Guyana Times Tuesday January 14, 2020

Guyana overtakes Russia with world’s top oil discoveries for 2019

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THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4165

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

APNU/AFC Govt: Most old men in Guyanese history ...“It’s time we give way to young people” – Noel Holder Page 2

A PPP Govt will use oil to benefit all – Dr Vindhya Persaud Page 3

…cites importance of traditional sectors being boosted

1 dead, 1 critical in ...memorial to be erected in Region 3 separate Essequibo Coast accidents

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

ECD man dies after attack P10 by bandits at wedding house

Marcus Bisram PI

Defence makes application for State P10 Prosecutor to be replaced …asks for case to remain in Georgetown

Guyana celebrates 167 years of Chinese arrival

Dead: Navindra Balbader

Pages 9 & 13

Audit Office investigations reveal

Engineer falsely certified Ministry’s incomplete project Page 7

Architect's impression

Page 11

Convicted P8 rapist seeks to set aside 25year jail term 4 suspended over City Hall ‘money bag’ found in vehicle P10

2 NEWS APNU/AFC Govt: Most old men in Guyanese history TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

...“It’s time we give way to young people” – Noel Holder

Former Agriculture Minister Noel Holder

President David Granger

dmitting that the current batch of Ministers is perhaps the “oldest” to ever govern the country, Agriculture Minister Noel Holder said it is time he retires from politics to allow the younger generation to take over

way to young people,” he told Guyana Times during an exclusive interview on Monday.

Holder, whose wife, the late Sheila Holder – along with others – founded the Alliance For Change (AFC), was not among the can-

A

Former Social Protection Minister Amna Ally

Former Indigenous Affairs Minister Sydney Allicock

– something he believes his colleagues should also do.

“At 74, it’s time I give

didates on the coalition Government’s lists it submitted to the Guyana Elections

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

Commission (GECOM) on Nominations Day. “Since last year I told my party, the AFC, that I was not able to come back and I told His Excellency [David Granger] that I will call it a day,” Holder said, explaining it is time for others to get the opportunity to contribute to the development of the country.

In fact, he contended that many Ministers and other persons currently in positions of authority are not young people.

“This current Government is probably the oldest Government this country has ever had!”

“After independence, the first set of people to run the country are [Forbes] Burnham and [Cheddi] Jagan. They were in their late 30s and early 40s. And then you skip a generation and you came to the

Former Minister Keith Scott

Former Minister Valerie Adams Yearwood

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge

[Bharrat] Jagdeo lot…they were much younger, 30s and early 40s,” Holder explained.

“The [David] Granger Administration has a fair amount of mature people, myself included. You got people like [Winston] Felix, who is in his late 60s,

Greenidge, who is late 60s, [Joseph] Harmon is 65, you see what I mean?”

“So, I believe it’s time for us, having brought some maturity to the system, it’s time that we move on and hand over to the younger generation,” Holder expressed.

ly by the parliamentary Opposition, for sidelining youths, particularly since the majority of its Cabinet members are above the age of 50.

In fact, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has welcomed fresh and youthful faces on its candidates’ lists whereas the coalition would have, for the most part, recycled old blood.

‘Pleased’

Former Finance Minister Winston Jordan

Former Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

Prime Minister [Moses] Nagamootoo, who turned 70 the other day, Carl

The APNU/AFC Government has been constantly criticised, especial-

Holder was appointed Agriculture Minister at the start of the coalition’s term in office in May 2015.

It was under his watch that the four sugar estates were shut down, sending thousands of persons on the breadline. These are the Wales Estate, the Enmore Estate, the Skeldon Estate and the Rose Hall Estate.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

NEWS

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Tuesday, January 14 – 05:00h-06:30h and Wednesday, January 15 – 09:00h-10:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Tuesday, January 14 – 07:10h-08:40h and Wednesday, January 15 – 07:55h-09:22h.

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

WEATHER TODAY Light rain and light rain showers are expected throughout the day and early evening.

Partly cloudy conditions are expected at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to East North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

A PPP Govt will use oil to benefit all – Dr Vindhya Persaud …cites importance of traditional sectors being boosted

W

ith Guyana being rated as one of 2019’s top oil producers, part of People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) candidate, Dr Vindhya Persaud’s pitch to voters during Sunday’s rally at Albion dealt with the Party’s vision for using this oil wealth to transform Guyana for the better.

During her address to Party supporters, Dr Persaud stressed the importance of not just focusing on oil but other job retentive

the PPP/C and their tenure in Government, where did we go? Upwards. There are a lot of single mothers here.

There are a lot of women and families who struggle to put bread on the table for their children.

“They have to think; how do we supplement their families’ income when their husbands are on the breadlines.

And you in Berbice know exactly what I’m talking about.

(Thousands) were just dismissed, just like that. No thought given to them or

covered oil, estimates have put the amount of money Guyana will earn in the range of billions of US dollars. Of course, there have been questions over how this money will be spent to directly improve the lives of ordinary Guyanese.

Previously, the then PPP/C Administration had implemented a direct cash transfer system in the form of the “Because we care” grant, which saw hundreds of thousands of households collecting a $10,000 per child education cash grant.

The initiative was scrapped when the coalition Government entered office.

High Tide: 07:10h and 19:28h reaching maximum heights of 2.62 metres and 2.69 metres.

Low Tide: 13:00h minimum height of

reaching a 0.62 metre.

Supporters at the rally

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 2020

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PPP/C candidate, Dr Vindhya Persaud during her address to supporters at Albion

sectors. According to the former Member of Parliament (MP), should her party win the elections, oil will be a catalyst to overall sectoral development. In making her pitch to potential voters, Dr Persaud also spoke of challenges faced in various sectors.

“We live in a country where we are people of all walks of life and have so many needs. And our needs have not been met. There is a paralysis in the agricultural sector; there is a paralysis in the health sector. And we’ve seen a spiral in the overall productivity in this country.

“We must ensure monies are spent to improve every sector. Money from the oil wealth that we will gain will be moved to every one of these sectors to ensure that there is no starvation of sectors like mining, agriculture, and the others. We will ensure that every sector is developed.

When oil comes, that’s not the be all and end all!”

She also made reference to the closure of the sugar estates and the economic and social hardship it has brought to some families.

According to Dr Persaud, when this is considered, then the choice of her party is clear to voters.

“Whether we speak of programmes for women or anything in this country, we have seen it go downwards. When we think of

their families or children.”

Mention was also made

by Dr Persaud of the candidate list the PPP has been able to put together, noting that the candidates were drawn from all walks of life to campaign with the PPP ahead of the March 2 elections.

Since ExxonMobil dis-

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guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 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

Unbridled hypocrisy

T

he 2020 elections campaign continues to unveil the unbridled hypocrisy on the part of the APNU/AFC coalition Government.

Of course, this is in the context of what it would have condemned while in Opposition, as against what it is now practising in government.

Immediately upon taking office, following the 2015 General and Regional Elections, the APNU/AFC Government appointed a politician to head the then Government Information Agency (GINA).

That person was prominent on the coalition’s list of candidates for those elections.

That appointment was in total contradiction to what APNU/ AFC said it would not have done. Prior, it accused GINA of spewing propaganda for the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) Government, and went as far as to cut budgetary allocations for the Agency in the successive years the coalition held a one-seat combined parliamentary majority under the Donald Ramotar Presidency. In addition, the coalition also cut the budget for the National Communications Network (NCN) for the same reason during that period.

For emphasis, after about a year or two in government, APNU/ AFC replaced its appointed head of GINA with another and more combative politician. A politician was also at the helm of the state newspaper under the coalition for a period of time.

The hypocrisy could not have been clearer: Having accused the PPPC of politicising the state media, and using that as a reason to deny budgetary allocations, the APNU/AFC Government is the one that officially politicised the state media through the political appointments mentioned.

The purpose was also clear. The head of the state’s official information arm embarked incessantly on public tirades, attacking the PPPC and its current General Secretary. Taxpayers’ money was used to pay for the broadcast of such tirades. In addition, that office is reportedly being used to promote the party the head in question supports.

A cursory glance at the state’s newspaper in its current form could easily suggest that it is a replacement of the People’s National Congress’s official publication, the New Nation. For some time now, the state newspaper has defied criticisms to ensure that coverage relating to APNU/AFC is captured in green and yellow, the coalition’s official colours. Over time, that type of coverage has further increased in favour of the coalition.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there. NCN carried at least an hour of coverage of the APNU/AFC’s 2020 elections campaign launch on January 03 this year. It did not reciprocate for the PPPC two days after.

Instead, its head derived reasons for not doing so; reasons that have since been deemed ludicrous.

What those incidents show is the glaring departure from what the coalition once condemned while in opposition to what it is now unashamedly practising in Government. It appears that the thought of budgetary cuts to the state media has not been in APNU/AFC’s consideration since 2015. Interestingly, reports suggest that funding to those entities was increased under the coalition’s tenure.

Very noticeable since the no-confidence motion was passed on December 21, 2018, coverage in the state media became increasingly biased in favour of the APNU/AFC Government.

President David Granger, whilst Leader of the Opposition, was vociferous in his condemnation of GINA, accusing that and other state media entities of being biased against his party. Today, as President, he seems not to have found it necessary to even address criticisms of the unambiguous bias of the state media against the current PPPC Opposition.

In Opposition, he condemned the use of taxpayers’ dollars to fund what he described as state media propaganda. Today, he seems to have no qualms that even more taxpayers’ monies are being blatantly used to spew propaganda and divisiveness in the state media. Such glaring and unbridled hypocrisy has not only led to a wanton loss of confidence in the APNU/AFC, but a dissipation of trust, making it virtually impossible to believe what it communicates to the populace.

The question of trust is not just confined to the hypocritical stance on the state media, but on many other issues, including corruption, good governance, and the safeguarding of democracy.

On all three counts, while in the Opposition, APNU/AFC vilified the PPPC Government with untold accusations. In doing so, it pledged to rid the nation of such undesirable traits.

The reality is that, under its tenure in government, corruption is deemed to be rife and unimaginable, with an absence of transparency.

The damming reports of the Auditor General may serve to vindicate the numerous accusations of corruption levelled against the APNU/ AFC Government. With regard to its pledge to uphold democracy, a seeming mockery was made.

The most basic tenet of respecting the Constitution was not observed. That disregard was exemplified by the coalition’s response to the NCM, and the President’s unilateral appointment of the immediate past Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECIM). In addition, Guyanese continue to lament the APNU/AFC’s inability to deliver on its 2015 elections campaign promises.

The general citizenry, including supporters of APNU/AFC, are convinced they were duped by the coalition, as trust has been replaced by hypocrisy. Among other things, state media coverage today exposes the extent of that hypocrisy.

Men dressed as “Chlaeuse”, figures that scare away evil spirits, carry round bells and cowbells during the traditional “Sylvesterchlausen” near the northeastern village of Urnaesch, Switzerland (Reuters photo)

PPP/C has always been a multi-racial party Dear Editor, The mammoth Albion rally was what Berbicians needed not only to invigorate and energise them but to provide that shining light of hope in their moments of despair and acute sufferings.

The behemoth collection of PPP/C supporters punctuated very short intervals with “Granger must go! The coalition must go! Vote them out!” The refrain was unending and reverberated loudly in the atmosphere at Albion.

However, the PPP/C’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Brigadier (Retired) Mark Phillips’ quick march to the podium and his incisive and assertive delivery made it clear to all that he had come home to return his country on the path to progress!

He had come back to send an unequivocal message to Harmon and the PNC that the PPP/C is a party for all the races – all the people of Guyana! Not only AfroGuyanese! This energetic speech made me traverse back in time.

At Buxton, Joseph Harmon made a most disparaging and disrespectful remark not only to

Brigadier Mark Phillips but to all those Guyanese whose constitutional right it is to choose a political party of his/her choice, when he scornfully declared that, “It is really a contemptuous act on the part of the PPP that says ‘look once you put up a Black face deh, Black people are going to vote for you…No way, no way, no way, I say, no way, I say, no way.”

He further referred to Jagdeo’s call for inclusivity of all races as a “contemptuous statement”.

If Harmon’s reasoning is deemed to be correct then his Government has wasted billions of dollars in the Social Cohesion Ministry since he seems to believe that Blacks belong to his party, the PNC. I wish for Harmon to go back to the formation of the PPP and he will learn that the PPP was formed by both Afro- and Indo-Guyanese but it was the greed for power which caused one of its founders to split from the PPP in 1955.

In 1954, a British parliamentary fact-finding mission found that Burnham’s whole political approach was

opportunistic and he made several failed attempts to hijack the PPP’s leadership. He finally engineered a split in 1955 but continued to call his faction the PPP until 1957 when he officially launched the People’s National Congress (PNC).

However, even Burnham’s close friend RBO Hart wrote in the then Guiana Graphic on February 20, 1955, one week after the split that, “Burnham now emerges as a racial and sectional leader. He leads the African section of the population rather more than less.

Jagan has greater claims to being called a national leader, since in any showdown, Jagan will get 10 times as many following him, as Burnham will get Indians”.

The PNC never changed and if any party is guilty of tokenism then it should not be the PPP! History will attest that the PPP was never formed for Indians. It was formed for all Guyanese but Burnham formed the PNC primarily to capture the Black votes. This was dictated by the USA and Britain’s desire to topple the PPP Government since they

knew of Burnham’s greed for power. It is a mark of willful deceit that Harmon ignores his party’s history but that is how the PNC operates.

These people are giving a new and ignominious meaning to ‘honesty and decency’.

Therefore, Brigadier Phillips has gone back to his roots where Black people have been an integral and inherent of that root – the PPP! All races are always welcomed to the PPP/C! He asked a pertinent question: How will Harmon address the non Afro-Guyanese in the PNC? He can go back to Dr Latchmansingh and Jai Narine Singh in 1955 and work forward!

In closing, I would wish for Harmon to call Volda Lawrence’s statement ‘contemptuous’ when she had sought to explain her discriminatory statement about giving jobs to only PNC people. An issued statement said that “The Chairman stated that we must bring in everyone in whether they looked like her or not”. What sayest thou Harmon?

Dear Editor, I have noted the People’s National Congress (PNC) press release of Jan 11, 2020, about an informational flyer I shared via my personal Facebook account. I have shared many things on my Facebook page, including Joseph Harmon’s vile and racist attack on the PPP/C’s Prime Ministerial Candidate, Brigadier Mark Phillips. Sharing of interesting, thought-provoking and those that broach taboo subjects are the bread and butter of social media platforms.

I wish to state categorically that I have not produced the flyer in question.

Further, I have clarified that having seen the contents of the flyer, it may have been crudely worded but it has achieved the effect of bringing the issue of a presidential candidate’s health as a campaign issue to the fore. A norm in democracies; some countries even mandate medical examination and public scrutiny of health records.

I understand that the PNC is alien to the concepts of parliamentary democracy

but it is out of sheer desperation and in an attempt to divert attention from their abysmal performance in office; the poor turnout at its rallies and the rejection it is facing from Guyanese ahead of the March 2, 2020 elections, that the senior partner of the APNU/AFC coalition has resorted to milking this non-issue with the hope of attracting sympathy votes.

I welcome the introduction of important issues such as candidates’ physical and mental health into our fledgeling democracy.

Mr Granger could not lead the APNU/AFC in a short one-kilometre walk to present their electoral lists on Friday; he (Granger) is asking to be re-elected after five disastrous years where our economy suffered from his poor leadership and massive squandermania of his geriatric cabal.

