Guyana Times Sunday May 17, 2020

See Region 4 SoRs' comparison with released SoPs on pages 5, 14 & 23 All SoRs are available on our website Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4288 guyanatimesgy.com

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Sunday, May 17, 2020

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

P8 COVID-19 confirmed cases increased to 117

Bring the evidence! …Nandlall, Shuman, Gunraj challenge APNU/AFC to bring evidence of electoral ‘anomalies’

See story on page 3

Bartica woman found dead in abandoned mining pit P19

GECOM’s additional counting stations

Deafening silence from APNU/ AFC’s COVID-19 Task Force Page 6

... GECOM must stop deferring to partisan Task Force – Jagdeo

Govt use COVID-19 Regulations to suppress free speech

Page 9

...break up protest against Carter Center’s de facto ban ...arrest 3 despite all legal requirements observed

Quit changing fraudulent narratives – Dr Irfaan Ali to APNU/AFC

Corentyne P21 farmers accuse Surinamese of blocking Corentyne River

Pedal cyclist killed in P21 SoesdykeLinden Highway accident Prison escapee recaptured at Parika P11

Page 6

P18 Number 65 Village Squatting Area residents beg for Govt’s help

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NEWS

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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, May 17 – 02:00h – 03:30h and 13:30h – 15:00h and Monday, May 18 – 02:30 – 04:00 and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, May 17 – 13:20 – 14:50h and Monday, May 18 – 14:05h – 15:35h.

Bring the evidence!

…Nandlall, Shuman, Gunraj challenge APNU/ AFC to bring evidence of electoral ‘anomalies’

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PPP/C Executive Anil Nandlall

he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has completed recounting just over 500 ballot boxes, and the APNU/AFC coalition continues to hurl allegations of voter fraud without producing the evidence. However, that is not sitting well with political parties.

The Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), the People’s Progressive Party/Civic and at least one GECOM Commissioner have called on A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) to produce the evidence of the alleged ‘anomalies’ they are claiming.

The APNU/AFC is alleging that a number of dead persons and migrated persons have voted in the March 02 General and Regional Elections; the very elections they claimed they won, and that it was free, fair and credible.

However, several persons participating in the ongoing National Recount have indicated that although those allegations are levelled, the APNU/AFC has yet to substantiate its claims with the relevant evidence.

Speaking to the media on Saturday at the recount venue – the Arthur Chung Convention Centre -- GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj said the onus is on the APNU/ AFC to provide the evidence.

He noted that the Commission had met with representatives from the party on Saturday for almost two hours, but no such evidence was handed over to them. Instead, the party sought to question the Commission as to what they intend to do with the allegations they have raised.

The delegation that met with GECOM included PNC General Secretary Amna Ally, PNC Chair Volda Lawrence, APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon, AFC General Secretary David Patterson, and APNU/AFC candidate Roysdale Forde.

“What the delegation sought to do was to raise the same bare allegations about electoral irregularities without proof. As I indicated to you, not a single allegation or document has been brought to the Commission level in support of any allegation; and I keep stressing on this word allegation because it is a Commission decision as well that any insertion into the Observation Report at the instance of a stakeholder must be out of necessity termed an allegation, because no proof is being provided from the person,” Gunraj noted.

The Commissioner said the manner in which the allegations are being raised is quite ‘ad hoc’.

The Liberty and Justice Party Presidential Candidate Lennox Shuman

Gunraj said there were no more than two occasions wherein the APNU/AFC agents attempted to produce supporting evidence to substantiate their claims.

However, he explained that it was a “hastily composed document that included some names and dates”, and the document was withdrawn by the representative after the GECOM staffer sought clarity with their superiors.

Echoing the same sentiments were LJP Presidential Candidate Lennox Shuman and PPP/C executive Anil Nandlall. Nandlall noted that the leaders of the “rigging cabal” seem to be out of sync with their allegations. The former Attorney General related that they are yet to see any evidence of the electoral fraud.

“They are relying, in certain instances, on their Polling Day staff; and when it is convenient to their narrative and political agenda as it changes, they are throwing those very elections day staff under the bus. Because the fraud which they are claiming occurred on elections day, and the irregularities to which they are adverting could only have occurred if their election day staff acted negligently and did not do their job,” Nandlall said.

“We are in here every day. They have not produced

GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj

any evidence of dead voting. I know they are making allegations that dead people voted and migrated people voted, but what is the evidence? Where is the evidence that these people are dead, or are migrated, or have migrated? They have not produced any evidence in the room (but) they are standing up and (making) these allegations,” he explained.

Nandlall, further, explained that in almost every instance where a dead voter was identified, it was revealed that the person did not vote, since their name was not marked off on the Official List of Electors.

Tangled web

Weaving what can only be considered a tangled web, PNC General Secretary Amna Ally told reporters that the party has already submitted a substantial amount of evidence to back up its claims. However, she could not have attributed a numerical value to the evidence submitted. This claim has since been denied by GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj.

When asked about whether the APNU/AFC is using its caretaker Govt status to access private records to push its political narrative, Ally said the death records are public, but shied away from stating how they came about the im-

migration records.

APNU/AFC Executive Winston Felix heads the Department of Citizenship, which has access to those records.

Many have contended that accessing immigration records of citizens for the purpose of pushing a political narrative is tantamount to invasion of privacy.

Contradiction

The National Recount of the ballots, if one agrees with caretaker Attorney General Basil Williams, would be a complete waste of time since -- he is contending -- a winner cannot be declared using the recount figures.

Williams is contending that the recount is merely an exercise to determine the credibility of the elections, and not to determine a winner. However, his party’s GS intervened at this point and said they are solely relying on the recount figures, and are bound to accept those results, once declared.

She noted that Williams is entitled to hold his ground, but said that at this point they are “past statements of poll and on to statements of recount.”

APNU/AFC Presidential Candidate David Granger has already committed publicly to abide by the results of the recount, which is being supervised by Caricom.

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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020

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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 PNC’s endgame

W

e can now discern the PNC-as-APNU’s endgame in the farce-as-tragedy unfolding before the eyes of a bemused international audience and a growing body of decent-minded Guyanese outside the parameters of the Opposition PPP supporters.

The PNC, after Dec 21, 2018, refused to adhere to the conventions of the political and legal order when they exploited procedural rules of the law that were meant to be a shield to protect abuses and a sword to hold off the workings of constitutional stipulations, which the CCJ had to figuratively shake its head and point out “needed no gloss”.

The substance of the law, based on justice and equity, is unknown to the PNC. They performatively demonstrated, from their formation in 1958, the betrayal of a national perspective when they willingly and mendaciously agreed to be used as a pawn to oust the PPP from office. When it comes to the law – even the supreme law of the Constitution – they need not only a “gloss”, but a marshal to execute the law’s instructions.

Take, for instance, the electoral system, which the APNU/ AFC are now undermining with claims of the dead and migrated having voted. Without even a smidgen of shame, they have pivoted from their boast that they won the elections -- which were “free, fair and credible” -- to one that it is irredeemably flawed. They ignore the Representation of the Peoples Act, which was enacted to prevent the rigging which the PNC had committed for two decades. For instance, in each of the polling stations, not only were there several GECOM officials, including the mandatory Presiding Officer, but there was an APNU/AFC agent along with agents of the PPP and other parties. Are we to believe that all of these people conspired to ignore: a) whether the dead or migrated persons’ index fingers were stained; or b): whether their physiognomy matched the IDs presented or the photograph of the individual in the folio?

The agents of the PNC have each now been reduced to a laughing stock as they attempt to defend the heist of the elections. One ex-Minister of Telecommunications has insisted they were in possession of the immigration records and death certificates to prove their assertions even before the elections were held, because the persons were listed on the OLE. They did not object at the time, she explained, because they did not have the opportunity to do so. On being informed there had, in fact, been a “Claims and Objections” (C&O) period, the ex-Minister then insisted she said that, but it might have been distorted by her mask; and, in any case, the period was just for a few weeks, and was insufficient. It was then pointed out that the C&O period statutorily lasted for 35 days, and was extended to 49 days.

These PNC agents have refused to provide the evidentiary documents to validate the said claims, insisting they would do so when GECOM informs them on how it would utilise the information. Even overlooking the legal issues of securing confidential official documents or information that is in the possession of, or issued by, state agencies, the PNC ignore the legal dictum pointed out recently by an elder statesman: “He who asserts must prove”.

We have gone into some detail about these specific specious objections being made by the PNC to undermine the credibility of the elections because there will be more allegations in the coming weeks, as they drag the recount out. At some point, they will start demanding that “the quantitative has changed the qualitative”, and that the entire election is so “flawed” that the results must be jettisoned, new elections scheduled, or Granger be sworn in on the old flawed declaration.

They have already claimed that the voting of the “dead and emigrated” was facilitated by the “bloated” voters’ list, and they will also demand new house-to-house registration to compile a “clean” list.

Dragging additional red herrings across the trail, the PNC expects to rule to the year 2025 by hook or crook. Guyanese must rise up to stop this tragedy.

Claudette Singh’s decision in Esther Perreira’s case says it all

Dear Editor, Apart from making Guyana win the top spot in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest count of election votes on both an absolute and per capita basis, GECOM’s conduct of the recount has not been short of clownishness. Some weeks ago, I referred to Claudette Singh, GECOM’s Chairman, as heading a circus. Claudette is helped by a huge (no pun intended) pool to draw from.

As the defeat of the APNU/ AFC is confirmed by each ballot recounted, both desperation and clownishness seem to have affected the coalition’s leaders and their surrogates.

The most recent victim is Amna Ally, General Secretary of the PNCR who on Friday told the media that one dead voter would invalidate the elections the APNU/AFC’s Plan D after the Mingo/Lowenfield skit failed to deliver the swearing-in of their leader, David Arthur Granger.

Had Ally used her recent attempts to engage Claudette Singh to ask her about the case brought by PNCR supporter Esther Perreira adjudicated by the same Claudette Singh, she would have learnt that Singh said, in that case, the following: “In other words, even if an unlawful act or omission is proved, the election would be valid if the conduct of the election was substantially in accordance with the electoral laws and the unlawful act or omission did not affect the result.”

Ally might also not have learnt about the part

of the Esther Perreira decision in which Claudette Singh stated that in election petition matters, the petitioner has to prove her case on “a preponderance of probability”. What is coming out from people like Coretta McDonald, James Bond, Ayodele Roach, Carol Joseph, Kidackie Amsterdam, Christopher Jones and Sherrod Duncan are mere fishing expeditions, meant to waste time and stretch the life of a twice illegal Government.

They are of no evidentiary value.

And shortly before Ally, elections cognoscenti and GECOM’s self-appointed spokesperson Vincent Alexander told the media that if the votes in one of a hundred boxes could not be counted because the box was soaked, then there should be a by-election! No, Mr Alexander, the national PR system does not work that way. Both Alexander and the Chair know that the only problem facing GECOM is the fraudulent tabulation of the Region Four votes by Mingo and Lowenfield inchoate attempt to act upon it. This circus, and the waste of taxpayers’ money, could have ended long ago if Singh and Alexander were committed to doing the right thing and demanded the SoPs from the Mingo/Lowenfield duo.

Of course, the first aspirants to Claudette Singh’s pool was crime sleuth extraordinaire Khemraj Ramjattan who, using his special lens, detected the work of Russian hacks who were able to penetrate the homes, offices and safes

of all the officials holding the original copies of the Statements of Poll, cleverly erasing and inflating the APNU/AFC’s numbers and deflating the PPP/C’s numbers so that they could match Mingo’s! Ramjattan’s astuteness was emulated by his colleague David Patterson who opposed live streaming because it was an industrial relations/human rights issue. And showing a facility with maths invented by the AFC leadership, he argued against the consecutive counting of the regions’ votes because “to recount each region one at a time doesn’t make sense. By the time you get to Region Four, we will be probably in day 35.” Poor David, a quantity surveyor with a supposed facility with figures, is infected with fake maths which tell him that the duration of the count will be shortened if the votes of the regions were recounted concurrently rather than consecutively. The mathematical fabric of this country has been destroyed for a generation or two – thanks to the AFC leadership and the Court of Appeal.

