Guyana Times Thursday July 16, 2020

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APNU/AFC Govt must abide by recount results – US Congressmen Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4348

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

US tells de facto Granger Govt to accept elections results and step aside …slaps visa restrictions on those complicit in Page 3

undermining democracy and their families …Senate Foreign Affairs Committee supports sanctions

Canada vows to “hold accountable” persons undermining Guyana’s democracy See story on page 9

PRICE

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Small grouping trying to “hijack” Guyana’s P13 elections – Caricom Chair …says new legal action an abuse of court, vexatious

UK Govt “discussing” P12 sanctions for APNU/AFC, elections officials over electoral fraud – source

…willing to use “all tools” to ensure democracy prevails

APNU/AFC-created political crisis

Petition to stop elections declaration

Page 7

PSC tells Granger to concede, tell supporters “the truth” P2

Chief Justice Brazil calls on "political forces" expected to to respect rule on Sunday

...GECOM Chair to await court’s decision

...as GMSA calls for transition to new Govt

Page 13

recount results

Granger intellectual author of conspiracy to rig elections – PPP Page 11

…says sanctions against APNU/AFC, electoral officials justified

Eastern Airlines aircraft skids off CJIA runway …201 Guyanese onboard

P15

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC-created political crisis

PSC tells Granger to concede, tell supporters “the truth” …as GMSA calls for transition to new Govt

GMSA President Shyam Nokta

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he Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) on Wednesday called for the David Granger-led administration

to allow the transition to a new Government reflective of the will of the Guyanese people.

The GMSA pointed out that it has been more than four months since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections and a democratically-elected Government was still not in place.

“Despite undertakings and commitments to respect the results of the recount process conducted

by GECOM and overseen

by Caricom and other observers, attempts continue to thwart the declaration of the winner of the March 2020 elections,” the GMSA said.

The political impasse, the absence of a functional Government, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of a

PSC Chairman Gerry Gouveia

coherent and comprehensive response, the GMSA said, have made it difficult for businesses to operate.

“As a result, many have closed, resulting in losses of jobs and income for Guyanese. A continuation of this current situation will have disastrous consequences on the business community and the economy.”

Concede

Meanwhile, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), which served as an accredited observer for the elections, says it has no hesitation in demanding that the Guyana

Elections Commission (GECOM) proceed to make a declaration using the recount results of the General and Regional Elections as soon as is practical and expect “David Granger to tell his supporters the truth and to concede”.

“We also would like to extend deep appreciation to Caricom, the [Organisation of American States] OAS, the European Union and the Commonwealth, the Carter Center and to the ABCE countries that join us in this struggle to preserve and protect democracy and the rule of law in Guyana.”

The PSC said that while recognising minor administrative difficulties, it found the process of the recount to have been efficiently conducted and authentic.

“The Private Sector Commission noted, as did the Caricom Report, the frequently aggressive, and, at times, obnoxious, if not bizarre, behaviour by agents representing APNU/AFC at the various work stations, but, who, nevertheless, were unable to document any material complaints to question the process,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

File photo: APNU/AFC Presidential Candidate David Granger greeting supporters during his 2020 Elections campaign event

It added that it was pleased to endorse, without reservation, the observation of the Caricom scrutineers, that “the objections raised by the APNU/AFC” were not “materially relevant to the recount of the ballot” and that there was “no evidence as to who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the alleged ‘ghost voting’ and voter impersonation”.

Additionally, the GMSA

stated that it joined the PSC and other Private Sector organisations, civil society, other local organisations and groups and the international community in “calling for a swift conclusion to this political impasse, the declaration of the results based on the Recount Process, and the transition to a new Government reflective of the will of the Guyanese people.”

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 16 – 01:00h-02:30h and 13:30h-15:00h and Friday, July 17 – 02:00h-03:30h and 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 16 – 13:35h-15:05h and Friday, July 17 –14:25h-15:55h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

US tells de facto Granger Govt to accept elections results and step aside …slaps visa restrictions on those complicit in undermining democracy and their families …Senate Foreign Affairs Committee supports sanctions

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions will prevail during the day.

Thundery showers are expected in the evening followed by clear skies. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.

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

High Tide: 13:20h reaching a maximum height of 2.23 metres.

Low Tide: 06:49h and 19:10h reaching minimum heights of 0.92 metre and 0.98 metre.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo

H

aving issued numerous warnings that the United States will not stand by and allow the undermining of democracy in Guyana, US Secretary of State Mike

trampling on democracy and the will of the people.

“On March 2 the Cooperative Republic of Guyana held national elections, but it has still not declared a winner. All international observers of the vote count agreed that the manner in which votes were tabulated departed from established procedures. They unanimously agreed that a result based on these procedures would not be credible.

“The Organisation of American States and Caribbean Community concluded that the recount of votes, which concluded on June 7 and showed a victory for the opposition, reflected the will of the Guyanese people.

“Unfortunately, Guyana’s leaders have re-

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair, James Risch

since the election, I have been very clear that the United States stands with the Guyanese people, and that there would be consequences for individuals who seek to undermine democracy,” Pompeo’s statement said.

“The events following the March 2 elections indicate that there are forces that have repeatedly refused to accept the will of the people at the ballot box. Guyana’s non-democratic trajectory is dangerous for its citizens and for the hemisphere as a

that the US has no preference for any party, but merely wants that party selected based on a free, fair and credible process. As the recount has shown, that party

Caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Happy birthday? The news came on the same day de facto President David Granger celebrated his 75th birthday

Pompeo on Wednesday announced visa restrictions on those persons and their families who are involved in the rigging of the March 2, 2020 elections.

Pompeo, during a press conference at the State Department on Wednesday, said these visa restrictions can also be applied to the immediate family members of those persons.

“Today I am announcing visa restrictions on individuals responsible for, or complicit in, the undermining of democracy in Guyana. The immediate family members of such persons may also be subject to restrictions,” Pompeo said.

“The Granger Government must respect the results of democratic elections and step aside,” Pompeo, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief in US President Donald Trump’s administration, added.

Clear message

In a subsequent statement from the US State Department, Pompeo explained that the visa restrictions are not about interference. He said they are rather meant to send a clear message that the US will not tolerate persons in Guyana

fused to accept this result,” he said in the statement.

Pompeo made it clear

is the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

“In my public statements

whole. I hope that Guyana’s leaders understand what is at stake if they continue down this path,” Pompeo’s statement added.

This publication has received reports that the list includes several APNU/AFC Ministers, election officials, a prominent financier of the APNU/AFC Government, as well as judicial officers.

TURN TO PAGE 7

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Confronting “the rogue clique”

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he international community has now become highly intolerable of the relentless manoeuvres by David Granger and the APNU/AFC Coalition to stave off a credible declaration of the March 2 General and Regional Elections in order to pave the way for the swearing in of the duly elected Government. he APNU/AFC Coalition and all others who are found to be involved in any way in preventing a fair and credible outcome of elections, including those within the electoral machinery, will face the wrath of international powers. These personal sanctions are justified, considering the fact that Granger’s APNU/AFC Coalition and elements within the electoral machinery who are bent on subverting the will of the people have been given an extremely long time to correct their actions and redeem themselves.

It is now close to five months after the elections were held, the true results of which were known since the day after, and there is yet to be a declaration.

After attempts to alter the results for District Four in favour of APNU/AFC failed, the country moved to a National Recount, which again confirmed what the entire nation knew: that is, the PPP/C had won the elections convincingly.

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) endorsed the National Recount, which was agreed to by the President himself and by the Leader of the Opposition following the huge controversy over Clairmont Mingo’s discredited declaration. However, Granger and his Coalition are now twisting the ruling of the CCJ to suit their own agenda.

The fact is the CCJ never invalidated any aspect of the recount process. In fact, in its clear, definitive decisions handed down, the CCJ said the recount results must be used as the basis for Lowenfield’s final report and it is for GECOM to ensure that the CEO complies with this directive.

As stated by CARICOM Chair Dr Ralph Gonsalves, in a normal democracy, what should be a straightforward matter of counting votes “has become the equivalent of a long-running soap opera, pregnant with real danger for the people of Guyana and the Caribbean Community”.

What we are seeing now is a blatant abuse of the court process by the Coalition to further delay the inevitable. In effect, the APNU/AFC are asking the Court to block GECOM from using the certified recount results and endorse Clairmont Mingo’s fraudulent figures to hand Granger a second term in office.

Perhaps the APNU/AFC Coalition have lost all sense of reasoning if they indeed believe that they would be successful in achieving this objective. We have taken note of President David Granger playing with words again, shifting from a position he outlined a few weeks ago that he would accept “any declaration made by the GECOM Chairman” to one in which he is now saying that he “would abide by any declaration that the Chairman makes in keeping with the laws of Guyana.”

It is clear that President Granger and a small circle around him are hell bent on holding on to power using the same old tricks that were practised by then President Forbes Burnham decades ago.

What they do not realise is that, this time around, the ballgame has changed, as the internal and external forces are different.

With the foreign powers beginning to carry through with their threats of sanctions, it is left to be soon how much longer the Coalition will hold out. In times such as this, when citizens’ democratic rights are trampled upon and they are fearful of being victimized, it is the duty of the international community to act.

Like many others, while we would not want the entire country to suffer, we believe that the major powers are on the right track with the imposition of personal sanctions.

The APNU/AFC have been pushing the argument that Guyana is a sovereign state. While this is true, it does not give any political outfit the right to hang on to power through fraudulent means.

Further, Guyana claims to be part of a democratic fold of nations, and is also a signatory to a number of international conventions and agreements which compel us to adhere to certain basic democratic norms. This includes ensuring that citizens are allowed the opportunity to elect a government of their choice in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Guyana, as the host to the headquarters of CARICOM, as a signatory to the Charter of Civil Society, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and other fundamental documents of relevance, has certain fundamental obligations to CARICOM. PM Gonsalves was on target when he declared: “A rogue clique within Guyana cannot be allowed to disrespect or disregard with impunity the clear, unambiguous ruling of the CCJ. The time for decisive action is shortly upon us”.

The rigging cabal has just felt the first slap; more slaps to come Dear Editor, On Wednesday, July 15, the US, through their Secretary of State (Foreign Affairs Minister), announced the first set of sanctions against the rigging cabal in Guyana. Mr Mike Pompeo announced the US is revoking visas and green cards for Government officials, others in GECOM, a lawyer, and donors who are enabling the rigging cabal and all their families.

This is just a warning set of sanctions, just to demonstrate that the US means business. Two weeks ago, Khemraj Ramjattan had the temerity to deem sanctions as a bluff. Well the US has an answer - there is no bluffing.

This is just the first slap, after a series of warnings. More serious sanctions are on their way should the rigging cabal persist in trying to thief the March 2 elections.

Clearly, the US Government has lost its patience. Clearly, the US Government is not in a mood to wait for five months to elapse.

But if the revocation of the visas of the rigging cabal is the first step of sanctioning for the US, the rigging cabal is about to be hit by a tsunami of sanctions coming from other powerful allies.

The UK, promptly after the US announcement, had its own declaration it is preparing to issue the first set of sanctions on the rigging cabal.

The Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada announced that unless the Granger Government allows the smooth transition now, Canada will follow the lead of the US to sanction the rigging cabal.

These are clear signals that the world, which has consistently spoken out against the effort to thief the elections and has issued warning after warning, is about to match words with action. For those who believed that the warnings would never materialise

into meaningful action, there is now tangible evidence that no one is in a mood to tolerate flagrant thieving of the elections in Guyana.

David Granger and APNU+AFC have made the first move to leave their rigging cabal partners in GECOM “holding the bag”.

The Office of the Presidency issued a statement insisting they are innocent, and all they are doing is waiting on GECOM to do its job. In other words, blaming GECOM for the delay in declaring the results.

Clairmont Mingo, the Returning Officer doing the bidding of APNU+AFC by fraudulently replacing the Statements of Poll for hundreds of polling stations in Region 4, should take note that his handlers in APNU+AFC are willing to throw him under the bus.

Keith Lowenfield, the chief rigger at GECOM, must think long and hard because Granger and APNU+AFC have already shown that they are not willing to take the fall.

Of course, Lowenfield and Mingo must know that sanctions from countries like the US, the UK, Canada are only a part of their troubles; charges and jail time are awaiting them.

At the same time, others in GECOM should examine the behaviour of the rigging cabal in APNU+AFC. They will cut and run and leave the boys and girls at GECOM to feel the heavy hand of the law.

But Granger and APNU+AFC should not think it would be easy to walk away and leave their rigging partners at GECOM “holding the bag” for them. No one anywhere in Guyana and around the world is fooled. We know who are the intellectual authors and architects of the rigging, of the fraudulent tinkering with the results. David Granger and the APNU+AFC leadership are fully on board with the wicked scheme to

thief the elections. They are on record insisting Mingo did nothing wrong. The Statements of Poll show that Mingo dramatically altered the numbers in hundreds of SOPs. That is a crime. The recount added further proof of Mingo’s crime. Now Granger and APNU+AFC want the Mingo numbers used for a declaration, unequivocally aligning themselves with Mingo’s fraud.

Lowenfield has copies of the SOPs from all 2,339 polling stations. He knew on March 5 and on March 13 that Mingo’s numbers were fraudulent. He still insisted on using those fraudulent numbers to prepare two different reports for GECOM and claim victory for Granger and APNU+AFC. Granger and APNU+AFC endorse these fake reports and, further, are now asking the courts to allow them to use these fake reports to keep Granger as President.

Granger himself agreed to the recount. Now his party is asking the court to throw out the recount and the results of the recount. This after Lowenfield used the recount to present two other fraudulent reports in which he threw out 175,000 and 115,000 votes, claiming these were dead people and persons who were not in Guyana on March 2.

We are not fools; we know that Ulita Moore, Eslyn David, and now Ms. Jones are not the real challengers in court, they are simply surrogates for Granger and APNU+AFC. None of these persons has the capacity to hire these lawyers. Let us see who are paying these lawyers.

For Granger and APNU+AFC to think no one knows it is APNU+AFC who are the real challengers in court is to be stupid.

Their insistence that everyone, including international stakeholders, must wait until the court disposes of the matter is hoping

that everyone will cooperate with their brinkmanship and the gamesmanship. The latest court matter is asking the court to throw out the recount order and the recount results.

The CCJ has already ruled on this matter. The Guyana High Court cannot throw out the ruling of the apex court.

Their request for the Chief Justice to order GECOM to use Mingo’s fraud to declare the election results is insulting to the CJ, who has already ruled that Mingo’s fraud was created from an illegal process. This court matter is designed to stop GECOM from declaring the true results of the elections. It also whimsically urges the court to permit them to thief.

The US and others have given the signal to Granger and APNU+AFC that they cannot hide behind the court anymore. The foreign interference defense is hopeless.

These countries are implementing values and policies they live by. We agreed by our own signatures to many treaties that we will live with these values and policies.

Democracy is something we agreed to as the global governance foundation. We cannot be part of the global family and want to thief elections.

Free and fair elections are obligations we agreed to in order to be part of the global family, to be part of the United Nations. We must therefore live by these values, or announce to the world we do not want to be part of the global family. We could never survive.

