Guyana Times Thursday July 2, 2020

Phased reopening of CJIA postponed due to spike in COVID-19 cases

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…curfew measures expire today Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4334

THE BEACON OF TRUTH THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

US State Department instructed to hold those who undermine Guyana’s democracy accountable

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Ali calls out APNU/AFC P2 “leaders” for fearmongering …urges them to be responsible

Page 7

…elections declaration of results “long past due” ꟷ Mike Pompeo P14 Guyana records 13th COVID-19 death … cases climb to 248

Caretaker President David Granger

Caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

President must Sugar, poultry, be elected forestry before COA’s contracted jurisdiction significantly invoked ꟷ CCJ hears in 2019 …as sparks fly during arguments, ruling set for July 8 “How can the Constitution grant exclusive jurisdiction to 2 courts on 1 issue?” ꟷ CCJ President asks Page 9

Page 12

Page 3

…as court examine ambiguities in defences from APNU/AFC lawyers

New GDF Chief vows to only support democratic Govts Page 12

Granger snubs coalition P11 partner’s call for APNU/AFC to concede

…refuses to accept defeat unless notified by GECOM

Berbice woman shot to head by reputed husband P10 Brazilian man crushed to P8 death by rock at Puruni Mines Fraudulent invalidation of votes

US must apply sanctions against Lowenfield ꟷ Center for Democracy P13

2 NEWS

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ali calls out APNU/AFC “leaders” for fearmongering …urges them to be responsible, stop driving fear in supporters

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

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n the wake of at times incendiary commentary on social media from some individuals, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali has urged that leaders be responsible and not contribute to, or use, fearmongering.

Ali made this pronouncement on Monday during a broadcast programme hosted by Television Guyana (TVG-28). He was asked about the fear that exists in sections of society regarding the elections, which the National Recount has shown the PPP won by 15,416 votes. He replied as follows: “A lot of the fear that exists today

comes from the type of narrative that people are spilling out there.

I don’t want to call persons who’re doing this (thing) leaders; they can never be classified as leaders. A leader is a transformational person,” he said.

“If you look at the (social media pages) of some of those who consider themselves leaders, their social media comments and what they’re calling for and insinuating, and the way they’re trying to mislead people, it is astonishing. That itself drives fear. What they’re doing is designed to drive fear and bring discomfort. It is designed to make you feel fearful, threatened existence.”

According to this presidential candidate, it is important that persons maintain perspective on shared values and the things that unite Guyana, rather than allow certain political leaders to use fearmongering tactics to gain political capital.

“So, we can’t succumb to that narrative. If we succumb to that narrative, then we’re playing into their hands. We have to destroy that narrative. And you can only destroy that narrative by embracing an inclusionary, collective vision for all Guyanese,” he declared.

“That’s why you have to stick on a narrative that is positive, one that promotes Guyana and

Caretaker President David Granger

Guyanese and love and harmony.

They can’t entrap you in a narrative. The real threats and issues must be addressed.”

Elections were held since March 2, 2020, but a winner is yet to be declared. The certified results from the legally conducted recount exercise supervised by GECOM and a high-level team from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) show that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes, while the APNU/AFC garnered 217,920.

However, APNU/AFC leaders have been dogged in their determination to hang on to power, and deny that they were defeated. The

leadership has been almost uniform in accusing the PPP/C and the international community of being in cahoots to remove them from power, despite the complete lack of evidence for those claims.

In fact, APNU/AFC has flipflopped from arguing that the elections were credible to seeking to impugn its credibility. In the process, they have also whipped up their base into the belief that they won the elections.

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

On the same day, coalition partner Justice For All Party (JFAP) founder CN Sharma broke away from APNU/AFC’s dogged refusal to accept defeat at the March 2 polls. In a statement, Sharma made clear that enough is enough and it is time for the country to move on.

He has chastised those bent on dragging out the process, and has extended congratulations to the PPP/C on their win. Sharma pointed out that the National Recount was carried out, and from the votes counted, it is clear the PPP/C is the winner. As such, he has urged that PPP/C

APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon

Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali be sworn in without delay.

Sharma has also called the last 108 days exhausting, and has said that people are starving and suffering, due to the economic slowdown triggered by the COVID-19.

And incumbent Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan was caught on a recording conceding defeat to his Ministry staff during a farewell speech he had given. In that speech, Ramjattan had acknowledged the PPP winning by some 15,000 votes, and had told the gathering he was willing to move on.

NEWS

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 2 – 02:30h-04:00h and 14:30h-16:00h and Friday, July 3 – 03:30h-05:00h and 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, July 2 – 14:15h-15:45h and Friday, July 3 – 15:10h-16:40h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Light rain showers will prevail throughout the day and into the evening, accompanied by thunder in the early afternoon hours. Clear to partly cloudy skies are expected for the rest of the evening. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: East South-Easterly to North-Easterly between 1.34 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 14:27h reaching a maximum height of 2.45 metres.

Low Tide: 07:57h and 20:15h reaching minimum heights of 0.65 metre and 0.77 metre.

“How can the Constitution grant exclusive jurisdiction to 2 courts on 1 issue?”– CCJ President asks …as court examines ambiguities in defences from APNU/AFC lawyers

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awyers who appeared on behalf of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Campaign Manager Joseph Harmon and coalition supporter Eslyn David found themselves in the hot seat as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) jurists grilled their respective defenses.

The case of Mohammed Ifraan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al came up for hearing on Wednesday before the CCJ. One such lawyer was Trinidad and Tobago Senior Counsel Reginald Armour, who was hired by APNU/ AFC Campaign Manager Joseph Harmon. In submitting his arguments, Armour emphasised that the CCJ does not have unlimited jurisdiction, but rather it pre-

that, “The Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a President in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution; and any decision of that Court under this paragraph shall be final.”

Contradiction

CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders

Appeal had jurisdiction in the first place.

The claim by APNU/AFC that the Court of Appeal has exclusive jurisdiction to rule

“Once you decouple Article 177(4) from the interrogation of a particular person, then you are saying that 177(4) also gives the Court of Appeal an exclusive jurisdiction to interrogate that same process as 163 gives to members of the National Assembly. How can a Constitution provide exclusive jurisdiction to two different courts to interrogate the same process?”

– Justice Adrian Saunders sides over sovereign states and thus must temper its jurisdiction based on these treaties.

“This application, having regard to the Treaty, cannot be entertained, and must be disregarded. Were this court to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal, you would have to satisfy yourself that the Court of Appeal was plainly wrong. The Court did nothing more than interpret the Constitution,” Armour said.

However, he soon found himself under questioning

by CCJ President Justice Adrian Saunders, who questioned Armour’s grounds for arguing that the Court of

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223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

on David’s case rests largely on Article 177(4) of the Constitution, which states

The judge pointed out that there is an inherent contradiction, since Article 163 of the Constitution grants the High Court the exclusive jurisdiction to determine any question regarding the qualification of someone as a member of the National Assembly, and also jurisdiction to determine the legality of an election.

“If 177(4) can be triggered when no one knows who is the individual whose election is being challenged as being invalid, then it must mean you are applying 177(4) not to a person, but to a process. The problem is, it is that same process that is necessary for membership of the National Assembly. The Constitution says the High Court has exclusive jurisdiction to interrogate ques-

CCJ Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee

tions relating to that process in relation to membership of the National Assembly,” the Judge said.

“Once you decouple Article 177(4) from the interrogation of a particular person, then you are saying that 177(4) also gives the Court of Appeal an exclusive jurisdiction to interrogate that same process as 163 gives to members of the National Assembly.

How can a constitution provide exclusive jurisdiction to two different courts to interrogate the same process?”

Saunders asked.

TURN TO PAGE 12

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guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 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

Time for Granger to come clean with supporters

T

he warning signs are clearer by the day. The APNU/AFC Coalition and all others, including those within the electoral machinery who are found to be involved in any way in preventing a fair and credible outcome of the March 2, polls, will face the wrath of international powers.

During a press briefing at the US State Department on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could not have been any clearer when he disclosed that he has instructed his Department to ensure that all of those who undermine Guyana’s democracy are held accountable for their actions.

Pompeo’s statement, along with many others within the past weeks, certainly sends another strong reminder that the international powers will do whatever it takes to ensure that, at the end of this process, a democratically elected government will be in place.

Caretaker President David Granger has been sending mixed signals about his intention to accept the certified results of the National Recount. In fact, he has now become famous for causing confusion in the minds of Guyanese with his pronouncements.

He plays with words when the nation expects him to be straight up and honest about his intentions.

Today marks exactly four months since the March 2 General and Regional Elections were held. The voting process itself was credible and endorsed by all stakeholders, with even the President and his APNU/AFC Coalition saying that the events on E-Day were very transparent.

However, what ought to have been a straightforward process in relation to the tabulation and subsequent declaration of a winner turned out to be a very contentious process due to the actions of certain elements within the APNU/AFC Coalition and the Guyana Elections Commission to derail elections and prevent the rightful winner from being declared.

We do not wish to rehash all that has happened following the blatant attempts to alter the results of the elections and to illegally hand a ‘victory’ to the incumbent Coalition. All this drama unfolded in front of the watchful eyes of the world, and was fully reported by the media.

Certainly, the post-elections events have been a national embarrassment, and have made this country a laughing stock in the eyes of the Caribbean and the world at large. It clearly shows that, after more than fifty years of independence, some of our leaders have not matured politically and are not willing to do the right thing in the national interest.

President Granger has always claimed that he would abide by the Constitution, but he has done very little to convince the nation that he is a man of his words. His firm grip on power following his government’s defeat via a no-confidence vote in December 2018, and now, more recently, his Coalition’s refusal to concede following its massive defeat at the polls, raise more questions about his commitment to what he promises he would do.

Both Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had brokered an agreement with the Caricom Chair, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, to have a high-level observer mission sent to Guyana to observe the National Recount of the ballots of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

Both leaders had publicly committed to accepting the results of the recount, as well as the report of the Caricom Team.

The team completed its task and submitted its report, which confirmed that the PPP/C won the elections by in excess of 15,000 valid votes. However, Granger is yet to come out and say unequivocally that he accepts the results of the recount.

After being in the shadows for some time now, the President appeared on a friendly radio station on Monday evening and indicated that he accepted the report of the Caricom Team, but in fact it seems he does only partially. During the programme, he spent much time cherry-picking certain sections of the report, which while important, are not considered to be the meat of the document. The President conveniently failed to identify the main aspect of the report, where it was concluded that the recount was transparent and credible, and should form the basis for the declaration of the results of the elections.

The President’s leading officials have since been engaged in a dangerous game by fooling Coalition supporters that they have won the elections, when the world knows that this is not true.

We appeal to the President to be honest and bring a halt to this irresponsible and dangerous behaviour. The truth is the PPP/C has won, and should be allowed to govern in peace.

Declaration must be good enough to stand up to scrutiny, to avoid international sanctions

Dear Editor, Members of Caricom, like GECOM Chair Claudette Singh, are applauded for standing by the people of Guyana in their struggle for consolidation of electoral democratic gains, which were first made in 1992 after the long struggle to win the right to vote in free and fair elections.

Other regional bodies, like the OAS and UNASUR, also supported electoral democracy in Guyana.

Guyana became the last among Caribbean countries to allow free and fair elections, years after Haiti and South American countries had ended dictatorship.

Guyanese and other pro-democracy activists and commentators had expressed skepticism regarding Caricom’s position on the ballot in Guyana, but the organisation did not disappoint when it called on the Government to respect the will of the people.

During the period of the dictatorship (1966 to 1992), Caricom did not condemn electoral fraud and authoritarian persecution in Guyana. The right to vote after 1992 was never in doubt, until the elections in March 2020, when rigging returned. All elections between 1992 and 2020 were democratic and certified by observers. All elections between 1966 and 1992 were

rigged.

Guyanese and other Caribbean people feel the country’s return to democracy in 1992 should never be under threat again, as had obtained when the colonial power departed in 1966.

In taking a united position on the ballot in Guyana, and threatening firm action against swearing in of a government based on electoral fraud, Caricom is reinforcing Guyana’s shift towards a democratic system.

Caricom, under PM Mia Mottley’s leadership, has signalled that it takes democracy seriously. Other international bodies and the powerful ABCE countries have taken a similar position. The whole world is in unison on democracy in Guyana. Electoral fraud will not be tolerated.

Between 1966 and 1992, the autocratic rulers of Guyana felt confident they could get a pass from their fellow Caribbean rulers and the ABCE countries on electoral fraud to keep out the communist PPP. But when communism collapsed in 1990 and Jagan’s PPP transformed itself and no longer posed a threat to Western interests, free and fair elections were allowed.

Caribbean leaders began to say no to electoral fraud in Guyana, and appear to mean it now.

Caricom leaders have,

since March 4, stepped up the pressure on Guyanese authorities to respect the will of the voters, and they call on GECOM to use the recount to make a declaration of the outcome.

Guyanese accuse GECOM Chair of pussyfooting on the declaration of the results.

The regional body proclaims a policy of zero tolerance for electoral fraud, violations of human and democratic standards, and military propping up of a dictatorship, as happened between 1966 and 1992.

After this electoral impasse is resolved, Caricom must promote good governance, especially in Guyana, where people suffered some three decades of authoritarianism and mal-governance ever since the country obtained political independence in 1966.

The region must encourage political pluralism, individual rights, civil liberties, and human rights that are indispensable to a thriving democracy.

But for now, a declaration of the outcome of March free and fair election is critical, as it is synonymous with democracy.

It cannot be business as usual, closing one’s eyes to electoral fraud as happened during the era of Burnham and Hoyte. Political parties in Guyana don’t pose any threat to western in-

terests. And it is for this reason that ABCE countries are backing democracy in Guyana. The declaration of the result must be good enough to withstand scrutiny and satisfy the international community so that the country can avoid international sanctions. Comments by ABCE, Caricom, Commonwealth, and OAS countries on the March 2 election cannot be seen as an empty gesture.

GECOM inspired little confidence among Guyanese for its handling of the count of votes, but after the election, it recovered its reputation during the recount.

The Chair, Claudette Singh herself, was commended for her position not to disenfranchise any voter during the recount exercise on account of Election Day errors of GECOM staff.

The global community and Guyanese urge her to act nobly and honourably. They pin their hope on the Chair to act decisively in rejecting the Lowenfield report, which disenfranchises 115K voters.

They feel she should prepare the final result herself, or get another staff member to do it, and declare the right winner in order to strengthen electoral democracy in Guyana.

Dear Editor, The Caretaker “Mr. G” does not see, for he is mentally blind and is catering to a cohort of citizens who are certified and confirmed as callous, cruel and cold-blooded.

A thoroughly established paper trail of insurmountable events validates this household claim, as the 14th century author Cervantes wrote, “The proof is in the pudding,” in his book “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote.”

“Mr. G” loves to clothe himself naked with a transparent cover of corruption, conspiracy, carelessness and contradictions; and when called out for his vulgar exposure, he seeks shelter behind the Constitution, Congress, the Commission and the Courts.

To calm his composure, he conveys his charisma for cooperation with CARICOM and the Commonwealth countries by condescending to “throwing others under the bus,” claiming ignorance, staying out of the limelight, or having someone else “wash his dirty dishes.”

