Guyana Times Wednesday, June 24, 2020

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Issue No. 4326

THE BEACON OF TRUTH WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

CCJ asserts jurisdiction over PPP’s appeal of Court of Appeal’s ruling Page 3

…stay on declaration issued; hearing set for July 1st ...appeal asserts Justices Reynolds, Gregory erred in law

Lowenfield caught in 4th attempt to rig elections

...twice with Mingo's fraudulent declarations, Page 13 twice with doctored recount numbers

Front Page Comment

Lowenfield must be dealt with condignly

G

ECOM Secretariat’s CEO Keith Lowenfield seems determined to subvert the carefully crafted systems and procedures of the institution he serves, which were designed to deliver a Government chosen by the people in free and fair elections. After his Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo, blatantly inflated the tabulation of the SoPs to favour APNU/AFC, he insisted on becoming an accessory to the fraud by twice using the illegal numbers in his mandated report to the Commission.

Subsequently, when APNU/AFC sought to undermine the credibility of the consequent recount – intro-

duced to rectify Mingo’s fraud – by making unsubstantiated allegations of deceased and migrant persons voting, Lowenfield arbitrarily used these claims to prepare and submit a fraudulent report that accepted the claims as facts and disenfranchised 275,000 voters, by assuming the powers of an elections court.

This was his third fraud, since, in reference to APNU/AFC’s claims, the Chair had advised: “He who asserts must prove”. Upon the Chair citing the Statements of Recount and Certificates of Recount as authoritative sources for determining valid votes, Lowenfield attempted to submit another report.

This was overtaken by the Court of Appeal conferring jurisdiction to itself to adjudicate the contention of an APNU member that, inter alia, Lowenfield’s report should only include “valid” votes in an election for the presidency. The Court of Appeal agreed with the plaintiff but ordered a three-day stay of its order.

Lowenfield has now flagrantly violated that stay by issuing a report that has now disenfranchised 114,000 voters, based on APNU/ AFC’s outrageous claims. This is his fourth fraud. The Chair must deal with him condignly and sanctions must be immediately applied to him personally.

OAS says GECOM CCJ appeal already in possession intended to bring to election of “valid votes” clarity of President, from national recount MPs – PPP/C Court of Appeal on declaration of elections results

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Govt official arrested for alleged rape of 13-year-old P8 relative Bouterse concedes P14 defeat – but Granger clings on to power even though defeated twice

4 homeless after fire P16 guts Mocha Arcadia home

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, June 24 – 05:00h – 06:30h and Thursday, June 25 – 05:00h – 06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Wednesday, June 24 – 06:00h – 07:30h and Thursday, June 25 – 06:45h – 08:15h.

CCJ asserts jurisdiction over PPP’s appeal of Court of Appeal’s ruling …stay on declaration issued; hearing set for July 1 ...appeal asserts Justices Reynolds, Gregory erred in law

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PPP/C Presidentelect, Dr Irfaan Ali is also an applicant

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PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo is an applicant in the matter

he Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has granted an injunction restraining GECOM, its officers and agents from taking any steps to prejudice the fair hearing of the appeal, including but not limited to, issuing a declaration of the results of the elections held on March 2, 2020, until the CCJ issues final orders in relation to the appeal.

The appeal was filed by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) following the Court of Appeal’s ruling injecting the term “valid” votes into the Constitution. Due to the nature and urgency of the matter, the CCJ has set July 1 for the hearing.

This all played out on Tuesday, even as the dust settled from the Court of Appeal (COA) ruling on Monday.

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall announced that the PPP had approached the CCJ. In the Notice of Application (NOA), PPP/C President-elect Dr Irfaan Ali and the party’s General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo are named as the applicants. On the other hand, A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) supporter Eslyn David, the woman who approached the COA for an order blocking the declaration of results, is the first-named respondent.

Also named as respondents are Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, Attorney General Basil Williams and representatives from the newer political parties that contested the March 2 polls.

In the appeal, Ali and Jagdeo contended that Appeal Court Judges Dawn Gregory and Brassington Reynolds erred in law by finding that the COA had jurisdiction to hear and determine David’s appeal in spite of the absence of rules granting it the jurisdiction to deliberate on the issue of an election of the President.

The NOA also noted that the two Judges, who were not supported by fellow Justice Rishi Persaud, erred by finding the COA had jurisdiction to consider David’s motion

The PPP/C’s legal defence is led by T&T Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes

despite the process to elect a President not being completed. In addition, they pointed out that the questions raised

by David’s motion fell squarely within the jurisdiction of the High Court, under Article 163 of the Constitution of Guyana.

They also contended that the two Judges erred by “finding that the Guyana Elections Commission has the jurisdiction to assess, qualitatively and quantitatively, whether the tabulation of the votes as recounted and tabulated by the Chief Elections Officer constitutes “a final credible count” or otherwise enquire into the credibility of the tabulated votes arising out of the recount.”

It was pointed out that the Judges failed “to properly construe and/or consider properly or at all the terms and effect of Article 162 of the Constitution, Article 163 of the Constitution, Section 22 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act and Section 140 of the Representation of the People Act.” TURN TO PAGE 10

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh has been named as a respondent

GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield is also a respondent in the matter

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

Views Making a mockery of our courts and laws 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

Political mess drags on

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he APNU/AFC’s illegal grab for power has landed Guyana in the political mess and uncertainty it is in at the moment. Even in the height of this uncertainty, President David Granger has remained silent and from all indications has not changed his position to concede defeat and allow the PPP/C, who are the legitimate winners of the elections, to be sworn in.

It was reported that President Desi Bouterse of Suriname has conceded defeat at the country’s recent General Elections for the sake of allowing his country to move forward in order to achieve its developmental aims. The polls were held on May 25, and the results were already declared and accepted by all parties without any violence or judicial intervention.

But here in Guyana, it is quite the opposite. In fact, there are last-minute desperate attempts by the coalition, working in collusion with elements in the electoral machinery, to defy all logic, break all the laws and go against the expressed will of the people to declare elections results which are not credible.

President Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition has tightened its grip on power even though the results of a national recount have confirmed that the ruling party was massively defeated by over 15,000 votes. In fact, we had reported before that President Granger’s party was defeated, not once, but twice – first in a noconfidence vote in the Parliament in December 2018 and then at the March 2 national elections.

After prolonging the elections for more than a year following the no-confidence vote, the elections were finally held in March. It is now close to four months since the electorate voted, but credible results are yet to be declared even though they are widely known and certified by all stakeholders, including the parties themselves, and local and international observers.

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh last Tuesday voted to use the results from the national recount and have the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) declared the winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections. But moments before Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield was set to present his report to the Commission for final declaration, coalition supporter Eslyn David moved to the Court of Appeal to block the Commission from declaring the results.

Following the Court’s ruling on Monday in relation to its jurisdiction to hear the case brought by David, seeking to block the official declaration of the March 2 polls, some coalition leaders conveniently interpreted the ruling to mean that it was a “victory” for the party and convinced their supporters to believe so too.

However, what the coalition is essentially saying is that it is quite acceptable for the Chief Elections Officer to discard thousands of votes which they claim to be “invalid” based on unsubstantiated allegations. It must be reminded that at a meeting of June 18 GECOM, through Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh, a unanimous decision was made that the Commission cannot deal with the issue of credibility of an election. This is a matter for the High Court through an elections petition after the results have been declared and a President is sworn in.

In any case, the Commission had already, during the recount process, determined the validity of the votes and Lowenfield has already been directed to go and total those valid votes and prepare the requisite statutory forms.

For emphasis sake, we wish to point out that during the recount exercise, the valid votes in each ballot box were totalled and placed upon a Statement of Recount. Each Statement of Recount in each Electoral District was then tabulated by GECOM staff, resulting in the end, the total valid votes for each Electoral District, which was certified, again, by GECOM staff.

These total valid votes were then tabulated by the Chief Elections Officer and presented to the Commission on June 13 as the total valid votes cast for the Regional Elections and total valid votes cast for the National Eections, showing the total valid votes received by each political party. The Commission then further directed the Chief Elections Officer to prepare his report in accordance with Article 177 of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act, using these aggregate valid votes which he already tabulated and submitted to the Commission.

We insist that the Chief Elections Officer must carry out the directions of the Commission under both the law and the Constitution. He is required to only use valid votes generated under the national recount exercise as the basis for preparing his reports. Anything outside of this would be unlawful and could result in even more political chaos.

Dear Editor, Ever since the quest to find a legally acceptable Chairman for GECOM, Guyanese who have followed the happenings in and out of courts would have either been edified or confused by the many spurious and costly attempts by the APNU/AFC not only to misinterpret our Constitution but to rewrite it as well.

In the case of the unilateral appointment of Patterson as GECOM’s Chairman, the High Court had ruled that Granger acted constitutionally. The Appeal Court ruled similarly but fortunately, the matter went to the CCJ which ruled that the unilateral appointment was illegal. It must be recalled that Granger rejected three lists of nominees submitted by Jagdeo and then illegally and unilaterally appointed Patterson claiming erroneously that the Constitution gave him that right. The CCJ ruled that he breached Article 161 (2). Why did the Guyanese courts refuse to give effect to the simple literal interpretation of that Article? If the words are clear and unambiguous, they must be given the full effect. This is a basic rule of interpretation.

In the case of the NoConfidence Motion, the coalition had initially accepted its validity then later challenged it in the High Court. The coalition, through the then Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, who had argued that the majority needed for the motion to have been considered passed was 34 and not 33, which it contended was an “absolute” majority and not merely a “simple” majority.

The High Court had ruled that the Motion was validly passed and that Cabinet should have immediately resigned.

The matter then went to the Court of Appeal. The Guyana Court of Appeal, by a majority decision on March 22, overturned the Chief Justice’s ruling, saying that the correct mathematical formula for find-

ing the “absolute” majority was not used. While Chancellor Yonette Cummings-Edwards (ag) and Justice of Appeal Dawn Gregory agreed that 34 votes were required for the motion to be carried, Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud dissented. The CCJ rejected Basil Williams’ argument and reversed the Appeal Court’s ruling in line with the High Court’s ruling. The coalition had wanted to insert the word ‘absolute’ into Article 106 (6).

Again, it was a simple literal interpretation of the relevant Article but the Appeal Court again did not see it that way.

Why was this rule not applied?

Then there was Mingo’s fraudulent tabulation which led to attempted fraudulent declarations twice by Lowenfield in complete violation of the Representation of the People Act. But in this case, a simple and literal interpretation sufficed.

Then came the recount which Granger and Jagdeo had agreed to be supervised by a Caricom high-level team.

Having thus agreed, Granger then made his trademark about-turn and set up a court case to block the recount. The High Court then granted an interim injunction, blocking the recount relying on Articles 161 (b) and 162 (1). However, Justice Holder failed to look at Article 162 (1) (b) which states that the Commission shall “issue such instructions and take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of this Constitution or any Act of Parliament on part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with or relating to matters aforesaid”.

However, the Full Court ruled that the High Court does not have the jurisdiction to hear the application filed

by Moore for an injunction to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from moving forward with plans to have a nationwide recount.

Moore had asked the court to inquire into the constitutionality of a decision made by GECOM to have a high-level Caricom team supervise a National Recount of the votes cast in the March 2 elections.

The Full Court on Monday discarded the decision by Justice Franklyn Holder in which he ruled that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear an application, despite objections from the opposing parties.

In the same vein, the Full Court discharged the interim injunctions granted by Holder and dismissed the substantive case before him.

The Chief Justice added that no question whether any function of the Elections Commission or of any of its members has been performed validly or at all shall be enquired into in any court, quoting Section 140 of the Representation of the People Act. Added to that, Justice George cited Article 162 (1) (b) of the Constitution which gives GECOM powers to ensure the necessary actions are taken to ensure credible elections. Any redress must be by way of an election petition. Again, instead of giving a literal effect of 162(1) (b), it was ignored by Justice Holder. Justice Holder should have realised that Caricom’s inclusion ensured “impartiality, fairness and compliance” within 162(1) (b).

Then again, the recount, having been concluded, the coalition once again sought an injunction blocking the final declaration by the Chief Elections Officer. The majority decision placed emphasis on Article 177 (4) which states, “The Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a President in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution; and any decision of that court under this paragraph shall be final.” What is

clear is that the “validity” of an election of a President can only be done after a declaration. It is only then that the question of jurisdiction arises. This is clear and literal.

Both Justice Reynolds and Justice Gregory also held that an interpretation of the words “more votes are cast” in the context of Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana is to be construed to mean more “valid” votes cast. Further, Reynolds said that the court could not grant injunctive reliefs at this time since the court could not determine whether Lowenfield’s report is valid or not.

No one can ever misinterpret the words of Article 177 (4), a vote must always be valid for it to be counted and that validity would have been ensured during the electoral process, moreover, the recount has already established the “valid” votes for all 10 Regions. Section 87 of the Representation of the People Act states which vote must be regarded as invalid and not be counted.

For the court to be asked to interpret this Act is superfluous and a waste of time.

The court cannot insert “valid” into the Article and rewrite the said Article. This is not unlike the “absolute” majority in the NCM case. The GECOM Chair has already given the directive to the CEO for the valid votes tabulated in the recount to be used for the CEO’s declaration.

Once again, it is GECOM’s role to bring an end to the electoral process by declaring the PPP/C the winner of the 2020 elections based on the Statements of Recount which were endorsed by GECOM itself, local and international observers and the high-level Caricom team.

Enough of the coalition’s abuse of the courts in futile attempts to rig the 2020 elections.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Is the Court of Appeal validating fraud?

Dear Editor, In the election petition - that’s what was intended - brought by Eslyn David against GECOM, the Guyana Court of Appeal has made a ruling that the court has jurisdiction on the matter and on this backdrop, they proceeded with the matter. Presentations were made by lawyers for the plaintiff as well as for the defendants. Now a decision was arrived at by the court on Monday which in essence is a nonsensical decision, because it never addressed the concerns placed before it, so we really do not have to pay much attention to that ruling.

Now, that being said it begs the question as to what jurisdiction did this court really have? There was no judgement granted as to the nullity of the election, neither was an invalidation of the election results, only a bland “stay” for three days before, what I guess, would be another convoluted written judgement.

So, let’s follow the se-

quence of events and see how we got here: 1. The Appellate Court did not invalidate the election, something the APNU/AFC longed for. There is no way the election could have been cancelled either, because this is not the forum for such cases, an election petition lies in the remit of the High Court and not the Court of Appeal.

2. The Appellate Court could not grant an injunction stopping the declaration and swearing-in of the legitimately elected President. So, what exactly did this court rule on?

That is the burning question.

What is crystal clear is that the two Judges who voted in favour of this mambo jumbo ruling are clearly of a political persuasion and in this regard made a political statement rather than a legal one. This is so disgraceful, when a court of law becomes the political football of losers.

3. So, we come to that part of the ruling which says that “where more votes are

cast” as per Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana should be interpreted to mean more “valid” votes are cast, that party ought to be declared the winner. Now, the GECOM held a recount exercise in which all the credible or another word “valid” votes were recounted and a winner has already been determined.

4. We are at stage 4 where a declaration has to be made on the “valid votes” or “credible votes” of the recount that were tabulated. Those stamped verified and certified votes read, 217,920 votes for the APNU/AFC and 233,434 for the PPP/C, which shows a clear winner in the PPP/C. 5. What the PNC-led coalition would have liked was a ruling directing GECOM, an autonomous body to validate the votes submitted by Harmon through his agent Lowenfield. But that invented result would have been met with immediate rejection because the APNU’s votes were never certified by the

Commission.