The time has come for Granger and APNU+AFC to step aside. The time has come to swear in Dr Irfaan Ali as Guyana’s 9th President. The time has come to commence the 12th Parliament. The time has come for Dr. Ali’s new cabinet to start the work of moving Guyana forward.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Decisions that baffle

Dear Editor, Over the years, I’ve gotten extremely tired of questioning the sanity of those responsible for making decisions that would enable everyone to have a better life. In a previous letter, I mentioned the tremendous increase in fares commuters traversing to and from Berbice have to pay. Nothing has been done to assist, whilst commuters continue to be exploited.

Interestingly, last week I journeyed to Charity, and at Supenaam, the taxi driver informed passengers that the fare is $2000 per person, and that he could carry only two passengers. Upon questioning, I was informed that drivers have to comply with the Police instructions or they would be charged.

Incidentally, the taxis do not run at a loss because, with the increase of fare, their two passengers have to pay the amount that totals up to the taxi’s normal trip money when things are okay.

The new system being enforced by the Police is very comical, because a passenger could sit in the front with the driver or in the back seat, so whilst forcing the driver to carry only two passengers, one seat is still vacant, whilst private cars and others could take the full five. If the taxis were allowed to take their usual three passengers, the fares would have been less!

In addition, there’s always confusion at the Parika and Supenaam stellings because some moron has decided that the ferry should work only one trip a day.

There were two ferries obtained by the PPP/C Administration to help with the situation there, and somehow, running up to the last election, someone came up with a genius idea to victimise the commuters traversing there. They grounded/parked one of the ferries, and the other makes one trip from Supenaam to Parika and back to Supenaam, where it waits until the next day to work again.

The ferry doesn’t work on Saturdays or Sundays.

Editor, for as long as I can remember, there have always been attempts (some succeed) by mischievous elements to create havoc and in the process burn buildings either before or after election in Guyana. I am also of the opinion that there are others who use this period to fulfil their own motives. It’s not a strange issue in Guyana, but what I cannot understand is why isn’t security beefed up during this period?

Sometimes I wonder if there’s collusion. Whilst everyone is fussing behind the election and the COVID-19, we all seems to forget the brave security that saved the Umana Yana from burning down, preventing millions of dollars in expense. Is there any plan to reward this brave woman?

Sincerely, Sahadeo Bates

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

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

At what point is enough too much?

Dear Editor, At what point is all the rope being give Lowenfield too much?

It has been over a month since the recount was concluded on June 8th. Lowenfield’s straightforward task was to then summarise the results and report them to the commission. He was given five days to do something that he should have turned around in a couple of hours at the most.

Body GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM GECOM

warned.

Four formal letters covering what was required of him as well as verbal instructions were provided to Mr. Lowenfield. In addition, a number of meetings with generous time intervals between them have been held on the matter. Yet Lowenfield, with some assistance, continues to hold up the declaration of the election results. It has been 38 days to date since he was charged with the assign-

achieved by the High Court, CARICOM personnel and the CCJ in just 14 days is an incongruous counterpoint.

In Just 3 days, the High Court granted an injunction, received submission in regard to Mingo’s fraudulent Region 4 declaration and delivered its judgement. Cognisant of the urgency the high court worked on Saturday and Sunday.

Overnight four CARICOM Prime Ministers led by

Matter Time between recount decision and recount start Recount Exercise Time allowed Lowenfield add 10 Regions, submit report Decide to instruct Lowenfield to use Recount Data Time Allowed Lowenfield to Resubmit Repot -He Didn't Time Elapsed before Lowenfield files fraudulent report Time Allowed Lowenfield to Resubmit Repot -Again He Didn't Lowenfield files another fraudulent report, ignores CCJ order Report discussed, Lowenfield again given another chance Lowenfield Refuses to turn in report Lowenfield not Sanctioned as Pledged

# Days 33 33 5 3 2 5 3 1 2 1 ?

One month later, he has still not completed his assigned duty. At the last meeting on Tuesday July 15th, Lowenfield refused to submit his report or even say if he had prepared it.

Troublingly, the consequential sanctions he faced for continued insubordination have not been applied. Neither has the task been reassigned to someone else as he had been fore-

ment. This exceeds the 33 days it took to do the recount of all ten Regions. It also exceeds the frustratingly unhurried 33 days between the time GECOM made the decision to conduct the recount and actually starting the recount. A partial chronicle of GECOM’s leisurely stroll is provided in the table.

By contrast, what was

Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley flew to Guyana and mediated the political impasse over two days. Then a high level CARICOM recount team was assembled from various islands; a plane was charted and they and flew in to Guyana in 1 day. GECOM, however, needed time to study the recount agreement, in the meanwhile

Dear Editor, Every levelheaded person in the world who is following the political crisis in Guyana is probably wondering what has happened to Mr. David Granger. Since coming into power 4 years ago, he has been transformed from a reasonable and respected statesman to a desperate and irrational despot disgracefully clinging to power.

From the time the APNU/ AFC lost the no-confidence motion in Parliament over one year ago, claiming that 33 is not greater than 32, to the present, a situation wherein they are claiming more votes actually means more valid votes, they have made numerous attempts to thwart the process of democracy.

The insanity of it all is that our caretaker President David Granger is willing to disenfranchise and invalidate more than 30 percent of his citizens’ right to have their votes counted.

Can you imagine what would happen if any of the political parties in the free world: USA, Canada, UK, Caricom countries etc, wanted to invalidate more that 30% of the electorate? That would be unthinkable.

Probably his actions are governed by some unseen devil’s hand, or he has lost complete control of his faculties.

However, it is my opinion that he has more likely lost his spine and has let his party and government be hijacked by the power-hungry Joseph Harmon and his cabal from the old PNC days, along with the outcasts Moses Nagamootoo and

Khemraj Ramjattan of the PPP party from decades ago.

I grew up in Guyana in the old PNC days, when stoking the fire of racial tension was the only way to cling to power. Guyana and the world have come a long way since then, and the younger Guyanese will not know about the days under PNC rule when you had to line up to get basic food items like oil, sugar, rice etc. It was such a disgrace and was so dehumanising. The irony of it all is the APNU party is basically hijacked by these old crooks from the PNC days. To top it off, they joined hands with the outcasts from the PPP party of the same era, Mr Khemraj Ramjattan and Mr Moses Nagamootoo.

These people Mr Harmon, Mr Granger, Mr Mingo and Mr Lowefield are a disgrace to the fair-minded Afro-Guyanese and Afro-Caribbean community, and Mr Ramjattan and Mr Nagamootoo are an obscenity to the Indo- Guyanese population.

Why -- I must ask of my Guyanese countrymen, whether you are Black, Indian, Portuguese, Amerindian etc would you want your promising country to be run by these old bigots and crooks that now compose the AFC/APNU, who are willing to lie, cheat and steal an election they clearly lost.

Open your eyes! They are willing to destroy the country and foment racial animosity just so they can stay in power and get their hands on some oil money. These are bunch of bottom feeders and parasites, who care

about no one but themselves, and they will turn Guyana into a Banana Republic, another Venezuela or Zimbabwe.

They are basically behaving like modern day Pirates of the Caribbean.

Funny thing is Mr Moses Nagamootoo is now calling for government of national unity, so he can stay in power. Well, Mr Nagamooto should realise that the bus has already left the station and he is not on it.

To Guyanese from all walks of life, no matter your race or ethnicity: don’t let these old politicians ruin your future. Just stand up for democracy and the rightful winner of the 2020 election, Mr Irfaan Ali. At least Mr. Irfaan Ali is young and fresh and does not have the baggage of these old crooks, and we all hope he will represent all Guyanese equally.

So, I say to President Granger: sometimes you win and sometimes you learn, and failure is an opportunity to learn again. Besides, a regime that has lost its legitimacy will also lose its power. Act like a President should, and in short, be Presidential and concede the election to the rightful winner. Your countrymen and the entire world are watching, so don’t embarrass yourself any further.

Pirates of the Caribbean – Devil’s hand

Sincerely, Azeem Khan MD, FACP, FACG Gastroenterologist Assistant Professor Clinical Medicine /Weil Cornell Medical College

during this window, Ulita Moore filed a challenged to the recount. Unable to undertake the mission they had rushed in for, the team left after 2 days.

The CCJ was also cogni-

court received oral and written submissions, studied the arguments, the constitution and precedents and delivered its judgement in one week.

The attached table gives

Lowenfield and other tainted officials.

On Wednesday, the US Secretary of state, Mike Pompeo said, “Today, I am announcing visa restrictions

Body

Matter

# Days

High Court High Court CARICOM CARICOM CCJ CCJ

Injunction Against Mingo Numbers Scrap Mingo Region 4 Declaration 4 Prime Ministers Fly to Guyana to Mediate High Level Recount Team Assembled, Flies in Injunction and stay of Appeals Court Ruling Render judgement on Recount Numbers and Valid Votes

1 2 2 1 1 7

sant of the urgency. The CCJ responded and granted a stay on the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the Eslyn David matter within hours. CCJ’s President, Adrian Saunders, observed that everyone would want this matter to be over as soon as is practicably possible. “We are on a tight time-frame.” The

brief recap of the achievements of these bodies in just 14 days in relation to the March 2nd election.

Everyone including the international community has been acutely aware of the bottleneck to democracy in GECOM itself. Many have called for the removal of

on the individuals responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana.

Immediate family members and such persons may also be subject to restrictions.”

Dear Editor, I watched in disbelief a KN radio programme interview with Jaipaul Sharma, de facto Junior Minister of Finance. It was laughable when he stated boldly that they (PNCR) don’t interfere with the operations of GECOM. The public knows otherwise. Like an individual who is pre-programmed, he began to belch out a series of attacks on the PPPC, claiming, among other things, that the PPPC was involved in election rigging from the compilation of the voters’ list to the Election Day process.

Despite those imaginary PPPC wrongdoings, he was adamant that his PNCR-AFC party won the 2020 elections.

When asked to produce evidence that his party won the elections, he mentioned that he knew that from an analysis of the large crowds that they had at various election rallies, as well as from what their supporters told him.

If they can’t figure out that 33 is a majority of 65, what other type of analysis could they perform with any measure of credibility?

Jaipaul Sharma disputed the prevailing condition that the election screening was robust; an observation also held by the EU Ambassador and election observers. He thinks instead that it was porous.

Sharma also stated nonchalantly that the PPPC collected ID cards from overseas Guyanese and issued those to their supporters to vote. Of course, he had no evidence to produce. His comments were supposedly taken from the PNCR strategy book (also referred to as talking points) and reeled out mechanically.

Former PNCR-AFC MP, the man who caused the government to fall through a no-confidence motion (NCM), had indicated at a meeting in New York and another one in Toronto that the NCM shat-

tered the PNCR plans at widespread rigging of the 2020 elections. Prior to the passage of the NCM in December 2018, Charrandas Persaud stated that he was at the Marriott Hotel (in 2016) with another PNCR MP, Allen. He noticed that Allen was complaining that he was tired, to which Charrandas retorted, “Man, you are in Parliament once a week and get a full salary and you complain!” The response of his colleague was: “I have to go to the interior with Minister Winston Felix to hand out birth certificates to Haitians and Venezuelans, so that they could be registered to vote.”

This allegation was restated on KN radio 592 on July 14, 2020. Charrandas said that PNCR operatives threatened to kill him because he shattered one major aspect of their rigging programme. The public had always been apprehensive about the tens of thousands of birth certificates that Felix had ordered. In Charrandas’s view some of those birth certificate forms were used for that specific purpose.

Of course, Sharma would steer away from this subject.

He would prefer less turbulent waters. Sharma’s approach lacks scholarship. What seems obvious is that Sharma was describing the rigging modus operandi of the PNCR, and only putting the label onto the PPPC. He is aware that his party has perfected the art of electoral rigging. No other party could come near to them.

He skilfully avoids talking about the Mingo and Lowenfield fraudulent elections’ declaration of March 13, 2020; a declaration not based on the GECOM-certified Statement of Poll (SOPs) for Region 4. If Sharma knows that his party won the elections, why didn’t they release their SOPs on March 13, 2020 to validate their claim? Why didn’t GECOM’s CEO Keith Lowenfield produce his origi-

nal copies of the SOPs either?

Sounds like a complicity? If a party claims since March 13, 2020 that it won the elections, why was it afraid and refused to produce its copies of SOPs for purposes of verification?

Jaipaul Sharma must know that there is no way that the PNCR coalition could have won the 2020 elections.

First, if he used size of rallies as a crude indicator of support, then the PPPC crowds were significantly larger than his party’s. But the more significant point is that his party (PNCR) has done nothing of significance - no transformative project during their 5-year term - and has once again brought the country to the verge of bankruptcy.

The PNCR’s imposition of 200 new tax measures has led to a drastic decline in consumer spending, and those unleashed greater pressures on the poverty rate, which stands around 40%. Added to these travesties is the runaway corruption, including the grabbing of state lands for their cronies. The PNCR has made the PPPC level of corruption look like child’s play. They (PNCR) have killed both local and foreign investments, apart from those related to the oil sector.

Sharma does not have to go far to ascertain the reasons for their loss. Apart from their poor economic performance, their main partner, AFC, could not bring them the 10% PPPC votes that they captured in 2015. Those 10% votes have returned to their base, the PPPC. This alone could explain Sharma’s party’s defeat.

There was no need for him to contrive conspiracy theories to explain his party’s loss.

Also, there was no need for the spewing of lies. For how long would we allow the truth to be our enemy?

Sincerely, Ron Cheong

For how long will we treat truth as our enemy?

Sincerely, Dr Tara Singh

See additional letters on page 17

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish CXC English and Mathematics questions with specimen answers.

CXC QUESTIONS

MATHS

ENGLISH

B

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare

No Fear

Act 1 Scene 1 Cont’d Exit MARINERS BOATSWAIN: What, must our mouths be cold?

GONZALO: The king and prince at prayers.

Let’s assist them, for our case is as theirs.

SEBASTIAN: I’m out of patience.

ANTONIO: We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards. This widechopped rascal—would thou mightst lie drowning the washing of ten tides!

GONZALO: He’ll be hanged yet, though every drop of water swear against it and gape at widest to glut him.

A confused noise within VOICES (within) Mercy on us!—We split, we split!— Farewell, my wife and children!—Farewell, brother!—We split, we split, we split!

ANTONIO: Let’s all sink wi’ th’ king.

SEBASTIAN:Let’s take leave of him.

Exeunt ANTONIO and SEBASTIAN GONZALO: Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground: long heath, brown furze, anything. The wills above be done, but I would fain die a dry death.

Questions

Exeunt

What is this scene about?

Where is the action taking place?

List the characters What underlying conflict becomes evident as the scene progresses?

NEWS

7

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Petition to stop elections declaration

Chief Justice expected to rule on Sunday ...GECOM Chair to await court’s decision

Chief Justice Roxane George

C

hairperson of the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, has given an undertaking to the High Court to put on hold all matters relating to the declaration of the March 2 elections’ results until the determination of the new proceedings filed by another APNU/AFC supporter, Misegna Jones.

In an application filed on Tuesday, Jones is seeking a number of orders from the High Court to essentially bar GECOM from declaring the final results of the elections based on the figures emanating from the National Recount process.