His latest preposterous conversation with the

Benschop interview was not convoluted, and it was crystal clear that it was a well-rephrased propaganda mouth piece that was fed from “jamoon picking.” He knew how to leave the “cassa” (not ripe, bitter-sweet) ones alone, and only pick the ripe ones that will satisfy his appetite.

He clumsily ignored all the comments made by Caricom in their report that chastised him and his APNU/ AFC members, and where it was concluded that the recount was transparent and credible and should form the basis for the declaration of the results of the March 2nd elections.

But this does not daunt the people of Guyana, because they know that the entire global community is cognizant of this glaring misdemeanour. In fact, this mishap only backfired and contributed as a disadvantage to him and his rogues, because it confirmed to the world that they deliberately want to hide the truth, and it explicitly exposes their immoral character that everyone finds despicable.

This is exact-

ly what CARICOM, the Commonwealth, the OAS, the EU, the UN and the rest of the world are striving for, i.e. the prevention of any electoral fraud; holding of free and fair elections; only legitimate declaration from a valid result from an election count or recount; and encouraging truth, honesty and transparency in any government administration.

Guyana finds it gratifying that, finally, criminal charges are being filed against the GECOM CEO Mr. Lowenfield, for breaching the trust of the people and conspiring to commit fraud to alter the results of the elections. On four occasions, he presented fraudulent reports to GECOM, with fabricated figures that include invalidating over 115,000 votes.

This move is long overdue, and it is also heartening to learn that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, at a press briefing today, has instructed his Department to ensure that those who undermine Guyana’s democracy are held accountable.

A lesson must be taught once and for all that Guyana

needs to rid herself of all those who want to take for granted that they can get away with election corruption and fraud, and impose a government that does not concur with “the will of the people” from a free and fair election.

Freedom and democracy must prosper, survive, and be operable in a society that embraces liberty, equality and fraternity. The opportunity for fair competition, free from fear and violence, must strive in order for the health, wealth and economy of a nation to develop prosperously.

This type of action will guarantee that law and order will be maintained, and discipline will be restored to a system of decency and normalcy.

This country has suffered too long and too much from a state of depression; has endured too much oppression from dictatorial management, and the lives of its people have been suppressed from gross economic mismanagement.

As a result, people have been driven into a higher degree of poverty, and the country has been plunged into an atrocious stage of bankruptcy.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

People’s patience preserved in a precarious but precious position

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 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

What is an allegation?

Dear Editor, What is an allegation? The Oxford dictionary defines it as a claim that someone has done something wrong, but this accusation is typically made without verifiable proof. The key phrase in separating opinions from facts is “verifiable proof”.

invalidate a valid ballot. When the GECOM counting officials conducted the count on E-Day and the recount process in May/June 2020, they followed the lawful process and invalidated or rejected ONLY 4,213 of the votes cast in the presence of several non-GECOM stakeholders. This process

ularities that included ballots improperly stamped at locations where members of the disciplined services voted…”

Under Section 87 of the Representation of the People Act, Chp 1:03, a ballot is “rejected as invalid” once it fulfills any of the following criteria: 1. It does not have an official mark (meaning it was not stamped with the unique six-digit stamp at the back of each ballot paper).

2. It has not been marked for any party symbol.

3. It was marked in such a manner that it cannot be established for whom the candidate has voted.

4. It was marked for more than one party symbol.

5. It is marked in such a manner that the voter can be identified.

The law does not provide any other back-door means to

was done in accordance with the law, and ensured that credibility was preserved.

Despite this legal process, the PNC-led APNU-AFC continue to disseminate a series of false narratives and misleading information, such as “thousands of members of the joint services were disenfranchised on Elections Day because the GECOM staff failed to stamp their ballots….”. What is unfortunate is that a month after this PNC fantasy surfaced, the APNU-AFC has failed to provide any “VERIFIABLE PROOF”, but recklessly continued to peddle this blatant untruth in a press release issued on June 26, 2020, which states, “The Elections Commission recorded anomalies, discrepancies, and irreg-

by Mr. Joseph Harmon, one has to understand the process.

In selected ballot boxes, there is a sealed envelope containing the ballots of disciplined services (DS) voters.

These DS voters are members of the joint services who were selected to be on duty on E-Day. In the 2020 elections, across all 10 regions, some 8,086 DS voters (14.7%), cast their ballots a week before Elections Day. Those ballots were inter-mixed with 46,932 civilian ballots (85.3%) in 249 ballot boxes, aggregating to 55,018 ballots cast (see table below).

However, during the recount process, only 456 ballots (0.8%) cast in these 249 ballot boxes were rejected for a variety of legal reasons, one be-

For one to properly understand the absurdity of this allegation made by the PNC in its attempt to “evoke feeling” among the ranks, as admitted

ing the failure to have an official mark. I have had a chance to study all 249 of these SoRs, where the DS ballots were inter-mixed with civilian ballots, and found that only 52 of these 456 rejected ballots were invalidated “for want of official mark”. There is also no process by which GECOM or any

other source can determine if any of these 52 rejected ballots were DS ballots, civilian ballots, or a combination of both.

So it is most unfortunate that former Lt Colonel (rtd) George Gomes could have engaged in such ungentlemanly behaviour by stating in a letter to the media on May 30, 2020, that “over eight thousand (8,000) Disciplined Services votes were not stamped in the PPP strongholds in Districts 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6….” It is this sort of false narrative that is being peddled in the PNC’s quest to support an illegality being perpetuated today by the CEO in order to invalidate 115,844 valid votes.

Regards, Sasenarine Singh

Most duplicitous, fraudulent person who ever served as President

Dear Editor, Some weeks ago, I had written a letter to the effect that President Granger was innocent of the fraudulent machinations in the elections debacle. I had exculpated President Granger of the fraud and illegalities being carried out by the small cabal who are desperately trying to hold on to any straw to stay in office, even for a few days more; and I had said that he was their prisoner.

A friend of mine, who is a card-carrying member of the PNC, convincingly informed me of how Mr Granger was deeply involved in the skullduggery, and is the intellectual author of it all. Some of his points at random are: (1) At the PNC Party elections for Leader, Granger was standing against Carl Greenidge, and won by 7 (seven) votes. At this election, shots were fired and members were prevented from entering the premises, and it was widely believed that the election was rigged in Granger’s favour, and that Greenidge is the rightful winner.

(2) Two years ago, in an address to party supporters in America, Granger assured them that he would use President Burnham’s (rigging) techniques to win elections.

This was reported in the media.

(3) Granger’s illegal appointment of octogenarian Patterson as Chairman of GECOM was barefaced and crude, and it was left

Caretaker President on callous People's patience... quest for power by electoral fraud Dear Editor, It is utterly disgusting to read the words of caretaker President Granger as per news release, “The incumbent APNU+AFC continues to insist that the elections be decided not just on quantity of votes cast, but on the quality of those votes”.

Well, for Mr. Granger’s information and his edification, since he always has his own perverted interpretation of the Constitution and laws of Guyana, both the quality and quantity of votes cast in the March 2, 2020 General Elections have passed the test; and their validity has already been established beyond a shadow of a doubt at the places of poll, where they were counted and recorded as per Statements of Poll (SOPs).

Further, the quality and quantity of all the

votes from 2339 ballot boxes were tested by the National Recount exercise (plus the quasi–audit orchestrated

by APNU+AFC during the Recount exercise as part of their fault-finding mission and fallacious crusades) and they have been proven to be valid and in a state that reflected unison in both their quality and quantity in order to arrive at a figure of total valid votes, which is the basis for an official declaration of the national elections’ results.

So, as it stands, Mr. Granger, please be advised that any other means of deciding the ‘quality from the quantity’ of valid votes cast apart from the process outlined above will constitute electoral fraud.

Sincerely, Paul Ramrattan

The CCJ is currently entertaining the Appeal case from the PPP/C Party because of the election fiasco that materialised from the APNU/AFC involvement in preventing GECOM from successfully concluding a legal declaration from the election recount result, which confirmed that the PPP/C Party gained a majority of 15,000 valid votes over the APNU/AFC Party.

Also, at the back of the minds of Guyanese is the nagging issue of Venezuela’s illegitimate claim over Guyana’s rightful land that borders these two countries. This legal battle is being played out at the ICJ. The de facto APNU/AFC Government, headed by a caretaker Mr. Granger, continues to refuse to concede defeat, despite the entire international community advising them to do so.

This further jeopardises Guyana’s position to portray legitimacy and unity as a sovereign state. But the

band of a few renegades in the Coalition Party are beyond shame and disgrace; they lack the capacity to honour dignity and decency, and would rather embrace lies and deceit to guide them.

Over 120 days have elapsed since this country had election, and yet the people are being denied a result and left in limbo. COVID-19 is creating havoc in their lives with no end in any near sight, and the caretaker Government remains clueless for an answer to rigidly and successfully manage a prevention, preparation, prediction and control programme. Their lack of interest is consumed in pursuing an agenda to retain political control and power in this state.

All is not lost, and Guyanese are pinning their hope on the Madam Chair for the Guyana Elections Commission, the right honourable Judge (rtd) Ms. Claudette Singh. It is expected that she will take full con-

trol of the declaration of the election recount result procedure and utilise her power to maintain law and order, ensuring that all of the statutory officers comply with the rules and regulations of the Constitution. She has full autonomy, and maintains the authority to accept or reject any report that may assist or hinder her in arriving at a conclusion to make a final declaration that is in compliance with her instructions.

Guyana remains optimistic and awaits the conclusion of the CCJ’s legal case.

How will it end, and what will be its significance as a result? Will the APNU/AFC attack Mr. Mike Pompeo and charge him with “foreign interference?” Will there be a swearing in shortly? Will it be a new Government? Will the Madam Chair function in a fair and justified manner?

Will she uphold the result from the CARICOM verified election recount, confirming PPP/C as the new govern-

to the CCJ to order him to lay off with his fraud.

(4) Granger knew from the night of the elections, when he saw the SOPs, that he had lost. Mingo and Lowenfield’s crude attempts to change numbers were believed to have been done with his orders and connivance.

(5) Granger agreed with the CARICOM heads to have a recount, but then slyly tried to sabotage it by having one of his candidates, Ulita Moore, file an action in the courts against it, thus leading the CARICOM Heads up the garden path. He has issued no apology to them.

(6) Granger has done nothing to rebuke or rein in the PNC Party and its members from their nasty and vulgar attacks on the overseas observers, and most recently on CARICOM Chairman Mia Mottley.

This man is not the decent person I believed him to be, but is indeed the sanctimonious gangster. I am sorely disappointed.

Granger would go down in Guyanese history as being the most duplicitous and fraudulent person who ever served as President. I may be hoping against hope that Granger would, even at this eleventh hour, gracefully concede and shake hands with his successor, regroup the party, and go on to win the next elections.

Yours sincerely, Paul Validum Ramlochan

FROM PAGE 4

ment? Will the APNU/AFC still accept her decision? Will we lose any grass and curass to Venezuela? Will the reopening of the airport add to the woes of the Guyanese people? Will the people maintain precaution and social distancing, and not become complacent in observing strict compliance with COVID-19 requirements? Will law and order be maintained?

Guyana goes to bed tonight with more questions than answers, and people are uncomfortable with the saying, “what will be will be” (Que sera, sera). This song was played in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie, “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” The people need to know more in order to know how to go forward. Meanwhile, the people’s patience is prevalent, preserved and pertinent in this precarious but precious position.

Respectfully, Jai Lall

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

Page

Foundation

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

CXC QUESTIONS

MATHS

ENGLISH

B It Is The Constant Image Of Your Face

By Dennis Brutus

It is the constant image of your face framed in my hands as you knelt before my chair the grave attention of your eyes surveying me amid my world of knives that stays with me, perennially accuses and convicts me of heart’s-treachery; and neither you nor I can plead excuses for you , you know, can claim no loyalty – my land takes precedence of all my loves.

Yet I beg mitigation, pleading guilty for you, my dear, accomplice of my heart made, without words, such blackmail with your beauty and proffered me such dear protectiveness that I confess without remorse or shame, my still-fresh treason to my country and I hope that she, my other, dearest love will pardon freely, not attaching blame being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness Questions

Summarise the poem What is the subject of the poem?

Who is the persona?

List and discuss the literary devices used in the poem Describe the mood of the poem and discuss how it is created List and discuss the themes of the poem Describe the form of the poem and discuss its effectiveness How do you feel about this poem? Discuss your reaction Suggest an alternative name for the poem, citing evidence found within the text

Sample summary

“It is The Constant Image Of Your Face” by Dennis Brutus is a love poem, detailing his two “dearest” loves and how he is conflicted, unable to give either primacy in his heart, as he loves them both: “I confess without remorse or shame, my still-fresh treason to my country and I hope that she, my other, dearest love will pardon freely, not attaching blame being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness”.

In the first stanza, the love interest accuses him with her eyes of unfaithfulness, but he tells her that she “can claim no loyalty”, and either of them can make excuses for his behaviour, because she knows his land is the first of his loves. Yet, in the second stanza, the persona elevates his lover to equal status with his land, his “other, dearest love”, confessing how the lover beguiled his unwilling heart with her beauty and protectiveness in a world full of danger. This love is “still-fresh” and “without remorse or shame”, and the persona hopes his country “will pardon freely, not attaching blame” for his human attachment, as his land is equal to or exceeds his lover “in tenderness”.

NEWS

7

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

US State Department instructed to hold those who undermine Guyana’s democracy accountable …elections declaration of results “long past due” – Mike Pompeo

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo

Caretaker President David Granger

he United States of America’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said he has instructed the Department of State to ensure that those responsible for undermining democracy in Guyana are held accountable for their actions.

He made the statement while addressing the US media and commenting on the situations in Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Pompeo, before turning his attention to Guyana, congratulated the people of Suriname for the smooth transition of power following their elections.

“It has now been four months since Guyana’s elections and it is long past due for a peaceful transition of power. Caricom and the OAS have certified the recount results and should get on with it. I’ve instructed my Department to ensure those who undermine Guyana’s democracy are held accountable,” he said.

Pompeo has been consistently calling for respect of the will of the people and the peaceful transition of power based on the results emanating from the Caricom-observed national recount of ballots.

“The United States continues to stand for democratic values in the hemisphere. We look forward to a quick and credible conclusion to the vote recount in Guyana,” Pompeo said back in June.

The Secretary of State, who once served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has also been on record calling for the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) caretaker Government to respect the will of Guyanese voters.

Since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, the US has expressed its commitment to ensuring that the process is transparent and credible.

Following the two fraudulent tabulations by Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, the US Government warned election authorities “to follow accepted procedures and allow international observers to verify the results”.

US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah-Ann Lynch reminded that the threat of sanctions still hung over Guyana’s head should a President be sworn in based on electoral fraud. Lynch had explained that sanctions ranged in seriousness from targeted measures, such as individual visa restrictions, to financial measures that could impact the economy.

“You’ve seen some of the statements coming out of Washington. Secretary Pompeo. Assistant Secretary (Michael) Kozak.

The National Security Council.

They have been very strong.

And Secretary Pompeo did point to serious consequences if the democratic process, the rule of law, and the principles of democracy, are not followed in Guyana,” Lynch had said.

