Guyana Times International September 7th 2018

INTERNATIONAL

Guyanese students benefit from Linden Fund USA’s ‘back to school’ initiative Page 22

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Guyana teachers’ pay dispute to go to arbitration

for FRee distribution guyanatimesinternational.com

WEEK ENDING september 9, 2018

ISSUE NO. 414

…strike called off

See story on page 3

The Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) conducted trial runs of the new Arrival Terminal and Boarding Bridges recently to ensure that all systems regarding passenger treatment and loading conditions at the airport are satisfactory. The first test was conducted with approximately 286 passengers who arrived on a Fly Jamaica aircraft and were processed within two hours.

The Arrival Terminal is expected to officially begin operation on September 15. (CJIA photo)

Army 3-K For All expanding Former Captain accused to four boroughs in NY of murdering lover Page 12

- Mayor

Page 7

for High Court trial

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

NEWS 3

Guyana teachers’ pay dispute to go to arbitration WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

…strike called off C

oming out at what is expected to be the final conciliation meeting between the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and the Education Ministry regarding the salary increases being demanded for teacher’s across Guyana, Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Charles Ogle has revealed the parties are set to go to arbitration.

The meeting held with the Union head, Mark Lyte and other members and representative of MoE, Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson, at the Social Cohesion's Ministry, Department of

Labour on Thursday afternoon, saw yet again failed talks.

Ogle said the Ministry of Education’s team did not make a new pay offer on Thursday against the background of the fact that Government had said it could not have afforded the 40 percent demand.

The three-member arbitration panel would be required to accept evidence from government and the union. The decision by the arbitration would be binding on both sides.

The Government had asked had asked the continued on page 17

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

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EDITORIAL

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The future of GuySuCo

he Oracle of Delphi in Ancient Greece spoke on the seventh day of every month to the throng gathered from far and wide for answers to their questions. These, however, were worded so ambiguously that their “meaning” depended as much on the interpreting hearers as on the words themselves. But for the faithful, the words were never doubted. President David Granger goes one better than the Delphic Oracle by speaking once yearly to a “horde” of reporters; but his answers are just as ambiguous and demanding of interpretation.

Take his answer to questions on the future of the Government of Guyana-owned GuySuCo, which had closed four of seven “grinding” estates. This threw 5,700 sugar workers out of jobs directly from the corporation, and another 2,000 from farmers supplying sugar cane to the closed factories. Said President Granger oracularly, “GuySuCo is important to us. We have said that we are not shutting down the sugar industry; it is being reformed.”

Technically, of course, he is correct. But the rump sugar industry is being run in a manner which guarantees its death knell is only a matter of time. Set a target of 147,000 tonnes this year, it is now certain that not even 100,000 tonnes will be produced; and at a higher cost than that which was used to justify closing the three estates. GuySuCo will still be losing money on every tonne of sugar it produces. Ancillary income such as supplying bagasse to the Skeldon Co-Gen Plant is now gone, since Skeldon was shuttered.

The same is true of the supply of molasses to DDL, which have been forced to import this raw material for their production of their world-recognised rums, which bring in foreign currency.

But all of this does not matter to his partisans like PM Nagamootoo, who thought he had wrung the concession not to close the industry – meaning to make it viable as it was comprised — before the AFC went into a coalition with APNU in 2015. He did not realise the President speaks oracularly. But the President’s statement is of little comfort to the sugar workers of Berbice, where two estates were closed. To them, the President spoke with a “forked tongue” to trick them into supporting the coalition.

This became even more blatant after the recommendation of the Government’s high-priced Commission of Inquiry — that the entire industry be stabilised and brought to a point of sale.

The President also oracularly emphasised that “GuySuCo must be run as a business.” He said: “There has been a tendency or a temptation in the past to put persons (on GuySuCo’s Board of Directors) who might be socially prominent; but this is a business, this is an international industry, we have to compete with other sugar producers.”

What does this mean? In terms of GuySuCo as a business entity, the Government’s spokespersons, especially Audreyanna Thomas, PRO of GuySuCo, had emphasised the “GuySuCo as a business” like a mantra.

More recently, after appointing a new CEO, the Ministry of Agriculture explained: “This approach is guided by GuySuCo’s new ‘Sustainable Business Model,’ which focuses on achieving a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) – economic/financial, environmental and social.” The question, of course, to which Granger’s oracular pronouncement must be subjected, is what happened to the “social” aspect of the Triple Bottom Line when the decision was made to place 7,700 workers on the breadlines? Has the President not placed those Guyanese in a position where they are forced to “lime on street corners” and “look for handouts” – practices which the President frowns on?

But that portion of his oracular statement — that running a “business” is not compatible with placing “socially prominent” persons on its Board — was given an interesting interpretation by the state-run Chronicle. Its headline advised: “Pres. Granger steers clear from bourgeoisie-dominated board.” “Bourgeoisiedominated”? This is quite redolent of the 1970s Burnhamite rhetoric when they nationalised the sugar industry “for the people of Guyana”.

Will we now have a “working class” GuySuCo Board?

CPL cricket fever is spreading and there is no doubt which team this fan is supporting (CPL Photo)

Guyana can be the victor if politicians put country first

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ast Friday, President David Granger revealed that there was no power sharing proposal being discussed between the A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change coalition and the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

When quizzed by the media at his third press conference since coming to power back in 2015, President Granger frankly said there was no powering sharing proposal on the table, as he opined that it was “too late” structurally to embark on a reconfiguration of his Cabinet even if there were to be such a proposal.

The President, using his own deliberate judgement, also said “so what we have (is) as soon after we got into office, there was a proposal that we should meet to discuss… inclusionary democracy but there is no proposal on the table for power sharing… whatever that means, but certainly in terms of inclusionary democracy.

Mr Granger’s admission presents the public and all those who had championed the cause of changing Guyana’s governance structure in order to create a more inclusive, cohesive and unified country with much food for thought.

It also disclosures the fact that after three years, the coalition – which formed the Government – has failed to make any meaningful progress towards the ideals of shared governance or power sharing between the two major political groupings as envisioned by the founding leaders of his People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) party – Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte.

This is despite the fact that Granger himself had committed himself back in 2015 after winning the presidency to consider the possibility of sharing power with the PPP which had won 49 per cent of the vote according to the Guyana

Elections Commission.

He had said in September of 2015 that “We have at all times aimed at having inclusionary democracy and inclusionary government, so that the 49 per cent don’t feel locked out”.

He had even endorsed Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s banter about forming a national unity government in order to move Guyana forward into a period of enlightenment and modernity characterised by reconciliation, trust and healing.

But yet again, as the year races through its last quarter, Guyana has found itself at another critical and pivotal place in its history, even after finding oil in commercial quantities.

The fact that the political heads of those parties, which form the coalition, appear indifferent and unconcerned about the Opposition positioning at this time is telling and appalling. It means they believe they can turn the fortunes of this country around without the PPP. They feel they alone possess the qualities, ideas and philosophies that can guide public policy, which in turn would impact the livelihoods of thousands of Guyanese who come from diverse backgrounds and historic enclaves.

From the posture and tone of some of the coalition leaders, Guyana does not need the PPP, as their coalition is inclusive enough and surviving thus far.

Others feel that they can engineer the disappearance of the PPP and its leaders from the scene by embarking on a systematic campaign to rewrite aspects of Guyana’s history.

Leaders, who support and endorse the position in regard to locking the Opposition out of Government and ruling alone have no place in a modern, civilised, disciplined and democratic Guyana.

If Guyana is to move forward and embark on a genuine process of healing and reconcil-

iation, political leaders must admit that there is no such thing as a “pure multi-ethnic party” in Guyana. Both the PNC and the PPP draw their strength from the two major ethnic groups in this country; as did the United Force back in the days, when it was strongly supported by Amerindians.

The two major races hardly ever deflect, because of their suspicions about each other and the divisive rhetoric of their leaders, who quietly preach propaganda that eventually undermines the unification process. When they are frustrated, the two groups, with support from all of the other minor races, deliver shocks when they change the voting patterns or withhold support for their own party, as was seen at the elections in 1999, 2003, 2011 and possibly 2015.

But the politicians are not learning. If they accept that they aspire to represent all Guyanese, but their base is particularly composed of one ethnic group, whose interest they defend and represent, Guyana will be on the path to ethnic and political reconciliation. Leaders from both the PNC and PPP, if they work to put their past behind them and attempt to genuinely negotiate a power-sharing agreement or a formula for shared Government, as well as a system where the ‘winner does not take all’, Guyanese would be the only victors, because such a system can be seen as practical only if all parties are on board in 2018.

If the coalition does not get serious about constitutional reform, shared governance and national unity, it means it is happy with ‘managing the decline of a once great country’.

Having a few meetings as adumbrated by the Constitution does not result in ‘inclusionary democracy or Government’.

NEWS 5

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Jagdeo says Govt can find the money to save Guyana’s sugar industry A

s the downsizing of the sugar industry continues to take effect in several communities, particularly those in rural areas across the country, people in civil society and those who hold high offices in politics in Guyana continue to criticise Government for the move.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, is one such individual, who feels Government made a rash decision to downsize, without considering how their action would have affected thousands of households that depended on the industry for a daily income.

Jagdeo told a recent conference that focused on how the industry could be salvaged, that some G$47 billion was lost to a company by the Guyana Gold Board, which could have been used instead to resuscitate the industry and bring it back to a state of viability.

The industry saw over 7000 sugar workers being retrenched in 2017.

The former Head of State reasoned that al-

though the Government’s continuing argument is that it lost billions each year due to the mismanagement of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), those monies could have been better utilised.

But besides that, Jagdeo contends that Government can find the money to invest in the sector if it wants to. “We can find the money now to afford it,” he told the conference.

According to Jagdeo, the debt figure for GuySuCo that has been repeatedly cited as G$77 billion is incorrect. He explained that a significant part of the money was for long-term debt, personal liability and the Guyana Revenue Authority.

He said based on his calculations, the only real short-term debt faced by the industry was somewhere around G$10 billion. Jagdeo feels that was manageable and Government could have worked to ensure that that was fixed, and that the industry was sustained.

Having been criticised for the Skeldon Sugar Modernisation

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

Project, which did not deliver on its objectives, Jagdeo said the fault lies with the company that was hired to oversee the implementation of the project-Booker Tate. He said they simply did not deliver.

“The company failed Government by not giving enough value for the consultancy service it paid for,” he added. Nevertheless, he said that the purpose of that project was to bring some greater level of employment safety to persons in the industry. He had been quoted in var-

ious events, stating that the project was aimed at keeping “sugar alive.”

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary also called out Government for the secret manner in which they are going about planning for the industry. He said sugar workers must be properly consulted and brought up to date with what is happening in the industry. He said thousands were caught by surprise over the retrenchment.

He outlined that in Guyana, sugar is not a company, but an indus-

try, hence Government needs to be more thoughtful when making decisions about the industry. “No viable decision can be made without a feasibility study,” he said, noting that it was a political decision.

Jagdeo has long argued that the sugar industry could be sustained and can become viable if more attention is placed on fixing the current problems that exists. He recalled that between 1976 and 1996, sugar made a huge contribution to the Treasury and paid for the sugar levy.

“At one time, one fifth of total Government revenues came from the sugar industry. We carried Guyana for a long period and even after that, when the sugar levy was ended in 1996 we then got GuySuCo to continue to make a positive contribution to the industry,” he had noted.

The PPP/Civic General Secretary also pointed out that it was only when there was a cut in the European Union (EU) prices for sugar, it led to the industry losing $8 billion

per annum in revenue.

It was at that point that Government had to start looking to begin pumping revenue in the industry.

However, the EU had given Guyana over €100 million as part of the transitional arrangement, which according to Jagdeo, was more than the cost of Skeldon Sugar Factory.

“And so today it is not true that sugar cannot be restored in the future.

It’s not true that sugar cannot be profitable. If we work real hard and we look at the multidimensional contributions of sugar to the economy we will through an economic analysis that sugar makes a bigger contribution to Guyana than the subsidy it gets in this difficult period,” he asserted.

Contrary to what is being done with the sugar industry, Jagdeo said the PPP Government ensured that when the bauxite industry needed help, they pumped money into that industry to keep it alive. He said the same could be done for sugar.

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Scores of citizens from other CARICOM countries will flock Guyana

Dear Editor, As a young Guyanese, I have always heard of the callous and second class treatment of Guyanese in other CARICOM countries; namely, Trinidad and Barbados, which are two of the four major architects of the CARICOM Agreement with Guyana and Jamaica.

Guyanese have complained for years of the difficulty of travelling to these countries, and the greater difficulty of obtaining work agreements (contrary to the CARICOM Single Market Agreement); and many other abuses, including severe ill-treatment and harassment in these territories.

Let us not forget the mass kicking out of Guyanese workers recently in Barbados and ill-treatment of Guyanese entering Trinidad &Tobago, which the last administration tried to address unsuccessfully.

It should be noted that under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), one of the core tenets of the agreement is the free movement of skills/labour for CARICOM nationals, and the ability to seek work and/ or engage in gainful employment WITHOUT the need to obtain a work permit in the member state in which he/she wishes to work (https://foreign.gov.tt/services/ csme/).

This was hardly ever the case for Guyanese, a state which helped to craft the original agreement, and today houses the CARICOM Headquarters.

How that can possibly happen for such an important member is beyond comprehension, and would require volumes of articles to detail.

Editor, I always felt it was my duty to represent my country in the best light, and one of the more positive themes I would hear from residents of other sister territories is that Guyanese are some of the hardest working people they have ever known.

While I agree that a few apples might have spoilt the lot, the contributions to CARICOM from many Guyanese in terms of skilled labour and entrepreneurship have for many decades been magnanimous, but not appreciated still to this day.

Guyana’s best entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, artisans, carpenters etc. fleeing oppression and bad governance for much of its post-colonial history at the hands of the PNC and PPP, contributed immensely to the development of these territories; yet, many today cannot claim they are Guyanese in those territories due to shame, or fearing they will be denigrated.

Editor, I must proclaim that today, with a sense of irony and prophesy, for which I predicted many years ago that there will come a time that nationals from those CARICOM countries (especially those known for the ill-treatment of Guyanese) will swim to our shores, we are now seeing some semblance of that.

It has been reported recently that the majority of entrants

into the country are citizens of Trinidad, arriving most likely due to oil bonanza currently being realised. I suspect many others will follow, especially as Guyana keeps racking up oil discoveries one after the other.

Guyana is predicted to surpass oil extraction by miles more than Trinidad and Tobago at the height of its oil extraction years.

Editor, we also saw former PM of Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, urging her current Government in the twin-island republic to pursue a partnership with neighbouring Guyana to refine its oil in order to avert the closure of the Petrotrin refinery (https:// oilnow.gy/news/former-tt-primeminister-thinks-guyana-oil-cansave-petrotrin-refinery-from-closure/).

Who would have ever imagined that a high ranking member of CARICOM government would ever see Guyana as a key strategic partner and economically. Oh, how the times have changed!!!

Where was the support for Guyana when her citizens were being mistreated and denigrated as second class citizens, for which many were rounded up out their beds and deported, belittled and ridiculed?

I suspect that as the oil economy matures and the opportunities present themselves (if our current crop of leaders do not massively screw it up) we will see more nationals from the sister territories arriving, and despite the history of bad treatment, in my heart of hearts, I know fellow Guyanese will open the doors to other sister CARICOM nationals (as we for our South American neighbours) and not treat them the same as was done to us.

I think we ought to be the bigger partner and do just that.

We ran because we chose leaders who did not have our best interest at heart, and who were responsible for the bulk of our negative image and reputation.

While we may forgive, we will NEVER forget how many countless Guyanese were belittled, chased, and persecuted in tough times when they needed a friend.

I will continue to believe that my fellow countrymen and women are some of the best citizens in the world, with the biggest hearts, especially for those in need; as it reminds us so personally of our own struggles and experiences that still continue to this day, but hopefully will get better, if only for a short time.

Editor, while I believe that the topic of our membership in CARICOM should be explored, I will leave that debate for some astute expert and thinker. However, I suspect that if Guyana were to ever elect a leader like Donald Trump, the idea of removing ourselves from that agreement would not be farfetched, as I believe that Guyana has not really been a beneficiary member of CARICOM, and the opposite may in fact be true.

Humbly, Tony Persaud

CPL has earned and deserves the support of all stakeholders; including Government Dear Editor, Although no formal study has been done on the effect of the CPL games on the economy, there is no disputing that the matches have been giving a wallop to the overall economy. And as such, there should be bidding for more matches to be played in Guyana. Aside from the Providence stadium, consideration should be given to playing one match in the ancient county of Berbice (Albion), to give a spurt to that county’s economy. Albion did, at one time, host first class cricket as well as one-day internationals.

The CPL matches have added significantly to the growth of the economy. Kudos to the organisers and promoters for the professionalism shown in the management and overall staging of the games. They are well organised, administered, and marketed as a business. In today’s sporting events, commercial interests have become paramount in the promotion and success of the games. It is noted that attention is paid to TV audience, tickets sales, web site, concession sales at the stadium, sponsorship, and various forms of media coverage, as well as promotion.

The games have indisputably delivered a wide variety of (economic and social) benefits to the country as a whole, individuals, and to communities in the Greater Georgetown and East Bank Demerara areas. The matches have helped to increase personal economic prosperity, as well as provided employment opportunities to hundreds. In particular, the matches help to increase the productivity of individuals involved in cricket and those that sell varied items and foods near the stadium, boosting communities along the way. Besides direct economic benefits like sale of tickets and foods and drinks, there are indirect activities, like shopping for appropriate clothing, and entertainment (balloons, noise makers, other party favours), cricket equipment, hotels, uniform, tee shorts, advertising, printing, etc.

Billions of dollars are added to the economy. There are jobs created, social get-togethers occur, there is media coverage, travel from abroad and local transport (car rentals, taxi service, minibus operations, etc).

