Guyana Times Wednesday March 18, 2020

Guyana closes airports to incoming international flights

P13 Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana guyanatimesgy.com

Issue No. 4229

THE BEACON OF TRUTH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

PRICE

GECOM, APNU/AFC destruction of democracy: Day 17

US warns of “serious consequences” for persons involved in electoral fraud

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE: COVID-19

P14

3 persons test positive, 10 relatives quarantined by Health Ministry …facility lacks basic amenities – sources

See stories on pages 2&7

...as APNU/AFC action defies int'l warnings of consequences

The Government of the United States of America (USA), in its starkest warning to Guyana to date, since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, said: “Individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate Government, [or] regimes will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States.”

The warning was issued on Tuesday from the highest level of US Diplomacy—US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Speaking at a media conference on South American affairs, Secretary Pompeo told reporters “The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana.”

According to the US’ Secretary of State, his country joins with the Organisation of American States (OAS), Commonwealth, the European Union (EU) and “and other democratic partners in calling for an accurate count”.

He also commended the Caribbean Community (Caricom) role “in seeking a swift democratic resolution.”

The threat of individual sanctions by Secretary of State Pompeo was made amidst allegations of gerrymandering tactics being laid against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to delay or interfere with the tabulation of the elections results.

...Judge grants APNU-favoured injunction to block recount ...lawyer named in petition denies filing application

“There are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted” – Caricom Chair

...says Govt without credible, transparent vote count lacks legitimacy See stories on pages 7&13 ...High-level Caricom team quits

APNU/AFC’s injunction exposes duplicity of Granger – PPP/C See story on page 3

…coalition fearful of recount – Irfaan Ali Page 9

Granger hands blank cheque to ministries in COVID-19 fight

Lack of action in addressing corruption in Police Force P12 – US State Dept Lethem to close Takutu Bridge over COVID-19 fears – Deputy P10 Mayor …as commercial zone closes

US Embassy suspends visa services in P9 Guyana

Child rapist jailed for 6 P8 years Uitvlugt factory loses 200 P12 hours of work as a result of equipment failure

2 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

US warns of “serious consequences” for persons involved in electoral fraud …will be subject to serious consequences – Secretary of State

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo

T

he Government of the United States of America (USA), in its starkest warning to Guyana to date, since the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, said: “individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate Government, [or] regimes will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States.”

The warning was issued on Tuesday from the highest level of US Diplomacy— US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Speaking at a media conference on South American

affairs, Secretary Pompeo told reporters “The United States is closely monitoring the tabulation of votes in Guyana.”

According to the US’ Secretary of State, his country joins with the Organisation of American States (OAS), Commonwealth, the European Union (EU) and “and other democratic partners in calling for an accurate count”.

He also commended the Caribbean Community’s (Caricom’s) role “in seeking a swift democratic resolution.”

The threat of individual sanctions by Secretary of State Pompeo was made amidst allegations of gerrymandering tactics being laid against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to delay or interfere with the tabulation of the elections results.

Several observer groups in addition to a number of political parties contesting the 2020 Elections have lamented a lack of transparency in the process, with at least one set of results declared being thrown out by the courts and a second declaration being set aside in

Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers

favour of a recount.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) initiative came into being as a result of the delays and statements by the observer missions and a five-member delegation of Prime Ministers to Guyana on a two-day mission this past week, “to work with stakeholders to craft a path forward out of the present political situation.”

Prime Minister of Barbados, the Right Honourable Mia Amor Mottley—who is also Chairperson of Caricom— was accompanied by Prime Ministers Dr Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Roosevelt Skerrit of

President David Granger

Dominica, Dr Keith Mitchell of Grenada and Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The specialist team arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), onboard a military aeroplane on Saturday evening, ahead of the recount and is Chaired by Francine Baron, former Attorney General and Foreign Minister.

Other members of the team include Anthony

Returning Officer for Region Four, Clairmont Mingo and Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield

GECOM Chair Retired Justice Claudette Singh

Boatswain, former Minister of Finance of Grenada and Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government of UWI. They were also joined

by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), Fern NarcisScope and Barbados’ Chief Electoral Officer, Angela Taylor.

The international community, including observers and the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union had described the tabulation process for Region Four as one that lacks credibility and transparency.

NEWS

3

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

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

Wednesday, March 18 – 01:00h – 02:30 and 13:30h – 15:00h and Thursday, March 19 – 02:00h – 03:30h and 14:30h – 16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Wednesday, March 18 – 12:45h-14:15h and Thursday, March 19 –13:30h – 15:00h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY

Late morning thundery showers and cloudy skies will prevail during the day. There will be cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North North-Easterly to East NorthEasterly between 1.34 metres and 4.47 metres.

High Tide: 12:02h reaching a maximum height of 2.08 metres.

Low Tide: 05:27h and 18:23h reaching minimum heights of 1.25 metres and 1.10 metres.

SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020

LOTTERY NUMBERS O

01 05 07

08 15 19

03

FREE TICKET

Bonus Ball

TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2020 DAILY MILLIONS

03 07 17 18 20 LUCKY 3

4

3

8

8

Afternoon Draw

9

3

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

02

03

06

11

14 18 19

PAY DAY

SUPER PAY DAY

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020

03 04 08 15 17

07 08 10 17 18

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

$28.73/barrel $250.65/ton $338.50/ton

Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask Low/High Change

$1532.90 $1465.00 +5.00

Change % -4.59 -0.18 0.00

USD Per Ounce $1533.90 $1554.20 +0.33

APNU/AFC’S injunction exposes duplicity of Granger – PPP/C …coalition fearful of recount – Irfaan Ali

T

he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has stated that the APNU/AFC coalition’s latest delay tactic in the ongoing elections fiasco has exposed the duplicity of incumbent President David Granger.

On Tuesday, an injunction was obtained from the High Court to block the national recount, which was slated to commence that afternoon and be supervised by the independent high-level Caribbean Community (Caricom) team.

Instead, the regional delegation, which was put together by the Caricom Chair, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, upon the request and agreement of President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo respectively, has since withdrawn from Guyana.

Witness the undermining

In a subsequent statement, the PPP/C pointed out that Guyanese, as well as the regional and the international communities, are continuing to witness the undermining of the process to finalise the results of the March 2 General and Regional Elections that will allow for a declaration and swearing-in of Guyana’s new President – in a transparent and lawful manner.

“The filing of an injunction… to block the agreed recount exposes the duplicity of President David Granger, those around him and those within the APNU/AFC coalition. It was Mr Granger who called the Caricom Chair, Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, to say he did not want to be sworn-in on the basis of disputed election results and requested a high-level Caricom team to supervise a recount of the ballots,” the PPP/C said in the missive.

According to the Opposition party, although sceptical of the President’s intentions, it nevertheless agreed to this as a political solution to move the country forward and avoid negative consequences for the nation.

The PPP/C pointed out that over the past two weeks, it has exposed the complicity of some staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and certain high-ranking members of the APNU/AFC coalition to perpetrate electoral fraud on the Guyanese people, undermine the country’s democracy, and expose Guyana to isolation in the free world.

“Within a matter of days, we have had two fraudulent declarations of election results in Region [Four (DemeraraMahaica)] by a compromised Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, manoeuvres that undercut transparency and credibility in the electoral process and, [on Tuesday], efforts to frustrate and undermine an agreement for a Caricomsupervised recount of votes from the 2020 Elections,” the party noted.

It went on to outline that in addition to the delay in signing the aide-memoire, there have been consistent efforts by Granger’s agents to undermine the Caricom agreement, which he himself requested. The latest episode in this saga, according to the Opposition party, is having

PPP/C Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali

Incumbent Granger

Ulita Moore, who is an APNU/ AFC coalition candidate, file the injunction to stop the recount.

Ali asserted.

He went on to remind of the GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh’s public commitment, which was also given to the Court, for a recount of the contentious tabulation of Region Four results, which has been marred with allegations of fraud.

Nevertheless, Ali further reiterated his party’s commitment to fight for democracy and freedom, and the rights of people. He noted that the party’s resolve in this struggle will not wavier despite all the frustrations.

Meanwhile, the PPP/C’s missive stated that Tuesday’s move has shown the global community the true nature of Granger and his cabal.

“This is now revealed, first-hand, to the leaders of Caricom. They, too, will not be able to recognise his illegal and illegitimate regime should he move forward to be sworn in based on fraudulent results,” the Opposition party noted.

Coalition fearful of recount

To this end, the PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday contended that the incumbent APNU/AFC coalition is fearful of allowing the recounting process to be conducted.

“The recount is to establish who won these elections.

We know who won these elections but we are not fearless about going to the recount.

Our country and the international community are seeing who are fearful in going to this recount… What is it that the APNU/AFC is afraid of in going to the [ballot] boxes, what is it that GECOM is afraid of in going to the boxes?

It is clear that they are afraid of something and that is why these delay tactics are being used… we’ve made it clear, we’re not afraid of a recount of any of the box in this country,”

President

David

In fact, it referred to statements of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, comments earlier on Tuesday, warning Guyana that regimes, which benefit from electoral fraud and an illegitimate government, will face “a variety of serious consequences” from the North American powerhouse.

On this note, the Opposition said, “Should there be a swearing-in on the basis of fraudulent election results, the People’s Progressive Party will treat Mr Granger’s regime as illegal and illegitimate and will pursue the consequences addressed by Secretary Pompeo to the end, as well as sanctions for the members of the APNU/AFC coalition, their families, their cronies, and their collaborators”.

In the meantime, the PPP/C urges all Guyanese, particularly its supporters, to remain vigilant and calm, adding that they should not be provoked and ensure that no action is taken in contradiction with the laws of Guyana.

The party implored with persons to stay home and await further guidance from the party.

The party’s pleas come on the heels of moves by the APNU/AFC coalition to mobilise protesters across the country, with calls for Granger to be sworn-in as President.

According to the PPP/C, this shows the extent to which the “rigging cabal would go to destroy our democracy”.

4

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 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

Disrespect to Caricom

T

he Caricom Community on Tuesday had no other choice than to withdraw its high-level team that was sent to Guyana to supervise the recount of ballots here following the fraudulent and illegal declaration that was made by Region Four (DemeraraMahaica), Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, which marred the elections verification process, which was up until that time was running smoothly.

“It is clear that there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason. Any Government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy,” Caricom Chair Mia Mottley said on Tuesday evening.

Having attempted to assist in the recount as a way of ensuring that democracy is not comprised, Mottley has now joined in the regional and international condemnation of illegal and unverified results for the March 2, 2020 elections.

Guyana again stands on the verge of returning to a full-fledged dictatorship that oppressed the nation from 1964-1992. When the legal verification and tabulation process using Statements of Poll (SoP) was abruptly ended and a winner indicated, democracy was snatched in the presence of the piercing eyes of the world.

It was the most blatant suppression of freewill that one could have witnessed and was done with complete contempt for the Constitution and disregard for people’s rights. It remains utterly perplexing as to why, having used the SoPs from political parties and the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to verify and tabulate results for nine Administrative Regions, and having results declared that were corresponded and uncontested, the same could not be done for Region Four.

The subsequent action of the Returning Officer (RO) to abort the process and illegally declare unverified results is therefore wicked, disingenuous, and blatantly disrespectful to the Guyanese people and the international community.

Such action was nothing short of barefaced electoral rigging and is a cold and frightening reminder of what transpired for almost three decades of dictatorial rule. It also demonstrated an uncaring disposition to the consequences that would inevitably be brought to bear on Guyana and Guyanese.

It can only be seen as the culmination of previous calculative actions, including President David Granger’s unconstitutional and unilateral appointment of Justice James Patterson as the GECOM Chairman; unnecessary and deliberate court action to defy the Constitution following the December 21, 2018, No-Confidence Motion (NCM), and the audacious disregard of the rulings and consequential orders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

Given the illegal declaration of Region Four results, it is irrefutable that those actions noted were strategic to have a timeline along with cronies to effect what took place. Mr Granger and his coalition have their SoPs and know the actual results.

They must have known they had lost, for how else can the abrupt ending of the verification and tabulation process be explained?

They must have known that, had the process continued in a lawful manner, despite winning Region Four, the margin would not have been enough to overtake the PPP/C. With such knowledge, they knew that a mechanism had to be implemented to facilitate their stay in Government.

Given what transpired, it is extremely difficult not to conclude that the illegal declaration and the subsequent clearing of the GECOM office, which left the SoPs out of sight of party representatives and observers, were facilitated by Government cronies within the Secretariat.

The international community and Caricom have all deemed the declaration of Region Four results illegal, and have warned that Granger must not be sworn in. Under these circumstances and in the face of sanctions, the President is expected to act in the best interest of the country and its people.

Clearly, it is not about who wins but about ensuring the process to determine the winner is lawful and transparent. His hypocrisy is as indisputable as the disgrace he unnecessarily brought to the country.

A subway station stands empty during rush hour in New York, March 16 [Photo by REUTERS/Lucas Jackson]

The uncertainties of Guyana Dear Editor, Guyana is currently pervaded by a climate of uncertainties and insecurity.

1. No given timeline in relation to the completion of the national recount of ballots 2. No date for National Grade Six Assessment 2020 3. No date as to when the members of the Guyana Police Force and Guyana Defence Force who are in line will be free to return home Guyana a land of uncertainties.

A few weeks ago, it was brought to the public’s attention that Guyana had identified its first case of coronavirus.

The issue which arises and for which we the Guyanese citizens deserve to be told by public health officials is whether the persons who came

into contact with the woman who died from coronavirus have been isolated and if so, how many persons in Guyana are in isolation to date?

The Ministry of Education issued an advisory indicating that all schools and private lessons should be closed so as to ensure social distancing thereby reducing the possible spreading of the coronavirus.

His Excellency David Granger on national television urged persons to desist from large gatherings.

Dear Editor, Given the obvious bias which exists within GECOM in Region Four in favour of APNU/ AFC, readers can understand why they are resisting the recount of the votes of Region Four.

Hypothetically, if that same bias extends across the country then the recount would yield more votes for the PPP/C. Some ev-

What constitutes a large gathering?

