Guyana Times Tuesday April 21, 2020

UK Govt P9 reassures Guyanese businesses of commitment to democracy Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4262

THE BEACON OF TRUTH TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Legitimate Govt needed to tackle COVID-19 – Dr Irfaan Ali …measures to be taken to help Guyanese See story on page 3

…emergency support also needed for at-risk small businesses GECOM, APNU/AFC destruction of democracy: Day 50

No date yet for beginning of recount

See stories on pages 2 and 7

…Nagamootoo backpedals: GECOM gets extra hour for vote recount, no quarantine for Caricom team …COVID-19 now being used to delay elections recount – GECOM Commissioner

Guyana's COVID-19 cases increase to 66

Page 7

2 murder accused, 2 others escape from Lusignan Prison

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Watch out for invocation of force majeure P7 clause – lawyer warns

COVID-19 response

Guyanese P14 suffering unduly due to illegitimate Govt – Corentyne Chamber

GECOM Chair reports ‘death threat’ to P8 Police …“I am not afraid” – Claudette Singh

Bandits wreak havoc on Corentyne: several P15 homes burglarised …overseas-based Guyanese targeted

Page 10

P15 Armed bandits rob Corentyne housewife …rip off earrings Prison escapee: Anthony Padmore

Murder accused: Ganesh Dhanraj

Sasenarine Bisnauth

Murder accused: Kenraul Perez

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

No date yet for beginning of recount

…Nagamootoo backpedals: GECOM gets extra hour for vote recount, no quarantine for Caricom team

A

fter much pressure and criticism from members of the public, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been given a one-hour reprieve of additional time beyond the national curfew in order to engage in the recount of votes cast in the March 2, General and Regional Elections.

This in addition to the confirmation of the return of a high-level Caribbean Community (Caricom) delegation to observe the process were among the updates provided on Monday, when Commissioners and GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh again toured the Arthur Chung Conference Centre along with health officials from the National coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Task Force.

The disclosures represent a backpedalling of the Government diktats and a subsequent statement by the Government’s Department of Public Information (DPI) confirmed that the additional time and changes to the quarantine demands previously made by caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo were done at the request of the President following public outcry.

According to the DPI missive, Nagamootoo – at a COVID-19 Task Force meeting – presented “the guid-

ance and advice of President David Granger on the issue of screening guidelines for Caricom officials who have been invited to take part in the recount of ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections.”

DPI said Nagamootoo advised the meeting that Granger said he received proposals from the Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, for medical examinations of members of the delegation to be done in the members’ country of origin before their arrival in Guyana.

Health concerns

Speaking with media operatives on Monday following the special site tour at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Retired Justice Singh told media operatives, the visit was organised with the health officials of the Task Force since, “we need to ensure and guarantee the safety of the Caricom team, as soon as that is finished we have to communicate what we have done to ensure the safety [of the delegation] to the Secretary General.”

The GECOM Chairperson was adamant that “the people are virtually afraid of contracting the virus so that is why we are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their safety.”

She was unable, howev-

er, to give a definitive date of arrival for the Caricom team, except to say that they will be fielding a physical presence in the country for the recount exercise as long as the logistics are finalised.

Speaking to the outstanding issues that are still to be dealt with by the Commission, Retired Justice Singh hinted at security and other such arrangements.

As it relates to the COVID-19 Task Force officials on the site tour, Retired Justice Singh told members of the media “they are here to tell us how safe it is to have a certain number of people in any one room at this point in time.”

Defending the decision to restrict the recount process to no more than 10 counting stations the GECOM Chairman said: “I had to take into consideration the safety of those people.”

According to the GECOM Chairman, “I could not guarantee their safety in 20 stations [inside the building]” – as had been proposed by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioners.

She disclosed to media operatives too that following consultations with the Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force, there has been an agreement for an additional hour to be allowed to the staff of GECOM for the recount.

GECOM team and health officials examining a room in the Arthur Chung Conference Centre

Explaining the change in modality, Retired Justice Singh said, “I had consulted with the Task Force on working beyond the curfew period.”

She explained that with the national curfew commencing at 18:00h, it would mean that GECOM staff would have to leave the centre by 17:00h and that this will likely be changed to include the additional working time.

This could see the recount utilising 10-hour days, working from 08:00h to 18:00h with different times for breaks for each of the counting teams, taking into consideration COVID-19 measures such as social distancing.

No date for recount

Asked to speculate on a timeline for the start of the recount, the GECOM Chairman said: “not long from now… perhaps hours, maybe days.”

Speaking directly to the citizenry still awaiting an official result seven weeks after casting their ballot, Retired Justice Singh said, “I am do-

ing everything possible” and added that “I am the person who spoke about the recount, I am the person who made that commitment and I am going to see it through.”

Media operatives were also told that the decision to have members of the Caricom delegation be quarantined has since been rescinded and that participating members travelling to Guyana will instead be required to be tested at their home countries before departing for Guyana.

Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander in a separate briefing indicated to media operatives that the Commission would not have to await the written recommendations from the officials from the COVID-19 Task Force.

He reminded that based on Retired Justice Singh’s diktat that there be no more than 10 counting stations, “what the Public Health people have been able to say is which spaces we can use and numbers because we antic-

ipate in some instances as many as 14 persons in a particular space.”

Alexander disclosed too that the COVID-19 Task Force members also addressed issues of security and sanitisation and special arrangements for ablution and dining.

Asked about any changes to the counting stations, he was adamant that the Chairman was given the authority to make the decision and that GECOM along with the venue should provide enough of the technological resources required.

“GECOM will make every effort in understand to resource 10, fortunately, here, because this is a convention centre, there are resources,” he said.

He was unable to give a definitive timeframe for the recount but suggested that the starting time would now be also tied to the arrival of the Caricom delegation in Guyana.

NEWS

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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, April 21 – 04:00h – 05:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Wednesday, April 22 – 04:30h – 06:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Tuesday, April 21 – 16:35h – 18:05h and Wednesday, April 22 – 16:50h – 18:20h.

Legitimate Govt needed to tackle COVID-19 – Dr Irfaan Ali

…measures to be taken to help Guyanese …emergency support also needed for at-risk small businesses Accountability Act, the Government has had to curtail its expenditure for 2020 to just 1/12 of the previous year’s spending. This is expected to continue until a new budget is passed.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

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No major plans

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PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

I

t has been over a year since both a budget and the No-Confidence Motion were passed by and against the Government.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali has stressed the need for a legitimate Government to address current challenges, including COVID-19.

The Presidential Candidate made these comments during a broadcast message on Monday. In the message, he stressed the need for an emergency budget to be passed, which will cater for persons who have lost their jobs, as well as putting systems in place to directly confront coronavirus.

He explained that the COVID-19 Response MultiStakeholder Forum formed by his party has recommended a number of measures to be done. Ali further explained what they will immediately implement should elections be concluded and the PPP be deemed the winner.

“It is time the new Administration commences work in the interest of all Guyanese. These are the immediate plans of action.

Rapidly increase capacity for testing. Investing in adequate measures to address hospitalisation.”

“Decentralising our response. Building capacity in every region. Provide adequate personal protection equipment and transportation for frontline staff.

Testing for arriving passengers within 24 hours.

Accommodation for health workers. Introduce additional treatment options.”

Financial measures

Meanwhile, Ali spoke about the financial measures that were recommended. However, these are predicated on the Government being able to pass a budget, something it has not done since November 2018.

The very next month, the Government fell to a No-Confidence Motion.

And in keeping with the Fiscal Management and

In the meantime, Government has not implemented any major plans for COVID-19 relief for individuals and businesses, although it has embarked on spending over $1 billion to rebuild the flood-prone Ocean View Hotel into a hospital for COVID-19 patients.

“Among the recommendations are subsidies for distressed businesses, deferral of loan payments by at least six months. Address overdraft loans for businesses to have working capital. Waive import duties on COVID-19 medical supplies, while we zero rate taxes on sanitisation products. Defer tax filings deadlines,” Ali explained.

“Defer income, corporate, property and VAT tax obligations for six months.

Reduce taxes on fuel. Waive tax on data. Speed up tax refunds by GRA. Consult with insurance companies to extend coverage.”

Social support

Meanwhile, he also spoke of the social support measures that will be necessary to combat coronavirus. They include support for vulnerable groups, cash vouchers for students, as well as the

Caretaker President David Granger

reduction of utility charges such as light and water. In addition, he also related the various recommendations made for workers.

“Relook at the threshold and increase it, to allow for reduced or no taxation for workers in vulnerable sectors. Removal of mortgage interest and property tax for six months. Work with commercial banks to reduce the spread; that is the difference between lending and saving rates.”

“Emergency support for small businesses at the risk of closure. Work with businesses to extend time to pay higher purchases.

Notwithstanding the challenges being posed, we have had experience managing crisis situations.”

Here he referred to the 2005 floods, which caused damages to the housing and sugar sectors. Ali, a former Minister of Housing, noted that they were able to over-

come all of this and rebuild the economy to one of the fastest-growing in the hemisphere.

It has been over a month of controversies since the elections were held, but a winner is yet to be declared. At present, however, the Guyana Elections Commission is working out the modalities for a national recount of the votes.

The latest controversy came after caretaker Prime Minister Noses Nagamootoo instructed the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), a constitutional body, that it cannot extend its recount into curfew hours.

I n e x p l i c a b l y , Nagamootoo also informed GECOM that observers granted special permission to oversee the recount must quarantine for 14 days after arriving, again delaying the exercise.

After an outcry from the PPP, however, these stipulations were relaxed. A decision was made for the 18:00h to 06:00h curfew to be relaxed and for foreigners coming here to observe the process to be pre-tested in their own countries as against being quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival here.

These changes were made following the intervention by caretaker President David Granger and same was communicated to the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh.

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guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 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

Questionable Govt in a time of crisis

T

here is very little that could be done at the moment to effectively confront the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Guyana due to the fact that there is no fully functional government in place. After about seven weeks, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) still cannot get its act together and move ahead in finalising the results for the March 2 polls. In fact, it is very disappointing and perhaps even disgraceful that long after the court has ruled paving the way for the countrywide recount to move ahead, GECOM is still stuck at deciding the modalities for the process.

The nation was waiting with bated breath on Friday with the expectation that the Chairperson, Justice Claudette Singh would have issued strict orders such as the commencement date for the recount, how long the process would last and whether it would be livestreamed, and other key administrative and logistical issues. However, by way of a very brief email, the Chairperson related to her colleague Commissioners the number of workstations that would be used – 10, and a note to say that a meeting would be held with the Moses Nagamootooled National COVID-19 Task Force.

The Chairperson’s response did not in any way provide clarity on the way forward regarding the recount, but rather it created even more confusion. For example, not only did she give the impression that the commencement of the recount was dependent on Nagamootoo, but it also confirms the view of many stakeholders that GECOM is not very serious about bringing this electoral process to an end in a timely manner.

Even after the Commission’s second site visit on Monday to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), where the recount is slated to take place, the Chairperson could not give a definitive date as to when the recount would commence and how long she expected it to last.

While GECOM is pussyfooting around on the elections results, coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the country with infection rates going up daily; thousands of persons are out of employment, with many of them suffering and finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet, businesses are closing, and there is increased hopelessness in communities across the country. It is no wonder why persons are still not adhering to the curfew rules such as the stay-at-home and physical separation guidelines, etc.

Not that we are justifying the actions of individuals; in fact, we have always insisted that the sure way of winning the COVID-19 fight is to impose the necessary curfews countrywide so as to limit the movement of persons. However, many persons have taken to the letter pages of the newspapers to ask how would they survive and pay their bills if they stayed at home and not work. In the absence of any proper relief measures, persons are forced to venture out to engage in some form of ‘hustling’ to make ends meet, putting themselves and their families at risk of contracting the virus.

In the height of the pandemic, Governments all over the world imposed certain curfews to ensure they limit the movement of persons, but they did not just announce the orders, they backed them up by providing various forms of support mechanisms, including cash handouts for individuals, stimulus packages for businesses, etc.

The caretaker Government in Guyana seems hopeless. Their ‘relief’ offered so far in the form of food hampers has been fraught with corruption, favouritism and mismanagement. This in itself should warrant an independent investigation.

In the coming days, we will perhaps see the largest increases in the number of persons who are laid off from their jobs in recent history. Every sector, including tourism, manufacturing, services, retail, financial, etc, will continue to be severely affected. There is need for businesses unable to weather the financial difficulties of this period to be provided with stimulus packages. Without fiscal stimulus to help, the economic and social impacts will be devastating.

If this election crisis is prolonged, many Guyanese will die from lack of adequate healthcare to treat the virus, and thousands more will suffer from the economic impact, which can include starvation. Further, Guyana’s efforts to access international funding to fight the virus will be affected.

The problem everyone knows; is the APNU/AFC Government’s current questionable legal standing and the political instability it has engendered. The GECOM Chair has the power to end the madness, but is failing to do so.

Mexican lawyer Candelario Maldonado, dressed as the fictional character Batman, gives a birthday cake to a child in Monterrey, Mexico (Reuters photo)

Nagamootoo’s shenanigans to prevent counting of votes shameless

Dear Editor, The decision of ex-PM Nagamootoo (described as the PM who got larwah from Granger) to delay the recount is probably the lowest point of his political career.

He has done many shameless things such as arguing that 33 is not the majority of 65, and openly fighting with Ramjattan who brought him into the AFC and put him up as the PM candidate, and justifying his son-in-law working as a middleman in a deal to buy the Skeldon Estate. Moses spent the majority of his life fighting against PNC electoral rigging, and now he is the chief one helping them to rig the 2020 election and defending them.

But the PNC’s continued saga of delay has drawn swift condemnation from Guyanese across the world in their social media blogs.

The reaction ranges from “shameless” to a Mr Persaud who said, “ that is why I hope a few more make their minds like me, I’m prepared to die to set the fair-minded people of Guyana free from this dictatorship regime.” It’s the PNC versus the rest of the world. With every passing day, more and more people are condemning the PNC’s systematic plan to derail the elections and frustrating the nation so

they can steal the elections again. Remember Granger said he was “the man with the plan.”