Media such as newspapers, television, the internet, radio, and social media are all providing access to the matches, which help to maintain interest in the games. The matches also showcase Guyana internationally on TV – hopefully creating an impression of our country that would make business people want to invest. This helps to maintain interest in their former homeland.

Besides economic benefits, the CPL matches have also contributed in the social area, such as raising aspirations of youngsters to become CPL cricketers, forcing them to increase skill levels in the sports.

Youths will be encouraged to aspire to become better cricketers, so they can be chosen for matches. This will force them to seek better training so as to improve their skills.

This would help many to keep out of trouble with the law. It is a form of entertainment during peoples’ time off from work. It is also noted that the matches provide opportunities for social interaction at the stadium, bringing diverse people together and helping to narrow social and ethnic differences.

It promotes social cohesion.

Government should sponsor and promote these matches, for cricket is the only sport that brings the entire diverse nation together.

The Government benefits enormously, not only from social cohesion, but economically as well, through taxes and the spread effects of spending related to the CPL matches. It supports many jobs – full time and seasonal, part time. When one does the math, several billions are added to the economy, and this money is re-cycled through various economic activities. Overall, the CPL matches contribute annually perhaps 5% of GDP, if not more. CPL has earned and deserves more Government support.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

APNU/AFC’s double standards exposed

Dear Editor, In responding to the striking teachers’ demands for salary increases, Junior Minister of Social Protection, Keith Scott, said the teachers are “selfish and uncaring”.

This statement exposes not only the anti-working class character of the APNU/AFC regime, but also that regime’s unadulterated double standards and hypocrisy.

When the regime awarded its ministers a huge increase in salary, claiming that they could not be expected to live on their already high salaries by Guyanese standards, was that not an act that was “selfish and uncaring”? It was a slap in the face of the majority of Guyanese, who are expected to survive on a tiny fraction of what ministers earned before their salaries increased. It is clear that Keith Scott’s intention was to influence im-

pressionable young minds to believe that the striking teachers are obstacles to their educational achievement, when the real obstacle is the neo-liberal Government that he represents.

The teachers and other public sector employees, sugar workers, security guards, petrol pump attendants, small business owners, and the unemployed youth must not allow the bourgeois politicians leading the PNCR, AFC and PPP/C to continue to make fools of them.

If we can stand together and focus our energies on the real fight for true independence and economic justice in our lifetime, then the victory of the people is inevitable.

Sincerely, Gerald A Perreira

news 7

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Sisters Village 3-K For All expanding fire leaves several to four boroughs …Ny Mayor homeless

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All that remains after the fire was quelled

fire on Wednesday night has completely destroyed a one-storey wooden building leaving several persons homeless at Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara (WBD).

Reports are that the fire occurred sometime after 21:00h on Wednesday when one of children was reportedly playing with a lighter and a mattress caught fire. There was reportedly no adult supervision at the time.

The owner of home Wilfred Duncan said on Thursday morning that 7 persons were living

at the home, including some of his children and grandchildren.

Duncan, a construction worker said he wasn’t able to save anything as he was not at home at the time.

Eyewitnesses say the fire brigade responded promptly but sourcing water proved to be an issue.

Neighbours recalled intense heat emanating from the structure.

The Duncan’s eastern neighbours were also affected as they were seen removing blinds and fetching down furniture to be sun-dried.

Dancer to serve 7 years for fatal stabbing of disgruntled observer

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ouston Back Road native, Mark Anthony Barclay, 39, was on Wednesday jailed for seven (7) years by Justice Sandil Kissoon for killing 26-year-old Gordon Ross called “Black Boy” on April 30, 2016, at the White Castle Fish Shop in Georgetown.

Barclay plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, accepting that he stabbed Ross to death with a knife after they had a scuffle at the John and Hadfield Streets, Werk-en-Rust establishment.

According the case facts, Barclay was at the shop dancing and Ross, who somehow got annoyed, headed straight towards him and started to beat him with a belt.

Barclay reportedly picked up a knife belonging to Ross and dealt him

five stab wounds.

Ross was later taken to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Barclay’s lawyer Brandon De Santos told the court that society would be sent the wrong message if his client received a harsh sentence.

Justice Kissoon started at a base of 25 years but reduced the prison term by 18 years for the early plea and time spent on remand for murder.

Three weeks after Ross was killed, the offender admitted his crime to investigators, saying that the deceased became upset because everybody liked his dancing.

Barclay had also told detectives that he disposed of the knife, though he couldn’t recall where he had thrown it.

EW YORK— Mayor Bill de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza, and Deputy Mayor Thompson earlier this week joined students, families, and educators from across the City for the first day of the 2018-19 school year.

According to a release from the Mayor’s Office, Mayor de Blassio, the Chancellor, and Deputy Mayor Thompson visited the first-ever day of 3-K for All in Queens, at PS 377 in Ozone Park. This school year, free, full-day, high-quality 3-K is expanding to serve 5,000 students at 187 sites in six districts across four boroughs (Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn) – up from 1,500 students last year at 47 sites in District 7 in the Bronx and District 23 in Brooklyn.

“For too long, New York City was divided.

Some people could afford an early start and others couldn’t,” said Mayor de Blasio. “That’s why we made early childhood education a priority from day one and why we’ve worked to expand our programs to reach every child regardless of zip code or income level.

There’s nothing more important than unlocking the future of our youngest New Yorkers and we’re excited to welcome our students for what will be another successful school year,” the Mayor said.

As Chancellor Carranza begins his first full school year in New York City, 3-K for All

is expanding ahead of schedule and the Equity and Excellence for All initiatives are now reaching every New York City public district elementary, middle, and high school. This is also the first school year of the Chancellor’s streamlined leadership and support structure, which will align supports, bring resources closer to schools, and create a clear line of accountability from each classroom to the Chancellor.

“Welcome back to our 1.1 million students and their families, and our 145,000 educators and school staff – from Wakefield to Tottenville, and Rosedale to Washington Heights,” said Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza. “I couldn’t be more excited to spend my first full school year in New York City with such talented and passionate students and adults, and I’m looking forward to an incredible year.”

According to the Mayor’s Office, the Equity and Excellence

for All agenda, now starting its third full school year, is driving progress across all schools so that by 2026, 80 percent of students graduate high school on time, and twothirds of graduates are college-ready. The agenda builds on record-high graduation rates, record-high college enrollment rates, record-low dropout rates, and a high-quality pre-K seat for every New York City 4-year-old who wants one.

Across the Equity and Excellence for All initiatives, the City is making progress and meeting or surpassing goals. Some highlights entering the 2018-19 school year include: 3-K for All is the nation’s most ambitious effort to provide universal free, full-day, high-quality early childhood education for every three-yearold. Research has found every dollar invested in high-quality early education saves taxpayers as much as $13 long-term.

This is the second year of an expedited 3-K for All

expansion. Each community school district will have a two-year expansion, offering universal access in the second year.

The City is outpacing its initial rollout plan – 3-K is in six districts in 201819 compared to the originally announced four, and will be in 12 districts by fall 2021 compared to the originally announced eight.

By fall 2021, the City will support over 19,000 3-K seats across 12 districts in all five boroughs.

At scale, the cost will be $203 million across the 12 City-funded districts.

In order to achieve the vision of 3-K for All citywide, the City will need additional support from partners in the State and federal government.

This school year, over 1,800 DOE district schools, NYC Early Education Centers, EarlyLearn programs, and Pre-K Centers are offering free, full-day, high-quality pre-K. Families can continue to find pre-K seats by calling 311 or visiting nyc. gov/prek.

8 news

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Guyana’s AG assures path cleared for setting up of law school

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ttorney General (AG) Basil Williams has given all assurances that the path has been cleared for the establishment of a local law school in Guyana.

Speaking to members of the media at the AG’s Chambers on Monday, Williams noted that the Caribbean Region would be transformed if the school were to be established.

Establishment of such a local institution — which Government intends to name the JOF Haynes Law School — has been the subject of much uncertainty, with former Attorney General Anil Nandlall stating that Guyana has not received permission in regard to this course of action, and that

Government was proverbially putting the cart before the horse.

AG Williams is, however, claiming that Guyana has “gone past” the stage of receiving permission, and that the go-ahead has been recommended.

“The final report on the survey of the legal study on education is out, and they are recommending that Guyana, Antigua and Jamaica [establish law schools],” the AG said on Monday.

He said many of Guyana’s law students are finding it difficult to cope in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, and are “seeking scholarships” to complete their programmes at Hugh Wooding Law School.

He explained that the tuition per year

is TT$$98,000, which translates to Gy$3 million, and this sum does not include accommodation.

It is understood that in the agreement to establish the Council for Legal Education, member states were empowered to establish law schools.

“At the time, they had mentioned Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica should establish law schools. Jamaica already has one. We don’t have any, and we would like to establish our law school. We don’t see why we shouldn’t have our law school in Guyana, especially at this time,” Williams noted.

Probed further, the Legal Affairs Minister revealed that the feasibility study has been re-

The Hugh Wooding Law School in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

ceived, and many of the issues surrounding the school’s establishment would be brought up for discussion on Tuesday.

“The CLE has some initial comments.

They’ve raised some comments on the feasibility study and the business plan,” the AG noted.

Reporters were told it has been proposed that the local law school be constructed on 10 acres of land provided by the University of Guyana (UG). Williams outlined that a plan was submitted for the building, but there is

Business Minister optimistic GUYTIE will become a signature event

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risk that the CLE could opt against accepting the plan. Nevertheless, Williams noted, Guyana would take its concerns to the Heads of Government in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), who will serve as the final arbitrators.

Government had, in January 2017, announced it would start a project to establish the JOF Haynes Law School of the Americas.

This school is being established through a public-private partnership entered into between the

Government of Guyana, the Law School of the Americas (LCA), and the University College of the Caribbean (UCC); and would add to the existing options available to holders of a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. The joint venture is expected to cost some US$6 million.

The CLE Executive Council will, between September 6 and 8, host a series of meetings that would include Heads of Judiciaries, Attorneys General, and representatives from various Bar Associations across the region.

G$1.2 billion East Bank Berbice road project nearing completion

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin (centre) with the partnering stakeholders and sponsors

ith just a few days to spare until the Guyana Trade and Investment Exhibition (GUYTIE), the Business Ministry is hoping for it to be a signature event which they can improve in the years to come.

Business Minister Dominic Gaskin made these remarks at the Marriott Hotel on Wednesday, where he addressed a gathering of sponsors, who are supporting the exhibition.

While highlighting that the outcomes of this event are still unknown, he noted that the coordinators and other related bodies will work to eliminate the negatives and strengthen the positives.

“This is the inaugural event, and no one can prevent the outcomes. We have a stated set of objectives which we intend to meet in this event and as we proceed, we will see what went wrong and what went right and how we can improve it. It must get bigger and

bigger and must become a signature event, not just in Guyana but the entire Caribbean. That’s how we’ll like it to evolve,” Gaskin said.

The exhibition is intended to be a pilot event to link local producers with international companies, which are interested in the services being offered. Gaskin is confident that the Ministry, with the help of its partners, will be able to hold the event on an annual basis.

“That’s what this event is all about. It’s a pilot even so to speak.

We intend to hold GUYTIE on a regular basis and we tend to continuously improve the outcome of the event,” the Minister said.

He later acknowledged the role of the Private Sector, adding that the Ministry’s service to the sector is their sole responsibility.

“Without the Private Sector, there would be no Ministry of Business. We exist purely to serve the Private Sector and in doing so,

we see outcomes that benefit the Guyanese economy and by extension, the Guyanese people and citizens.”

Some of the sponsors include ExxonMobil, Massy Industries, Digicel, GTT, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) and Banks DIH. Inputs were also extended by the Canadian High Commission and the United States embassy in Guyana.

The exhibition will be held at the Marriott Hotel from September 19-22. On the last day of the expo, September 22, the event will be opened to the public.

Presently, 30 foreign companies are registered to visit Guyana to view local Guyanese products and establish partnerships with manufacturers by interacting with the local enterprises. The countries involved include Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Haiti, India, Korea, Barbados, Suriname, Canada and Cuba.

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Works ongoing on a culvert at Glasgow

s the G$1.2 billion East Bank Berbice (EBB) road project is nearing completion, 2.1 kilometres of the first layer of paved asphalt surface of the planned five kilometres has been completed.

Resident Engineer, Joel Tucker told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that this covers the stretch of road from Everton to Edinburgh and the section in Islington. The remaining 2.9 kilometres of asphalt surface will commence shortly.

Tucker said despite challenges with the May/ June rains, the exercise which commenced in August 2017, will be completed by the end of

this year.

“Presently, we’re 50 per cent in terms of asphalt placed. It was difficult for us to place our sub-base during rainy weather, so now that the rains have eased up, we’ve begun most of our sub-base work in the Glasgow and Heathburn area,” Tucker explained.

Some 1.9 kilometres of the base layer and the final layer of asphalt are slated for completion in Glasgow. Preparations are underway to begin the final layer of asphalt in the Edinburgh, Everton and Islington areas shortly.

Construction of the culvert at Baptiste Turn, continued on page 10

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President Granger attends Call Centre targets CSME Sub-Committee 20,000 jobs in 5 years Meeting in Barbados

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President David Granger in discussion with Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, as Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge listens attentively

resident David Granger has left to Barbados where he participated in the Ninth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the Caribbean Single Market and

and labour in the CSME, facilitation of travel, the free movement of persons, contingent rights, and the proposed establishment of single registration for companies.

President Granger shares a light moment with Secretary General of Caricom, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, and Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness

Economy (CSME) on Wednesday.

The meeting, which was held in Bridgetown, was convened to discuss and make decisions which are aimed at hastening the movement towards a single market and economy within the Caribbean Community (Caricom).

The Sub- Committee, of which President Granger is a member, was chaired by recently elected Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

The meeting saw discussions on a wide range of CSME-related issues, including the role of the private sector

Vice President and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; Guyana’s Ambassador to Caricom, Charlene Phoenix; and Senior Foreign Service Officer within the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Sherwyn Naughton, accompanied President Granger to President David Granger in discussion with Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, as Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge listens attentively the meeting.

Immigration officer slapped with conspiracy charges

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mmigration Officer Jonathan Rausch on Tuesday stood before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to answer three counts of conspiracy to commit a felony.

The 25-year-old denied all three of the charges, which alleged that on April 1, 2018, while at his place of employment at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri East Bank Demerara, he conspired with a person or persons unknown to commit a felony by forging the Border Management System (BMS) with intent to defraud the public, purporting to show that Colombian nationals Juan Carlos and Maquilon Perez had entered Guyana on March 27, 2018.

The prosecutor told the court that on April 1, at about 15:00h, a Beech jet from Aruba, bearing registration numbers N119TC, landed at the CJIA for an emergency fuel stop, and subsequently

departed with Carlos and Perez without any documentation.

An investigation launched revealed that the names of the Colombians were not featured on the manifest, nor were there any embarkment or dismemberment cards in favour of the duo, as is prescribed by the law.

A thorough check of the BMS further revealed that the accused immigration officer had allegedly entered and updated those names into the system to show that the Colombians had arrived in Guyana aboard another flight.

As suspicions grew, the accused was contacted, questioned, and subsequently told of the allegations, which he denied. Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan has placed the defendant on G$150,000 bail, and has set the matter to continue on September 17.

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eleperformance, an international Call-Centre hub, intends to employ some 20,000 persons in Guyana within the next five years.

Presently, the Centre which is housed in downtown Georgetown, has hired just under 600 Guyanese, who are valued for their fluency in English.

Those disclosures were made by Boris Espinel, and Fernando Victoria, the Bogota-based CEO and Legal/Compliance Director respectively of Teleperformance during a courtesy call, Wednesday September

5, on Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who was, at the time, performing the functions of President, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported.

The Call Centre officials stated that by next year Teleperformance hopes to employ some 5000 persons for its Guyana operations.

Teleperformance, according to Espinel, is French-owned company which is operating in 72 countries with more than 300,000 employees worldwide. It provides services for several Fortune 500 compa-

nies, including Target and UPS. Prime Minister Nagamootoo thanked the officials for their appreciation of the language skills of their local employees, and also for their confidence in Guyana, the only Englishspeaking country in South America. He expressed the hope that the company would award certificates to the many young Call Centre operators after an initial period of training, in order to make them marketable in the growing international digital industry.

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AG Williams to Top Canadian union rep roasts Guyana Govt over delay in severance attend CFATF Council of Ministers payments to sugar workers to him, the main goal is to help save the sugar industry.

“So we are going to work with them in solidarity and do all we can and hopefully they will be able to sort out some of the outstanding issues for sugar workers because people have families, communities are devastated and that needs to be fixed.”

Fight back

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Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

anada’s largest Private Sector trade union, Unifor, has expressed deep concerns over Government’s handling of the sugar industry, particularly when it comes to ensuring that dismissed sugar workers are given their severance package in full.

Director for Human Rights and International Department at Unifor, Mohamad Alsadi, told Guyana Times International on the sidelines of a one-day conference titled “Sugar – too big to fail” on Tuesday at the Grand Coastal Hotel, which they sponsored, that it is Unifor’s hope that Government act quickly to address the workers’ concerns.

“I have never seen a Government that does something as little as taking someone’s severance, especially after losing their jobs. So, for us, this is a big issue. I mean if this was in Canada, I can assure that they could have gone to jail. It’s serious stuff. So, the Government needs to take this seriously,” the Unifor official said.

Alsadi said his union has had a longstanding relationship with many trade unions, including the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU). He said it was important that not only Unifor sponsor the event but attend it to get a chance to listen directly from workers and representatives from both sides of Government.

“Obviously today’s conference was important for me and for our president to hear directly from the workers. We were here last year and we did go to some of the estates and met with some of the workers but hearing today from the Minister of State (Joseph Harmon) and the Opposition obviously there are different stories, two different point of views,” he added.