During a virtual case management hearing held

by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George on Wednesday, Attorney-at-law Kim KyteThomas, who is representing the GECOM Chair – the second named respondent in the proceedings - assured the court that the seven-member Commission will not take any actions or

decisions until the completion of the matter.

“I believe [the GECOM Chair] has conducted herself throughout all these proceedings in a certain manner, and I believe, Your Honour, a similar approach will be taken in respect to these matters. So, I don’t believe there should be any apprehension by any party here that any decision would be made which would somehow make the exercise of this court’s jurisdiction in some form of futility. My client has never conducted herself in that manner,” Attorney Kyte-Thomas contended.

Wednesday’s virtual case was the first time the Supreme Court of Judicature of Guyana has streamed live proceedings from the High Court.

whether substantive or interlocutory, when the applicant has not done so.

In fact, Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes added, “We expect the Attorney General to be neutral in these matters, and not take a side… It is improper for the Attorney General to be seeking relief as a respondent when the applicant has not made any applications whatsoever.

The applicant’s legal team, which is being led by Trinidadian Senior Counsel John Jeremie, was experiencing technical difficulties at the time, and only made a request for an undertaking by GECOM after the fact. They were nevertheless informed by the Chief

AG’s improper application

This undertaking was given on behalf of the GECOM Chair after an application was made by Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams, who is the fourth-named respondent in the matter. His associate in the proceedings, Attorney Maxwell Edwards, wanted to ensure that the GECOM Chair does not proceed to make any “declarations or decisions” in relation to the issues that were before the Court.

However, both Trinidad Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and Attorney-atLaw Timothy Jonas objected to the AG’s application.

Jonas argued that since he is a named respondent in the matter, the AG cannot make an application,

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Justice that such an undertaking was already given

by Attorney Kyte-Thomas on behalf of the GECOM Chair.

Oral arguments

Meanwhile, during Wednesday’s case man-

The virtual court proceedings on Wednesday

agement hearing, Justice George set this Friday for the hearing of oral arguments by the various parties in the matter, and outlined the schedule for that session.

Prior to this, however, she received a number of applications from several other parties that contested the March 2 elections to be enjoined in the proceedings.

These include the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate Dr. Irfaan Ali and General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo. Also joining in the proceedings were: Change Guyana (CG) and The Citizen Initiative (TCI), A New and United Guyana (APNU), Liberty and Justice Party (LJP), The New Movement (TNM) and the United Republican Party (URP).

While SC Jeremie had no objection to the additionally parties being added to the proceedings, he expressed concerns that the sheer number of new applicants could delay the case, and he further questioned

what they might add to the proceedings.

However, Justice George dismissed those concerns as well as suggestions that she consolidate the applications from the new parties and only adding one to the proceedings to prevent the case from being drawn out.

The Chief Justice noted that it would be difficult for her to choose which party to include in the proceedings.

“In the interest of justice and fairness, I would allow all of the persons or parties, through their counsel, who are seeking to join to do so,” she stated.

On this note, the Chief Justice detailed the timelines by which all the parties in the matter would have to file their written submissions, which would take them into Friday – hours before the scheduled marathon hearing of arguments.

Moreover, Justice George indicated that she is hoping to deliver a decision

by Sunday, but this would be dependent on Friday’s proceedings.

US tells de facto Granger Govt to...

Senate Foreign Affairs Committee supports

Meanwhile, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee threw its support behind the steps being taken by the State Department.

The committee, which is chaired by Senator James Risch, noted that it is “long past time” for the incumbent to begin the democratic transition of power.

“I applaud the State Department’s actions today to hold accountable Guyanese officials who have undermined democracy and delayed results from Guyana’s March elections.

It’s long past time Guyanese authorities begin a democratic transition of power that reflects the confirmed results,” Risch said in his statement via his official social media account.

Granger’s “regret”

But Granger, who was celebrating his 75th birth-

day on Wednesday, in a statement, expressed regret over the visa restrictions announced by the US. According to the statement, Granger claims that he has always abided by the Constitution, and the electoral matter that APNU/ AFC initiated is still in court.

“The Executive Branch has not participated in the undermining of the electoral process, and urges all countries interested in Guyana’s development to await the logical conclusion of the process, which is being managed by the Elections Commission in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana,” the statement said.

While the Ministry of the Presidency claimed that the Executive has never interfered in the running of GECOM, the case currently in the court was launched by an APNU/AFC support-

riousness from individual visa restrictions to financial sanctions that can impact the economy.

Election results

GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

er. The case has effectively put a stop to GECOM declaring the results of the recount, similar to what Eslyn David, an APNU/AFC supporter, tried to do previously.

Many have theorized, and the US itself has said,

that visa restrictions are only the first step in imposing sanctions on a Government that is in the process of going rogue. US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch herself explained back in May that sanctions can range in se-

The national report had shown that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/ AFC coalition garnered 217,920. GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, had written to Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield on four occasions and directed him to prepare a final report based on the Recount.

Instead, Lowenfield, in the first instance, submitted a report invalidating over 115,000 voters based on unsubstantiated allegations of dead and migrant voters made by the APNU/AFC. The GECOM Chair wrote Lowenfield again on three more occasions, directing him to submit his report; but, instead, he sub-

The Misegna Jones application was filed in the High Court on Tuesday by Attorney Mayo Robertson, who had also represented Eslyn David, another coalition supporter who had also tried to block the elections’ declaration. That case went all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and was eventually thrown out.

Among other things, Jones is now seeking a declaration that the Elections Commission does not have the constitutional authority to direct Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield.

This is despite the clear provisions of Section 18 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act No 15 of 2000. Section 18 states that: “the Chief Election Officer and the Commissioner of Registration shall notwithstanding anything in any written law be subject to the direction and control of the Commission.”

The coalition supporter is also seeking a declaration that the GECOM Chair failed to act on the advice of the CEO. (G8)

FROM PAGE 3

mitted a fraudulent report in which he included the fraudulent declarations of embattled returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, which inaccurately shows that the PPP/C gained 80,920 votes while the APNU/AFC received 116,941 votes in Region Four.

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

And despite the lack of credibility in Mingo’s numbers, APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones went to court on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling GECOM to use the declarations from the ten Returning Officers, which include Mingo’s, to make a final declaration.

Oral arguments in that case begin on Friday. (G3)

8 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Fire at GECOM Wismar office

No arrests made, Fire Service probe ongoing

A

day after the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) sub-office at Burnham Drive, Wismar, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was torched by arsonists, Police are yet to apprehend the alleged suspects.

The office, situated at Lot 2 Burnham Drive, was destroyed by fire in the wee hours of Tuesday. Regional Police Commander, Senior Superintendent Hugh Winter noted on Wednesday that there have been no viable leads so far as it related to the case. The upper part of the two-storey concrete building which housed the GECOM office went up in flames at approximately 01:55h on Tuesday morning as firefighters attached to the Linden Fire Station managed to contain the blaze and prevented it from spreading to nearby build-

The GECOM Wismar, Linden office on fire

ings.

When Guyana Times arrived at the scene, firefighters were battling the flames to prevent further spread.

Reports are that the guards who were on duty called a GECOM official at approximately 01:58h and informed that the building

was on fire. The Police and Guyana Fire Service were quickly summoned to the scene.

Speaking with this publication, one of the security guards who were on duty at the time said that she heard a loud bang around 01:55h.

This, she noted, prompted her to check around the building. She said that it was then that she again heard another loud explosion. The woman related that she then observed fire emanating from within the building along with the smell of gasoline. The guard told investigators that two males were observed running from the western side of the building. She added that the men ran through the nearby First Alley Street, Wismar, where they made good their escape.

Police questioned several persons in relation to the incident. (G13)

Triangular love affair

Miner died from multiple stab wounds – PME

A

s the Police in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) continue to hunt for the prime suspect in the murder of 30-year-old Teo “Max” James, a post-mortem ex-

amination (PME) showed that he died due to multiple stab wounds.

James, a gold miner of West La Penitence Housing Scheme, Georgetown, was stabbed to death on Monday

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during a confrontation relating to a triangular love affair.

The PME was conducted

by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Wednesday.

Police have since said that the suspect, known as “Tallman” remains on the run.

Based on reports received, the now dead man and the suspect had a relationship with the same woman. According to reports, James returned to Bartica after visiting his family members in Georgetown, only three days before he was killed.

His sister, Simone

Dead: Teo James

Parker told Guyana Times that the family was informed by another sibling who is also a miner, that their brother was playing a game of Bingo when the suspect allegedly sneaked up behind him and stabbed him several times about his body.

The dead man’s sister claimed that the murder stemmed from an argument between the suspect and the woman, with whom both men shared a relationship. The sister claimed that the woman heard that James had returned and reportedly told her other lover that he could not visit her any longer.

Parker said the suspect reportedly told the woman that “I will show you that will never happen”.

Subsequently, “Tallman” allegedly pounced on James.

After the attack, James fell to the ground, and was rushed to the Bartica Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An investigation is still ongoing. (G9)

The first lash…

G

…falls on the Granger regime uyanese had understandably become a bit anxious with the US’s evident reluctance to back up their tough talk on Granger and his rigging combine with some real action. Didn’t they understand that if they allowed a two-bit imposter like Granger and company to get away with thumbing their noses at the American Eagle, they were encouraging chaos in this hemisphere?? Who knows? The next thing you know, one of those islands with 400 people (according to Raphael Trotman!) might just decide to invite Kim Jong-un to deploy some of his A bombs on their sunlit beaches!! Pointed at the US! Well, on behalf of the Trump Administration, US Secty of State Mike Pompeo just put the first “jumbie lash” on Granger and his sordid bunch of riggers. Took away all their visas and those of their immediate family members. No names were mentioned as yet…but we know who they are, don’t we?? And it’s not just Mingo and Lowenfield and the Three (govt) Stooges on the GECOM Commission – it includes all the riggers who’ve been hiding behind the scenes.

Pompeo couldn’t be clearer as to who he had in his sights – “all persons responsible for and complicit in undermining democracy in Guyana”. That’s a veery wide net!!

We’re talking about Ministers, officials, party members, and all those lawyers scurrying with all these frivolous suits to the Courts - just to prevent Claudette Singh from declaring the results of an election held almost FIVE MONTHS AGO!! And their families!! On top of the list, of course, is the Sanctimonious Gangster himself: David Granger – but not his son-in-law!! Actually, the most interesting part of Pompeo’s statement wasn’t the visa sanctions, but his calling out of Granger by name!! In the past, when threatening Guyana, US Government officials had referred to ‘the Guyana Govt”.

Not this time!! Pompeo was explicit: “The Granger Government must respect the results of democratic elections and step aside!” The Granger Government!!

When, in the world of diplomacy, a threat moves from the anonymous “Guyana govt” to the personalised “Granger Govt”, you know Granger’s days are numbered. Next, it’ll be the “Granger regime” and then “Granger’s illegal regime” – right next to “Maduro’s illegal regime” next door!!

But the PNC has already signalled that this first lash mightn’t be enough. Aubrey Norton, whoM Hoyte had once contemptuously dismissed as his “creature”, came out in defence of Granger – most likely because of their hatred of Hoyte??

He insisted the PNC under Granger remains the Government of Guyana, and that sanctions aren’t going to make them budge!! We know he’s whistling in the dark.

Let’s see what happens when all their (recently fattened) bank accounts are frozen!! …is reinforced Now we know – if for no other reason than we all have relatives in the States – that the American political scene is quite polarised. Especially when an election’s coming right up in November. So when Democratic Senators from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee – and then the entire Committee - explicitly point out their differences with Republicans Trump and Pompeo – but totally support the administration’s sanctions on Granger’s Government, you know the PNC has no wriggle room. And hot on the heels of the American action came the Brits and Canucks preparing their censure.

The PNC had probably become emboldened by the fact that the CCJ really has no enforcement mechanism to ensure that their judgements were followed. They realised that the CCJ assumed they were decent citizens who observed the rule of law that holds us together as a society.

Where are the CCJ’s bailiffs, they must’ve snickered?

Well, the international system has worked out its own methods of enforcement – based on treaties, for instance.

Moon a run till day ketch am!! …doesn’t mean it’s over Your Eyewitness has been warning from day one that the PNC will not go down easily. They really don’t care about even their own supporters.

Guyanese have to remain disciplined, and not fall for the PNC’s provocations.

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

9 Canada vows to “hold accountable” persons undermining Guyana’s democracy NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…willing to use “all tools” to ensure democracy prevails

Foreign Minister FrançoisPhillipe Champagne

T

he Canadian Government has announced that it will be using “all tools” at its disposal to ensure democracy prevails in Guyana, and that those trying to steal the will of the Guyanese people will be held accountable.

In a statement from Global Affairs Canada, the country’s Foreign Affairs Department, the Government of Canada denounced the delay in announcing Guyana’s election results. Canada has supported calls from the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and others for the Recount Results to be used.

“Canada strongly regrets the extended delay in

declaring election results in Guyana, a delay that has now lasted more than four months since elections were held on March 2,” Global Affairs Canada said on Wednesday.

“We support calls by the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Commonwealth, the Caribbean Court of Justice and civil society organizations to announce the results based on the National Recount, as validated by the CARICOM Observer Mission.”

Global Affairs pointed out that it was these results that were validated by the CARICOM Observer Mission whom President David Granger had declared as the most “legitimate interlocutors” in Guyana’s election controversy.

Moreover, Canada noted that in the interest of democracy, a declaration must be made as soon as possible.

The Canadians added that they will work with their international partners and use “all tools” at their disposal to ensure democracy prevails, and those who opposed to democracy in Guyana are held accountable.

With this message coming on the same day as the United States (US) announcing visa restrictions on offi-

cials in Guyana, Canada’s reference to “all tools” has taken on significant meaning.

“In the interest of the democratic rights of the people of Guyana, Canada firmly maintains that the rule of law and democratic processes must be respected and a dec-

“In the interest of the democratic rights of the people of Guyana, Canada firmly maintains that the rule of law and democratic processes must be respected and a declaration be announced without further delay” – Canada’s Govt laration be announced without further delay.

“Canada will continue to work with its partners in the international community, using all tools at our disposal to demand a swift and transparent conclusion to the election process, and hold accountable those who prevent it,” Global Affairs said.

Development partner

Like the other ABC countries, Canada plays an integral part in development in Guyana, providing funding for various initiatives and programmes. It was Canada that funded the Improved Access to Justice in the Caribbean (IMPACT Justice) mediation training programme in Guyana.

Another project was the Promotion of Regional Opportunities through Enterprises and Linkages (PROPEL), which was funded

by Canada and worked alongside the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) to improve the agro-processing sector.

Last month, it was announced that Guyana was among fifteen other countries in the Caribbean who would receive part of Canadian $7.5 million in funding for the purposes of combating COVID-19. Again, this was courtesy of the Canadian Government.

Canada’s statement came on Wednesday, the same day that United States (US) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that visa restrictions would be slapped on officials who are involved in undermining Guyana’s democracy.

De facto President David Granger

De facto PM Moses Nagamootoo

The international community has in fact been unified in urging that only the results from the certified National Recount be used. Those results had shown that the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition garnered 217,920.