The blogs are abuzz with widespread condemnation in the latest scams being perpetrated by the PNC’s larwah man still pretending to be PM. Comments include, “These bullies are trying all way round to not do a recount;” and “I wasn’t expecting nothing different from Nagamootoo,” said Kurt. “This is a process with no end in sight” (Mohamed).

“Nagamootoo is and will always be a snake, it’s why he was kicked out of PPP, because of his crookishness, hope he gets what he deserves, the namakharam.”

“Which set of observers will leave their country and come to be quarantined in Guyana? (Winston).

“What a weak spineless fellow! Our essential service centres from grocery stores to carry out, all are accessible to the public with each person following simple guidelines, yet this fellow decides to lock up incoming observers in Guyana for 14 days!” (Iggi). “This situation has become beyond nonsensical. The GECOM Chair Claudette Singh must take full blame for this ridiculous state of affairs. Inaction, procrastination, delay and more delay has emanated

from her position every single time when urgent action was required. What else was to be expected when she handed this latest decision making over to the PNC? It’s now patently obvious that a fair and urgent recount will never happen. It’s time for the western countries to step in, speak in no uncertain terms to Granger, and use the Statements of Poll to declare the winner” (JS).

So, if the PNC does not want a speedy recount, where do we go from here, as Nagamootoo’s ideas are a non-starter? “Counting votes should be exempt from curfew. It’s of national importance. Moses stap wid de crap,” said Buxton.

“The SoPs from Region #4 should be tabulated and declare a winner. Each party has a SoP which can be used to determine the winner.

The people of Guyana need medical help. We need a Government in place. People are unemployed and no help is coming from anywhere.

The international community needs to take a closer look at what’s happening in Guyana,” (Ashwan). “This seems so silly! What does a curfew have to do with the re-count?” Another said, “Furthermore, why are people like Nagamootoo and the others being allowed to be verbose on things that are

of paramount importance to the nation? Such people are occupying Government illegally. The world knows that.

They have to be removed.”

Krish said, “Once again, delaying tactics...The country at a standstill is of no consequence for Naga and co.

The evil scheme of constant delay is in full gear.” “Drag on baby drag on and hold on to power, from Mingo to Lowenfield, Claudette, now Naga and the boss remain silent, ha, ha, oh lord please look down in Guyana,” (Annie). “Sanctions is the word coming to mind.”

The GECOM Chair has the power to complete the elections process in a fair, transparent manner, (virus or no virus) and must declare how she will do it versus asking for permission from disgraced politicians.

This is a matter of urgent national importance and all available waivers apply.

The Chair also promised the Chief Justice to complete the counting expeditiously, and if she continues to delay, the PPP needs to pursue the contempt actions against GECOM. The GECOM/PNC axis of evil has pushed the people over the edge and they are solely responsible for any consequences.

Sincerely, Jerry Singh

Some traditions are worth reestablishing Dear Editor, Queen’s College has a number of well-rooted traditions. Some of which have been lost over the years and others which have evolved. It would be a great achievement to reestablish many of these traditions and restore the architectural structure which previously existed. Many

reminisce about the close setting that was in place when the staff room was located in the centre of the school and the auditorium was just a few steps away.

The Headmaster’s office was on the upper floor just above and usually occupied by an alumnus who was well acquainted with the traditions of the school.

During my last visit, I saw the new layout and couldn’t help but feel a disconnect between the teaching staff and the student body when compared to previous generations. The fire of the past appears to have taken with it more than just the structure. The previous layout also had with it the plaques of previous

national scholars and the level of comradery could be felt within the walls of this great institution. The legacy of Queen’s College also lends itself well to being another historical landmark site, especially if the traditional architectural structure is restored.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 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

Obnoxious behavior by Stealing an election Singh and Nagamootoo would not be tolerated

Dear Editor, Over the years, Guyana has weathered all sorts of storms and came out on top, but since the elections on March 2, it has sunk to a new low through the actions of Claudette Singh, chair of GECOM. In this modern era, it is important to the nation for democracy, free and fair elections and the people’s will to prevail. But this has not been the case with Claudette Singh and Moses Nagamootoo who are bent to hinder the will of the people, stifle the democratic process, steal the elections and hence frustrate the people. As a nation, we must not sit idly by and allow the evil doers in our society to prosper. As Albert Einstein advised, “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them do it without doing anything about it”.

Guyana has a system of governance in which the supreme power is vested in the people and is exercised in them through a system of representation by the people and not in the hands of Claudette Singh. It is a system that involves periodically held free and fair elections. But what the people have witnessed since March 4, 2020, is a blatant violation of the constitution, the destruction of our democracy and the will of the people repudiated. In 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2006, the people had decided that they wanted the PPPC to be their government and those rights were respected by the respective Chairpersons of GECOM. In 2011, the people decided they wanted a minority PPPC government and once again the

Chairperson of GECOM respected their rights. In 2015, the people decided that they wanted the PPPC out of office therefore they elected the APNU+AFC coalition government and again their rights were fully respected by the Chair of GECOM. In these periods, there were no lengthy delays in announcing the election results, no unauthorized squatting in power, blatant rigging of elections and certainly no bullyism of the people by the incumbent.

That is how democracy is supposed to work; but today we are witnessing a barefaced attempt to undermine the electoral process under the weak and compromised leadership of Claudette Singh. It is a farce. GECOM is a constituted body which means that Claudette Singh answers to no one but the people, the true shareholders of our democracy. Further, there was no reason or obligation for GECOM, being a constitutional to consult with Moses Nagamootoo, head of the COVID19 Committee and definitely to no politicians or anyone else before making decisions. So for her to submit a request to Moses Nagamootoo of the COVID 19 Committee to determine if the votes could be counted beyond the curfew hours shows absolute disrespect for the people. As a former judge she should have known that the finalizing of the elections is an essential service. However, she continued to play games by delaying the tabulation of the results in order to appease the powers that be, despite the fact that both the

High Court and the Guyana Court of Appeals have given GECOM the green light to recount the votes over a month ago.

Moses Nagamootoo’s proclamation to GECOM not to tabulate the votes beyond 6 PM curfew and to quarantine the international observers for 14 days even if they test negative for COVID19 is at best a ploy to delay or not to recount the votes. This type of behavior exhibits a complicit attitude on the part of Madam Claudette Singh and Moses Nagamootoo to subvert the democratic process. More than that, by submitting a request to Nagamootoo, Claudette Singh is meant to frustrate the people and disrupt the democratic process.

Both Singh and Nagamootoo actions along with COVID 19 have directly contributed to the rupturing of the economy and placed the country at a crossroad. At some time in the future, the actions of Claudette Singh may warrant an investigation to ascertain if she has been involved in any political collusion to prejudice the results of the 2020 elections.

Since its creation, GECOM has had a number of chairpersons who have executed their functions with grace, decorum and civility and have earned the respect of the people but not the partial and conceited Claudette Singh whose functions at GECOM is headed into dustbins. Simply put her attitude is obnoxious and her behavior resembles those in the ghetto.

Sincerely, Dr Asquith Rose and Sasenarine Singh

Some traditions are...

Another great tradition was when the Headmaster’s living quarters were on site. Not only is it a great perk for the Headmaster / Headmistress, but also helps to set by example a high standard for students and encourages ownership for the appearance and upkeep of this great institution.

Queen’s College continues to connect the leadership of our Nation in many of the traditional ways that were developed over the years. It is always comforting to see

that independent of political allegiance we can as alumni continue to find common ground to help strengthen an institution that has produced many of our Nation’s leaders.

I am certain many of the alumni of the other great scholastic institutions of our country would have similar ambitions for their schools.

The lockdown due to the virus offers an opportunity to plan the refurbishment for many of our schools which could be executed over a va-

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FROM PAGE 4

cation once the virus has been controlled.

Best regards, Jamil Changlee

Dear Editor, Guyana has a politically motivated and controlled GECOM and with each passing day this concept is being revealed. There is no question in anyone's mind by now that this is the situation at GECOM, that is, the Chairwoman and the government appointed commissioners, these are the ones pulling the shots. We are well aware of the partisan functions of the government appointed commissioners, however, when you look at the posture taken by The Chairwoman you get the real picture as to where we are headed. The actions of the chairwoman leave a whole lot to be desired.

For starters, all of this confusion could have been settled had she asserted herself as "leader" of the commission. So, let us once again take a look at her actions.

1. The Regional Officer for Region Four gives barefaced, rigging results for the region before the full commission as well as foreign observers.

Instead of stepping in and take control of the proceedings she hurriedly runs and hides.

2. Claudette Singh becomes missing in action for many days, only meeting in caucus with former government officials of the incumbent.

3. Claudette Singh resurfaces when a series of court matters brought by the state against the people of this country on election results. The real substance of those lawsuits dealt with the true application of the law as it relates to the "selection" of a leader or an "election" of a leader? The courts, both full court and appellate courts finally ruled that the route of a duly required election results would be the preferred mode to be adopted.

4. Meanwhile, The Chairwoman gives her approval, in court documents,

that each ballot box would be recounted to verify the winner.

5. Chairwoman then spends weeks on end discussing the modalities that should govern that recount even visiting the site for the recount.

6. After much discussions the chair finally decided that the recount would take place. Now, one would have thought that we have reached the final homestretch which should bring an end to this whole sordid affair the chairwoman does the unthinkable and makes a 180o . She sends the recount proposal to the former prime minister for his approval.

7. C h a i r w o m a n Singh sends proposal to ex-prime minister Moses Nagamootoo for his approval. Now, Nagamootoo in essence should not be presiding over this matter because (a) He is a political candidate on the incumbent's slate and (b) His decisions would be taken in that partisan political framework. This is exactly what he did by restricting the working hours to the bare minimum as well as imposing a two weeks quarantine "penalty" for foreign observers.

8. Here we see a seemingly "qualified" former judge (someone who should be knowledgeable of the law) seeking the approval of a non-official of the former government for the green light on a recount?

This is not an oversight I would say but a blatant disregard for the laws of this country. Claudette Singh

by her actions has revealed who she really is, that is, a politically poisoned chairwoman who would do what it takes to undermine, if not derail the entire democratic process as it relates to elections.

Why should a simple recount of ballots take so long to begin far less impeded with all these encumbrances? It begs the question that the chairwoman never wanted a recount in the first place, only making these platitudes to bide time. She fully well knows that in pandemic situations like these that The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) ought to be the one whom she should have consulted?

But Claudette Singh who is well entrenched in her deceit, is just playing the political game; the poisoned chalice of this woman is in full display.

Right now we are in noman's land with no date set for a recount and all the restrictions it boggles the mind as to whether we will see a recount any time soon. This is outrageous to say the least. I believe that they should be a settling in of selective sanctions, The International Community should institute sanctions, beginning with those at GECOM then moving over to those of the incumbent political cabal. This would be of sobering effect to all concerned, that stealing an election would not be tolerated.

Respectfully Submitted Neil Adams

SEE ADDITIONAL LETTERS ON PAGE 16

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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

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Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers. This is the second part of English Paper 1, 2010.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes 1. WRITE YOUR CANDIDATE NUMBER ON THE ANSWER SHEET AND UNDERLINE THE SUBJECT. 2. This test contains 40 questions. You are required to answer ALL questions. Four responses are given for each question.

The responses are A, B, C and D. Only ONE response is correct.

ENGLISH

3. If you are not sure of the answer to a question, then choose the one which you think is BEST. On your answer sheet, draw a heavy black line through the letter you have chosen.

4. BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION NUMBER IN THE BOOKLET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU HAVE USED ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET.

In question 21, choose the sentence that is correctly written 21. (A) Last night I go to bed early.

(B) Both of my friends likes to read.

(C) Too much children come to school late.

(D) Either of the girls will come.

In questions 22 to 24, there is an error in capitalization. Choose the underlined word that has the error.

22. Events for carifesta were held at different venues A B C throughout Guyana.

D 23. Different Artistes performed at the National Stadium A B C A the opening ceremony. during D 24. Every four years a different country is chosen to host B C the Olympics.

D In questions 25 and 26, choose the name of the book.

25. This is a kind of dictionary that has mostly synonyms.

(A) Thesaurus (B) Magazine (C)Catalogue (D) Encyclopedia 26. It is a book which encourages us to use or buy a product.

(A) Directory (B) Syllabus (C) Encyclopedia (D) Catalogue In questions 27 and 28, choose the name given to the parts of a book.

27. A list at the front of the book that tells what the book contains.

(A) forward (B) glossary (C) appendix (D) contents

Here is an example done for you. letter next to the answer you have now 1. The capital of Guyana is chosen.

(A) Linden (B) Georgetown ANSWER SHEET A B C D 6. REMEMBER, each answer MUST only be shown (C) Rose Hall (D) Lethem by a heavy black line on your Answer Sheet.

A heavy black line has been drawn through the letter B on the answer sheet because 7. Remember only ONE answer must be provided Georgetown, the correct answer, is next to B. for each question.

5. If you make a mistake, erase the line cleanly, then draw a heavy black line through the

28. An alphabetical list of words and meanings at the end of a book.

(A) glossary (B) appendix (C) preface (D) acknowledgement In questions 29 and 30, choose the most suitable meaning of the underlined proverbs.

29. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

(A) A rolling stone is a slippery stone.

(B) It is hard to catch a moving stone.

(C) Someone who is always busy gets much work done.

(D) Someone who frequently changes jobs will never be rich.

30. Make hay while the sun shines.

(A) Things are not always as good as they appear.

(B) Grasp every opportunity when it presents itself.

(C) Hay cannot be harvested during the rainy season.

(D) It is easy to cut grass when the sun is shining.

Read the poem below, then answer questions 31 to 35.

He comes with mother up the stair, And by my bed he takes a chair, And says in such a twinkly way, “And how’s the invalid today?

He sees my tongue, he sees my throat; He has a thing inside his coat With which he listens at my chest; And that is what I like the best.

He often makes me stay in bed, When I would rather play instead, And gives me horrid things to take, In bottles that you have to shake.

