Guyana Times Wednesday February 19, 2020

Gold medallion, stamps launched for Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary P17

Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

Issue No. 4201

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

PRICE

Phillips urges Disciplined Services to "think very carefully about future"

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Sachi General Store fire P12 ruled as arson – Fire Chief

Page 7

...says PPP/C will deliver better pay, training and matériel Reduction of polling places

“Very bad idea” – GECOM Commissioner See story on page 3

ꟷ Lowenfield agrees to look into concerns raised

P13 Linden woman jailed for assaulting husband

Integrity P18 Commission lacks funds to prosecute defaulters – Chairman

Page 13

Bandit shot dead after snatching woman’s bag

…accomplice injured Page First oil 18

Dead: Randy Bowen

Closure of sugar estates

Oil produced in Govt’s D&I December to expenses now be credited to over $2B – Jagdeo special account …previously maintained by estates Page 18

P15 4 cops implicated in assisting to traffic cocaine

Family of P9 Jude Bentley calls for Gary Best to be charged

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Wednesday, February 19 – 02:30h – 4:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h and Thursday, February 20 – 03:30h – 05:00h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, February 19 – 13:45h – 15:15h and Thursday, February 20 – 14:30h – 16:00h.

Reduction of polling places

“Very bad idea” – GECOM Commissioner

– Lowenfield agrees to look into concerns raised

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunshine will prevail throughout the day. There will be partly cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 20 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-Easterly to East North-Easterly between 1.34 metres and 5.36 metres.

High Tide: 01:23h and 13:43h reaching maximum heights of 2.11 metres and 2.23 metres.

Low Tide: 07:13h and 19:54h reaching minimum heights of 1.12 metres and 0.94 metre.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020

LOTTERY NUMBERS B

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FREE TICKET

Bonus Ball

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2020 DAILY MILLIONS

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LUCKY 3

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1

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Afternoon Draw

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Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

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PAY DAY

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21 SUPER PAY DAY

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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Crude Oil Rough Rice London Sugar

$57.32/barrel $241.61/ton $416.80/ton

Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask Low/High Change

Change %

$1601.20 $1584.80 0.00

+1.71 +0.70 0.00

USD Per Ounce $1601.20 $1605.60 0.00%

GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj

T

he decision of the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) to drastically slash polling places for the upcoming General and Regional Elections is being described as a bad one, one which the Elections Secretariat will now have to review.

This is according to Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, who confirmed that following a statutory meeting on Tuesday, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, has agreed to look into the concerns raised over the issue.

“What this has resulted in in some areas is concentration of polling stations in one location. Concentration in one place is a cause for concern. As you may well know, there is concern about the number of persons who may have to access one facility,” Gunraj said.

“A larger catchment area having a polling station in one place means persons have to travel longer distances; two, the number of persons who have to access that polling place. We have discussed with the CEO these issues and he has promised to look at it and as far as possible, resolve it.”

According to Gunraj, GECOM is catering for an average of just under 400 electors per polling station.

However, he reminded that there is still likely to be a disproportionate number of persons to polling stations in some areas.

“As far as possible, I think we are looking at a maximum of 400 persons per polling station. But if you have, for example, 10 polling stations in one location, you are talking about 4000 per-

sons accessing one location over the course of the day. In some places, you may have more polling stations in one place.”

Gunraj noted that while the number of polling stations has increased, it is the number of polling places that have been reduced.

He also pointed out that while the reduction of private residences as polling places may be the ultimate goal, the manner in which it was done is the issue.

“You cannot sacrifice voters’ accessibility, as well as logistics at the altar of a number of private residences. So, I still maintain that the use of private residence ought to be reduced where necessary.”

“But in cases where it’s (inconveniencing) persons or logistically, putting people out of the area, you can’t stop doing that. So, the use of private residences ought not to be eliminated if proper alternatives are not available.”

Nothing new

When contacted, GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Warde noted that emphasising the use

GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

of public places over private residence is nothing new.

Moreover, Warde said that GECOM made its decision on the basis that persons would not be inconvenienced. She noted that if persons have difficulties finding their polling station on Election Day, GECOM staff will be able to direct them.

“We want to ensure that when we move private residences, there is an additional security mechanism with that. Taking all that into consideration, the Commission has decided that as far as practical, we use public

buildings that remain accessible to electors and in their respective divisions.”

“There is a difference between a polling place and polling station. If there is a polling place (like a primary school), in that polling place there will be several polling stations. And it has always been that way. And with that, it is carefully marked.

You may have an alpha split (surname) or geo split (directions). And all those polling places will have information clerks if persons have difficulties.”

TURN TO PAGE 7

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guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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

Unbothered: public health care

O

ver the past few years, the number of complaints by patients and their relatives against the hospitals and health centres in Guyana, especially the Georgetown Public Hospital, has increased ten-fold. From all indications, some of the persons who are tasked with both the administration and administering of healthcare services to citizens are not taking their roles seriously. In fact, the media in Guyana have carried several reports of persons alleging negligence or other forms of malpractice on the part of health officials which have sometimes led to the death of patients.

What is even more worrying is that the subject minister and to some extent, those in charge of the administration of the health sector, seem to be unbothered by all of these reports. The Public Health Minister carries on as per normal and while she has made a few media appearances in the past to speak on some of these incidents, she has clearly not taken a proactive and hands-on approach to find real solutions to the problems facing the health sector.

This is not to say that the entire health system here is inefficient or incapable of offering top-class healthcare services to citizens, in fact, there are many health workers in the public health system, including doctors, nurses, assistants etc, who work extremely hard to care for our citizens and they must be recognised for their efforts.

However, there seems to be a few who are operating with their own rules.

The administrative structures of the health services are fairly good and workable but they are not being worked by those employed to do so. Many believe that employees are allowed to be unsupervised.

In 2019, Guyana Times reported on the deaths of three children who all lost their lives after the administering of a pre-chemotherapy injection at the GPHC within a matter of days. The incident had sparked much criticism against the hospital and had brought the medical institution into the spotlight, more particularly, the conduct of its staff as it relates to providing medical care. After mounting public pressure, a probe was carried out into the matter. However, it is still not clear as to what sort of action was taken against those involved.

There were also several other cases of maternal and child deaths that were given much media publicity over the past few years and several investigations were launched to determine what contributed to these deaths. In many cases, the findings of the probes brought into question the conduct of healthcare professionals and the entire health care system as a whole but in most cases, no one is held accountable.

The bottom line is that too many of our women have lost their lives during childbirth and too many babies have died due to various complications in the very early stages of their lives. On several occasions before, we had called for the authorities to take immediate action to ensure that maternal and child death rates continue to decline steadily.

The fact is that most maternal deaths and child deaths are preventable as healthcare solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known. The WHO has underlined the fact that all women need access to antenatal care in pregnancy, skilled care during childbirth, and care and support in the weeks after childbirth. To improve maternal health, barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services must be identified and addressed at all levels of the health system.

In a general sense, providing good quality healthcare should be a key part of a country’s policies. It is therefore hoped that renewed efforts will be made by health authorities here in ensuring medical, human and financial resources are in place to improve the quality of care that currently obtains in our public healthcare sector. At the moment, it is below par.

These students explaining the benefits of having a solar electricity system at the launching of the Education Department – Region Four biannual Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) Fair at the Golden Grove Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara (Education Ministry photo)

It is criminal to disenfranchise a voter Dear Editor, There is a dubious agenda on right now to disenfranchise the potential voter come polling day March 2 and it is coming from no other source than the body that should safeguard us against such activities, GECOM. This is atrocious behaviour to say the least, that an elections body can so conduct themselves or create the climate for such an atrocity to take place, this is preposterous! No person, place or thing - in this case GECOM - should cause a voter to lose that God-given right to vote; none! And for this reason, we stand united in condemning this move and demand that GECOM refrain from such action.

We, therefore, call on

The international community to intervene and put an end to such lawlessness.

This is a fresh assault on our democratic right to vote and choose a Government of our own choosing, nothing should hinder us from doing so. Guyana must stay in line with the democratic nations of the progressive world and this latest move caters for a backward move into the past where voters were deliberately disenfranchised. I say no hindrance should stand in the way of the voter and his or her voting rights.

From indications on the ground, it is quite clear that this election would see a massive turnout of voters, in this regard nothing, absolutely nothing, should stand in our way to cast our ballot.

All systems should be put in place for a smooth and incident-free process, end of discussion! You cannot tell me that an elections commission can so arbitrarily reduce the Places of Poll in the Mon Repos district from 20 to two and not expect a disenfranchisement of the voters there. Further to our discussion, there are over 10,000 registered voters in that area waiting to cast their ballots, could you imagine what would take place if all of those persons have to be crammed into 2 Polling Stations? The answer is chaos galore. Can GECOM give us a plausible explanation for this foolishness?

The cold hard fact before us is that this is a calculated move to disenfranchise

or for the most part cause confusion on election day in PPP/C strongholds. Why only known PPP/C areas were cut? Why weren’t PNC strongholds reduced?

The point is clear desperation time. Giving the green light to such illegality is outrageous!

It just defies intelligence that a Chairwoman of an Elections Commission can give consent, far more to give her stamp of approval to such criminal activity. It is criminal to disenfranchise a voter or even to permit the interference with the smooth running of the electoral process.

Dear Editor, Each and every morning and afternoon that I pass alongside the grand old City Hall building on Avenue of the Republic on the way to and from my office, I am swept over by two distinct emotions, one of profound fear that at any time that rotting edifice may collapse to the ground to the detriment of its occupants and passersby and the other feeling being that of complete disgust for the attitudes of the Mayor and Councillors for the last two decades and more who just sat idly by and allowed this beautiful edifice to deteriorate to the ruinous

state that it is currently in, whilst they fiddled.

