesday, March 3, and it is therefore more than annoying that, 132 days later, President Irfaan Ali has not been sworn in.

President Irfaan Ali has not been sworn in because David Granger’s rigging cabal are still determined to thief the elections. But the rigging cabal have discovered that thieving the elections has been more difficult than they imagined. Their gamble that the world would stand by quietly and permit electoral rigging in Guyana has backfired, backfired like a tsunami. Granger’s rigging cabal had anticipated that outside the PPP, everyone would give them a pass. They

had banked on a myth - that the new political parties and civil society, including the private sector, hated the PPP more than they detest electoral rigging and dictatorship. They had gambled that the media in Guyana and the Caribbean would turn a blind eye to the rigging and dastardly manipulation of the results because they hated Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP more. They had imagined a world in which CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the OAS, the ABCE countries and the international observers would have preferred Granger and his version of the PNC, even if they had to pretend they did not see any rigging. After all, the Commonwealth, CARICOM, the OAS and the ABCE countries had stood by quietly, leaving the struggle up to Cheddi Jagan’s PPP during the Burnham and Hoyte dictatorships.

Granger’s PNC even assumed that the international stakeholders would do the same for his PNC. Clearly, Granger and his rigging cabal miscalculated, miscalculated big time.

David Granger was never a hostage of the rigging cabal, he was the leader of the rigging cabal all along. He and his rigging cabal never imagined they would have had to confront a united Guyanese population; a determined, resolute international partnership, all united to stop anyone from thieving the elections.

Guyana lived with dictatorship for 28 years under Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte’s PNC, and the last five years under David Granger’s PNC. Granger tried to disguise his PNC with a new name -

APNU+AFC - but the stripes have been exposed.

Amidst the frustration and dismay that most Guyanese and international stakeholders have experienced since March 2, as Granger’s rigging cabal tried and tried again to thief the elections, seemingly never giving up, there is also a more determined partnership, led by the Guyanese people, to stop dictatorship and to allow democracy to prevail.

We should not despair; this shameful period of thuggery and electoral fraud will come to an end sooner, rather than later.

It became obvious since early 2018 that Granger was setting up a rigging cabal. His illegal appointment of James Patterson to chair GECOM was one of the signal acts that he and his version of the PNC were already deep in the planning for a rigged election. Thus, besides those in APNU+AFC who were the directors of the rigging machinery, there was the rigging arm of the Commission with the three Commissioners and Lowenfield.

It was Lowenfield who permitted Clairmont Mingo to tamper with the Region 4 results. Hundreds of Statements of Poll from the March 2 counting of ballots were misrepresented

by Mingo, allowing him to submit two Region 4 declarations on March 5 and March 13. On March 14, Lowenfield used the March 13 Mingo fraudulent declaration to submit a report to GECOM, with APNU+AFC illegally declared the winner of the March 2 elections.

Since then, Lowenfield has submitted three more reports, all with different numbers. So the elections have

had seven declarations, only two with the same numbers - the Statements of Poll results from March 2 and the Recount, both show the PPP won with more than 233,000 votes.

These were the only two declarations based on actual ballots. All the others were based on manipulations of bogus spreadsheets by Mingo and Lowenfield.

The Chair of GECOM has rescheduled the Saturday aborted meeting to Monday at 11.00 hours. This meeting will be legally reconstituted whether or not APNU+AFC commissioners choose to attend. Hopefully, the GECOM Chair would lead the Commission to reject the fraudulent Lowenfield report.

At this meeting, she has to censure Lowenfield and appoint another officer within GECOM to prepare the legal report, a report reflecting the true results. With the true results in hand, she should schedule a declaration meeting. While APNU+AFC commissioners would likely boycott that meeting also, she can then reschedule that meeting for the next day, when she needs only three commissioners to legally declare the winner of the elections in accordance with the laws of Guyana.

It is not easy, but because it is the right thing, it is hard.

The only way for Guyana to move forward with progress and prosperity is to travel on the road of democracy.

After 132 days, enough is enough. This coming week, we must swear in Guyana’s 9th President - President Irfaan Ali. Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Odd things about modus operandi of ‘bicycle Police’ Dear Editor, Each time I am in downtown Georgetown, I observe several officers of the Guyana Police Force riding around on bicycles.

Normally, this would be something that is commendable and reassuring for our citizens in terms of improved security in the commercial centre of our capital.

However, there seems to be a couple of things that are odd about their modus operandi.

First, these officers seem much keener on chasing and stopping vehicles to check on the validity of those vehicles’ fitness certificates, insurance certificates, and drivers licences. That is a function of officers of the Traffic Department, rather than that of a bicycle patrol unit.

In other countries, bicycle Police officers are used to traverse congested roadways, pursue fleeing suspects through a variety of

environments, and quietly monitoring or following suspects. The ability to arrive at a crime scene first or sneak up on individuals engaged in criminal activities makes bicycle Police officers instrumental in patrolling the downtown areas of cities. They also provide greater visibility and accessibility in crowded urban areas like parks, concerts or malls, allowing officers to immediately respond to emergencies, including providing first-aid to injured or ailing members of the public, and arresting and detaining criminals until transportation can be arranged. But not so here in Guyana.

Even more perplexing is their attire. While Bike Patrol officers wear bike helmets which help protect their faces, heads, and brains if they should fall, our officers are wearing uniform berets and forage peaked caps. Instead of using bike patrol shorts that

are lined with chamois pads, they use long uniform trousers in this blistering heat.

Instead of using shirts that are fade resistant and made with moisture management fabric and reflective tape, they are instead using standard uniform shirts; and worse, they place over those shirts special law enforcement tactical vests with specialised pockets on the outside and lining on the inside, which probably make them ten times hotter than if they were wearing tactical duty belts.

I cannot fail to mention their footwear; they can be seen pedalling around in heavy duty military boots, instead of using athletic bike patrol shoes.

Never can they be seen wearing tactical eyewear, although they are exposed to spills and splashes, long days in sunlight, projectile objects, and people who simply don’t cover their mouths when they cough. This is in

spite of the fact that eyes can be a portal to diseases like COVID-19. Research also suggests that prolonged ultraviolet (UV) exposure can cause painful eye injuries and contribute to cataract formation and other long-term injuries.

What is bewildering is that these special bicycles that they ride, 170 of them along with accessories, were donated by the United States Government along with specialised bike patrol training provided in Las Vegas Nevada; yet, one has to wonder why the Force could not have outfitted them properly to do their jobs professionally and with pride, rather than having them suited up in conventional uniforms with archaic equipment, riding around like in the old days before Policemen used motorcycles and cars.

Sincerely, Ravindra Thakur

Dear Editor, It is a very worrying situation when an organisation believes that it has the authority and influence to disrespect and disregard established laws of the country while it seeks to impose its own rules and regulations, codes and charters upon others.

Over the years, the Georgetown Municipality has become accustomed to breaking the rules in every shape or form, and getting away with it whilst demanding citizens, vendors and business persons abide by its municipal by-laws.

Its arbitrary increase in property rates, by a whopping 10 percent three years ago without it being gazetted, was and is unsanctioned, unlawful and criminal.

Indeed, property owners in Georgetown need to demand a refund of the increases charged from then to now, as the relevant order bringing the increase into effect has only now been gazetted. There can be no retroactivity to 2017 of an increase published in 2020.

Their argument that the body: The Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, is an autonomous body and has the authority to make decisions in relation to levying property rates is puerile. If the body is so self-governing, autarchic and independent, why did it have to publish the order in the Official Gazette at all?

Ironically, it is this same Mayor and City Council that declared it did not have the

authority to institute a curfew or lockdown in the capital city, but had to wait on the Ministry of Public Health to implement recommendations on social distancing and hygienic practices to battle the coronavirus.

But citizens should be aware that not only was the 10 percent increase acrossthe-board on property rates throughout the city illegally instituted, but a whole raft of other fees and taxes -- including the illegal container tax; the new burial maintenance fee; the commercial waste disposal fee; increased public health fees for barber shops, hairdressing and cosmetology salons; market fees and many, many more – were illegally instituted.

In fact, even that body’s recent announcement of the granting of an amnesty on interest for outstanding general rates for 2020 is completely illegal. The body: Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown, does not have the authority to grant amnesties and waivers, but can merely offer discounts in special circumstances. A discount is very different from an amnesty.

How much longer will the Georgetown Municipality be allowed to be such an appalling example of how a public entity should not be run? Such ineptitude, clumsiness and chicanery at a municipality is frightening Sincerely, Anu Bihari

SEE ADDITIONAL LETTERS ON PAGE 27

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lowenfield illegally discards elections recount figures …uses Mingo’s fraudulent figures to submit Elections’ Report …as APNU/AFC Commissioners boycott meeting, new meeting set for Monday

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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n clear defiance of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair’s orders, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield once again plucked numbers from the skies and submitted them as part of his final elections report. A move that flies in the face of the Commission after he was clearly directed to utilise the numbers emanating from the National Recount of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The recount numbers show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 polls with 233,336 votes cast in its favour. The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizenship Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360. It showed that a total of 460,352 valid votes were cast.

However, when Lowenfield submitted his report on Saturday – after failing to do so on Friday, he utilised the numbers, not from the National Recount but rather those coming from the Returning Officers for the various Electoral Districts. Those numbers included the controversial declarations made for Electoral District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) by embattled RO Clairmont Mingo.

Mingo had inflated the APNU/AFC numbers by over 19,000 while deducting over 3000 votes from the PPP/C. By submitting the report with clearly fraudulent numbers, Lowenfield essentially altered the will of the Guyanese electorate to reflect a win in favour of the APNU/AFC – the party he seemingly is in collusion with.

Lowenfield, attempting to justify the concocted numbers he submitted, explained that he is executing his constitutional functions pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) by advising the Chair on the results to be declared.

“In this regard, I have prepared and submitted the results of the General and Regional Elections in accordance with my statutory and constitutional duties and all applicable laws,” he said in the preamble to his fraudulent report.

Based on the new report, the APNU/AFC garnered 236,777 votes while the PPP/C secured 229,330 votes. It also revealed the numbers for the smaller parties as follows: ANUG – 2275; CG –2026; LJP – 2569; PRP – 862; TCI – 680; TNM – 246; and the URP – 353. That showed that a total of 475,118 valid votes were cast.

Now, these numbers mean that the APNU/AFC won the elections and secured 33 seats in the National Assembly while the PPP/C got 31 and the joinder list of ANUG, LJP and TNM secured 1 seat to round off the 65 seats in the House.

The original declarations by the Returning Officers for the Districts, recount figures, Lowenfield’s report, and increase/decrease as per the Lowenfield report are outlined in the tables below:

hereby requested to prepare and submit your report on the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections by 2 pm on 10th July 2020, using the valid votes counted in the National Recount as per Certificates of

votes were cast and if this is to be compared with the numbers presented by Lowenfield then 14,766 votes just made their way into his report. Ironically, the APNU/AFC, after hearing of the CEO’s concocted report

capacity of Chief Immigration Officer, to verify their claims of persons not being in the jurisdiction.

The Top Cop relented and provided the Commission with names they claim were out of the country but a number of those persons have since come forward to debunk the claims.

It is quite ironic that the APNU/AFC, after levelling all these baseless allegations in an effort to discredit the results of the elections, would call for Granger to be sworn in on the manipulated results emanating from the process.

Granger parades himself as the bastion of “honesty, decency and integrity” but has seeming closeted those qualities when he chose to completely ignore the blatant fraud perpetrated by both Lowenfield and Mingo. What may be an even bigger slap in his supporters’ faces is the fact that he continues to lead them down the path of disappointment by maintaining that the APNU/AFC won the elections and the PPP/C is trying to steal the victory.

Third strike

Based on Lowenfield’s report submitted to GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh on Saturday, he deducted a total of 161 votes from the PPP/C and another 263 from the APNU/AFC. Ultimately, the CEO discarded 521 votes based on the results generated from the original declarations.

However, Justice Singh was pellucid in her instructions on July 9 and 10 as to which set of results Lowenfield should use.

She said in her letter on Thursday instructing him to present his report: “In accordance with this Section, and pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act Cap 1:03, you are

Recount generated therefrom.”

Lowenfield did not present his report on Friday, instead, he asked for clarity on the Chair’s instructions. She told him that her initial letter is pellucid and that he should follow the instructions as outlined.

Nevertheless, Lowenfield did what he thought was best and steered away from the recount numbers and reverted to his own concocted figures.

Based on his numbers presented, one can conclude that Lowenfield conjured those numbers from thin air since they are not reflected in the original declaration nor the Caricom observed recount.

Valid votes

The National Recount figures show that 460,352 valid

immediately began their campaign of calling for the swearing-in of the incumbent David Granger.

The APNU/AFC seemingly forgot their contention, all throughout the 33 days recount, that the March 2 elections were plagued by voter fraud. The party, through its agents, went on a fishing expedition – as described by the Caricom high-level team, to find persons whom they allege are either dead or were out of the jurisdiction on polling day.

The agents made wanton allegations without the submission of actual proof to support their claims. What they did was to gather some death certificates and cajoled Justice Singh into writing to the Police Commissioner, in his

This would mark the third strike on Lowenfield’s file if one was to chronicle his blatant disregard for Justice Singh and by extension the Commission’s advice.

Back in March, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said “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”.

If one is to add two and two then the result would lead to Lowenfield since he seems to be the one stymieing the process.

Justice Singh had earlier instructed Lowenfield to submit his final report, utilising the numbers from the National Recount, on June 18. But June 18 came and Lowenfield did not submit his report. Instead, he sat in his office and awaited the arrival of Court Marshals to serve him with a Notice of Motion filed by APNU/AFC supporter Eslyn David.

Following the ruling in that Motion, Lowenfield on June 23 presented a report containing numbers which do not reflect those certified at the National Recount which was deemed credible by a high-profile team from Caricom. In fact, the manufactured figures included in Lowenfield’s then report did not even correspond with the numbers he had concocted in his first report to the Chairperson.

In the first report, Lowenfield claimed that the APNU/AFC won 125,010 votes while the PPP/C won 56,627 – disfranchising some 60 per cent of the electorate on mere allegations that their votes are “invalid”. Lowenfield’s June 23 report validates votes he would have previously invalidated; the CEO presented numbers that give the APNU/AFC coalition 171,825 votes while the PPP/C gained 166,343 votes.

How he arrived at those figures is unknown and he is yet to address this.

Once more, Lowenfield’s actions prove that he is bent on altering the elections results in the favour of the APNU/ AFC.

Missing Commissioners

At Saturday’s meeting where Lowenfield presented yet another fraudulent report, the APNU/AFC-appointed Commissioners – Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman – failed to turn up to discuss the contents. This caused the meeting to once again be suspended owing to the lack of a quorum.

Back in June, when Lowenfield was expected to submit his report, the very Commissioners, except Alexander, pulled the same stunt and failed to show up.

According to Article 226 of the Constitution, the quorum for a meeting of the Commission shall be the Chairman and not less than four members of the Commission – two each appointed by the President and the Opposition respectively.

“If at any stage of a duly summoned meeting, a quorum is not present due to the absence of members without good cause to be determined by the Chairman then the meeting is to be adjourned for two calendar days. If the meeting was to determine the declaration of the results of the presidency, and there is no quorum, then the meeting shall be adjourned to the next day.

If at the adjourned meeting there is still no quorum then, the members then present, being not less than four members including the Chairman, shall be deemed to be a quorum and any decision made at any such adjourned meeting shall be valid and binding,” the Constitution states.

Despite this constitutional provision, Justice Singh has failed to act in accordance.

Instead, she scheduled the next meeting for Monday, July 13.

It remains unclear if the Chair would accept the contents of Lowenfield’s report or write to him, for the fourth time, requesting that he act in conformity with her instructions.

There have been mounting calls for Lowenfield to be dismissed and according to Article 161A (1) of the Constitution: “The Elections Commission shall be responsible for the efficient functioning of the Secretariat of the Commission, which shall comprise the officers and employees of the Commission, and for the appointment of all the staff to the officers thereof inclusive of all temporary staff, recruited for the purposes of boundary demarcation, registration of persons and elections and shall have the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control over such staff.”

It means that Lowenfield, like every other GECOM staff, is answerable to the Commission and the Chair is vested with the power to terminate their employment. It remains unclear as to why she is yet to heed calls and terminate Lowenfield’s employment since he has been in defiance of the Commission umpteen times.

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Ganja farmers arrested, fields destroyed

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father and son are now in Police custody after cops found a quantity of “freshly harvested” cannabis at their house on Saturday.

The discovery was made at about 09:15h at Sugar Hill, Wauna, North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini).

duo’s residence to investigate a larceny report when they stumbled upon the marijuana.

The 55-year-old man along with his 30-year-old son, who are both farmers, were at home at the time of the discovery and were immediately detained.

The quantity of canna-

Another day…

W

A section of the cannabis cultivation

Some of the cannabis being destroyed by fire

Reports reaching this publication revealed that Police ranks visited the

bis found weighed 12.74 kilograms.

Meanwhile, another

farmer was also nabbed moments after he was linked to the cultivation of thousands of cannabis plants.

According to the police, based on information provided, a joint team of police and soldiers went at a location in the Sugar Hill area, North West District, and found about an acre of cannabis cultivation.

The field is said to have had about 2000 cannabis

plants measuring between two and eight feet in height.

The plants altogether were estimated to weigh 364 kg. A 37-year-old farmer was detained in a camp erected on the same plot of land.

Police confirmed to this publication that the three men who have reportedly admitted to cultivating the prohibited plants are in custody pending charges.