This ruling is the direct revelation of a party that is in desperation mode. It is the most nebulous, superfluous and nonsensical decision I have ever seen in a long time. What we witnessed on Monday, June 22, 2020, was a political court held by two political party hacks, who want to force their jaundiced opinions into our electoral system.

They are trying their utmost to use our courts as a medium to perpetrate that fraud. This is disgraceful, to say the least, something that should never be countenanced by the civilised world.

So, I close by asking the question, is the Guyana Court of Appeal validating a fraud?

And the answer comes back, most definitely! When the hallowed halls of our courts can be so hijacked by criminal party elements, then it tells us where we are going as a people.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

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It would be a travesty if the ruling of the The pangs of real pain COA puts David Granger back in office

Dear Editor, From the day I witnessed Clairmont Mingo’s fraudulent tabulation of the District Four balloted votes and the obvious endorsement of this naked attempt to rig the elections in favour of APNU/AFC by Keith Lowenfield, I decided to add my voice to the demand that democracy prevails in our country.

It was evident, from the very day after the elections, from the Statements of Poll, that the PPP/C had won a credible majority. The Statements of Recount of every ballot cast have matched the Statements of Poll, establishing beyond doubt, that the PPP/C have been chosen by the majority of Guyanese to govern our country.

Yet, as he did with the NoConfidence Motion, David Granger has again resorted to the courts in a fruitless attempt to deny the will of the people. In fact, the same court and the same Judges that were overruled by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on the matter of the No-Confidence Motion.

I listened intently to the ruling of the Appeal Court, which, not surprising, ruled with the same division by the same Judges as occurred when first overruled by the CCJ. This further terrible waste of money and time financing enormous fees of Senior Counsels from Trinidad & Tobago and at home to further delay the inevitable is shameful beyond forgiveness. It is David Granger who must bear this responsibility beyond all others.

It would be an appalling travesty of justice if the ruling of the Appeal Court was to somehow lead to a GECOM decision to put David Granger back in office by disenfranchising the vote of over sixty per cent of the electorate. I cannot believe, even now, that David Granger would succumb to such a travesty.

A travesty of justice because not an iota of evidence has been put before GECOM to support the spurious accusations invented by APNU/AFC that the ballots counted from the ballot box-

es are anything but credible and valid.

All that the Court of Appeal has done is to rule that the majority of the votes cast are valid. No court has been asked to rule on whether the allegations advanced by APNU/AFC are either credible or valid.

The total valid votes cast for each list of candidates have already been counted and confirmed by the Chief Elections Officer. It remains only for the number of seats to be officially calculated by him to be reported to GECOM and then for GECOM to formally declare PPP/C the elected Government.

The international community, the Caribbean Community, but, much more important, the majority of Guyanese who cast their vote, expect and will accept nothing less than the swearing-in of Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali as the elected President of Guyana.

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

Hope Madam Chair finds the wisdom to lead

Dear Editor, What can the public expect today from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)? Hopefully the submission of the CEO’s Report, and finally the swearing-in of a new President. But that was never to be because the CEO perverted the true computation of valid votes.

GECOM is in a situation of its own making. After the series of situations where the CEO was found to be conducting himself unprofessionally and, in some cases, grossly insubordinate to his supervisor, one would have expected that the supervisor would have acted by now to remedy this malfunctionality at GECOM. That is what leadership demands.

But it was never to be and hopefully, with the Court of Appeal now giving her a blank check to pay her bills to this nation, it is hoped that the madam Chair finally steps up and does her job and gets a CEO in place who will follow the rule of law.

So, what is preventing the CEO from delivering an accurate report to the madam Chair? Nothing!

The latest actions from the CEO is

equal to serious misconduct in the execution of his lawful duties. The madam Chair has clearly written to him asking for the lawfully sanctioned report in accordance with Article 177 (2) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act. But rather than delivering on these legal instructions, the CEO ran for the hills immediately after the deadline at 13:00h on June 18, 2020, claiming quite dishonestly that he has been served, totally abandoning his office and his lawful duties. I was advised that only a written order from a court could have prevented the CEO from carrying out his functions and a Notice of Motion is not such written order directing him to act in a certain manner or prohibiting him from doing his job. So, the question to ask is, why did the CEO run for the hills?

This sort of insubordinate and grossly negligent action on the part of the CEO demands that his supervisor (in this case the madam Chair) acts. The CEO’s actions have placed the entire operations of GECOM at grave risk and the majority on the seven-person

Commission cannot reasonably have confidence in the performance or reliability of him going forward because he has established a pattern of poor performance.

When called upon to act professional and chose to deliver for team Guyana, he always reverts to delivering for team PNC. Well then let team PNC at Congress Place hire him and let him serve them in his partisan manner and leave the professional function assigned to the office of the Chief Elections Officer to a professional.

For how long more will the madam Chair allow this frustration to continue; it is now 113 days if she was not counting. The only reasonable course of action to professionally progress this process is to terminate the contract of the CEO with immediate effect and hire an election professional to serve in the role who will fulfil the expectations of this nation by following the rule of law.

I pray that the madam Chair finds the wisdom to lead. I remain hopeful.

With regards, Sasenarine Singh

The APNU/AFC is now attempting to steal a whole country Dear Editor, It is said that shortly after the decision by the Court of Appeal, APNU/ AFC leaders across the various regions resorted back to spread propaganda and create mischief amongst their support bases and concluded: “that on the basis of the valid votes, the incumbent Coalition Government will be re-elected for a second term”. This information is absolutely misleading and false.

Guyanese must be aware that there were six separate orders and/or declarations. Of these, five were dispatched in short order and rejected.

Among those rejected were declarations that: 1. A declaration that GECOM failed to act in accordance with the terms of the recount Order No 60 of 2020 which was carefully crafted to favour the APNU/AFC. 2. An order restraining Lowenfield from complying with the direction of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission in relation to Article 177 (2) (b) which would give the Presidency to Dr Irfaan Ally.

3. An order restraining Lowenfield from complying with the direction of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission in a letter dated the 16th day of June 2020 to submit an Elections Report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act without the Guyana Elections Commission determining the final credible count and or the credibility of the results of the General and Regional Elections.

4. An order restraining the Chief Elections Officer from submitting to the Guyana Elections Commission on Elections Report under Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution containing votes which are not credible within the mean-

ing of Order No 60 of 2020.

5. An order restraining the Chief Elections Officer from submitting to the Elections Commission an Elections Report under Section 96 of the Representation of the People Act which allocates regional and top-up seats to the parties.

The only order which the court granted was that there be an interpretation of the words “more votes are cast” in Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Guyana. The court ruled that this means valid votes while rejecting the attempt to have inserted the notion of credible votes.

The APNU/AFC had lost the elections and “the APNU/AFC is now attempting to steal a whole country”. The Statements of Recount which were endorsed by GECOM, local and international observers and the Caricom scrutineering team counted only valid votes as defined. Mr Granger and the APNU/ AFC continue to play a dangerous and opportunistic game in building the hopes of the supporters of the coalition when in fact even their court options are running out.

The decision by the Court of Appeal has added nothing and has taken away nothing from the March elections. At the end of all these shenanigans and timewasting that is costing the country billions, there is no doubt the PPP/C has won the March 2, 2020 elections by over 15,000 votes. Ever since APNU/ AFC became aware of this reality they have done everything possible to thwart the will of the electorate and to prevent Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from declaring the true results of those elections. The world has condemned APNU/AFC’s actions but yet they continue to employ one strategy

after another in their efforts to hold on to Government illegally and trample on the will of the Guyanese people.

However, there is enough evidence that during the recount exercise, the valid votes in each ballot box were totalled and placed upon a Statement of Recount. Each Statement of Recount in each Electoral District was then tabulated by GECOM staff, resulting in the end, the total valid votes for each Electoral District, which was certified, again, by GECOM staff.

These total valid votes were then tabulated by the Chief Elections Officer and presented to the Commission as the total valid votes cast for the Regional elections and total valid votes cast for the National elections, showing the total valid votes received by each political party It was clear that in a conspiracy, the Chief Elections Officer’s plan was to disenfranchise some 275,000 Guyanese who voted on March 2, 2020, consisting of approximately 60 per cent of the persons who voted at those elections and thereby giving APNU/AFC a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly! He plans to do so by merely acting upon the false. Mr Lowenfield, you will get the opportunity to act on these hearsay and untested allegations of APNU/ AFC and without conducting any investigation and upon affording no voter, or any other political party an opportunity to be heard, to test these allegations, or to lead any evidence of their own. Mr Lowenfield, you have no power or authority to do any such thing. You are a disappointment to the Guyanese people.

Sincerely, David Adams

Dear Editor, Whenever anyone visits London, the Changing of the Guards (Guard Mounting) at the Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is a very spectacular parade and is an irresistible sight to overlook.

Millions of visitors, yearly, would include this event on their agenda to witness this iconic ceremony, accompanied by the mesmerising music, blowing and beating to the sounds of traditional military marches, songs from films, musical scores and even familiar pop songs. The Englishman’s sang-froid is, perhaps, his signature umbrella, Bowler hat and newspaper.

It is a daily exercise most of the year except Winter. London is also famous for its outbursts of torrential rain in all its glory and its often-overcast conditions. On a note of precaution, always follow the weather forecast because the display may experience a short-term cancellation due to bad weather condition.

Guyana is certainly experiencing some really bad weather conditions because, there has been no changing of the guards for the past 113 days and counting. It has nothing to do with the expected May-June rain but the torrential downpour of distasteful wickedness, deceitfulness, evilness, cunningness and mischievousness manufactured and manipulated by the callous coalition party, directly and deliberately orchestrated and directed by the crafty old fox.

An ex-military officer, perhaps the glamour of the uniform and the “Sound of Music” is imbedded too deep within and survival is contingent on such embracement. The idea of any departure from such mainstream is not only awkward and unimaginable but also, certainly out of the question for he once boasted that “he ain’t going anywhere.”

The world is waiting for him to pass the baton, this race has its limitation and the long-distance or the fast sprint is out of his reach and reign.

Democracy has been at a crossroad since 2015 under the coalition Administration. The autonomy of the courts has been a burning question in the minds of Guyana and the rest of the world, no wonder the CCJ unhesitatingly clean bowled the coalition party and the subject courts, not once but twice last year and the field is again set for the next delivery as the incoming batsman lamely approaches the wicket, ill-equipped and poorly prepared for the inevitable.

Shamed once, shamed twice and looking forward to be maimed and crowned thrice, this time over the language you speak? The popular tune of anything beyond the boundaries of Guyana was scripted by the upholders of blindness and stubbornness and entitled “foreign interference,” and it will be playing loudly and uninterrupted in the bandstand, jumping with joy will be the spectators in the pavilion, all foreign!

It is simple math, no Mingo’s or Williams’s math, anything not grown or born in Guyana and objects with a no for a go, is equivalent to foreign and not domestic, call it arithmetic, algebra or geometry.

A taste of your own medicine?

Like it or leave it. Boy oh boy, the two Judges at the Court of Appeal must be sweating bullets and wondering if their reputation is at “steak” on the barbecue grill! Lost once, lost twice, on the tip of the cliff again, sounds like the West Indies cricket team on a hat-trick, but, on a losing streak.

Guyana remains a sitting duck for the umpteenth time as the PPP/C filed an appeal with the CCJ, with regards to the decision that was made by the Guyana Court of Appeal by a vote of two to one. What did not escape the attention of the public is that costs were not awarded to any party.

Does that say anything? According to some legal luminaries, the outcome from the Appeal Court yesterday does not affect GECOM from engaging in its responsibilities shunning from the completion of the election process.

Meanwhile, there is no meeting with GECOM Commission today,

perhaps awaiting the elapse of the three days stay by the Appeal Court.

Conveniently, missing in action is the Charge D’affaires again, as the country floats further out to sea in a perfect storm, rudderless, stairless and captainless! He has been the head for a band of outlaws who refused to acknowledge that 33 is greater than 32; selecting an illegitimate GECOM Chairman, Mr Patterson; wasted the lives of the nation for the past one hundred plus days; dragging the country into bankruptcy and wasting the taxpayers’ money; squandering the huge surplus once again created by the PPP/C party; mishandling the economy; driving poor people into deeper poverty; starving innocent children; denying people of proper medical care; stopping the construction of the Specialty Hospital; approving unbudgeted finance and spending money on a suspicious hospital project that exceeds an engineer’s budget; unable to rationale GPL’s purchases at a crucial moment; engaging in the illegal disposal of the people’s lands and pursuing a programme comprising the complete draining of all available funds from the Treasury and piling up maximum debts.

While the grass growing on the sea bed with oil and gas, the country is starving and people are suffering, but guess what, the chosen few do not give a damn (APNU/AFC supporter or not), and are enjoying themselves, really living up the good life, eating, drinking and sleeping peacefully in the midst of a pandemic and not caring whether or not a deprived nation has a meal or a genuine concern to provide any form of substantial relief package.

Here is the leader of the coalition party who refuses to explain the answers for unbudgeted funds; Mingo’s fracas twice; Mingo’s mathematical exposure: the missing SoPs; the SoRs corresponding to the SoPs (minor differences); missing documents; claim for irregularities without evidence; how the dead came to life; how the ink on the fingers disappeared quickly; how people voted at the polls and still were out of the country the said minute; the false immigration confirmation report from the Police Commissioner; the Russians are here, there but nowhere; failing to hold standard and regular meetings with the media; granting impartial press conferences and why a coward is scared to come face to face with the nation and admit all his blatant and flagrant misdemeanours.

Despite the world addressing him as a shameful person (mildly), he is yet to desist from any activity that can redeem his outrageous character.

No wonder he cannot explain the explanation for “explain.” As such, he is yet to grasp the meaning of receiving less votes than the combined opposition parties; cannot accept “no” as an answer; fails to see what the world sees and why he continues to hurt a nation by lying, cheating, retracting from his commitments, tongue-twisting, hiding and being heartless.

Come, come, Mr Hide and Seek, when you come face to face with the Faceless One, will you be disguised in a mask? What are you incapable of, or rather, are you capable of anything righteous?

GECOM is on the “operating table” in the theatre, no, not the cinema, awaiting the surgeon’s scalpel! Who will be the ultimate surgeon with a knife in the hand and what will be the intention, to save or kill? Too gross? Too bad but, it’s the times that we live in, crucial and cruel. Wake up Guyana and feel the pain, no, not the small man, the big guy.

The small man is already down.

Do you want to change place and feel the pangs of real pain and depression? Experience is the best teacher and unless Guyana learns now, it never will. The mourning continues, solitary, it’s COVID-19, social distancing is still effective. Do practice it for your life is at stake!

Respectfully, Jai Lall

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers and CXC questions.

Below are the conclusion of Mathematics Paper 2, 2010 and CXC English.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT Reading Time: 10 minutes Writing Time: 45 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. 1. WRITE YOUR CANDIDATE NUMBER CLEARLY

MATHEMATICS

ON EACH PAGE.

2. This paper contains SIX questions. You are required to answer QUESTION ONE and THREE others. EACH question is worth 5 marks.

3. Be sure to answer FULLY the FOUR questions .

4. Find the area of the shape below.

4. Write your answer in the space provided in the booklet.

5. Drawings and handwriting MUST be clear at ALL TIMES. 6. Each step of your work MUST be CLEARLY shown in the booklet.

7. If you have to erase, do so cleanly.

8. Look over your work when you have finished.

9. DO NOT take away ANY part of this booklet.

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

(a) How much does Pat save?

_____________________________________________________ (1 mark) (b) How much does she spend on food/ clothing and entertainment altogether? (a) How many pupils like chicken only? _____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

_____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

(c) What is Pat’s weekly wage? (b) How many pupils like both chicken and fish?

The graph below shows how Pat spends her weekly wages.