Most troubling of all is their apparent disposition that the maintenance and upkeep of their own headquarters is none of their business, but rather seem to think that someone else, such as Central Government or even worse, foreign countries and international organisations must divvy up the cash to fix it.

How preposterous! The Georgetown municipality has been collecting billions of dollars in property rates, markets stall rentals, license fees, container taxes etc and rather than spend a

blind cent on repairing and maintaining City Hall, has opted instead to squander it on grand trips abroad, on purchasing fancy vehicles, on paying super salaries to its vastly bloated human resource structure, on contracts that do not subscribe to the tender procedures of Guyana and on useless projects such as the Presidential Park in Church Street etc.

Not surprising with their well-known lack of transparency, accountability, and high levels of corruption, their many pitches over the years to have a restoration fund established which they hoped would have attracted

donations from civil society, the Private Sector and international agencies have gone nowhere.

The time has come for those at City Hall to stop dreaming of restoring this edifice to its former 19th-century glory with grand plans that cost over $900 million garnering same from other people’s pockets, and instead, get to work fixing it in multiple phases using monies from its own budgets over the next few years in order to preserve our capital’s heritage.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Disgust for attitudes of the Mayor and Councillors

Sincerely, Kishore Das

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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

living it up while Will Basil finally come to Athefewmasses enjoy misery terms with his limitations?

Dear Editor, As we are finally approaching the General and Regional Elections one year after the passing of the successful No-Confidence Motion on December 21, 2018, I cannot resist the urge to write about the gargantuan legal cost and embarrassment which this infamous and asinine legal journey initiated by the Attorney General and his Government embarked on has cost the already overburdened taxpayers of our country. Can we be able to decipher the true motive behind this seemingly futile journey?

Can anyone tell us, the citizens of Guyana, the true financial costs of the many failures of our inept Attorney General, Mr Basil Williams, SC? The answer is yet another compelling reason why Guyanese should never again vote for the APNU/AFC coalition. Let us for a moment forget the tremendous embarrassment we have had to bear, both locally and internationally, which is immeasurable in terms of money. I have seen many and heard countless derogatory remarks made on social media and it gives such a bad image about a man who holds the highest legal office of the land. The total cost which Attorney General Basil Williams accumulated since 2015 has wreaked hav-

oc on the hard-earned taxpayers’ monies!

Let us take a look at the incompetence of this man.

In 2018 he was ‘pulled’ from representing Guyana in the border case between Guyana and Venezuela, citing a need for ‘greater expertise’ since over the years he has a poor track record for winning any major cases on behalf of his Government. He has lost cases to the level of the Caribbean Court of Justice and it involved large companies and private citizens. It is not that these cases present any complex legal manoeuvring, for instance, one can recall $446 million judgment in favour of Dipcon Engineering. In this case, he had failed to appeal the Supreme Court’s judgment within the prescribed period and the CCJ declared this as ‘unacceptable’. Another glaring case was GUYTRACT where he failed to realise that the contract should have been terminated due to the failure of the contractor to lodge a performance bond. Such incompetence and ineptitude, yet he laboriously argued that the case he is likely to win has not appeared in the courts yet.

Well, that was since 2018 but the opportunity came in 2019.

In 2019 the Attorney General embarked on a costly and useless legal excursion

Unbelievable

Dear Editor, I’ve been going to some political campaign meetings over the past weeks and have heard mention by Opposition spokespersons of the massive increases in taxes by this Government, which seemed unbelievable.

The increase in taxes, naturally, has resulted in additional billions of dollars in revenues. I have personally experienced a few of these unconscionable impositions. Someone stole from my vehicle, my vehicle revenue licence, which I only discovered when stopped by a traffic officer (which has another “story” altogether, and which I would not taint with this one). On Monday I went to Guyana

Revenue Authority to obtain a replacement and lo and behold, was told that I had to pay $6000 for a copy of the licence, the exact same cost of the original, previously issued. Now, it would be interesting if anywhere else in the world, a replacement of a Government issued document is the same cost as the original. I am certain that the same applies to other replacement documents.

Hopefully, these and similar unconscionable increases, affecting the entire population, including pensioners and young people, would be addressed after March.

With regards, Harry N Nawbatt

which delayed the General and Regional Elections by more than a year and tarnished our international image, irreparably. In the process his Government exposed the fact that they have disregarded and violated our Constitution to an incomparably high degree, ignoring even the CCJ rulings in the process. His and the coalition’s argument that 34 and not 33 constitutes the majority in our 65 member National Assembly will go down in the annals as the most nonsensical legal challenge ever. This is accentuated by the CCJ ruling that the appointment of Justice Patterson as the Chairman of GECOM was illegal.

Unfortunately, having lost the NCM up to the CCJ level he was still unsatisfied and tried to prove the Chief Justice’s ruling on the ‘residency requirement’ was incorrect. The Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed that residency is not a requirement for voting. But lo and behold the AG said that even though he was not disappointed he will be appealing to the highest court, the Caribbean Court of Justice.

Does this man feel that the entire Treasury is at his disposal to waste hardearned taxpayer dollars in such a frivolous manner and upon his whims and fancies?

Let us now try to put a cost to his legal incompetence. The No-Confidence to the CCJ legal cost is approximately US$2 million or $440 mil-

lion; the RUDISA case, another US$6 million (this case would have been withdrawn since GRA had to do an audit of the company for breaches) or $1.3 billion; another $1.2 billion to BK International; the NCM case locally cost about $200 million; the residency case another $50 million, the GUYTRACT case cost us $226 million and the illegal revocation of the rice farmers’ lease which cost more than $20 million and the list goes on ad infinitum!

This is willful squandering!

I do feel that if the coalition should be given another term then Basil Williams’ incompetence will have to be given a permanent budgetary allocation in Budget 2020 and beyond!

Our legal system has been constantly used as an expensive mockery by our Attorney General and I am sure that Guyanese have not seen the end of this man’s ‘legal antics’. To quote our legal luminary and former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, ‘the string of failures has been unending…’ but he will persist. We can expect more after March 2, 2020, should the coalition be destroyed at the polls, and from all indications such an outcome is inevitable. Will Basil finally come to terms with his limitations? ‘A man must know his limitations’, Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor, With elections on the horizon, sugar workers, for the first time since 2014, have been offered a raise in pay.

The timing of the increase is very suspicious, though the sugar workers, over the last few years, have been fighting tooth and nail for an improvement in their pay.

Undoubtedly, the substantial increase in the cost of living has eroded workers’ living standards. Just consider that at the current increase offered, a sugar worker would be required to cut approximately two (2) tonnes of cane to carry home $100 more. That sum would just be equivalent to the cost of a short minibus ride.

While I have been thought we must be thankful for our small mercies, I believe that the offer to sugar workers is insulting and an embarrassment. To be frank, those who approved the pay increase should hang their heads in shame to give sugar workers what really is less than a handout. Worse yet is that the increase comes into effect from this year. Those who know about sugar would know that the first weeks of the New Year is hard guava season for sugar workers.

Many workers are not able to earn since it is the out of crop period and there is hardly any work available to workers. So the workers hardly have much to look forward to in terms of retroactive pay.

While the workers are apparently held down, I understand that the GuySuCo, over the last few years, took a decision to retain several retired persons under the guise of a dearth of skills.

Of course, several ques-

tions abound about the contribution of these retirees to the industry. Many, I have heard, are unable to complete an 8-hour day but yet occupy senior and critical positions in the industry. It is said that they are reportedly receiving near to the maximum of their pay band without any rhyme or reason, though some have been re-engaged by the sugar company and ought to start at the bottom of the band. Apart from hefty pay packages, it is said that they also enjoy several perks and allowances which are very costly to the beleaguered industry. And if that wasn’t enough, the retirees, I understand, also benefit from gratuity payments which is equivalent to 22.5 per cent of their salaries payable semi-annually.

When taken in totality, they receive quite a superb package.

I have learnt, from a source, that this privileged group has pushed up the cost of the company’s senior staff employment by nearly half a billion dollars over the last few years. This, for me, is a scandalous development considering that sugar workers have been told repeatedly and without hesitation that there is nothing in the pot for them while the few are enjoying, it appears, more than the cream. I have been made to understand that the monies going to the few, is sufficient for the sugar corporation to give the sugar workers a further 5 per cent increase. So here is a situation of a few living it up while the masses enjoy misery.

Yours faithfully, Liebert Alleyne

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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think I have a problem with overeating. What can I do?

– Maya* The first thing is to figure out if your overeating is something that happens only once in a while or often. We all eat too much every now and then, like on holidays.

But if you’re overeating often, there are some things that might help you avoid doing so. For example, instead of eating when you’re not hungry, find other ways to keep yourself busy, like taking a walk or talking on the phone. Put your food on a plate or in a bowl and sit down at the table to eat – don’t eat out of a bag or container. And don’t eat meals or snack while doing something else, like watching TV or doing homework. That’s a set-up for overeating!

Binge eating, also called compulsive overeating, is different from simply overeating. People with binge eating disorder feel a compulsion (a powerful urge) to overeat. They regularly eat large amounts of food and don’t stop eating when they become full. With binge eating, a person feels out of control and powerless to stop eating while they’re doing it. Then, they may feel guilty or ashamed afterward.

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating is when people use food as a way to deal with feelings

Foundation

instead of to satisfy hunger.

We’ve all been there, finishing a whole bag of chips out of boredom or downing cookie after cookie while cramming for a big test.

But when done a lot – especially

without realising it – emotional eating can affect weight, health, and overall well-being.