Despite clearly losing the elections, however, APNU/ AFC have been dogged in their determination to hang on to power and delay the process, first going to court to block the recount, and then blocking the declaration of the results based on the recount.

They have also em-

braced the fraudulent declaration made by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, which if combined with the other declarations, gifts APNU/AFC with an overall win. However, the recount showed that Mingo inflated votes for the coalition and subtracted votes from other parties to reach his conclusion.

And despite the lack of credibility in Mingo’s numbers, APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones went to court on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to use the declarations from the ten Returning Officers, which include Mingo’s, to make a final declaration. (G3)

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Granger intellectual author of conspiracy to rig elections – PPP …says sanctions against APNU/AFC, electoral officials justified

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

T

he People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) says that caretaker President David Granger -- who is also the Leader of the PNCR, the leading party in the APNU faction of the Coalition -- is behind the blatant attempts over the past four months to rig the March 2 General and Regional Elections in Guyana.

“No doubt, Mr. Granger is the intellectual author, and is in charge of the conspiracy to rig the March 2nd 2020 Election. Not once has he condemned the naked fraud attempted by [Region Four Returning Officer] Clairmont Mingo and [Chief Elections Officer] Keith Lowenfield,” the party said in a statement on Wednesday.

Back in March, Mingo had made two controversial declarations of the Region Four results, Guyana’s largest voting district. Those results were widely criticised by stakeholders as well as the international community as lacking transparency and credibility. This led to the conduct of a National Recount, during which it was unearthed that the RO had heavily inflated the numbers to give Granger’s Coalition a landslide victory.

According to the Recount Results, the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC obtained 217,920 votes – a difference of some 15,416 votes.

Despite directions from the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh, CEO Lowenfield has failed on several occasions to submit his final elections report based on the Recount Results. In his two recent reports, he dumped over 115,000 votes in one report which was later invalidated by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and in the other report, he used Mingo’s discarded figures to give the caretaker Coalition a win.

All of these reports have been rejected by the GECOM Chair, who has

since instructed the CEO to resubmit his report using the Recount Figures, otherwise she would have the Deputy CEO prepare and submit the Elections Report in order to pave the way for the final declaration of the March 2 elections results.

Lowenfield was supposed to present his report on Tuesday, but this was not done after APNU/AFC supporter Misegna Jones filed legal proceedings to block GECOM from going ahead with the declarations.

According to the PPP/C, this is another attempt to compel GECOM to declare perverted elections’ results so that Granger can steal the next Government.

“Every one of [Granger’s] Ministers (is) on record, in Guyana and overseas, canvassing support for their blatant attempts to corrupt the electoral process, and defending those who are directly carrying out this illicit design,” the party noted.

Among those persons, it said, are caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Joseph Harmon, Raphael Trotman, Cathy Hughes and Khemraj Ramjattan.

The PPP/C said they have all hurled “vitriolic abuses” at every person and organisation locally, regionally and internationally who dared to criticise their conduct since March 2, 2020.

On the heels of international threats of serious consequences and sanctions if Guyana does not have a legitimate government, the United States on Wednesday announced visa restrictions for individuals responsible for, or complicit in, the undermining of democracy of Guyana. Those persons’ immediate family members are also affected.

The PPP/C, in its missive, said these sanctions against officials of Granger’s government as well as electoral officials are justified.

“These sanctions were long intimated. Granger and his Cabal mocked those who spoke of them. Now that the sanctions have finally come, he sanctimoniously pleads his and his Government’s innocence.

Everyone acquainted with the facts would agree that the sanctions are justified in the circumstances,” the party noted.

However, in response to the US’ announcement, Granger’s caretaker administration denied participating in the undermining of the electoral process, or interfering with the functioning of GECOM. But this, according to the PPP/C, is classic David Granger at work.

“Guyanese are well

aware of the deceptive strategy of Granger; that is to say, remaining in the background and orchestrating his minions, including Ministers of his Government, candidates and leaders of his political party, his Commissioners at GECOM, and even his party supporters, to front his unconstitutional, undemocratic, illegal and sinister political agenda, and when they are exposed, he appears in the public with a glib denial of any wrongdoing and repeats his sanc-

Caretaker President David Granger

timonious pledge to obey the Constitution, to adhere to the rule of law, to comply with court rulings, and to promise non-interference with the operation at GECOM,” the party noted.

It went on to detail that this is exactly the approach reflected in Government’s response to the US today. The party pointed out that in addition to denying undermining the electoral process, the Coalition Government is also urging all “to await the logical conclusion of it, which is being

managed by the Elections Commission in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana”.

The PPP/C posited that “Guyana, the Caribbean, and indeed the Western Hemisphere can bear testimony, first hand, to Granger and his Government’s multiple, transparent and vulgar attempts at undermining the electoral process and interfering with GECOM in the discharge of its mandate in conducting elections and declaring the legal results of those elections.” (G8)

12 NEWS UK Govt “discussing” sanctions for APNU/AFC, elections officials over electoral fraud – source THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

File photo: President David Granger speaking with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the sidelines of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. At the time this photo was taken, Johnson was the British Foreign Secretary

A

s pressure continues to mount on the David Granger-led A Partnership for National

Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) Coalition to concede defeat and allow the duly-elected Government

to take over the reins of power, the United Kingdom authorities have also begun discussions on imposing sanctions on government and elections officials who are undermining Guyana’s democracy.

A reliable source close to the British Government has confirmed that “discussions” have commenced although no definitive decision has been made as yet.

The UK Government has been among the international community unified in a call for the APNU/ AFC to concede to its defeat at the March 2, 2020 polls. In a recent joint statement with US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch, Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee, and European Union (EU) Ambassador Fernando PonzCanto, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn said that it was critical for the will of the Guyanese people to be respected.

The UK is a major developmental partner of Guyana and has been actively involved in funding several projects over the past years.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced that visa sanctions have been imposed on Government and elections officials and all others who are involved in undermining Guyana’s democracy.

Canada, also on Wednesday, issued a statement calling for a “swift and transparent” conclusion to the electoral process and pledged to hold accountable all those persons

who prevent such.

The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has won the elections with 233,336 votes; however, the Granger-led APNU/AFC coalition is refusing to concede defeat despite mounting international pressure.

In fact, the coalition Administration has been given multiple warnings that its failure to respect the will of the people will be met with consequences.

Granger backpedals : now speaks about ‘conditions’ to accept GECOM’s declaration

C

aretaker President David Granger has switched gear again, shifting from a position he outlined a few weeks ago that he would accept “any declaration made by the GECOM Chairman” to one in which he is now saying that he “would abide by any declaration that the Chairman makes in keeping with the laws of Guyana”.

GECOM Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh had ordered Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith

Lowenfield to prepare his report for final declaration using the certified recount results which show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has won the elections with in excess of 15,000 votes more than Granger’s incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition.

On several occasions before, Granger had said that he has never interfered and would never interfere with the work of the Elections

Commission, since it was an independent constitutional body, and he would abide by any declaration made by the GECOM Chairperson.

However, now that the national recount has confirmed that the PPP/C has emerged as the winner of the March 2 polls, Granger’s coalition is now engaged in a relentless push to discredit the recount process and to revert to the March 13 declarations made by the 10 Returning Officers (ROs).

The March 13 declara-

De facto President David Granger

tions include the fraudulent figures by District Four RO Clairmont Mingo. His declaration was proven to be false during the recount process as it included heavily inflated numbers in favour of Granger’s APNU/

AFC coalition.

The GECOM Chair, during Monday’s Commission meeting, set aside those declarations by the 10 ROs. This means that the only valid results standing are those from the national recount.

Further, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) endorsed the national recount, which was agreed to by the President and Leader of the Opposition, following the huge controversy over Mingo’s discredited declaration.

The CCJ, in its clear, definitive decisions handed down, said the recount results must be used as the basis for Lowenfield’s final report and it was for GECOM to ensure that the CEO complied with this directive.

Last weekend, Lowenfield, in clear defiance of the CCJ’s ruling,

news@guyanatimesgy.com

GECOM’s Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

presented a report for declaration which included Mingo’s fraudulent figures and which showed a false victory for the APNU/AFC coalition.

However, on Monday, that report was refused by the Chairperson, who then directed the CEO to present another report on Tuesday, based on the Certificates of Recount generated from the recount.

Lowenfield has since refused to carry out the Chair’s directive. Just prior to the time set for the submission of the report, a move was made to the court

by APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones, who is seeking to block GECOM from making a declaration using the credible recount results.

Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George has since held a case management session and has fixed Friday for oral submissions. She has since indicated that Sunday may be the tentative day for her ruling.

NEWS

13

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Small grouping trying to “hijack” Guyana’s elections – Caricom Chair …says new legal action an abuse of court, vexatious

Caricom Chairman, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves

C

hairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has called out the “small group of persons” both in and out of Guyana whom he said is trying to hijack Guyana’s March 2 elections.

In an opinion piece on Wednesday, PM Gonsalves said that what should be a straightforward matter of counting votes in a normal democracy has become the equivalent of a “long-running soap opera, pregnant with real danger” for the people of Guyana and the Caribbean Community.

“The entire world realises that a small group of persons in and out of Guyana are seeking to hijack, in plain sight, the elections, and thus the country. Competitive elections deliver, necessarily, winners and losers. When you lose, you take your loss like a grown man or woman, and you move on peaceably to the role which the voters, in their collective wisdom, have assigned you… Yet, the dangerous games continue to be placed by a minority of persons associated with the political entity which has plainly lost the election. They are literally

playing with fire, commotion, disorder, and civil war,” he asserted.

Dr Gonsalves went on to note that the charade ought to be brought to an immediate end and there be a declaration by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in keeping with the clear mandate delivered by the voters of Guyana and in accordance with the Laws of Guyana and the recent Caribbean Court of Justice’s (CCJ’s) judgement.

Last week, the Trinidad-based regional court invalidated the ruling by Guyana’s Court of Appeal as well as the fraudulent report of Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield in which he dumped over 115,000 votes. The CCJ, in its ruling, ordered GECOM to made a declaration on the basis of the results of the National Recount, which shows that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the elections by over 15,000 votes more than its main political rival, the caretaker APNU/AFC Coalition.

Claudette Singh, has been seeking to bring finality to the elections through relevant decisions, declarations, and directives in accordance with the Laws of Guyana

attacks that have been launched against leaders in the region, as well as staff of the Caricom Secretariat located at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

He stressed that leaders in the community cannot, and must not, appear to be indifferent to, and detached from, what is happening in Guyana – a magnificent country, and its industrious people who, according to the Head of the regional bloc, are important to Caricom.

“We are in solidarity with the people of Guyana. We defend on an ongoing basis the territorial integrity of Guyana. Today, CARICOM defends democracy in Guyana; we defend the voters of Guyana; we are on the side of the angels in the stand-off between those who reject the people’s verdict and those who insist, properly, on its observance, recognition, formal declaration, and implementation.

Guyana, as the host to the headquarters of Caricom, as a signatory to the Charter of Civil Society, the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, and other fundamental documents of relevance, has certain fundamental obligations to Caricom. A rogue clique within Guyana cannot be allowed to disrespect or disregard with impunity the clear, unambiguous ruling of the CCJ. The time for decisive action is shortly upon us,” he asserted.

The Caricom Chair further stated that he is deeply disturbed at reports that politically-aligned persons in Georgetown have been threatening, defaming, and verbally abusing leading personalities in the Caricom Secretariat, including the Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin La Rocque.

This, he underscored, is wholly unacceptable. To this end, he

“The entire world realises that a small group of persons in and out of Guyana are seeking to hijack, in plain sight, the elections, and thus the country. Competitive elections deliver, necessarily, winners and losers. When you lose, you take your loss like a grown man or woman, and you move on peaceably to the role which the voters, in their collective wisdom, have assigned you…

Yet, the dangerous games continue to be played by a minority of persons associated with the political entity which has plainly lost the election. They are literally playing with fire, commotion, disorder, and civil war,” – Caricom Chairman Dr Ralph Gonsalves

Abuse of court

According to the Caricom Chairman, the CCJ’s judgment on Guyana’s long-running saga was lucid, and as Guyana’s highest and final appellate court, it is authoritative.

“Thus any attempt, however ingeniously clothed, to litigate all over again this or that matter upon which there has been a final determination or upon which the CCJ has pronounced authoritatively is tantamount to an abuse of the process of the court, or is frivolous and vexatious,” he noted.

PM Gonsalves further outlined that since the CCJ’s judgment, the GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice

and the judgement of the CCJ. He noted her central focus has been to get the valid votes as identified or defined by the CCJ counted, but at every turn, GECOM has been frustrated by its recalcitrant Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

Moreover, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Head of State pointed out that even Caricom, the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union (EU), the Carter Center, and other independent observers, including those from the governments of Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have pronounced on this matter essentially with one voice – that GECOM must use the Recount Figures to make a declaration of the elections results.

Attacks on Caricom leaders, staff

On the other hand, the Caricom Chairman also condemned the vile

De facto President David Granger

publicly called upon caretaker President David Granger to denounce those who have been engaged in such threats, defamation, and verbal abuse.

“The voices of all decent men and women of democratic temper must join in the denunciation and condemnation of those whose nefarious agenda is antithetical to everything that is good and honourable in our Caribbean civilisation,” he contended.

Moreover, Prime Minister Dr Gonsalves stated that these same “vile and vulgar” persons, having failed in their attempts to curse and bully Prime Minister Mia Mottley, former Prime Minister of Barbados Owen Arthur and himself for speaking out against blatant attempts to rig the March 2 elections, have now turned their attention to senior staff members of Caricom and other reputable persons in Guyana and the Caribbean Community.

“We must continue fearlessly to do the right thing. The evil of the anti-democratic brigands must not be allowed any space to triumph. I await, soonest, the declaration by the Chair of GECOM of the results of the elections. It is long overdue!” the Caricom Chairman reaffirmed. (G8)

Brazil calls on “political forces” to respect recount results

T

he Government of Brazil, Guyana’s southern neighbour, is calling on certain “political forces” in the country to respect the will of the people, and for the elections’ declaration to be based on the recount results.

The Brazilian Government, in a statement on Tuesday, said it has been following closely the developments of the general and regional elections held in the Guyana.

Pointing out that it has been four months since Guyanese went to the polls, the Jair Bolsonaro Administration has said it considers the delaying of the conclusion of the electoral

process “a serious threat to stability in Guyana”, and “a departure from democratic commitments that the country must observe in the regional and hemispheric context.”

Against this backdrop, the Brazilian Government called for the will of the people to be respected.

“The Brazilian Government calls on Guyanese political forces to respect the popular will emanating from the elections, in line with the recent sentence of the Caribbean Court of Justice, in order to guarantee the prompt official announcement of the country’s new representatives,” the press release noted.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro

This is the first time that the Brazilian Government

has commented on the March 2 electoral impasse

in the country; it has now joined other regional nations to add its voice in calling for democracy to prevail in Guyana.

According to Brazil, it endorses the conclusions of the CARICOM Electoral Observation Mission regarding the smoothness of the recount procedure. Brazil said it further endorses the calls made by CARICOM as well as the Organisation of American States for the conclusion of the electoral process.

