Sunday Times, July 28, 2019

LOOK INSIDE !

Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 3998 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Opposition Leader demands constitutional compliance

President claims AG "examining calls" for Cabinet’s resignation, dissolution of Parliament Page 3

…even though CCJ affirmed Art 106 last month

Berbice cop caught on video placing ganja at Superbet shop

Page 7

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WHAT'S INSIDE:

Republic Bank records US$184.5M profit in 9 months P7 Guyana on high alert to safeguard against Ebola outbreak P11 179 boys, 801 girls sexually molested in 2018 P12 ...90% abuse cases unreported – CCPA director

…demanded owners pay up or face drug possession charges – source Regional engineer Mechanic Page 12 makes damning victimisation claims killed during against REOs Page 13 home invasion Court orders Govt to pay former Deputy Solicitor General withheld salary Page 9

…says he is “off the job” after exposing malpractice, misappropriation

…says actions of Legal Affairs Ministry breached basic rights, were abuse of power

Transparency, accountability

GPSU among trade unions P10 red-flagged for not submitting financial returns

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SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

Opposition Leader demands constitutional compliance

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

Sunday, July 28 – 01:00h-02:30h and 14:30h-16:00h and Monday, July 29 – 02:00h-03:30h and 14:30h-16:00h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, July 28 – 13:35h-15:05h and Monday, July 29 – 14:40h-16:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

President claims AG "examining calls" for Cabinet’s resignation, dissolution of Parliament …even though CCJ affirmed Art 106 last month

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

WEATHER TODAY

Thundery showers are expected from the early morning to early afternoon hours, with light rain showers from mid-afternoon until early evening.

This should be followed by partly cloudy conditions. Temperatures will range between 21 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North-easterly to Easterly to Southwesterly between 1.34 metres and 3.12 metres.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo

High Tide: 13:31h reaching a maximum height of 2.31 metres.

Low Tide: 06:58h and 19:22h reaching minimum heights of 0.80 metre and 0.91 metre.

The letter written by President David Granger

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n response to a letter that Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo penned demanding that the President and Cabinet resign and Parliament be dissolved – as is constitutionally required when a No-Confidence Motion is passed against Government, President David Granger has responded by saying that his Attorney General is examining “the requests”.

While the President has termed the demand as a “request” the Article 106 (6) of Constitution of Guyana states: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence”.

Meanwhile, Article 106 (7) states: “Notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and shall hold an election within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine, and shall resign after the President takes the oath of office following the election”.

In a letter written and signed by caretaker President Granger dated July 26, he acknowledged the Opposition Leader’s letter from July 20, in which he demanded the resignation of the President and Cabinet, the dissolution of Parliament, and the naming of an election date.

Despite the unambiguity of the Constitution, the President stated in the letter that these “requests” were being examined by Attorney General Basil Williams, “in light of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and the relevant rulings of the Caribbean Court of Justice”.

A No-Confidence Motion was passed against the Granger-led Government on December 21, 2018. However, elections were not held – as was constitutionally required.

Instead, Government went to court unsuccessfully arguing that the NCM was not validly passed. The CCJ, having made its final ruling on June 18, 2019, now paves way for General and Regional

Elections in September.

In his letter, Jagdeo had reminded the President that since July 12, 2019, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) delivered its consequential orders in the matters of Zulkficar Mustapha versus the AG and others, Christopher Ram versus the AG and others, Bharrat Jagdeo versus the AG and others and Charandass Persaud versus Compton Reid and others.

He had listed several conditions for the President to accede to, including that the President and his cabinet immediately resign and that the President issue a proclamation dissolving Parliament. He also called for the President to fix a date for the next General and Regional Elections, not beyond September 18, 2019.

Jagdeo had reminded the President that CCJ President, Justice Adrian Saunders, had said that when the No-

Confidence Motion was passed on December 21, 2019, Article 106 of the Constitution had immediately been activated.

According to Justice Saunders when he read the ruling, there was no need for the Court to gloss over the provisions of Article 106 (6 and 7), but it is, in fact, the responsibility of the constitutional actors to be faithful to the rule of law and operate within parameters of the Constitution.

“Upon the passage of a vote of no-confidence, the Article

President David Granger

requires the resignation of the Cabinet including the President. The Article goes on to state, among other things, that notwithstanding its defeat, the Government shall remain in office and that an election shall be held within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine”. turn to page 10

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Views Deep Passion!!