…another PNC poke in the eye hoever thought this attempted elections’ heist by the PNC couldn’t get more ridiculous just wasted a thought. Let’s just say this one more time, shall we?? This is the PNC we’re dealing with, OK? Just expect they’ll do absolutely whatever it takes to cling on to power – even stupid things like Lowenfield re-presenting the Mingoed numbers!! And it’ll soon be over, trust your Eyewitness. Not because “time longer than twine” or any such nostrum, but simply because the PPP is a historical force whose time has come once again to be at the helm of the country.

All the PNC is doing is to ensure that when they aren’t allowed to get near State House for the next decade, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.

Pariahs! Surely, in one of those short courses army types are subjected to, Granger must’ve learnt that man crept out of the Stone Age, where fellas just bashed folks on the heads to take over their caves.

Cause that lifestyle was “nasty, short and brutish”, we invented a “social contract” that guided how we’d deal with each other when we differed.

And it’s not just us in Guyana…it’s the entire world, and they’re not going to stand by and watch the PNC upset the order. Not because they love us so much, but because they know these kinds of things have a bad habit of spreading if they aren’t nipped in the bud.

Think of it, If Granger and his PNC are allowed to get away with their heist of the elections and the government – even though the US, UK, Canada, EU, Commonwealth, Caricom, and even the Mandela Elders said they gotta get back in line – don’t you just see tinpot dictators becoming the rage all across the Caribbean Sea and Latin America??

And that’s the bottom line, dear readers. While we’re all getting increasingly pi55ed off with the PNC pulling one stunt after another to deny the PPP its just desert, we mustn’t get carried away and think of doing anything radical to stop them in their tracks. This is exactly what they want, so they can declare a state of emergency to “keep law and order”. We don’t need to go that route.

The World Order has devised a procedure to deal with these recalcitrant cave men who would haul us back into the Stone Age. It’s called “sanctions”. And that’s what’s gonna be dropped on the PNC like a ton of bricks if they dare disobey the declaration the Iron Lady will be issuing tomorrow.

Yep! That’s right. Expect tomorrow to finally hear Irfaan Ali declared the winner of the Presidential sweepstakes!!

…another dollar lost We can gauge the PNC’s desperation to cling onto power from their willingness to let their primarily urban supporters lose all the economic gains they made under the PPP’s 23 years, and slide back into the absolute poverty into which Burnham had delivered them. Some folks have forgotten that since you can’t have backyard gardens or fish in trenches and such like, folks in “town” – unlike in country – gotta have a steady stream of cash to keep body and soul together.

And that stream’s been cut short – first by the slowdown in the economy since 2015, and now by the COVID restrictions. A whole lotta folks in town are getting very impatient with the stunts Granger’s been pulling. And that’s why you don’t see them coming out in the staged demonstrations in front of State House, which the PNC has arranged the last couple of days.

Look at the video and you’ll see the same recycled “rent a crowd”! The PNC can jump high and jump low, but they can’t convince their supporters that they aren’t slip slidin’ away.

Thing baaad!

…another COVID hit The PNC’s shenanigans have helped to keep the fight against COVID-19 below the level that’s demanded for victory.

Truth is, folks are getting tired from the double whammy.

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

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GECOM has constitutional mandate, duty to fire Lowenfield – PPP

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he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is not holding back when it comes to its calls concerning Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, and its latest is for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to act forthwith and dismiss him.

This call comes after Lowenfield, on Saturday, knowingly submitted his final elections report containing fraudulent numbers. The party described Lowenfield’s gross disregard for the Commission as “possibly his final fraudulent act.”

GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield

It pointed to Articles 161 (a) and 162(1)(b) of the Constitution which adequately empowers the Commission to take actions to ensure the proper func-

tioning of the body. PPP reminded that Article 162 (1) (b) states that GECOM can issue such instructions and take such actions as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provision of the Constitution or any Act of Parliament on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with the electoral process.

Further, Article 161 (a) provides, “the Elections Commission shall be responsible for the efficient functioning of the Secretariat of the Commission, which shall comprise the officers and employees of the Commission, and for the appointment of all the staff to the offices thereof inclusive of all temporary staff, recruited for the purposes of boundary demarcation, registrations of persons and elections and shall have the power to remove and to exercise disciplinary control

over such staff.”

Under the term of Secretariat staff, the Chief Elections Officer falls and they can take the necessary action against him for his insubordination.

“Therefore, GECOM has a constitutional mandate and duty to dismiss Lowenfield forthwith, for his fraudulent conduct, his dereliction from duty and his vile insubordination and to immediately appoint another Chief Elections Officer to carry out its directions contained in its various letters to Lowenfield,” the PPP said.

The PPP noted that by using embattled Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo’s numbers as part of the final report, Lowenfield supports the APNU/AFC in its efforts to rig the March 2 elections.

The party also accused the pro-government GECOM Commissioners – Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman, of using their seats at the Commission to aid the rigging of the elections.

They alluded to the fact that the APNU/AFC is attempting to contort the recent Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruling in the case of Irfaan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al, to suit their narrative that the Court disregarded the recount order - Order 60 of 2020.

“Of course, the judgment contains no such pronounce-

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

ment. In fact, the Court thoroughly examined the Recount Order and endorsed the recount process, making it clear throughout the judgment that it is the results produced by the recount process that must be used by the Chief Elections Officer.

The only orders granted by the Caribbean Court of Justice are as follows: (a) Special leave is granted to the Applicants to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal dated 22 June 2020; the Appeal of the Appellant is allowed; and the said decision of the Court of Appeal was made without jurisdiction, is invalid and of no effect,” the PPP reminded.

As a consequence of the invalidation of the Appeal Court’s ruling, the CCJ also declared that the report of the Chief Elections Officer of June 23, 2020, is of no effect.

Hitting out at the Commissioners, the PPP

said that “only a demented mind can interpret the Caribbean Court of Justice’s ruling as invalidating the National Recount process.”

Judge shopping

PPP added that they are in receipt of information which suggests that the APNU/AFC is “Judge shopping” in their efforts to get some form of judicial assistance to execute their illegal, fraudulent design to alter the will of the electorate.

It reminded that no court can direct the Commission on how to perform its functions nor usurp the functions of the Commission, once the Commission acts intra vires its constitutional mandate.

The party called upon the Judiciary not to allow its processes to be abused and manipulated to perpetrate a fraud upon the Guyanese electorate.

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“In office, but not in power”

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fter the 1992 elections, I posed a question based on a famous quote by the leader of the PPP, Dr Cheddi Jagan, that when they were last in government, between 1957 and 1964, they “were in office, but not in power”.

I delineated what I called the “Anatomy of Power” in the Guyana the PPP was inheriting after almost three decades of PNC rule as the context in which the answer as to whether they would be able to govern should be situated.

What Jagan meant, of course, was that while he ostensibly had “authority” as Premier of the Government, the organs of the state – which possessed real power - were all still controlled by the British Government. This distinction between the State and the Government is still not appreciated by most citizens today in the struggle between the PPP and PNC. The former represents the full panoply of the power institutions in a country, and has the ultimate resort of Ravi Dev force to ensure compliance with its policies. The Government, (and this is what political parties now compete for), is simply that part of the State that initiates policies, which the other arms of the State — such as the army, the Police, the judiciary and the bureaucracy, et al — are supposed to implement.

In a word, the Government has formal “authority”, but has “power” only to the extent that these other arms recognise the legitimacy of its directives and act to ensure compliance.

In or out of office, the PNC always possess power.

This lack of power in the first PPP government was illustrated, for instance, when Janet Jagan resigned as Home Affairs Minister in protest against the refusal of the Police and Volunteer Force (army) to prevent the pogrom that ended in the complete ethnic cleansing of the Indians from the mining town; the razing of 220 houses; the murder of three, and the rapes and assault of dozens.

During the PNC regime between 1964 and 1992, they had augmented the armed forces to possess one of the highest army-civilian ratios in the world.

In the years since 1992, I have periodically reprised the question, since the premises on which it was based were never addressed – especially after the December 1997 elections.

The PNC’s violent protests, of course, segued into the direct attacks on the state and “PPP supporters” by “armed bandits”, “African Freedom Fighters”, or “African Resistance Fighters” as they were variously called.

As early as 2003, even the bureaucratically-oriented World Bank was forced to summarise what we had dubbed since 1990 as the “Indian Physical Security Dilemma” as the reason for the violence.

“Despite the fact that the ruling party (PPP) enjoys majority control of the Legislative and Executive branches, the political system has been characterised by deadlock. This is in part due to the fact that the Afro-Guyanese, who are the main supporters of the Opposition PNC, are dominant in the public sector generally, and in the Police and defence forces in particular. By virtue of its control of the capital city Georgetown, the Opposition also frequently paralyses the city to further its political agenda”.

In the last sentence, the World Bank was referring to the “disruptive power” possessed by the PNC. By this is meant the recognition by any PPP government of the potential, or likelihood of particular groups looting, burning etc in the capital of Georgetown. In the 1960s, 1992, 1997 and subsequently, the PNC performatively demonstrated their disruptive power.

By the impressively titled “Rule of Anticipated Reactions”, the PPP has had to take into consideration the reactions of all the above-mentioned groups before it makes any policy initiatives. By tailoring its policies depending on its reading of the reactions of these other groups, the PPP demonstrates conclusively that these groups have real power, rather than itself.

Reacting against a perceived Indian-Guyanese economic dominance and claims of the PPP extrajudicially killing (pick a number) African Guyanese, the PNC has justified to its AfricanGuyanese base that they have to seize and keep power by any means necessary. It does not matter it was the PNC that actually destroyed the African economic base during its rule: power is sought for itself as a salve to the deprivations of their supporters.

How different would it be if the PPP were to obtain office without changing the power relations??

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Only democratic solution for Guyana is the recount results – OAS

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n what can be considered its most powerful missive yet, the Organisation of American States (OAS) on Saturday made it pellucid that the only democratic solution in Guyana’s current electoral impasse is for the recount results to be respected.

The OAS – an international continental organisation of which Guyana is a member – firmly asserted that no other figures that have been unilaterally derived can be the basis of the final declaration of the country’s presidential elections.

Furthermore, the OAS – which fielded an electoral observer mission for Guyana’s March 2 polls – blasted those who are acting against the interest of democracy, saying that it is past time for the newly elected Government to assume executive office.

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

Officer – can have any place in the final determination of results. A new electoral process is also an unacceptable solution,” the OAS said in its statement in response to the latest developments in Guyana.

The remarks were made in light of the decision by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to

Retired Justice Claudette Singh, specifically directed him to use the certified recount results to prepare and submit the final report.

And, according to the OAS, there can be no justification for this action.

The international group stated: “As intimated in our statement of July 10, this confirms that the Chief Elections Officer is acting in bad faith and contrary to the interest of democracy in Guyana.”

In that July 10 statement, the OAS had urged GECOM to remove from the electoral process, persons whose actions display clear partisan bias.

This is not the first time that the GECOM CEO has attempted to alter the results of the elections. Prior to this incident, Lowenfield submitted an elections report which unilaterally invalidated over 115,000

Let us be very clear – the only democratic solution for Guyana at this time is respect for the results of the National Recount.

No other figures – neither those prepared prior to the recount, nor those recently invalidated by the Caribbean Court of Justice, nor any others that may be unilaterally devised by the Chief Elections Officer – can have any place in the final determination of results. A new electoral process is also an unacceptable solution – OAS “Let us be very clear – the only democratic solution for Guyana at this time is respect for the results of the National Recount. No other figures – neither those prepared prior to the recount, nor those recently invalidated by the Caribbean Court of Justice, nor any others that may be unilaterally devised by the Chief Elections

submit his final elections report with fraudulent numbers that do not reflect the will of the people.

In fact, Lowenfield’s action is in clear defiance of the instructions which he was constitutionally bound to execute, since the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM),

votes. Before this, he would have supported, on two occasions, the fraudulent declarations made by the Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Clairmont Mingo. In fact, it is Mingo’s fraudulent figures that the CEO used to compile his latest unlawful report to the Elections Commission. In all of those

No need for protest or violence – Phillips on deceitful CEO report …urges Guyanese to give GECOM chance to arrive at solution

OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro

cases, the votes have been altered to give a false victory to the incumbent APNU/ AFC coalition which has been refusing to accept defeat and is exerting all efforts to cling on to power.

In light of this, the OAS contended that “it is past time that the current leaders of Guyana comply with their democratic responsibilities and allow the newly elected Government to take its place.”

Referencing Article 1 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the OAS reminded that “the people of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.”

The OAS said in the coming days, its General Secretariat will report to the OAS Permanent Council on these and other recent developments in Guyana.

The OAS had previously stated that a credible conclusion of the 2020 elections is essential if Guyana is to remain a democracy.

The organisation had also pledged to continue to support the efforts of the people of Guyana towards this end.

PPP/C President-elect, Dr Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister-elect, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips

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cknowledging that many Guyanese are dejected and frustrated with the latest deceitful actions of those desperately clinging to power, Prime Ministerial Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Mark Phillips is pleading with them to remain calm.

His appeal came on the heels of the submission of a fraudulent report by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield – a move that is considered to be another blow to democracy and has resulted in a further delay to an already protracted electoral process.

With the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) slated to now meet on Monday to discuss the way forward, Phillips is urging the public to be a little more patient.

“Continue to be calm, there is no need for any protest or any violence. Let us allow a couple more days for GECOM to bring to an end this electoral issue and to have a declaration so our

President-elect can properly assume his office as President of Guyana,” he stated on Saturday during a virtual press conference alongside the party’s Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali. “Let us be patient over the weekend and let us give GECOM another opportunity to arrive at a solution so we can declare the elections and have our President sworn in as soon as possible,” Phillips reiterated.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Dr Ali, who stated: “my fellow Guyanese, as you continue to exercise patient [and] tolerance, I ask you to remain peaceful. I ask you to remain respectful of each other, because the end results of this all must be that democracy triumphs.”

Meanwhile, the PPP/C’s Prime Ministerial Candidate lamented the current situation the country finds itself in, criticising those who continue to hold the country at ransom.

TURN TO PAGE 22

FEATURE

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By

Lakhram

A

Bhagirat

t 17 years old, most people are now beginning to think about the kind of future they want to have. They are now getting over finishing high school and contemplating whether they would want to join the workforce or continue their schooling at a tertiary institution.

What is strange is a 17-year-old creating a business while in school. The creation of a business is a humongous task that involves all levels of planning.

It is impressive that a 'mere' teenager can successfully plan and implement their business idea.

One such impressive teenager is Britney Valladares – a student of The Bishops' High School.

Valladares has been a trailblazer all her life, so accomplishing great tasks can be considered as her second nature. This does not mean that she does not work hard, rather she works even harder at getting things accomplished.

During the lockdown implemented to control the coronavirus pandemic, Valladares used the time to hone her craft as well as build her business – BV Creative Design.

The young entrepreneur recently sat down with the Sunday Times Magazine and explained the driving force behind her seeking to excel. She related that she has always loved designing and creating unique images and it was from there that she birthed the vision of creating her own designing business.

Through BV Creative Design, Valladares has the opportunity to provide an extensive selection of design services to help turn her clients’ visions into reality, delivering everything from branding and visual design to materials creation.

“No matter the brief, each client of mine enjoys service tailored specifically to their needs. Grow your brand through the art of design whether it is flyers; posters; newspaper, social media

ads; menus; brochures; programmes branding and/ or logo design. Creating a strong visual appeal is essential, and my design services can play an integral

role in successfully promoting every business.

From the initial concept to the final product, I work hard to bring my clients’ visions to life,” she said.

One may say that the

teenager’s all talk, but she just responds with the quality of her work.

She sees her field of business as one that is important to businesses as well as the consumers, since persons shop with their eyes.

She is hopeful that her services can aid in the building of brands, particularly those of small businesses, since those establishments do not have much of a marketing budget. She said that those very small businesses are her target, because uniquely designed logos, business cards, and other marketing items can immediately catch the attention of people, thus enabling companies to establish their brands.

Valladares had no idea she wanted to get into entrepreneurship, but knew she needed to do something to establish herself as a driving force in society. She was aiding her friends with designing flyers and editing pictures, and it was from that the opportunity to create a logo for a new business emerged. She took up the challenge and was encour-

a g e d to formally establish herself, which she did.

However, the journey was not an easy one.

She categorises her challenges into three categories namely – lack of mentorship, poor time management, and a crowded market.

Having somebody you can lean on when major decisions have to be made, or even just when you need a sounding board who has already been there and done that, is super useful. But not everyone will have access to mentors. For Valladares, help came from Internet sources, books, and various articles and podcasts.

Growing one’s company is a time-consuming task and the young Valladares learnt this the hard way.

She was forced to cut distractions while sacrificing time with friends and doing the things she loved.

She noted that her sector is a crowded one so she knew the sacrifices that needed to be made.

“So, you need to put yourself in a potential customer’s place and see how you stack up. What makes your company different? What makes your products special? What makes your brand unique?

Why would someone choose you over your competitors?

When it comes to your competitors, you need to hit the right balance between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Don’t define yourself solely in relation to your competitors. You need to be confident about what you’re bringing to the table, too,” she expertly noted.

Valladares has been and continues being an inspiration for her peers. She has been a stellar debater, a Youth Ambassador for the Ministry of the Presidency, a Youth Parliamentarian and a counsellor for her peers.

It was her vast exposure as well as personal battles that led her to be a peer counsellor. She even opened a hotline so that persons in need of a friend could call.

“ I just have a line where people can reach out for guidance, advice or simply if they need someone to talk to. Whatever you're facing, I can help you with, whether it be studies or life - all in a secure confidential place. I know what it's like to want someone to reach out to for advice and just a push in the right direction and sometimes it's hard to ask people you know for it, that's what I'm here for. The line is +592-622-3369.

