Guyana Times Sunday March 22, 2020

Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4233 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

Sunday, March 22, 2020

PRICE

GECOM, APNU/AFC destruction of democracy: Day 21

APNU/AFC will not succeed with distracting tactics – PPP

…Granger, cronies churning dangerous pot of ethnic politics – Gail Teixeira

See stories on pages 3 & 8

Every vote must be counted

$120 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

P12 GECOM Commissioner feels threatened

by Police …as rank verbally abuses him, 2nd attack in 1 week

COVID 19 economic impact

IMF urges P10 Guyana to use tax credits

Handy man P12 killed in hitand-run Despite COVID-19 warnings

Operators continue to overload P13 minibuses Hundreds of persons gathered on Cowan Street, Kingstown, Georgetown overlooking the Guyana Elections Commission on Saturday evening where a continuous vigil is being held as persons guard containers inside GECOM’s compound, in which ballot boxes are kept until the recount is conducted. The continuous vigil reinforces the call that “every vote must be counted.”

Granger resurrects 1945 health legislation to fight COVID-19

...lacks direct measures See story on page 15 …excludes central board of health involvement …Health, Finance Ministers’ authorised powers lack basis

Claudette Singh needs to step out from the shadows – Jonas

…Police should take urgent action- UMU president

DDL Group records $3.484B taxed profits in 2019

……banking on P15 diversification investments to drive profits

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NEWS

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BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, March 22 – 04:00h – 05:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Monday, March 23 – 04:30h – 06:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, March 22 –15:40h – 17:10h and Monday, March 23 –16:15h – 17:45h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny intervals are expected during the day.

There will be partly cloudy skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

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

High Tide: 15:53h reaching a maximum height of 2.51 metres.

Low Tide: 09:28h and 21:47h reaching minimum heights of 0.78 metres and 0.69 metre.

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2020

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APNU/AFC will not succeed with distracting tactics – PPP T

he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) said that the APNU/AFC will not succeed with efforts to distract attention from its attempts to derail the democratic processes in the ongoing electoral fiasco.

This comes on the heels of a statement from caretaker President David Granger on Friday in which he said, “Elections are as much about the totality of votes as about the quality of relations among citizens. I urge all Guyanese, therefore, to respect each other as we work together to build a cohesive nation.”

However, the PPP/C on Saturday rejected this new narrative of ethnic inclusivity that has suddenly emerged, as a justification of the attempts by the APNU/AFC cabal, acting in concert with certain staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat, to rig the March 2, 2020 elections.

“This recent fabrication, like so many clumsy strategies employed in recent times, will not succeed in distracting attention from the real issue at hand – derailing the democratic process, defeating the will of the electorate and the attempt to install an illegal Government in Office,” the Opposition party noted.

According to the PPP/C, it has campaigned on a platform of offering inclusive governance, constitutional reform, specifically to construct a new governance model to capture this inclusive governance and on a manifesto that provides plans and programmes for every single Guyanese.

These promises, it added, are set out explicitly in the party’s manifesto and were the backbone of its campaign speeches. In fact, the PPP/C said it campaigned with a List of Candidates drawn from all ethnic and religious groups in Guyana and every race, creed and class in this country.

“Again, we say this diversion will not work. The will of the electorate must be respected and the lawfully elected Government must be allowed to take Office.

Nothing less will suffice,” the party contended.

Following the March 13 declaration by embattled Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo, of the Region Four results, which a majority of the political parties that contested the March 2 elections insist was marred with fraud, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) had intervened and brokered a way forward.

Caricom Chairperson, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley had fielded a five-member high-level team to supervise a national recount of all the votes

PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

cast which was requested by caretaker President Granger and agreed to by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo. In fact, an aide-memoire was signed between the two leaders to record this agreement.

The independent regional team arrived in Guyana on March 15 and after a series of delays, it was forced to withdraw services on Tuesday after an APNU/ AFC candidate, Ulita Moore, obtained an interim injunction from the High Court, blocking GECOM from conducting the recounting process.

The Caricom Chair in a subsequent statement had posited that “there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason.” Despite this, however, Granger insists that the court action was independent and that Guyana should await the outcome of the legal process, which the country’s democracy allows

interested parties to undertake.

“I have maintained that the electoral process must be credible. Free and fair elections are essential to representative democracy…

I am disappointed that the high-level team of five departed Guyana this week after efforts towards a ‘total national recount’ were stymied following the granting of an injunction by the Supreme Court. This matter remains before the court… I urge all citizens to be calm and patient as we await the ruling of the Supreme Court and the final declaration of results by the Elections Commission,” the incumbent Head of State noted on Friday.

Another self-serving statement

But according to the PPP/C on Saturday, that was another monotonous, self-serving and sterile statement from caretaker President Granger, proclaiming his commitment to free and fair elections, to the Caricom initiative and to a total national recount of the ballots cast, while at the same time, hiding behind the cover of the recently filed High Court proceedings, which he insinuates is the reason why he cannot discharge his commitment under the Caricom accord brokered by the Caricom Chair.

“Every rational person can see through this inept façade. Mr Granger has lost all credibility in the eyes of the objective public. These statements of his irritate more than inform. Everyone knows the truth,” the party noted.

Caretaker President David Granger

The PPP/C went on to say that the Head of State can still redeem himself by instructing his Commissioners at GECOM to proceed with the recount, a unanimous decision already made by GECOM on March 15, and instruct Ulita Moore, his party’s candidate for the 2018 Local Government Elections and his candidate for the March 2, 2020 elections, Attorney Roysdale Forde, who is among the battery of lawyers for Moore, to withdraw the High Court case and let the recount of the ballots proceed.

Additionally, the Opposition noted that Granger can also make his party’s Statements of Poll (SoPs) public as the PPP/C has done so that the world can see, transparently, whether his party won the elections.

“It is but his only saving grace,” the Opposition party asserted.

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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

The wages of elections fraud: sanctions on APNU/AFC elite

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t is clear that the PNC, through its fig leaf APNU/AFC cover, is determined to consummate its barefaced rigging of the elections in the face of worldwide condemnation of the GECOM-manipulated results for Reg 4 by its Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo. Among the countries and regional blocs that have expressed vehement objection to the sleight of hand are the US, UK, Canada, EU, Norway, the Commonwealth, the OAS and the ACP. These countries represent more than three billion persons.

The most serious warning about the clear breach of the democratic norms to which Guyana is a signatory in several international covenants came from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just days ago: “The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana….

We join the OAS Commonwealth, EU, CARICOM and other democratic partners who are calling for an accurate count…It is important to note that the individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate governments/ regimes will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States”.

Among the “variety of serious consequences” to which the Secretary of State alluded are sanctions. Today, the United States has sanctions in place against more than two dozen countries, and more than 7,000 companies, individuals and groups. That is more than in any other time in U.S. history, and sanctions are seen as a most effective foreign policy tool.

In applying sanctions against countries in furtherance of its foreign policy goals, there are usually four elements the US normally considers for optimal results. Firstly, the demands must be specific; it helps when the country being sanctioned is an ally; it is best to go after the money and not the products of the country, and finally to have other countries aboard. All of these elements are in play against Guyana. Sanctions can take several forms: trade, financial, travel, military, diplomatic, or cultural. In this instance the very specific demand has been that GECOM’s recount be transparent; Guyana is an ally of the US, which has a very significant economic interest with the discovery of the “world class” oil discovery by ExxonMobil; our financial system is fully integrated with the US system; and finally, there are the host of countries that have made the same specific demand as the US. The Global Policy Forum succinctly summarizes what would be in store for Guyana: basically, the impact will be most debilitating on the political, military and other elites that created the crisis. Trade sanctions have been found to have a devastating impact on the poor, and in fact the elite actually benefit, because they control and benefit from the underground manoeuvres to beat sanctions.

“In response to the tragic consequences of comprehensive economic sanctions on civilians, an increasingly concerted public discourse has arisen around “targeted” or “smart” sanctions. These targeted sanctions are conceived of as directly affecting the political leaders or those responsible for the breach of peace, while leaving the innocent civilian population alone. Properly targeting sanctions, it is hoped, can eliminate civilian suffering while putting significant pressure on the Government itself, thus bringing sanctions regimes into compliance with human rights and humanitarian law and increasing their chances of success.

“Targeted economic sanctions, especially targeted financial sanctions, have become an international policy focus lately, giving rise to the Interlaken Process… They have been repeatedly endorsed by the Secretary-General, especially in his Millennium Report. Targeted economic sanctions may target the personal foreign assets and access to foreign financial markets of members of the Government, the ruling elite, or members of the military. The assets of Government-owned businesses may also be frozen, and investment in those businesses prohibited. Imports of luxury goods and other goods generally only consumed by the ruling elite can be banned. It is generally advised that lists be drawn up with the names of political and/or military leaders whose assets are to be frozen and who are subject to travel restrictions.”

To the PNC, be warned.

Neither history nor law is safe under APNU/AFC Dear Editor, Assumedly, Mr Khamraj Ramjattan, having once argued in a column for a section of the media that no one thinks things through anymore, has deliberated well before asserting in a brief letter that retired Major General Joseph Singh ought to follow the law in his call for a recount of votes. A few remarks to the AFC Leader are warranted.

First, his strong inference is that the Leader of the PNCR is in control of the party, and all plans hatched to undermine the electoral process are tied to him.

This conflicts with caretaker President Granger’s mantra of non-interference with GECOM. GECOM’s leadership is the coalition’s trojan and hub for what Mr Ramjattan’s refers to as a “presumption of regularity” at GECOM, but what is really electoral mischief. Sir, one is beyond what seems mere “suspect,” to a strong indication of continuing fraud as evidenced by an official GECOM document

signed by the Chairperson of the PNCR. Secondly, Mr Ramjattan wants the public to take refuge in the “law and history” to overcome the recount impasse. With all due respect, neither law not history is safe with the coalition. The AFC party leader himself is cherry-picking his flavours with both.

Having completed its assault on Guyana’s parliamentary democracy with the NCM, the coalition is now delivering a thorough shellacking to the country’s electoral process. Visibility is no deterrence—the public is invited to swear in an illegal President with the usual pomp, then petition for a belated recount.

The AFC Leader sped past 2015 and refers to the 1997 elections as his legal refuge. Not so fast, brethren. The “history” of 2015 is a lesson that once President Granger is sworn in illegally, that is likely to be the end of the 2020 elections.

Where was the “law” in 2015 or 2016? Why the silence

about the 2015 petition that was handed a slow death?

Current events create reasonable inferences that President Granger and the coalition are responsible for chasing the “law” from the courtroom and stealing the 2015 elections. Mr Ramjattan has been and now is a participant of the rigging machinery.

Third, the AFC Leader left a critical part of elections history in the dustbin to facilitate his ascendency to High Office. In 2015, he rebuffed concerns raised about the PNCR in light of the party’s fetish for vote theft. He accused critics of engaging in “rear view” politics, saying this was a new PNCR that deserved a chance, and voters must move on.

Fair enough. Yet, here Guyana is once again. In five years the PNCR has rigged, arguably, two elections. Sir, they did not even need to “Balkanize” the votes. It is clear: the PNCR is interested in absolute political power, not elections, power-sharing, and certain-

ly not democracy. This is why Mr Ramjattan and the PNCR must be resisted.

In order to maintain absolute power and succeed at electoral fraud, a new generation of PNCR supporters is being taught that theft is right and their degradation by the party is necessary. Thousands danced and sang about two flawed declarations by the Region Four RO. It was the theatre of the macabre where ordinary voters are played for fools by the PNCR but it is acceptable for the group vote.

Same old story. No less a person than the eminent Martin Carter wrote about this sub-human treatment of Blacks by the PNCR and Forbes Burnham to further the party’s aims.

This can be found in a volume of the Kyk-Over-Al publication issued, which celebrated some of the national poet’s writings.

Sincerely, Rakesh Rampertab

GECOM and Granger are disgraceful

Dear Editor, Over the past months, the Granger-led cabal and the Guyana Elections Commission have denigrated and swiftly swept aside the Guyana Constitution and rule of law. Their indecent and disgraceful actions have served to conduct and glorify cheating and thievery in full view of the world.

It makes it unimaginable that a Government under the auspices of this cabal, could expect to hold citizens accountable to any law or face the international community with any level of acceptance.

A GECOM imbued and contaminated with Mr Granger’s agents, has repeatedly made a mockery of the constitutionally granted autonomy. The administrators led by Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield employed highly unconvincing approaches in rendering the body incredulous. Further, Chairwoman Justice retired Mrs Claudette Singh has turned out to be very unconvincing while the ‘institution status’ has been indelibly erased.

It is a known fact that GECOM has not been audited since 2014 and the Secretariat has been called up for substantive abuse of the billions of taxpayers money under their control.

The Secretariat under the hands of Keith Lowenfield has operated like a headless bull, going to court without the blessing of the Commission. This infiltrated cabal is in many ways re-

sponsible for the conundrum in which our dear country has been placed.

The equivalent indecency of Mr Granger’s role has realised paramount proportions of hypocrisy and deceit. He attempts to portray unconcerned acceptance of the outright unsatisfactory behaviour of Mr Mingo and Keith Lowenfield in their efforts to derail the verification of the Region Four Statements of Poll under GECOM’s porous veil of autonomy. It matters not that the disgusting concocted attempts to rig the elections through a falsified spreadsheet were exposed in the full view of the international observers, for him and his party already knew that the people of Guyana rejected them.

If the original Statements of Poll informed the APNU/ AFC that they had won, how could Mr Granger be unconcerned with the flagrant unjustified stoppages of the verification processes; or with the flimsy excuses of Keith Lowenfield being unable to find a Returning Officer or Deputy to conduct verifications? His silence on these matters is in direct conflict to the education platform he purports and an absolute insult to the intelligence of the Guyanese people.

The APNU/AFC Commissioners in tandem with operatives at GECOM tried to circumvent the voters’ list and disenfranchised voters in PPP/C strongholds.

They failed with the ID

cards and were humiliated with the truncated Houseto-House. Additionally, the combination deliberately allowed the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) to expire to extend APNU/AFC’s illegal governance following the No-Confidence Motion.

Eventually, however, following vigorous PPP/C and other stakeholders’ advocacy, the PLE GECOM used was adjusted by the rightful Claims and Objections process to realise an acceptable final voters’ list.

The fact is that a vigilant PPP/C kept watchful monitoring supervision, thwarting the myriad rigging advances by some GECOM operatives and PNC/APNU/ AFC. It led to their failure to rig the elections on March 2, 2020, and the outright resort to barefaced thievery. The counting of votes and verification of the Statements of Poll that were completed in the other nine regions was done acceptably. Realising that they lost the elections, Mr Granger’s men and women disrupted the peaceful approach of the process and disgracefully refused to count the Region Four votes with the party’s and observer’s presence.

With the PPP/C leading by Fifty-two thousand votes and only the Region Four votes remaining to be verified, the irrational Returning Officer, Mr Mingo carried out his Russian roulette act on the Guyanese people. He concocted the Region Four votes without using the original

Statements of Poll to show that the APNU won the elections. Most disgraceful is the blatant way in which they committed this unpardonable sin. The world justifiably is condemning the APNU/AFC Granger Government.

The sanctions that will follow any false swearing-in of Mr Granger will have extremely serious consequences for Guyana. It is without countenance that Mr Granger may want to be embarrassingly imposed against the will of the majority of Guyanese. But this created revolution will be at its strongest internally, for our people would have witnessed Mingo’s concoction and are demanding that their every vote must be counted.

We have received a plethora of feedback from all quarters of citizens who are prepared to join the revolution.

The entire world is looking at Guyana. Prominent world leaders, as well as significantly recognised international organisations, have spoken out demanding that Mr Granger do the right thing for Guyana. They have unequivocally expressed in clear and undiplomatic terms that they will not accept the APNU/AFC farce, which puts all Guyana at our greatest threat. Hence, GECOM must move to ensure the transparent recount of Region Four.

With regards, Neil Kumar

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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

Honouring ballots or individual sanctions A case for treason against fraudsters and their enablers

Dear Editor, The United States of America’s Secretary of State, Michael Richard Pompeo needs to immediately implement the consequential sanctions against the individuals that have openly flouted and breached the laws of Guyana to actively undermine the democratic process, in order to prevent the winner of Guyana’s General and Regional Elections, which were held on March 2, 2020, from leading the Government of Guyana.

What could Mike Pompeo be waiting on before implementing individual sanctions against the election fraudsters and their enablers: 1. Containers with ballots to vanish.

2. The illegal swearing-in of David Granger as President.

3. Chaos and violence across Guyana.

4. Court rulings and orders that will be appealed, ignored or borders on unenforceability, due to ambiguous and loose language.

5. An election recount of what has already been count-

ed; with the initial count and tally showing a clear winner.

6. The passing of some unknown timeline, and prior to that insufferable timeline being reached, allow an illegal and ignoble regime to govern and trample on the rights of Guyanese, the laws of Guyana and promote an environment of division and deception.

7. Use of the court system for sham charges and political persecution.

8. Missing ballots and/or missing Statements of Poll.

The United States must match sanction action to their talk. International organisations such as the Organisation of American States, Commonwealth Secretariat, European Union, Caricom, Carter Center and several Guyanese organisations and individuals have spoken out against the fraudulent declarations by the Guyana Elections Commission as it relates to the Region Four, DemeraraMahaica Statements of Poll adding and tabulation process. Region Four accounts for approximately 45 per cent of votes cast in Guyana’s March

2, 2020 elections.

The current delay and denial tactics of APNU/AFC leaders and their myrmidons is nothing but the continuing violations of Guyana’s laws and Constitution; which commenced after the successful December 18, 2018 no-confidence vote that by law required General and Regional Elections to be held by March 21, 2019.

Finally, we have had the legally overdue elections on March 2, 2020, the APNU/ AFC Administration is hellbent on putting up barriers to a democratic transition, by using their agents in GECOM to fabricate and falsify Statements of Poll or using the legal system to subvert the laws governing the election process.

Why wait for the situation to become even worse, resulting in the loss of life and limb and destruction of property! The United States has the power and can take action now, to put an end to this unfolding tragedy.

Lest there be any doubt, I voted for Granger in 2015 and Trump in 2016. The sequence

of events since my votes have not for a moment caused me to lose faith in the need for the periodic renewal of democracy to honour the will of the people, which is best demonstrated by adherence to the prevailing democratic system of laws and statutes.

The United States of America must act now to save our embryonic democracy, to ensure we have a legal Government, prevent social disorder and violent chaos in Guyana!

Those who imply that having a dictatorship is better than having sanctions imposed on individuals who were complicit in the fraudulent March 2, 2020 Elections and if necessary on Guyana; should think of the global call for sanctions against South Africa apartheid system in the 1980s and ask yourself if sanctions are worse than an apartheid system if the sanctions are being used to dismantle a dictatorship.

Sincerely, Nigel Hinds

It has become increasingly clear that Mr Granger is a hypocrite

Dear Editor, We all know, all Guyanese and all of the democratic world which has witnessed the failure of GECOM to deliver a credible result that there is only one solution and that is a transparent internationally observed recount of the vote from the ballots currently sealed in containers.

Mr Granger knows this

too and has admitted to this in inviting the Caribbean here to supervise the recount.

Mr Granger in his most recent statement repeated his commitment to this process, yet, Mr Granger’s party is in court attempting to prevent a recount.

At the same time Mr Granger issued his statement, GECOM is playing games with the ballot boxes,

moving them from place to place making it almost impossible to keep them under surveillance. Worse, the police who come under the ultimate control of Mr Granger are actively preventing oversight of the ballot boxes.

No one committed to the conclusion of a recount can any longer believe in the sincerity of Mr Granger. It rests within his powers to ensure

that the ballot boxes remain secure by ordering the police or even the army to facilitate local and international oversight of them.

It has become increasingly clear that Mr Granger is a hypocrite in all that he says and does.

world has witnessed that the Returning Officer and others attempted to use a spreadsheet to declare the results and not the verified SoPs as required by Section 84 of the Representation of the People Act. The Chief Justice has since ruled that such an action is illegal and that the SoPs should be used instead.

The Carter Center is acutely aware of this and the statement issued should be read in its entirety without the usual cherry-picking in an attempt to distort.

The statement spoke of APNU/AFC supporters “impeding the work of the international observers…who have been harassed…and blocked international observers from doing their work”. The statement went on to state that, “specific threats have also been made against the international community that are unacceptable and further undermine the credibility of the electoral process”. These threats have led to the cordoning off the US, Canadian and British Embassies in Georgetown. In addition, when the Carter Center left, they said that the Region Four tabulation process lacked credibility. This was echoed by the Commonwealth, the European Union, the OAS, Caricom, the USA, Canada,

Norway, France and the British not to mention a host of other local observers and organisations. These countries warned of dire consequences should Granger be sworn in based on fraudulent results.

However, to understand why the PNC does not want to concede defeat, one needs to go back to the elections of 1992. In the Report of the Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government submitted after the 1992 Elections, it stated that “for the first time in 28 years, all of the political parties of Guyana and the international observers agreed that the election was free and fair”. However, after the 1992 Elections, some people were visibly upset and there was a faction within the PNC that did not want a “free and fair election”. They accused Hoyte of being ‘soft’ but Hoyte had remained committed. Are we now seeing the same scenario being played out once again?