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

GECOM imbroglio

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he selection by Caretaker President David Granger of Justice (Retd.) Claudette Singh as the new GECOM Chair marks the end of an unnecessary political struggle that was supposed to have been resolved almost two decades ago. It exemplifies a mindset in the PNC leadership in general, and the Caretaker President in particular, that envisages the Constitution as a document that can be bent and twisted to only deliver results favourable to the PNC. Even though we have now crossed one hurdle, the mindset is sure to create new ones in the immediate future as we move haltingly into new elections.

Under PNC governments from independence up to 1992, the Elections Commission Chairman had been unilaterally appointed by first, the Prime Minister and then, the Executive President, who used them to rubber stamp his egregiously rigged elections. One of the agreements crafted with the return of “free and fair” elections after the Cold War ended in 1989, when the US no longer needed to backstop the PNC’s rigging, was for a process, later constitutionally enshrined in Art 162, be used to select the GECOM Chair in a process of give and take between the Opposition Leader and the incumbent President. The new mechanism now involved the Opposition Leader and was specifically designed to remove the old Executive unilateralism. The position of GECOM Chair was critical for neutrality since it held the casting vote between the six other Commissioners in charge of the Elections Machinery, who were evenly divided between the governing party and the Opposition.

The Opposition Leader was to submit six names “not unacceptable” to the President from which he would make his choice. This process worked successfully to deliver six General and Regional elections that were internationally certified to be “free and fair”.

But out of the blue, after the last Elections Chairman resigned, Granger immediately adopted what can be most generously described as an “idiosyncratic” position when he insisted that the candidate must be a retired judge as before the constitutional change, and that the insertion of the clause “or any other fit and proper person” into Article 162 was of no consequence. Most revealing and disturbingly for the foundational governing doctrine of separation of powers in our democratic order, was his comment after the Chief Justice ruled he was incorrect that she was entitled to her “perception” and he was entitled to his.

In our hybrid, but yet Westminster-dominated parliamentary system of government, the Executive is totally in control of the Legislative Branch if it secures a majority at general elections. The third arm of government, the Judiciary, is therefore the last bastion against a de facto elected dictatorship. Unfortunately, we saw in the rearguard action of Granger in the negotiating period for the GECOM Chair, further signs of intransigence and obduracy over the constitution. When the CCJ ruled against his unilateral appointment of James Paterson as the GECOM Chair and mandated the “consensual” approach that was always implicit in the arrangement, the Opposition Leader magnanimously suggested that the President could also suggest some names. Granger, however, immediately transmuted this enlarged role into an absolute right to also submit names to the Opposition Leader’s list from which he would make his choice.

The new Chair will immediately be occupying an very hot seat, reluctantly vacated only after judicial intervention.

Here again, the CCJ has ruled that the elections date must be set in accordance with the explication of Art 106 (2): three months after the passage of a no-confidence motion (NCM).

While the PNC-led government’s recourse to the courts stopped the clock, this was restarted with the CCJ’s decision confirming the validity of the NCM on June 18. Elections therefore must be held by Sept 18 and this will almost certainly be confirmed by the Chief Justice later this week.

Chairperson Singh will then have to make a decision along with her Commission as to what methodology of preparing the voters list will best satisfy the date set by the constitution.

National Geographic “Your Shot” photographer Skye Taten’s 10-year-old son free dives in the waters of Turks and Caicos. “I believe if he follows his profound love for the sea, he can create a great impact in protecting our oceans,” she says. (National Geographic photo)

US extends Chevron’s licence to operate in Venezuela

By Bradley Olson and Ian Talley

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he Trump administration extended a licence to let Chevron Corp. remain in Venezuela until late October, siding with officials who argued that the company’s absence would put US energy companies at a disadvantage and not significantly advance Washington’s goal of ousting Venezuela’s president.

The licence allowing Chevron and several oilfield services companies to continue operating in the country was set to expire on Saturday, sparking considerable debate within the US administration over whether to extend it, people familiar with the matter said.

Some US officials see a Chevron departure as an essential step in the American-led effort to use economic pressure and isolation to force out Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Others worry that Chevron’s departure could lead to a greater role for Chinese and Russian operators in the country, and make it harder for American companies to regain a foothold in the future.

US officials ultimately decided to let Chevron remain in Venezuela, where it has operated for nearly a century, until Oct. 25.

Chevron’s mandate, which had already been extended six months earlier this year, could later be further extended.

Chevron pushed for license renewal, with spokesman Ray Fohr saying earlier this week that the company was hopeful it would be.