“Many young people are struggling with how they feel. They are having problems with friends, family, or school; they are anxious, depressed, angry, or scared and need to talk to someone, but find it difficult to talk to people they know.

My services can help them talk things through, support them without making them feel judged, and in confidence (unless they disclose that their personal safety is at risk). Advice services can make a positive difference in their lives,” she explained.

For now, Valladares is focused on balancing her Associate Degree in Law studies at The Bishops' High School and her business. When asked what she would say to a young person contemplating entry into the world of entrepreneurship, this is what she had to say: “Stay focused, keep your eye on the result you're looking/ intending/hoping for and don't stop before the miracle. If we were all walking a tightrope or on a zip line, of course, we wouldn’t stop quarter of the way across or down, am I right? Don’t stop before the miracle simply means keep going for what you want and don’t let anything stop you. Be tenacious. Stay focused, stay on point, and you'll be okay.”

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Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). Both her parents have died within a short space of time and she now lives with her elder siblings at their Richmond Housing Scheme home.

Manesha recently sat the

even two years later when her father passed away, losing his battle with cancer.

She is yet to get over the deaths of her parents, but has been working exceptionally hard to make them proud. She is hope-

constantly worrying if she will be able to attend school and pursue her dreams of entering the medical profession.

The 11-year-old is different from many of her peers at the CV Nunes Primary School on the

National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, but her journey to get there is one that was exceptional. In 2016, her mother, Anita Persaud died leaving her motherless. It was not

ful of passing her NGSA examinations and getting placed at a good secondary school so as to fulfil her dream of becoming a doctor.

Young Manesha said that the driving force behind her desire to

By Mohanlall Suelall

very young child just wants to be carefree and live life one step at a time.

However, this is not the case of young Manesha Lall. She has to be

become a doctor is that she lost both of her parents at a tender age and her only wish was she could have helped them. Now, all she wants to do is have the knowledge to be able to save lives.

Manesha said that after the death of both of her parents, she had to live with her two elder sisters and one brother and many days they could not have afforded to send her to school. Their resources were limited and she would have to stay away from school. But, she says, now whether they could afford it or not, she is making sure that she goes to school to achieve her dreams and help take her family out of poverty.

The resilient young lady said that as the youngest child in the family, she is making sure she takes up the opportunities that her elder siblings could not have.

Her siblings could not have completed their schooling and chase after their dreams owing to poverty. She is hopeful that her parents are guiding her and with hard work and sacrifices, she will be able to conquer.

After witnessing the suffering of her parents, Manesha said that she knew the pain of parting with those you love the most and as such, she developed the strength,

courage, and determination to work harder toward achieving her goals. She believes that while her life story is sad, it gives her the opportunity to work harder than normal and makes her stronger than most persons her age. She is hopeful that at the end of this, she is able to come out victorious and can be a role model for other young people in similar situations.

“Poverty is hard, but it is helping me to become a stronger person and I have the self-confidence, determination, and courage to make a change for the better. I want to make sure that we have a better life and I am determined to get that. I will work harder than anybody else. I will study harder and qualify myself. I will make sure that I fulfil my dream of becoming a doctor and helping those people who need to be helped,” she said.

“I know what poverty is. No one cares for you, what you live like. It is like you are invisible and people look down on you. They does scorn you and want trample on you. But you have the power to rise and break away from poverty by becoming serious about your dreams and making sure you follow them.”

Child Advocacy Centre opens in Kwakwani

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he United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) in collaboration with the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Blossom Inc and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10, on Wednesday, opened a one-stop “Child

Advocacy Centre” (CAC) in Kwakwani, for the reporting and treatment of child sexual abuse.

The Centre will offer specialised services that were designed to respond to cases of child sexual abuse efficiently by ensuring that children have access to a child-safe and child-friendly

space to share their stories, and to get the support they will need to help them overcome the trauma they have suffered.

“Being child-centred, the one-stop facility ensures that survivors do not have to recount their experiences any more than necessary,” UNICEF explained.

The new Child Advocacy Centre is expected to serve the community of Kwakwani and other Upper DemeraraBerbice communities that were not able to access specialised service, due to the distance.

The Centre will be opened to all communities, including migrants. It will also provide a hub for training to ensure that the CAC concept can be extended to other communities.

As of June, the number of reports of child sexual abuse in Guyana exceeded 200, and access to services is critical, given the possible increased rates of violence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A report issued by the United Nations in April warned that children risk being among the largest per cent of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While children have been largely spared from the direct health effects of the disease up to this point, the crisis is having a profound effect on their overall wellbeing, including a heightened risk of witnessing or suffering violence and

The one-stop “Child Advocacy Centre” in Kwakwani

abuse.

“We are delighted to open this Child Advocacy Centre in Kwakwani to respond to and prevent child sexual abuse. This will ensure that children and families in the hard to reach communities in the Upper Demerara-Berbice can receive this critical service,” said Founder and Managing Director of Blossom Inc, Ayodele Dalgety-Dean.

“Blossom Inc is passionate about ensuring that child victims of sexual abuse receive the best possible service, and this means that we must take services to children,” UNICEF explained.

Meanwhile, UNICEF further underscored that they collaborated with the organisations to ensure the continued operation of five other Child Advocacy Centres in the country – including at Linden, Mabaruma, and Georgetown.

“The services have gained the trust of the communities," said UNICEF Country Representative Sylvie Fouet.

They further added: “These essential and core child protection services are critical in ensuring that there are safe spaces, especially in times of COVID-19".

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OUR PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AS STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

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Do you practise environmental stewardship? nvironmental stewardship refers to the responsible use and protection of the natural environment through conservation and sustainable practices. There are three types of environmental stewards: * Doers - these are the ones who go out and help the cause by taking action; * Donors - these are persons who help the cause financially; and * Practitioners - they work on a day-to-day basis to steer government agencies, scientist, stakeholder groups, etc. towards a stewardship outcome.

Why should you be a steward of the environment?

Human activities have impacted the natural environment since the first toolmakers learned to make fire. As our population grew, the impact on the environment increased. Climate change, pollution, declining fish populations, and the ever-decreasing range of wild ecosystems are the most obvious impacts. To combat this impact, and to take climate action, becoming a steward of the environment is the best choice for you.

How can you become an environmental steward?

Starting with these few tips will make you a good example of an environmental steward.

Now, let’s start!

1: Reduce the carbon footprint of your food The production of some foods takes twice as much energy as others; for example, frozen foods will use more energy to prepare for cooking as compared to using fresh foods. Many practices and processes used in the production of food are harmful to both people and the environment; thus, it is essential that we are informed about the sources of the food we eat, and the manner in which it is produced.

2: Reduce your meat consumption Regular consumption of meat is harmful to our health. There are numerous negative environmental impacts of meat production that stem from improper agricultural practices, particularly from livestock rearing. Pesticides are sprayed on food that livestock are fed, and the water they drink is contaminated with chemicals from fertilizer washed in the waterways. Additionally, large scale cattle rearing requires large tracts of land, and forested areas are often cleared for this purpose.

3: Compost your kitchen and yard waste Our environment is full of waste that is both natural and artificial. Refuse from vegetables and fruits can be added to the farm or kitchen garden, which would form compost that enriches the soil, thus providing nutrients to the crops. Composting ensures that valuable materials do not end up in the landfill, contributing further to the climate crisis by releasing methane.

4: Avoid wastage Avoiding waste of water and electricity is not only good for the planet; it is also good for our pockets.

5: Cut down on the use of single-use plastics and micro-plastics Purchasing and using reusable water bottles, food containers, and cotton bags as substitutes would aid the reduction of plastic in the environment. With tons of single-use plastic being wantonly discarded every day, the purchase of plastic items should be avoided as much as possible. Over the years, there have been tons of plastic converging in our waste bodies, both inland and oceans. This has not augured well within the marine environment, which has seen the death of various types of marine life due to suffocation and/or ingestion of the micro-plastics in water. Studies have shown that, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish; meaning that we, as humans, have ingested, or would ingest, some amount of plastic.

Remember, say no to single-use plastics!

By Rupa Seenaraine

I

n recent years, Guyana’s streets and thoroughfares have witnessed an increase in vagrant presence, especially key areas of the capital city Georgetown.

From teens to pensioners, these individuals often circle around several locations until they find a place where they can rest, and solicit food, money or other items.

After some time, many have faded in society's awareness, so that they remain forgotten and sometimes, their stories untold.

In every case, there are details which differentiate them from each other.

The Sunday Times Magazine took to the streets, on Thursday last, where stories surfaced of many persons leaving their satisfactory lives to take beatings from the rain and others unfortunate to have a place to call home.

Many were cases of abandonment among the elderly population while others resorted to vagabonding because of some disability that disenfranchised them from entering the world of employment.

This was not the same for 53-year-old Ulus White, who once had a job and a stable life. Sharing his story with this publication, the elderly man sat at his usual spot at Regent and Light Streets while reflecting on his life.

Once a security guard

multiple times. He said there was no definite possibility of regaining stable employment at another firm after exhausting all avenues.

“I belong to Berbice and I used to live in Grove, but all of this is out of frustration make I does got to be out here, you know. I had to leave most of my jobs and most of my life, I was a security guard. Out here, I certain to get a meal or so, but you can’t really depend on people to come,” he expressed.

Now, he permanently stays at the location with only a haversack that holds his most valuable items. The man said he gets enough money to obtain two square meals per day and his brother resides at the house where he once lived. White says

for that long. His childhood was spent in foster care, after being rescued from an abusive home.

After being released from the system, he noted that there was nowhere to go. A distant a u n t took h i m

nity to sit his examinations. While on the streets, he is somehow looking to change his luck by gaining a job. Present, some vendors at the Bourda Market would give him a job or two to transport their produce around the area.

“As long as people trust you, they would give you any small work around, so I

i n f o r some time, but insisted that he leave after he could not find a job.

for most of his life, White had even owned his own home at Grove on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD).

Originally from Berbice, the man said he had that profession for most of his life, but took to the streets in 2014 after losing his job

he has no other immediate family and does not see himself rebounding from his current situation.

On the other hand, there is 22-year-old Thomas (only name provided to conceal identity), who has not been on the streets

Now, he walks around the city to find food or any small change which can get him food.

Thomas said because the system was overwhelmed, he could not access proper education and be afforded the opportu-

j u s t want to get something big 'cause it’s not nice to be out there, but because of the situation...,” he shared.

The Project Restore Guyana was a multi-disciplinary task force that was set up by Government back in 2016 to address, among other social ills, the welfare management of the homeless and addicted, but financial constraints compelled the body to shelve plans for vagrant removal.

Head of the Secretariat of the task force, Dr Sewnath Ponalall had told Guyana Times back then that the Project was faced with financial and human resources challenges in continuing its relocation programme. Dr Ponalall had observed that the biggest challenge was finding a building to assess the mental and physical status of vagrants to determine where and how to place them, whether it was in a hospital or a home.

6: Become an environmental volunteer The time to act is now! You can volunteer right in your neighbourhood or community with a designated volunteer group, or just with friends and family. Assist in an educational session, create a green space, or help clean up some parapets. You are guaranteed to have a fulfilling experience as you become an agent of change.

“Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility; it is a public value. Our duty is to use the land well, and sometimes not to use it at all. This is our responsibility as citizens. But more than that, it is our calling as stewards of earth” George W. Bush

References:

1. https://www.ecowatch.com/national-park-week-virtualtours-2645812852.html 2. http://guyanachronicle.com/2015/07/04/stewards-of-theenvironment-our-personal-responsibility 3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333456150_The_ meaning_and_practice_of_stewardship_in_South_AfricaSAJS_ Volume_115_Issue_56_-_Cockburn_Supplementary_Material 4 . h t t p s : / / p d f s . s e m a n t i c s c h o l a r. o r g / f265/370fff75885bb16bdc57fcd574826fa67a02.pdf

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

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sorts of things, but I continued practising my work.

I began getting better and then started expanding my business.

Things also got better and my business started to grow,” she said.

The challenges of getting to where she is today are perhaps the driving force behind her success.

There were many who set out to see her fail. As a teenager, getting her idea off the ground was itself a challenge. Not many people believed in

By Lakhram Bhagirat

L

ashawna Moore has always been a creative person. She remembers her childhood as being one where she would design pens and pencils and sell them to her peers.

It was from there she developed her creative abilities as well as her knack for business.

All throughout her time in secondary school, she knew that becoming an entrepreneur was her end goal.

“Before graduating I always knew I wanted to have my own business, so I started doing nails at age 16. Every day I would save a small amount from my allowance to purchase nail supplies and I knew by the time I left school I’ll have enough products and I would have already built a name for myself. So, while in Fourth Form, I was focusing on my studies and I was doing my friends' nails whenever there were special occasions. I remember having SBAs (SchoolBased Assessments) due and I’m on YouTube watching, learning different nail techniques, but I still got my SBAs done on time,” the 19-year-old said.

Being a self-taught nail technician meant that Moore would often encounter challenges and unwarranted critique of her work.

However, it did not stop her from pushing ahead and she would go on to qualify herself and is now one

of the best nail technicians around.

Her affinity for nail designs stems from her obsession with them from a young age. From the colours to the length and precision of the designs, all sparked a love for the craft.

Nevertheless, when it came to establishing a brickand-mortar business, she was not completely certain what field she wanted to get

into and after much consideration, she decided the beauty and fashion industry was good enough for her. She is a self-proclaimed fashionista and gets pure joy from being able to style someone.

“After I left school, I started with my nail salon and my friends was my biggest supporters. I was not the best in the business and people would talk all

“Well, I believe that I am already fulfilling

my dreams, but I would like to expand my

her and it resulted in very little support.

To aid in her dream of becoming a business owner, Moore began working as an accountant before using her savings to further build her brand. She worked and did nails part-time while saving every dollar possible to make her dreams come true, now she is living them.

businesses to a greater level. After doing nails as a part-time job because I work as an accountant and realtor, I have decided to expand my business and hire someone that shares the same dream as me. The person is as excited about nails as much as I am,” she said.

She h a s built h e r craft to the point where she can now impart her knowledge to others with the same dream as hers.

“It’s hard to balance, but I do. I started my online boutique five months ago because I am passionate about fashion and I want females to be able to feel confident when they get dressed and I want them to be able to afford trendy and cute clothing at affordable prices.

With that concept in mind, I named my store "Bhaddie on a Budget". I am hoping that I can expand my business and possibly have my own nail school in the future.”

Moore continues to learn new techniques and methods for creating unique designs. She is also big on women empowerment and

e n couraging young w o m en to follow their dreams and carve t h e i r own paths.

“I want other young women to start going after their dreams and if they want to do business, then go and start it. They can make it perfect later,” she advises.

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DR TARIQ JAGNARINE

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ong ago, most people earned their living doing physical labour.

Some of the labour was backbreaking, but there is no denying the populations of old were much fitter than modern people. Persons with crazy schedules may find they do not have enough time or energy to go to the gym, parks or sports grounds, neither did the people of centuries past; they incorporated their exercise indirectly into their daily routine.

We can do the same, by making tiny changes to our day. For example: * Those with a desk job can try to get up and walk around for five minutes every hour. This helps to get the blood flowing, which would in turn flex the walls of your arteries, which is good for the heart. * Also, avoid sitting at the desk for lunch. Try a change of scenery and eat lunch outside. This helps persons to concentrate better and work faster when they get back to their desk. * When running errands that are short distances away, walk; unless there is a need to carry heavy loads. * Take up a fun activity like dancing, swimming, or martial arts classes; it will add some variety to life while keeping you fit at the same time.

These tiny changes make a lot of difference in the end.

There are things done on a daily basis that secretly ruin our health. Our bodies are a work in progress, and if we want to live healthier and happier lives, there is a need to do more than just adopt a few good habits. Besides practising physical activities regularly and removing junk foods from our menus, more attention needs to be focused on some of our bad habits

and minor mistakes that can ruin our health. Here is a list of some bad habits that can affect our health.

1. POOR POSTURE

Even a perfect body can look slouchy when posture is bad. A poor back posture can accentuate the spinal curvature, causing spine deformities. An altered spine structure affects the body’s stability and balance, reduces the back’s flexibility, and increases the risk of muscle imbalances.

2. POOR POSITION OF THE HAND WHILE WORKING ON THE COMPUTER

While we are well aware that spending too much time in front of the computer is not healthy for our eyes, we tend to neglect the other harmful effects. Pain and numbness of hands and fingers is a common symptom among people working on the computer for long hours. This increases the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

This syndrome manifests through numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand - a sensation of discomfort that travels up the arm towards the shoulder, and an electric shock-like feeling in the fingers. Although these manifestations are not threatening, they can affect one’s precision when performing delicate motions, such as writing, buttoning the shirt, or holding the phone.

3. EXCESSIVE SNACKING ON JUNK

Losing touch with our body’s natural hunger and satisfaction signals can lead to chronic overeating and unhealthy extra weight, which can lead to diabetes, heart disease and other serious conditions, especially during this coronavirus crisis. Snacking on too much junk food can result in flooding the body with unhealthy

ingredients and excess calories. By paying attention to one’s hunger signals and switching to healthy snacks, one can boost nutrition, control cravings, lose weight, and avoid energy slumps.

be less shortness of breath.

Giving up smoking significantly reduces the threat of cancer or heart disease, improves one’s sense of taste and smell, and gives better endurance and longevity.

4. STRESS

7. OVERUSING PAIN KILLERS AND SEDATIVES

An unhappy lifestyle releases stress hormones that increase our blood pressure and blood sugar levels, lower immunity, slow digestion, and make us overweight.