There are reports circulating that Granger wants to do what is right but a certain faction within the PNC does not want that to happen. We have seen Dominic Gaskin making bold statements on social media, we have seen CN Sharma making public statements and most of all we have seen that Granger wanted a recount

and then an injunction by an APNU candidate stopped that process. Therefore, some are adamant that from all appearances it would seem that Granger has succumbed to pressure from within his party. But since the unilateral and unconstitutional appointment of Justice Patterson as GECOM’s Chairman, we have seen Granger embarking on a dictatorial trend, flouting the Constitution, Court Orders, and making conflicting statements. I do believe that the same old corrupt PNC fraudsters are at work and Granger can do what is right if he wants to!

In the foreword of the Report, former President Jimmy Carter made a solemn promise to the people of Guyana. He concluded by stating that, “We, the members of the Council, consider ourselves privileged to have had a chance to help the people of Guyana find their path toward democracy, and we remain ready to be helpful as it moves down that path”. I am appealing to former President Carter to recall this promise to the Guyanese people and let democracy prevail once again in our beautiful country.

Sincerely, Kit Nascimento

Will democracy die in Guyana?

Dear Editor, It is now pellucid that the die is cast and there is no honesty and decency within the rank and file of the PNC. The PNC diehards will never respect our Constitution and rule of law and democracy will once again be massacred in this country, which since 1992 has shown an onward trajectory towards social and economic progress. Of course, until such progress was stifled and a downward spiral evidenced since 2015.

What is mind-boggling though is: How can the PNC commit such glaring acts of electoral fraud then deny every bit of evidence which is witnessed by the world at large? However, what is most sickening is the fact that I have seen on social media that the PNC supporters have the audacity to accuse the PPP/C of such electoral fraud! They even now quote out of context an excerpt from a statement issued by the Carter Center that the PPP/C supporters disrupted the electoral process of Region Four.

That statement spoke about, “efforts by PPP/C representatives and others to disrupt the declaration of results”.

This begs the question: Was the ‘declaration of results’ in keeping with a fair and credible electoral process? The

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor, There is irrefutable evidence that the March 2, Guyana Elections has been infected with deliberate miscounting and crooked GECOM officials. It is déjà vu time but with a severe difference: All the Observer Missions, including the Carter Center, have deemed the Region Four count fraudulent and unacceptable for the final declaration of the winner. The Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland in a separate statement warned that the failure to conclude the Region Four count in accordance with the Chief Justice’s ruling on Wednesday, March 4, would constitute a serious violation of the values of the body.

Above all, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has pronounced that the swearing-in of an illegal Govt would result in catastrophic consequences!

GECOM officials are grappling with English (last year math became a bizarre, comical dilemma, whether 33 was a greater number than 32) in carrying out the instructions of the Chief Justice that the Region Four final count must be conducted using the Statements of Poll. However, a most crude, arrogant method was perpetrated upon the populace; RO Clairmont Mingo’s (pre-prepared) tainted spreadsheet was used to highlight the ‘results’ on a tainted bedsheet. This man has made two declarations that the incumbent is the victor against the backdrop of judicial instructions! The overrid-

ing question is: does President Granger want an accurate vote count or is he stalling for the Caricom high-level counting team to congratulate him on his second term? In my view, starting with the NoConfidence issue and the year-long protracted court antics by his lawyers, the period that Mr Granger held on to the presidency, a clear pattern emerges: he has no intention of handing over power.

Moving Pandora’s boxes from High Street to Kingston to Arthur Chung Convention Centre will not change the contents; fumigation will have no impact as well. The whole objective of APNU/AFC headhunters, with abundant evidence of directives from higher echelons, is to obfuscate any recounting and will continue to throw stumbling blocks that render the result (which are already known) in favour of the PPP. Even the PM of Barbados, Ms Mottley, has indicated the symbiotic relationship between Congress Place and GECOM. There is one pertinent question: If an attempt to overthrow a Govt is considered treason; why, therefore, the refusal to install a legally elected President cannot be considered an offence of similar magnitude?

Look out for more writs, summons, and injunctions before any box is opened - if ever they are opened.

Sincerely, Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine

‘Red line in the sand’

Dear Editor, David Granger knows exactly where the ‘red line in the sand’ has been drawn by the civilised world as it relates to Guyana. No Government installed by the use of Mingo’s fraudulent figures will be recognised as legitimate and individuals that seek to benefit from the electoral fraud will face serious actions and personal sanctions. Granger’s response has been to resort to the Four Cs that served him so well after his Government fell to the motion of No-Confidence on December 21, 2018; The courts, the Constitution and the Commission (GECOM) and confusion of his party supporters with misinformation such as 33 was not the majority of 65.

Make no mistake of whose hands are pulling the puppet strings; Mingo’s madness was calculated to drive the PPP/C to the courts for redress; the Constitution will be relied on to thwart the Caricom-supervised recount; the Commission must do its work unimpeded even when the world has witnessed the most brazen attempt to steal an election in the memory of living men (few are older than Kit Nascimento), and now the confusion campaign is in full swing with an additional aim of fostering racial tension and provoking confrontations. In addition to the usual diatribe from his minions, Granger himself has engaged in fallacies, chief among them is that the PPP/C disrupted the verification of SoPs with an invasion of GECOM, thankfully Observer Missions witnessed and documented the actual events.

The more dangerous practice by APNU/AFC operatives of creating fake social media profiles with Indo names

to spew hate against AfroGuyanese is reprehensible.

There is enough hate speech out there caused by the intransigent and ‘wrong and strong’ behaviour by Granger’s refusal to accept the loss or allow a credible verification and/or a recount of Region Four votes.

Granger will attempt to use the Four Cs to remain President; act as if his Cabinet was never dissolved; spend beyond the 1/12th provision under the guise of COVID-19 response, in summary, make the elections of 2020 a non-event.

Someone needs to advise Mr Granger that the red line is not static; it will move inexorably towards his toes until he is backed against a wall and eventually overtaken.

The US Secretary of State has made it known that the consequences for individuals seeking to benefit from electoral fraud are not dependent on court action; fraud has already been determined; staying in Office indefinitely is a form of benefit. Spewing hate from behind fake profiles can place individuals before the International Criminal Court.

International agencies are monitoring our cyberspace diligently.

Granger should also be aware that unlike the period after the No-Confidence Motion, the patience of the people has worn thin and Granger’s façade of piety has crumbled to dust. I expect no honourable, honest or decent action from Mr Granger, I saw through the act ages ago, for unlike Saul, I never had scales upon my eyes, but I am gratified to see those scales fall from the eyes of my fellow Guyanese.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

Page

Foundation

Protect

yourself and family against coronavirus disease 2019 Know how it spreads

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus.

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person.

Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about six feet).

Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs or land on surface; since the virus can survive for hours on surfaces, one can become infected by touching the germy surfaces.

care. Do not visit public areas.

Stay in touch with your doctor. Call before you get medical care. Be sure to get care if you feel worse or you think it is an emergency.

Avoid public transportation: Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis.

Avoid sharing personal household items: Do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, or bedding with other people in your home. Wash thoroughly after use: After using these items, wash them thoroughly with soap and water or put in the dishwasher.

Cover your cough

Take steps to protect yourself Clean your hands often

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Take steps to protect others Stay home if you’re sick

Stay home: People who are mildly ill with COVID-19 are able to recover at home. Do not leave, except to get medical

If you are sick: You should wear a facemask Older adults and when you are around other people who have people (eg, sharing a room severe underlying or vehicle) and before you medical conditions enter a healthcare provider’s office. If you are not like heart or able to wear a facemask lung disease or (for example, because it diabetes seem to causes trouble breathing), be at higher risk then you should do your best to cover your coughs for developing and sneezes, and people more serious who are caring for you complications from should wear a facemask if COVID-19 illness. they enter your room.

If you are NOT sick: You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers.\

Separate yourself from other people in your home, this is known as home isolation

Avoid close contact Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Put distance between yourself and other people if COVID-19 is spreading in your community. This is especially important for people who are at higher risk of getting very sick.

Wear a facemask if you are sick

Cover coughs and sneezes

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.

Throw used tissues in the trash.

Immediately wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not readily available, clean your hands with a hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol.

Stay away from others: As much as possible, you should stay in a specific “sick room” and away from other people in your home. Use a separate bathroom, if available.

Limit contact with pets & animals: You should restrict contact with pets and other animals, just like you would around other people.

Although there have not been reports of pets or other animals becoming sick with COVID-19, it is still recommended that people with the virus limit contact with animals until more information is known.

When possible, have another member of your household care for your animals while you are sick with COVID-19. If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wash your hands before and after you interact with them.

Clean surfaces Clean and disinfect

Clean AND disinfect frequently touched surfaces daily. This includes tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks.

If surfaces are dirty, clean them: Use detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.

To disinfect

Most common EPA-registered household disinfectants will work. Use disinfectants appropriate for the surface.

Options include: Diluting your household bleach.

To make a bleach solution, mix: 5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water OR 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application and proper ventilation. Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date. Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser. Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted.

Alcohol solutions

Ensure solution has at least 70% alcohol.

Other common EPA-registered household disinfectants.

Products with EPA-approved emerging viral pathogens claims are expected to be effective against COVID-19 based on data for harder to kill viruses. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products (eg, concentration, application method and contact time, etc).

(Adapted from the CDC)

NEWS

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Claudette Singh needs to step out from the shadows – Jonas …address national concerns as a disappointed nation awaits

I

n the aftermath of the yet-to-be determined results from the March 2 General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been at the centre of rigging accusations. However, the most important voice of GECOM Chair Claudette Singh - has also been one of the quietest on all the electoral fraud allegations.

According to former Guyana Bar Association President and A New and United Guyana (ANUG) Chairman Timothy Jonas, it is time for the Chairwoman to step out from the shadows and address the concerns of the nation.

“I’m sorry to say the Chairperson has been of no support. Only by her absence and inaccessibility.

She is the person who has the swing votes… she needs to be visible, to be there, to be supervising, to be monitoring, to ensure everything is done fairly and transparently,” Jonas said.

“Unfortunately, all we have seen from her is absence and inaccessibility.

Hopefully that is going to

change, because she needs to step up. The whole nation is depending on her. So far, the whole nation has been disappointed.”

The court case pertaining to the injunction against the recount is scheduled to continue in the High Court on Wednesday. But in laying out his expectations for GECOM should the court clear the way for a recount, Jonas urged Justice Singh to do her job and facilitate a transparent recount.

Transparent and fair recount

When it comes to Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo, whose declaration of the District Four votes without completing verification started the whole controversy, Jonas was in favour of the RO being replaced and playing no further part in the process.

“We would like to see her supervise a transparent and fair recount of the ballots, so that the entire nation is assured that the party that won the votes would win the government and that the other parties are allocated seats in Parliament based

ANUG Chairman Timothy Jonas

on the votes they have fairly won, not based on a botched count by Clairmont Mingo,” he said.

Under Singh’s tenure, GECOM has been engaged in many questionable activities, the latest being its removal of ballot boxes from the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) without informing the several parties who took part in the elections and stood vigil over the boxes.

The containers were stored at the facility pending a countrywide recount

of votes cast at the March 2 General and Regional Elections. Under Police escort, the containers were transported from Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, to GECOM’s headquarters on High Street, Kingston, Georgetown.

Opposition parties would have camped outside the Centre on a 24-hour basis to guard the containers while one party agent was allowed inside. However, despite their active role, the parties were not informed of the decision to have the containers removed.

Since the elections were held nearly three weeks ago, a winner is yet to be announced. The local and international observers who scrutinised the tabulation process have pronounced it to have not been credible, and a current court case, filed by a candidate of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), prohibits GECOM from conducting a recount.

GECOM itself has come in for much of the criticism, with repeated attempts made by Mingo to subvert

GECOM Chair, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh

the process going unchecked by the Commission. Only the People’s Progressive Party (PPP)-nominated Commissioners have voiced their disapproval.

The international community has warned Guyana that it could be isolated and even sanctioned if a President is sworn in based on the flawed results, resulting in an uneasy standoff between the international community and the Government.

After days of procrastination and the derailment

of Region Four’s verification of results, an agreement was brokered with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) to supervise a recount on Monday last of the votes from all the regions.

In fact, it was caretaker President David Granger, who had sought Caricom’s help. The Arthur Chung Conference Centre was chosen as the venue for the recount. The various party agents waited all day, but no recount occurred as GECOM first announced that an agreement would have to be signed, then that it was awaiting legal advice.

As the party agents stood guard over the ballot boxes, GECOM officials, then a fumigation crew from the Public Health Ministry and then Police dressed in riot gear arrived and began herding party agents out of the compound.

The Caricom officials, having witnessed all of this and then being stymied by the injunction, left the country. The European Union and Carter Center observation missions soon followed suit.

8 NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Granger, cronies churning dangerous pot of ethnic politics –Gail Teixeira E xecutive Member of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), Gail Teixeira has called out Caretaker President David Granger over a surreal statement he made on Saturday even as he and his cronies continue to churn out a dangerous pot of ethnic politics.

Granger on Saturday issued a statement about “acts of civil violence” which have been perpetrated in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice). He was referring to an incident where a fire of unknown origin destroyed an unoccupied shack at Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, which was decorated with APNU/AFC flags. In his statement, the Caretaker President also referred to claims of persons being attacked on March 20, also at Bush Lot. Teixeira said that Granger’s statement on the issue is surreal since firstly, no attacks occurred and the fire as far as her information revealed was set by someone directly connected to the shack.

The former Chief Whip of the parliamentary Opposition also added that Granger in his statement refers to the March 5 events on the East Coast and Berbice and belatedly offers his “sympathy to the children and Police who were injured and condolences to the family of the person who was shot in the fracas.”

“The more important issue is why would Mr Granger make such a statement so out of tune with reality at this time? Why would he as Caretaker President respond with such a strident statement on a seemingly small matter when so many major incursions have taken place which attacked our democratic values, laws and freedoms in the last 19 days?” Teixeira questioned.

Executive member of PPP/C, Gail Teixeira

Caretaker President David Granger

She added that he blatantly ignored the brutal treatment meted out to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner, Robeson Benn, at the hands of the police.

She further questioned why Granger was not offended by the removal of the international observers and party representatives to monitor the verification of the SoPs and tabulation of Region Four on more than one occasion.

“Why hasn’t he offered an apology to the Carter Center for the harassment they suffered at the hands of the APNU supporters so much so that they were concerned for their security and safety?”

According to Teixeira, Granger has been anxiously waiting for a flash-point, a trigger, to allow him to invoke other provisions of the Constitution to install himself indefinitely knowing fully that he would be an illegal Caretaker President in the eyes of the Guyanese people and the world.

“He has been given no such an opportunity by the defenders of democracy, who have upheld peaceful means under stressful and provocative situations evolving on a

daily, nay, hourly, basis.”

She added that the PPP/C joined with the opposition parties, civil society and civic-minded Guyanese, across political and ethnic lines, whose only desire is to see their vote counted transparently and in accordance with the laws.

“Having failed so far to instigate a trigger, is Granger and his spin doctors manufacturing ones in order to set the stage for an intervention? And what could it be?”

Dismayed

The public, she noted, is unimpressed and even dismayed that 18 days after the elections, Granger would repeat ad nauseam his monotonous, unconvincing and vacuous mantra which only he and his cabal seem to believe.

She pointed out that the PPP statement of March 21, 2020, captures the response of the majority of the Guyanese people: “Last night, again, we witnessed another monotonous, self-serving and sterile statement from Caretaker President Granger, proclaiming his commitment to free and fair elections, to the Caricom initiative and to a total national recount of the ballots cast, while at the same time, hiding behind the cover of the recently filed High Court proceedings, which he insinuates, is the reason why he cannot discharge his commitment under the Caricom accord brokered by the Chairperson of Caricom, Prime Minister Mia Motley.”

The same statement went on to say “However, he can still redeem himself. All Mr Granger has to do is to instruct his Commissioners at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to proceed with the recount, a unanimous decision already made by GECOM on the 15th day of March 2020 and instruct Ulita Moore, his party’s candidate for the 2018 Local Government Elections and his candidate for the 2nd March 2020

elections, Roysdale Forde, who is the lawyer for Ulita Moore, to withdraw the High Court case and let the recount of the ballots begin.

He can also make his party’s Statements of Poll public as the PPP/C has done so that the world can see, transparently, whether his party won the elections.”

Teixeira, however, added that Granger’s statement on Saturday belies any hope of him redeeming himself as he and his spin doctors have spent all day churning the dangerous pot of ethnic politics.

In the face of condemnation and possible sanctions internationally, regionally and from individual nations, she added, he deliberately avoided in the March 20 statement any mention of the reports of the five international observer missions - the OAS, Caricom, The Carter Center, the Commonwealth and the European Union - with regards to fraudulent declarations of the results by the Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo in defiance of the Chief Justice’s orders.

Further, she added, Granger diligently ignored the statements of warning from the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, BiPartisan members of the US Congress, Ablio Sires, Eliot Engel, Yvette Clarke, Francis Rooney, and others in the US Government, the UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Rabb; the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States, United Nations Secretary General, the Chairperson of Caricom, representatives of the diplomatic community – USA, UK, Canada, EU, India, the Governments of Norway, UK, France, Antigua and Barbuda, 90 international NGOs and The ELDERS, the Roman Catholic Bishops of the Caribbean. He also ignored the public calls of the Guyana the Bar Association, leaders of the Christian, Muslim and Hindu communities, the Private Sector Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, Transparency Institute Guyana Inc and dozens more.

“How can a Head of State, albeit for a short time more, ignore that the nation is on the edge of a precipice, that the rule of law he claims to uphold is tottering dangerously as a result of his leadership and the coalition he heads. We as a people must remain ever vigilant at this time to protect our democracy and constitutional rule,” she added.

Granger W

…and his forked tongue hen you’re dealing with a fella like Granger in a daily column for five years, you inevitably begin to repeat yourself. After all, a man’s character doesn’t really change, does it?? So how can the description?

He may strut on the public stage with his public persona, but all you gotta do is look beyond the words to his actions and you’ll know the nature of the beast. And it is because of this dichotomy between his words and deeds that your Eyewitness, after a year of “giving Granger a chance”, was forced to accuse him of speaking with a “forked tongue”.

This, of course, is one of the few sayings that have entered the English language from the Native Americans.

It means saying one thing but meaning another – to “lie through your teeth”, in other words. They, of course, used it to describe the “palefaces” who talked to them of “friendship” while ousting them from their land and herding them into “reservations”.

Your Eyewitness also used the word “hypocritical” to describe Granger’s behaviour; and his habitual variance from the truth as “bullshitting” – as used by the philosopher Henry Frankfurt.

What Granger has done, we explained, is to imitate his mentor Burnham’s slavish following of the political philosophy of Machiavelli, who said, “For a long time I have not said what I believed, nor do I ever believe what I say, and if indeed sometimes I do happen to tell the truth, I hide it among so many lies that it is hard to find.” Granger, eh??

Machiavelli’s position on lying was based on his view of human nature: “One who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.”

Have you followed Granger’s sycophants? This polemic was prompted by Granger’s announcement that he, “was saddened to learn, today, of the destruction of private property and of attacks on innocent citizens on 20th March 2020 in Bush Lot Village. I condemn these hateful acts of hostility.”

Fair enough. But has he condemned the riggers of GECOM, who corrupted the counting process for Reg 4 that necessitated a recount in his opinion??

And which caused all the uproar from indignant citizens concerned about their votes? Has he condemned the person from his own party – a candidate even! - who brought an injunction to stop the recount process he requested of Mia Mottley, Caricom’s Chair??

Has he condemned his supporters who harassed the foreign observers he’d invited in to watch over the elections?? Did he read that the Carter Center cited this “harassment” as one reason they left?? Isn’t the rape of democracy deserving of condemnation??

Not when you speak with a forked tongue!! …has no shame Look at the roster of personages who’ve called upon Granger to “do the right thing”. Right up there is Sir Shridath “Sonny” Ramphal. Now, this is no ordinary fella. If Burnham is Granger’s hero, he can’t be oblivious to the role Ramphal played in the consolidation of Burnham’s dictatorship.

Burnham insisted on observing the forms of legalities – and Ramphal was right there at his side to offer insights into the said legalities and the forms. He helped Burnham to strut on the "world stage" way above his weight category.

So, when Ramphal speaks, if Granger had any respect for his mentor, he should listen. Ramphal asked Granger “to place the interest of the nation above other narrow considerations that could mar the country’s prospects and retard the strides that the people of Guyana have made collectively.” There was also the call from Major General Joe Singh: but we don’t expect Granger to listen.

He’s too consumed with jealously by the man who bettered him at everything.

Including exams at Queens!! Not to mention his rank as MAJOR General!!

…and holding it The country singer Kenny Rogers passed away yesterday.

Granger’s from the generation who knows Kenny’s greatest hit, “The Gambler”.

“You gotta know when to hold it; you gotta know when to fold it”.