Harmon, Trotman and Broomes held up Granger on March 5 in Lamaha Street and told him how that he had won the elections. He seemed a bit dazed, spoke hurriedly and made a quick exit. Now, after all the clownish displays, subterfuges, denials of international observers and most pathetic attempts to discredit the voting on March 2, Aubrey Norton, PNCR Executive Member and no stranger to rigged elections by his party, is claiming

that the same results under which they were vigorously clamouring to install Granger - in a historic use of other people’s language is now questioning the credibility of the elections.

But let me explain Norton. His incredibility about the elections is that with just about every advantage conceivable, the APNU/AFC lost the elections by no small margin.

GECOM was clearly in its corner, if not its pocket. Indeed, had it not been for such partisanship and quite a bit of fraud, the APNU/AFC would already have been confirmed as losers, sparing the country the risk of international sanction. Having the elections regulator on your side is clearly worth a bit. Sadly, I have to state that I think that the court’s failure to act sensibly in some cases and decisively in others also gave GECOM and the APNU/AFC time to play with the voters’ list and consumed in no small measure the energy of the opposition. The coalition had the Consolidated Fund at its disposal, and the big contractors in their corner – all worth millions of real dollars. It had incumbency – that too worth a few percentage points. It had and continues to have the EXECUTIVE, including the Government, the State agencies, the Army, the Police, the streets. You are right, Norton. Not only is it incredible that they could lose, they really deserved to lose.

Sincerely, Christopher Ram

Crippled by COVID-19, caretaker Govt Dear Editor, The headlines shouting about Guyana’s future since the oil discoveries in 2015 are the stuff dreams are made of “The IMF thinks this small South American country will see economic growth of 86% next year”, and were taken as gospel by a gullible population; words of caution and terms such as ‘Dutch disease’ were dismissed as “gloom and doom”. Guyana is ten days away from the beginning of its fifty-fifth year as an independent nation; there can be little cause for celebrations as we will enter as among the poorest in the world. We have been laid low by a combination of Granger, COVID-19, and elections.

The Granger Administration’s inability to read and understand words that “require no gloss” extends well beyond the Constitution. In 2018 the International Monetary Fund’s Guyana: Staff

Concluding Statement of the 2018 Article IV Mission said “Guyana’s medium-term prospects are favourable.

The commencement of oil production in 2020 will be a turning point. The main direct effect on the domestic economy will be through higher fiscal revenue and spillovers to supporting activities. The balance of payments will swing sharply to positive after 2020. Oil revenue significantly improves the fiscal outlook, and is expected to place the public debt on a downward trajectory” warnings that this was a terrible sign that the dreaded ‘Dutch disease’ had overtaken us before a drop of oil had been produced were ignored. The damage done to the traditional economy coupled with the bankruptcy of the treasury by Granger and his cohorts will not be easily repaired. Oil is selling for less than the cost of production with no answer as

to who will pick up the deficit. An entire generation of Guyanese does not know what it is like to live in a heavily indebted poor country. Sadly, they are about to find out.

Granger has resorted to his tactical silence to cover the fact that he has no clue as to what the questions for our nation’s future are let alone solutions. Granger, however, continues to cling to power after losing the General and Regional Elections; this too is having a detrimental effect on the economy. Without a recognised Government in place, Guyana has been fobbed off by the international financial agencies; while a fund of US$160 billion is available to the legitimate countries of the world, Guyana is treated to scraps from the aid table. Countries with more robust economies than ours have attracted billions in loans, grants, and aid, while we have been giv-

en a few hundred thousand dollars in subsistence aid.

Our productive sector is crippled by COVID-19 and our vulnerable population is without assistance from the central Government. As parents look desperately at hungry children, Guyanese are responding admirably as our brother’s keepers, but the strain is becoming apparent and cracks are widening, soon many will start falling through. Granger hardly ventures from his expansive adobe in Pearl and is unbothered by the ever-increasing plight of lower-income citizens. Guyanese can only hope that when a legitimate Government is installed, that the world’s great financial institutions will ‘process’ our applications for assistance expeditiously and that there is some ‘corn’ left in the bucket to ‘share’ with our nation.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

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SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Saturday’s SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

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NEWS

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GECOM’s additional counting stations

Deafening silence from APNU/ AFC’s COVID-19 Task Force ...GECOM must stop deferring to partisan Task Force – Jagdeo The National COVID-19 Task Force is yet to provide the requisite advice to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the increase in the number of workstations to speed up the ongoing national election recount of ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

This information was related by caretaker Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence during an interaction with the media following a meeting with GECOM on Saturday.

Lawrence sought to lay blame for the deafening silence from the COVID-19 Task Force on the National Health Emergency Committee, claiming that they have to meet to decide what advice should be given to GECOM and then that advice would be forwarded to the NCTF and then the Commission would be informed.

When asked about the politicisation of the NCTF, Lawrence said that everyone on the Task Force serves a unique purpose, noting that every person there serves as the liaison for certain sectors. She added that Guyana is not safe right now with regards to this pandemic.

No permission needed

But while Lawrence sought to blame her juniors for the current standstill on

the additional workstations, GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj noted that despite the principles of the NCTF, ie Lawrence and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Harmon, meeting with the Commission on Saturday, they failed to at least update GECOM on the progress of its request.

GECOM made a decision to increase the number of counting stations from 10 and would have written to the NCTF seeking guidance on whether this would have been possible. Since then, a team from the Public Health Ministry visited the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, to assess the space to see if that request could have been accommodated.

It has been almost five days since GECOM first requested guidance and they are yet to receive word from the NCTF. “None of those person, either jointly or separately has indicated to the Guyana Elections Commission – a constitutional body which has made a request to that Task Force for guidance in relation to the setting up of new workstations which will lead to greater timeliness and efficiency in this process up to now. It has been two days and more since the members of the Public Health team came and visited and we are waiting and

GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

waiting and waiting.

“I daresay I am tempted to make a very cavalier submission to the Commission but which is in keeping with my own view on it is that we should establish the workstations with or without because no decision or no advice. Because 48 hours later is tantamount to no decision or refusal and I believe that we have it in our power to set it up because we are following more than is expected the COVID-19 guidelines,” Gunraj related.

subservient manner to the NCTF. During a virtual press conference on Saturday, Jagdeo called out the COVID-19 Task Force for stymieing GECOM’s recount exercise. According to Jagdeo, as a constitutional agency, the Commission does not need approval from the COVID-19 Task Force to do its job.

“They need to stop kowtowing to them and make a decision and forge ahead with the recount. And let the COVID Task Force just come in and see that the protocol is fully implemented. But not to hand over responsibility and approval to the COVID Task Force politicians.”

He added that it is the party’s view that “the Commission can establish

Subservient manner

Even as the partisan National COVID-19 Task Force continues to drag its feet to grant approval for additional workstations for the recount, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has urged GECOM to stop acting in a

Caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence and Amna Ally entering the ACCC on Saturday without going through the medical tent or medical protocol before entering the recount facility

as many workstations as they want. The COVID Task Force just has to ensure that the protocol to keep people safe and avoid contamination is maintained. That protocol has been established already and is being implemented at the Convention Centre.”

According to Jagdeo, those protocols include testing everyone before entering the Conference Center and mandating the wearing of masks, as well as the sanitising of work stations. But according to him, the impression being given is that the Task Force’s unwillingness to give approval is just a delaying ploy.

“They just want to drag this out longer so they can hang on to power, hoping that by some miracle something will happen that will alter the results coming out of the Convention Centre,” Jagdeo said.

While expressing his disappointment in the fact that the COVID-19 Task Force seems bent on pussyfooting in relation to its advice to increase the counting stations, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall noted that the Commission has the authority to establish those stations.

He added that they need to act fast because the 25 days allotted to the recount is fast approaching its expiration.

Quit changing fraudulent narratives – Dr Irfaan Ali to APNU/AFC P

eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) P r e s i d e n t i a l Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali in a stinging video broadcast has lambasted the coalition APNU/AFC for its shifting narratives since Election Day and has urged them to put the people of Guyana first.

Ali’s message came hours after caretaker Attorney General Basil Williams questioned the legal basis for using the recount to declare a winner. This is despite provisions for the recount in the Representation of the People Act, as well as a Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) gazetted order.

“They started by saying they won the elections.

They said the elections were free and fair, it was the best elections ever held. It was free from fraud and reflected the will of the people,” Ali said, adding, “then, when we were heading into the recount, the narrative was the PPP don’t want the recount to take place. Then they said

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

every vote must count, we want the recount. We’re now seeing that narrative changing, the Attorney General saying the recount has no basis in law.”

According to Ali, it is easy to understand why the narrative is changing, namely the fact that the coalition has been stopped in its tracks from trying to rig. He noted that the Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) fraud is so glaring that even their supporters have noticed.

“The coalition has real-

ised by now that the PPP won these elections. As a result, they’re trying to create confusion in relation to the process. There was a process, they had their agents in there. We heard no objections. Suddenly, falsified claims of dead people voting. Of persons not living in Guyana voting,” Ali said.

“I’ve seen on social media, many of the persons they claimed to be dead are releasing their own videos and statements, showing they are alive and well.

Why this mischief then?” the Presidential Candidate questioned.

Enough

According to Ali, enough is enough. He noted that far from misleading its supporters about its victories, the PPP has placed its Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) into the public domain for the public to judge for themselves. And he reminded that they all made commitments to respect the outcome of the recount, once

it is done in a transparent manner.

“What do we do from here, as responsible leaders? As leaders who want to see the best for our country?

Even as the dust is settled, no sophisticated investor will want to invest in a country with political instability.

It is important that we respect the will of the people in these elections and the commitment we made to respect the recount outcome.”

“It must not be a commitment that is now whisked away because the coalition is now faced with the reality. [Prime Ministerial hopeful Khemraj] Ramjattan said the PPP is throwing red meat to its supporters.

The PPP is not throwing red meat to its supporters or any Guyanese. We have been responsible enough to place out there our SoPs and SoRs so that all of Guyana can have the facts and do their own analysis. That is why, after doing their analysis, Guyana is saying to the coalition let us stop this nonsense and move forward.”

Caretaker President David Granger

Fraud

Since the recount started, the PPP/C has put the coalition on blast because the numbers being uncovered are vastly different to those declared by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.

In fact, the PPP/C has contended that Mingo not only fraudulently inflated the number of votes in favour of APNU/AFC, but he also subtracted votes from the PPP/C. Examples have

been given, for instance, ballot box 4064 at Friendship Secondary School and ballot box 4063 at Garden of Eden, Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Lecture hall.

In the case of ballot box 4064, Mingo declared A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) as having won 170 votes and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) as winning 73 votes.

However, the Statements of Poll (SoPs) in the party’s possession show APNU winning 70 and the PPP 93, while the Statement of Recount (SoR) shows APNU winning 71 and PPP, 96. It, therefore, means that Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s numbers by at least 99 and subtracted 23 from the PPP. In ballot box 4063, Mingo declared APNU/AFC as winning 85 votes and the PPP, 246. However, the SoPs and the SoR show APNU/AFC winning just 15 votes and the PPP, 276. It means that Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s votes by 70 and reduced the PPP’s votes by 30.