The recount results for Region Four were certified only back in June, showing the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) with 80,920 general votes versus APNU/AFC, which gained 116,941 votes.

The recount figures showed that 460,352 valid votes were cast and the PPP/C secured 233,336 while APNU/AFC got 217,920 votes.

However, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, who has since had private criminal fraud charges filed against him, submitted a report that slashed the PPP/C’s number to 166,343 and awarded 171,825 votes to the APNU/AFC ultimately reducing the total number of valid votes to 347,509. That means that he unilaterally invalidated over 115,000 votes.

How Lowenfield arrived at those numbers is a question yet to be answered.

Nevertheless, he has defended his actions, noting that he acted in accordance with the laws and more so, the Court of Appeal ruling on June 22. He went as far as saying that he was a constitutional officer and answerable to no one.

However, it has since been established that Lowenfield was not a constitutional officer as he claimed but rather a statutory officer.

T

Caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Freezing of personal bank accounts, visa revocation

Only on Saturday, Washington-based political consultant Jose Cardenas, who has worked with the US State Department, urged Guyana to be cognisant of the seriousness of even the threat of sanctions.

Cardenas served in senior positions in the US Department of State, the National Security Council, and the US Agency for International Development, where he served as Acting Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He spoke of some of the different forms sanctions could take, including visa restrictions, which could be applied if the democratic will of the people was thwarted.

“If there is someone that contrives to thwart the will of the Guyanese people, Washington has measures it can impose on that individual, that relate to their ability to have a bank account in the United States or otherwise do banking in their private lives that touch the US economic system,” the former State Department official said.

He added that such persons also could lose their ability to travel to the United States. “Their visas to travel can be revoked. And if there is determined to be a Government-wide conspiracy, just speculating here but it’s important to understand the options, absolutely the US can impose sectoral sanctions which can threaten the oil patrimony that Guyana now possesses.”

US Senators to Granger

Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues, Marco Rubio on Friday last called on caretaker President David Granger to concede an elections defeat.

The Republican Senator from Florida noted in a joint missive from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that “recent reports suggest questionable manoeuvres by interested parties designed to contin-

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

APNU General Secretary Joseph Harmon

ue forestalling a final declaration of results, which members of the press say indicates a defeat for the incumbent Government”.

As such, the Foreign Relations Committee said, “President Granger should honour the will of the Guyanese people and con-

cede.”

Rubio, in the joint statement, noted that the US Senators and the Foreign Relations Committee, “share in the frustration expressed by the Caribbean Community (Caricom); the Organisation of American States (OAS), and other in-

ternational stakeholders, and call on the Guyanese authorities to issue an official election declaration that reflects the results of the March 2nd election, which were confirmed in the official recount by Caricom’s observer mission.”

8 NEWS THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GuySuCo gets $250M from NICIL

T

he cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) was given a lifeline on Wednesday when the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) credited its account with a bailout of $250 million.

This comes weeks after GuySuCo announced that it did not have money to meet its basic expenditure and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) expressing fear that the lack of funds may bring operations to a halt.

GuySuCo’s Board Chairman, John Dow relayed the company’s woes to caretaker President David Granger via a letter in May. He indicated that the Corporation had only received just about $9.7 billion of the promised $30 billion that was secured for the industry by the Government-run NICILSpecial Purpose Unit (SPU).

The letter also outlined that GuySuCo did not have the necessary cash to meet basic expenditure such as salaries, maintenance, and bare essentials. It further revealed that it was also $2.1 billion in debt without any sign of funding in the near future.

Compounding the situation, according to Dow, is the backlog of some $21 billion owed to GuySuCo’s creditors.

Elaborating on the sugar industry’s predicament, Dow notified Granger that it was unlikely that the company’s creditors would extend the facility further and “our inability to pay creditors in time has resulted in many of our most experienced contractors being unwilling to tender for GuySuCo projects”.

However, one day later, Finance Minister Winston Jordan informed that the Treasury was too broke to provide any immediate assistance.

To judge or not to judge…

Y

According to Jordan, “the prevailing national circumstances, coupled with the challenges of COVID-19 and a reduced national income, render the Treasury incapable of providing a bailout to GuySuCo”.

However, Jordan’s comments were highly criticised by GAWU and the Guyanese populace at large, who all questioned the financial status of the Treasury. The bankrupted state of the treasury caused massive backlash to Granger and Jordan on their strategy of managing the country’s finances. To compound the issue, the Bank of Guyana, as part of its statutory requirements, published in the Official Gazette, a Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the country. This showed that the country’s general reserves had been depleted to $0, but the account is also now running an overdraft to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

After much public outcry and criticism over the state of affairs, Granger

on June 14 announced that GuySuCo would be given a bailout that week.

That was almost two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, NICIL also said that it would, in the very near future, make available a further $750 million to GuySuCo. On Wednesday also, GAWU, in a statement to the media, said that the apparent deliberate delay of the funds “undoubtedly has pushed the Corporation to the precipice”.

Since taking office in 2015, the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) has fired thousands of sugar workers. The Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Coast Demerara (Enmore) Estates were closed in December 2017, leaving thousands of workers jobless. The Wales Sugar Estate was the first to shut down in 2016. Only three estates are currently in operation – Albion, Blairmont and Uitvlugt.

Brazilian man crushed to death by rock at Puruni Mines P olice are investigating the circumstances surrounding

the death of a 55-yearold Brazilian who was on Tuesday reportedly

crushed to death by a morethan-200-pounds rock at Puruni Mines, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Dead is Jose Cicero Ferreira Pereira, who was employed as a maintenance worker at Hard Rock Mining Company.

According to Police information, the man and a colleague were working at the top of the shaft section of an underground tunnel, which was about 80 feet beneath the earth’s surface.

The duo was pumping out water when the marrack pump “choked”; as a result, Pereira was lowered into the tunnel by a remote winch and he proceeded to clear the marrack hole.

His colleague claimed that after 15 minutes had

elapsed and Pereira did not signal him to be winched up, he sounded the alarm and called out for the man, but got no response.

As such, he then notified the site’s manager, who was then lowered into the tunnel.

There, the Brazilian national was found lying facedown in an unconscious state with a rock weighing in excess of 200 pounds resting on his head.

He was brought to the top of the tunnel, where he died.

The body was taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital. A post-mortem examination will be conducted as investigations continue.

…that is the CCJ’s task our Eyewitness should get extra pay for battle duty.

Well, he wasn’t actually engaged in the battle, but he might as well have been. He now understands the challenge of those reporters who’re dispatched to be embedded in units thrown into combat. He’s talking, of course, about having to look at the entire all-day hearing on the Opposition parties’ appeal to the CCJ on the PNC’s illegal grab for power.

This was war all right – of the old-fashioned kind, when armies would line up in formation against each other, then chaaaaarge!! Or like gladiators in Roman Coliseums duelling in front of the nobility. All the while observing rules about how exactly to destroy the fella in front of you, but destroying him anyway. Kinda like how warfare is conducted inside boxing rings, with an umpire to ensure the rules of engagement are observed.

The lines were drawn, the troops were massed in their uniforms, and the umpires rang the bell to start the fray; to pause it so as to allow the wounded to be carried off the field and regroup, and finally to announce that next Wednesday at 3 pm they’ll announce who won the battle.

The weapons were the mouths of the lawyers – many of them foreign mercenaries - and their bullets were their words…and these certainly flew fast and furious. First up was the Trini Mendes, who’s become something of a fixture in the legal arena of recent. He quite endeared himself to the local spectators who witnessed the last gladiatorial contest when he brought a courtly charm to the fight by addressing the Chief Justice as “Milady”. You just expected him to throw his coat over a puddle for her to step over!!

Anyhow, Mendes threw the PPP partisans for a loop when he agreed that, technically, on an explication of Art 177 (4) – as argued by the PNC – the CCJ didn’t have jurisdiction to listen to the case on appeal from the Court of Appeal (CoA). But in an unusual manoeuvre, he then slyly pointed out that the CoA, in fact, never decided the case that was brought to them by Miss David on the grounds laid out by the exclusionary Art 177 (4). So, the CCJ had wrongly arrogated jurisdiction – and this could be challenged at the CCJ!!

The CCJ could rectify matters by throwing, out by reinstating, the status quo ante!! His hapless opponent, another Trini, John Jeremie, weakly blustered that the CoA did in fact have jurisdiction even though he couldn’t find a single precedent in the entire Commonwealth to back up his (hypothetical) contention!!

That a presidential election could be challenged before the President was declared!! …what might it be It became pretty clear early in the duel that the CCJ’s gonna assume jurisdiction. Maybe because the PNC had taken them for fools the last time they came before them??

You remember when the eminent jurists took the PNC at face value, told them what the law was on the NCM - and the PNC kicked them in the nuts by hanging on for another year? And counting!!!

So how’ll they take jurisdiction? Well, one of the lawyers for a small party referred to Marbury v Madison, didn’t he?? That’s the foundational 1803 US Supreme Ct case where they CREATED the power of “judicial review”.

Once the constitution’s ever violated, they could then strike down any statute, law or governmental actions emanating from the violation. The CCJ’s questions posing hypotheticals that would have the working of the present laws result in great hardships to Guyanese suggest they’ll invoke “natural law” to justify this.

Then, of course, they could always invoke Constitutional violation of its “basic structure”!! …the PNC don’t care But it wasn’t smooth sailing after Justice Marshall introduced Judicial Review. There was the famous case of Andrew Jackson asking how many troops the Supreme Court had to enforce their decision?

That’ll be Granger’s reaction.

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

NEWS

9

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

President must be elected before COA’s jurisdiction invoked – CCJ hears

…court being asked to determine issue which has not yet arisen …as sparks fly during arguments, ruling set for July 8

I

t was a battle of wits on Wednesday as the Caribbean Court of Justice began hearing arguments on the appeal filed by the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) in the Mohammed Ifraan Ali et al v Eslyn David et al case against a decision handed down by Guyana’s Appeal Court; and eventually, July 8 was set to hand down judgement.

The hearing kicked off with Trinidadian Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes laying out his reasons why the Court of Appeal exceeded its jurisdiction when it interpreted Article 177 (2) of the Constitution to say “more votes are cast” should mean “more ‘valid’ votes are cast”.

Mendes is among a battery of lawyers representing the applicants, PPP/C General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo and Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali. Citing the Eslyn David submissions which the Court of Appeal had ruled on, he pointed out that they failed to reach the threshold for jurisdiction under Article 177(4) of the Constitution.

T&T Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes appeared on behalf of Dr Irfaan Ali and Bharrat Jagdeo

He noted that while references were made to Order 60 of 2020, it cannot be applicable.

“That is how they seek to transparently connect what the real complaint was, which is the failure of GECOM to determine a final credible count with Article 177…there is nothing in 177 that tells you how to determine (more votes cast), so it’s plain you’d have to look somewhere else to figure out how to determine more votes cast,” he said, noting that

the Representation of the People’s Act sets this out.

Mendes further noted that in order for David to invoke the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction, her submissions would have had to question the qualification/ validity of the president.

Moreover, Mendes noted that a president must be elected before the court’s jurisdiction is invoked.

The Trinidadian lawyer pointed out that the only President at the time of the case was President David Granger, who’s election was since 2015. Moreover, the general precedent is that validity of an election of a president is determined after said president is elected.

“You have to determine an election as quickly as possible, and the general principle is you determine it as quickly as possible.

The principle is you determine validity after an election is (completed), so the country can settle down and you have a government in place,” Mendes said, citing case law to bolster his arguments.

Further, Mendes also argued strongly that it is the

High Court that has “exclusive jurisdiction” to address matters in relation to the validity of an election; however, this has to be done via an elections petition after the results of that election have been declared and a government is sworn in.

Mendes pointed out that both the Court of Appeal and the High Court cannot have jurisdiction over “the same thing.” His argument is that if the Court of Appeal exceeded its jurisdiction, then the finality clause excluding the matter from judicial review by the CCJ does not apply to the case.

Lacks reference to the validity

Attorney-at-law Timothy Jonas, who appeared for Mark France, Josh Kanhai and Lennox Shuman, referred to David’s affidavit and the fact that it lacks reference to the validity of the elections. According to him, David conflated the issue of the credibility of the election with Order 60 of 2020.

“That is the tenuous thread by which the Court of Appeal, having said it needed to construe the order, decides it is going to

Attorney-at-Law Kashir Khan

give an interpretation of Article 177(2). If this court agrees that all the issues in her affidavit pertains to a complaint that GECOM conducted a recount and then instructed Lowenfield to file a report using the recount numbers, then that conflation which led to judgements from two judges in the Court of Appeal is without contemplation.

“The only paragraph that I have been able to discern in this entire application and affidavit, which speaks to a credible vote and credibility of the March 2 election, is paragraph 27,” Jonas

told the court.

Meanwhile, Attorney-atLaw Kashir Khan supported arguments that the David case pre-empted the natural course of events. According to him, the Representation of the People’s Act sets out a clear pathway before a president can be deemed to be elected.

“When we look at the entire construct of the Representation of the People’s Act, we have a situation where this court is being asked to make a determination based on an issue which, for all intents and purposes, has not yet arisen.

“There has been no declaration, no extraction, the entire construct of the Representation of the People’s Act is such that that process is a necessary step towards getting to the point where somebody gets elected.”

Following hours of lawyers trading barbs on matters of jurisdiction, as well as the substantive appeal, the CCJ eventually set July 8 to hand down its judgment. In the interim, they will study the submissions made by the lawyers.

10 NEWS THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Berbice woman shot to head by reputed husband …Police issue wanted bulletin for suspect

A

woman is now battling for her life at the New Amsterdam Hospital in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) after she was shot to the head by her reputed husband, who accused her of infidelity.

Injured is Devilin Garaway, 28, of Union, Number 30 Village, West Coast Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

Based on information received, at about 09:00h yesterday, the couple were heard arguing and suddenly a gunshot was heard.

This newspaper was told

that upon making checks, a cousin, Shannon Marshall, found the injured woman lying in a pool of blood in her bedroom, but the suspect, a porter of Sophia, Greater Georgetown escaped.

The injured woman was picked up and taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital, where she was treated, but due to the seriousness of her injuries, she was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital. Garraway is expected to be transferred to the Georgetown Hospital today.

Guyana Times under-

Wanted: Julian Arthur

stands that the mother of three had ended the relationship with her reputed husband a few months ago as a result of his constant abuse and allegations of infidelity.

Reports are that after the suspect had moved out, the woman's cousin had moved in with her in the single-storey house in the Food For The Poor Housing Scheme.

The injured woman's cousin told investigators that on Tuesday she had travelled to Georgetown to transact business, and upon

Injured: Devilin Garaway

her return at about 17:30h, she saw the suspect at the house, pleading with her cousin to reconcile with him.

She said he spent the night there, but at about 09:00h the following morning, she was in her bedroom when she heard the couple arguing.

Marshall related that she heard the gunshot.

"I run over and she was in a pool of blood lying on the floor…she was not responding, so I called out to

the neighbours, who rushed over, and we were able to take her to the hospital, where she was admitted," Marshall added.

Doctors have since detected a wound on Garaway’s right jaw.