Fold it Granger!!

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

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

10 NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 economic impact

IMF urges Guyana to use tax credits T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released an assessment in which it ranks Guyana among the few countries in the Region least prepared to deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly the negative impact on the economy and tourism.

In the assessment, the IMF rated countries in the Americas from red (least prepared), to green (most prepared). Countries like the United States and Canada are in the green zone. However, Guyana, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras are not so lucky.

Neighbouring Brazil was considered more prepared than average while countries like Colombia were rated as less prepared.

According to the IMF, the virus is likely to have an immediate economic impact in the Region, causing, among other things, financial restrictions, declining commodity prices, and reduced tourism.

“In the event of a local outbreak, service sector activity will likely be hit the hardest as a result of containment efforts and social distancing, with sectors such as tourism and hospitality, and transportation

particularly affected,” the report noted.

Moreover, the IMF warned countries with weak public health infrastructure and limited fiscal space to ramp up public health services and support affected sectors and households would come under significant pressure.

It noted that owing to efforts to contain the virus’s spread, economic activity and manufacturing would be slowed. However, the IMF asserted that the economic impact of the pandemic would most likely vary due to regional and country-specific characteristics.

Negative effect on oil

The IMF also projected that the sharp decline in oil prices would negatively affect oil exporters, whose ranks Guyana only recently joined. Since the virus hit globally, it has had a serious impact not just on lives but on the global economy in general and oil in particular.

Last week, Brent crude fell to US$34 per barrel.

This was a steep drop as only a day before the decline, oil was being traded at US$48. Brent crude was being traded at US$66 per barrel when Guyana first started oil production

Guyana is in the red when it comes to coronavirus preparations

in December 2019. Rystad Energy, a Norway-based research company that has written extensively on Guyana’s oil sector, has projected that the situation would get worse.

According to Rystad in a recent missive, the spread of the coronavirus has dealt a blow to global demand for oil. It noted that in February of this year, the demand for crude dropped by 4.6 million barrels per day. China, where the virus originated, made up 2.9 million barrels of this cut to demand.

Measures

Among the measures the institution recommended are tax credits to businesses. It cited the case of Brazil, which announced an economic package to cushion the economic fallout of the virus.

“Countries are starting to take policy initiatives in this direction. For example, additional funds are being secured for health spending in many countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,

and Peru. Moreover, Brazil announced an emergency economic package on March 17 that is targeted for supporting the socially vulnerable, maintenance of employment, and combating the pandemic,” the IMF noted.

It added that in addition, targeted fiscal monetary and financial market measures will be key to mitigate the economic impact of the virus. It recommended that Governments should use wage subsidies and tax relief to help affected households and businesses to confront this temporary and sudden stop in production.

The multilateral financial institution urged that central banks increase monitoring and be ready to bail out financial institutions if the need arose. This, the IMF said, should particularly be done for institutions that lend to small and medium sized businesses that would be less prepared to stay afloat during the slowdown caused by the virus.

“Where policy space exists, broader monetary and fiscal stimulus can lift confidence and aggregate demand, but would most likely be more effective when business operations begin to normalise. Given the extensive cross-border economic link-

ages, the argument for a coordinated, global response to the epidemic is clear,” the IMF said.

The IMF also advised that in countries that have limited capacity to deliver health care, the international community ought to step in to help prevent a humanitarian crisis. This comes even as Guyana has approached the World Bank for a US$5 million loan to tackle the coronavirus, which has claimed one life and infected four others locally.

Guyana is in a tricky situation, however, having conducted elections nearly three weeks ago with a winner yet to be announced.

The majority of observers who scrutinised the tabulation process has pronounced it to have not been credible and a current court case prohibits the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from conducting a recount.

The international community has warned Guyana that it could be isolated and even sanctioned if a President is sworn in on the basis of the flawed results, resulting in an uneasy standoff between the international community and the Government.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

East Coast accident Granger rejects democratic legitimacy

I

n our 1990 paper, “For a New Political Culture”, we introduced the notion of the “Ethnic Security Dilemmas” (ECD’s) as structuring the political behaviour of Guyana’s two major ethnic groups, Indian and African Guyanese. While there would always be individuals who act on racist motives, it was these dilemmas, rather than hatred, that created the heightened emotions during the “democratic” elections period, when control of the state is at stake.

Stated simply, the political African Security Dilemma was that even though they had literally slaved for the Europeans to create Guyana, because of the Indian-Guyanese superior numbers, in democratic majoritarian elections, they would never be able to occupy the Executive to “govern” Guyana.

For Indian Guyanese, their dilemma was that even if they were to occupy the Executive, their ability to govern would always be tenuous, because the power centres of the Ravi Dev state – the Police, Army and Bureaucracy (including institutions like GECOM) -- were all controlled by African Guyanese political rivals. Indians would have “authority” but not “power”, and faced an existential threat to their wellbeing.

As has been observed in game theory, rational actions by individuals can produce irrational outcomes in many contexts.

And in line with this, most African Guyanese – with the notable exception of those that joined the WPA of Walter Rodney – rationally went along with Burnham and Hoyte’s rigging elections between 1968 and 1985. They were impelled, we proposed, by the fear of being “swamped and subordinated”

by Indian Guyanese and denied their “birthright”. The “free and fair” elections of 1992 and its aftermath proved our hypothesis when the fears of African Guyanese were once again activated and were violently acted out.

But, twenty years later, the demographic premises that undergirded the ESD’s had undergone a seismic shift: IndianGuyanese, as of the last census of 2012, had dropped to 39.8% of the population, as opposed to 51.9% in 1980. African Guyanese were 29.3% in 2012 having slightly fallen from the 30.8% of 1980. Both Mixed and Amerindians had almost doubled, to 19.9 and 10.5 respectively.

The political African-Guyanese Security Dilemma, therefore, had been resolved: with all ethnic groups now being minorities, African-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese could now win elections only if they could appeal to voters from “across the divide” or from the Mixed and Amerindian blocks. The Indian Ethnic Security Dilemma, however, still remained, since the Bureaucracy, Police and Army were all still dominated by the PNC’s constituency.

I had pointed this out to three interlocutors – Freddy Kissoon, Lincoln Lewis and Eric Phillips – during 2009-2010, when I objected to their categorisation of the PPP as an “elected dictatorship” that could not be removed through the ballot box. They accused me of advising African Guyanese to become lambs to be slaughtered if they forgo street protests that could become violent.

The elections of 2011, of course, proved my point, when the AFC and PNC/APNU combined to control the National Assembly, and in 2015 coalesced to capture the Government. At that time, I pointed out that Guyana now had the opportunity to transition into a more “normal” politics, which is the politics of “in and out” (alternating governments based on their performances) rather than the old politics of “over and under” – one ethnic group dominating the other. The latter scenario was now possible since, rationally, each of the major parties would need to have policies in place to attract voters beyond their ethnic constituencies.

Mr Granger, however, had a different idea. He completely alienated Indian-Guyanese voters with his appointments to Ministries, Boards and especially his decision to unilaterally fire 7000 mostly Indian Guyanese sugar workers – against the recommendations of his own COI. He probably felt that by wooing the Amerindian vote combined with the Mixed group that generally cleaved to his traditional African-Guyanese constituency, he could alienate the Indian demographic.

The 2020 election, then, is really a test of democratic politics in this new Guyana, with no African Security Dilemma, but with the Indian Security Dilemma firmly intact. Granger has failed the test with his transparent attempt to rig the elections through his minions in GECOM. In line with Machiavelli’s exhortation, Granger appears willing to forego democratic legitimacy for rule by force. The Bureaucracy, including GECOM, the Police and the Army, have signalled they will support him.

He can also count -- as we have seen from the harassment of the foreign observers, the media and PPP supporters -- on the disruptive force of the Georgetown lumpen elements.

The lines are drawn.

A cement truck smashed through the guard rails at Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara (ECD). Regional Commander (ag) Phillip Azore said that the driver of the truck lost control whilst navigating a turn in the area

12 NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GECOM Commissioner feels threatened by Police O

pposition-nominated Commissioner of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Robeson Benn has once again been harassed and verbal threats have been hurled at him

by Police ranks. The incident occurred after he arrived at the Secretariat, Georgetown, on Saturday to keep watch on the ballot boxes stored there.

This is the second instance in less than one week of Benn being harassed by law enforcement agents. His intention was to meet with party representatives who were keeping watch of the ballot boxes, secured in containers.

Detailing the ordeal via a statement, Benn described it as an “unsettling”

one. He would have shown up at the Kingston Headquarters at about 03:40h where ranks on duty denied him entry to the compound.

Other party representatives would have informed the female constabulary rank that he holds a position at the Commission but she did not budge. However sometime after, Benn said he was told to park his car on the road and enter the compound Commissioner Robeson Benn

but not before facing threats from another male rank.

“I said that I was there to check on the container watchers…

She eventually said that I had to park my car on the road, she was joined by a blue-clothed rank on the road who said ‘this man feel he can do what he wants... he needs somebody to slam him down’,” he recalled.

Meanwhile, after meeting with the party representatives who were keeping watch throughout the night, he was ordered to leave.

He took the stance once more that it was his right to be present as a Commissioner, to which they allegedly accused him of lying.

To this, he concluded, “I believe that I cannot rely on the service and protection, and co-operation, that I have had with the police force over many years… I

now feel threatened and targeted by elements in the Guyana Police Force.”

Manhandled

On Monday night, Benn was forced to the ground and dragged by tactical ranks of the Guyana Police Force after refusing to leave containers containing ballot boxes unguarded at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where the national recount was supposed to be conducted.

As a result of being manhandled by the police, he was later transported by the police. The Commissioner would have suffered a torn left shoulder and elbow ligaments resulting in him having to use a sling.

“After 15 minutes of cajoling me to leave, two ranks proceeded to brace me out of the position. I was on the ramp at the back of the Convention Centre. I refused to leave and they laid hands on me and tried

to physically remove me from the position,” he told the media shortly after the incident took place.

As he struggled to hold onto the rails, the Commissioner was forced to the ground and dragged some distance. The matter reached a point where the riot squad were contemplating the use of a shield to forcibly remove him.

“I held on to the rails and they dragged me along the ground to a point where I was lying on the ground.

They said they were going to get a shield to put me on it and remove me. I kept refusing all the time,” Benn recalled.

As a result of these incidents, he is pursuing advice on the way forward and actions to be taken. During the initial incident, he had mentioned plans to engage Commissioner of Police, Leslie James on his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the GPF.

Handyman killed in hit and run

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olice in Georgetown are investigating the death of a male, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident on Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, in the wee hours of Saturday.

Reports are that just before 04:00h on Saturday, persons in the area heard a loud crash and upon inspection, saw the motionless body of the man lying on the roadway as a 212 motor car sped away from the scene.

When contacted, Acting Commander of Region Four Sub-Division A (Georgetown), Phillip Azore told this publication that when investiga-

tors arrived at the scene, the victim was unconscious and bore multiple external injuries. He subsequently died.

The Commander added that persons in the area referred to the now dead man only as “Dennis” or “Presy”, who was a handyman around the South Ruimveldt area.

“An unknown caller called us and said that there is a body lying on the Aubrey Barker Road and we re-

sponded, and there we saw the person with multiple visible [wounds] on the road…” the Commander said.

The body is presently at Lyken Funeral Home, awaiting a post-mortem examination.

Meanwhile, the police are on the hunt for the driver of the vehicle that struck the man. CCTV footage from security cameras in the area is being reviewed.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

CID ranks testify as PI continues into taxi driver’s murder

Despite COVID-19 warnings

Operators continue to A overload minibuses

…Police should take urgent action – UMU President

D

espite COVID-19 warnings, minibus operators, especially those in the city, continue to overload their buses when transporting passengers.

In light of this situation, President of the United Minibus Union (UMU), Eon Andrews has called on the Traffic Department of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) take urgent action against these operators.

“People are compacted in these buses, even in its regular seating capacity, overloading is against the law, the police I am expecting to lock up these people… passengers should not agree to that. They cannot pack up these buses. They need to take this seriously… A lot of persons don’t have a choice to take public transportation if they want to get from point A to point B. The owners need to be found ….

WHO, PAHO, all these institutions have been putting out advisories that need to be conducted. Guyanese don’t take things seriously,” he said.

On Saturday several persons who reside on the East Coast of Demerara expressed their frustration and disappointment in the minibus operators, who traverse the East Coast corridors.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also advised that the virus can spread via a cough or sneeze droplets, but the

Police Commissioner Leslie James

United Minibus Union President Eon Andrews

study found germs can linger in the air for long periods.

Sandra Cummings, a resident of Melanie, ECD, and also a vendor in Georgetown, said: “These divers and bus conductors are unreasonable, they don’t even care for their own lives so why would they care for other people’s lives? I travelled on a bus yesterday (Friday) to get to work, and the conductor was going four in a seat. Everybody on the bus was annoyed with him and telling him that he is taking this virus for granted. In anger, he almost put us off because we were speaking for our rights.”

Fifty-two-year-old Pauline Bacchus, who resides at Dazzel Scheme, said: “Guyanese people don’t ever take anything seriously; they are always joking

around. This is something very serious, thousands of people are dying, countries are shutting down, businesses are closing and these drivers and conductors are playing with people’s lives.

Just yesterday, I was going on a bus and the bus was carrying four persons in a seat”.

Meanwhile, to combat the disease, it is recommended that all persons take steps to prevent infection by practising social distancing, avoiding public gatherings and non-essential travel.

In a move to protect the health and wellbeing of Guyanese, the Public Health Ministry has also urged every Ministry/Department/ Region to sanitise their work environment intermittently, to contain the spread or COVID-19.

s the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) continues into the murder of taxi driver Owayne Lynch, two constables attached to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force were called to the stand before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in a Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Constables Jermaine Richards and Sheldon Harvey, who both played roles in the investigation of Lynch’s murder explained the specifics of the roles and tendered articles recovered as evidence when they visited the murder scene on August 6, 2019, at Cemetery Road, Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

Nevertheless, while a number of witnesses are still to testify, Magistrate McGusty indicated that the PI will continue on April 1, 2020, when more articles will be tendered as evidence.

Forty-eight-year-old Kwayana Fernandes of 475 Cemetery Road, Mocha

Murder accused: Kwayana Fernandes

Arcadia, who is the murder accused in the matter, was slapped with the indictment which stated that on August 6, 2019, at Cemetery Road, Mocha Arcadia, EBD, he murdered 42-year-old Lynch of Stevedore Housing Scheme.

This newspaper had previously reported that the body of the taxi driver attached to Swift Cabs was found in a pool of blood hours after he was hired to pick up some passengers from Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

Lynch was plying his trade at around 20:31h, when the taxi service dispatcher sent him to an area

Murdered: Owayne Lynch

in Sophia to pick up a passenger, who was reportedly heading to Mocha.

It was reported that at around 21:45h, the taxi driver and the passenger got into an argument over payment and the passenger pulled out an ice pick from his pocket and dealt the taxi driver several stabs about his body.

The now deceased man was later seen lying motionless, with his body bearing multiple wounds and the murder weapon, an ice pick, found near the scene.

He was picked up and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

14 NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Caribbean Airlines suspends all international flights …after T&T Govt closes airport

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aribbean Airlines has announced a suspension of international fights, after the Government of Trinidad and Tobago went ahead to close all commercial services out of the country.

This imposed closure at the Piarco International Airport will take effect from 12:01h on Monday.

However, in an issued statement, the airline stated that domestic flights will continue.

“Consequently, Caribbean Airlines must restrict its internation-

al flights. However, at this time its domestic operations will continue,” the carrier stated.

It went on to say that customers holding tickets for international services beyond March 23, 2020, can place them on hold for future travel. Presently, there is high traffic at the call centres due to the significant number of scheduled flights.

“Due to the high volume of calls the airline is currently receiving, there may be long waiting times to access the call centres.

Caribbean Airlines remains committed to its customers and thanks all stakeholders for their continued support, as the company deals with this evolving and unprecedented situation.”

Headquartered in Trinidad and Tobago, the carrier provides its services across the region, especially in linking Caribbean states and North America. Prior to this closure, the airline had implemented a number of measures in preparation.

Safety kits were placed in all aircraft and provisions were made for the air quali-

ty in cabins to be monitored.

They were also continuing compliance with aircraft cleaning procedures, as well as sanitation.

The Trinidadian authorities on Saturday announced that 40 new patients tested positive for COVID-19 and were admitted to Couva Hospital.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the new cases were detected after persons returned to the twin-island republic from a cruise to Guadeloupe.

This elevated the number of confirmed cases to 49.

Since last Monday, American Airlines announced the suspension of all flights in and out of Guyana until May 6.

It was further announced that the airline will be waiving all change of date fees for those passengers already booked on its ser-

vice. Meanwhile, short-haul flights to the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, and parts of Central America will continue.

The US is now reporting close to 3000 cases of the coronavirus in 49 states, including the two cities where American Airlines operates daily flights to Guyana from. With Guyana now having five cases of the virus, health officials said that number is expected to climb.

On Wednesday, the Public Health Ministry gave confirmation of the fifth case – a relative of the 52-year-old female who travelled from New York and brought the deadly virus to Guyana. She would have succumbed but posthumous tests were positive for COVID-19.

NEWS

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Granger resurrects 1945 health legislation to fight COVID-19 ... lacks direct measures

… lacks direct measures, excludes Central Board of Health involvement …Health, Finance Ministers’ authorised powers lack basis

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he Public Health Ordinance signed by caretaker President David Granger that was conferred to Volda Lawrence giving her new far-reaching ministerial powers in order to confront the coronavirus pandemic, in reality, has no direct measures listed to combat the deadly disease since it was just “copied and pasted” from a 1945 health ordinance by the coalition Government without being revised.

This view was expressed by former People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member

of Parliament, Dr Vindhya Persaud during an interview with Guyana Times where she expounded the minimal changes and draconian nature of the ordinance towards the populace.

Dr Persaud highlighted that no changes were made to the ordinance, which, according to her, becomes evident when both the 1945 and present-day edicts are examined and no direct measure for COVID-19 is found listed but rather those for other infectious diseases.

“If you compare what they

put and you compare the 1945 public health ordinance which was used, it’s a cut and paste.

Basically, what they have done is listed everything from that 1945 health ordinance and utilised it in the gazette… so they have not looked at the measures dealing directly with COVID-19 they just listed measures from an old ordinance what they’ve done is changed Governor to Minister of Health and what they’ve excluded is the Central Board of Health. This one would’ve given the Minister of Health overarching power to do a lot

DDL Group records $3.484B taxed profits in 2019 …banking on diversification investments to drive profits

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ocal beverage giant, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) has earned a whopping $22.403 billion in total revenues for 2019 and $3.484 billion in profits after taxation.

This, according to Chairman of the DDL Group Komal Samaroo, represents an increase of $541 million in total revenue compared to $21.862 billion recorded in 2018. He added that it also shows a hike in taxed profits by $206 million or six per cent, against $3.278 million recorded in the previous year.

Profit before taxation was $4.544 billion, an increase of $182 million or 4.2 per cent of the $4.362 billion recorded in 2018.

Additionally, earnings per share in 2019 were $4.53 compared to $4.26 in the previous year, while equity increased by 14 per cent or $13.4 billion last year to $27.8 billion.

Moreover, an interim dividend of $0.25 per share was paid in December 2019. The Directors have recommended a final dividend of $0.90 per share, which would bring the total dividend up to $1.15 per share compared to $1.10 in the previous year. This was supposed to be up for approval at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) set for April 3. However, that event has been postponed until further notice as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Nevertheless, in his annual report, Samaroo explained that most areas recorded improvements in turnover, with the main exception being the Bulk Division, which saw a decline of $841 million in sales.

“Although production in the Bulk Division was slightly higher than the previous year, a greater part of that production was set aside for ageing to support future growth in branded sales. This resulted in lower volume of bulk rum being exported in 2019 and an in-

creased volume of rums being barrelled for ageing and for future use in our branded products,” he stated.

The Chairman went on to point out that despite cost increases for some key raw materials, margins improved slightly as the Group focused on operational efficiencies across all business units. He noted that the use of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to meet some of its power needs has helped in the reduction of costs in this critical area.

Samaroo further detailed that capital expenditure in 2019 totalled $2.677 billion, which was funded by self-generated funds of the Group. This includes two completed projects along with two new roll-over projects that are still in the developing stages.

The New Automated Blending Plant was commissioned in June 2019 and comprised of 18 tanks with a capacity of almost 600,000 litres. This $368 million project will not only reduce operation costs but also ensure continued uninterrupted supplies of the company’s brands.

The other finished project is the $856 million DSL Wholesale Distribution Centre, which was commissioned in March 2019 at Plantation Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and is expected to improve operational efficiencies as well as allow for growth of the Group’s business.

Meanwhile, the two developing projects are the TOPCO Fruit Processing and Packaging Plant and the upgrading of the Demerara Shipping Co Ltd Wharf Facilities, which will see the Port facilities totally rehabilitated to fully replace the wooden structure with concrete over the next two years. The former project is being undertaken at the cost of $4 billion and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.