“Likewise, Brazil adds to the statements of CARICOM, the OAS, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, pointing out

the absence of impediments to the declaration of final results based on the votes cast in the Recount Process.”

The Brazilian Government further called on Guyana, an Associated State of MERCOSUR - a South American trade bloc -to remain among the South American nations committed to the highest democratic principles.

Guyana and Brazil established diplomatic relations on August 26, 1968.

Cooperation between the two countries covers a broad range of areas, including trade, health, agriculture, transport and security matters. (G11)

14 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC Govt must abide by recount results – US Congressmen …endorse GECOM Chair’s rejection of fraudulent reports

US Congressman Gregory Meeks

T

wo United States (US) Congressmen who visited Guyana and met with officials, including caretaker President David Granger, have now made it clear that only the Recount Results can be used to declare the next government; and moreover, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair Justice Claudette Singh was correct in throwing out fraudulent reports submitted to her.

Congressman Albio Sires, a Democrat representing New Jersey, and Congressman Gregory Meeks, a Democrat representing New York, are also respectively the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade.

On Wednesday, they released a statement urging GECOM to promptly declare the results of the March 2nd, polls in order for a democratic transition of government to begin.

The Congressmen, who had travelled to Guyana in January, endorsed the calls being made for the electoral body to move ahead in using the Recount Results as the basis for a declaration.

“We commend the people of Guyana for their remarkable patience over the last four months, but they have waited far too long.

GECOM must promptly issue a Declaration of Results and begin the democratic transition process,” the Congressmen said in a statement today.

Their statement came on the same day that US Secretary of State Mike

Canadian and British High Commissions, and the Organization of American States.

“Guyana’s leaders must prioritise national unity and the long-term health of Guyana’s democratic institutions, and abide by the will of the Guyanese people as reflected in the Recount Results,” the Congressmen added.

According to the Congressmen, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), diplomatic missions, and civil society organizations in Guyana have all confirmed

“Guyana’s leaders must prioritise national unity and the long-term health of Guyana’s democratic institutions, and abide by the will of the Guyanese people as reflected in the recount results” – Chair, Vice-Chair, US House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee Pompeo announced that visa restrictions have been imposed on Guyana Government and elections officials who are engaged in undermining this country’s democracy.

While the two Democratic Congressmen expressed their reservations about the administration’s style, they were emphatic in their support for efforts to achieve a democratic transition of government in Guyana.

“We strongly support the multilateral efforts made to support the people of Guyana throughout this process, which have been led by Caricom and supported by the U.S. Embassy, the European Union, the

that the recount was completed in a professional and transparent manner, providing the basis for a declaration of the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

Fraudulent

They also had harsh words for GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who has consistently submitted every other report except the one the GECOM Chair has asked for, in order to make a final declaration.

“We condemn all efforts to undermine the credibility of the March 2nd election, including recent actions taken by the Chief Elections

US Congressman Albio Sires (right) in conversation with President David Granger during a visit to Guyana in January 2020

Officer to effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters and manipulate the vote count.

“We fully support GECOM Chairwoman Claudette Singh’s decision to dismiss all of the Chief Elections Officer’s fraudulent reports, and are confident that she will declare a winner based on the actual vote count, as certified through the Recount Process.

The National Recount had shown that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 217,920. GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, had written to Lowenfield and instructed him to prepare a final report based on the recount.

Instead, Lowenfield had submitted a report invalidating over 115,000 voters based

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

Among other decisions, the CCJ ruled that Lowenfield’s report, which arbitrarily disenfranchised voters, was invalid, and that the concerns raised by the APNU/AFC coalition must be addressed in an elections petition.

The GECOM Chair wrote Lowenfield again, instructing him to submit his report so that the President could be declared. However, Lowenfield then engaged in a back-and-forth with the Chair in which sections of the CCJ judgement were twisted and misconstrued.

He then submitted a

fraudulent report to Justice Singh, in which he included the fraudulent declarations of embattled returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, which inaccurately shows that the PPP/C gained 80,920 votes while the APNU/ AFC received 116,941 votes in Region Four.

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

And despite the lack of credibility in Mingo’s numbers, APNU/AFC supporter Misenga Jones went to court on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling GECOM to use the declarations from the ten Returning Officers, which include Mingo’s, to make a final declaration.

Oral arguments for that case begin on Friday. (G3)

Another COVID-19 death recorded … 5 new cases, 132 active T he Public Health Ministry has confirmed that Guyana has registered its 18th COVID-19 related death, along with five new cases.

Dead is 74-year-old Milton Paul, of Campbellville Housing Scheme, Georgetown. Guyana Times understands that the man died at the Georgetown Public Hospital on Sunday shortly after he was tested for COVID-19. The result of the test was returned after he died, but the Public Health Ministry only confirmed his death on Wednesday to the media. This publication was told that the pensioner was taken to the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit of the medical facility, and was later transferred to the transition ward where he died.

This comes almost four days after the last COVID-19 death and just over four months after the country’s first case on March 11.

Guyana has also recorded five more confirmed COVID-19 cases.

These cases have been recorded in

Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Region One (Barima-Waini,),

and Region Two Supenaam). They

(Pomeroonhave now

brought the number of confirmed cases to 313.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen Gordon-Boyle on Wednesday announced that there were 132 active cases in institutional isolation, 10 persons in institutional quarantine and five patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Meanwhile, the number of recovered cases remains at 156.

Guyana’s 17th COVID-19 fatality, which was recorded on July 11, was Geerjadai Jagnarine, 69, of Lot 408 Seventh Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD). She died three days after she was transferred from the Georgetown Public Hospital ICU to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where she was said to be recovering.

Prior to Jagnarine’s death, the country’s 16th COVID-19 fatality was 76-year-old May Portsmouth, who hailed from Friendship, ECD. Portsmouth succumbed while receiving treatment in the ICU at

the Georgetown Public Hospital.

About 24 hours before Portsmouth’s death, Donna Ambrose, a 25-year-old teacher of Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), was recorded as Guyana’s 15th COVID-19 victim. The country’s 14th COVID-19 death was that of 34-year-old Abdool Khan of Bartica, who died while receiving medical treatment at the ICU. On June 29, 42-year-old Kevin Ridley of Albouystown, Georgetown died. Based on reports, Ridley was admitted to the A&E Unit after he was unable to breathe as usual.

After conducting a COVID-19 test, doctors at the hospital found that Ridley was positive, he died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

In a subsequent COVID-19 daily update, Dr Gordon-Boyle underscored that Guyana, a country with fewer than one million people, has recorded a “very high” COVID-19 death rate. (G9)

NEWS

15

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Eastern Airlines aircraft skids off CJIA runway Car hijacked by …201 Guyanese onboard gun-toting bandits found in Eccles A n Eastern Airlines aircraft carrying over 200 passengers skidded off the runaway shortly after landing at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident occurred at some time around 14:30h at the south-western end of the runway.

According to CJIA Public Relations Officer Shunza

wheels slid off the runway.

Because of the persistent rainfall over the past few days, the wheels got stuck in the damp mud.

At the time, there were some 201 passengers onboard the flight that landed from New York. The airline was conducting a repatriation flight to bring home Guyanese.

The CJIA PRO noted that there were no injuries

One set of the aircraft’s front wheels skidded off the runway

Nevertheless, the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has launched an investigation into the ‘minor’ incident. Only last August, an American Airlines aircraft suffered a blowout from a raised runway light at the CJIA. That incident occurred just after midnight as American Airlines flight AA1512 was taxiing down

Samuel, while the Boeing 767 aircraft landed safely, the incident occurred as it was taxiing.

Samuels told Guyana Times that the aeroplane was negotiating a turn to head to the airport apron to allow passengers to deplane when one set of the front

to any of the passengers or crew members. The aircraft also did not suffer any damages.

Samuels noted in a subsequent missive that “The quick response by airport authorities has resulted in the situation being remedied.”

ing, which damaged the wheels of the Airbus A319 plane. The temporary lighting system was installed to facilitate ongoing extension works at the CJIA runway.

Earlier that month, there was a failure in the runway lighting system, and a senior airport official had explained to this newspaper that the runway lights’ cables are usually run under-

None of the 201 passengers or crew members of the Eastern Airline flight was injured in Wednesday’s ‘minor’ incident

the runway for takeoff to Miami.

Guyana Times was told that the aircraft overran the temporary runway light-

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

ground and the lights are placed into the ground, but because of the ongoing extension works, temporary cables are being used. (G8)

The car that was hijacked at Buzz Bee Dam, Craig village, East Bank Demerara

A

hire car that was on Tuesday hijacked by two gun- toting bandits from “Buzz Bee Dam”, Craig village, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was recovered at Eccles Housing Scheme, EBD on Wednesday morning.

According to the owner of the vehicle, who is an employee of Diamond Cabs on the EBD, he was at work when the base received a call to make a pick up at the head of 14th Street Diamond, at about 19:00h on Monday. He related that when he arrived at the head of the street, he saw two men waiting.

“They left a contact number, and when I reach there, I stopped for them and I blow… before they entered the vehicle, they asked me how much to go to Buzz Bee Dam, I told them $600. They said alright, and one jump in the front one, jump in the back”, he explained.

The owner of the motorcar - HD 1318 - said the ‘passengers’ told him that they

were going to the last chicken farm at Buzz Bee Dam. He said when he arrived at the location, the suspect sitting in the front passenger seat of the car place the car in park, while the other placed a gun to his head.

“When the one at the back placed the gun to my head, the one at the front come around and take off my rings, take my phones. They tried to pull my chain, but it didn’t burst, they push me out the car, and by the time I could have run and call for help, they done gone,” the man related.

The driver further explained that it was extremely dark, and he could not see which direction the men turned with the vehicle. He said it was only a few days ago that he placed the car in hire, due to the COVID-19 situation and the struggle to find a job.

On Wednesday, when the car was spotted in Eccles, the Police were summoned.

The investigation is ongoing. (G9)

SYMPTOMS

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

Fever People who think they may be affected by coronavirus need to call the Public Health Ministry hotline 227-4986/624-3067 for further advice. They should not go to their GP, A&E, pharmacy or hospital.

If you have come into contact with somebody who may be infected, you may be told to self-isolate. People needing to do so should take "common-sense" steps to avoid close contact with other people.

(Adapted from BBC News)

Headache

Chills

Sore throat

Repeated shaking with chills

New loss of taste or smell

Muscle pain Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have mild illness.

16 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Miner found dead with Shift system for T&T abrasions to knees schools from September

A

31-year-old miner was found dead by his workmates with abrasions to both knees at the Kumung Kumung Backdam, Mazaruni River, Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).

Dead is Denzil Prince of Bartica, Region Seven.

According to reports, some time between 16:30h and 18:30h on Tuesday, Prince, an employee to a dredge owner, of West Indian Housing Scheme,

Bartica, left the working area without informing anyone.

The dredge owner told Police that the last time he saw the now dead man was about 16:30h as he was leaving the mining pit. Reports are about two hours after Prince left the worksite, his colleagues were informed that his body was found on the road on his All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV). The dredge workers who found the now-deceased man said

when they discovered him, he was slumped over and motionless on ATV CG 6474 about one mile away from the Kumung Kumung landing.

He was taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A preliminary examination of the ATV via photographs also showed a bent front grill and left fender.

A post-mortem examination (PME) is expected soon. (G9)

Tanker sought by US over Iran sanctions was 'hijacked'

A

n oil tanker sought by the United States over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers' organisation said on Wednesday.

Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear what happened on board the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the US. David Hammond, CEO of the United Kingdom-based Human Rights at Sea, said he took a witness statement from the captain of the MT Gulf Sky, confirming the ship had been hijacked.

Hammond said 26 of the

Indian sailors on board had made it back to India, while two remained in Tehran, without elaborating.

Hammond said he had no other details on the vessel.

TankerTrackers.com, a website tracking the oil trade at sea, said it saw the vessel in satellite photos on Tuesday in Iranian waters off Hormuz Island.

Hormuz Island, near the port city of Bandar Abbas, is some 190km (120 miles) north of Khorfakkan, a city on the eastern coast of the UAE where the vessel had been for months.

In May, the US Justice Department filed criminal charges against two Iranians, accusing them of trying to launder some $12m to buy the tanker, then named the MT Nautica, through a se-

ries of front companies.

The vessel then took on Iranian oil from Kharg Island to sell abroad, the US government said.

Court documents allege the scheme involved Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, which is its elite expeditionary unit, as well as Iran's national oil and tanker companies.

The two men charged, one of whom also has an Iraqi passport, remain at large.

Data from the MT Gulf Sky's Automatic Identification System tracker shows it had been turned off at approximately 4:30am on July 5, according to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic.com.

As tensions between Iran and the US heated up last year, tankers plying the waters of the Middle East became targets, particularly near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf's narrow mouth through which 20 percent of all oil passes.

Suspected limpet mine attacks the US blamed on Iran targeted several tankers. Iran denied being involved, though it did seize several tankers. (Al Jazeera)

I

T&T Education Minister, Anthony Garcia

f schools cannot follow covid19 safety guidelines with a full school population, a shift system will be put in place for the next academic year.

This was among guidelines in a Health Ministry document issued on Monday.

The cycle system proposed a 50 per cent student capacity, which will mean creating two groups for each class, who will go to school on alternate days.

“A school that has a five-day timetable…will then have a ten-day cycle (and at) schools with a sixday cycle, a 12-day cycle will have to be done.”

The cycle will alternate the days each group (labelled A and B) attends classes.

The document said said while group A will continue classes on day one, group B can access online material at home. The next day will be day one for group B, while group A uses online material at home. The following day will be day two for group A, continuing the cycle.

“Should the physical distance requirements at

any time be such that the capacity is further limited, an increased number of groups can be formed,” the guidelines suggested.

They also said a "blended learning" approach will also be implemented, so on days when students are home, the regular timetable can be followed.

"Blended learning" refers to a mix of learning methods and media.

“Teachers can organise for students to log on to pre-recorded lessons, videos, assignments, worksheets and other online resources on relevant topics.”

The guidelines also said while the Ministry of Education aimed at 100 per cent participation in online learning, a survey by the ministry both students and teachers were challenged by connectivity issues and/ or access to electronic devices.

It said to ensure no child gets left behind, teachers are encouraged to re-teach topics in which students had missed classes taught online because of these issues.

“Rooms with computers and internet access, exam-

ple computer labs and libraries, should be made available to students to access online activities at scheduled times during the day or after school,” it said.

The guidelines said the ministry is working on issues surrounding accessibility to devices and internet by all students and staff as well as educating parents on their role in supporting children in the new blended system of learning.

In addition to the “New Normal” guidelines which have already been implemented nationwide, the document also outlines classroom sizes, timetabling, psychosocial support, and a "blended learning" system.

Changes to classrooms for the next academic year include physically distanced seating six feet apart, based on the current recommendations from the Ministry of Health for CSEC and CAPE examinations taking place now.

The guidelines stated the Ministry of Health will determine the physically distancing requirements when schools reopen.

President of the Secondary Schools Principal Association, Ronald Mootoo said he is happy with the guidelines.