Not many of us make the connection between eating and our feelings.

But understanding what drives emotional eating can help people take steps to change it.

One of the biggest myths about emotional eating is that it’s prompted by negative feelings. Yes, people often turn to food when they’re stressed

out, lonely, sad, anxious, or bored. But emotional eating can be linked to positive feelings too, like the romance of sharing dessert on Valentine’s Day or the celebration of a holiday feast.

Sometimes emotional eating is tied to major life events, like a death or a divorce. More often, though, it’s the countless little daily stresses that cause someone to seek comfort or distraction in food.

People

learn emotional eating patterns: A child who is given candy after a big achievement may grow up using candy as a reward for a job well done. A kid who is given cookies as a way to stop crying may learn to link cookies with comfort.

It’s not easy to “unlearn” patterns of emotional eating. But it is possible. And it starts with an awareness of what’s going on.

“Comfort” foods

We all have our own comfort foods. Interestingly, they may vary according to moods and gender. One study found that happy people seem to want to eat things like pizza, while sad people prefer ice cream and cookies. Bored people crave salty, crunchy things, like chips. Researchers also found that guys seem to prefer hot, homemade comfort meals, like steaks and casseroles. Girls go for chocolate and ice cream.

This can make you wonder: Why does no one take comfort in carrots and celery sticks? High-fat foods, like ice cream, may activate chemicals in the body that create a sense of contentment and fulfilment. This almost addictive quality may actually make you reach for these foods again when feeling upset.

If you think you may have an overeating problem, talk to a parent or doctor. Treatments are available that can help you feel better about yourself and have a healthy relationship with food. *Names have been changed to protect persons’ privacy. (kidshealth.org)

Y

ou will need:

A topic or subject for the songs Simple lyrics Creative music to accompany the lyrics Paper and pen or computer to document the song Musical instruments (optional) Music recording device and/or video recorder (these are also optional, but you’ll thank yourself in the future when your kids are grown and you can still watch or listen to their young selves)

Preparation Time:

0-5 minutes. The only real preparation needed is just waiting for inspiration to strike or coming up with information that you want them to remember.

Activity Time:

5-10 minutes. Thinking of the lyrics and music can take just a few minutes, but it’s also fun to colour lyric sheets, make audio/ video recordings or anything else that makes the experience more memorable. (Adapted from mykidsadventures.com)

NEWS

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Phillips urges Disciplined Services to "think very carefully about future"

...says PPP/C will deliver better pay, training and matériel

P

rime Ministerial Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips, has sent strong assurances to members of the Disciplined Services of a better life and retirement benefits, should the Party return to office come March 2.

Phillips, who would have served with distinction as Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force and later Coordinator of the Joint Services until his retirement in 2016, gave a detailed address on the plans set aside specifically for those who are serving Guyana in the law enforcement field.

According to him, his decision to join the PPP came after witnessing the audacious disregard of Guyana’s Constitution by the incumbent coalition Government.

Now, he has called on members of the Joint Services to make careful deliberations, as it can highly impact the future of the country.

“As the PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate for the upcoming General and Regional Elections, I urge you to think very carefully about the future of Guyana.”

He added, “The blatant disregard for the rule of

PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips

law by this unconscionable Government tore at the core of my professionalism as a retired public administrator. The violation of the Constitution of Guyana, which I had sworn to uphold during my military service, was the catalyst that caused me to forego my retirement and to return to serve the people of Guyana.”

Education, health care

Under the PPP’s governance, the Prime Ministerial candidate noted advanced provisions will be made for members of the Disciplined Services to access education, healthcare and better living

conditions for their family.

“Under the new PPP/C Administration, you, the men and women of the Disciplined Services, will have quality healthcare, educational opportunities, better pay to adequately provide for your families. You will own your own homes and you will retire with dignity,” Phillips outlined.

To achieve this goal, he pointed towards a carefully managed oil and gas sector, in which the resources will trickle down to benefit Guyanese. In this way, law enforcement officials can access better equipment, technological systems and training to advance their crime-fighting skills while lowering statistics.

He added that undoubtedly, the Disciplined Services have an important role to play in ensuring that this goal is achieved.

“Your conditions of service is paramount. We will provide more equipment, training and better facilities for law enforcement personnel, improved investigative and forensic capabilities; expand the use of modern technology and intelligence in the fight against crime including cybercrimes; expand the intelligence gathering

and processing capability of law enforcement agencies and promote intelligence-led policing,” he indicated.

Collaboration with Private Sector

There are also plans to implement initiatives for greater road safety and greater collaboration with the private sector. Most importantly, the Party has strongly agreed with the pol-

icy of zero interference in the operational management of these entities but will employ policies through the correct mediums.

“The new PPP/C Administration will provide strong, strategic policy guidance and oversight through the appropriate constitutional bodies such as the Guyana Defence Board and the Police Service Commission. We will not interfere in the day-to-

“Very bad idea...

Displacement, chaos

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), in working out the logistics of ensuring that voters are facilitated to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed sovereign franchise from the list of Polling Stations submitted by GECOM, discerned very disturbing trends countrywide.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Monday, PPP/C Chief Election Scrutineer Zulfikar Mustapha said that the decision by GECOM to reduce the polling places will now displace persons and cause chaos. Giving an example, he noted that in Mon Repos, there are approximately 10,000 vot-

day operations and management of the Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Police Force, Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Prison Service.”

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had alleged last year that the APNU/ AFC was influencing the operation and management of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) through political interference to achieve some of their objectives.

FROM PAGE 3

ers registered, yet only two Places of Poll – Mon Repos Nursery School and Mon Repos Primary School – have now been designated to facilitate them.

Mon Repos comprises several sections – Mon Repos North, Mon Repos Housing Scheme, Mon Repos Market Square, Mon Repos Squatting Area, Mon Repos Richardsville, Marthasville Block CC and Block 8 – which are widely dispersed.

From the data provided, approximately 7000 voters will now be funnelled into Mon Repos Primary School to cast their ballots. This is a recipe for chaos since, based on our history of past elections, most of these voters

will be arriving at the Place of Poll in the early hours of the morning or in the evening. In the last elections, Mon Repos had 19 polling places, which allowed a very orderly flow of voters and the voting was incident-free.

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall in a social media post on Monday evening had also been critical of GECOM’s decision. This decision, he said, must be reviewed owing to the potential for confusion on Election Day. According to Nandlall, this inequitable distribution of polling places is discriminatory in so far as it gives electorates in certain communities easier access to voting places than others.

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ECD businessman’s murder

Murder accused to face Judge, jury on March 3

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Dead: David Ramkissoon

he trial of Sherwin Clarke and Godfrey Gill, who were accused on August 21, 2016, of the murder of a Better Hope,

East Coast Demerara businessman will commence before Justice Sandil Kissoon and a 12-member jury at the High Court in Demerara on March 3, 2020.

According to reports, the body of 76-year-old David Ramkissoon also known as “Short Man”, a father of five, was discovered in a pool of blood with his throat slit in the living room of his home by his son.

It was reported that the man’s son had just returned home after spending a day at the creek with family members when he made the gruesome discovery.

Fiddling…

Godfrey Gill and Sherwin Clarke

The police stated that Clarke and Gill had a dispute over money stolen from Ramkissoon’s house not being shared equally and squealed on each other. It was reported that they con-

fessed to the killing a week after they were captured by the police.

State Prosecutors Tuanna Hardy, Tiffini Lyken and Nafeeza Baig have been assigned to this case.

J

…by another name ust when some might’ve thought that with less than two weeks to go with the elections, the “obstacle course” that most aptly describes the process following the NCM might’ve petered out. But up comes this latest bombshell from the GECOM Secretariat which has thrown the entire voting system into a tizzy. How can GECOM at the 11th hour – when the cock has already crowed twice – now inform the populace that they’ve decided to “consolidate” the Polling Places into only “official” governmental buildings – and in the process, reduce the number by almost half!!

Let’s explain that in a “Polling Place”, there can be one or more “Polling Stations” – so that while there will be the same number of Polling Stations, many of these will be places in different Polling Places than in previous elections.

And let’s be perfectly clear about this: the Secretariat’s fully aware of the likely outcome of this move. To wit, the creation of chaos and confusion of such a magnitude that it’ll be a miracle if these elections actually come off by the time the polls are supposed to close by 7 pm. How do you reduce 20 Polling Places in Mon Repos – which handled 8000 persons in 2015, or 400 each – to two, which now have to handle 4000 each??

Folks normally vote in the morning and evening – mostly the latter – so just think of what happens when, let’s say 3000 persons, show up at one of the Polling Places, say, the primary school after getting off from work?? There’s no point saying that there will be several Polling Stations at each Polling Place: those 3000 persons will be like a herd of cattle milling about in one corral!!

And we know what happens don’t we?? People begin to act like cattle as tempers fray! In fact, this was why homes, churches, mandirs etc became Polling Places: there are just not enough “official” places in every village. In yesterday’s paper, the GECOM Secretariat further exacerbated the onslaught on peaceful elections by announcing that in 217 sub-divisions, the residents have been transferred to ANOTHER DISTRICT to cast their votes!! The greatest number – 69 – is in Region 6!! Does this suggest that the Corentyne has less “official” buildings than anywhere else in the country? Or something more sinister??

In the hinterland, this “consolidation” of Polling Places and movement to other districts will definitely discourage persons from voting since the distance to travel will baulk all but the most rabid supporter.

But what’s dawning on your Eyewitness is that this drastic reduction of Polling Places to create crowds that’ll extend voting into the night might’ve just been the rationale for Volda’s “nightshift”!!