On the other hand, the

Chairman had noted that despite a decline in the global economy, the Bank of Guyana had reported a growth of 4 per cent in Guyana’s economy in the first half of 2019 and this growth is expected to be reflected in the country’s overall performance.

He noted that the local economy further benefited from investments throughout the year in the oil and gas sector. Highlighting the commencement of oil production on December 20, 2019, Samaroo said that the DDL Group is well-positioned to take advantage of the unprecedented growth anticipated in the domestic economy from the industry.

In fact, he mentioned the Demerara Contractors and Engineers Company Ltd joint venture with Caribbean Welding Supplies Ltd to establish Demerara Offshore Inc to provide a wide range of services to the petroleum sector including the development of a world-class Shore Base facility.

“With the emergence of the oil and gas sector, it is anticipated that purchasing power will improve and the size of the local market will grow. In addition, the expected improvements [to] infrastructure and lower cost of power should improve the international competitiveness of local producers,” he posited.

On the other hand, the DDL Chairman further noted that the Group continues to engage the local sugar industry with the aim of reversing its high importation of molasses, which grew to 30 per cent in 2019 compared to 25 per cent in the previous year.

According to Samaroo, “…we estimate that the impact of the investments in our diversification drive will further enhance the overall profitability of the Group while reducing risks of over-exposure from any single sector.”

of things,” Dr Persaud said.

Consternation and great concern

The edict has already been met with public consternation and great concern, which Persaud strongly agreed with, while making mention of the fact that other countries plagued with the disease have not taken such a harsh course of action, adding that in Guyana’s case, locals who may be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 will be afraid to report same.

“If you look at the cases around the world there are more deaths and more cases in many other countries and none of them would’ve put out such draconian and harsh measures, I think this is counter-productive because what it will do, even if people have symptoms they’d be afraid to report it, they will be afraid of the measures that can be taken…its either sinister and opening the door for them to do things to people or its stupid, someone just cut and paste and put it there,” she said.

Moreover, given the country’s political atmosphere due to the lack of transpar-

ency surrounding the March 2 General and Regional Elections, the former parliamentarian asserted that the powers given to both Finance Minister, Winston Jordan and the Health Minister should not be.

“There is also mention of the Minister of Finance using the consolidated fund and we already know that there is no Parliament, and in both cases where there are mention of Ministers of Health and Finance there are no Ministers right now so for me the legislation makes no sense and I think it’s totally ridiculous in light of what we’re facing.”

Influenza vs COVID-19

Meanwhile, former PPP/C shadow Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony is urging Guyanese to not be afraid to seek medical care if they are experiencing signs and symptoms connected with that of the coronavirus.

According to him, it is important that persons understand the seriousness of the virus and its similarity to influenza.

“It’s important that people

Former PPP/C parliamentarian, Dr Vindhya Persaud

understand the seriousness of the coronavirus, the coronavirus is something similar but not the same to the flu so you would get signs and symptoms like the flu so a lot of people who would get these signs and symptoms will not necessarily have the coronavirus,” Dr Anthony noted.

As such, Anthony is also encouraging those who may be diagnosed with the coronavirus to adhere to the standard precautionary measures.

“So, people shouldn’t be afraid of going [to] their medical practitioners or health centres for treatment. If it is that you don’t have flu and they're able to diagnose coronavirus then the standard thing is that they give you a systematic treatment and have you isolated so that you don’t spread it.”

16 NEWS

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

President’s measures to tackle COVID-19 too extreme – FITUG What would be the financial implications on the country should there be severe imposition of international sanctions?

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review of imports by country of origin for the period January – June 2019, using data published by the National Bureau of statistics revealed that the United States accounts for 35 percent of total imports; Trinidad & Tobago 30 percent; China 7 percent; Suriname 4 percent; United Kingdom 3.5 percent; Kingdom of the Netherlands 2.8 percent; Japan 2.1 percent; Mexico 2.1 percent; Turkey 1.3 percent; St. Lucia 1.3 percent; and other countries 10.5 percent.

On the exports side, Canada accounts for 40 percent of total exports; Germany 20 percent; United Arab Emirates 8 percent; United States 7.5 percent; Ukraine 4 percent; Belgium 3.3 percent; Panama 3.3 percent; Jamaica 2 percent; China 2 percent; United Kingdom 2 percent; and other countries 9.3 percent.

From examining the above data, countries that are not likely to impose sanctions on Guyana, should a government be sworn in that is not deemed to be legitimate by the western world such as the United States, United Kingdom, CARICOM, European Union and the Commonwealth, are perhaps China and Japan. These two countries only account for less than 10 percent of international trade, both imports and exports. As such, if all the others are to impose sanctions a worse case scenario, then clearly the supermarket shelves will be empty, there will be massive food shortage, fuel shortage as well – this will lead to prolonged black outs. There will be no inflow of foreign exchange from exports – hence would not be able to service external debt, failure of which, the country will default on its external debt and that would in turn lead to bankruptcy.

In other words, there will be virtually a complete shut-off – of international trade. In the financial sector, correspondent banks will severe ties with the local banking system and this will necessitate a complete collapse of the financial system and more so a collapsed economy.

On a slightly different note, since the successful passage of the no-confidence motion, other analysts have pointed out that at the end of the fiscal year - December 2019 when the budget for 2019 would have been exhausted – the 1/12 provision in the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act would have been activated until a new government is sworn in post elections to prepare and present the 2020 budget in the National Assembly for approval. Apart from the 1/12 provision, there is another provision which states that “where the Minister, when satisfied that an urgent unavoidable and unforeseen need for expenditure has arisen” for which no moneys have been appropriated or for which the sum appropriated is insufficient; for which moneys cannot be reallocated as provided for under this Act; or which cannot be deferred without injury to the public interest, may approve a Contingencies Fund advance as an expenditure out of the Consolidated Fund by the issuance of a drawing right.

The total amounts permitted to be drawn from the Contingencies Fund pursuant to subsection (3) (outlined above) shall not exceed two percent of the estimated annual expenditure of the last preceding fiscal year as shown in the annual budget proposed by the Finance Minister for approval in the National assembly. With respect to the 1/12 provision, this is also calculated based on the last fiscal year’s annual budget, which in this case amounted to $300 billion.

The year is already at the end of the first quarter and it would appear that with the current political crisis or impasse – it does not seem that this will end anytime soon – nor can it go on indefinitely either. Now, if one were to take the 2019 total public sector salaries and wages which amounted to approximately $70 billion – this would work out to roughly $6 billion in wages and salaries for public sector employees per month. With the formula outlined above in terms of how much money the government can access lawfully in the given circumstances, it would work out to (1/12 or 8.33% + 2% of $300B = $31B). Thus, $31 billion / $6 billion monthly salaries and wages = 5 months and 2 weeks. This means, by end of May 2020 which will be five months into 2020 and two months from now, the Government will virtually run out of money that they can lawfully access from the treasury in the circumstances, which means, public sector employees’ livelihoods will be on the breadline post May 2020 if we don’t get over this impasse and a democratically elected Government installed.

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

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resident David Granger’s conferral of far-reaching ministerial powers on Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence in an effort to respond to the global pandemic coronavirus (COVID-19) is not sitting too well with the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).

The Federation, in a statement, related that the Public Health Ordinance issued by Granger earlier this week would heighten anxieties among the Guyanese people, especially those infected with the virus.

FITUG has said it believes that every practical step should be taken to combat the spread of COVID-19, but it fails to see how the Government’s measures can be really helpful.

According to the Official Gazette, under the order, the Public Health Ministry shall take measures to “restrain, segregate and isolate persons suffering from the disease, or who may, likely from exposure to the infection, suffer from the disease”.

Additionally, the Public Health Ministry “shall speedily bury or cremate the corpse of persons that died as a result of the coronavirus, in addition to providing curative care”.

More alarmingly, the directive to the Public Health Minister is that the Minister may “remove, disinfect, and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease”.

In no other country has any such authority been given, since the virus survives on surfaces only for a limited time.

“In fact, it is our considered view that it could force Guyanese who may contract the virus to become afraid to disclose their status, given the wide-ranging and vast powers that the authorities now possess. While the officialdom has sought to downplay concerns, we believe at the same time the extreme measures are completely unnecessary at this time,” the Federation has stated.

Moreover, the Federation said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had flagged Guyana as being among the least prepared countries in our hemisphere when it comes to addressing COVID-19.

“The IMF, from data at its hand, concluded that our country was among the least prepared in our hemisphere.

Rather than seeking to catch up, an Executive Order was foisted on our people. That order has only, in our view, served to raise the already high temperature even higher, given the sweeping powers it has placed in the hands of the Authorities,” the statement read.

The Federation further

FITUG President Carvil Duncan

expressed concerns relative to the shuttering of businesses and the measures the Government has been putting in place for employees and employers.

Some businesses in Central Georgetown have temporarily closed their doors because of fears that the virus would spread, with five cases already being confirmed in Guyana.

It has been noted that

the economic slowdown could linger for some time, yet it appears that there is no attention being paid on this front.

FITUG is contending that, “in other nations, we have seen pro-active public policies to alleviate such stresses on peoples and enterprises. This appears to be absent from our response, though it is very much an important and, we dare say, critical element.”

In fact, FITUG has said that with the Head of State issuing a proverbial blank cheque to the Public Health, Education and Citizenship Ministries, a dangerous precedent may result that would not augur well for accountability and transparency.

The Minister, via the Public Health Ordinance, has been empowered to prohibit or restrict the movement of persons within, to, and from, an infected area.

The Order also empowers the Minister to call on the

Guyana Police Force to provide enforcement assistance relative to its duties under the Order.

The Order has also called on the Ministries of Education and Health to take measures to control the spread of COVID-19 across educational institutions and in respect to immigration matters.

According to the Order, the Finance Minister shall expend from the Consolidated Fund such sums of money as may be necessary for the effectual carrying out of identified measures to be undertaken by the various Ministries.

The Order, which has since been gazetted, states that the “President considers that immediate action is necessary to address COVID-19, and declares COVID-19 as an infectious disease” warranting the special orders.

The Executive Order is to remain enforced until withdrawn by the President.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

140 Cuban medical professionals LIAT to continue flying with to assist Jamaica in COVID-19 fight reduced flight schedule

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O

ne hundred and forty Cuban medical professionals arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on Saturday to help in the fight against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

“Thank you Cuba for your quick response to our request for support against COVID-19! Thanks to the local health team who coordinated to get this mission here in just over a month,” Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher

The Cuban medical professionals at the Norman Manley International Airport

Tufton tweeted earlier.

He said the professionals will be quarantined for

14 days and then deployed across hospitals island wide.

(Jamaica Observer)

Trinidadians who defied warnings not to go on cruise test positive for COVID-19

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he number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID) jumped to 49 on Saturday after Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh confirmed that 40 of the 68 persons who had been placed in quarantine from a cruise ship had tested positive for the virus.

In addition, National Security Minister Stuart Young said that the island's entire border will be closed on Sunday “until further notice”.

Deyalsingh told a news conference that despite Government having earlier issued a warning to persons to consider travelling overseas, the 68 people had embarked on a cruise ship tour on March 5, a month after the Keith Rowley administration had first made the announcement.

“They subsequently became stranded and as citizens of Trinidad and Tobago they returned on the 17th of March …and were taken to a quarantine facility as per protocol.”

Deyalsingh said that a day before their arrival, the 68 persons on the cruise ship had retained the services of former attorney general Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj who had written at least two letters to the Minister of National Security and himself on the matter. He said he would not divulge the contents of the letter.

“Be that as it may, the health system continued to respond in a most responsible manner, in a most effective manner, and in a most humane manner, by providing that facility that was outfitted for them to have as comfortable a stay as possible.

“On Thursday, the 19th of March all 68 people were swabbed as per protocol because they fit the definition of who to swab because they were on board a ship with confirmed COVID-19 patients. We got the results between 9:00 and 10:00 pm (local time) on Friday night.

“I could tell you that of the 68 people tested, 40 of

the 68 have tested positive for COVID-19. These are the returning citizens who were stranded on that cruise ship,” Deyalsingh said.

He said the persons have since been removed from the quarantine area to the Cuara Hospital, along the east west corridor and appealed to citizens to continue to follow the practices being recommended by the health professionals.

Meanwhile, Young said that as of Sunday night “we will be closing off our borders completely”.

“So as of midnight, tomorrow night, Sunday 22nd March we will no longer be allowing international flights into Trinidad and Tobago.

We will be closing our borders, we will of course continue to allow under the restrictions that we have currently, the cargo vessels to come to Trinidad and Tobago. We have put protocols in place,” he said, adding that the pharmaceuticals, food supplies will continue to come to T&T. (CMC)

Coronavirus: British tourists stuck in Peru to be rescued

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escue flights to bring back hundreds of British tourists stranded in Peru will begin next week, the Foreign Office has said.

Around 400 UK nationals are stuck in the South American country after it closed its borders and stopped all flights amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab secured permission for a UK flight to leave Peru, the Foreign Office said.

It added officials will work to arrange further flights in coming days.

The Peruvian government placed the country into lockdown last Monday, with no flights allowed to enter or leave without government permission.

A nine-hour curfew is also in place between 20:00 and 5:00 and all shops are closed except for pharmacies and stores selling food. Earlier this week, some of the Britons stuck in the country said they faced serious health problems or were running out of cash.

Many said they felt the UK government was not do-

ing enough to get them home at a time when other nations - like Germany and Israel were funding the high costs of repatriations.

On Saturday, the Foreign Office said Mr Raab had spoken to his Peruvian counterpart and secured permission for a flight to leave early next week.

Mr Raab tweeted: "I had a good conversation this afternoon with my opposite number in Peru, Gustavo MezaCuadra.

"Amidst all the challenges of tackling coronavirus, we committed to working together in the coming days to enable UK nationals in Peru and Peruvian nationals in the UK to return home." The Foreign Office said: "We will continue working closely with the Peruvian government to arrange further flights in coming days.

Earlier this week, the government said tourists must pay for their own airline tickets home once a flight becomes available.

At that time, the only commercial carrier that had offered to help was charging $3,000-$3,500 (£2,570-

£3,000) for a one-way ticket - almost 10 times the normal price It comes as the number of people who have died in the UK with coronavirus rose to 233, as cases topped 5,000.

Danielle Cook, 32, and her partner Matthew Houghton, 34, from Yorkshire are among those stuck in Peru.

Ms Cook's father died a few days ago.

"My family has not been able to make any funeral arrangements and I feel so guilty being here," she says.

The couple and nine others, including Dutch and Canadian travellers, had gone to Peru to see the mountain Machu Picchu, but they are all now holed up at an Airbnb in Cusco.

Also stranded is 70-yearold Ffred Ffrancis from Wales, who said: "We can't go anywhere, we are stuck in our hotel - we are only allowed to go out to get food, money or medication.

"I have a heart condition, so being at high altitudes it is fine for a few days but we don't know long how we'll be here for." (BBC)

IAT is continuing to fly across the region with a reduced flight schedule commencing Sunday 22nd March 2020.

The new reduced schedule is in response to the decline in travel as well as travel restrictions and border closures imposed by governments of destinations into which LIAT operates.

The new schedule will run from 22nd March – 30th April 2020.

The new schedule will see a forty percent (40%) reduction in the number of flights operated by the carrier following a significant decline in travel due to COVID-19. LIAT has already suspended flights into Guyana due to border closures and will this weekend suspend service to Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Maarten.

Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Reifer Jones expressed her concern about the dynamic situation with the imposition of travel bans and border closures. As a result, LIAT quickly amended its schedule to ensure that it could remain

flying and connecting the region.

The CEO also highlighted that LIAT was doing its part by ensuring several measures were in place to protect employees and passengers. These include ensuring aircraft are cleaned to global cleaning standards, following the direc-

discussions with stakeholders, including its union partners, to ensure that measures were in place to keep LIAT flying throughout this crisis.

In addition, the airline’s Board of Directors is in direct communication with regional governments to secure concessions and waivers.

tives of CARPHA & WHO and collaborating with local public health authorities.

The airline was assisting customers by waiving penalties for cancellations and changes on bookings. . Reifer-Jones explained that this was an extremely challenging time for the airline, its employees and other stakeholders. She disclosed that the airline is in ongoing

LIAT will closely monitor this rapidly changing situation and issue regular advisories to the public. The airline remains committed to flying and ensuring that our region is connected.

We would like to thank our staff, customers and stakeholders for their loyalty and understanding during this unprecedented time. (Antigua News Room)

CCJ provides opinion on freedom of movement in Caricom

T

he Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has provided its first advisory opinion concerning the interpretation and application of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC), which governs Caricom.

Caricom leaders had requested the court’s advice on two specific questions relating to freedom of movement within the 15-member organisation, following their decision to enlarge the list of Caricom workers entitled to seek employment in other Caricom states under the Caricom Single and Market Economy (CSME). The expanded list of workers include agricultural workers and security guards.

The leaders also requested an opinion from the court on the requests made by Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis to opt out of that decision for a period of five years.

In its ruling, the CCJ said the principle of reciprocity means that privileges, favours, or benefits that are granted by one state to the citizens or legal entities of another state, should be returned in kind. A principle of non-reciprocity means that such returns are not to be expected.

It said Article 27(4) of the RTC enables member states to opt out of commitments arising from the decisions of a competent Caricom body or organ, provided that the fundamental objectives of Caricom, as laid down in the Treaty, are not negatively affected. The CCJ regarded a “fundamental objective” as an issue that is of central importance.

Five conditions to effectively opt out The CCJ noted that five conditions are needed for the effective implementation of an opt out.

It said first, one or more of the member states must make a request to opt out of a decision.

Second, the CCJ said the decision maker must be a competent organ of Caricom, and pointed out that the

Conference of Heads of Caricom was a competent organ. Third, it noted that the Conference must agree to the request of the member state to opt out of the relevant decision.

The CCJ said that it was also clear that such an agreement was made in the case of Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis and that the two member states were permitted to opt out of the enlargement decision.

In keeping with Article 27(4) of the RTC, the CCJ advised that the member state, which chooses to opt out is entitled to do so based on the obligations arising from the decision.

Fifth, the CCJ said an opt out is permitted only if the “fundamental objectives” of Caricom, as laid down in the RTC, are not prejudiced or undermined by the decision.

Factors which influenced CCJ decision The regional court said that the question of whether the enlargement decision prejudiced the fundamental objectives of the RTC was crucial to its opinion.

“Ultimately, the Court determined that freedom of movement was a fundamental objective of the Caribbean Community laid down in the RTC. The CCJ closely regarded the facts that (i) the opt out was made available to two member states, each of which is categorised as a less developed country; ( ii) the duration of the opt out in each case was temporary, lasting for a five-year period; and (iii) the opt out related only to two categories of skilled nationals.”

In response to the first question, the CCJ advised that it was lawful for Antigua

and Barbuda and St KittsNevis and Nevis to request an opt out of the obligations arising from the enlargement decision of the Conference.

“It was also lawful for the Conference to grant the opt outs in all the circumstances.

The said opt outs did not prejudice the fundamental objective of freedom of movement of skilled nationals.”

On the second question of whether the principle of non-reciprocity should be applied to security guards and agricultural workers of Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis, the court said it considered the uniqueness of the Caribbean Community, where each member state could veto a Conference decision.

The CCJ stated that the request for and grant of an opt out furthers the interests of the Community, because it allows decisions of the Conference to be taken and implemented in circumstances where those decisions may have otherwise have been vetoed.

The court also explained and examined the principle of reciprocity and how it applied in the context of the RTC. I t conclude d that “an o p t out is to be treated as being non-reciprocal in character and advised that the principle of non-reciprocity applies to enlargement decisions so that nationals of Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts and Nevis who are security guards and agricultural workers are entitled to enjoy the benefits of the enlargement decision."

(CMC)

guyanatimesgy.com

OILNEWS Staring at $20 oil, exploration and oilfield services firms prepare to ‘write off’ 2020

I

ndustry pain always follows an oil price slump, and it can be excruciatingly painful when it comes to market permutations in a cyclical business facing a once-in-a-generation event. In recent memory, the industry has either faced a demand crisis like the global financial crisis of 2008-09 or a supply glut that surfaced in 2015-16.

However, as the first quarter of 2020 nears its end, the industry is staring at simultaneous oversupply as well as a demand slump with many writing off much of 2020.

To demand matters first – the global coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic is crushing near-term crude oil cargo calls at an unprecedented rate. The virus that originated in China in January, and crippled the economy of the 14 million barrel per day (bpd) importing nation, is now hitting South Korea, Japan, Italy and Iran hard.At the time of writing (March 20), whole cities, regional economies are in lockdown from the West coast of the US to the South coast of Europe. After initially cagey assessments, forecasters have finally moved on from merely revising demand growth lower to predicting actual shrinkage in the range of 90,000 to 155,000 bpd. That may yet prove optimistic.On the supply side, Saudi Arabia-led OPEC tried and failed to get Russia to agree to a deepening of existing output cuts by 1.5 million bpd on March 6. Much worse then followed, with the Saudis initiating discounts of as much as US$8 per barrel on their official selling price (OSP) followed by pledges to pump as much as 12.3 million bpd. It has sent oil futures languishing at US$20-30 per barrel levels. Too much oil for too few takers with too many producers vying for their attention is not just a crisis but an unmitigated disaster for exploration and production (E&P) companies and the oilfield services (OFS) firms that keep them going. Both segments are now preparing for US$20 oil prices.