The various branches of the Guyana Police Force have large numbers of men and women working together at given times. The conditions under which some of these Police officers work and dwell are almost in-

humane, the washroom facilities and sleeping quarters are extremely untidy.

It is a travesty that some members of our security forces are still in line almost three weeks after Guyana’s National and Regional Elections have been conducted.

Are the members of the Military, Police Force and Fire Department immune to the coronavirus?

Are those men and women not human beings as well?

If the Ministry of Public Health and His Excellency David Granger are so concerned for public safety, perhaps they can inform the nation as to whether there are mechanisms in place to sanitise the arms and ammunition that Police officers exchange as their shifts change. Perhaps, it is time that we isolate the men and wom-

en of the Guyana Police Force and the Military as we have done with our learning institutions in Guyana, let us strive to ensure that social distancing is done across the board. Are we going to isolate each and every prisoner in all the prisons and holding centres in Guyana? What system is there in place to facilitate social distancing at the New Opportunity Corps? To continue on the path Guyana has recently chosen clearly shows the double standards of those institutions designed to dispense fairness and equity in Guyana.

I call on all right-thinking Guyanese to speak now before Guyana really becomes isolated and you are silent forever

idence has already been seen to support this in one of the regions.

GECOM/APNU/AFC is, therefore, going to resist the recount at all costs for it will expose Presiding Officers and other persons connected to the elections machinery. Of course, one can argue that there exists, persons who favour the Opposition parties too. Well, let us put all

doubts to rest by proceeding with the recount.

We must never go into another election with GECOM as it is currently staffed or structured. Claudette Singh, Lowenfield, Meyers, Mingo, Yard and many others, yet to be identified, have committed fraud against Guyana and destroyed public confidence in GECOM.

This entity must be dissolved and replaced.

The recount will also provide the necessary ammunition to punish these shameless people.

The world is waiting and watching to see the final verifiable results from the recount which is being supervised by Caricom.

Sincerely, Africo Selman

Extrapolating bias

Sincerely, Ravi Ram

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

5

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

Juxtaposed actions Dear Editor, David Granger will never allow a recount of the Region Four ballots until he makes peace with his loss; for the ballots will confirm he lost the election and reveal his duplicity of efforts from behind his Chinese wall to subvert GECOM and have himself declared the winner.

Ploy after ploy failed and then came the unanticipated divorce from the process by the US/UK/EU/Canada and the Organisation of American States observer mission. It left Granger with his ‘win’ but no possibility of recognition by any other country in the world.

Faced with the promise of “isolation” for himself, members of his Government if he formed one and any accomplices, Granger turned to Mia Motley and Caricom for what everyone assumed was a face-saving manoeuvre.

This has become a quagmire as in true Granger fashion, he is engaging in wriggling by proxy.

There is also a major problem for those who attempted the ‘Mingo Magic’ trick to achieve the ‘win’. The EU wrote asking to examine the SoPs used to compile the infamous ‘spreadsheet’; this request cannot be complied with because SoPs with Mingo’s figures do not exist, not now, not ever... Let me explain, The SoPs come with a plethora of security features including one that prevents erasing of pen-ink, it is easier to produce counterfeit money than to fake an

SoP. Mingo never complied with the CJ’s court order because there was no doubt what the outcome would be; Mingo instead scanned SoPs into digital form (pdf/ jpeg) and used photo editing software to edit the figures. Mingo then used a projector with a smeared lens (petroleum jelly) to display his handiwork onto a makeshift screen (tablecloth on cardboard). Mingo has no ‘doctored’ SoPs to use in an attempt to satisfy the EU request; all Mingo has is genuine, unaltered SoPs that do not match numbers on his ‘spreadsheet. The Chief Elections Officer can easily compare SoPs and decide if Mr Mingo is guilty of heinous electoral fraud.

The CEO also failed to hold Mingo accountable for Volda Lawrence’s signature on his declaration form, to the discredit of GECOM. In the absence of decisive action from the CEO, Mingo held an SoP charade that fooled no sensible person but did pave the way for Mingo to make a declaration of Region Four results and for the Chief Elections Officer to prepare a report for the Commission’s perusal and recommendation.

All was set for Granger to be sworn in as the next President on Sunday night, March 15. Granger did not go forward as expected by his supporters as he was faced with the reality that any Government he forms would not be accorded recognition internationally;

Dear Editor, It is unbelievable that President David Granger invited the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Motley, to send a Caribbean delegation to our country to “supervise “ a recount of the electoral results and then his party’s lawyers proceeded to challenge the Elections Commission from

conducting the recount.

It must be either Mr Granger has lost control of the party of which he is the Presidential Candidate or he has acted in a manner that brings into question his personal credibility and honesty.

Unbelievable

Yours sincerely, Kit Nascimento

Granger is currently engaged in two juxtaposed battles, on one hand, he is seeking to bow out gracefully and on the other to convince his supporters that he won the election. The futility of the latter exercise lies in the fact that even if he convinces his flock, he cannot then assume the Presidency under threat of international sanctions. Ironically, Granger cannot thumb his nose at the international community precisely because Guyana is particularly vulnerable economically at this time due to his incompetence.

Editor, I reiterate, David Granger will not allow Region Four ballots to be recounted in a non-GECOM supervised process until he accepts that he has lost the election and is ready to step down from the Presidency.

Given his intransigence, I believe Granger will brave the promise of personal and national sanctions out of hubris. As with all who suffer this malignance, the end will be ignominious. How many go down with him on this titanic mistake is up to their personal discretion, a few notables have already deserted the sinking ship, one with the golden exit line “and now I must go”, maybe he should have proffered that advice to his revered leader before he exited stage left.

Respectfully, Robin Singh

6

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s 2020 National Grade Six Assessment Practice Tests, complete with answers, starting with English Paper 1 in two parts. This is the second part of Paper 1, the answer key for Part 1 is also attached.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT PRACTICE TEST

PAPER 1

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

March 11, 2020 Reading Time: 10 minutes Writing Time: 60 minutes

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. 1. In addition to this test booklet, you should have an Answer Sheet.

2. Write your candidate number on the answer sheet and underline the subject.

3. This test contains 40 questions. You are required to answer ALL questions. Four responses are given for each question. The responses are A, B, C and D. Only ONE response is correct.

4. On your Answer Sheet find the number which corresponds to your question and shade the same letter as the one you have chosen.

Here is an example done for you.

For questions 26 and 27, identify the function of the word underlined in each sentence.

26. Tandy ran around the field slowly.

(A) Verb (B) Adverb (C) Adjective (D) Preposition 27. The teacher marked the books and gave them to the pupils.

(A) Noun (B) Adverb (C) Pronoun (D) Conjunction For questions 28 and 29, choose the correct word for each sentence.

28. A person who shows people to their seats.

(A) Usher (B) Tourist (C) Manager (D) Chauffeur 29. A person who writes books.

(A) Leader (B) Author (C) Hostess (D) Labourer Choose the sentence which is written correctly in the negative form.

30. (A) We could not find no books anywhere.

(B) I don’t want no money from Mark.

(C) The boys are not doing any of their chores.

(D) All the witnesses claimed that they didn’t see nothing.

Read the passage and answer the questions which follow.

When a raw peanut sprouts, it usually grows into a plant about eighteen inches high. The plant produces bright yellow blossoms that look like the garden flowers known as sweet peas. After the flowers pollinate themselves, they wither. A shoot from the stem grows longer and longer, bends downward, and pushes into the earth. Underground, the shell develops and encloses the seed. That’s why the peanut is called the groundnut in a good many countries.

The peanut is more than a snack food. A pound of pea-

1. Anita received a ____________Christmas gift.

ANSWER SHEET (A) beuitful (B) buteful 1.

A B C D (C) beautiful (D) beauitful The letter C has been shaded on the answer sheet because beautiful, the correct answer, is next to C. 5. If you are not sure of the answer to a question then choose the one which you think is BEST. Shade the letter you have chosen.

6. If you want to change your answer, erase

nuts contains more protein than a pound of beef. They also supply a nutritious oil that is used for cooking and salad dressings.

The peanut is special in more ways than one. It can be eaten raw, boiled, roasted or fried. It grows flowers above ground, but its “fruit” grows underground. It grows in more countries than most other “nuts”. Its roots enrich the soil by putting nitrogen back into it, instead of leaving it poorer.

Hundreds of different products have been made from it.

31. Raw nuts grow into a plant (A) like sweet peas.

(B) close to eighteen inches high.

(C) less than eighteen inches high.

(D) more than eighteen inches high.

32. Which word in the passage means “begin to grow”?

(A) Sprout (B) Enrich (C) Wither (D) Pollinate 33. The peanut blossoms look like garden flowers because (A) they wither quickly.

(B) they grow into the earth.

(C) they shine in the sunlight.

(D) they are bright yellow in colour.

34. Why is the peanut called ground nut in many countries?

(A) It is not a fruit.

(B) It enriches the soil.

(C) It produces many products.

(D) Its shoot pushes underground and the shell then encloses the seed.

35. The peanut is not merely a snack because (A) it can be eaten raw.

(B) it can produce bright blossoms.

(C) it is special in more than one way.

(D) its nutritious oil can be used like beef.

Read the extract and answer the questions which follow.

your old answer completely, then shade your new choice.

7. When you are told to begin, turn the page and work as quickly and as carefully as you can.

If you cannot answer a question, go on to the next one. You can return to that question later.

8. This test contains 40 items. You will have 60 minutes to answer them.

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

Almost everyone reads daily newspapers. Some of the most popular ones sell several million copies each day! The coming of radio and television has not wiped out the press, as it was feared they might. This is probably because newspapers are cheap and can be picked up and read when the reader wishes.

The content of most newspapers is roughly the same.

There will usually be a sports page, a special page for women, some advertisements, some items of political news (both home and abroad) and news of general interest.

So why is there not just one newspaper, which everyone would buy, instead of several?

It would be very dangerous if that were the case. People could easily be given false news, and have no way of knowing it was untrue. Some items of news could be omitted altogether and no one would know. It is very easy to control what people think, if you control the information that is given to them. In most “free” countries, therefore, there are many newspapers and other ways of getting news too.

36. With the advent of television and radio people felt that (A) there will be fierce competition.

(B) newspapers would lose their readership.

(C) the newspapers would suffer some financial loss.

(D) television and radio would be better than newspaper reports.

37. What has caused newspapers to continue to do well?

(A) Newspapers aim to tell the truth.

(B) People like to read many types of news.

(C) Different newspapers tell different stories.

(D) Newspapers are cheap and easily available.

38. In what ways are newspapers roughly the same?

(A) They are cheap and appear daily.

(B) They all compete with radio and television.

(C) News and entertainment are provided for everyone’s interest.

(D They all carry sports, political, advertisements, general and special news items.

39. What do you think “free countries” means?

(A) Places with unlimited freedom (B) Countries where news are not controlled by anyone (C) These are democratic countries where there is freedom under the law (D) Countries where news and entertainment are seen through radio, tv and Newspaper 40. Which one of the following statements is true?

(A) Newspapers do what they want.

(B) Nearly everyone reads newspapers.

(C) All newspapers sell millions of copies.

(D) Radio and television try to wipe the newspapers out of the market.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1 ANSWER KEY 1. B 2. C 3. D 4. C 5. C 6. B 7. A 8. A 9. D

10. C 11. A 12. D 13. B 14. A 15. C 16. D 17. A 18. D

19. C 20. A 21. D 22. B 23. C 24. C 25. B

NEWS

7

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC action defies int'l warnings of consequences ...Judge grants APNU-favoured injunction to block recount …high-level Caricom team quits …lawyer named in petition denies filing application until Friday to file an application with respect the injunction with a view to having it set aside or discharged.

According to Datadin, “We intend to not let this stand, this is preposterous, how can the leaders agree to something and someone else then go and get someone else to go behind that agreement?”

‘Impersonation’

Caricom team: Chief Electoral Officer, Barbados, Angela Taylor; former Finance Minister, Grenada, Anthony Boatswain; Chair of the team and former Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Dominica, Francine Baron; Chief Elections Officer, Trinidad and Tobago, Fern Nacis-Scope; Senior Lecturer, Department of Government, UWI, Cynthia Barrow-Giles

M

ere hours after President David Granger and Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, inked an agreement to have a Caribbean Community (Caricom) team of specialists supervise a recount of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, an APNU/ AFC candidate petitioned the High Court for an injunction to block the activity.

The injunction was filed shortly after US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo signalled at individual sanctions for persons involved in electoral fraud during the March 2020 polls.

People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Attorney-atLaw Sanjeev Datadin has since dismissed the injunction as preposterous and intimated that the action points to factions within the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).

Updating media operatives in the corridor of the High Court on Tuesday, Datadin

noted that the injunction was sought and granted by Justice Franklyn Holder by APNU/ AFC candidate, Ulita Grace Moore, for whom an appearance was entered by attorneys B Mayo Robertson and Roger Yearwood.

Injunction

Datadin told media operatives the injunction was filed against the Commission, the Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh and Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

He explained that the ex parte application, which was granted by Justice Holder, whose daughter is married to the personal assistant of Minister of State Joseph Harmon, seeks to prevent GECOM officers from setting aside or varying the declarations that have already been made by the 10 Returning Officers (ROs) until the determination of the action on Friday.

The injunction sought also

includes the prevention of authorising on the part of the Commission any action in relation to the agreement that had been inked between Granger and Jagdeo.

He suggested that the development suggests that there are factions in APNU or that the President is “flip-flopping and he is deceiving people.”

Questioning the rationale behind the court action, Datadin questioned “why would you want to stop the recount” and said that it was within the ambit of Guyana’s laws.

He was at the time responding to an earlier statement issued by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer which said that the Commission was seeking legal advice with regards to the agreement for a recount between Granger and Jagdeo.

“Why wouldn’t anyone want the will of the people to be respected?” Datadin questioned before announcing that PPP as an interested party has

In a surprising twist to Tuesday’s events, Attorney-atLaw Roger Yearwood, whose name is on the application on behalf of Moore, later took to his social media page, denying any involvement in filing the injunction on behalf of the incumbent coalition.