Use it to answer question 5.

_____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

_____________________________________________________ (1 mark)

( d) How much would Pat earn in two weeks? (c) How many pupils like neither chicken nor fish? _____________________________________________________ (2 marks) The Venn diagram below shows the number of pupils in Grade 6 B who like chicken and fish. Study the information then answer question 6.

_____________________________________________________ (1 mark) (d) How many children are in Grade 68? _____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

END OF TEST

CXC ENGISH

Questions: Summarise the poem Describe its form and whether it is used effectively Discuss two important literary devices in Ol Higue

NEWS

7

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Court of Appeal on declaration of elections results

CCJ appeal intended to bring clarity to election of President, MPs – PPP/C

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo

he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is contending that the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the Eslyn David case on Monday has thrown the law into a state of total confusion when it comes to the election of the President and members of the National Assembly.

The Court of Appeal on Monday found that it has exclusive jurisdiction to hear matters concerning the election of a President while the High Court, via an elections petition, is empowered to hear and determine matters in relation to the election of members to the National Assembly. However, the PPP/C is contending that this distinction has, in fact, created mass confusion as to how the election of the President and members of the National Assembly can

be challenged.

The party noted that the Court of Appeal has wrongly ruled that the two issues must be challenged separately in different courts.

In an effort to bring clarity to this newly invoked issue, the PPP/C has approached to Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The party explained that his move is necessary since the jurisdiction the Appeal Court conferred upon itself is wrong.

Additionally, the PPP/C said it also has to safeguard against orders to either direct Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield to submit a fraudulent and perverted report, or to protect a fraudulent and perverted report from being submitted by the CEO to the Commission. The PPP/C, in a statement, accused CEO Lowenfield of

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conspiring to disenfranchise some 275,000 Guyanese who voted on March 2. This number, the party stated, amounted to approximately 60 per cent of the persons who voted at those elections.

In essence, the party is saying that Lowenfield’s revised figure is aimed at giving A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. They noted that the CEO intends to do so by merely acting upon the false, hearsay and untested allegations of APNU/AFC. Additionally, the PPP/C said Lowenfield would be handing the incumbent a victory without even “conducting any investigation and upon affording no voter, or any other political party an opportunity to be heard, to test these allegations, or to lead any evidence of their own. Needless to say, the Chief Elections Officer has no power, or authority, to do any such thing. If any Chief Elections Officer is so empowered, then such a person, by himself, will determine a new Government at any elections, irrespective of the will of the electorate.

This will not be democracy, but anarchy.”

Moreover, the party remains steadfast in its contention that the Appeal Court’s declaration that “more votes” means “more valid votes”, amounts to

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

being a non-decision since any reference to votes in the Constitution and the Laws of Guyana can only mean valid votes. It add-

ed that it is inconceivable for anyone to believe that a Government or a President can be elected by invalid votes.

Meanwhile, the statement accused the coalition of employing various strategies to clinch to power illegally while identifying the Court of Appeal case as one of the latest acts of desperation. The PPP/C noted that the APNU/AFC disguised an election petition and contrived it wrongfully into a special jurisdiction created by the Constitution in which a challenge can be filed questioning the validity of the election of a President upon the declaration of the final results of elections. To that end, the party reiterated that the

GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

Appeal Court was misguided in its decision since the President has not yet been elected since the final declaration is still pending.

8 NEWS Govt official arrested for alleged rape of 13-year-old relative A WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

Government official was on Monday arrested, after he was accused of raping and ultimately impregnating a 13-year-old relative.

According to the police, the man was arrested and escorted to the Karasabai Police Station, South Pakaraimas, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), where an investigation was launched.

Guyana Times understands that the teenager is now four months pregnant.

Based on the allegation and seriousness of the matter, the official was transported to the Lethem Police Station, where he is currently being held.

The teenager was medi-

| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

cally examined which proved that she is pregnant.

For last year, 61 per cent of cases slated for the Demerara Azizes constituted of rape charges solely.

The need for more counselling to be done in sexual abuse cases was highlighted in a report from NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO) ChildLink about child sexual abuse in Guyana. It was suggested that such services have been improved to help affected children recover.

The report reflected that in 2014, 3883 cases of child abuse were reported to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) of which 628 (or 16 per cent) were child sexual abuse cases.

In 2017, the CC&PA saw a total of 4179 cases of abuse reported, with 841 (20 per cent) of these being child sexual abuse. It was also found that in a period of three years (2014- 2017) there was an increase of five per cent in reported cases of child sexual abuse.

ChildLink had further explained that in 2015 and 2016, the CC&PA received 676 and 734 reports of sexual violence, respectively constituting 15 per cent of the reported cases of abuse against children.

Child sexual abuse is when an adult or older child coerces, forces, or persuades a child into sexual activities, according to ChildLink, which describes the act as

alarming and distressing since it causes trauma among other issues for a child. The report suggested that with more counselling, child victims are being enabled and empowered to recount what happened to them.

It was also noted that there was some improvement in the delivery of services to children who have been sexually abused. It has been reported that since the launch of the Sexual Offences Court in November 2017 by the acting Chancellor and the Judiciary, there has been a successful prosecution rate of approximately 80 per cent in child sexual abuse cases that have made it to the specialised court at the High Court in Georgetown.

1 new COVID-19 case recorded bringing total positive cases to 206 – active cases remain at 87

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here has been one new case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) locally, increasing the positives to 206.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud provided the daily update on Tuesday, which showed the number of deaths remaining at 12. With 107 recoveries, there are still 87 active cases in institutional isolation and 22 patients in institutional quarantine.

One individual was transferred in the designated Intensive Care Unit (ICU) over the past day.

With Guyana at the helm of repatriating persons stranded overseas, the CMO insisted that they should follow all guidelines and present accurate information to health officials.

“Guyana is at the crossroads in this pandemic. We must put a handle on the number of reported cases,

and so I wish to plead with our repatriating nationals to act responsibly and provide the health authorities with accurate information on their arrival. This is the only way that the Ministry and the surveillance team will effectively be able to monitor you and manage the COVID -19 situation.

Today I wish to focus on the barbershops and their clientele,” he advised.

At present, the male population continues to be mostly at risk. He stated that barbershops are the venues where many persons are accustomed to “congregate, socialise and have conversations on whatever topic is current” but presently, they should make the choice to desist from such risky practices.

“The owner of the barbershop has the responsibility to ensure that physical distancing is observed; no over-

CMO, Dr Shamdeo Persaud

crowding, and that there is provision for handwashing.

Wearing a mask must also be an important part of the set-up. As it relates to children, you should look after them separately and not have them mingle with the general crowd; you can either set up appointments for them or have a special time

when only children will be accommodated,” Dr Persaud advised.

With reports of students contracting the virus, he urged those reporting to school to practice good hygiene and the guidelines outlined. This is the second week of school activities to prepare for the respective examinations.

“A special appeal is being made to you our students.

I know that the countdown to your exams has begun…

We encourage you and your friends to follow the guidelines which have been outlined for your safety and protection.”

On Monday, the National COVID-19 Task Force held an emergency multi-stakeholder meeting to discuss the alarming increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases in parts of Regions One (Barima-Waini) and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

According to the Task Force, decisions were taken to implement enhanced containment measures within the affected areas in these regions and these will be gazetted shortly.

“The enhanced containment measures will include cease work orders for specific areas in the mining sector, screening, wider testing, checkpoints and other measures in several locations within Regions One and Seven. Specific details will be provided subsequently.

These measures are necessary and urgent by the medical experts so as to prevent the wider spread of COVID-19 in these two regions along with other regions,” the Task Force said on Monday evening.

Globally, the total number of positive cases is 8,860,331 with 465,740 deaths. In the region of the Americas, the total number of positive cases is 4,370, 519 with 221,771 deaths.

And here we go…

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…off to the CCJ nd no, Dorothy, this is no Yellow Brick Road that’ll lead to the Emerald City to find a Wizard who’ll explain everything. After all, we’ve been down this road before, haven’t we?? Ah…you remember, don’t you, Dear Reader?? Was that time when all the rulers in the land were gathered to decide the fate of our dear Mudland and the PNC mavens were stumped by that abstruse mathematical conundrum that rivalled the Poincaré Conjecture. What was the majority of 65?

The idiots in the Opposition had proposed that since the PNC had captured the Government back in 2015 because they had 33 seats to form a majority in the 65-member House, the answer was 33. What dunderheads!! This was a MATHEMATICAL question, insisted the PNC and, as pointed out by a local Einstein, if you applied it to human affairs, you’d have to chop humans into halves and join them up later. Cause when you’re dealing with humans, a simple majority wouldn’t do – you needed something called an absolute” majority – which evidently involved the aforementioned dismemberments! A pretty messy business, all around!!

Anyhow, the Lords of the CCJ over in the Land of Carnival didn’t so much solve our problem as tell us in so many words that we ought to settle our business among ourselves since the question posed about “majorities” really needed no “gloss”. Which was just their fancy way of saying that any idiot could’ve solved it. And not even an idiot savant!! So, we returned home and of course, nothing was solved! So here we are, going back for a repeat performance – this time to ask what’s the difference between “more votes than” and “more valid votes than”.

Another deep and philosophical question, obviously.

Your Eyewitness assumes it has to do with that word “valid” which the PNC got the Court of Appeal to insert into the Constitution. But what does your Eyewitness know since he figures it’ll be just like those votes which got the PNC elected back in 2015. GECOM had pronounced those votes valid then so why couldn’t they do the same this time?? Or did the PNC slink into office with “invalid” votes??

But we do know that we’re just going around in circles, don’t we? As Burnham used to say, these objections about “majorities” and “valid votes”, etc, are merely the OCCASION for the war – not the CAUSE of the war!!

And it IS a war – one fought by rules that the PNC makes up as it goes along. The sooner the PPP realises this, the quicker we’ll have a solution.

The Yellow Brick Road was always there – just go past the PNC’s bullshit. …waiting on Claudette The absurdist play “Waiting for Godot” came out the same year we had our first elections using universal franchise. It was about two fellas talking about everything under the sun – which just illustrates the meaninglessness of life – as they wait for a friend Godot, to arrive. He never does. The two chaps could well have been Cheddi and Forbes – today represented by Jagdeo and Granger – waiting for their friend “Justice” to arrive.

Today, that’s represented by GECOM Chair Claudette who’s supposed to show up and impose some order on the chaos unfolding out of the elections. Elections are supposed to solve the problems in our dear land, no??

Problem is, they’re literally CONTESTED events!! Can’t get more divisive than that!! And for this reason, we agreed to a system where someone agreeable to both sides would be the umpire, so to speak.

Problem is, Claudette seems too coquettish about her role. She seems not wanting to displease either side. She doesn’t have to.

Just dismiss Lowenfield’s concoction and dispense justice!! …with the cad and bounder Granger might’ve been an officer, but he was never a gentleman. No gentleman would play the kind of dirty pool like him from the moment he assumed office on the backs of the AFC. Even if they were willing to be doormats.

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

NEWS

9

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Govt transfers ECD prime riverfront land in waning days of Administration – NICIL defends transaction, says monies earmarked for cash-strapped GuySuCo

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n the waning days of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition, evidence has emerged of the Government transferring large tracts of land, including prime riverfront land, into the hands of a few.

A case in point is Bosai minerals group, located at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden, which had a total of 1.427 acres of land transferred to it by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), in an order signed by Finance Minister Winston Jordan on June 11, 2020. In fact, all the orders were dated June 11.

The land, which has no infrastructure on it, includes 0.353 acres at the Lot 53 portion of Plantation Surapana on the banks of the Demerara River.

Another 0.356 acres on the banks of the River were also transferred.

Meanwhile, NICIL also transferred 20 acres of land at Goedverwagting and Sparendaam on the East Coast of Demerara to a prominent company.

A similar transac-

tion was the transfer of 20 acres of land, also part of Goedverwagting and Sparendaam, to American Marine and Services Incorporated. The company, located at Lot 215 Cross Street and Mandela Avenue Alexander Village, was granted the land by NICIL on the basis of Jordan’s order.

Meanwhile, another beneficiary of land was Premier Sales Incorporated, of lot 101 Pike Street, Kitty. The company received five acres of land also in Sparendaam and Goedverwagting, on the ECD, and also under the hand of the Finance Minister.

Cardiology Services Incorporated of Lot 184 Demerara Estate, Plantation Pattensen, was also the beneficiary of eight acres of land at Montrose, on the ECD. Land was also sold to Earl’s Court Incorporated, a company registered at 62 Hadfield and Cross Streets.

The land, 30 acres, is located at Chateau Margot on the ECD. In addition, land was distributed to Trinuyana Investments Limited of Lot 62 Hadfield Street. A to-

Trinuyana Investments Limited previously received land at Ogle

tal of 19.678 acres of land was distributed at Ogle and Goedverwagting. This company had also received large tracts of land at Ogle, for the purpose of developing hotels.

The developments come at a time when the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) has before it a huge backlog of cases and thousands of dissatisfied ordinary citizens languishing in the system, made worse by the coalition Government’s lack of ordinary house lot distribution policies.

Government is supposed

to be in both a caretaker and a transition mode, where large transactions are not entered into. The governing coalition would have lost a No-Confidence Motion in December 2018. In addition, based on the recount, the coalition also lost the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The revelations, therefore, generated outrage across social media. In a statement on Tuesday, however, NICIL defended the transactions by pointing out that the lands were partly paid for last year.

According to NICIL, however, the transaction was not complete because the vesting orders were not gazetted. NICIL claimed that the rush to complete the transactions is due to the dire financial straits facing the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), which it is funding.

GuySuCo had recently appealed to the Government for funds in order to ensure it could continue through the month of June. Already, GuySuCo has shown itself to be unable to meet its first crop target.

“We wish to remind the public that NICIL through the SPU, sold lands that were vested to it

by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

NICIL received deposits for the lands commencing December 2019, however, the transactions remained incomplete since the vesting orders were not ‘Signed and Gazetted’ as required by law and this meant that the remaining sums could not be paid over by the investors.”

“Following GuySuCo’s recent request to the Government for a bailout, NICIL was approached to assist the company. By now, the public must be aware that a $30 billion bond backed by NICIL’s assets and guaranteed by the Government of Guyana was secured through NICIL to retrofit and revitalise GuySuCo. We wish to remind too, that from July 2018 to February 2020, NICIL has disbursed $9,720,759,568 to GuySuCo to fund its Capital and Operational Expenditure.”

NICIL also stressed that Minister Jordan did not have any involvement in the selection of the investors, since he is not a member of the NICIL Board, nor involved in the day to day management of NICIL or the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) arm of NICIL. Efforts to contact the Minister were futile.

OAS says GECOM already in possession of “valid votes” from national recount Market vendor shot

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he Organisation of American States (OAS) has asserted that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is already in the possession of “valid votes” produced by the Caricom-supervised recount exercise.

The international electoral observer mission made the contention in a statement on Tuesday following the Court of Appeal’s interpretation of the Guyana Constitution that “more votes cast” actually means “more valid votes cast”.

The OAS, of which Guyana is a member, posited that “GECOM is therefore already in possession of a result based on the valid votes cast on March 2, 2020, through a recount exercise that was approved by all stakeholders.”

It further noted that “In these circumstances, the OAS General Secretariat expects that anyone who wishes to challenge the validity of any of these votes should do so through an election petition filed in the High Court, after GECOM declares the election result based on the recount data.”

The results from the recount exercise show the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC garnered 217,920.

General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had also contended that “valid votes” were already determined

by GECOM through the recount activity.