Oil majors such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP are all evaluating their capital (capex) and operating expenditures (opex), with multi-billion dollar projects likely to be in limbo. Beleaguered midtier independents are facing pressures of their own with Occidental Petroleum announcing dividend cuts of over 85 per cent.The cost-cutters’ ranks are being swelled by independents like Apache Corporation, Devon Energy and Murphy Oil, all of whom announced dramatic capital budget cuts of 30 per cent or more, even before Big Oil got there. On the OFS side, blue chip Halliburton has said it would furlough about 3500 employees in Houston, oil and gas capital of the US, for 60 days.

Smaller OFS peers are in the same rocky, and even more constricted metaphorical financial boat. For instance, driller Payzone Directional Services is halting operations, Liberty Oilfield Services said its executives would take a 20 per cent pay cut and so the story goes, underpinned by a wider belief in the industry that the year 2020 is a lost cause.

Jim Johnson, Chief Executive of FTSE 250 services and products provider Hunting Plc, told Forbes: “The year is effectively over as a business proposition with the dramatic oil price collapse. I don’t think the Saudis or Russians are going to blink anytime soon. For argument’s sake, let’s say oil prices hit the ‘teens’ and there is some form of market compromise; that still won’t be enough to rescue the financial year.”

Johnson points to the “unprecedented” amount of oil demand being taken off the market, however near-term, with airlines being cratered, cruise companies grounded and people being asked not to venture out by Governments.Regina Mayor, Global Head of Energy and Natural Resources at KPMG, agrees that in this extraordinary time for the industry, most oil and gas companies have very little choice but to respond in the way they have, since most were already taking a beating from a less than impressive oil price climate.“I am very pessimistic and don’t think the sector can rescue 2020 from here on. Market will remain jittery in the face of one of the biggest demand destruction events we have ever seen with ‘unknowns’ lurking around. Severe belt-tightening will be the order of the day, no matter where the cash reserves of companies large and small currently stand at.”Mayor also thinks the uncertainty will cloud “at least” the next three to four quarters. Even if we sidestep farfetched direct industry stimulus plans, nothing appears to be working for the sector given the current uncertainty, according to Ashutosh Shastri, Director at EnerStrat Consulting. “We now have a situation where low oil prices, low interest rates, possibly new stimulus funding might still lead to no or low growth in oil demand.

If this scenario materialises in Q3 and continues into Q4, then we do have an implausible scenario of oil remaining sub-$30 through 2020.

Additionally, Q4 will again bring into sharp focus the immense earnings pressure on Big Oil and the social license to operate at COP26 at an inconvenient time.”All in all, Shashtri said the coronavirus situation and related demand destruction is likely to be present up to Q3 with little respite for near-term planning.Carole Nakhle, Founder and CEO of Crystol Energy, opines that even going into a cautiously optimistic mode later down the year is looking precarious for companies, marking a big difference from the sector downturn witnessed in the wake of the global financial crisis.“Even if there is a recovery by the end of Q3 or Q4 2020, it is unlikely that we will see a rebound to last year’s activity levels. Back in 2008, prices bounced back quite rapidly as OPEC implemented three consecutive cuts and maintained an impressive discipline. The current mood within OPEC does not convey such intention and the coronavirus is having a sweeping effect, depressing demand across all markets, particularly oil, with no clear end in sight.”

Nakhle, Shashtri, Mayor and Johnson, also raise a key point that’s lost in all the doom and gloom chatter about the oil price slump – that of natural gas prices, currently trading both in the US and globally at record lows. (Excerpt from Forbes)

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

19

Around the World

Spain to boost coronavirus testing as deaths surpass 1300

S

panish authorities said on Saturday that they would boost coronavirus testing, potentially with the help of robots, as the toll in the country kept climbing, surpassing 1300 deaths and reaching close to 25,000 cases.

Europe’s second-worst outbreak showed no sign of improvement as the single-day death toll jumped over 300 people from the previous day. Intensive care units kept filling up at a hectic pace in some hospitals.

Health officials said cases were likely to keep increasing and said they did not know when a peak would be reached. But they praised restrictions imposed a week

ago by the Government, which declared a 15-day state of emergency nationwide barring people from all but essential outings.

The death toll jumped to 1326 from 1002 the day before, according to Health Ministry data released on Saturday. The number of cases rose to 24,926 from 19,980.

The death rate is around 5 per cent, Sierra said, but she suggested the real rate is lower as testing has mostly been conducted on people in hospital, meaning there are far more cases than registered.

But testing is set to increase - the Government announced on Saturday it had acquired over 640,000 test-

People wearing protective face masks are seen in an almost empty Puerta del Sol during a partial lockdown, which is a part of a 15-day state of emergency to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Madrid, Spain, March 21, 2020

ing devices and said that number could quickly reach a million.

Raquel Yotti, Director of Carlos III Public Health Institute, said the first devices were being distributed on Saturday and added

the Government was working on acquiring four robots that could bring the daily number of daily tests to 80,000. That would be up from 15,000-20,000 a day at the moment. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Iran's Rouhani says COVID-19 measures may be eased within weeks

I

ran's President Hassan Rouhani has said he expects measures taken to combat the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus, including social distancing, to be eased within the next two to three weeks.

Accusing "counter-revolutionaries" of attempting to shut down economic production, Rouhani said in a televised address on Saturday his country "has to do everything" to return economic activity back to normal.

Iran is one of the hardest-hit countries worldwide by the virus, with an official death toll only behind Italy and China. On Saturday, the Health Ministry's latest tally said the death toll had risen by more than 100 to 1556, while the number of infected

people stood at 20,610. A total of 7635 people have recovered in Iran.

Already reeling from years of economic sanctions following US President Donald Trump's 2018 withdrawal from a nuclear deal Iran had signed with world powers three years earlier, the country's inability to procure badly needed medical equipment from international markets has hampered its efforts to combat COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Since announcing its first two COVID-19 deaths in the holy Shia city of Qom on February 19, Iran has taken a series of steps to contain the virus.

It has closed schools and universities until early April, as well as four key pilgrimage

Rouhani accused 'counter-revolutionaries' of attempting to shut down economic production

sites, including the Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom. Iran has also cancelled the main weekly Friday prayers, and temporarily closed Parliament.

Iranian authorities have

asked people to avoid all travel during the Persian New Year holidays, which usually sees almost all citizens take to the streets. But the pleas have been ignored by many.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Angola, Eritrea, Uganda confirm first cases as coronavirus spreads in Africa

A

ngola, Eritrea and Uganda confirmed their first cases of coronavirus, while Mauritius recorded its first death as the virus spreads across Africa despite measures by Governments to hold it back.

Two male residents who flew back from Portugal on March 17-18 have tested positive, Angolan Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta said on Saturday, while Eritrea said its first case was a 39-year-old national who had arrived from

Norway.

Uganda’s first case was announced early on Sunday

by Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng. She said the man flew in to the country from Dubai on Saturday and was in stable condition.

More than 1000 cases have now been reported across Africa, according to the World Health Organisation.

Zimbabwe reported its first case on Friday, and a second on Saturday, while the island of Mauritius, with 14 cases, reported its

Banks in Barbados giving customers financial ease

C

ommercial banks are giving customers financial ease as Barbados prepares for major economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The leadership of the credit union movement said they would also be assisting members, who are likely to be affected during the upcoming period of financial uncertainty.

Yesterday, Republic

Bank (Barbados) Limited, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, and Scotiabank announced a sixmonth suspension of loan payments, including mortgages.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) outlined a similar policy earlier this week. The relief being offered to individuals and businesses was the subject of discussions with Government. (Nation News)

first death, a person who had travelled from Belgium via Dubai.

In South Africa, which has the most cases in sub-Saharan Africa, more citizens have taken to wearing masks and gloves in public as the number of confirmed cases rose on Saturday to 240.

Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, plans to close its two main international airports in the cities of Lagos and Abuja from Monday night. The number of reported cases there rose

to 22 on Saturday.

Rwanda, which has 17 confirmed cases, stepped up preventive measures on Saturday, banning travel between towns and other parts of the country for two weeks, closing all bars, and requiring all government and private employees to work from home.

Both Rwanda and Uganda on Saturday announced they would close their borders. (Excerpt from Reuters)

COVID-19 cases rise in Barbados

T

he number of coronavirus cases in Barbados increased to 14 overnight and the island is in stage two of the National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan.

Minister of Health and Wellness Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic said of the eight new cases, seven were as a result of contact tracing, that is, finding those who came into contact with the original cases.

The other person who tested positive is a visitor.

Acting chief medical officer Dr Anton Best said they comprised nine women and five men.

This was announced during the daily briefing at Ilaro Court on Saturday.

The other case is the cruise ship crew members and it does not count towards Barbados’ national total. (Nation News)

20

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

COVID-19’s effect on cricket…

English season to begin after May 28, ECB says I

n light of the coronavirus pandemic, no professional cricket will be played in England or Wales before May 28, the ECB has announced.

The ECB board decided on Friday to delay the start of the season by at least seven weeks, after having discussions with the 18 first-class counties, the MCC, and the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA).

Modelling has begun on a range of options to start the season in June, July or August, with an immediate focus on options for cricket in June, including the three-Test series against West Indies, the Vitality Blast, and England Women’s schedule against India.

The potential for reduced versions of competitions, should the season become further shortened, would also be discussed, the ECB said in a statement, and there are plans to review this position as the situation unfolds.

The move essentially buys the governing body time to respond to the impact of the ever-evolving progress of COVID-19 in the UK. Tom Harrison, ECB Chief Executive Officer, said: “During this period of deep uncertainty, it is the ECB’s first priority to protect the wellbeing of everyone within the cricket family, from players to fans and colleagues across the game.

The decision to delay the start of the season has been essential, given the circumstances the nation faces. I am reassured by the collaborative effort from across the game that, together, we will make the very best of whatever length of season we are able to safely schedule in the coming months.

“With the information available to us at the moment, a delay to the start of the professional cricket season until May 28 was unavoidable. This also allows us time to keep pace with a fast-moving situation and continue to plan for how a revised season might

look.

“Critically, we can also remain as flexible and adaptable as possible, within the obvious restrictions we face.

“Securing the future of the game will be a primary focus as we plot a revised schedule with an emphasis on the most financially important forms of the game for the counties across international and domestic cricket”.

The ECB will prioritise public safety and the health and wellbeing of players, staff and fans. From a sporting perspective, it will seek to protect international cricket, the Blast, and the new Hundred competition as the most financially important forms for firstclass counties. Broadcasters’ needs and the growth of the women’s game will also be key concerns.

The English domestic season was due to begin on March 24 with the traditional Champion County match between holders Essex and MCC - this year to be held in Galle, Sri Lanka - and the County Championship

Coronavirus effect on international athletics…

was scheduled to have started on April 12.

Seven rounds of Championship matches were originally planned up to May 27, after which the Blast would commence.

The loss of almost half of the fixture list, coupled with the ECB’s commitment to fit-

Effect of coronavirus on F1 racing…

champion Lewis Hamilton selfisolates after meeting Idris Elba A

ce driver Lewis Hamilton has self-isolated after being at an event with two people who have tested positive for coronavirus, but the six-

race of the new F1 season – was postponed. However, the 35-year-old Mercedes driver said he has not been tested, due to the limited number of tests available, and stressed he was not showing any signs of the virus.

“There’s been some speculation about my health after I was at an event where

cially when I wasn’t showing any symptoms at all.

“So, what I’ve done is keep myself isolated this past week, actually since practice was cancelled last Friday, and kept my distance from people.”

Hamilton had initially expressed shock that the F1 season had been due to start

time Formula One champion has assured fans he is “doing well” and had “zero symptoms”. There were fears expressed that the Briton could have contracted COVID-19 after he was pictured at an event in London earlier this month with actor Idris Elba and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both of whom have since tested positive for coronavirus.

Hamilton explained that, as a precaution, he has been in isolation since last Friday, shortly before the Australian Grand Prix – the opening

two people later tested positive for coronavirus,” Hamilton wrote in a message uploaded to his social media accounts. “I wanted to let you know that I’m doing well, feeling healthy, and working out twice a day. I have zero symptoms, and it’s now been 17 days since I saw Sophie and Idris. I have been in touch with Idris and (am) happy to hear he is okay.

“I did speak to my doctor and double-checked if I needed to take a test, but the truth is, there is a limited amount of tests available and there are people who need it more than I do, espe-

on time in Melbourne last weekend, despite many other events being cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Australian Grand Prix was eventually called off after one of McLaren’s crew members tested positive for COVID-19.

Subsequent races in Bahrain, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands and Spain have been postponed, while the Monaco Grand Prix has been scrapped entirely for 2020.

The earliest the F1 season can now begin is on June 7 in Baku. (Excerpted from sportsmax)

USA Track and Field calls for delay of Tokyo 2020 Olympics U

SA Track and Field, the United States’ athletics governing body, has called for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be delayed because of the ongoing situation with the coronavirus.

The federation has asked the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to advocate to the International Olympic Committee for the Games -- scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9 -- to be postponed, following a request from USA Swimming for the Games to be delayed by 12 months.

Chief Executive of USA Track and Field, Max Siegel, wrote in a letter to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee: “We certainly understand the ramifications of this request and the realities of trying to coordinate the logistics of a postponed Olympic Games around the schedules of other athletes, sport federations, key stakeholders etc; but the alternative of moving forward in light of the current global situation would not be in the best interest of our athletes (as difficult as that decision might be).”

There are a growing number of calls for the Games to not take place this summer.

ting in the shorter formats come what may, means the Championship may not be contested for the first time since World War II. The 50-over Royal London Cup is also likely to be dropped. PCA Chief Executive, Tony Irish, has said that organisation supports the decision to delay the start of the season.

“The decision has at least given clarity to players, following a week of uncertainty about whether or not they will be playing over the coming weeks,” Irish said. “All players are in this together, and as their players’ association, we now need to work for the players collectively in dealing with the ECB and the first-class counties, to find solutions to the challenges ahead.

“Naturally, players have concerns around when they will be able to start playing again, about what the schedule will look like when cricket resumes, and about employment security around their contracts. The PCA will represent them in dealing with these issues with the ECB and the counties, and seek the right solutions and ones that are acceptable to the players.” (Cricinfo)

UK Athletics Chairman Nic Coward recently suggested that the Olympics should be postponed; while Brazil, Norway and Slovenia’s Olympic committees have also urged the IOC to take action and put it back to next year.

Risking lives

Four-time Olympic champion and BBC Sport pundit Michael Johnson fears athletes could “risk their lives” trying to train for the Games, and has called for clarity on the IOC’s decision-making process.

“IOC should communicate the window for deciding on the ‘20 Olympics,” tweeted the former US sprinter. “Athletes must keep training, but for many, there’s nowhere to train.

“They may risk their lives and others’ trying to continue training. Answer isn’t just cancel ASAP, but communicate the process to the athletes.”

On Friday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach, told the New York Times that “different scenarios” for Tokyo 2020 are now being considered for the first time. (Excerpted from BBC.COM)

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

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GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GCA 2019/2020 cricketing season…

UG Trojans’ coach expecting great performance from team

ꟷ squad boosted by top bowler Nial Smith, all-rounder Kevin Umroa

By Timothy Jaikarran

T

he current outbreak of the coronavirus and tensions emanating from the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections have had the effect of halting all action in the

Georgetown C r i c k e t Association’s 2019/2020 season.

However, whenever the season restarts, UG

TTFA BANK ACCOUNTS EMPTIED

ꟷ former TTFA accountant gets court’s blessing to empty bank accounts

APPLICATION FOR MONEY LENDER CERTIFICATE. PURSUANT TO SECTION 4 OF THE MONEY LENDER ACT. I, Cedric Joel Weekes, of Lot 8 Den Amstel Old Road, West Coast Demerara, Guyana is hereby given Notice that I have applied to the Magistrate of West Demerara Magisterial District for a Certificate under the Money Lender License.

Authorising the Grant to me of a Money Lender License to carry on the business of a Pawn Shop at Lot ‘Y’ Blankenburg Public Road West Coast Demerara.

Notice of any objection to the application should be sent forthwith to the Clerk of the Court of the West Demerara Magisterial District and a copy of such notice should be sent to the subscriber Cedric Joel Weekes (Applicant) Dated at Georgetown, Demerara the day, March 2020.

VACANCIES Office Assistant - Maths and English required, knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

Apply to Mima Décor, Lot 8 Sheriff St, GTown or mimadecor12@gmail. com (227-0186) Pump attendant-680-3863, Store helper-624-003, Driver for water canter-680-3863, Porter for water canter-680-3863, House keeper-624-0033 Call or Whatsapp One (1) General Domestic to work in the interior to cook, clean, wash, etc. Accommodation and meals provided. Please contact: 680-2702 Office Assistant - Maths and English required. Knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

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223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

21

T

he FIFA Normalisation Committee that is set to take over the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association will find itself without a dollar to do so, after a court order gave former accountant Kendall Walkes the power to empty the organisation’s accounts in lieu of sums of money owed.

According to reports, the TTFA accounts stand at TT$300,000, while Walkes is owed a little more than TT$5 million. Walkes’s attorney, Melissa Roberts-John, said on Tuesday that movement of the funds was awaiting the court registrar’s signature, which had been delayed because of the smaller complement of staff at work due to attempts to stave off the spread of COVID-19.

While the amount is but a fraction of what is owed, Walkes’s attorney believes a message has been sent.

“It is nothing much, but every drop fills the bucket,” Roberts-John told T&T website Wired868. “It sends a message to the TTFA, because I don’t think they want all their line of creditors to do what we did.”

While the TTFA will regain power over its accounts once Walkes has emptied it, his attorney indicated that there could be more garnishings if the organisation does not negotiate repayment of the balance of the debt.

“Now we will write the TTFA, requiring payment for the outstanding balance. If nothing comes of that, we can seek a further order,” said Roberts-John.

There has been no response from the TTFA on the issue, after FIFA ordered the organisation’s board to vacate offices and appointed a Normalisation Committee to sort out its financial affairs.

Even without the FIFA takeover, the TTFA’s offices were closed as part of social distancing methods to fight the spread of COVID-19, and the training sessions of all national teams had been paused. Still, Roberts-John feels the TTFA’s response has been too slow.

“We wrote them on 21 February 2020 with our proposal, and they acknowledged receipt on 27 February and said they will revert to me once they have a figure in mind. And that was their last response”, said Roberts-John.

“We have heard nothing about our proposal since, which doesn’t surprise me anymore. But we are still willing to negotiate; that has not been taken off the table.” (Sportsmax)

The UG Trojans team stand with coach Kenroy Joseph

Trojans, coached by Kenroy Joseph, is expected to turn in some extraordinary performances, considering that that squad has been boosted by the inclusion of top fast bowler Nial Smith and top all-rounder Kevin Umroa.

In a discussion with Guyana Times Sport, Joseph had this to say of the 2019/2020 cricketing season: “This year has been good (to us) thus far. We have won all 3 of our 2nd division games for the year, and lost only our 1st division (game), against DCC. Our improvements have started mainly because we have finally inked an agreement with QC, and have been using their venue

for training from Tuesday to Thursday weekly.

“Our 1st division team have been strengthened, since our loss to DCC, with the addition of Guyana Jaguars speedster Nial Smith and former Under 19 all-rounder Kevin Umroa.”

Joseph said that, for the year, the only regret he has thus far is not being able to play active cricket on a weekly basis. He said the GCA has been trying to get tournaments going, but the problem is with senior clubs making their grounds and teams unavailable.

Joseph confided that the coronavirus pandemic has stymied the plans he has for the team.

“A few players work with me in the park (on) their fitness; and few players, like Vantull, Ershad, Omesh, Favorite, Roberts, and others who are playing presently in the West Demerara League (do likewise), with permission from myself and the University of Guyana admin.

So, they are staying active. I also released home training drills in our WhatsApp group so they could follow,” he explained. With Umroa’s experience at regional U19 tournaments and Smith’s current form in the Regional 4-Day Championships, the Trojans 1st Division squad will be a force to be reckoned with when the GCA cricket season resumes.

Senior players continue to be an asset at Albion Cricket Club ꟷ precautionary measures for coronavirus in place at venue

O

ne of Guyana’s leading cricket clubs, the historic Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (ACCCC), continues to benefit from the presence of senior players in its ranks.

Senior players Devendra Bishoo, Veerasammy Permaul and Gudakesh Motie have been seen engaging a host of youngsters in a practice session, enabling the juniors to improve their techniques while learning from the veterans.

Between Bishoo, Permaul and Motie, 1023 first class wickets have been taken; thus these juniors are in good company.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused most cricket competitions to be postponed.

ACCC Vice-president Orvin Mangru told this publication that management, in a chat with the cricketers, has already explained the precautionary measures being taken to combat the coronavirus.