He expressed surprise at the document, saying: “Saw my name on the record in this election matter in the High Court but I’m not on record in that matter.”

Labelling this act a form of impersonation, he contended that they were ‘profiting’ from his name.

Suspended from Bar

On the other hand, the other attorney named on the petition, Bonar Mayo Robertson was suspended by the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board in 2005, in relation to a personal injury case. Guyana Times received records which showed that Robertson would have divided his client’s settlement funds to pay himself, and later failed to notify his client or medical providers that he was holding funds for them. It was also found that he failed to file

Justice Franklyn Holder

Ulita Grace Moore

suit on her behalf in a timely manner and then failed to terminate the representation properly.

nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj indicated that the Caricom team was highly motivated and showed great interest in resolving the electoral shenanigans.

Gunraj referred to the outcome as an unfortunate one.

Events over the past three days were regarded as an orchestrated plan to thwart the work of the high-level team.

“This is very unfortunate…The will of Caricom as a whole was thwarted by deliberate actions I believe, of persons to prevent these people from doing their work. But that thwarting of the will of the people is not strange. What we have seen as well from the Guyana Elections Commission itself over the last few days,” the Commissioner expressed.

Gunraj went on to say that there should be mature leadership from all sides, to ensure that the country moves forward, free from sanctions and other limitations.

Meanwhile, Granger in a statement on Tuesday evening said that he is “deeply disappointed” that the Caribbean Community (Caricom) initiative has stalled. However, his statement did not address the fact that Moore was a candidate on his list of candidates for the Local Government Elections.

Withdrawn

On Tuesday afternoon, the high-level Caricom team along with Secretary General Irwin LaRoque visited the GECOM Secretariat, where they formally withdrew from the recounting – a process in which they would have offered oversight.

This was later confirmed by the Secretariat, which indicated via a statement, “The high-level independent Caricom delegation has indicated that they would withdraw from the process.”

The team was sent under the auspices of the Caricom Chair, Mia Mottley after Chief Justice Roxane George gave her judgement that the Returning Officer for Region Four acted unlawfully when he declared unverified results for that district. For three days, they would have mobilised to commence the recount, which was obstructed by a mob of delays prior to the injunction.

Orchestrated plan to thwart recount

Speaking to the media after the engagement, Opposition-

8 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

IN THE COURTS Teen jailed for sexually assaulting 7-year-old boy

A

remorseful teenager was sentenced to two years behind bars after he was found guilty of engaging in oral sex with a seven-year-old boy.

The teenager, who was 14 years old when he committed the act, was sentenced by Justice JoAnn Barlow when he appeared at the Sexual Offences Court in Demerara.

The court heard that on December 1 and 24, 2015, the seven-year-old was left alone with the teenager when the act occurred. The child later complained to his parents about what

he was forced to do and the parents reported the matter to the police.

Teriq Mohamed and Mandel Moore presented the State’s case while the teen was represented by Folio Richards. Justice Barlow also ordered that the teen undergoes counselling while in prison. Additionally, he was ordered to enrol in the skills training programme while in prison. Failure to undertake the programme will result in him serving an additional year in prison.

Man pleads guilty for hammering another to death

T

wenty-year-old Christopher Cheong on Tuesday appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Demerara to answer to a murder charge.

Cheong opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and admitted that between July 16 and 17, 2016, he killed James Stewart.

Cheong had told Police in his confession that Stewart had knocked him off his bike, causing him to fall to

Dead: James Stewart

the ground. He said he went to a friend’s home, borrowed a hammer and returned to where he had last seen Stewart. It was then that he struck the man once to the head with the hammer.

At the time of the killing, Cheong was 16 years old.

Stewart’s post-mortem report revealed that he died from haemorrhaging and multiple injuries to the head.

State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy and Nafeeza Baig presented the prosecution’s case. Justice Kissoon re-

manded Cheong to prison pending sentencing. He will be sentenced on April 20.

Child rapist jailed for 6 years

A

teen was on Tuesday jailed for six and a half years after he admitted to raping a 10-yearold girl in 2015.

The 19-year-old boy appeared before Justice JoAnn Barlow at the Demerara High Court where he pleaded guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a 10-yearold girl. The court heard that on August 21, 2015, the teenager asked the young girl to follow him to the shop. But instead, he took her to an abandoned house where he threatened to kill her two-year-old brother if she did not have sex with him. The court also heard that again on February 16, 2016, the young girl followed him to deliver a cake to someone. But he took her to a latrine toilet and threatened to kill her if she did not have sex with him. She complied but later related the incidents to relatives. The prosecution’s case was presented by State Counsel Teriq Mohamed while attorney Maxwell Mckay presented on behalf of the teenager.

On the first count, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and on the second count to three years and six months. The sentences are to be served concurrently. Justice Barlow deducted three months from the teen’s sentence for not wasting the court’s time by entering a guilty plea. Under the Juvenile Offenders Act, the maximum penalty that can be imposed for such offences is five years’ imprisonment for each charge.

She also ordered that the teen undergo counselling while in prison.

Additionally, he was ordered to enrol in the skills training programme while in prison. Failure to undertake the programme will result in him serving an additional year in prison.

PNC’s Mingo-ing…

A

…intensifies s a historian, Granger’s certainly aware of Marx’s famous aphorism that history repeats itself – first as tragedy and then as farce. So when he announced his vow to fulfil Burnham’s legacy – which was the greatest tragedy in the history of Guyana – he had to’ve known his efforts would end up as high farce. As so said, so done!!

Let’s look at the particular aspect of Burnham’s legacy that’s been unfolding as we speak, since March 2: rigging elections. Granger had cogged for his master’s playbook with the fiddling with the lists by claiming it was “bloated”.

But after all his shenanigans, he had to go along with a voters’ list that was even larger than the original one he’d whined about!! He then shuffled voters out of their districts, closed borders, had PPP voters stand in cow pastures in the sun to vote in tents, etc.

He figured those manoeuvres would be enough to put him over the top – especially after he’d come to believe his own propaganda about Irfaan Ali not being popular; more Guyanese emigrating, and his army buddies mobilising his traditional base. But as the votes from the regions started to come in, Granger realised he had to do something radical to save his skin. He couldn’t bring out the army to collect the votes as Burnham had done in ’73, so he had to make do with the Reg 4 mega voting population and a made-up acein-the-hole: RO Mingo.

Burnham’s army intervention was, of course, was a brutal tragedy from which Guyana really never recovered.

And inevitably, we see Granger’s farce playing out as he ludicrously tries to step into his master’s shoes. The hapless Mingo’s efforts were doomed from the very beginning: he had to do his counting of SoPs in front of the largest collection of Foreign Observers assembled in the hemisphere!! Did Granger really think Mingo having the vapours would fool even a schoolchild?

Not only the observers but the western diplomats were insulted: was this what Granger thought of their intelligence? Jeez, even if they wanted him back in office, surely he could’ve given them a smidgen of deniability!!

The vapours were only the first act in the comedy of errors – clerks tired; clerks creating spreadsheets out of thin air; flash drives walking out of secured rooms; Chair locked in another room and finally Mingo’s balcony scene.

More of a Cyrano than a Juliet, Mingo’s dramatic announcement of the concocted “result” from the Ashmin’s balcony, was the grand finale to the farce! He didn’t even have the presence of mind to realise that having Volda Lawrence serve as his witness blew his cover!

But then he’s THE Mingo!! …and the recount that never was!

The balcony scene was derided as the farce it was… and even the diplomats had to undiplomatically walk out!!

So Mingo had to repeat his klutzy performance in a tent – which was a more fitting location for the low comedy into which the matter had descended. What followed couldn’t have even come from that manic director Baron Sasha Cohen, who came up with that classic farce of dictators named…well…” the Dictator”!!

Suddenly out of the blue, Granger, with the agreement of Opposition Leader Jagdeo, invited Caricom to send a delegation to supervise a recount of ALL the ballots countrywide! This took the farce to a whole new level. Three GECOM Commissioners – the ones Granger had appointed!

– immediately objected, insisting, “Excuse me! GECOM is an autonomous body!!” More delay as the ball was thrown into GECOM’s lap to make a decision on the recount. Before the decision could be made, however, an APNU candidate applied to a court specialising in commercial matters (!) for an injunction to prevent GECOM from calling for the recount.

And having them announce the results!! …the denouement (for now) So can the farce get more ridiculous than Granger’s party going against HIS agreement to have a recount – to make him President??

Bashful or Machiavellian?

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

NEWS

9

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

David Granger hands blank cheque to Ministries in COVID-19 fight

Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

Education Minister Nicolette Henry

ead of State, David Granger has written a ‘blank cheque’ for the Health, Education and Citizenship Ministries in order to meet expenditure related to meeting the demands of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The move comes under an Executive Order issued by the President under the Public Health Ordinance and was signed by the President on Monday.

According to the order, the Finance Minister shall expend from the Consolidated Fund such sums of money as may be necessary for the effectual

carrying out identified measures to be undertaken by the various Ministries.

The order, which has since been gazette, states that the “President considers that immediate action is necessary to address COVID-19 and declares COVID-19 as an infectious disease” warranting the special orders.

According to the Official Gazette, under the order, the Public Health Ministry shall take measures to “restrain, segregate and isolate persons suffering from the disease, or who may be likely from exposure to the infection suffer from the dis-

H

ease.”

Additionally, the Public Health Ministry shall speedily bury or cremate the corpse of persons that died as a result of the coronavirus in addition to providing curative care.

It said too that the Public Health Minister may “remove, disinfect, and destroy the personal effects, goods, buildings and any other article, material or thing exposed to infection from the disease”.

The Minister has also been empowered to prohibit or restrict the movement of persons within, to and from an infected area.

The order also empowers the Minister to call on the Guyana Police Force to provide enforcement assistance, as it relates to its duties under the Order.

The order has also called on the Ministries of Education and Health to take measures to control the spread of COVID-19 across educational institutions and with respect immigration matters.

The order has since also directed that “all Government agencies and Local Government authorities are urged to render assistance and cooperation to

Citizenship Minister Winston Felix

undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat.”

Additionally, it encouraged all citizens, residents, tourists, and members of the Private Sector to “act in accordance with the law and to comply with any lawful directives and advisories issued by appropriate Government agencies to prevent further transmission of the COVID-19 and ensure the safety and well-being of all.

The Executive Order is to remain in force until withdrawn by the President.

US Embassy suspends visa services in Guyana

F

ollowing the rise in the number of coronavirus cases in Guyana, the United States (US) Embassy in Georgetown on Monday announced that they will be suspending all routine visa services.

According to the embassy, the move is following guidance from the Government of Guyana to put a halt to the spread of the coronavirus.

The consulate said that it will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but is unable to provide a specific date at this time.

“To reduce the spread of COVID-19, many areas throughout the world are now taking action to limit traveller mobility, including quarantines, flight cancellations, and border restrictions. The embassy remains open and is prioritising urgent services to American citizens,” the statement

read. It added that it will continue to accept limited numbers of emergency appointments for visas and access to the premises is strictly limited to those persons with an emergency appointment.

“If you have an urgent need to travel, follow the procedure to request an emergency appointment at https:// ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gy”, their statement added.

The statement outlined that all nonimmigrant visa appointments at US Embassy Guyana are suspended, and there will be no fee attached to change an appointment and visa application fees are valid for one year.

Immigrant visa appointments for March will be delayed to allow the embassy to spread out appointments and reduce the number of persons entering the consular section.

10 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Lethem to close Takutu Bridge over COVID-19 fears – Deputy Mayor …as commercial zone closes

A

s Guyana continues to take measures to protect itself from the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Lethem Town Council is putting measures in place to protect its residents by restricting the Takutu Bridge.

This was revealed by Deputy Mayor, Debra King during a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Tuesday. She noted that the move is important in an effort to protect Guyana from any additional cases of COVID-19.

This came as a result of the commercial zone in the Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) township

completely shutting down on Tuesday over COVID-19 fears. According to information reaching Guyana Times, businesses – particularly Chinese-owned, took the decision to shut their doors as Guyana battles to contain the spread of COVID-19.

With Lethem’s commercial zone closed, residents in the town, as well as surrounding villages, are complaining of being affected. They have reported that many of them are now left without an income to maintain themselves and family.

The COVID-19 precautions have also led to the cancellation of a number of events

The closed commercial zone

Deputy Mayor Debra King

in the country including the Rupununi Rodeo. Several countries have also taken the decision to shut down their borders in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

Lethem sits on Guyana’s border with Brazil. Thus far, Brazil’s Health Ministry said that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 234, up by 34 from Sunday. Cases are found in most states. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the first and third most populated states,

have seen sustained transmission.

Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, despite testing negative, was told to maintain isolation for a week and be tested again, as 13 members of his entourage in a recent trip to the United States have tested positive.

Deputy Mayor King told Guyana Times that the town

but everyone afraid. We don’t know why the Chinese [stores] closed up and we hope it is not because of we getting a case here in Lethem,” King added.

Thus far, Guyana recorded four confirmed cases of the virus which were imported from the United States when a 52-year-old Guyanese national travelled from the JFK International Airport to

is concerned over the virus and its effect on the economy. She said that, thus far, they have been having discussions as it relates to closing of the Takutu Bridge so as to prevent Brazilians from venturing into Guyana and Guyanese into Brazil.

“We had a discussion yesterday [Monday] pertaining to closing the border. All the schools in Bonfim [Brazil] are closed so most people from Lethem would [go] to school there and now the schools are closed they have eased up.

All the Chinese [stores] also closed down so the Brazilians are not coming over so much and we are hoping to close the bridge sometime this week,” she said.

“This thing is scary for us and we in Lethem have been reading up on it. We don’t have any case here for now

Guyana. She subsequently died and as of Saturday, her husband, child and a close relative were all tested positive for the virus.

The family is from Good Hope on the East Coast of Demerara and is currently in quarantine.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is advising that one should avoid eating raw or undercooked meat or animal organs in addition to the practice of excellent personal hygiene such as constant washing of hands and avoid touching of one’s face.