According to Garraway’s father Leon Robertson, when he heard of the incident, he thought his daughter had died. Robertson referred to the suspect as being “abusive” towards his daughter. “…he was abusive, so she sent him on his own, but he still uses to go there where she is living with her three kids. As far as I concern, she was still entertaining him.”

Garraway’s children are aged eight, six and three.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon, Police issued a wanted bulletin for the suspect, Julian Arthur. According to Police, the 30-year-old man is wanted in relation to attempted murder committed on Devilin Garraway.

Police still hunting Mon Repos robbery suspects

The suspects robbing the cellphone store at Mon Repos, ECD

A

lmost a week after the incident, Police on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) are still hunting for two suspects following a commercial robbery at the Celltronicx Store at Mon Repos on the ECD. Regional Division Commander Andries Junor has confirmed that Police have not been able to iden-

One of the men held a female staffer at gunpoint, before escorting her further into the store. The female victim and a male employee were placed to lie on the floor, as one of the bandits entered the office.

The suspects were seen in a CCTV footage emptying the glass cases in the store, which were filled with cell-

The Celltronicx Store at Mon Repos

tify the men who were involved in the robbery.

On Monday, the two men entered the store pretending to be customers, and as one of the employees was about to assist them, one of the suspects whipped out a handgun and demanded that the staff remain quiet.

phones. The two employees were also gun-butted in the process.

Imran Ali, owner of the store, told reporters that the men escaped with over 20 cellular phones and about $1 million in cases.

Investigations are still ongoing.

NEWS

11

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Granger snubs coalition partner’s call for APNU/AFC to concede …refuses to accept defeat unless notified by GECOM

A

s both local and international calls mount for the APNU/AFC to concede defeat in the March 2 elections, Leader of the Coalition, caretaker President David Granger, has distanced himself from similar calls within his party.

During an interview on the sidelines of an event at State House on Wednesday, Granger refused to comment on a recent statement by Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Dominic Gaskin, who is also his son-in-law.

In a Facebook post two weeks ago, Gaskin, a former Business Minister in Granger’s Cabinet, said there is “no reasonable basis” on which the APNU/AFC can claim to have won more votes than the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) at the March 2 elections, and called on the Coalition to “level” with their supporters.

Asked by Guyana Times on Wednesday to comment on this, the Head of State said, “No, I don’t have any comments on what former ministers say.”

However, he did respond

Caretaker President David Granger

to the statement by the Justice For All Party (JFAP) – one of the five parties that make up the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) faction of the Coalition.

The CN Sharma-led JFAP had conceded defeat, and had congratulated the PPP/C on its victory at the polls.

“I am appealing to the persons who are determined on delaying the process of a declaration: It has been an exhausting 108 days for

all the sons and daughters of this nation. Enough is enough, I say it is time for Guyana to move on!” Sharma had stated in his missive on June 20.

But Granger, who is also the leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading partying in the APNU faction - has contended that the JFAP acted on its own accord, and noted that he is not responsible for what the party has said.

“I do not dictate what they say, although I have every expectation that what they say and do would be in accord with the principles of the entire Partnership. And we meet, and the Justice For All Party has not been excluded, especially over the past 17 weeks, from any meetings of the APNU… We’ve always explained the process which is being pursued and the line which our Partnership was taking.

There is no secret, and all six parties [within the Coalition] are aware of the positions which have been taken in our approach to the Elections Commission. We don’t have

Phased reopening of CJIA postponed due to spike in COVID-19 cases …curfew measures expire today

T

he four-phase reopening plan for the international airports in Guyana has been postponed owing to the spike in coronavirus cases. The second phase of the plan was expected to commence on Tuesday.

However, as of Monday, Guyana recorded 248 positive cases of COVID-19 and as a result, the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) and the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) extended phase one until July 31 after which phase two will commence on August 1.

GCAA Director General Egbert Field noted that the Authority and the NCTF considered the health of Guyanese and the nation as top priority, thus, it was imperative to adjust the FourPhase Reopening Plan.

Under phase one, limited repatriation flights, outgoing flights, cargo flights, medivac flights, technical stops, and special authorised flights will continue to be permitted.

In light of this, no airline has been granted approval for the conduct of scheduled commercial operation.

The GCAA said it has drafted Regulations and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide aviation stakeholders on the measures which are expected to aid in mitigation of the spread of COVID-19 and the full resumption of aviation-related activities.

The Authority in conjunction with the Public Health Ministry and the NCTF will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation.

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport

Curfew measures expire

Back in June, the NCTF announced the extension of the 18:00h to 06:00h (6pm to 6am) curfew measures until July 2. Additionally, it announced a six-phase reopening plan. It is expected that the curfew measures will be further extended today.

It was noted that the current 18:00h to 06:00h (6pm to 6am) curfew remained in effect for phase one in all administrative regions. During the first phase, all food establishments, including street vendors, are permitted to operate takeout and delivery services from 06:00h to 17:00h (6am to 5pm) with no dine-in services.

Hardware, plumbing and electrical stores will also be allowed to operate from 06:00h to 17:00h (6am to 5pm) while persons will be allowed to exercise in open public spaces on weekdays from 06:00h to 18:00h for 90 minutes. Contact or team sports are still prohibited, while bars are to remain closed.

Public transport is ex-

pected to continue to operate at 50 per cent passenger capacity as social distancing rules and the wearing of face masks must be maintained. Moreover, gatherings of more than five persons remain prohibited while the stay-at-home order also remains in effect.

In relation to the phased reopening of the airports, phase two will see travel permitted for diplomats and foreign workers. It will also see an increase in repatriation flights while moving towards the resumption of regional and international travel. Phase three will pave the way for more travel of foreign nationals and the persons in the tourism and business sectors. It was expected to run until year-end when phase four will kickstart.

That phase leads to the further reopening of the airports into 2021.

Since the curfew measures were implemented, a large number of persons were charged and placed before the courts for breaching them.

AFC Executive and former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin

any hidden agenda within the Coalition,” President Granger has said.

Moreover, the caretaker President has responded to mounting calls from both local and international stakeholders for his party to concede defeat.

“I cannot claim victory, which I have not done; and I cannot concede victory, which I have not done; unless I am notified formally by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission what the results of the elections of the 2nd March – 121 days ago, over 17 weeks – have been. I don’t know what the Elections Commission will declare,” he posited.

Granger went on to say, “I encourage all the spokespersons and commentators to wait patiently on the

Chairman of the Elections Commission, who, when she’s ready, will make a declaration, and I said before I’ll abide by that declaration.”

However, while the caretaker Head of State has reiterated his commitment to abide by GECOM’s declaration, his party had move to the courts, through its supporter Eslyn David, to block GECOM from moving ahead with the process.

Further, his utterance that he never claimed victory is completely opposite to what has played out since March, when the Coalition began claiming victory – something which the 33-day National Recount has proven otherwise.

The recount exercise conducted under the scrutiny of a special Caribbean Community (Caricom) team shows the PPP/C in a landslide victory with some 15,416 more votes than the APNU/AFC. Despite being asked to prepare a report based on the results of the recount, embattled Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield last week submitted a report to the seven-member Elections Commission in which he invalidated more than 115,000 votes based on the Coalition’s unsubstantiated claims of irregularities.

However, Gaskin in his social post on June 20, has stated that these claims were

JFAP Leader CN Sharma

“grossly exaggerated” and, unfortunately, “designed to fool” party supporters, who had placed their faith in the Coalition into believing that there was actual evidence of serious elections rigging by the PPP/C. “All of this leads me to a very uncomfortable conclusion: The APNU+AFC has no intention of relinquishing control of government. Five years after winning an election and gaining office with a fair amount of goodwill, the coalition is saying to the people who put us there the equivalent of, ‘unless and until WE are satisfied beyond a shadow of a doubt that “more votes are cast” in favour of another party in an election that WE deem credible, WE ain’t going nowhere”. That condition will never be satisfied,” Gaskin asserted.

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Sugar, poultry, forestry contracted significantly in 2019 …as Finance Ministry releases End-of-Year Report

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he Finance Ministry has released its Endof-Year Report for 2019. While the report talks up the economic growth, it also shows major decline in several economic sectors in the economy.

According to the Report, released on Wednesday, sugar production contracted by a sharp 11.8% in 2019, with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) falling significantly short of its production target.

The Report also noted that poultry production did not recover sufficiently to overcome the decline recorded at the half-year. This resulted in a 7.8% decline in poultry production in 2019, which in turn led to a contraction of 3.5%. in the livestock subsector.

Additionally, the forestry subsector recorded notable gains at the halfyear, which persisted into the third quarter; however, these were undone in the final quarter of 2019, resulting in a contraction of 3.9% for the entire year.

Fisheries experienced mixed outcomes in 2019, with finfish production increasing by 19.7% over the previous year, and shrimp production declining by 28%.

On the other hand, the Report noted that the quantity of paddy harvested in 2019 reached 1,049,874 metric tonnes, the highest level

since 2015, when the industry attained record production of 1,058,129 metric tonnes.

Production in 2019 surpassed the 2018 harvest by 8.8%, or 84,755 metric tonnes, resulting in growth of 1% in the rice cultivation industry in 2019.

The manufacturing sector realised significant growth of 14.7% in 2019, the highest rate since 2013, when the sector grew by 8.2%. This achievement was bolstered by rice and other manufacturing, which expanded by 26.4% and 14% respectively.

Construction expanded for a fourth consecutive year, with growth reaching 3.1%, 0.2 percentage points above the rate achieved in 2018.

Stable

Despite these damning indicators, the report stated that the economy performed “creditably and remained stable”, with key macroeconomic variables continuing to be “favourable” and pointing to “sustained growth and investments for a successive year”.

According to the report, real GDP growth was an “impressive” 5.4 percent, with 4.3 percent recorded for the non-oil economy.

The Ministry reported that balance of payments deficit fell to US$49 million, and

count is also now running an overdraft to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

This is in addition to an alarmingly depleted gold reserve. The state of affairs can be gleaned from the published balance statements of the nation’s accounts held by the Bank of Guyana.

Bank of Guyana

foreign reserves climbed to US$575.6 million; with private sector credit rising by 8.6 percent; and inflation remained moderate at 2.1 percent.

It added that the stock of public debt fell to US$1,689.1 million, 32.7 percent of nominal GDP. “Progress continued across several sectors in 2019, and there was focused effort in prioritising institutional strengthening and more evidence-based policymaking,” the report stated.

However, much of what was presented in the report appeared to be a public relations stunt by the Coalition

Government, as many stakeholders, including the Private Sector, have been complaining of the economy being in a “terrible state”.

The last budget approved by Guyana’s National Assembly was one for the fiscal year ending 2019, which means that all expenditure for the first half of 2020 has been curtailed to a monthly one-twelfth of the previous year’s expenditure.

The new Government, however, will soon find out that Guyana as a country is “broke.”

Not only has the country’s general reserves been depleted to $0, but the ac-

The Bank of Guyana, as part of its statutory requirements, published in the Official Gazette a Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the country.

The state of play, as illustrated in the May 23 publication of the Official Gazette, reveals that the General Reserve is -$290,667, 332.

Additionally, Public Deposits have been depleted to below $0, also recording a negative balance of -$88,629,401,855.

Guyana’s Contingency Reserve Account also reflects an alarmingly low amount of $2.3 billion.

When APNU/AFC took office in May 2015, the Bank of Guyana’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflected a completely different situation.

According to the records, when the coalition APNU/ AFC took Office in 2015, Guyana’s gold reserves were stocked at $15 billion.

The latest figures show that the gold reserves have been depleted by the APNU/

AFC administration to less than $1 billion, and now stand at $715 million.

This reflects a difference of $14.3 billion spent by the sitting Administration during its time in office, not accounting for the additional sales of gold that would have cycled through the financial system over the course of the administration’s five years in office.

In 2015, Guyana’s General Reserve had in its coffers just about $6 billion, while the Contingency Reserve held $4 billion.

Today, those savings have been eroded to below zero dollars, to now reflect considerable overdrafts.

According to the May 2020 figures, the General Reserves now stand at minus $291 million, while the Public Deposits now account for an $89 billion red mark, or overdraft, against the country.

While the Contingency Reserve stood at $4.8 billion when the APNU/AFC Coalition took office, the current accounts reflect a balance of just about 2.3 billion.

Also, just recently, PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali, who is an economist by training, painted a gloomy picture of the current state of the economy, which he said is largely due to the lack of foresight by the incumbent APNU/AFC Coalition.

New GDF Chief vows to only support democratic Govts “How can the Constitution

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ewly appointed Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Godfrey Bess, has committed to supporting a democratically elected Government, as mandated by the Constitution of Guyana.

Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, the newly-sworn-in Chief of Staff assured that the Guyana Defence Force would continue to abide by the Constitution of Guyana. He was at the time responding to questions about whether the army, under his control, would support an undemocratically elected Government in Guyana.

“We (were) trained to support the democratically elected Government of the day based on our constitution, and that we will continue to do…The Guyana Defence Force is a professional organization, and we will stick to the Constitution of Guyana,” he asserted.

According to Brigadier Bess, the army is always subordinate to civil authority, and is premised on taking legal instructions and advice.

The newly appointed Chief of Staff is taking over the GDF at a time when the country is undergoing an unprecedented political situation. While the certified results from the National Recount show that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic won the March 2 elections, the caretaker Coalition

Newly-appointed Chief of Staff, Brigadier Godfrey Bess

APNU/AFC Government is challenging those results in a move that has been seen as one aimed at them remaining in office.

In fact, the APNU/AFC has supported a widely criticised and fraudulent report submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by embattled Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, who has invalidated more than 115,000 votes.

Brigadier Bess has been promoted from the rank of Colonel, and received his Instrument as the new Army Chief on Wednesday from Commander-in-Chief, President David Granger, who is also the Head of the Defence Board.

President Granger told the new Army Chief that he would now be tasked with

exercising the functions of command and the issuance of authoritative orders in respect to the operations of the Force, subject to the directives of the Defence Board and the Minister responsible for Defence.

“Command includes the authority and responsibility for effectively employing the Force’s assets, and for coordinating and controlling military forces for the accomplishment of the Force’s mission.

Leadership, unlike command, cannot be mandated by law.

It is an essential element in military command, however, and involves motivating the Force’s manpower to achieve success in its operations and missions,” the Commander in Chief stated.

Energy to the helm

Meanwhile, during a brief

interview with media operatives, the newly appointed Chief of Staff said he brings energy to the helm of the army, and further committed to continue defending the integrity of Guyana.

“The Guyana Defence Force has been mandated by law to defend and protect our national patrimony. As the Chief of Staff, I see that as a sacrosanct duty, and we will work hard to ensure that we continue to defend the integrity of this country,” he posited.

Brigadier Bess further related that one of the main challenges he anticipates facing is inadequate resources to perform the army’s functions. However, he noted that the Defence Force training has equipped the army with the skills to ensure that it gets the job done with even the minimal of resources.

“So, training in the Guyana Defence Force, we take it seriously, and it helps us in these challenges,” he stated.

Brigadier Bess, who previously served as Director of National Events, is replacing outgoing Chief of Staff, Brigadier Patrick West, who has been sent on pre-retirement leave.

West, who did not attend the ceremony at State House, proceeded on accumulated leave with effect from Wednesday, July 1, 2020, and will be off the job until March 2021.

grant exclusive...