NEWS

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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Opposition Leader, Miners’ Union lambaste Granger’s decision to block Carter Center …UK diplomat vows to continue upholding democratic principles

PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday during his press conference

C

aretaker President David Granger’s decision to refuse The Carter Center permission to enter Guyana for the national election recount continues to face major backlash, with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday reminding him that The Carter Center and International Republican Institute (IRI) are still accredited observers and should be allowed into Guyana.

Jagdeo made this pronouncement during a video broadcast press conference where he recalled that when The Carter Center asked to return, it was with the backing of the diplomatic community and powerful legislators in the United States.

“Now you know that The Carter Center and many oth-

er observers were accredited for the elections. Their accreditation did not expire. There’s a law governing the accreditation. The elections have not been completed as yet. So, they are fully, by law, entitled to be here and observe the elections,” he said.

He noted that the request from the Congressmen was bolstered by another bipartisan group of Senators, who also urged Granger to allow the return of The Carter Center or international observers. “So, this letter on behalf of Granger from Cummings, rejecting the request from the Executive Branch through the Ambassadors and also the Senators and the Congressmen,” Jagdeo said on Saturday.

Granger’s rejection

According to Jagdeo, if the President was really interested in enhancing the transparency of the process he would want as many observers as possible involved. Jagdeo called the President’s rejection of the observers unbelievable and also likened him to Roman Governor Pontius Pilate.

He noted that the President has similarly washed his hands of any role in the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), yet, denying The Carter Center permission to come is still affecting their work.

Caretaker President David Granger

“He is like Pontius Pilate.

All the wrongdoings, it’s not his doing. He has been respectful of the law and process and GECOM is independent.

That has been his argument all along. In that letter, he departed from that position!” he said.

With just three Caribbean Community (Caricom) observers present, who have to canvas 10 and possibly more workstations during the recount, Jagdeo said that they need all the help they can get.

“Now we’re happy they’re here, we want to thank Caricom for sending them.

But they’re not adequate.

And Granger says he prefers them, so he doesn’t want others to come. That’s his first explanation. Well, this country doesn’t run on the basis of

Granger’s preferences. It runs on the Constitution and laws of Guyana. These people were duly accredited, they have a right to be here. Not based on Granger’s preferences.”

He added that despite Granger saying he will not get involved in the election process, he has gotten directly involved now. “The second excuse is that they must respect his Government’s decision on the COVID pandemic. Now, how come Granger has been approving hundreds of people for the oil companies and he’s not concerned about them coming to Guyana, but he’s concerned about four observers from an observer group.”

Diplomats

A letter addressing the issue first surfaced last Monday, written on Granger’s behalf by caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings.

In the letter to United States (US) Ambassador Sarah Ann Lynch, The Carter Center was not only denied permission but the US was told to respect the closure of Guyana’s airspace due to COVID. After a week of criticisms and interventions from US Senators and Congressmen, Granger again shut the door on The Carter Center on Friday.

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Gregory Quinn tweeted, “Five years ago today. When Carter Center, Commonwealth and the international community stood together to uphold the principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law in Guyana. Exactly as we have been doing in 2020. And exactly as we always will do.”

Quinn’s statement came shortly after Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Lilian Chaterjee, questioned why the A Partnership for

The tweet by British High Commissioner Greg Quinn

National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Administration has barred The Carter Center from returning to Guyana to observe the ongoing recount exercise.

In a tweet on Friday night, the Canadian diplomat said “Guyana refused Carter Center, with ties to Guyana since 1990s, to return although they will comply with the same COVID-19 requirements as Caricom… GECOM invited (Carter Center Election Observer Mission) to return.

Why doesn’t Govt want them back?” she added.

Union

Meanwhile, Granger’s rejection of The Carter Center has also drawn the ire of a Union, with National Mining Workers Union (NMWU) President Sherwyn Downer weighing in on the controversy on Saturday.

According to him, the President’s letter leaves more questions than answers; answers that the Government owes the people of Guyana.

He pointed to the fact that

The Carter Center has already indicated its willingness to abide by the COVID measures Caricom is complying with.

“The complete rejection of The Carter Center and IRI technical advisor for a third time to observe the ongoing national recount of votes cast on March 2 by President David Granger and his APNU/ AFC alliance caretaker Government leaves more questions than answers and warrants a detailed explanation to the electorate and Guyanese people.”

“NMWU calls on the President to explain to the Guyanese people his true motive for rejecting the CC and IRI even after both observer missions have agreed to adhere to all requirements by the National COVID-19 Task Force.”

He was also of the view that while Caricom’s presence is appreciated, they could do with the assistance of more international observers. He noted that when all is said and done, ensuring that the recount is credible is what matters.

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COVID-19 confirmed cases increased to 117

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ith one new case of COVID-19, Guyana’s total number of confirmed cases now stand at 117.

The Public Health Ministry released a dashboard on Saturday, which showed that the deaths have remained at 10.

Health authorities would have tested 1089 persons, with 972 returning negative. It was indicated that 24 persons were tested in one day, an improvement from 13 on the previous day.

Nevertheless, five persons are in intuitional quarantine while 64 persons are in institutional isolation while those in the Intensive Care Unit dropped from three to two.

The Ministry also reported that 43 persons have since recovered. With persons continuously released from quarantine facilities and recovery rates increasing, the country is still detecting positive cases. This means Guyana is yet to start the journey of flattening the curve.

Less than two weeks ago, the Ministry confirmed the 10th COVID-19 death. This came almost one week prior to the ninth COVID-19 death and nearly two months after the country’s first case on March 11.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle on Friday shared that they will be decentralising testing from Georgetown to other sections of the coast, targeting mostly Regions Three (Essequibo Island-West Demerara) and Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

In the upcoming week, health authorities have asked the public to make

Losing it…

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use of mobile units, which will be placed at La Parfaite Harmonie on the West Bank of Demerara and South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.

Dr Gordon-Boyle sought to mention that Guyana’s situation has seen no improvements, with alarming figures within the last 14 days.

If anyone is experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus, they can call the Public Health Ministry’s hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.

The Regional Hotline numbers are: Region One (Barima-Waini) – 674-8047;

Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) – 682-4210; Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) 254-1261, 2540313; Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – 231-1166, 226-7480, 624-6674, 6243067; Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) – 624-9000, 624-2000, 640-3000; Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) – 6823055, 668-4449; Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) – 675-9131, 654-0405, 6970656; Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) – 608-7517; Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) 772-2206; and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) – 444-3007, 444-6127, 444-6137.

…when lying our Eyewitness has explained the philosopher Henry Frankfurt’s distinction between “lying” and “bullshit”.

The latter is when you just say whatever the heck comes to your lips - doesn’t matter whether it’s the truth or a lie. Lying, however, is a whole new ballgame: you know the truth, but you deliberately concoct something different to suit some end of yours!!

So, unlike all the “bullshit” Granger used to spew just to show he was a pious and law-abiding citizen (ha!), what we are hearing from his myrmidons, every afternoon in front of the ACCC after the day’s recount, are pure and unadulterated “LIES”!! The fellas and felines all know the truth; their SOPs told then the truth the very evening of March 2nd, when their agents who were present in every single polling station in the land sent in copies of the said SOPs via smartphones. And so did the PPP, who knew they’d won, and promptly exhibited their copies over the World Wide Web!!

So, when Harmon insisted Granger should be sworn in because the PNC had won, he was lying through his teeth. But this was an easy lie…all he had to do was reverse the truth. But when Granger agreed to a recount -- after bowing to the pressure of all the international observers and diplomats who were present when the Reg 4 SOPs were Mingoed to give the PNC the win – he threw his crew into a tailspin.

As the truth would be revealed in the boxes, they’d have to create new lies to match what was coming out every day!! But, from day one, they were faced with an unsurmountable task: which lie could possibly be plausible enough to cover Mingo’s Hail Mary? The PPP and all other observers knew exactly which of the 458 he had Mingoed on spreadsheets, and could hone in on them with the old “compare and contrast” procedure everyone learnt in Lil ABC!!

So when, lo and behold (as Granger would say unctuously), every one of these boxes to date came up “inflated” for the PNC and “deflated” for the PPP, what was there to do?? They couldn’t very well show their SOPs, since those had the truth. Well, that’s when they went to Plan B. This was to destroy the credibility of the ENTIRE elections – which would include the Mingoed boxes – and make the fiddling moot!!

But how to keep track of the lies? Dead voters – yes, but when did they know?? Before? Why not throw it out in the C&O? How did they know ahead which of the dead would vote?? Agents in every hamlet and village? And that’s just ONE lie!!

Oh, what a tangled web… …on American “interference” Folks must be scratching their heads at the irony of the PNC siccing their minions (as distinct from their “myrmidons”) on the US - in the person of the latter’s ambassador and the Carter Center -- for “interfering” in Guyana’s sovereign affairs, while simultaneously hiring high-priced lobbyists in Washington to ask the same US to interfere on their behalf!! Guess, as the Ambassador told them in her deceptively dulcet tones, it all has to do with on whose behalf the interference is run!!

But the danger is: if this keeps up (“this” being the comedy of errors being played out in the open by the PNC), the Coalition agents are going to have some serious schizophrenic breakdowns!! After a while, cognitive dissonance is just too much for an integrated mind to contain!! But how come all the AFC reps lying on behalf of the coalition are all from the same ethnic background as Granger?? What happened to the rainbow coalition Granger was boasting about??

Isn’t he creating a new stereotypical burden that AfricanGuyanese now have to bear??

And schizophrenia? …on COVID 19 Trust the PNC to exploit the greatest threat Guyana has faced since Burnham moved on! Using COVID-19 to block not only the recount from its snail’s pace, but the Carter Center from observing it.

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

NEWS

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Govt use COVID-19 Regulations to suppress free speech ...break up protest against Carter Center’s de facto ban ...arrest 3 despite all restrictions observed

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cores of protestors staged a protest in front of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, calling on the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Government to allow The Carter Center to return to observe the national elections recount.

Displaying placards, the group of picketers voiced their wanton dissatisfaction with the rejection of The Carter Center for the second time by the National

Manickchand, another protestor, stated that The Carter Center, which has been a trusted organization, should be allowed for greater scrutiny of the process.

“This is Guyana objecting and protesting the Granger’s Administration refusal to allow for scrutiny of the National Recount. It is very clear that there is a refusal to accept the will of the people in this country.

If you believe people voted for you and you are going to form the next Government

COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) along with the caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister, Karen Cummings.

At the protestor line, Peter Ramsaroop elucidated that allowing The Carter Center back into Guyana will provide a free, fair, and transparent recount while noting that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) should decide whether or not the observers should be allowed back.

“Granger said he is not involved in directing GECOM what to do. The fact is GECOM requested The Carter Center since they are a part of the elections process in Guyana from March 2 onwards to the recount is going on and The Carter Center has a right to be here and Mr Granger said he is not involved but guess what? He is directing the show,” Ramsaroop asserted.

Another protestor, former Minister Jennifer Westford expressed her displeasure and disgust with the caretaker Government refusing entry of the election watchdog, noting that something is “amiss” and Guyanese will remain vigilant.

“All of our democratic rights are being trampled upon by this Government [which] seems to have no intention of giving up. We are hoping that at the end of this recount, they get out of there. They should have been gone a long time ago.

But I am scared that the fact they are refusing for The Carter Center to come back here, there is something amiss,” Westford posited.

Given that the coalition would have been claiming victory based on the fraudulent declaration of the Region Four, (DemeraraMahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, former Education Minister and Attorney-at-Law Priya

then allow for the recount process to happen without all of the massive petty delaying tactics and allow for international bodies who were accredited and remain accredited,” Manickchand explained.

Another protestor lamented the fact that Government is using the COVID 19 regulations that were implement via an ordience to suppress the free speech of Guyanese.