According to the OAS, Guyana’s 2020 elections have been reviewed repeatedly and extensively by both national and regional courts and while its General Secretariat advocates for the right of all citizens to access electoral justice, “there is a fine line between the right to redress and the use of the courts to stall the electoral process”.

It was the APNU/AFC, through its supporter Eslyn David, that approached the Court of Appeal just when GECOM had decided to go ahead with the declaration of the elections based on the recount results.

Now, the Appeal court’s ruling is being challenged at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) by the PPP/C which has contended that the Court’s pronouncements have “plunged the law in total confusion and it is now no longer clear how an election of members of the National Assembly is to be challenged and how the election of the President can be challenged.”

Nevertheless, the OAS contended that Guyana’s electoral process “must be brought to an end, based on the results of the National Recount, and with respect for the will of the majority of the electorate.”

“It is undeniable that this election has gone on long enough,” the OAS ex-

pressed, noting that it remains committed to the strengthening of democracy in Guyana, hoping for a “just and fair conclusion” of the current process.

The OAS has accompanied the March 2 elections in Guyana throughout all of its stages, including the National Recount which last from May 6 to June 8.

OAS observers were present for the determination and tabulation of the total valid votes cast in each Region – totals that were subsequently confirmed by the Chief Elections Officer and submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

by gun-toting bandits

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market vendor was on Sunday shot by two gun-toting bandits during a brazen robbery at La Penitence Market, Georgetown.

According to reports, the man and his son were selling from their truck around 13:00h when two men rode up on a blue Jialing motorcycle and held the duo at gunpoint demanding money.

The father put up a fight, and in retaliation, the pillion rider discharged several rounds hitting him twice to the back.

The two bandits then relieved him of an undisclosed sum of money before escaping.

The injured man’s son picked him up and rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was admitted. His condition is listed as critical.

When contacted, acting Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) Police Commander, Senior Superintendent Phillip Azore stated that investigations were ongoing and declined to provide any other information.

10 NEWS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police Constable injured in Corentyne smash-up succumbs

Dead: Police Constable Navindra Jodhan

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he Police Officer who was involved in a two-vehicle smash-up along the Number 68 Public Road last week succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday while receiving medical attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Dead is Police Constable Navindra Jodhan of 20 Strand and St John Street,

New Amsterdam, Berbice.

The accident had already taken the life of 47-yearold Malchan Ramdanny, called “Rasta”, a labourer, of Number 69 Village.

At the time of the accident, the Police Constable was riding his CBR motorcycle while Ramdanny was on his pedal cycle.

It was reported that Jodhan was travelling at an allegedly fast pace when a pedal cyclist reportedly made a sudden turn into his path thus causing a collision. They both fell to the roadway where Ramdanny died on the spot, but Jodhan was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Skeldon Hospital.

He was later transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital, then to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was admitted up to the time of his demise.

Speaking with Guyana Times, Jodhan’s father-inlaw, Bobby Seepersaud, said his daughter had been

“He liked going with the bikers and ride on Sundays.

Sometimes, they would ride and go to the Beach and hang out and then go to Skeldon …”

Jodhan’s death comes on the heels of the death of 25-year-old Police

Sergeant Lakhan Persaud of Lot 5 Columbia Village, Essequibo Coast, Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara) on Sunday.

According to the Police, Persaud was driving a motor car and lost control; he then collided with sev-

eral motor vehicles and spare parts which were being showcased in front of the business premises of Balram Kawal's Auto Sales.

He was taken to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

CCJ asserts jurisdiction...

Dead: Police Sergeant Lakhan Persaud

visiting him daily ever since he was admitted and she was reporting that his condition was not improving.

“She was there this morning and he was still alive, but when she went back for the midday visit, the doctor informed her that he has passed. They said that his heart gave up,” Seepersaud said.

He referred to his now late son-in-law as being a dedicated Police Officer.

“Sometimes they would call on him to go out to work and his wife would tell him that it is Sunday or it is a holiday, but he would tell her that he has to go to work and he would leave,” Seepersaud recalled.

He said Jodhan had purchased the motorcycle about 10 months ago.

According to the applicants, the two Judges misinterpreted GECOM’s orders (Order 60 of 2020) and intentions, instead of limiting themselves to interpreting the Constitution as it relates to the COA’s jurisdiction. Their ruling, according to the applicants, undermines the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers by authorising GECOM to usurp the High Court’s jurisdiction.

“The issues which are engaged by this appeal are of fundamental importance and will, inevitably impact the outcome of the General and Regional Election, the outcome of which is a matter of tremendous domestic and international concern and importance,” “The Constitution and relevant legislation governing elections in Guyana have provided for the independence of GECOM which said independence has been directly impugned in the Motion of Eslyn David and the decision of the

Court of Appeal.”

According to the NOA filed on their behalf by Trinidadbased Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, Nandlall and attorney Devindra Kissoon, the applicants are seeking leave to appeal the Court of Appeal decision. They are requesting that the matter be urgently heard and that the application be treated as the hearing of the appeal.

The CCJ has since obliged the appeal, setting July 1 for the hearing of the appeal, with a case management conference expected to be held on Thursday, June 25. Further, the CCJ informed the parties in the matter that interim orders to bar GECOM from making a declaration before the case is heard will be granted by today.

The reason for this became clear on Tuesday, as Lowenfield attempted to present a report for the declaration of numbers that was so heavily doctored that the GECOM Chair refused it. In addition,

FROM PAGE 3

Lowenfield’s report has come in for heavy criticism across society.

The elections and the National Recount of ballots had shown that based on 2339 Statements of Recount (SoRs), the PPP/C, whose Presidential Candidate is former Housing Minister Dr Irfaan Ali, received a total of 233,336 votes.

This is 15,416 more votes than their nearest rivals, the incumbent APNU/AFC, which received 217,920 total votes. When one calculates using the Hare formula, it means that PPP/C would have secured 33 out of 65 seats in the National Assembly and APNU/AFC would have secured 31.

However, Lowenfield in his report arbitrarily awarded the APNU/AFC 171,825 votes while awarding the PPP/C 166,343 votes. By his calculations, Lowenfield disenfranchised over 115,000 voters.

He also awarded APNU/AFC 33 seats, PPP 31 and one seat for the joinder parties.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Nandlall chastises Nagamootoo for “encouraging political dictatorship”

P

eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Executive Member Anil Nandlall has lashed out at caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo for reportedly suggesting that following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday, it allows for “valid votes” to be tabulated, and based on the submissions by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, the incumbent coalition would remain in power for a second term.

“Moses Nagamootoo is an utter disgrace to this country and to the legal profession, and I say so boldly without any apology whatsoever,” Nandlall said during a programme on Kaieteur Radio with hosts Yog Mahadeo and Leonard Gildarie, on Monday evening.

Following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday in relation to its jurisdiction to hear the case brought

by Eslyn David, seeking to block the official declaration of the March 2 polls, some A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) leaders conveniently interpreted the ruling to mean that it was a “victory” for the party and convinced their supporters to believe so.

PPP/C Executive Anil Nandlall

But Nandlall, a former Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, posited that what the coalition was essentially saying was that it was quite acceptable for the Chief Elections Officer to discard thousands of votes which are claimed to be “invalid” based on unsubstantiated allegations.

“He (Nagamootoo) is essentially telling you that Lowenfield can discount 275,000 votes from the people of this country, so that his party and his government can win…

“Moses Nagamootoo is encouraging political dictatorship,” Nandlall lashed

out.

He reminded that at a meeting of June 18, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), through Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, made a unanimous decision that the Commission could not deal with the issue of credibility of an election. This is a matter for the High Court through an elections petition after the results have been declared and a President has been sworn in.

The former Attorney General added that the Commission has already, during the recount process,

determined the validity of the votes.

“Valid votes have already been determined by the Commission, and Lowenfield has already been directed to go and total those valid votes and prepare the requisite statutory forms,” Nandlall said.

He explained that “invalid votes” were already discounted and put in separate envelopes during the recount process.

Nandlall argued that all Lowenfield has to do now was to “calculate the seats, identify the presidential candidate from the list that has received the most votes and identify that person as the president”, adding “Lowenfield cannot act independent of the Commission”.

On this basis, Nandlall citied two statutory provisions – Section 18 and Section 19 of the Elections Laws Amendment Act which state that the Chief Elections Officer and the Deputy Chief Elections Officer, “at all material times, must act in accordance with the direction of the Commission”.

“So GECOM clarified what Lowenfield ought to do and he cannot depart from that direction,” he enforced.

Nandlall further ex-

plained that the decision to move to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was to seek clarity on the law as there was much confusion following the Court of Appeal ruling on Monday.

He said “nowhere on Planet Earth will a judiciary ever be empowered to defeat the will of the electorate”.

“No judicial body can direct a constitutional body as

to how to perform its constitutional functions once that body operates within the law,” Nandlall added.

The former AG maintains that the PPP/C has won the elections convincingly based on the total number of valid votes it secured and would not relent until the APNU/ AFC Government is removed from power.

driver, along with a passenger from the RDC vehicle, was instructed to make his way to the Vreed-enHoop Police Station, but as he approached the station, the driver jumped out of the car and escaped.

According to Police,

they are presently on the hunt for the driver whose name was given as “George”, along with another unidentifiable man.

The RDC employee remains in custody and is expected to make his court appearance shortly.

Region 10 RDC employee nabbed with ganja …2 escape, drop haversack with gun, ammo

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29-year-old employee attached to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was on Sunday nabbed by Police with a large quantity of ganja while two others managed to escape.

Based on information received, about 16:30h on the day in question, ranks on mobile patrol observed motor car PVV 3686 with the RDC 10 logo parked alongside another car

bearing registration number PXX 6972 on the Schoonord Public Road, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

As the ranks approached the two vehicles, the RDC vehicle pulled off quickly in an effort to evade lawmen, but was pursued by the Police. The other vehicle was intercepted.

After a long chase, the Police intercepted the RDC vehicle at a dead end of the

road. The driver was arrested while another person exited the car with a black haversack in his hand and started to run.

However, a Constable exited the Police vehicle and gave chase, resulting in the suspect dumping the haversack on the road.

The Constable checked the haversack and unearthed a Black Taurus .45 Pistol with nine live matching rounds in the magazine along with one small box

containing 50 live rounds of .45 ammunition.

Lawmen also found a large multi-coloured plastic bag containing four bulky parcels with cannabis, which weighed 5448 grams in total.

Meanwhile, the other

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

13 Lowenfield caught in 4th attempt to rig elections NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

...twice with Mingo's fraudulent declarations, twice with doctored recount numbers

GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield

C

hief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield has been caught in the fourth attempt to alter the results of the elections, following his submission of a second report with doctored figures on Tuesday.

Lowenfield submitted to the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh, a report containing numbers which do not reflect those certi-

fied at the National Recount which was deemed credible by a high-profile team from Caricom.

In fact, the manufactured figures included in Lowenfield’s latest report do not even correspond with the numbers he had concocted in his first report to the Chairperson.

In the first report, Lowenfield claimed that the APNU/AFC won 125,010 votes while the PPP/C won 56,627 – disfranchising some 60 per cent of the electorate on mere allegations that their votes are “invalid”.

But now, Lowenfield’s new report validates votes he would have previously invalidated; the CEO now claims that the APNU/AFC coalition garnered 171,825 votes while the PPP/C gained 166,343 votes.

How the CEO arrived at those figures is unknown, since the certified results from the legally conducted recount exercise supervised

by GECOM and a high-lev-

The copy of the tabulation presented by Lowenfield on Tuesday

el team from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) pellucidly show that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the APNU/AFC garnered 217,920.

Guyana Times understands that the GECOM Chairperson has rejected Lowenfield’s latest report. The Commission, up to news time, had not issued a statement on these develop-

ments.

Lowenfield’s attempt to alter the results of the results and deny the will of the people comes on the heels of two previous attempts made by Returning Officer for Region Four Clairmont Mingo.

Mingo, during the tabulation of votes following the March 2 elections, used figures which were heavi-

It’s time for Granger to do honourable thing, concede defeat – Phillips

– urges Granger to listen to son-in-law, stop fooling supporters & rescue legacy

President-elect, Dr Irfaan Ali

P

eople’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Prime Ministerial Candidate, Brigadier Mark Phillips has urged fellow retired army top brass, caretaker President David Granger, to call it a day and admit he was defeated at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Phillips made this pronouncement during an online panel discussion that also featured PPP election candidate Charles Ramson and moderator Edward Layne. According to him, the leadership of A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), particularly Granger, have to take a principled stand.

“The time has come for the leadership of the APNU/AFC and when I say the leadership, I’m talking about Brigadier (retired) David Arthur Granger. The time has come for him to go public, notwithstanding they will wait on GECOM to make a declaration which is more ceremonial than anything else,” Phillips said.

“Because the knowledge

is out there, in the public domain. The PPP/C won the elections. They have the number of votes they won it by. We went through a recount. All the reports are in.

Its time for Mr Granger to lead in the interest of peace and stability in this country.”

Phillips, a former Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force, pointed out that this course of action will not only ensure peace in Guyana, but will also help the country’s case when it goes up before the International Court of Justice for the final decision on their border controversy case with Venezuela.

“It’s time for him to go to the mic. Go to the mic and tell the people of Guyana, my party, my coalition APNU/AFC, lost these elections. And I’m conceding defeat. That will bring peace to Guyana. Not to fool [hardcore supporters]. His own son-in-law told him what I’m repeating right now. So, if he doesn’t want to listen to me, listen to your son-inlaw.”

“Our national interests are pursued by diplomatic ties and relationships that we foster with these same organisations we fighting against. Caricom. OAS. Commonwealth. These are organisations that we pursue our national interests through. The European Union. Only last week Mr Carl Greenidge, one of their own, mentioned that Guyana’s defence and security, the first line is diplomacy.”

Phillips also urged that

Prime Minister-elect, Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips

President David Granger

Granger consider his legacy.

Phillips’ advise comes following former Barbadian diplomat to the United States (US) and the Organisation of American States (OAS), John Beale, declaring that Granger is known as the “sanctimonious gangster” in Caribbean circles.

“Let us have a proper legacy for him. Because in another five years, another 100 years, when the political history of Guyana is written, we want it to be correctly stated that Mr Granger, notwithstanding the fact he held out for over 100 days, has finally conceded he lost the elections,” Phillips said.

It was only on Friday last that coalition partner Justice For All Party (JFAP) founder CN Sharma, broke away from APNU/AFC’s dogged refusal to accept defeat in the March 2 polls. In a statement, he made it clear that enough was enough and it was time for the country to move on.

He chastised those bent on dragging out the process and extended congratulations to PPP/C on their win.

Sharma had pointed out that the National Recount was carried out and from the votes counted, it is clear the PPP/C is the winner.

As such, he had urged that PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali be sworn in without delay.

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

Granger’s own sonin-law, former Business Minister Dominic Gaskin, also made a statement on Friday in which he conceded that APNU/AFC lost to the PPP/C and called out his party’s leadership for fooling supporters.

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

ly inflated in favour of the APNU/AFC coalition – vastly differing from the official numbers recorded on the Statements of Poll (SoPs).

On March 5, Mingo declared fraudulent results for District Four, prompting the PPP/C to move to the courts which scrapped those results and ordered that the process be done through the legally prescribed procedure.

When the process was resumed, Mingo still proceeded to use concocted numbers, and he eventually made a second fraudulent declaration on March 13.

Mingo had declared that the APNU/AFC won 136,057 votes for District Four, while the PPP/C won 77,231.

But the certified recount process clearly shows that for Region Four, the APNU/ AFC won 116,941 votes while PPP/C won 80,920.

Mingo’s attempts to alter the results of the elections were noted by all international stakeholders, members of the diplomatic community and electoral observers.