And yet I really never mind Because he is so very kind.

What a Fright

— by Angus Maciver

8. DO NOT TURN OVER THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

31. The invalid is a child who (A) likes to sleep late (B) does not go to school (C) is lazy (D) is ill 32. Who visits the invalid?

(A) His teacher (C) The dentist

(B) His friend (D) The doctor

33. What is horrid to take?

(A) Medicine (C) Brushing his teeth

(B) Bath (D) Combing his hair

34. Which word is used to describe the visitor?

(A) Twinkly (B) Horrid (C) Kind (D) Best 35. The best name for the poem is (A) Sleepyhead (B) The Doctor (C) Busybody (D) The Visitor Read the passage below, then answer questions 36 to 40.

Rainwater is carried from the hills down to the sea by rivers. If this did not happen the land would be flooded.

Rivers often help persons to travel and transport things from one place to another. That is why towns were sometimes built on the banks of large rivers. Riverboats and barges are used in some countries to transport passengers and cargo.

Rivers are also important to persons who live nearby and do not have access to tap water in their homes. Water for drinking, cooking and washing is then accessed from the river. Many farriilies depend on this ready source of water, even if they have to boil it for drinking purposes.

Rivers supply many persons with food such as fish and shrimp. Freshwater fish can also be caught from the river.

They make a delicious meal.

Some persons just like to look at the beauty of a river, with its waterfalls, its rapids and its wide, calm stretches where the water is barely moving.

Adapted from: Communication Tasks

An Integrated Approach

by Sheila Callow & P.L. Maxwell

36. The land does not flood when it rains because the water (A) is dried up by the sun. (B) goes into the soil.

(C) runs off into the sea. (D) is stored in trenches.

37. Some towns were built on the banks of rivers to (A) allow easy movement of people and goods.

(B) ensure that persons had enough water to use.

(C) provide jobs for persons who wanted to fish.

(D) provide persons with a beautiful, peaceful scenery.

38. ‘Tap water’ in line 8 means (A) clean water. (B) water that has been purified.

(C) water that comes through a pipe. (D) rain water.

39. Which of the following is not true about rivers?

(A) The water from rivers can be used for domestic purposes.

(B) The water in rivers is not always calm.

(C) River can be used to transport things as well as provide food.

(D) Every large river has a town on its bank.

40. Which is an appropriate title for the passage?

(A) Life by the River (B) How the river gets it water.

(C) Uses of the River (D) The beauty of the River.

END OF TEST

NEWS

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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana's COVID-19 cases increase to 66

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he COVID-19 curve in Guyana continues to move in an upward trajectory, with the addition of another positive case.

On Monday, statistics released by the Public Health Ministry showed that the country’s confirmed cases rose to 66, with the deaths remaining at seven.

The data showed that 328 persons were tested.

A total of 50 persons were placed in institutional isolation while 17 were placed in institutional quarantine and five in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

From the dashboard, the number of recovered cases stood at nine. This data shows that the country is yet to embark on the journey of flattening the curve.

It also demonstrates that 20.1 per cent of the tested individuals were positive for the virus with a mortali-

ty rate of about 10 per cent.

Director of the Food Policy Division at the Ministry, Dinte Conway on Sunday reiterated the importance of healthy eating on Sunday. Zeroing in on nutrition, she stated that it is an essential part of protecting against the virus.

The vitamins and minerals needed, she said, can be easily sourced through produce found locally.

Some sources of Vitamin A include oily fish such as sardines, eggs, whole grains, beans, nuts and some types of fruit. Vitamin B, which is responsible for first response in the body, can be found in green leafy vegetables, nuts, chicken, meats and fruits among other products. Vitamin C and E, which protects cells from oxidated stress, can be found in but is not limited to foods such as carrots,

limes, tomatoes, cherries and guava.

The use of ginger and garlic coupled with a low salt intake is also advised.

Two days ago, a seventh person lost his life while battling the virus. Sydney Trellis, a 49-year-old man from Wismar Housing Scheme, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), had reportedly shown up at the Linden Hospital Complex with the symptoms before being transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital

Watch out for invocation of force majeure clause – lawyer warns

Corporation, where his condition was listed as critical.

On Saturday night, however, caretaker Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence announced his death in an update on the pandemic.

The visually impaired

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Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram

ies in the Liza and Payara fields. It is under the administration of Eco Guyana and Tullow, who signed a 10year Petroleum Prospecting Licence and Production Sharing Agreement with Guyana in 2016.

In Eco’s case, section 24.4 of its contract states that “Where a party is prevented from exercising any rights or performing any obligations under this agreement due to a force majeure, the Minister hereby agrees pursuant to Section 43 of the Act, subject to the proviso therein, that a period of additional time necessary for restoration of damages caused during a force majeure delay shall be added to the time allowed under this agreement for the performance of such obligation and for the performance of any obligation or the exercise of any right dependent thereon and to the term of any license issued pursuant to this agreement.”

Since the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) hit globally, it has had a serious impact not just on lives but also the global economy and specifically, oil. As of April 19, Brent crude has been trading at US$28 a barrel. Brent

crude was being traded at US$66 per barrel when Guyana first started oil production in December 2019.

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

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

Last week, OPEC (made up of 14 countries but dominated by Saudi Arabia) formed an agreement after days of video conferences with other non-OPEC members, to cut production in an effort to tackle the effects of the coronavirus on demand. It has been reported that US President Donald Trump intervened in brokering the agreement.

The agreement was for OPEC+ to cut 9.7 million barrels a day, while the United States, Brazil and Canada also cut their production. At the time it was brokered, Brent crude was hovering around US$31. On Monday, Los Angeles Times reported that oil futures collapsed to below zero for the first time ever as the deepening economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus crisis left traders desperate to avoid taking delivery of physical crude.

Last month, ExxonMobil had announced that it will seek to scale down its operations, in the wake of the global uncertainty in financial markets caused by COVID-19.

Krow warned Guyana against lifting the emergency measures too soon, noting that it could result in an exponential spike in the number of cases here.

In fact, he noted that if the measures are lifted as scheduled, then by midMay there could be as many as 5000 cases in the country.

Last month, PAHO/ WHO had projected that Guyana would record some 20,000 COVID-19 cases.

But the country representative explained that this projection was in the event that the country did nothing to curb the spread.

COVID-19 now being used to delay elections recount – GECOM Commissioner …GECOM not obligated to seek permission from Nagamootoo’s task force – Gunraj

…COVID-19 can result in oil companies using clause to extend contracts he coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world has had a debilitating effect on global oil prices. But there is another risk, with one oil and gas commentator warning that the onset of global events caused by the virus can be used to invoke the force majeure clause in various contracts Guyana has with oil companies.

Force majeure is a contractual clause which allows a company to alter the terms of their contract if events out of their control impact their earnings. In an interview with this publication, chartered accountant and attorney-at-law, Christopher Ram warned of the possibility of this being done to Guyana.

“This is all part of the agreement. We have to be careful, to call on those contractors to confirm prices.

Because then they can use that as a form of force majeure, to say oh you have to allow our contracts to run longer,” Ram explained.

“This year, the relinquishment clause kicks in. I think [companies] can start claiming force majeure and they will want to produce as much as they can, because [these are] their most lucrative contracts.”

A number of oil companies have force majeure clauses in their contracts with Guyana. In fact, many of the contracts were modelled based on a standard format, which the Energy Department had said would be updated in a new model Production Sharing Agreement (PSA).

A case in point is Eco Guyana Atlantic, which owns a 15 per cent working interest in the Orinduik Block. The Orinduik oil block is just a few kilometres from Exxon’s discover-

man was the first person to contract the virus in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). He recently accommodated several guests from overseas. It is suspected that one of the visitors infected him.

Worldwide, there have been 2,241,359 positive cases with 151,551 deaths. In the region of the Americas, the statistics showed 821,860 cases with 38,258 deaths.

Only Friday, Country Representative of the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/ WHO), Dr William Adu-

GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj

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he Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM), as an independent constitutional body, was not obligated to seek permission from the National coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Task Force, chaired by Moses Nagamootoo, with regard to the modality for the recount of the March 2 ballots cast at the General Elections.

In fact, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Commissioner to GECOM, Sase Gunraj, the issue of COVID-19 is now being overused to delay the recount process.

Gunraj made the damning pronouncements on Monday when he again lamented “the naked attempts at political interference” with regards to the elections recount.

“Here you have the very persons who seem disinclined to have this process proceed are the very persons who are tasked with the responsibility of crafting policy, et cetera under which this process must go on.”

He was adamant that “GECOM is an independent body, GECOM is a constitutional body not different from the Supreme Court or not different from the other rights commission, etc”.

Gunraj qualified his reference to the court and noted that the body, in recognition of its independence, made its own provisions and

noted that it has, in fact, published in the Official Gazette—more than once— practice directions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He explained saying “the court recognises its power and their powers are no different or no more superior than that of the GECOM and we have the power to direct our procedure and the guidelines by which we will operate”.

As such, the PPP Commissioner posited, “we [GECOM] have no duty or no obligation to seek guidance or clarity or permission from the COVID-19 Task Force…it was always my position that what we needed to do is to inform them of the decision what we have taken and that we intend to implement”.

Asked to speak to the fact that the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretary General had enquired about the COVID-19 measures in place to protect its officials, Gunraj told media operatives he had no difficulty with assurances

being given.

He continued, however, “what I have a difficulty with, is that the issue of COVID-19 is being over-utilised as a method of tethering this process and that is what I have a difficulty with.”

Gunraj nonetheless welcomed the recommendations made by the members of the COVID-19 Task Force along with the Commissioners and Chairperson for a site visit of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

National COVID-19 Task Force Chairman Moses Nagamootoo

He was adamant, however, that “COVID-19 is important, it is something that should not be trifled with but of equal importance is our requirement as a constitutional body for GECOM to provide credible results to the nation”.

Pointing to the seven-week delay since the Guyanese electorate cast their ballot, the GECOM Commissioner lamented that “we are unable or per-

haps unwilling to deliver credible results to the people of this nation and that is unacceptable.”

According to Gunraj, “that puts it as a national crisis not dissimilar to COVID so it should be treated with the same dispatch and given the same level of importance as COVID is given…it is a national emergency as COVID is and due regard should be given for that”.

8 NEWS GECOM Chair reports ‘death threat’ to Police TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…“I am not afraid” – Claudette Singh

G

uyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n ( G E C O M ) Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh has reported a death threat on her life to the Guyana Police Force.

She confirmed the threat on Monday during a site tour of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre and said she made the report on Saturday last.

The GECOM

Chairperson told reporters, “They have a bounty on my head from Friday night.”

Justice Singh said that the cyber-crimes unit has also been informed.

She told reporters, “I am not afraid because death is inevitable, and I believe in God.” Guyana Times was told

by Justice Singh that the threat was brought to her attention firstly through a digital correspondence.

She showed this publication a message on her phone with a link to an ‘anonymous’ posting that was also widely shared on social media over the weekend.

According to the website, a bounty had been placed on the head of the GECOM Chairman.

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

2 jailed for narcotrafficking charges

Lawrence Harper

Stanley Mann

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wo men who were busted by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Saturday with cocaine and cannabis were on Monday charged for narcotics trafficking.

Lawrence Harper, 28, a porter of Lot 592 Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and Stanley Mann, 32, a driver of Lot 7 Industry, ECD appeared at the Linden Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Wanda Fortune.

The duo admitted to the joint charge which stated that on April 18, 2020 at Mabura, Upper Demerara River, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), they had in their possession 89 grams of cocaine and 6818 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

They were both fined $240,300, and sentenced to four years in prison.

New script…

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… same (PNC) plot he calls for some sort of “unity government” are coming fast and furious. While some of the proponents may be well-meaning sorts, they’ve been recently joined by others who’re firmly in the overmy-dead-body camp within the bowels of the PNC. What gives? Have they seen some empyrean light? Or did they hear a booming voice from the skies while on the road to Congress Place??

While couched in the same language – justifying their proposals as delivering Moore’s Utopia to our dear land of Guyana –- the PNCite versions have one significant difference that exposes them as being full of excreta.

They insist than in any “unity government”, David Granger must be the President!! This reveals at least two things – one, that they finally recognise after all their bobbing and weaving and running, “daylight catch dem”. The rigging gig is up!!

But it also reveals that these jokers still take Guyanese for simpletons. If they’re conceding that Granger lost the elections – which the rest of the world knew since the Mingoing of SOPs started on March 4th – what on earth could be the justification for handing the presidency to Granger?? He’s been whupped fair and square in one of the most peaceful elections in the history of our country.

It’s not an argument from numbers.

So, is there a moral reason?? Surely not because of any moral claims Granger can make – even though he had the temerity to run on a “honesty, integrity and dignity” platform. His performance since the NCM of Dec 21, 2018 has been one of the sleaziest since Ursula’s in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”!! Imagine getting all those calluses on his knees from bowing in Church, then conniving to have the votes of the Guyanese people Mingoed on High Street. Hypocrite!!

But maybe because Nagamootoo came out of the PPP, they believe the PPP are as vacuous as him to go into any kind of power sharing with Granger? This is a man who actually signed an agreement to give Nagamootoo a Prime Ministership on steroids – to bring over the AFC’s IndianGuyanese constituency – then welshed the moment he got into office!! If Guyanese needed any insight into Granger’s mindset about power – all they have to do is review his relationship with the AFC and the small parties that gave the PNC power in APNU. Granger is a devout devotee of Burnham, who openly declared he didn’t care what agreements he signed – whether a constitution or a coalition codicil – once he got power – here the presidency - he could do whatever he wanted.

As in 1964 with the UF so with the AFC since 2015.

Gwan da side with Granger!!

…same delay An example of Granger’s deviousness was exposed when he nixed Nagamootoo’s directive - as head of the COVID-19 task force – that the Caricom observers would have to be quarantined. And for good measure that the counting could go on for another hour till 6pm. We’ve had five years to see Nagamootoo in action (so to speak) and we all know he wouldn’t even sneeze without Granger’s permission.