“It is an air-bourne disease and, at the same time, you don’t want to be too complacent. This is an open atmosphere, which is advised to be in.

Our practice has not been affected, and we are going about doing what we are supposed to be

doing,” he explained.

Mangru has said that having the senior players around is always to the advantage of the club. “The youngsters will capitalize on their presence, and once they are around, we will always seek their support in terms of the technical aspects of cricket,” Mangru posited.

The ACCCC is set to play the Under-15 final sometime next week, provided that the situation gets better and competitive cricket returns.

Mangru has emphasized that the ACCCC is not complacent, and all precautions are being put in place.

22

GUYANATIMESGY.COMOM

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

Hutson reflects on Early Season Classic

By Jemima Holmes

W

ith the E a r l y Season Classic completed but the remainder of the athletics season in Guyana put on pause, Aubrey Hutson, President of the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG), reflected on the event, and shared his hopes for the dormant period ahead.

“I think it was great that we can have such an event under these conditions. We know the athletes do need competition going into the season. We’re hoping that this virus can disappear soon, so we’ve got to stay sharp,” he declared.

Reflecting on a packed weekend of track and field events staged at the Leonora Synthetic Track last weekend as the Early Season Classic, Hutson highlighted a few outstanding performances that were witnessed by a large group of athletes and a handful of unattached supporters.

He said he had seen some great potential that just needed a bit more perfecting.

“Emmanuel Archibald came home and gave the athletes some good competition in both the long jump and the 100M; and you

know that Davin Fraser running 10.02s this early in the season is still great!

“Yeah, he pulled up a little bit in the 200, but this is information that the coaches could work with. Looking at him, I think that he’s destined for greatness. We just have to ensure that we have a programme that is in sync with his place of employ, so that he can truly reflect that great athlete that he can be,” Hutson shared.

Probed about the rationale behind the meet, and questioned whether it had achieved its goal, Huston answered in the affirmative, noting that every opportunity to better the local youngsters would be taken.

“I always believe that we should separate the early in the season; but then, in an event like this, we try to put the premiere senior athletes against our juniors to see how they match up; because, bear in mind that people like Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean, that we have to go in to CARIFTA against, those junior athletes would outperform our seniors. So, to give them the necessary preparedness for the kind of competition they’ll be going to meet, we must do that match-up,” the

AAG President, Aubrey Hutson

AAG Boss explained.

Now that the COVID-19 outbreak has put athletics worldwide on pause, Hutson revealed, the meet times will not go to waste, but rather be sent to the IAAF, should the local athletes look to compete on the international stage, when conditions revert to normalcy.

“It’s important that these athletes record the times they did record and have the kind of performances that they did have today. This is going to go now to the World Athletics Body, so it’s going to be in the international books. So, any athlete who is being invited to the Grand Prix

or the South American Classics, they can look back at the results of today and say we think they are good candidates,” he disclosed.

In regard to the CARIFTA Games, the AAG President shared that it is the intention to keep the athletes active, but the modus operandi would be left up to athlete and coach.

“The notice from NACAC said we should stay sharp, and we intend to keep our athletes active. We’ve been getting advice to avoid public transport; avoid coaching sessions; that athletes should stay home; but this is up to the athletes and the coaches to see how they can manage their athletes under the prevailing conditions; and we hope to God that everything stays clear for them,” he said.

Hutson admitted to being impressed with the growth of the sport, and even shared that it is his belief that once the sport gathers new athletes, the level of competition will rise accordingly.

“Yes, it’s growing. I think that once we continue to keep the sport interesting and continue to have meet after meet -- and you, the media, put it out there for the public to hear and to see what we’re doing -- it’s attracting more athletes to the sport.

And I think that once our numbers go up, our performances will go up likewise,” he said.

Over-50 Cricket World Cup…

Full restart set for South Africa in 2021 …Windies enjoyed bittersweet outing

Part of the action in this O50 journey

T

he Over-50s Cricket World Cup, being staged in and around Cape Town, South Africa, has been cancelled with immediate effect because of the situation with the Covid-19 virus.

The Organising

Committee took this decision during the course of the third round of matches, which were then abandoned after the first innings.

The organisers have decided to have a full restart to the tournament in South Africa in 2021. This means

that the Over 50 World Cup that was expected to kick off in 2022 will now be shifted to 2023.

The West Indies over50 squad enjoyed two brilliant warmup matches, wherein they lost against South Africa but won against India. However, in their first official matchup -- against New Zealand -- they lost by 36 runs; and in match number two, they lost to defending champions Australia by 3 wickets.

Only one innings was played in match#3, and the Windies were well on their way to winning their first match against Canada, having recorded 243/7 off their 45 overs, but the match was abandoned.

This meant that after two matches in Group A, they were at the bottom of the table.

However, had the World Cup progressed, they would have had a 50/50 chance of qualifying, if they had won the rest of their games.

In a statement, Chairman of the Over-50 CWC, Stirling Hamman, said: “At the moment, there

Chairman, Over-50 CWC, Stirling Hamman

West Indies Over 50 Captain, Zamin Amin

is no suggestion that anybody has got it (COVID-19).

If they had gotten it, it would have passed through

the group and ramifications would have been dire. For the duty of care we have for the players, we had to take that course of action.”

Also reflecting on the tournament, West Indies Over 50 Captain Zamin Amin said, “For us, some of the teams we have played already, and I felt that we can compete with them at this level. Yes, we lost our

first two games, but given the ability of our team, I feel we can compete with them next time.”

The West Indies O50 are currently in discussions to play Canada in a three-match series either in Canada, Florida, or Trinidad and Tobago as preparation ahead of the next O50 World Cup in 2021.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

23

Youths can be given opportunities, but balance is important ꟷ Coach Crandon

By Brandon Corlette

A

fter eight rounds of mixed fortunes for Guyana Jaguars in the Regional 4-Day season, it will take a miraculous effort for the five-time defending champions to reclaim their title at this stage.

Many may have taken the route of exp o s i n g s o m e

young players if the remaining two rounds commence, but this call has to be made by the franchise and the selectors.

"You always want to give players opportunities, but you still have to look at balance. It’s a franchise, and our job is to win games for the franchise.

“From my perspective, it's about balance, and not only winning, but also developing and giving players exposure," Crandon emphasized.

Akshaya Persaud

He noted that this is the only way players can get experience, by playing more games and continuing to learn.

"With regards to that (selection of young players), the selectors need to do their job as to their thinking. They need to see a few new players, and give them the opportunity to go, if this

Tevin Imlach and Renaldo Alimohammed

competition recommences".

Crandon posited that he wants to get the best players available, those who would win matches for the team. He noted that he has no problem with given players opportunity, but it must be some sort of experience, and the person involved must be a youth who can win games for the Jaguars.

Gudakesh Motie

Rich crop of youths

Guyana has a rich crop of players that are hitting on the doors for selection.

Some names coming to mind are: West Indies U-19 duo of Ashmead Nedd and Kevlon Anderson; Gudakesh Motie, former West Indies U-19 World Cup winner Tevin Imlach, Akshaya Persaud and Ronaldo Alimohammed.

These are notable names

that may seek opportunities in the final two rounds, if the suspended Regional 4-Day tournament resumes.

19-year-old left-arm spinner Nedd has shown great skill despite his youth. He dominated junior cricket, and announced himself at the senior level when he represented the West Indies Emerging Players’ team in finesse.

Nedd has played six List A matches, and taken 11 wickets with an economy rate of 3.27.

He and Kevin Sinclair, firstclass cricket at the moment, bowled in tandem for the Emerging Players.

However, Nedd, who looks ready to play firstclass cricket, will have to battle for a spot, since Guyana is the land of leftarm spinners, of which Motie and Veerasammy Permaul are the senior left-armers.

Anderson has shown great composure, looking unbothered at the senior level in the domestic circuit, where he chalked up centuries at the senior franchise level and has shown great

skill at the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. Motie has not been getting an extended run in the starting XI. The left-arm spinner played one match this season and emerged with an overall of 29. Motie, who played for the West Indies U-19, has exactly 100 first-class wickets, and the 24-year experienced spinner is filled with promise.

Imlach, another former West Indies U-19 player, has only played two firstclass matches. The classy right-handed wicket-keeper top-order batsman has seemingly not found his feet at this level, but the hardworking youth deserves an extended run in the Jaguars team.

Persaud has also played two first-class matches, but is yet to get an extended run in the starting XI. Tagenarine Chanderpaul has been having an extended bad patch, but has remained in the team for all eight matches played this season.

Alimohammed has shown his all-round capabilities, and has come through the ranks. He will also be a great asset to the Jaguars in the future. So why not give him and other youngsters experience to learn from 4-Day cricket?

COVID-19 takes a toll on GFF calendar …Clubs still allowed to have practice sessions

GFF President Wayne Forde

By Jemima Holmes

I

t is no secret that the coronavirus pandemic has hit the world of sport hard, especially those disciplines which are constantly competing and training. To zero in, the COVID-19 outbreak has taken a toll on CONCACAF’s international tournaments, such as the Gold Cup 2021 Qualifiers,

which Guyana’s Senior Men’s National team were preparing for.

However, the virus has not only barred international competition, but, for the sake of health and safety, has stalled local tournaments as well.

“Our youth tournaments that were scheduled to commence in March; that is: the NAMILCO Under 17, the KFC Under 20, and some of the academy programs, we had to suspend all of these activities in order to ensure that the players and the officials are not exposed to the possibility of being infected,” Guyana Football Federation President Wayne Forde told this publication exclusively, when asked about the position of football locally.

“So, it would have had a direct impact on our activities, and we definitely would want to hope that this would not last for much longer and we could actually get our 2020 season off the ground,” the GFF boss went on to explain.

Conversely, while organized tournaments are at a standstill, it was noticed that several clubs continued their daily/weekly training sessions, but on a lighter scale. When asked, Forde disclosed that it is not an unlikely practice, given that the GFF has not specifically told any of its members to stop training.

“We did not issue a directive to the members; we issued guidelines and recommendations. I think that we would have to see a heightened state of emergency on the part of the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Health before we issue a directive,” Forde revealed.

However, the GFF President noted that, should the coronavirus situation escalate in Guyana, instructions would be issued to safeguard the wellbeing of the Federation’s players.

“What we issued a week ago is a recommendation and guidelines based on the posture of FIFA, CONCACAF, WHO, and the MoPH. Once there is clear indication that the threat level has risen and the Government has taken a particular stance, the GFF will go ahead and issue a directive to the members, which we anticipate they will adhere to,” he explained.

“But the priority, of course, is for them to take care of themselves, exercise some of the preventative measures that the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued to ensure that they remain healthy,” Forde explained as he expressed his deep concern for the safety of footballers nationwide.

SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Youths can be given opportunities, but balance is important ꟷ Coach Crandon GCA 2019/2020 Hutson reflects cricketing season… on Early UG Trojans’ Season coach Classic Pg 23

Page 22

expecting great performance from team

Page 22

ꟷ squad boosted by top bowler Nial Smith, all-rounder Kevin Umroa

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March 22, 2020

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2 Sunday Times Magazine

MARCH 22, 2020

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Education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST - ENGLISH LANGUAGE

PAPER 2 Reading Time: 10 minutes / Writing Time: 45 minutes MARCH 2020 READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. SECTION A Answer ONE question in this Section OR one question in Section B. In about 120 – 150 words, write a letter based on the information below.

You spent one week of the Christmas holidays with your friend’s family. Write a letter thanking his/ her parents for the wonderful time you had. Describe three things that you enjoyed.

OR The headteacher of your school is insisting that all pupils of Grade 6 attend extra classes at school on Saturdays. Write a letter to the headteacher in which you provide three reasons why the pupils should not attend school on weekends.

OR Mr. King, who lives next door to you, plays music loudly in the evenings. Write a letter to Mr. King in which you provide three reasons why he should discontinue this practice.

SECTION B Answer ONE question in this Section if you have NOT answered a question in Section A. In about 120-150 words, write a composition based on the information below.

One day during the Christmas vacation, you and three friends were exploring in the backdam. Suddenly you heard a loud noise. Write a story in which you tell what happened after you heard the noise.

Give your composition a suitable title.

OR At last Guyana’s Fiftieth Republic Day had come! Maria had been excited for weeks.

Write a composition which describes how Maria spent her day.

Give your composition a suitable title.

OR Write a composition based on the pictures below. Give your composition a suitable title.

1. This paper consists of two sections: Section A and Section B. Section A consists of three letters. Section B consists of three composition topics.

2. You must answer one question from either Section A or Section B. 3. Write your letter or composition on the paper provided.

4. Write your candidate number on each sheet of paper that you use.

This paper has two questions. You must answer either question 1 or question 2.

1. In 120-150 words, write on ONE of the following: Write a letter to a friend telling him/her about the day you were lost.

Write a letter to a friend telling him/her about a reading competition in which you participated.

You neighbour gave you a book of cross-word puzzles designed for children. Write a letter of thanks to your neighbour, outlining the benefits of the gift.

Your class is planning a fund raising activity, and needs permission from the headteacher. Write a letter to the headteacher seeking permission to have the fund raising activity.

OR 2. In about 120-150 words write on ONE of the following: Write a composition on “My favourite dish.” In you composition, say how the dish is prepared.

Imagine you are a ‘pencil’. Write a story on a day in your life.

Your yard was flooded after a period of continuous rainfall. Say what it was like, and the role you played in cleaning up after the water was gone.

Write a story based on the picture on the picture below. Give your story a title.

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MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST Paper # 302 MATHEMATICS Reading Time: 10 minutes Writing Time: 60 minutes

Read these instructions carefully before you attempt to answer the questions.

1.

Write your candidate number clearly on each page.

(b) Complete the table below to show the number of squares that is used to make each

figure.

2. This paper contains six questions. You are required to answer Question 1 and three others.

Each question is worth 5 marks.

Note: You must answer only four questions.

Be sure to answer the four questions completely.

3.

Write the answer for each question in the space provided in this booklet.

4.

Answers must be written in complete sentences where possible.

5.

Each step of your work must be clearly shown in this booklet.

6.

If you have to erase, do so cleanly.

7.

Look over your work when you have finished.

8.

Do not take away any part of this booklet.

(1 mark)

(c) Study the completed table then complete the rule below to determine the number

of squares in the 20th shape.

(2 marks)

Question 1 1.

(a)

In a school, 3/7 of the number of pupils are boys. There are 324 girls.

(i)

What fraction of the total number of pupils are girls? (1 mark)

(ii)

Calculate the total number of pupils in the class. (2 marks)

(b)

Study the flow chart below, then complete the rectangle and circle.

Question 3 Study the information about the iPhone below then answer the questions that follow.

Amala purchased her iPhone from Amazon while Keston purchased his from Gizmos and Gadgets. (a) How much did she pay for it?

(2 marks) (b) Who paid more for their phone and by how much?

(2 marks) Question 2 Zena used squares to make patterns. The first three patterns are shown below. Study them carefully then answer the questions that follow.

(a) Draw the 4th pattern

(2 marks)

(3 marks)

4

Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST 3 SCIENCE PAPER 2 Reading Time: 10 minutes / Writing Time: 45 minutes MARCH 2020 READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. 1. Write your candidate number clearly on each page.

2. This paper contains six questions. You are required to answer question 1 and three others. Each question is worth 5 marks.

NOTE: YOU MUST ANSWER ONLY FOUR QUESTIONS. Be sure to answer fully the four questions.

3. Write the answer for each question in the space provided in this booklet.

4. Answers must be written in complete sentences.

5. Ensure that your handwriting is clear.

6. If you have to erase, do so cleanly.

7. Look over your work when you have finished.

8. Do not take away any part of this booklet.

____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

YOU MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND THREE OTHERS. The diagram below shows one of the human body systems. Study it carefully and answer the questions that follow.

The diagram below shows the movement of the earth around the sun. Study it carefully and answer the questions that follow.

(2 marks) Total 5 marks

The diagram below shows one of the human body organs. Study it carefully and answer the questions that follow.

3. (a) To which human body system does the organ belong? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) 1. (a) In which of the labelled parts on the diagram above does digestion end? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

Name one other part that belongs to the body system named in (a) above. ____________________________________________________ (1mark)

(c) Write the main function of the organ shown above. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) Identify the parts labelled E and G of the digestive system.

E__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ G__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ (2 marks) (c) Briefly describe two activities that occur in the part labelled H during the process of digestion. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) Total 5 marks

5. (a) (i) Name the object labelled X. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b)

(d) If the organ shown above gets damaged, list two effects it would have on the human body. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) Total 5 marks

(ii) The movement of the earth shown at Z is called ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) Which of the above is a natural satellite? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

Study the diagram of the plants below and answer the questions that follow.

(c) (i) Write one use of artificial satellites. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(ii) Describe one effect that a damaged artificial satellite can have on our

daily lives. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) Total 5 marks The diagram below shows a mixture. Study it carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Study the diagram of the animals below and answer the questions that follow.

4. (a) (i) Which of the three plants is grown from stem cuttings? ____________________________________________________ (1mark)

2. (a) How many classes of vertebrates are shown in the picture above? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

(1 mark)

(b) Which two animals belong to the same class of vertebrates? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

(c) Describe two ways in which animal C is adapted to live in its habitat. ____________________________________________________

(ii) Name the plant that has seeds which are dis

persed by animals. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark) (b) Identify the type of root system found in the

coconut plant. __________________________________________________ (1 mark) (c) Briefly describe two similarities between the cassava plant and the mango plant. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) Total 5 marks

6. (a) Name one metal contained in the mixture. ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) Which of the substances in the mixture is soluble in water? ____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) Identify the best method by which the fol lowing substances in the mixture can be separated: Iron filings _________________________________________ (1 mark) Copper filings_______________________________________ (1 mark) Salt______________________________________________ (1 mark) Total 5 marks END OF TEST

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST 3 SOCIAL STUDIES PAPER 2 Reading Time: 10 minutes / Writing Time: 45 minutes MARCH 2020 READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS 1. Write your candidate number clearly on each page.

2. Write on the lines provided in this booklet. Use a pencil and write neatly and legibly.

3. This paper contains two sections.

SECTION A CONTAINS ONE QUESTION. YOU MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION. SECTION A This section contains ONE question with four parts.

You must answer ALL the parts of the question.

Question 1 Study the pictures below and then answer the questions that follow.

SECTION B CONTAINS FIVE QUESTIONS. YOU MUST ANSWER THREE OF THESE QUESTIONS. Note: you must answer only four questions. Be sure to answer All parts of the four questions fully.

4.

5.

6.

If you have to erase an answer, do so completely and write your new answer clearly.

If you complete your work before the schedule time, spend the remaining time looking over your work.

Do not take away any part of this booklet.

_________________________________________ (1 mark) (Total 5 marks)

Study the flag below and then answer the questions that follow.

5. (a) Which month recorded the highest amount of rainfall? _______________________________________

(1 mark)

3. (a) Name the organization which the flag rep resents? _______________________________________ (1 mark) 1. (a) The items above help us to keep our bodies. _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) State one way using the object labelled ‘B’ will help us to have healthy bodies. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b)

(c) Tom does not like to use the object in pic ture ‘A’. As a result, he has cavity on his teeth.

Which health worker must he visit? _______________________________________________

(1 mark)

What does the two interlocking C's on the flag symbolise? _______________________________________ (1 mark)

(d)

State one objective of the organisation named in (a). _______________________________________ _______________________________________ (1 mark)

Study the map carefully, then answer the questions that follow.

(d) Suggest to Tom two ways he can prevent

(e) Explain one way members can his teeth from getting more cavities

benefit from being part of the organisation 1. _____________________________________________ named above. _____________________________________________ _______________________________________ (1 mark) _______________________________________ _______________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________ (1 mark) _______________________________________________ (Total 5 marks) (1 mark) (Total 5 marks) Study the caption below and then answer the question that follows.

SECTION B This section contains FIVE questions.

Forest fires have destroyed the homes of many animals and plants.

You MUST answer THREE of these questions.

Study the picture below and then answer the questions that follow.

4. (a) Name one cause of forest fires. _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) State one importance of the forest. _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

2.

(a) Which ethnic group is associated with the building shown in the picture above? _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(b) Name two contributions made to the Guyanese society by the group named at (a).

1._____________________________________________ (1mark) 2._____________________________________________ (1mark)

(c) State one use of the building shown in the picture above. _______________________________________________

(1 mark)

Study the graph below that shows the annual rainfall in Guyana and then answer the questions that follow.

(a) Name the village located at the point la belled ‘F’. _______________________________________________

(1 mark)

(c) State one difference in the climatic conditions

between location ‘E’ and location ‘F’. _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(d) Suggest two ways we can preserve the forest?

Way 1:_____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Way 2:_____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) (Total 5 marks)

6.

(b) In which natural region is the village labelled ‘F’ located? _______________________________________________

(1 mark)

(c) Which of Guyana’s natural region

will most significantly be affected if there is a

forest fire? _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) John wants to plant rice. Use the information on the graph to explain to him when will be the most suitable time to start planting. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ (1 mark) (d) State two reasons why the information on the

graph will be important to farmers.