I look forward to seeing the health record of Mr Granger released for public scrutiny in the near future.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Milking non-issue for sympathy votes

Sincerely, Edward Layne

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

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Mr Granger’s promises and pledges!

Dear Editor, President David Granger, addressing the coalition’s rally at Hopetown, West Coast Berbice, on January 8, in his address said: “…we will keep sugar going in this region, that is a promise, that is a pledge…”. This is not the first time Mr Granger is making such remarks and certainly, it will not be the last time. Undoubtedly, he may most likely repeat it several times more before

the elections campaign is over.

But as the GAWU has been pointing out, far too often we must say that all those nice words are just that, loose words with absolutely no meaning.

The Granger Government has, so far, not approved the release of any support to ensure that sugar continues to keep going. While Mr Granger, at the rally, spoke about Blairmont Estate’s contin-

ued operation, urgent investments are required to keep the estate going. But those investments are being held up by the President and his colleagues.

What is more dismaying, as we have said before, is that it is not a case where the monies are unavailable. The reality is billions are available and accruing interest while the coalition just sits idly by while NICIL-SPU holds the GuySuCo and the sugar in-

dustry hostage.

We recall that Mr Granger said since June 2019 that the sugar company would have had the funds. It is now January 2020 and Mr Granger’s commitment remains unfulfilled.

So much for Mr Granger’s promises and pledges it seems!

Dear Editor, A general election would be neither free nor fair if a contesting party is unfairly denied access to the broadcast media in comparison with another or a particular party is favoured access to the broadcast media, whether publicly or privately owned.

In the case where there is State-owned and operated broadcast media such as NCN in Guyana, it is a generally accepted international principle that the contesting parties represented in Parliament are allocated a fixed percentage of free election broadcasting time in accordance with their representation in Parliament and that newly contesting parties unrepresented in Parliament are given a reasonable amount of free broadcasting time by the nationally owned and operated broadcast media.

Party political broadcast

within an election period should be specifically regulated to ensure balance, access and fairness, preferably directed by the Elections Commission. Unfortunately, that is not now happening.

Already, we have the case of the National Communications Network (NCN) using its facilities to provide totally biased coverage of the major rallies held by APNU/AFC and the PPP/C in favour of APNU/ AFC and the Chairman of NCN, Mr Enrico Woolford, seeking to justify this by claiming that network streaming is not broadcasting.

A letter in yesterday’s Stabroek News, January 13, 2020, from Tony Vieira quite properly points out the share hypocrisy of Mr Woolford’s position. Mr Woolford seeks to misinterpret the fact that telecommunications technology includes broadcasting and to take advantage of

the challenge presented by the convergence of broadcast and telecommunications technology to regulators.

Television and radio broadcast and voice telephony can now be transmitted over the internet but it is still broadcasting and, in this case, the issue is content and standard, not technical.

Albeit the current Broadcasting Legislation governing the functions of our National Broadcasting Authority is wholly inadequate and ultimately provides for complete control of the Authority by the Minister responsible for broadcasting. If, however, the current Chairman of the Broadcasting Authority, Mr Leslie Sobers, is serious about his responsibility with regard to the conduct of a free and fair election, he should immediately put a stop to the unreserved bias in content coverage in favour of the governing party being exercised by NCN. I also urge that the

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission take an immediate interest in addressing the critical matter of fair and balanced broadcasting coverage and content of these elections by both the nationally and privately owned licenced broadcast media.

I am aware that the myriad of consultants readily provided by the American, British and Canadian Governments and Commonwealth to assist GECOM in ensuring free and fair elections are now in place. I encourage them to pay more than ordinary attention to the broadcast coverage of the elections. Needless to say, the political bias practised by the Guyana Chronicle, owned and operated by the Government, is beyond repair in spite of President Granger’s declared commitment to press freedom.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

Broadcast coverage for General and Regional Elections

With regards, Kit Nascimento

What prompted my departure from GECOM meeting Dear Editor, I write in response to an article in Guyana Times of January 8, 2020, captioned “Govt Commissioner’s walkout breaks up GECOM meeting”.

The first point I wish to make is that Commissioner Charles Corbin had previously left the meeting having indicated at the inception, his desire to do so at a particular time.

My second point is I did not walk out from the meeting but prior to leaving, I explained to the Chairperson why I was doing so. Guyana Times would have been better placed to report on this matter if its reporter had sought an explanation from me about the reason/s that led to my departure from the session. For the benefit of readers, I use this opportunity to explain my actions.

I spent the entire night of Monday, January 6, and the early hours of Tuesday, the 7th, sitting in a chair while I tried to control my blood pressure, which was fluctuating between high and low. Eventually, at about 05:30 am on Tuesday morning, I began to bleed through my nose and sought medical treatment at the GPHC. Thankfully, as a result of the care and attention of the medical staff at the Accident and Emergency Section of the GPHC led by Doctors Morris and Tait, I was declared, sometime after noon, well enough to be sent home. My heartfelt thanks to Doctors Morris and Tait and the other caregivers for seeing me through that difficult

period.

On arriving home and in spite of the entreaties of members of my family who advised me against attending GECOM’s meeting, which was scheduled for 1 pm that day, I felt that because GECOM’s timelines could be affected by my non-attendance, it was incumbent on me to attend, which I did. I take my responsibilities as a GECOM Commissioner seriously and will not, like some of my colleagues, who walked out of approximately 14 meetings in 2019, walk away from a GECOM meeting. I am on record at GECOM saying that only serious illness or death will keep me from attending a meeting when I am required to do so.

Notwithstanding the seriousness of the episode I encountered, I still felt that it was absolutely necessary for me to attend the meeting.

While I felt it was important to be at the meeting, I was not prepared to be part of what I considered to be the ridiculous behaviour of Commissioner Robeson Benn, who constantly throws tantrums, is disrespectful even to the Chairperson and indulges in regular bouts of threatening and intimidatory behaviour to the Secretariat staff attending meetings of the Commission.

It is that atmosphere which prompted my departure from the meeting on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.

With regards, Desmond Trotman GECOM Commissioner

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

Page

Foundation

Glasses and

contact lenses

Why do some people need glasses and others don’t? veryone’s eyes are a little different – not just the colour, but the way they work and how well they see.

Sometimes all the parts of the eye don’t work together the way they should. But eyeglasses or contact lenses, also called corrective lenses, can help most people see more clearly.

E

How eyes work The eyeball includes: the cornea (say: KOR-neeuh), clear tissue that helps the eye focus the iris, the coloured part the pupil (the black circle in the centre of the iris, which is really an opening in the iris, that lets light enter the eye) the lens, which also helps the eye focus the retina, at the very back of the eye When all of the eyes’ parts are working properly, a kid doesn’t have vision problems.

You can see because your eyes capture an image like a camera and send that image to your brain, where it can be interpreted. For instance, if there’s an elephant in front of you, almost instantly, your brain says, “Hey, that’s an elephant.”

Your eyes need to bend light rays so the image can be focused sharply on your retina. The better your retina records the image, the more likely that your brain will interpret the image, and the more likely you will see the image clearly.

Refracting is a big word that means bending light rays.

If a person has vision trouble, it’s often a refractive problem.

Glasses or contact lenses work so well because they can correct

refractive problems. In other words, they bend the light rays in a way that lets you see more clearly.

Laser surgery also can correct some vision problems, but it’s not allowed for kids because they’re still growing.

Nearsighted and farsighted — which is which?

Nearsightedness and farsightedness are common refractive problems. It’s easy to get the two confused: Nearsighted (also called myopia) means someone can see stuff that’s near, like a book, but has trouble seeing stuff that’s far away.

Farsighted (also called hyperopia) means someone can see stuff that’s far away clearly, but has more trouble seeing up close (like reading the print in a book). Some farsightedness in kids is normal because they can focus their eyes to make up the difference. But some kids are very farsighted and need glasses or contact lenses.

In both cases, the image is not properly focused on the retina. With nearsightedness, the image becomes focused in front of the retina. With farsightedness, the image is focused behind the retina.

Another refractive problem is called astigmatism (say: uh-STIGmuh-tih-zum). This means that the cornea is an uneven shape, and it bends the light in different directions. This can distort what a person sees and make things look blurry.

Glasses or contact lenses correct vision because they allow the eye to focus light in the right spot on the retina – the spot that produces the clearest image. Because everyone’s eyes

are different, a pair of glasses that makes one person see wonderfully may look terribly blurry to someone else. You know this if you’ve ever tried on somebody else’s glasses!

If you need glasses or contact lenses, your doctor will write you a prescription. In this case, a prescription doesn’t mean medicine you’ll pick up at the drugstore. A vision prescription is a piece of paper with numbers on it. The people who will make your glasses for you need these numbers to create lenses that will correct the way your eye bends light. Remember, the target is right in the centre of the retina.

Eye exams If you’re having trouble with your vision, your mom or dad can take you for an eye exam.

This might happen as part of your regular checkup with the doctor.

But you need to see a vision specialist if your parents or your doctor think you might need glasses. You might see an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or an optician.

What’s the difference?

An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor trained to treat vision problems; this includes prescribing eyeglasses and contact lenses, but also doing eye surgery for other eye-related problems.

An optometrist is a licensed professional who specialises in eye exams and in figuring out the right prescriptions for eyeglasses and contact lenses.

An optician makes or sells eyeglasses and contact lenses according to an ophthalmologist’s or

optometrist’s prescription.

At your eye exam, you’ll be asked to read from an eye chart. This is the chart with letters or numbers in different sizes. You also might be asked to look at some text up close, like reading from a book. These tests measure how well you see from close and from far away.

If you need glasses or contact lenses, there’s a special gizmo that lets you try a few different prescriptions until you find the one that gives you the clearest vision. It’s kind of like a big pair of glasses, but a bunch of different lenses can be switched in and out really quickly. The person doing your eye exam will switch between two different lenses and say, “Do you like this one or that one?” You say which one looks clearest. There is no right answer — just what is best for you. Remember, the idea is that you get the correct prescription so your vision will be top-notch!

The fun part If you’re going to get glasses, it’s time to pick frames. It can be fun to try these on. Choose ones that are comfortable and sturdy.

But also make sure you like them — you’ll be wearing them a lot!

The lenses themselves can be made of different materials, such as safety glass or shatterproof plastic (polycarbonate). Because glass tends to be heavy and it may shatter, most glasses today are made of polycarbonate plastic. If you play sports, you may want to ask about special eyewear you can wear on the field.

With glasses, you’ll also want to find out how to clean them properly. And it helps if you have a glasses case and put them in it when you’re not wearing them.

The last thing you want is to sit on your new glasses. Crunch!

If you’re going to get contact lenses, you’ll get some advice from the ophthalmologist or optometrist about which kind will be best for you. Some are disposable and others need to be cleaned. When you learn which type you’re going to get, you can start becoming an

expert in how to wear them safely and keeping them clean.

The most important thing about contact lenses is good hygiene to prevent infections in your eye.

But the really fun part of new glasses or contact lenses is how well you can see. They can make your whole world look better! (kidshealth.org)

Y

ou’re walking home from school on a windy November day when — whoosh! — a breezy blast smacks you in the face. As your teeth start to chatter and you pull your jacket closed, you notice your eyes are tearing up. Your eyes are tearing, but you’re not sad. What’s going on? Your eyes are “watering.”

Tell me about tears

When your eyes water, they’re making tears, just like when you cry. The tears from watering help protect your eyes.

How? By keeping them moist and washing out dust and other foreign stuff that gets in there. The tears from watering eyes might only fill your eyes or they might trickle down your face.

Whether you’re crying or your eyes are just tearing, the liquid in your eyes is created the same way. All tears come out of tear glands, or lacrimal (say: LAH-krum-ul) glands, found way up under your upper eyelids. Tears wash down from the glands and over your eyes.

Some of the tears drain out of your eyes through tear ducts, or lacrimal ducts. These ducts are tiny tubes that run between your eyes and your nose. Each tear duct is like a tiny bathtub drain. When the tears fill up your eyes, they drain out through the tear ducts. You have two tear ducts — one near the inside corner of each eye. You can see these holes if you gently pull down your lower eyelid a bit.

If tears are flowing quickly, like when you’re crying pretty hard, the ducts can’t drain them all, so tears run down your face. And have you ever noticed that your nose sometimes runs when you cry? That’s because some of the tears making their exit through the ducts end up coming out of your nose.

Why do eyes water?

Eyes water for lots of different reasons besides crying.

Anything that irritates the eye can bring on tears because the eye will try to wash it out. So, when something gets stuck in there — like dirt or an eyelash – here come the tears!

You can’t always see the stuff that gets in your eyes. Have you ever walked into a smoky room? If so, you may have noticed your eyes tearing up as protection against the smoke.

Even though the particles that make up smoke are too small to see, they can still bug your eyes. Eyes might also water if you’re around an onion that’s being peeled or chopped. The fumes onions give off actually contain tiny chemicals that can get in your eyes and make them hurt.

Things that can dry out your eyes, like cold air or wind, will make eyes water, too. To protect the eyes from getting too dry, the tear glands crank out the tears. Imagine skiing down a hill with dry eyes as all that wind rushed at you. That would really hurt!

People’s eyes also tear when they have allergies; infections like a cold; or pinkeye, known as conjunctivitis (say: con-JUNK-tih-vie-tis). All of these irritations can inflame the eyes and make them water.

Tear trouble

You might not think twice about your watering eyes, but some people do have trouble making tears because their tear glands don’t produce enough tears. Certain medical conditions or medicines can cause dry eyes.

Another problem is not being able to drain the tears, so the eyes can get too full of liquid. This may happen because someone has a blocked tear duct. Babies can be born with blocked lacrimal ducts. They usually open on their own, but some babies need a small operation to clear the ducts.

So now you know what your eyes are up to when they get all wet. It’s such a beautiful story, it brought tears to our eyes! (kidshealth.org)

NEWS

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Audit Office investigations reveal

Engineer falsely certified Ministry’s incomplete project

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nvestigations by Auditor General Deodat Sharma and his staff at the Audit Office has revealed that a Government engineer falsely certified that works were completed on a contract, more than five months before they were actually completed.

This is contained in the 2018 Audit Report of Guyana, which was seen by this publication. According to the report, the contract was overseen by the Public Security Ministry and was for the renovation of a self-acting sluice at Western Section, Lusignan.

“Amounts totalling $151.300 million were allocated for repairs and maintenance works within the Ministry. According to the Appropriation Accounts, as at December 31, 2018, amounts totalling $113.464

Auditor General Deodat Sharma

million were expended. A sample of nine projects with contract sums totalling $38.581 million for main-

tenance works were selected for physical verification,” the Audit Office explained in the report.

The particular contract in which discrepancies were found was supposed to be executed within two months and have a defects liability period of three months.

It was awarded by the Ministerial Tender Board to the contractor, who was the lowest bidder of the 16 who vied for the contract.

It is understood that the engineer’s estimate for the works was $5.7 million, with the contract being signed on December 5, 2018, and amounts totalling $4.5 million being paid to the contractor in that same month.

“However,” the Audit Office noted in its report, “It was discovered that the engineer certified that the

According to the AG report, the project fell under the Ministry of Public Security

works were completed since 16 December 2018, however, our physical verification on May 3, 2019, revealed that the contractor was still

Guyana overtakes Russia with world’s top oil discoveries for 2019

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Exxon’s Liza Destiny FPSO in Guyana’s waters

report from Norwegian research company Rystad Energy is showing that for the year 2019, Guyana was able to overtake Russia as the world’s highest oil producer, in terms of conventional discovered volumes.