…with community policing There are the usual weeping and wailing and wringing of hands at the burgeoning crime wave that – as your Eyewitness discussed yesterday – the Security-Ministerwho-would-be-Prime-Minister just couldn’t get a grip on his dogs, drones, horses and curfew policies. But it wasn’t only what he did…there’s also what he DIDN’T do: sins of commission and sins of omission and all that!!

One of the most glaring lacunae was his and his government’s neglect of the community Police as part of the crime-fighting apparatus. Because it was the PPP that placed an emphasis on this component – just like with Amaila Falls Hydro – then it had to go!! Never mind it could’ve been tweaked to deliver just what was needed.

Consider the explosion of drug usage in the villages over the last decade. In rural areas, everybody knows everybody’s business. Folks know who’s selling and who’s buying the drugs. Properly ran community policing should be able to deal with that burgeoning scourge in a jiffy!!

But it’s all about politics, isn’t it?? …with the law Why are some surprised at the lawlessness of the PNC officials?? Winston Jordan refused to execute an order of the Court and is sentenced to jail for being in contempt of the Court.

Granger then offers him a “respite”!!

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

9 Family of Jude Bentley calls for Gary Best to be charged NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…picketed Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts

Friends and family of Jude outside the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts

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amily and friends of the late Jude Bentley picketed the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, calling for charges to be initiated against retired Rear Admiral, Gary Best an executive member of the People’s National Congress, the dominant party currently in Government, who struck down the 41-year-old national cyclist on February 8 on the Rupert Craig Highway.

Best was taken into custody where he was found to be above the legal alcohol limit but was subsequently placed on $100,000 station bail.

Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Bentley’s cousin, Gary Wiltshire said that the family will go the length and breadth to ensure that justice is served.

Retired Rear Admiral Gary Best

“We are calling for justice, we believe that those [who] are responsible for Jude’s death should be held accountable. If we have to show up here every day until justice is served, we will do that,” Wiltshire stated.

Dead: Jude Bentley

“If this was a poor man he would be right here in front of the [Georgetown] court today and we want everybody to be treated the same and we will stand up for that,” Wiltshire added.

Only a few days ago, Jude’s daughter, Jada Bentley, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper reiterated her call for justice in her father’s death given the fact that the alleged perpetrator tried to clear his name with an untruthful statement.

“I saw that Mr Best was claiming that my dad was not wearing any reflector lights. I felt really angry. Like it was really disrespectful to my dad,” the young lady expressed.

“He obviously, he has a bike shop, he has everything he needs for his bikes, his bicycles and everybody saw

the reflectors and he [Mr Best] claimed my dad was not wearing any reflector and he didn’t see him,” Jada noted.

Jude was laid to rest on Sunday last, where scores of persons were seen paying

tributes at the World Vision New Testament Church of God in David Street, Kitty, Georgetown.

Based on information received, the accident occurred at about 05:00h in the vicinity of the Russian Embassy,

Kitty, Georgetown.

At that time, Bentley was reportedly proceeding to Sheriff Street to meet a group of cyclists when he was hit by the black Land Cruiser, driven by Best.

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Sachi General Store fire ruled as arson – Fire Chief

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he Guyana Fire Service has determined that the cause

of the fire, which destroyed the Sachi General Store on Regent Street, Georgetown,

on Monday, was arson.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told Guyana Times

on Tuesday that arson was ruled as the origin during their investigation.

Sachi General Store on fire

Meanwhile, it is suspected that welding torches were used to break into the building, since they were discovered at the scene along with some other tools. It is believed that the steel grillwork was cut and pried open.

It was reported that the fire started at about 02:00h and would have started inside the store. A short moment after, the flames had spread to the other two stories and later engulfed the entire structure. During that time, persons within the vicinity reportedly heard a loud explosion which triggered a response.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was immediately called to the scene and deployed its resources to tackle the blaze. While adjacent buildings in close proximity were spared, they suffered significant water, heat and smoke damages.

Six hours later, firefighters were still at the scene evaluating the incident and dousing small patches of flames. The section between Wellington Street and Camp Street which housed the

structure was cordoned off to vehicular traffic as employees and passersby stood in disbelief.

The operators of the buildings were still trying to peg their losses, estimated in the millions. When asked if there were any electrical issues in the building, the response was in the negative.

It had been just under one year since the operators would have shifted to this store from a location just next door on Regent Street, which employed 16 persons.

Sachi General Store primarily operated from the ground floor while the two other flats were used for storage. After rummaging through the rubble, nothing was saved from the tragic incident. In fact, the only thing standing was the steel structure covered in broken glass and charred articles.

The Guyana Police Force was also called in to assist with the investigations.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a number of persons descended on the building, looting and searching through the debris to salvage items.

13 Bandit shot dead after snatching woman's bag NEWS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…accomplice injured

Dead: Randy Bowen

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oments after robbing a woman of her handbag, one of the bandits was shot dead and another one injured af-

arrived at the scene, Police had cordoned off the area as detectives carried out their investigations. The lifeless body of Bowen was seen lying in a pool of blood on the premises of the bar while his injured accomplice was lying on the ground with handcuffs on his hands.

Soon after, an ambulance arrived at the scene and the injured man was taken to be treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

However, the dead man’s father, Andrew Bowen, who positively identified his son’s remains, told the media that his son was no stranger to the law.

In fact, the now dead man was a former employee of the

“I weary talk to him. I do what a father suppose to do, there is [only] so much you can do, you can make the children but you can’t make their mind” – father ter a licensed firearm holder opened fire in their direction.

The robbery took place at about 16:00h on Tuesday at a popular shop at William Street, Campbellville, Georgetown.

The dead bandit has been identified as Randy Bowen of Lot 184 Duncan Street, Georgetown. The identity of the second bandit was not immediately released.

Based on reports received, Bowen and his accomplice had attacked the woman and relieved her of the handbag she was carrying.

After committing the robbery, the two men attempted to flee the scene but upon realising what was happening, a resident in the area whipped out his firearm and discharged several rounds, mortally wounding Bowen.

His accomplice was shot once. When Guyana Times

Guyana Water Incorporated and was slapped with several charges in the past including the attempted robbery committed on a police rank in 2018.

At the scene, his father stated “meh son don’t work nowhere; he used to work at GWI and he get fired about a year and something right now and he use to live with his mom. About twice he was charged with same stealing and so… he do about a three or four months remand in prison. I weary talk to him.

I do what a father suppose to do, there is [only] so much you can do, you can make the children but you can’t make their mind”.

Bowen’s body was taken to Lyken’s Funeral Home while the injured bandit remains under guard at the GPHC. Police are continuing their investigations.

Linden woman jailed for assaulting husband

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Linden, Region 10 woman was on Tuesday sentenced to three months’ imprisonment after she was found guilty of assaulting her husband.

Dulio LeeBing of Lot 110 Victory Valley, Wismar, Linden was charged for unlawfully assaulting Burt LeeBing, her husband. The mother of one appeared before Magistrate Dylon Bess at the Linden Magistrate’s Court.

The court heard that on February 9 at about 23:50h, the Virtual Complainant

(VC) was standing at Republic Avenue, Mackenzie, Linden when his wife saw him and began to verbally abuse him by using expletives. She then proceeded to hit him in the head with a beer bottle, which resulted in him receiving severe head injuries. A report was made to the Police by the VC following the incident. The man had indicated that his wife was in the habit of assaulting him. She will spend the next three months behind bars.

The body of Bowen being removed from the scene by undertakers

Andre Bowen, father of the dead bandit speaking with the media

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NEWS

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Ramsammy’s Ruminations 4 cops under investigation for APNU/AFC’s manifesto hypocrisy – promises strong Constitution, Integrity Commission

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t is dishonest, indecent, sheer hypocrisy, and insulting. APNU/ AFC’s 2020 manifesto promises good governance, just as they did in 2015. Two of the planks for good governance are a strong, inclusive Constitution and empowering the Integrity Commission. It is shameless they would even talk about strengthening the Integrity Commission when for almost two decades, before 2015, they flouted the authority of the Commission, not ever submitting any declaration and, then, after 2015, with their own appointed commission, treating it with absolute disregard and Dr Leslie Ramsammy contempt. It is sheer hypocrisy they talk about constitutional reforms when they have been in control of this process since 2011, nine years, and have done nothing, absolutely nothing, while, simultaneously, flagrantly violating the Constitution. Since 2015, they have abrogated the Constitution, discarding its authority like a dirty piece of paper.

In APNU/AFC’s 2020 manifesto, they, again, promise good governance, after being Caricom’s poster child for dictatorship, secrecy, unaccountability and non-transparency. At the heart of their promise for good governance are two proposals for the Integrity Commission – first, they proposed the strengthening of the Integrity Commission and, second, a review of the Integrity Commission Act. The sheer audacity, indecency and dishonesty are nauseating. No wonder many people feel like vomiting when they read such patent lies. These proposals are insulting to the Guyanese people. It treats them with total disdain.

The Integrity Commission did not start with APNU/AFC. It existed long before. For almost two decades, PNC parliamentarians never submitted their declarations, their excuse being the Commission was a PPP creature. After 2015, under the Integrity Commission Act, David Granger himself appointed and swore in the members of the Integrity Commission. A strong supporter of APNU/AFC, a known friend of Moses Nagamootoo, was appointed its Chairperson. Since 2015 to present, dozens of MPs and officials from APNU/AFC, the new name for the PNC, including many ministers, have not made their declarations – they are in violation of the law. Mr Granger himself is one of the officials who admitted he had not submitted his declarations on time. As of January this year, Mr Granger had not submitted declarations that were due since June 2019. While promising Guyana an effective Integrity Commission, has Mr Granger submitted his declarations yet?