“We are a constructive presence in the country,” he said.

Chevron on Friday said its Venezuela operations “continue in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Chevron operates a number of projects jointly with Venezuela’s state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA, that have managed to maintain production levels even as output has fallen in other areas.

For years, the joint operations with Chevron and other companies have been a critical cash lifeline for the country.

Chevron’s share of production from Venezuela was 44,000 barrels of oil and gas a day last year, less than 2% of its global output total.

US sanctions have had a punishing effect on Venezuela’s oil industry, with production falling by almost half since January to an estimated 690,000 barrels a day, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Venezuela is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis driven by poor economic management, corruption and US sanctions that have all led to precipitous economic decline and runaway inflation. Violence and shortages of food and medicine have prompted a mass

exodus to other countries.

The US Treasury Department didn’t immediately respond Friday to questions on why it chose a shorter timeline than the first license, or the optics of giving some U.S. companies access to Venezuelan oil while barring others.

But Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when asked about the pending license decision Thursday, pointed to a key objective for the ad-

much money the government still has coming into its coffers. That is critical to understanding the regime’s potential staying-power, and is also a way to see whether revenue from PdVSA are being diverted due to corruption, as former officials at the state oil company have previously alleged.

The office of Venezuela’s US-backed opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, vowed Monday to preserve Chevron’s legal right to its assets in the event that the

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

ministration in the pressure campaign.

“We’re trying to ensure that there aren’t wealth and resources that are getting into the pocket of Maduro and his cronies and flowing to the Cubans,” he said.

Allowing Chevron and the four oilfield service companies including Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger Ltd. to remain in Venezuela also gives the U.S. a window into the state of oil production in the country, and thus, how

company is forced to exit from the country.

Clearview Energy Partners LLC said in a note to clients that it doesn’t rule out further extensions.

But the analysis firm added that the White House may be more willing to let the license lapse as the 2020 presidential election approaches, noting that conservative Cuban-American voters in Florida see pressuring Mr Maduro as a way to antagonize Havana.

(The Wall Street Journal)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019

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

“Please do not Jan Mangal should use his expertise to return” should be help Guyana’s oil industry move forward the slogan for the State’s newspaper Dear Editor, The Guyana Chronicle Archive is not open to the public, please do not return.

That should be the new slogan.

I was tasked with a small research project which I started off by visiting the National Library on Thursday, July 25, 2019, and I was told that they do not have the years of the newspapers I need to access and even if they do, the pages are brittle and stored away. My best bet would be the National Archives. I proceeded to that State entity and was also informed that the pages are also brittle of the years I need and they are not allowed to be used by the public. I was advised to visit the Guyana Chronicle.

I ventured off to the office of the Guyana Chronicle and it was a nightmarish experience. I was told it is not possible because the librarian is not available. The General Manager approached me nicely and gave me all assurance that I will need to return on Friday, July 26, 2019, at 10:00h, which I did.

The librarian approached me and I was ushered into the library section with a visitors ID badge. I was questioned about the reason I needed to use the newspapers and what years.

I said I need to see the reports for Queen Elisabeth’s first visit which I was told, was in February 1966 and July and August 1969 for other reports. The librarian ventured off and brought to her office the stack of newsprints of the State visit of the Queen. I was then told that I will need to furnish a letter to the editor before any data is extracted. I almost fell through the floor. I was then informed that the Guyana Chronicle Archive is not open to the public.

I told the librarian that it should not be because it is the State-owned newspaper and the public has a right to

research and extract data.

She picked up the phone and was whispering to whoever she was speaking to and then I was told that I will need to revisit during the first week in August. I asked for the General Manager and I was told she is away from office.

Prior to this visit, I visited the said office a short while ago and I had access to the newspapers and conducted research and took photos from the old newspapers. No fault of the librarian because it was obvious she was taking orders from someone else and in this case, the person she was whispering to from the other end of the phone. She was basically doing her job.

I realised I was never going to have access to retrieve any data for my research during this round. I was so disappointed to actually witness the stack of newspapers in close proximity and have to leave without having any access to do my research.

I have always thought that the archive of the Stateowned newspaper, Guyana Chronicle, was open to the public but little did I know, it is not. It’s a private archive.

As I was leaving, the receptionist was kind enough to say she was sorry about everything. I told her not to be sorry about anything because everything seems to be going wrong in this country.

Just a reminder to Guyana Chronicle, at the end of the day it’s the public who advertises in your newspaper, pays for your daily newsprints from the vendors who sell them and it’s the monies generated which contributes to the payment of salaries for your staff.