The Unifor official said they are saddened by what was presented and the sufferings being faced by the thousands of sugar workers that have been put on the breadline. He committed to working closely with Guyana’s trade unions in general and do all that they can to help. According

Meanwhile, President of Unifor Jerry Dias told the attendees at the conference that it is incomprehensible that Government would move to close the number one industry in Guyana, without first carrying out an impact assessment on how people’s lives would be affected by the closure.

On that note, Dias said to workers and union heads that now is the time for them to “fight back” and take a road of “least resistance.” He labelled Minister of

honour its obligation and comply with the laws of Guyana and pay over the full severance payments.

Some 7000 sugar workers were dismissed on December 29, 2017, without severance being paid “on termination” as required by the law to all of them.

Severance was paid in part to over 4000 of the 7000 dismissed sugar workers.

The Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act stipulates that workers who are made redundant must be paid severance upon termination.

Meanwhile, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Indra Chandarpaul used the opportunity to call on Government to provide subsidies (water and electricity) to the dismissed sugar workers. She said this obtains in mining communities where Bauxite workers were laid off and there should not be any difficulty in implementing same.

FITUG President Carvil Duncan also urged the GAWU to pass a resolution that would seek to ensure that retrenched workers would be the first to be reemployed in the sugar industry, and demand that GuySuCo put a timeframe in which to pay severance.

At the end of the conference, Unifor announced further support to GAWU by launching a

Meeting in Florida

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Guyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams

uyana’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC., will be attending the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force-CFATF’s Steering Group and X Council of Ministers Meeting later this month in Miami, Florida.

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the Attorney General made the announcement during a recent press conference. He will be accompanied by Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, Tamika Barkoye.

The two-day meeting is slated for September 11-12. Prior to the Council of Ministers meeting, the Attorney General will chair the

second CFATF faceto-face Steering Group meeting, DPI said.

The Council according to the CFATF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is the supreme authority within the CFATF and consists of one ministerial representative of duly authorised alternate proposed in writing from each member.

Section 20 of the said MOU requires the council to meet once annually. The functions of the council include approval of the work programme, the budget for the following year and discussion and or approval as relevant on policy, financial and other strategic matters.

AG Williams is the current Chair of the CFATF.

G$1.2 billion East Bank Berbice road...

from page 8

Some of the LED lights installed along a roadway at Everton, EBB

Unifor Director Mohamad Alsadi

State Joseph Harmon’s speech as an “economic debate” rather than a presentation on a way forward for the industry.

Harmon, who represented the Government, did not provide any assurance of a timeframe within which the final severance payments will be made. He hinted that GAWU and National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE) were at the table when the issue of severance was discussed.

On the other hand, however, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who also addressed the conference, did not back down on this issue. In fact, Jagdeo observed that the Minister failed to provide a definitive answer as to when final severance payments will be made to those who are still owed from all the now closed sugar estates.

The former Head of State renewed calls for Government to

Minister of State Joseph Harmon

programme through the union’s Social Justice Fund at the tune of Cdn$44,000.

The programme will see 120 community coordinators being trained in six sugar estates to further the discussion on the future of the country’s sugar sector.

The coordinators will also work to increase community involvement and workers participation in the restructuring process and to improve conditions for agriculture workers. (Samuel Sukhnandan)

Edinburgh is finished and another at Glasgow is approximately 90 per cent complete. The remaining structures to be done are the bridges at Gay Park, Edinburgh and recently-added Everton.

“We’re now driving piles for the bridge at the Everton location and that is scheduled to be completed at the end of November. It’s possible that we’ll complete the roadworks as scheduled but we may not complete all the structures before the end of the year,” the resident engineer underlined.

The safety features such as guardrails and

road signage will also be completed. Meanwhile, the removal of utilities is almost completed with some minor Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) utilities remaining.

Additionally, a total of 120 light-emitting diodes (LED) roadway lighting fixtures were installed between Stanleytown and Everton Village in August.

This multimillion-dollar venture is being executed by the Public Infrastructure Ministry’s Special Project Unit utilising its own equipment and employing residents from the EBB area.

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Social activist cautions Guyana Govt over partnering with Trinidad’s Petrotrin N ow that the suggestion is being touted that the Guyana Government should consider partnering with neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) to utilise its oil refinery (Petrotrin) and save that facility from total collapse, outspoken social activist and chartered accountant Christopher Ram has said that company’s history must first be studied.

Ram told Guyana Times International on Tuesday that both countries belong to the same common economic area and have a vested interest in ensuring growth in the entire bloc. As such, he thinks the David Grangerled Administration can cooperatively work with not only Trinidad, but other countries, to the benefit of Guyana.

However, the chartered accountant said his major concern is what led to the failure of Petrotrin. This, he opined, had to do partly with corruption and partly with inefficiencies.

“After our mindboggling incompetence with the oil contract, I don’t think I would recommend entrusting the end product of the sector in the hands of Trinidad, which has done such a poor job in its oil and gas sector,” he asserted.

Individuals in civil society have raised concerns over the idea of Guyana utilizing the T&T oil refinery, claiming the

Trinidadians, not Guyanese, are likely to benefit from that arrangement.

Ram says the argument has merit, but the question must be asked whether Guyana is prepared as a country to build its own refinery.

“Are we prepared as a country, to build our own refinery? If we can enter into a refining agreement with T&T with strong guarantees and on terms that are competitive; if anything else, I think it is something we should consider,” he said.

Besides that, Ram also believes that given the volume of production that constitutes Guyana’s share, Government has to begin thinking about refining its own oil. He feels that unless Guyana can get the oil onshore, the country will never see the true benefits of that particular opportunity.

As such, he said, at this point, everything should be looked at, and nothing should be taken off the table. He also criticised comments made by former Minister of the Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, criticising the idea about the oil refinery which was pitched by former Prime Minister of T&T, Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Robert Persaud has said Guyana should not be used as a ‘rainy-day friend,’ as the asset-rich country is due to become the next largest oil and

Christopher Ram

gas economy of the Caribbean.

But Ram said, “He was just trying to inject himself in Guyana’s affairs, and rules out something that I’m not sure he had enough time to think about,” he observed.

Persad-Bissessar, who happens to be the twin island republic’s Opposition Leader, said to the Trinidadian press recently that she believes her country should attempt to partner with Guyana, as oil production is set to begin in 2020.

She said even if Guyana moves to build its own refin-

ery in the future, the Petrotrin facility can still be used in the initial years of oil production.

In response, Vice-President and Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge, said the idea is good in principle, but would need to be discussed further.

“The cost associated with the processing by the specific facility; volume is another dimension; and then there are a number of other issues to be examined, as far as I am aware,” he told sections of the local media.

Greenidge also noted that the two governments

would sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the end of September. “Guyana and Trinidad are looking at an MoU covering energy, and there will be, later this month, a conclusion of that MoU,” he said.

In May 2018, Pedro Haas, Director of Advisory Services at Hartree Partners, conducted a feasibility study for an oil refinery in Guyana, estimating that it would cost approximately US$5 billion to construct a refinery producing 100 barrels per day.

Following that study, there were several discussions in regard to whether Guyana could afford such a facility. Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman had stated previously that Government would not be going ahead with constructing an oil refinery. He said Government cannot afford such a large investment, but at the same time, he welcomed such investments by the private sector.

In fact, the Natural Resources Minister had said that talks were buzzing about building a much smaller modular oil refinery, and Government is prepared to give favourable consideration that can meet good standards and guidelines.

Petrotrin has a refining capacity of 140,000 barrels per day. (Samuel Sukhnandan)

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Former Army Captain accused of murdering lover for High Court trial O rwain Sandy, the former Guyana Defence Force Captain who reportedly shot dead his girlfriend Reona Payne on March 31, 2018 at First Street Alexander Village, was on Tuesday committed to stand trial for the heinous crime in the High Court before a judge and jury.

The decision was handed down by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman on Tuesday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts following a preliminary inquiry. Sandy quietly exited the courtroom after the decision was handed down.

Sandy’s attorney, James Bond, had in May told the court that the defence team would be flying in an overseas psychiatrist to examine his client. Due to unforeseen difficulties, the team had to resort to local psychiatrist Dr Bhrio Harry to perform the evaluation.

Murder accused Orwain Sandy and victim Reona Payne inhappier times

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he office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) announced on Monday that a Notice of Appeal was filed at the Guyana Court of Appeal challenging the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts dismissal of the over G$600 million larceny charges against a former Government Minister and her Administrative Assistant.

The intended appeal follows Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman’s August 24, 2018, determination that there was insufficient evidence to prove that former People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Public Service Minister

Dead: Michael Aubrey Ross

Dead: Jennifer Park

17-year-old girl and a driver were killed, while another is seriously injured after the car in which they were travelling hit a culvert and landed in a trench at Zeeland, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara on Monday.

Dead are Michael “Aubrey” Ross of Skeldon, Corentyne Berbice; the driver of the car; and Jennifer Park of Lot 25 Manchester Village, Corentyne, Berbice.

The injured woman has been identified as 24-year-old Judy Park, the sister of the now dead teen while another occupant of the car, Kevin Madray escaped unhurt.

Judy Park is presently receiving medical attention at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital.

Based on reports received, the motorcar in which the four were travelling, was heading to Berbice from Georgetown when the driver attempted to overtake a low-bed vehicle transporting machinery but was forced to retreat after a vehicle was approaching in the opposite direction.

However, as the driver attempted to retrieve from overtaking, the motorcar collided with the right side of the lorry, causing it to flip several times, crashed into the culvert and ended up in the trench where it submerged.

The injured Judy Park was pulled from the wreckage.

Ross and Jennifer Park remained submerged but by the time they were pulled from the car, they had already died. The duo was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital. Guyana Times International was told that the now dead teenager was accepted to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and was accompanied by her sister to see her get settled into her new accommodation.

When contacted, Ernest Park, father of the dead teen told this publication that his

daughters left home on Monday morning to travel to CPCE but upon arriving at the institution, they were told that admission was rescheduled to another date.

“Jennifer was supposed to be admitted to CPCE this morning (Monday) but when she turned up with all her personal belongings, they told her that they were not taking in anyone today (Monday),” the father added.

Having all her luggage there and thinking about the hassle of travelling back with them when they are ready, the teenager reportedly asked a staff if she can at least secure some of her belongs but was told she could not leave anything on campus and that she will have to take them with her and return.

The aggrieved father noted that he last spoke with his daughters at about 12:10h when they informed him of what transpired. At the same time, they told him that the same car that took them to Georgetown will collect them and take them back home.

He received the dreaded news at about 14:00h. He recalled that his injured daughter, Judy Park, telephoned and informed him of the accident. “She told me that they were coming home when the car crashed into a bridge and ended up in a trench…

Judy told me that she and a guy made it out of the car before it went under the water… By the time assistance came, Jennifer and Michael were dead,” he recalled.

He further stated that his daughter is a former student of President’s College and was eagerly waiting to start her teaching career.

Ross on the other hand, is a well-known driver in the area.

This publication also learnt that one of his brothers holds a senior position in the Guyana Police Force.

Investigations into the accident are continuing.

(Bhisham Mohamed)

A Bond had further related that he and his client are ready to proceed with the full disclosures for prosecution.

Sandy allegedly shot Payne multiple times about her body in broad daylight, killing her before turning himself over to Police at the Ruimveldt Police Station and handing over the service weapon he used to commit the act.

Sandy was subsequently charged for the offence, but was granted an application to be mentally evaluated after his attorney told the court that the examination is critical to his client’s well-being, since he has been consulting with a psychiatrist for the past two years.

It was reported that Sandy and Payne were in a motorcar proceeding along First Street,

Alexander Village when an argument ensued after he reportedly accused her of being unfaithful.

He allegedly stopped the car, and as the woman exited, he reportedly shot her several times with his service revolver.

This publication was told that the argument ensued after Sandy had confronted Payne about having an affair with one of his colleagues.

DPP appeals Westford’s G$600M larceny case dismissal

Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack

Aspiring teacher, driver perish in Mahaicony accident

Jennifer Westford and her Administrative Assistant, Margaret Cummings stole G$639 million from the Government of Guyana.

The two were employed with the then Public Service Ministry. They were both granted bail in the sum of G$4.8 million bail after denying 24 charges which stated that they stole the money between October 19, 2011 and April 28, 2015.

The prosecution contended that the monies were requested to conduct outreaches in the 10 administrative regions of Guyana.

However, Magistrate Latchman after some two years of hearing evidence from 48 witnesses upheld lead Attorney Dexter Todd’s no-case submission, reasoning that charges against the duo were “bad in law.”

The city Magistrate added that there was no evidence to show that the money was taken and not used for its intended purposes.

Latchman also determined that Westford was not a public officer and with respect to Cummings, who was a public officer, the Magistrate said there was insufficient evidence for a conviction.

However, the DPP’s

decision to appeal the case comes at a time when the Opposition is claiming that State prosecutorial agencies are being pressured to con-

saying that Minister Sharma awarded the forensic audits to different agencies back in 2015, without any public tender. He noted that

Former Public Service MinisterDr Jennifer Westford

Former Administrative Assistant, Margaret Cummings

vict officials of the former Administration. Just recently, Junior Finance Minister Jaipaul Sharma who oversaw several forensic audits strongly criticised the prosecutors and legal experts for instituting the wrong charges. Sharma declared that the charges should be reinstituted against Cummings and Westford.

However, PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo opined that the case was based on “trumped up” charges,

as a politician, Sharma should allow the technical personnel to do their job and not apply his ministerial influence to pressure them.

“Sharma? He’s the last person to talk about reopening charges. And it’s a politician saying this! Why don’t they allow the technical agencies to assess whether there is really a case to be made and do that?

Imagine it’s a politician advocating for this,” Jagdeo noted.

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Public officers undergo training in best practice to deal with Venezuelan migrants In response to the influx of Venezuelan migrants into Guyana, the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) in collaboration with the Department of Citizenship and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), on Thursday, conducted a workshop aimed at training service providers on international best practice in assisting migrants and protecting them from abuse and/or exploitation of any kind, a release from the Ministry of the Presidency (MotP) said.

The workshop was held in the conference room of the CDC’s Thomas Lands office.

Having regard to the fact that the issue of migration from Venezuela is a new and emerging challenge for Guyana, the MultiSectoral Committee,

which was established by the Government to coordinate the national response and assistance, saw the need for capacity building within the said Committee to better equip representatives and agencies to respond effectively to this and other such occurrences

in the future.

According to MotP, the workshop saw the participation of representatives from the Ministry of the Presidency, Guyana Defence Force, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guyana

Police Force, Ministry of Communities, the Immigration Department, the PanAmerican Health Organisation, Ministry of Public Health, United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Guyana teachers’ pay... from page 3

union to accept a ball park figure of GY$700 million for 2018 and GY$200 million for adjusting some salary scales, but this was rejected by the union.

GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald, who has been at the helm of the leadership of that union and would have sat in several negotiations with both the previous and current administrations, has said that the nation’s educators had received more under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Administration than what they currently get under this coalition Administration.

McDonald told scores of teachers assembled in the GTU auditorium at Woolford Avenue, Georgetown that it was under the PPP that teachers, for the first time, received additional benefits apart from a salary increase.

“If we look at what transpired under the PPP Government when

they were in power and what is transpiring now…remember we didn’t want the five percent. We made noise about it. But with the five percent we got a whole lot of non-salary benefits,” she said, to loud applause from the large gathering of teachers.

She continued, “For the first time in the history of this country, our teachers were able to get clothing allowance, duty free concessions, and allowances for additional qualifications. While the PPP Government was in power — and you know I don’t want to sound political, but we have to make the comparison because of all the untruths they peddling out there…”

The GTU official went as far as to say that the current David Grangerled administration is playing with teachers’ emotions “to say to us that this thing is just three-and-something years since they in the Government. And this is

the party that most of the teachers supported. So is our party. ‘Our party’ don’t work when you go in the market; ‘our party’ ain’t working when you have to pay rent; ‘our party’ don’t work when you have to face the bank to repay your mortgage; so ‘our party’ dead,” she declared.

Last week, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo looked into Government’s spending, listing several areas where it can cut back and use that money instead to pay teachers a better living wage.

A l t h o u g h Government and the GTU are still at loggerheads over increases for teachers, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary feels the matter could be resolved.

The former President said that if Government is to cut back on its wasteful spending, it would manage to cover a reasonable increase for the country’s teachers.

The sessions, which were facilitated by IOM’s Regional Coordination Officer, Mr. Robert Natiello and Programme Officer, Ms. Argentina Santacruz, dealt with issues such as human

trafficking and migrant smuggling, migrants’ vulnerabilities, and direct assistance and referral systems for migrants, MotP said.

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Need for over 1000 nurses in Guyana – Health Minister Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence

By Jarryl Bryan

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he issue of migrating professionals, including those in the health field, is one Government is actively grappling with, and the plan is to increase student intake even as there is a need for approximately 1000 nurses in Guyana.

This was communicated by Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence on the sidelines of the launch of a Medex programme on Monday. According to Lawrence, the issue has reached the level of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Migration is not only a Guyana issue. We have signed on to CSME (Caribbean Single Market Economy), and that gives the right to any person, any Caribbean person, to be able to move from one country to the next to be able to ply their trade or earn in their profession.

So it’s no different from Guyana,” she explained.

“We will continue to see migration, not just

in midwifery, not just in nursing; but this has been a complaint right up to WHO about the developed countries, where the developed countries are coming up into our territory and employing persons,” she declared.

Referring to the Medex programme, the launch at which she officiated, she shared her vision for the programme to be expanded and also made continuous. This includes a plan to bring on board retired health care professionals with the requisite experience.

“What is it we’re going to do? Our aim is to get 40 (Medex) to train.

Secondly, we’re moving to ensure that, once their year is completed, we start another batch so that we will have — within a timeframe of eight to 12 years, we’ll be able to say that we are solid in terms of the numbers that we have.