Granger’s reputation is in tatters and he obviously wanted to ride up on a white horse with his white hat to “rescue” the damsel-in-distress Claudette on the recount.

He had Nagamootoo to play the heavy – for which he certainly has the character and looks!!

Anyhow there are still any number of arrows in Granger’s rigging quiver. The Chair claimed she didn’t want more than 10 counting stations because she ‘wanted to guarantee the safety of the Caricom observers”. What the heck does this mean?? Is she saying that the Convention Centre wouldn’t accommodate more stations?

Could she display that on a plan of the building? Of course, she can’t. …same stonewalling It’s been a week since Harmon signed off on a contract with some high-priced Washington lobbyists – as a US citizen.

But what about his avowal that he’d rescinded that??

Can the US Embassy clarify??

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

NEWS

9

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

UK Govt reassures Guyanese businesses of commitment to democracy …engaged in seeking resolution over post-election ‘events’

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he Government of the United Kingdom has responded to the Guyanese business com-

munity over concerns it raised with that country’s

Foreign Secretary and said: “it remains fully engaged in seeking a resolution to events in Guyana which up-

holds our fundamental commitment to democracy, good

governance, and the rule of law.”

The official correspondence was dispatched on Monday by UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office and sent to Private Sector Commission (PSC) Chairman, Captain Gerry Gouveia.

The missive was signed

by UK’s Minister for Sustainable Development and Overseas Territory, Baroness Elizabeth Sugg, who indicated that “I am replying as Minister for the Caribbean.”

Gouveia had earlier this month lambasted the protracted delays over the declaration of credible elections results—now seven weeks since the March 2 polls.

He had contended the situation is further compounded by the fact that “business activity and, indeed, the country’s economic and social life as a whole [are] rapidly being paralysed by the COVID-19 virus pandemic under an unelected Administration which has demonstrated a less than satisfactory ability to manage the challenge of the virus.”

The Business Support Organisation (BSO) noted

further that because the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) “does not command the respect nor recognition of the international community from whom the country desperately needs financial support to fight the virus, the longer this untenable situation prevails, the worse for the people of Guyana.”

Gouveia at the time had said the local Business Support Organisation has absolutely no interest in which of the contesting political parties is elected to govern Guyana.

The PSC is, however, “as one of the accredited local observers, totally committed and duty-bound to ensure that a free, fair and credible election result is declared in the shortest possible time by GECOM.” UK High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn was among the diplomats to pull out their delegations from the observing process of the tabulation of the results for Region Four and had held out that the process was not credible.

The diplomatic community in Guyana has warned against leading Guyana into

PSC Chairman Gerry Gouveia

Baroness Elizabeth Sugg

isolation as a result of the swearing-in of a President based on results that were not credible that emanated from a process that was not transparent.

There have also been repeated threats of international sanctions against the country and individuals guilty of or beneficiaries of electoral fraud.

10 NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

2 murder accused, 2 others escape from Lusignan Prison

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our prisoners, including two murder suspects, escaped from the holding area of the Lusignan Prison on Monday morning.

Two of the escapees are Anthony Padmore, 26, of Ogle Street, Beterverwagting, East Coast Demerara, who was serving a three-year sentence for trafficking in cannabis and Sasenarine Bisnauth of Lot 22 Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), who was charged with armed robbery.

The two other inmates were on remand for separate murders. Thirty-twoyear-old Ganesh Dhanraj

Prison escapee: Anthony Padmore

of Parika Façade,

Murder accused: Ganesh Dhanraj

EBE,

was charged for strangling

Sasenarine Bisnauth

29-year-old

Dhanwattie

Murder accused: Kenraul Perez

Ram, the mother of his three children, with a bedsheet at their Parika Façade, East Bank Essequibo home in April 2017. The victim was subjected to repeated domestic abuse.

The other escapee is Kenraul Perez, 26, of Mabaruma, North West District, Region One, who was charged with the murder of Abary rice farm labourer, Tribhowan Singh.

Singh, 55, was found knifed to death on his employer’s rice farm on February 24, 2018. It was reported that the killing may have stemmed from a land dispute.

Tribhowan Singh’s body was discovered by his boss, Kumar Latchman, who went to visit the rice farm.

The corpse was in a clump of

caped from the Lusignan Penitentiary but have subsequently been recaptured.

In 2017, 35-year-old alleged rapist Dellon Blake, of Kumuni Creek, Demerara River, used his bed sheet and wooden pallets to climb over the fence of the prison.

It was reportedly done in full view of Police ranks who were performing duties in the guard hut tower overlooking the new holding facility. Blake was charged for the rape of an elderly woman.

In 2018, three prisoners escaped by also scaling the fence between towers three and four which were equipped with security personnel.

They were 23-yearold Travis Evans of C Field Sophia, Greater Georgetown; Sudesh Dyal, 23, of Wales Backdam and Dexroy Pollard, 29, of Wales Village. Evans is a murder accused.

It was reported that the three men had taken a considerable amount of time to make their way through the razor wire.

“It is clear, especially taking into consideration the close proximity of the two towers and the number of ranks deployed in those two towers that those ranks were not alert,” the Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels had stated back then.

In addition, following the fire in 2017 at the Camp

Lusignan Prison

bushes next to a trailer.

However, in a release to the media, the Guyana Prison Service confirmed that the four inmates escaped at about 03:46h during the heavy downpours but the official discovery was made during roll-call at 06:15h when they did not answer to their names.

Nevertheless, the CCTV recordings from surveillance cameras proved that the men escaped by jumping the eastern fence.

The ranks on duty at the time of the incident have been interrogated and are cooperating fully with the police and prison authorities.

Thus far, no rank has been found culpable or would have aided in the escape of the men. Meanwhile, members of the Joint Services are on the hunt for the four men. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the escapees is asked to contact the nearest police station.

Over the past years, several persons have es-

Street Penitentiary, the Lusignan Prison was used as a holding facility with several holding areas.

However, after a few days at the facility, 13 inmates had escaped by digging a hole under the perimeter fence. The hole was about five feet in length and another five feet deep.

Those who had escaped were murder accused Clive Forde, Pascal Smith, Kerry Cromwell, Odel Roberts, Kendell Skeet, Rayon Jones, Jason Howard, Shawn Harris, Paul Goriah and Jamal Forde, along with Teshawn McKenzie and Winston Long, who were incarcerated for armed robbery and Jamal Joseph, who was remanded on an attempted murder charge.

Paul Goriah, whose last known address was given as Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara, was the only person who was not recaptured and remains on the run to date. The Lusignan Prison is located on the East Coast of Demerara, with more than 300 prisoners.

NEWS

11

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 outbreak

Route 47 drivers call for modified parking space …current conditions causing operational challenges

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s a result of reduced working hours coupled with fewer passengers on a daily basis, operators of the Route 47 Bus Park have called for modified accommodation until the COVID-19 curve is flattened. Their request is a revised parking system, which they noted can significantly improve their operation.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Monday, the drivers explained that their bus park can only hold 10 minibuses when parked horizontally.

However, by parking diagonally, some 20 buses can be facilitated. The Route 47 buses ply the West Ruimveldt Front and Back roads.

At present, over 60 buses are plying the route, and with fewer passengers, there is a longer waiting time, resulting in no other alternative for the other bus driv-

Kenroy Seeley

ers than to circle around the park until there is a vacant spot.

Since the imposed 06:00h to 18:00h curfew, they have been transporting only eight persons per trip. More importantly, the number of passengers has dwindled significantly.

Kenroy Seeley, who has been operating at the bus park for the past eight years,

said the buses need to solicit passengers at the park before leaving to compensate for the operational costs.

“The situation we face right now is parking.

Towards the coronavirus season, we don’t have enough parking for all the buses.

Right about now, we fetching eight passengers in a bus, not more than that. So when you go down the road, you don’t get anybody else,” the driver said.

He added, “These buses, they gotta pay instalment, buy tire, buy gas plus we got a family to feed. What we doing for ourselves? This route got about 60 drivers or more.

If it is just 10 buses that could hold at the park, everybody gotta run the road round and round. Nobody picking up nothing.”

Presently, they are calling for permission to park

diagonally until the coronavirus pandemic is finished.

This proposed system will provide much relief, the drivers expressed.

“When the buses turn diagonal at the park, it could hold about 20 buses cause one bus length holding two buses. That’s what we asking of the police just for this season. When the thing gone back to normal, the bus them [will] go back to normal how we used to park and everybody will do that they have to do. It’s not that we fighting for more passenger or we fighting for the road. We just want the accommodation at the park to hold more bus for now till the coronavirus finish.”

The drivers are asking to park diagonally until the COVID-19 pandemic is over

Another driver, Gregory Martin, indicated that some persons have also been arrested for parking diagonally at the park, even though it does not obstruct the flow of traffic.

“The hustle is less because we don’t have to fight for passengers to come in the bus. We fulling by turn and by the time one full, another one go in. When the po-

lice come and see you park like that, they send we at the station. It’s not safe for people on the bench clustering up cause they don’t have any kind of space in the station.

We just asking them to accommodate we with the diagonal parking until the season over,” Martin indicated.

Calls for a comment to the Traffic Chief Linden Isles were futile.

Man granted $300,000 bail for drug possession

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34-year-old resident of Tabatinga, Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), was on Monday granted bail on a narco-trafficking charge.

Burham Klass appeared at the Lethem Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Allan Wilson and denied the charge which stated that on April 17, at Hunt Oil Stretch, Central Rupununi, he had 7017 grams of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The prosecution is contending that at about 11:50h, acting on information received, ranks went to Hunt Oil Stretch, Central

The ganja which was unearthed by Police

Rupununi, where they stopped a vehicle driven by the 34-year-old man. A search was conducted and

the illegal substance was unearthed. He was nonetheless released on $300,000 bail pending trial.

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

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)

HOW TO HANDWASH? WASH HANDS OR USE HAND SANITISERS

12

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Helping in fight agains

Volunteers of the People’s Progressive Party National COVID-19 Stakeholder Forum distributing face

| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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st spread of COVID-19 masks and food hampers countrywide as they lend a hand of support to those most vulnerable.

14 NEWS

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19 response

Guyanese suffering unduly due to illegitimate Govt – Corentyne Chamber

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he Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce (CCCC) said that regular Guyanese are being forced to suffer, unduly, as Guyana fights the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), owing to the lack of a legitimate Government.

In a strongly-worded statement, the CCCC said it is appalled at the living conditions of people in various areas of Berbice especially in the new housing schemes and squatting areas. Most of the persons living in these areas are ex-workers of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and casual labourers who work on a daily basis for cash wages.

They noted that people in the county are barely working for enough money to feed their families. This was observed as some mem-

bers of the Chamber were out distributing relief hampers to those in need. The Chamber alluded to the fact that many others are in the same position as those residents and called for more stringent relief for these families.

“Business in general in Berbice since before the elections on March 2 was very slow and with the restrictions for COVID-19, lots of businesses have ground to a halt and employees sent home especially in retail and small businesses. The situation is extremely critical and it is getting out of hand since most of these workers are living paycheck to paycheck. Help is needed!

The present Administration is absolutely clueless about what is happening on the ground. Guyana most urgently needs a legitimate

Government in place to make decisions, to go to Parliament and put measures in place to help our people,” the statement related.

The Chamber sounded a call to the international community to assist Guyana since it believes that the March 2 General and Regional elections have been hijacked. The CCCC, in what appears to be a lack of confidence in the Guyana

Elections Commission, said it has become clear that the body has no intentions to move urgently in the direction of a national recount of the ballots cast.

“A decision was made about three weeks ago and confirmed by the Appeals Court to recount the votes and up to today [Monday], nothing tangible has been done. It is simply incredible to see the Chairperson of GECOM appearing so

clueless to effect a simple recount as outlined in our Constitution. We believe a maximum of three weeks is more than enough time to conclude this exercise taking into consideration all precautions of COVID-19 and we are calling on the Chairperson to immediately have this exercise started and have the entire process live-streamed especially for the foreign observers and Caricom officials who may not be present. Live streaming is now absolutely essential since the Government is maddeningly asking for observers to be quarantined when a simple test on arrival can determine if they are COVID-19 positive or not,” the CCCC noted.

The Chamber accused GECOM of not being cognisant of the urgency of their role in bringing an end to

the elections debacle.

“We are also flabbergasted and find it totally incomprehensible that the present Administration who has claimed to have won the 2020 elections are putting up roadblocks at every turn to have the recount urgently completed and be sworn if they indeed won.

We are also convinced as mentioned by the Chairman of Caricom, certain “forces” are at play that do not want a recount, as such we are most urgently calling on the international community to please do what is necessary to assist us to have this process completed in a fair and transparent manner, so that a legitimate Government can be sworn in and we can all start working on COVID-19 and bring relief to our people,” the statement concluded.

2 killed, 1 critical in EBD accident Guyanese killed in NY accident

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wo young men lost their lives on Sunday night while another is critical after the car in which they were travelling crashed into a concrete median on the Bagotstown Public Road, East Bank Demerara.

Dead are 19-year-old Courtney Marcus of Lot 11 Peters Hall and 20-yearold Ronaldo Simmons of Lot 15 Azore Street, Peters Hall, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

The injured man was identified as the driver of the car, 29-year-old Steven Roberts of Lot 387 Mac David Street, Republic Park, EBD. Reports are the incident occurred at about 21:15h.

The motor car, bearing registration number PVV 7570, was heading south along the Bagotstown Public Road at a fast rate when the front right side of the vehicle collided with the concrete median.

As a result, Roberts lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a concrete fence. The vehicle continued moving and subsequently slammed into a utility pole before coming to a halt. Soon after, videos

after friend jumped stop sign

A

Dead: Ronaldo Simmons

Dead: Courtney Marcus

on social media showed persons turning up to the scene as they watched in disbelief. The silver vehicle was mangled beyond repair.

Both the driver and occupants received severe injuries about their heads and bodies. They were rescued from the damaged vehicle in an unconscious state by public-spirited citizens and rushed to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre. The Guyana Fire Service and other emergency services later arrived at the scene.