In fact, Head of the

Electoral Observation Mission of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Guyana, Bruce Golding had previously revealed that he had never seen such a “transparent attempt to alter the results of an election”.

Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

Attempts to rig the elections were massively exposed during the transparent recount exercise, which showed that for numerous ballot boxes, Mingo significantly inflated the votes for the APNU/AFC coalition.

14 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Bouterse concedes defeat – but Granger clings on to power even though defeated twice P

resident Desi Bouterse of Suriname has conceded defeat at the country’s General Elections for the sake of allowing his country to move forward, but it is the opposite for his counterpart in Guyana; caretaker President David Granger, who has tightened his grip on power even though the results of a National Recount have confirmed that his ruling party was massively defeated by over 15,000 votes.

The General Elections in Suriname were held on May 25, and the results were already declared and accepted by all parties.

Bouterse’s National Democratic Party (NDP) has since congratulated the opposition parties on their victory in the recent polls and commended their decision to move towards the formation of a coalition Government in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country.

The opposition parties – Progressive Reform Party, Algemene Bevrijdings- en Ontwikkelingspartij, The National Party of Suriname, and the Pertjajah Luhur, and the Brotherhood and Unity in politics – together control 35 of the 51 seats in the National Assembly, while Bouterse’s NDP won the remaining 16 seats.

“We wish you prosperity, wisdom, strength, and perseverance in the pursuit of the Surinamese goal, which is sacred to all of us, namely, to push Suriname to greater heights at any level,” the NDP said in a statement after the Independent Electoral Council of Suriname released the offi-

President Desi Bouterse of Suriname

cial results of the poll over the weekend.

However, in Guyana’s case, President David Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition was defeated twice first in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in December 2018 and then at the March 2 National Elections.

After prolonging the elections for more than a year following the no-confidence vote, the elections were finally held in March.

It is now close to four months since the electorate voted but the results are yet to be declared even though they are widely known and certified by all stakeholders, including the parties themselves and local and international observers.

The National Recount results, which constitute data generated from the 2339 Statements of Recount (SoRs), show that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) won the March 2 General Elections with 233,336 votes cast in

its favour. The APNU/AFC secured 217,920 votes. For the new parties, the numbers are as follows: A New and United Guyana – 2313; Change Guyana –1953; Liberty and Justice Party – 2657; People’s Republic Party – 889; The Citizenship Initiative – 680; The New Movement – 244; and the United Republican Party – 360.

In fact, after their attempts to use Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, to illegally inflate votes in their favour failed, Granger’s APNU/AFC coalition tried to every conceivable avenue to hang on to power illegally.

Caretaker President David Granger

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice Claudette Singh last Tuesday voted to use the results from the recently concluded recount and have the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) declared the winner of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

But moments before Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, was set to present his report to the Commission for final declaration, coalition supporter, Eslyn David, moved to the Court of Appeal to block the Commission from declaring the results.

The Court of Appeal on Monday determined that it has jurisdiction to interpret Article 177 (4) of the Constitution of Guyana which it claims, speaks to the election of a President when the interpretation of the Constitution is being invoked but the GECOM must determine “if more valid votes are cast” for a list.

The PPP/C has since appealed the decision at the Caribbean Court of Justice and is hoping that the matter would be addressed “speedily” so that the way could be paved for the legitimate Government to be sworn in.

tech toolkit for consideration,” explained GTT CEO, Justin Nedd.

Since the confirmation of the country’s first case of the COVID-19 virus in March 2020, GTT has been successfully able to transition its own staff to work from home. The telecoms CEO described this swift transition as “highly successful”.

“Like us, the sectors are adjusting to working from home. They are trying to maintain productivity while remaining connected to their people, their clients and stakeholders. They are looking for ways to facilitate cashless payments and deliveries. It’s our new normal – and GTT is poised and willing to assist,” said Nedd.

During the conversations, thousands of participants explored helpful solutions as offered by GTT,

including Cloud-based applications, the use of products such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, PBX support, the convenience of Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) and the importance of cybersecurity.

“The sectors can immediately benefit from the tech solutions that we offer – so much so that post-pandemic, they can be more digitally equipped to launch into any direction they chose; because while these are challenging times, there are opportunities for innovation that can serve Guyana well in the long run. We are in this together – and together we will rise,” Nedd stated.

GTT’s business services can be tailored to solve specific challenges. Persons can email business@gtt.co.gy or call 227-9168 for further information about the solutions available.

GTT shares tech tools & tips to help businesses survive amid COVID-19

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Nedd

G

TT hosted a series of virtual conversations with the general public and Private Sector organisations with the aim of equipping participants with technology-driven options

to survive and thrive during this pandemic.

“It is business unusual. As the country’s largest technology provider, the onus is on us to share our knowledge and open up our

Some 400 relief hampers distributed at Parfaite Harmonie

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n estimated 400 relief hampers were on Saturday last distributed to residents of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

The exercise was organised by the Victory

Scenes from the hamper distribution exercise

Deliverance Ministry, specifically for the residents and others who were in need of food supplies, especially during the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the exercise, the leaders of the church encour-

aged other religious bodies, community leaders, businesses and organisations to reach out to those in their community who are in need.

At the distribution activity, Pastor Joseph Persaud spoke of the importance of

lending assistance, especially during this time.

The Victory Deliverance Ministry is expected to host another hamper distribution exercise in the near future with the hope of reaching even more persons.

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ramsammy’s Ruminations 2 more relief flights Irfaan Ali is my president, who vex, vex, because the people say so

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t is now more than 114 days since the people voted for President Irfaan Ali and we are still haggling at GECOM and in the courts about something that could not be clearer. Let me, therefore, be pellucid – Dr Irfaan Ali is my President. More than 233,000 people voted for Irfaan Ali to be President. David Granger was fired on March 2. We have been patient, but the time for us to do the right thing is now. David Granger is now a squatter in the Office of the President. His party – the PNC – made Guyana into a squatting country in the 70s and 80s, now Granger is taking squatting to another level.

He has been enabled by sycophants and, worse, Dr Leslie Ramsammy he has been enabled by the very institutions that are responsible for defending, respecting and promoting democracy. The Judiciary has not been friendly to democracy in Guyana the last five years. It has enabled those who want to see a return to dictatorship. Judges, the axle on which the wheels of justice turn, find facts, apply the law and exercise discretion.

As soon as APNU+AFC approached the Court of Appeal in Guyana last week to halt moves by GECOM to make the declaration of Dr Irfaan Ali as President, the majority of Guyanese became anxious, worried, frightened, simply because they had no confidence that the Judges of the Court of Appeal would be fair.

The majority of Guyanese believe Justices on the Court of Appeal do not judge political cases on merit, but their judgment reflects their own political bias.

When Granger flouted the Constitution and arbitrarily appointed James Patterson as the GECOM Chair, he brazenly breached the Constitution. The Judges in the High Court and the Court of Appeal decided to ignore the clarity of the Constitution, adding words that were not present in the Constitution to conclude Granger had the power to make an arbitrary decision.

Any examination of the relevant articles in the Constitution would confirm, even to a lay person, much less those trained in the law, that the Constitution obligates a shared process in the appointment of the GECOM Chair.

That was not the first time that the Judiciary exposed its bias when it comes to the political architecture in Guyana. It was also not the last time. When the no-confidence motion was passed by a majority 33 against 32 in Parliament, the Judges on the appeals circuit decided, indeed, that 33 cannot be more than 32. It was the most glaring example of their biased posture.

Thankfully, the CCJ threw those decisions out of the window and made clear to all that these articles in the Constitution speak clearly and do not need anyone, not judges or any other citizen, to add words so that they can interpret the meaning differently.

Judges are not meant to exercise their duty as a witch's brewery to come up with what they want. The law is the law and must be applied as written.

This brings me to the latest travesty. We have had blatant acts of fraud when Mingo, not once, but twice, tried to replace the actual votes in Region 4 to reflect a lie – that APNU won by 59,000 votes, when in fact they won by about 36,000 votes, increasing their winning margin by 23,000 votes. The recount confirmed that Mingo stole these votes from the East Bank and East Coast Demerara. A High Court Judge was ruling in favour of using those fraudulent votes until a Judicial Review blocked him from doing so. Now we have the results of a total recount that Caricom, the "most trusted interlocutor", concluded reflected not only the Statements of Poll from March 2, but reflected the true will of the people.

GECOM, the body responsible for the election, after dillydallying, after much jiggery-pokery, concluded they must accept the results and declare the winner. A declaration meeting was scheduled, but aborted because APNU+AFC used a surrogate to approach the Court of Appeal with a backdoor election petition.

Clearly, the matter was not one that the Court of Appeal should have entertained.

I listened to every word the three Judges spoke. To his credit, one judge stuck with the words in the Constitution and the meaning that was always applied. It was painful listening to the other two Judges – they contorted themselves so much they made a demented American pretzel look less twisted. They added words and claimed jurisdiction. If they want to make law, they ought to be politicians.

The bottom line is the people voted freely and fairly for Irfaan Ali to be President. There were more than 5000 GECOM staff and another more than 5000 representatives of political parties and more than 2000 observers who concluded that almost 470,000 Guyanese showed up on March 2 and cast more than 460,000 valid votes. No one disputed these facts before the attempted Mingo fraud failed. Now we have conjured up ghosts and phantoms in an effort to throw away the March 2 elections. The Judiciary in Guyana seems to want a role in legitimising the ghosts and phantoms myth. The people say, enough is enough, Irfaan Ali is President, who vex, vex.

from US next week – borders with Brazil, Suriname remain closed

T

he National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) has confirmed two more two repatriation flights scheduled for next week to bring home Guyanese stranded in the United States.

The first flight will be on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, from Miami to Guyana, departing at 08:30h.

The second flight will be the following day, on Thursday, July 2, 2020, from New York’s JFK to Guyana, also departing at 08:30h.

Both relief flights will be operated

by Eastern Airlines.

According to the National Task Force in a statement on Tuesday, additional flights are being planned in consultations with various airlines and the details will be provided as these are confirmed.

It was noted that these additional flights will cater for Guyanese stranded in North America and the Caribbean.

The NCTF is reminding that all citizens will be responsible for their own

airfare and other expenses and must complete PCR COVID-19 testing and test negative for consideration in addition to filling out and submitting the Repatriation Form.

Upon return to Guyana, all citizens are reminded that they must self-quarantine for a period of seven days.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Health will monitor all persons on self-quarantine.

“The NCTF has prioritised the repatriation of Guyanese nationals stranded in the various countries in the Western Hemisphere,” the missive detailed.

Moreover, the Task Force is urging Guyanese stranded overseas, if they have not yet done so, to contact their nearest diplomatic mission or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly. Contact details are listed on the Ministry’s website along with the Repatriation Form: www.minfor.gov. gy The first repatriation flight from

the US landed at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) earlier this month with a total of 109 persons.

Only last week, there were two more repatriation flights from the United States to bring Guyanese home.

In the meantime, there have also been similar relief flights from Trinidad and Barbados via Caribbean Airlines.

Guyana had closed its borders since March 19 amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, its porous borders have been a cause for concern, especially in those border regions.

As such, the NCTF noted in its missive on Tuesday that Guyana’s borders with Brazil and Suriname remain closed and no entry will be permitted to persons in these two countries until further notice.

The neighbouring Portuguesespeaking nation now has over one million confirmed COVID-19 cases with more than 52,000 deaths – the second country globally to pass the 50,000 mark.

Mahaicony sea defence suffers another breach, villages flooded

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nother section of the Mahaicony sea defence collapsed again on Monday, widening the breached structure and leaving residents in a state that is completely vulnerable to floodwaters.

A resident in the community, Riyaad Bacchus told Guyana Times on Tuesday that the new breach occurred between Dantzig to Content, Mahaicony, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) – the same area which experienced the last breakage.

This resulted in an overflow of water from the Atlantic flowing onto the lands, thus causing inundation along the villages of Strangroen to Prospect.

According to Bacchus, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) was informed of the breach but they are yet to visit the area. With high tides being experienced currently, the water rose in the morning and afternoon hours on Tuesday – reaching the homes of many worried residents.

Back in October, the sea defence had suffered a major rupture and saltwater from the ocean flooded fertile lands, killing livestock and damaging crops. Moreover, millions of dollars were tallied in losses.

In May, persons in the community had reported that the breach between

Canals dug since the last flooding incident which prevent the water from draining

Dantzig-Fairfield had been extended after another rupture occurred at Content.

While the communities were experiencing a low tide, residents expressed worry about rainwater accumulating because of canals that were dug as a defence mechanism.

Bacchus had explained that a canal was later dug on private land to prevent the water from toppling over. However, this failed and they opted to excavate another one alongside the first.

“They build the first one on private land and it didn’t work so they come back and dig another one more inside.

So they keep coming in more

and more and nothing is being done…There is still no defence since the last one collapse. At first, it was from Dantzig to Fairfield but there was another breach at Content so the situation now keep getting bigger,” he noted.

While this canal setup was done to provide coverage from the pounding Atlantic waves, they said it caused rainwater to collect in the communities, with no course to drain. At that time, contractors could not access the dam to establish a proper structure due to the flooding.

Meanwhile, Neil Machado, who also resides close to Content, had in-

formed this publication, “We will get flood. Last year when the other side got flood, they put a dam by the canal and that hold the water a little. The rain season will be a big concern now too cause after they dig this canal, there is no way this water will get to out to the Atlantic side so all the rainfall water will accumulate in the land. And then you get a threat from the ocean so it gonna be hectic.”

After the last inundation, many farmers would have sold their livestock while others were unable to rebound from their losses. The salty water has also affected the lands, inhibiting any future activities.

16 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

4 homeless after Guyana to benefit from IDB’s fire guts Mocha US$750K for COVID-19 fight Arcadia home G

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The gutted house

fire suspected to be electrical in origin completely gutted a flat concrete house at Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on Saturday evening, leaving four persons homeless.

Reports are that the fire started at about 20:00h in one of the bedrooms and quickly razed the house.

The occupants of the house would have lost all their personal belongings along with household items. As such, they are contemplating their next move. One of the occupants told this newspaper that he was renting the house.

He pointed out that the fire

might have been caused by an electrical issue, given that there were several issues with the wiring in the house which was brought to the attention of the landlord on many occasions.

However, the fire tenders took some time to arrive at the scene, and as such, by the time they arrived, the entire house had been already engulfed by flames.

Only on Friday last, several persons were left homeless after a fire of unknown origin destroyed a family property at Lot 328 Sachibazaar and Rohinital Streets, Prashad Nagar, Georgetown.

uyana is one of several countries poised to benefit from the US$750,000 grant from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) aimed at supporting the Caribbean’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) received the grant from the IDB to promote regional health security through the coordination of the regional health response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This grant is a demonstration of IDB’s continued commitment to CARPHA for supporting regionally integrated efforts to address common health and economic issues impacting on the sustainability of Caribbean economies.

The grant, which was signed June 5, 2020, is made available through the IDB Japan Special Fund.

Specifically, the funds will support the enhancement of Laboratory Response Capacity at CARPHA, mobilise, surge and strengthen real-time disease surveillance and response through the CARPHA Regional Travellers Health Program (THP) for all 26 of the Agency’s Member States.

In addition, it will strengthen countries’ COVID-19 detection capacities in participating countries such as Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

CARPHA is leading the regional health response to COVID-19, in keeping with its Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) and mandate as

CORONAVIRUS

(COVID-19) INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

a Caricom institution and recommendations from the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD)-Health Working Group on Regional Coordination for Response Management.

“The beneficiary countries will gain from CARPHA’s collective public health epidemiology and disease surveillance and prevention knowledge, convening capacity and project management expertise in coordinating their individual responses to the COVID-19 virus. However, it is ex-

gate the spread of COVID-19 cases.