Local health authorities have advised that if anyone is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, they should contact the hotline on 227-4986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.

NEWS

11

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

ExxonMobil to scale down operations over global market uncertainty …as trading on financial markets slow down

Exxon CEO Darren Woods

By Jarryl Bryan

I

n the wake of the global uncertainty in financial markets caused

by COVID-19, a number of businesses have had to reevaluate their operations.

Among these companies are ExxonMobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, which announced on Tuesday that it will seek to scale down its operations.

In a statement from the company, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil Corporation, Darren Woods noted that Exxon is evaluating ways to cut back on its investment costs. With a

presence in numerous countries including Guyana, this could have serious implications for oil exploration and production, as well as the oil revenues for such countries.

“Based on this unprecedented environment, we are evaluating all appropriate steps to significantly reduce capital and operating expenses in the near term.

We will outline plans when they are finalised,” Woods was quoted as saying in the statement.

“We remain focused on being a safe, low-cost operator and creating long-term value for shareholders,” Woods also said, adding that ExxonMobil has faced numerous market downturns throughout its long history and therefore has experience operating in a sustained low-price environment.

Exxon has a presence throughout the world, from Canada and the United States to Mexico and Brazil, to Australia and Russia and several European, Middle Eastern and African states.

But it is the company’s holdings in Guyana that have lately captured the world’s attention.

After discovering 1.8 bil-

lion barrels of oil equivalent for last year, Guyana took first place for the most discoveries for 2019. So far, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), Exxon’s local subsidiary, has made 16 oil finds in the Stabroek Block, some 100 miles offshore Guyana.

Last year, the company made five discoveries. These discoveries have pushed the total estimated recoverable barrels of oil equivalent to over six billion. In addition, Exxon was moving ahead with its Liza phase two project, which will contain approximately 30 wells, after receiving the requisite approvals from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It made one discovery for 2020, the Uaru discovery which was announced in January. Uaru is ExxonMobil’s 16th oil discovery in the Stabroek Block.

The Uaru-1 well was drilled in a new reservoir, encountering approximately 94 feet (29 metres) of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir and was drilled in 6342 feet (1933 metres) of water.

But the onset of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has had a seri-

Guyana has only recently started oil production and shipped its first oil

ous impact not just on lives but also the global economy and specifically, oil. Last week, Brent crude fell to US$34 per barrel.

This was a steep drop as it was only a day ago being traded at US$48. Brent crude was being traded at US$66 per barrel when Guyana first started oil production in December 2019.

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

Indeed, checks by this publication on the Brent crude price showed that as of Tuesday, the price had dropped to US$28.

According to Rystad in a recent missive, the spread of the coronavirus has dealt a blow to the global demand for oil.

It noted that in February of this year, the demand for

crude dropped by 4.6 million barrels per day. China, where the coronavirus had originated, accounts for 2.9 million barrels of this cut to demand.

There has also been talk of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting

Countries (OPEC) reaching an agreement to cut production. A recent meeting resulted in no major consensus being reached on how to deal with the issue. Efforts to arrange further meetings have failed to take off from the ground.

12 NEWS Lack of action in addressing corruption in Police Force – US State Dept WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…says widespread corruption perception at all levels in Guyana

T

he United States (US) State Department has released a report on Guyana and its human rights record for 2019.

When it comes to tackling corruption at the level of the Government and Police, however, the Department said that despite frequent corruption, there was a lack of action.

According to the recently released report, there were isolated reports of Government corruption throughout the year. The Department noted that the law provides for criminal penalties for such acts, something

that is generally adhered to.

But while there was some response to such reports, the State Department found that there remains “a widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the Judiciary.”

“Corruption by Police officers was frequent.

There were no reports the Government prosecuted any members of the Police Force during the year,” the 15-page State Department report also revealed.

The State Department also touched on financial disclo-

US State Department

sure, a sore point throughout 2019 as several officials in-

cluding those in Government and former Members of Parliament were flagged by the Integrity Commission for not declaring their assets. The Department was, however, critical of the Commission, which it said did not appear fully functional.

“The law requires public officials to declare their assets to an Integrity Commission and sets out both criminal and administrative sanctions for nondisclosure. If a person fails to file a declaration, the daily newspapers and the official gazette can publish that fact.

Failure to comply with the law can lead to a summary conviction, fines, and imprisonment for six to 12 months.”

“If property is not disclosed as required, the Magistrate convicting the defendant must order the defendant to make a full disclosure within a set time. Although the Integrity Commission was reconstituted in February 2018, after a 12-year hiatus, it did not appear to be fully functional. No publications or convictions occurred during the first months of the year.”

In January, the Integrity Commission published a list of a number of public officials who failed to declare their assets last year and among those are a number of Ministers and former Government parliamentarians.

According to the Gazetted list, as of January 2020, a total of eight Ministers failed to

declare their assets between July 2018 and June 2019.

Early in 2019, the Integrity Commission had flagged a number of public officials for failing to make their declarations. President David Granger was even named as one of the defaulters, having failed to comply with the stipulated deadline of May 20, 2019.

Under the law, any public official who fails to comply with the Commission is liable upon summary conviction, to a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for a period of not less than six months or more than one year.

In an interview with this publication last year, Integrity Commission Chairman Kumar Duraisami had committed that they would pursue prosecution against public officials who are delinquent in declaring their assets in 2020.

Uitvlugt factory loses 200 hours of work as a result of equipment failure

M

Uitvlugt Estate

echanical failures at the Uitvlugt factory has aggregated to some 204 hours lost for the first crop, which is equivalent to more than a week and a half of operations.

The Guyana Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) on Tuesday stated that the estate, which is now in the fifth week of its seven-week first crop, announced that their sugar production is standing at 3559 tonnes.

According to the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) crop schedule, the estate by now ought to have produced 4837 tonnes of sugar. It was also revealed that the estate, in all likelihood, will not realise its targeted production in the scheduled crop weeks.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday GAWU stated that the general sugar production for the industry as at last weekend stood at 10,819 tonnes.

“Albion had produced 3642 tonnes of sugar as against 5670 tonnes targeted. At Blairmont, sugar production was 3638 tonnes of sugar as against 4662 tonnes targeted.

Aggregately, the industry’s production, last weekend, was in deficit by 4330 tonnes sugar,” GAWU said in a press statement. The Union noted that it did warn a few weeks ago that, from information received, there was not much

work done to really improve the reliability of the factories.

“At a subsequent engagement, the Corporation sought to express critical views regarding what the Union had said, though it could not have offered, from our perspective, any credible rationale for its position,” the statement noted.

In all efforts to push for results, GAWU said nothing was done to improve the situation.

“It appears, all that we heard, and what was sought to be denied by the Corporation, is being demonstrated. We cannot help but feel there is hardly anything really done to address what clearly, in our view, is a situation growing more serious by the day. We ask where is the industry heading?”, they posited.

In January, GuySuCo confirmed that sugar production for 2019 had fallen below 100,000 tonnes and it acknowledged that there had been “major” mechanical failures at the Albion and Uitvlugt factories.

The sugar union had warned several times in 2019 about the likely low sugar output and had also cited mechanical failures at factories as a major issue. The last time sugar production fell below 100,000 tonnes was in 1926.

13 “There are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted” – Caricom Chair NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…says Govt without credible, transparent vote count lacks legitimacy

C

hairperson of the Caribbean C o m m u n i t y (Caricom), Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, in a strongly-worded statement said that there are "forces" in Guyana that do not want to see a recount of the country's ballots from the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

Her comment comes after the five-member independent high-level team, which she fielded to supervise a national recount, withdrew their services on Tuesday following an injunction from the High

Court to block the recounting process.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mottley explained that Caricom has been forced to withdraw the regional team.

“The Caribbean Community has no other choice but to withdraw the high-level team. It is clear that there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason. Any Government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy,” the Caricom Chair asserted.

On this note, PM

Mottley reiterated that it is critical that good sense prevails.

“The preservation of law and order is paramount and all parties must work hard to ensure that there is peace on the roads and in the communities across Guyana. The Community remains committed to the people of Guyana,” she contended.

Following the declaration of the contentious Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) results on Friday night, which many of the political parties that contested the March elections alleged was marred with

Guyana closes airports to incoming international flights …outbound, cargo, medivac flights allowed

I

n a bid to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in Guyana, the Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) will be partially shutting down the country’s two main airports, Cheddi Jagan International and Eugene F Correira International.

This announcement was made by Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Egbert Field during a press conference by the ministerial task force on Tuesday. The task force was activated last week when Guyana recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

“The Civil Aviation Authority in order to slow the process of the virus in consultation with the Ministry of Health has decided to with the approval of the Cabinet task force to close the airports to all international flights,” Field explained.

He posited that the closures will take effect from today at midnight while noting that priority will be given to outgoing flights, cargo flights, medevac flights or technical stops of aircraft that require fuel and specially authorised flights.

In cases where arriving passengers might have been exposed to the coronavirus, the Director General stated that the authority has been providing the Health Ministry with the contact information for those passengers.

“We have been working very closely with the Ministry of Health providing the necessary information such as passengers’ information so that the

Director-General of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig

Ministry of Health could conduct their research and review and also gather further information or inspection of suspected passengers.”

More so, he explained that the authority has been conducting inspections at the airports and that the inspections will continue during the closure.

To this end, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has come on board to monitor all passengers going through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and Eugene F Correira International Airport and other ports of entries.

“First we are providing monitoring and elevation support. To date, we have completed detailed assessment of the process and procedures at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and we prepared a report that we submitted to the Minister of Health and several other agencies including the Civil Aviation Authority, the

Director-General of GCAA, Lt Col Retired Egbert Field

Immigration, Customs to start taking certain measures proven measures that had already been implemented at the airport,” Colonel Kester Craig noted.

Moreover, the Authority along with the Public Health Ministry will be working with the ministerial task force to ensure that the 14 days are adequate and if the situation worsens – the airports will remain closed to international flights.

Guyana joins Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname and many other countries in the closing of their airports to international flights. Domestic flights will continue as per normal. These will be examined by GCAA inspectors.

Last week, American Airlines announced that it will be suspending its flights to several locations across the world including Guyana from March 16, 2020, in a bid to slow down the rapid spread of the virus. (Shemar Alleyne)

Caricom Chair, Barbados PM Mia Mottley

fraud, the Caricom Chair intervened and assembled the independent high-level team to supervise the recounting process.

According to Mottley in Tuesday’s statement, the fielding of the high-level team had been at the request of incumbent President, David Granger, on Saturday last.

In response, and given the urgency of the task, she noted that the team was mobilised immediately and arrived in Guyana in the early hours of Sunday morning to supervise the recounting of the ballots of the March 2 elections.

“Given that the tabulation process had been widely viewed as not being transparent or credible, President Granger and Mr

Bharrat Jagdeo, Leader of the Opposition, agreed that the only possible resolution was by way of a recount supervised by an independent team. This was seen as a significant contribution to bolstering the transparency and legitimacy of the electoral process,” the missive from the Caricom Chair noted.

She went on to explain that this step forward had been anchored by an aide-memoire signed by both leaders on Monday, and the Terms of Reference (ToR) prepared by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Sunday to govern the role of the high-level team for the supervision of the recounting of the ballots in all 10 electoral districts.

However, the Caricom Chair noted that the court order issued on Tuesday granted an injunction restraining GECOM from recounting any ballots of the General and Regional Elections of 2 March 2020, and set aside “any agreement between the President of Guyana and the Leader of the Opposition and or any agreement between the Guyana Elections Commission and the Caribbean Community”.

Nevertheless, PM Mottley expressed appreciation to the members of the regional team for offering to serve at such short notice and for displaying the patience they have displayed over the last three days.

The high-level team was led by former Attorney General and current Foreign Affairs Minister of Dominica, Francine Baron, and included former Finance Minister of Grenada, Anthony Boatswain; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cynthia Barrow-Giles; Chief Electoral Officer of Barbados, Angela Taylor; and Chief Elections Officer of Trinidad and Tobago, Fern Narcis-Scope.

14 NEWS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

COVID-19

3 persons test positive, 10 relatives quarantined by Health Ministry …facility lacks basic amenities – sources

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is intensifying around the world and in an effort to contain the spread of the potentially deadly virus, the Guyanese authorities have taken the step to impose a mandatory quarantine for all those who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Thus far, Guyana has had four confirmed cases of COVID-19. The country’s patient zero died as a result of the virus.

Guyana got its first reported case of COVID-19 over a week ago when a 52-year-old woman travelled from New York to Guyana on March 5. The woman showed signs of pneumonia and was said to be diabetic as well.

She visited a private medical institution where she was suspected of having the virus, owing to her symptoms, and was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died on Wednesday last. Posthumous tests revealed she was positive for COVID-19 which caused an immediate panic in the health care system. Further tests have revealed that her husband, child and a relative are all carriers of the virus.

Initially, the Public Health Ministry placed the family on self-isolation.

However, there were reports of the family allegedly holding a wake for patient zero, which resulted in a number of persons coming into contact with them.

Mandatory quarantine/ four sites

In an effort to contain the spread and better monitor the confirmed cases, the MoPH decided to impose a mandatory quarantine on

those who tested positive.

They are currently being housed in a facility prepared by the Ministry on the West Coast of Demerara.

“We have had two sets of reports [with regards to the conduct of patient zero’s family] -reports from [the] public where persons made allegations and we have reports from the family members who are saying that it isn’t so. Notwithstanding that we do have within our structure that mechanism to ensure we track [their move-

ments]...All of those person are now within the facilities manned by the Ministry of Public Health and we will continue [with isolation] now that we have those facilities.

So as of today [Tuesday] any new or suspected cases, any new persons that would have been in contact or an area where we suspect that they have been exposed, there is no more self-quarantine.

Quarantine will now be done at the Ministry of Health facilities,” Minister Volda Lawrence said on Tuesday.