In response, Armour said the language of the Constitution must be construed in a way to avoid inherent contradictions.

According to him, the framers of the Constitution inserted both clauses in the Constitution, and they must have intended them to serve different purposes.

Armour also went on to urge the court to limit itself to what the Court of Appeal ruled on. He noted that the Court of Appeal did not grant the coercive orders that had been sought, and that moreover, based on the material before it and Article 177(4), the CCJ cannot say that the Court of Appeal was plainly wrong.

Counter-productive

Also in the lineup was Senior Counsel John Jeremie, who represents David. He sought to rebut the arguments made

by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, who represents the applicants, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate Dr Irfaan Ali and the party’s General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo.

In the middle of telling the Court that Mendes cannot tell him what an election is, Justice Saunders

FROM PAGE 3

interjected to ask whether “he was able to cite any case where a question as to the validity of the election of some governmental official was heard and determined by the courts before the official was elected.”

To this, he admitted that he had not been able to cite such a case. It was not until 16:25h, more than five hours later, that Jeremie was able to cite his precedent, a Mauritian case from 2011 that the Privy Council decided on.

Even worse, Jeremie cited the case of Narayan Khare, a case which CCJ Justice Maureen RajnauthLee pointed out is actually counter-productive to his position. While Jeremie sought to use it to bolster his arguments that a candidate does not have to be elected before triggering Article 177(4), the Judge noted that according to the ruling “the petition was seen as premature… that power in the Supreme Court to enquire into the election of the president can be exercised only after the candidate is elected.”

At the end of the hearing, the court decided on next week Wednesday, at 15:00h to make its ruling on the issue of jurisdiction and the substantive appeal.

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

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| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Fraudulent invalidation of votes

US must apply sanctions against

Lowenfield - Center for Democracy

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he International Center for Democracy (ICD) on Wednesday called on the United States Government to apply sanctions against Guyana’s Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, for his repeated and fraudulent attempts to undermine the results of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections in Guyana.

“Enough is enough,” said ICD Chairman Fazal Yussuff, adding that Lowenfield has continued to brazenly thwart the will of the Guyanese people by refusing to provide, as re-

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

quired by Guyanese law, an accurate account of the results of the election recount.

Yussuff added that the ICD therefore calls on the “United States Government and other friends of Guyana’s democracy to hold (Lowenfield) accountable by imposing sanctions on him for undermining the democratic process by disenfranchising more than 115,000 voters.”

In 2018, the US sanctioned the President of Nicaragua’s Supreme Electoral Council, Roberto Rivas Reyes, for “perpetu-

ating electoral fraud that undermined Nicaragua’s electoral institutions.”

In Guyana, the March 2 General and Regional Elections have been plagued by ongoing controversy since the votecount was stopped midway

APNU/AFC after invalidating almost 25% of the votes cast without showing evidence to support his spurious claim. That report has since been discredited.

“The international community must send a strong and unmistakable message

through its process with the APNU/AFC trailing, and then, when restarted, attempted to show a Government win.

After subsequent legal battles, a recount completed on June 7, confirmed an opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) victory. However, as Chief Elections Officer, Lowenfield has continued to thwart an accurate declaration of the results.

In his most recent manoeuvre, Lowenfield submitted what he claims to be a report of the “valid and credible votes” to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), showing a victory for the

to the powers-that-be in Guyana that there is zero tolerance for anti-democratic actions on the part of public officials,” Yussuff said, pointing out that the survival of Guyana’s democratic institutions depends on it.

Only on Wednesday, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he has instructed the Department of State to ensure that those responsible for undermining democracy in Guyana are held accountable for their actions.

The ICD is a New Yorkbased private, non-profit organisation supported by Guyanese-Americans.

Mayor should focus on problems plaguing City Council – Councillor

City Councillor Bishram Kuppen

G

eorgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine should focus on the “numerous problems plaguing the City Council, instead of venturing out on

Kuppen pointed out that Mayor Narine should not be “postulating on legal matters, for which he is immensely unqualified”. He further stated that Mayor Narine “lacks the intellectual capacity to lecture anyone on complex legal matters.”

“To use the Office of the Mayor to call for the illegal swearing-in of a failed candidate, David Granger, who has lost the elections by [more than] 15,416 votes, is bordering on lunacy or pure ignorance, or a combination of both, and places the Mayor in that select group of corrupt individuals trying to thwart the will of the Guyanese electorate,” Kuppen said in a letter to the editor.

According to Kuppen,

“To use the Office of the Mayor to call for the illegal swearing-in of a failed candidate, David Granger, who has lost the elections by [more than] 15,416 votes, is bordering on lunacy or pure ignorance, or a combination of both, and places the Mayor in that select group of corrupt individuals trying to thwart the will of the Guyanese electorate ” – Councillor Bhisham Kuppen the propaganda trail”, says City Councillor Bishram Kuppen.

Mayor Narine recently issued a statement calling for caretaker president David Granger to be swornin on the basis of fraudulent results.

However, Councillor

Narine had already identified himself as “a low-level PNC player in the rigging APNU/AFC coalition, whose sole aim is to steal the elections.”

Mayor Narine, in a statement yesterday, claimed that APNU/AFC won the elections based

Mayor Ubraj Narine

on Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield’s fraudulent report of June 23, 2020.

But Kuppen said the Mayor should have informed himself of the verified and certified valid votes cast during the recount exercise, which CEO Lowenfield had already submitted to GECOM Chairperson Justice (retd), Claudette Singh.

“This was reported widely in the media, but apparently the Mayor missed this, perhaps due to his preoccupation with APNU/ AFC propaganda matters,” the Councillor highlighted.

Kuppen said the Mayor must be reminded that all of the local and international observers, all contesting political parties (except APNU/AFC), the diplomatic community, the Caricom recount team, a number of current and past Prime Ministers of the Caribbean, many international organisations, Granger’s own sonin-law, Justice for All Party (coalition member) and numerous others have all agreed that the PPP/C won the elections based on the actual election results and the subsequent recount of all valid votes cast.

General Secretary of the PPP/C, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday lambasted Granger over comments he made recently which suggested that the GECOM is “bound to accept” the concocted figures presented by the Chief Elections Officer for final declaration.

Foreign powers have called on GECOM to declare the results of the elections on the basis of the certified figures emanating from the National Recount.

The National Recount, which was conducted under the scrutiny of a special Caribbean Community (Caricom) team, shows the PPP/C in a landslide victory with some 15,416 more votes than its main political rival, the APNU/AFC coalition.

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Despite pre-retirement leave,

Top Cop, Deputy Commissioner remaining on job was “administrative” decision – Granger

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aretaker President David Granger has defended a decision to have several members in the hierarchy of the Guyana Police Force remain on the job, despite their having significant amounts of accumulative leave which would lead them into retirement.

This comes on the heels of outgoing GDF Chief of Staff Brigadier Patrick West being sent on pre-retirement leave effective Wednesday, July 1, 2020 until his March 2021 retirement.

However, this has sparked controversy, since Police Commissioner Leslie James and Deputy Commissioner Maxine Graham are still on the job even though they are approaching the age to proceed on pre-retirement leave.

Police Commissioner James is said to have some 307 days accumulative leave. He will reach 55, the retirement age for Public Servants, in April 2021, which means he should have gone off on pre-retirement leave on June 28, and this would have taken him straight into retirement.

Meanwhile, Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Maxine Graham will turn 55 in November. She also has accumulated approximately 172 days’ leave and should

Police Commissioner Leslie James

have been sent on pre-retirement leave since June 11.

Questioned about the reason behind having the top-ranking Police officials still on the job, President Granger explained that it was an administrative decision.

While acknowledging that an instrument was passed stipulating that leave should not be accumulated and that officers within the Disciplined Services should enjoy their leave in the calendar year when it is due, the Head of State defended the move to keep on the Top Cop, saying it was because of the “special operation” that was launched for the March 2 elections, and it had to be extended because of the prolonged post-elec-

tion period.

“We are in very abnormal period in Guyanese history, and the Commission of Police was required to supervise a special operation to ensure there was no disturbance of the peace, no disorder during the elections period, and that is the reason why he is still at his post…

It is an administrative decision, not a decision about any other legal or operational [basis], to allow him to supervise the conduct of that operation,” he noted.

Nevertheless, the Caretaker President as-

sured that these officials would enjoy their “entitlements” after this period is over.

On the other hand, the Commander in Chief pointed out that the processes to appoint a Chief of Staff of the GDF and a Commissioner of Police are completely different.

Whereas the appointment of the Chief of Staff is decided at the level of the Defence Board, the selection of a substantive Top Cop requires consultation with the Opposition Leader.

Likewise, with the ap-

Deputy Police Commissioner Maxine Graham

pointments of Deputy Commissioners, the President would require the advice of the Police Service Commission, which he noted he has not gotten as yet.

James joined the Police Force in 1987, and was appointed Top Cop in May 2018 following the retirement of former Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud.

Also with 33 years of Service under her belt now, Graham was the lone female among four new Deputy Commissioners appointed

by President Granger back in August 2018.

Guyana records 13th COVID-19 death …cases climb to 248

A

42-year-old man has succumbed to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), bringing the country’s death toll up to 13.

This latest fatality was announced on Wednesday, but the man died on Monday.

While no other details of the now-deceased man were given, the media was told that he died on Monday at the Georgetown Public Hospital. It has been reported that the 42-yearold man was admitted to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit af-

ter complaining of shortness of breath.

Guyana’s last COVID-19 death was recorded over a month ago on May 30 when 78-year-old John Damon, a former resident of the Palms Geriatric Home, died at the dedicated COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) located at the Georgetown Public Hospital. He was the second resident of The Palms to die from COVID-19.

It has been almost four months since Guyana recorded its first coronavirus case following the death of 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall, who is referred to as ‘patient zero’.

While the country has maintained a low death rate, over the past week, there has been a significant raise in the number of cases.

In fact, there were 46 new cases recorded last week alone.

On Wednesday, the Public Health Ministry reported another three new cases from 56 tests conducted within the previous 24 hours. This now brings the total of COVID-19 cases in Guyana to 248.

According to Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr Karen GordonBoyle, who delivered Wednesday’s update, a total of 2634 persons have been tested to date for the novel coronavirus of which 2386 were negative.

Guyana currently has 122 active cases – two in the COVID-19 ICU and the remaining 120 in institutional isolation. There are also 16 persons in institutional quarantine.

Meanwhile, the number

of persons to date to recover from the deadly virus is 116.

As local authorities continue to grapple with flattening the curve of the local coronavirus outbreak, Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) remains the epicentre of the outbreak in Guyana.

However, there have been a significant increase in

as we work to contain the spread of the disease in your communities,” she stated.

Moreover, Dr GordonBoyle further pleaded with Guyanese to do their part and respect the curfew and other measures in place to prevent the spread of the deadly virus especially since health workers are risking their lives on the front-

COVID-19 cases in Regions One (Barima-Waini) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) – a situation which the DCMO says is being tackled in a collaborative manner.

“I wish to inform the residents, particularly in Regions One and Seven that the Ministry is working collaboratively with the various agencies within the region[s] to address and help arrest the situation that is threatening to spiral out of control. We are calling on all the residents to cooperate with the health officials

lines to continue to screen the population, provide testing for suspected cases, and treat the positive cases.

“Guyanese, I want you to know that COVID-19 is real, stop mamaguying. Please note also that the full effect of COVID-19 on the human body is not fully known; you can recover from the coronavirus disease, but may develop other conditions that you previously did not have, which can result in possible death. So, my fellow Guyanese, let’s follow the guidelines,” she implored.

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Thousands write NGSA despite COVID-19 fears

By LaWanda McAllister, Utamu Bell and Andrew Carmichael

Region 10

S

ome 14,730 students across the country have been registered to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations yesterday and today; and despite fears of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands turned up to write the exams.

On Wednesday, Guyana Times visited several schools and found primary school pupils and their parents excited at the prospect of writing these exams, but some were nervous about writing these exams during this public health crisis.

Speaking with this publi-

Pupils of the St Pius Primary School having a brief assembly before the start of their examination while observing social distancing guidelines

was being away from the classroom for months, which caused him much distraction. “For me, the subjects

St Margaret Primary School, said: “I think the Ministry’s strategy was good, but I believe that they (students) needed more time, given the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic.

pared, but, as a parent, I am still somewhat concerned, since he asked questions about his safety, wondering whether the environment will be safe for him. I was

Meanwhile, students in Region 10 (Upper DemeraraBerbice) also turned out to write the National Grade Six Assessment exams in their numbers on Wednesday, under strict COVID-19 guidelines.

A total of 814 candidates are currently registered to write the exams within that Region; however, a few opted not to do so in light of the pandemic. Students from Linden arrived on time, and were observed heading into school compounds with their face masks on and accompanied by their parents.

Regional Education Officer Rabindra Singh, who visited schools in the community, noted that there was an excellent turnout

Region Six

A pupil having his temperature tested at the North Georgetown Primary School (Education Ministry photo)

cation, Green Acres Primary School student Naomi Griffith said she was initially nervous about the exams, but eventually her nerves were settled.

“I was thinking, ‘What would I do in this exam?’.

However, when I saw the paper, I was a bit calm, because I knew what I was go-

Naomi Griffith

ing to do. My challenge (in) studying at home during this time was being distracted by my brother, because he would always come and ask for my help, but it was okay.

I also couldn’t be around my friends, and I couldn’t go to my lessons weekly. But it was okay for me,” Griffith said.

Meanwhile, another student, Carly Hunt, also pointed out that his challenge

were pretty simple, and I think I did really good, because we had a lot of extra time to study, in particular two months. My challenge (in) being at home during this pandemic was a lot of distractions. To name a few, the television would be playing while I would have to study, so most times I would have to lock myself up in my room. Also, I wasn’t able to go to my normal Saturday lessons. I definitely believe the time that was given was sufficient”.

In addition, Sarah Heywood, another NGSA student, said: “I am excited and nervous at the same time, but the examination was good. While I was at home, one of my challenges was with the internet, also a little disturbance with family members, but other than that, it was okay”.

Ronald Kissoon, parent of a student who is sitting the NGSA, said he must commend the Ministry of Education (MoE) for its efforts at protecting the students during this time.

“I think it is going well so far, because I believe the Ministry of Education is capable of implementing a plan to bring about this exam; because we know this exam was postponed and the children were hyped up and were studying enough.

So, in my opinion, they did a good job”.

However, Esther Smith, a parent of a student of the

In Region Six (EastBerbice Corentyne), the views on the examination were very mixed on the issue of studying from home.

Some expressed that they needed more time to study, since they were away from their formal classroom settings, while others welcomed the extra months to study.

Meanwhile, several parents gathered outside several schools as they waited on their children, and offered moral support. Like the children, they, too, were mixed in their views on the time

Parent: Ronald Kissoon

away from the classroom.

Detective Police Corporal Curtis Cort, who took

Pupils of the St Pius Primary School seated six feet apart in their classroom as they await the start of their examination

however able to give him that assurance.”

Another parent, who took her child to St Teresa’s Primary in New Amsterdam, said she is of the belief that most of the students were going into the examination room with a disadvantage.

“When the Ministry postponed the exam, they told parents that students would have been given ample time to prepare. However, we were only given three weeks’ notice, and the children were only in school for two weeks, three days a week.