This grant will fund the expansion of CARPHA’s Regional Travellers Health Program (THP) and the modification of its early warning and response surveillance Travel Health information System (THiS) to participating countries to facilitate real-time reporting, monitoring, and response to COVID-19. This component will also facilitate the development and implementation of the Caribbean travel health mobile app for real-time information sharing.

pected that the outputs and work conducted under this grant will be shared with all CARPHA Member States (CMS) which include the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States; and in keeping with its mandate, CARPHA will work with its Member States in both their collective and individual COVID-19 responses,” said Dr Joy St John, CARPHA Executive Director.

Early information is the key to rapid response in order to miti-

The grant will also support the training of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in participating countries to provide regional and national responses to COVID-19 and other public health emergencies. Transportation and shipping of COVID-19 laboratory specimens to CARPHA for testing will also be supported.

Activities under that grant are expected to kick off from July 2020 and run until June 2022.

SYMPTOMS

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

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

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

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

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

(Adapted from BBC News)

Headache

Chills

Sore throat

Repeated shaking with chills

Muscle pain

Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have New loss of taste mild illness. or smell

NEWS

17

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

As US coronavirus cases surge, Texas, Bill Cosby granted Arizona and Nevada hit new records appeal in Pennsylvania sex assault case

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or a second consecutive week, Texas, Arizona and Nevada set records in their coronavirus outbreaks, and 10 other states from Florida to California were grappling with a surge in infections.

Texas reported over 5000 new infections on Monday, a single-day record for the state. It has also seen COVID-19 hospitalisations hit record highs for 11 days in a row.

The Texas Children’s Hospital is admitting adult coronavirus patients owing to a spike in serious COVID-19 cases in the Houston area.

“We know COVID-19 has not gone away. We implore you to take responsible actions – practise appropriate social distancing, wear a mask or face covering anytime you leave your home,” the Texas Children’s Hospital said in a statement, without specifying how many coronavirus patients it admitted.

While the United States appeared to have curbed the outbreak for several weeks in May, overall cases rose 25 per cent last week with 10 states reporting a greater than 50 per cent rise in new infections, according to a Reuters analysis.

The European Union is prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing draft proposals of potential new travel restrictions.

The United States, which accounts

I

The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers positivity rates above five per cent to be especially concerning

for about a quarter of the world’s coronavirus cases and deaths and with new infections on the rise, would be in the same category as number two hotspot Brazil and Russia, according to the Times, citing the proposal.

In March, as cases surged in Europe, President Donald Trump banned most EU citizens from entering the US in a bid to curb the outbreak, sparking outrage from EU leaders.

Arizona and Nevada reported record increases in new cases on Tuesday after recording all-time highs last week, according to a Reuters tally.

Louisiana, which was a hotspot early in the US outbreak, reported over

1300 new cases on Tuesday – its highest level since April 7. Neighbouring Mississippi reported a record number of new cases on Tuesday, its highest in two weeks.

While most states are increasing testing, the percentage of tests coming back positive is also rising. At least four states are averaging double-digit rates of positive tests for the virus: Arizona at 20 per cent, Florida and Utah both at 11 per cent, and Texas at 10 per cent. By contrast, New York, formerly the epicentre of the US outbreak, has been reporting positive test rates of around one per cent. (Excerpt from Reuters)

n a stunning decision that could test the legal framework of #MeToo cases, comedian Bill Cosby has won the right to fight his 2018 sexual assault conviction in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The 82-year-old Cosby has been imprisoned in suburban Philadelphia for nearly two years after a jury convicted him of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004. He's serving a three-to-10-year sentence.

The Supreme Court has agreed to review two aspects of the case, including the Judge's decision to let Prosecutors call five other accusers to testify about long-ago encounters with the once-powerful actor and comedian. Cosby's lawyers

have long challenged that testimony as remote and unreliable. The court will also consider, as it weighs the scope of the testimony allowed, whether the jury should have heard evidence that Cosby had given quaaludes to women in the past.

Secondly, the court will examine Cosby's argument that he had an agreement with a former prosecutor that he would never be charged in the case. Cosby has said he relied on that agreement before agreeing to testify in the trial accuser's civil lawsuit.

Those issues have been at the heart of the case since Cosby was charged in December 2015, days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

US deports exparamilitary leader “Toto” Constant to Haiti

Colombia extends coronavirus lockdown measures until July 15

C

olombia’s lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus will continue until July 15, President Ivan Duque said in a nightly broadcast on Tuesday.

The Andean country has reported more than 73,500 cases of coronavirus and 2404 deaths.

“The current conditions of obligatory isolation, where we are returning to produc-

tivity and moving towards the re-opening of businesses, will continue as they are today until July 15,” Duque said.

Duque first declared a national quarantine to control the spread of the new coronavirus in late March.

While certain restrictions have been relaxed, the quarantine was due to lift on July 1.

The Government last

month gave local mayors discretion over reopening businesses such as hairdressers and barbers, along with museums and libraries.

In municipalities which have not seen coronavirus infections, pilot programmes will begin to test the reopening of additional sectors, Duque said.

“We will start to pilot the reopening of restaurants and attending religious wor-

ship,” he said.

Currently, restaurants are only allowed to serve takeaway meals.

Latin America’s fourth-largest economy has been battered by the measures taken to slow the spread of coronavirus and a slump in oil prices. Crude is one of the country’s top exports and sources of foreign exchange. (Excerpt from Reuters)

North Korea: Kim Jong-un “suspends military action” against South

N

orth Korea has suspended plans for "military action" against South Korea, according to State media.

There have been rising tensions between the two countries in recent weeks as groups in the South planned to fly propaganda leaflets over the border.

There had been threats by the North to send troops into the demilitarised zone (DMZ) at the intra-Korean border.

But at a meeting chaired by leader Kim Jong-un, State media said the decision was taken to suspend military action.

The Central Military Commission made its decision after taking what it called the prevailing situation into consideration.

His sister, Kim Yo-jong, had given orders to the army more than a week ago, stating that they would "decisively carry out the next action" in part because of what Pyongyang said was Seoul's failure to stop activists sending anti-regime leaflets over the border at-

Kim Jong-un and South Korea's Moon Jae-in in 2018

tached to balloons.

Since a 2018 thaw, the long-standing rivals had been making efforts to improve ties and maintain dialogue.

But the relationship appeared to have deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks.

In part, the spat is over South

Korean defector groups sending leaflets into the North.

Usually sent into the country via balloons, they usually carry leaflets, USB sticks or DVDs with criticism of the Pyongyang regime, as well as South Korean news reports or even Korean dramas. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Emmanuel “Toto” Constant in 2000 was convicted in absentia in Haiti following a trial for the 1994 massacre in Raboteau, a shantytown in the northern coastal town of Gonaives [File: John McConnico/AP]

F

ormer paramilitary leader Emmanuel "Toto" Constant was deported from the United States on Tuesday and arrested as soon as he landed in Haiti, where he faces murder and torture charges stemming from killings committed during the political upheaval of the 1990s that involved the US Government.

Constant did not say anything as he was placed into a police vehicle, where one officer held a mobile phone up to Constant's ear so he could talk to an unidentified person before he was taken away for questioning.

Constant was among 24 deported migrants who landed in the capital of Portau-Prince, the fourth such flight since the COVID-19

pandemic began, said Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, director of Haiti's migration office.

Some criticised his deportation and worried whether he would be held accountable for any of the charges he faces. Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch known as the "dictator hunter", told The Associated Press news agency in a phone interview that Constant should be prosecuted somewhere.

"The worst solution for Haitians would be to have somebody like “Toto” Constant with so much blood on his hands walking around," he said. "It would just epitomise the impunity with which people have committed murder in Haiti for so long." (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

Regional

Navy ship navigates Major quake shakes southern US near Venezuelan Mexico, at least 4 killed coast after Iranian

A

powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck southern Mexico’s Pacific coast on Tuesday, killing at least four people and cutting off isolated villages, and causing tremors hundreds of miles away in Mexico City.

The fatalities were near the quake’s epicentre in Oaxaca, a mountainous state known for its coffee, mescal and Spanish colonial architecture.

Rockfalls blocked the winding mountain roads between the state capital of Oaxaca city and the coast.

A clinic and other buildings in hill villages near the epicentre were severely damaged, images on social media showed.

The dead included a worker from State oil company Pemex, who suffered

The wall of a house damaged during a quake is seen in Oaxaca, Mexico, June 23, 2020

a bad fall, Mexico’s civil protection agency said. Pemex was forced to briefly shutter the country’s biggest oil refinery in Oaxaca.

Buildings hundreds of miles away in Mexico City shook strongly and peo-

ple ran out into the streets when an early-warning seismic alarm sounded. Two people were injured and more than 30 buildings in the capital suffered damage, officials said.

Videos on social me-

dia showed water that apparently came from rooftop pools cascading down residential buildings.

Several old churches in Oaxaca were damaged, including one with a dome at risk of collapse, the protection agency said.

Quakes of magnitudes over 7 are major earthquakes capable of widespread, heavy damage. A 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck central Mexico in 2017 killed 355 people in the capital and the surrounding states.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had warned that the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central and South America faced a possible tsunami but later said the danger had passed.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro ordered to wear mask in public

Last week, President Jair Bolsonaro was seen leaving the presidential palace without a mask

A

Judge in Brazil has ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a protective mask when he is in public spaces in the capital, Brasilia, and the surrounding federal district.

The far-right President

has been criticised for belittling the risk posed by coronavirus.

He dismissed it as “a little cold” at the start of the pandemic.

Brazil has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and COVID-

related fatalities in the world after the US. There are more than 1.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in Brazil, and more than 51,000 coronavirus-related deaths have been recorded, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Despite these high figures, President Bolsonaro has repeatedly appeared in public without a mask while greeting his supporters.

At one rally, he was filmed coughing without covering his mouth and on another occasion, he was seen sneezing into his hand and shaking the hand of an elderly woman immediately afterwards.

The requirement to wear masks in the federal district

came into force on April 30.

The rule was brought in by the Governor of the federal district, Ibaneis Rocha, and requires people to cover their nose and mouth in all public spaces, including public transport, shops and commercial and industrial premises.

On May 11, the rule was further tightened with those flaunting it facing fines of 2000 reais (US$387) per day.

Federal Judge Renato Borelli’s ruling means Bolsonaro is not exempt and that the President and any other public officials who do not comply with the requirement will also incur the 2000-reais fine. (Excerpt from BBC News)

CAL loses TT$96.1M in 6 weeks Jamaica, US reiterate commitment to fighting child trafficking

C

aribbean Airlines’ estimated losses from March 23 to April 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic was US$14.2 million or TT$96.1 million, according to Minister in the Finance Ministry, Allyson West.

She gave the information in the Senate on Sunday in response to United National Congress Senator Wade Mark’s query.

West said the impact took effect from the start of March owing to a drop in demand for air travel and was exacerbated by the closure of Trinidad and Tobago’s borders in March, because operating had become too risky.

Despite air travel being restricted, she said CAL has still been required to maintain all its operating systems.

“Notwithstanding the fact that air travel is severely restricted at present, the airline is also being required to keep it airline leases up to

date and ensure that its aircraft are airworthy and all of its systems are functioning in readiness for the resumption of flights,” West said.

During his contribution at the COVID-19 update over the weekend, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley also noted that it was very costly to keep the airline going even while the fleet was grounded.

“Caribbean Airlines, looking at the outside world, would be operational at the first opportunity it gets because it’s costing us money now to keep Caribbean Airlines where it is, maintained and not working. The reason why it’s not going outside is because of the level of risk involved,” the PM said.

Rowley said one of the first actions to cushion the continuing losses may be chartered services to get people to destinations or back home. (Excerpt from Trinidad Guardian)

T

he Governments of Jamaica and the United States have reaffirmed their commitment to combating child trafficking.

According to a statement from the National Security Ministry, both countries recently had an online meeting to define the next steps of the US-Jamaica Child Protection Compact Partnership.

The US$5.1 million, fouryear partnership was signed by both Governments on May 30, 2018.

The Ministry said that during the discussion, both Governments reiterated specific commitments to the partnership and recognised benchmarks for progress.

“These include strengthened capacity to identify more child trafficking victims and better coordination of the provision of compre-

hensive protective services,” the statement said.

Participants also discussed plans to strengthen efforts to prosecute and punish traffickers and improve efforts to prevent child trafficking from occurring.

The COVID-19 pandemic reinforces the urgency to protect vulnerable people from exploitation by traffickers.

United States Ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat trafficking in persons, John Cotton Richmond, said: “Our collective resolve is more important than ever as we monitor and respond to human trafficking in a changing landscape. Survivors and vulnerable people are facing new risks as a result of the pandemic. Governments and civil society are also encountering new challenges.” (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

cargo ship arrives

A

US Navy ship navigated near the Venezuelan coast on Tuesday in what the US military’s Southern Command called a “freedom of navigation operation”, a day after a cargo ship from US foe Iran docked at a port of the South American country.

In a post on its website, the Southern Command said the USS Nitze, a missile destroyer, sailed in an area outside Venezuela’s territorial waters – which extend some 12 nautical miles from its coasts – but within an area the Venezuelan Government “falsely claims to have control over”.

The move comes after the Trump Administration in April said it was deploying more US military assets to the Caribbean in part to disrupt alleged narcotics shipments by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a socialist viewed as illegitimate by the United States

and dozens of other mostly Western countries.

With US sanctions on its key oil industry leaving Venezuela increasingly isolated, Maduro last month turned to Iran – another country under heavy US sanctions – for fuel shipments. Washington said it was considering a response to those shipments but took no military action.

On Monday, the Iranianflagged cargo ship Golsan docked in the Venezuelan port of La Guaira carrying what Iran’s Embassy in Caracas said was food to supply the South American nation’s first Iranian supermarket. There was no indication that the Golsan and Nitze confronted each other.

Neither Venezuela’s Information Ministry nor its armed forces’ press office immediately responded to requests for comment.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

OECS concerned by US human trafficking allegations

Cuba sent health workers to South Africa (CMC)

T

he Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) says it has taken note of the moves

by United States legislators to classify as “human trafficking” the Cuban humanitarian project assisting countries to cope with the impact of the coronavirus that has so far killed 467, 000 people and infected nearly nine million others worldwide.

In a statement, the nine-member sub-regional grouping said that it “notes with deep concern and repudiates the recent bill introduced by Republican Senator Rick Scott which classifies Cuba’s humanitarian assistance as “human trafficking” and seeks to extend punitive measures against countries accepting this medical assistance.

The OECS Authority greatly values the work of the Henry Reeve Medical Brigades and has reiterated its desire to work with all friendly Governments that offer tangible support

in the face of the grave existential threat posed to lives and livelihoods in the small island states of the Caribbean.”

The OECS said that it wanted to express “its deep appreciation” to Cuba for the medical support provided to six OECS countries to assist with efforts to combat the spread of the virus in the OECS and wider Caribbean Region.

The OECS countries that have benefitted from the Cuban project are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and St Kitts-Nevis.

The OECS said that the provision of specialised health care through the Henry Reeve International Medical Brigades has not only augmented the scarce medical resources of OECS member states, but has provided assurance to the general populations of the region’s capacity to fight and manage COVID-19. (Excerpt from Nation News)

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

19

Around the World

OILNEWS Oil futures end lower as US-China trade tensions, rise in COVID-19 cases feed demand uncertainty

O

il prices gave up earlier gains to finish lower Tuesday, with conflicting US government statements on the status of US-China trade deal and a rise in COVID-19 cases feeding uncertainty over the outlook for energy demand.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro stoked confusion among investors overnight when he told Fox News that the trade agreement was “over” in a Monday evening interview. Trump then tweeted that the deal was “fully intact.”