Three of the protestors were arrested by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) who claimed that the protestors breached the Public Health Ordinance in relation to COVID-19. They have since been released on $20,000 station bail each.

Adherence

General Secretary of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo on Saturday contended that the protestors were adhering to all the safety protocols, such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

“The police came and said it is illegal and they called Volda Lawrence. So Volda Lawrence is saying what is legal and what is illegal but we will persist and will not allow this issue to go away because we are concerned that although things are going well at the Convention Center so far, that they may, when the Caricom team is inadequate to cover all the station, to spring something,” Jagdeo stated during a virtual press conference on Saturday.

Earlier this month, The Carter Center had revealed that they were hoping to return to Guyana to conclude their observation of the 2020 elections by monitoring the recount exercise, but they did not get the necessary permission from the Guyana Government to come on a scheduled flight

to Guyana, which was chartered to repatriate US citizens stranded here.

Last Saturday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NCTF, Joseph Harmon had denied his Government had blocked the team from returning and stated that The Carter Center can reapply for permission to return to Guyana.

On Wednesday, United States Ambassador to Guyana, SarahAnn

Lynch disclosed that her office and The Carter Center had made a second request for the Guyana Government to allow the organisation’s Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) as well as advisors from the International Republican Institute (IRI) to return to Georgetown to monitor the ongoing recount of ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

However, on Friday,

caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Karen Cummings, in a letter dated May 15, 2020, in response to the re-

quest, rejected the permission for the team to complete the observation of the recount. (Shemar Alleyne)

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NEWS

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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Prison escapee recaptured at Parika 24-year-old Sasenarine Bisnauth was recaptured in the cane fields aback

This will not end well

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ur modern political history is characterised by bouts of intense conflict between the two major ethnic groups in Guyana – Indian and African Guyanese especially before and after elections. It would appear that we are again headed in that direction.

Even though every local and international observer – not to mention the Opposition PPP and the 10 or so new parties – claimed that, on March 4th, RO Mingo of Reg 4 corrupted the count by inflating the votes for the APNU/AFC while ignoring the procedure of displaying the SOPs for transparency, 70-odd days later, GECOM still hasn’t declared a winner.

The recount, which has morphed into a de facto audit, has witnessed the APNU/AFC switching gears and narratives to move from insisting they won the elections based on Mingo’s numbers. While secreting Ravi Dev their SOPs, which could corroborate their claim, they are asserting that dead and emigrant Guyanese have voted.

The claims seek to undermine the credibility of the entire elections, so as to demand new elections, preceded by the creation of a new voters list through house-to-house registration; or, alternatively, swear David Granger in.

That the increased frictions are correlated with elections offers a clue to their origin: elections determine who would “rule” the country.

This question became problematised with the introduction of the universal franchise in 1953. The old, primarily Mixed and African middle class-restricted voting pool was now enlarged to include the previous groups, in which Indian-Guyanese were inordinately represented. That an ethnic group – the Whites – had used its control of the state to determine “who gets what, when and how”, did not escape those waiting to step into their shoes.

In a brief moment, when all the nascent political forces were gathered in the PPP in 1953, they opposed the old elites, who were more acceptable to the White colonials. But with the split between Jagan and Burnham, that unity fell apart like Humpty Dumpty, and has never been put together again. The PPP was generally supported by Indian-Guyanese, and the PNC by African-Guyanese, with most of the Mixed cleaving to the African section.

This remains true by and large, even though, since 2011, it appears that a pool of “swing” voters – drawn from the Mixed, Amerindian, and middle class African and IndianGuyanese strata – has now been formed. This is a very critical development, since the ‘old inbuilt majority’ of Indian-Guyanese has vanished, as the 2012 census showed.

At 39.8% and shrinking, Indian-Guyanese are now a minority, along with other minorities: African-Guyanese, 29%; Mixed, 19%; and Amerindians, 10%. What this means is that: if either of the two major parties could demonstrate they have a national, rather than a communal, outlook, they could win a free and fair election.

The PNC, in coalition with the WPA and four other micro parties as APNU, still felt they did not present that national image, and coalesced with the AFC in 2015 to bring in the 10%-or-so of Indian votes the latter had garnered in 2011.

Their strategy paid off, and they formed the Government.

Even though the PPP claimed there were irregularities, they filed an elections petition and stepped down.

Most were surprised when the APNU/AFC Coalition’s policies were completely oblivious to the demands of coalition politics, and alienated both of the two nontraditional blocks: Indian and Indigenous Peoples, which they had brought aboard.

In this present election, it appears that the PPP was able to attract a greater proportion of the swing votes, which might have been attracted by its better record on economic development and competence (valence, rather than position politics). At this point, ethnicity is still the dominant cleavage in Guyanese politics, and the two major blocks still filter their politics through ethnic lens.

The challenge for the PPP, if it were to take office, is how it would address the fears of those African-Guyanese outside its support base. Based on its history and power resources, the PNC will not go quietly into the night; it is ‘gambling for resurrection’, and will take inordinate risks. We have suggested ethnic caucuses in its organisational structure; ethnic impact statements on its policies and programmes; and deep decentralisation to disperse power – going all the way to possible federalism.

But sadly, as in 1992 and 1998, it will take international intervention for the PNC to stand down.

T

Ganesh Dhanraj

hirty-two-year-old Ganesh Dhanraj, who escaped from the Lusignan Prison, East Coast Demerara, on April 20 was caught by Police in a car at Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), on Saturday.

Police acting on information received went to the Parika Bus Park where the escapee was seen in a motor car at approximately 14:10h.

He was questioned and then escorted to the Parika Police Station where he was further questioned.

Prison authorities, on receipt of the notification, went to the Parika Police Station where the inmate’s identity was further confirmed. He was later transported back to the Lusignan Prison.

Dhanraj was among four who escaped from the Lusignan Holding Bay on April 20. He was on remand for murder. The escapees: Kevin Padmore was recaptured on May 5, in a house at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara, while

Beterverwagting Sideline Dam, ECD, on April 30.

Still on the run is

26-year-old Kenraul Perez, who was on remand for murder.

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ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Saturday’s SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

NEWS

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SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Smoking, obesity contributing factors of COVID-19 – CMO

COVID-19 responses in other countries:

global impact

According to a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the COVID-19 pandemic has already infected over 170,000 people in 148 countries, resulting in more than 6,500 deaths. Some estimates suggest that 40-70 percent of the world’s population could become infected. The crisis has induced an economic and labour market shock that has impacted both supply and demand for goods and services (production of goods and services; and consumption and investment).

Prospects for the economy and the quantity and quality of employment are deteriorating rapidly. Swift and coordinated policy responses are needed at national and global levels, with strong multilateral leadership to limit the direct health effects of COVID-19 on workers and their families, while mitigating the indirect economic fallout across the global economy (ILO, 2020).

To that end, the protection of workers and their families from risk of the infection should be a top priority. It follows therefore that income protection mitigates the disincentives against disclosing potential infections, especially amongst low-income families and other disadvantaged groups of workers. In this regard, tripartite social dialogue: between Governments and workers and employers’ organizations, is a key tool for developing and implementing sustainable solutions from the community level to the global level. This would require strong, independent and democratic social partner organizations.

The impact on global unemployment and underemployment Initial ILO estimates point to a significant rise in unemployment and underemployment in the wake of the virus. Based on different scenarios for the impact of COVID-19 on global GDP growth, preliminary ILO estimates indicate a rise in global unemployment of between 5.3 million (low scenario) and 24.7 million (high scenario) from a base level of 188 million in 2019.

Protect employment and incomes for enterprises and workers negatively affected by the indirect effects, such as factory closures, disruption to supply chains, travel bans, cancellation of public events etc., Social protection through existing schemes and/or ad-hoc payments for workers, including informal, causal, seasonal, and migrant workers and the self-employed (e.g. through access to unemployment benefits, social assistance, and public employment programmes); Employment retention schemes, including short-time work arrangements / partial unemployment benefits and other timebound support for enterprises, such as wage subsidies, and temporary cuts to payroll tax/exemptions from social security contributions, provision of paid leave and extension of existing entitlements to workers, grants and related schemes.

Time–bound financial/tax relief and income smoothing measures to support business continuity, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed (example, subsidies, credit mediation, refinancing to overcome liquidity constraints).

Relief measures in developing economies’ context In the face of COVID-19, the priority of public policy should be geared towards implementing pragmatic and realistic public health measures (WHO 2020d). Economic policy should therefore accompany these public health measures, making them financially feasible through health care funding and socially acceptable, inter alia, compensatory measures for people and businesses. One of the first measures should be to increase public expenditure to increase the capacity of the health care system and to provide free or subsidized medical attention for preventative and curative purposes (ECDC 2020b; WHO, 2017). Secondly, provide direct income support to vulnerable populations through cash transfer instruments, especially during containment measures being in place. This ought to be done quickly to mitigate householders suffering severe financial constraints. The third measure needs to be directed towards affected productive sectors and firms – assistance that is in the form of temporary tax cuts, moratoriums on debt payments, and temporary credit lines.

Some countries have successfully responded to the COVID-19 imposed economic challenges by administering a special fiscal budget allocation centred around three main categories: (1) where 10% of the budget is for disease prevention and treatment, which includes funding for treatment and isolation, testing, and quarantine; purchase of medical equipment; and loans to hospitals; (2) 25% support for households and young adults through such means as cash vouchers for low-income families, childcare subsidies, and an expansion of existing employment support package for young adults; and (3) 65% to support small and medium- sized enterprises and local economies through loans and guarantees, as well as wage subsidies to preserve employment (World Bank, 2020).

These basic principles can be replicated in developing economies like Guyana, while noting, importantly, these are relief measures. When it comes to recovery measures, those would be different altogether; and those would be addressed in forthcoming articles.

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

C

hief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud has released more data on the COVID-19 pandemic here in Guyana, with smoking and obesity now being listed as contributing factors to the virus.

In a recent Zoom engagement, he stated that underlying conditions have been detected in the most severe cases, amounting to some 34 per cent. This includes a range of medical complications which are prevalent in Guyana.

He stated that there is also a visible link of contraction after being exposed to an infected person.

“Underlying conditions seem to be driving the more severe forms of COVID-19 effects on persons’ health.

About 74 per cent of the contacts were the confirmed cases so there seem to be a direct link between coming in contact with a case and developing the infection yourself. Underlying conditions were detected in about

34 per cent of all those persons,” the CMO said.

He added, “Heading the list is hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, lung diseases and interestingly, smoking and obsesity were also contributing factors, especially when we looked at those persons who had more severe forms of the disease and even the ones who died.”

Guyana has jumped the 100-mark for confirmed cases and over 56 persons in the health sector faced complications and were later placed under observation.

Dr Persaud assured that persons coming from the oil industry have been quarantined before clearance is given to work.

“The health workers affected are totalling about 56.

There might be a few more that we are looking at with the Lethem situation evolving. We have a few persons there under observation. We have some migrant worker, especially in the oil and gas industry who are coming in

CMO Dr Shamdeo Persaud

and quarantined at various points before they can be let into the regular society as it were.”

Data from the Public Health Ministry suggests that over 35 per cent of Guyana’s COVID-19 cases were asymptomatic. They had no typical signs or symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath.

On another note, the CMO acknowledged that many Guyanese are still stranded in foreign territo-

ries across the world. While Government had denied calls from these persons to be transported back home, the CMO said they are presently working out procedures.

“We still have a lot of persons stranded out there who might need to come back home. And how we will deal with them, we have set out some procedures.”

Last month, Head of the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF), caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo told Guyanese who are stranded overseas to stay put and await the reopening of Guyana’s airspace, which had been closed to incoming commercial flights since mid-March. At that time, there were thousands of Guyanese overseas who had made requests to return home.