I do not think it is enough,” she noted.

However, Nicola Luther expressed the view that students were prepared for the examination, noting that the Education Ministry had

overall.

“The children were well equipped. Our schools are well cleaned, the students had on their masks…They have their sanitisation package with them…We have nurses at our schools to check their body temperature and so on. So, everybody was prepared. I visited most of the schools… We had an incident-free day. None of the schools reported that they had any sickness, and the children, I can say that they would have practised good protocols…I spoke with some of them, and I can tell that they understand what the world is going through right now”, Singh explained.

According to information from the Regional Education Department over at the Coomacka Primary School,

Parents gathered outside the All Saints Primary in Berbice as they waited on their children

his son to the All Saints Primary School, expressed some concerns, pointing out, “Mentally, I think he is pre-

been sending information via the internet and giving children questions from past NGSA papers.

26 out of 27 students turned up to write the exams, while all 67 candidates were present at the Watooka Day

Carly Hunt, student of Green Acres Primary School

Primary School. 77 out of 78 students were at the Regma Primary, and 105 out of 106 at Amelia’s Ward Primary.

Meanwhile, all 6 wrote the exams at Bamia Primary, and all 9 at Muritaro Primary, while 102 out of 104 students wrote the exams at the Wismar Hill Primary, and 51 out of 55 at the St Aidan’s Primary.

Christianburg Primary saw a full turnout of all 19 students, while 37 out of 40 students wrote the exams at the Mackenzie Primary.

Additionally, the lone student who was registered to write the exams at Mabura was present to write the exams.

According to Singh, two parents at a particular school in the region were

Parent Esther Smith

in disagreement with their children writing the exams.

He noted that some students had migrated to other regions and were slated to write the exams there.

Region 10 has recorded a greater than 95 percent turnout for classes in the two weeks leading up to these exams of Wednesday and today.

For those who chose not to write the exams, Singh noted, while there are alternative measures in place, those students would not be placed at a list ‘A’ school.

English Language and Science were written on Wednesday, while Social Studies and Mathematics will be done today.

NGSA was initially scheduled for April, but had to be postponed until July as a result of COVID-19.

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THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GPF celebrates 181st anniversary

67 more Guyanese return from US

W

File photo: Members of the Guyana Police Force

T

he Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Wednesday observed its 181st anniversary, but due to COVID-19, the Force was unable to conduct its usual celebratory activities.

The GPF’s motto is: ‘Serve and protect’. Its Mission Statement is: “The mission of the Guyana Police Force and its Auxiliaries is to serve all citizens and communities of Guyana in a professional, pro-active and accountable manner. To achieve this, we will work in partnership with communities, public agencies and private bodies to enhance and support an

environment where all people are preventing crime and building a safer and secure Guyana.”

The Police Force was established on July 1, 1839.

The Force is headed by a Commissioner of Police, and is divided into ten (10) regional policing divisions, with Regional Police Division 4 divided into A, B and C, and there are a number of branches spanning Guyana.

The branches include the Public Relations Office, the Criminal Investigation Department, the Mounted Branch, the Central

Immigration and Passport Office, the Police Band, General Office, Finance Office, Traffic, Special Branch and the Canine Unit, among others. Each division and branch are commanded by a divisional or branch commander, who reports to the Commissioner of Police.

The objectives of the Force are outlined in Section 3(2) of the Police Act, Chapter 16:01.

The Police Force is currently undergoing a modernisation and reform process, in keeping with its strategic plan 2018-2021 under the Citizen Security Programme.

CORONAVIRUS

(COVID-19) INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES

ednesday’s Eastern Airlines repatriation flight from Miami saw the return of 67 Guyanese due to an approval granted by the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF).

The Department of Public Information (DPI) reported that Bibi Khan and her husband were among the group that landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

Bibi said her experience abroad was troubling, since she was unable to attend the funeral of her brother’s mother-in-law in New Jersey. Now that she’s back home with her husband, who had heart surgery in 2015, Bibi listed some of the steps the couple will take to stay safe.

“We were definitely not going out for about two weeks, and furthermore, we are indoors people, we don’t go out a lot. We will only go to the market at the Stelling and come home. We not visiting relatives or friends,” she told DPI.

After learning of his 94-year-old mother’s passing, Michael Choy was eager to return home to be with his family. He said he would comply with the COVID-19 guidelines as he took steps in the USA to be coronavirus-free.

“The job I’m doing is as a merchant marine,” Michael noted. “We more or less isolate ourselves, do our own [COVID-19] tests, and I stay out of the bars.”

Another citizen who came home was Rashida Mohamed-Hinds. Reflecting on life among her family, Rashida reiterated critical advice she says Guyanese should follow.

“My father has a health condition, so I was concerned about going outside. I think if you are around people who have health conditions, you need to be extra careful.”

Concerning asymptomatic transmission, Rashida emphasized that citizens must exercise more caution.

For Joshua John, it is vitally important that return-

ing Guyanese be honest with the information they provide to the staff of the Ministry of Public Health.

Recently, there were reports from the Ministry’s Health officials that Guyanese on a previous repatriation flight had given misleading information, while others had breached their mandatory quarantine period.

John appealed to his fellow countrymen and women to abide by the requirements upon which their re-entry was granted, noting that the provision of false information “is hurting the rest of Guyanese that want to return home.”

The NCTF has approved another flight of Guyanese from the USA for today (July 2). This flight is expected to depart the JFK International Airport in New York.

While Guyana’s main airports will remain closed to international flights, limited repatriation flights will continue, provided the NCTF issues its approval.

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:

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF? 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.

NEWS

17

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

US sees record 52,000 new virus Mystery as hundreds of cases in 24 hours – Johns Hopkins elephants die in Botswana T M

ore than 350 elephants have mysteriously died in the Okavango Delta since May. But the true figure is feared to be higher as carcasses can be hard to see.

The first deaths were reported in early May in the Okavango Delta.

Dr Niall McCann, director of conservation at UKbased charity National Park Rescue, told the Guardian: “This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn’t been seen in a very, very long time.

“Outside of drought, I don’t know of a die-off that has been this significant.”

Poisoning or an unknown pathogen are thought to be the most likely causes. The tusks of the elephants have not been removed by poachers.

Seventy percent of the deaths were around waterholes, according to local sources.

Some of the animals were spotted walking in circles, a sign of neurological impairment.

Dr McCann said: “If you look at the carcasses, some of them have fallen straight on their face, indicating they died very quickly.

“Others are obviously dying more slowly, like the ones that are wandering around.

“So it’s very difficult to say what this toxin is.”

Male and female elephants of all ages have been dying. And a number of other elephants appear to be

he US notched more than 52,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours Wednesday, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed, a new one-day record as infections surge around the country.

F

S More than 350 elephants have mysteriously died in the Okavango Delta since May

weak sparking concern they could also die.

Dr McCann criticised the Botswana government over the testing of samples.

He said: “When we’ve got a mass die-off of elephants near human habitation at a time when wildlife disease is very much at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it seems extraordinary that the government has not sent the samples to a reputable lab.

“There is no precedent for this being a natural phenomenon but without proper testing, it will never be known.” The Okavango Delta is home to around 15,000 elephants, 10 percent of Botswana’s total.

Dr McCann said: “You see elephants as assets of the country. They are the diamonds wandering around the Okavango Delta.

“It’s a conservation di-

saster – it speaks of a country that is failing to protect its most valuable resource.”

Dr Cyril Taolo, acting director for Botswana’s department of wildlife and national parks, told the Guardian: “We are aware of the elephants that are dying. “Out of the 350 animals, we have confirmed 280 of those animals. We are still in the process of confirming the rest.

“We have sent [samples] off for testing and we are expecting the results over the next couple of weeks or so.

“The COVID-19 restrictions have not helped in the transportation of samples in the region and around the world.

“We’re now beginning to emerge from that and that is why we are now in a position to send the samples to other laboratories.”

(Express UK)

German Vallecillo Jr and his cameraman/producer, Jorge Pozas were gunned on a street in La Ceiba by two gunmen, who opened fire from a vehicle.

Vallecillo, the son of well-known Journalist

German Vallecillo, was killed on his birthday. He had expressed interest in running for a legislative seat from the area, his family said.

The case is under investigation.

PM Johnson makes UK citizenship offer to Hong Kong residents

B

ritain said it was extending Hong Kong residents a broader path to citizenship in response to China's sweeping new security law for the former UK territory.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement represents the most direct international response to Beijing's legislation that has been roundly condemned by Western allies.

"We stand for rules and obligations," Johnson told parliament just hours after China made its first arrest in Hong Kong under the new law.

"And we think that is the scientific basis for our international relations and the enactment and deposition of this national security law constitutes a clear and

fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 128,028.

New daily case numbers have hovered around 40,000 in recent days, with Johns Hopkins recording 42,528 new infections one day earlier. (AFP)

Brazil military hands out masks to protect isolated Amazon tribes

Reporter, cameraman shot dead in Honduras

ive persons have been detained in Honduras after a reporter and a cameraman were fatally shot Wednesday.

The Associated Press reported that TV reporter

The Baltimore-based university's tracker showed 52,898 more cases as of 8:30 pm, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic reached the US to 2,682,270. The university also recorded a further 706

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

serious breach of the SinoBritish Joint Declaration."

About 300,000 Hong Kong citizens have British National Overseas (BNO) passports and another 2.6 million are eligible to apply.

Foreign Secretary Dominic

Raab said Britain's offer also extended to dependents of those with BNO status, but refused to be drawn in about how many would apply.

Eligible individuals from Hong Kong currently visit the UK for six months without a visa. Under the new policy, they will have the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they will be allowed to apply for settled status and then again for citizenship.

Hong Kongers who were born after the end of British rule in 1997 are not eligible, meaning in effect, many of the city's young student activists who are most at risk of arrest under the new law cannot take advantage of the British offer. (Al Jazeera)

oldiers handed out masks to barefooted Yanomami indigenous people including body-painted warriors carrying spears and bows and arrows on Wednesday on the second day of a military operation to protect isolated tribes from COVID-19. The Yanomami are the last major isolated people in the Amazon rainforest where dozens of indigenous communities have been infected with the latest disease to come from the outside to threaten their existence.

“It’s all under control.

We detected no cases here,” Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo, a retired army general, told reporters at a frontier post called Surucucu on the border with Venezuela.

Azevedo said the death of two Yanomami purportedly shot by illegal gold miners on the vast reservation was an isolated case that is being investigated by the federal police.

A gold rush that has brought an estimated 20,000 gold prospectors to invade the Brazil largest reservation has poisoned rivers and destroyed forest, and the Yanomami say the miners have brought the novel coronavirus.

Indigenous leaders appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday to order the federal government to pro-

A member of Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a man from the Indigenous Yanomami ethnic group, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

tect isolated tribes by barring outsiders from reservation lands and expelling illegal poachers, loggers and wildcat miners said to bring fatal diseases.

The indigenous umbrella organization APIB asked that invaders be removed, with the deployment of military forces if necessary, from the reservations of the Yanomami, Karipuna, Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Kayapó, Arariboia and Munduruku peoples.

APIB said 405 indigenous people had died of COVID-19 by June 27, with 9,983 infected among 112 different tribes.

In Surucucu, Yanomami families with mothers car-

rying their bundled infants were frightened at first by the arrival of the medical personnel and supplies of protective equipment and medicine in roaring military helicopters.

The men fumbled the mask as they covered their faces painted with red body paint from tress barks.

“The indigenous health service (Sesai) is good for us, they help us so we came to ask for help to see if we are well,” said a Yanomami elder through a large white face mask. “We walked four hours to arrive here,” he said through an interpreter.

Nurses took temperatures and rapid COVID-19 tests. (Reuters)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

Regional

Anguilla’s Opposition wins election T

he main Opposition Anguilla Progressive Movement (APM) won Monday’s General Election in the British Overseas Territory, winning seven of the 11 seats, according to the preliminary results.

Among the casualties is Premier Victor Banks, whose Anguilla United Front (AUF), won four seats.

Banks, 72, was defeated by 27-year-old Dianne Kentish Rogers, the 2018 Miss Universe Great Britain.

In a statement posted on its website, the APM said “a new story in Anguilla’s history has been written.

“The story of change has begun …It’s your time now.

Thank you for believing in us. Thank you for your support, your faith, and your

An estimated 11,950 voters were eligible to cast ballots Monday and 32 candidates representing the two main political parties and 10 independents had contested the poll

hope. Thank you for embracing our vision, and marching right beside us in this journey. We ask for your continued support and faith, as our work has just begun.”

An estimated 11,950 vot-

ers were eligible to cast ballots Monday and the Central Electoral Office (CEO) said 32 candidates representing the two main political parties and 10 independents had contested the poll.

Under the electoral system there, voters elect seven members in single-member constituencies by first-pastthe-post voting and four atlarge members elected from the entire island by plurality at-large voting. Voters may vote for up to four candidates in the at-large seats, which replaced four appointees.

The victory for the APM, led by Dr Ellis Webster, is a reversal of the 2015 General Election, when Banks led his AUF to victory by winning seven seats and the APM, which was recently formed, failed to win a seat.

British Virgin Islands Premier Andrew A Fahie was among the first regional leaders to extend congratulations to Webster. (Excerpt from CMC)

Barbados becomes 1st Trinidad Health member state to fly Ministry launches official Caricom flag’ community testing for COVID-19 B arbados’ Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (Caricom) David Comissiong on Wednesday announced that the official flag of the regional body will be flown at all Embassies, High Commissions and diplomatic offices of member states as of Wednesday.

According to Comissiong, this is being doing as a gesture intended to embody the Region’s pursuit of collective and coordinated foreign policy across the world.

Moments after hoisting the Caricom flag over Government headquarters, Comissiong revealed that the move was proposed by Barbadian officials at a meeting of the Caricom Council for Foreign and Community Relations and was intended to be officially implemented starting on Caricom

Day, July 4.

But doing it Wednesday served as a tribute to Prime Minister Mia Mottley who completed her stint as Chairman of the regional grouping Wednesday.

St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has replaced Mottley. According to Ambassador Comissiong, use of the flag projects the Region’s unified presence and image at 208 diplomatic missions across 55 countries.

“There are massive things that need to be done and we recognise that no single Caricom State can accomplish those major things on its own. But we also recognise that when we bring together our collective strength, we are a force to be reckoned,” Comissiong declared. (CMC)

E

ight health facilities have been designated to do COVID-19 community testing in Trinidad.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Roshan Parasram made the announcement at Wednesday’s virtual media conference.

The facilities are St James Health Centre (St James District Health Facility) within the St George West district; El Socorro Health Centre in St George Central; St Joseph Enhanced Health Centre in St George East; Chaguanas A&E in County Caroni; Mayaro District Health Facility in Nariva/Mayaro; Siparia Health Centre in

St Patrick County; Sangre Grande Enhanced Health Centre in St Andrew/St David; and Pleasantville in Victoria County.