Modern life can lead to chronic stress and to far-reaching impacts on health, such as sleep problems, change in sex drive, irritability, and anger. Recognising the symptoms of stress can help in taking steps to manage our stress levels and reduce our health risks. Explore stress management strategies such as regular physical activity; relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, mindfulness sessions; cultivate a great sense of humour; socialise with family and friends; and set aside time for hobbies such as reading a book or listening to music.

5. DRINKING TOO MUCH ALCOHOL

Alcohol consumption causes physical and emotional changes that can cause great harm to our bodies.

The long-term effects of alcohol abuse are many, and they put your health in serious jeopardy and endanger your life. Alcohol consumption can cause major health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver, and injuries sustained in automobile accidents. Besides this, excessive alcohol consumption is also linked to heart disease, depression, gout, cancer, and nerve damage.

6. SMOKING

Smoking causes 30 percent of heart disease deaths, 30 percent of cancer deaths, and a massive 80 to 90 percent of all lung cancers; while increasing the risk of developing mouth, throat, and bladder cancers. Once the habit is abandoned, the health benefits are almost immediate, because the lungs and cardiovascular system begin repairing themselves within minutes of the last cigarette being used. Within a month, the lungs would work better, with less coughing and an improved feeling of being energetic, and there would

When painkillers and sedatives are not taken properly, long-term habitual use can cause more problems than those solved.

Using drugs like ibuprofen or aspirin for arthritis or muscle pain can, over time, increase the risk of getting ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, high blood pressure and heart attacks.

Calming drugs and sleeping pills can leave persons feeling confused and prone to stumbling and falling if taken at higher-than-prescribed doses. Since such medications make persons feel good, persons are stimulated to keep on taking them, and they eventually become addicted to them. Therefore, only medications prescribed by physicians should be taken, and persons should avoid self-medicating.

10. NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER

If we constantly keep our bodies in a state of dehydration by not drinking enough water, it can have a major impact on our overall health.

Not only does this cause fatigue, dry skin, irritation, and affect our ability to focus and our productivity, but the lack of water can also alter the functioning of kidneys, and lead to an impaired immune function due to the accumulation of toxins.

11. NAIL-BITING

A nervous tic that many people have is biting nails.

Biting fingernails does not just convey a sense of anxiety and insecurity, but it is gross. Many germs are underneath the fingertips, whether it is salmonella, E. coli, or even the common cold. The fingertips touch many different surfaces every day, welcoming all those microbes into our mouths can lead to gastrointestinal problems or sickness.

12. WARMING UP WITH A JOG

Going on a brisk jog is the classic way to get a workout started, but fitness experts generally agree it is an ineffective way to get the muscles in motion. It is recommend-

ed that dynamic stretches be done instead. Most times, persons can spend too much time on warmup jogs, taking away from their actual workout. Although jogging is not bad for our health, one can have a more productive and less injury-prone workout by warming up the muscles and establishing a range of motion first with dynamic stretches.

13. HOLDING IN GAS- FLATULENCE

It is not us; blame society for this one. Holding in our farts for long periods is definitely bad. Research has shown that holding them back can cause severe bloating and stomach discomfort. So, let ‘them rip! Or, if you are at work, release the fart and try to keep it quiet while, of course, staying as far away as possible from the airspace of other persons.

14. EATING TOO MUCH PROTEIN

Overdosing on protein can lead to dehydration and urinary loss of calcium, and it is also bad for the kidneys.

In addition, of course, persons can gain weight from it, since the body can use only so much.

14. CONSUMING TOO MUCH CAFFEINE

Many persons rely on a caffeine jolt to help them through each day. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends no more than 300 milligrams of caffeine a day, and although the FDA claims that the average daily intake is 200mg, that means there are still plenty of people out there exceeding their recommended dosage. It can cause elevation of the blood pressure, and increase anxiety and stress during the day. Over time, it can boost the risk of heart disease, if done in excess.

15. WATCHING TV RIGHT BEFORE BED

Falling asleep to latenight shows is a modern tradition especially seen in younger persons, but it is best to shut the TV off before dozing off. The artificial bright lights in the TV stimulate the brain, and can disrupt our melatonin levels which are needed for sleep.

Also, shows that are disturbing can cause nightmares, which can wake persons up in the middle of the night,

resulting in further fatigue and insomnia.

It is recommended that news and horror movies be avoided in the moments before getting some shut-eye.

16EXERCISING RIGHT BEFORE BED

TV overstimulates the brain for proper sleep; so naturally, pushing our body to the limit late at night also makes sleep tough to accomplish. For those with crazy work schedules, it may be tough to avoid; but for others, it is important to bring the body down quickly from getting the heart rate up and muscles fully engaged, to have a well-rested night.

17. EATING JUST BEFORE EXERCISE

Especially pertinent for runners and persons who do a lot of quick movement in their workouts, eating big meals up to an hour before a workout can cause discomfort, while preventing persons from pushing themselves as hard as possible.

Recommendations encourage us to avoid high-fibre and high-fat foods, that take time to digest and could lead to cramps and sluggishness.

Use foods that are small and easier to digest, like a piece of fruit, or nuts.

18. SITTING TOO MUCH

Recent studies have linked frequent sitting to increased risk of heart disease, worse mental health, and other issues, even for those who get regular exercise. They say sitting is the new smoking. Standing burns over 20 extra calories per hour compared to sitting. So, getting up and moving around is important.

It is a little hard to change our work lifestyle, but try to move around the office whenever possible, and maybe take a walk after a workout.

These are probably some things persons do all the time, and they have the potential to do some harm; maybe contribute to sickness or injury in the short-term, or more serious concerns in the end. However, avoid living life in fear of taking a step out of line, as most of these things will not make or break a healthy lifestyle.

Instead, just think of these as simple tips to improve everyday life. A healthier life can give us more time to be enjoyed with our loved ones.

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PUPPY NUTRITION

he young pup should be nursing the mother’s milk until it is 3-4 weeks old. It is extremely important for the pup to suckle its mother’s milk for the first 3 days.

I use the “rule of thumb” which advises that the pup should not be introduced to solid food until one week after its eyes are open. Note that the pups eyelids are closed until 12-14 days. Please do not try to pry the eyelids open.

So, after 5 weeks, you could commence offering the puppies solids – small quantities of a minced meat mixed up with a bit rice or bread. I know that the new science is advising that we should keep milk and dairy products away for dogs. I will not conflict with those scientists (not lastly with those who may be associated with commercial dog food producers), but dogs have been given milk (which has quite a balanced nutritive value) with no obvious deleterious effects at an early age and even thereafter.

I should mention that as you introduce puppies to semi-solid food, they will walk in the bowl and scatter the contents over the floor – not really knowing how to handle this new food container. Pick each one of them up and place the pup’s mouth into the bowl.

Optimally, each pup should have its own bowl.

Well, I think that this is not going to happen when you are dealing with a litter of 10 pups, nor is it absolutely necessary.

Actually, once the smartest pup gets to understand how to get at the food in the bowl, the others will follow suit.

I should also mention that at 4 weeks of age the puppies teeth are getting sharp and can injure the mother’s nipples. She herself will keep them away. However, moth-

ers with a great maternal instinct will accept the pain and continue to nurse their pups. You have to help the mothers by removing the pups and introducing them to the partially solid food in the bowl. Also, I know that many of you reading this might have gone to “Mr.

Google” and read that the puppies can be removed from the mother at 6-8 weeks of age. Well, if she has 10 pups to feed, that becomes a great stress for her, and her nipples will be very sore, even inflamed. And you don’t want to introduce antibiotics on to the nipple. This antibiotic will find its way into the pup at too

early an age.

As an aside, I will share with you my doubts relative to advertisements of chemical with fancy scientific sounding names which the producers tell us can cure everything under the sun. I recall during my Africa days, seeing a huge child food conglomerate advising mothers that the manufacturer’s product was better than the mothe r s ’ milk for their babies.

This thrust was carried out globally not only in developing countries. When the WHO called the Company into question for false advertising, the manufacturer promptly changed the advertisement to “Next to mother’s milk, our product is the best”.

[Please note that at 3 weeks of age the puppies should be dewormed.

At about 6 weeks of age (at just about the time when you are preparing to give away/sell the puppies, and the first vaccination and second deworming have been administered) the pups can leave your home and their mother].

Now let us pay some special attention to the answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) which have been posed to me over the decades of practice relative to puppy nutrition.

Q. #1: What is the best food to give the young puppies?

Really, in an indirect way, what the pet caregiver is asking is: What should be in the diet, in terms

of proteins, fats digestible carbohydrates, minerals and trace elements?

A. (i) Well, of course, I cannot endorse any commercial Puppy Formula. The scientists in the respective laboratories of the Mega Dog Food Companies will be producing tested and proven “Chow”/“Kibble”/ “Bits”.

For your puppy, you will introduce that food which your dog enjoys the most and which allows him to put on weight, grow well, and be frisky and playful and alert. (ii) Please note that no food is “good”, if the pup will not eat it. In such cases, I always suggest mixing the puppy’s food with some (a teaspoon) canned cat food. For whatever reason, the method unfailingly seems to work. (iii) It is imperative that whatever food you offer your growing puppy, the food must contain proteins, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and trace elements. (see above).

Having said that, the caregiver must understand that one size does not fit all, and at all times. For example, the protein required for a puppy needs to be more

as the animal is growing (from weaning up to at least 8 months of age). After the puppy has visibly stopped growing, you may wish to give less protein by proportion. This is a matter for you to discuss with your veterinarian, if you think it is necessary. (iv) Again, please note that the “dog food” sold by roadside vendors is not for puppies. It probably is not too good for adult dogs

either. We’ll discuss that later.

Q. #2: How often should I feed my puppy per day?

A. I usually answer that question as follows: 3-4 times daily – ½ cup of “Puppy Chow” every 6-8 hours. You may continue this feeding regime until the pup has reached 6 months of age. Between 6-10 months of age; 2-3 meals daily.

After 10 months: 1-2 meals daily.

Please bear in mind that any suggestion I make has to be contextualized. Clearly, the mass of Chow/Kibble/Bits given to a growing Chihuahua is not the same as that which is given to a growing Great Dane.

Q. # 3: Can I make my own puppy/ dog food, not lastly because of the relatively high costs associated with commercial puppy chow?

A. Clients coming into my Clinic over the many years all know of my “formula” food for growing young animals.

I suggest the following:

• Brown rice.

• Meats (chicken, beef, fish) – never raw (not because raw meat is bad, but here in the Guyana for all sorts of reason , it is just not advisable) • Eggs – never raw.

• Carrots.

• Green peas.

• Spinach/bhagee/calaloo (not Eddo leaf).

The quantities will be increased proportionally, as the dog gets older and heavier.

N.B: Try to ensure that your young growing animal gets enough protein (in the meat and other sources).

Too little protein in the diet could result in underdevelopment of muscle mass and bones and lead later to joint problems.

When you were deciding to get yourself a dog as a companion animal, you must have factored into the

equation a discussion with your vet about your dog’s nutrition, especially if you are a vegetarian or one who does not eat beef.

Next week, we’ll continue answering more (of the many) FAQs pertaining to Puppy Nutrition (e.g.

Does one need to feed vitamins and mineral supplements to the growing puppy? What can be done if the pups’ mother dies or abandons them early in life? Etc).

19

FEATURE

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

20 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ACROSS 1 Vulcan high priestess 5 Kareem -- -Jabbar 10 Music genre (hyph.)

16 Nay sayers 21 Assns.

22 Nerve, in combos 23 Ink ejectors 24 Like a good cake 25 R&B’s -- Braxton 26 Gold Coast, today 27 Shellfish 28 Scoreboard posting 29 Bilked 31 Comic -- Howard 33 Gives it a go 35 -- Dhabi 36 Second - 37 By mouth 40 Literary compilation 41 A Ponderosa son 42 “My Gal” of song 45 PC screen 46 Drain, as energy 48 San Francisco hill 50 Test scorers 52 Rings up sales 54 They need a PIN 55 Mongol dwelling 57 RSVP word 58 Ceremonies 59 Hideous giant 60 A Beatle 62 Stretch autos 66 Black, to Donne 67 Bonding 69 Papal bull, e.g.

71 A.D. coiner 72 Trees, often 74 Hard water?

76 Barely scraping by 78 “-- Giovanni” 79 Franc’s successor 80 Weasel-family members 83 Shallow dishes 85 Nail-groomer 88 “Crazylegs” Hirsch 89 Action flick highlight 90 Greenhouse 93 Ballot choice 95 About 3 feet 97 Nine-digit ID 98 Brawls 100 -- kwon do 101 Echo’s beloved 106 Sporty trucks

108 Pros 110 Frozen dessert 112 Sock it -- --!

113 Dreaded assignment 115 Space lead-in 116 Rushes off 117 Fermented milk 118 Croon 120 Thailand, once 122 Incites Rover 123 Noose 124 Took advantage of 128 Mao -- -tung 129 Gasp of delight 130 Grammy category 131 FBI acronym 132 “Sink” or “swim” 133 Umbrella spoke 135 Pre-weekend shout 137 One way to read 139 Souffle ingredient 140 Longest bone 142 Seance sound 144 Finger clacker 148 Las Vegas flush 150 Spiteful sort 153 -- couture 155 Prefix for “trillion” 156 Gauzy fabric 157 Forbid 158 Basso Simon - 159 Runner Zatopek 160 Lieu 161 Stones schlepper 162 Two-Oscar Dianne 163 “-- Me Amadeus” DOWN 1 Bib wearers 2 Figurehead’s place 3 Hindu god of fire 4 Depleting 5 Bank sitters 6 Command 7 Pairs 8 40-cup brewer 9 Sand, silt and clay 10 Four-bagger 11 “ER” setting 12 Liquid amts.

13 Party thrower 14 Horse - 15 Stacking up 16 “Mister Ed” actor 17 Hide -- hair 18 Dressing-down 19 Weather map line

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- SHIBBOLETH (SHIBBOLETH: SHIB-uh-leth: A commonplace saying or idea.)

Average mark 43 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 66 or more words in SHIBBOLETH? TODAY'S WORD -- SHIBBOLETH shoe shot silo silt site slit slob sloe slot sloth soil sole stile stole heist helot hilt

hobbies hobble hoist hole holiest holist hose host hostel hostile hotel isle islet isohel istle belt besot

best bible bilbo bile bite bleb blest blithe blob blot boil bole bolt bosh both obit lest

list lithe lobbies lobe lose lost loth ethos this thole those tile toil toile tole

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.

20 Plays guitar 30 Animal quackers?

32 Klutz’s mutter 34 Snakes lack them 38 -- day now 39 Jeweler’s lens 41 Wing it (hyph.)

42 Metal fastener 43 It may be airtight 44 Drop a hint (2 wds.)

46 Walk the picket line 47 Revival shout 49 Shores up 51 Feel crummy 53 Provides, as service 54 Water, in Baja 56 Ottoman 59 Bogus butter 61 Hawaiian wreaths 63 Jason’s wife 64 Scents 65 Have a premonition 67 Menacing sound 68 Vodka cocktails 69 Signifies 70 Actress -- Hartman 73 Customer 75 About, datewise 77 Handbag logo 81 Family mem.

82 Swiss cheese hole 84 Matt Dillon’s deputy 85 Result 86 Necessities 87 Ocean birds 91 Narrow inlet 92 Jedi knight trainer 93 -- de corps 94 Add fertilizer 95 Chief exec.

96 Fake it 99 Jeans go-withs 102 Vigoda and Fortas 103 Balkan capital 104 Kayak’s kin 105 Sealy rival 107 Bwana, in India 109 Clink glasses 111 Indiana neighbor 114 “Westworld” name 117 Out of commission 119 Only 121 PC memory unit 122 Lobby furnishing 123 Most relaxed 124 Prevents 125 Be a couch potato (2

wds.)

126 Sock style 127 Less bright 130 Sections of Earth’s crust 134 Good, to Pedro 136 Peace goddess 137 Brainy 138 Carbon-14, maybe 140 Left in a hurry 141 Delhi VIP

143 Close-call comment 145 Verne captain 146 Clapton of “Layla” 147 Gossip 149 -- -- carte 151 Drowse off 152 Big Ben numeral 154 So far -- -- know SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE 18

NEWS

21

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Pensioner chopped to death Men nabbed after tossing at Soesdyke Highway unlicensed gun out of car

A

66-year-old man was found dead in his yard with a chop wound behind his head and bruises to his back on Friday night.

Dead is Terence Alstrom of Track B Kuru Kururu, Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

According to Police, Alstrom’s body was found at about 22:30h.

Reports are that the now dead man lived alone at his farmhouse, which is about two miles in the Kuru Kururu backdam.

The man’s children said that although he did not live

Dead: Terence Alstrom

with them, they would check

on him frequently. They said the last time they heard from him was on Thursday morning.

Police have since confirmed that Alstrom’s body was examined and a chop wound was seen behind his head and he had bruises to the upper back.

His house was also checked and was found to be undisturbed, however, his cellular phone is missing.

The man’s body is presently at Lyken’s Funeral Home awaiting an autopsy.

Investigations into the matter are ongoing.

Teen’s body recovered from Cuyuni River

N

ineteen-year-old Bryan Gonzalez, a Venezuelan who went missing after he fell into the Cuyuni River, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni), on Monday, was recovered on Saturday.

Since the teen fell overboard, a search party had been traversing the area, hoping to find him alive.