With such scant regard for the Integrity Commission, it is sheer hypocrisy, disgusting arrogance, to tout the Integrity Commission an instrument for good governance. What is the use of reviewing the legislation if a Government and a President openly flout its authority, rendering it a paper tiger, something people laugh at?

If the Government-appointed Commissioners refuse to uphold the integrity of the Commission itself, how is it that the Commission could serve as the watchdog to prevent officials from abusing their authority for personal gains? In five years under the administration of APNU/AFC, the Integrity Commission has been totally, absolutely useless. Would the Commission and its Chairman be silent had Bharrat Jagdeo been in violation? This is a government that does not respect the institutions that are supposed to guarantee accountability and transparency, that are supposed to share governance. After emasculating the Commission for five years, now in its 2020 manifesto, it is touting the Commission as an instrument for integrity, decency and honesty. There is no point promising to strengthen the Commission if, in the first place, the Government has no regards for it. Sheer hypocrisy!

As for constitutional reform, five years have gone and APNU/ AFC has never even drafted a single amendment to the Constitution.

The only thing David Granger and APNU/AFC are interested in is to eliminate the No-Confidence Motion. They want unbridled power, no scrutiny, and no accountability. Every strong democracy, every single one, has provisions for recalling a government, whether it is by way of a No-Confidence Motion or by way of impeachment.

After not a single initiative to reform the Constitution over the last five years, in their 2020 manifesto, all they promise is to fund community consultations. They spent more than $100M annually over the last five years for community consultations, but there is no report of these community consultations and reforms proposed in those consultations. Now, all they could say for constitutional reform is they will continue with those consultations. It is sheer dishonesty.

It is indecent and dishonest to side-line the standing commission for constitutional reform in the Parliament of Guyana, established by the PPP. APNU and the AFC have been in control of this Commission since 2011, with Mr Granger himself the Chairman between 2011 and 2015 and Basil Williams since 2015. In the Granger-led commission, APNU and the AFC had 6 members to the PPP 4. I was a member of that Commission. It met only two times.

Since 2015, with an APNU/AFC— majority again, the Commission has met only twice in five years. Thus, in ten years under the leadership and control of APNU/AFC, the Commission has met four times, two of those meetings were for the election of the Chairperson, those meetings lasting for no more than two minutes.

Why should anyone, therefore, have confidence APNU/AFC is serious about strengthening the Constitution and the Integrity Commission? It is pure and simple, sheer hypocrisy.

assisting to traffic cocaine

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our ranks attached to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) are under investigation for allegedly collaborating with civilians to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

This was according to Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan on Monday, who stated that depending on the outcome of the investigations, the ranks could face criminal charges.

“It will have a negative impact once you have misconduct in the Force. That

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan

is why I have zero tolerance for that. They are elements about the gravity of it.

Certain things are so grave that you have to dismiss policemen. Terminate them immediately…,” Ramjattan added.

Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU), Lesley Ramlall, has stated that the unit is faced with the challenge of having cooperation at the lower level.

“The challenge here is getting every single member of law enforcement to

understand that this has to be all about our country, and understand that once you are being lured or being tempted to get into to corrupted activities it has dire consequences for our country,” he had mentioned.

Nevertheless, it was alleged that the ranks assisted in getting the cocaine on a flight at the Eugene F Correia International Airport located at Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara.

The incident was reportedly caught on camera.

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Gold medallion, stamps launched for Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary

GRA employees now represented I

by GPSU

At the signing ceremony: GPSU President Patrick Yard, Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle and Commissioner General Godfrey Statia

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he Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) on Tuesday signed a Collective Labour Agreement with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), recognising it as the official representative body of its employees.

A collective labour agreement is a written contract negotiated between one or more unions and a company for their workers to be represented during disputes, wage increases and other matters. The document was signed by the two parties, with oversight from the Labour Department.

At the signing ceremony, President of the GPSU, Patrick Yarde indicated that this had been in the making for many years. Now, they are responsible for ensuring that the rights of these persons are upheld.

Commissioner General of GRA, Godfrey Statia in-

dicated that over 500 employees are registered with the Union, accounting for about 40 per cent of the total human resource count.

He said that this will benefit the welfare of workers of the semi-autonomous body.

“What it means for the GRA is that there is an additional level of representation for its staff and its members. Previously it used to be on an ad hoc basis, that only for Union members. Now, especially when you’re dealing with wages and salaries and working conditions, you will have one Union Head that you can talk to. You expect that there will be an improvement in workers’ welfare and efficiency,” Statia insisted.

According to him, the Union can now go on a ‘recruitment drive’ to add more persons to the list of members.

n celebrating Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary, commemorative stamps and limited-edition gold medallions have been launched for the occasion.

Through collaboration between the Guyana Post Office Corporation, Natural Resources Ministry and Public Telecommunications Ministry, the commemoratory memorabilia were unveiled on Monday at the Umana Yana, Kingston.

Each medallion is 99.99 per cent pure gold and weighs one Troy ounce. Only 200 pieces have been produced and will go on sale, at over $200,000 each. During the unveiling ceremony last night at the Umana Yana, officials did not reveal how much the Guyana Government paid to have these items produced.

Four stamps were unveiled for Day 2020 The pure gold medallion that is on sale

However, in addition to the medallions, the entities launched four national commemorative stamps.

According to Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes, the theme this year is depicted in the stamps. They are inked with the ceremonial mace,

the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel Liza Destiny, and Mashramani celebrations among Guyanese.

Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman spoke about the medallion and its significance to the country’s historic gold mining sector. The symbols used are a stock of gold, a batel, a pick-axe, the map of Guyana, leaves and a

patch of land.

According to him, Guyana’s mining sector must transcend onto value-added products to greater impact the economy.

Meanwhile, President David Granger also commented on the conRepublic tributions from the gold industry by saying, “The gold sector is an economic powerhouse. Gold mining accounts for 9.7 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product. Gold is our largest foreign exchange earner. The commemorative medallion which is being issued is made of gold – pure Guyanese gold — which was mined from the bowels of our country and minted finely to enhance its value.”

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Closure of sugar estates

Govt’s D&I expenses now over $2B – Jagdeo …previously maintained by estates

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overnment is now spending in excess of $2B to maintain Drainage and Irrigation structures on the East Coast and East Berbice as a result of the closure of the four sugar estates.

This figure was disclosed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday while addressing a public meeting in East Canje, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne). Hundreds of sugar workers in the community who lost their jobs as a result of the closure of the Rose Hall Estate – one of four estates closed – were in attendance at the meeting.

Jagdeo told the gathering that the Drainage and Irrigation system along the East Coast and many other villages were being maintained by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

However, with the closure of the estates on the West Bank Demerara, East Coast Demerara, East Canje and Corentyne, Government now spends more than $2B to maintain the structures.

Under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration, Government was spending close to $5B annually to subsidise the sugar industry after Guyana lost is a preferential deal with the European Union.

“Sugar was maintaining all those drainage and irrigation canals and so because the estates are closed all of the canals are clogged up and the villages are flooding. If you take away the sugar workers contribution in taxes and to the National Insurance Scheme and too many other places you would see that it would have been better to keep sugar open and keep 11,000 people working rather than the transitional subsidy,” Jagdeo said.

Vindictive act

He added that the closure of the sugar estates was a vindictive act by the coalition government.

“They wanted sugar workers to migrate or to leave the country in order to change the demographics.

Integrity Commission lacks funds to prosecute defaulters – Chairman

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t has been just over a month since the Integrity Commission published a list of public officials who failed to declare their assets in 2019.

Under the laws of Guyana, they are required to declare their assets to the Commission by June 30 each year and as such, if any public officer fails to comply with the Commission, they can be fined $25,000 and imprisonment for a period of not less than six months.

However, Integrity Commission Chairman Kumar Doraisami, in an exclusive with Guyana Times on Tuesday, stated that the Commission does “not have funds” to prosecute defaulters.

“Right now, we do not have funds to do that, because elections is going to be next month and from then on, we expect to allocation of money to run the office and right now, we barely getting by ,because the Government is not really functioning right now and we are trying to cover basic expenses,” Doraisami noted.

According to the Chairman, the first course of action would be to publish the names of the defaulters, “then we’ll go ahead and think about prosecution.”

He reiterated that prosecution should be the last resort as the Commission’s duty is “to get them to comply” while adding that the Commission lacked an investigator. “[We] cannot even follow through because we do not have Prosecutors; we do not have sufficient investigators.

We will just have to wait.”

Integrity Commission Chairman Kumar Doraisami

Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has already called on the Commission to ensure that this level of “lawlessness” does not go unpunished.

Among the list of defaulters are Attorney General Basil Williams; Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Karen Cummings; Public Service Minister Tabitha SaraboHalley; Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan; Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton; Junior Minister of Agriculture, Valerie AdamsYearwood, and Minister within the Ministry of the Presidency, Simona Broomes.

Other defaulters include former Government Parliamentarians: Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Mervyn Williams, Jennifer Wade, Rajcoomarie Bancroft, John Adams, Richard Allen, Michael Carrington, Jermaine Figueira, Barbara Patricia Pilgrim, Donna Moothoo, Reynard Ward, and Audwin Rutherford.

That is what the motivation was.”

However, Jagdeo told the community that the severed workers need not to worry anymore because when the PPP returns to power, they will return to work.

“Whatever it costs, we are reopening these estates, we are going to reopen them,” he assured sugar workers, their families and others, who have been adversely affected by the closures.

“I could imagine how a father and a mother feels when they have a hard time feeding their children to school.

Many of you now have a hard time doing so. I wanted everyone in Canje to know that whatever happened we will keep our promise because we know and we felt the pain and have seen the suffering. So, this is payback time for all suffering. This payback time for the broken

A section of the crowd at the Canje, Berbice meeting on Tuesday evening

promises...”