So, instead of just training 20 and 30 persons, we’re about to roll out a programme where we’re going to train 100 nurses,” Lawrence explained. continued on page 22

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Nothing formalised as yet, Proposed removal of custodial President says of proposed sentence for marijuana possession campaign financing legislation sparks debate in Guyana

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resident David Granger has disclosed that nothing has been formalised as yet with regard to establishing Campaign Financing legislation.

“Nothing has been formalised. This is something that has to be agreed upon by both sides, and it could be put on the agenda [for discussion during planned talks this month] with the Opposition Leader. But I have not seen a draft…,” the Head of State told reporters on Friday during a press conference – his first for the year and third since getting into office in 2015.

Prior to coming into office, the APNU/AFC Coalition had pushed for the implementation of campaign financing laws, and had even included it as one of its manifesto promises, but even after three years in Government, there has been no active step towards delivering this much-touted piece of legislation.

However, Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), the minority party in the Coalition Government, which has been pushing for these laws prior to 2015 election, Khemraj Ramjattan, back in May had said that they have begun the campaign to draft the legislation. He referenced a previous visit by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s General Secretary Akbar Khan during which they requested assistance in doing so.

Ramjattan had noted he had requested a draft campaign finance legislation from the Commonwealth, and the Secretary General Khan directed him where to get this, along with other source materials.

“So we are going to tap into those resources to come up with a campaign legislation that is modern enough to take care of all the concerns,” the AFC Chairman told reporters.

While in Opposition, the AFC had moved a motion in Parliament to set up political financing legislation in 2011.

In its final report on the 2011 General Election, the Carter Center said the need to create legislation to cater for campaign financing was important, and even reiterated that in its 2015 report.

“To ensure realisation of the right and opportunity to be elected, legal reform is necessary to improve campaign finance laws. Legislation should be strengthened to routinely require disclosure of contributions and expenditures. Consideration also should be given to establishing reasonable limits on donations and expenditures to ensure that the free choice of voters is not undermined, or the democratic process distorted by disproportionate expenditures on behalf of any candidate or party. A monitoring and enforcement body with oversight authority of compliance with campaign finance regulations would also be a positive contribution to Guyanese politics,” the report outlined.

Additionally, the report stated that Guyana’s legal framework for elections was silent in the area of registration and operation of political parties, hence the reason why legislation is needed to establish clear requirements for the registration and operation of political parties that would support the freedom of association and promote broad multi-ethnic parties that could represent citizens’ interests in governance.

According to the Transparency Institute of Guyana, political financing laws are about protecting the State from corporate and other interests, ensuring that incumbents avoid corrupt use of State resources, and ensuring access to resources for all recognised political parties, among other issues.

‘Toy gun’ bandits escape after victim opens fire

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hree men, who were armed with a suspected ‘toy gun’ attempted to rob a mechanic in the wee hours of Sunday morning but got the scare of their lives after the victim whipped out his licensed firearm and discharged three rounds in their direction.

Based on reports received, at about 02:00h, the 50-year-old mechanic of Belle Vue, West Bank Demerara, dropped his wife off at Vlissingen Road and remained parked on the road in his Suzuki Escudo with the windows up as she entered the yard. Whilst there, he noticed the suspects at the western

side of his motor vehicle on pedal cycles.

One of them had a black gun pointing in his direction and without hesitation; he reached for his licensed firearm and discharged three rounds in their direction. As a result, his driver’s side window shattered.

However, the man who was carrying the suspected toy gun, dropped the bicycle he was riding and the toy gun, as he joined one of his accomplices in making good their escape. The suspects’ toy gun and bicycle were confiscated by the Police as evidence.

Investigations are continuing.

Opposition MP, Dr Vindhya Persaud

By Jarryl Bryan

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he President’s recent announcement that custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana would be removed from the statute books is being greeted with various reactions by some stakeholders.

While they agree the measure is good in principle, questions are being raised in regard to the execution of this plan.

In an interview with this publication, the Opposition point woman on health, Parliamentarian Dr Vindhya Persaud, expressed the belief that while removing custodial sentences is a step in the right direction, support services such as drug rehabilitation and treatment centres are wholly lacking.

“I don’t support the use of marijuana whatsoever, and even though countries have legalised marijuana, there is so much debate in the process about the properties of marijuana. But instead of persons being sentenced to (jail), they can have rehabilitation,” Persaud, also a medical doctor, posited.

“This is the problem. There are Acts that have been put into place and the infrastructure to actually make them work is not in place. If we go this way, while it is something that can be beneficial, the regulatory infrastructure and the services to implement it (are lacking),” Persaud said.

Former Vice President of the Guyana Rastafari Council and Rights of the Child Commissioner, Nicole Cole, welcomed the proposed initiative, but expressed concern that the term “small amounts” is yet to be quantified.

“I welcome the positive promise to remove custodial sentences for the possession of small amounts of marijuana,” she said, going on to note that “the President is still to commit to the quantity that constitutes ‘small amounts’.”

Cole questioned whether Government’s definition of small would amount to 15 grammes, 25 grammes, 56 grammes or 3 ounces. She stressed that such a law must be as unambiguous as possible.

Cole also noted that, for too long, members of the Rastafari community have been denied their rights when it comes to personal use of marijuana on religious grounds. This, she pointed out, is despite the fact that the right to religion is enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana.

Pressure

Amidst pressure to decriminalise possession of small quantities of marijuana, President David Granger assured on Friday, during a press conference, that Government would soon present the legislation for non-custodial sentences.

“We have taken a decision in prin-

ciple that custodial sentences for the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use would be legally abolished. After the National Assembly comes off of recess, we could look forward to that legislation being passed,” the Head of State told reporters.

He went on to note that Cabinet has already collectively agreed to pursue this, and he said there should be no difficulty in implementing it.

The Alliance For Change (AFC) –minority party in the coalition Government – has been pushing for legislative reform with regard to the narcotics law, which currently imposes a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum sentence of five years, on narcotics traffickers.

In fact, AFC parliamentarian Michael Carrington had filed a motion seeking to soften penalties for marijuana possession. The draft bill had stipulated that persons who are found in possession of the drug for personal use would be required to pay a fine of G$10,000, or perform community service for a period of time.

However, that motion was subsequently withdrawn for further amendments on sentencing and marijuana decriminalisation. It has since been placed on the Order Paper, and is expected to receive the National Assembly’s attention when it comes out of recess in October.

The issue of non-custodial sentences for small amounts of marijuana gained momentum back in March 2016 when inmates at the Georgetown Prisons started a fire which eventually killed 17 prisoners, while several others along

Rights of the Child Commissioner Nicole Cole

with prison staff were injured.

A subsequent probe had found, among other issues, significant overcrowding at the facility had contributed to the events, and as such, considerations were re-ignited to reducing custodial sentences for certain offences, such as possession of small amounts of marijuana, as a solution to reducing overcrowding within the prisons system.

Recently, a Caribbean Community (Caricom) Commission on Marijuana has made recommendation for the decriminalisation of marijuana across member states, saying that the substance can be controlled and regulated as in the case of alcohol.

This recommendation was placed before the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom, which was held in Jamaica in July.

During the conference, it was recognised that member states would need to review the report in more detail to determine action at the national level in relation to law reform models, as proposed by the Commission.

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Guyanese students benefit from Linden Fund USA’s ‘back to school’ initiative

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everal students attached to the Linden Foundation Secondary School have benefited from a ‘back to school’ initiative organised by the non-profit organisation Linden Fund USA, in collaboration with Maureen Davidson.

Twenty-five students received free backpacks and school supplies when the new school year commenced on Monday. Speaking at the distribution drive, which was held at the Linden Foundation Secondary School, Office Manager of the Linden Fund USA’s local affiliate, LFU Guyana Inc, Cheryl Waite, said the items are to assist students in the preparation for effective and efficient functioning in their classrooms. She urged them to make good use of the opportunity.

Waite also reaffirmed the Organisation’s commitment to revitalising communities in Linden, especially in the education and health sectors.

Speaking on behalf of Maureen Davidson was Leroy James, who charged the students to make the best of their school days.

“School time is also a time when you are to make the most of the opportunities that are afforded. We should glean as much as we can, so that we can secure for

from page 20

Need for over 1000...

“We have to do that in order to ensure we can fulfil our requirement.

Right now, we need about 1000 nurses in the system. We’re also inviting persons to come into the Ministry. If you’re a retiree, you have a skill to offer and so on, we can put you at a different level to work within the system. If you’re already a nurse but want to come on the Medex programme… So we’re looking at ways where we can beef up numbers within the health sector,” she explained.

Migration

Some of the recipients of the back-to-school drive in Linden

ourselves a brighter future. The students here, I am sure that you can look around and see things in your home circle that you wish you could improve. Well, please understand that your being at school is one of the first steps towards improving that”, he posited.

The school’s Home Economics Department also received donations of much need items, including a blender and crockery and cutlery, among other items.

In 2017, Davidson, wife of The Right Reverend Charles A. Davidson, Diocesan Bishop of Guyana, Suriname and Cayenne, undertook a new outreach initiative to provide school supplies to needy students in the Greater Georgetown area.

Realizing her vision to assist students in the Kingston area, the outreach was expanded to Linden

schools in the form of a joint project with the US-based non-profit Linden Fund USA and its local affiliate, LFU Guyana Inc. On August 30, students of the Kingston Practical Instruction Centre were also presented backpacks and school supplies for the second year in a row, while students of St. George’s Secondary School will receive school supplies for the first time.

In addition to LFU support, this project was made possible by funding from local donors, including the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, Republic Bank, the Ministry of the Presidency, Anita Rambaran, Dr Barton Scotland, Shonel Benjamin and Rohni Charanram from Payless Variety Store, Beepats, National Hardware, and a local doctor.

A working paper published by the International Organisation for Migration in June 2017 details that, in 2007, the Caribbean emigration rate was four times higher than Latin America’s overall emigration rate. However, it noted that while the rate has slowed over the years, the region nevertheless remains an area of net emigration.

Guyana has been named one of two countries showing the strongest emigration movements, with 9.65 per 1000 persons emigrating in 2013. It was cited in a previous study that at least 40 per cent of the people in Guyana would migrate permanently if they get the opportunity.

During a regional stakeholder consultation session on the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) initiative, which was held in Guyana in June, Director of the Economics Department of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr Justin Ram, had cited the worrying statistics behind the brain drain.

“When we look at the data, many of the countries [in the region] have lost as much as 70 per cent of labour force with more than 12 years of schooling. That is to say, 70 per cent of our population that we have schooled to tertiary education has left our shores,” Dr Ram clarified.

Furthermore, Dr Ram had posited that population trends show an expectation of many member countries experiencing a decline in population as the years go by. He also noted that unemployment rates in the Caribbean remain extremely high.

“In many of our member countries, it is as high as 25 per cent and low as 4.3 per cent. I should add that youth unemployment is even higher, and in some of our member countries, (it) is as high as 40 per cent,” he had declared.

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Guyana continues search for members of new GuySuCo Board T

he search continues to identify persons who would comprise a new Board of Directors for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), and President David Granger has said he wants the new members to be experts, so they could effectively lead the now downsized industry into profitability.

“We are selecting a Board of Directors; the members of which would be more knowledgeable in sugar production. There has been a tendency or temptation in the past to put persons who might be socially prominent, but this is a business; this is an international industry; we have to compete with other efficient sugar producers in Mauritius, India, and other places around the world, and we need to have a serious Board and a serious CEO (Chief Executive Officer),” the Head of State said at a press conference on Friday – his first for 2018 and third since coming into office in 2015.

Last month,

Government announced the appointment of Dr Harold Davis Jr as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GuySuCo; and at the same time, it was highlighted that the long-awaited GuySuCo Board will be installed the following week, but this was never done.

Nevertheless, the coalition Administration has faced considerable flak from various stakeholders for its indecisiveness in setting up the new Board, and also with the operation of GuySuCo in general.

Last year, Government announced plans to minimise the local sugar industry and divest the Corporation’s assets.

To this end, a Special Purpose Unit (SPU), which falls under the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), was set up to oversee the divestment plans by way of either selling off or restarting factories with minimal staff to attract investors – both domestic and foreign.

The SPU is currently managing the now closed Skeldon, East

President David Granger

Demerara (Enmore), Rose Hall and Wales estates. However, there have been reports of an apparent tug-a-war within the coalition of recent over the sugar industry, parts of which are now under the control of the SPU for the divestment process. In fact, reports had surfaced about disagreements allegedly between Ministers from the two coalition parties regarding the chairmanship and members of the GuySuCo Board.

The last Board expired

back in February.

However in March, NICIL’s SPU had published a new Board, naming Colvin HeathLondon, SPU’s Head, the Chairman while the other members include: Fritz McLean, Komal Singh, Verna Adrian, Vishnu Panday, Annette ArjoonMartins, Arianne McLean, Roshan Khan (Jr) and George Jervis, with two other names to added to the 11-member body. The ad had detailed that the new Board was approved by

Cabinet on February 26, 2018.

But Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said the same day that there were some issues with regards to the timing of the publication and that Cabinet was reviewing the matter. Since then, “consultations and considerations” of the new GuySuCo Board has being “ongoing”.

In the meantime, Heath-London has confirmed that over the next few months, special emphasis would be

placed on transforming GuySuCo’s economic misfortune into a situation wherein a fully self-sufficient, viable and competitive enterprise operates.

In order to do this, the NICIL sub-body has secured G$30 billion, being sought in the form of a syndicated bond, to support GuySuCo and its remaining estates; that is, Uitvlugt, Blairmont and Albion.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about Government’s vision for the industry and the genuineness of its actions thus far, since that very G$30 billion could have gone into restructuring the industry while keeping all of the estates open and GuySuCo’s workforce employed and engaged.

But the Private Placement Memorandum for GuySuCo’s G$30 billion bond has received much criticism from Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, who said that he was shocked by the contents of the agreement, which now leaves more questions than answers.

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Cop in fatal accident charged with DUI

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he Police Constable, who on Saturday last was involved in an accident that led to the death of a 23-year-old father of one, received bail on Thursday when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged only for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Ryan Persaud, 23, who was represented by Attorney-atLaw Eusi Anderson denied the allegation put to him by Magistrate Marissa Mittelholzer.

It is being alleged that Persaud drove a Guyana Police Force minibus with registration number PVV 4652 on September 1, 2018 at Nelson Mandela Avenue

Dead: Akeem Anthony Bristol

while being over the legal alcohol limit.

He was reportedly 35 micrograms over the limit.

The Officer was subsequently re-

leased on $25,000 bail and is expected to return to Court on October 11.

He was also ordered to have his passport lodged with

the Court.

Even though not charged with dangerous driving, the officer is likely to be as the matter is still being investigated.

Akemo Anthony Bristol of Lot 338 East Ruimveldt, Georgetown was struck down on Mandela Avenue at about 23:40h allegedly by Persaud who was said to be speeding and who reportedly attempted to escape the scene following the incident.

This publication previously reported the Police Constable and Bristol were both proceeding along Mandela Avenue when the collision occurred.

The impact reportedly flung Bristol into a nearby gutter

Accused: Ryan Persaud

while his motorcycle ended up under the minibus.

Extracted from the gutter with visible injuries about his body, he was rushed

to the GPHC, where he subsequently died.

He leaves to mourn his four-yearold son, parents and siblings.

First Oil in 2020: T&T and Guyana should partner – Persad-Bissessar

Former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Kamla PersadBissessar

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ith the closure of its oil refinery Petrotrin, all eyes in Trinidad and Tobago are on Guyana for assistance, as thousands are now said to be on the breadline.

Former Prime Minister and current Opposition Leader of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla PersadBissessar, believes her country should attempt to partner with Guyana as oil production is set to begin in 2020.

Persad-Bissessar has said she hopes good sense will prevail with Dr Keith Rowley, the current Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

“I understand Guyana has found another well and they are producing. Can we not group in some way, and find a way to work together as a Caricom (sister state), where we can help them refine their oil?” she asked.

Persad-Bissessar has said that even if Guyana moves to build its own refinery in the future, the Petrotrin facility can still be used in the initial years of oil production in the South American country, where production is set to begin by 2020.

“Of course they will build their own refinery; but we have one, and many (of) the units in

the refinery at Petrotrin are new, so a lot of money has been invested on the refinery side, and now they are shutting it down. It is total nonsense!” she was quoted by the Trinidad Newsday newspaper as saying.

It was only recently reported that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation between Guyana and Trinidad is expected to be signed in the coming weeks.

Sections of the media reported that Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister, Franklin Khan, confirmed this.

While he did not go into details of the agreement, he said that would be disclosed after the signing.

Khan said TT is willing to provide assistance to the Guyana Government as the country prepares for first oil.

Since 2016, discussions commenced between Guyana and Trinidad on an MoU under which TT would provide various forms of support to the oil and gas sector in Guyana.

Initiated during a visit to Guyana in 2016 by a Trinidad and Tobago delegation led by then Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre, the MoU was expected to be signed at

One of Trinidad’s oil refineries

the end of that year, but that did not happen.

At the time, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman had said the pact would see Guyana receiving support in a range of areas, including advanced technical training for local personnel in the industry.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that TT is seeking to get the Guyana Government to take a stake in the Petrotrin refinery, and in this way acquire a strategic asset.

The proposal is to ensure that Guyana gets its share of oil from ExxonMobil closer to home, and in this way employment would be provided to people of both countries.

Earlier this week,

Petrotrin’s board confirmed plans to close the company’s refinery in October in a move which will cause the loss of 1,700 permanent jobs.

But OWTU president general Ancel Roget has called on Government to rescind the decision and call an election, or “face chaos.”

But Khan said, “Roget represents a trade union that seeks to represent workers as it sees fit.

T&T’s based on law and order, and any action they take, once legal, is acceptable. But if it’s illegal, the state would have to act.

“So no – we’re not rescinding the decision,” Khan confirmed.

On Roget’s insistence that he wasn’t told of the closure at a recent meet-

ing with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, Khan said, “Yes, he was told. I was at the meeting. The meeting’s minutes will show the Prime Minister indicated in no uncertain terms to Roget that Petrotrin will be getting out of the refining business. As to why (Roget) didn’t communicate that (to OWTU) at that point in time, that’s his call; not mine.”