China is one of the world’s biggest importers of oil and news of Sino-American relations can have a seismic impact on global asset prices.

Meanwhile, new US coronavirus cases are showing an alarming increase with 28 states showing increasing trends this past week.

The demand outlook for oil is “less clear given the uneven recovery thus far as some states are experiencing spikes in new cases,” said Marshall Steeves, energy markets analyst at IHS Markit.

West Texas Intermediate crude for August, on its first full trading day as a front-month contract, fell by 36 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to settle at US$40.37 a barrel. Prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange had traded as high as US$41.63, according to FactSet data.

Global benchmark Brent oil for August delivery fell by 45 cents, or 1 per cent, to settle at US$42.63 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, following a 2.1 per cent gain a day earlier.

On Monday, both contracts settled at their highest since early March, according to FactSet data.

For the month so far, prices trade higher on signs that global economies are reviving after many businesses were shutdown around the world for a couple of months to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Measures of US economic health also have shown evidence of improvement, which could be a positive for demand expectations for crude, experts say.

The market has also recently drawn support from an agreement between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, in a group known as OPEC+, to reduce global output by nearly 10 million barrels a day through the end of July.

“Compliance with the OPEC+ cuts has been high and the laggards (i.e. Nigeria, Iraq) have been corralled into adhering to their quotas, with Iraq even making up for overproduction in May,” said Steeves. “With U.S. production in decline, the supply outlook is supportive.”

Supplies in the US are expected to post a modest decline for the week ended June 19, with analysts polled

by S&P Global Platts, on average, forecasting that the Energy Information Administration today will report a fall of 100,000 barrels in domestic crude supplies. They also expect to see a decrease of 1.9 million barrels in gasoline stockpiles, while distillate inventories are likely to edge up by 100,000 barrels.

Back on Nymex, July gasoline added 0.6 per cent to US$1.2994 a gallon, while July heating oil fell 1.3 per cent to US$1.203 a gallon.

July natural gas settled at US$1.637 per million British thermal units, down 1.6 per cent. (Excerpt from MarketWatch)

Top US health official Fauci warns of “disturbing” new US surge

A

merica's top infectious disease expert has told lawmakers that the nation is seeing a "disturbing surge" in coronavirus infections in some states.

A panel of health officials, including Dr Anthony Fauci, said the next few days will be crucial to stem the new outbreaks.

Cases are climbing rapidly across a number of US states.

The four top experts also testified they were never told by President Donald Trump to "slow down" testing.

Their comments come after Trump told a weekend rally in Oklahoma that he had asked his team to do less testing to help keep offi-

cial case counts down.

The White House has said his comment was "in jest".

"To my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing," Dr Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,

testified to a congressional committee investigating the US response to the pandemic.

"In fact, we will be doing more testing," he added.

The other three officials - representing the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services - also disputed Trump's comment, saying they had never been directed to slow testing.

More than 120,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus - more than any other nation.

Dr Fauci warned of "a disturbing surge of infection" and "increased community spread" in many southern and western states.

CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield called testing "a critical underpinning of our response" but said social distancing measures are more effective ways to keep the virus from spreading.

(Excerpt from BBC News)

agency (SPA) said in a statement.

The statement called the attacks terroristic acts that target civilians and threaten the lives of hundreds of people.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen said that the coalition had intercepted three Houthi missiles fired

towards the southern border cities of Najran and Jizan, as well as several armed drones launched towards the kingdom late on Monday. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Dr Fauci testified to the congressional committee in person on Tuesday

Saudi Cabinet denounces attacks by Yemen's Houthis on Saudi Arabia – SPA

S

audi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday denounced Yemen’s Houthis for targeting Saudi Arabia with eight armed drones and three ballistic missiles, state news

India, Pakistan to expel embassy staff in tit-for-tat spy dispute

I

ndia has said it will expel half the staff in Pakistan's embassy in New Delhi over alleged spying by officials there, prompting Islamabad to say it would respond in kind.

Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals are strained and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, often on charges of espionage, are common.

"They [Pakistan] have been engaged in acts of espionage and maintained dealings with terrorist organisations," the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement mentioned the "recent abduction at gunpoint" of two Indian officials,

whom New Delhi accused Islamabad of torturing following an alleged hit-and-run incident in the Pakistani capital.

The men returned to India on Monday, where they "provided graphic details of the barbaric treatment that they experienced at the hands of Pakistani agencies", the Foreign Ministry said.

"The behaviour of Pakistan and its officials is not in conformity with the Vienna Convention and bilateral agreements on the treatment of diplomatic and consular officials.

"Therefore, the Government of India has taken the decision to reduce the staff strength in the Pakistan

India has ordered Pakistan to halve its embassy staff in New Delhi and said it would do the same in Islamabad

High Commission in New Delhi by 50 per cent."

The Ministry said it would also "reciprocally reduce its own presence in Islamabad to the same proportion".

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday it "completely dismisses" allegations its staff in New Delhi had violated any diplomatic conventions.

Pakistan's statement on Tuesday said it was Islamabad - and not New Delhi - that had ordered the reciprocal 50 per cent reduction to the Indian diplomatic presence in the Pakistan capital.

Both countries said the staffing cuts must be made within seven days. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

Trump promises jail time for protesters pulling down statues

U

S President Donald Trump said he has authorised the Government to arrest anyone caught trying to tear down monuments or statues, threatening they could be jailed for 10 years.

Trump said on Tuesday the new order applies "retroactively" so those who previously participated in bringing down memorials could be arrested.

Commenting as he departed the White House for a trip to Arizona on Tuesday, Trump reiterated his threat and said, "I will have an executive order very shortly,

and all it's really going to do is reinforce what's already there, but in a more uniform way."

The federal statute Trump referred to subjects anyone who willfully injures or destroys, or attempts to injure or destroy, any structure, plaque, statue or other monument on public property commemorating the service of any person or persons in the armed forces of the US to fines, up to 10 years imprisonment, or both.

A wave of nationwide rallies calling for racial justice has swept across the United States since May 25 when

Protesters attempt to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House

George Floyd, a 46-yearold Black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Since then, monuments from the civil war era or associated with slavery and the colonisation of Native Americans by Europeans

have been targeted for destruction.

Trump has threatened to deploy the US military on the streets - a move widely condemned by rights activists, politicians, and even US military leaders.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

20

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

ARCHIE

ARIES

(March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

Make adjustments at home that will give you more leisure time to spend with loved ones. Refuse to let anyone talk you into taking on a responsibility that doesn’t belong to you.

Embrace life, and don’t be afraid to try something new. A different approach to an old idea will help you get things up and running. Use your charm to win support.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Make a difference by offering to help those who cannot help themselves.

Building a system that can improve community services or the way your family runs will pay off.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Making a move for the wrong reasons won’t help.

Check your motives and consider if you are letting your emotions replace common sense. When in doubt, sit tight.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

PEANUTS

CALVIN AND HOBBES

You’ll be itching to get out and mingle, but before you give in to temptation, consider the ramifications.

Time alone with a loved one will turn out to be quite romantic.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Don’t take a risk when it comes to your health and your family’s well-being. Greater involvement in finding solutions and making a difference will lead to a safer future.

Your heart is in the right place. A kind gesture you make will speak volumes about the type of person you are. Follow your heart, make a difference and please everyone.

Venture out and visit new places. It will clear your head and help you decide what you want to do next.

Check your family histoSAGITTARIUS ry, and you’ll discover some(Nov. 23thing that will give you clarDec. 21) ity regarding your likes and dislikes. Love is on the rise, and romance will lead to a commitment.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

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

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Say what’s on your mind and find out who will pitch in and help you. Don’t let a change at home cause problems for others. Work with everyone and keep the peace.

Partnerships will take an emotional turn. Prepare to do something to defuse an explosive situation.

Discipline will be required when dealing with unruly or indulgent individuals.

Unique people and situations will attract you. Talks will spark your imagination and give you a springboard to launch some of your ideas. Broaden your scope.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

21

Novak Djokovic: World number one becomes latest tennis player to test positive for coronavirus W

orld number one Novak Djokovic has become the latest tennis player to test positive for COVID-19.

It comes after Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric, and Viktor Troicki all revealed they had coronavirus after playing at Djokovic's Adria Tour competition.

Djokovic, 33, played fellow Serb Troicki in the first event in Belgrade.

Great Britain's Andy Murray said the positive tests were a "lesson for us", while Australian Nick Kyrgios called playing a "bone-headed decision".

A statement on Djokovic's website said: "Immediately upon his arrival in Belgrade [after the second event] Novak was tested along with all members of the family and the team with whom he was in Belgrade and Zadar.

He is not showing any symp-

also put his arm around Coric before their match.

Zverev, Cilic, and Andrey Rublev, who also played in the Adria Tour, have tested negative, but suggested they will all now self-isolate for up to 14 days.

The ATP Tour season is set to restart on August 14 and the US Open will be held without fans from August 31 to September 13, despite some players voicing concerns about travelling to New York.

On June 18, Borna Coric (left); Grigor Dimitrov (second left); Novak Djokovic (second right) and Alexander Zverev played basketball in Zadar, Croatia. All apart from Zverev have since tested positive for coronavirus

toms."

There have been no ATP Tour events since February because of the global pandemic and the Adria Tour, which is not an ATP Tour event, was one of the first competitions to be staged since then.

The first leg in Serbia attracted 4000 fans, and players were later pictured dancing close together in a Belgrade nightclub.

With Croatia easing lockdown measures, players were not obliged to observe social distancing rules

and were seen embracing at the net at the end of their matches.

Pictures on the tournament's social media site from Friday showed Dimitrov playing basketball with Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Marin Cilic, while he

West Indies training camp setting highperformance blueprint for players and coaches

C

ricket West Indies (CWI) is taking full advantage of the unique opportunity to utilise the Sandals Tour of England 2020 as a high-performance environment for the playing and reserve squad as well as preparation to retain the coveted Wisden Trophy #raisethebat Test Series.

CWI Vice President, Dr Kishore Shallow and Director of Cricket (DoC) Jimmy Adams spoke on the potential cricket benefits for the 25 players to enhance their games alongside the Region's elite coaches.

"As a cricket fan, I am happy that there will soon be live international cricket, and as a CWI administrator, I am delighted for the development opportunity this tour provides for so many of our young players. This, in my opinion, should be paramount in the eyes of all stakeholders of West Indies cricket, for this tour,” said Dr Shallow after the team completed their first week of training in their bio-secure training camp at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester, England.

“Consider if we were to set up the ideal training camp for our elite cricketers and how that would look.

Think of how much value this three-week pre-series preparation period can add to our quality of cricket and how timely this is under the abnormal COVID-19 circumstances, not to mention the challenging financial situa-

CWI President Ricky Skerritt

tion for CWI. “So, while the pandemic has impacted on many aspects of the CWI Cricket First programme, this delayed tour to England may also turn out to be a blessing for it too. It now becomes a tremendous opportunity for our cricketers to actually live and train in a high-performance environment for almost two months under the close watch of Phil Simmons and his team of experts. I expect every player, barring injury, to come back to the Region a much-improved cricketer.”

When CWI held its first-ever Coaching Forum in January as Head Coach Phil Simmons and all the domestic teams’ coaches met for the first time, it ticked off both the new administration’s “10-point Cricket First plan” initiative for modernising regional coaching and DoC Adams’ aim to allow the newly-appointed Coaching Development Manager, Chris Brabazon, to have his first meet-up with the regional coaching fraternity.

Adams further elaborated saying: “While the worldwide pandemic has had some negative effects on the game regionally, this current situation of having a larger group of players exposed to our international support team over such an extended period is a definite positive.

“We certainly would not have had a two-month window in the current ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) to do it, so now that it will last that long, this could create a working blueprint to use in the Caribbean for such high-performance initiatives.”

Reflecting on the firstweek benefits, Simmons said: “It’s something that has been thrusted upon us and sometimes you look at it and think if Cricket West Indies was at the stage financially to afford it, this would be great for us going forward.

You have this squad on tour where you have proper bowlers to bowl in the nets and backups right there.

“Overall, this is an excellent start. I think a lot of the younger players who would not have understood the difference between regional and international cricket are understanding now because of the way we are training.

“It’s a great message and understanding from their point of view of what it takes to be an international cricketer. I’m loving the fact that

“I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection” Djokovic's statement

The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena's, while the results of our children are negative.

Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions. Our tournament meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region.

The Tour has been de-

signed to help both established and up-and-coming tennis players from South-Eastern Europe to gain access to some competitive tennis while the various tours are on hold due to COVID-19.

It was born with a philanthropic idea, to direct all raised funds towards people in need and it warmed my heart to see how everybody strongly responded.

We organised the tournament when the virus has weakened, believing the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met.

Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality we are learning to cope and live with. I am hoping things will ease with time so we can all resume lives the way they were.

I am extremely sorry for each individual case of infection. I hope it will not complicate anyone's health situation and everyone will be fine.

I will remain in self-isolation for the next 14 days, and repeat the test in five days. (BBC Sport)

Liam Treadwell: Grand Nationalwinning jockey dies aged 34

CWI Vice President, Dr Kishore Shallow

these youngsters are getting to understand that and, hopefully, they carry it back and let all the other players know, who haven’t been on a West Indies tour.”

CWI President Ricky Skerritt also sees benefits from the COVID-19 travel restrictions: “This will be the first time since I was team manager 16 years ago, that the accompanying management team comprises all West Indians on the ground. Indian data analyst AR Srikkanth will be operating remotely with batting coach Monty Desai, unable to travel from India to join the Squad. This will also be a learning experience for the coaching staff.

“This world situation has led to the unique environment which provides opportunities for our players and coaching staff to develop and learn with the overall aim to develop West Indian talent and expertise to help move our cricket teams back up the global rankings ladder.” (windiescricket.com)

J

ockey Liam Treadwell, who rode 100-1 shot Mon Mome to win the 2009 Grand National at Aintree, has died aged 34.

Treadwell returned to the saddle after initially retiring from professional riding in February 2018.

Tributes have poured in from the racing world. A cause of death has not been announced.

"We're deeply saddened to hear about the passing of 2009 Grand National winning jockey Liam Treadwell," said an Aintree Racecourse Twitter post.

"Our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time."

It was one of the famous race's biggest shocks when Treadwell triumphed on Mon Mome for trainer Venetia Williams.

Sussex-born Treadwell landed the ride after Aidan

Coleman opted to ride stablemate Stan.

Treadwell, who was also third in the 2015 National on Monbeg Dude, rode 10 winners during the 2019-20 season, all for Shropshire-based trainer Alastair Ralph.

Big wins in the jockey's career included the Byrne Group Plate on Carrickboy at the Cheltenham Festival in 2013 and the Grand Sefton Handicap Chase at Aintree with Bennys Mist two years later.

A statement from West Mercia Police said officers were called to an address in Billingsley, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire, following the death of a man.

"The death is currently being treated as unexplained. However, at this stage there is believed to be no third-party involvement," said the statement. (BBC Sport)

22

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

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he Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) last Saturday honoured Jerry Karim of Blairmont Village as its Brian Ramphal Father of the Year as the active cricket board continues to undertake activities off the cricket field given the coronavirus shutdown of all sporting activities.

Karim is the father of Javed Karim, the Captain of the Blairmont FirstDivision team. Javed has represented Guyana at the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels and also plays for West Berbice in the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Franchise League.