She noted that the Ministry has established four sites for isolation. These sites have been facilitated to deal with persons of three categories – suspected cases, probable cases, and confirmed cases. The suspect category would involve persons who have been exposed in one way or the other to the virus. They would also be showing some type of symptoms like fever coupled with an acute respiratory illness – shortness of breath among others. Whereas probable cases would be persons who display the symptoms of a suspected case but tests would have retuned inconclusive and confirmed cases are self-explanatory.

Lawrence explained that they have the capacity to accommodate 300 suspected cases, 104 probable and just over a dozen person for the confirmed category.

When asked about the amount of persons who are quarantined, Lawrence indicated that she would not release that information on the basis of confidentiality.

“With regards to persons in holding facilities, we would not confirm where or when because this is a very important issue we are dealing with. We will prefer to allow the Ministry of Public Health to continue to work with those facilities and to not put the names and places of those facilities out there,” Lawrence explained.

Lacking basic amenities

Meanwhile, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig said they are aiding the MoPH in providing surveillance support for the operations as well as assessing the facilities. He noted that they have assessed the facilities for isolation and put forward recommendations for improvement to the MoPH. However, a source close to one of the isolation facilities told this publication that the one family that has so far been placed there has been complaining of the lack of basic amenities at one of the facilities.

According to the source, one of the facilities on the West Coast of Demerara lacks basic plumbing. The source noted that the persons there amount to 13, and they have protested the lack of proper accommodation.

The source added that the family reported that in addition to the improper plumbing, they have no pillows and other basic amenities.

Patient zero’s daughter recently arrived in Guyana and she is also quarantined at the West Demerara facility. The woman was allowed into Guyana after doctors in New York gave her a clean bill of health but the USA hospital was contacted by local authorities, who now say that the results may not have been accurate.

Local authorities took steps to have the woman retested but up until press time, the results were not released.

When questioned as to why the woman was allowed entry into Guyana, Lawrence explained that a citizen of Guyana cannot be denied entry unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

Beefing up response

Lawrence noted that ever since they got confirmation of the three additional cases, the response has been ‘beefed up’. She said they have been teaming up with entities to ensure that mechanisms are in place to protect large amounts of people who would frequent those places.

In addition, she noted that they are monitoring medical supplies and thus far there is no shortage.

“We monitoring stocks and supplies and working with our suppliers to ensure that, given the many counties that closed airspaces, our supplies that should be delivered in Guyana here that they can have that free access and flow to ensure that we can get those supplies,” she said.

“We have been able to ratchet up our reach in terms of team that goes out to do visitation and checks.

Our Inspectorate Division has been beefed up with several other staff to give a full complement of persons who can assist in sanitising buildings,” Lawrence added.

According to the World Health Organisation, Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs and avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

Additionally, the MoPH advises that the only facility in Guyana that is capable of testing for COVID-19 is the National Reference Lab operated by the Ministry.

Local health authorities have advised that if anyone is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus, they should contact the hotline on 2274986 ext 215 or 624-3067 and a team would be sent to their location.

NEWS

15

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ramsammy’s Ruminations

Mentally ill man allegedly sets Enmore home on fire

A Caricom, ABCE, Commonwealth, OAS – time for sanctions now, no more patience

O

ne thing is clear, there was a centrallydirected conspiracy to contaminate the Region 4 Statements of Poll (SoPs). GECOM has never shown anyone and was mortally scared of anyone having even a glimpse of the SoPs they purported to have used to create a bogus spreadsheet with fake results. APNU/AFC also has steadfastly refused to show anyone their SoPs. Why? Because they know those SoPs confirm the PPP won.

Several people in APNU/AFC were the driving force in hijacking the GECOM operations. These people, in APNU/AFC, GECOM and in other agencies, like the Police Force and the media who assisted in contaminating the SoP results must face sanctions and must face such sanctions now.

The drama is still ongoing in Guyana. The conspirators have been blocked several times already, but they have not given up. Having been forced to accept a recount, because of the global condemnation of their brazen stealing of votes and for electoral fraud, they now are fiercely trying to block the recount.

The Caricom Supervisory Team has been on the ground since Sunday morning to start the recount. But GECOM and APNU/AFC have done everything to delay the recount.

A simple meeting of GECOM could not be held because the APNU Commissioners were missing in action. Forced to abort the Sunday start, a Monday morning start was agreed to. But that too was aborted because APNU/ AFC insisted that an MoU had to be signed

by Bharrat Jagdeo and David Granger. Jagdeo was told this at 17:24h Sunday and by 17:30h had agreed. But no one was hearing from Granger.

Then Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Health decided to fumigate the convention centre. They claimed they were ensuring safety from coronavirus. Fumigation is for mosquitoes, sanitisation and viruses. Not a plausible explanation, but they forced another delay to now Tuesday morning.

Well, as of Tuesday afternoon, there is still no clue when the recount will start. In the meanwhile, they tried to remove security away from the containers for what, no one could explain. In the process, Commissioner Benn was brutalised by Riot Squad Police who were there not to remove rioters, but to remove those trying to ensure the security of the ballot boxes.

If they succeed with all these machinations and an illegitimate government is installed, then sanctions must be broad, against the government, against those who accept cabinet and MP positions, those who were active participants in the rigging and their families. If the conspiracy to commit electoral fraud is stopped, then those who participated in the attempted heist must be sanctioned, by national laws and by regional and international punishments.

No illegitimate government must be recognised by any democratically elected government in the world. Guyana must be suspended from Caricom, the Commonwealth, the OAS. The UN must remove Guyana from any role it is presently playing in that body. For example, Guyana must not be allowed to continue in its role as Chair of the G-77. Guyana is also on several bodies in the UN system, like several committees at PAHO and WHO. Guyana’s seat in any committees in these organisations must be suspended. Not only must the government be illegitimate, but the President and all Ministers must also be held as illegitimate and not invited to any forum in which democratically-elected Governments

fire suspected to be an act of arson has completely razed a wooden structure at Newtown, Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD) in the wee hours of Tuesday.

Based on reports, the fire started at about 01:00h and quickly engulfed the building located at Lot 309 Hope East, Enmore, ECD. Lorraine Singh, the landlord, told Guyana Times in a telephone interview that last Wednesday, the occupant of the house— who goes by the name “Black Boy”— had left a lit cigarette on the sofa as he went about his business. Almost one hour after he left the house, she saw smoke emanating from the building and with the assistance of neighbours, they were able to put out the blaze.

She explained, “We rented the house and give it to a lady and her son after my husband’s brother died. They lived there

The Enmore, East Coast Demerara house that was gutted by fire

long till they stop paying rent, since 2015. Only last month they move out … the mother moved out and leave the son there and the boy light the house afire inside.”

The homeowner further added that the occupant who is believed to have started the fire is known in the community to be of unsound mind. Guyana Times understands that there

was no electricity supply attached to the house at the time of the fire.

Divisional Commander of the Guyana Fire Service, Gregory Wickham explained that the investigations have thus far revealed that the fire was maliciously set afire by an unidentified person. The Police have launched an investigation into the suspected arson.

Coronavirus outbreak

Dr Leslie Ramsammy participate.

The Government’s loan and grant programs with the IDB, World Bank, CDB and with other countries must be put on hold, with no disbursements. As for grants from Global Fund and other health organisations, these must continue to flow to people, but disbursements and control must be shifted away from the Government.

Those in APNU/AFC who have played a role in directing this conspiracy or in enabling and empowering the conspiracy must face the complete awe of personal sanctions.

This must include revocation of any kind of visas that have been issued to anyone of them or their family. The sanction must also freeze any asset any of these persons have overseas. These persons must become isolated. They must not be able to complete any international transaction. They must become international rogues.

Given the present assault on democracy in Guyana, in the full view of local and international observers, in the first instance, we will be pursuing sanctions against the following individuals (and their families) who are part of the plot or complicit in rigging the March 2, 2020 elections in Guyana: APNU/AFC David Granger Volda Lawrence Khemraj Ramjattan Joseph Harmon Winston Felix Kathy Hughes Basil Williams James Bond Mark Kirton Rowen Wilabus Karen Cummings Commissioner of Police and his two Deputies GECOM Roxanne Myers Keith Lowenfield Duarte Hetsberger Clairmont Mingo Joseph Eastman GECOM’s PRO, Ms Ward Private Sector and Media Brian Tiwari Lloyd Singh Gordon Mosely Enrico Woolford Our hope is that the Caricom team will complete the recount of the box and the real winner of the March 2, 2020 elections will be sworn in. Caricom and the ABCE countries must not dither any longer. Time for action.

GABI urges customers to utilise online, mobile banking

I

n light of the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Guyana Association of Bankers Inc (GABI) on Tuesday encouraged customers of the various financial institutions to utilise online and mobile banking to conduct their businesses.

The Association in a statement to the media on Tuesday stated that it has been closely monitoring the developments surrounding the virus and its priority is the health and safety of employees, customers, and communities.

“Customers are encouraged to utilise online and mobile banking to monitor the accounts…Additional facilities such as ATM services, debit, and credit card, night depositary, and drive-thru, where available can use an alternative,” the association urged.

GABI further urged staff and customers to adhere to the hygiene practices advocated by the Public Health Ministry and the World Health

Organisation (WHO) to minimise the risk of contracting and/or spreading the virus.

“Our members are focused on limiting the spread of the virus by taking precautionary and proactive measures to keep our customers safe during the outbreak,” the release stated.

With persons being urged to utilise the online services, GABI said that they anticipate extremely high enquires on phone lines.

“We anticipate your patience, and to help to resolve some of your inquiries and providing wherewith FAQ to answer some commonly asked questions”, they said.

To further protect staff and customers, the association said that they are monitoring the situation through international and local authorities.

“The banks have incorporated added precautionary measures including enhanced hygiene protocols. We have increased the frequency of clean-

ing, with daily disinfections of our retail branches and ATMs. In event of a bank/branch closure, a notice will be posted at the branch along with public communication through various mediums…Our mobile and online banking application are safe and available 24/7.”

In the event of someone having a question about any of the online services, the association is encouraging that a customer care representative and/or an account officer be contacted.

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, Guyana recorded its first case of the COVID-19 which saw the demise of an East Coast Demerara resident who had recently returned from the US. The Public Health Ministry subsequently reported that three additional cases were detected. Those persons are reportedly relatives of the now dead woman. They have been quarantined and placed in isolation.

Guyana-Suriname ferry to operate today only

T

he Management of the Guyana-Suriname Ferry Services on Tuesday announced that the MB Sandaka which plies the Guyana-Suriname route will be in operation on Wednesday, March 19 for only one day.

A release from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure advises that the vessel will depart Moleson Creek Terminal, Guyana at 9:00h with checkin time set between 6:30h and 8:00h.

“This service will only be facilitated to Surname nationals or Surinamese by Naturalisation with resident status, that is, he/she must be the holder of a Surinamese passport”, the notice stated.

The release from the Ministry pointed out that upon arrival in Guyana, Port Health Officials will be present to screen each passenger in light of the coronavirus out-

MB Sandaka

break.

“Guyanese are asked to make a special effort to take advantage of this opportunity.

The Management of GuyanaSuriname Ferry Service sincerely apologises for any inconvenience caused at this time”.

This disclosure comes in the wake of the ongoing global outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The 2019–20 coronavirus

outbreak has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. It is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China on March 8, 2020.

Thus far, more than 107,000 cases have been confirmed, of which 5800 were classified as serious.

Meanwhile, over 100 countries and territories have been affected by the deadly virus.

16

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

Regional

PoS Corp announces plans Brazil recaptures 600 prisoners who fled before to sanitise city coronavirus lockdown

A view of the Dr Edgar Magalhaes Noronha Jail, where many inmates broke out the day before their day-release privileges were due to be suspended over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tremembe, Sao Paulo

B

razil has recaptured nearly 600 prisoners who fled four jails ahead of a planned lockdown of the facilities over the coronavirus pandemic, while roughly 800 remain on the run, the Sao Paulo state

prison authority said in a statement on Tuesday.

On Monday, a total of 1389 people escaped from four jails – Mongagua, Tremembe, Porto Feliz and Mirandopolis – that allow prisoners to leave to work or

study during the day and return to the facility at night.

As a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Sao Paulo Secretary of Penitentiary Administration planned to halt the day-release programs on Tuesday to avoid inmates picking up the disease outside and infecting those in the prison upon their return.

The prison authority said the measure was being instituted for the benefit of the 34,000 inmates as well as guards and staff.

In addition to the escapes, there were “acts of insubordination” over the measure in the prison, but the state Penitentiary Administration said the situation had been brought under control immediately.

(Reuters)

PoS Mayor Joel Martinez

T

he Port of Spain Central Market and the St James market will remain open under strict management, given their essential nature, while some public spaces, including squares and play parks, will be off-limits, the city’s mayor Joel Martinez announced on Tuesday.

Those were among the

highlights of an eight-point strategy relayed by the Port of Spain City Corporation at City Hall, Port of Spain, in response to the COVID-19 threat. Martinez said he and members of council and administration adopted the strategy in line with policy decisions from Cabinet.

The eight points include: • sanitisation of all pub-

lic spaces, including streets and parks; • suspension of food badge license issuance for two weeks (in the first instance); • extension of opening hours of public washrooms; • limitation of 25 mourners at the Port of Spain crematorium or burial sites in the city and for expedited processes; • strict management of the Port of Spain and St James markets where sand sanitiser will be provided and where no loitering will be allowed; • implementation of safety procedures, including personal protective equipment for all essential staff; • social distancing, as recommended by the Prime Minister; and • limit of access to city services at City Hall for urgent matters only. (T&T Newsday)

Guatemala suspends Chile may postpone referendum St Lucia PM in all deportation flights on new Constitution as quarantine after being from US over COVID-19 coronavirus quells protests tested for coronavirus

C

At least one person has died from coronavirus in Guatemala [Photo by Moises Castillo]

G

uatemala will temporarily stop receiving Hondurans and Salvadorans returned from the United States under the asylum cooperation agreement due to the coronavirus pandemic, Guatemala’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

“As of today, all flights under [the Asylum Cooperation Agreement] are suspended,” Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo said, referring to an agreement between Guatemala and the US. Guatemala will also stop receiving Guatemalans deported from the US until the Central American country and the US establish protocols to guarantee the health of migrants and asylum seekers before they are deported, officials said.