In 2016, the Government announced the closure of the first sugar estate located at Wales on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD).

The move was made despite the fact that Government spent millions of dollars to hold a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) which recommended that there be no closure of the sugar estates.

Estates at Enmore, Skeldon and Rose Hall were

subsequently shut down – triggering widespread controversy.

More than 10,000 persons have been directly and indirectly affected by the closure of these estates.

Nearly 5000 workers from Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon were dismissed in late 2017, and over 1000 were dismissed from Wales in the previous year.

Cottage industries that were once thriving in some

of the communities in close proximity to the estates have since died as spending power has been significantly diminished among the local populace.

Retrenched workers, most of whom were breadwinners of their families, are still struggling to find a steady job.

Despite calls by stakeholders, the Government had refused to conduct a socioeconomic study before closing the estates.

The rippling effects of the closure of the sugar estates can be seen in those communities, especially in the commercial districts where activities have practically been ground to a halt.

Market areas which were once bustling are now almost isolated.

In some cases, families face a daily struggle in finding a way to send their children to school.

First oil

Oil produced in December to be credited to special account – Govt says no monies earned; crude from December comes under profit oil – as Greek tanker set to depart with Guyana’s share of crude oil

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he Ministry of Finance has compiled and released its first report on the Government’s management of the oil sector since first oil started in December, revealing among other things that no revenues were earned by the Government for that month.

Rather, the report states that all petroleum from December will go towards profit oil, of which the Government will be entitled to half. Moreover, the amount will be credited into a special account called an under/over lift account. The report also goes on to explain why no oil was lifted.

“During December 2019, no oil was lifted from Liza Destiny since the volume available for lifting, ie 163,673 BBL (Barrels of Oil), was less than the standard cargo size of 1,000,000 BBL.” “Since the Government did not lift its December 2019 entitlement, this amount is credited to an (over)/under lift account which keeps track of all barrels of crude owed to parties. The combined entitlement of the Contractor10 (CONTR) at the end of December 2019 was 71,040 BBL.” A total of 427,282 barrels of oil were actually produced, of which 3202 barrels were used for production purposes.

Approximately 282,000 barrels of oil were used specifically for the cargo tank ballast.

The first lift of a million barrels of oil from the Stabroek Block, part of Exxon’s share, took place last month. It was expected that Guyana’s first share of crude would be lifted by today. A ship, the Cap Phillipe, arrived last week to ship the crude.

In fact, reports in sections of the media indicate that

Oil tanker Cap Phillippe will be shipping Guyana’s share of crude

the oil tanker is set to depart with the one million barrels of crude. According to reports, the offloading will take up to 36 hours, under the watchful eyes of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), after which the tanker is likely to depart today.

Back in December, the Department had announced that Guyana’s first three lifts of one million barrels of oil each will be sold to Shell.

Shell was chosen ahead of companies like Exxon, CNNOC, Hess and BP, all of which bid for the oil. But since the oil would be sold on the spot market, there have been questions as to whether Guyana would earn less money for the oil.

This news was immediately criticised by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who

has also said that companies participating in this process could be barred from doing business in Guyana should his party be elected next year.

In addition, Auditor General Deodat Sharma had said in sections of the media that his department would look into the transaction.

In defending the decision, the Department had said that at the end of the process, Shell had the most competitive yet secure pricing.

The Department had also claimed that Shell’s global trading reach, Latin American interests and willingness to share refinery info were factors in the decision.

In addition, they had reported that Shell was ready to support the Energy Department in operating the cargoes.

“The decision was based

on the following criteria: A competitive pricing that limits the Government’s exposure to market uncertainty, the size, scale and global reach of the Shell trading operations’, the company’s high level of integration between Upstream, Trading and Downstream,” the Department had said.

The Department also cited Shell’s “strong foothold in the Latin American markets and the size and scale of their shipping and storage operations in the region, allowing for multiple options on the Liza crude commercialisation.

The range of new grades Shell has recently introduced into the market and their willingness to share critical refinery information with the DE which Guyana needs in order to understand Liza crude behaviour.”

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BCB/RHTY&SC/Natasha Gangoo Tribute Trophy cricket

Gajnabi, Samaroo propel RHT Metro to victory

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Natasha Gangoo handing over the winning trophy to RHT Metro female skipper Shabika Gajnabi

est Indies player Shabika Gajnabi and former Guyana Under-19 player Marian Samaroo both impressed with the bat to spearhead their team, Rose Hall Town (RHT) Metro to an easy 65-runsvictory over West Berbice in a specially-arranged match at the Bush Lot Ground, West Coast Berbice in honour of former Berbice and Guyana female cricketer Natasha Gangoo.

The match was organised by the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) with support from the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club, MS,

in honour of Gangoo, who has retired from the game after two decades of service to the Ancient County.

Rose Hall Town Metro won the toss and elected to bat first after preparation moisture delayed the game by one hour.

They reached an impressive 182 for 7 from their allotted 30 overs. Skipper Gajnabi top-scored with an attractive 73, which included 11 boundaries while Samaroo supported with a solid 50, which included four sweetly-struck boundaries. The pair added 120 runs for the second wicket after former

West Indies pacer Tremayne Smartt bowled Kimmone Thomas for 2 in the first over with the score at 6 for 1.

Oma Matadin, 16, and Kassie Munroe supported Gajnabi and Samaroo. Needing to score 183 to lift the Natasha Gangoo Tribute Trophy, the home team found themselves reeling at 13 for 3 in the fourth over as former West Indies left-arm pacer Erva Giddings bowled T George for 0 while Sherika Campbelle was also dismissed for 10.

Smartt returned with the bat to score 36 and received support from Kantana Mentore (21 not out); R Liverpool (22) and Trea Isaacs (10) as West Berbice ended on 117 for 8 off their 30 overs.

Gangoo, playing in her final match, was unbeaten on 5. Plaffina Millington, Kassie Munroe, Sherika Campbelle and Giddings took two wickets apiece for 12, 13, 11 and 10 runs respectively for Rose Hall Town Metro.

The Gangoo Tribute Trophy was the second in 2020 for the visitors after they had earli-

er lifted the BCB/RHTY&SC/Nand Persaud 50-over female tournament.

BCB President Hilbert Foster hailed Gangoo as a pioneer of female cricket in Berbice and described her as a positive role model to the young generation of female players. He expressed gratitude to her for her two decades of service to Berbice, and stated that as long as he remained the BCB President, every hero in the county shall be recognised and honoured. He urged Gangoo to share her vast experience with her younger colleagues to inspire them to greater heights.

A grateful and emotional Gangoo, who handed over the winning trophy to RHT Metro’s skipper Gajnabi, expressed gratitude to the BCB for honouring her on her retirement.

The BCB and RHTY&SC handed over a collection of gifts to the retired player while the teams in the middle honoured her by giving her a special bat salute as she left the ground for the final time.

20

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

GCB/Dave West Indian Imports and Exports U-15 Inter-county...

Khan’s all-round brilliance propels B’ce past Demerara ꟷ President’s XI roll over Essequibo

Afazul Kadir made 40 for the President’s XI at Everest

Player of the Match Salim Khan bowls Story and photos by Brandon Corlette

A

fine all-round effort from Berbice Under-15 player Salim Khan ensured the Berbicians brush aside arch-rivals Demerara, by 64 runs in their second-round match of the inter-county tourney at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara.

In a match, which was affected by rain around 15:00h and was graced by the presence of Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster, Berbice

looked a dominant outfit against their counterparts.

With the pitch not being conducive to batting, Berbice won the toss and took first strike, scoring 140-7 when the 50 overs expired. Khan, batting at number eight, top-scored with an unbeaten 39, including four boundaries, to push his team to a decent total on a difficult batting turf. In addition to Khan, West Indies U-16 player and Berbice skipper Rampertab Ramnauth offered resistance with a shotfilled 27, which included

four boundaries.

Earlier, Berbice lost opener Avishkar Persaud for a duck with the score on 2-1.

Ramnauth then dominated a second-wicket partnership of 41 runs with Rashaad Gafur, who had only three runs. It was a slow approach for Berbice, but the batsmen held on despite losing Sanjay Algoo (00); Kevin Kisten (05); Zadeem Larose (06) and Damion Cecil (14) cheaply. At 101-7 after 40 overs, Khan and Matthew Pottaya (14*) joined forces and took the score to 140,

BCB/RHTY&SC/Nand Persaud Co Ltd 50-over female tournament…

Smartt inspires New Amsterdam/ Canje to runner-up spot

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Tremayne Smartt

ormer West Indies player Tremayne Smartt on Saturday last proved that she still has a lot left in the tank by turning in a brilliant all-round performance to lead her team New Amsterdam/ Canje to an easy victory over West Berbice in the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB)/Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC)/Nand Persaud Co Ltd 50-over female tournament.

Smartt top-scored with an unbeaten 75 before taking three wickets to lead her team to the runner-up position in the three-team tournament.

Rose Hall Town Metro had defeated West Berbice by a whopping 326 runs and New Amsterdam/Canje by 96 runs last week to emerge as champions. New Amsterdam/Canje won the toss and elected to bat first. They amassed 262 for 7 from their allotted 50 overs.

Smartt, who hit four boundaries in her top score, received support from R Grimmond (32) and Ashmini Munisar (27). Devona Frank – who had figures of 1 for 36 in 10 overs; T Isaacs – who secured 1 wicket for 41 runs in nine overs and D Small – who took 2 for 32, were the successful bowlers for West Berbice, which showed remarkable improvement from their first match against RHT Metro. Needing to score 263 from 50 overs to win, West Berbice were bowled out for 117 with national players Kantana Mentore scoring 41 not out.