While refinery workers don’t command the highest salaries, and theirs is on par with the company’s Exploration/ Production sector’s wages, the refinery has the largest overtime costs, he added. But overtime wouldn’t come into play in termination benefits.

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What goes around…

“B …comes around for TT

rother, can you spare a dime?” was a song that became the anthem of America’s Great Depression. It spoke of folks who were once on the top of the (economic) heap now looking for handouts when the bubble burst. “Say, don’t you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time./ Say, don’t you remember, I’m your pal?

Buddy, can you spare a dime?”

Looks like the Trinis have learnt the tune now that their oil’s run out and they’ve had to shut down their oil refinery that made their workers the envy of Trinidad, and the twin-island republic the envy of the Caribbean.

Kamla Bissessar, the former TT PM, asked her successor, Keith Rowley, why he didn’t work out an arrangement with Guyana to partner with TT to run the PetroTrin refinery to process our share of the oil that’ll be flowing by the end of 2020. Well, imagine that!! Wasn’t this the same lady, back in 2010, who told her fellow leaders of Caricom not to look at TT like an ATM card?? So does she think Guyana is now an ATM card with oil coming down the pipeline? Or does she think Guyanese are stupid?

But we can’t just blame Kamla; her reaction isn’t peculiar to her, it’s how all Trinis think about us. For decades, they’ve looked at us like “starving guts” who were their very definition of “scum”. For a Trini to tell another, “You like a Guyanese, boy!!” were fighting words!! It was Burnham who plunged us into that cesspool of shame and indignity, of course. And he DID literally break the Caribbean Bank when he welshed on the loans. We should blame him!!

But rather than revel in schadenfreude all the time (but that does feel soooo good, doesn’t it??!!) we hope the Government won’t get sucked in with what might be presented as a “quick fix” to get us some refining capacity. We should listen to Rowley’s honest appraisal of PetroTrin that forced him to shut it down. The 1700 workers who’re now on the streets were mostly PNM supporters – so it’s not a decision that he would’ve taken lightly.

PetroTrin is one of the highest-cost oil refiners in the world, and its aging plant equipment and poor work systems and practices ensure that’s not going to change. Even Venezuela next door, in dire need of refining capacity to meet contracted deliveries, didn’t consider PetroTrin as an option!!

The most Guyana should do in the interest of the “CariCom solidarity” Kamla invoked is offer to sell some of our oil to TT for THEM to refine.

We can spare THAT dime!! …should receive scepticism Basil Williams is back with the law school he’s been hocking since 2015 like a snake-oil salesman in heat!! With his abysmal record as Attorney General (the “losing-est” in the history of Guyana!) is he trying to leave a more positive legacy? But since he couldn’t have foreseen his disastrous forays in law, there’s got to be more in the mortar than the pestle can pound.

He still hasn’t gotten the approval of the determinative Council on Legal Education (CLE). And without that approval, the proposal is dead in the mud of the land at UG where he broke ground! In a letter to the press, Michael Theodore, retired course director at the Hugh Wooding Law School, pointed out that for the 21st century, our legal education needs a complete overhauling…and “bricks and mortar” don’t even figure!!

So this week’s meeting of the CLE and its stakeholders in Guyana, sponsored by the Government, has to be his last ditch effort to save face.

But is it “face” or greenbacks?? …betrays a mindset Forced to explain at his “once-in-a-blue-moon” presser, why he didn’t accept the recommendations of HIS Task Force on the Teachers’ salary issue, President Granger declared that the task force was “deficient”!

Like his Sugar CoI, whose recommendations he also discarded??

Why even bother?

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Tuma Labba

By Lakhram Bhagirat

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bout one year ago, I was introduced to “tuma pot” and my initial reaction was why you are serving me boiled fish when I would prefer a good pepperpot to pair with my cassava bread. However, what I did not know was that I would enjoy every last bit of it and secretly ask for some more.

I distinctly remember being at St Cuthbert’s Mission’s Heritage Day in 2017 and being forced to try tuma put and I would forever be grateful to my peers who introduced me to the indigenous delicacy. Initially, my ignorance of the dish led me to believe that it could only be made with fish since that was the type I tried. However, I later learnt that tuma pot is not the actual pot rather it is a variety of meat in a pot.

It is prepared using the cassava water as opposed to cassareep. Very similar to the pepperpot, the tuma pot also includes a variety of meat that is used mainly by the Macushi, Wapishana, Patamonas and the other groups indigenous to Guyana. On the other hand, the pepperpot is used mainly by the Arawak people of the Lokono nation.

Not many people are aware of tuma pot because it is not as popular

Tuma labba, cassava bread and fly

as the pepperpot and every Amerindian village you visit would have its version of the dish but the taste almost remains the same. I have had the opportunity to try tuma pot from four Indigenous villages within Guyana.

The word tuma refers to the meat or fish cooked in kada (cassava water). The kada sauce, as it is referred to, is less viscous than that of cassareep as well as the colour is much lighter. However, it was explained to me that they both serve the same purpose of preserving the food.

Legend has it that the longer the tuma pot sits, the more intense the flavour is. However, I am yet to experience that since the limited amount of tuma pot I have had was never over a day old.

One of the things that I have learnt is not everyone is capable of preparing the dish since it utilizes the cassava water, which is as deadly as cyanide.

A few years ago, Michael Patterson opened the first Indigenous Restaurant, Tuma Sàlà, in Georgetown and the house special was tuma

pot. He would have explained the process involved in making a tasty batch of tuma pot.

“To prepare the cassava water, one must follow and carry out the process of extraction in detail in order to have a refined product. After grating the cassava, it is then placed into the matapi to extract the poison – the same process of making the cassareep. The extracted juice, cassava, is potent at this stage and should be treated with all care as it relates to storage, as animals can pass by the kitchen area and sip/ drink the liquid. They were many cases where animals – mostly cattle – were found dead after drinking the cassava water. After the water is extracted, it is then placed into a container and allowed to ‘settle’, eventually forming starch after a while.

The settled water is now cooked – refining the sauce for consumption.

While cooking, a broth is formed at the top of the boiling water. That portion is scooped off and placed into another container as the kada sauce.

This process can be done to accumulate adequate sauce for the tuma pot.

The remaining cassava water is further processed under heat to produce cassareep. This

process takes time with fire modulation – meaning not having more or less heat than expected,” Patterson had explained.

Tuma is usually served with cassava bread or farine, depending on the preferences of various indigenous tribes. The Arawaks will use cassava bread, while the Macushi and Wapishana people will use farine. The Warrau will use the fresh cassava bread referred to as “arasuka”. Fresh cassava juice or “belltarie” will be used as the beverage.

Other freshly made juic-

Tuma fish

es are also served with the tuma including fly, piwari, and parakari – just to name a few.

For me, I had my first tuma pot with the ever-popular fly and cassava bread. Now that it is Indigenous Heritage Month again, you would surely be seeing me at the Indigenous Village at the Sophia Exhibition Center getting my tuma pot. I would also encourage you all to try it and thank me later. (Times Sunday Magazine)

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hulinab is a sunkissed village in South Rupununi, Region 9 (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo) surrounded by the picturesque Kanuku Mountain and this year it has been selected as the Heritage Village as Guyana celebrates its first peoples during Indigenous Heritage Month.

Indigenous Heritage Month 2018 is being ob-

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Toshao Nicholas Fredericks

served under the theme “Proud of our Indigenous identity, celebrating in Unity.”

Shulinab is the only Macushi speaking indigenous community in South Rupununi and serves as the hub for access to the South. The village has 775 residents from the Macushi and Wapishana tribes.

Toshao, Nicholas Fredericks, said that the

The preparation of cassava

residents are excited to have their village selected as Heritage Village and promises a spectacle.

Over the years, the village has been primarily responsible for coordinating activities for the entire South and the celebration would see cultural groups from across the region displaying their talents. The Village is one of the larg-

est livestock producers in Guyana and that will be on full display come September 15.

The formal Heritage Day celebration is expected to be on September 15 and is expected to see the attendance of President David Granger, Indigenous Peoples Affairs Ministers Sydney Allicock and Valarie Gorrido-Lowe as well as other government officials. However, the Village would kick off its Heritage celebrations on September 13.

“The event is starting on the 13 (September) where the Culture Groups and the 14 (September) will start the cultural activities and then the big day. We will have a huge dance ceremony to enter in the benab compound. We expecting the President and Ministers to join us in the dance parade. We will have a set of youths, elders, women, we will have traditional horsemen with arrows and bows so the entrance ceremony will be very huge,” Fredericks said.

Heritage Day will display how the communities can be developed using natural resources as the traditional knowledge of the people.

The villagers are excited to display their local craft as well as high-quality leather products. Additionally, the Women’s Group will be out in their full numbers to showcase their natural talents as well as their authentic indigenous meals.

“We will have a lot of cultural extravaganzas and we will be doing a lot of

horse riding and people can come out there and enjoy the scenery of the Kanuku

Mountains. We have a lot of horses and persons can go riding or they can do biking through the village or take a dip in the Saurab River.”

The Indigenous Affairs Ministry has been working closely with the village in the coordination of the activities. Fredericks said that he wants to let the persons attending leave with a different sense of feeling and understanding of what life in the Rupununi is all about.

“So while we’ll have the games, we’ll have a lot of indigenous food on display, we will have craft along with members of different groups from different villages to participate. So we want people to be able to better embrace life in the Rupununi so to speak,” he noted.

Indigenous Heritage Month will see a number of activities throughout Guyana to celebrate our first peoples and their culture. (Times Sunday Magazine)

Men of Shulinab Village in their traditional clothing

Shulinab houses

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How Guyana must prepare to cope with the ‘jeopardies and perils’ of oil discovery (Reprinted from Inter Press Service)

G

eorgetown, Guyana - Recent huge offshore oil discoveries are believed to have set Guyana– one of the poorest countries in South America– on a path to riches. But they have also highlighted the country’s development challenges and the potential impact of an oil boom.

Oil giant ExxonMobil has, over the last three years, drilled eight gushing discovery wells offshore with the potential to generate nearly USD20 billion in oil revenue annually by the end of the next decade.

“For Guyana where the current oil sector is located offshore, the direct environmental risks are primarily associated with oil spills, but will also include emissions from the operations, and from seismic activities that can affect marine species,” Dr David Singh, executive director of Conservation International Guyana, told IPS.

“The environmental risk increases with the number of oil wells in any one area.”

Singh said increasing environmental risks require increasing capacity to understand and manage these risks.

From a regulatory standpoint, he said this means building the institutional capacity in step with the development of the industry.

“For civil society, the responsibility is ours to learn about the industry, to contribute to the creation of good policies and laws related to the industry, and to ensure the highest levels of accountability from the industry and from the state towards the environment,” he said.

“It also requires us to support companies and initiatives that are in the business of clean, renewable energy generation, and in supporting efforts to reduce our ecological footprint. Even as we focus on these efforts we are cognisant of the limited human and institutional capacity of the

country which will have an impact on the design and application of good and responsible environmental and social safeguards.”

Several commentators have observed that senior government officials here have little experience regulating a big oil industry or negotiating with international companies.

But Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said Guyana is prepared and has been building and strengthening its capacity to deal with the potential hazards that come with the development of an oil and gas sector.

He said no effort will be spared to ensure that Guyana puts a sound disaster risk reduction and management system in place so that it is prepared to prevent an oil spill or respond effectively should there be an accident in that regard.

“These are the jeopardies and these are the perils that we have to prepare for. We should not take them for grant-

ed or believe that we are dealing with something that is so far removed from our consciousness or our reality that we don’t have to be prepared,” Trotman told a national consultation on the drafting of the National Oil Spill Response Contingency Plan at the Civil Defence Commission’s.

“It has to be taken seriously and whilst the industry standards are very high, we do have a risk. We recognise that there is a risk. However, Government is making every effort to prepare for that risk. We expect that in 24 months when we go to production in the first quarter of 2020, we will meet not only minimum standards expected, but we will go past that and dare to say to ourselves and particularly to the world that we are ready for any eventuality,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tyrone Hall, a PhD Candidate at York University, is urging those involved in civil society in Guyana, especially its environ-

mental sector, to assess the exemplary efforts underway in Belize.

Hall, who has been studying the issue, notes Belize recently found itself at the centre of rare positive environmental news of global importance.

Its portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, arguably the world’s longest living barrier reef and certainly this region’s most iconic marine asset, was removed from the World Heritage Sites’ endangered category after nearly a decade (mid2009 to June 2018), according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Centre.

The decision was taken after Belize ditched plans to rapidly expand its nascent oil industry.

“There are lesson we can draw from the Belizean experience for raising the bar and boldly re-imagining environmental responses in the face of a petro-economic reorientation,” Hall said.

“In other words, while oil exploration is unlikely to be halted in Guyana at this point, the environmental community, and broader civil society must not settle into vassal like, aid-recipient disposition.

“It should raise its expectations, and also challenge, contextualise and transcend the singularly economistic conventions being drawn from distance places,” Hall added.

ExxonMobil has made eight discoveries in Guyana’s waters to date.

Production is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2020 with an estimated 120,000 barrels per day.

This should increase to 220,000 barrels per day by 2022.

“What the oil revenues will allow us to do is to fulfil these dreams of the Guyanese people and to ensure that the quality of life for every citizen dramatically improves over a period of a few short years,” Trotman said.

Roget: T&T Govt failed Trinidad: Father and daughter charged with to keep promises ‘cold case’ murder O (T (Trinidad Express)

ilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) president, Ancel Roget, said yesterday the closure of Petrotrin’s refinery did not instigate this Friday’s intended day of “rest and reflection”.

This is a piece of misinformation being peddled by Government, Roget said, to try to fool the nation into thinking that the union’s call for workers around the country to stay home was sparked by malcontent over the decision to shut down the refinery.

Instead, Roget said the union’s call to shut down the country on September 7 – the third anniversary in office of the People’s National Movement (PNM) government, was made since Labour Day (June 19) this year and is based on Government’s failure to keep a number of crucial promises.

The OWTU has found support from a number of unions, including the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), which has called on parents to keep their children away from school on Friday.

At a press confer-

President of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke, right, makes a point to Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) PresidentGeneral Ancel Roget, during a press conference at Palms Club, San Fernando, on Tuesday.

ence Tuesday morning in downtown Port of Spain, Roget said the Dr Keith Rowley-led administration has failed on several counts including controlling crime, strengthening the economy and doing right by labour.

He said the closure of Petrotrin’s Pointe-aPierre refinery was an issue that cropped up after the call to rest and reflect had long been made but has been instructive as to Government’s handling of the economy and employment.

Roget disclosed that the OWTU will,

on Monday, deliver to Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, its proposal for the restructuring of Petrotrin.

That document was also delivered to Government not long after it took up office but has been ignored by the relevant authorities, the union has said.

The board of Petrotrin announced last Tuesday that as it looks to turn around the State-owned company’s fortunes, the refinery must go as it has become a financial burden.

R I N I D A D EXPRESS) – FOUR years after relatives told police Esther Williams’ died as a result of suicide, her common law husband and daughter have been charged with killing her.

Seewak Jagroo, 58, a labourer of Little C a u r a R o a d , Cumuto, and daughter Shastri Jagroo, 25, of McBean, Couva, were on Tuesday charged with Williams’ murder.

Detectives of the Cold Case Unit headed by Ag ASP Sean Dhillpaul and including Sgt Sean Williams and Cpl Shawn Gordon of the Cumuto Police Station investigated.

Cpl Gordon laid the charges following advice received from Director of Public Prosecutions,

Roger Gaspard, SC. This is the eleventh murder case solved by the Cold Case Unit since

ter they allegedly discovered her body hanging at their home.

Subsequent investi-

it was established in 2017.

The father and daughter were due to appear before the Sangre Grande Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Williams died on April 18, 2014.

Both father and daughter allegedly reported to the Cumuto Police Station on the day of the incident, that the 54-year-old housewife, had died by suicide af-

gations and post-mortem results revealed that the victim died of ligature strangulation.

The body also bore multiple blunt traumatic injuries which were inconsistent with the suicide claim.

The accused were arrested by officers of the Cumuto Police Station at their respective homes August 29.

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“I

loved dolls growing up and always had a thing for them. But sadly we could not have much time with dolls while growing up because we would have to do work and so on. So one day I decided to make a doll for myself and since then I have been a part of the fashion and craft world,” says Natasha David.

Natasha is a 42-year-old mother of one. She was born in Georgetown but moved to Imbatero, Region 1 (Barima-Waini) where she spent the first 11 years of her life.

Natasha would then move to Matthews Ridge for a few years and then completed the circle by moving back to Georgetown at the age of 17.

When she moved back, she then began studying but always felt a bit incomplete.

“I was kind of

ter came and took it away with her and after that people see it and start ordering because it came out food.

Since then I have been creating stuff and one day I met with Sonia Noel and she asked me to transfer what I did with the doll into clothing and I did it and since then I have been in fashion,” she says.

She has been professionally mak-

ing dresses, jewellery and craft items for over nine years.

Natasha said that she is more passionate about the fashion aspect of her business because there are not a lot of designers who make indigenous clothing. She explained that the demand is there but it is seasonal.

“I would make a lot of clothes for like September, February and May because that is when more people want it.”

Decorative doll covered in banana leaves

have to wait on people coming out from the remote villages to get the beads and stones for her accessories as well as travelling all the way to Suriname to get the cotton threads needed for her clothing creations.

“The cotton thread is important to make the clothes and I would use that with straw (I

One of the costumes created by Natasha

restless. I was always amazed by what people can create and when I made the first doll my sis-

Natasha (blue suit) with models displaying her creations

Apart from clothing, she produces a number of various craft pieces and accessories to go with the outfits. One of the major challenges for Natasha is the accessing the materials needed to sustain her business. She would

get from St Cuthbert’s Mission) and make various pieces. The costumes would sell whenever there is a cultural show and so on and I does make to order.”