Yours faithfully, T Pemberton

Dear Editor, I take issue with Jan Mangal’s recent letter in the press about Guyanese participation in our oil industry.

In the letter “Bright light needs to be shone on MNR/GGMC over award of oil blocks” he states that “The country does not benefit when say twenty well connected Guyanese get a couple million US$ in the bank, a couple Land Cruisers, and acquire some properties in Miami and Long Island. Also, no Guyanese can legitimately “partner” with any of the major oil companies”.

What is Mr Mangal saying here? If he has evidence that specific individuals are engaged in corrupt practices to gain oil block licenses, then he should disclose it and endorse a full investigation. And even if he has concrete evidence of that sort, how can he extend that to a blanket statement that not a single Guyanese should have the ability to invest in oil blocks? Are we all unqualified and cor-

rupt?

Mr Mangal goes on to say that “the guidelines mentioned above pretty much disqualify all Guyanese applications for oil blocks. But this is alright, this is not a problem.

Disqualifying the unqualified is a good thing”.

Fair, most Guyanese right now don’t have the capacity to develop an oil block. But if there are, now or in the future, Guyanese companies that are able to invest the money, who is Mr Mangal to say they can’t because of their nationality?

Importantly, it is clearly stated in the Government’s standard Production Sharing Agreement that if a company does not explore or develop a block within a short period of time, it must relinquish its ownership and the block can be auctioned again. So, why can’t Guyanese be allowed to bid on blocks? If they can’t find money or hire the skilled workforce to develop it, then they’ll have to relinquish it anyway.

It seems to me this could be a great opportunity for Guyanese companies who know the coast and our geology well but don’t have the capacity to develop fields singlehandedly.

Mr Mangal should re-

think his position and use his expertise to help Guyana’s oil industry move forward, instead of asking that it be held back.

Sincerely, Donald Singh

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guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019

Page Foundation 5 ways to help your child Concerned about become more independent your child’s development?

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s children grow older, they should be given more responsibility. You’re not doing your children any favours when you perform basic tasks for them. In fact, children can develop learned helplessness.

Learned helplessness is when a child lacks independence and cannot or will not do age-appropriate tasks. In order for your child to gain confidence and become more responsible, follow these five tips.

Make a list

Create a list of tasks that your child should be able to do on their own, such as getting dressed or putting their toys away. Talk to them about which tasks they think they can do. If they’re unsure, have them practise in front of you. Eliminate any tasks that they don’t seem to be ready for. Keep in mind, children perform better when they know what’s expected of them.

Don’t expect perfection

Children are still figuring out their motor skills, so some mishaps may happen, such as spilling juice when they want to pour themselves a drink.

If they mess up, try not to criticise

them. Instead, gently show them the correct way to do things. Explain that everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect.

Allow enough time

Children tend to need more time to finish tasks compared to adults. Give them the time they need to prevent them from becoming stressed. For example, if it takes your child 10 minutes to put on their clothes in the morning, start your daily routine earlier. As they practise, they will get faster at their tasks.

Develop a routine

Children need routine to manage their responsibilities. If their daily schedule is constantly changing, they’ll become confused. Explain to them when they have to complete specific tasks. For example, you can tell your child that they need to pick up their toys before getting ready for bed. When it gets close to their bedtime, remind your child that they need to clean up before they put on their pyjamas.

Offer praise

Children love to be recognised for

the things that they do. Give your child praise when they do something on their own, especially if it’s something they needed help with before. You can even turn mistakes into praise. For example, if your child puts their shirt on backward, you can acknowledge that they were able to pick out clothing and dress themselves. Give your child encouragement when they’re feeling frustrated.

In short…

It might seem easier and quicker to do things for your children instead of allowing them to do it themselves.

However, when you give children the opportunity to perform tasks on their own, they begin to develop a sense of responsibility and accomplishment.

As they grow older, they will be able to use their problem-solving skills to tackle new situations with ease.

In the larger scheme of development, fostering independence and responsibility results in a person who is self-confident, resourceful, respectful, and able to recognise needs and meet them. (childdevelopmentinfo.com)

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s a parent, you know your child best. If your child is not meeting the milestones for his or her age, or if you think there could be a problem with the way your child plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves, talk to your child’s doctor and share your concerns. Don’t wait. Acting early can make a real difference!