Reports are at about 10:30h on Monday, Gonzalez asked a boat captain to transport him to a

place called Devil’s Area in the Cuyuni River. This publication was told that the captain agreed and while travelling on the river, the teen sat on a bucket that was on some gasoline drums. During the rough ride, the bucket reportedly slipped off the drum, throwing the teen overboard.

Efforts were made to rescue him, but the attempts proved futile.

Gonzalez’s body is at

A

patrol conducted by ranks of the Guyana Police Force on Thursday led to the arrest of three men, who were caught tossing an unlicensed gun out of their vehicle.

The patrol unit was operating along Crown Dam, Industry, on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), at about 20:45h. Ranks decided to intercept the vehicle since it was earlier seen speeding away at a fast rate.

As they were approaching the vehicle, the male in the front passenger seat reportedly tossed an item out of the window. It was retrieved and officers discovered that it was an unlicensed semi-automatic pistol, loaded with nine live rounds.

The driver and occupants were asked to step out of the vehicle, after

The semi-automatic firearm and live rounds

which they were detained.

A search was conducted on the vehicle, to which nothing suspicious was found.

The driver, who resides at D’Urban and Camp Streets, Georgetown;

2 foreigners caught with unlicensed gun, live rounds Dead: Bryan Gonzalez

Bartica’s Hospital morgue awaiting an autopsy.

Marcus Bisram’s mother, co-accused found guilty in $4M cop-bribing case

T

Guilty: Sharmilla Inderjali

he mother of former murder accused Marcus Bisram, and her co-accused, who were charged for offering a detective $4 million to suppress evidence was on Friday found guilty of bribery.

Sharmilla Inderjali, of Number 72 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, and Maryanna Lionel, a relative of one of Bisram’s alleged accomplices, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.

Initially, the charge stated that the women, during November 2016, offered a detective at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, $4 million for him to hide evidence in relation to the Faiyaz Narinedatt murder case.

On October 31, 2016, Narinedatt was beaten and run over by a motor car on

the alleged orders of Bisram, after the carpenter declined sexual advances that were made by the overseas-based Guyanese. The body of 27-year-old Narinedatt was later found on the Number 70 Village Public Road, Corentyne.

Five persons - Radesh Motie, Diadatt Datt, Harri Paul Parsram, Orlando Dickie, and Niran Yacoob – have since been committed to the High Court to face a Judge and jury over the murder. However, the charges against Bisram have been dismissed. However, after the charge was dismissed, the Director of Public Prosecution had ordered the Magistrate who dismissed the charge to commit Bisram to face a trial in the High Court. This led to him being rearrested. That committal was recently quashed

and the other suspects of Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, and 11th Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, respectively, are in custody assisting with the investigation.

R

The revolver and other items found following the arrest

anks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Friday evening arrested two foreign nationals

Maryanna Lionel

by High Court Judge Simone Morris Ramlall, who ruled that there was insufficient evidence to continue the charge against him.

Meanwhile, the two women were remanded by Magistrate Daly pending sentencing on Monday.

at Meten-Meer-Zorg on the West Coast of Demerara, after they were found in possession of an unlicensed re-

volver with live rounds.

Based on information provided, ranks were conducting a mobile patrol at about 20:45h in the community, when residents alerted them of the suspicious behaviour of the two men.

The men were searched and the unlicensed firearm and four live rounds were found in the possession of one of them – who resides in the same community. The other is from Cornelia Ida, WCD. Both persons, who are from a neighbouring country, were taken into Police custody and are assisting with the investigation.

22 NEWS

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“Don’t feel hurt, congratulate Dr Irfaan Ali” – GCCI to Granger …tells de facto President to be a statesman, concede defeat

T

he Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has urged de facto President David Granger to concede defeat and allow the country to return to the path of development and unity, starting with Granger reaching out and congratulating the winner of the elections, Dr Irfaan Ali. This was communicated in a statement the Chamber shared on Saturday, the same day that embattled Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield submitted a fraudulent report that purported to show Granger winning.

This is despite the certified recount showing that Dr Ali and the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the elections. According to the GCCI, it would be a wonderful gesture and an example to future generations, were Granger to behave like a statesman now and call Dr Ali to offer the first official round of congratulations, even without a formal declaration. GCCI noted that it would show great patriotism.

GCCI used the examples of statesmen in history, such as Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom and George W Bush of the United States, to highlight the grace and integrity these men exhibited when they lost an election.

“In every Presidential contest, there is unfortunately only one winner. President Granger need not feel hurt, Winston Churchill delivered a massive war time victory to England, but the British voters in 1945 elected Clement Attlee as Prime Minister.

Churchill is reported to have said in response, ‘I thank the British people for the many kindnesses shown towards their servant’.”

“When George Bush lost to Bill Clinton in the USA’s 1992 Presidential Election, he conceded with these words, ‘I remain absolutely convinced that we are a rising nation. We have been in an extraordinarily difficult period, but do not be deterred, kept away from public service by the smoke and fire of a campaign year or the ugliness of politics. As for me, I’m going to serve and try to find ways to help people.’ This could also be said of our country, especially at this juncture in its history.”

According to the GCCI, Granger and his A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition party still have a role to play as an Opposition in Parliament. The Chamber noted that there, they can keep the PPP/C accountable to its campaign promises and moreover, unite with the

De facto President, David Granger

PPP/C and other parties on major national issues.

“In the end, we expect unity, unity on major national issues such as our border controversy with Venezuela and unity with regards to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic,” GCCI said in its statement.

“We expect unity in knowing that four months later after E-Day, it is time for the nation to move on and get on with the business of implementing policies that benefit the Guyanese people and that all starts with the outgoing President Granger’s congratulation of Dr Irfaan Ali now.”

The international community, having witnessed the recount which showed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered

No need for protest or...

Particularly, he bemoaned the fact that the present political impasse coupled with the illegitimate Government is affecting the security and health sectors of the country as well as the productive sectors of the economy.

“This political impasse has affected not only the economic but continues to pose a challenge to our security as a nation; our internal security and our external security,” he stated.

“You’re aware that we have

challenges pertaining to both our internal and external security and you are aware that there has been an increase in robberies and this can be linked to the electoral impasse in our country,” Phillips, a former Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) stated.

Turning his attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has, as of July 11, claimed the lives of seventeen persons in Guyana, Phillips expressed that “our people are suffering,

217,920, have also made calls for the President to concede.

The coalition’s own partner Justice For All Party (JFAP) founder CN Sharma, had broken away from APNU/ AFC’s dogged refusal to accept defeat in the March 2 polls. In a statement, he made it clear that enough was enough and it was time for the country to move on.

He had chastised those bent on dragging out the process and extended congratulations to PPP/C on their win.

Sharma had pointed out that the National Recount was carried out and from the votes counted, it is clear the PPP/C is the winner. As such, he had urged that Dr Irfaan Ali be sworn in without delay.

Granger’s own son-in-law, former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, had also made a statement in which he conceded that APNU/AFC lost to the PPP/C and called out his party’s leadership for fooling supporters.

And incumbent Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan was caught on a recording, conceding defeat to his Ministry staff, during a farewell speech he had given.

In that speech, Ramjattan had acknowledged the PPP winning by some 15,000 votes and had told the gathering he was willing to move on.

W

ood Mackenzie, in a recent report published in the local press, noted that more than some 7.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of associated and non-associated natural gas has been discovered across the Stabroek Block. This is, of course, a positive dimension with respect to Guyana’s long-term economic development and transformation.

As such, today’s article seeks to lend context and an understanding of how natural gas could benefit Guyana with respect to transforming the livelihoods of its people. In doing so, the article draws on empirical evidences.

Drivers of new natural gas demands

In the next decade, the power sector would provide the largest growth in gas demand, which depends on two major drivers: growth in total electric generation, and growth in the gas share of electric generation. Most of the growth in the power-sector demand would be met by increasing amounts of natural gas–fired generation and also by renewables. Coal–fired power plants would be retired in response to more stringent environmental regulations and more competitive low gas prices, which would lead to a change in the mix of generation fuel and an increase in natural gas market share.

The second largest demand increases are felt in the U.S. industrial sector, which uses natural gas as both a fuel and feedstock to meet a variety of energy requirements. The U.S. manufacturing sector accounts for about 80% of total industrial gas demand, with the remaining 20% coming from agriculture, construction, and mining.

Use of natural gas for electric energy generation

In recent years, the amount of natural gas being used as fuel to generate electricity has been gradually increasing, due in part to the decreasing price and increased supply. Electric utilities have been increasingly turning to natural gas as a fuel source, especially for new electric-generating plants such as combustion turbines and combined-cycled plants. The primary benefit to the manufacturing sector is that the increasing use of fuel would result in lower generation cost for electric power. The significance of shifting electric power sources is such that the rising demand for the use of natural gas fuel in electric power generation would contribute to investment in new natural gas infrastructure such as transmission lines, gas processing plants, and compressor stations.

Forward linkages

FROM PAGE 12

especially as it pertains to the pandemic simply because the Government’s response to this pandemic has been ineffective.”

In fact, he accused the APNU/AFC players in Government of being too caught up with trying to illegitimately remain in office instead of focusing on tackling this global public health crisis in an effective manner.

“We have an illegitimate Government that continues to hold on to office after losing the election and, therefore, their

How can natural gas benefit Guyana economically?

focus is on remaining in office after they would have lost the elections and this has certainly affected their posture in dealing with the pandemic,” Phillips contended.

Meanwhile, the former army boss reiterated his appeal to the members of the country’s security forces – the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force – urging them to continue to conduct themselves in a professional manner and to only follow lawful orders.

The outputs from the natural gas-intensive sectors are used as inputs by other sectors of the economy in a variety of ways. Such uses are referred to as forward linkages, and include: * Intermediate inputs (e.g., goods and services sold to other sectors that are used in production processes to make other types of goods and services, with no sales to final demand occurring). * Sales to final demand (e.g., goods and services that are not used as intermediate inputs, and no further processing of the output occurs).

Types of final demand include: * Personal consumption expenditure (e.g., purchases of refined products such as gasoline at filling stations or home heating oil). * Gross private investment * Private inventory accumulation * Exports or imports * Government consumption and gross investment The forward linkage, or downstream manufacturing sectors, would potentially benefit from increases in supply and/or the lower cost for natural gas. Final demand sectors such as personal consumption, exports, and imports are also affected by changes in natural gas production and pricing; but indirectly, through industry production changes captured by intermediate inputs shifts to industry production. For example, personal consumption impacts such as those resulting from lower electricity prices are captured first by feedstock inputs to the electricity industry, and flow through to all industries before resulting in lower prices for the consumer.

In the final analysis, the natural gas industry is a major contributor to the GDP of many countries. The industry is inherently large-scale, generating millions of dollars in associated revenues and tax income, and employing thousands. As an example: In 2008, natural gas production in the U.S added US$385 billion to GDP. Gas exporting countries as diverse as the U.K, Netherlands, Russia, Qatar, Australia and Indonesia have benefited from the enormous economic benefits that are the combinations of the following: * Taxation of profits and of gas production * Wider job creation in the industry from upstream exploration and production (E&P) companies, midstream processing and pipeline transportation companies, downstream local supporting arms focusing on law, human resources, public relations and many other aspects * A local source of natural gas can act as a catalyst to other industries such as chemicals, driving wider economic growth * Employment transformation from old industries such as coal and steel to new high-tech natural gas extraction and innovative appliances. * New job creation across the skills and knowledge base, from entry level to Ph.D A study by the Center for Global Development (CGD), found that the greater use of natural gas for electricity could help lift some countries out of poverty by providing greater access to affordable and reliable power.

Natural gas has to be extracted in sufficient volumes, however, in order to be economically viable.

It is within these conceptual frameworks that, for Guyana, natural gas development in tandem with the oil industry could potentially transform Guyana and alleviate poverty, inter alia, substantially reducing the cost of energy as part of the energy mix, which in turn can advance an industrialisation plan for Guyana’s future development.

About the Author: JC. Bhagwandin is a macro-finance and research analyst, lecturer and business & financial consultant. The views expressed are exclusively his own and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper and the institutions he represents. For comments, send to jbbankingadvice@gmail.com.

NEWS

23

SUNDAY, JULY 12 , 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

17th COVID-19 death recorded …family accuses GPHC of cross-infection …1 new positive, 126 active cases

Dead: Geerjadai Jagnarine

T

he passing of a loved one is difficult to bear, even in normal circumstances. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the feelings of grief and sadness may be amplified by stress and uncertainty.

However, in the midst of stress and uncertainty, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) has

mitted, a COVID-19 test was conducted. On July 2, 2020, family members received a call from the Public Health Ministry, informing them that Jagnarine was tested positive for the virus.

“Knowing my grandma, she had no sign, no symptoms of COVID-19. She went into the hospital COVID-19 free because there is no family member that has COVID-19 because they were all tested,” the granddaughter stated.

The following day, the Ministry deployed health officials to their home to complete COVID-19 tests on the family members living in the same house as Jagnarine.

“The results came back all negative three days after. How is it that she got COVID-19 and her family members don’t have it?” Alli questioned health authorities at GPHC. Alli added, “she basically got it from the hospital; basically, like the last two people

“She went into the hospital COVID-19 free because there is no family member that has COVID-19 because they were all tested…

How is it that she got COVID-19 and her family members don’t have it?” – granddaughter once again been accused by family members of the country’s latest COVID-19 death of infecting her with the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, after she visited the health institution.

Geerjadai Jagnarine, 69, of Lot 408 7th Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), passed away early Saturday morning - three days after being transferred from the GPHC to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

During an interview with <<<Guyana Times>>>, the woman’s family cast blame on the public hospital for infecting the elderly woman with the virus.

According to the family members, Jagnarine was taken to the GPHC on June 30 just after midday, since she was having a number of complications and was a patient of the hospital’s heart clinic.

“When she arrived, her daughter went with her, so she was admitted. Her daughter was with her throughout the process, and in the wee hours of the morning, around 01:00h to 02:00h they put the daughter out the hospital and tell the daughter that she cannot be there anymore because they have coronavirus patients in the hospital,” the dead woman’s granddaughter, Sarah Alli, relayed to this publication.

After Jagnarine was ad-

that died because she had no sign, no symptom – nothing of COVID-19. If she had it home, I am pretty sure family members would have gotten it by now, and they were all tested.”

Alli, who is in despair, is contending that “she was exposed to COVID-19 at the Georgetown Public Hospital; she did not leave home with COVID-19. She got it from the hospital, and being a heart patient and a very sickly woman, she got it from there.”

The young woman stated that her grandmother going into the hospital without COVID-19 and suddenly contracting the disease is worrying.

“They said that she was recovering and they sent her to West Demerara Hospital to quarantine her, three days later she is pronounced dead.”

The woman died at 04:00h at the Demerara Regional Hospital in Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD), but the family never received the information about the woman’s death until around 10:00h. In fact, the hospital has refused to allow the family to verify the woman’s body.

“We went to the hospital, and when we went to the hospital, they said that they shifted her to a private parlour without our consent or without we seeing her dead body or anything of that sort but shifted her to a private

parlour and also she was already sealed so we could not see her. Up to now, we could not identify her,” Alli concluded with great dismay.

As of July 11, 2020, Guyana recorded some 291 confirmed cases, ever since the detection of patient zero on March 11. Saturday marks four months since the country has been battling the deadly virus, and health authorities are yet to see a positive indication that the curve is “flattening.”

According to the Ministry’s updated COVID-19 dashboard, a total of 54 tests were done as of Saturday. The number of active cases is now at 126 with 19 in institutional quarantine. Six persons are in the dedicated COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 17 deaths.

Alarmingly, over the past two weeks, a whopping five deaths were recorded. The

last COVID-19 death was recorded five days ago when 76-year-old May Portsmouth - a resident of Friendship, ECD, succumbed while receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the GPHC. Portsmouth’s family had disputed the COVID-19 diagnosis and accused the

GPHC of covering up the woman’s death with the virus. Just one day before Portsmouth’s death, 25-year-old Donna Ambrose, a teacher of Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), was recorded as Guyana’s 15th COVID-19 death.

The country’s 14th

COVID-19 death was 34-year-old Abdool Khan of Bartica, who succumbed while being treated at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since June 22.

Just two days prior to Khan’s death, the 13th death was 42-year-old Kevin Ridley of Albuoystown, Georgetown.

Ridley was admitted to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit after complaining of shortness of breath. Doctors at the hospital then conducted a COVID-19 test which came back positive, and the man died just moments after at the hospital.

During last week's COVID-19 daily update, Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO) Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle revealed that for a country with less than one million people, Guyana has recorded a “very high” COVID-19 death rate.

(Shemar Alleyne)

24 NEWS

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Caricom Reparations Committee Chair calls for Guyana’s elections' declaration on recount results

V

ice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Hilary Beckles on Saturday called for the recount results from Guyana’s March 2 General Elections to be declared, stating that “there is no other option that will be acceptable to the region and wider world”.

See the full opinion piece

by Sir Beckles entitled “A New Day in Guyana” below: Sometimes it requires a personal rather than political or professional perspective to see beyond the borders of a seemingly divisive circumstance, and to offer a dispassionate comment. I was named by my father after his cousin, Hilary Alfonso McDonald Beckles. “HAM Beck”, as he was called, was little known in our native Barbados, but his contribution to nation-building

in Guyana is well respected. In the late 1940s, he fled “Bim” for “BG”. He taught classics for near three decades at Queen’s College in Georgetown, where he also became principal.

His commitments to Guyana straddled the diverse ethnic and cultural scene. He married an Amerindian woman, and considered himself a research authority on Hindu culture and Indian civilization. He admired the colony’s ethnic diversity and adopted the new nation of 1966 as his home. Supporting the nation’s dream for democratic development and the equality of ethnicities was his personal quest.