Tuesday’s decision was made after meetings between Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry, the ambassadors from the US, ambassadors from the region, and representatives from both state agencies and organisations from civil society that work with those deported from Mexico and the US. The move came after President Alejandro

Giammattei announced on Monday the suspension of all flights, a ban on all foreigners from entering the country and the closure of the country’s borders for 15 days to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The country had already banned the entry of citizens of European countries, Iran, China, North and South Korea, the US and Canada.

More than 900 Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers have been sent to Guatemala under the socalled “safe third country” agreement, which was signed in July 2019. The agreement allowed US immigration authorities to require asylum seekers who first cross through Guatemala to apply for asylum there instead of being eligible to apply in the US. On Monday, one deportation flight chartered by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency arrived in Guatemala. Onboard were 56 Guatemalans and 17 Salvadorans.

US officials did not immediately comment on the suspensions. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

hile may postpone a referendum on a new constitution scheduled for April 26 due to the coronavirus outbreak, Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said on Tuesday.

The new constitution was a central demand of widespread social protests, but those have faded with the pandemic.

Blumel, who did not suggest a new date for the referendum, said the government’s main concern was the health of its citizens. A change to the referendum would need to be approved by two-thirds of congress.

“Our priority is also to ensure the referendum can be carried out in the best possible way,” he told reporters in Santiago. “If that means looking at alternatives, we will have to consider them.”

Protests since October have called for an end to social inequality and saw thou-

sands killed, injured and arrested as well as millions of dollars´ worth of damage to businesses.

Chilean schools were suspended this week, borders closed and gatherings of more than 50 people banned as cases of coronavirus jumped into triple figures.

Fliers continued to circulate calling for demonstrations in the capital, but on Monday evening the protest hub of Plaza Italia in Santiago was quiet for the first time in five months.

Street hawkers who sold slingshots and tear gas remedies at the height of the unrest were instead offering face masks and homemade alcohol rubs.

On Monday, political party leaders from left and right met health authorities to discuss postponing the referendum. (Excerpt from Reuters)

P

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet

rime Minister Allen Chastanet is awaiting results after he was tested for the coronavirus (COVID-19), according to a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The brief statement Tuesday said that Chastanet, “was as of this morning feeling unwell and in accordance with the established protocols went into self-quarantine”.

It said he immediately stayed away from all of his

meetings and engagements, and that in keeping with the protocols as advised by the Chief Medical Officer, he has been tested for COVID-19 and is awaiting the results.

“As soon as the results are available, the public will be informed,” the statement said.

On Monday night, Chastanet addressed the nation on the virus that has so far killed more than 6000 people across the globe, flanked by members of his Cabinet. (CMC)

Brazil records 1st coronavirus death, Bolsonaro awaits new test result

B

razil on Tuesday reported its first confirmed death from the coronavirus outbreak, and tests were underway on four other possible COVID-19 fatalities, as Congress cancelled a joint session due to mounting fears about the fast-moving disease.

A 62-year-old man with a history of diabetes and hypertension died from the virus on Monday, after checking into a private hospital in the state on Saturday, Sao Paulo state health officials told a news conference.

The man had no recent history of international travel, and four other deaths in the same, unidentified hospital were being investigated to see if the victims succumbed to the virus, the

officials said.

President Jair Bolsonaro underwent his second coronavirus test, and the results may be released later on Tuesday, the president’s office said.

The president said on Friday he had come out negative in an initial test.

Separately, Congress canceled a joint session of the upper and lower houses as lawmakers stayed away over concerns related to the virus, a Senate staffer said.

The session had been scheduled to debate presidential vetoes and budget issues. If lawmakers continue to stay away, the government’s agenda of privatizations, tax reforms and public payroll cuts could quickly grind to a

halt.

Congressional committees cancelled public hearings and Senate and lower chamber leaders were discussing whether to suspend all sessions due to the epidemic. Brazil’s Supreme Court has limited its work to rulings made by justices online.

Nonetheless, Rodrigo Maia, the head of the lower house, on Tuesday said the legislative body would not close. He added that he and other lawmakers would fully support any coronavirus aid package brought by the government, adding he hoped to see measures in the next days and weeks.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

OILNEWS Oil prices could hit teens in coming weeks as markets crater over coronavirus and price war

A

n end to the oil price plunge is nowhere in sight, energy experts say, as futures of international benchmark Brent crude fell below US$30 a barrel Monday for the first time since 2016. That’s a stunning 54 per cent drop yearto-date.

“Oil could easily be in the teens at the bottom. Could even be low teens at the lowest,” Abhi Rajendran, Director of Research at Energy Intelligence, told CNBC on Monday.

“The main driver is for, a week or two, we could have global market oversupply of over 10 million barrels per day (bpd). Which is insane and unprecedented.”

Energy stocks have been hammered as demand plummets amid the escalating coronavirus crisis, but moves by state actors to unleash a flood of supply are driving them decisively into the ground. Saudi Arabia has slashed its oil prices to buyers and will be maxing out its production, as will Russia, as the two major producers throw themselves into an all-out price war to fight for greater market share.

“The last time there was a global surplus of this magnitude was never,” Jim Burkhard, Vice President and Head of Oil Markets at IHS Markit, wrote in a note Monday, predicting an oil demand contraction of up to 10 million bpd for March and April.

“Prior to this, the largest six-month global surplus this century was 360 million barrels. What is coming will be twice that or more.”

The biggest shocks will likely come after April 1, when a previously-agreed production cut deal between OPEC and non-OPEC states including Russia, meant to boost prices, expires. Saudi Arabia has announced plans to increase its daily production to 12.3 million bpd in April, compared to roughly 9.7 million bpd in February.

Russia’s Energy Minister said last week that Russia can increase its production by 200,000 to 300,000 bpd in the short term, and 500,000 bpd in the longer term.

“In the coming weeks, with no Saudi-Russia discourse, oil is likely [to be] in the teens,” Rajendran reiterated. “With that sort of dislocation and barrage of overseas supply, WTI-Brent could be equal or flip negative for a brief period,” he added, highlighting US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate, which typically trades at between US$5 to US$10 per barrel below Brent.

Brent on Tuesday morning was trading at US$30.07 in London, while WTI was at US$29.11.

“Demand dislocation is unprecedented,” he said.

“Everyone is shutting down, especially in the US” Major international and US airlines have cut their flights by at least 70 per cent, and businesses across several countries and states have been ordered to close their doors. Millions of people around the world are going into self-isolation or fullon lockdown in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 6600 people and sickened over 168,000 in more than 140 countries.

Other analysts agree that despite the already spectacular plunge for crude, we likely haven’t yet seen the bottom.

Speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy about whether oil has bottomed out, Kang Wu, Head of Analytics for S&P Global Platts, replied that “the overall supply-demand doesn’t suggest that it will stop there, because we still haven’t seen the worst yet. April will be the official time that without the production cut agreement, OPEC members — everyone, Russia included, OPEC plus — are free to produce more.

Volumes will hit the market.”

The price crash hurts oil-exporting countries and is a particular blow for US shale producers who are already deeply in debt — a blow that could prove fatal for some.

Market analysts are predicting defaults on billions of dollars worth of debt, and a major risk for up to a million people employed directly and indirectly by the shale industry.

Tamas Varga, an oil analyst at London-based PVM Oil Associates, echoed the deeper price drop call.

“If we were forced to provide a prediction, we would expect oil to break below the US$30/bbl level,” he wrote in an email note. “Given the resilience of COVID-19 and the stubbornness of Russia and Saudi Arabia to give concessions such a move is likely to happen. It could actually get worse.”

“Under the current circumstances, oil could fall even below US$20/bbl and stock markets could easily shed another 30-40 per cent of their values.” (Excerpt from CNBC)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

17

Around the World

Global powers unleash trillions of dollars to stem spiralling coronavirus crisis

T

he world’s richest nations prepared more costly measures on Tuesday to combat the global fallout of the coronavirus that has infected tens of thousands of people, triggered social restrictions unseen since World War Two and sent economies spinning toward recession.

With the highly contagious respiratory disease that originated in China racing across the world to infect more than 196,000 people so far, Governments on every continent have implemented draconian containment measures from halting travel to stopping sporting events and religious gatherings.

While the main aim is to avoid deaths - currently at over 7800 - global powers were also focusing on how to limit the inevitably devastating economic impact.

In the world’s biggest economy, US President Donald Trump’s Administration has proposed pumping US$1 trillion into the market. Trump wants to send cash to Americans within two weeks as the country’s death toll approached 100 and more testing sent the number of coronavirus cases to over 5700.

Airlines are among the worst-hit sector, with US carriers seeking at least US$50 billion in grants and loans to stay afloat as passenger numbers

A member of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) disinfects the HUCA (Central University Hospital of Asturias) during a 15-day state of emergency declared to combat the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Oviedo, Spain, March 17, 2020

evaporate.

Britain, which has told people to avoid pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas and theatres, unveiled a 330 billion pounds (US$400 billion) rescue package for businesses threatened with collapse.

Budget forecasters said the scale of borrowing needed might resemble the vast amount of debt taken on dur-

ing the 1939-1945 war against Nazi Germany.

“Now is not a time to be squeamish about public sector debt,” Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, which provides independent analysis of the UK’s public finances, told lawmakers. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Manchester Arena bombing: Hashem Abedi guilty of 22 murders

T

he brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has been found guilty of murdering 22 people.

Hashem Abedi had denied helping to plan the “sudden and lethal” blast which killed or injured “nearly 1000”.

The Old Bailey heard the pair worked together to source materials used in the suicide blast after an Ariana Grande show at the venue.

Prosecutors said Hashem was “jointly responsible” with his brother for the attack on May 22, 2017.

Hashem, 22, was also

Hashem Abedi was arrested in Libya the day after the bombing

found guilty of one count of attempted murder, encompassing the remaining

injured, and conspiring to cause explosions.

He was not in court for the unanimous verdicts after he dismissed his legal team last week and decided to take no further part in the trial.

Twenty-two men, women and children, aged eight to 51, were killed in the attack while 264 “were physically injured” and 670 more have since “reported psychological trauma as a result of these events”.

Duncan Penny QC, prosecuting, said the Abedi brothers had spent “months” planning the blast and had a

“shared goal [to] kill, maim and injure as many people as possible”.

They worked together to source chemicals and buy screws and nails to use as “anti-personnel shrapnel” in experimental improvised bombs, the court was told.

Afterwards, Police found Hashem’s fingerprints at key addresses and in a car, which still contained traces of explosives. Although he was in Libya when the device was detonated he was “just as guilty” as his brother, Penny said. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Rockets strike Baghdad’s Green Zone, 4th attack in days

An Iraqi security officer walks near the Victory Arch memorial in the Green Zone of Baghdad [Khalid al-Mousily/Reuters]

A

t least three rockets struck Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone near the United States Embassy late Tuesday, the fourth such attack in the span of a week.

It came a day after an attack on a training base south of the capital, where US-led coalition troops and NATO trainers were present, Iraqi security officials said.

At least three rockets struck the Green

Zone, the seat of Iraq’s Government and home to several foreign embassies, two Iraqi security officials said.

Myles Caggins, a spokesman for the US-led coalition, said the rockets fell at least 2km (1.2 miles) from the embassy. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The previous evening, rockets hit the Basmaya base near the Iraqi capital, an Iraqi army statement said. The projec-

tiles landed in an area that includes agricultural land and a factory, according to the statement. No more details were provided.

A Spanish contingent of the coalition and NATO trainers are present at the Basmaya site. There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from the coalition, and no armed group claimed responsibility.

Last Wednesday, a barrage of two dozen rockets struck Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, killing three coalition servicemen, including two Americans. A British serviceman was also killed.

Wednesday’s barrage was followed by another raid, on Saturday at the same site, which wounded five soldiers - three coalition members and two Iraqi soldiers.

The first attack prompted American airstrikes on Friday against what US officials said were mainly weapons facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group believed to be responsible for the attack. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

18

guyanatimesgy.com

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

ARCHIE

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

DILBERT

GEMINI (May 21June 20)

PEANUTS

CANCER (June 21July 22)

A new idea, plan or hobby will encourage you to change your routine. Be open to suggestions and willing to collaborate and make personal improvements that boost your confidence.

Try something new because it’s what you want, not because someone else is pressuring you to do so.

You’ll make a bad choice if you act on an assumption.

Listen and observe.

Focus on friendship, family and the things you enjoy doing most. Use your creative talents. Stick to the truth when it comes to expressing your feelings. Don’t mislead someone.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

When in doubt, sit tight.

Time is on your side. A snap decision will cause more confusion and uncertainty.

Rethink your strategy and make a personal adjustment.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

You’ll have an eye-opening experience. A change of heart will help you make a clear-cut decision that will improve your life. Don’t worry about what might happen. Do something that lowers your stress.

LIBRA

Acceptance is in your best interest. Once you know where you stand, you will be able to make headway. Short trips, business meetings and conferences will be entertaining and informative.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

(Sept. 23Oct. 23)

SUDOKU

Control will be required if you want to get things done. Refuse to let anyone back you into a corner or dump responsibilities that don’t belong to you in your lap.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

If you share your thoughts and see who is interested in the same things you are, you will be able to bring about a positive change. Romance is in the stars.

Flush out any problems SAGITTARIUS before you present what you (Nov. 23want to pursue. If you unDec. 21) derestimate the extent of a job, you will face criticism.

Someone you least expect will lead you astray.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

Take control and follow your heart. A personal change will give you an excellent opportunity to explore new territory. Share your feelings with a loved one. Romance is featured.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

You may crave adventure and greater diversity in your life, but first you have to take care of business and make sure everything is stable and secure. Be prepared to commit.

SOLUTION FOR YESTERDAY’S PUZZLE

PISCES (Feb. 20March 20)

Use the element of surprise when launching your plans, and you’ll have a more significant impact on the people you are trying to impress or persuade to join your cause.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

T

IOC committed to Tokyo 2020 Games, no need for "drastic decisions"

he International Olympic Committee does not plan any “drastic” decisions about the Tokyo 2020 Games, saying on Tuesday it remains fully committed to the event being staged in four months’ time despite the global spread of the coronavirus.