With private health institutions given the green light to conduct testing, 11 test results have returned and one was negative.

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Miners must take precautions when passing through communities – GGDMA …as villages block miners’ access over COVID concerns …communities’ rights being violated – SRDC

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he Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has called on miners to undertake greater protective and control measures as they continue to work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday the Association urged miners to reduce their contact in communities as they make their way to the mining sites.

This statement comes days after four villages in Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) namely: Shulinab, St Ignatius, Aishalton and Karaudarnau prevented miners from accessing mining lands due to COVID-19 concerns.

This is despite the fact that mining was listed as an essential service in the gazetted COVID-19 document.

“We share the concerns of the villages through which miners must traverse and urge all miners to take full precautions to ensure that they minimise exposure and interaction with local residents. We urge miners to traverse swiftly and safely through the villages and minimise the length of time they spend in areas in which they are not working,” it outlined.

The GGDMA also called on these persons to follow all the health and safety guidelines as set out by the Public Health Ministry, along with those instituted by the respective village Toshaos.

Border authorities have been urged to ramp up enforcement to prevent illegal border crossings.

Meanwhile, there have been many calls for mining to be removed as an es-

sential service. Such calls have been made by mostly Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as the Guyana Human Rights Association, Guyana Society for the Blind, Policy Forum Guyana, South Rupununi District Council, Benab Foundation Inc, Ursuline Sisters, Rights of the Child, Amerindian People’s Association, Red Thread and the Guyana Environmental Initiative, among others.

However, the Association’s view differed on this, stating that any closure of the mining sector would put more persons out of an income and bring even more harm to the country’s economy which is on a partial standstill due to the pandemic.

It stated that miners should be allowed to oper-

ate as long as the proper measures are practiced and they are in possession of a valid permit.

After the recent clash between miners and the villagers, Regional Executive Officer (REO) Carl Parker was quoted as saying that the miners would require a pass to be allowed to traverse throughout the lands beyond curfew hours.

Violating rights

The South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) later responded on Saturday to the current fracas, stating that giving this permission to miners would violate the rights of villages to protect their people.

The Council, which represents 21 communities in the South Rupununi, expressed grave concerns over the ‘undermining’ of efforts

to keep COVID-19 out of communities.

“We find this to be disrespectful and a violation of our right to safeguard the wellbeing and health of our people. We are very concerned that persons coming in can bring undetected cases of the coronavirus into the mining areas which can then spread into our villages.”

It went on to high-

light that the first case of COVID-19 in Lethem, which was reported on May 11, necessitates these measures which villages have put in place.

The affected individual would have reportedly travelled across these territories, to and from the Marudi mines, making stops within several villages along the way.

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NEWS

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Cane harvester remanded for NA murder suspect nabbed murder of Patentia labourer in Stone Creek Backdam

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45-year-old cane harvester was hauled before the Vreed-enHoop Magistrate’s Court for the murder of his friend, who loaned him his bicycle.

Morris Garnett, of Lot 11 Skull City, Patentia, West Bank Demerara (WBD), appeared before Magistrate Crystal Lambert.

The court heard that on May 10, 2020, at about 13:00h, 57-year-old Sahadeo Bissoon also known as “Son Son” or “Fine man”, of Patentia, East Housing Scheme, WBD, left his home and went to Garnett’s house to collect a bicycle

The body being removed from the scene

which he loaned him some time ago but had failed to

return. The prosecution is contending that after arriv-

ing at Garnett’s home, an argument ensued over the bicycle. Garnett then allegedly armed himself with a cutlass and dealt Bissoon several chops about his body. Neighbours who saw the ordeal called the police, who made the gruesome discovery, and Garnett was immediately arrested.

Bissoon was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Magistrate Lambert remanded Garnett to prison. The case will continue on July 13 at the Wales Magistrate’s Court.

Miners must take precautions when ...

“This case reveals how easy it is for the coronavirus to enter our communities and why we sent an urgent request on April 14 and 21 that the Government [to] halt mining in the South Rupununi…The case also highlights the question of why Guyana has designat-

ed mining as an “essential service” and put the lives of miners and the communities living near mining areas at risk. The fundamental duty of Governments is to safeguard and protect its people, and we have taken up our responsibilities with the heavy burden of knowl-

edge of the devastating impacts of past pandemics on Indigenous populations,” the SRDC claimed.

During the COVID-19 update on Friday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle specially asked persons residing on the coastland to seek

FROM PAGE 16

proper medical care and assess their symptoms before entering mining communities within the hinterland regions. Those that are stationed at these sites with symptoms associated with COVID-19 should seek immediate attention at a health facility.

A

fter evading lawmen for more than two months, Police on Saturday apprehended 29-year-old Donald Sheriff, who was wanted in connection with the murder of 33-year-old Keron Nicholson.

Regional Commander, Superintendent Ramesh Ashram accompanied by detectives went to Stone Creek Backdam, Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), at approximately 12:30h where the fugitive was seen and arrested.

It was reported that on March 7, 2020, Sheriff and Nicholson were engaged in a heated argument that escalated into an altercation.

However, Nicholson reportedly left the scene and went to Patrick Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), where Sheriff attacked him with a piece of

Captured: Donald Sheriff

wood and lashed him to the head.

Nicholson was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital but was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he subsequently died.

18 NEWS

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Number 65 Village Squatting Area residents beg for Govt’s help

By Andrew Carmichael

R

esidents of Number 65 Village Squatting Area, Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne), are calling for the Government of the day to provide them with the basic amenities to lead healthy and comfortable lives.

Currently, more than 25 poor and vulnerable families live on the Government reserve and have no access to running water or electricity. Almost all the families have young children that need these basic amenities in order to live comfortably – with access to potable water being the most important.

The families have been living there for over one decade now and the Governments have failed to address the situation despite numerous calls for them to have the area regularised.

Many of the houses in the community could be best described as shacks and with the current May-June

Some of the makeshift houses in the area

rainy season being in effect, it makes life even more challenging because many of the residents have thatched roofs. Thatched roofs mean that their entire shacks are more often than not, soaked from water leaking in. They also have to deal with the fact that the area in which they live would also be flooded.

One of the squatting area’s younger resident, 20-year-old Melvin Kewley

explained that in order to get a cellular phone charged, it has to be taken to someone who has electricity.

“We don’t have water and electricity. This is the time of COVID-19. Schools are closed and the children have to use the internet to get lessons,” he said.

He noted that they have been unsuccessful in attempts to get the necessary documentation from the Neighbourhood Democratic

Council (NDC) which will allow them to be able to approach the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) and Guyana Power and Light (GPL) to have them install those utilities.

He noted that persons in nearby communities are reluctant to allow the squatters to use water from their taps for fear that GWI will disconnect those customers as well as concerns over their bills.

Some of the villagers

said that it has happened in the past.

“Right now, the whole place is mud. Sometimes the whole place is flooded when rain falls. When we go to the bigger ones, they will always say that they will come and check but nobody does come,” Kewley explained.

Even though schools have been closed for than two months, 30-year-old Velma Kewley, a mother of six noted some of the dif-

ficulties her children have experienced having to do school homework with electricity. But as it is now, they have no access to electricity, thus making them more vulnerable since learning has moved online.

“They just got to sit down and wait until school opens again,” she said while noting that four of her children are still in school.

However, while those residents claimed that they have not been visited by Government officials, during the campaign period leading up to the 2020 National and Regional Elections, an NDC Councillor did visit along with some of the political colleagues. The residents were given a grand promise of getting help.

According to some residents, on polling day they took into account the promises that were made to them.

The residents reported that they are still waiting on any form of assistance from the leaders.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

19

NEWS

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Kwakwani man to serve 30 hours’ Bartica woman found dead community service for curfew violation in abandoned mining pit

A

Kwakwani, Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) man was given 30 hours of community service by Magistrate Wanda Fortune on Friday after he was convicted for violating the countrywide COVID-19 curfew.

While five related matters were scheduled to be tried virtually at the Kwakwani Magistrate’s Court, only two

persons appeared for their cases. The man is expected to carry out his 30 hours of community service at the Kwakwani Police Station.

The other person who appeared to answer to the curfew violation charge was reprimanded and discharged by the Magistrate. The three remaining matters are scheduled to be heard on June 19, 2020.

Number 65 Village Squatting Area...

Meanwhile, regional representative Goblin Harbhajan, who also lives in the NDC area, said a few days ago was the first time he visited the community when the plight of those residents was brought to his attention. He has since been able to get a local rice milling company to provide some assistance to the residents.

He said he was shocked to see the condition under which those residenc-

es are living. However, he noted that there are three Councillors who sit on the NDC living between Number 63 to 68 Villages.

“They never looked into the interest of these people.

One of them told me that they went to the NDC several times for a basic thing like a letter because it is a reserve; so that they can get electricity and water,” Harbhajan noted.

He noted that during the

COVID-19 pandemic, those residents are forced to leave their homes to get their phones charged. Harbhajan, who was a Councillor under the last Regional Democratic Council (RDC), noted that the issue was never brought up at that level even though an RDC Councillor lives a short distance away.

He is calling on the NDC to look into the affairs of those residents. However, the 20-year-old Kewley is

FROM PAGE 18

looking to higher authorities.

“The place needs to be better. Everybody needs to have their own things. This is not the time to suffer. So, I am asking that who even go into power for 2020, please look at the people of Number 65 Village who are suffering.

Make them happy. The children are suffering with their educational needs.”

There are more than sixty children in that community.

P

olice in Bartica are investigating the death of a 28-year-old woman who was found in an abandoned mining pit at Three Miles Karrau Backdam on Friday.

Dead is Rosella Smith of Bamford Point, Bartica.

According to Police, they are on the hunt for a man identified only as “Blackboy” of Onderneeming Sand Pit, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

According to Police, he was last seen in the company of Smith.

Investigations revealed that when Smith’s camp was visited, it was found to be ransacked and persons saw the man leaving the Backdam with a bag and bucket at about 11:00h on Friday.

Smith was found face down by a 23-year-old miner at about 12:30h.

Police said at the time of her death, Rosella was selling groceries from a makeshift camp.

She was last seen at

Dead: Rosella Smith

about 20:00h on May 14 at her camp in the company of “Blackboy” and according to Police, “she was last heard laughing and talking with the said Blackboy.”

No marks of violence were found on her body but there was blood around her nostrils.

The body was taken to Bartica Regional Hospital and was later escorted to the Lyken Funeral Home.

A post-mortem examination (PME) will be done in the new week.

20

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

21

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Pedal cyclist killed in Soesdyke-Linden Highway accident

A

22-year-old pedal cyclist is the country’s latest road facility after he collided with a motor car at the Silver Hill Public Road, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, on Saturday.

Dead is Tyron Jerome of Kairuni Village, Soesdyke, Linden Highway. According

to reports, at about 12:30h on Saturday, the motor car, PXX 2588, driven by a 26-year-old man of Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden, was proceeding south along the eastern side of Silver Hill Public Road, SoesdykeLinden Highway. The driver of the motor car alleged

that the pedal cyclist, who was proceeding in the said direction in front of him, in the centre of the road, with no hands on the handle, swerved east while he in the process of passing the said pedal cyclist.

The driver claimed that he applied brakes and

swerved west to avoid a collision but the front left side of the car collided with the said pedal cycle’s rear wheel and as a result of the collision, the pedal cyclist fell onto the windscreen then onto the road’s surface.

Due to the impact caused by the accident, the pedal

cyclist received injuries to his head and body, and was picked up in unconscious condition by the police and public-spirited citizens and rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A breathalyser test was

conducted on the motor car’s driver but no trace of alcohol was detected. The motor car along with bicycle were lodged with the police, and the driver is in custody and assisting with investigations.