Natasha has a small craft shop at her home in C Field

Sophia and you would find her at various exhibitions.

She would be at the Sophia Exhibition Center as a part of the Indigenous Village. So be sure to check her creations out. (Times Sunday

Magazine)

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CEO Marcel Hutson

eptember marks the commencement of a new school year as well as the beginning of Education Month and this year the Education Ministry is going a step further with a first of its kind Education Exposition.

The Expo is slated for September 14 through 16 at the D’Urban Park, Georgetown.

This year, Education Month is being observed under the theme “Education for a good life through innovation and STEAMS”.

The month is a time for the Education Ministry to show off the achievements of its Schools as well as the work it has been doing over the years.

The Expo is the brainchild of Minister Nicolette Henry and according to Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson, the idea is an exceptional one that allows them to showcase the work of the Ministry. Every sector of the Ministry has been asked to participate and showcase how they contribute to the development of education in Guyana.

Additionally, the Expo would see the

participation of international partners such as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The Organizations would be highlighting the work they have been doing in Guyana as well as actively engaging those visiting the event.

The idea of the Exposition is to “touch every Guyanese and make them aware of what is happening in education,” Hutson said during a recent interview. He noted that the inter-agency participation is necessary since education is not about a person rather it is about everyone.

“We are looking to tap into everything. All the sectors of the Ministry of Education will be involved. From Nursery, Primary, Secondary, Georgetown Technical Institute, University of Guyana, CPCE and from all over. We have a number of entities and it is not confined to just the education sector,” Hutson said.

Children during a previous Steelpan display

The Ministry is hoping that persons become more au fait with their work through interactions at the Expo.

They are also hoping to use the opportunity to promote the idea of improving literacy as well as focus on Sciences, Technology, Engineering, Arts, M a t h e m a t i c s , S p i r i t u a l i t y (STEAMS).

In the changing world and the increased dependency on technology, the Ministry has been increasing its focus on the sector with the hosting of a number of STEM fairs. Hutson said that is necessary since it only serves to push the education agenda further. He hopes that patrons visiting the expo will be informed “historically, academically and socially” adding that the

impact they are striving for is the importance of education.

Education Month has been a very important part of the MOE’s calendar as every year they strive to further develop the sector and further enhance the delivery. It is also a time where they brainstorm and engage the stakeholders on the development of the sector.

“It is our intention to promote education and showcase what we are doing in relation to education over the years because sometimes we sell ourselves short by not sharing

the kind of information with the public.

We are making strides and we are making those strides progressively,” Hutson explained.

Over the years, we have seen the celebrations move away from the routine participation of just only Education Officials and students to include all stakeholders inclusive of teachers.

It has seen the introduction of the Teachers Jeopardy Competition as well as other activities. The hope is to make the Expo the star of this year’s celebration but also have

a whole host of activities as a part of the celebration.

While the Ministry hinted at some of the activities which include the JOF Haynes Debating Competition, Steelpan displays as well as Music Festival they are yet to release the official calendar of activities. It is unclear when they would also be launching the month of activities.

For now, plans are well ahead for the expo as the MOE has been utilizing its Facebook page to keep patrons up to date. (Times Sunday Magazine)

FLASHBACK: The tree planting exercise from 2017’s Education Month Activities

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Y

Top…

…COP our Eyewitness is intrigued by President Granger’s proclivity for coming up with new “criteria” when selecting top officials for the various Government and State institutions.

When choosing the Chair of GECOM, he insisted for the longest while that if the person wasn’t a judge, he or she must have “judge-like” qualities.

Your Eyewitness thought the President was insisting that the person be “sober” – from the oft-quoted phrase “sober as a judge” – even though he knew of quite a few members of the Bench who “had a thing” for “high spirits” of both the “hijinks” and “spiritous” varieties!!

Anyhow the President explained he was looking for a person with “qualities of impartiality, integrity and intelligence” – which he seemed to feel judges inherently possessed. But he just as obviously thought folks had forgotten that it was precisely those qualities the Judges who’d been the GECOM Chairs during the Burnham era were lacking!!

“Toothless poodles”, the normally circumspect Jagan had described one of them!!

So no one was surprised when the fella Granger picked – Justice Patterson — showed he was severely challenged in the very same qualities.

He clearly had a severe deficiency in impartiality, since he was flagrantly supportive of the PNC in his Facebook page. As for “integrity”, he blew that requirement when he admitted he’d inflated his qualifications by claiming he’d been “Chief Justice” of Grenada. Said it was “a slip of the pen”!! Your Eyewitness figured he wasn’t that “intelligent” if he thought he could get away with such a checkable whopper!!

Anyhow, the President was back at it with his “criteria” schtick on his appointment of the new Commissioner of Police. The COP had to be “unbribable”, and he would submit his shortlist to a “test”! So far, so good. Tests are good, no? But even before the test was applied, there was the matter of how he came up with his “shortlist”, when he excluded the man acting in the position and the one with the most seniority in the top ranks – David Ramnarine. Pressed on this issue, he claimed he had “specific” reasons – but which he wouldn’t divulge!!

This being Guyana, the chatterati, of course, immediately flew into a frenzy of speculation – was he caught with his hand in the till? Was Ramjattan’s recommendation the kiss of death? Was he in cahoots with “drug lords”? (This wasn’t a defect, and was possibly even a plus; since one former top COP with such a relationship was given “Minister wuk” by Granger!!)

But what your Eyewitness knows for sure is that Ramnarine’s name is now “mud,” since folks will automatically wonder about the skeleton in his closet, which Granger couldn’t even mention.

The horror!! The horror!! …test??

But then there was the test itself – which turned out to be a portion of the Social Studies section of the 6th Grade Test. Surely, the President jests!! Is this what he thinks the “intelligence” of the Top Cop ought to be measured by? But hold it! Maybe it wasn’t really a “test”. Just as how, sometime back, our mavens in the education sector figured that kids finishing primary school shouldn’t be “tested” but “assessed”, could it be Granger felt his top COP candidates ought to be “assessed”?

After all, the “assessment model” was just supposed to identify areas of weakness in the candidates’ pertinent knowledge base that could be rectified in the new office. Your Eyewitness assumed the key word was “pertinent,” and therefore wondered how pertinent is the geography of Guyana to the better running of the GPF. And in the years after the GPF was formed in 1839, haven’t there been refinement in Police testing??

And how would Basil Williams, one of the three who administered the assessment, fare?? …spot Asked as to whether he’ll run as APNU’s candidate in 2020, President Granger was, as usual, quite coy. Said he wouldn’t “refuse to serve” if asked to.

So who’ll be brazen enough not to ask him??!!

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Some people from the Makushi Tribe in their traditional wear

T

he Indigenous culture is one that remains deeply connected to its roots despite the every changing world we live in. Quite often people from all over the world would escape to remote Indigenous communities to experience the culture and detox from their current lives. Indigenous communities in Guyana are welcoming and every visitor is treated with the same respect. (Times Sunday Magazine) A wide assortment of indigenous drinks

The ancient art of hunting with bows and arrows

This young man is dressed in his traditional wear while performing a dramatic piece

The traditional dress from one of the many Indigenous Tribes in Guyana

Young performers

Proud Amerindians

Some of the Amerindian delicacies

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46 Feature

by

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Preserving our literary heritage

Petamber Persaud

(E

xtract of an interview with Joy Agness, Georgetown, Guyana, July 2018. Agness, a Wedding & Event Planning Professor at the Miami Dade and Broward Colleges, recently launched her first book, Wedding and Event Planning 101, in Guyana.) my PP During formative years, the ‘teach yourself’ series of books was very popular.

As we talk, I can picture the brilliant yellow and black covers. Then as time moved on, we were treated with the do it yourself series. Great initiatives – teach yourself, do it yourself - but along the way there were many challenges, challenges with reading, comprehension and expression skills. So often we hear about the dearth of reading and the death of the book, so why have you chosen, despite all the challenges, why have chosen to put your thoughts down on paper, in a book form?

JA Good question.

DIY – do it yourself; we have now abbreviated it to DIY. Being a professor of two colleges, I find quite a few challenges with my students. You would

find a conversation is not a conversation that you and I would know it to be, Petamber. You see growing up in Guyana, and I love to say growing up as a Guyanese, our major thing was perfecting our thoughts, reading and understanding.

Being

in North America, great conversations but there’s always that barrier to communicate - there’s always that line that young people don’t cross over.

You see for me to have a conversation with my students is not a challenge but I have to be a very

attentive listener because sometimes the words are shuffled a n d displaced and I have the privilege as I call it of deciphering what is been said to me….

PP That is also a challenge in itself – the art of listening….

JA Yes, the art of listening that has caused me to write this book …because you can’t ask me anything after having read the book…

PP That’s a reason for the book: a book is repository of information which can be retrieved for various uses.

JA So when I give my exams and if you haven’t read Weddings and Event Planning 101 which is one of their text books, you will fail miserably. So that is my way of pushing you to read and I am going to ask you questions that’s going challenge you to go to the book…So you have to read, reading is fundamental. In our society as we know it it is not that fundamental…

In my time, when you get a book, there were no pictures and the reason is simply to push you to read.

You see when you are a facilitator of education which is what we do, we teach, there is a dialogue, a conversation; what are we talking about - a specific topic. The topic of this book is Wedding and Event Planning 101. The 101 doesn’t necessarily mean you are a dummy, it means that this is the basic and fundamental from where you should start elevating yourself to the next level.

So yes, it is a trick question.

PP You said that you are a proud Guyanese JA Yes, I am.

PP From Guyana to North America you have moved quite a bit, let’s trace that journey.

JA Originally, I am a Ms. Hamer, now I am a Mrs. Agness. I was born in Russell Street, I grew up in East La Penitence and that in itself a transition but when you get into North America that is a bigger transition.

PP A cultural shock.

JA You find a lot of things I am accustomed

to do in Guyana, you had to shift. My first stop was Canada and I worked in the Guyana Consulate for a bit and it was quite an exposure for me. Vic Persaud was my then boss – protocol master…

PP Uncle Vic JA Yes, Uncle Vic that’s what we called him and back then he called me ‘Pointer’ because I was so slim; we had a laugh at that the other day when I went to meet him….he was my first intro into protocol and I have no regrets.

I am a nurse by profession – an emergency RN and if you anything about ER, from the time you clock in, you’re on roller skates ….

So I was equipped medically but events like birthdays, anniversaries, promotions etc. – a lot of that went on at the hospital and I was always doing the decorating etc.; it was something I loved.

So what I did was to turn my hobby into my job then a friend said I should turn it into a business and I said no, never heard of it.

When I got into the wedding event industry, it was not popular, it was unheard sort of….

PP So then you are a pioneer…

JA Yes, I have gotten a few awards as a trailblazer, that’s what they called me, a trailblazer…

You see the life I live is not for me but for the others coming behind. I am just setting an example for you to follow. If you want change, Mahatma Gandhi said it starts with you.

So I can’t want people to change and prefect the craft, if I don’t change. So I had to change my mindset and everything else and so here you have the birth of Wedding & Event Planning 101 because now I am a professor and I am teaching and I am looking at some of the mistakes made and I call people out there who don’t have the real knowhow, barefoot contestants, not with any disrespect.

But you need to know the tools and have the tools of the trade to perfect the craft and the industry you want to be a part of. So Wedding & Event Planning 101 is for people who are already in the field and want to brush up on a few things, people who want to get into the field but don’t know which direction to start and people who think they know everything and don’t know…

You may attend a wedding and it is beautiful and everything is gorgeous but you don’t know what has gone into perfecting that. This book is going to give you an insight: how many inches your dance floor suppose to be and how many people it can accommodate, how to sit..,

how to eat…, how to set your table…

PP Portion size.

JA Portion size ….I put it all in there, I didn’t hide anything.

PP So we don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

JA No, you don’t.

PP One of the things, there are many things one can take away from this book but I like the concern you show for the environment whenever you’re planning.

JA Yes, very important. You must ensure you are environmentally conscious of what’s happening around you…

PP This book is about planning. I am intrigued with each new book. Let’s talk a while about planning and getting this publication out….

JA …this was three years in the making. I travel extensively as a wedding and event planner and this entails hours away from home, hours in hotels…

PP that’s gathering information. What about printing, that process?

JA That process wasn’t very hard because there are lots of publishing companies.

I chose AuthorHouse because AuthorHouse has been around awhile. So I sat down with the layout of my book every step of the way. So what we have here [pointing to the book] is not some printing company that threw it together and says Joy, here is your book. What we have here is me flying to New York because I live in South Florida, sitting down with my publisher...

PP Wow, what a process.

JA Yes, a process because I wanted to take an active part in my book, I wanted to make sure that when people get this book that it was ready and worthy to be read by other people; it is okay for me to read it and say this is how I wanted it to be but in the hands of somebody else they should be able to get the same clarity. So for me to get the clarity I wanted to impart to other people, I had to be at the helm, so to speak, because AuthorHouse doesn’t know what I want, they can imagine what they would like to see...when they put it together. Sometimes things got distorted and I had to gone over it page by page by page, it’s a tedious and laborious task but it had to be done; that’s the only way I’d be satisfied....

Responses to this author please telephone 226-0065 of email: oraltradition2002@yahoo. com (Times Sunday Magazine)

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By Ravi Dev

Old wine…

W

…in new (loan) decanters

hat Barnum said about “a sucker is born every minute” also applies to countries – and they both originate greed. But that shouldn’t surprise us any, should it? China just invited practically every country in Africa to its 2018 Summit of the “Forum on China-Africa Cooperation” (FOCAC) to once again promote its Belt and Road Initiative in Africa.

At the last FOCAC summit, in 2015 in South Africa, a reported US$60 billion of Chinese loans were thrown around… with nary a concern about ‘debt burdens’ expresse! At the one in Beijing expects even more offers that the throng of African leaders won’t be able to refuse!! China, after all, even with the billions it’s been doling out, has kept its foreign reserves firmly about the US$3 TRILLION mark!!

That’s US$3,000,000,000,000, baby!!!

Britain has been routinely warning its officials and bankers, etc to beware of Chinese “honey traps” — not only when they’re travelling to China, but even in Britain. “Honey traps”, for you dear readers who’ve been leading cloistered lives, are run by femme fatales (of whatever gender!) who use sex to entice influential officials into compromising circumstances, and then blackmailing them. With the amount of money at their finger-tips, the Chinese won’t even need honey traps over the next few days at FOCAC!!

The US, as the present lone superpower left standing, is, not surprisingly, a tad concerned about all this “money diplomacy” by the Chinese. They’re in no position to go toe-to-toe with the Chinese to win friends and influence countries in Africa with money, even if they wanted to. On the BRI, Trump’s tariffs are one attempt to cut China’s economic clout down to size. But the strategy has its own blowback mechanism: as the US market tightens, China has even more incentives to fund the BRI to ship its manufactured goods elsewhere.

Like England when it abolished slavery, China’s now the free trade champion, and it’s gonna give those African leaders – ads Guyana’s — the full court press loans to open up markets!! But this doesn’t mean the US wouldn’t – or shouldn’t – try to stop the Chinese juggernaut. Competition’s always good!!

The case of Kenya is illustrative. Kenya’s strategically located in East Africa, and back in 2014, the Chinese extended a US$3.2 billion loan to Kenya to construct a railway connecting its inland capital, Nairobi, to its port of Mombassa. Problem is, apart from accusations of inflated costs by the Chinese company executing the contract, there’s no way in heck enough revenues will be generated to service the loan.

The Kenyan leader was asked to make a pit stop in Washington to see Trump before doubling back to China.

Quo vadis? …in new delivery system With all that’s going on (or going down) in Venezuela, and its refugees that are threatening to overwhelm all its neighbours – including us – no one took much notice of the latest assassination attempt on Maduro. But it was significant in that it’s the first assassination attempt on a head of state using a drone.

And we know how, in these matters, copycats enter the picture!!

Remember how, only recently, street elements in Georgetown used to just “choke and rob”. That’s now passé, with “armed robbery” taking over. Nowadays, drones have become ubiquitous, even in backwater countries like Guyana, with its clapboard houses!!

We’re told that even one of our dailies regularly deploys them to get some overhead shots. Your Eyewitness fears it won’t be long before some smart aleck criminal decides to take out rivals with C-4 strapped to a drone.

Like happened with Maduro.

It appears his security had drone-jamming technology…Our new security chief better get with the programme!!

Quick!! …in new locale The oil servicing giant Schlumberger just bought out the GAFSON’s Complex to take care of Exxon’s needs to start pumping oil from 2020 onwards.

The move shouldn’t be too traumatic for them.

After all, they’re from HOUSTON, Texas to HOUSTON Guyana.

Can’t be much different, right?

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s he appointed the new Commissioner of Police, President David Granger declared, “The Police Force has to be reformed, and you can’t build a new house with old wood. You have to select new materials; people with a new vision; people with a new commitment to break from the old bad habits and to return to the principles of good policing.”

It would appear he forgot to mention – or deliberately chose not to mention – that a new house also needs a new plan, or else the old house would simply be recreated with all its defects, since form affects function so profoundly.

Such a new plan was crafted back in 2003-04 by a Disciplined Forces Commission (DFC) on which then Brigadier (retd) David Granger sat, and which held extensive hearings from a wide cross-section of the Guyanese populace. The hearings were conducted during the heat of the crime wave, during which the 2002 Prison Outbreak Five held off the Guyana Police Force and the Army from their redoubt in Buxton. One of their main targets was policemen, and before the gang was defeated, more policemen had been murdered than in any other period of the history of the GPF. David Granger, when discussing “Police

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reform”, has — for good reason — referred many times to the DFC Report, which had been laid in Parliament in 2004 but only finally approved in 2010; since, of the 164 recommendations, 71 concerned the GPF. But he has studiously avoided the one that addressed the vexed issue of “ethnic imbalance”, which had been brought up even before Guyana received independence from Britain. In 1965, the year David Granger entered the armed forces as a 2nd Lieutenant, an ICJ Commission (invited by the British as a condition for awarding Guyana Independence) suggested a programme of accelerated recruitment of Indians into the Police and Armed Force until their numbers were roughly in proportion to those in the population. Nothing came of that recommendation.