The Olympic rings are pictured in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, March 17, 2020. Picture taken with a fisheye lens.

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Following discussions with international sports federations the IOC said changes would need to be

made to the qualifiers due to the impact of the virus, but it still plans to go ahead with the July 24-Aug 9 Olympics.

“The IOC remains fully committed to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and with more than four months to go before the Games there is no need for any drastic decisions at this stage,” it said in a statement.

“Any speculation at this moment would be counter-productive,” it said, less than an hour after European soccer body UEFA postponed its 2020 European Championship to 2021.

“The IOC encourages all athletes to continue to pre-

pare for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as best they can,” Earlier on Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Group of Seven leaders had agreed to support a “complete” Olympics, but he dodged questions about whether any of the leaders had brought up the possibility of postponement.

The virus also forced the postponement of South America’s Copa America soccer tournament - one of the biggest draws on the football calendar - and speculation about whether the Olympics can be held has grown by the day.

So far the coronavirus

Euro 2020 postponed until 2021 cess and made the biggest sacrifice", adding it comes "at a huge cost" but "purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole".

Euro play-offs moved to June

UEFA launched the Euro 2020 logo in London

E

uro 2020 has been postponed by one year until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

European football's governing body made the decision during an emergency video conference involving major stakeholders on Tuesday.

The tournament, due to take place from 12 June-12 July this summer, will now run from 11 June to 11 July next year.

The postponement provides a chance for European leagues that have been suspended to now be completed.

By moving the European Championship, Uefa now has a clash with the Women's European Championship, which is due to be held in England in 2021, beginning on 7 July.

The Nations League and the European Under-21 Championships are also scheduled to take place next summer.

Uefa said all three events will be "rescheduled accordingly", but it is currently unclear if that involves minor tweaks to dates, or largescale postponements.

In delaying Euro 2020, Uefa said it wanted to avoid "placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services" of its 12 host countries, as well as helping allow domestic competitions to be finished.

"We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent," said Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.

"It is at times like these, that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism.

"The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and in that spirit, Uefa tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football.

"There was a real spirit of co-operation, with everyone recognising that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result."

Ceferin said it was important Uefa "led the pro-

The European Championship qualifying play-offs, scheduled to begin in March, have provisionally been moved to June.

They include two-legged ties between Scotland and Israel, Northern Ireland and Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Republic of Ireland and Slovakia.

Friendly international matches due to be played this month have also been pushed back until June.

Uefa says a working group will examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season and any other consequence of Tuesday's decisions.

Elsewhere, the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) says this year's Copa America, due to take place from 12 June to 12 July, has been postponed until 2021.

World governing body Fifa says the newly-expanded Club World Cup, originally scheduled to take place in China in June 2021, will be postponed and a new date announced when "there is more clarity on the situation".

The organisation is also going to donate $10m (£8.3m) to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund. (BBC Sport)

The Olympic rings are pictured in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland (Reuters)

has infected almost 190,000 people and killed more than 7,500 worldwide, with the epicentre now being Europe.

Competition ban

Sports competitions have come to a halt in many parts of the world, wreaking havoc with Olympic qualifier events across 33 sports. The IOC on Monday scrapped any remaining boxing qualifiers due to the virus.

“The health and well-being of all those involved in the preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is our number-one concern,”

IOC President Thomas Bach said.

“All measures are being taken to safeguard the safety and interests of athletes, coaches and support teams.

We are an Olympic community; we support one another in good times and in difficult times.”

The IOC will hold further talks with National Olympic Committees and athletes’ representatives in the coming days.

The decision to proceed with the Games was not, however, welcomed by all athletes.

“This is not about how

19

things will be in four months,” 2016 Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi said in a social media post.

“This is about how things are now. The IOC wants us to keep risking our health, our family’s health and public health to train every day? You are putting us in danger right now, today, not in four months.”

The Greek pole vaulter, who won Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, is also a former world and European champion and a multiple Diamond League winner.

“It’s unbelievable. What about team sports that have to train together? What about swimming? What about gymnastics that they touch the same objects?

There is zero consideration of the risk they are putting us in right now,” she said.

So far 57% of the 11,000 athletes have already secured their spots, while for the remaining 43% of places the IOC is working with federations to adapt the qualifying procedures for Tokyo.

Qualification could also be based on ranking or historical results as well.

(Reuters)

20 PSL playoffs postponed after overseas Alex Hales confirms COVID-19 player develops coronavirus symptoms symptoms, yet to be tested A T WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

he PSL, which had tweaked its original schedule to shorten it by four days with an eye on the worsening COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) situation, has been "suspended" following the revelation that an overseas cricketer, who has now left Pakistan, had shown symptoms of the virus.

"One overseas player has been potentially suspected (of having contracted COVID-19).

However, we cannot reveal the identity of that player. But it's true that there is one suspected case and the player has left Pakistan already," Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive, told mediapersons in Lahore.

According to a tweet by the official PSL handle, the semi-final games [Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars], which were scheduled to be played on Tuesday, and the final, slotted for Wednesday, would be rescheduled.

"We took the responsibility and were engaged with the government all the time and taking their minute-by-minute advice," Khan said. "We were continuing with their consent. We first made our decision to play in empty stadiums, gave players option to leave, reduced the number of days as well and all decisions we had taken were for the greater good.

"But this new development came after a player who left Pakistan told us that (he has) symptoms and this (decision to suspend PSL) isn't in light of being panicked, but it's a sensible response and we made our decision after thorough deliberation.

But before this there was no suspected case at all, which is why the decision wasn't made before."

Representatives of the management teams of the various franchises accepted the decision, saying it was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

Salman Iqbal, the owner of Karachi Kings, told ESPNcricinfo, "I have been asking for it to be postponed for the past two days, as we [PSL] was the only cricket going on. But, anyway, it's a very good decision by the franchise owners and the PCB management."

We also caught up with Sameen Rana, owner of Lahore Qalandars, who said,

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

"We respect the PCB decision. The health and safety of players and officials is of utmost importance. It's unfortunate, but considering the situation, we understand the rationale."

"As important as the PSL is for all of us, it was clear that the right thing to do at this time was to call off the remaining games," Alamgir Tareen of Multan Sultans told ESPNcricinfo. "Where there are concerns about health there can be no other priority."

Meanwhile, it has also emerged that all the players and other officials of the four teams to have qualified for the semi-finals, as well as broadcast employees and others involved with the games, are being tested.

As such, the organisers had taken a decision on March 13 to tweak the schedule of the tournament following the premature departure of a number of overseas players and the increased risk in Pakistan, cancelling

the four-match playoff stage (March 17 to 22) and introducing two semi-finals (as a double-header) and the final on March 17 and 18.

More players have left Pakistan since then.

There are 184 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan according to the latest update, with two in Punjab (of which Lahore is a part), and the number has been going up with each passing day.

The Punjab province is under Section 144, a law that bans all private and public sports activity as well as other public gatherings. The PCB had taken special permission to have the remaining games behind closed doors, but Gaddafi Stadium still had a large presence of mediapersons during the last few games, and post-match presentation ceremonies and press conferences have been fairly crowded with representatives of the PCB and other stakeholders in attendance. (ESPN Cricinfo)

lex Hales has confirmed he is self-isolating at home after developing symptoms of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) following his return from the Pakistan S u p e r League.

The PSL's organisers confirmed on Tuesday morning that the competition's semi-finals and finals had been postponed indefinitely after a player had shown symptoms of the virus. PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said "we cannot reveal the identity of that player", but Ramiz Raja, who has been commentati n g o n t h e tournament, told reporters: "Alex Hales has developed symptoms."

Raja's comments led to inaccurate speculation that Hales had tested positive for the virus, which he denied in a statement.

"In the light of the speculation and rumour that is currently circulating within the cricket world and on social media, I felt I needed to give a full explanation of my situation," Hales said.

"Like many other overseas players, I reluctantly left the

Pakistan Super League early because, with COVID-19 reaching global pandemic status, I felt it was more important to be with my family rather than face a period

Alex Hales

of lockdown thousands of miles from home.

"I returned to the UK in the early hours of Saturday morning feeling perfectly fit and healthy and with absolutely no symptoms of the virus. However, I awoke early on Sunday morning having developed a fever and followed the government's advice of self-isolation, a process I am obviously still following having developed a dry and persistent cough.

"At this stage, it has not been possible to be tested although I am

hope-

ful

that might be the case later today [Tuesday] so that I can get absolute confirmation of my current health status."

The Guardian reported that Hales spent Saturday socialising with Tom Curran and Jade Dernbach after returning from Pakistan, but that they were not among the six Surrey players confirmed by the club to be in self-isolation on Monday. A club spokesperson later confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the pair are now also self-isolating.

Hales had tweeted "Self-isolation begins...

TV series to watch please?!" on Monday, but later deleted the post.

All the players and officials of the four teams to have qualified for the PSL semi-finals, as well as broadcasters and staff involved with the games, will be tested for the virus following the competition's postponement.

Salman Iqbal, the owner of Hales' franchise Karachi Kings, told ESPNcricinfo: "I have been asking for it to be postponed for the past two days, as we [PSL] was the only cricket going on. But, anyway, it's a very good decision by the franchise owners and the PCB management."

(ESPN Cricinfo)

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

CLASSIFIED ADS ACCOMMODATION

21

Sinclair inks deal with Jacobs Jewellery and Pawn Shop

Aracari Hotel, W.B.D. Accommodation Rates from USD$25. Amenities: Pool, Bar, Restaurant, Gym, Free Parking, Free WiFi. Spend 7 Nights and Get 1 Free. Tel: 264-2946.

ASTROLOGY & SPIRITUALITY Work done by : Djuka. For all Purposes: Healing, Upliftment for Business, Court Matters, Visa, Evil Sickness, Togetherness for lovers, Pregnancy, Jobs, Money Readings, Husband/Wife Seperation. 633-4487 Relationship problem, Pregnancy, Removal of Evil Spirit, Sickness, Jobs, Nature Problem, Skin Problem, Business Upliftment, Blockage, Family Problem, Education and much more. Call for Appointment: Tel# 633-7396/683-5228 Having Problems with Marriage/ Love Relationships, Health, Job, Money, Removal of Obstacles of any kind. Meet me once and change your life. Call 688-2135 Are you suffering from Health, Money, Job, Marriage Relationships problems, Removal of Blockage/ Evil Spirits, Clear Negative Energy, Permanent Protection. Call: 6961857 for appointment.

FOR SALE Mix Breed Puppies for Sale. Contact: Tel- 253-3114/692-0126.

LAND FOR SALE W.B.D, Versailles, Gated Community Lot 14 - 10214 SQ FT. Ph # 264-2948 / 615-2270.

VACANCIES Office Assistant - Maths and English required, knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

Apply to Mima Décor, Lot 8 Sheriff St, GTown or mimadecor12@gmail. com (227-0186) Pump attendant-680-3863, Store helper-624-003, Driver for water canter-680-3863, Porter for water canter-680-3863, House keeper-624-0033 Call or Whatsapp One (1) General Domestic to work in the interior to cook, clean, wash, etc. Accommodation and meals provided. Please contact: 680-2702

J

Kevin Sinclair (left) receives the gesture from former national player Steven Jacobs

acobs Jewellery and Pawn Shop, owned by Former National Cricketer Steven Jacobs, on Monday signed an Emerging National Cricketer, Kevin Sinclair, as a brand ambassador for

his business.

Today, a simple signing ceremony, held at the business premises at 16 Pike Street Kitty Georgetown, was held for the upcoming Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketer.

– White says UFC 249 will happen

Pump attendant -680-3863 Driver for water canter- 680-3863 Porter for water canter- 680-3863 House keeper- 624-0033. Call or Whatsapp.

NOT RECEIVING YOUR DAILY & SUNDAY COPIES OF THE

GUYANA TIMES

in your area?

Contact our

Circulation Department on

Phone: 223-7230 EXT: 55

dor both on and off the field.

Jacobs at the ceremony seemed very happy to have Sinclair on board and said that he saw a lot of potential in Kevin and is looking forward to playing a major role in his development

on and off the field. He also stressed that discipline and hard work is key for any athletes’ success and encouraged Sinclair to hold that as a small reminder as his career moves ahead.

UFC postpone 3 events

Office Assistant - Maths and English required. Knowledge of Excel and Quickbooks would be an asset.

Apply to Mima Décor, 8 Sheriff Street, Georgetown, Or Email: mimadecor12@gmail.com. Tel: 2270186/227-0176 Store helper- 624-003

He expressed gratitude for the opportunity given

by Jacobs and his business and also encouraged other business entities to follow Jacobs’ lead and support local athletes. Sinclair vowed to be an efficient ambassa-

CONMEBOL postpones 2020 Copa America until 2021

T

he 2020 Copa America has been postponed until 2021, CONMEBOL has confirmed.

Argentina and Colombia had been due to stage the tournament this year, but South American football's governing body has opted to delay by 12 months in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The new dates for the 2021 Copa America are June 11 to July 11.

It means CONMEBOL taking parallel steps to UEFA, which postponed Euro 2020 until 2021 on Tuesday – a decision the two federations acknowledged had been taken in co-ordination with one another.

A statement issued

by CONMEBOL read: "After a detailed analysis of the situation re-

garding the world and regional evolution of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and of the recommendations made by international organisations in the field of public health to take extreme precautions, CONMEBOL announces the postponement of the 47th edition of the CONMEBOL Copa America to the dates of June 11 to July 11, 2021.