According to the report, which was released last week, Guyana discovered an estimated 1.8 Billion Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE) for last year. This, according to the report, would have contributed to oil giant ExxonMobil being named ‘explorer of the year’.

“ExxonMobil can be declared explorer of the year for a second year in a row thanks to its ongoing efforts and results in Guyana, along with significant investments in Cyprus. The supermajor was exceptional, both in terms of discovered volumes and value creation from ex-

ploration,” Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team, was quoted as saying in the report.

“The US company discovered around 1.07 billion BOE in additional net resources last year. Rystad Energy estimates the value creation from these volumes to be around $2.7 billion, largely driven by the continued success in Guyana,” it also stated.

According to a list of 2019’s top producers in the report, Guyana and Russia are followed by Mauritania (predominantly gas), then Iran and Cyprus. They are followed by Norway, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Ghana.

Angola, Indonesia and the United States have fallen out of the top 10 oil finds list for 2019, since Rystad’s rankings were last published.

Last October, Rystad had released a report in which it cited Guyana as second only to Russia in terms of oil produced in the world.

At the time, Russia had discovered over 1.5 billion barrels of oil in its Dinkov and Nyarmeyskoye oil fields.

The fact that Guyana was the world’s top producer of oil for 2019 comes even as the country has only started actually producing oil last month. However, it was a bittersweet moment as first oil came without necessary systems like a local content policy or a petroleum commission being in place.

So far, Esso Exploration & Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), Exxon’s local subsidiary, has made 15 oil finds in the Stabroek block some 100 miles offshore Guyana, including four for this year.

Last year, the company

made five discoveries. These discoveries have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion. In addition, Exxon is moving ahead with its Liza phase two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells.

The Liza Destiny, Guyana’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, arrived in local waters at the end of August. The vessel will play a key role in oil production.

The oil giant has said that pending governmental approvals and project sanctioning of a third development, production in the Payara field north of the Liza discoveries could start as early as 2023, reaching an estimated 220,000 barrels of oil per day.

on-site effecting works to the structure.”

“As such, the engineer falsely certified that the works were completed since December 2018,” the Audit Office wrote, going on to add that a “physical inspection of the concrete works to the structure revealed shoddy works, with honeycombing of the concrete and pieces of cement bags casted into the finished structure.”

In its defence of these findings, the Ministry disputed the timing for payments to the contractor.

According to the Ministry, the contractor was paid after the works on the project were completed. Moreover, the Ministry explained that all remedial works have since been completed.

“The Audit Office recommends that the Head of Budget Agency must immediately desist from certifying and processing payments for incomplete works and improve in the supervision of works and should not make payments for unacceptable works that do not meet the specifications,” the report states in response.

In-house engineers play crucial roles, as policymakers often depend on reports

submitted by them to make policy decisions or to authorise payments to contractors. These engineers are supposed to be the technical eyes and ears for the Ministry when projects are being executed.

Overpayments on contracts, whereby payments are made but works not completed on schedule, has been a common theme in the Auditor General’s reports over the past few years. It is also an issue often dealt with at the level of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

For 2018, the Audit Report had documented that out of a total of $166 million in overpayments, various Ministries and departments overpaid contractors as much as $92.3 million for the 2018 fiscal year.

The Public Infrastructure Ministry, according to the report, accounted for a large chunk by overpaying $63.7 million for that fiscal year. On the other hand, $73.7 million was overpaid by regional administrations. Regions Two, Eight, Nine and 10 were responsible for 70 per cent of this sum.

APNU/AFC Govt: Most old...

Asked if he had any regrets about the decision or the way in which it was executed, Holder replied in the negative.

“I’m quite happy…I am very pleased,” Holder said.

“Sugar harvesting and cane-cutting are not ideal occupations. People prefer to do other things. So, if you want to maintain your industry, that 10,000 employees you got now, in another year or two, it will become less by natural declension. So how will be harvest the cane, so we have to move to mechanism,” the Agriculture Minister explained.

“So, I am quite happy with what we’ve done with the sugar industry,” he pos-

ited, assuring that with the current Government’s plan, the industry will “become viable again”.

The closure of the estates, however, was widely criticised by numerous sections of society, including the Private Sector and the parliamentary Opposition.

The move sent thousands on the breadline and scores of communities into depression, many of which are still, to this day, unable to recover.

But Holder posited that he has done more, under his tenure, than oversee the closure of the estates.

Among of his achievements, he said, are the appointment of a Chief Agricultural Officer – a po-

FROM PAGE 2

sition which did not previously exist, the passage of the Food Safety Act, and making several semi-autonomous agencies like the Guyana Rice Development Board and the Pesticides and Toxic Chemical Control Board self-sufficient and self-financing.

Regarding regrets, Holder said he was unable to make other semi-autonomous agencies, like the Hydromet Office, self-financing.

But he hopes whoever takes over the mantle, be it the current or a new Government, that the Agriculture Minister will continue on the “progress” he made for the sector.

8 NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Convicted rapist seeks to set aside 25-year jail term

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West Coast Berbice (WCB) man, who was found guilty of having carnal knowledge of an eightyear-old girl in 2014 and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by Justice Navendra Singh has moved to the Court of Appeal to have his conviction set aside.

Talbert McPherson, 42, of Hopetown, was found guilty of raping and sodomising the child between August 12 and 13, 2009, at Number 30 Village, WCB. The matter was called before Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, with Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Dawn Gregory, who commenced hearing ar-

Talbert McPherson

guments from McPherson’s lawyer, Arudranauth Gossai.

The lawyer in his submissions asked the court to set aside the conviction. In seeking the court to not order a retrial, the lawyer sub-

mitted that there are factors to be considered such as public interest. He added that the summing up by the trial Judge Navindra Singh was not balanced but rather favoured the prosecution’s case.

The probation report had stated that the child lived with her mother, aunt and a cousin at No 30 village. She knew the accused because he is a relative.

The prosecution’s case had contended that the child’s mother, took her to her grandmother’s residence to stay for the night. The court heard during the trial that earlier that night she watched a movie with her grandmother after which she and her cousin retired to bed.

She was lying on a mattress with others when she saw a shadow. The light from outside was shining in the room and she recognised the person to be Talbert McPherson, the court heard. He subsequently had sex with the child and left.

The next day she informed her mother who reported the matter to the police. The child was taken to the hospital where it was observed that she had bruises on her vaginal wall and anus. The accused was arrested and charged.

The Court of Appeal will commence hearing arguments from State Prosecutor Natasha Backer on February 11.

Candid…

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…race talk ne of the challenges we have in Guyanese politics is that while everybody knows voting is driven by “race”, there’s still a significant number of folks who don’t think we should talk about it in the public sphere. Your Eyewitness would give these presumably well-minded people the benefit of the doubt that they’re not just sticking their heads in their posterior aperture.

They seem to believe if you talk about race, it’ll “inflame” passions and matters may get out of hand – especially during the combustible elections period.

Now there’s no question this is one possibility – but will a curfew on race change anything? Or will it simply drive it to under the “bottom houses” or its modern equivalent – social media – where it has always created the most toxic results? Your Eyewitness believes that to try to stop a discussion based on the lived reality of people is doomed to fail. And race – or ethnicity, if you will – IS the lived reality of all Guyanese. You may try to “rise” above the categorisation, but others will treat you based on their perception of you, which is more often than not racial/ethnic – and force you to react. We cannot escape the sociological fact that our “identity” is defined by those around us. As Cornell West reminded us since 1993, Race Matters!

The way to go about addressing our discursive dilemma on race is not to silence it, but to allow reasoned discussion about the issue and its effects in the public space so that the “other” can try to appreciate your reality. Also, as the ERC has done, we can all call upon the political leaders to denounce race-baiting in whatever shape or form. Right now, with the campaign only two weeks old we are witnessing the bottom-house/social media toxic exchanges, but thankfully, also a more positive public discussion from leaders and opinion shapers.

From the PNC platform a week ago, Joseph Harmon, the heir presumptive in the PNC set-up, dismissed the PPP’s selection of Brigadier (Rt’d) Mark Phillips as its PM candidate as “Black Tokenism”. But this week at the PPP’s Albion Rally, Phillips shot back: “Harmon, if we are to follow his reasoning, he is telling you that all non-Africans on the (Govt) coalition are mere tokenism and we don’t believe that. We believe everybody has a right to support which party they want to support”!!

Now this discussion goes to the heart of the dilemma of politics in Guyana: how can the two major parties, which are both ethnic based – convince the “other” that they are truly represented?

With no ethnic group constituting a majority, Guyana’s fate hangs on the answer!! …appraisal of Chinese Sunday was “Chinese Arrival Day”. As one of our “six peoples”, the Chinese – like all the others – have made significant contributions to this nation. And it’s high time this is recognised by one and all. Back in the day when Burnham’s dictatorship was in full swing, he mandated that all organisations bearing ethnic labels were to get rid of them. The East Indian Cricket Club became “Everest Cricket Club” and the “Chinese Sports Club”, “Cosmos Sports Club”.

But it seems it’s now OK to be Chinese publicly again.

But the question being raised around the country is “which Chinese?” There is the distinction being made between “our” Chinese – descended from the 13,541 souls who arrived between 1853 and 1879, and the “new” Chinese who’ve flooded our shores with the rise of China as a major world power. Some say that these new Chinese immigrants are a strategic fifth column encouraged by the Chinese Government to supplement their economic investment and expansion across the globe.

Should we worry? …appraisal of ERC While it’s good the ERC has called upon leaders to eschew divisive rhetoric, shouldn’t they be taking a more pro-active stance against the violence that’s been committed against PPP activists and their flags?

How long will they be taking the false equivalence copout??

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

NEWS

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Chinese restaurant robbery Speeding Cop, 1 other slapped with armed robbery motorcyclist charge, remanded killed after losing control of bike T wo of three alleged bandits, who were captured following an armed robbery committed at the Five Star Chinese restaurant in Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), appeared at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

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young motorcyclist was killed in the wee hours of Sunday morning after losing control of the motorcycle he was driving along Cotton Field Public Road, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

Dead is 20-year-old Navindra Balbader of Colombia, Essequibo Coast.

Based on reports received, the now dead man was driving motorcycle CF 4897 along the Cotton Field Public Road at a fast rate when he lost control.

As a result, he fell onto the roadway and received severe head and bodily injuries. He was picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital in an unconscious state.

Dead: Navindra Balbader

Balbader was admitted a patient but later succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention.

An investigation has been launched into the fatal accident.

Policeman Jonathan Harry

Police Constable Jonathan Harry, who is attached to the Special Branch at Eve Leary,

3 charged for brazen daylight robbery

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gang of two men and a teenager, who allegedly carted off with a man’s motorcycle after executing a daring daylight robbery were on Monday arraigned for the crime and appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

Jose Bristol, 27, and Jamal Braithwaite, 24, appeared before Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus.

The men denied the charge which stated that on December 29, 2019, at Campbell Avenue, Kitty, Georgetown, they

robbed Michael Cox of his motorcycle, a phone, and a hanging bag along with cash totalling $702,500.

The teen, however, was arraigned in the Children’s Court and was remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre. He also denied the charge when it was read to him.

According to reports, Bristol and Cox are known to each other. It is alleged that Cox was trying to sell Bristol a cellphone, however, on the day of the incident, Cox was sitting on his motorcycle waiting for

Bristol, when he appeared with two men in his vehicle.

It is alleged that the men approached the Virtual Complainant and choked him. They then relieved the man of his motorcycle and other valuables before making good their escape.

However, the incident was reportedly caught on nearby CCTV cameras and quickly circulated on Facebook. An investigation was then launched and the defendants were arrested and charged.

The case will continue on February 3, 2020.

Georgetown, along with 20-year-old Akande Ross of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, appeared before Magistrate Zameena AliSeepaul. The third suspect, who is still hospitalised, after he was shot at the scene of the robbery, is yet to be charged. Meanwhile, Police are also on the hunt for a female accomplice.

According to the prosecution’s case, on January 3, Harry, Ross, the third suspect, the nowdeceased Mark Prince and a woman, invaded the Five Star Chinese Restaurant where they executed an armed robbery.

The prosecution is contending that owner of the business, 43-year-old Guang Hong Wang, her husband and a customer, 37-year-old Navindra Lakahalall, were in the restaurant at the time

Dead: Mark Prince

when one of the men entered with a woman and purchased two beers. According to the prosecution’s case, soon

Akande Ross

after the couple consumed the beverage, they ordered a case of beer and in the process of Wang delivering

it, the male suspect whipped out a handgun and relieved her of two cellular phones and an undisclosed sum of cash.

He then turned his attention to Lakahalall and relieved him of one silver chain and an undisclosed sum of cash. In the height of the robbery, the three other suspects entered.

However, a licensed holder of a handgun who lives nearby heard the commotion and immediately went to investigate and was attacked by the armed suspect and another with a cutlass.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

10 NEWS

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Marcus Bisram PI

Defence makes application for State Prosecutor to be replaced

4 suspended over City Hall ‘money bag’ found in vehicle

…asks for case to remain in Georgetown

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efence lawyers, Glen Hanoman, Sanjeev Datadin and Dexter Todd, who are representing murder accused Marcus Bisram on Monday requested that the case remains at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for the

Dead: Faiyaz Narinedatt

preliminary inquiry.

To support the request on Monday, the lawyers

told acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus that the bias and prejudiced behaviour from Magistrates in Berbice has promoted the submissions.

The defence counsels further submitted an application to have State Prosecutor Stacy Goodings removed from the case.

The attorneys also submitted that Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus has jurisdiction to keep the case in Georgetown. After listening to the submissions, the Magistrate adjourned the case to January 15 when a decision will be made on the way forward with the matter.

On December 16, 2019, during an appearance at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court, Magistrate Alex Moore recused himself from hearing the case.

This was after instructions to this nature were given to him by Chancellor

City Hall

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he Local Government Commission (LGC) has endorsed a recommendation to have disciplinary measures taken against several officers at City Hall after monies belonging to the Council were found in a bag in one of the entity’s vehicles. According Remanded: Marcus Bisram

of the Judiciary (ag) Yonette Cummings-Edwards.

Bisram is accused of ordering the death of 26-yearold carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, some three years ago. Following a long and unsuccessful legal battle to fight his extradition, Bisram arrived in Guyana

in November last.

Bisram was initially charged in absentia, while five others: Orlando Dickie, Radesh Motie, Diodath Datt, Harri Paul Parsram, and Niran Yacoob have also been committed to stand trial for the murder of Faiyaz Narinedatt.

ECD man dies after attack by bandits at wedding house

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26-year-old man is now dead after he attempted to fight off bandits who invaded his cousin’s wedding celebration on Saturday night.

Dead is Rudendra Persaud of Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD).

Reports are that Persaud was at his cousin’s wedding celebration at Nonpareil also on the ECD when bandits invaded the celebrations around 22:30h.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Monday, Persaud’s mother, Geeta Boodram related she had heard that there was a robbery at the wedding house and she left home to check on him when she was informed that he was beaten.

“I heard about the robbery and I went at the back.

My son was with me having we own nice time, and when

I came to the back, he went outside after he heard the robbery. Someone come and tell me that your son ah get beat outside, but by time I run out the scene actually close off. I see two guys and I ask them ‘where is my son?’ they say ‘mom, you son get beat up’,” the grieving mother related. S he said information was limited and she was confused as to what had transpired.