Marcus and Simmons were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Roberts was treated and transferred to the

Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where he was admitted a patient suffering from a punctured right lung, broken ribs and severe head injuries.

Cousin of Ronaldo, Stephon Simmons told Guyana Times that his family received a call on Sunday night, informing of the incident. However, by the time family members showed up at the hospital at about 10:00h, they were informed that the duo died.

“None of our family members were out there at the time when the accident occurred. I heard till I meet at the hospital until all two of them were deceased cause I was panicking all the time,” Stephon indicated.

He indicated that it is unclear where the young men went but they were on their way home. They were said to be very close friends.

“I just know that they were coming home…I wanted to know cause one of them is my cousin and the other is my best friend. I left panicking. I don’t know what happen,” the distraught relative asserted.

On Monday utility workers were replacing the broken pole at the scene, which has become a hotspot for accidents in recent years.

Several displaced wires were also reconnected.

Police are continuing their investigations.

news@guyanatimesgy.com

2 1 - y e a r - o l d Guyanese living in Queens, New York, died in a horrific crash early on Sunday after an unlicensed driver he knew from high school sped through a stop sign and slammed into his car.

According to New York Daily News, surveillance video obtained showed that Satesh Permaul was driving a 2003 Nissan Maxima east on 107th Avenue in South Ozone Park when a 2020 Nissan Altima flying south on 109th Street ploughed through the stop sign and into his car just before 01:30h.

Permaul, a hard-working mechanic who lived five blocks from the crash, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital but could not have been saved.

Dead: Satesh Permaul

gravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle, authorities said.

Garcia’s girlfriend explained that he and

A cousin of the deceased, left, grieves at the scene on Sunday morning (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

“It’s painful,” said the victim’s devastated father, Arjunun Permaul, 49. “He was just 21 years old.”

“It’s shocking,” he added. “They said he had a head trauma, serious head injury.”

Cops arrested the driver who allegedly struck Permaul.

Christopher Garcia, 20, who lives around the corner from the crash scene, was charged with ag-

Permaul were friends from their days together at Robert H Goddard High School — and that Garcia, who was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Sunday night, has no idea yet who he killed.

“He doesn’t even know that because I can’t even call him or anything,” said Garcia’s girlfriend, Evelyn Perez, 20.

Garcia had texted Perez

minutes before the wreck, telling her he was looking for a parking spot outside their apartment. She pleaded that he just park the car in the yard but said Garcia didn’t want to disturb the neighbours.

“He was like, ‘I’m just going to keep looking a little bit more’. And then I heard the crash.” said Perez. After he was taken into custody, he called her again.

“He told me he was so scared because he just found out that the guy died”, said Perez. “He said, ‘I’m really scared about what’s going to happen.”

Perez said that her boyfriend has been giving her driving lessons — and telling her how to handle stop signs.

“You have to wait three seconds to stop and then go a little bit forward and then look for cars, and then you can go,” Perez said he had coached her. “He told me that’s exactly what he did,” she said of the crash.

The surveillance video shows Garcia’s car speeding through the stop sign without stopping or even slowing down.

The victim’s family tried to see his body after the wreck but were turned away from Jamaica Hospital as the facility struggles to combat the outbreak of coronavirus. They were told to wait for a call on Monday.

After Permaul immigrated from Guyana with his family a decade ago, he fully embraced the American dream, according to his family.

He graduated high school, learned a trade as a mechanic in New Jersey and quickly joined the workforce fixing school buses, which he was continuing to do, as an essential worker, during the coronavirus shutdown.

NEWS

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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Bandits wreak havoc on Corentyne: several homes burglarised …overseas-based Guyanese targeted

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andits burglarised several homes on the Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorenrtyne) on Sunday evening, targeting homes of overseas-based Guyanese

in the morning.

“When he came this morning (Monday) he saw the back door opened and he called me,” he told this publication.

Among the items re-

Roopnarine Hairlall’s home that thieves burglarised

and carted off millions of dollars’ worth in articles.

However, the burglary spree started days before.

Three of the houses were broken into on Sunday night at Number 57 Village, Berbice.

Roopnarine Hairlall lives in the United States (US) but visits Guyana annually. On Sunday evening thieves broke into his Lot 11 Section B Number 57 Village home. From all indications, the bandits entered from the back gate and then broke open the lock to the backdoor.

His brother, Gobin Harbhajan, lives opposite the house and said that there is a caretaker who turns on the lights in the evening and takes them off

moved from the home were a microwave oven, a TV, cutlery, a water pump, clothing and other household items.

“They ransacked his bedroom; I don’t know what they were looking for. He had a lot of things but I can’t say what and what is missing now.”

The matter is under Police investigation. Several persons have been arrested.

Meanwhile, also on Sunday night, a lone bandit broke into a storeroom at Lot 80 B Number 57 Village.

The building is owned by Nankumar Ramdial, who lives in the US. He was last home late last year and visits Guyana twice annually.

According to the caretaker, someone went into

the storeroom on Saturday night and fixed the lock after leaving, giving the impression that he will return.

Having observed this, two persons were on the lookout on Sunday and saw when the thief returned.

They then ran and closed the door, believing that the thief was inside and contacted the police. However, when the police arrived, they then realised that the man had escaped before they closed the door.

More than $700,000 worth in tools were stolen. Police have since been able to retrieve several items from a house in the village.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday last bandits broke into the home of Bridgenauth Nankumar and stole items worth in excess of $300,000.

The storeroom at Nankumar Ramdial’s home

He too lives overseas and left home last month.

Among the items stolen are a water pump and a pres-

Gunman kills 18 in Nova Scotia in Canada's deadliest shooting

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man disguised as a police officer went on a shooting rampage in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on Sunday, killing at least 18 people, in the worst such attack in the country in 30 years.

A police officer was among those killed. Several bodies were found inside and outside one home in the small, rural town of Portapique, about 100km (60 miles) north of Halifax - what police called the first scene.

Bodies were also found at other locations and buildings set on fire. The suspected gunman is also dead.

"This is one of the most senseless acts of violence in our province's history," said Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.

The dead officer was identified as Constable Heidi Stevenson, a mother of two and a 23-year veteran of the force. Another officer was also wounded.

Police identified the man believed to be the shooter as Gabriel Wortman, 51, who was thought to live part of the time in Portapique.

Authorities said he wore a police uniform at one point and made his car look like a RCMP vehicle.

Authorities believe he may have deliberately singled out his first victims be-

fore he began attacking randomly. Police said they had no indication of a motive and the killer had acted alone.

"The search for the suspect ended this morning when the suspect was located and I can confirm that he is deceased," RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told a press conference.

Leather said the gunman had exchanged fire with police at one point.

"Our officers were involved in terminating the threat," he said, adding the independent Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), which probes incidents involving the province's police, was now handling that part of the investigation.

SiRT said in a statement a confrontation had occurred in Enfield, which is near Halifax airport, "resulting in officers discharging their firearms. The suspect was found to be deceased at the scene".

There were half a dozen police vehicles at the scene of the gas station where the suspect died. Yellow police tape surrounded the gas pumps, and a large silver-coloured four-wheel drive was being investigated.

Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada.

The country overhauled

sure pump.

Entry to the building was made by wrenching out the grill to one of the windows at the side of the house and entering a bedroom.

The lock to a bedroom door was also broken open and the room ransacked.

On Saturday Rita Khan called “Salita” was not at home when bandits broke into her home. According to the woman, who lives alone, the discovery was made when she returned home on Saturday afternoon.

“Saturday, I come about 02:30. When I come I see the grill break, the table model gas stove outside and when I open the door and go inside, I see the gas bottle and one set of things on the table.”

She said the house was

its gun-control laws after its worst mass shooting in 1989, when gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college.

It is illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. Purchasing a weapon requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks.

"As a country, in moments like these, we come together to support one another. Together we will mourn with the families of the victims, and help them get through this difficult time," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement.

The National Post newspaper quoted Tom Taggart, a councilor who represents Portapique in the Municipality of Colchester, as saying the community was devastated.

He described the community as a "subdivision in the woods where people have acre lots along the shore", and where Wortman owned three properties.

"It's absolutely unbelievable this could happen in our community. I never dreamt this would happen here," Taggart said. (Al Jazeera)

ransacked and foodstuff was missing.

“They carry away a TV, two expensive cameras, a blender and all my ration and they pick out the best fish from the freezer and carry away,” the woman explained.

However, she was able to identify some of the items stolen from her home at the Number 51 Police Station on Monday.

“They have a bottle with

Rita Khan showing the damaged grill through which the bandits entered to break open her door

sour, a container with sugar, a bottle of coffee, a face wash... I know my salt bottle from the pink cover and the aji, I full it in a half-

pound nut butter container and I see them at the station,” the woman explained.

The police are continuing their investigations.

Armed bandits rob Corentyne housewife …rip off earrings

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rmed bandits on Monday broke into a Whim, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home and stole a quantity of jewellery but not before ripping a pair of earrings off the owner’s ears.

According to reports, at about 01:20h on Monday, 36-year-old Meena Kumarie was asleep with her 11-yearold daughter at their 13th Street, Whim home when she was awoken by a noise in her veranda. She quickly sprung out of bed and went into her living room to in-

vestigate when she was confronted by the three masked men. They were all armed with cutlasses, she recalled.

The men then demanded the woman’s jewellery.

One of the bandits ripped off a pair of gold earrings from her ears and grabbed a ring she had on her finger.

The men then ransacked her bedroom and picked up a cellular phone from the bed before leaving.

The police were subsequently called and an investigation has been launched.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

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

Time Guyana, time Dear Editor, “It takes so much energy to lie. I wish some people could grasp the sense of the freedom and liberation that comes with being honest and genuine.” – Mama Zara The desperation of the PNC and their allies, all of whom are beneficiaries of the largesse of the State, is being manifested in so many silly ways. The thing about lying and deception is that it has no end in sight.

The Guyana Elections 2020 - GECOM saga continues.

Not wanting to repeat myself, I have now noticed that Mr Gary Best has now come out of the woodwork, obviously fighting for survival and possibly expecting a PNC-led Government to help him in his present judicial troubles. He journeyed to Linden to spew PNC propaganda that the coalition won the elections and it is the PPP/C who wants to rig the recount and essentially that the people of Linden must stop this from happening.

This can be viewed as inciting and should be investigated by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA).

Questions that Mr Best should answer to convince the people of Guyana that the coalition won the elections are:

a) Why hasn’t the PNCled APNU/AFC displayed their SoPs for all to scrutinise and refute the figures of the SoPs publicised by the PPP/C since March 5, 2020? b) Why is it that Gary Best, an attorney-at-law and a member of the Executive Committee of the PNCR did not intervene when Ulita Moore, an APNU candidate, went to the courts to stop the recount requested by the ultimate leader of the PNCR, President David Granger? c) Why is Gary Best, a former Chief of Staff of the army, who would have also chaired the Joint Services Command Structure, not advising and progressively pursuing a swift and transparent recount of the votes of the March 2, 2020 elections knowing that these delays can harm the peace and have implications on law and order? d) Why isn’t Gary Best urging the Governmentnominated and controlled Commissioners at GECOM to end their obstructionist behaviour and to act in the interest of all Guyana by ensuring that a Government is sworn in to office based on credible results, especially in light of the current health crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic? e) Why isn’t Gary Best

in public spaces telling Guyanese how many votes his party won the elections by and why didn’t he encourage the PNCR to abandon Mingo’s rigsheet/spreadsheet and to obey the law by allowing the tabulation of the Statements of Poll as is stated in the Representation of the People Act and directed in the rulings of the Chief Justice (ag), Madame Roxane George?

I have learnt in my professional life that when you are dealing with frauds and liars, you listen more to what they don’t say rather than what they do say.

A word of advice to Gary Best et al: behave responsibly, learn a lesson from the trees – they lose their leaves every year and still they stand tall waiting for better days to come. The people heard what you and the cabal have said and they also heard what you did not say.

Let truth prevail. Mr Gary Best and his PNC friends, most of whom professed to be Christians, must be aware of what the Holy Bible says in Proverbs 12:19 – “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment”.

Time Guyana, time!

Yours sincerely, Bishop Juan Edghill

What fresh mask will be used to frustrate the will of the people?

Dear Editor, In the ‘70s there was a famous Mexican professional wrestler known as Mil Mascaras, the man of a thousand faces, in Guyana we have David Granger, a man in his 70’s who has a thousand faces. The supposed emasculation of Moses Nagamootoo’s pronouncements that the curfew would apply to the GECOM recount and observers would be incarcerated/quarantined for two weeks upon arrival is just another chapter in the Granger playbook. I do not doubt that Granger is behind Nagamootoo’s initial statement and was also involved in the preparation and dissemination of the infamous dossier. It is a pattern of deceptive behaviour and use of simpleton surrogates that stretches back well before Granger’s presidency.

We can begin where the mask slipped for the first time, during the PNC congress on July 27, 2014; after a count of votes for the three candidates for the position of leader of the party, Granger had the plurality but not a majority as required by the PNC Constitution, there should have been a run-off round of

voting between Granger and the second-highest vote-getter, Carl Greenidge; instead, a ‘Mingo-like’ declaration was made and the process declared closed. In the ensuing mêlée, a gunshot rang out, mass panic ensued and Granger emerged with his leadership intact to declare that a PPP agent provocateur had fired his weapon and escaped Congress Place.

Later, images appeared that showed the shots were fired by Mr Primo who was Granger’s bodyguard. In the ensuing years, we have witnessed this duplicity repeated ad nauseam.

Granger is often quoted as saying he will be guided by the Constitution, provisions of which “require no gloss”, however, often need multiple layers of judicial interpretation; Granger claims to be awaiting advice from the courts but when the advice does not match his needs, he will inform all that “the Chief Justice has her opinion and I have mine” as in the instance when he (Granger) was advised that his appointment of James Patterson was in breach of the Constitution; similarly, Granger abrogated his responsibility to set an election date to GECOM. It is a

Cementing their legacy as thieves and fools

Dear Editor, According to religious texts, everyone and everything disappears and is forgotten in time. In typical fashion, it is the bad deed which remains in our memory the longest but in the final analysis, everything is erased.