Through those eyes I came to embrace the wonderful land of a thousand rivers.

I know something of its history and culture, including

the good and the bad times evident in its turbulent journey to and beyond nationhood. It has been a torn and tortured terrain with divisive seeds sown in the colonial waters that nurture the rich land.

The determined evidence of the debilitating deployment of ethnic identity as expressions of Indigenous nationalism can be seen in far too many places. But, above it all, there is also the compelling story, in the history from sea walls to sugar estates, of commitment to the paramount principle that the will of the people should not be toppled, but respected.

The people have spoken. And so, has the highest court. From the 20192020 electoral campaign and franchise exercise, their will is now known. With much

UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles

pain and sacrifice, the process has been monitored and reviewed by Caricom.

The findings of the outcome should be declared and implemented. There is no other option that will be acceptable to the region and wider world. The future of the na-

tion is assured with the compliance of State to the popular will. The regional court is counting on the integrity of the polity to protect the democracy.

Fear of the future is not an acceptable explanation for franchise frustration in the present. Ethical conduct, and not ethnic constructs, is expected to rule when democracy is in need of advocacy. The children of Indigenous survivors, the chattel enslaved, the deceived indentured, and others in between, must now converge at the rendezvous of victory. The minority party should stay the course and continue to contribute to the sustainability and maturity of the integrated, multi-racial nation.

In this regard, despite the challenges of late, the nation has much to teach

its region and the world beyond. This year is the 40th anniversary of the violent taking of Walter Rodney’s life. It was forfeit because of the socially and politically integrated values he held most dear. He was from that generation of outstanding Guyanese scholars nurtured

by HAM Beckles.

I join with the current and past Heads of Caricom, the Honourable Ralph Gonsalves and the Honourable Mia Mottley respectively, and with the former Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Owen Arthur, in calling for the official embrace of the evidentiary truth of the election. Every hour that the celebration of a new day is allowed to sour, the greater will be the tarnish on the varnish of the history of a great nation.

Glenn Lall takes Govt to court over land giveaways

…seeking order quashing Finance Minister’s rushed deals

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usinessman Glenn Lall is taking the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration to court over its rush to finalise land deals despite elections being held and a recount showing their loss at the polls.

According to a Fixed Date Application filed on Lall’s behalf, the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) is the first named respondent. Also named as respondents are Finance Minister Winston Jordan

Businessman Glenn Lall

and Attorney General Basil Williams.

According to the particulars of the case, it is alleged that the Minister’s transfer of lands on June 11, 2020, was unlawful, ultra vires, null and void. According to gazetted orders, a number of private companies received prime land on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

These companies were listed in the case documents.

They include Bosai Minerals Group, Super Graphics Enterprise, American Marines Services and Caribbean Marketing

Caretaker Finance Minister Winston Jordan

NICIL CEO Colvin Heath-London

Caretaker President David Granger

Enterprise. In the application, Lall is seeking orders quashing all orders issued under Jordan’s hand, which transferred land to the aforementioned companies.

According to the application, Lall is seeking “a declaration there is no power/authority vested in the first respondent or second respondent pursuant to Section 8 and 11 of the Public Corporations Act Cap 19:05 to convey or transfer any property under its or his control to any person or entity not under the control of the Minister.”

Lall’s legal team is being led by Attorney-at-Law Sanjeev Datadin. Also, on the team are Attorneysat-Law Aneesa Chow and Donavon A Rangiah.

Meanwhile, High Court Judge Sandra Kurtzious is expected to hear the matter.

NICIL. The land, which has no infrastructure on it, includes 0.353 acres at Lot 53 portion of Plantation Surapana on the banks of the Demerara River.

Another 0.356 acres on the banks of the River were also transferred.

A similar transaction was the transfer of 20 acres of land, also part of Goedverwagting and Sparendaam, to American Marine and Services Incorporated. The company, located at Lot 215 Cross Street and Mandela Avenue, Alexander Village, was granted the land by NICIL. Meanwhile, another beneficiary of land was Premier Sales Incorporated, of lot 101 Pike Street, Kitty. The company received five acres of land, also in Sparendaam and Goedverwagting, on the ECD. All the orders were dated June 11.

The developments came at a time when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has before it a huge backlog of cases and thousands of dissatisfied ordinary citizens languishing in the system, made worse by the coalition Government’s lack of ordinary house lot distribution policies.

to be in both a caretaker and a transition mode, where large transactions are not entered into. The governing coalition would have lost a No-Confidence Motion in December 2018.

As such, the expectation is that Government will not engage in any large transactions but will only conduct basic functions. In addition, based on the recount, the coalition also lost the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The revelations, therefore, generated outrage across sections of society.

In NICIL’s defence, however, they had said the land deals were rushed in order to pay the cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). NICIL had also claimed that the lands were partly paid for last year.

According to NICIL, however, the transaction was not complete because the vesting orders were not gazetted. NICIL claimed that the rush to complete the transactions is due to the dire financial straits facing GuySuCo, which it is funding.

GuySuCo had recently appealed to the Government for funds in order to ensure it could continue through the month of June. It was subsequently announced that GuySuCo received $250 million.

Land giveaways

It was revealed last month that in the waning days of the APNU/AFC Government, a number of companies had land transferred to them by NICIL, with the vesting orders being signed by Minister Jordan.

A case in point is Bosai minerals group, located at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden, which had a total of 1.427 acres of land transferred to it by

Caretaker transition mode

In addition, the caretaker Government is supposed

NEWS

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana waited long enough for result – UK Minister C

alls continue to mount for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to

make a declaration based on the results emanating from the National Recount, which was certified not only

by GECOM but also by a team of scrutineers from the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

This latest call was made by the United Kingdom’s (UK’s) Minister for Overseas Territories and Sustainable

Development, Baroness Elizabeth Sugg.

In a tweet on Saturday, Baroness Sugg said “Guyanese people have waited long enough for election results. Now all legal processes have been completed I urge Guyana Elections Commission to declare a result based on @ CARICOMorg scrutinised recount. Every vote must count, all must respect those votes, regardless of the result.”

The UK Government, through its High Commission here in Guyana and other senior government officials, have been vocal and stern against a non-democratic transition of Government in Guyana.

The 33-day National Recount has confirmed that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 elections with 233,336 votes while the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of 15,416 votes.

UK Minister Baroness Elizabeth Sugg

Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield on June 16 was directed by the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, to submit his final elections report based on the recount results.

However, before he could have presented his report, APNU/AFC supporter Elsyn

Lowenfield’s fraudulent report

Masks finally coming off, identity of rigging cabal being laid bare – Chris Ram

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olitical commentator and attorney-at-law, Christopher Ram has stated that the events that have unfolded over the past few days at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), aimed at further delaying the declaration of the March 2 elections results, has finally removed the mask from the rigging cabal.

Ram’s statement comes on the heels of Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield on Saturday submitting his final elections report with fraudulent numbers that were issued by embattled Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to give the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition a victory.

This is despite him being directed by the GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, to use the figures emanating from the certified National Recount, which show a victory for the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) by some 15,416 votes.

In a letter to the editor on Saturday, Ram said that there is a group of individuals who have been systematically and criminally dismantling Guyana’s democratic structures to impose caretaker President David Granger and the APNU/AFC on the people of this country as they cement dictatorship in Guyana.

“The masks are finally coming off and the identity of the cabal of riggers of elections and thieves of votes of citizens is being laid bare.

Those, including myself I must confess, who thought it was the trio of [Governmentnominated] Commissioners using Lowenfield, Mingo and [Deputy CEO Roxanne] Myers were the real crooks, are now recognising that the conspiracy begins with David Granger as the architect and

Attorney-at-law Christopher Ram

ends with David Granger being sworn in,” he stated.

According to Ram, who is also an attorney-at-law, Lowenfield should have complied with a directive of the GECOM Chair on Saturday to carry out his constitutional duty to submit a report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act as first requested by the Chairman on June 23, more than three weeks ago.

Instead, demonstrating disrespect and insubordination to the Chairman, Lowenfield presented a report since March 14 which was clearly overtaken by Order 60 dealing with the Recount, and subsequent judicial pronouncements, the renowned Guyanese lawyer contended.

“Lowenfield, who has been running from the service of a criminal summons, does not care: he knows he has not only the PNC-R’s three GECOM appointees [Commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman] in his corner but also the Executive and coercive arms of the State, including Granger, behind him. It was no surprise then that Alexander in a news report [on Friday] purported to speak for Lowenfield, say-

ing that Lowenfield would respond to the Chairman.

As a measure of the scale and nature of the coordination among the rogue elements in GECOM’s Secretariat and the PNC-R’s three GECOM appointees, Lowenfield absented himself from the meeting, as did the Commissioners,” Ram noted.

He went on to note, however, that the conspiracy did not stop there but includes Granger and his alter ego Joseph Harmon, APNU Executive Member.

“If anyone had any doubt that Granger had an iota of decency about him, that illusion was dispelled by Granger in a bizarre display of deceit in his unmasked speech to his supporters on the day the CCJ handed down their decision, a decision with which everyone associated some finality and the return to democracy… We under-estimated Granger’s deceit,” the political analyst asserted.

Moreover, Ram pointed out that the GECOM Chair has shown immense patience in dealing with the PNCR renegade Commissioners, who were a no-show at Saturday’s meeting, and the rogue elements in the GECOM Secretariat, which is headed by Lowenfield.

As Chair, Ram noted, Justice Singh has a duty to ensure that the principal function of GECOM is carried out, that is, to hold and complete elections. He too joined calls for disciplinary actions to be taken against the CEO. “A retired Judge of the Court of Appeal should not allow a lawbreaker to embarrass her and frustrate the execution of the work of the Commission. Lowenfield is an employee of GECOM and not as he thinks, a constitutional office holder. His continued employment is subject to his contract and the

Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act. That Act provides for dismissal without notice where there is serious misconduct. It is hard to think of anything more serious than Lowenfield’s persistent attempt to subvert the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act,” he stated.

According to Ram, if Lowenfield is terminated then an acting CEO can be appointed to do what he has unlawfully refused to do, thus holding the country to ransom.

The political commentator noted that once Lowenfield is replaced, it will pave way for the anticipated declaration of the elections results and the swearing-in of the new President by the Chancellor. This, he emphasized, will allow for Granger’s tenure to constitutionally come to an end and all authorities, powers, protection and allegiances associated with a lawful President will cease to exist.

“Granger has boasted that the GDF (Guyana Defence Force) is the only military in South America which has never been part of a coup. I am sure that the higher ranks of the Army will want to maintain that proud tradition. I am confident too that the Chancellor of the Judiciary will carry out her constitutional duty to swear in the President rather than designate any other judge to carry out that function as the Constitution provides,” Ram stressed.

He went on to outline that if the APNU/AFC coalition, including its three GECOM Commissioners, are so certain of their “overwhelming evidence” of fraud then they should confidently pursue the election petition where they will guarantee a fair and speedy hearing.

David filed legal proceedings in the Appeal Court. But one day after that court’s ruling, which was stayed for three days, the CEO went ahead to submit his report in which he invalidated over 115,000 votes to give the APNU/AFC a win with 171,825 votes while the PPP/C was given 166,343 votes.

PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali and General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo had moved to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to challenge the Appeal Court’s jurisdiction and its decision that “more votes cast” in the Recount Order means “more valid votes cast”.

The Trinidad-based regional court on Wednesday ruled that the Appeal Court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter in the first place and as such, invalidated its

decision. The CCJ also invalidated the CEO’s report in which he dumped over 115,000 votes.

Following this, the GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, on Thursday wrote Lowenfield once again to submit his final report based on the recount figures. Instead, of doing that, he asked for clarity on what he is supposed to do.

In response, the GECOM Chair reiterated that her Thursday letter remains in effect. While Lowenfield did submit his report on Saturday, he used the fraudulent figures of embattled Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo to give the caretaker coalition a win.

During the recount exercise, Mingo’s figures were found to be heavily inflated in favour of the APNU/AFC.

Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek test positive for COVID-19

Abhishek Bachchan

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan

mitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan have been hospitalised after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The rest of the Bachchan family and their staff is awaiting test results.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek Bachchan have been admitted to a Mumbai hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus. The two actors confirmed the news of their diagnosis on Twitter, with Abhishek informing that they have ‘mild symptoms’.

“Earlier today both my father and I tested positive for COVID 19. Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to hospital. We have informed all the required authorities and our family and staff are all being tested. I request all to stay calm and not panic.

Thank you,” Abhishek, 44, wrote.

According to sources, 77-year-old Amitabh is stable with minor breathing problems. Earlier in the evening, the senior actor tweeted, “I have tested CoviD positive .. shifted to Hospital .. hospital informing authorities .. family and staff undergone tests , results awaited .. All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested !”

According to sources at the hospital, Amitabh was experiencing breathlessness. On Saturday, around 22:00h (10pm), he was

rushed to the hospital.

Amitabh was last seen in Shoojit Sircar’s comedy-drama Gulabo Sitabo alongside Ayushmann Khurrana, while Abhishek’s debut web series Breathe Into The Shadows released on an online video streaming platform on Friday.

Both Amitabh and Abhishek were tested at the hospital on Saturday through rapid antigen tests.

The senior actor had been shooting from home and had shot for a couple of ads and apparently, even a promo for the next season of his TV quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and industrialist Anand Mahindra were among those who tweeted their wishes for Amitabh Bachchan. “We’re all cheering for you. And you have nothing to worry about. There’s a vaccine you possess—it’s code named the Big V—and it’s inbuilt & organic. Grows inside all those like you who are natural fighters,” Mahindra wrote.

Actors and other Bollywood colleagues have also tweeted their wishes for Amitabh and Abhishek’s quick recovery. Taapsee Pannu wrote, “And you shall be back to health n happiness soon!champ !” Sonu Sood wrote, “Get well soon sir.” “Sending you tons of love and best wishes ... please take care ... you ll be okay very soon!,” wrote Neha Dhupia.

(Hindustan Times)

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SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

India's Biocon secures approval to use drug on coronavirus patients

I

ndia’s Biocon Ltd has received regulatory approval for its drug Itolizumab to be used on coronavirus infected patients suffering from moderate to severe respiratory distress, the biopharmaceutical company said in a statement on Saturday.

The drug, which is also used to cure the skin disease psoriasis, was cleared by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for usage in India.

“The randomised control trial indicated that all the patients treated with Itolizumab responded pos-

India's Biocon Ltd Chairman and Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

itively and recovered,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the firm’s executive chairperson.

The control group which did not receive Itolizumab unfortunately suffered deaths, she said, adding that the “first-inclass” drug will save lives and help reduce the mortality rate in India.

Clinical studies involving the drug are being closely watched as nations look for treatments for the disease that has infected over 820,000 people and killed over 22,000 in India.

India recorded 27,114

coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. The South Asian country’s coronavirus case tally has made it the nation with the third-biggest outbreak, behind only the United States and Brazil in confirmed infections.

The DGCI earlier this month approved pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila to start phase one and phase two human clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine.

Hyderabadbased Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN has also been approved for trials.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

posed a series of restrictions in a bid to contain infections, shutting down a slew of businesses again.

With less than half of the US$29 billion previously pledged in aid paid out and anger building, Netanyahu announced a new welfare package on Thursday, saying the measures would provide an economic safety net for the coming year.

In the past few weeks, protesters from across the political spectrum have tak-

en to the streets with demands for speedier compensation from the coalition Government, which they see as overstaffed and ineffectual.

“People feel helpless, there’s no response. They are enraged and want the government to take responsibility,” said Roee Cohen, President of the Israel Chamber of Independent Organisations and Businesses. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Israelis protest against Government response to coronavirus

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housands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in Tel Aviv, angered by what they say has been an inept Government response to the economic hits they have taken during the coronavirus crisis.

In keeping with restrictions on public gatherings, Police limited the number of people allowed into Tel Aviv’s Rabin square for the rally as nearby streets filled with demonstrators wearing face masks.

Unemployment in Israel has soared to 21 per cent since the country went into partial lockdown in March and aid packages promised by the Government have been slow to come through, frustrating Israelis who fear they are on the verge of economic collapse.

Alarmed by a new spike in COVID-19 cases which surged after the economy began reopening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week reim-

OILNEWS Oil prices up amid virus treatment news

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il rebounded as a new virus treatment showed promising results, but rising COVID-19 cases continued to weigh on the market.

Oil gained 2.4 per cent in New York on Friday, but is still down for the week. The market followed stocks higher after Gilead Sciences Inc said its remdesivir treatment cut COVID-19 mortality risk by 62 per cent. Still, the coronavirus pandemic is far from easing around the world and the International Energy Agency said a jump in cases could derail the market recovery.

“If there’s one positive today concerning oil and the virus, it’s the news about remdesivir,” said Michael Hiley, Head of over-The-Counter Energy Trading at New York-based LPS Futures. “Still, you can’t help but try and dig into the new virus numbers that come out each day.”

Crude has struggled to extend a recent rally as traders weigh fresh outbreaks of the virus. California, Texas and Florida have recorded some of their biggest daily gains in cases and deaths this week. There’s a growing risk that a resurgence will impede efforts to reopen the economy.

“Until the economy is wide open again, it’s hard to imagine oil consistently back up to where it was before the pandemic,” said Hiley.

While the IEA said demand should rebound sharply over the next three months as economic activity resumes, the agency also warned a flare-up of the virus, which is raging across several US states and re-emerging in Asia, is “casting a shadow over the outlook.”