“Me ah call, me ah call fuh me son and me nah find am, so me tell them look something deh ah deh ground here, let me see a wah, when meh flash meh phone light, there is meh son lay down deh start to bleed through he mouth. Meh just tek out deh blood and me start holler fuh help,” she said in tears.

She said that residents

Dead: Rudendra Persaud

responded and came to her aid. They then rushed the injured Persaud to the Georgetown Public Hospital, but he succumbed while receiving medical attention.

The dead man’s aunt, Sunita Boodram said that her neighbour, who was an eyewitness to the crime, saw

the men who attacked her nephew, but when he called out their names, he too was beaten.

“Where we live at Nonpareil, it’s like my neighbour’s son, he is the person that identified the guys them and called out them names. When them call out them names, them start fire lash on the boy them too, so he has several lashes,” the man’s aunt related.

The mother went on to say: “ Be honest, I telling you the truth, me nah care if meh son nah burn yet, but meh want justice because I get to understand that these guys them start to get away, and I telling you today that meh want justice fo me son.

Meh ah fight hard, because meh son was innocent.”

Persaud, according to family and friends, was a quiet individual.

Acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick

to reports, on June 20, 2019, a bag with revenues collected from Bourda Market was found in a vehicle inside City Hall’s compound. At the time, the bank drop had already been made and the bag with the money was not deposited as was required.

On Monday during a statutory meeting, acting Town Clerk Sherry Jerrick said that Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding the handling of the city’s funds were breached.

Those suspended were: City Treasurer John Douglas (one month), Iva Bryan (two months), Sonia Pit (three weeks), and Yolanda Forde (one month). Meanwhile, Clerk of Markets Sherlock Lovell along with Felicia McRae were issued warning let-

ters.

This decision came in light of recommendations by the LGC after a bag of cash was found in the vehicle of the then Chief Constable, Andrew Foo and monies were missing from the Bourda Market.

According to reports, the monies were supposed to be deposited in the bank on behalf of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), however, a staff of the Council found the bag of cash bearing the M&CC seal in the vehicle of the Chief Constable.

A complaint was lodged at the LGC and an investigation was launched.

During the investigation, the Commission found that Foo along with officers had breached the standard operating procedure.

It stated that the Chief Constable’s inaction included, but were not limited to, his failure to formulate and implement a modern security plan to guard the Council’s assets; his continued failure to adhere to the Council’s decisions with respect to the acting appointment of the Deputy Chief Constable; his continued unwillingness to work with the Council to ensure that there were order and peace both within the Council and on the streets of Georgetown; and his failure to effectively supervise the Council’s constabulary, which had been the subject of public ridicule.

However, last week the Commission confirmed that investigations have been completed and recommendations have been made for some officers attached to the Council to be disciplined.

NEWS

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Guyana celebrates 167 years of Chinese arrival ...memorial to be erected in Region 3

Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana, Cui Jianchun

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anuary 12, 2020, marked 167 years since Chinese arrived in Guyana as part of the indentureship programme.

They have, ever since, been making tremendous contributions to the diversity of Guyana.

In commemoration of this event, a Chinese Memorial will be commissioned at Windsor Forest in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara).

The sod was turned for the beginning of construction.

On Monday, to commemorate the anniversary, a simple ceremony was hosted at Windsor Forest, where Chinese first settled in Guyana.

Cui Jianchun spoke about his Government’s support in strengthening bilateral relations with Guyana.

“In the year 2020, China will continue to support and Guyana development within our capacity. Next year we hope this ceremony through the belt of develop. I believe that Chinese company and Chinese Government has worked together to build a very important part for the Guyanese people,” he stated.

Over the years, the strong, comprehensive programme of bilateral co-

services of Chinese medical doctors and technicians, the donation of equipment to the health sector, the educational work of the Confucius Institute, the support given to the Bertram Collins College of the Public Service, the donation of scientific equipment to the tune of $50 million to the Cyril Potter College of Education, infrastructural support for the expansion and renovation of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the widening of the East Coast Demerara

Dancers performing a traditional Chinese dance

equipment to the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.

Chinese indentured immigrants arrived in British Guiana aboard the ship Glentanner on January 12, 1853. The first 262 were joined, five days later, by an additional 85 indentured immigrants who disem-

Cop, 1 other...

A section of the gathering at the commemoration on Monday

During the ceremony, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana,

operation has resulted in Guyana benefiting from the

Public Road, and the donation of vehicles and other

Body found between Leopold and Hadfield Sts

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he body of a man was on Monday found between Leopold and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.

Dead is 43-year-old Richard Fresco also known as “Foot” of Lot 73 East La Penitence, Georgetown.

Based on reports received, the man’s body was found at about 03:53h by passersby.

barked from another ship, Lord Elgin.

Windsor Forest is a small village on the West Coast of Demerara and it is also the first village the Chinese indentured immigrants settled in. Windsor Forest is also the home of Guyana’s First President, Arthur Chung.

Guyana Times understands that the man was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to Crime Chief Michael Kingston, an investigation has been launched into the 43-year-old’s death and his body is presently awaiting a post-mortem examination.

As such, he discharged several rounds in their direction after which the suspects fled the premises by way of motorcar PTT 8606 that was parked nearby, leaving their accomplice Prince who was badly wounded at the scene.

The police were contacted and the vehicle was intercepted at a roadblock on the public road in front of the Den Amstel Police Station.

At the time, the car had three occupants – one was in the back seat with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. He was questioned,

FROM PAGE 9

arrested and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was admitted.

An unlicensed pistol with an empty magazine was found in the vehicle along with an undisclosed sum of cash and cellular phones.

Prince, on the other hand, was escorted to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A search on his person revealed $130,000.

Harry and Ross were both remanded to prison and the case will continue on February 3, 2020.

12 NEWS Panorama 2020 launched TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Asphyxiation in hammock

Parents call for 2nd autopsy on 12-year-old

T R

Some of the large steelpan bands playing at Republic Bank’s 2020 Panorama launch

epublic Bank’s Panorama 2020 competition was launched with a concert that entertained the Sunday seawall crowd with the sweet sounds of steelpan coming from the bands participating this year.

The bands on show at the Kitty Seawall Bandstand included the 2019 champion, the Guyana Police Force Steel Band; the National School of Music Steel Band, and Caribbean Airlines Parkside Steel Orchestra.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), among the onlookers was Public Telecommunication Minister Cathy Hughes, who explained that the steelpan concert was one of her favourite events during the Mashramani season.

“I know that every year they do this and it is always a fabulous occasion for me to enjoy the breeze, the comfort

and beauty of the seawall, and, of course, good steelpan music. I think occasions like this really shows you the level of our Panorama competition has improved and raised over the last couple of years,” she is quoted as saying.

Mash Coordinator Andrew Tyndall told DPI that the event helped to raise the public’s awareness about the competition.

“The (steel band) season runs for over five weeks; it is the time where a lot of the steel bands will start their preparation for the Panorama. It is our biggest event for Mashramani season, and so this being the Republic Golden Jubilee, we thought that instead of the bands doing a separate launch, we would bring them all together and have one launch where people can come to enjoy sweet steelpan music,” he said to DPI. Tyndall is encouraging

persons to check out the Mashramani calendar of events on the Department of Culture’s Facebook page.

“Whatever is your liking there is an activity for you, ranging from film, fashion, culinary, chutney songs and dance to soca, Republic lecture series among others. We have created 50 activities for this year’s 50th Republic Anniversary, and we want everyone to get involved,” he added.

Tyndall said the Pan Minors Steel Band competition would be held on Thursday, February 13 at the Theatre Guild while the Large Band Steel Band competition was scheduled for Sunday, February 16 at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Similar steel band concerts will be hosted at Number 53 Village on Sunday, January 19 with others to follow in Bartica and Linden.

Albouystown fight lands women in court

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fight in Albouystown, Georgetown, has landed two women in court with one nursing injuries to her eye.

Twenty-nine-year-old Shelly Cox of Hill Street, Albouystown, appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on Monday where she denied that on September 25, 2019, at Hill Street, Albouystown, Georgetown, she unlawfully and maliciously wounded Cassy Blair with intent to maim, disfigure, disable or

cause grievous bodily harm.

Cox was represented by Attorney-at-Law Patrice Henry, who made a successful bail application. He told the court that his client is a mother of four and has an unblemished record and, therefore, bail should be granted.

According to the prosecution’s case, the Virtual Complainant and the hairdresser’s spouse were involved in a scuffle, when Cox intervened and inflicted injuries to Blair’s eyes.

The prosecution is con-

tending that after the injuries were sustained, persons in the vicinity rushed the VC to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The matter was reported to the police and Cox was arrested.

On Monday Cox was released on $100,000 bail. As a condition for bail, she has been ordered to stay 100 feet away from the VC. Both women were also on a bond to keep the peace. The case will continue on February 10, 2020.

he parents of a 12-year-old girl who died as a result of asphyxiation due to bronchoaspiration of gastric content are calling for a second autopsy.

This call was made as the funeral of Ashley Ayanna Agard of Lansdale Village, East Bank Berbice, was postponed to facilitate the second autopsy.

On January 6, Agard’s body was discovered lying motionless shortly after she was rocking in a hammock.

According to the police, the Vryman’s Ervin Secondary School student who did not attend school on the first day of school was

Dead: Ashley Ayanna Agard

found in a motionless state in the hammock.

Last Tuesday members of the community reported that the hammock allegedly had a large hole and a fouryear-old was spinning the hammock with the 12-yearold inside when the incident occurred.

The dead child’s mother, Samantha Downer told this publication that she is not satisfied with the results of the autopsy.

Meanwhile, ranks of the Sisters Police Station on Friday donated cash, food and drinks to the parents.

The first autopsy was conducted by Government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh.

GTT collaborates with Chronic Disease Unit to spread awareness on cervical cancer

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s Cervical Cancer Awareness Month is being observed worldwide, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) has collaborated with the Public Health Ministry’s Chronic Disease Unit to bring more awareness, prevention and promote Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) screening and treatment.

Pinktober Coordinator at GTT, Diana Gittens explained that this is the first cancer awareness project GTT has pledged its support to for the year, and the company is set to support many more cancer awareness projects throughout the year.

“Too many women have lost their lives because of the late diagnosis of cancer.

Not only their families are affected, but the entire nation feels the effect,” Gittens said.

Gittens encouraged all women between ages 21 to 65 to stay on top of their health by getting a regular pap smear or VIA screenings.

Pinktober Coordinator at GTT, Diana Gittens

“We will continue the chant that early detection saves lives because we want to save and help as many persons in Guyana to fight against cancer,” she stated.

Doctor at the Chronic Disease Unit and Coordinator of the event, Dr Martin Campbell said he is grateful for GTT’s partnership on the project.

He added that the observance is very important because the disease is the second-highest reported cancer in Guyana.

According to the Coordinator of the event,

Dr Martin Campbell, the Unit started it’s VIA screening outreach at Goed Intent Health Centre and will continue this drive at various Health Centres in Regions Three, Four, and Five to conduct screenings throughout the month.

The cervical cancer awareness activities will conclude with a grand health fair on Main Street, Georgetown on February 4, 2020, from 9 am to 3 pm.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix – the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.

There are several types of cancers, however, the two mentioned below are the main ones.

Squamous cell carcinoma – This type of cervical cancer begins in the thin, flat cells (squamous cells) lining the outer part of the cervix, which projects into the vagina. Most cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas.

Adenocarcinoma – This type of cervical cancer begins in the column-shaped glandular cells that line the cervical canal.

Sometimes, both types of cells are involved in cervical cancer. Very rarely, cancer occurs in other cells in the cervix.

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Motorcyclist critical after colliding with canter

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motorcyclist is battling for his life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Suddie Public Hospital following a collision with a canter along the Middlesex Public Road, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam).

The motorcyclist has been identified as 31-yearold Rajiv Shamnarine of Adventure, Essequibo Coast. Based on reports received, the accident oc-

curred at about 18:40h on Sunday evening.

Investigations revealed that the canter was

driven by a 42-year-old Essequibo Coast resident and was heading along the Middlesex Public Road and made a sudden stop, causing the motorcycle to collide into it.

As a result, Shamnarine fell to the roadway and received injuries. He was picked up and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital. The driver of the canter was detained and is assisting Police with their investigation.

Australia fires: Smoke to make "full circuit" around globe – NASA

Bushfire smoke as seen from the International Space Station

UK's queen agrees grandson Harry, wife S Meghan can exit senior royal role

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ueen Elizabeth has reluctantly agreed to her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s wish for a more independent future after the British royal family held crisis talks on Monday to resolve a widening rift among the Windsors.

Harry and his American actress wife will now begin a “period of transition” that will see them split their time between Britain and Canada as they also seek a lifestyle less encumbered by royal duties and to end their reliance on public funding.

It comes after what the 93-year-old queen described as “very constructive discussions” between herself, Harry, his elder brother Prince William and his father and heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, at the monarch’s rural Sandringham estate in eastern England.

A final decision on the future of the couple, officially the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will be determined in days, she said in a statement. “My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family,” Elizabeth said.

“Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”

The statement was highly unusual both in its informal tone and its personal nature, addressing the couple by name rather than by their titles.

Meghan, who is currently in Canada with their infant son Archie, had been expected to join Monday’s discussion by telephone.

The royal crisis was triggered when Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, publicly announced last week that they wished to step back from royal duties and spend more time in North America.

Although there had been initial discussions about

their future, neither the queen nor Charles were consulted beforehand, a step seen as hurtful and premature by a family whose roots go back through a thousand years of European history It also exposed suspected divisions in the Windsor family and prompted soul-searching over what it means to be royal in the 21st century.

Harry and Meghan say they want a “progressive” new role for themselves and financial independence.

As one of the world’s most glamorous couples, they have also made clear that they were struggling with the intense media scrutiny.

Last year, they announced legal action against a British tabloid, and Harry said papers had been bullying his wife in a way reminiscent of the hounding his mother Princess Diana had suffered before her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.

But it is unclear how they will pull off a partial pullback from royal roles - which some media have dubbed “Megxit” in a play on Britain’s tortuous Brexit departure from the European Union - or who will pay for a transatlantic lifestyle.

Currently, they are mainly funded by money from Prince Charles’s

Duchy of Cornwall estate as their royal roles have precluded them seeking personal incomes.

“These are complex matters for my family to resolve, and there is some more work to be done, but I have asked for final decisions to be reached in the coming days,” the queen said in her statement.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said most Canadians are very supportive of having the royals in the country. “But how that looks and what kind of costs is involved, there is still lots of discussions to have,” Trudeau told Global News in a television interview.

There are no provisions in Canada’s Citizenship Act that confer Canadian citizenship status to members of the royal family by virtue of their status as a member of the monarchy, Canada’s immigration department said in an emailed statement.

To become legal permanent residents of Canada, they would need to apply through normal immigration processes, the statement added.

Prince Charles, 71, has long sought a leaner royal family, but it is unclear how Harry and Meghan would fit into that model -

especially if they essentially become Hollywood superstars.

In trying to resolve the crisis, the most powerful members of the so-called royal “Firm” are aware that the final outcome could shape the monarchy’s future.

Elizabeth has served the country loyally since ascending the throne in 1952, earning the respect and admiration of most Britons, including many republicans, but the family has also sometimes faced accusations of being aloof and out of touch.

The breakdown in royal relations has dominated the British media for days, with newspapers running a host of stories, based on quotes from unidentified royal insiders, about a split between Harry and William, the Duke of Cambridge, and anger at the top of the family amid suspicion of leaks and ostracism.