Complete a milestone checklist for your child’s age

Use the Milestone Tracker app or fill out a milestone checklist to track your child’s development. Share the completed checklist or milestone summary with your child’s health-care provider. Note: these checklists are not a substitute for standardised, validated developmental screening tools.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be screened for general development using standardised, validated tools at 9, 18, and 24 or 30 months and for autism at 18 and 24 months or whenever a parent or provider has a concern. Ask the doctor about your child’s developmental screening.

Easter Seals provides parents with free access to the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition, one of many general developmental screening tools. Be sure to share the completed questionnaire and results with your child’s doctor.

Ask for a referral

If you or the doctor thinks there might be a delay, ask the doctor for a referral to a specialist who can do a more indepth evaluation of your child.

Doctors your child might be referred to include: Developmental paediatricians. These doctors have special training in child development and children with special needs.

Child neurologists. These doctors work on the brain, spine, and nerves.

Child psychologists or psychiatrists. These doctors know about the human mind.

Why act early?

If you’re concerned about your child’s development, don’t wait. Acting early on developmental concerns can make a real difference for your child and you.

What to say

If you’re not sure what to say when you talk with your child’s doctor or when you call to request an evaluation, visit our web page for some tips.

While you wait

If you have to wait to get an appointment to see a specialist or start intervention services, know that there are some simple things you can do today and every day to help your child’s development.

Make the most of playtime

Interact with your child as much as possible. Read books, sing songs, play with toys, make crafts, do household chores, and play outside together. Talk to your child: label items, point out interesting things, tell stories, comment about what you see and how you feel, and explain how things work and why things happen. Your child may not always seem to be listening, but he or she may be hearing more than you think.

(Excerpt from CDC.gov)

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SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Berbice cop caught on video placing ganja at Superbet shop

…demanded owners pay up or face drug possession charges – source

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policeman attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at the Reliance Police Station, Canje, Berbice, was arrested on Saturday after a series of reports that he had been “planting evidence” at various locations and forcing innocent persons to pay him to avoid being arrested.

Guyana Times understands that the policeman was placed under close arrest on Friday after the owners of a Superbet location in Berbice made a report at the police station. The business owners reported that the rank had placed marijuana at their premises during a police search and then accused them of possession of the illicit substance.

Guyana Times was told that the CID rank along with another officer had gone to the SuperBet location to conduct a search but while the other officer walked straight into the establishment, the alleged corrupt rank stood at the corner of the building and “threw” an item to the corner.

This was the item he picked up during his “search”, which he used to accuse the owners at the Superbet location of having marijuana on their premises.

A source close to the investigation told this publica-

tion that when the embattled CID rank confronted the owners about “his find”, they vehemently denied ownership or having knowledge as to where the marijuana could have appeared from or to whom it belonged.

However, the police constable continued to press the issue and allegedly told them that they had a choice; either pay him to “drop the matter” or they would be arrested for the marijuana possession.

The owners reportedly refused to pay him but rather went to the police station with Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage showing the rank’s action.

According to the police source, upon reviewing the footage provided by the SuperBet owners, it showed the policeman throwing an item at the corner of the establishment as soon as he walked into the yard. The footage also showed him picking up the same item before confronting the owners.

A senior police rank, who is probing the incident, told this publication that regardless of what was inside of the package, the search conducted by the CID rank along with his partner had not been authorised. In fact, no other rank at the police station was aware

that the duo was going to visit the SuperBet location to conduct a search.

As such, the rank was placed under close arrest on Friday.

However, on Saturday other persons visited the Reliance Police Station where they also alleged that the same CID rank had “planted evidence” to have them arrested. Persons also purported that he had requested they pay him to avoid being arrested for matters in which they claimed that they were innocent.

In light of this, he was re-arrested and is presently in the lock-ups as investigations into the matters continue.

Meanwhile, another police source told this publication that the said CID rank had been stationed at the Number 51 Village Police Station, Corentyne, Berbice, earlier this year but after a series of allegations by residents in the area he was transferred.

“He was transferred to the New Amsterdam Police Station following claims by people that he had planted illegal items and would have arrested them if they did not give him money. So because of the allegations, they transferred him from the Number 51 station to NA,” the source added.

Republic Bank records US$184.5M profit in 9 months

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epublic Financial Holdings Limited (RFHL), the parent company of the Republic Bank Limited (RBL) Group, and its subsidiaries have recorded profits to the tune of US$184.5 million for the nine-month period, which ended June 30, 2019.

This figure represents an increase of US$35.8 million or 24.1 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year.