Smartt (3 for 25) and Under-19 medium pacer Jamie Campbelle (3 for 34) were the main bowlers for the home team. BCB President Hilbert Foster stated that he was fully aware that enough female cricket was not being played in Guyana and this was a major frustration for the female cricketers. This, Foster stated, is owing to the fact that the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club is the only club in Guyana to have a full female team.

He urged other established clubs to invest in female cricket, and committed the BCB in 2020 to organise several other tournaments along with numerous developmental programmes for females. Special thanks were expressed to the RHTY&SC and the management of the Nand Persaud Co Ltd for their support.

ending the innings with an unbroken 39-run partnership.

Bowling for Demerara, Alex Daterdeen bagged 4-23 in nine overs, while Hemraj Harrichand had 2-29.

In Demerara’s reply, they lost an early wicket with the score at 4-1, in the form of Romeo Deonarine (0). The Berbice bowlers kept it tight for a majority of the innings. Wayvell Allen, batting at number 10, topscored with 15 while Ryan Latif made 13. The rain came down upon Lusignan at 15:00h with Demerara on 41-5 after 28 overs.

The match then restarted at 15:40h and Berbice promptly wrapped up the innings. Khan capped off his dream game with 3-17 in 5.2

overs while Guyana U-15 player and fellow off-spinner, Pottaya had 3-22 in 10 overs. Leg-spinner Algoo had 2-12 in six overs in a collective bowling effort.

Demerara were eventually bowled out for 96 in 40.2 overs.

Meanwhile, at Everest, the President’s XI steamrolled Essequibo by eight wickets. Batting first, Essequibo made 147 all out in 37 overs.

Adesh Dass top-scored with 46 and Shazif Mohammed made 32. Player of the Match Stephon Sankar impressed with 4-25 in 10 overs to set up the match.

In reply, the President’s XI ended with 148-2 in 40.5 overs. Afazul Kadir made 40 and Sankar returned with the bat to score an unbeat-

Matthew Pottaya in a Narinelike action

en 25 to lead his team home by a comfortable eight-wicket margin.

The tournament will continue on Thursday, February 20, with Demerara playing the President’s XI at GCC Bourda and Essequibo playing an undefeated Berbice at Lusignan.

Premium Asphalt, T/R Construction Lower Corentyne T20 Tournament

Hicks and Lewis spearhead Rose Hall Town Tigers to semis

F

ormer national player Delbert Hicks at the age of 36 continues to dominate cricket in Berbice as he spearheaded his team, Rose Hall Town Tigers, to an easy victory over Albion Open CC in the playoffs of the Berbice Cricket Board/ Premium Asphalt and T/R Construction tourney.

Rose Hall Town have now advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament, which is organised by 19 teams in the Lower Corentyne area.

Rose Hall Town Bakewell and Albion CC are barred from playing in the tournament.

Batting first after winning the toss, at the Area H Ground, Rose Hall Town Tigers amassed 184 for 5 from their allotted 20 overs.

Hicks scored a brisk 78, which included six boundaries and five sixes. Verapen Permaul supported with an unbeaten 43 while Mark Papannah and Khemraj Mahadeo chipped in with 18 and 13 respectively.

Z Zieker and P Baldeo took two wickets for 25 and 32 respectively from four overs. Albion Open CC in reply were never allowed

Delbert Hicks

to score freely as the home team bowlers bowled a tight line.

They only reached 133 for 7 when the 20 overs expired to lose by 51 runs. Andy Naidu (40); T Jainarine (22); D Rengasami (21) and P Baldeo (16) were the principal scorers for the visitors.

Therbhuwan Jagdeo

took 2 for 19 from four overs while left-arm spinner Randolph Lewis took 3 for 25 from four overs. Rose Hall Town Tigers will now play Ramnarine Memorial in the lone semi-final. The winners of the play-off between arch-rivals Fyrish and Chesney will advance to the final.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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21

The Guyana U-20 team celebrate a goal during their game with St Vincent and the Grenadines

T

he Under-20 national men’s football team, commonly referred to as the Junior Jaguars, extended their winning streak on Monday evening in a scintillating 3-0 victory over St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Playing at the Nicaragua National Football Stadium in Managua, Nicaragua, the Under-20 national team made

it two in two as they overcame St Vincent and the Grenadines easily. Coming off of a 6-0 victory against Monserrat, during which Nicholas Mc Arthur struck a hat-trick and Omari Glasgow, the scored a second win.

At the sound of the first whistle, Guyana began their hunt for a goal with an attacking forward game,

but St Vincent seemed as though they were up for the challenge, as they matched strides with the Guyanese youths.

This vigour from Guyana’s opponents was short-lived as Osafa Simpson netted the first goal of the game in the 35th minute to give Guyana the lead.

Following the break, the

Fruta Conquerors Under-20 player found the back of the net once again, two minutes after play resumed for another bout of celebration from the Guyanese boys.

Meanwhile, under the watchful eyes of the likes of Marcus Wilson, Guyana’s backline remained solid, shutting down any chance St Vincent had of coming close to the net and its custodian.

Omari Glasgow refused to be left out of the scoring party for the second game in a row, as he netted Guyana’s third goal in the 68th minute and cemented the victory.

During an engagement with local media, the team’s Head Coach, Wayne Dover spoke highly of the team’s defensive players and the goalkeeper, who both fought hard to keep it together.

“During that period, they created three chances that forced our goalkeeper into action where he made a couple of spectacular saves to keep a clean sheet,” Dover explained.

“They continued to high

Lee, Fredericks shine at Mae’s U-14 Tournament

Ronan Lee receives his trophy from GCF President Frankie Farley

T

hirteen-year-old Ronan Lee was untouchable over the weekend as he copped the Mae’s Under-14 Mashramani Chess Championship.

In seven rounds of the Swiss system, Lee, a student of Marian Academy, stayed true to form to play unbeaten in the tournament with convincing victories over all his opponents. Being one of the oldest players in the competition, Lee remained super focused over the two days (Saturday and Sunday), and looked ready to rise to higher heights in the world of chess.

Trailing closely behind, 12-year-old Neal Rodrigues lost one game and finished with six points for the second position. Hinterland Scholarship student Anasie Fredericks surprised the other competitors, being the best girl on show.

Fredericks did well to utilise all the experience she

gained from the women’s qualifiers to leave the other girls playing catch up in the tournament.

Although gaining six points similarly to Joel Wong, Fredericks finished ahead of him, based on the point system.

While Lee and Rodrigues walked away with the top two trophies respectively, Fredericks bagged the third-place accolade and the award for the most outstanding female player.

The rest of the tournament’s top ten comprised Wong, Marcus Hinds, Joshua Khan, Mayas Khan, Lucas Simpson, Nicholas Zhang, and Matthew Spooner, who finished 4th to 10th respectively.

Marian Academy’s Marcus Hinds, who finished with 5.5 points, copped first place in the Under-12 category.

His schoolmate, Isabella Rodrigues was second in the category with five points while Micaiah Enoe was third with 4.5 points, completing the category sweep for Marian.

For the Under-10’s, Mayas Khan copped first place with five points. Siblings Nicholas Zhang and Alexander Zhang completed the podium in the category with five points each.

Six-year-old Aquilani Swaminadha was recognised as the youngest player in the tournament, bagging 3.5 points from seven games.

The Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), in its effort to run off all the age group competitions in a timely manner, has identified Queen’s College as the next proposed venue for the highly-anticipated Under-16 competition. The Under-16 battle will conclude the series of tournaments planned for training and development of junior chess players.

After which, the focus will be switched to Guyana’s hosting of the Junior CARIFTA Chess Championships in April. According to the GCF, training sessions will now be expanded as final preparations begin for the CARIFTA Championships, which are slated for the Easter weekend in Guyana. (Jemima Holmes)

press in search of a goal to reduce the deficit; however, we defended resolutely to deny them space to create any scoring opportunity. In one of their offensive moves, they lost possession high up the field, and we play off the counter-attack to score our third goal of the game.”

While the Junior Jaguars are in high spirits following two straight wins, Coach Dover emphasised the need for them to stay grounded and focused.

“It’s time for the players to come back to earth to refocus on the mission ahead. USVI isn't a walk in the park, and no game is easy. We have to ensure no complacency step in where the players and staff start thinking the team is easy to beat and we achieved already. We have to approach the game with a level of seriousness and confidence.

We have to be disciplined and play hard like in the previous games to continue with the good results achieved,” the Coach said of the team’s upcoming encounter.

Guyana now sit on six points in Group A of the Under-20 CONCACAF Championship qualifiers, tied on points with Nicaragua. However, the hosts are currently leading the Group on goal difference.

The Junior Jaguars will hunt another three points on Friday, February 21, when they take on the US Virgin Islands.

Teams finalised for Golden Republic T20 Bash

T

he highly-anticipated Golden Republic T20 Bash just gathered significant momentum with the naming of the sides to go head to head in the feature at the Guyana National Stadium on Friday, February 21 from 18:00h.

With the likes of Sherfane Rutherford and Shimron Hetmyer leading the teams, a host of international and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) stars will turn out as Guyana celebrates 50 years as a Republic.

The Hurricanes have picked Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies T20 batsman Lendl Simmons, Christopher Barnwell, West Indies Under-19 World Cup duo Kevlon Anderson and Ashmead Nedd and impressive fast bowler Nial Smith while opener Chandrapaul Hemraj, Anthony Bramble and all-rounders Rayad Emrit, Raymon Reifer and current Jaguars Captain Leon Johnson will take the field for the Renegades.