Recent events, originating from PNC/APNU/AFC and GECOM suggests that there exist people within these organisations who will defy logic itself by stubborn-

ly persisting with their blatant efforts to rig the 2020 elections. They are determined to prolong their stay in history. Clairmont Mingo has already guaranteed his extended life. He will be canonised in songs and folklore to illustrate comical and blatant examples of fraud.

Likewise, his boss, Keith Lowenfield, will personify the dishonest and slothful man who sought 156 days to count less than 500,000 votes. Claudette Singh’s

news@guyanatimesgy.com

name will be synonymous with dishonour for holding an entire nation hostage. Jordan will represent the unbridled man of money who spent 5 times the purchase price to repair a building, which he did not own and which he could obviously buy for a fifth. Indeed, most of Granger’s cabal could be identified with hypocritical, fraudulent and foolish deeds.

Not to be undone, David Granger and his main man, Harmon, have also extended their already long rap sheet of duplicity. In their latest snafu, they repudiated and acknowledged the same document which was paid for by the people of this country, was submitted by the GoG under Joseph Harmon’s official hand to a US lobby, JJ&B LLC, to lie to Washington about PNC/ APNU/AFC/GECOM’s never-ending attempts to steal the March 2020 elections.

Moreover, the document, which was posted in the public domain, itself confirms, under the penalty of law, which party submitted it and on whose behalf.

Whereas the submissions insist that Granger is a citizen of the USA, in what appears to be a disgraceful attempt to seek pity, the man himself denies that. These are glaring contradictions, which no decent or rational human

would entertain.

I am forced to conclude that the former caretaker now illegal President, his entire cabal and agents within GECOM, many of whom are in their golden years, are trying their best not to be forgotten even if that means being remem-

bered as thieves and fools.

They will most certainly be joining the likes of Nigel Hughes, who will take some forgetting as the author of half-man mathematics.

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

dance with willing partners taking turns to wear one of Granger’s masks; to play his patsy; to be the foolish foil for his saving wisdom.

Joe Harmon spoke extensively about the ‘dossier’ and the Government hiring of a lobbying firm; when the dossier was exposed as an APNU/ AFC party diatribe, Granger stepped in to disavow knowledge. And yet, three days after the very public disavowal, Joe Harmon is on the job, his ‘clean-slate’ letter still in process. Contrast this to the treatment meted out to Carl Greenidge, who made his objections to China financing the Guyana team at the United Nations Group 77 pellucid and loud. Greenidge was ostracised and shunted out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs without ceremony. Ironically, it was Joe Harmon who confirmed Greenidge had been given his walking papers but all the other letters were delayed due to electoral circumstances.

As we are dragged through the longest election in the history of the world, we can only guess as to what we will face tomorrow, what fresh mask will be used to frustrate the will of the people. At least our tormentor is partially unmasked. Mil Mascaras was never unmasked in the ring but his identity was known; the similarity to the man who served as our President for five years is uncanny, we know his identity but we may never truly know the true face hidden under those thousands of masks.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Seeking approval from persons who refuse to vacate office Dear Editor, Over the past couple of days, there was so much to laugh at as it regards the recount situation. The first underrated comical piece was the dossier that was well circulated on social media platforms. The dossier can be explained in a short and simple way with a oneword description; hilarious.

I’m sure many colleagues and different persons would have found much more suitable adjectives for the piece, that was definitely written by a comedian. Then, fast forward to the scanty email from the Chairperson of GECOM – sometimes I wonder if she is employed

by Comedy Central. At a time when our nation desperately awaits the urgent recount, we need more information and all we got out of said email “no more

than 10 working stations”.

We already know since the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion in the year 2018, those big wigs have number, counting and comprehension issues! Her email also stated that she will await further instruction from the nagamatics! Nagamatics man is the Prime Minister who is heading the Task Force for COVID-19! A man that basically did absolutely squat/ zilch/ nothing of substance during his tenure for the people of Guyana is heading a Task Force. His instructions/suggestions via his weekly column state that observers that are entering the country must be quarantined at a Government facility for 14 days! While I understand that COVID-19 is life-threatening, I also understand that observers

must play an integral role in the recount, there are other ways to go about this, screening before boarding the flight, screening midflight, and when they disembark. I do see this matter of a recount as one of the most urgent matters in Guyana and it should be on the level of the COVID-19. I must add that I’m shocked we have to seek approval from one of those persons who refuse to vacate office. However, this is what Guyanese signed up for when they cast their vote for the change of gloom and doom in 2015!

As a side note, I hope we all remain healthy and safe throughout this pandemic as we are now at 65 cases!

Stay safe!

Sincerely, Katrina Niamatali

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

17

Regional

Coronavirus cases in Ecuador top 10,000, doubling about once a week

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cuador reported over 10,000 cases of coronavirus on Monday, the fourth-highest tally in Latin America, as the disease ravages the economy of the oil-producing country.

The pandemic in recent weeks has overwhelmed sanitary authorities in the largest city of Guayaquil, the centre of the Andean nation’s outbreak, where corpses remained in homes or for hours on streets.

Ecuador recorded its first coronavirus case on February 29 and took 24 days to reach 1000 cases. It took seven days for cases to double to 2000, eight days to double to 4000 and eight days to double again to 8000, according to a Reuters tally.

The Andean nation has reported a total of 507 deaths, the Health Ministry said. Officials said they believed another 826 people have died due to the virus, but the cases were never confirmed.

The Ecuadorian Government said that most of the confirmed cases are “stable in home isolation”, adding that it has taken 32,453 samples for COVID-19 testing.

The number of infections has been rising steadily in the Andean country, despite the mobility restrictions and quarantine that have been in force for a month.

Maria Fernanda Acosta de la S undergoes her third dialysis treatment, and last one of the week, at a dialysis centre, amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 18, 2020

“As long as people comply with this isolation in a disciplined and committed way, we will be able to contain the contagion,” Deputy Health Minister Xavier Solórzano told reporters in a press conference.

The Government has had problems enforcing measures in various parts of the country, where people infected with the virus have been found circu-

lating on streets and in shopping centres.

Authorities have said they plan to keep restricting movement, but that they are analysing plans to ease measures in some sectors, such as construction.

In Latin America, only Brazil, Peru and Chile have more cases. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Barbadian authorities report shortage of COVID-19 testing swabs

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inister of Health and Wellness in Barbados, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic confirmed Sunday that while there was an adequate supply of COVID-19 testing kits on the island, there is a shortage of swabs which has affected testing.

However, he has sought to assure that supplies of swabs were expected “within a week or so”, and once they arrived, health teams would be able to increase the number of tests done on a daily basis.

“That would then give us a better idea of where we are.

So, we will have a couple of weeks to go before we can say exactly where we are, but we are indeed encouraged by the last few days,” he said.

As of Sunday, Barbados had carried out 1035 COVID-19 tests and 75 of them were positive.

Bostic also reported that the call by the Ministry for

persons who travelled into Barbados between March 15 and 22 to make contact had seen a good response and some of those individuals were now among the confirmed cases.

He said this was a continuous process and the Ministry was still reaching out and making every avenue available for persons to check in with the public health authorities so that they could keep abreast of that situation.

“But we know within another two weeks or so, we would be in a very good position in terms of making some determinations where those persons are concerned, based on the length of time they would have been on island and the length of time some of them would have been in quarantine or isolation, along with the contact tracing we have been doing in this regard,” Bostic said.

(Excerpt from CMC)

Jamaica’s COVID-19 tally now 196 Deported from US, man infects 14 migrants with coronavirus in northern Mexico J

amaica as of Sunday had 196 confirmed cases of COVID-19 following an increase of 23 new cases.

There are now 34 imported cases, 43 are contacts of a confirmed case; six are local

transmission with no epidemiological link and 113 cases are under investigation.

Of the 113 under investigation, 95 are associated with a workplace cluster.

So far, 1809 samples have been tested:

Some 686 contacts are being traced by parish health departments across the island, including 179 people associated with the workplace cluster. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Buenos Aires backs off plan requiring elderly to carry permits

A

t least 15 migrants from several countries tested positive for coronavirus at a northern Mexico shelter, Tamaulipas state authorities said on Monday, adding that a man carrying the virus and deported from Houston had infected most of the others.

A Mexican man deported at the McAllen-Reynosa border has also tested positive,

the Tamaulipas state health department said in a statement.

In recent weeks, concerns have mounted about the spread of the highly contagious virus through deportation proceedings.

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on Sunday a total of 50 migrants deported by the United States to the Central

American country had tested positive for coronavirus.

The 15 migrants who have tested positive for coronavirus have been placed in isolation, health officials in Tamaulipas said, adding that they would continue testing the rest of the migrants in the shelter in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where crime is rampant.

(Reuters)

Brazil’s Bolsonaro joins anti-lockdown protests

An elderly man waits outside a bank with signs advertising attention between 10 and 12 is exclusively for retired and pensioners during the outbreak of the new Coronavirus, COVID-19, in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Juan Mabromata/AFP]

T

he city of Buenos Aires relaxed a plan on Monday to keep elderly people inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, following heavy criticism that the initial restrictions were offensive and discriminatory.

Argentina has been under mandatory lockdown since March 20, with most activities, outside of going to the grocery store, the pharmacy or bank, off limits.

Buenos Aires officials wanted to require those 70 years and older to get permission to leave their

homes, but following a backlash from the community, Government sources say obtaining a permit is no longer mandatory.

The Government now advises elderly residents to call a toll-free number to say that they need to go out, during which the main goal will be to convince them to remain indoors by offering to have the task completed by a volunteer.

The city’s resolution states that the city will record “notice” if the person decides to proceed with the outing, and that the notice lasts for 48 hours. But sourc-

es told Al Jazeera there will be no penalties for individuals who leave home without giving “notice”.

City officials say the plan is designed to protect the group most at risk of dying from the novel coronavirus.

“I don’t pick who the pandemic attacks,” Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, Mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, said at a Monday morning news conference. “All of the decisions have a single criteria, which is to look after the lives of the residents of this city.” (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro turned out in Brasilia and other major cities on Sunday

B

razilian President Jair Bolsonaro has come under criticism for joining protesters demanding that restrictions on movement introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus be lifted.

Bolsonaro has clashed in recent weeks with State Governors who have imposed lockdowns, denouncing the measures as “dictatorial”.

As of Sunday, Brazil had more than 38,000 confirmed cases, the highest number in Latin America.

More than 2400 people there have died.

President Bolsonaro addressed a crowd of a few hundred supporters outside army headquarters in the capital, Brasilia, on Sunday.

He said the protesters were “patriots” for defending individual freedoms.

As well as demanding an end to the lockdown, some of those attending the rally also held up signs calling for Brazil’s Congress and the Supreme Court to be closed

down.

Others said they wanted the military to take over the handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Brazil was under military rule for more than two decades from 1964 until 1985 and calls for the armed forces to be given more power are highly controversial.

While the President did not make any reference to those demands at the time, his appearance at the rally – at which people were calling for the closure of the country’s democratic institutions – was labelled “provocative” by his critics.

On Monday, however, while talking to journalists, Bolsonaro quickly responded to one of his supporters who called for the closure of the Supreme Court by stating that Brazil was a democratic country. He said that the nation’s top court, as well as Congress, would remain open.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Around the World

Netanyahu and rival Gantz clinch Israel power-sharing deal

I

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist election rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on Monday to form a national emergency Government, ending a year of unprecedented political deadlock.

Netanyahu, who is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases, will remain Prime Minister for 18 months after which Gantz will replace him, according to the agreement signed by both men.

Netanyahu’s trial on charges that include bribery, fraud and breach of trust is due to begin on May 24. He denies any wrongdoing.

Over the past year the right-wing leader, in power for more than a decade, has presided over a care-

A banner depicts Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of Blue and White party's campaign ahead of the election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 17, 2020 (File photo)

taker Government following three inconclusive elections in April and September 2019 and on March 2, just as the country began grappling with the coronavirus

outbreak.

Until he takes over as premier, Gantz, a former armed forces chief, will serve as Defence Minister with his political allies receiving the

same number of ministerial portfolios as Likud.

The coalition agreement, released to the media, also states that while the new Government will strive for peace and regional stability, plans to extend Israeli sovereignty to Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank - land that the Palestinians seek for a state - could be promoted.

But the new Israeli government’s first priority would be managing the coronavirus crisis.

Israel, with a population of about 9 million, has so far confirmed more than 13,500 COVID-19 cases and 173 deaths. Restrictions to curb coronavirus transmission have sent unemployment above 26 per cent. (Excerpt from Reuters)

“We need life again”: Germans rush to reopened shops but Merkel worries

G

ermans returned to the shops on Monday, craving retail therapy after a month of lockdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged them to remain disciplined to avoid a relapse in the fight against the coronavirus.

Shops up to 800 square metres, as well as car and bicycle dealers and bookstores, are allowed to reopen this week under an agreement with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states, all keen to start the long haul of pulling the economy out of recession. Schools are set to begin reopening in two weeks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel briefs the media about measures to avoid further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after a Government meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2020

as the strength of its traditional export engine has faded, and the move echoes a slow easing in neighbouring countries, equally desperate to revive business and society.

“We need life again. This whole time it was like a ghost town,” said Michaela Frieser, not wearing a face mask, in Frankfurt’s main shopping district. “The sun’s out, we saved enough money and now we need to go out and spend it!”

The Federal and State Governments have strongly recommended that Germans wear face masks when shopping and on public transport, and some states have even made that compulsory.

Germany’s southern neighbour Austria took a first step in relaxing restrictions last Tuesday by letting DIY stores, garden centres and smaller shops reopen, and plans to reopen museums and libraries from midMay. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Nothing hidden from member states, CDC experts US medical workers stand up on Board – WHO chief to anti-lockdown protesters

A

t least two Colorado healthcare workers dressed in full scrubs with masks stood silently with their arms crossed on Sunday as they blocked a line of vehicles full of protesters honking their horns and screaming, "This is the land of the free."