In a sign of the tensions, Harry and William issued a rare public statement on Monday to denounce a report by the Times newspaper based on an unnamed source which said Harry and Meghan had been pushed away by “a bullying attitude” from William who had not been welcoming to Meghan. (Reuters)

moke from the massive bushfires in Australia will soon circle the Earth back to the nation, says Nasa.

Massive infernos have raged along the nation's east coast for months, pushing smoke across the Pacific.

Nasa said plumes from blazes around New Year's Day had crossed South America, turning skies there hazy, and moved "halfway around Earth" by 8 January.

"The smoke is expected to make at least one full circuit around the globe," the US space agency said.

Hundreds of bushfires have burnt across Australia, killing at least 28 people and destroying more than 2,000 homes.

The unprecedented scale and intensity of the fires has been exacerbated by climate change, experts say.

Nasa said recent blazes had been so big they had produced an "unusually large" number of pyrocumulonimbus events - or fire-generated thunderstorms.

These had sent smoke soaring into the stratosphere, with some recorded as high as 17.7km (11 miles).

"Once in the stratosphere, the smoke can travel thousands of miles from its source, affecting atmospheric conditions globally," Nasa said.

The agency said it was studying the effects of smoke at this altitude and whether it provided "a net atmospheric cooling or warming".

Nasa noted the smoke had changed the colour of skies in South America, and dramatically affected New Zealand, where it was "causing severe air quality issues" and "visibly darkening mountaintop snow".

Large Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Adelaide have also endured dangerous air quality levels due to smoke from nearby bushfires.

On Tuesday, Melbourne residents were enduring a second consecutive day of "hazardous" air quality, prompting concerns about public health.

More than 100 fires continue to burn in the nation's east, however cooler conditions in recent days and forecast rain have aided firefighting efforts. (BBC)

Cholera gone, but not forgotten – WHO

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wo United Nations health agencies said Monday that death from cholera in Haiti is preventable and urged the authorities “to accelerate investments in clean water and adequate sanitation.”

The Pan American Health Organisation and the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in a joint statement noted that the cholera outbreak that began in Haiti in October 2010 caused an estimated 820,000 cases and killed 9,792 people.

But they said due to the hard work of the Haitian government and the population in partnership with PAHO and other agencies, there have been no confirmed cases of cholera since the end of January 2019.

“As Haiti approaches one year free of cholera, the disease may be gone, but it is certainly not forgotten. Now is the time to act to ensure that cholera in Haiti remains a distant memory.”

The two agencies said cholera is a disease of inequity that unduly sickens and kills the poorest and most vulnerable people, mostly those without access to clean water and sanitation.

“It causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration that can kill a formerly healthy person within hours. So long as diseases like cholera remain, we will simply not achieve universal health, nor will we ensure the very crux of the sustainable development agenda – leaving no one behind.

“Death from cholera is preventable with the tools that we have today. Primary health clinics have been established throughout Haiti with trained personnel that are able to manage cases and save people with adequate rehydration and care.

Surveillance is in place to detect and respond to possible flare-ups. And a vaccine is available, which PAHO/ WHO can mobilize from the global stockpile.” (CMC)

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

New attitude, culture toward Outrage after Jeopardy! host rules Bethlehem not in Palestine domestic violence – Top CoP

T

P

opular American game show Jeopardy! has been plunged into controversy after a contestant was told she had the wrong answer after identifying Jesus’s place of birth, the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, as being in Palestine.

The incident took place in round one of the game broadcast on Friday, when Katie Needle was given the clue: “Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity”, under the category “Where’s that Church?”.

Needle, a retail supervisor from Brooklyn, responded it was in Palestine but was told her answer was wrong.

One of the other two contestants, Jack McGuire, then buzzed in with the reply “Israel”, which host Alex Trebek accepted as correct.

The Church of Nativity, declared a World Heritage Site, is located in Bethlehem

Jeopardy host Alex Trebek

in the occupied West Bank, which is internationally-recognised as part of Palestine.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of June 1967, in a move the international community never recognised.

Christian pilgrims and tourists from across the globe visit Bethlehem throughout the year, espe-

cially for religious festivals such as Christmas.

Neither Needle or Jeopardy! producers were available for comment at the time of publication.

The incident was picked up by people on social media with many criticising the show’s producers and host and demanding they apologise. (Al Jazeera)

T&T Police get Queen’s Counsel statements against Ramlogan, Ramdeen

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olice have obtained statements from British Queen’s Counsel Vincent Nelson, the State’s main witness against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and former UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen.

The statements are expected to be handed over to the defence by Friday, as ordered by Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle on Monday.

Both men returned to the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court for a status hearing of the bribery and corruption case against them.

In September, Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, told the magistrate the State had encountered some difficulty in getting Nelson’s statements because he was not in the jurisdiction and because of his health status.

He said then that the police might have to travel to the United Kingdom to get them, and intended to file an application under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act so that the police could travel to the UK. In response to a concern raised by Ramdeen’s attorney Wayne Sturge and a direct question, senior prosecutor Mauricia Joseph said the statements had been ob-

Anand Ramlogan, SC

tained from Nelson.

Sturge asked, if the prosecution had Nelson’s statements, “Why can’t we get it?”

Earle-Caddle directed that they should be disclosed by Friday, and did not entertain a submission by Sturge for sanctions against the State for the late filing of the statements. The statements were originally due to be filed and served by December 31, 2019.

Earle-Caddle also adjourned the matter to April 28 for another status hearing.

The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act allows a judge, magistrate or the DPP to make requests from agencies and authorities outside the country for help so that the police

can travel abroad to get evidence. It also sets out the procedure for making requests.

On June 6, Nelson pleaded guilty to his role in the alleged conspiracy. Nelson, who was indicted on three counts of conspiring to commit money laundering, misbehaviour in public office and conspiracy to commit an act of corruption, agreed to a plea deal. Justice Malcolm Holdip, who is to sentence him on Thursday, accepted the plea agreement in accordance with section 26 of the Criminal Procedure (Plea Discussion and Plea Agreement) Act. Nelson was granted permission to leave TT and return for the hearing of his case. He is on $100,000 cash bail.

At the time, his attorneys expressed concerns for his safety and said he was in remission from prostate cancer but regularly needed access to his doctors in the US and the UK. Ramdeen and Ramlogan are charged with conspiring with Nelson to misbehave in public office, to engage in money laundering and to bribe on various dates between October 1, 2010 and September 9, 2015.

Ramlogan is on $1.2 million bail and Ramdeen on $1.5 million. (T&T Newday)

he Commissioner of Police has promised a change in the attitude and culture within the Police Service with regards to domestic violence.

Commissioner Gary Griffith hosted a meeting yesterday, Monday, with several interest groups and individuals on the issue of Domestic Violence.

At the meeting, Commissioner Griffith informed the participants of his plan to roll out the Gender-Based Violence Unit of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service on January 21st, 2020.

According to a media release, he made it quite clear that the formation of the new unit was not as a result of the domestic violence-related murders last week, but a plan he conceptualized months ago.

He informed attendees that police officers were trained by an international agency which has reduced domestic violence in New York.

The CoP also gave statistics on domestic violence murders over the last five

years, as well as the increase in breaches of protection orders.

He said, “It will not be business as usual. We will be rolling out a massive public awareness campaign against domestic violence. Time has come for all citizens to be their neighbours’ keepers.

They must no longer keep silent and allow someone to be killed. It is time for people to speak out and report what they see. You will be saving a life. Don’t come and say afterwards what you knew. It may be too late.”

The release stated that some of the participants spoke of the failure of the 999 system, the poor response of the police in the past, and the ridicule which victims of domestic violence endure at police stations. They also pointed out that perpetrators of these brutal acts have been served with protection orders, but there have been breaches and no follow-up by the police, resulting in fatalities.

Griffith said with the establishment of the GenderBased Violence Unit, a better system of delivery will be

rolled out. He expressed hope that with the new system, there will be a spike in reporting of domestic violence reports as more people will trust and have faith in the Police Service.

At the meeting, there was a call for the establishment of a Civil Society Advisory Committee which will comprise various NGOs to assist in the development of the Gender-Based Violence Unit.

Among those in attendance were officials from Womantra, the Ministry of Health, the Coalition against Domestic Violence, the Judiciary, the Coalition Advocating for the Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO), Conflict Women, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Network of NGOs, the University of the West Indies, the Child Protection Unit of the TTPS, the Shelter, E-999, Emergency Response Patrol (ERP), Working Women, Women of Substance (Tobago), the Network of Rural Women, and the InterClub of Trinidad and Tobago.

(T&T Guardian)

Libya talks in Russia fail to get ceasefire deal signed

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alks in Russia aimed at agreeing on an unconditional and open-ended ceasefire in Libya failed to achieve a breakthrough on Monday and have been adjourned for the night.

The head of the UNsupported Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, signed a draft ceasefire agreement, while Khalifa Haftar - commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) - requested more time to consider it.

“They have a positive view of the document and asked for extra time until the next morning to decide,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said of Hafter and his delegation. “I hope they will make a positive decision. Russian and Turkish representatives will continue to offer their assistance.”

Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the conflict, urged the factions on Monday to sign a binding truce to end a ninemonth-old war and pave the way for a peaceful settlement.

Fayez al-Sarraj (left) and Khalifa Haftar

More than 280 civilians and about 2,000 fighters have been killed and 146,000 Libyans displaced since Haftar launched his assault to seize the capital Tripoli, according to the United Nations.

Turkey was working to ensure the truce became permanent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Speaking alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Ankara, Erdogan said he will attend a summit in Berlin on Sunday to discuss developments in Libya, along with Conte and Russian President Vladimir

Putin.

“I especially hope for the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement some time soon,” Erdogan told the press conference.

The Moscow talks were held a day after a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey came into force in Libya. It was unclear if the two leaders al-Sarraj and Haftar would meet face to face.

Haftar’s forces have so far failed to capture the capital Tripoli, where the UNsupported GNA resides, after months of fierce fighting.

(Al Jazeera)

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Republican Senators say they will not vote to T&T High Court Judge dismiss charges against Trump ahead of trial rules parts of sedition

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epublican members of the U.S Senate, poised to begin an impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the coming days, voiced opposition on Monday to any attempt to dismiss the charges against him without a trial.

The Democratic-led US House of Representatives is expected to formally send the charges to the Senate this week, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to help acquit his fellow Republican.

Trump appeared on Sunday to reverse his position on how the Senate should proceed, writing on Twitter that a full trial would give the Democrats who pursued impeachment undeserved credibility and signaling support for dismissal of the charges with no trial.

“There is almost no interest” among Republican

US President Donald Trump

senators for a motion to dismiss the House charges, Republican Senator Roy Blunt told reporters on Monday.

“I will not be supporting a motion to dismiss,” said Republican Senator Mitt

Romney. “At this stage, the allegations that have been made are serious and deserve to be given consideration with the arguments for and against.”

Senator Susan Collins, among a hand-

ful of Republicans whom Democrats hope to persuade to back their call for witness testimony, told reporters she and a small group of colleagues were discussing a trial format that would allow lawmakers to vote on whether to include witnesses after hearing from each side and having the opportunity to pose questions.

“We’re still talking, and I think the discussions have been going well,” Collins told reporters, saying she strongly favored the approach taken during the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delayed sending the two articles of impeachment passed by the House on Dec. 18 to the Republican-led Senate, preventing McConnell from holding a quick trial right away that cleared the president. (Reuters)

Guatemalans demand arrest of outgoing President for corruption be sworn in to the Central American Parliament on Thursday, but the timetable was suddenly moved up this week.

Central American Parliament representatives are elected, but former presidents and vice presidents have automatic entry upon request. Few do so, as many politicians in the region have criticised the institution as ineffective and some have called for its abolition.

Morales and Giammattei have called for Parlacen reform. (Al Jazeera) Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales

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uatemalan civil society groups are pressuring authorities to arrest President Jimmy Morales for corruption on Tuesday as soon as his successor takes office.

For more than half of his four-year term, Morales has been plagued by allegations of illegal campaign financing. He has denied any wrongdoing.

He also shut down an international commission leading investigations into high-level corruption.

"Corruption kills," Guatemala City resident Cristina Valenzuela told Al Jazeera on Monday outside the prosecutors' office.

"What we are demanding is an arrest warrant for [Morales]," she said, dressed up as 'the Virgin of the Struggle,' an icon of the anti-corruption movement last year.

As president, Morales has immunity from prosecution. It will lapse on Tuesday afternoon when president-elect Alejandro

Giammattei is inaugurated, but Morales will likely regain immunity just hours later when he is expected to be sworn into the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), a multilateral body for regional cooperation grew out of a 1980s peace process.

Anti-corruption, human rights and social movement group members gathered on Monday outside the Office of the Public Prosecutor to call on the attorney general to file for an arrest warrant for Morales. It would have to be executed in the narrow window when he will lack immunity.

"It would have to be very expeditious," Edie Cux, lawyer and president of Accion Ciudadana, a citizen action group, told Al Jazeera.

Morales and other outgoing officials have been publicly linked to investigations.

Significant evidence, including admissions in court by Morales campaign financiers of unregistered donations, is already part of the

public record, he noted.

"There is no excuse for the attorney general not to act," said Cux. After holding a news conference, Cux and seven other civil society and social movement group representatives entered the Office of the Public Prosecutor to formally present their letter requesting immediate action, waiting for notification of the official receipt of the document.

To their surprise, Attorney General Consuelo Porras welcomed the delegation and spoke with them at length.

Investigations into outgoing officials on the brink of losing immunity from prosecution have been advancing, Porras told the group.

Not all cases will meet the threshold to pursue prosecution, but there will be important relevant developments in the coming days, she said.

Morales and Vice President Jafeth Cabrera were originally scheduled to

law unconstitutional

H

igh Court Judge Frank Seepersad has struck down elements of Trinidad and Tobago's colonial-age sedition legislation.

Delivering a 50-page judgement at the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain Monday morning, Justice Seepersad ruled that Sections Three and Four of the legislation, which prescribe the offence of sedition, are unconstitutional.

Justice Seepersad ruled that the legislation was vague, uncertain and could lead to arbitrary application.

He also ruled that the legislation was not compatible with a sovereign democratic State as it limits constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression and freedom of the press.

The novel constitutional challenge was brought by former Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), the late Satnarayan Maharaj, before his death in November, last year.

In the lawsuit, Maharaj's lawyers contended that the legislation – which was passed in 1920 and amended several times between 1961 and 1976 – breached citizens' constitutional rights to freedom of thought and expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of association and assembly.

They claimed that Sections Three and Six of the legislation, which defines a seditious intention and the publication of such, is unpredictable and allows for discrimination.

In order to succeed in the

claim, Justice Seepersad needed to agree to bypass the legislation's saving clause, which precludes it from judicial interpretation except in scenarios when it can be found incompatible with the provisions of the Constitution.

Maharaj's lawyers contended that the savings clause was only meant for a limited period of time and should be declared undemocratic and unconstitutional.

The Attorney General's Office called on Justice Seepersad to reject the lawsuit as it claimed that it may lead to a mountain of litigation from persons attempting to avoid being prosecuted.

Although it admitted that sedition laws have been removed in some countries, it noted that they still exist in South Africa and Canada.

"The right to criticise does not mean you cannot attract the penalties every State has put in place to protect its integrity," Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein, who led the legal team for the AG's Office, said in his submissions in the case.