“Right now, it is actually what we would have indicated to the ministry we would like for them to give out, so it is satisfactory.

“There will always be one or two instances as we go along that we would have to negotiate, but for now, the guidelines are sufficient.” (T&T Newsday)

US sets record of more than 67,000 virus cases in 24hrs

T

he United States posted a new daily record of 67,632 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins

University, which tracks the spread of the disease.

The global leader in infections has seen a surge in the virus since late June, mostly in the south and west

of the country.

For the past 10 days, the number of new cases being reported has been between 55,000 and 65,000 every 24 hours. (AFP)

Twitter hack reaches Bill Gates, Joe Biden, Barack Obama

T

witter said it is working to fix a "security incident" after scammers hijacked high-profile accounts on Wednesday to dupe people out of money.

"We are aware of a security incident impacting accounts on Twitter," the messaging platform said in a tweet.

"We are investigating and taking steps to fix it. We will update everyone shortly."

The official Twitter accounts of Apple, Elon Musk

and Jeff Bezos posted messages attempting to convince people into sending cryptocurrency bitcoin in a massive scam.

The list of hacked ac-

counts grew rapidly to also include Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Uber, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, bitcoin specialty firms and many others. (AFP)

17

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

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

Never before was a Govt asked to demit office

Dear Editor, Guyanese everywhere welcome the statement of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, imposing sanctions on electoral bandits. For the first time in Guyana’s history, the US Government (first for any foreign administration) has asked a Government of Guyana to step aside after an election. The Granger Administration has refused to accept an electoral verdict that every foreign observer mission, diplomat, and democratic institution in Guyana says the incumbent was defeated. Now sanctions have kicked in to coerce acceptance of the democratic outcome.

This was not dissimilar to 1992, when the US coerced the PNC regime to accept the outcome of a democratic election. People say the PNC does not have a history of willingly submitting to the will of the electorate, requir-

ing intervention of the US as a guarantor of democracy in Guyana.

The Guyana regime needs to be reminded that US enduring security depends on respect for democracy in its backyard. The US can’t close its eyes to electoral fraud in this era. The US, like almost every democratic government around the globe, has called on the Government of Guyana to honour the result of the March 2 elections, as obtained in a recount of ballots that showed the regime lost to the PPP by 15,400 votes.

Those of us who studied comparative politics would know the ongoing mantra of US foreign policy on elections. The US is embracing democratic values and pushing back against authoritarian, undemocratic rulers.

Towards this end, the US rejects electoral fraud unlike,

say, during the period of the dictatorship, when the US was blind to fraud in order to keep out the communists who would have won democratic free and fair elections.

It was the strongest statement yet from the Secretary of State calling on Granger Administration (by name) to step aside. The regime is now targeted with a wide net for sanctions. Even lawyers who are prostituting themselves with frivolous cases before the court would face sanctions. The lawyers ought to know better, and stop fooling clients that they have a legal case when there is no hope.

No judge would rule against the CCJ, the final arbiter of the law.

The US isn’t playing games any more on democratic behaviour. If a regime continues to be defiant and feels the US would leave Guyana alone, the treatment

of Manuel Noriega of Panama serves as a reminder. He was picked up by US troops in an invasion and flown to US for a trial, where he was convicted and served over twenty years.

Then he was sent to France for another trial and conviction and further imprisonment. When his term finished there, he was brought back to the US for another life term.

Such hospitality would be given to riggers, including Ministers, financiers, bureaucrats, and judges and their family members. Also, those who have their children studying in the US could see their visas cancelled and deported.

As Pompeo stated, the US is very concerned about maintenance of democratic values in Guyana and other countries, and has repeatedly threatened sanctions on those involved in electoral fraud. The US recognizes that democracy and plu-

ralism are under assault in Guyana through attempts at rigging. Violation of basic rights are not permitted.

Such violations can’t be tolerated by democratic and freedom loving countries. The riggers can’t be allowed to undermine democracy and the rule of law.

That is why Guyanese Americans have been calling on the US to impose sanctions. No one should be spared – including those living in America who are urging people to take to the streets and threatening violence against supporters of democracy.

The US also recognises that the behaviour of some members of the coalition is undermining US authority in the region. The US can’t allow the regime to defy it and get away without sanctions, thus the noose is tightening around the neck of the defiant regime and those involved in

rigging.

Pompeo’s words are pointed. No court action can save the regime. No judge would risk another idiotic ruling like some earlier ones that would result in their fall in the dragnet of sanctions.

If the orders of members of the Elections Commission were not heeded: to prepare a report for declaration, more sanctions would be coming.

Next time, it would be of a harder nature, such as seizure of assets, and would include more family members, not excluding those studying as foreign students in America.

The honourable thing for the coalition is to accept defeat, congratulate Dr Irfaan Ali, and try to build a credible opposition to win the next election.

Dear Editor, The US has given the caretaker Mr “G” his best birthday gift today in celebrating his 75 years. Happy birthday sir, you deserve only the best, and good luck for more silver years. Do enjoy your birthday gift.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today, “Today, I am announcing visa restrictions on individuals who have been responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Guyana.

Immediate family members of such persons may also be subject to these restrictions. In my public statements since the election, I have been very clear that the United States stands with the Guyanese people, and that there would be consequences for individuals who seek to undermine democracy.”

Sanctions were instituted in the form of visa restrictions on a number of key individuals, including ministers, GECOM personnel, attorneys, other government officials and their families. It is expected that further sanctions to freeze their assets are under consideration.

We all anxiously await tomorrow’s 11:00h virtual meeting from the US Embassy.

Remember, the best is left for the last, and only the best would have the last laugh!

So many have been calling for sanctions, and eventually they did arrive, compliments of the US Government.

Patience is virtue, and it pays.

Guyanese have listened to all the calls made to maintain peace, especially from the PPP/C Party, and have remained calm. They have restrained themselves to desist from being influenced and not inciting any form of disruptive interferences.

This temperament has paid off. It is also understood that similar actions are in process from Canada and the UK. Guyana welcomes this latest move, and solemnly hopes that this will help to expedite an end to this fracas by the recalcitrant APNU/AFC Party led by a Dr. Jekyll-and-

Mr Hyde personality.

Roll back the clock, and within the past few weeks, the diplomats from the ABCEU would have met with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Guyana Defense Force, but not with the Police Force. Perhaps there was no need, because the unasked questions would have been answered upfront by the obvious display of their questionable reactions on various occasions. On Tuesday, a large crowd was allowed to assemble by the GECOM office in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions and in full view of the Police.

Again, the Police remained biased and failed in their duties, and they also continue to protect the CEO, Mr. Lowenfield.

The mad and bad Roman Emperor Nero fine-tuned his music, “fiddled” and slept while Rome was burning.

Perhaps, the Neuro sleep drink was named with him in mind. As the story goes, Nero wanted to clear a large area to accommodate his palatial complex, so he arranged for a fire to clear the aristocratic dwellings. Afterwards, he needed a scapegoat for his actions, so he blamed the Christians for the fire because of their apocalyptic belief that Rome and the world would end by fire. How convenient for him to achieve an evil motive and turn around and blame the innocent, hitting two birds with one stone! Again, a classic example of what’s playing out in front the eyes of Guyanese in broad daylight by the cabal of tyrants.

History scribed the terrible Georgetown fires (burning, looting) from the political disturbances from the 1960s when the thugs, inspired, supported and protected by Burnham, created mayhem.

Manipulation has always been the devil’s advocate to gain and maintain power by foul, and not by fair means.

Make no mistake, with all the recent fires, it has to be another devious plan well-orchestrated by the perpetrators of diabolic activities that can

only land in the lap of the obvious entity, one who has subscribed from the beginning of the election period to create ruckus, chaos, confusion, disruption, corruption and pandemonium.

Further mischief is indeed afoot. Tongue twisters will by busy pulling and tugging, changing the narrative and shifting the goal post in order to blame the other party by being barefaced. Controlling the state machinery for propaganda purposes is one of the pivotal pillars to cement a strong foundation towards achieving the success of dictatorship! Pull the string and the cap only fits one head, and it’s not a size all cap. As usual, the caretaker security public officer is at sea! But Guyana and the international community know who started this talk of “Slow fiyah, mo fiyah” and “War break.” As the ole people would say, “Mouth open, story jump out.” It is the truth that casually rolls off the tongue as a joke!

That, dear readers, has been their election campaign, and not “honesty, integrity and decency.”

The numbers in the thirties do play havoc with Guyanese (33 is not greater than 32/ the haggling of who gets the 33 seats). Again, recently, we were informed of 37 street lights gone missing. This had to happened in broad daylight (perpetrators pretending to do maintenance work?), all with consolidated inputs in camouflage to fool the innocent public.

Now, catapult your memory back to February 2006.

Remember when 35 guns vanished from the GDF’s armory at the base camp (30- AK-47s along with 5 pistols)? In whose hands did those guns ended up? What followed shortly afterwards? (still the cry for 400 + unjust deaths? Bring it on, i.e. another COI. Or the hands are burnt since Charran’s “bring it on” failed?) Just like the Rodney affair, these issues remain in limbo (deliberately).

Over the past four years, the Auditor General has ex-

pressed his frustrations, confirming the inability to secure proper records in order to complete various audits at various establishments. In most cases, records were damaged, destroyed, not available, not kept, not adequately maintained, and there were even officers refusing to cooperate and/or provide them. Going forward, you do not need to stretch the imagination as to what would be discovered, especially transactions pertaining to the last year.

As the work of the Madam Chair for GECOM continues to be disrupted and frustrated by the APNU/AFC Party, their Commissioners and the CEO, Mr Lowenfield announcing the results from the election recount, confirming that PPP/C won by some 15,000 votes over the APNU/ AFC Party, takes a back seat and has been further delayed because of the challenge filed, preventing GECOM from using CARICOM certified recount result to declare the legitimate winner. GECOM is awaiting the completion of that case with the High Court, scheduled for Friday and expected to conclude on Sunday with the decision by Chief Justice Roxanne George.

The PPP/C Party and the other opposition parties have thwarted all efforts on all occasions to prevent the APNU/ AFC Party to have their own way and forcefully swear in Mr. “G” as an illegal President and his Party as an illegitimate Government. The world has witnessed all the dirty tricks played by this cabal, listened to all their malicious lies, are aware of all their contradictory tongue-twisters, can read through all their controversies and propaganda, will no longer tolerate their vicious and devious attacks on the impoverished Guyanese people, will not be silenced by these monstrosities, will rebuff all their deceitful and dishonest statements, will not accept any of their unmerited and flagrant attacks on anyone who dares to speak out against their election rigging, and will place heavy sanctions

to enforce a quick and just conclusion to this election, starting from the very top and sparing no one who is guilty of election complicity and engaged in undermining democracy in Guyana.

This madness has to stop, and the international community has had enough of the APNC/AFC bullying behaviour and their role as a merry band of rogues. It is the US and the international community who has Guyana’s back covered. Of course, the APNU/ AFC Party has downplayed the US move and continue to categorically deny all these statements as false accusations, but this is only a rhetorical answer, and they are left with no other choice.

Their room for further manoeuvering has been cur-

tailed, and now it is only a matter of time. The US has spoken and answered their bluff, and Guyana is somewhat restful now and waiting for the curtain to come down.

Thank you, USA; and Guyana awaits further sanctions from their other friends, appreciative of all the hard work the international community has contributed, and do apologise for having encountered so much unnecessary embarrassment from this de facto fake and evil gang of masqueraders, who have been squatting in office for the past two years! Will the APNU/ AFC now listen and finally do the right thing?

Yours truly, Vishnu Bisram

Granger’s appropriate birthday gift

Respectfully, Jai Lall

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

Regional

Brazil’s Bolsonaro tests Peru’s Vizcarra shuffles Cabinet as pandemic takes toll positive for coronavirus again

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eruvian President Martín Vizcarra undertook a major government reshuffle on Wednesday, replacing more than half his Cabinet as his popularity has taken a hit due to the harsh economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and a lengthy lockdown.

Vizcarra installed lawyer Pedro Cateriano as Prime Minister to lead the cabinet, and changed up the key Energy and Mining Ministry, appointing economist Rafael Belaunde. The President kept his rockstar Economy Minister María Antonieta Alva.

Peru, the world’s number two copper producer, has been battered by the COVID-19 outbreak, with the fifth highest number of cases in the world despite a strict lockdown imposed in March. The economy has crashed as mining output sank.

In a sign of the unusual times, one of the new ministers took the oath by video while serving quarantine at home after testing positive for COVID-19.

The country’s Health

Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra attends a swearing-in ceremony at the Government palace in Lima, Peru, October 3, 2019 [File photo]

Minister, who came under fire over his handling of the pandemic, was also ousted, replaced by the surgeon Pilar Mazzetti, who held the same position several years ago and had been leading the COVID-19 Operations Command.

“In this new stage.... we will deepen the measures to accelerate the economic recovery and return Peru to the path of growth,” Vizcarra said in a speech at the Government Palace.

The Andean country earlier announced its economy contracted by 32.75 per cent in May from a year earlier, the third straight monthly drop as Peru heads for a deep contraction this year.

Cateriano, the new Prime Minister, made a pledge on social media before taking office: “I offer: sweat, honesty and democratic conduct for a more just and free Peru.”

(Excerpt from Reuters)

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matter, acting on behalf of the Dutch authorities.

Simpson Miller and four other senior PNP members are challenging, among other things, a decision by the Supreme Court in Jamaica to make an order that the Former Prime Minister, Phillip Paulwell, Robert Pickersgill, Colin Campbell, and Norton Hinds answer questions in open court from Dutch investigators probing J$31 million given to the PNP by the firm, Trafigura.

Defence lawyers for the five had argued that the Judge erred in his ruling and that his ruling was flawed.

They also argued that the individuals could not be compelled to cooperate with re-

questing foreign states, that the treaties have to be subjected to Jamaican laws, they already indicated they know nothing about alleged bribery in respect to Trafigura, and cannot help the Dutch authorities any further.

Under Dutch law, it is illegal for companies to donate to political parties and at the time of the donation, in 2006, Trafigura had an oil-lifting contract with the then PNP Administration.

The PNP had said the money was a donation, but Trafigura said it was payment on a commercial transaction. The party later reported that the money was returned. (Excerpted from CMC)

HRW Director Jose Miguel Vivanco

population and control movement, HRW said.

“These groups impose draconian rules to control coronavirus, terrorising civilians with threats, attacks and cold-blooded executions of those who don’t comply,” HRW Director Jose Miguel Vivanco said in a virtual press conference.

Left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and dissident former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who rejected a 2016 peace deal, were among those responsible, Vivanco said.

He also singled out criminal organisations such as the Clan del Golfo, saying they were looking to control civilians and tighten their hold over illegal mining, drug trafficking, and other activities.

According to HRW’s report, nine people have been killed by such groups, who use pamphlets and WhatsApp messages to broadcast rules including lockdowns and restrictions of movement for people, cars, and boats in provinces like Cordoba, Cauca, Guaviare, Narino and Putumayo. (Excerpt from Reuters)

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and circulated often in public without a mask, drawing criticism from public health specialists.