Corentyne farmers accuse Surinamese of blocking Corentyne River

By Andrew Carmichael

F

armers along the Corentyne River, in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), are accusing the neighbouring nation of Suriname of blocking access to the river, causing them to suffer huge losses.

Some 60 fruit and vegetable farmers are complaining about the difficulties in getting their produce to the various markets. This action of blocking the Corentyne River has caused the produce to be left to spoil.

The farmers have also told Guyana Times that they cannot access the markets to purchase food and their reserves are drying up, with some of them already out of supplies.

The situation has come about owing to the military from the neighbouring Dutch-speaking nation putting a ban on travel in the Corentyne River, which is part of Suriname’s territory. However, it is the only access for persons from the Indigenous communities of Orealla and Siparuta along

with those villages closer to the Guyanese town of Corriverton which serves as the economic hub of those communities. It is estimated that over 2000 persons are affected due to the restriction.

As part of measures put in place to restrict the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Suriname closed its ports like most other countries. This meant that travel on the Corentyne River was off-limits and remains off-limits until the country’s Government decides to lift the restriction.

Following several complaints, the Foreign Affairs Ministry intervened and brokered an agreement with the Surinamese Government so that the communities of Siparuta and Orealla – some 50 miles up the Corentyne River, can traverse the river to go about their business.

However, those attached to the Corentyne River Crop Farmers Association (CRCFA) do not fall under the concessions given to Orealla and Siparuta and are asking for some form of relief. The

Some of the fruit and vegetable farmers who spoke with this publication

CRCFA comprises of farmers from Moleson Creek to Mopena Creek which is ten miles before Orealla.

The farmers would farm at random spots along the riverbank and have a total of 1000 acres under cultivation. They grow citrus, banana, plantains, pineapples and other fruits.

These farmers say that military personnel from Suriname who have been patrolling the Corentyne River have confiscated their boats and produce.

Toolchand Seemangal, who has 3000 citrus trees on his farm situated at Globertex,

told this publication that he cannot take his produce to Corriverton. He said on one occasion, the Dutch-speaking soldiers pulled up alongside his boat and forced him to the corner where he made an escape, paying no regard for the thorns.

“I prefer tek the plimpa bore then tek the gunshot,” the man said.

He said that they risked being attacked by bees in order to save their lives.

Another farmer, Budnarine Lall, who also cultivates citrus, but at Canaburi Creek, claimed that the soldiers are not just stopping

them from traversing the River but are also placing them in prison. This, he explained, is because they do not have permission to be on the River from the Dutch authorities.

Hundreds of citrus fruits from his farm are being left to spoil.

“We nah getting to bring it out. We can’t go in; we can’t travel in the River,” he said.

Lall is one of the farmers who live at Corriverton.

Secretary of the CRCFA, Shantaram Sugrim said since the announcement was made that the River will be closed, he has been in contact with both local and Surinamese authorities. However, he noted that it is very risky for farmers to chance going onto the River.

“I made contact with the Government and the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that they have made an agreement with the authorities of Suriname for Orealla and Siparuta to use the River but eventually we are left out,” Sugrim explained.

He said that they are left to wonder why the Surinamese

Government refused the farmers access the River.

“The Government has tried to assist us but as recent as last weekend, the Surinamese say that they are not going to honour any agreement,” he noted while explaining that they continue to suffer financial losses.

“When we are out here we cannot take in the essentials neither the sick can come out. Presently we stand to lose millions and we do not know when the Surinamese will open back the River to Guyanese farmers,” the farmers’ representative noted.

“It will cost us millions of dollars to fix and the farmers are already losing. The wholesalers owe us about $2 million,” he added.

The farmers are calling for some form of assistance, noting that they will be forced to starve if action is not taken swiftly.

No one from Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Ministry was available for a comment on the issue.

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Chinese Embassy, MYO donate hampers to vulnerable groups

T

he Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has donated several food and sanitation hampers to the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD).

Deputy Chief of Mission at that Embassy, Chen Xilai in handing over the hampers to the recipients, related that COVID-19 brought unprecedented challenges to the whole world.

“Our disabled Guyanese friends are the most vulnerable and are affected badly.

We share a common destiny, so I can feel your pain. The Embassy has long been pursuing providing assistance to the Guyanese people within its capacity. It is ready to work with Guyana and overcome the current difficulties together”, he said.

Chairman of the GCOPD, Cecil Morris expressed gratitude to the Embassy on behalf of the persons with disabilities and their families.

The 500 hampers that were distributed by the Muslim Youth Organisation

“The vulnerable group of people lost their daily incomes, and are encountering great difficulty in their survival as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic; and the hampers – containing rice, flour, sanitiser, and many other items – meet their urgent needs,” Morris noted.

The GCOPD is the umbrella body that represents all disability organisations

in Guyana.

Early last year, the Chinese Embassy donated US$7000 in equipment to the disability community. The equipment included wheelchairs, white canes for the blind, walkers, and radios.

MYO donation

Meanwhile, the Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana, which is located in

Woolford Avenue, Thomas Lands, Georgetown, distributed 500 food hampers to the poor and needy and vulnerable in Guyana.

According to MYO, the initiative was a result of bringing much-needed aid to help ease the economic hardships faced by COVID-19.

The hampers will be distributed across Guyana, in areas like Wales, Canal No One and Two, La Parfaite Harmonie, Windsor Forest, Leguan, Rose Hall, Port Mourant, Canje, Timehri, Kuru Kuru, Peters Hall and Georgetown.

“Our aim is to provide food hampers to as many as possible as a means of assisting them in providing meals to their families, more so in this Holy Month of Ramadan, where Muslims are commanded to give Zakaat (charity) to the poor and needy as long as they have the required amount of Nisaab”, the statement read.

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

23

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Comparison of Saturday’s SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

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

SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Aspirant from the West Demerara Cricket Association (WDCA)…

TRAVIS PERSAUD: aiming to become a ‘Jaguar’ and future Windies player

By Timothy Jaikarran

D

espite the hardships and restrictions on sport dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic, 22-year-old Travis Persaud, an elegant right-handed opening batsman, spin- bowler, and proud offspring of Sudesh Persaud and Sajewatie Ramrattan of the agricultural community of Canal #1, West Bank Demerara, has his heart set on becoming a member of the Guyana Jaguars team, and someday playing cricket for the West Indies.

Restricted by national directives from indulging to his heart’s desire in the game he loves most, Travis opened up to Guyana Times Sport as he reflected on his 2019-2020 cricket season and of ‘his dream to go places’ in that game.

He said he hopes to break into the Guyana squad, as he has been having stellar performances over the years.

A former Guyana Youth Player, Travis is no stranger to the limelight, having represented Guyana in Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19 cricket tournaments.

He had, respectively in 2015 and 2016, captained the winning Guyana Under-19 team which toured Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Travis has had a brilliant 2019-2020 cricket season on the West Demerara, most of which involved participation in the Beacon Cafe 50 Overs Competition. This explosive right-hander was the leading batsman in that recently concluded WDCA competition, in which he racked up a massive 457 runs at an impressive average of 50.7; scored two centuries and two half-centuries; and grabbed a 4-wicket and a 6-wicket haul.

Travis was also the most decorated awardee at the

Mc Gill Super Stars Sports Club Awards Ceremony held in 2019.

He was recognized for being the best fielder, producer of the highest individual score, and recorder of the most runs.

With this background and his dear love for cricket, Travis Persaud’s main objectives are to represent Guyana again, but especially to represent the West Indies in the future. His sight is set on firstly earning a spot in the CGI Academy set-up, and then taking it from there one step at a time.

Travis Persaud has been ‘on the radar’ for quite some time. He has consistently been recording good performances, and is hopeful that his hard work will pay off. He noted that “it’s been a while” since he has been out of the Guyana Team, but says he is still confident that an opportunity would soon be presented him.

“All I have to do is continue to put out good performances and let the selectors do their job,” a hopeful Travis Persaud has declared.

Concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, Travis urges everyone to take the necessary precautions in regard to their wellbeing, and adhere to all the stipulated safety procedures.

Kieran Powell at a loss about how to get back into Windies squad C

Regional dominator Kieran Powell

aptain of the Leeward Islands Cricket Team, Kieran Powell, has been left disappointed by his non-selection to the provisional 29-man squad for the West Indies tour to England, which looks set to go ahead this summer.

Cricket West Indies announced the squad recently, in lieu of agreements with the England and Wales Cricket Board about a tour that was scheduled for June but has now been postponed amidst plans to make it safe despite the worldwide spread of COVID-19.

The squad had seen the return of pacer Shannon Gabriel, spinner Veerasammy Permaul, and middle-order batsman Jermaine Blackwood. Some new faces have also been added to the squad, like Preston McSween, Paul Palmer, Shane Mosely and Keon Harding.

Having last represented the West Indies on the 2018 Tour to Bangladesh, Powell is a notable absentee from the squad.

Since his exclusion from the West Indies set-up, Powell has scored fairly heavily in regional cricket, a fact that has elicited surprise at his non-selection.

“I haven’t really been as productive as I would like in the four-day format, but I still managed to stand out above everyone else who played in the tournament; so, it’s disheartening for (me) to learn that I hadn’t been selected based on the volume of runs I scored,” Powell has said.

Despite leading the Caribbean in the Regional Super50 competition last year with 524 runs, Powell was not selected for the series against India, Ireland and Sri Lanka. There had been reports that Powell should have been a replacement for Evin Lewis in the Sri Lanka Series. Lewis had failed a fitness test, but reports are suggesting that Powell also had failed the test.

“I don’t mind not being selected; this is part and parcel of being in West Indies Cricket. It has been here long before me, and I’m pretty sure it will be (there) long after (I’m gone); but

communication is the most important thing,” Powell said regarding his failure of the fitness test.

According to Powell, he is yet to hear from CWI what aspects of the test he had failed, and what he needed to work on.

“Obviously, there are more factors to it, which is what I am trying to ascertain. What are those standards, so I can work on whatever I need to work on, so I can get my international career back off the ground?” he asked.

While not calling names, or suggesting that this administration -- inclusive of coaches and the board -- has anything more than the best interest of cricket at heart, Powell did point out that there was a certain stigma that has made his sojourn in West Indies Cricket more difficult.

“I remember a coach of the West Indies team telling me that I don’t need to play for the West Indies team because I (am) financially good, and that I should leave it for people who aren’t financially good; and I didn’t understand,” Powell disclosed.

According to the elegant left-hander, his finances should not be used to militate against him playing for the region. “No one would look at a LeBron James, or a Cristiano Ronaldo and so many others, (and say that) based on all the investments they have, they don’t need to play anymore. Obviously, we know the history of athletes going bankrupt,” he said.

Asked about the exclusion of Kieran Powell, chief of selectors, Roger Harper, said the issue was one based completely on cricket, and that there was no personal feeling toward Powell, one way or the other.

“I don’t know of any problem with Powell. When we picked our squad, we picked what we thought was the best squad for those conditions,” Harper has said.

The West Indies’ tour to England will see them fight to retain the Wisden Trophy they had taken from England last year.

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Feature

INTERNATIONAL NURSES WEEK…

By Lakhram Bhagirat

“T

he world’s evolving, but we have people that are still living in ancient times and don’t really recognise or accept males as nurses. They often discriminate against those same male nurses,” says Nurse Bishnunauth Ryan Deosarran.

The nursing field has always been considered a place for women, resulting in the men who become nurses being discriminated against. Almost every male nurse would relate at least one instance where they were discriminated against for their career choice.

According to the 25-year-old Deosarran, despite being categorised as less masculine, male nurses are never discriminatory in the execution of their duties. They would quite

often go above and beyond to ensure that quality care is delivered to their every patient – whether it is appreciated or not.