Supply could also become more abundant as Libya’s National Oil Corp announced it would lift force majeure on all exports following months of near-zero shipments. The Kriti Bastion tanker has started loading 730,000 barrels of crude at Es Sider, with the cargo heading to Italy, according to port operator Waha Oil Co. (Excerpt from Rigzone)

US reports daily new case high UN Secretary General wants help for coronavirus for third day in a row

Caribbean in dealing with COVID-19

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nited Nations Secretary General António Guterres has called on the global community to help address the “unprecedented” impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on Latin America and the Caribbean, saying that the region has become a “hot spot of the pandemic”.

In releasing a new policy initiative on how best to recover in a region already embroiled in poverty, hunger, unemployment, and inequality, Guterres said that several countries in the region are now among those with the highest per capita infection rates worldwide.

The initiative also

shines a light on how the crisis is impacting vulnerable groups, including indigenous communities and women.

The UN chief emphasised the impact of the coronavirus on women across the region, who make up the majority of the workforce and now bear the brunt of additional caregiving.

The UN said it is projected that there will be a 9.1 per cent contraction in gross domestic product in the region, “which will be the largest in a century”.

While stressing the need to “do everything possible to limit the spread of the virus and tackle the health effects of the pandemic”, Guterres on Friday noted that “we must also

address the unprecedented social and economic impacts”.

Guterres also flagged the urgent need for greater international support.

Against the backdrop of pervasive inequality in the region, he said accessible and comprehensive welfare systems must be developed, fair taxation systems created, decent jobs promoted, environmental sustainability strengthened, and social protection mechanisms reinforced.

Moreover, Guterres said regional economic integration is required, with “women participating fully and safely in public and economic life”. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

to plead”.

Lawrence had been granted bail a week ago more than 20 years after he was admitted into the custody of the Department of Correctional Services in 1999.

He had been arrested following an altercation where he allegedly threw stones at a group of men in Huntley Castle district, St Elizabeth, one of the largest parishes

on the southwest of the island.

A police service vehicle was damaged during the altercation.

He was declared unfit to plead and remained in jail until last week when he was granted bail and released into the care of his family.

Justice Granger said Friday that Lawrence needs to follow up with the doctor.

Last month, the human

rights group, Stand Up for Jamaica (SUFJ), said it was seeking the release from prison of two inmates, one of whom spent more than 40 years behind bars awaiting trial on a murder charge.

The group said that it has taken the position in keeping with its commitment to identify and advocate for inmates who have been deemed unfit to plead.

(Excerpt from Nation News)

Prisoner released after waiting 20 years for trial

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Judge Friday freed a 49-year-old mentally ill man who spent more than 20 years in jail after he was awaiting trial on charges of allegedly throwing stones at a group of men.

Senior Parish Court Judge, Justice Ann-Marie Granger, freed Abraham Lawrence after reviewing reports from a psychiatrist and probation officer which indicated that “he is not fit

A spike in coronavirus hospitalisations in Texas has pushed medical facilities to the brink [David J Phillip/Reuters]

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he number of new confirmed coronavirus infections in the United States has gone up by about 69,000, the third day in a row the country reported its highest daily new cases.

The rising numbers come amid a surge in new cases that has affected most of the 50 states in the US. As of Saturday, 3.18 million infections were recorded with more than 134,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Overall, coronavirus cases are rising in 44 states, according to a Reuters news agency analysis of cases for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks.

At the same time, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in

the US has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10. The rate is still well below the heights hit in April, but indicates a longfeared uptick in fatalities accompanying the increase in cases.

Amid a spike in Texas that has pushed intensive care units to the brink, Governor Greg Abbott said he may impose new lockdowns if the state cannot stem its record-setting caseloads and hospitalisations through the wearing of masks and social distancing.

Texas is one of several states that had been criticised for reopening too soon.

Meanwhile, California announced on Friday the state will release up to 8000 inmates early from prisons to slow the spread of COVID-19 inside the facilities. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

27

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

"Innocent sinner” Lowenfield submits 6 different results in 2020 Dear Editor, The fraudulent declarations that were proclaimed for Region Four by Clairmont Mingo on March 13 at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) headquarters -- which stand on the Commission’s record until they are replaced by results from the National Recount exercise -- were recycled by GECOM GEO Keith Lowenfield and delivered to GECOM Chairman, Ret Justice Claudette Singh, on Saturday.

Those results were never vitiated as fraud, since the court had ruled on the procedures used; which means that, according to the Commission’s records, those results are not fraudulent and would not have to be replaced.

However, now that the recount has been completed,

the Statements of Recount (SoRs) are showing figures that are vastly different from those which were announced by Mingo.

The letter, dated July 10, 2020, from Mr Keith Lowenfield, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, to the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission trampled on the authority of Justice Claudette Singh with the utmost disdain and disrespect in this unending saga.

Lowenfield’s rambling letter, which was filled with a tangle of meaningless legal references, was dismissed by the Chairperson within hours, as she reinstated her request by letter for the certified recount numbers to be presented by 11:00am on Saturday, July 11, 2020.

Lowenfield has disre-

garded a directive from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Claudette Singh, that he must use the results of the National Recount to submit a final report on the March 2 polls.

While the recount showed a clear victory for the Opposition PPP/C, Lowenfield, today, instead, submitted a report reflecting a win for the rigging APNU+AFC. He has reported 236,777 votes for APNU+AFC; 229,330 for the PPP/C, and 5,091 for a joint slate of three new parties.

It is unclear on what basis Lowenfield produced his numbers. The figures are similar to those that would result from using the falsified numbers from the March 13 declaration

by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo,

which had necessitated the move to a recount, but they do not correspond.

The now discredited March 13 results showed 237,371 votes for the incumbent and 229,510 for the PPP/C. The 2020 General and Regional Elections have so far seen the “Innocent sinner” Lowenfield submitting six different results, which were made public. None of these results correspond.

The first two declarations made using fictitious numbers from Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo were clearly disproved by the results of the National Recount, which showed a victory for the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C). That party on Wednesday applied unsuccessfully to Singh for her to direct Lowenfield to withdraw his latest report.

This report, like Mingo’s

Plea to Dr Ralph Gonsalves Dear Editor, It is obvious to everyone -- including His Holiness the Pope -- who exactly is pulling the strings of Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.

This brief missive is to emphasise what most Guyanese, including very many who voted for APNU/ AFC, have concluded; which is that talk is no longer being heard.

It is my humble opinion that the time has come for action (indeed, many have expressed the view

that the time for such action was months ago) to be taken. Caricom heads must discuss the suspension of Guyana now. The immediate past Chairperson, Honourable Mia Mottley, PM of Barbados, has done her best (thanks, Ms Mia Mottley) to try to resolve the matter, and in the process suffered at the hands and mouths of the riggers, for which the majority of Guyanese apologise.

It is now up to the current Chairman of Caricom, the Honourable Dr Ralph

Gonsalves, to take immediate action to bring the usurpers of power to their senses.

Immediate suspension from Caricom could be the catalyst to the OAS, the Commonwealth and other bodies and institutions to follow suit.

It is a pity, a shame, a disgrace, that resort has to be made to such a call. On the local “front”, the pussyfooting and the “kid’s gloves” treatment of Lowenfield and his ilk at GECOM has to be ended. He has, in the opinion

of many, been grossly insubordinate; and, in the words of one Commissioner, “He eyes pass the Commission”.

ONE man, on the instructions of his handlers (including some newly “minted” Senior Counsel, who don’t even have law degrees) is holding a nation to ransom.

Enough is enough.

Lowenfield must be sanctioned by GECOM now.

Let Guyana breathe again, please!

Dear Editor, I conversed and/or interacted with Caribbean diaspora people in New York and also around the Caribbean region as pertains to Guyana’s March 2 elections.

They urge the Chair of GECOM, Claudette Singh, to correct the election report submitted by Lowenfield and bring the election process to closure. They also poke fun at Guyana and Guyanese over the behaviour of some Government judges. With Government officials criticising the CCJ and Lowenfield defying the CCJ’s ruling and GECOM’s orders, they ask whether Guyana is a lawless society.

Guyana has been lawless since the 1960s, with acts of election-rigging, bullying, racism, kick-down-the-door banditry, and choke-and-rob occurring.

Guyanese in the diaspora and at home have been the subject of ridicule for the last eighteen months -- since the no confidence motion of December 21, 2018 -- over math, English, and now law.

Caricom people and American colleagues where Guyanese are employed have made vexatious snide remarks that we Guyanese don’t know simple maths.

They say even Guyanese judges don’t know how to calculate a simple majority that a three-year-old American knows.

Then they say we Guyanese don’t know simple English, that we had to ask a court to define or explain “more votes than” when a three-year-old American could give an explicit meaning. It does not mean “more valid votes”. All votes are valid, or else they would not be counted, as the CCJ so advised two judges of the Court of Appeal.

Now Caribbean nationals and White Americans are telling us Guyanese that we don’t understand simple law. The CCJ is the final court of Guyana. Its ruling is law. It cannot be appealed or defied; it must be enforced. A three-yearold American knows that fact, but Lowenfield and one political party and some of

its supporters don’t seem to understand the law on court rulings. One may not like a court ruling, but one has to abide by it.

The CCJ instructed Lowenfield to prepare an elections report in accordance with the valid votes of the recount. He cannot submit to GECOM a report based on the (Mingo) count.

It must be based on the recount (stressed), not the count. If one does not follow the law, or GECOM does not enforce the ruling, and the court does not uphold laws or judicial rulings, then Guyana becomes a lawless society. The law of the jungle takes over.

Even during the worst period of Jim Crow racism in America, when the Supreme Court ruled favourably toward black Americans, the white authorities enforced the ruling they disliked. That was the law; racist white folks enforced the rights of black Americans.

The votes of black Americans were counted and used in declaration of winners in elections, several of whom

were blacks.

Lowenfield’s behaviour in defying GECOM is lawlessness. It is the informed opinion of Guyanese and other Caribbean people in New York that Lowenfield should be held accountable; he must be disciplined for insubordination, and terminated from his position.

(PS: almost every Caribbean people has been following the Guyana election matter ever since the coalition lost the no-confidence motion.

Everyone has condemned the Government for not abiding by the democratic principle that follows a defeat of an NCM (hold fresh election) and not respecting the outcome of a free and fair election.

Sincerely, Harry N Nawbatt

Chair must correct Lowenfield’s Report

Madame Chair of GECOM, Caribbean people urge you to correct Lowenfield’s fake report and proceed with a declaration as instructed by the CCJ! The law is on your side.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

declaration before it, shows a victory for the incumbent APNU+AFC after invalidating almost 25% of the votes cast at the March 2 polls. It is based on a total of 344,508 votes, which is significantly less than the 460,295 votes that were verified by the Secretariat during the National Recount process.

Lowenfield should be fired, then jailed. Despite clear and definitive instruc-

tions from the Chairman, Lowenfield requested clarity in what could only be described as a disingenuous attempt to disobey the instructions aforesaid. today's report is a clear indication that Lowenfield’s "eyes pass" the Chairman, and he has no respect for the people of Guyana.

Sincerely, David Adams

Time to end this nightmare Dear Editor, Justice Claudette Singh’s letter of July 9, 2020, requesting Mr Keith Lowenfield to submit the recount report, signalled to the entire world that she was ready to move on with declaring the March 2 elections' results. To the nation’s dismay, Mr Lowenfield failed to submit the requested report because he needed further clarity.

Justice Singh’s letter was crystal clear, and left little or no room for misinterpretation. There is absolutely nothing to clarify. Mr. Lowenfield is only pussyfooting as he does not strike me as someone deficient in his understanding of the English language. Hence, this latest antic can only be seen as another treacherous act perpetrated by the APNU/AFC and their cohorts to thwart the will of the Guyanese people.

That Mr Lowenfield is ignoring the recount results by contending that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) judgment noted that the Recount Order and the Constitution of Guyana are at odds is yet another disgraceful attempt to rig these elections and keep the incompetent Granger Administration in office.

According to the CCJ, it is Mr Lowenfield’s attempts to disenfranchise over one hundred thousand voters in a non-transparent and arbitrary way that is inconsistent with the highest law of the land, the Constitution.

Mr Lowenfield’s behaviour would not be tolerated anywhere else in the free world.

At best, it is tantamount to insubordination of the worst kind; at worst, it can easi-

ly be described as electoral fraud. Regardless of the description, he should be summarily dismissed, since it is clear that he has no intention of complying with the request, clarification or not.

However, his dismissal would not bring us any closer to a declaration of the results. This is because the Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), the one next in line, is Ms. Roxanne Myers, a known APNU+AFC sympathizer.

Of course, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) can hire a replacement from the outside, but that would take time and the country would be no closer to a result.

While Mr. Lowenfield’s actions are not entirely surprising, given all that we have seen in the last 130 days, it begs the question: Where do we go from here?

Perhaps Mr Lowenfield is buying time for his handlers to concoct another frivolous court challenge. Or perhaps his stonewalling is designed to frustrate the Opposition and their supporters to such an extent that they would have no alternative other than to take to the streets, thus providing Mr Granger with the basis for declaring the state of emergency he hinted at not so long ago.

Whatever the real reason for Mr Lowenfield’s failure to comply with Justice Singh’s request, it is clear that all stakeholders except the APNU/ACF are growing impatient. It is high time that Justice Singh put an end to this nightmare.

Yours faithfully, Omchand Mahdu

28

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

Archie

ARIES (March 21April 19)

It’s what you do that will count. If you love someone, shower them with affection.

Too much talk will lead to a disagreement that will ruin your day. Do your best to be your best.

TAURUS It’s up to you to bring (April 20about change. Consider May 20) what moves you and follow that path. Distance yourself from anyone who is a bad influence. Abide by the rules.

GEMINI Consider what you can do (MAY 28- to make a difference. Putting June 20) a smile on someone’s face will make you feel good and boost your reputation. Romance is in the stars.

A change will be useful for CANCER you. Spice up your day and (June 21opt to spend it doing someJuly 22) thing that makes you happy.

Begin a new project or nurture a meaningful relationship.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

VIRGO Shake things up. If you aren’t happy with the way (Aug. 23someone treats you, share Sept. 22) your feelings. It’s better to be forthright than to let someone take advantage of you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Peanuts

Look for an outlet that will challenge you physically. Taking time out to enjoy life with the people you love will help you gain perspective regarding uncertainty you face.

Unfulfilled promises will lead to dissatisfaction. Be true to your word and expect the same in return, and you will maintain a healthy relationship. Walk away from anything less.

Learn as you go. Ask questions and use your resources to get inside information. An open and honest discussion will bring you closer to a loved one.

How you run your houseSAGITTARIUS hold will determine how (Nov. 23much extra cash you have.

Dec. 21) Don’t be fooled into thinking you need something you don’t. Moderation is encouraged.

CAPRICORN A risk will leave you feel(Dec. 22ing anxious. Stick to what you know and make adjustJan. 19) ments as you go. Home improvements should bring your family closer together, not push you further apart.

Calvin and Hobbes

AQUARIUS The past will be a remind(Jan. 20er of something you miss.

Feb. 19) Take a walk down memory lane. If you reconnect with an old friend, it will lead to a new beginning.

PISCES Look for the best way (Feb. 20- to use your skills, servicMar. 20) es and time to help others.

The insight you get will be eye-opening and will encourage you to make personal lifestyle changes.

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

29

TKR finances will take a hit, but the fans are in for a treat ꟷ TKR CEO Venky Mysore T

rinbago Knight Riders (TKR) boss Venky Mysore has said the franchise will take a bit of a financial hit for this year's Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tournament, because there will be no spectators allowed at matches, and there is the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chief Executive Officer of Red Chillies Entertainment, the owners of the franchise, said: "We are really excited that Trinidad is hosting CPL 2020 in its entirety. The TKR fans are in for a treat, and we look forward to the wholehearted support TKR always gets from the fans of Trinbago.

"It’s only fitting that a cricket-loving country like Trinbago will witness the very first T20 (Twenty20) tournament in the world since the onset of the pandemic.”

Asked how the franchise views the fact that there will be no spectators allowed into the ground, Mysore said: "Needless to say, without crowds in the stadiums, the revenues take a big hit.

In addition, businesses have suffered, and that will reflect in lower sponsorship revenue as well. Going in, we realised that TKR will incur significant losses, but there is a strong desire for us to see cricket take centre stage again in Trinbago.

"Our players have also taken cuts in their fees

Venky Mysore

to make this season happen. So, the collective objective was to find ways of staging the tournament despite financial losses.

"The easiest thing would have been to say, ‘Let’s skip this year and restart in 2021,’ but we are delighted that all stakeholders have stepped up to make it happen. I am confident that the huge fan base of TKR across the world will enjoy cricket again."

On Thursday, Minister of Sport, Shamfa Cudjoe, announced that the Government of T&T has given

Michael Holding’s look at institutional racism important to Caribbean views on class

F

ast-bowling legend-turned-legendary commentator, Michael Holding, effortlessly threw case studies here and there while backing up his views on the issue of racism.

The studies he shared had common factors. For the most part, they mentioned children, teachers and classrooms. After all, schools play a huge part in grooming individuals for society.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Holding recalled a study involving preschool teachers, highlighting in particular their attitude towards black children. Holding said they automatically expected a black child to misbehave.

In an interview with SportsMax, Holding recited a study for the hosts of the SportsMax Zone. The study was about a white teacher showing love to black children in her classroom, after “recognizing there’s racism in the world.”

According to Holding, the teacher experimented and moved the white children to the back of the classroom and the black children to the front.

After treating them differently for some time, the teacher observed a difference in the black children; their grades and behaviour improved drastically.

Though the teacher in the latter study under-

stood the pros of treating students equally, there are still many who treat students differently because of the colour of their skin.