The silent protest countered the loud demonstration of those rallying against stay-at-home orders in the US state.

"They were blocking the roads until the Police Force stepped in," Alyssa McClaran, the photojournalist who captured the standoff, was quoted by the New York Times as saying.

"People were putting their cars right up against them."

The healthcare workers are being described as "heroes" online after photos of the standoff went viral.

The standoff came amid a wave of protests, promoted by some far-right groups and prominent conspiracy theorists, against coronavirus lockdown measures in the United States.

Europe’s largest economy has relied more on domestic demand in recent years

President Donald Trump appeared to support the protests last week, saying "Liberate Minnesota" And "Liberate Michigan" in tweets Washington state Governor Jay Inslee said fomented "domestic rebellion".

While some protested from their vehicles, many others defied social distancing guidelines as they rallied on state capitol buildings and in front of Governors' homes in several states including, Michigan, Kentucky, Washington, Minnesota, Virginia and Colorado.

Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus, have battered the US economy and more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month.

Shutdowns have disrupted economic, social, cultural and religious life, and plunged the world into an economic slump unseen since the Great Depression in the 1930s. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

T

he Head of the World Health Organisation said on Monday that nothing in its coronavirus response had been “hidden” from the United States, as senior officials said US technical experts had been an important part of the WHO’s effort.

The comments appeared to be a rejoinder to US President Donald Trump, who has criticised WHO’s handling of the pandemic, accusing it of promoting Chinese “disinformation”, and suspended US funding last week.

Some 15 staff from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been

seconded to the UN agency since January, joining two US Government officials assigned long-term.

The United States, the WHO’s biggest donor by far, now has the world’s largest epidemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The WHO is leading the global fight against the virus, which has infected more than 2.4 million people and killed 165,000 since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

Tedros said that divisions between people and political parties were “fuelling” the pandemic, but was not specific.

The WHO has placed orders for 30 million diagnostic tests over the next 4 months, Tedros said. It is shipping nearly 180 million surgical masks in April and May, as well as 54 million face masks and more than 3 million pairs of protective goggles, he said.

More than 600 hospitals are now ready to enrol patients in WHO’s so-called Solidarity Trial of drugs against the disease, he added. (Excerpt from Reuters)

OILNEWS US oil prices turn negative as demand dries up

T

he price of US oil has turned negative for the first time in history.

That means oil producers are paying buyers to take the commodity off their hands over fears that storage capacity could run out in May. Demand for oil has all but dried up as lockdowns across the world have kept people inside.

As a result, oil firms have resorted to renting tankers to store the surplus supply and that has forced the price of US oil into negative territory.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark for US oil, fell as low as minus US$37.63 a barrel.

The severe drop on Monday was driven in part by a technicality of the global oil market. Oil is traded on its future price and May futures contracts are due to expire on Tuesday. Traders were keen to offload those holdings to avoid having to take delivery of the oil and incur storage costs.

June prices for WTI were also down, but trading at above US$20 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent Crude - the benchmark used by Europe and the rest of the world, which is already trading based on June contracts - was also weaker, down 8.9 per cent at less than US$26 a barrel.

Glickman said the historic reversal in pricing was a reminder of the strains facing the oil market and warned that June prices could also fall, if lockdowns remain in place.

OGUK, the business lobby for the UK's offshore oil and gas sector, said the negative price of US oil would affect firms operating in the North Sea. "The dynamics of this US market are different from those directly driving UK produced Brent but we will not escape the impact," said OGUK boss Deirdre Michie.

"Ours is not just a trading market; every penny lost spells more uncertainty over jobs," she said.

The oil industry has been struggling with both tumbling demand and in-fighting among producers about reducing output.

Earlier this month, OPEC members and its allies finally agreed a record deal to slash global output by about 10 per cent. The deal was the largest cut in oil production ever to have been agreed.

But many analysts say the cuts were not big enough to make a difference.

"It hasn't taken long for the market to recognise that the OPEC+ deal will not, in its present form, be enough to balance oil markets," said Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp.

For US drivers, the decline in oil prices - which have fallen by about two-thirds since the start of the year - has had an impact at the pumps.

"The silver lining is, if you for various reason actually need to be on the roads, you're filling up for far less than you would have been even four months ago," Mr Glickman said. "The problem for most of us is even if you could fill up, where are you going to go?"

Meanwhile, concern continues to mount that storage facilities in the US will run out of capacity, with stockpiles at Cushing, the main delivery point in the US for oil, rising almost 50 per cent since the start of March, according to ANZ Bank. "We hold some hope for a recovery later this year," the bank said in its research note.

Innes said: "It's a dump at all cost as no one, and I mean no one, wants delivery of oil with Cushing storage facilities filling by the minute." (Excerpt from BBC News)

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

19

ARCHIE

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Speak up, and be bold and honest about your intentions and plans. A personal problem that seems impossible to fix will turn around quickly if you make a positive adjustment.

Get the facts and do what’s right to avoid criticism and opposition. Focus on home, family and improvements you can make yourself. Share your ideas and strive to make a difference.

Do your best to help people in need. Your response to a cry for help will lead to people who have plenty to share. A relationship will face difficulties due to untruthfulness.

Make choices based on your needs. Put work first to avoid financial uncertainty.

Finish what you start before you take care of personal matters. Commit to meeting a deadline.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Take a serious look at your lifestyle and make adjustments that will help you move in a positive direction.

Read the fine print before you commit to an unorthodox offer.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Don’t take a risk. Invest in yourself, not in someone else. Be moderate and take the time to do things right the first time. Excess is the enemy, while hard work is your ally.

LIBRA

Being a people-pleaser can have its advantages if there is something you want in return. Be perfectly honest regarding your motives, and it will make your life less complicated.

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

SUDOKU

Turn your talent into cash. Adjust your living space to accommodate your pursuits. If you adapt to current economic trends, it will lead to good fortune. Do what will make you happy.

Confusion will set in if SAGITTARIUS you have too many choic(Nov. 23es. You may not welcome a Dec. 21) change, but if you are willing to adapt and compromise, something good will transpire.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Take the path that makes the most sense to you. Don’t feel that you must follow in someone’s footsteps. Make your choice clear and let your actions confirm your decision.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

Put your head down and concentrate on what you want to achieve. Your strength will come from following your heart and doing what’s best for you.

SOLUTION FOR LAST PUBLISHED PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Assess each situation you face and make choices based on what’s reasonable. Say no to anyone tempting you with something that’s not good for you emotionally, physically or financially.

20

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

Premier League clubs including Liverpool and Man Utd amend season ticket plans T

he Premier League football season should be nearing its end and fans are normally digging into their pockets to fund next year's season ticket.

Next season will, after all, be the one when your team plays free-flowing football and wins a quadruple.

Whether or not that ends up being the reality, it seems some fans will have to wait a little longer to secure their seat as Premier League clubs have started amending payment deadlines and renewal windows for 2020-21 season tickets.

With the current Premier League season suspended indefinitely amid the coronavirus pandemic, the start date for next season's campaign is unclear. Here is the latest on how clubs are handling season tickets.

Bournemouth

Bournemouth fans who paid for their 2019-20 season ticket using V12 Finance have been offered a payment holiday.

As is the case with several Premier League clubs, Bournemouth are waiting to hear how the 2019-20 sea-

describing the situation as "incredibly disturbing".

The club have so far declined to comment.

son will be concluded before considering refunds or credits for the home games that have not so far taken place.

All season ticket renewals for 2020-21 are currently on hold.

Southampton

Brighton

Brighton have offered season ticket holders the chance to delay payments due over the next three months.

The club's deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber told The Argus: "About 5-6% have taken advantage of that, which is a relatively small number and we are very grateful for that. The vast majority have maintained their payments, which helps from a cashflow point of view.

"Equally, we are sad for people that have had to take a payment holiday because their own employment situation has changed and their financial circumstances."

Liverpool

Liverpool, who are 25 points clear at the top of the table, have suspended the season ticket renewal process for next season "until

there is clarity around the fixture schedule".

The club say season ticket prices will be frozen for the new campaign and that a new renewal period will be opened when the 2020-21 season start date is known.

The club also said that if home fixtures in the 201920 campaign cannot be played in front of supporters, refunds will be issued to season ticket holders, or a pro-rata credit will be applied to their season ticket for the 2020-21 campaign.

Manchester United

Manchester United have frozen season-ticket prices and, while fans can renew now, the 1 May deadline that was initially in place has been suspended.

"This will be continuously reviewed and a new deadline will be put in place once there is confirmation of the start date of the 20-21 season," the club said.

If this season's remaining fixtures at Old Trafford are played behind closed

doors, season-ticket holders will get a pro-rata rebate against season tickets for next year, or a pro-rata cash refund based on the number of games still to be played.

Newcastle United

Newcastle have faced criticism after a number of fans were charged for season tickets for the 2020-21 campaign despite there being no start date for the season in place.

Some fans said they were charged £620 on Wednesday,

Southampton are waiting on confirmation from the Premier League on how the remainder of the 2019-20 season will be played before sharing any information on potential refunds or credits with fans.

Any fans who used a third-part finance provider to fund their 2019-20 season ticket will need to communicate with the company.

Saints have not announced any details regarding 2020-21 season tickets and as a result have not taken any payments.

Tottenham

Tottenham postponed their season-ticket renewal window in March until "greater clarity" was available on when next season might start.

"We shall keep the opening date under review and will update you as and when a decision is taken to start renewals," the club told supporters. (BBC Sport)

UK defends allowing major sports events just before lockdown

Arsenal players, coaches take 12.5% wage cuts

A

rsenal's first-team players and head coach Mikel Arteta have agreed a pay cut to help with the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Premier League club said the "voluntary agreement" sees those involved have their annual earnings reduced by 12.5%.

The club's core coaching staff are also among those taking cuts to their pay.

If the Gunners hit certain targets on the pitch, the club says "agreed amounts" will be paid back.

"We will be able to make those repayments as hitting these targets, which the players can directly influence, will mean our financial position will be stronger," Arsenal said.

"The agreement is based on the assumption we will finish the 2019-20 season and receive the full broadcasting revenues. The resulting savings will help cover some of the financial risks we have this season in relation to our matchday and commercial income.

"The move follows positive and constructive discussions. In these conversations there has been a clear appreciation of the gravity of the current situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and a strong desire for players and staff to show their backing for the Arsenal family.

"We are proud and grateful to our players and staff for pulling together to support our club, our people and our community in these unprecedented times which are some of the most challenging

we have faced in our history."

Earlier on Monday, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder and chief executive Stephen Bettis agreed partial pay and bonus deferrals "to assist the club's cash flow issues".

Watford, Southampton and West Ham are the other Premier League clubs to have agreed wage deferrals with their first-team squads.

The Premier League asked clubs to put a 30% pay cut to players but the Professional Footballers' Association said that would affect tax contributions to the NHS. Earlier this month, Premier League players launched the #PlayersTogether scheme to generate and distribute funds to the NHS. (BBC Sport)

T

he UK government was following scientific advice by allowing major sporting events such as the Liverpool-Atletico Madrid soccer match and Cheltenham horse racing festival to go ahead days before the coronavirus lockdown, a senior minister said.

“At every stage in this crisis we have been guided by the scientific advice and have been making the right decisions at the right time,” finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday during the government’s daily news conference.

“There is often a wrong time to put certain measures in place, thinking about sustainability and everything else. At all parts of this we have been

guided by that science, we have been guided by making the right decisions at the right time, and I stand by that.”

The government’s deputy chief scientific adviser Angela McLean said the suggestion, made by a reporter, that allowing the soccer game to go ahead in the north-west English city of Liverpool on March 11 contributed to the spread of the coronavirus was “certainly an interesting hypothesis”.

“It will be very interesting to see in the future when all the science is done what relationship there is between the viruses that have circulated in Liverpool and the viruses that have circulated in Spain,” she said. (Reuters)

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21

"Coronavirus crisis will accelerate the notion of a global golf tour" A

significantly changed world with potentially a men's global tour awaits professional golf when it fully returns, according to a leading sports lawyer.

As well as a potential merger between the PGA and European Tours, the sport is facing immediate challenges over player status, world ranking points and Ryder Cup qualification.

These are the views of Oliver Hunt, founding partner of London based Onside Law. His company works across all sports and represents and helps manage some of the biggest names in European golf.

Hunt believes the environment for the professional game will be substantially altered by the time the current emergency passes.

"Sadly it is inevitable," he told BBC Sport.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic that has halted sport worldwide there was already turbulence in the golf market because of the emergence of Premier Golf League's plans for a 48-player breakaway circuit.

"The PGL was challenging the incumbents anyway.

Whether or not this will give them an opportunity or a knockout blow remains to be seen," Hunt said.

"But I think, probably, this crisis may well hit the European Tour harder and therefore I think it will accelerate a notion of a global tour at some point."

There will be no tournaments on the European Tour until the British Masters in the last week of July at the very earliest.

Players have been warned that September is a more realistic month for resumption.

Hunt expects leading

professionals to rally around the Wentworth-based circuit but admits it may have fewer tour-

naments on future schedules. "To be honest it is up in the air, I just don't know how it will play out," he said.

"Whether it will accelerate a more global tour with the PGA Tour coming and helping the European Tour in a similar way to the LPGA has done with the Ladies European Tour, that's another option, I guess."

The American PGA Tour has announced plans to resume as early as 11 June with an event at Colonial in Texas, the first of at least four events planned to be staged behind closed doors.

This unilateral approach leaves questions regarding playing privileges and world ranking points. Hunt believes they cannot be awarded until there is a resumption of the full global schedule.

"While the players playing can earn the money, they can't receive the world ranking points because I think it would completely skew the world rankings," he said.

These points are a key golfing currency. They carry considerable commercial significance and determine player eligibility for professional tournaments around the world.

There is also concern for players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick who are both at home in England and therefore unlikely to be able to play in US events if they resume in June.