Deosarran has been a nurse for over six years now, and it is a profession he sees himself in for a very long time. For him, seeing his patient recover fully is one of the most fulfilling parts of his job.

“I remember once I worked with a patient who was very ill and had a very low prognosis, but that patient pulled through. To see that patient walk out the hospital alive was one of the best moments I had in my career.

It is very comforting to know that you provided optimum care for that person and they recovered,” he notes.

“Another memorable experience during my career was on a night shift: I asked the midwives if I can assist in a delivery and of course, it was a long and scary process, but at the end when the baby was delivered, when he came out crying, it was a magical moment, since it was my first experience in the birthing of a tiny human. There is also this great feeling of accomplishment when former patients recognise you on the street and thank you for the quality of care you delivered,” the young nurse added.

The young man hails from the Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara Region and has always been in the business of helping people.

However, he never really considered a career in nursing.

The former Patentia Secondary School student joined the Ministry of Public Health’s Nursing Programme in 2012, and so began his journey in the medical field. He is currently a student at the American

University of Peace Studies, where he is reading for his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.

“Honestly nursing was never a career choice for me.

I had always wanted to do veterinary medicine, but after applying to numerous schools to study, the first place that I got accepted was the Nursing Programme.

I figured it’s an opportunity and nursing is a great profession and a very wide scope, so I decided to take up the challenge and choose nursing,” Deosarran revealed.

“After being a nurse now for approximately six years, (it) means a lot to me now. When I think about it, I am fortunate that I get to make an impact on someone or their loved one’s life and having that feeling of contentment after providing care for individuals, it’s something that makes you proud.”

For Deosarran, a nurse is someone very special and not everyone is cut out for the profession.

“Honestly, I believe that nursing isn’t cut out for everyone. I believe that we were chosen by the supreme being to be a nurse, because you have to have the ability to adapt and adopt changes and be able to face up with all the challenges that come with being a nurse,” he said.

It is a known fact that nurses are not properly compensated for their contribution and this sometimes poses a deterrent for them. Deosarran notes that nurses should be properly compensated since their work is invaluable.

“I think for me nurses should be recognised more, because we are the ones that spend 8 and hours with the patients. We know everything about them. How they breath, eat, sleep. They should have a better package for nurses – finances, health care, allowances, benefits, educational opportunities. We should also have better working

environment and adequate resources so we can provide better health-care services.

When asked what advice he has for aspiring nurses, Deosarran said “the sky is the limit and once you’re up for the challenge, you should go for it. All the hard work will eventually pay off when you see that your care and effort positively improve someone’s life. You should be dedicated, skilled, thoughtful, courageous, strong, encouraging, compassionate, respectful, supportive, inspiring, selfless, nurturing, understanding and reassuring. When you feel like quitting, think about why you started.”

guyanatimesgy.com

MAY 17, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Feature

INTERNATIONAL NURSES WEEK…

By Utamu Belle

F

or Lindener Tisha Tamisha Campbell working as a Registered Nurse has been the motivational factor which has seen her staying true to her passion and life’s calling. Campbell is a newly-trained critical care nurse attached to the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC), who is presently working at the medical institution’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

She is a proud product of the Charles Roza School of Nursing -- Batch # 59.

“My main motivation and the reason I became a nurse was to have the opportunity to impact the health, well-being and quality of life of patients, not only through direct patient care but also through education,” Nurse Campbell told the Sunday Times Magazine.

She added that her drive to pursue nursing was also embedded in her love for health care as well as the desire to serve and make a meaningful impact. Over the years, she has fostered these attributes through volunteerism by working as a peer educator with the Public Health Ministry and Linden-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) For the Children’s Sake Foundation where a lot of the work is health-based.

“A typical day in my life as a nurse working at the ICU Department involves constant monitoring, assessment, being involved in codes during resuscitation efforts and giving quality bedside nursing care,” she shared.

Campbell believes that nursing is for the compassionate and is a calling for persons who are selfless and patient. As such, she shared how important it is to celebrate the hard work and dedication of nurses throughout Guyana and the rest of the world, especially at a time when the world

is affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“International Nurses’ Day means a lot to me, because it’s a day set aside to say ‘thank you’ to the nurses that go above and beyond the call of duty for people committed to their care. International

Nurses’ Day is even more meaningful this year in the face of this pandemic, as we look to our frontline workers to make personal sacrifices and take greater risk for the greater good of the country and its people,” Nurse Campbell related.

She also shared her opinion of how fitting it is for this year to be dedicated to honour the commitment and sacrifices of nurses around the world.

“This year -- “The Year of the Nurse”, the world looks on and recognises the importance of our nurses and how essential they are to the health and well-being of the nation. It’s...for reflection as we contemplate the quality of the work we give and strive to become better in an effort to improve the services we provide... the world recognises the risk inherent in our jobs and says ‘thank you’ for being there regardless,” Nurse Campbell said.

Since her job function entails providing critical care, the young professional nurse sees her role as quite a serious one. She is usually faced with countless circumstances which are basically a matter of life and death.

“My most memorable moment is being a part of the code that resuscitated a patient

whose heart stopped. Being able to be a part of the process that allowed him to survive that moment where he was nursed back to health so much so that he was able to go home and back to relatives was remarkable and is imprinted on my memory. It reiterates the importance of having our nurses who are competent and capable of identifying patients in danger and are able to respond adequately and prompt for improved patient outcomes,” Nurse Campbell related.

When asked where she sees herself in her profession years from now, the enthusiastic nurse stated that she has her eyes set on personal development.

“Personal development and continued education is a value of mine, so I do see myself pursuing a degree in nursing in the future that I hope will serve as a stepping stone for elevation in my profession. One of the things that I’ve learnt from being a nurse is that at one point or another we rely on each other’s knowledge. So as much as you learn you should teach, so, ultimately, we make each other better and more equipped to give efficient care,” she said.

In revealing challenges of this noble profession, Nurse Campbell related that being a nurse in a developing country, there was the challenge of not being able to provide efficient care due to limited resources. This, she explained, is compounded by being behind as it relates to medical advances, technology, and skilled personnel. Nevertheless, she noted that Guyana’s health-care system has made a lot of strides, while admitting that there was a lot of room for improvement.

“I think as we celebrate nurses, we should also advocate for continued training opportunities, more on-the-job learning activities for skills development and scholarships for capacity building,” she concluded.

4

Sunday Times Magazine

MAY 17, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

INTERNATIONAL NURSES WEEK…

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

here is so much more to nursing than what meets the eye. Nurses are resilient in every aspect of their duties, since they are the ones who are there when we are at our most vulnerable. A nurse is a selfless caregiver who is tasked with ensuring that we recover from whatever we are suffering from.

Nurses often share our pain, since they not only become invested in our recovery but also our back story. They are the ones who root for us while we are in their care.

According to 25-year-old nurse Kevin Samaroo, nursing is a profession that requires not only treating patients who are sick and injured but also offering advice and emotional support to patients and their families, taking care of a ton of paperwork, helping doctors diagnose patients, and providing advice and followup care.

“You being there to nurse a sick person is more than that, you have to be the patient’s counsellor, psychiatrist, their guide, etc. It’s more than administering medication, setting intravenous line, wound care, etc. It’s being a part of someone that you never met (before)’s life,” he notes.

For Samaroo, the end goal was never nursing, since he would rather be teaching but he felt as though nursing was his calling and has been doing that for the past seven years. He was also heavily influenced by his aunt who was a nurse. He notes that it was her strength, determination, and resilience that made him even consider joining the nursing profession.

He grew up on the Essequibo Coast with his family where he enjoyed swimming in the black water, catching fish and going

into the backdam every Sunday.

Education was an integral part of Samaroo’s upbringing. He started his nursing journey in 2013 when he registered at the Georgetown School of Nursing where he received holistic training in the fields of Sociology, Psychology, Anatomy & Physiology, Adult Nursing, Paediatrics Nursing among others.

“Those studies came to an end in March of 2015 when I sat the General Nursing Council Exams and came out successful at the first sitting. Prior to that, I was working at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and after the examinations, I continued to work there as a Nursing Assistant. On June 15, 2015, I was registered with the General Nursing Council of Guyana. On September 1, 2016, I graduated from the Georgetown School of Nursing as a

Registered Nursing Assistant,” he said.

F o r nurses in Guyana, the major challenge is remuneration.

Nursing is among the lowest-paid professions in Guyana and yet nurses get up, get dressed and go out there to risk their lives so that we can live ours.

If there is one thing this COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is the fact that we need to do better by our nurses. It means overhauling their remuneration packages as well as making their working environment more comfortable. The health-care system cannot function without nurses because they are the eyes and ears of every doctor as well as the ones who are there with us 24/7 when we are patients.

“Nursing is one of the lowest-paying professions in Guyana, ... (but) we still get dressed and show up for the job, because we have a heart of gold to care for humanity. Other challenges include the adequate supply of medical equipment and because we’re in a Third World country the use of advanced technology. Nurses need to more respected by the public and sometimes the said patients we care for; we’re often insulted, spat upon, cursed out by relatives of patients, called all sort of names and yet we got to deliver care.”

Over the years, Samaroo has been able

to make a lot of memories and live through varying experiences, but for him, the best experience he’s ever had was the day of his first surgery.

“My heart is warmed when I see patients come into the hospital at their lowest and with the care and treatment, we provide they are able to regain their stability. It’s always amazing to see that patients want to live and not give up, no matter what the situation may be. It allows you to be caring, compassionate, and loving towards people. Nursing is a beautiful profession; if you don’t have a love for humanity and people, then don’t just come into it ‘cause it’s a job, but come into it because you love caring for people,” Samaroo said.

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MAY 17, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

O

ver the last few weeks, we dealt with poisons emanating from insects (bees, wasps, marabuntas, etc.) and other animals (snakes and toads/frogs).

Today, we will look at the treatment of common poisonings caused by items inad-

vertently left carelessly around the house, some of which we, as pet owners, incorrectly place on our companion animals.

Remember that if a toxic substance entered the pet’s body, your job at home (even as you simultaneously try to contact your Vet Clinic for advice) is to focus on inhibiting the absorption of the poison as soon as possible. (See PET CARE columns of April 5 and 19, 2020).

HOME TREATMENT

I had advised that you should always have “activated charcoal” (powder or tablets) as a part of your emergency kit. Make a mixture of the activated charcoal and water – to gram to a teaspoon of water.

Dosage: One teaspoonful (5 mls) of the mixture for every 2 pounds (approximately 1kg) of body weight.

Mix a teaspoon of Glauber’s Salts with enough water to make a solution Dosage: One teaspoonful of the solution to every 10 pounds of body weight.

Instead of the Glauber’s Salt, you could use one teaspoonful of milk of magnesia for every 5 pounds of body weight.

If you do not have the preparations listed above (1-3), you can concoct a home-made “antidote” comprising 2 egg whites and a teaspoonful of vegetable oil. This will help to cover the walls of the stomach and the intestines. Remember you are trying to prevent the absorption of the toxic materials, even if only minimally.

Administer an enema by inserting a tube into the rectum, as far as it can smoothly advance, and inject warm water into the tube.

Sometimes the poison could have been inadvertently and indirectly administered by you, the caregiver. For example, the sprinkling of a toxic substance (usually Sevin Powder) to your pet to kill ectoparasites (fleas, ticks, etc.). The parasites, in an effort to evade the powder, will try to burrow into the skin, thus creating a severe itch sensation. The pet then bites at the itch, thus ingesting the poison.

On other occasions, you may have sprayed your flowers or lush kitchen garden with a very poisonous contact pesticide which can get on the animal’s skin as it plays in the chemically treated areas.