"The confederation, with its president Alejandro Domínguez in charge, along with the 10 presidents of the different member associations, considers that an event of this magnitude deserves that all the attention and effort be focused on its organisation; today's priority is in the background to protect the health and safety of the national teams, fans, the media and host cities." (Sportsmax)

D

ana White has finally banned all combat sports in Nurmagomedov. He said that bowed down to the wrath the state indefinitely. The UFC the event is still scheduled as of Coronavirus. Despite Apex Centre in Las Vegas was plan. However, the location his hard resistance, he has con- Dana’s fall back resort to any may change. ceded that some things are out location troubles. However, Dana added that they are of his hands. Consequently, with the NSAC ruling, it went closing all offices immediatehe has suspended UFC’s ly, including the UFC next three events which Performance Institute. includes UFC London, The organizer urged all UFC Portland and UFC workers to work from Columbus, which was rehome. On a closing note, located to Las Vegas.

Dana said the organizaDana White sent a long tion will always stand for email to his employees inits employees. forming them the same.

Dana’s decision has The news came out afultimately brought some ter one of the employees, calm in what has been Michael Carroll, dropped a chaotic time in the the word from his Twitter UFC. With the news account. MMA Junkie latof UFC London canceler obtained a copy of the ling, there was an ongosame mail. ing Instagram war beUFC President Dana White parts UFC Dana said that he had Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov tween Tyron Woodley and done everything in his and number 1 contender Colby Covington to fight power to stick with the each other. However, now schedule. He acknowledged out of the equation. it seems that there will be no that people thanked him for not need of the same. cancelling UFC Brasilia. After The restoration of the peace Dana White says UFC the governor imposed a ban has come at a cost. With the 249 will go on on large crowds, UFC Brasilia Dana also tried to motivate UFC shutting down its doors, took place behind closed doors. his staff. He told them that all major sports have been susWhite said that people look to- they are “the best to ever do it” pended in the USA. However, wards sports during such times and that they will “get through the nation and the world has to provide them with a sense of this” and will be “tougher, bigger things to deal with right relief. stronger and more bada**”. now. As Dana White correctWith the pandemic expand- However, he still didn’t let go ly said, “This is different. The ing its reach daily, Dana ac- of his biggest ticket at hand. whole world is being affected cepted that some things are UFC 249 is scheduled for right now, and nothing is more out of his control. The biggest 18th April in Brooklyn, New important than the health and impact came when the Nevada York and will be headlined safety of you and your famiState Athletic Commission by Tony Ferguson vs Khabib lies.” (Essentially Sports)

22

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Coach optimistic of Billingy and Sukhai’s future …Club adheres to COVID-19 protocols

By Timothy Jaikarran

J

Jasmine Billingy and Samara Sukhai won the U-11 and U-9 titles respectively

asmine Billingy and Samara Sukhai of the Titans Table Tennis Club continue to show why they are great prospects for the future with their rapid success at such tender sporting ages. As such, Titans Coach Dwain Dick is optimistic of what the future holds for the pair.

They recently participated in the Juniors Silver Bowl Table Tennis Championships played in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.

Emerging in winners’ row after this tournament, both Billingy and Sukhai topped the U11 and U9 categories, respectively.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sport, Dick said, “In terms of the players’ performances, we have been making tremendous strides due to our commitment to excellence

and their overall development.

We can do so much, but a lot rests on the association due to the fact that many tournaments we would like to attend, entries must be submitted through them.”

He went on to say, “Presently though, Billingy and Samara have been already preparing for the CRTTF Mini & Precadets later down in the year and hopefully they can qualify for the Regional Hopes Camp for the Continental Hope Camp. They are still a bit young because their division is 11 years and under.”

“So, they will be competing against seasoned campaigners who compete on the Latin American circuit. It will be a challenge, but we have started to prepare them until the national team is called and they go off to national training. Remember, Billingy is only 9 and Samara, 8, so they have years in their division.”

The coach added that the club is currently adhering to the Ministry's advisory and have suspended their activities for

COVID- 19

two weeks due to the current coronavirus pandemic.

He noted that the players were advised to rest and recuperate, taking all necessary precautions.

He relayed that to keep the players such as Billingy and Sukhai among others in tune with the game, videos are shared for them to watch and better understand the sport. The athletes were also advised to use this period to do some revision as well, based on the fact that their education has always been the club’s top priority.

In closing, Dick said, “After these two weeks, we will evaluate and may consider doing some strength and conditioning work with our players who are preparing for future engagements to keep them in form, but we have to wait and see”.

Ninvalle stands behind decision to halt qualifiers

Titans Coach Dwain Dick

Belle Vue, New Windsor share the series

…boxing gyms join list of closed sport facilities

T

his past weekend in London, over 350 boxers stared danger in the face as they competed in the European Olympic Boxing qualifiers. Important to note is the fact that Britain has had 35 deaths and over 1300 persons reportedly infected with the deadly coronavirus.

Flashback to one week ago, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, disclosed to media operatives that the Americas Olympic Qualifier for boxing, billed for Argentina from March 26 to April 3, would be cancelled, based on word from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC).

As such, it was puzzling why Europe would go ahead with putting the athletes’ health at risk in order to commence the qualifier over the weekend. While the event is currently suspended, Ninvalle is of the opinion that it should not have begun in the first place and stands firmly behind the AMBC’s decision to cancel

GBA President Steve Ninvalle

the Americas’ leg of the qualifier.

“I totally support the cancellation,” Ninvalle told this publication in an overseas interview.

“At this point in time, I think what is of priority is the safety, health and wellbeing of the competitors and officials,” he went on to note.

When probed about the possibility of hosting the qualifiers indoors without an audience, the GBA boss noted that the idea could be a possibility going forward, but pre-

venting the spread of the pandemic virus remains as the top priority.

“Yes, I think they can explore that but that does not take away the threat of spreading of the virus as you have persons coming from 42 countries,” Ninvalle explained.

Meanwhile, The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) over the weekend sent communication to the boxing gyms, which are affiliated with their association, an advisory which states that all gyms under its

affiliation should halt all non-essential activity for the next two weeks as Guyana continues to monitor the coronavirus pandemic.

The move was taken to assist in curbing the spread of the coronavirus locally. GBA President Steve Ninvalle had dispatched a letter to all head of gyms calling for the immediate halt to sparring and non-essential activity.

“With the threat of the coronavirus, the Executive of the GBA has put on hold all competitions until further notice. We ask that there be an immediate halt to sparring and non-essential training. The executive wishes to thank all parties for their expected compliance," the letter to the gym heads stated.

In addition, the GBA was forced to postpone the hosting of the CARIFTA Tournament which was scheduled for the Easter weekend, April 11 to 13 in Guyana. Several Caribbean countries had already signalled their intention of participating.

(Jemima Holmes)

O

The victorious Belle Vue side

ver the weekend, Belle Vue faced off New Windsor in a two-match affair. From this encounter, both teams were able to win a match each, levelling the series 1-1.

In the first T20 encounter, Belle Vue won the toss and batted first and were bowled out for 57 in 14.5 overs. Unlike their other performances throughout 2020, this one was by far the worst as they played recklessly against a team they had beaten with ease in the past.

They failed to utilise the power-play overs as they found themselves playing a resistant game rather than their natural aggressive game. In the end, they could only afford a measly total in which they knew could not be defended. In reply, New Windsor scored 58-0 in an innings led by Vishal Singh— who was the main

run contributor for such a small total.

The second match played was a 15-over game. It was do-or-die for Belle Vue as they needed a win to redeem themselves.

New Windsor batted first and posted 126 in 15 overs.

While the given total may seem small, vital runs were given away. It seemed as though the New Windsor side would have taken the upper hand and taken the series 2-0.

But in the end, the Belle Vue side seemed confident in taking on their target. Michael Persaud, Dyal Rajpat and R Thakur were the main run-scorers. Belle Vue replied with 132-5 in 12.1 overs as they played their natural aggressive game and were able to make light work of the total. Ryan Seecharran was the top scorer with 39 and was supported by Ajula Bowman (29).

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

23

Roach relishes sweet success in Guyana F

resh from dismantling five-time defending champions Guyana Jaguars with a match haul of 9-90 at the Guyana National Stadium Providence, West Indies Test seamer Kemar Roach was satisfied with his pink-ball performance.

In his exclusive interview with this daily publication, Roach noted that the win against Jaguars meant a lot.

"It feels good, it's been a long season bouncing back from the defeat against Windwards, Pride really put their hands up and kept the team in the winner row," Roach disclosed.

He rated this bowling performance in the eighthround clash against Guyana as one of his better spells.

"This is definitely one of the best times I bowled in a while, the ball came in hand pretty well and the rhythm was pretty well. It's a good

start for the year," Roach posited.

Roach, who showed his high skill pitching the ball in the right areas for long periods, enjoyed bowling at Providence. He noted that the pink ball was offering more than the red ball; "once you put the ball in the right area you will get yourself a chance of getting wickets."

The 31-year-old, who played 56 Test matches for the West Indies, was also proud of his fitness level. "I stood up pretty well, took some rest when I had to and it kept me going for the season," Roach explained.

Having played five games this season and has 30 wickets under his belt, the experienced Test seamer was filled with delight. West Indies’ next series will be in England; if selected, Roach noted that he is prepared to rock the maroon colours.

"Once I put the maroon

Roach leads the team off (Brandon Corlette photos)

colours on, I always take it seriously, hopefully I can take this form into that England series, once select-

ed and hopefully going forward, win some games for West Indies," Roach highlighted.

D

espite CARIFTA 2020 being cancelled and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics remaining in limbo due to the coronavirus, the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) gave local athletes the opportunity to exert their energy over the weekend, with hopes of bettering their personal best performances.

The fact that the competition comprised of a mixture of senior and junior athletes made the victories even sweeter for those who were bent on proving their invincibility.

Two such athletes were Police Progressive Youth Club’s Hannah Reid and Guyana Defence Force’s Akeem Stewart who dominated the 200M sprint and were not only proud of their performances over the weekend but have their eyes set on future improvements.

The female winner, Reid, shared with this newscast her thoughts about the race.

“In the race, I had a good start, I want to thank God for his strength. But for the finishing, I could

have relaxed more but I’m still happy.”

For the 16-year-old Reid, the run was all about hitting a personal best time, which would have booked her ticket to the CARIFTA Track and Field championships, had it not been cancelled.

Nonetheless, the young woman still expressed her optimism.

“It’s not about the space or winning, it’s the time that matters. I hope it’s good enough, I believe that it is,” Reid shared.

On the other hand, Akeem Stewart, who is no stranger to the track, detailed how he had to bounce back to bag a win.

“At the start, in know I had a powerful dry phase and a great reaction to the gun. Yesterday I wasn’t so lucky in the hundred, being left in the blocks, but today I got it right and I always believed in my strength coming home, so it was well executed on my behalf,” Stewart said.

Highlighting his shaky performance in the 100M dash, in which he finished third, the 29-year-old spoke extensively on his

doubts about his fitness and shared that it took some encouraging words from his coaches for him to find his groove.

“It feels really great cause I haven’t been consistent in the last three weeks. I thought that I lost some level of fitness, but I’m still above average. I had a talk with my coach Chisolm and Julian Edmonds who have been looking over my fitness and I was told that I’m still there after a couple of sessions I’m going fall back in place. I’m grateful.”

With an eye on the future, Stewart expressed his optimism about the Tokyo 2020 Olympics staying on course and cited qualification for the event as one of his main goals.

“This is my second competition for the year, third 200M, I had great timings. I ran my first 100M yesterday with my fastest season opener ever since 2011, so we’re on track to qualifying for the Olympics at least

by May month-end,” the Sprint athlete disclosed.

(Jemima Holmes)

seamer has 193 Test wickets in his 56 outings for the West Indies. (Brandon Corlette)

GKC Grading Examinations…

Early season classic

Stewart, Reid contented with 200M performances

After 116 first-class matches, Roach has 372 wickets with 15 five-wicket hauls. The premier Test

H

3 black belt karatekas accredited

ead of the International K a r a t e Daigaku GKC 9th Dan Shuseki Shihan, Frank Woon-A-Tai, assisted by Shihan Doctor Guy Low 7th Dan, and Shihan Aubrey Bettencourt 6th Dan, conducted another successful round of Karate Grading Examinations at GKC Thomas Lands, where students participated from the School of Nations Dojo.

The first half of the grading saw white to blue belts being examined followed by purple to dan levels with three students taking the Shodan test (black belts). Overall, excellent performances by the examinees brought them success.

Also being pro1st Dan karatekas James Griffith, Zion Rambarran, Jazara Hewitt moted in their respective categories were: were claimed by Daniel Dan) James Griffith, Zion [Orange belt] Azari Samuels, Prince, Nicolas Silva, Rambarran, Jazara Hewitt Jonathan Benn, Alexander Jeremiah Aginam, Kylan Forrester, Adiel Sampson, Mullis; [2nd Kyu] Sven Kyu promotions Azaryah Sampson, Jayden Douglas, Abriano Beckles; 0 Kyu to yellow belt Persaud, Emma Persaud, [1st Kyu] Kadre Henry and Chika Ochasi, Dwayne De Chofny Hoost, Toby Hoost, Amit Prasad.

Freitas, Nathan Persaud, Mia Prasad, Kovid Persaud, The School of Nations Ganesa Singh Sumayah Liam Felix.

Dojo and Westfield Prep Kadir Green belts were School have extended con8 Kyu to green belt claimed by Cattleya Singh gratulatory remarks to all Azriel Sampson, Adian Alli, and Anika Jain. Blue belts the successful students as Sameer Roopnarine went to Clint Phillip, Abdul well as Sensei Laurence 7 Kyu to Blue Belt Hopkinson, Haaziq Harding, Lowe for his commitment to Faizal Alli, Safiya Alli, Emma Allicock, Herman the development of Karate Stephan Sewpersaud Lepps, Lotti Mullis, Liam De in Guyana.

6 Kyu to Purple Belt Silva and Malachi Sumner.

Shayne Nokta, Parmanand Purple belts went to Luan Some of the results Sukhdeo Singh, Julian Mohabir and are as follows : Haashim Harding.

Dan promotions - (1st Third Kyu brown belts

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

GKC Grading Examinations…

3 black belt karatekas accredited Page 23

Early season classic

Stewart, Reid contented with 200M performances See story on page 23

Hannah Reid crosses the finish line

Roach relishes sweet success in Guyana

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.

Page 23