After Maharaj passed away on November 16, his son Vijay applied to be substituted as the claimant in the lawsuit.

Maharaj was represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC; Jagdeo Singh; Dinesh Rambally; Kiel Taklalsingh; Stefan Ramkissoon and Rhea Khan.

The AG's Office was also represented by Josephina Baptiste-Mohammed and Sean Julien. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

Regional

US targets Maduro-backed legislator Pompeo to visit and allies in fresh Venezuelan sanctions Jamaica this month

T

he United States on Monday imposed sanctions on seven Venezuelan politicians it said led a bid by President Nicolás Maduro to wrest control of the country’s congress from US-backed Opposition Leader Juan Guaidó.

Earlier this month, troops blocked Guaidó from entering congress long enough for the Socialist Party to declare allied legislator Luis Parra as Head of Parliament.

Opposition legislators in a separate session on January 5 re-elected Guaidó and later returned to the legislative palace to hold a session.

Washington blacklisted Parra and six of his allies “who, at the bidding of Maduro, attempted to block the democratic process in

Lawmaker Luis Parra speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at Venezuela's National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, January 5, 2020 (file photo)

Venezuela”, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The other Maduroaligned politicians sanctioned on Monday are: Jose Noriega, Franklyn Duarte, Jose Brito, Conrado Perez, Adolfo Superlano, and Negal

Morales.

Reuters reported last week that the Trump Administration was weighing imposing sanctions against Parra and more than a dozen others who took part in the Socialist Party’s attempt to take control of con-

gress.

The sanctions, Washington’s latest action targeting the socialist Maduro Government, freeze any US assets of those targeted and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

Parra, in a statement, said he “energetically and categorically” rejected the sanctions and said it was unacceptable for foreign nations to meddle in the Venezuelan congress’ actions.

Last January, Washington recognised Guaidó as the nation’s legitimate interim president and began ratcheting up sanctions and diplomatic pressure in an effort to oust Maduro. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Retired Pope Benedict warns Pope Francis against relaxing priestly celibacy rules in Amazon

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etired Pope Benedict XVI has issued a defence of priestly celibacy in the Catholic Church as his successor considers easing a ban on married men serving as priests.

Pope Benedict made the appeal in a book co-authored with Cardinal Robert Sarah.

It comes in response to a proposal to allow married men to be ordained as priests in the Amazon region.

Pope Benedict, who re-

tired in 2013, said he could not remain silent on the issue.

In the book, Pope Benedict says celibacy, a centuries-old tradition within the Church, has "great significance" because it allows priests to focus on their duties.

The 92-year-old says "it doesn't seem possible to realise both vocations [priesthood and marriage] simultaneously".

It is rare for Pope

Benedict, who was the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years, to intervene in clerical matters.

The Vatican is yet to comment on the book, which was previewed in part by French newspaper Le Figaro before its full publication on Monday.

Vatican commentators have reacted with surprise to Benedict's intervention, suggesting it breaks with convention.

"Benedict XVI is really not breaking his silence because he (and his entourage) never felt bound to that promise. But this is a serious breach," Massimo Faggioli, a historian and theologian at Villanova University, tweeted.

The comments by Pope Benedict were described as "incredible" by Joshua McElwee, a journalist for the National Catholic Reporter.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

U

nited States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to visit Jamaica this month for a meeting with Jamaican and Caricom leaders, a highly placed source has told the Jamaica Observer.

The source did not give the date of Pompeo's arrival nor where the meeting would be held. However, it is expected that developments in Venezuela and the Middle East will top the agenda.

Pompeo's visit will come two years after the man he succeeded, Rex Tillerson, flew into Kingston for a meeting with Prime Minister Andrew Holness where they discussed critical issues of mutual interest to both countries.

Among the issues dis-

cussed were the strengthening of security cooperation in order to more effectively combat transnational organised crime; boosting economic partnership between Jamaica and the US; exploring opportunities to broaden US-Caricom engagement and energy security; the economic vulnerability of middle-income countries including climatic events; de-risking and correspondent banking, as well as the situation in Venezuela.

At the time, Prime Minister Holness said the talks reflected the long and productive relationship between the United Sates and Jamaica and signalled the importance of the strong and vibrant partnership that exists between the two countries. (Jamaica Observer)

Political vacuum in Haiti could let President rule single-handedly

Power back on, but thousands still homeless in quake-hit Puerto Rico

P

uerto Rico’s public power utility said on Monday it has restored electricity to almost all the island, nearly a week after the strongest earthquake in more than a century knocked out all power and caused at least US$110 million in damage.

Nearly 5000 people left homeless by a series of quakes have taken refuge in Government shelters, officials said on Monday, in addition to hundreds if not thousands more people who are sleeping outside their homes.

Public power utility PREPA, also known by its Spanish acronym AEE, announced power was restored

to 99 per cent of homes and businesses while also urging people to conserve energy because the largest generating plant on the Caribbean island remains offline.

PREPA shut down the power grid as a safety precaution amid a series of earthquakes, including one of 6.4 magnitude, last Tuesday that damaged nearly 600 buildings and killed at least one person.

The Costa Sur plant, largest power plant in the US territory with a capacity of 970 megawatts, remained out of commission after suffering severe earthquake damage and could take up to a year to repair.

Haiti's President Jovenel Moise addresses the media in Port-auPrince, Haiti, January 13, 2020

H People rest at a temporary shelter camp in a sports complex, after an earthquake in Guanica, Puerto Rico, January 8, 2020

As long as it remains offline, the remaining power plants will need to run at or near capacity to meet demand of about 2000 megawatts.

“We urge you to moderate your use of electric-

ity for system stability,” PREPA said on Twitter on Monday.

The island of three million people has about 1.5 million electricity customers. (Excerpt from Reuters)

T&T President tells organisations seeking patronage from public offices: Find creative ways to source funding

P

resident Paula-Mae Weekes, patron of the President’s Awards of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), is advising organisations seeking patronage from public offices to find creative ways to source funding.

Speaking at the PATT’s function at San Fernando Hill on Saturday where silver and gold awards were given out to 48 participants, Weekes also extended that

advice to the PATT, explaining that taxpayers money has to be spent as there is no “magic pot” to dip into.

She said, “My words of encouragement are not only for your (awardees) benefit but also the benefit of your leadership. In these hard times, organisations have to become ever more creative and self-reliant in order to continue their good work.

To ensure that the future

generations of young people have the opportunity to benefit from this wonderful programme, President’s Award must endeavour to seek out non-traditional sources of funding and investment.”

The President recalled that when she took office in 2018 she was met by a lengthy list of organisations requesting patronage.

“That list had to be rationalised and expectations

adjusted to meet the realistic of restrictive budgetary allocations to public offices including the Office of the President. There is no magic pot into which we dip.

Everything that comes out of the President’s House we spend taxpayers money.”

Weekes, however, reaffirmed her commitment to assist PATT in realising its aims and objectives. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

aitian President Jovenel Moise could be ruling by decree later this week, a scenario he said would help break the Caribbean nation’s political deadlock, but which critics fear will undermine its fragile democracy.

In the early hours of Monday, the President said the mandates of Lower House Deputies and most senators formally expired because no successors were elected in October after the troubled country failed to hold elections.

The power vacuum could deal a significant blow to democratic governance in the poorest country in the Americas, three decades since the end of the dreaded Duvalier family dictatorship.

Moise, however, sees the side-lining of Haitian lawmakers as a positive.

“The current situation is an opportunity to stop the permanent crisis,” said Moise, who has come under pressure from monthslong street protests and Opposition groups to resign or hold early elections.

“The biggest problem Haiti has is the weakness of its public institutions,” Moise told Reuters in an interview.

Moise blamed Parliament for having failed to approve the electoral law required to hold last year’s elections while his opponents accuse him of trying to take control over the country’s electoral law.

Haiti has had 15 presidents in the past 33 years.

Under his predecessor, Michel Martelly, the Haitian Parliament was dissolved in January 2015 when last-ditch negotiations for a deal that would have extended lawmakers’ mandates failed.

Martelly ruled by decree until the end of his term.

“Without the Opposition, the Government seems less legitimate,” said Jake Johnston, a senior research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

“Will he make efforts to work for the whole or will he just pursue his own agenda without checks and balances?” (Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

17

Around the World

“Clerics get lost!”: Iran protests Jerusalem rabbi arrested for “holding rage after plane disaster women in slavery” P rotesters denouncing Iran’s clerical rulers took to the streets and riot police deployed to face them on Monday, in a third day of demonstrations after authorities acknowledged mistakenly shooting down a passenger plane.

Iran’s President called last week’s downing of the Ukrainian plane a “disastrous mistake” on Saturday, saying its air defences were fired in error while on alert after it carried out missile strikes on US targets in Iraq.

Iranian public anger, rumbling for days after Tehran had repeatedly denied it was to blame for the plane crash, erupted into protests when the military admitted its role.

Video showed students

A woman shouts slogans as she gathers with people to show their sympathy to the victims of the crash of the Boeing 737-800 plane, flight PS 752, in Tehran, Iran, January 11, 2020

chanting slogans including “Clerics get lost!” outside universities in Isfahan and in Tehran, with riot police taking positions on the streets.

Images from the previous

two days of protests showed wounded people being carried and pools of blood on the ground. Gunshots could be heard, although the police have denied opening fire.

The demonstrations are the latest twist in one of the most serious increases in tension between Washington and Tehran since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

US President Donald Trump, who raised the stakes earlier this month by ordering a drone strike that killed Iran’s most powerful military commander, tweeted to Iran’s leaders: “don’t kill your protesters.”

Iran’s Government spokesman dismissed Trump’s comments, saying Iranians were suffering because of his actions and they would remember he had ordered the killing of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Jan 3. (Excerpt from Reuters)

I

sraeli Police have arrested a rabbi who is suspected of holding around 50 women and children in conditions of slavery.

The arrest follows a raid on a complex in Jerusalem, where the alleged victims are believed to have been kept isolated from their families.

The women had been punished in various ways and had money stolen from them, Police said.

The suspect, in his 60s, has denied doing anything wrong.

He was detained in an ultra-Orthodox district in central Jerusalem on suspicion of running a “closed community” where women and children “worked under conditions of slavery”, Police said in a statement.

He and eight female accomplices are suspected of

isolating the women in a residential complex, along with children up to the age of five, it added.

“We know that the women and children were there for several months inside the home,” Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld is quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “We know that he took their money away from them and was holding them against their will.”

Video footage showed bunk beds in cramped living quarters, along with piles of cash.

A two-month investigation was launched after Police received reports the religious leader had for years committed “severe offences” against those living at the residence, Police said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

France, West Africa to unite forces in Musharraf: Death fight against Islamist militants penalty for ex-Pakistan

F

rance and West African states agreed on Monday to unite their forces under a joint command structure to fight Islamist militants in the Sahel region and France will send an extra 220 soldiers to bolster its military presence there.

West African leaders assured French President Emmanuel Macron that they wanted France to continue its military involvement in the region when they met with him in the southwestern town of Pau. France, the former colonial power, has about 4500 troops already operating in the region, an arid expanse just below the Sahara desert. But security has been progressively worsening.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State

French President Emmanuel Macron, Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou, Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani and Chad’s President Idriss Deby attend a meeting during a summit on the situation in the Sahel region in the southern French city of Pau, France, January 13, 2020

have strengthened their foothold, making swathes of territory ungovernable and stoking ethnic violence, especially in Mali and Burkina

Faso.

In a joint statement, the six leaders said they would focus their efforts against Islamic State in the Greater

Sahara and they urged the United States to continue its logistical support for their forces.

The focus of operations would be the border areas linking Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

French troops were hailed as heroes in 2013 when their intervention helped prevent an Islamist militant push to the Malian capital Bamako.

But Macron and his government have been criticized at home for allowing French troops to get bogged down and they face growing hostility in West Africa for failing to restore stability.

Macron said in December he wanted the West African leaders to clarify whether they want and need “our presence”. (Excerpt from Reuters)

US plans to lift China’s currency manipulator designation – Bloomberg

T

he United States is planning to lift its designation of China as a currency manipulator, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, as leaders of the two economies are set to sign a Phase 1 trade deal this week.

The US Treasury Department will take the step in a long-delayed semi-annual report that it will release soon, according to Bloomberg.

US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, a fierce critic of China’s currency and trade practices, on Monday blasted the Trump Administration for

what he described as its decision to “back down” from labelling China as a currency manipulator.

Officials briefed on the trade deal have said it will outline some of China’s commitments to improve transparency around its management of the yuan, and will contain a mechanism for enforcing those commitments.

Washington in August accused Beijing of manipulating its currency after China let the yuan drop to its lowest point in more than a decade. It was the first time since 1994 that the Treasury Department accused China

of manipulating its currency, the yuan.

The yuan reached five-month highs on Monday amid heavy demand ahead of this week’s signing of the Phase 1 trade deal.

China’s central bank in August denied it had intervened to weaken the yuan, and said Washington’s designation of China as a currency manipulator seriously harmed international rules.

Economists say China had previously distorted the value of its currency, but had in recent years acted to support the yuan amid a weakening economy. (Excerpt from Reuters)

President thrown out

News of the sentence in December sparked protests

A

court in Pakistan has overturned the death sentence handed down to former President Pervez Musharraf by declaring the legal process unconstitutional.

Gen Musharraf had challenged the formation of special court which found him guilty of treason last December.

On Monday, the Lahore High Court sided with the exiled General, who seized power in a 1999 coup and was President from 2001 to 2008.

According to BBC Urdu, the long-running case - which relates to Gen Musharraf’s suspension of the Constitution in 2007, when he declared an emergency in a move intended to extend his tenure - could still be retried in another court.

The indictment in 2014 was a highly significant moment in a country where the military has held sway for much of its independent his-

tory, with no other military leader ever facing such legal consequences for their actions.

When the verdict finally came in December, it was strongly opposed by both the military and the current Government.

But the penalty was unlikely to be carried out. Gen Musharraf, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was allowed to leave Pakistan in 2016 on medical grounds and is in Dubai where he is receiving medical treatment.

The ruling allowed for this, saying if Gen Musharraf died before he could be executed “his corpse (should) be dragged to D-Chowk, [outside Parliament in] Islamabad, Pakistan, and be hanged for three days”.

The directive sparked outrage, with the Government seeking to disbar the panel’s head Judge, according to news agency Reuters.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

US expels 21 Saudi cadets after Florida naval base attack probe

T

wenty-one Saudi military cadets undergoing training in the United States will be sent back to Saudi Arabia following an investigation into the fatal shooting of three Americans by a Saudi officer at a Florida naval base that US Attorney General William Barr on Monday branded as an “act of terror-

ism”.

Saudi Air Force Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, killed three sailors and wounded eight others before being fatally shot by a Deputy Sheriff during the December 6 incident at the facility in Pensacola, Florida, an official said.

The attack brought fresh complications to US-Saudi relations at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival.

Barr added that Alshamrani also visited the New York City memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US and posted

anti-American, anti-Israeli and “jihadi messages” on social media, including two hours before the attack.

Barr said 21 Saudi cadets were “disenrolled from their training curriculum” in the US military and would leave the US later on Monday after an investigation showed they either had child pornography or social media ac-

counts containing “jihadi messages” and anti-American content.

During a news conference, Barr the top US law enforcement official - said there was no evidence of assistance by other Saudi trainees or that any of them had knowledge in advance of the December shooting attack. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

PEANUTS

Dig in and don’t stop until you are satisfied with what you have done. The way you approach life, learning and love will affect how others treat you.