In both examples mentioned above, the poisons can get into the blood stream. Your first and immediate approach would be to

get the poison off the skin by bathing the dog with soap and water. Shampoo, which gives a better lather, can be used.

Of course, as was mentioned in previous columns, once the animal is exhibiting nervous symptoms it must receive immediate veterinary interventions. It is important, in order to help the vet, that you bring a sample of the poisonous substance, preferably in its original container, which should have the name of the active ingredient and may have instructions pertaining to an antidote.

WARFARIN is used often as a rat bait. This poison attacks the blood vessels and prevents blood from clotting. The animal would soon void blood stool and excrete urine. Blood also oozes from both the nostrils and the gums (and even from the skin).

T h e treatment would focus on inducing vomiting as described in the Pet Care Column of April 19, 2020. If you have Vitamin K and Calcium tablets at home, you may wish to introduce them, using the recommended baby/child’s dosage (or 10-20 mg according to the animal’s weight.

Provide the vet with all information on what you have administered as treatment to the animal before or when you arrive at the Clinic.

I referred to Sevin Powder in 5 above.

But there are other poisonous organophosphates, for example, Monocrotophos, Dichlorvos and Malathion which could kill pets, if they came into contact with them. Gramoxone, which is not an organophosphate, is equally deadly.

The symptoms of ingestion of these chemicals are: Drooling Vomiting Colic Rapid breathing Stumbling/Wobbly gait We are lucky that, in the case of organophosphate poisoning, there is a specific antidote which your veterinarian will inject into your dog. The success rate is good, once prompt action is taken.

Lately, more and more, the word has gotten around, and pet owners seem to be convinced that petroleum products [old engine oil (waste sump oil), gasoline, kerosene, and turpentine] can get rid of mange on dogs. So many people use these chemicals – not realizing the short- and long-term health problems that these products cause.

The symptoms are: Vomiting Respiratory Distress (difficulty breathing) Twitching of the muscles Trembling Convulsions (as the animal progresses towards death) Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done in the treatment of this type of poisoning. Experience tells me that trying to induce vomiting is useless. The damage creeps in on the poor animal, and by the time the symptoms appear, it is too late.

I strongly urge that you desist from using any waste oil, gasoline, kerosene, or any other petroleum product to cure any malady associated with your pet.

When I was working in animal agriculture, there used to be, on the commer-

cial market, products (used in the veterinary practices) called chlorinated hydrocarbons. These products (e.g.

Chloradane, Lindane and Toxaphane) really should have no place in companion animal practice, especially since there are much better products that can be used safely (if dosed correctly) against skin parasites.

Caustic Chemicals, when ingested can cause severe damage to the lips, tongue, mouth, oesophagus and stomach. These corrosive chemicals which are widely used as household cleaners, to unblock sinks and drains and as food additives. They are usually acids or alkalis.

Common acidic chemicals include vinegar (acetic acid) and citric acid (ascorbic acid) while the more common alkaline chemicals are oven cleaners, drain unblockers and baking soda.

Treatment is based on the chemical composition of the agent. It is important that you do not attempt to induce vomiting.

If it is an acid, treat immediately as follows: Wash the animal’s mouth thoroughly Administer orally an antacid – liquid (preferably). This will coat the oesophagus and stomach. I recommend Milk of

Magnesia, Pepto-Bismol, Kaopectate, or the like. The dosage will be 5 mls for every 5 pounds body weight.

If it is an alkali, treat immediately as follows: Wash the animal’s mouth thoroughly Administer orally some diluted, freshly squeezed lime juice, or even vinegar (onepart vinegar to four parts water). The dosage (5 to 15 mls) based on the size/weight of the animal.

6 Sunday Times Magazine Feature

guyanatimesgy.com

INTERNATIONAL NURSES WEEK…

By Andrew Carmichael

N

MAY 17, 2020

ursing is not an easy job and though we think that nurses know everything, the fact is they do not. They sometimes learn from their patients as they go along. Nurses are constantly learning and increasing their skills.

That is exactly what Nurse Lisa Abrahams has been doing ever since she joined the profession, driven by the passion she has always had for nursing.

“It is something I wanted to do since I was little girl,” Abrahams told the Sunday Times Magazine.

Now she is putting smiles on many faces as a nurse. After only three years in the profession, Abrahams is experiencing much job satisfaction.

She is currently on the frontline as one of the nurses in the Accident and Emergency Department at the New Amsterdam Hospital.

She is one of millions of nurses who are honoured during Nurses Week for their commitment to caring for others. International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

Nightingale transformed the job of nursing into a profession which have 20.7 million nurses and midwives according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A l t h o u g h Abrahams wanted to join the nursing profession as a child, as she grew up her eyes were set on other prospects.

It was not until the age of 17 when her dad became ill that she began seriously considering the pro-

fession. She had to care for her ailing father for almost two years while he was bedridden and it was this that led her back to nursing.

“Certain requirements were needed, so, I had to go back and sit Mathematics and then too when you are training, you only receive a stipend and my mother is a single parent, so I had to put certain things in place,” she recounts.

Many persons who want to join the profession would apply and wait for years, some even reapplying several times before being accepted. However, the stars were in Abrahams’s corner and she was accepted shortly after her first application.

“It is not an easy job. Not everything we know.

Sometimes we learn from our patients,” the young nurse said.

She graduated in 2018 and was placed at the Paediatric Ward at the New Amsterdam Hospital where she spent more than one year before being sent to the ‘front line’.

“The Paediatric Ward was quite interesting – seeing some of the illnesses of some babies. I never imagined babies could have such illnesses. I was of the belief that babies could not get certain illnesses. I enjoy kids, I like being among them; sometimes they are much easier to deal with as patients. But, being at the A&E makes me a more competent nurse. You have to work quickly and you see all different kinds of things and this makes me want to achieve more professionally,” she said.

On the frontline, Abrahams said, all precautions have to be taken especially, since the world is now battling the novel coronavirus.

“You have to ensure that all precautions are taken and always use your personal protective gear (Personal Protective Equipment -PPE). Being on the frontline is very challenging. During this period, no one wants to be on the frontlines. At times, you have to put your trust in God and he will see you through. Nursing is not a career; it is a calling.”

When asked if there was one thing that she wished she could change in the profession, Abrahams, like many other nurses, noted that that one thing would be the salary.

“Seeing patients reach the state where they are much better and to see them smile with joy. I had this one patient who met with an accident and she felt fearful that she would not have made it, because she had broken limbs and it was her first time in hospital. I did my best with her and looked forward to seeing her every day I went to work. I tried to encourage her and then she got transferred to the Georgetown Hospital because of her condition.

Then one day this lady came up to me and said ‘Nursie, you remember me?’, then she told me who she was and I was both surprised and overjoyed,” the young nurse noted in speaking about the impact of her work.

She said she was content with knowing that she was there with her patients during their most vulnerable times since that made her feel as though she was doing some good in the world.

“They will always remember how you made them feel. If you treat them bad, they will remember you for that. Your attitude determines your altitude.”

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MAY 17, 2020

Sunday Times Magazine 7

8 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

MAY 17, 2020

Puzzles

ACROSS 1 Wolf Gal’s creator 5 Adobe component 10 Beach sidler 14 Movie mutt 19 Dark fur 20 “Ninotchka” name 21 Pilot’s OK 23 Shallot 24 Tire feature 25 Implied but unsaid 26 Reflection 27 Antler prongs 28 Krishna, to Vishnu 30 Boadicea’s subjects 32 Disdainful sniff 33 “Hello” chanteuse 34 Diamond pro 36 New driver, maybe 38 Untold centuries 40 Mach 3 flier 41 Some trumpeters 42 Advance, as money 43 Mombasa’s country 45 Tree trunk 49 U.K. part 50 Stadium shouts 51 Painted tinware 52 Ancient colonnade 56 Cheering 58 Romantic opus 59 Staff members 60 Let fly 61 Shrill insect 62 Those opposed 63 Herd follower 64 -- ammoniac 65 St. Teresa’s town 66 100 centavos 67 Mr. Spock’s father 68 Without resisting 71 Rumor, perhaps 72 Galley slaves’ need 73 Tilts 74 Like gargoyles 75 Orange flower 78 Pat’s cohost 79 Cried out 83 Hemp product 84 Downright mean 85 Herr’s home 86 Ground breaker?

87 Pops, as a bubble 90 Horizon, maybe 91 Blackjack 92 “Then -- will guide the

planets ...”

94 Record label 95 Sponges up 96 Income sources 97 Lay by the pool 98 Landed 100 Springs 101 Kill a bill 102 Glacial deposit 103 Bedtime story 104 Lazily 105 Sound in body 106 Harsh cry 107 Bought at a yard sale 108 Pines for 110 She went up the hill 111 Oxidizes, as iron 113 With, to Fritz 116 Vet office sound 117 Striped antelope 118 Gulls of northern seas 123 Honor greatly 125 Valhalla host 127 Happening 129 Diners 130 Mountain kingdom 131 Farm sounds 133 Raring to go 135 Uxmal resident 136 Unsophisticated 137 Fakes out, on the rink 138 Dormant 139 Bear down 140 Selling point 141 Phoenician port 142 Caregiver 143 Triangle part DOWN 1 Do jack-o’-lanterns 2 Crosswise 3 Beetle Bailey’s pal 4 Piano parts 5 Barracks off.

6 Hunting down 7 Niche 8 With lance in hand 9 Light bulb measure 10 Dernier - 11 Frolicked 12 Once more 13 Shakes a cup 14 Mendel’s science 15 Novelist -- Bagnold 16 Playing cards 17 Grey and McCrea 18 Picture in a picture 19 Bachelor party

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY’S WORD -- DESPAIR (DESPAIR: dih-SPARE: To lose all hope.)

Average mark 39 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 59 or more words in DESPAIR? TODAY’S WORD -- DESPAIR dais dare dear diaper dire drape dries drip said sapid sari sear sepia side sire

spade spar spare spear sped spider spied spire spirea spread padre paid pair pare parse

pear pied pier praise pride pried pries aide aired aped aper apse arid arise aside

aspire idea ides raid raise rapid rase rasp read reap repaid ride ripe rise

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.

22 29 31 35 37 39 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 50 51 53 54 55 57 58 59 62 63 66 67

Repaired the pump “Ivanhoe” damsel Mist Turf warriors Annapolis grad Change for a five Wine sediments Brownie maker Powdery residue Stall in the doldrums -- Newton-John More frilly Footnote abbr. (2 wds.)

Vacillate (hyph.)

Arithmetic word Fleetwood Mac album Aloud Actress -- Sheedy Spud st.

Move the puck Major artery Brain, maybe Au pair Beyond the -Holiday temp

68 69 70 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 84 85 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 95 96 97

Business VIPs Cotton gin name Gaze at Sorry!

Fishes for trout No way! (hyph.)

W-2 collectors Fetched Nosegay holders Lip, slangily Tan slacks Dawn horse epoch Signed over Like late autumn Freight rider Neighbor’s kid NCAA Bruins Racetrack boundary Perfume bottles Dove shelter Average Hairy twin Jasperware creator Congeal Tux go-with (2 wds.)

99 Mo. expense 100 Spiel 101 Prize greatly 102 Pole on a ship 105 Kept secret 106 Patrol boats 109 Brunch favorite 110 Old car 111 Horseshoes toss 112 Gator habitats 113 Edible lichen 114 Hunches 115 Pith helmets 117 Tightly curled 118 Actor -- Reeves 119 Nintendo predecessor 120 Entered data 121 Clean the slate 122 9-digit IDs 124 Go wild about 126 Lose some 128 Coal deposit 132 NNW opposite 134 Country addr.

SEE SOLUTION ON PAGE 6