1. _________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ (2 marks) (Total 5 marks)

What is the name of the document which established the organization named at (a)? _______________________________________ (1 mark)

(c)

(b) What instrument was most likely used to measure the average rainfall? _______________________________________________ (1 mark)

(d) Joshua and his family are moving from location ‘F’ to live at location ‘E’.

What name is given to this type of movement? _______________________________________________ (1 mark) (e) Suggest to Joshua one change he and his family is most likely to experience when they move from

location ‘F’ to ‘E’

_______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ (1 mark) (Total 5 marks)

(d) Explain one difference between the group named

at (a) and the Africans. _______________________________________________ Difference:_________________________________________

_________________________________________

END OF TEST

6 Sunday Times Magazine

MARCH 22, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

T

he theme for World Storytelling Day 2020 is ‘voyages’ and that’s right up the alley of storytellers for storytellers take you on journeys back in time and into the future. Sometimes they take you on flights of fantasy, flights of the imagination, bringing you back to earth, moralizing, pontificating and bringing you back to the present, bringing you back to reality. Importantly, they would tailor the story to suit the occasion and the type of audience - pruning and trimming, altering and patching, cutting and pasting; an adventure for all. And more importantly, they elicit participation from the audience.

Here are some storytellers to whom we ought to lend an ear.

Doris Harper Wills, Aunty Cumsi, Stephanie Bowry, Ken Corsby, Henry Mootoo, Dave Martins, Francis Quamina,

Paulette Paul, Margaret Lawrence, Rooplal Monar, Michael Khan, Phyllis Jackson, Seeta Mohamed (Dr Roath), Habib Khan, Mark Mathews, Wordsworth McAndrews, Chandr Paul Persaud (Paul O’Hara), Peter Jailall, and Peter Kempadoo.

And here are excerpts of conversation with two storytellers.

Excerpt of a conversation with Lawrence DeWeever PP Lawrence, why do you place this much emphasis on storytelling?

LD I’m honoured to talk about the oral tradition – my livelihood is using that method of transmission.

Growing up here in Guyana, I was fortunate to have a very close-knit family and as a child I use to go around to all the relatives and ask questions what it was like when they were growing up, what it was like when they were children and a lot of the stories they told me sort of excited the mind. I also spent an awful lot of time at the National Library; every Saturday, my father use to take us to the library and we use to literally run up the stairs and get lost in books. I found that the stories in the books were very engaging, they captured my imagination. I also discovered that in order to get others to read the story in the books, I had to tell them part of stories.

So basically I was a storyteller in training as a child.

PP What was your opening line?

LD Simple - let me tell you about this story I’ve read… and I would share pieces….

Excerpt of a conversation with Peter Jailall PP We seem to have lost that community spirit and I contend it is because we have stopped telling stories as an art form, comment PJ Storytelling can be very captivating; children are yearning to listen to a good story. But we need tellers, we can’t have communities if we

don’t have tellers. In my time, it was sitting on the back steps and my grandmother telling stories, sometimes tricking us to tell our own stories, asking us, ”How many egg you eat?”…and so many stories you will have to tell, PP In closing, what could storytelling do to a child’s mind?

PJ Storytelling will expand the child’s mind and make him a critical thinker, make her think logically. Storytelling will help children follow a pattern when writing – the beginning, the middle and the end. Storytelling will also help in character building and in the education of the emotions.

Many of these stories have a moral base. Also, there is a need to preserve our oral tradition and to maintain our Guyanese culture. wen laas yuh sidown an hear a good ole time Peter Jailall story like the Nancy tory, Balgobin story, jumbie/ole higue/moongazer…, stupidy-bill, fairmaid/water-baby…come, come… wen laas yuh sidown round de fiah-side, anda de silk-cotton tree, wen laas yuh sidown in de hammock an tell a tory, come, come… wen laas yuh sidown anda de moonlight, anda de gubby tree, by de koker…. wen laas yuh hear ‘long, long, long time ago’…come, come…

Wen laas yuh hear ‘de tinin ben an de story end’…come, come Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

By focusing on the big picture, you are guiding your thoughts and emotions to unearth the next best step for you. Meditating on these visions also takes your chances of success one step higher because you are immersing yourself in the beliefs and feeling that they are possible.

By Kamladevi Sharma

G

uyana's 2020 elections have been one of the most challenging ones in history.

Political instability, social unrest and economic slowdown have been unfortunate outcomes that have manifested. People witnessed acts of violence, roadblocks, burning of tires, and altercations with protestors and the police.

In Bath Settlement, Berbice, a protestor died, shops were burglarised, vehicles were damaged and other protestors, children and policemen were injured. Subsequently, security has been tightened for many businesses in and around the city, glass windows and doors have been bolted with boards, business hours have been reduced, staff have been kept to a minimum, projects have been paused and sales have taken a significant dip in industries like fitness and entertainment.

Business development and economic prosperity have certainly been hindered and this is dangerous for Guyana's growth. Numerous studies have shown that an unstable political environment is one of the reasons countries like Africa is significantly underdeveloped to date and, poverty keeps on increasing. It is a bottleneck to innovativeness in the economy and, a clear route for corrupt practices and exploitation of consumers to escalate since fair competition in the economy is not being stimulated.

Further, the lack of direct and indirect foreign and local investments creates uncertainty among business enterprises who may have been hopeful in growing their businesses to compete with international firms entering the market- especially considering the significant interest in Guyana expressed by the international community. This not only impacts the increased employment of the Guyanese people but also their improved standard of living.

Moreover, if this continues, it may lead to further brain drain- a problem historic to Guyana.

Notwithstanding, other factors are at play in Guyana’s crisis. A few cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country. Around the world, this virus has affected large manufacturing economies like China who the country depends on for many products. With the limited supply of goods already available due to the economic slowdown preceding the elections, an uncertain Government to date and, a further slowdown in business due to the tensions of fraudulent elections and now, the new coronavirus, the question arises, what will become of Guyana and its people?

How will people survive?

Furthermore, on the global front, oil prices have fallen to an all-time low since Saudi Arabia has announced plans to ramp up its production.

This means that companies like ExxonMobil who is drilling off Guyana’s shores may be experiencing low or no profits at this time. So how does Guyana benefit from oil considering this?

Sanctions from the US are threatening the country's independence at this point following the inconsistencies of transparent elections results. These issues and possibly more if the dance continues with the GECOM, have undoubtedly impacted people's way of thinking and behaving.

Whether Guyana remains fixed on its issues or grows past them is a matter of the mindset of its leader and the people. However, the social unrest and violence during elections along with other factors threatening the wellbeing of the people, have traumatised them significantly and they contribute to their fixed mindset of lack and struggle.

To help people to grow past this level of psychological impact, there is a need to heal and work on being emotionally intelligent and foster a growth mindset. Unfortunately, these skills are lacking among the majority of people in Guyana. Through my recent growth mindset coaching in several schools and companies here in the country, it was proven that people are enslaved by their minds and the information they receive from others and the media. Under these circumstances, the people are likely to be impacted negatively and they won't know how to revive from it.

They will be traumatised by the information and experiences they have been exposed to in 2020 and sadly, they will pass this on to the future generations, which is a huge threat to sustainability. After all, this is how we know

5. Speak positive statements to yourself

Before you allow someone to lead you, lead your thoughts and emotions. People in your family may depend on you and so, there is no

what we know about the past. We have heard about the trauma our foreparts experienced on the plantations and during past elections, and how life came together thereafter.

Therefore, healing intergenerational trauma created from elections is important for a prosperous Guyana. If we apply Hofstede's cultural dimensions to Guyana, we'll find that Guyana mirrors Trinidad in culture and, the people of Guyana are very collective in nature.

They follow the beliefs and expectations of groups they associate themselves closely with.

This is evident in their ethnic relations and religious beliefs and, it was evident in the way they responded to an assumed theft of their democracy in 2020 where they protested in large crowds on the streets, identifying themselves with specific political parties. This is one of the strengths of the people and the leader who uses this to their advantage in 2020 and beyond, will stabilise the economy in a jiffy and help the people to heal.

Therefore, to cease the momentum of trauma created from electoral events, here are some tips for Guyanese:

1.

Get clear on who you are, who you want to be and ground in your wisdom

Do an audit on yourself and really get clear on what influences your thoughts and behaviours. Where did the emotion come from? Is it yours or your parents or grandparents? Are you biased or not in your reactions to what is unfolding before you? With this clarity, choose to let go of what isn't serving your well-being. If it makes you feel angry, fearful or sad, put it in the hands of the creator and let it go.

When you coach yourself, you empower yourself and you function from that place of empowerment and confidence in your interactions- not from the ego power-distance level, but from the mutual respect and compassion level.

2. Practice mindfulness in activities

Mindfulness is all about being aware or present in the moment. You can bring your focus to your breath and practise being aware as much as possible during the day. This will help you to identify the beauty in the moments, rather than being enslaved by thoughts, emotions and memories of the past. In this process, get into the habit of attaching new meanings to the things that are being done. For example, in taking mindful walks and observing the environment, give it the meaning of being your way to revive your energy and focus.

3. Set intentions/ goals daily

A day can be unpredictably good or unpredictably bad if you leave your energy field open without intentions. To avoid the unwanted as much as possible, plan or create the mindset for what you want by setting intentions every morning. Tame the energy. This process helps you to be in control so that life can happen as you intend it to, rather than being a victim to everyone and everything around you.

4. Meditate on the visions of your desires

Visualising the outcomes that you desire is a unique way to kick start the momentum to bring these visions to your physical reality.

room for you to beat yourself up or lose sight of your worthiness. But stuff happens that makes you angry. You feel cheated and lied to like anyone else. You go through grief but still need to show up. Growing past the past will come from healing the past and welcoming stability and opportunities for growth in the future.

Every individual that heals their past wounds creates space for more abundant and productive opportunities to capture their focus so that they can grow and be a better version of themselves. Choose to heal. Choose resilience.

8 Sunday Times Magazine

MARCH 22, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

L

ast week we truncated the discussion on VET-CLIENT INTERACTION, so as to give some insights on the COVID-19 pandemic instead. It seems that this intervention was not only appropriate but well received. I thank you all for your supportive and insightful comments. Especial thanks to all the major newspapers which printed the article, as soon as it was submitted.

Now we are back to the relatively mundane but important topic captioned above.

Already, we have spoken of the need to: Have the animal restrained/caged prior to entering the Vet Clinic.

Reduce over-zealousness (barking frenzy).

Ensure as much as possible, that the animal has defecated/urinated, prior to entering the Clinic.

4) Have capable and knowledgeable accompaniment, if you know you will become

queasy in the Vet Clinic.

Pursuant to the latter consideration (see #4 above), if you are unable to come to the Clinic with your pet, please ensure that the person sent to accompany the animal possesses all the important and relevant information concerning the sick pet – including the symptoms, onset of the symptoms, your own interventions and the dosage rate of the medications that you might have used. This is useful, especially if the animal is visiting the Clinic for the first time.

At least, the person accompanying the pet must know your telephone number, so that the Vet can call you, if necessary. Usually (always) if the pet has visited the Clinic before, its historical records will be in the possession of the Vet; but not any information on the current ailment.

1) 2) 3)

Let’s continue with some more specifics associated with the Vet-Client interaction: • It is better that you do not begin serious therapy (“trying out something”) at home because your neighbor or a good and well-meaning friend has given you “advice”. What does he/she know more than you or at all? Does he/she even have a pet? Does the advisor know what pertinent questions to ask? I strongly suggest you call your Vet first.

He or she will give you some preliminary professional counsel; or if the Vet thinks it is required, he/she may suggest that the animal be brought to the Clinic for a thorough examination.

Sometimes, in your heightened state of anxiety, you may wish to turn firstly to the “breeder” from whom you received the pet. I understand that approach; but I do not agree with that option of pursuance. More I will not say, unless you feel the compunction to ask me why.

Also, I would prefer that you do not consult “Dr Google” before your Vet gives you the go-ahead.

Actually, I do not know of any Vet that will give you such advice on this matter, Next week, during the ‘wrap up” I will elaborate.

Clearly, you must understand that any of your interventions may confuse the issue (and the veterinarian) when, inevitably and compulsorily, the time comes to carry the sick(er) animal to the Clinic. Please, no oral administrations of anti-fever medication and the “black and red” capsules.

• If you know that, from time to time (always?), that “Rover” behaves irascibly, please walk with a muzzle. Dogs, feeling threatened (nowhere else more so than in a Vet’s Clinic), may snap/bite without even a signal that they intend to bite. Cats usually hiss/ spit with visible anger before they do the deed. And how often have I not heard the statement “Don’t worry Doc, “Fido”/”Felix” doesn’t bite anyone”. Really? Perhaps they only bite/scratch Vets. In my more than 50 years of practice, I boast that I have not once been skin-punctured. And I suppose that I can thank my speed of reaction (every Vet develops that over the years) and a sixth sense that perceives when the pet’s bite/ scratch action is imminent; we can then take a more precautionary action.

The essence of this advice is that a muzzle is an integral part of your pet home-care arsenal, which must also include a thermometer, and a comb/brush. Anyway, a wellstocked retail pet supplier will provide the right-sized muzzle for your dog. Don’t be angry/disappointed, if your Vet requests that your pet must wear a muzzle before being examined.

Of course, if the Vet must look/palpate inside of the mouth, then the muzzle must be removed. Again, don’t worry or be annoyed, if the Vet suggests that “Rover” be sedated before a physical oral intervention is pursued. All part of the necessary Vet-Client interactions and trust.

Next week, I shall bring this topic of “Vet-Client Interactions” to a close. I will include suggestions of colleague veterinarians on this issue.

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine

9

Health

I

nfant jaundice is yellow discoloration of a newborn baby's skin and eyes. Infant jaundice occurs because the baby's blood contains an excess of bilirubin (bil-ih-ROO-bin), a yellow pigment of red blood cells.

Infant jaundice is a common condition, particularly in babies born before 38 weeks' gestation (preterm babies) and some breast-fed babies. Infant jaundice usually occurs because a baby's liver isn't mature enough to get rid of bilirubin in the bloodstream. In some babies, an underlying disease may cause infant jaundice.

Most infants born between 35 weeks' gestation and full term need no treatment for jaundice. Rarely, an unusually high blood level of bilirubin can place a newborn at risk of brain damage, particularly in the presence of certain risk factors for severe jaundice.

Causes

Excess bilirubin (hyperbilirubinemia) is the main cause of jaundice. Bilirubin, which is responsible for the yellow color of jaundice, is a normal part of the pigment released from the breakdown of "used" red blood cells.

Newborns produce more bilirubin than adults do because of greater production and faster breakdown of red blood cells in the first few days of life. Normally, the liver filters bilirubin from the bloodstream and releases it into the intestinal tract. A newborn's immature liver often can't remove bilirubin quickly enough, causing an excess of bilirubin. Jaundice due to these normal newborn conditions is called physiologic jaundice, and it typically appears on the second or third day of life.

Other causes

An underlying disorder may cause infant jaundice. In these cases, jaundice often appears much earlier or much later than does the more common form of infant jaundice.

Diseases or conditions that can cause jaundice include: • Internal bleeding (hemorrhage) • An infection in your baby's blood (sepsis) • Other viral or bacterial infections • An incompatibility between the mother's blood and the baby's blood • A liver malfunction • An enzyme deficiency • An abnormality of your baby's red blood cells that causes them to break down rapidly

Risk factors

Major risk factors for jaundice, particularly severe jaundice that can cause complications, include: • Premature birth. A baby born before 38 weeks of gestation may not be able to process bilirubin as quickly as full-term babies do. Premature babies also may feed less and have fewer bowel movements, resulting in less bilirubin eliminated through stool.

• Significant bruising during birth. Newborns who become bruised during delivery gets bruises from the delivery may have higher levels of bilirubin from the breakdown of more red blood cells.

• Blood type. If the mother's blood type is different from her baby's, the baby may have received antibodies through the placenta that cause abnormally rapid breakdown of red blood cells.

• Breast-feeding. Breast-fed babies, particularly those who have difficulty nursing or getting enough nutrition from breast-feeding, are at higher risk of jaundice. Dehydration or a low caloric intake may contribute to the onset of jaundice. However, because of the benefits of breast-feeding, experts still recommend it. It's important to make sure your baby gets enough to eat and is adequately hydrated.

Symptoms

Yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes — the main sign of infant jaundice — usually appears between the second and fourth day after birth.

To check for infant jaundice, press gently on your baby's forehead or nose. If the skin looks yellow where you pressed, it's likely your baby has mild jaundice. If your baby doesn't have jaundice, the skin color should simply look slightly lighter than its normal color for a moment.

Examine your baby in good lighting conditions, preferably in natural daylight.

When to see a doctor

Most hospitals have a policy of examining babies for jaundice before discharge. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that newborns be examined for jaundice during routine medical checks and at least every eight to 12 hours while in the hospital.

Your baby should be examined for jaundice between the third and seventh day after birth, when bilirubin levels usually peak. If your baby is discharged earlier than 72 hours after birth, make a follow-up appointment to look for jaundice within two days of discharge.

Complications

High levels of bilirubin that cause severe jaundice can result in serious complications if not treated.

Acute bilirubin encephalopathy

Bilirubin is toxic to cells of the brain. If a baby has severe jaundice, there's a risk of bilirubin passing into the brain, a condition called acute bilirubin encephalopathy. Prompt treatment may prevent significant lasting damage.

Signs of acute bilirubin encephalopathy in a baby with jaundice include: • Listlessness • Difficulty waking • High-pitched crying • Poor sucking or feeding • Backward arching of the neck and body • Fever

Kernicterus

Kernicterus is the syndrome that occurs if acute bilirubin encephalopathy causes permanent damage to the brain. Kernicterus may result in: • Involuntary and uncontrolled movements (athetoid cerebral palsy) • Permanent upward gaze • Hearing loss • Improper development of tooth enamel

Prevention

The best preventive of infant jaundice is adequate feeding. Breast-fed infants should have eight to 12 feedings a day for the first several days of life. Formula-fed infants usually should have 1 to 2 ounces (about 30 to 60 milliliters) of formula every two to three hours for the first week.

Treatment

The following signs or symptoms may indicate severe jaundice or complications from excess bilirubin. Call your doctor if: • Your baby's skin becomes more yellow • The skin on your baby's the abdomen, arms or legs looks yellow • The whites of your baby's eyes look yellow • Your baby seems listless or sick or is difficult to awaken • Your baby isn't gaining weight or is feeding poorly • Your baby makes high-pitched cries • Your baby develops any other signs or symptoms that concern you

Mild infant jaundice often disappears on its own within two or three weeks. For moderate or severe jaundice, your baby may need to stay longer in the newborn nursery or be readmitted to the hospital.

Treatments to lower the level of bilirubin in your baby's blood may include: • Light therapy (phototherapy). Your baby may be placed under a special lamp that emits light in the blue-green spectrum. The light changes the shape and structure of bilirubin molecules in such a way that they can be excreted in both the urine and stool. During treatment, your baby will wear only a diaper and protective eye patches. Light therapy may be supplemented with the use of a light-emitting pad or mattress.

• Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). Jaundice may be related to blood type differences between mother and baby. This condition results in the baby carrying antibodies from the mother that contribute to the rapid breakdown of the baby's red blood cells. Intravenous transfusion of an immunoglobulin — a blood protein that can reduce levels of antibodies — may decrease jaundice and lessen the need for an exchange transfusion.

• Exchange transfusion. Rarely, when severe jaundice doesn't respond to other treatments, a baby may need an exchange transfusion of blood. This involves repeatedly withdrawing small amounts of blood and replacing it with donor blood, thereby diluting the bilirubin and maternal antibodies — a procedure that's performed in a newborn intensive care unit.

10

Fashion

Sunday Times Magazine

Your

Sartorially Stylish Guide to This Year’s Biggest Menswear Trends Leather Due to its good looks, ruggedness and timeless appeal, leather will continue to be a trend winter after winter. A quality bomber jacket made from the stuff will probably be one of the soundest style investments you’re ever likely to make. It won’t come cheap, but it will last a lifetime. If you haven’t already added one to your collection, this coming winter is the time to do it. And if you really want to stay on trend, why not go for a model with a belted waist?

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

I

t’s no secret that “fashion trends” perhaps isn’t the menswear community’s favourite phrase. In a world where investing money in timeless, quality pieces will always trump keeping pace with fashion, jumping onto every passing bandwagon tends to be looked upon with a certain degree of disrespect.

But not all fashion trends are created equal. The key to retaining your sartorial self-respect lies in the ability to successfully differentiate between the fleeting fads and the future classics. In order to give you a nudge in the right direction, we’ve created a carefully selected edit of the menswear movements worth incorporating into your wardrobe this year, and why you should give them a try.

Vertical Stripes The reasons for embracing the vertical stripe trend are twofold: firstly, it looks great and presents a simple, refined way to experiment with prints; secondly, it has the nice added bonus of shaving a few pounds off your appearance, making you appear taller and slimmer.

For bonus points, opt for styles with stripes of varying width. Or simply stick to classic stripes, or even seersucker, if you prefer to keep things subtle.