"How do you plan for next season to make sure those players unable to play on the PGA Tour, because they are stranded in the UK or

overseas, are not disenfranchised for the following season?" Hunt said.

"And not just the next season, but the FedEx

Oliver Hunt

Cup and so on."

T h e n there is September's Ryder Cup, where world standings are a component of Europe's qualification process. It has been suggested captain Padraig Harrington may end up selecting the entire team, but that could also be legally problematic.

"Qualification is set out in writing and therefore you would argue is effectively a predetermined contract," H u n t added.

"You are playing on the European Tour, this is how you make it with points and therefore if that is suddenly changed without your consent

then you might be able to challenge it.

"If, for example, you were in one of those places and then you are not picked then you would feel very hard done by.

"That said, these t h i n g s tend to be based on European Tour policies and regulations and I would expect those to allow the European Tour to vary these requirements by members' vote."

Players' sponsor contracts are also being hit by the shutdown.

Many are based on the number of tournament appearances they m a k e and fees are adjusted accordingly if they do not fulfil their obligations.

Other asp ec ts are not as straightforward. "A number of contracts base the following year's fee on the world ranking place at the end of the year," Hunt said. "I have no

idea how the sponsors will address that."

Television contracts provide lifeblood revenue streams for the professional circuits and Hunt believes the PGA Tour's plans for a June resumption help demonstrate a crucial commitment to deliver their product for their broadcast partners.

"If it then has to cancel the tournaments because of force majeure (superior force) or whatever, then perhaps they'll rely on some insurance policies.

"So often how you employ the force majeure principle is interlinked with any insurance language.

"It follows that the broadcasters may not pay and then the tours can apply to their insurance policies to get the money they would have received from the broadcasters. Or the broadcasters pay and they go to their insurers."

Like all walks of life and every other sport, professional golf faces acute challenges as it prepares for a post-coronavirus world.

Hunt believes the existing culture within the game will prompt a coming together rather than infighting.

"Golf is the least litigious sport that I'm aware of and we work across many, many different sports," Hunt said.

"It is one of the most respected for that reason. I think everybody tends to try and work together to try and find resolutions and I think this will be the case for this as well."

With potentially immense financial challenges ahead, it will be fascinating to see whether golf maintains its usual united front while the game's different entities adapt to a significantly changed sporting environment. (BBC Sport)

Tennis: Chile's Jarry gets 11-month doping ban

P

layers should be wary of using health supplements made in South America, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Monday when banning Chile’s Nicolas Jarry for 11 months for an anti-doping violation.

Jarry was provisionally suspended in January after metabolites of two substances on WADA’s banned list — SARM LGD-4033 (ligandrol) and the anabolic steroid stanozolol — showed up in a urine sample he gave while playing for Chile at the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid at the end of last year.

After an investigation, the ITF said it accepted the 24-year-old’s explanation as to how SARM LGD-4033 and stanozolol entered his system — namely that he had taken “multi-vitamins” made in Brazil that his doc-

tor had recommended because they were supposedly free from banned substances.

Despite clearing him of significant fault or negligence for his violation, the ITF still imposed a sanction, although his period of ineligibility will be back-dated to start on the date of last occurrence of his violation (Dec 16 2019).

He will lose any prize money and ranking points earned at the Davis Cup and subsequent events. Jarry, who reached as high as 38th in the world last July, will be free to resume

his career on Nov. 15. He is currently down at 89th.

“With a clear

Chile’s Nicholas Jarry

conscience I tell you that we were able to prove in the investigation carried out by the ITF that the prohibited substances identified in the test, were originated in the Brazilian laboratory which cross contaminated my vitamins,” Jarry said in a statement on his Twitter account.

“I h a v e accepted the 11-month sanction offered by the ITF.” In a statement the ITF warned against

the dangers of using supplements from South America.

“It is apparent that the consumption of bespoke supplements, in particular those made in compound pharmacies in South America, carries with it a significant degree of risk for sportsmen and women who are subject to anti-doping rules and the escalating bans that have been imposed on tennis players for such violations have not been adequate to deter other players from taking those risks,” it said.

“The ITF (i) urges all players to exercise extreme caution in considering whether to use supplements; and (ii) warns that any TADP violation that results from the ingestion of contaminated supplements will likely lead to a significant period of ineligibility.”

(Reuters)

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TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ITTF further postpones World Team Table Tennis Championship

A

n outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in South Korea has caused the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to postpone the 2020 staging of the World Team Table Tennis Championships, which were scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea from March 22 to March 29, 2020.

The tournament was rescheduled for staging from September 27 to October 4, 2020. The ITTF has been working in close cooperation with the Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA), led by President Ryu Seungmin, and representatives of the city of Busan in order to establish the new provisional dates and also have other optional dates to stage the World Championships, if necessary.

The most significant annual table tennis event and the richest in terms of history of the sport, the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships were among the many ITTF events to be postponed this year owing to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

…Guyanese players set to participate

The Guyana women’s senior national table tennis team: Chelsea Edghill, JodyAnn Blake, Trenace Lowe and Natalie Cummings

Once the extent of the crisis became evident, an emergency ITTF Executive

Committee meeting had first proposed provisional dates of June 21-28, 2020

while maintaining that further back-up plans may be required if the pandemic

persisted.

On March 29, 2020, the ITTF Executive Committee

held a follow-up meeting to confirm that new dates would be announced for the Hana Bank 2020 World Team Table Tennis Championships, in light of the fact that all currently planned ITTF events and activities are suspended until June 30, 2020.

The Guyana women’s senior national table tennis team were invited by the ITTF to participate in the tournament, and the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) had already nominated the following key players to represent Guyana: Chelsea Edghill, Trenace Lowe, Natalie Cummings, Pricilla Greaves, and Jody Ann Blake, among others.

The tournament would have constituted a key learning experience for these Guyanese players, as it was to be their first experience of representing the nation on such a stage.

Now with new provisional dates proposed, the ITTF and KTTA continue to monitor the situation, with the priority being placed on the health and safety of players, coaches, fans, and officials.

UEFA update due today on Lewis Hamilton “not trying to move” away from Mercedes plans to finish season L Leicester’s 4-0 win over Aston Villa on March 9 was the last game played in the Premier League before the suspension

U

EFA will provide an update on plans to finish the 2019-20 season to all its 55 national associations at a video conference today.

European football’s governing body hopes to end the campaign in August, although with every league bar Belarus still suspended there are doubts over whether that deadline can be met.

UEFA has launched two working groups, one specifically assessing the fixture calendar. It is hoped specific proposals will be presented by mid-May at the latest.

However, the continuing uncertainty over the spread of coronavirus is creating major issues, with

some leagues – including Germany and Denmark – talking optimistically about a resumption next month, while others – England among them – believe it will be June at the earliest before they can play games, and some Premier League clubs feel it will be longer than that.

UEFA is still hoping to complete its own tournaments in the normal twolegged format. However, there is an understanding that it may not be possible, so one-off games and a weeklong mini-tournament from the quarter-finals onwards for both the Champions League and Europa League have also been discussed.

Today’s meeting will be

followed on Thursday by a meeting of the UEFA executive committee.

That is expected to provide an update on the Women’s European Championship and the Nations League, both of which have been moved to allow Euro 2020 to take place a year later than scheduled, plus plans to relax financial regulations this season.

In addition, it is anticipated, UEFA will confirm that it will listen to requests to end domestic leagues early.

It has previously warned against this, saying countries risk their places in next season’s European competitions. (BBC Sport)

ewis Hamilton says he is “not trying to move” away from his Mercedes team in this year’s driver market.

The world champion is one of a number of top drivers whose contracts expire at the end of a 2020 season thrown into disarray by the coronavirus.

Hamilton said on Instagram: “There is no dream of another team. I am with my dream team.

“There’s not a thing in my way, as I’m not trying to move. I’m with the people who have cared from day one.”

Hamilton added that Mercedes are “the best team”.

He was responding to a report that his hopes of a move to Ferrari had been hampered by signs that Sebastian Vettel was moving towards a new contract with the Italian team.

Vettel, like Hamilton, is out of contract at the end of the season, while the German’s teammate Charles Leclerc has a contract until the end of 2024.

In an online news

Lewis Hamilton

conference last week, Vettel said he had made it clear he wanted to stay at Ferrari beyond the end of this season and added: “Whatever the deal will be like, it is whatever I and the team will be comfortable with.

In terms of duration, normally the contracts I had in the past were all a three-year deal.”

The only other top driver who is committed to his current team beyond the end of 2020 is Max Verstappen, who has a deal with Red Bull until 2023.

Like Vettel, Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo are free to move.

McLaren have said they see their future with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

The Spaniard is expected to sign a new deal, and Norris is under option to McLaren for the next few years.

The 2020 season remains in doubt as a result of the first nine races being postponed or cancelled as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

However, F1 bosses are hopeful they can start the season in the summer, with some races behind closed doors in Europe, before completing the season further afield.

F1 is emphasising that the original calendar has effectively been consigned to the bin and they are having to start a new schedule from scratch. (BBC Sport)

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

“It gave a West Indian the chance to shine” – Skerritt stands by controversial World Cup coaching move

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ricket West Indies (CWI) President Ricky Skerritt has insisted he has no regrets regarding the controversial move to replace the team’s regional Head Coach, just a few weeks before the 2019 World Cup, because it gave a West Indian the chance to shine on the world stage.

With less than two months to go before the tournament, Skerritt replaced then-interim coach Richard Pybus with Floyd Reifer. The move was opposed by many at the time, not just for its potentially disruptive nature, but also the fact that Pybus was perceived to have done a good job with the team, particularly in a 2-1 Test series win against England in the

CWI President Ricky Skerritt

Caribbean prior to the start of the tournament.

The West Indies went on to have a disastrous show-

ing at the tournament, finishing second from the bottom of the table with two wins and six losses. Despite an inexperienced Reifer not going on to distinguishing himself in the role, Skerritt, in hindsight, still believes the decision was the correct one.

“I have no regrets because that was about promoting the West Indies A Team Coach to give him an opportunity to go to England and to Ireland before then [the World Cup] and to show what he is worth and give him an opportunity to get the experience so that we could have at least one coach in our armoury that has World Cup experience and to give West Indians a chance to shine on a world

COVID-19: Local boxers share tips for staying fit W

ith boxing gyms remaining closed in light of coronavirus concerns, many athletes in the sport have found it difficult to keep fit in these dire times. The same, however, cannot be said of young boxers Shemar Halley and Alesha Jackman, who have been proactive in order to stay in the best shape possible.

Owing to the nature of the sport, the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) made an early move to close gyms around the country. For many amateur boxers, especially the younger ones, this meant that they w o u l d

Shemar Halley

have to come up with alternative ways to train, keep in shape and be ready for whenever the sport should reconvene.

According to Halley, he is making the best of the resources he currently has, with shadow boxing playing a big role in his exercise routine.

“With the COVID-19, I cannot get to access the training facilities such as the bodybuilding gym and the training gym, so what I would do is wake up around 4:30 in the morning, I would shadow box, I would skip, I have some weights to lift, and I go for a run every morning,” Halley explained.

On the distaff side, Jackman, who has an older sister in the sport, Abiola, often pairs up with her sister to get the job done.

“Well, you know it’s not me alone in this position, I have my older sister, so we go together some morning at Cuffy Square, we go for a run and then home back. We try to do abdominals there too and other exercises and go home back,” Jackman detailed.

The 15-year-old boxing sensation went on to share her tips for other persons in the sport who may not have the adequate resources to train.

“For me, I would tell them to go and run as much as possible; do your exercises indoors and continue to keep social distancing,” she advised.

For Halley, it’s all about sticking to the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in order to maintain good health and a strong immune system.

“What I would do/advise also is to get a lot of Vitamin C, try to build my immune system, wear a mask, use sanitiser and try my best to distance myself so we could combat COVID-19,” she said.

stage,” Skerritt said on a recent edition of the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show.

Former West Indies player Phil Simmons was of-

ficially appointed to the post of Head Coach two months after the conclusion of the World Cup. (Sportsmax)

Redman aiming for consistent performances when cricket resumes …urges athletes to respect social distancing rules

T

he Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) has had a successful run in its 2019-2020 season.

However, it has been forced on the back foot in taking an indefinite break, mainly on account of the COVID-19 pandemic which has crippled nations.

Nevertheless, players such as Akeem Redman continue to train in adherence with the social distancing protocols.

Redman is a cricketing all-rounder who plays for the Transport Sports Club. In an interview with Guyana Times Sport, Redman highlighted some of his memorable performances during the season, the improvements he hoped to make and what athletes could do to keep fit during this period.

“In terms of wickets taken, I bagged 2-27 against DCC, 2-28 against Sophia, 4-23 against Buxton; I bowled economical in the other matches that I played.

My best figures were 4-23 from 8 overs against Buxton.

In my batting, I top-scored with 48 from 15 balls against Buxton. This season I didn’t get a chance to bat in most of the games that I’ve played since I’m a low-order batman.”

Advice to athletes

“Everyone in the sport community is feeling the impact of COVID-19. Events and competitive seasons at all sports levels are being cancelled and training facilities are closed. While you may not be able to go to the gym to train or work out, there are other creative alternatives to help you stay physically active. If you decide to go for a run or engage in physical activity outside, make sure to respect social distancing recommendations. If you opt to exercise within your home, use what you have at your disposal. For example, if you do not have exercise equipment, you can use stairs, chairs, and water bottles or cans to replace weights. You can also look online for trusted sources offering different workout options that suit your interests and needs. So, my advice to all athletes is utilise the time that they have at home to stay fit.”

Improvements

Alesha Jackman

“I really need to work on my fitness, both physically and mentally. My goal is: try to work hard to reach to the highest level. I think that I’ve got what it takes to play at the highest level; building my self-confidence is one of the biggest things I need to work on.”

Akeem Redman

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

“It gave a West Indian the chance to shine” Page 23

– Skerritt stands by controversial World Cup coaching move

Redman aiming for consistent performances when cricket resumes Page 23

…urges athletes to respect social distancing rules

COVID-19: Local boxers share tips for staying fit Page 23

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