He has also said he was taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, an unproven COVID-19 treatment that he and US President Donald Trump have touted as a remedy for the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro’s pressure to use the drug alienated two Health Ministers who resigned in the middle of the pandemic. The Ministry is being led on an interim basis by an active duty army general. (Excerpt from Reuters)

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Illegal armed groups subject Colombians to ‘draconian’ virus lockdowns – HRW

eftist guerrillas and criminal organisations have attacked and killed civilians while enforcing curfews and quarantines they imposed across Colombia, ostensibly to fight COVID-19, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.

While the Government of President Ivan Duque declared a national quarantine in late March, illegal armed groups have imposed harsher measures in at least 11 of the Andean country’s 32 provinces, where they have taken advantage of authorities’ absence to subdue the civilian

diagnosis on July 7 after dismissing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it a “little flu” even as Brazil’s outbreak became the worst in the world outside the United States.

He played down the country’s mounting death toll – now over 74,000, out of nearly two million confirmed cases – and said his good physical condition would prevent him from developing serious symptoms if he got ill.

Bolsonaro has also sidelined medical experts in Brazil’s handling of the pandemic, pushed back against state and city lockdowns

Dismantle criminal gangs running Amazon mines, UN tells Venezuela ome gold, diamond and bauxite mines in the Venezuelan Amazon are controlled by criminal groups that exploit, beat and even kill workers, a United Nations investigation has found.

Venezuelan security and military forces have failed in preventing crimes and, in fact, have participated in some of the violence against the miners, the UN human rights office said in a report on Wednesday.

“Despite the considerable presence of security and military forces in the region ... authorities have failed to investigate and prosecute human rights violations, and abuses and crimes linked to mining,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.

“Authorities should take immediate steps to end labour and sexual exploitation, child labour and human trafficking, and should dismantle criminal groups controlling mining activities,” she added.

“They must also investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for human rights violations, abuses, and crimes.”

Her deputy, Nada AlNashif, was scheduled to pres-

PNP case to be heard by Privy Council next year he high-profile case involving former senior members of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), including former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, will come before the London-based Privy Council on March 1, next year.

Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Llewellyn confirmed the court date.

“Andrea Martin Swaby, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, was informed by the lawyers in England and she told me. We have lawyers in England appearing for us,” Llewellyn said.

The Office of the DPP will be appearing as the designated central authority in the

razilian President Jair Bolsonaro has again tested positive for coronavirus, he told reporters on Wednesday in Brasilia, suggesting he has yet to recover from an infection first diagnosed last week.

Since catching the virus, the President has said he remains in good health and he would resume his normal work schedule if he tested negative this week.

On Wednesday, he said he would get tested again in a few days.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain, first announced his

The miners who include young children lack employment contracts and are exposed to mercury contamination and malaria [AFP photo]

ent the report on Wednesday to the Human Rights Council, where Venezuela’s Ambassador Jorge Valero was expected to speak.

There was no immediate response from Venezuela, one of the UN body’s 47 members.

The UN report, referring to an area known as the Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO), said: “Much of the mining

activity within and beyond AMO is controlled by organised criminal groups or armed elements.

“They determine who enters and leaves the area, impose rules ... and gain economic benefit from all activity within the mining area, including through extortion in exchange for protection.” (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Trinidad: Man found dead in Police Station cell

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elatives of Gary Layne, who was found dead in the holding cell of the Arouca Police Station on Sunday afternoon, are calling for a full probe into what happened, as they claim he would never do harm to himself as he had his five-year-old daughter “to live for”.

According to a Police report, Layne, 30, of Mausica, was placed in a cell in the Homicide Bureau of Investigations Region II area of the station. He was waiting to be interviewed by investigators over a conspiracy to murder and gang-related offences.

However, officers who were checking on prisoners later found Layne unresponsive in the cell. He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, but was declared dead.

Crime scene investigators went to the station and examined the cell.

Investigators later conclud-

ed that Layne died by suicide.

However, a close relative who wished not to be named told Guardian Media on Tuesday that based on preliminary information they received from officers who worked that day, they do not believe it was a suicide.

Initially, the relative said they were told Layne hung himself with a pair of three-quarter jeans. However, the relative said they did not take a three-quarter jeans to him as a change of clothes.

“He was sent a pair of boxers and a short pants… no three-quarter pants and when we told the Police that, suddenly we were told that it was a long pants he used to hang himself, but Gary was never one to hurt himself. He loved his child and worked hard for her and would have never wanted to leave her in the world without a father.”

(Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

19

Around the World

OILNEWS

Florida virus deaths surge, vaccine research moves forward

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he numbers of people testing positive for COVID-19 in the United States continued to dramatically increase on Wednesday, raising fears about a mounting death toll, even as researchers announced that the first vaccine tested in the US had worked to boost patients’ immune systems.

Florida surpassed 300,000 total positive cases on Wednesday and 4521 deaths, according to the latest tally.

The new deaths raised the state’s seven-day average to 81 a day, more than double the figure of two weeks ago and now the second-highest in the US behind Texas.

The worrisome figures were released as news about

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTS) arrive with a correctional patient at North Shore Medical Center where coronavirus patients are being treated, in Miami, Florida, US [Maria Alejandra Cardona/ Reuters]

the experimental vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc was released.

“No matter how you slice this, this is good news,” Dr Anthony Fauci, the US

Government’s top infectious disease expert, told The Associated Press.

Key final testing of the vaccine will start around July 27, tracking 30,000 people to prove if the shots really

work in preventing infection.

Tuesday’s announcement focused on findings since March in 45 volunteers.

With the virus spreading quickly in the southern and western US, one of the country’s top public health officials offered conflicting theories about what is driving the outbreak.

“We tried to give states guidance on how to reopen safely ... If you look critically, few states actually followed that guidance,” Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Tuesday in a livestream interview with the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Tunisian PM resigns triggering political crisis

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unisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh stepped down on Wednesday, plunging the country into a political crisis as it tries to weather the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fakhfakh presented his resignation to President Kais Saied, a government statement said. Political sources told Reuters Saied

had asked him to do so as momentum grew in Parliament to oust the Prime Minister over an alleged conflict of interest.

Saied must now choose a new candidate for Prime Minister, but Parliament is deeply fragmented among rival parties and a failure to build another coalition would trigger an election.

The collapse of Fakhfakh’s

Government less than five months after it was formed will further delay urgent economic reforms and complicate efforts to handle any new surge in coronavirus cases after Tunisia brought a first wave under control.

Western countries have hailed Tunisia for its comparatively successful transition to democracy, since the 2011 revolution that ended

decades of autocratic rule despite periodic crises, but many Tunisians are deeply frustrated.

Since the revolution, the economy has stagnated, living standards have declined, and public services have decayed while political parties often seemed more focused on staying in office than addressing a long list of problems. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Hundreds protest in Moscow against reforms that may keep Putin in power

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ozens of people were arrested at a protest in Moscow on Wednesday against constitutional reforms that give President Vladimir Putin the option to remain in power for another 16 years, witnesses and a monitoring group said.

About 500 demonstrators, many of whom wore face masks branded with the word “no”, chanted calls for Putin to resign and held up banners against the reforms.

Police surrounded them and began making arrests late in the evening after participants started a march

Law enforcement officers detain a participant of a protest against amendments to Russia’s Constitution and the results of a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms, in Moscow, Russia, July 15, 2020

down one of the city’s main boulevards, with officers in riot gear forcefully round-

ing up protesters and placing them in vans.

Over a hundred people

were detained, according to the rights monitoring group OVD-info. There was no immediate confirmation from Police or the Government on numbers of arrests.

A vote earlier this month amended Russia’s Constitution, handing Putin the right to run for two more presidential terms, an outcome the Kremlin described as a triumph.

Opposition activists say the vote was illegitimate and that it is time for Putin, who has ruled Russia for over two decades as President or Prime Minister, to step down.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Trump has not ruled out sanctions on Chinese officials – official

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S President Donald Trump has not ruled out additional sanctions on top Chinese officials as a result of actions he took on Monday to punish China for its handling of Hong Kong, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said on Tuesday.

Trump signed the Hong Kong Autonomy Act on Monday. It allows him to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on Chinese officials and financial insti-

tutions involved in the imposition of China’s new national security law in Hong Kong.

Bloomberg News reported that Trump has ruled out additional sanctions on top Chinese officials for now, so as not to further escalate tensions with Beijing.

National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot noted that Trump last week issued sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials for their treatment of mi-

nority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

“In no way has he taken anything off the table with respect to further sanctions of party officials for actions in Hong Kong or on other issues. Any suggestion otherwise by anonymous sources is flat out wrong,” Ullyot said.

White House discussions are ongoing about potential targets for US sanctions over Hong Kong and no final decisions have been made, according to a person

familiar with the matter.

US policymakers have assembled a list of officials at various levels of the Chinese Government and Communist Party, the source said.

Among the names being pushed by some congressional China hawks is Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who has backed Beijing’s implementation of a new draconian national security law in Hong Kong, the source said.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Oil prices at 4-month high as US crude posts biggest decline, OPEC+ tapers cuts

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il futures climbed on Wednesday to mark their highest settlement in more than four months, buoyed by the biggest weekly decline in US crude supplies so far this year, even as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries-plus (OPEC+) committee reached an agreement to taper record production cuts starting next month.

“Any move OPEC+ made to ease the production cuts would be of some concern, but...improving market conditions, plus the pledge that some members would compensate for earlier overproduction, [have] helped to ease market fears,” Michael Lynch, President of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, told MarketWatch.

At the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee meeting Wednesday, OPEC+ said they will ease record production cuts of 9.7 million barrels per day to 7.7 million barrels per day starting in August through the end of the year amid signs of improvement in the oil market.

Participants in the deal who were unable to fully comply with the reductions in May and June, which include Iraq, will compensate for the added output. Including that compensation, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said actual cuts will be at roughly 8.1 million to as much as 8.34 million barrels per day. An OPEC+ document seen by S&P Global Platts, however, showed that 13 countries pumped above their quotas in the first two months of the deal by a combined 840,000 barrels per day.

Although “laggards are set to deepen cuts” in August and September to make up for “falling short their past target, we find unlikely that they will be able to achieve 100 per cent of compliance,” said Paola Rodriguez-Masiu, senior oil markets analyst at Rystad Energy, in a market update. “In the case of Iraq, we believe that the target set to compensate the alliance is overambitious given Iraq’s dire economic need for oil revenues right now.”

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 91 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to settle at US$41.20 a barrel. September Brent crude, the global benchmark, ended 89 cents, or 2.2 per cent, higher at US$43.79 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. (Excerpt from Market Watch)

Elon Musk and Bill Gates “hacked” in apparent Bitcoin scam

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illionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates are among several high-profile individuals targeted by hackers on Twitter in an apparent Bitcoin scam.

The official accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kanye West also requested donations in the cryptocurrency.

“Everyone is asking me to give back, and now is the time,” a tweet from Gates’s account said. “You send $1000, I send you back $2000.”

The tweets were deleted just minutes after they first were posted.

On the official account of Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief appeared to offer to double any Bitcoin payment sent to the address of his digital wallet “for the next hour”.

“I’m feeling generous because of COVID-19,” the tweet added, along with a Bitcoin link address.

As well as rapper Kanye West, former US President Barack Obama, and Democratic presidential can-

Elon Musk’s account was among those requesting Bitcoin donations

didate Joe Biden, major companies Uber and the Apple Corporation were targeted.

In the short time it was online, the address displayed in the tweets received hundreds of contributions totalling more than US$100,000 (£80,000).

The Twitter accounts targeted all have millions of followers.

Twitter later said it was looking into the incident and would issue a statement soon. (Excerpt from BBC News)

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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

Be astute, learn as you go and take nothing for granted. Put your energy and time where they count and be willing to do the grunt work required to get what you want.

TAURUS

A deal that promises riches, beauty or popularity will tempt you. If it sounds too good to be true, do your research and interrogate your motives before you take a chance.

(March 21April 19)

(April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SUDOKU

Exaggeration will not be well-received. Stick to the facts, show compassion and take the high road when faced with opposition. Being at odds with the majority will leave you dangling.

Check out what others are doing to find inspiration for your next move. An unusual offer will entice you.

Make sure it’s what you want before you commit.

Participate in self-help programs and work on personal growth, enlightenment and compatibility with a loved one. Make health, fitness and peace of mind priorities.

Romance is in the stars.

Someone will let you down. Don’t rely on others to handle your responsibilities or stand up on your behalf. The shortest route to success is to do the work yourself.

Channel your energy into something useful. Getting involved in an argument won’t help you get ahead. Make personal improvements, educational pursuits and physical fitness your priorities.

Romance is featured.

New methods and innovative technology will make your job easier and encourage you to branch out in diverse directions. Modify conditions and circumstances in your favour.

A commitment will have SAGITTARIUS an emotional impact on (Nov. 23your life. Be prepared to Dec. 21) compromise and to fulfill your promises. Be honest with yourself as well as a partner or loved one.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

You’ll accomplish the most if you don’t rely on others. An opportunity will change your life and give you the momentum to tidy up loose ends and move on quickly.

Handle emotional situations with compassion and understanding. Pour your heart and soul into the home, family and personal growth. Share your feelings and do something beautiful for a loved one.

Emotional discord will disrupt your domestic scene if you neglect responsibilities and promises. You can’t buy love, so don’t spend money to impress others.

Joint ventures will face continued setbacks.

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

British & Irish Lions 2021 tour of South Africa confirmed for next summer

T

he British & Irish Lions will begin their eight-match tour to South Africa in the summer next year, ending any prospect of a global calendar starting in January.

The Lions have announced the itinerary for their shortest ever tour. It contains only two midweek fixtures, with the three Tests being played in one block from 24 July, because they are unable to wait any longer for talks over a global calendar to turn into action.

One proposal was for the global season to start in January, and for all the seasons in the two hemispheres to be aligned, with no overlapping of tournaments. It would have pushed the Lions tour back to September, but the four home unions acted now with 30,000 supporters expected to fly out for all or part of the tour.

“An enormous amount of planning, especially from a logistical perspective, goes into putting on a Lions series, so it was crucial that a decision was agreed upon in good time,” said Ben Calveley, Managing Director of the British and Irish Lions. “I am particularly pleased that we are able to provide some clarity for all those Lions supporters (who are) eager to travel to South Africa next summer.”

The tour will start with a match against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium, the venue for the second Test. The Sharks and

the Bulls provide the opposition for the other Saturday fixtures ahead of the Test series, with an Invitational XV and South Africa A providing the midweek matches.

The first and third Tests will be played at altitude in Johannesburg at the FNB Stadium and the Emirates Airlines Park respectively. The small number of warm-up matches and the likely inferior nature of the midweek opponents will make it difficult for players to compete for a place in the side in the first Test on an equal footing.

With the Gallagher Premiership and Guinness PRO14 seasons starting late because of the coronavirus lockdown, some Lions players will have no break before the start of the tour. Those taking part in league play-off matches would be vulnerable were they required to quarantine for two weeks on arrival in South Africa, where the virus is not expected to reach its peak until November. “The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of disruption to the sporting calendar; but, after extensive discussions, we are now able to confirm that the tour dates are as previously announced,” said Calveley.