At 14:00h, national champions Regal All-Stars will take on their arch-rivals Ariel Speed Boat in a softball match to get things going in what is expected to be an electric atmosphere. The day’s event is organised by the Ministry of the Presidency’s Department of Social Cohesion with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport in collaboration with the Guyana Cricket Board.

Tickets are on sale at the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) office at Regent Road, Bourda for $2000 for any stand and vehicle parking passes are $1000 each.

Hetmyer Hurricanes: Shimron Hetmyer (Captain); Trevon Griffith; Lendl Simmons; Raymond Perez; Kevlon Anderson; Kemol Savory; Christopher Barnwell; Ronaldo Ali-Mohamed; Ashmead Nedd; Gudakesh Motie; Nial Smith; Qumar Torrington; Richie Looknauth; Vishal Singh; Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Technical Director); Steven Jacobs (Coach); Akshaya Persaud (Manager) and Neil Barry Jr (Physiotherapist).

Rutherford Renegades: Sherfane Rutherford (Captain); Chandrapaul Hemraj; Jonathan Foo; Anthony Bramble; Leon Johnson; Raymon Reifer; Tevin Imlach; Kevin Sinclair; Rayad Emrit; Quintin Sampson; Joshua Jones; Ramaal Lewis; Keon Joseph; Ricardo Adams; Esuan Crandon (Technical Director); Veerasammy Permaul (Coach); Devendra Bishoo (Manager) and Ernest Campo Gonzalez (Physiotherapist).

22

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Adams backing ODI success in Sri Lanka, says fitness a core value

West Indies lost to Sri Lanka in the last ODI played during the ICC 50-Over Cricket World Cup in 2019

D

irector of cricket, Jimmy Adams, believes West Indies can overcome the challenge of foreign conditions and come away with a series win against Sri Lanka in the three-match series starting in Colombo on Saturday.

West Indies have never won a one-day series in Sri Lanka and suffered a 3-0 whitewash on their last tour there five years ago.

“I’ll be anticipating positive results. I think we have a fairly strong squad even though they are in conditions that are not typically West Indian,” Adams said.

“Even when taking into consideration they (Sri Lanka)

are playing at home which one always has to consider, I’ll be looking forward to positive results from the lads down there.”

West Indies lost their opening warm-up match in Colombo on Monday, going down by two wickets to a Sri Lanka Cricket XI. They take on a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI on Thursday in their last tour match before facing a strong Sri Lanka side in the opening One-Day International.

The Kieron Pollard-led West Indies have been boosted by the return of left-hander Darren Bravo, who struck a hundred in Monday’s warm-up match, and includes stylish opener Shai Hope who was one of the leading scorers in ODIs last year.

Left-arm spinning all-rounder Fabien Allen has returned to the side while the in-form Nicholas Pooran has overcome injury to make the trip.

Adams said the tour represented a chance to continue preparations for the 2023 World Cup in India, noting it was important players made the most of opportunities.

“I think we have an abundance of talent in Sri Lanka at the minute,” the former West Indies captain said.

“On top of talent, I think the team is coming together nicely and it’s something we want to start making strides towards and that’s getting a really strong core group of players.

“On top of getting results, we want to start identifying a strong core group of players who can represent well in the next World Cup in 2023.”

He added: “So we have to bear that in mind – not at the expense of winning – but a lot of the players [on the current side] will be looking forward to making that journey or be in the mix in two to three years time.”

Left-handers Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis, two of the side’s most aggressive players, were both axed from the squad for the series after failing fitness assessments.

And Adams said fitness would remain one of the bedrock values upon which West Indies hoped to build a successful international unit.

“We’ve gone

CWI Director of Cricket, Jimmy Adams

through the process of laying the foundation which includes making sure players have the information and the support and are quite clear on the values that we want to incorporate into our game,” Adams explained.

“And we’re standing beside those values because we think that the team we want to build is really going to be built on those foundations – it has to happen.

“I don’t think anybody wants to be in a situation where players miss out because of that (fitness) but at the same time players have a responsibility to themselves and to the organisation to ensure they are cooperating and are part of the whole value system.

“I’m hoping that the two lads will turn it around very quickly, get themselves to an acceptable level and that we will see them back on the park sooner rather than later.”

(CMC)

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup warm-up matches…

India restrict West Indies in low-scoring thriller I

ndia successfully defended a below-par total of 107 against West Indies in their second warm-up match in the lead-up to the Women's T20 World Cup at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, Australia on Tuesday.

Despite an ordinary performance with the bat, India stepped up on the field, with Poonam Yadav successfully defending 11 runs to seal a two-run win for India.

After their first warm-up match against arch-rivals Pakistan was abandoned due to rain on Sunday, Harmanpreet Kaur's team got off to a horror start after they won the toss and opted to bat.

India lost in-form opener Smriti Mandhana as early as the second over for 4.

Jemimah Rodrigues walked back without troubling the scorers and young Shafali Verma threw her wicket away after hitting two boundaries as India were reeling at 17 for 3 in the fourth over.

Captain Kaur, who is not in the best of form, tried to steady the Indian innings, but she was dismissed for 11 (16 balls).

All-rounder Deepti Sharma scored 21 and added a crucial 30-run stand for the fourth wicket with Kaur as the duo were able to resist West Indies pacers' charge after the early jolts.

The middle order failed with senior

batter Veda Krishnamurthy (5); Pooja Vastrakar (13) and Taniya Bhatia (10) struggling to get going. However, India went past 100, thanks to a quickfire 24 (16) from Shikha Pandey.

In reply, West Indies got off to a steady start with Lee-Ann Kirby leading the charge. However, Britney Cooper took a while to get going and was eventually dismissed for 1 from 18 balls.

Cooper's slow start put pressure on the rest of the batters as the asking rate shot up. Kirby top-scored with 42 (41) and there were useful contributions from Captain Stafanie Taylor 16 (24) and Hayley Matthews 25 (21), but West Indies were not able to get the job done at the death.

With 30 runs needed off the last two overs, Matthews went after Rajeshwari Gayakwad in the penultimate over, hitting three boundaries and a six.

However, West Indies were not able to get 11 in the final over bowled by Yadav. The leg-spinner got Matthews out on the fourth ball and then removed Chinelle Henry on the final ball to seal a two-run win for India.

Sharma (1-12); Kaur (1-15) and Pandey (1-15) were all economical as they helped put pressure on the West Indies batters during the run chase.

(India Today)

SCOREBOARD

Lee-Ann Kirby

India Women Innings (20 overs maximum) S Verma c Cooper b Connell 12 S Mandhana c Selman b Connell 4 JI Rodrigues c †Campbelle b Henry 0 H Kaur (c) c Taylor b Mohammed 11 DB Sharma c Nation b Mohammed 21 V Krishnamurthy b Fletcher 5 P Vastrakar c Mohammed b Alleyne 13 T Bhatia † st †Campbelle b Taylor 10 S Pandey not out 24 P Yadav not out 4 Extras (w 3) 3 TOTAL (20 Overs, RR: 5.35) 107- 8 Did not bat: H Deol, RS Gayakwad, RM Ghosh, RP Yadav, A Reddy Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Smriti Mandhana, 1.5 ov), 2-17 (Jemimah Rodrigues, 2.6 ov), 3-17 (Shafali Verma, 3.1 ov), 4-47 (Harmanpreet Kaur, 10.4 ov), 5-52 (Veda Krishnamurthy, 11.2 ov), 6-60 (Deepti Sharma, 12.6 ov), 7-73 (Pooja Vastrakar, 16.2 ov), 8-80 (Taniya Bhatia, 17.4 ov)

Poonam Yadav (left) celebrates the win with her captain

BOWLING SC Selman SS Connell CA Henry ASS Fletcher A Mohammed

(1-0-9-0) (4-0-20-2) (3-0-14-1) (4-0-26-1) (3-0-16-2)

SR Taylor AA Alleyne

(3-0-13-1) (2-0-9-1)

West Indies Women Innings (target: 108 runs from 20 overs) B Cooper c & b Pandey 1 LAGL Kirby b Sharma 42 SR Taylor (c) run out(Gayakwad) 16 HK Matthews c †Bhatia b Yadav 25 CN Nation c Mandhana b Yadav 0 DJS Dottin c Mandhana b Kaur 1 CA Henry c Krishnamurthy b Yadav 17 SA Campbelle † not out 1 Extras (lb 2) 2 TOTAL (20 Overs, RR: 5.25) 105-7 Yet to bat: A Mohammed, ASS Fletcher, SS Connell, SC Selman, SS Grimmond, AA Alleyne, CA Fraser Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Britney Cooper, 5.6 ov), 2-57 (Lee-Ann Kirby, 13.1 ov), 3-62 (Stafanie Taylor, 14.5 ov), 4-63 (Chedean Nation, 15.2 ov), 5-67 (Deandra Dottin, 16.3 ov), 6-104 (Hayley Matthews, 19.4 ov), 7-105 (Chinelle Henry, 19.6 ov) BOWLING RS Gayakwad S Pandey DB Sharma H Kaur P Yadav P Vastrakar

(4-1-25-0) (3-0-18-1) (4-0-12-1) (4-0-15-1) (4-0-20-3) (1-0-13-0)

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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

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GCB/Dave West Indian Imports and Exports U-15 Inter-county...

Page 20

Khan’s all-round brilliance propels B’ce past Demerara ꟷ President’s XI roll over Essequibo Lee, Fredericks shine at Mae’s U-14 Tournament Page 21

Page 21

The Mae’s U-14 top three: Ronan Lee (centre); Anasie Fredericks (right) and Neal Rodrigues

Junior Jaguars down SVG 3-0

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