Get Nautical Menswear has long been looking to the seas for inspiration. You only need to look at the peacoat for evidence of that. But this year it’s going to go to the next level as fisherman beanies, Breton tops and other dockworker staples creep further into mainstream men’s fashion.

It’s a subgenre of workwear that fashion journalists are already cringingly referring to as “shipster”. But while you may not want to dress in it from head to toe, a couple of its key pieces here and there is a good way to bring your wardrobe up to speed.

Pastel Pink Vivid colours aren’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean you should stick religiously to a monochrome palette.

Pastel shades are always a great, seasonallyappropriate option for adding a touch of interest to an outfit. And this year pink is the colour you should be opting for. They say it takes a real man to wear pink and while we’re not totally convinced by that statement, it does certainly take a style-savvy one.

Crew Neck Jumpers & Sweaters Crew-neck jumpers have long been a clothing staple of training athletes and sports enthusiasts alike. Today, the simple yet sporty style has been embraced on the streets as part of the athleisure movement. Characterised by a closefitting round neckline, crew-neck jumpers and sweaters are both practical and comfortable. Pair one with joggers or jeans and sneakers for a subtle yet stylish take on this trend. To take things a step further, consider adding sports-inspired accessories like a backpack or cap.

Camp Collar Shirts Classic collar shortsleeve shirts can carry with them some unwanted “lads down the pub” connotations for some. This breezy summer option offers a stylish way around that. Camp collar shirts have been big for several years now, meaning you can rest assured they have some longevity in them and aren’t just a fleeting fad. The flat, lapel collar styling adds a touch of something different to what might otherwise be a bland outfit, creating a subtle focal point to tie a look together. Perfect when worn with tailored swim shorts for a light lunch at a beachside restaurant.

Polo Shirts Created in the ’30s, polo shirts revolutionised sportswear. As well as being a technical sports garment, the shirt’s stylish design allowed tennis players to feel both relaxed and elegant on and off the court. Today, the timeless garment still offers these great benefits, making it the perfect athleisure piece. Instead of the court or golf course, try wearing a polo shirt to your next breakfast or night out. You can partner it with chinos or jeans during the day for a casual style or even try it with a relaxed suit for a stylish evening ensemble.

Pinstripes Whether it was oversized suiting or wide-leg trousers, pinstripes were everywhere at the menswear shows. It’s a welcome return for one of the coolest patterns in tailoring.

If business casual is well, too casual, opt for fine quality pinstriped suit.

Single breasted is a classic option but to go for the full look, try a double-breasted jacket with peak lapels because tailoring has just gone full circle.

Mid-Wash Denim Dark or raw denim is a bona-fide menswear staple.

But when the weather turns hot, it ceases to be practical.

guyanatimesgy.com

T

MARCH 22, 2020

he foods you eat have big effects on your health and quality of life. Although eating healthy can be fairly simple, the rise in popular "diets" and dieting trends has caused confusion. In fact, these trends often distract from the basic nutrition principles that are most important.

Additionally, most people consider healthy foods to be bland but we are here to change that. We share, with you, some healthy but tasty recipes. They are easy to prepare, require few ingredients and will be of significant benefit to you.

Sunday Times Magazine 11

12 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Puzzles

ACROSS 91 Piece of lumber 1 Raccoon cousin 92 Swarms around 6 Like some yogurt (hyph.)

93 There!

11 Risque 95 Gary's st.

15 Tylenol rival 96 Draws close 20 Inert gas 97 Hot tub features 21 Use a pen 98 Geezer 22 Loathe 99 Kind of straw 24 Sluggish marsupial 101 Ocean or Wilder 25 Singer Bonnie - 102 Insurance claim 26 Arena seating 103 Somebody feted 27 Zen poem 104 Teller's stack 28 Silver bar 105 Fakes it 29 Playful swimmers 106 Keep -- on (watch) 31 The fabulous Garbo 107 -- vivant 33 Gator kin 108 Outer coat 34 Soft purple 109 Fringe benefits 35 Voles (2 wds.)

111 Reed and Piniella 37 Takeover 112 Thick soup 39 Frequent 007 foe 114 Almost grads 41 Always, in verse 117 Duryea or Marino 42 Lyon's river 118 Go off course 43 Peeves 119 Burlap bags 44 Grapevine produce 124 Teenage 46 Spiky flower 126 Part of WATS 50 Geol. formations 128 For -- -- (cheap) 51 Throne 130 Caesar's book 52 It'll hold water 131 Arm bones 53 Shed, as light 132 Dawns, in poetry 57 Valentino of silents 134 Heads opposite 59 -- dollar 136 Comedian -- Mandel 60 13 witches 137 Banal 61 Heroic tale 138 Slalom runs 62 Comes to terms 139 "En garde" weapons 63 Green-egg layers 140 Make corrections 64 Airport exits 141 "Roots" Emmy winner 65 Keystone Konstable 142 Deserve 66 Derrick or crane 143 Succinct 67 Screw up 144 Crosses the creek 68 Improve the highway DOWN 69 Mist and smoke 1 Billiards shot 72 Film speed no.

2 Speak publicly 73 Tangy taste 3 Tummy trouble 74 Quits, in poker 4 Lugged 75 Wooden trunk 5 Opening remarks 76 Precise details 6 Yellowknife loc.

79 Robust 7 Beginnings 80 Distances 8 Vehement 84 Superman's alias 9 Up -- -- (stumped) 85 Thwarts a villain 10 Dry run 86 Very funny person 11 Bleachers cry 87 Criticize 12 Old calculator 88 Domestic sci. (2 wds.)

13 Bird sound

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- CREPUSCULE (CREPUSCULE: krih-PUS-kyool: Twilight.)

Average mark 42 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 61 or more words in CREPUSCULE? TODAY'S WORD -- CREPUSCULE clue creel creep crepe cruel cruse cure curl curse cusp recluse recuse reel repel repulse rescue

reuse rule rupee ruse ecru else peel peer perse peruse plus puce pule pulse pure puree

purl purse pursue ulcer user usurp scree scruple scup secure seep seer sere sleep slue slur

slurp spree spruce spur suer super sure leer leper lucre lues lupus lure

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.

14 15 16 17 18 19 23 30 32 36 38 40 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 51 52 54 55 56 58 59 60 63

She loved John Hands-on-hips Spanish title Clear as mud "-- -- a Rainy Night" --, gator!

Uproars Quicksand locales Bitter Wool-eater Rubber-stamps Feds (hyph.)

Holm and Woosnam Fairy-tale black Musical notes Kind of cracker Big name in horror films Conductor -- Boult Forest browsers Smear Has a say Hammerhead kin Mr. Stravinsky Collects maple sap Grant approval Chimney deposit Tea container Ultimatum word

64 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 85 86 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 96 97 98

Coats with gold Daring deed Globe Bit of a shock Andy Capp's quaff Princess perturber Brass component County events Short lives?

Luau strummer Driver's peg Ancient Playing marbles Amulet from Africa (var.)

Soprano -- Farrell Was merciful Mares' offspring Composts Hawaiian port -- -- even keel Consumer gds.

Punches very hard Predicament Baron -- Richthofen Skunk's defense Informal moniker Classified listings Rabbits

100 101 102 103 106 107 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 118 119 120 121 122 123 125 127 129 133 135

Salt meas.

Vamp Theda -Dern of "Jurassic Park" Fearsome cape "Little piggie" Screws up More nervous Less fatty Weaker Forgo Turkey neighbor Reddish-browns Where Khartoum is Vice -Freak out (2 wds.)

Luncheonette lure Bullied "Dave" actor Travels on snow Prime-time hour Trellis coverer Dele canceler W-2 info Vane dir.

SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE 13

guyanatimesgy.com

MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 13

Tech

A

pple is announcing a new iPad Pro, available online for either $799 or $949 for 128GB Wi-Fi configurations, depending on the size. They’re available to order online now, and Apple says they will ship on March 25th.

Both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes look identical to last year’s models, but there’s a new processor and new camera system inside them both. Apple’s headline feature is that it has a LIDAR scanner to go along with its camera for depth sensing and AR, but what most people are going to notice is that very new keyboard that you can get with it.

The keyboard unfolds and elevates the iPad to a more comfortable viewing position, as you can see above. It also has a trackpad on it.

Apple says, “Rather than copying the experience from macOS®, trackpad support has been completely reimagined for iPad. As users move their finger across the trackpad, the pointer elegantly transforms to highlight user interface e l e ments.”

Apple is calling it a “Magic Keyboard,” matching the branding it recently used on the redesigned and improved MacBook keyboard. It is backlit, supports USB-C pass through charging, and has a “smooth angle adjustment.”

Unfortunately, it won’t be available until May, but it will be compatible with last year’s iPad Pros as well. And speaking of “unfortunately,” it will cost a whopping $299 for the 11-inch model and $349 for the 12.9-inch version.

As for the iPad Pro itself, Apple has historically had a lot of extra power in the processor, and that appears to be no different this time.

Apple calls it the “A12Z Bionic Chip,” with eight cores in the GPU, and Apple isn’t shy about saying that it is “more powerful than most Windows PC laptops.” The company also made a twee ad for it along the lines of its clas-

sic “What’s a computer” ad. Battery life is estimated at 10 hours, and it supports gigabit LTE but not 5G. The three-camera array may look exactly like the three cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro, but on the iPad Pro, it’s a different setup. There’s a regular wide-angle and an ultrawide, but the third sensor is LIDAR, which uses lasers for depth-sensing and augmented reality.

We’ve been expecting a triple-camera system for the iPad Pro for some time now, given the many leaks and rumors about it and its presumed support for more advanced AR features. There have also been plenty of rumors about support for a trackpad on Apple’s Smart Keyboard, something many feel is sorely lacking right now on iPadOS. The iPad Pro was also due. Apple has historically released a new one every 500 days or so, and, according to MacRumors, it’s been just over 500. The regular, low-end iPad has been updated more recently, and there’s also the iPad Air sitting in the middle. It’s a somewhat confusing product lineup for the iPad, historically speaking.

The new iPad Pro and the also-announced MacBook Air are just two of the many Apple products that rumors suggest are coming in 2020 — if not the first half of the year. There’s a supposed iPhone 9 (or iPhone SE 2, depending on what name you think is most likely), AirTag tracking tags, a revision of the Apple TV, more MacBooks with Mini-LED displays, and more — and that’s setting aside sure bets like new iPhones in the fall.

How (or even whether) Apple intends to announce those products during the pandemic is anybody’s guess. WWDC has converted to an online-only affair, and it’s impossible for anybody to say when it might be a good idea to schedule a large press briefing.

The iPads are available in silver and gray, with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options. A fully maxed-out 12.9-inch iPad Pro with 1TB of storage and LTE support costs $1,649. Toss in a Magic Keyboard at $349, and you’re spending $1,998. (The Verge)

S

ony’s “Road to PS5” live stream featuring system architect Mark Cerny kicked off on Wednesday, and we’re learning a great deal about the technical jump the upcoming PlayStation 5 will allow for game developers.

The beginning of the talk was focused solely on the new console’s solid-state drive (SSD), specifically, the commercial 825GB M.2 SSDs that Sony says will hit speeds of 5.5GB of input data per second, and much more of compressed data. What does all that mean for players and game developers? Well, Cerny is saying it means the PS5’s input-output speed will get 100 times faster, and that will change everything from load times to level design.

In particular, Cerny said that the new SSD in the PS5 won’t just make it so you never have to wait at a blank screen again; that’s a given because of the architecture of SSD compared to hard disk drives that allow an SSD to seek and pull data on the drive almost instantaneously. Going further, Cerny added, the SSD will completely change how developers think about a game is created.

“The primary reason for an ultra-fast SSD is that it gives the game designer freedom. Or to put that differently, with a hard drive, the 20 seconds it takes to load a gigabyte can sabotage the game the developer is trying to create,” Cerny said. “Say we’re making an adventure game, and we have two rich environments where we each want enough textures and models to fill memory, which you can do as long as you have a long staircase or elevator ride or a windy corridor where you can ditch the old assets and then take 30 seconds or so to load the new assets.”

Cerny says most modern game developers more realistically “chop the world into a number of smaller pieces” to avoid those extra-long elevator rides. But the end result is that you have levels designed with twisty passages and

long, repetitive environments that are there solely to account for load times and to avoid kicking the player to a black screen. Cerny cites Haven City in the classic adventure game Jak 2.

“The game is 20 years old, but not much has changed since then. All those twisty passages are there for a reason. There’s a whole subset of level design dedicated to this world, but still, it’s a giant distraction for a team that just wants to make their game,” Cerny explained. “What if the SSD is so fast that, as the player is turning around, it’s possible to load textures for everything behind the player in that split second? If you figure that it takes half a second to turn, that’s four gigabytes of compressed data you can load.”

Everyone who’s played a video game over the last two decades has experienced the situation Cerny is talking about — the long elevator rides or the windy passages. And it’s interesting to think that all of that has likely been deliberate to account for large files loading and being kicked off memory to make room for new ones. And for files that are simply too large, like in the case of fast traveling, well... we’ve seen what that means: the blank screen or, as Cerny put it, the “Spider-Man riding the subway” segments of PS4 exclusive Marvel’s Spider-Man. So the idea that an SSD will be enabling this much of a jump is rather exciting. It means game developers can totally rethink level design and all of the corner-cutting and compromises they have to make just to ensure the player isn’t sitting doing nothing for many seconds or even minutes at a time. The concept of loading entirely new levels in less than a second means that the next consoles due out this fall — Microsoft’s Xbox Series X will also have an SSD — will truly feel like the ushering in of a new generation. (The Verge)

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Bollywood/Hollywood

A

ctors and motherdaughter duo, Hema Malini and Esha Deol, were at their candid best when they appeared together on a recent episode of The Kapil Sharma Show. As they spilled secrets, Hema revealed that her husband and actor Dharmendra was strongly opposed to their daughter Esha entering the film industry.

“Esha was interested in extra-curricular activities such as sports and dance.

Like in our house, we used to do dance practice because of which she started liking it and wanted to be a professional dancer and even make her career in Bollywood.

However, Dharamji didn’t like his daughter dancing or making her Bollywood debut and he had an objection to that,” Hema shared, according to a report in The Times of India.

However, when Dharmendra saw the grace in Hema’s ‘nritya’ (dance) and the plaudits she got from people, he changed his mind about his daughters dancing and acting in films, she added.

Esha made her Bollywood debut in 2002 with Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe. She has acted in a number of films in-

A

ctor Amitabh Bachchan is in a mood for introspection -- as the spread of coronavirus is changing the way the world has been functioning for several decades, the actor took to social media about how he had never seen Mumbai city, his home for the last several decades, turn this quiet.

He wrote: “Never before have I seen the city Mumbai, in such complete silence...suddenly you feel you are the only inhabitant of Mumbai...be safe be in precaution and remain well...” The manner of speaking could as well make few uncomfortable.

Amitabh later added another tweet, expressing his wonder at how human civilisation was dealing with this virus. He wrote: “Never before in my lifetime of 78 years, did I hear the entire human race wish each one of us, with a concerned, common, universal, well meaning, endearing, greeting of ‘BE SAFE’! The Earth civilisation is indeed ‘CIVILISED’” The actor has been doing his bit is spreading aware-

Tom Hanks

Screen icon Tom Hanks stunned the world last week when he announced he and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had tested positive for the coronavirus — the first stars to go public with their diagnoses.

Since then, a handful of celebrities have revealed that they too have contracted the respiratory illness, with varying symptoms.

cluding Yuva, Dhoom, Dus and No Entry. She was last seen in a short film titled Cakewalk, which released last year.

Esha appeared on the comedy show to promote her upcoming book on parenting titled Amma Mia, which will hit the stands on March 23. The book, which has anecdotes, advice and recipes for toddlers, marks her debut as an author.

“They say becoming a mother is one of the most beautiful experiences a woman goes through, and

ness about the deadly virus.

On Wednesday, he chose to tell the story of human civilisation.

Talking about anthropologist Margaret Mead, he wrote: “Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But no.

Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food.

You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.”

He got a home quarantine stamp and shared a picture as well. Apart from sharing messages on what precautions to take, on Sunday, he also cancelled his ‘Sunday meet with fans’ - a tradition that has happened since 1982. Sharing

with the grace of God, I’m glad to have experienced it twice over. Raising my two daughters—Radhya and Miraya—is nothing short of an adventure and through the book I want to share with new mothers the exciting and overwhelming joyride I’ve been on since becoming a first-time mom and all the tears, laughter and drama that comes along with it,” she had written in an Instagram post, announcing her debut book.

(Hindustan Times)

a picture of himself with, what appeared to be a bandage on his forehead, he has requested his fans not to come to the gates of Jalsa, his Mumbai residence, as he would not come out. A couple of days back he had also shared a funny poem, written and recited in his native Awadhi, to warn his fans about coronavirus.

The killer virus, which emerged in Wuhan in China in December, has so far claimed more than 7000 lives globally. As per health officials in India, there are 147 positive cases in India with over 5700 people who have come in contact with positive cases. (Hindustan Times)

Kristofer Hivju

Olga Kurylenko

From a Bond girl to a “Game of Thrones” wildling, here are all the known famous coronavirus patients.

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson Last week, social media was shocked to learn that Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson both tested positive for coronavirus while working in Australia. They’ve since gone into isolation and are “taking it one-day-at-a-time.”

Idris Elba

This Norwegian actor is best known for playing Tormund Giantsbane on Game of Thrones. He shared this week that he tested positive for coronavirus and is selfisolating at home in Norway with his family. He said he has “mild symptoms,” and encouraged followers to “do everything you can to stop the virus from spreading.”

This actress, famous for appearing in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, shared on Instagram that she tested positive for coronavirus. She posted that her main symptoms were fever and fatigue and that she was “locked up at home.”

On Monday, actor Idris Elba shared that he had tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed to someone with the illness. Idris shared that he wasn’t showing any symptoms, which is an example of how people can carry the virus even if they feel healthy. He encouraged people to be “vigilant” by washing their hands and keeping their distance.

Rudy Gobert & Donovan Mitchell

endangering people.

Donovan said of Rudy’s behavior, “It took a while for me to cool off.” Like Idris Elba, he isn’t showing any symptoms despite testing positive. The NBA has suspended the rest of the season. Detroit Pistons forward Christian Wood is reportedly the third NBA player to test positive for the virus.

This actress voiced Honeymaren in last year’s animated film Frozen 2. She posted on Instagram stories that she tested positive for coronavirus and had been in quarantine for the last week. She acknowledged that tests are “INSANELY hard to come by,” and that the United States is behind other countries.

These two NBA players on the Utah Jazz team have tested positive for coronavirus. Rudy Gobert caused some controversy when he was caught jokingly touching microphones at a press conference before knowing he had the virus. Rudy apologized on social media for

Kevin Durant, NBA player

Kevin Durant told The Athletic's Shams Charania that he was one of the four Brooklyn Nets players that tested positive. Durant is reportedly feeling fine.

Rachel Matthews

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MARCH 22, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 15

Feature

16 Sunday Times Magazine

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MARCH 22, 2020

Fun Times

Archie

Discipline will pay off.

Look at your options and (March 21April 19) make choices that will encourage a lifestyle that will ease stress and fulfill you mentally, physically and emotionally.

ARIES

If you let your mind TAURUS wander back to days gone (April 20- by, you'll discover someMay 20) thing or someone who has been missing from your life. Love and romance are in a high cycle.

Emotional matters will GEMINI surface, causing confusion (MAY 28- and uncertainty. Gather June 20) facts and look at situations honestly. Don't cave under pressure. Know when to say no and walk away.

Turn your home into a place of comfort. Your hap(June 21- piness depends on how you July 22) live and on doing what brings you the most joy. Make plans with a loved one.

CANCER

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Dilbert

Seize the moment and go after what you want. Don't let someone who is indulgent or lazy tempt you to sit back and do nothing. If you take action, you'll feel satisfaction instead of remorse.

Don't take anything for granted. When you least expect it, someone will let you down. Cover every angle and take responsibility for your happiness. Do what you do best.

You'll be questioning your LIBRA next move. Don't worry so (Sept. 23much. Take a deep breath Oct. 23) and relax for a moment. If you let your mind wander, you'll come up with an innovative plan.

Peanuts

If you want to spend SCORPIO (Oct. 24- more time with someone, let Nov. 22) them know. Making personal plans will give you something to look forward to and will enhance a meaningful relationship.

SAGITTARIUS Be careful whom you trust.

(Nov. 23- Joint ventures aren't likely to Dec. 21) go as planned. Truth matters, along with consistency and realism. Think before you act.

Avoid indulgent behavior.

Money is heading your way, a CAPRICORN job can be changed, and an op(Dec. 22- portunity can be taken advanJan. 19) tage of if you are quick to react.

Sharing personal goals with a loved one will bring you closer together.

Calvin and Hobbes

Don't succumb to someAQUARIUS one who is promising you the (Jan. 20- world, but not working to Feb. 19) fulfill that pledge. Consider what's being offered and counter with an ultimatum.

PISCES Don't waste time. If you (Feb. 20- aren't happy, trust and beMar. 20) lieve in your ability, and make changes that will help you maintain peace of mind.