During the hearings on constitutional changes in 1999 – precipitated by PNC riots in the streets after 1997 — one of the constitutional recommendations unanimously adopted in 2000 was for the President to establish a commission to investigate and recommend resolving the ethnic imbalance in the Disciplined Forces.

During the aforementioned “troubles” — as since labelled by Granger — intriguingly, it was the Opposition PNC under Robert Corbin that called upon the PPP

atiricus was a bit apprehensive as he ambled towards the Back Street Bar. He wondered, now that GrainJa had spoken to the press, which statements he would have to defend. Satiricus was somewhat ticked off with himself for being so conscientious. If only Nagga Man and Rum Jhaat would show some backbone and say something, he’d throw GrainJa under the bus in a second!!

“Tell me if dis na schupidness!” demanded Bungi indignantly, even before Satiricus had time to start on his beer.

“What’s that?” asked Satiricus cautiously, as he took a swig and wiped his brow.

“Yuh President now seh dat de Pee an’ See party now guh handle de “I is” Broomes’ matta!” Bungi snarled.

“Wha’ da?” interrupted Cappo in surprise.

“Afta dem bin tell abee fuh de whole mont’ dat Cabinet guh deal wid she?”

“Yes, Sato,” said Hari. “She didn’t rough up those two guards and had them detained as a Pee and See member, but as a Minister of the Government!”

“Fellas, I really don’t know what to say,” Satiricus said apologetically. “My leaders didn’t tell us anything yet.”

Government to establish the Disciplined Forces Commission.

ROAR supported that call.

On the matter of ethnic representativeness, the DFC declared: “The Commission…is of the view that the allaying of ethnic security fears which stem from the predominance of Afro-Guyanese presence in the GPF must be addressed…but to ensure, in so doing, that no similar insecurity fears are caused in the Afro-Guyanese community.”

More specifically, it recommended: “It should be an aim (of the GPF) to achieve a Force representative of the ethnic diversity of the nation without employing a quota system.” To achieve this, ethnically-diverse recruitment teams should be employed as openly and extensively as possible. The report also suggested that a study be conducted on how to address the ethnic make-up imperative.

While in Opposition, both the PNC – including the one led by David Granger — and the AFC trenchantly criticised the PPP for burying the DFC Report for seven years in Committee. In 2010, when it was finally passed (unanimously) by the house, AFC leader Trotman said dramatically, “We shudder to think that if it took seven years to consider the recommendations, how many centuries

will it take to implement them?”

When as an MP I made my submission to the DFC in 2003, I remember David Granger asking whether I favoured a fixed quota in the recruitment of Indians to rectify the imbalance in the armed forces. Using the terminology made popular by the US Supreme Court in that country’s affirmative action programme, I told him I preferred “targets rather than quotas”. Especially with the armed forces, one must insist its members are “fit and proper” to perform their duties.

Today, I once again remind David Granger, who is now President of Guyana, to insist that targets be established for Indian Guyanese in those armed forces, and teams fan out to sensitise the community about the importance of serving their country in these institutions.

Much is rightly being done by the Government for African Guyanese to enter businesses, as we have long also advocated.

“Dis a rass-pass!” exploded Bungi. “An’ nobady na seh nuttin!”

“Yes!” said Cappo. “Rememba how all dem big-shat behave baad when Beri-Beri seh he gon “slap and strip” dat gyaal?”

“And Beri Beri didn’t even tell it to the woman who’d accosted him,” said Hari. “He said it to some reporters afterwards!”

“Yes, I remember,” admitted Satiricus. “I protested in front of President Ram O. Tar’s office and he fired Beri Beri as Minister of Health.”

“Na even the slap-an-strip gyaal na seh nuttin’ ‘bout de “I is” Broomes’ matta,” complained Bungi.

“Yes,” said Hari. “After Beri Beri was sacked, she said all “offensive behaviour by officials” should be “rooted out!”

“Budday, nobady na kay ‘bout po’r people,” said Cappo bitterly. “All dem big shat who protest fuh “slap-an’-strip”ah now march fuh parkin’ meeta!”

“I’ll ask Nagga and Rum Jhaat if Cabinet decided that Broomes’ bad behaviour was ‘an internal party matter’,” said Satiricus placatingly.

“Who?” asked Hari. “Dumb and Dumber?”

48 Bollywood

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan roots for women empowerment at 31st Women Entrepreneur’s Exhibition

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ishwarya Rai Bachchan attended the inauguration of the 31st Women Entrepreneur’s Exhibition in Mumbai.

Apart from Aishwarya Rai, the event saw the presence of Sonu Nigam, Poonam Mahajan, Ronit Roy, Princess Diya Kumari, Pinky Reddy, Sangita Jindal, Kokilaben Ambani, Urvi Piramal, Bina Modi, Amrita Raichand, Perizaad Zorabien, Rashmi Thackeray,

Arzaan Khambatta and others.

Aishwarya was recently seen in Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao starrer Fanney Khan. The film did not do well at the box office.

Now, fans are eagerly waiting for her Gulab Jamun, which will also star Abhishek Bachchan. Gulab Jamun will mark the real-life couple’s first project this decade. (Indian Express)

Sunny Kaushal on his brother Vicky Kaushal: I want to know his actor side

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ctor Sunny Kaushal, who is currently riding high on the success of his latest release Gold, says he wants to work with his brother and actor Vicky Kaushal. Asked if he is interested in sharing screen space with Vicky, Sunny told IANS here: He influenced me as an individual because he is my brother, but not as an actor.

Perhaps that is why I want to know the actor side of his, I want to work with him. I think his process of preparation is quite internal for the characters he plays.”

Citing an example, Sunny said

“Think about the character Raghav in his film Raman Raghav 2.0. We live in the same house but I did not know how he emotionally prepared himself to portray such a character on-screen! “It is like I know my brother and then saw that character in the film… Now I am more interested to know the transformation in between. I will get to know that if only I work with him I guess.”

Sunny played hockey player Himmat Singh in Gold and he had to work really hard to make it look real.

However, the actor does not like to talk much about the hard work that goes behind the camera to build a character on-screen. “Every individual who is working to achieve something (is) working hard. I am not doing anything different on that. Yes, shooting in minus degree temperature in England, learning the game of hockey — nothing was easy for me. But the fact is, at the end of the day what matters is, how my hard work and preparation is translat-

ing in my performance.”

According to Sunny, extensive talk on the physical preparation of an actor at times draw sympathy from the audience and as a performer, he certainly does not want that.

“When you watch me on-screen, you should not be thinking how hard I worked to get my act right, you should see if my performance is entertaining you or not. At the end of the day, we make a film to entertain our audience,” explained the youngster.

Though the actor has appeared in films like “Sunshine Music Tours and Travels” and; web series like Love At First Sight but he describes Gold as a big project for him.

Asked about if he was keen to know the review of his performance, after the release of the film, Sunny said, “Yes, I was curious to know what public has to say. I was reading reviews to know the reviewers perspective towards the film.”

“Having said that, my biggest reviewers were my family. I saw the pride in the eyes of my parents and that made me feel satisfied as an actor and son that they felt good about my work. Vicky hugged me after the screening and said that I am good,” he said.

Is the success of Gold giving him more opportunity? “Well, I have finished working on an Amazon Prime web series Subhash Chandra Bose’s ‘Forgotten Army’, directed by Kabir Khan. I am still auditioning and seeking opportunity.

“Looking for a chance to be a part of good story so that I can entertain people,” said the young actor who wishes to work with filmmakers like Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Bhasan Bala and Rohit Shetty among others.

(Indian Express)

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onali Bendre is currently undergoing cancer treatment in New York. Her family and friends have been extremely supportive of the actor and she has often taken to Instagram to thank all those who are supporting her in these tough times. In her latest post, Sonali shares her new look and thanks Priyanka Chopra.

As a result of chemotherapy, Sonali Bendre went bald but has now decided that she will sport a wig when she feels like it. In her caption, Sonali contemplates if vanity is a sin.

She starts with, “Vanity is my favourite sin. – Al Pacino” Sonali then continues, “Well, it might not be my all-time favourite sin (that would be gluttony), but who doesn’t like looking good? The way we look has a profound psychological impact on us… A little vanity here and there does no one any harm. It’s important to do what makes you happy, even if it’s something as simple as wearing a wig, bright red lipstick, high heels….

All that white noise doesn’t make a difference in the larger picture.

No one can tell you what’s right or wrong for you. When I was testing out the wigs, I had a brief moment of self-doubt…

“Am I vain for wanting to look good?” As part of the

entertainment industry, you’re always expected to look good… Maybe that has been ingrained in me? But then I gave it a thought and I realized I like looking good for me. If I’m in the mood to wear a scarf, I will. If I want to walk around bald and free, I will. Only you know what would make you feel good, and what works best for you.”

Sonali Bendre concludes, “So take every opportunity you can to #SwitchOnTheSunshine. #OneDayAtATime Thank you @priyankachopra for connecting me with the amazing @bokheehair, who created my new look.” (Indian Express)

Have taken references for my character from The Zoya Factor book: Sonam Kapoor

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ctor Sonam Kapoor, who is playing the lead role in The Zoya Factor, says she has taken quite a bit of reference from Anuja Chauhan’s similarly titled novel for her character in the film.

“I have read the book several times and have taken quite a bit of references for my character in the film,” Sonam told IANS on phone from Mumbai on the sidelines of the third edition of “Word to Screen” Market — an initiative by Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star — held last week.

With Sonam as the festival champion of the two-day event, Word to Screen is a platform where the literary world engages directly with the creators of film, TV, and digital content.

The actor, who is currently filming The Zoya Factor along with Sikandar Kher and Dulquer Salmaan, says Chauhan is a part of film’s writing and screenplay too.

“Anuja is a part of the writing and screenplay. She is writing the dialogues and it’s all her vision,” said the actor. Literature has always been a vital part of the Indian entertainment

Industry, Sonam said.

“I think it has been done for many years. In fact, Oscars has a category for adapted films. It should be a category in itself and it should be something that we should be recognizing in India more.

I think internationally, people buy books before they are published,” said the actor, who wants the classic “Rebecca” to be adapted in a film.

Word to Screen platform this year had books in English, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam, which were optioned by authors and publishers to directors and production houses.

The MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image) Recommends List has 36 titles — 25 fiction and 11 non-fiction titles — and the Publishers list with 174 titles for optioning.

Talking about the initiative, Sonam said, “I have been associated with ‘Word to Screen’ since its onset. It has been something that I have been very excited to be part of. I feel the stories of books are amazing and great.

Sometimes when a writer is writing just for a book and not just for a film, it is not corrupt.” (Indian Express)

Abhishek Bachchan on playing Robbie in Manmarziyaan: I really like the conviction in his actions

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fter introducing Taapsee Pannu as Rumi and Vicky Kaushal as DJ Sandzzz, the makers of upcoming film Manmarziyaan have shared a video on Abhishek Bachchan’s transformation into Robbie for the Anurag Kashyap directorial.

In the video, we also see how Abhishek and Anurag would break into conversations in order to improvise a particular scene. Talking about his working mechanism, Abhishek posted a photo with the caption, “We were rehearsing a rather intense scene…. I know it doesn’t show from our body language. But, this is how @anuragkashyap10 approaches such scenes.

He makes the environment and atmosphere very relaxed and allows his actors

time to just effortlessly slip into the mind space he wants. This was a very new approach for me but I really enjoyed it. He removes the stress and hustle-and-bustle of the set and just gives his actors space and time. A true luxury if you’ve ever been on a film set. And once everyone is at ease and ready he throws you a curve ball!!! “Let’s shoot this entire scene in 1 shot”!!!!

Taapsee Pannu, who plays Robbie’s wife in Manmarziyaan, described Abhishek Bachchan as the perfect fit for the role. She said, “Such a perfect fit for the role. I cannot see anyone else as Robbie.”

The Anurag Kashyap directorial will head to theatres on September 14. (Indian Express)

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Hollywood 49

Die Hard series’ next installment gets official title

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ick Jonas’ former girlfriend Olivio Culpo says she is happy about his engagement with Priyanka Chopra.

The Miss Universe 2012, who dated Nick for two years until their relationship ended in 2015, told People. com that she is happy for Nick and wishes the best for him.

Culpo said: “I think that any time, anybody can find love, especially in this industry – because it’s difficult. You can see there’s a track record of things not working out.

“So I am happy for him. I wish everybody

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can find love and happiness. That does not mean I would not wish that for him.”

In an interview to Extra in June 2015, Nick Jonas had wished best future for Olivio after parting ways. He said, “She’s an amazing person. We had a great, beautiful few years together, but it’s been a crazy couple months, and I wish the best to her for the future, but it’s tough.”

Nick got engaged to Priyanka in August in a private ceremony in Mumbai. The two made their relationship official and posted a photo of each other. In fact, Nick

tagged Priyanka as ‘Mrs. Jonas.’

At present, Nick and Priyanka are celebrating togetherness in Mexico.

The two went to watch Serena Williams take on Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals on Wednesday morning.

Accompanying them were Nick’s brother Joe Jonas and girlfriend Sophie Turner and Priyanka’s mother Madhu Chopra.

Meanwhile, Culpo is currently dating Danny Amendola, a former New England Patriots turned Miami Dolphins footballer. (Indian Express)

e e p i k a Padukone, who made her Hollywood debut with the Vin Diesel starrer xXx: Return of Xander Cage, will return to the franchise for its fourth instalment, according to its director DJ Caruso.

part of the film?”

“Yes,” replied Caruso, thereby confirming that the popular actor will be back in the action-packed franchise.

Asked if there was any update on Deepika’s shooting schedule for the film,

en visit to India as he came down to Mumbai with Caruso and the Bollywood actress to promote xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

The franchise began with the 2002 film xXx, which was followed by the 2005 entertainer xXx: State of

Caruso, on Twitter, welcomed Chinese singer-actor Roy Wang to the xXx family on Monday.

A social media user then asked: “What about Deepika Padukone. Will she be

Caruso responded to a fan: “Working it out now script being scheduled.”

Deepika’s foray into Hollywood had created a strong buzz. In fact, last year Diesel had made his maid-

the Union.

The third xXx movie, featuring Deepika as Serena Unger, had grossed over $300 million worldwide. (Indian Express)

he next installment in the Die Hard franchise has a title now.

The next adventure of Bruce Willis’ John McClane is named simply McClane. “You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says, ‘McCLANE’,” producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told the

But just as prominent is the 60-yearold version.”

Die Hard, launched in 1988, is one of the most well-known action movie franchises. 1988’s Die Hard was followed up by Die Hard 2 in 1990, which in turn was followed by Die Hard with a Vengeance in 1995. Then after 12

Empire magazine.

McClane is rumoured to be about a younger John McClane and is a prequel of sorts. But according to Lorenzo, Bruce Willis’ 60-year-old McClane will be as much a part of the movie.

He added, “We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before. I don’t know how you do Die Hard without Bruce. The idea that he’s not very significant in this movie is not accurate at all. We are gonna explore John McClane in his twenties.

years, in 2007, came the fourth film, Live Free or Die Hard. The last Die Hard film A Good Day to Die Hard hit screens in 2013.

Meanwhile, Bruce Willis was last seen in Death Wish, the remake of a 1974 film of the same name. He is also waiting for an addition to other old franchise. Glass will be the third film and the conclusion to M Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable series, which began with Unbreakable in 2000. (Indian Express)

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irector Corin Hardy says The Nun gave him an opportunity to incorporate classic horror imagery to tell an origin story in the Conjuring universe and he is confident that the film will take the audiences on a terrifying journey.

The director, best known for his The Hollow, said it was important for him to honour what has already been done in the previous Conjuring films but at the same time create something new.

“I loved that The Nun is set in 1952 and in a castle in Romania – making the story feel both new and ancient. I wanted to take audiences on an unholy, terrifying journey. It gave me a real opportunity to incorporate classic horror imagery this time around. Using castles, convents, cemeteries, hanging fog, gaslight, candlelight, stained glass and gothic horror, we created a rich, contrasting and immersive cinematic atmosphere,” Hardy said in a statement provided by the Warner Bros.

The director said having grown up on classic horror films such as Dracula, The Exorcist and Evil Dead, he wanted to incorporate some references in his film. “The Nun contains all the elements I relish as a storyteller,” he said.

The film, slated to be released in India on September 7, follows an exorcist, a novitiate nun in training and a French-Canadian guide on a journey that takes them to an abbey in the mountains of Romania, to investigate the apparent suicide of a nun. They end up discovering a sinister secret that may endanger everything that they hold dear.

Hardy said shooting the film in a place like Romania helped him tick a lot of boxes off his list.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to actually make a movie in Transylvania, which was home to the classic Dracula. We started production in Bucharest, where we had our studio and built certain sets.

But we also travelled to farreaching locations up in the Transylvanian mountains, to Corvin Castle, Sighisoara, and rural Romanian villages. It was as authentic as I could hope for. I was able to tick a lot of boxes off my list, after working in and around ancient crumbling convents, an ice house and a castle.”