Warren Gatland, head coach for the third successive tour, has not lost a Test series. The tight schedule -- even more than South Africa’s World Cup victory last year -- promises to make it his toughest assignment. (The Guardian)

21

Big Bash League focuses on prime time to keep fans, broadcasters happy

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he 10th edition of the Big Bash League will start in the shadows of the first Test between Australia and India in December, feature more primetime matches, and conclude on 6 February.

The BBL will begin on 3 December with a clash at Adelaide Oval, starting shortly after stumps on day one of the Test series opener in Brisbane.

Cricket Australia also revealed on Wednesday that the WBBL season would run from 17 October until 29 November. CA will keep the theme running throughout the summer: a day’s play between Tim Paine and Virat Kohli’s respective teams will be followed by a BBL game throughout the first, third and fourth Tests.

There will be no BBL fixtures during the second Test, a day-night clash scheduled for 11-15 December.

There are no changes to the length of the season in terms of matches, with CA keen to deliver what is stipulated in its $1.2bn rights deal with the Seven Network and Foxtel.

However, the governing body has tinkered with start times and stretched the BBL window as it seeks to appease broadcasters and fans.

There are notably fewer afternoon starts in the BBL, and no games scheduled in Alice

Springs or the Victorian town of Moe. Both the BBL and WBBL schedules may potentially have to change, depending on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic. The governing body is mapping out a range of contingency plans, having already included a three-week hub in the middle of the WBBL season.

“While we know that the challenging, fast-changing coronavirus pandemic could ultimately mean revisions to the schedule, there is nonetheless a lot to like about the way both competitions are shaping up,” Alistair Dobson, head of the BBL, said. “There are factors outside the league itself which could impact the fixture at a later date. That said, at this time, we are happy with the fixture as it stands.

“It should ensure that more BBL matches are played in prime time and enable the regular season to again finish inside the school holidays, which was a key objective, particularly in light of the busy international schedule planned for the coming summer.”

CA is yet to finalise rule changes, with the most notable shift likely to be a player draft for international signings. A total of 26 WBBL games will be broadcast live on Seven and Fox Sports, three more than last season.

(The Guardian)

Premier League & EFL Mashrafe Mortaza has summer transfer window recovered from COVID-19 from July 27 to October 5 F T

he Premier League and English Football League summer transfer windows will be open for 10 weeks: between 27 July and 5 October, subject to FIFA approval.

In addition, the Premier League and EFL say there will be a domestic-only window between 5-16 October.

"During this window, clubs will only be able to trade with EFL clubs (either loans or permanent registrations)," said a Premier League statement. "No transfers can take place between Premier League clubs in this period."

The EFL has also said any new signings by its clubs could not play until the start of the 2020-21 season.

"This is applicable to clubs involved in

the Championship play-offs," it explained in a statement, adding: "The window for international registrations closes at 23:00 BST on Monday, 5 October, with an agreement in place with the Premier League for an extended two-week domestic-only window, which will close at 17:00 on Friday, 16 October."

There has not yet been any announcement on a start date for the 2020-21 season.

Launching the new season on 12 September remains the most likely option, but that comes immediately after September's round of international games.

The Football Association and EFL are concerned that the reduced number of match dates would have an impact on their respective cup competitions. (BBC Sport)

ormer Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza confirmed on Tuesday that he is COVID-19 negative. His wife Sumona Haque, however, continues to test positive.

Mortaza, who is also a Member of Parliament representing the ruling Awami League party, was diagnosed with the virus three weeks ago, on June 20.

"I heard the results of the test this evening, which is negative," Mortaza wrote on his Facebook page. "I am thankful to everyone who prayed for me, was beside us, and showed concern during this time. But my wife is still COVID-19

positive, after two weeks of being diagnosed. She is doing well. Keep her in your prayers.

"I got treatment at home.

To those who are affected, stay positive. Keep faith in Allah, and abide by the

rules. Together we will keep fighting the virus."

Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Islam, who both tested positive three weeks ago, have also recovered after undergoing treatment at home.

(ESPNcricinfo)

22

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COVID-19 concerns looming for CPL L

ess than 24 hours after Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley claimed that someone impersonated someone from the Chief Medical Officer’s office and communicated false information to the organisers of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and two days after his explanation on the decision for T&T to host the tournament being partly an economic decision, as detractors took issue with players being allowed to enter the country, comes another turn.

T&T, host of the eighth edition of the cricket tournament, is facing another stumbling block, as strict protocols may see some of the international players deciding against participating in the annual T20 competition which is dubbed “The Biggest Party in Sports”.

Guardian Media Sports was reliably informed on Tuesday that, due to the strict health protocols called for by Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram, some of the franchise owners are up in arms, as it may see their foreign talent backing out.

It is understood that CPL officials are caught in the middle: trying to please the Government as well as the team owners. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CPL has decided to offer T&T the entire tournament, and last week, Minister of Sports Shamfa Cudjoe announced that the Government had agreed and was willing to invest US$1M

and the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando.

Meanwhile, during Monday's Ministry of Health virtual news press conference, and without revealing what is the name of the person, Dr Rowley chided the mischief that was attempted to derail the tournament and the arrangement between the two parties.

“There are people in this

T&T PM, Dr Keith Rowley

into the project.

She outlined that the foreign players would have to undergo a period of quarantine before being allowed to participate in the tournament. They are to provide a COVID-19 test which must show negative before leaving their country of origin. Then they must undergo another test on arrival at the Piarco International Airport.

Seven days after, they will have to undergo another test; and once they stay negative, they will then finish their self-isolation and be allowed to join up in small groups to train. After another seven days, they will have to undergo another test, and then they can be cleared to join their entire team for the tournament.

It means the players will have to be in Trinidad by August 1 to ensure that they undergo their quarantine period before preparations start for the tournament,

which is carded for August 18. The tournament ends on September 10, which means that the players will have to be in Trinidad for a month and a half. This may be too long for some.

Also, some team owners who want to come in are not happy with the fact that they will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period. It is understood that they can't stay too long away from their businesses; and as such, they are not happy with the length of quarantine. Talks are ongoing between the CPL and Ministry of Health and a decision has to come soon, as the time is running out.

The St Kitts Government is waiting in the slips to snap up the chance, should T&T pass it up. St Kitts has just the one venue at Warner Park, while T&T possesses two World-Class facilities in the iconic Queen's Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain

Simmons warns Windies must not be complacent at Old Trafford

P 223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

hil Simmons has warned the West Indies players not to become complacent as they go in search of a long-awaited Test series triumph in England.

The Windies were victorious by four wickets on the final day of a gripping first Test, played behind closed doors in Southampton.

You have to go back to 1988 for the last time West Indies won a series on English soil in the longest format, but they have two opportunities to put that right at Old Trafford.

Head coach Simmons says his players must focus on the job at hand when the second Test gets under way in Manchester today, when Joe Root returns to captain England.

Simmons said: "For me, it was a great win (the first Test) because I think that it signified a lot of hard work being done by the players over the last four or five weeks. But you don't come to England and just win a Test match. It was a top-class Test match, with good cricket played by both

teams, and even coming down to the last hour, it could have gone either way.

"To come out on top, it’s been great for us, and it was important because you don't want to have to chase England in England. So, the chasing is from their point of view now. But you guard against complacency by just trying to do the same things you did before the first Test.

“Right now, that Test match is history.

We've got to be thinking about what we do from (today) to Monday."

Simmons thinks the West Indies' preparation in the bio-secure bubble of Old Trafford paid off in the first Test. He said: "I think that has been the biggest influence on the performance.

I think the fact that we've been here for that period of time, we've had quality bowling in the nets because

we've had nearly 11 seamers here.

You can't put a price on that.

"I think that's something that we have to look at. I don't like to go back into my (playing) days, but we would come to England and play something like three or four proper warm-up games before the first Test, and we would also have three-day or four-day games in-between the Test matches.

"So, I think that period of training goes a long way to how we performed in that first Test."

(Sportsmax)

country who are prepared to undermine the national efforts so that the country will fail, so that they may succeed in their ambitions and their agenda,” he said.

Addressing the detractors who also took issue with CPL players being allowed to come into Trinidad and Tobago, Dr Rowley explained that it was partly an economic decision to benefit the country. (TT Guardian)

WI Captain Jason Holder plans to bat further up the order

A

t the prompting of former Jamaica and West Indies batsman Lawrence Rowe, West Indies Captain Jason Holder has revealed that he intends to move higher up his side’s batting order in the near future.

Rowe and Holder were both guests on the popular Mason and Guest sports talk show in Barbados on Tuesday night.

Rowe, 71, played 30 Tests for the West Indies between 1972 and 1980, scoring 2047 runs at an average of 43.55. In 1974, while playing against England in Barbados, Rowe scored a majestic 302 in a mammoth West Indies score of 596 for 8. However, injury, deteriorating eyesight, and an allergy to grass ended what promised to be an even greater career.

On Tuesday, Rowe was among guests that included Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves, Keith Mitchell and Mia Mottley, who engaged Holder in conversation as they celebrated the West Indies’ hard-fought four-wicket victory over England in the first Test of the #Raisethebat series played at the Ageas Stadium in Southampton.

The former West Indies

batsman had some words of advice for the West Indies captain: “I think you are batting a bit too low. I think your spot in this team is number 6, and I honestly think that you are one of the better players on the team. (You are) technically sound, you look the part, and you can play the part,” said Rowe, who during his playing days was an elegant and composed right-handed batsman.

“Coming 6 in the middle of the batting, if we have any problems, when you get to the wicket, at least we would have one of the topfive batting with you; and then, if so, later on down, you have the rest at the bottom.”

In response, Holder revealed that he had aspirations of moving up the order.

“I do believe I have what it takes to come up the order and bat,” said Holder, who is the number one-ranked Test match all-rounder in the world.

“I think (that) in the nottoo-distant future you will see me come up the order and bat,” Holder declared.

The West Indies will attempt to win the series when the second Test gets underway at Old Trafford today.

(Sportsmax)

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

Holder and team seek fresh start as England’s Joe Root returns

ꟷ Campbell fit to play

By Brandon Corlette

T

he second Test match begins today at the familiar Emirates Old Trafford, which the Caribbean men have made their second home. West Indies are 1-0 up in this historic three-match Test series, but that first Test is history. At 6:00h local time today, July 15, the two teams will renew their rivalry, and England would want to bounce back while Jason Holder and his troops would be aiming to close out the series.

On the eve of this second Test, Holder confirmed that opener John Campbell is fit to play; and while Phil Simmons called for centuries for the batsmen, captain Holder has also called for the batsmen to convert fifties into centuries.

Holder has also urged the bowlers to remain patient and play a consistent brand of cricket.

The focused skipper Holder, who blocks all outside noise, noted that spending so much time at Old Trafford in the build up to the second Test is not an advantage, as he believes the Englishmen are still in their own backyard.

While Holder was discreet

in team selection, he is backing Shai Hope to deliver after his recent Test struggles. "Going into the Test series, you want to give players a confidence boost.

Shai is a quality player. I have all confidence that he will deliver, he just needs to get himself in, and he will score for us," Holder posited.

Holder aims to capitalise on the first innings, and the process of posting a good first innings total and restricting England would remain the same mindset of the West Indies, in contrast with playing catch-up cricket. As World number one Test all-rounder and World number two Test bowler, Holder says individuals’ rankings are of little interest to him, but his main goal is to take West Indies to the top of the world of cricket.

Holder refuses to become complacent because he believes the win in the first Test is the first piece of the puzzle.

Sharing his sentiments on the return of the prolific Joe Root, Holder said the West Indies will have to back up their recent performance and play solid cricket against the world class England team.

Holder had the luxury of speaking to three Prime

Phil Simmons and Jermaine Blackwood in discussion

Jason Holder and Ben Stokes will continue their rivalry

Ministers of the Caribbean simultaneously on the Mason and Guest radio show on Tuesday. He described that experience as a great one.

The West Indies skipper was also pleased with the reception

from all the Caribbean people.

"To be on the show with the Prime Minister is great. I was blown away with how closely they followed it, and winning the series will be more pleasing for the Caribbean people,"

Holder noted.

Should the West Indies extend their dominance in this series, they stand on the verge of creating history. If the bowling remains potent and the batting clicks, West Indies would again be a handful for the Englishmen.

West Indies Test squad:

Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer and Kemar Roach.

2nd Test, WI v England…

Denly makes way for Denita Prowell: touching England Captain Joe Root lives through fitness

through a tough time, and I found that reading was an excellent way to cope. It helped me to get my mind in the right place.

“I also saw that my BMI (body mass index) showed that I was overweight, so I decided that I was going to lower my weight, and then I realised I should really get involved in fitness, as it makes me feel better at the end of the day or week.

It was a definite benefit for my mental health."

Q: So what made you want to start?

A: "So, the plan that I have right now, because of the enthusiasm I have for fitness and, as you know, I'd post pictures of myself and people would be inspired. And I was informed that I should put something out there that people should follow.

“The fitness plan that I have, I do it not because people suggested it, but I also see great health benefits for myself."

By Timothy Jaikarran

Q: What type of works are you doing?

A: Most of the time I have been doing cardio, but I have made a promise to myself that I would use this year to tone up my body. So, my current project at the moment is the toning and sculpting of my legs and thighs. I mean, usually I would hit the gym for that, but because of COVID-19 pandemic, I do them at home as I wait for this pandemic to subside.

or many, getting fit is the ideal goal in life, but with a rampant pandemic at large, getting fit in such a season is needed more than anything.

For Denita Prowell, fitness has become life. she started her journey, and over the months, has gained some followers on her various social media platforms. Her workout schedules entail some of the simplest yet entertaining HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts that are bound to work up a sweat; and to top it all off, these exercises can all be done at home.

In a sit-down with this publication, Denita was asked about her fitness journey, and she responded, “I started in 2016. I was going

Q: What do you hope to gain from this?

A: "Well, as mentioned, when I share my videos, I hope to inspire those at home. I want everyone to be active and experience that same level of benefit that I have received. I just want them to know that, besides improving their mental health, they can also lessen their chances of contracting noncommunicable diseases."

For those interested, Prowell can be followed on Instagram via depro_well, or by her YouTube channel: Denita Prowell.

F

E

ngland captain Joe R o o t has confirmed he will take Joe Denly's place in the side for the second Test against West Indies.

Root missed the first Test at the Rose Bowl – which the Windies won by four wickets – due to the birth of his second child.

However, the skipper has returned for the second Test, which starts at Old Trafford today.

The tourists are aiming to secure their first Test series win in England since

1988.

The 34-yearold Denly has made 18 and 29 in the first Test, played behind closed doors in Southampton.

With Root coming in at number four, Zak Crawley will move up to bat at three, the 22-year-old keeping his place in the side on the back of an impressive 76 in the second innings last week.

England have not confirmed the rest of the team, with the experienced paceman Stuart Broad vying to be included after was left out for the first Test. (adapted from Sportsmax and modified)

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2020

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

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Holder and team seek fresh start as England’s Joe Root returns Denita Prowell: touching lives through fitness Pg 23

Pg 22

COVID-19 concerns looming for CPL

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