Parasram said the clinical criteria to be used for testing people who go to the facilities between 08:00h and 16:00h will include fever, cough, runny nose, headaches, redness of the eyes, loss of taste and loss of smell. He said swabbing would not be considered at these centres for asymptomatic person who have come for pre-delivery screening, pre-surgical screening and screening prior to repatriation. (Excerpt from Newsday)

Coronavirus: Colombian Mayor takes son to Police for breaking lockdown

T

he mayor of a town in Colombia has been praised after he turned his own son in to the Police for breaking a curfew imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Carlos Higgins Villanueva said he had to set an example.

“My family are the first who have to respect the rules,” he tweeted.

There have been more than 95,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Colombia and more than 3300 people have died.

Atlántico, the northern state where Higgins is Mayor of the small town of Juan de Acosta, has the second highest number of infections.

Mayor Higgins posted pictures of himself driving his son, his nephew, and a

Mayor Carlos Higgins Villanueva (in red) said he felt he had to set an example

man he described as “a great friend” to the Police Station, where he asked officers “to deal with the rule-breakers as they see fit”.

The three had been caught on video celebrating Father’s Day. The party they attended was not only held

during the hours of a strict curfew but there was also alcohol on sale, in contravention of a temporary statewide ban imposed for that weekend.

Mayor Higgins wrote on Twitter: “My relatives are the first who have to respect

these measures. I will not allow them to put the lives of our villagers at risk just because they wanted to have some drinks.”

“I have other younger sons and he could bring the virus home if he caught it,” he said about why he felt his eldest had to learn his lesson. “I wanted to set an example so that the rest of the community respects the rules,” he added.

The rule-breakers have been ordered to do community service.

The municipal authorities have adopted the Mayor’s approach and launched a campaign with the motto: “If I see you at a party, drinking, outside your home, visiting or receiving visits or playing football, I will grass on you and you will go to the police.”

(Excerpt from BBC News)

Coronavirus slump threatens Mexican President’s crusade on poverty

W

hen President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador won office with the biggest popular mandate since Mexico’s transition to democracy, he pledged to transform the country from the bottom up, putting the poor first.

Two years on, recession, rows with business, and the coronavirus pandemic have jeopardised that ambition.

Millions of people have lost their jobs and his response to the crisis has drawn criticism.

Lopez Obrador was elected in July 2018 with 53 per cent of the vote, a far bigger share than the three other men to have run Mexico since one-party rule ended in 2000. He registered approval ratings of 80 per cent after he took office that December.

But that optimism has faded in the face of political polarisation, dismay over surging crime, and frustra-

tion with the leftist’s tendency to pick fights with business.

Now, with fears growing about the economic impact of the pandemic, both critics and some well-wishers warn that without a more pragmatic approach, the 66-year-old Lopez Obrador will struggle to revive investment and tackle chronic poverty.

“And the President, with the best intentions of helping the poor, will end up impoverishing more people,” said Fernando Turner, a businessman and supporter who was Lopez Obrador’s pick for Economy Minister in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Once coronavirus was factored in, said Turner, it looked increasingly likely Mexico’s economy would be smaller when Lopez Obrador’s term ends in late 2024 than when it started.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Satellite technology “can help” Region during hurricane season

Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland

T

he London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Tuesday said that powerful satellite technology can help Caribbean countries better manage natural disasters and boost climate resilience, as the Region braces for a busy hurricane season.

It said a virtual event co-organised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) showed how remote sensing satellite technology was recently used to support Asian and Pacific countries in responding to super cyclones Amphan and Harold.

These cutting-edge tools, provided by the UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications programme (UNOSAT), are even more vital as the Caribbean grapples with multiple threats linked to both climate disasters and the novel coronavi-

rus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Experts predict up to 10 hurricanes in the Atlantic by the end of the year.

“Responding effectively to these complex challenges of disease and disaster will rely more than ever on data that is accurate, reliable and timely, as well as country cooperation to share knowledge, experience and expertise,” said Commonwealth Secretary General Dame Patricia Scotland.

“Our partnership with UNITAR and other key networks through the Commonsensing Project will help generate the data countries need to inform critical decision-making during times of crisis. It will also lead to more effective climate projects in the longterm and more robust applications for climate finance,” she added. (Excerpt from CMC)

guyanatimesgy.com

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

19

Around the World

OILNEWS Oil futures end higher as US supply marks biggest weekly decline of the year

O

il futures ended higher Wednesday after a US Government report showed the largest weekly decline in domestic crude inventories so far this

year.

“Refining activity above 14 million barrels per day for the first time since late March, [and] combined with a drop in imports and exports holding above three million barrels per day, has led to the largest crude inventory draw of the year so far,” Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, told MarketWatch.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that US crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels for the week ended June 26. That followed three consecutive weeks of increases.

Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had forecast an average crude supply decline of 2.7 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a fall of 8.2 million barrels. The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub edged down by about 200,000 barrels for the week.

The decrease in US supplies has injected some optimism in crude markets, which have been whipsawed by anxieties around the growing spread of COVID-19 and the impact of the contagion on crude demand.

On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for August rose 55 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to settle at US$39.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, global benchmark Brent oil for September picked up 76 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to US$42.03 on ICE Futures Europe. (Excerpt from Market Watch)

Hong Kong Police arrest more than 300 protesting China's 'birthday gift' of security law

H

ong Kong police fired water cannon and tear gas and arrested more than 300 people on Wednesday as protesters took to the streets in defiance of sweeping security legislation introduced by China to snuff out dissent.

Beijing unveiled the details of the much-anticipated law late on Tuesday after weeks of uncertainty, pushing China’s freest city and one of the world’s most glittering financial hubs on to a more authoritarian path.

As thousands of protesters gathered for an annual rally marking the anniversary of the former British colony’s handover to China in 1997, Riot Police used pepper spray and fired pellets as they made arrests after crowds spilled into the

Police said they had made more than 300 arrests for illegal assembly and other offences, with nine involving violations of the new law

streets chanting “resist till the end” and “Hong Kong independence”.

“I’m scared of going to jail,

but for justice I have to come out today, I have to stand up,” said one 35-year-old man who gave his name as

Seth.

Police said they had made more than 300 arrests for illegal assembly and other offences, with nine involving violations of the new law.

The law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, will see mainland security agencies in Hong Kong for the first time and allows extradition to the mainland for trial.

China’s Parliament adopted the law in response to protests last year triggered by fears that Beijing was stifling the city’s freedoms, guaranteed by a “one country, two systems” formula agreed when it returned to Chinese rule. Beijing denies the accusation. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Coronavirus: Immunity may be more widespread than tests suggest

P

eople testing negative for coronavirus antibodies may still have some immunity, a study has suggested.

For every person testing positive for antibodies, two were found to have specific T-cells which identify and destroy infected cells.

This was seen even in people who had mild or symptomless cases of COVID-19.

But it's not yet clear whether this just protects that individual, or if it might also stop them from passing on the infection to others.

Researchers at the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden tested 200 people for both antibodies and T-cells.

Some were blood donors while others were tracked down from the group of

people first infected in Sweden, mainly returning from earlier affected areas like northern Italy.

This could mean a wider group have some level of immunity TO COVID-19 than antibody testing figures, like those published as part of the UK Office for National Statistics Infection Survey, suggest.

It's likely those people did mount an antibody re-

sponse, but either it had faded or was not detectable by the current tests.

And these people should be protected if they are exposed to the virus for a second time.

This doesn't necessarily get us any closer to herd immunity, though, according to assistant professor Marcus Buggert, one of the study's authors. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Military deployed in Ethiopian capital Russia reforms: Putin strongly backed after more than 80 by voters – partial results killed in protests

R

The protests were sparked by the assassination of popular musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa

T

he military was deployed in the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday, as armed gangs roamed neighbourhoods in a second day of unrest that has claimed more than 80 lives and deepened political divisions in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s political heartland.

The protests were sparked by the assassination of popular musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa on Monday night and spread from Addis Ababa to the surrounding Oromiya region.

The killing tapped into grievances fuelled by decades of Government re-

pression and what the Oromo, Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group, describe as their historic exclusion from political power.

“I am angry. It’s eating me inside,” protester Ishetu Alemu told Reuters as tires smouldered in the street behind him.

Gunshots echoed through many neighbourhoods and gangs armed with machetes and sticks roamed the streets. Six witnesses described a situation pitting youths of Oromo origin against some of the city’s other ethnic groups, and where both sides skirmished with Police. (Excerpt from Reuters)

ussians have strongly supported constitutional reforms that could keep President Vladimir Putin in power until 2036, partial results indicate.

With about 87 per cent of ballots counted, more than 77 per cent of voters backed the measures, the electoral commission said.

The reforms would reset Putin's term limits to zero in 2024, allowing him to serve two more six-year terms.

Opposition members have said he is trying to become "president for life", a claim Putin denies.

Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny dismissed the an-

Voting has been taking place since last Thursday

nounced results as a "big lie" which did not reflect real public opinion in the country.

There is no independent scrutiny of the seven-day vote, and copies of the new

constitution appeared in bookshops during the week.

The last polling stations to close in the vast country spanning 11 time zones shut their doors at 18:00 GMT in the western enclave

of Kaliningrad on Russia's Baltic coast.

Even before the vote had ended, the Internal Affairs Ministry said there had been no violations that could affect the result, Interfax reported.

Several hundred opponents of the constitutional changes staged protests in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Voting began across Russia last week, and the electoral commission put turnout at more than 64 per cent.

The Russian President and his supporters say the reforms – in total, more than 200 changes – are needed to ensure national stability.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

On target date, Israel signals delay in West Bank annexation moves

I

sraeli annexation in the occupied West Bank might be weeks away, a government minister said as a start date on Wednesday for Cabinet discussions of the move slipped by in the absence of a green light from Washington.

Palestinians seek

the West Bank for a future state. In a show of Palestinian unity, some 3000 people in the Gaza Strip, including members of the mainstream Fatah party and the rival Hamas group that runs the enclave, protested against annexation.

Israeli leaders decided in May that Cabinet and parliamentary deliberations on extending Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, in coordination with Washington, could begin as of July 1.

But with no agreement

with Washington yet on the modalities of the move under a peace proposal announced by US President Donald Trump in January, and talks with the White House still under way, no Cabinet session was scheduled for Wednesday.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

20

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

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High energy, discipline and the desire to be your best will encourage a positive transformation.

Personal growth and gain are heading your way.

Work quietly behind the scenes. If you are too vocal regarding your plans, someone is likely to interfere.

Don't share your ideas until you are prepared to market and promote them.

Be realistic and plan your strategy with care.

Aim to succeed by doing what you can without having to depend on others.

Personal gains will be the most rewarding.

You’ll have plenty of ideas regarding how to get ahead during dire times.

Explore the possibilities and find out what it will take to reach your goal. Trust in your ability to excel.

Your positive attitude will be contagious. If you focus on what you do best, you will come up with an effective plan. Invite friends to an online social gathering.

Consider what you want to do and research the best way to get your ideas up and running. Abide by the rules, regardless of what others do.

Head down the information highway. A virtual tour can provide great entertainment and keep you out of harm's way. Sign up for an online conference or master class.

A professional matter isn't likely to go according to plan. Let your intuition guide you, and you'll make the best choice. Invest in yourself, not in someone else.

Fix up your environSAGITTARIUS ment to suit current lifestyle (Nov. 23trends. Protect yourself Dec. 21) from anyone trying to take advantage of you. Make personal growth and progress priorities. Romance will ease stress.

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It's best not to share personal information. Honesty and integrity will help you handle an emotionally draining situation. An adjustment you make will pay off. A positive change is heading your way.

Use your resources to get what you want. You have what it takes to advance, so don't procrastinate when you should be seizing the moment and embracing opportunity.

Listen to someone, but don't agree to something you don't want to do. Rid yourself of people who aren't a good influence and avoid tempting situations. Put your health and emotional well-being first.

THURSDAY, JULY 2, 2020

T

h e world’s b e st players are not prone to taking umbrage with the media. The gulf between levels of criticism – professional and personal – bestowed on a Ryder Cup golfer versus a Premier League footballer is extreme.

Golfers lead a relatively charmed life, so it becomes notable when they step on to a news agenda front foot.

They did so virtually in unison during last week’s Travelers Championship, the third stop of the PGA Tour’s closely-scrutinised resumption.

Scepticism over the Tour’s approach to COVID-19, with positive tests still in single digits but rising, jarred with competitors.

“I’ve seen a lot of media coverage that is quite negative, and I don’t like it,” said Shane Lowry, the Open champion.

“I think the PGA Tour, Jay [Monahan, the commissioner], everybody involved has done a great job. As a professional golfer, I am very happy to be back to work, and to be providing some entertainment for some people at home.”

Rory McIlroy branded as “silly” suggestions the Tour should call a halt to its return.

The world No 1 added: “I think, as a whole, it’s been going really well.”

Sergio Garcia soon joined in. “Whoever thought that we were going to come out here and it was going to be zero positive tests was living in la-la land,” the Spaniard said. “That doesn’t happen.”

The theme was not so much recurring as constant: All hail t h e Tour, and all those not signing from the same hymn sheet be damned etc, etc.

the Travelers Championship, RBC Heritage, or Charles Schwab Challenge makes such a fundamental difference to the lives of leading players that they would blithely ignore wider concerns.

manager, Michael O’Neill, had contracted coronavirus.

Nick Watney, Cameron Champ, Harris English, Dylan Frittelli, Denny McCarthy, Chad Campbell and two caddies have all tested positive for

a game of high stakes. He is doing this apparently with the full support of his membership, sponsors and local government officials. That seems to resonate more in the US than some crass attitude distinct to golf.

Dustin Johnson of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the Travelers Championship on Sunday in Cromwell, Connecticut

To sceptics, this represents the sentiment of out-of-touch multimillionaires, who care little for real struggles as they race to meet sponsors’ commitments.

But for all Lowry, McIlroy and Garcia are not immune from the occasionally daft theory, theirs is a trio perfectly cognisant of the big bad world.

McIlroy was among those who raised millions for coronavirus relief through an exhibition match. It is also a considerable stretch to say that featuring in

More interesting than the level of play within the PGA Tour’s restart has been the marked contrast in attitudes towards it; and since the Players tournament, those attitudes have shifted. As something of a metaphor for the United States itself, the Tour seems willing to live with COVID-19.

Even though approaches in the UK might feel markedly different, Stoke City FC did not abandon their restart in the Championship because their

coronavirus, yet the show goes on.

Assessing broader risk should be key for a sport which moves from state to state. Yet Monahan is not inconsiderate, rash, or lacking in sound judgment. He closed down the Players Championship in March, at high cost, after just one round, as coronavirus closed in.

As the leader of the PGA Tour, a body essentially leading US mainstream sport back to the frontline, Monahan is playing

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That players owe a debt of gratitude to the PGA Tour is obvious. They can build up pension pots equivalent to the GDP of a medium-sized country.

There is also a danger of those within golf overplaying its wider value as a mid-pandemic resource. To sports gamblers, competition is handy.

Seasoned fans have enjoyed watching the world’s best players, to a point. The absence of galleries has unquestionably diminished the spectacle. The

icolas Roche of Ireland has been confirmed as part of Team Sunweb's line-up for the 2020 Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia races.

The Tour de France starts on 29 August, having been pushed back because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Giro d'Italia, postponed from May, will take place from October 3 to October 25.

The Sunweb Team, including 32-year-old Roche, will undertake socially distanced altitude training in

21

hitherto little-known Will Gordon has now earned temporary Tour membership after his performance at the Travelers, to provide endearing insight into how tournaments can positively alter lives.