BCB President Hilbert Foster, MS, handed over the award to the proud father and stated that Karim was a role-model parent who should be emulated across Guyana. Foster stated that every year, the BCB under

BCB President Hilbert Foster hands over the Father of the Year Award to Jerry Karim in the presence of his son, Javed

his leadership honours a special mother and father in recognition of the outstand-

ing work they do in the development of their children’s lives. The programme

started when Foster was Chairman of the BCB Special Events Committee under the presidency of his elder brother, Keith Foster.

The awardee is selected based on personal discipline, role-model status as a parent, support of their child’s career and support of Club/BCB activities. Foster urged Karim to uphold the high standards he has set himself as a parent and to share his experience with the younger generation of parents. Noting that indiscipline and disrespect for authority were major problems in today’s society, the BCB President called on parents to instil the value of discipline into their children.

Foster also pledged that the BCB would work every day to make a positive difference in the life of every Berbician while fulfilling its

mandate to uphold the high standards of Berbice cricket. He expressed frustration that the coronavirus lockdown has stopped numerous developmental programmes that the proactive BCB had in mind for 2020. These included a professional league tournament, cricket academy, award ceremony, coaching sessions, and the construction of an all-weather outdoor pitch. Foster expressed confidence that with all things being equal, Berbice would be back to normal in 2021.

In his remarks, Karim expressed gratitude to the BCB for honouring him, and stated that the Board was doing a remarkable job in the administration of the game in the Ancient County.

The Father of the Year received a trophy, medal, Certificate of Excellence and a collection of gifts.

3-day game to help make decisions about Hetmyer, Bravo holes in the middle

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he absence of Shimron Hetmyer and Darren Bravo on the West Indies tour of England are still causing a few headaches for the structure of the team, with Head Coach Phil Simmons yet to decide on what is the best line-up ahead of the first game, which begins July 8.

The West Indies are playing in the first bio-secure Test series since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sports worldwide, and Hetmyer, Bravo and Keemo Paul decided against touring England on the back of health concerns.

The absence of the trio means there are questions about how the team will line up, but Head Coach Simmons, speaking during a press conference Monday morning, believes the answers are to be found in

the next few practice games.

According to the Coach, who was responding to questions about the batting positions of skipper Jason Holder and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich

when the three-Test series begins at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, the options are numerous.

“We have thought about quite a few things. The three-day game

then the four-day game will help us to decide how we structure the batting,” said Simmons.

“So, there are possibilities in different directions. Jason could bat six, Dowrich could bat six, so we look at the three-day game and the fourday game and then make a decision from there,” he said.

There are also places to be considered with the returning Jermaine Blackwood to the batting line-up along with the likes of Shamarh Brooks and Nkrumah Bonner and where they bat, if at all, in the newlook line-up.

The West Indies are currently engaging in a three-day match game at their Emirates Old Trafford accommodation, before a four-day encounter beginning on June 29.

(Sportsmax)

Pacers’ G Oladipo not Phil Simmons recalls racist certain to play in Orlando abuse in English league cricket

I

ndiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo said he was hopeful of playing when the NBA restarts its season in Florida next month, but he wanted to ramp up his activity before making a decision.

Oladipo, 28, returned from a torn right quad tendon sustained in November of 2018 to play this January, appearing in 13 games with periodic time-off before the season was suspended owing to the coronavirus pandemic on March 11. He wants to limit the chances of another major injury following a long layoff.

“I feel a whole lot better,” Oladipo told ESPN Saturday. “I know there’s risk going into it with the unique situation that I’m in – being off so long and trying to ramp it up that fast. I’ve just got to be smart, that’s all.”

Players must tell their teams by today if they plan not to participate during the resumed season in Orlando, but the Pacers

P

don’t have to rush a decision on Oladipo. They don’t have to provide a roster until July 1, and they could keep him on the roster weeks beyond that before making a decision.

Oladipo averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 0.8 steals in 13 games (10 starts) after his return, averaging 25.9 minutes per game. During backto-back All-Star campaigns from 2017-19, he averaged 21.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 33.3 minutes.

In seven NBA seasons, Oladipo has career averages of 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.7 steals. (Reuters)

hil Simmons has revealed he was the victim of racist abuse while playing league cricket in England and confirmed his West Indies squad will "definitely" register their "solidarity" with the Black Lives Matter movement when the Test series against England begins.

As well as playing county cricket – he was a key member of the Leicestershire side which won the County Championship in 1996 – Simmons played in various leagues in England in the 80s and 90s. And while the West Indies Head Coach said he had not "really encountered that much" racism in the county game during his stints at Durham or Leicestershire, he did

confirm he "encountered quite a bit" in one of the leagues.

He declined to confirm in which league the abuse occurred, only saying it was "in the north east".

"I encountered quite a bit [of racism] up in the leagues," Simmons said.

"In county cricket, I haven't really encountered that much. But I have encountered it in the leagues.

"It's not a nice thing to face. Especially in the leagues where you're by yourself sometimes. It affected my wife when I was up there. It's not a nice thing.

"I played in three or four different leagues. It was one particular league up in the north east."

The return of sport

around the globe – not least the Premier League – has been characterised by gestures of support towards the Black Lives Matter movement. While Simmons was unsure exactly what guise his team's support would take, he was adamant they would "show their unity" and hinted their action would be in conjunction with the England side.

"We definitely are thinking about things that we can do to show our solidarity with the movement," Simmons said. "We definitely have plans to show our unity and our backing to it. The chats with the English are ongoing and by the end of this week we'll see what we can do together."

(ESPNcricinfo)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

Chris Gayle opts out of CPL 2020 owing to personal reasons

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hris Gayle opted out of the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) a day before the players' draft was scheduled to take place on June 24 (today).

The tournament this year is scheduled to take place in Trinidad and Tobago from August 18 until September 10 subject to permission from the local government.

ESPNcricinfo understands Gayle communicated his decision on Monday to St Lucia Zouks, the franchise he was going to play for in this CPL, saying he would not be available to play owing to personal reasons.

Gayle's decision was confirmed by the Zouks franchise. It is understood that in his email Gayle pointed out that owing to the lockdown, he has not been able to meet his family and his young child who are in St Kitts while he has been in Jamaica. Gayle said he needed a break and wanted to spend time with his young family.

Gayle signed up with Zouks in April after an acrimonious fallout with Jamaica Tallawahs, where he had returned in 2019 for a second stint. The Zouks would have been the third

team Gayle would represent in the CPL after two stints with Tallawahs (201316 and 2019) and a two-year stay with St Kitts and Nevis (2017-18).

The Zouks franchise saw a change in ownership this February after it was bought

by KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, which also owns Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. The franchise also made changes to the coaching staff, appointing former Zimbabwe Captain Andy Flower as the Head Coach.

Gayle's abrupt decision is understood to have disrupted Zouks' plans for the players' draft, which will be conducted virtually for the first time owing to the travel restrictions imposed by countries to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Zouks signed up Gayle as one of the marquee players outside the draft in the US$130,000-US$160,000 price bracket. In his absence, the franchise is likely to get the first pick at the draft now.

It is not clear whether Gayle's decision was influenced by the pay cut proposed by the CPL in the wake of the pandemic. In an update

he sent recently to all stakeholders, CPL Operations Manager Michael Hall said top-earning players would be asked to take a pay cut of up to 30 per cent compared to the 2019 contract. In Gayle's case, he would have received about US$112,000 after the 30 per cent proposed cut from the Zouks.

It is understood that players and staff from all the six franchises have accepted the pay cuts although the CPL has not sent out any details.

Gayle is 40, but had said he desires to play until he is 45. Despite being the highest run-maker in T20s, Gayle has struggled with consistency in the past few years. Last CPL, he aggregated 243 runs in 10 matches, including a century as the Tallawahs, along with the Zouks, failed to make the play-off stage.

Gayle has also not featured for West Indies since the 2019 World Cup In May, Gayle had escaped sanctions from the CPL after his public outburst against Tallawahs' management, including its owner Krish Persaud, chief executive Jeff Miller, and former West Indies teammate Ramnaresh Sarwan, who

was the assistant coach, for abruptly releasing him without his knowledge. In a video he released on YouTube on April 27, Gayle pulled up Sarwan for playing a "big part" in his release and blamed Persaud and Miller for "playing games" with him.

While Gayle accepted to the CPL Tournament Committee that his actions would have brought "damage" to the tournament brand as well as Cricket West Indies, he stood by his original "comments" against Sarwan and the Tallawahs' management.

Gayle has been an integral force behind CPL becoming a global brand. It was his desire to finish his career in front of his home crowd in Jamaica and hence he had signed up as a mar-

quee player in a three-year contract with the Tallawahs at the 2019 draft. "It was my greatest wish to finish my CPL career in Jamaica – playing in front of my home crowd at Sabina Park with the franchise that I had previously led to two CPL titles," Gayle said in his statement in May.

Asked for a comment, a CPL spokesperson said that the organisers understood Gayle's decision. "We understand that Chris has decided to not take part in CPL for personal reasons. We wish Chris all the best for the rest of 2020 and hope to see him back at CPL in 2021."

(ESPNcricinfo)

BCB and RHTY&SC make donation to cricket development in West Berbice

3-Day warm-up match

Joseph's 4, Gabriel's 3 give Holder's XI upper hand on Day 1

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he West Indies battled each other in an inter-squad matchup that saw Holder's XI battling Braithwaite's X1 on day 1 of their three-day warmup match at the Old Trafford as they prepare for their first Test match against England on July 8.

Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, both England and West Indies were forced to play among themselves. At the spin of the toss, Holder's XI won the toss and opted to bowl with the likes of Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Shannon Shannon Gabriel Gabriel and Rakheem Cornwall looking to prove a point.

Nevertheless, the experienced Kraigg Braithwaite, John Campbell, Shai Hope, Shane Dowrich and Roston Chase were eager to take to the crease.

At the end of the 90 overs, Braithwaite's Kraigg B XI were 275 all out with Hope and raithwait e Braithwaite top-scoring with 85 and 84 runs respectively. Bowling for Holder's XI were Gabriel with 3 wickets, Alzarri Joseph 4, while Roach, Cornwall and Preston McSween bagged one a piece.

Taking to the crease were openers Braithwaite and Campbell to see off the new ball. But Campbell was no match for Gabriel, who had him dismissed for a golden duck. Gabriel then returned to wreak havoc as he removed Shamarh Brooks for 17. From there, Braithwaite and Hope built a partnership that caused some frustration. They

were able take the score from 54-2 to 172-3 when Roach made the breakthrough capturing the prized wicket of Braithwaite for a wellplayed 84. Roston Chase then joined Hope at the crease; he managed to

BCB President Hilbert Foster hands over the donation to Javed Karim of West Berbice

“A

Shai Hope

last some 61 balls while scoring 37 as he gave McSween his first wicket to take the score to 224-4.

Hope then continued to rally on as he moved into the 80s looking to rack up a century. But three wickets fell in quick succession, the wickets were Hope (85) bowled by Joseph, Jomel Warrican (1) bowled by Cornwall and Raymond Reifer (18) by Joseph to take the score to 275-8. In the end, Joseph returned to bag the wickets of Chemar Holder and Anderson Phillip to bring an end to Braithwaite's XI.

s President of the Berbice Cricket Board, I have a policy that every sub-area would benefit equally, whether they voted for my administration or not. The goal is to make sure that every talent is properly developed, so that overall structure of Berbice cricket is strong.

All five sub-areas – West Berbice, Upper Corentyne, Central/Lower Corentyne, New Amsterdam/Canje and Berbice River would continue to benefit from the Berbice Cricket Board as long as I am President.”

Those were the words of BCB President Hilbert Foster as he handed over a donation of ten scorebooks, cricket law books and 100 youth development booklets, valued at over $100,000 to the West Berbice Cricket Association (WBCA).

Foster, who was re-elected to the BCB presidency in December 2019 by a 31-0 vote, disclosed that cricketers, clubs, schools and sub-associations have benefitted from millions of dollars’ worth of items over the last two and a half years.

The donated items included stumps, cricket gear, cricket balls, coaching equipment,

scorebooks, weather coats, trophies, cricket uniforms, medals, educational materials, school bags, and bicycles. Noting that the majority of clubs struggle to keep their heads above water due to the high cost of playing the game, the President recommitted the BCB to assisting as much as possible.

The scorebooks would be distributed to the active clubs in the sub-association while the hundred youth development booklets would be given to clubs that have junior cricket teams. The MCC Law of Cricket would be the property of the WBCA, to assist the Association in the development of the game.

Under Foster’s leadership, the BCB has invested heavily in the development of the game in West Berbice.

Several cricket tournaments have been organised by the Board for clubs in the sub-associations while they have played in over 40 tournaments countywide. Clubs in the sub-association have also received balls, stumps, water pitchers, bicycles, educational posters among others. The BCB has also assisted in the hosting of several cricket academies in the area.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 20200

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Navigating World Olympic Day during a global pandemic

By Jemima Holmes

S

port is one of the only things across the globe that have the power to unite human beings in spite of race, religion or political affiliation.

In these dire times, a day to participate in sports, challenge colleagues and relish the importance of the games in one’s daily life, is exactly what the doctor would order, if it had not been for the coronavirus.

First rearing its ugly head in 2019, the coronavirus pandemic made its way across the world in 2020, shutting down schools, businesses, sports, outdoor activities and the usual daily routines, in general. As such, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it extremely difficult for athletes to honour World Olympic Day,

Guyana Olympic Association President KA Juman-Yassin

which is commemorated on June 23 yearly.

Although the fixed date exists, Olympic Associations and sport administrations

across the globe utilise the entire month of June to celebrate the long list of sports that are practised in the world.

Speaking exclusively with Guyana Times Sport on Tuesday, President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), KA Juman-Yassin spoke to the importance of such a celebration on a yearly basis.

“It is important because sport administrators and athletes around the world celebrate this particular day and month as Olympic Day, which we try to focus on Olympism and the spirit of competing, fair play and that type of thing,” he stated.

Given social distancing restrictions and stayat-home orders across the globe, International Olympic Day is being ob-

served through virtual activities, the most significant of which is the world’s largest 24-hour digital-first Olympic workout. The workout was hosted at 11am, in over 20 time zones worldwide and saw participation from over 20 Olympians, among other accomplished athletes.

“Celebrating Olympic Day may feel very different from all previous years, but at the same time, on this Olympic Day, our message of the power of sport to bring hope and optimism to everyone resonates even stronger,” said International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

“Let us join together to use this power of sport to prepare the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as a moment of solidarity and resilience of humankind,” he

added.

In Guyana, the commemoration of the event is expected to take place next week. According to JumanYassin, the GOA will go virtual with a number of games and activities for local athletes.

“We’re looking at next week and we’re still exploring the different options,” he shared.

The GOA boss went on to expound on the difficulties that this year’s celebrations present, with regard to participation and resources.

“It’s a bit difficult because we have to live with it. But it’s not what we’re accustomed to over the years, but because of the circumstances we have to do what we have to do and the thing is we’re trying our best to see how virtual we could go, but a lot of persons, young

athletes and so, don’t have wifi and that type of thing.

But we’re looking to see what we could do,” JumanYassin posited.

Looking beyond the grey area that is the coronavirus, Juman-Yassin shared some encouraging words for local athletes and sport enthusiasts, encouraging them to find creative ways to stay fit. However, the GOA President underscored that the most important aspect is to stay safe and healthy.

“The important thing is to keep safe; you have to stay safe. And try and keep as fit as possible, you can keep fit indoors and try to develop a programme in which you can attune your body and stay fit. Let’s hope the problems can dissipate shortly and we can get back to normality,” he encouraged.

Chris Gayle opts out Joseph’s 4, Gabriel’s 3 give of CPL 2020 owing Holder’s XI upper hand on Day 1 to personal reasons 3-Day warm-up match

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