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

Consider what you want and what you are willing to give up in order to reach your objective. Charm will help you gain support, but action will be what leads to your success.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

Listen to others’ advice and use it to your advantage. Dedication and discipline will pay off and bring about positive change at home and work, as well as in meaningful relationships.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Learn from experience, especially when handling money matters. Pursue your dreams by putting in time and effort.

Trying to buy your way into something won’t be satisfying or stable.

VIRGO

Consider what everyone around you wants, and distinguish what’s reasonable and what isn’t. A change in the dynamics of your relationships with others will be necessary.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

CALVIN AND HOBBES

SUDOKU

Take action. Look at what needs to be done and finish what you start. Equality will be necessary. Set rules and live up to your promises.

Romance is encouraged.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Refuse to let anyone railroad you into something that isn’t right for you. Concentrate on personal gain and satisfaction. A moneymaking deal will shape your future. Reluctance will be the enemy.

SCORPIO

Be careful when it comes to your health, personal relationships and how you make changes. Impulsive action will be the enemy.

Slow down and make sound decisions.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Keep moving forward.

SAGITTARIUS Your actions will far exceed (Nov. 23your words.

Stick to the truth, Dec. 21) don’t believe everything you hear and strive for personal perfection. Romance is on the rise.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

SOLUTION FOR YESTERDAY’S PUZZLE AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Seek out information that will help you make a decision. A personal change will encourage you to pursue a new direction, partnership or lifestyle. Romance is in the stars.

Stay informed and ask questions. Address emotional situations with kindness, compassion and solutions. Home improvements will allow you to expand a plan that will bring in extra cash and ease stress.

Concentrate on what you can accomplish. Distance yourself from individuals who meddle or cause havoc. Consider a business partnership with someone who can add value to a project you are pursuing.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

19

NBA round-up: Irving

shines in return as Nets blast Hawks K

straight for their first losing streak of the season.

yrie Irving scored 21 points in his first game in nearly two months as the Brooklyn Nets never trailed and cruised to a 108-86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night in New York.

Irving returned from missing 26 games with right shoulder impingement. In his first game since Nov. 14 at Denver, the AllStar guard made 10 of 11 shots, hit his one 3-point try and had three assists in 20 minutes.

After getting 11 points by halftime, Irving went 5-for-5 from the floor in the third before checking out for the rest of the game.

He rested over the final 17:54, exiting after the Nets took an 87-50 lead, and the outcome was never in doubt.

The Nets, who were 13-13 in Irving’s absence, led by as many as 39 and won their second straight game following a seven-game losing streak.

Utah Jazz 127 - Washington Wizards 116

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 31 points, and Rudy Gobert added 21 points and 14 rebounds to help Utah beat host Washington for its ninth straight victory.

Jordan Clarkson added 23 points off the bench, and Joe Ingles 20 for Utah. Six players scored in double figures to help the Jazz improve to 14-1 in their past 15 games.

Bradley Beal scored 25 points to lead the Wizards, and Davis Bertans added 18.

Memphis Grizzlies 122 - Golden State Warriors 102

Jonas Valanciunas scored 15 of his teamhigh 31 points in the third quarter and added 19 rebounds overall as host Memphis broke open a tight game against Golden State en route to its fifth straight victory.

The 31-point total was one off Valanciunas’ season high, set in December at Chicago.

The 19 rebounds were his most since he pulled down 20 at Phoenix last March.

The Warriors led by as many as seven points in the first half and were within 6362 in the second minute of the third period after a 3-pointer by Glenn Robinson III, before the Grizzlies gradually pulled away.

San Antonio Spurs 105 - Toronto Raptors 104

DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points — 22 in the second half — and visiting San Antonio overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat Toronto.

DeRozan, who has scored 20 points in 11 straight games, sank two free throws with nine seconds remaining for what proved to be the game-winning points after Marco Belinelli’s 3-pointer had given the Spurs the lead.

Kyle Lowry sank a 3-pointer with five seconds left to pull Toronto within a point.

After San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge missed two free throws with four seconds showing, Toronto’s Pascal Siakam missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Denver Nuggets 114 - Los Angeles Clippers 104

Nikola Jokic had 20 points and 15 rebounds for his 21st double-double of the season, Jamal Murray scored 10 of his 19 points from the foul line, and host Denver beat Los

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives to the basket as Atlanta Hawks centre Alex Len defends (USA TODAY Sports)

Angeles.

Gary Harris scored 15 points, Michael Porter Jr. 13 and Monte Morris 12 for the Nuggets, who had seven players score in double figures.

Kawhi Leonard had 30 points, Lou Williams 26 and Montrezl Harrell 25 for the Clippers, who played without Paul George (hamstring injury). Los Angeles cut a 20-point lead down to six in the final minutes but could not complete the rally.

New York Knicks 124 - Miami Heat 121

Taj Gibson’s free throw with 1:38 remaining put New York ahead for good, capping a comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit to beat Miami.

Julius Randle scored a game-high 26 points to lead seven players in double figures for the Knicks, who snapped a fivegame skid after outscoring the Heat 40-27 in the fourth quarter.

Jimmy Butler had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat, who have dropped two

Phoenix Suns 100 - Charlotte Hornets 92

Kelly Oubre Jr. recorded 25 points and 15 rebounds to lead host Phoenix past Charlotte.

Deandre Ayton contributed 18 points and nine rebounds off the bench, and Devin Booker added 12 points and nine assists for the Suns, who are 5-3 since a season-worst eight-game slide.

Dwayne Bacon scored 24 points off the bench for the Hornets, who have lost four straight games and 10 of their past 12.

(Reuters)

Charles Leclerc: I won't crash with Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel again

T

heir collision in Brazil at the end of last season was the climax of a series of controversies between the two drivers as they fought for supremacy.

"We are extremely competitive and sometimes on track we might have some frictions," Leclerc said.

"But in the end we are mature enough to know that what happened on track is on track and off it we are different."

"But I think it was a good lesson for both of us and it won't happen again."

There were a series of flashpoints between Leclerc and Vettel last season, as Ferrari sought to contain their rivalry.

Before Brazil in mid-November, one of the most dramatic was at the Russian Grand Prix in September, when Vettel directly ignored team orders to let Leclerc past him, as the final part of an orchestrated start procedure aimed at ensuring the drivers were running one-two.

That immediately followed other controversies

at the Italian and Singapore Grands Prix.

Leclerc, however, said that each time the pair were able to clear the air once the dust had settled.

Leclerc was one of the stars of 2019 in only his second season in F1 and before Christmas extended his contract with Ferrari until the end of 2024.

He said that his focus ahead of the new season, which starts in Australia on 13-15 March, was on reducing the number of errors he made in his first season with the team.

"I am working extremely hard to do less mistakes than in 2019," Leclerc said. "As a team we also need to focus on that."

Ferrari had a disappointing 2019. Although Leclerc secured the trophy for most pole positions, the team won only three races in a year in which they had hoped to contend for the championship, their hopes derailed a number of times by mistakes from either drivers or team.

"We have been working well and I feel definitely more ready than in 2019. I hope I will be able to prove it on track." (BBC Sport)

The two Ferraris collided in the Brazilian Grand Prix (F1TV)

20 Judges adjourn Diack trial Japan’s badminton for athletics doping cover-up world number 1 injured in fatal crash F GUYANATIMESGY.COM

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

rench judges on Monday adjourned the trial of Lamine Diack, the disgraced former head of athletics’ governing body IAAF who faces charges of corruption and money laundering linked to a Russian doping scandal.

Less than an hour after the hearing began, the trial was halted for procedural reasons and postponed until an unknown date.

The trial’s opening came five years after prosecutors began their investigation into Diack, from Senegal, who now lives under house arrest in Paris.

Investigators have described a web of corruption that was rife in world athletics, including bribes and extortion to cover up positive drug tests.

Diack, 86, has denied wrongdoing.

His lawyers said the accusations were baseless.

“He is someone who dedicated almost his entire life to the public and to sport,” Diack lawyer Simon Ndiaye told Reuters.

Diack’s co-accused include his son, Papa Massata, who worked as a marketing consultant for the IAAF, now known as World Athletics. Senegal has refused to extradite Papa Massata and he is being tried in absentia.

The trial had been expected to last two weeks. But prosecutors sought the adjournment after receiving several “rather voluminous” documents on Monday from the Senegalese judiciary.

They include the transcript from a November interrogation of Papa Massata and bank documents.

Money laundering alone carries a jail term of up to 10 years in France.

Diack, who led the IAAF from 19992015, was one of the most influential men in athletics. His arrest plunged the sport’s governing body into an un-

Kento Momota has won two World Championships, two Asian Championships and one All England title (Getty Images)

Former President of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Lamine Diack arrives for his trial at the Paris courthouse, France (Reuters)

precedented crisis.

Prosecutors began their investigation after the IAAF’s ethics commission and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) uncovered evidence a Russian marathon runner paid 600,000 euros ($683,000) to cover up a positive drug test, allowing her to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Prosecutors highlighted what they described as the “extremely complacent” attitude of the IAAF toward the Russian athletics federation.

Diack acknowledges discussions with the Russians, but denies sanctions were waived in return for personal benefit, his lawyer said.

In a separate case, French prosecutors are investigating alleged bribes related to the Olympics and World

Athletics Championships. They suspect Tokyo’s bidding committee bribed the Diacks in 2013 to secure votes, which the committee has denied.

Under scrutiny is the role of Dentsu Inc, Japan’s largest advertising agency, and its Swiss-based business partner, Athletics Management & Services AG (AMS).

For nearly two decades, Dentsu has partnered with the IAAF to market media and sponsorship rights across most of the world, while delegating some regions and responsibilities to AMS. In 2014, Dentsu and the IAAF extended their rights agreement through 2029.

Sebastian Coe, Diack’s successor, has undertaken to rebuild trust in athletics and introduced changes to the sport’s governance. (Reuters)

B

adminton’s world number one Kento Momota has been injured in a fatal crash in Malaysia.

Japan’s Momota, 25, was travelling in a van with three members of his support team when it collided with a truck.

The driver of the van was killed but it is understood no-one else suffered serious injury.

Malaysia’s health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said Momota was being treated in hospital for cuts to his face and a broken nose.

The collision happened on Sunday, just hours after world champion Momota beat Viktor Axelsen to win the Malaysia Masters, the first tournament of

the Badminton World Federation (BWF) 2020 World Tour season.

According to statements from the local police and fire departments, the hired van was en route to Kuala Lumpur international airport when it “rammed into the rear of a 30-tonne truck”.

Dzulkefly said the four passengers in the van Momota, his physiotherapist, his assistant coach and a BWF official - were in a stable condition in Putrajaya Hospital.

“Based on investigations and CT scans, there are no major injuries... they are now stable and will be given continued treatment and remain under observation for now,” he said. (BBC Sport)

Kosgei, Kipchoge to defend Man Utd in talks with Sporting Lisbon over London Marathon titles midfielder

M

anchester United and Sporting Lisbon have held face-to-face talks over the transfer of £60m-rated Bruno Fernandes.

M i d f i e l d e r Fernandes, 25, scored twice as Sporting beat Vitoria Setubal 3-1 in the Portuguese top flight on Saturday.

The

Prince Harry made a solo appearance at the 2019 London Marathon, which was won by Eliud Kipchoge (left) and Brigid Kosgei

W

omen’s marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei says she is looking forward to defending her title at this year’s London Marathon.

Organisers announced the 25-year-old Kenyan’s inclusion on Monday.

Kosgei broke Briton Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old record at the Chicago Marathon in October.

She said: “Last year was an incredible year for me and it started by winning in London. Coming back will be very special.”

Kosgei’s record-breaking run came six months after winning the London Marathon for the first time.

She recorded a time of two hours 14 minutes 04 seconds

in Chicago, easily inside Radcliffe’s mark of 2:15:25 set at the London Marathon in 2003.

It was announced last month that Kosgei’s compatriot, men’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, will also be returning to defend his title in London.

The women’s field is also packed with talented Kenyans, including 2018 London Marathon winner Vivian Cheruiyot, three-time Berlin Marathon champion Gladys Cherono, current world champion Ruth Chepngetich and Joyciline Jepkosgei, the 2019 New York City Marathon champion.

Jepkosgei and Kosgei are currently joint top of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XIII with 25 points apiece.

(BBC Sport)

Bruno Fernandes

Portugal international is keen on a move but there has been no agreement between the clubs over a fee.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his assistant, Mike Phelan, watched Fernandes play against FC Porto on 5 January.

Solskjaer has refused to talk publicly about Fernandes and has insisted the club will only sign long-term targets in the January transfer window, despite injuries to midfielders Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay.

However, it is understood United are prioritising midfield as an area to strengthen.

Solskjaer’s side are fifth in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the battle for a Champions League place.

(BBC Sport)

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

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wo slots from the Group Stage of the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship, set to be staged in the Dominican Republic from February 22 to March 8, have been filled respectively by Guyana and St Kitts and Nevis. Guyana emerged from Group A, while Saint Kitts topped Group B. The historic news was communicated to the acting General Secretary of the

Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Rev. Ian Alves, by CONCACAF Director of Football Competitions, Carlos Fernandez.

Guyana had, in July 2019, made a clean sweep of Group A here at the Leonora Track and Field Facility with wins over Bermuda, Suriname, Saint Lucia, and Antigua & Barbuda.

Guyana’s ‘Lady Jags’ have now earned a spot in Group D of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship

tournament, alongside Mexico, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico. Thus the third-placed teams from ‘Groups A and B’ in the Qualifying Round, Bermuda and Barbados respectively, would replace Guyana and Saint Kitts in the lower tier.

This development has been brought about by the CONCACAF Council concluding that hosts of the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, Costa Rica and Panama, be grant-

2019 SPR Enterprise 40-Over Cricket Competition…

Ramlakhan, Dyal, Surat propel Enmore ‘A Team’ to title

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ner-up teams at the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.

In that event, Guyana will open their campaign against Nicaragua on February 23rd, face-off with Puerto Rico on Feb 25th, and clash with Mexico on Feb 27th.

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The victorious ECCCC

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he ‘A Team’ of the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club (ECCCC) have defeated their counterparts of the Lusignan Sports Club in the final of the 2019 SPR Enterprise 40Over Cricket Competition, played on Sunday at the Enmore Community Centre Ground.

The Enmore side easily defeated the Lusignan side, who were the 2018 defending champions of this tournament.

Winning the toss and taking first strike, Enmore were able to post 186 all out in 39 overs.

Initially, this total seemed easy for the defending champions to overhaul, but they fell short by 43 runs.

The Enmore batting was led by Vishwanauth Ramlakan, who top-scored with 67 runs made from 32 deliveries. He found it rather easy to score after the two openers had fallen.

The only other Enmore batsman to surpass the 20-run mark was tail-ender Ranjeet Hiralall, who provided assistance to the cause

with a well-played 27 that took his side to a respectable total after they had experienced a batting collapse.

Bowling for Lusignan A, Rajpaul Basdeo returned impressive figures of 5-20. He was supported by Rajendra Naikbaran, who returned figures of 2-28; while Azad Mohamed and Kumar Bishundial each bagged one wicket.

Needing a simple score of 187 for victory off 240 balls, the defending champions had a good start; and after their openers were dismissed, number 3 batsman Krishna Deosarran continued the fight with a top-score of 69, while his team mates’ resistance crumbled around him.