Golfers are fiercely protective of their health.

They run a mile from even the perception of off-course risk.

That much is likely to become clear later in 2020, when the field is set for a World Golf Championship in China. Nick Watney, Cameron Champ, Harris English, Dylan Frittelli, Denny McCarthy, Chad Campbell and two caddies have tested positive for coronavirus, yet this show ploughs on undeterred. It is a fascinating case study.

There were glaring holes in the PGA Tour’s initial protocols.

On the course, there was plenty of socialising and very little distance. That Watney or anyone else could go near a tournament venue when ill or seeking a COVID-19 test was nonsensical.

Champ has returned a series of negative tests; so, too, has Ricky Elliott, Brooks Koepka’s caddie, which seems to undermine the robustness of that process.

A golf tour, though, is susceptible to uncontrollable variables, changing fields and players missing cuts among them. This week’s field in Detroit is the weakest of the rebooted season.

Inevitably, positive tests will again be heralded as a success of PGA Tour policies rather than justification to shut down. Lala Land or a new reality? The truth may sit somewhere in the middle. (The Guardian)

Austria prior to heading to France.

As part of this training, they will stay at a hotel in Kuhtai in the Austrian Alps, which is open exclusively for Sunweb riders. To minimise risk of infection, the team would operate in multiple bubbles for rider and staff, with these bubbles being kept separate during travel. All riders must return a negative COVID-19 test before travelling to camp.

This will be Roche's 10th appearance at the

Tour de France; he has had a best finish of 12th in 2012. This will also be his fifth time racing the Giro d'Italia.

The France-born rider, who signed a two-year contract extension with Sunweb in 2019, is joined on the team by Soren Kragh Andersen, Nikias Arndt, Tiesj Benoot, Cees Bol, Marc Hirschi, Joris Nieuwenhuis, and Roche and Jasha Sutterlin. (BBCsport)

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resident of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Ricky Skerritt, will have the final say on whether he wants to support the former president of the board, Dave Cameron, in his bid to become Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game's ruling

Dr Shallow has said he has no knowledge of that correspondence, as the president has not spoken to him about it.

"If that is the case, and they have written to him, he probably hasn't had the time to deal with it just yet," he said.

one director from the 12 full members, as well as three associates, one independent and the outgoing chairman will have a vote.

Cameron, who was elected the 18th president of the then called West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in March 2013, is

opportunity in the Americas, which has huge economies that are untapped, and we need to look at the cricket world from a different set of eyes," said Cameron.

"We are still trying to fit Test cricket, T20, ODIs and world events into the same 12 months with more teams, and

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Ricky Skerritt, President of Cricket West Indies

Dave Cameron, aspiring Chairman of the International Cricket Council

body, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Asked by Guardian Media Sports on Tuesday if CWI would be willing to nominate Cameron for the post, CWI vice president Dr Kishore Shallow said that decision is up to Skerritt.

"The president is our director on the ICC, and he is the one to decide if (he wants) to support Cameron. He may ventilate it with the CWI board, but, in the end, he has to make the ultimate decision," Dr Shallow said.

Current ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar will step down when his term ends this year. This will be done at an ICC board meeting towards the end of this month (July).

Cameron, 49, has been supported by the USA Cricket Hall of Fame (CHOF), which has been contacting the various boards in a bid to garner support for Cameron. CHOF executive Michael Chambers has indicated that he has written to Skerritt, but is yet to get a reply.

of the view that the ICC needs to find a sustainable financial model wherein teams can earn on the basis of merit. The former CWI president has an interesting take on the sharing of revenues.

"I believe we need to find a sustainable financial model (wherein) teams can earn through merit," Cameron, who served as CWI president from 2013 to 2019, was quoted as saying by the Jamaica Gleaner. "The big three: India, Australia and England, have all the events, the audience and the biggest economy, but the smaller nations have to always be coming back to the ICC for financial support. So, what we want to happen is not equal share of revenues, but equitable share."

Cameron, who served as a WICB (CWI) director between 2002 and 2019, wants to take cricket to the USA if he becomes the ICC Chairman.

"The overall cricket structure needs change and needs to be looked at from different lenses. There is tremendous

Guardian Media Sports understand that the favourite for the post in England Cricket Board (ECB) Chairman Colin Grave. No other nominee for the post has been made public.

Shallow gave his personal feelings on the matter, saying: "When Ricky and I challenged Dave at the last elections (2019), we did so because we thought that he was not doing a sterling job. We were directors, and we thought that because of shortcomings we should fight him at the elections, and we did so and won.

"However, having said that, between then and now, Dave has done nothing to say he has improved as a leader, and this doesn't merit him being supported. That is my personal position. I will not support him based on merit, and nothing else."

Shallow, President of the St Vincent Cricket Association, added: "I am not even sure if he is serious. What is important to know is that the decision is up to Skerrit."

At the elections for the ICC Chairman,

I think there is a way to look at that, to create more money with fewer events and to allow more players to participate in the global game," he said.

A WICB director between 2002 and 2019, Cameron served as vicepresident during Julian Hunte's tenure as president, 2007-13. In the 2013 election, Cameron beat the incumbent Hunte 7-5. His running mate, Emmanuel Nanthan of Dominica, became the new vice-president, beating Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) president Joel Garner.

Prior to getting into administration at the board level, Cameron served as the vice president of the St Ann Parish Association, and was the team manager and president of the Kensington Cricket Club. He also served as treasurer of the Jamaican Cricket Association.

Cameron attended Clan Carthy Primary School in Kingston, Jamaica, and has a first class honours BSC in Hotel Management from the University of the West Indies. (TT Guardian)

− after leaving lockdown to attend father-in-law’s funeral

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onde Riley, President of the Barbados Cricket Association, has called for the "immediate removal" of Phil Simmons as head coach of the West Indies Cricket Team.

A member of the Board of Directors of Cricket West Indies (CWI), Riley has described Simmons's decision to attend a family funeral as "inconsiderate and reckless," and claims it has "endangered the lives" of the rest of the touring party.

Simmons, who is based in the UK, was allowed to leave the West Indies training base to attend the funeral of his father-in-law at the end of last week. As a consequence, he was obliged to go into quarantine in the team hotel upon his return.

In an email to board members, Riley wrote: "I just heard on the radio that our head coach Mr Phil Simmons attended a funeral recently, and is now being quarantined as a result. If this is true, I am calling for his immediate removal as head coach.

"I am being bombarded by concerned parents and members of the BCA. This behaviour is inconsiderate and reckless. It endangers the lives of those 25 young men in the UK and, in fact, the entire management team, and cannot be tolerated. The English press will have a feast on his judgement, and I suggest we act swiftly."

Nine members of the West Indies' 14-man Test squad are from Barbados, as well as four of the squad's 11 reserve players. Three further players - Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Darren Bravo - opted out of selection prior to

the series because of their concerns about the pandemic.

A statement from CWI at the time confirmed that Simmons had obtained permission to attend the funeral ahead of the tour.

"The entire process of his exit and re-entry to the bio-secure location was approved and managed by the medical teams of the CWI and the ECB, and strictly followed protocols set up prior to the tour which addressed such scenarios," the statement said.

"Following his return, Simmons has been in self-isolation away from other members of the squad, exactly as had always been planned. He has so far undergone two COVID-19 tests since Friday, both of which came back negative. He will have another test on Wednesday before he will rejoin the squad as they prepare for the three-match #RaiseTheBat Series against England."

Simmons's movements have been barely noted in the UK press as of now. Joe Root, the England captain, has been given similar dispensation to leave the training bubble to attend the birth of his second child. He will miss the first Test as a consequence.

Riley's email comes a week before West Indies begin the three-Test series in England, with the first match scheduled from July 8 in Southampton. West Indies hold the Wisden Trophy after their 2-1 win at home last year, but have not won a Test series in England since 1988.

There is wider context behind this. In 2019,

Ricky Skerritt ended Dave Cameron's six-year reign as CWI president, winning the elections by an 8-4 margin, with voting conducted through a secret ballot. However, the BCA was one of the boards to nominate Cameron.

Cameron now also wants to contest for the ICC Chairman's position, which is up for grabs after incumbent Shashank Manohar recently said he would not be standing for another term.

Although the CWI is yet to take a formal stance on whether t o support Cameron's nomination, on Tuesday, Riley told the Mason and Guest Cricket Show, hosted on Starcom Network, a Barbados-based radio station, that he would "certainly" support the Jamaican.

The relationship between Cameron and Skerritt's administration has been tense, especially of late. Last month, Cameron threatened legal action against the board unless they handed over to him a copy of an audit which had been critical of Cameron's time in office.

Simmons was also sacked as head coach by the board during Cameron's time as president, and was reappointed to the same post by Skerritt. The coach subsequently won a legal case for unfair dismissal against CWI, and received a significant payout. (ESPN cricinfo)

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"Still the best man to coach West Indies," says Ricky Skerritt

By Brandon Corlette

S

torms have erupted and ‘hidden truths’ have been revealed.

West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons is hurting, having recently lost his father-in-law. Simmons, who had been in the bio-secure location with the West Indies Test team in Manchester, attended his father-inlaw’s funeral, which was held in the UK. He was granted permission by Cricket West Indies (CWI), and upon his return, he remains in isolation.

President of the Barbados Cricket Association, Conde Riley, a member of the Board of Directors of Cricket West Indies (CWI) and one who has shown support for the previous Dave Cameron administration, in a letter, described Simmons’s decision to attend the funeral as “inconsiderate” and “reckless”, and has made claims that Simmons, by his action, had endangered the lives of the rest of the touring party.

This ‘Riley incident’ has resulted in noises being made about sacking Simmons as Head Coach.

Appearing in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, July 1, with journalists from across the globe, CWI President Ricky Skerrit has reiterated his firm conviction that Simmons is the best man to coach the West Indies. Skerritt also made it evident that CWI would contin-

T

ue to back Simmons.

No matter what have been said, Simmons still has the full backing of the CWI. No matter what has been said, Phil's job has not been threatened by that said letter. Simmons went through a vigorous recruitment process, and was the best man we have found for the job; he is still the best man in this touring squad, Skerritt explained.

“I am confident that the Caribbean (have) already thrown their support behind him and captain Holder, who will give excellent account of themselves in the upcoming Test series," Skerritt predicted.

Based on feedback Skerritt has received from Simmons, the touring party is in England for the sole purpose of defending the Wisden Trophy. "All players are moving forward every day with some level of improvement, and this should be a competitive and entertaining series for all of us," Simmons has declared.

Skerrit noted that Simmons had sought permission to leave the team's base. He said the entire process of Simmons leaving the touring party was approved and managed by CWI medical teams and the England Cricket Board.

Skerritt also declared that, while on tour, players, c o a c h e s or other personnel are given permission

r i n i dad and Tobago's Joshua Da Silva became the first West Indian batsman on this England tour to reach triple figures when, on the penultimate day of the second and final practice match, the wicketkeeper-batsman wielded his bat to score 133 runs from 249 balls.

Listed among the 11 reserves, after his century, Da Silva spoke in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, expressing satisfaction with his strong batting performance. Evidently, the ball was moving around, and Da Silva backed himself by showing great application.

"It was a great feeling,” he declared.

“Every hundred is a milestone, so I am happy to play that anchor role.”

Asked if his century had given the selectors something to ponder ahead of the first Test, Da Silva humbly responded, "I am just here to play cricket. That is not in my control; scoring runs is only in my control."

Should Shane Dowrich be injured or ruled out of play, Da Silva posited, he is prepared to replace the Test keeper.

Of recent, Dowrich has had a slight side strain.

"Any opportunity I get, I will be willing to take that," Da Silva has said.

He has batted in the middle order for the most part of his career, but Da Silva has noted that he is comfortable batting in any position.

Having scored heavily in the Regional 4-Day and Regional Super50 tournaments, Da Silva has credited those strong performances for his career being where it is presently. He racked up 507 runs for the Red Force in the Regional 4-Day tournament at an average of 50.70.

Asked whether his fellow bats-

for compassionate leave as and when needed. "This matter should not have been controversial in any way," Skerritt posited.

Skerritt noted that Riley’s correspondence was a shock missive. He also noted that his only response to that correspondence is that Riley should withdraw the letter, which has not yet been officially withdrawn.

Describing the Riley correspondence as “a burst of emotion which was unnecessary and somewhat hasty", Skerritt has said he has put the correspondence aside, and cricket is his sole focus.

Simmons responds

Following Skerritt's remarks, Simmons shared his sentiments on the situation, noting that this has not disrupted any plan for the West Indies team.

"This has not been an easy time for me and my family, (but) this will make us a little bit stronger to go into this Test series," he has said.

"For me and my family, there was no question of me not going to the funeral, because this is a very hard time for my family, and my son needed my support.

“Family is a huge thing for me, and that is what we are building here. It's a family, and everyone has supported each other, and that is noted among the staff."

The Trinidadian Simmons is hurting. He noted that if

men on tour are capable of successfully playing against England, Da Silva noted that the Test batsmen are ready. He said most of them had gotten starts in the first practice match, and they have been putting in the work behind-the-scenes.

Young Da Silva continues to learn and develop daily. He noted that he has been putting in the work with Floyd Reifer, and he has been playing the ball late in the testing UK conditions.

West Indies cricket is in the right hands with Da Silva’s batting talent and his wicket-keeping ability, and he continues to improve and impress with his level-hea d ed batting.

(Brandon Corlette)

Da Silva bats during his century

CWI President Ricky Skerritt

this situation was meant to be used against him or to break up the West Indies camp, the strategy has not worked.

"We are still focused on the se-

ries. As for now, I have put that behind me. This is an occasion where I had to do what is right for my family, and…I would do what is right for CWI," Simmons highlighted.

− bringing the “Three Ws” chapter to a close

T

he last of the “Three Ws”, Sir Everton Weekes, has passed away at his Christ Church home in Barbados at around noon yesterday, bringing the famous West Indies “Three Ws” chapter to a close.

After some months of battling with an ailment, the West Indies batting legend succumbed; and both Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Barbados Cricket Association president Conde Riley have been among the first to express sadness at the news.

“Sir Everton was one of our greats.

He has a massive contribution to Barbados and West Indies cricket. This is a sad time for cricket. We have lost a legend,” said Riley.

In a Tweet, Cricket West Indies had this to say: “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of an icon, a legend, our hero, Sir

Everton Weekes. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and many fans around the world. May he rest in peace.”

Sir Everton Weekes began his international career against England on January 21, 1948, and he went on to enjoy a career spanning 48 Tests in 20 years of service to the regional side. In that time, he averaged a remarkable 58.61, and scored 15 centuries and 19 half-centuries with a highest score of 207.

In combination with Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes was a major part of the West Indies transition from being a competitive team to being one of the most dominant units in all of sporting history.

The “Three Ws”, along with George Headley, made what used to be a talented but fickle batting line-up into a picture of consistency. (Excerpted from Sportsmax)

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"Still the best man to coach West Indies," says Ricky Skerritt Joshua Da Silva celebrates his ton

CWI President Ricky Skerritt

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− bringing the “Three Ws” chapter to a close

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− after leaving lockdown to attend father-in-law’s funeral

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