(Indian Express)

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

Scenes from the teachers strike in Guyana

A section of Georgetown's protesting teachers

Some of the teachers who attended the GTU meeting

Some of the parents and students who were seen lingering outside one of the primary schools in Georgetown

The determined teachers who plan to stay united

Teachers in Linden also protested

Some educators in Berbice who joined in protesting for salary increases

This was the scene at Lethem

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Scenes from the teachers strike in Guyana

An aerial view of day three’s protesters in Georgetown

GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald boldly held her placard as she rallied up her members

Teachers from New Amsterdam picketing for increased wages

This teacher sought to point out what “selfish” teachers actually mean at the Georgetown protest

A section of Georgetown’s hyped protesters

Berbice teachers during Wednesday's protest

Linden teachers shouting slogans during day three of the protest

Teachers in front of the Anna Regina Secondary School

A teacher in Berbice protesting

One of the many teachers who protested in Berbice

A section of the protesting teachers in Linden

Due to no teachers being present in schools, This photograph shows a Policeman these Region Two students were sent home and visiting a Aurora, Essequibo Coast school were waiting for the heavy rainfall to cease

52 sport

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

CPL 2018: Bravo moves Hero CPL: Ingram up player index joins TKR

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wayne Bravo has edged into the Caribbean Premier League Index top three after his recent performances for Trinbago Knight Riders.

Allrounder Bravo hit 37 in just 11 balls to give Trinbago a fourth successive victory in the competition and ensure he is the only player in the CPL, with 50 or more runs to their name, to have a tournament strike rate in excess of 200.

The T20 veteran’s figure stands at a phenomenal 253.7 in this year’s competition, a statistic which has helped him up to sixth in the overall Player Performance Index - a rating system which assesses a variety of datapoints to produce a definitive list of the world’s best short-form cricketers.

In the CPL Index, Bravo leaps above Shoaib Malik, who drops a place to fourth.

Andre Russell continues to lead both the global Index and its CPLspecific equivalent, with Sunil Narine second in each set of standings.

Colin Munro, the hard-hitting New Zealand batsman, is up to 23rd in the world after smashing 76 off 50 balls for Trinbago but remains eighth in the CPL, despite being the tournament’s top runscorer.

Munro’s countryman, Colin de Grandhomme, did not take long to make it into the CPL top 20. De Grandhomme only played his first games of this year’s edition for Jamaica in the past seven days but he benefits from an existing Player Performance Index position of 37th.

Imran Tahir’s miserly bowling has seen him improve his world standing, moving up to 38th in the overall Index with a CPL economy rate of under six runs per over to go with his 13 wickets.

Sohail Tanvir climbs from 26th to 24th after helping Guyana Amazon Warriors to two wins this week. His unbeaten 37 off 20 with the bat saw them over the line with one ball to spare against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, and his key dismissals of Martin Guptill and Steve Smith helped to set up a more comfortable victory over Barbados Tridents.

Rovman Powell is up four places to 35th after innings of 84 (from 40 balls) and 35 (27 balls) this week. He has now scored over 250 runs for Jamaica in CPL 2018, while Oshane Thomas has also continued his rise.

The CPL’s joint top wicket-taker is now up to number 60 in the CPL Index with 14 victims.

Cadogan continues to excel in Solo U-19 league

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outh Africa’s Colin Ingram has been called up as a late addition to the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Ingram will replace Chris Lynn of the Trinbago Knight Riders, who returns to Australia.

Ingram has played 31 ODIs and 9 T20Is for the Proteas, and has also played in the T20 Blast, Big Bash, and Pakistan Super League.

The former Proteas batsman will join the Knight Riders ahead of their match against Guyana Amazon Warriors on September 9 at Providence Stadium, Guyana.

“Colin Ingram is a proven performer, and an outstanding T20 player who will add fire power to the top order, and (is) a useful bowling option as well. We are delighted to have him join Team TKR for the conclusion of CPL 2018,” Venky Mysore, Director of Trinbago Knight Riders, told the CPL official website.

Tabraiz Shamsi is the other Proteas drafted recently to the CPL, replacing Australia’s

Tom Cooper for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

Shamsi has played for the Patriots for the previous three CPL seasons, finishing the 2017 tournament with 11 wickets at an average of 20.27.

The Proteas spinner has played two Tests, 10

ODIs, and six T20Is for his country.

The top four teams from the group stages will proceed to the knockout phase of the tournament, with the final taking place on September 16 at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.

Guyana makes clean sweep at Super Stock race in Barbados

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Abosaide Cadogan controlling the possession in her encounter

eenager Abosaide Cadogan is on a stellar streak as she continues to steer her team to victory in the Guyana Hockey Board’s developmental leagues.

This time around, it was the Under-19 teams which put their skills to the test.

After a scintillating matchup, in which she netted six goals to lead her team to a 6-0 win over Woodpecker Hikers, Cadogan returned with a similar zest to shine in yet another match.

This time, in the Solo Girls Under-19 division, Cadogan’s team, the Bingo Spartans, completed an impressive team effort to thrash the GCC Her-ricanes. Starting the matchup on the attack from the first whistle, Alana Cheung was the first player to score a goal.

Abosaide Cadogan came later to the party with four goals of her own.

And as if to add salt to the wound, the Bingo Spartans produced another rain of goals when Sarah Klantky completed her hat-trick in the 25th, 27th and 37th minutes, whilst Paige Fernandes, Makeda Harding and Madison Fernandes contributed on a piece to the enormous 11-0 score, causing the Spartans to convincingly win the encounter.

The other female match saw Saint Joseph coming up against Saint Stanislaus. Saint Joseph was the first team to get off the mark with a goal from Carolyn Deane early on in the

8th minute. However, Kizia Chinian fought hard to equalise for her Saints team in the next half.

Despite playing their hearts out, neither team was able to edge past the other, leaving the score locked at 1-1 at the end of their allotted time.

Over in the male category, Old Fort took on the Joseph Warriors in a scintillating back-and-forth game. The 4th minute saw the goal from Daniel Baldeo being recorded first for the Joseph Warriors. Joseph went up by another goal eight minutes later, and one minute after that, Nandalall Persaud got his cut of the pie. A goal from Old Fort came from Omar Hopkinson in the 20th, but Joseph Warriors were one step ahead, netting another soon after.

Their fifth goal came from Brandon Abrahams.

Despite, Rafael Robertson finding the back of the net for Old Fort in the 38th minute, it was not enough to match Joseph’s prowess in their 5-2 win.

The other matchup saw North Ruimveldt Multilateral and Hikers being paired. Thanks to Shamere Garnette, North Ruimveldt were up by two by the second half, as the team continued to play a great hand at both offence and defence. Baraka Garnette and Tivesarid Garnette chipped in later on in the game to bring the score to 4-0, sealing the victory for North Ruimveldt.

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Team Mohamed’s Matt Truelove takes a lap of honour holding the Golden Arrowhead

eam Mohamed’s super stock Bikers, Matt and Harry Truelove have had an impressed run at Bushy Park in Barbados when the Caribbean Motor Racing Championship (CMRC) was hosted on Sunday. The duo came out on top of the Super Stock Races thus putting Guyana in line to covet the CMRC title for 2018.

In addition to the wins, Matt Truelove set a new lap record with 1:01.542 in his second

race. His former teammate Bryce Prince held that record, with a time of 1:01.910 in 2017.Also shining in Barbados on Sunday was Matthew Vieira who added to Guyana’s fortune.

In addition, Mark Vieira and Andrew King took the podium with first place each against Barbadian, Mark Maloney in the Group Four. In light of the excellent performances, Team Guyana has produced podium finishes in

most of their races.

Although suffering from mechanical issues, Rameeze Mohamed secured a fourth in the one race he competed in. Young biker Raveiro Tucker was unable to make a podium spot but according to reports, he has improved.

Nevertheless, the action now turns to Guyana in November for the final showdown. Large contingent are expected from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

SPORT 53

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

Hero Caribbean Premier League 2018…

TKR takes top spot with win over Warriors

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rinbago Knight Riders surged to the top of the Hero Caribbean Premier League point standings with a 67-run victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday evening in Trinidad.

Meeting for the first time this season, Warriors decided to have a bowl with their toss victory and were able to restrict a rampaging TKR to 170 – 7.

However, they botched the chase and crumbled to 103 all out in the presence of a packed Queen’s Park Oval.

The Twin Island

Republic celebrated all night as Warriors’ poor shot selection was no match for the disciplined attack of the opposition.

It started all wrong for the Warriors, losing Luke Ronchi to another bad lbw decision by the umpire for no score.

Chadwick Walton’s (4) woes continued after he presented an irresponsible shot to Khary Pierre and was bowled to put his side under even more pressure.

Shimron Hetmyer made 11 before he hit one down the throat of Colin Munro at deep mid-wicket off Ali Khan.

Dwayne Bravo reacts to a catch being taken

Romario Shepherd

Colin Munro

GAW were now 21 – 3 and TKR already smelling victory with the crumbling of the top order.

Wickets continued falling as Cameron Delport (2), Chris Green (2) and Sohail Tanvir (0) made no impact with the bat while Jason Mohammed (27) fought to keep the inevitable from an early arrival. The Mohammedresistance lasted only 27-balls; and another Warriors batsman was out, caught. At that time, GAW were 57-7.

While Roshon Primus contributed some consolation hitting down the order with an CAK Walton b Pierre 4 unbeaten 36, Rayad L Ronchi † lbw b Ali Khan 0 Emrit (2), Romario SO Hetmyer c Munro Shepherd (10) and b Ali Khan 11 Imran Tahir (0) JN Mohammed c Narine were all exposed and eventually disb DJ Bravo 27 missed.

CS Delport c & b Narine 2 Ali Khan led CJ Green c McCullum b Pierre 2 with 3 – 22 while Sohail Tanvir c Searles Fawad Ahmed, b DJ Bravo 0 Pierre and the skipRS Primus not out 36 per had two wickets RR Emrit (c) c Searles each for 20, 21 and b Fawad Ahmed 2 22, respectively.

R Shepherd b Fawad Ahmed 10 Narine accounted Imran Tahir c McCullum for the other wicket. b Ali Khan 0 The Warriors Extras (lb 3, w 6) 9 had an all access TOTAL all out (17.4 pass to the Munro Overs, RR: 5.83) 103 show as he continFall of wickets: 1-3 (L Ronchi, ued his magnificent 0.4 ov), 2-17 (CAK Walton, form this season, 2.3 ov), 3-21 (SO Hetmyer, further cementing 3.2 ov), 4-33 (CS Delport, 5.1 ov), 5-42 (CJ Green, 6.5 ov), himself as the tour6-48 (Sohail Tanvir, 9.3 ov), nament’s highest 7-57 (JN Mohammed, 11.6 run getter with 436. ov), 8-74 (RR Emrit, 14.2 ov), He was able to 9-94 (R Shepherd, 16.5 ov), score at 360 degrees 10-103 (Imran Tahir, 17.4 ov) to record his fifth 50 BOWLING: Ali Khan (2.4 -0-22of the season, the 3), SP Narine (4-0-15-1), K Pierre (4 -0-21-2), DJ Bravo (3-0-22highest score of the 2), Fawad Ahmed (4-0-20-2) lot and the backbone of the Knight

SCOREBOARD Trinbago Knight Riders Innings (20 overs maximum) C Munro c Green b Shepherd 90 CA Lynn c Walton b Sohail Tanvir 0 D Ramdin † c Imran Tahir b Green 39 BB McCullum c Hetmyer b Shepherd 2 DM Bravo b Shepherd 9 DJ Bravo (c) not out 12 JPR Scantlebury-Searles b Sohail Tanvir 8 SP Narine c Primus b Sohail Tanvir 0 Extras: (lb 4, w 6) 10 TOTAL:(20 Overs, RR: 8.5) 170-7 Did not bat: Fawad Ahmed, K Pierre, Ali Khan Fall of wickets: 1-1 (CA Lynn, 0.5 ov), 2-136 (D Ramdin, 15.4 ov), 3-140 (C Munro, 16.2 ov), 4-140 (BB McCullum, 16.4 ov), 5-150 (DM Bravo, 18.1 ov), 6-170 (JPR Scantlebury-Searles, 19.5 ov), 7-170 (SP Narine, 19.6 ov) BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir (4-0-273), CJ Green (4-0-20-1), Imran Tahir (4-0-27-0), RS Primus (2-0-23-0), RR Emrit (3-0-400), R Shepherd (3-0-29-3) Guyana Amazon Warriors Innings (target: 171 runs from 20 overs)

Riders’ innings, contributing more than 50 percent of the total.

The Queen’s Park Oval was silenced early on when Amazon Warriors struck first through Tanvir who removed Chris Lynn without scoring on the fifth ball of the night, taking TKR to 1 – 1.

However, Guyana was not prepared for the response which came in the form of a 135-run second wicket partnership between Denesh Ramdin and Munro.

The pair was completely on top and dominated the opposition’s bowling line up. Ramdin was able to score at a bit over a run-a-ball for his 39 that had four fours

and a maximum. Munro (90) on the other hand was the attacker, slapping ten fours and fours sixes from 56 deliveries.

Ramdin held out to Imran Tahir on the long on boundary, with the score on 136, off a Chris Green-delivery then Munro toed one from Romario Shepherd and was caught by Green comfortably, running in from the long on boundary.

Two balls later, Shepherd gave the Guyanese support contingent more to cheer about with the removal of the dangerous Brendon McCullum (2) who scooped one to a diving Hetmyer at deep cover. TKR were suddenly

140-4 with 3.2 overs to go.

TKR were well on track for another score above 180 but were set back when Shepherd got Dwayne Bravo (9) to drag one back on to his stumps. The other Bravo, Darren, was left not out on 12 which included a six and a four while Javon Searles (8) was bowled by Tanvir and Narine was caught at long-on off the innings’ final delivery, also bowled by Tanvir.

Tanvir ended with 3-27 while Shepherd had 3 – 29 and Green 1 – 20.

The two sides will meet again when Guyana hosts TKR on September 9 at the Providence National Stadium.

Brendon McCullum

Shimron Hetmyer catches Brendon McCullum

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WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018 | guyanatimeSinternational.com

India attempt to sweep away Moeen misery O

n Wednesday morning, two days ahead of the Oval Test, every Indian batsman was practising one type of shot: the sweep, and its other variant the reverse sweep.

Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant - in that order - spent considerable time sweeping against throwdowns. It seemed a clear indication of how India were preparing to counter Moeen Ali, their phantom at Southampton.

India's specialist batsmen had largely refrained from sweeping in the first four Tests; R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma apart, no one else attempted the sweep more than four times.

India scored 28 runs off 18 balls with this stroke.

England, in comparison, played 17 sweep shots and for 23 runs.

Against Moeen, India attempted the sweep and reverse sweep 12 times, for 20 runs. The corresponding figures against Moeen when England toured India for five Tests in 2016 and the 2014 series were slightly higher: 43 sweeps (68 runs) and 32 sweeps (45 runs) respectively.

Incidentally, middleorder batsman Karun Nair, who had scored an unbeaten triple century against England in Chennai, had swept the most - 14 times - in 2016, while M Vijay got 21 runs from the 13 times he

Some members of the India team (India TV photo)

played the sweep or reverse sweep. Now, Nair can't break into the XI and Vijay was dropped from the squad altogether. On Wednesday, Nair was giving the specialist batsmen a few tips, in addition to throwdowns.

India have now worked out they should have used the sweep and reverse sweep more to counter Moeen at Southampton. However, the shot does not come naturally to many of their batsmen, including Kohli. On the tour of Sri Lanka in 2015, Kohli played the sweep only six times. When Sri Lanka toured India in 2017, Kohli, by far the highest run-getter with 610 runs in five innings, played the sweep just twice.

Rahane and Pujara are also reluctant sweepers. Rahul plays the

sweep confidently, but his challenge is to last long enough to face spin.

In eight innings in the series, he has a top score of just 36.

Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta believes that if a batsman can defend a particular length, he can also sweep it, and that staying in line is immaterial for natural sweepers like Rahul and Dinesh Karthik. The line becomes important for the others only because they may err in picking lengths.

"Guys who are learning to sweep, then the line becomes important.

These guys could kneel a little early and find out it is a half-volley and miss it," Dasgupta said.

"Then you start picking the line. Even if there is an error in judging the

length, and the ball is full or short, if you pick it from outside off stump, you will get away."

It could be that the Indians are focusing on the sweep because the shot can help them counter spin from the rough, and give them a second line of attack and defence. It was by pitching consistently in the rough at different speeds that Moeen exposed India's batsmen. But is sweeping from the rough a wise idea?

Dasgupta recommended extreme caution when doing so.

"Sweeping from the rough is not the easiest because it is very difficult to have control over the bounce," he said. "What happens when you sweep is, as long as your bat is coming from top to bottom your top edges will

not carry. It is like a pull shot: if your bat swing is from top to bottom, and even if you don't middle the ball, the ball is only going downwards.

"But if the bat swing is horizontal or from bottom to top, then it is difficult to control especially on rock hard pitches, so the bat has to be on top of the ball. So if you want to sweep, especially from the rough, then make sure you are always on top of the bounce and not under.

"If you are not a natural, or a reluctant sweeper, try and attempt the sweep once even if it is a paddle," he said. "All you have to do is keep an eye on the ball and get the bat from top. By doing that you have told the bowler 'I can do this.'

If you played a normal sweep once or twice or

the paddle suddenly, you will find a fielder coming at the 45 [short fine leg].

That might open up another scoring area."

An important element of sweeping technique is where you plant the front foot. "The more inside [straighter] you take the ball, the finer [behind square leg] you will hit it. The more on the off side you take the ball, the straighter [midwicket] you will hit the ball. If the ball has pitched on the fourth stump, my foot is on the middle stump I can hit anywhere between midwicket to mid-on. If my foot is on the fourth stump, I will hit between midwicket and square leg. But if my foot is inside the line of the ball then I can actually start hitting towards fine leg."

What then is the safest spot to sweep from?

"If you are not a natural sweeper, naturally your foot will go to the fourth stump," Dasgupta said. "So if you are going to target square leg that means you are picking a middle or off stump ball. So the idea is to pick a line that is outside off stump because even if you were to make a mistake your foot is outside the line. That way you look to hit in front of square on the leg side."

Now to see if India's batsmen shed their reluctance and attempt to sweep away the misery against Moeen.

(ESPNCricinfo)

WEEK ENDING September 9 , 2018| guyanatimeSinternational.com

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