In November 2019, Ashley-Jade Anderson posted a video on Instagram titled, ‘An Observation: Preferential treatment primary/prep school teachers demonstrate.’

The video showed seven popular instances of preferential treatment given to students of a certain complexion/ social background. Despite the video being uploaded for laughs, the comment section had many people agreeing and deeming the video “accurate.”

One commenter even admitted that this big issue is often overlooked.

Like racism, classism and colourism have a longstanding reputation in classrooms.

When a teacher prefers a student of lighter complexion or higher social class, other students who are perceived to be in a lower social class are marginalised. Because of this, you’ll have some black children thinking they are not good enough, very similar to the way racism works on the psyche. (Sportsmax)

approval for CPL to stage the entire tournament in this country. She said agreement has been reached wherein T&T would host the tournament to the tune of US$1M, which would be broken down into US$500 in cash and US$500 in kind.

She was quick to add that all COVID-19 protocols would be observed, and hence there are to be no spectators at the venue. The players would be tested on arrival, and would then go into self-quarantine at the Hilton Hotel. After seven days, they would be tested again, and once they

test negative, they would be put into small groups to train for the tournament, which is carded for staging from August 18 to September 12.

After 14 days, they would receive their final test; and once all is well, they can then join the rest of their respective teams to train for the start of the tournament.

The Hilton Hotel will have no other guests while the CPL is here. Some 251 guests would arrive at the Hilton, and would stay there for 41 days. (TT Guardian)

‘Different times, different Tallawahs’ – Franchise CEO ꟷ explains rationale behind this season’s CPL Draft picks

J

amaica Tallawahs Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller has said the team was not looking to find a marquee player to replace former captain Chris Gayle, as he is “irreplaceable”.

However, the idea behind the players drafted was to build a solid-enough team to go far in the Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 competition this season.

“You never replace a Chris Gayle,” Miller told The Gleaner. “We could only select whatever players were available in the draft.”

The squad, named on Monday, features many players who are not only experienced, but well known around the region. However, some fans and pundits, including former national cricketer Nehemiah Perry, believe the team lacks “big names” who could generate excitement about this season.

“It is not one of those squads like before, where you have some powerhouses in the squad like a Gayle, [Kumar] Sangakkara, etcetera,” Perry said. “It is not like that. You have some new faces, but you also have experience still there in Andre Russell, Rovman Powell, and Glenn Phillips, who have played a couple seasons now.”

CUT COSTS But Miller has said the economic effect of the

COVID-19 pandemic also meant that the team had to cut costs, especially as there are no gate receipts to be gained this year, with all games being played in Trinidad and Tobago.

“There’s no gate receipts, there’s no sponsors, there’s no merchandising, no concessions,” he said. “That definitely is a big loss for the franchise. It was a challenge, because we’re playing in Trinidad only, and when games are playing in Trinidad only, you have to look at your team selection from a different perspective.

Now you’re playing in one or two venues for the whole tournament. That is mostly a spin-friendly environment, so you have to level out the makeup of your team.”

The Tallawahs have added four spinners to the team as a result. They are Nepalese leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, South African left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, Guyanese left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul, and American leg spinner Ryan Persaud. Sling-bowler Fidel Edwards was also drafted, and Perry said it was a pleasant surprise to see his name.

“He’s been playing some cricket and been pretty fit,” Perry said. “He still could bring some pace to the team, with Oshane Thomas.”

The competition will run from August 19 to September 26. (Jamaica Gleaner)

30

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

Lifebuoy becomes the Official Hand CLASSIFIED Sanitizer of West Indies Tour of England ADS T

he Unilever brand has partnered with the West Indies, the first international cricket team to travel to the UK since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, to provide hand sanitizer product to the touring party. The partnership is actively contributing to Lifebuoy’s commitment to improve the hand hygiene habits of communities around the world, and has already reached over 1 billion people Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the West Indies team today announced a new partnership with Lifebuoy, the world’s number one selling hygiene soap, for their ongoing Sandals Tour of England. The series started last Wednesday July 8, as West Indies faced England in the opening match at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

Lifebuoy will be working with the West Indies by providing hand hygiene products to the full touring party. The brand will also be capturing content with the squad to help champion the cause for better health through hygiene. Players and support staff will take

part in a number of ‘myth busting’ challenges as well as light-hearted educational videos, to help motivate fans around the world to improve their hygiene behavior.

Kartik Chandrasekar, Global Vice President of Lifebuoy, said: “Lifebuoy has always been a b r a n d that has looked to support people in their quest for better personal hygiene.

We are incredibly proud to be partnering with such an iconic team as the West Indies, who are the first international sports team to travel to the UK since the country was placed in lockdown earlier this year”.

Dominic Warne, Commercial Director of Cricket West Indies said: “CWI are delighted to announce this new partnership with Lifebuoy where our cricketers will be delivering engaging and fun content as part of a serious mission to improve hygiene and health. The West Indies are loved and followed around

the world, and we’re looking forward to joining forces with Lifebuoy to improve hygiene behaviour as fans tune in from around the world to follow this historic Test Series.”

West Indies’ Tour of

England consists of a threematch Test Series, played behind closed doors. The #RaisetheBat Series is part of the ICC World Test Championship which concludes in 2021. The First Test starts at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton on July 8 before the second (July 16-20) and third (July 24-

NexGen Golf Academy providing golf new and improved

O

ne great concept has taken on the challenge of providing golf in the city in the midst of confusion, stress, and uncertainty. Nexgen Golf Academy, conveniently located on Wolford Avenue in the heart of the city, has worked in collaboration with the Scouts Association of Guyana to create a peaceful oasis that conforms to the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

The Academy features an international standard driving range with target greens, chipping, putting green (under construction), coaching for all levels and ages, and fun teambuilding for your company’s employees.

Planned improvements include picnic tables under the trees, with service of food and snacks from several top providers; and with lights soon to be added, the Academy is expected to be the place where everyone who plays or is interested in learning the game would meet and, of course as always, golf is the absolute best networking activity.

Since its launch 2 weeks ago, more than 75 persons whom had never played golf have visited and been wowed by the experience. Interestingly enough, most of the new players are women and children, and it has become the workout spot for people who cannot get to a gym.

Comments range from “I’ve always wanted to try”, to “this isn’t as easy as it looks” and “What a great workout”, with rave reviews about the level of service, coaching and professionalism being offered

(the Academy is open daily from 6 am-6pm, until the curfew is lifted).

“We plan on hosting the first event that is compliant with social distancing guidelines, wherein every hour, 20 players can participate in shooting for points, and the winners will receive $100,000 in cash and prizes on a weekly basis,” said Rudy Ramalingum, the Academy’s director.

The prizes will be sponsored by different companies, and will create a fun sporting activity that anyone can participate in and still be safe.

When visiting the Academy, persons are encouraged to learn about the history of

100+ years of Scouting i n Guyana from Chief Scout Andrew Ramcharitar, or President of SAG, Ramsay Ali. They can donate to the organisation, or sign up to become a Scout if they have an interest.

For more information about the Academy and its weekly activities, please visit nexgen golf academy on Facebook, or call 645 0944.

Guyanese referees instructors to participate in regional training programme

I

ngram Johnson and Abdullah Hamid will be among 37 regional referee instructors who would be participating in FUTURO III, a Referee Instructors Programme that would be held from July 11 to 15.

This year’s programme would be hosted via an online platform due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and according to a correspondence from FIFA, it “will focus on the education of referee technical instructors from member associations.”

The candidates, who were selected by both FIFA and

CONCACAF, will be expected to be in session from 08:45 to 12:00 each day. Joint selection of candidates, FIFA notes, “is key to the successful organisation of the course and for the continued development of refereeing in the associations.”

National knowledge transfer of key principles is an expected output of the sessions.

Sherwin Moore, former FIFA Referee, will participate as an observer of the sessions, along with two CONCACAF personnel.

28) Tests will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Players have been quarantined and entered a ‘bio-secure bubble’ ahead of the matches, with temperature checks and COVID-19 testing taking place on a regular basis.

To join the conversation, watch any of Lifebuoy’s exclusive content with

the West Indies team search ‘Lifebuoy Global’ on YouTube, or follow @lifebuoysoap on Twitter and Instagram.

About Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy is the world’s number one selling antibacterial soap, sold in nearly 60 countries. Through the Lifebuoy brand, we aim to make a difference by creating quality, affordable products and promoting healthy hygiene habits.

Our goal is to help 1 billion people around the world improve their hygiene behavior by the end of

2020.

The desire to be clean, active and healthy is intrinsic to everyone – irrespective of age or economic status. We understand this and Lifebuoy soap has championed the cause for better health through hygiene for more than a century. An inspiring vision for more hygienic, healthier and ultimately more vital communities is the driving force behind the Lifebuoy brand. To realize this vision, we look to consistently innovate and provide accessible Lifebuoy products to a wide variety of consumers.

The vision also commits the Lifebuoy brand team to visible action, through inspiring projects that motivate consumers to improve their hygiene behaviour.

Since the launch of the Lifebuoy brand in 1894, we have supported people in their quest for better personal hygiene. The classic red bar of soap and its distinctive medicated carbolic scent was synonymous with cleanliness throughout the twentieth century. Today, the brand is so much more.

With its many soap variants and specially-designed body washes, Lifebuoy products give protection from 10 infection-causing germs.

These, along with the range of liquid hand washes and hand sanitizers, ensure daily hygiene and freshness for the entire family.

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Referee assessors benefit from online training 223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

T

en Guyanese referee assessors have benefited from a twoday virtual workshop conducted by Guyanese Head of the Bahamas Refereeing Department, CONCACAF Instructor/Assessor Mrs. Dianne Ferreira-James.

The workshop, held on July 6 and 7, was the first in a series of training programmes hosted by the GFF to enhance the competencies of assessors and instructors.

Following the conclusion of the session, participant Natasha Lewis commented on its value: “The workshop brought clarity to some concepts, and increased my knowledge

base. Consequently, I will be able to provide an enhanced quality of assessment for referees that will aid in their personal development and quality of local officiating.”

Assessors from the Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands participated in the workshop.

Among the areas covered in the training were the role of assessors, the assessments process, and grading referees.

The areas of focus for the upcoming programmes include fitness, nutrition, safeguarding children in football, sexual harassment, integrity, and incident report writing.

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

31

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

West Indies on top after late burst from seamers A

fter England had built a lead in the first Test against the West Indies, seamers from the ‘men in maroon’ took five wickets in the final 75 minutes of the fourth day, to leave them in the ascendancy in that enthralling Test match being played at the Ageas Bowl.

England had looked to have put themselves in the driving seat as Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley made half-centuries batting on a pitch with variable bounce, and thoughts had been turned to what sort of lead they might want before declaring on the final day.

But after Jason Holder

scoring easier in the morning session of the fourth day, as they moved through the gears and added 47 in the first hour of the day.

But Holder reacted, bowling dry in tandem with offspinner Roston Chase, and the scoring pressure eventually took its toll as Burns spooned a catch to point off Chase’s first half-tracker of the day.

Sibley, in particular, dropped anchor. He was occasionally bogged down against Chase, and seemed to be caught in two minds when Holder asked Joseph to target his ribcage, a tactic which proved to be his undoing

managed to tickle through to Shane Dowrich.

Denly, back at No. 3 ahead of Crawley, played the sort of innings that has become his trademark for better or worse. He struggled early on, playing and missing repeatedly, and surviving a shout for a catch off Holder, which was shown to have looped up to second slip via his body on review.

He grew in fluency as his innings wore on, but his dismissal - chipping an innocuous delivery from Chase to straight midwicket - was nothing if not soft.

Denly’s failings were exposed further by Crawley’s

oozed class, with a straight drive down the ground off Roach early in his innings being one of the shots of the day. While England’s top three relied on flicks, pulls and dabs behind square, Crawley scored the vast majority of his runs in front of the wicket, driving elegantly and using his long levers to hit over the top off Chase.

West Indies looked short of ideas against him and Stokes during their partnership of 98, with Stokes in particular taking a disdainful approach to Gabriel’s new-ball spell as England looked to make the game secure. But again, Holder’s em-

burst through Buttler’s loose shot to leave England six wickets down.

While Buttler’s failure to make a telling score will undoubtedly put him under scrutiny - his average since the start of last summer’s Ashes is now just 21.38 Joseph’s spell was brutal, as he found movement with the ball which was still relatively new. Tellingly, his celebrations were muted, even after his breakthroughs, as if to emphasise that there was still a job to be done.

The benefits of Holder’s captaincy were ev-

ident again when Gabriel was unleashed in the final half-hour. He castled Bess, targeting the stumps from wide on the crease, before Pope dragged on with England staring down the barrel, only 165 ahead with two wickets in hand.

Mark Wood and Jofra Archer sneaked England through to the close with a lead of 170, and will be tasked with spending time in the middle before making more of an impact than they managed in the first innings.

(ESPNcricinfo)

SCOREBOARD drew an edge to second slip from Ben Stokes, the wickets tumbled: Alzarri Joseph accounted for Crawley and Jos Buttler in the day’s quickest spell, before Shannon Gabriel ripped through Dom Bess and Ollie Pope, to leave the West Indies dreaming of a famous win.

Rory Burns and Dom Sibley had survived a brutal 10-over examination on the third evening, and had found

in his final three innings in South Africa, and even in the intra-squad warm-up match.

He was handed a life after passing fifty, dragging a back-of-a-length delivery from Gabriel onto his stumps only for the third umpire to decide that he overstepped by a fine margin. But Gabriel had his man two balls later, firing a length ball down the leg side from wide on the crease, which Sibley only

success.

Chris Silverwood had hinted in the build-up to this Test that Denly was likely to be included for the second Test, when Joe Root returns. He told the BBC: “Joe is in possession at the moment, and I do believe in giving people one too many chances rather than one not enough.”

But it seems implausible that Crawley will lose his place after an innings that

phasis on discipline reaped rewards, as Stokes edged to second slip to fall to his opposite number for the second time in the match, before Crawley offered a return catch to Joseph six balls later.

The game turned on its head in a hurry. Joseph, who had been used sparingly earlier in the day rather than being rammed into the ground, bowled with good pace, and

Foster and team make big donation in Upper Corentyne area, Region 6

P

resident Hilbert Foster, MS, last Friday led an eight-member delegation to the Upper Corentyne area to share out dozens of food hampers under the joint Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) MS, Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), Basil Butcher Trust Fund Coronavirus Project.

Foster and team battled rain, muddy conditions, and sometimes severe heat to make sure that the families in the area, including dozens in the Number 65 Village Squatting Area, receive the hampers, which were specially prepared by the members of the club.

Foster has said he was happy that the two organisations were able to bring assistance to the area, as some of the residents were living in really poor conditions and were struggling to keep their heads above the proverbial water during these difficult times.

Foster and his team have to date shared out 500 hampers under the Basil Butcher Trust Fund Coronavirus Project, and 2000 overall since they started so doing in April. The cost, to date, stands at in excess of $4.5 million.

Foster has extended gratitude to the volunteers who assisted to prepare the hampers, and to Mr Navin Raghoo for the usage of his pickup truck. Foster has, moreover, extended

his heartfelt gratitude to all those who have contributed towards making this initiative a success.

Additionally, Ms Roopranie Latchminarine of Number 67 Village, Corentyne, whose house was blown away during a recent storm, has been pleasantly surprised by the visit of the BCB President and his joint team, who presented to the mother of four a donation of food hampers and household and kitchen items.

Foster told Ms Latchminarine that the two organisations were delighted to assist her in her darkest moments.

He said the current assistance was from the Basil Butcher Trust Fund, and that as long as he remains the head of BCB, humanity would continue to be served while the teams fulfil their duties on the cricket field.

Foster pledged her future support, and wished her 17-year-old son success at the upcoming CSEC exams.

Foster, RHTY&SC Secretary and BCB boss, has opined that persons who are in a position to assist those who are less fortunate should do so, “as we do not carry our riches into the coffin”.

The Latchminarine family home was badly damaged by the freak storm, with most of the items in the home being destroyed.

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS RJ Burns c Campbell b3Chase DP Sibley c †Dowrich b Gabriel JL Denly c JO Holder b Chase Z Crawley c & b Joseph BA Stokes (c) c Hope b JO Holder OJ Pope b Gabriel JC Buttler † b Joseph DM Bess b Gabriel JC Archer not out MA Wood not out Extras (lb 9, nb 2) TOTAL (104 Ov, RR:

42 50 29 76 46 12 9 3 5 1 11

2.73) 284/8 Yet to bat: JM Anderson Fall of wickets: 1-72 (Rory Burns, 36.1 ov), 2-113 (Dom Sibley, 51.3 ov), 3-151 (Joe Denly, 64.3 ov), 4-249 (Ben Stokes, 89.4 ov), 5-253 (Zak Crawley, 90.4 ov), 6-265 (Jos Buttler, 94.2 ov), 7-278 (Dom Bess, 101.2 ov), 8-279 (Ollie Pope, 101.6 ov) BOWLING O KAJ Roach 22 ST Gabriel 18 JO Holder 20 RL Chase 25 AS Joseph 16 KC Brathwaite 3

M 8 3 8 6 2 0

R 50 62 43 71 40 9

W 0 3 1 2 2 0

SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2020

Sports is no longer our game, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s our business

guyanatimesgy.com

West Indies on top after late burst from seamers

Foster and team make big donation See story on page 23 in Upper Corentyne area, Region 6

Pg 31

Lifebuoy becomes the Official Hand Sanitizer of West Indies Tour of England Pg 30

Pg 30

NexGen Golf Academy providing golf, new and improved

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