However, no other Lusignan batsman was able to make it into double figures, and their innings folded for 143 in just under 39 overs.

The newly crowned champions Enmore were mobbed by ecstatic supporters, who erupted into joyful celebration at their team’s victory.

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ith a little under six months left to prepare, Guyana’s female CrossFit maestro Delice Adonis is completely focused on making her second appearance at the Reebok CrossFit Games a better outing than the first had been.

Following the qualification process late last year, Adonis and her male counterpart, Guyanese Dillon Mahadeo, received their invitations to the top-notch event just last week.

“It was really an eyeopening experience; and I got an idea of what I need to work on, and I have been working on those things while also keeping a balance in my training regimen,” Adonis told this publication about her first outing, back in 2019.

While she did not downplay her first outing at this highly competitive CrossFit event, Adonis revealed that neither she nor Dillon Mahadeo had any idea what to expect at such a high level of competition. She said the event was a hurdle in the road for her personally, and she hopes to correct her performance in 2020.

“I’m thankful that I get to do this for another year, and I’m looking forward to the competition; being more serious this time around, because last year we really didn’t know what to expect, we kind of just went for the experience; but this year it’s actually about competing and making a name for ourselves,” she explained.

Asked about any difficulty she has thus far encountered in her preparation, Adonis disclosed that her only difficulty is the uncertainty she experiences.

“We would hear rumours of things they would bring, but you don’t really know until you’re actually there and the crew or organizers actually tell you what you have to do.

So, it’s hard to prepare for it, because you don’t know what to prepare for,” she explained.

U n c e r t a i n t y notwithstanding, Adonis is confident in her ability to perform against international competition.

“I’m just looking to go out there and be able to say that I gave it my absolute best; that I

Delice Adonis in action

didn’t leave anything at all on the competition floor; and that I was prepared for it. I want to be able to walk away and say there’s nothing more I could have given,” Adonis noted.

While this athlete is unsure about participating in the Kares Caribbean CrossFit event to be staged on February 9, she disclosed that her training ethics and regimen are specifically tailored for the Reebok CrossFit Games, and she would not be dabbling in anything too intense for now, but as competition time draws near, her training would be ramped up.

“It (training) is still at about the same intensity that it was at coming down to the end of last year, but that’s simply because you don’t want to peak too early and your body starts to wear by the time the Games come around; so, it’s been pretty steady training,” she detailed.

The Reebok CrossFit Games, where titles like ‘fittest man on earth’ will be up for grabs, will be staged in Wisconsin, USA from July 29 to August 2. In 2019, Adonis finished 117th out of 134 competitors.

22

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

"We need him to settle down and bat" ꟷ Pollard explains Hetmyer omission

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indies skipper Kieron Pollard seemed to make good on his promise to take ‘tough decisions’ after being dissatisfied with the team’s performance in the second ODI against Ireland.

Top-order batsman Shimron Hetmyer was dropped from the team’s line-up for the third One Day International (ODI) against Ireland, on the back of what has been general frustration with the looseness of his stroke play in the first two matches of the series.

On Sunday, however, the skipper seemed to make it clear the move was just a temporary one with Hetmyer expected to return to the team’s line-up later this week. In the two ODI games played, Hetmyer made 14 runs and was caught on both occasions after questionable shots.

“We spoke about working hard and the discipline and what is required for the

him making runs in the T20 series.”

Lewis cautions of runs hunger

Shimron Hetmyer (left) and Evin Lewis

team. He is a very important player for us and it is a discussion that we had. We need him to settle down and bat the way that we know he can bat. In India he did it very well for us,” Pollard said following the match.

“These things happen, it just goes to show the dynamics of the team we have, Sunil coming in and getting that opportunity as well.

We want guys to be very, very hungry because there are other guys knocking

on the door so we can’t relax and take anything for granted,” he added.

“At the end of the day, all is well that ends well.

He is a jovial guy. He has helped out throughout the day and we look forward to

CWI Colonial Medical Insurance Regional 4-day Championship…

Jaguars command the board after 1st round F

ive-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars have beaten the Leeward Islands Hurricanes, and Windward Islands Volcanoes have toppled Barbados Pride to gain an early boost of confidence in the West Indies Regional 4-day Championship tournament on Sunday.

The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force have drawn their match against the Jamaican Scorpions, with whom they had to share match points; although the Red Force had had a better start, and had gained a few more points, to close out round one in third place.

Guyana dominated with 388 runs in the first innings, and then steamrolled Leeward Islands with the ball in their two innings, which yielded 154 and 254 runs respectively.

Their combined total of 408 meant Guyana needed only 21 runs to win in their second innings; which was easily done.

Guyana’s performance has been awarded with 3 battings points and a similar amount of bowling and pace-bowling points, aggregating to 9 points to add to the 12 match points their win had given them.

Guyana lead the points

table with 21 points, while the Windward Islands Volcanoes are in second position with 16.6 points and the Red Force sit at third with 9.4 points.

The Scorpions follow closely with 6.6 points, while the Pride are in the penultimate position with 4.2 points and the Hurricanes are in the cellar with 2 points.

Red Force (460-4 dec) drew with Scorpions (278) & 300-8 With Scorpions needing to bat from the start of play to the close to avoid defeat, Palmer rose to the challenge and gathered an undefeated 116 to save them blushes while he earned the Player of the Match award.

He shared 131 for the third wicket with Jermaine Blackwood, after the West Indies batsman had extended his overnight second-wicket partnership with Assad Fudadin to 50.

Blackwood scored 78 and Fudadin made 34, but none of the other batsmen that appeared at the crease for the Scorpions on the day reached 20, which made the outcome more remarkable.

Akeal Hosein again led the attack for the Red Force with 3-65 from 35 overs, while

Windies top-order batsman Evin Lewis has cautioned that he is hungry for runs after what was in many respects an underwhelming performance in 2019.

The 28-year-old batsman went the entire season without scoring a century after eight appearances, despite getting over the half-century mark on three occasions.

In fact, the last time Lewis did make it to triple figures was in 2017.

On Sunday, in the third and final ODI against Ireland, he ensured that the trend would not continue after scoring 102 in a comfortable win and series sweep over the tourist.

The left-hander had come close to a ton once again but failed to convert to triple figures in the first ODI eventually being

stuck on 99 not. Now with 306 runs in three matches under his belt to start the season, which earned him man-of-the-series honours, Lewis is looking forward to a good year.

“I’ve been working hard in the nets with the batting coach. I’ve been trying to open up a little more and hit the ball straight down the ground and it has been working so far,” Lewis said following the match.

“To be honest with you I have been hungry for runs.

My last ODI century was in 2017, so this year I’m very determined and I just want to make the best of it,” he added.

“Sometimes when I score 50 I get a little ultra-aggressive. It was a great opportunity to put my head down and bat. We weren’t behind in the game, we were in control most of the time. Going forward I just want to continue batting like that.”

(Sportsmax)

McGill Superstars’ exhibition cricket match…

Bachelors brush aside Married Men in one-sided affair

O

Five-time Regional 4-day champions Guyana Jaguars

fellow left-arm spinner Yannick Ottley and off-spinner Bryan Charles each took two wickets.

Pride (233) & (269) hurt by Volcanoes (234) & 272-7 Maloney led the way with 83 and Hodge made 60 to set up the Volcanoes’ charge to victory after they had lost veteran opener Devon Smith cheaply early in the chase.

The pair shared 109 for the second wicket, before Maloney added 63 for the third wicket with former Pride captain and international batsman Kirk Edwards, to take Volcanoes to 191 for two.

But three wickets – two to West Indies left-arm

spinner Jomel Warrican – sent Volcanoes stumbling to 220 for five.

Familiarity bred success for Keron Cottoy however, and he drew on his knowledge of the opposition, with whom he has played club matches in Barbados, to guide the Volcanoes over the finish line.

Cottoy sealed the result when he swung a delivery from Pride captain Kraigg Brathwaite to deep mid-wicket for four.

Warrican ended with 3-68 from 31 overs to become the pick of the Pride bowlers, while Volcanoes off-spinner Shane Shillingford was adjudged Player of the Match.

ne week after hosting their prestigious awards ceremony, the Mc Gill Superstars Cricket Club hosted an exhibition cricket match under the theme 'Bachelors versus Married Men' at the Okoo cricket ground at Canal #1, West Bank Demerara.

Winning the toss and opting to bat against their senior opponents, Bachelors posted a commanding 170-8 off their allotted 20 overs, despite being pegged back earlier in the innings by the Married Men. Although losing wickets within the powerplay overs, the Bachelors continued to press on, seemingly to prove a point to the boastful Married Men. Leading the batting with a commanding 45 at the top of the order, Ganesh Puran was ably supported by Elian White with 28 and Keshram Seyhodan with 23. Adding his own flare at the end of the innings, Azar Deen chipped in with a quickfire unbeaten 33.

Bowling for the Married Men, Abdul Razack returned figures of 2-13 and Balram Aaron returned figures of 2-20.

The 171 needed for victory seemed inconsequential, as the Married Men were basically depending on their experience to overcome their much younger counterparts.

However, rocked back by some early wickets, the Married Men soon found themselves in a heap of trouble against the Bachelors.

Azar Deen of the Bachelors

The mainstay of their innings, Prahalad Singh, attempted to rally on, but a lack of support forced him to attack every delivery, and that led to his downfall at 42.

Maintaining a tidy line and length that proved beneficial in the end, the Bachelors’ collective bowling effort resulted in Diquan Murray snaring 2-19, Ganesh Puran 2-21, Keshram Seyhodan 2-24 and Azar Deen 2-18.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

Turbo Knockout Football Tournament…

23

Northern Rangers on verge of back-to-back Turbo titles

…GFC upset Santos U-20 team

Having switched their colours, Santos U-20 (yellow) had a change of luck, as they went down to GFC

T

A glimpse of the intense action between Northern Rangers and Riddim Squad

he last two teams to make it into the semifinal round of the Turbo Knockout Football tournament are last year’s defending champions Northern Rangers and the Georgetown Football Club (GFC).

They each secured a birth in the semifinal round following suspenseful quarterfinal games on Sunday night -- the night of the underdog -- when four teams gathered at the Ministry of Education Ground on Carifesta Avenue to battle for two remaining semifinal spots in the third edition of this Turbo Knockout Football Tournament.

Sunday’s first game involved 2018 winners Northern Rangers and Riddim Squad locking horns in what was arguably a very aggressive encounter. In a match plagued

with cards, collisions and injuries, neither of these two very experienced teams would let the other get the better of the encounter, and a stalemate ensued at the end of regulation time.

The result would have been different, and the match way shorter, had the Northern Rangers been given their cleanly-scored goal in the second half. A pass in front of the goal was easily tucked in by an approaching midfielder, but to the Northern Rangers’ dismay, it was called offside by the linesman.

When extra time could bring no winner, the game went down to penalties, an area which for some time has been the Achilles heel of Riddim Squad, and Northern

Rangers got their revenge for the controversial call made earlier when they connected two goals for the victory, as opposed to Riddim Squad’s zero.

The upset of the night came in the second game, wherein the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) fielded a boosted team against the once dominant Santos FC Under 20.

Fresh from an 8-1 victory in the preliminaries, Santos weren’t aware of what was coming until the whistle sounded and GFC began the game at a highly competitive pace.

GFC’s lone mistake of the 90 minutes came as an infraction in the box that resulted in a penalty kick being awarded to Santos, which was cleanly taken by Santos captain Marcus Wilson in the 19th.

The very skilled Deon Alfred, however, levelled the scores in the 32nd minute when he beat Santos goalkeeper Rashad Roberts.

Excellent work on the backline ensured

the scores remained locked until the end of regulation time, plunging the game into extra time. There, GFC outplayed their younger opponents, and were rewarded with a goal in the 108th minute, which turned out to be the winning goal.

Based on the results of Sunday evening’s games, Pouderoyen FC will battle Fruta Conquerors U20 in the first semifinal game to be played on Sunday, January 19, at 19:00hrs.

The second semifinal game, wherein defending champions Northern Rangers go toe-to-toe with GFC, would be played at 21:00hrs.

The eventual winner of this Petraorganized Guyana Beverage Inc-sponsored tournament would pocket $400,000, whilst the runners-up (2nd, 3rd, 4th placed) teams would respectively receive $200,000, $100,000 and $50,000. (Jemima Holmes)

592 Inter-Village Football Tournament…

Top performers rewarded

By Timothy Jaikarran

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hen the proverbial curtains came down on the inaugural 592 Inter-Village Football Tournament, the Friendship Village football team were crowned champions of the event, after recording a compelling 1-0 victory over their Golden Grove counterparts.

That action took place on Wednesday, January 1st 2020; and on Monday, January 13, 2020, the prizes for the top performers were handed over to the respective teams at the Beterverwagting premises of the ANSA McAL company.

Speaking at the simple handingover ceremony, promoter of the event, Eon Havercone, aka Father Moey, made the following comments: “I would say the 592 Tournament was a success. Even though we had a few hiccups, it never overshadowed the tournament.

“We want to thank all the sponsors that came on board and stuck by us to the very end; and it ended on a high note, far greater than what we expected.

“East Coast have welcomed this tournament, and are eagerly waiting for the second edition of this tournament. When we saw the

Manager of the Rush energy drink Brand, Triston Freeman

support that this tournament had, we knew that football was alive on the East Coast.

“I just want to say congratulations to the teams for their performance, and to everyone for the work they put in… It is our main goal to make football play again on the East Coast, as it is an important tool. This sport keeps a lot of youths off the streets, and football can be used to help them.”

Also making remarks, captain of the Friendship side, Okeme Edwards, said the tournament was excellent and was very competitive. He noted that the games were clean and fun, and

said it is his wish that the tournament would be staged again, because it has been a while since the East Coast had been involved in competitive football.

He described this tournament as an excellent start, and said he is optimistic that it would return bigger and better in its second edition.

Manager of the 592 Beer Brand, Seweon McGarrell, described the tournament as having brought action and hype through the five weeks of intense football that was played with competitive spirit and with results beyond his expectation.

McGarrell declared it the goal of ANSA McAL to bring people together through the hosting of such tournaments, and he expressed hope that these tournaments would teach the younger generation the value of discipline and cooperation.

McGarrell also disclosed that the positive feedback ANSA McAL had received has influenced the decision to make the event an annual one; and he urged players to be prepared for

Manager of the 592 Beer Brand, Seweon McGarrell

Promoter of the tournament, Eon Havercone, aka Father Moey

the 2020 edition.

Brand Manager of Rush energy drink, Triston Freeman, said: “Rush was the official energy drink of the 592 Tournament, and the energy drink is willing to support any other tournament in Guyana. We are here for sports, we are supporting sports, and we want to help communities and Guyana move forward with sports with the Rush energy drink.”

Friendship claimed the top prize of $500,000 and the inaugural Championship Trophy, while Golden Grove pocketed $200,000 and a

trophy as the runner-up team. BV won $150,000 and the third-place trophy, while Paradise walked away with $100,000 and the fourth-place trophy.

The MVP of the tournament was Dillon Wright, while Shawn Adonis was adjudged the best goalkeeper of the tournament. Both of these individuals are residents of Friendship.

Among the major sponsors of this tournament were Bakewell, ExxonMobil, the NSC, Flavours Boss, and the Colin Talbot Construction Services.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

CWI Colonial Medical Insurance Regional 4-day Championship…

Page 22

Jaguars command the board after 1st round 592 Inter-Village Football Tournament…

Page 21

Top performers rewarded Page 23

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