According to RFHL

RBL Trinidad and Tobago Group earning US$9.8 million and Cayman National Corporation bringing in US$8.6 million— being the main contributors to the significant increase in core profitability. He added too that approximately onethird of RFHL’s core profits are generated from overseas operations.

Meanwhile, the Group’s Chairman outlined that the total assets stood at US$12.8 billion at June 30,

Guyana, Sint Maarten and the Eastern Caribbean (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), saying, “we continue to engage the various regulators, whose approvals are required for the acquisition, through meetings/and or providing information”.

Nevertheless, the RFHL Chairman posited that he

Chairman Ronald Harford, it was reported at the end of March 31, 2019, that there were two significant one-off items— the net impact of which increased profits by US13.9 million. Excluding the impact of these items, he noted that the Group’s core profit was US$170.6 million, that is, US$21.9 million or 14.7 per cent more than the prior period.

Apart from RBL Barbados, Harford said there was a general improvement in profitability across the Group, with the

2019, representing an increase of US$2.4 billion or 22.4 per cent over the corresponding period in June last year.

“This was mainly due to the acquisition of Cayman National Corporation on March 13, 2019, which added US$1.7 billion to the Group’s asset base,” he noted.

Furthermore, Harford mentioned RFHL’s previous announcement of the commencement of the process to acquire Scotiabank’s banking operations in

expects the Group’s performance to continue for the remainder of the year.

In its previous financial report, the RFHL Group reported a profit after taxation and non-controlling interest of $1.3 billion for the year that ended September 30, 2018.

The directors had declared a dividend of $3.15 per share for that financial year. A half-year dividend of $1.25 per share was paid on June 1, 2018, making a total dividend on each share $4.40 (2017: $4.40).

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SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

The lies that bind...

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…the PNC ld folks say you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper and call it “change” but it’s still going to stink to high heavens!! And boy does the PNC stink – even though it keeps wrapping itself with all sorts of different paper!! There was PNC/R – the “R” for “Reform” – Desmond Hoyte brought in some “moderates” from outside the party in an attempt to clean up its disreputable and thuggish reputation after he’d first jettisoned Hamilton Green.

That application of disinfectant didn’t do anything about the smell, since nothing had changed in terms of the party’s policies, programme, or even ethnic makeup. The latter, of course, had always been the fundamental determinant of Guyanese politics. And soon enough, there was another attempt – this time to bring in a wider swathe of “outsiders” under the PNC umbrella. Unfortunately, they launched the entity as “PNC-R 1 Guyana”, without realising the irony of the acronym “PNC-R1G”. It just provoked paroxysm of mirth because of the history of rigging through the decades by the PNC!! PNC-R1G soon died a quick death and the party reverted to PNC/R, even thought it was no longer apparent who or what was the “reform” component, and the policies were PNC all the way!

Finally, after two decades of languishing in the Opposition wilderness, the powers that be of the PNC decided that more than lipstick was needed to get folks to give the PNC a second look. Leader Corbin decided to commit political ‘hara kiri’, step aside, and support Brig (retired) David Granger as the new leader – even though he had to use the party’s rigging skills to achieve this at their congress. Granger, who’d never been in the party’s executive, later revealed he’d always been a staunch PNC member. Which explained his actions while a member and leader of the GDF. Granger decided that he alone didn’t provide enough lipstick to the PNC – everyone still saw it as what it was: an un-reconstituted PNC! So, he spearheaded a coalition with some micro parties – WPA, JFAP, NFA and changed their name to APNU. Voting wise, nothing much changed in the 2011 elections, but the AFC did pick up enough seats to comprise with APNU a oneseat majority in the National Assembly. The PPP held on to the presidency because of our unique “plurality” requirement to capture the presidency. But once again, there was nothing different about the PNC-as-APNU. Even the WPA, which still retained a moral high ground in sections of the PNC’s base because of the principled stance of Walter Rodney, couldn’t do anything to change the overweening dominance of the PNC in the “partnership”.

The PNC’s stench couldn’t be contained!! …in the coalition fiction But if it’s one thing you gotta give the PNC’s leadership credit for, it’s their willingness to try whatever it takes to hide their rancid smell to get into power. It didn’t take a genius to figure out if APNU could engineer a coalition with the AFC for the next elections, the latter could take them over the tape, even if they didn’t pick up any additional votes. AFC’s leader Ramjattan famously protested that his party would become “dead meat” if he joined the PNC – so he’d obviously smelt the PNC!!

But it’s truly said, “everyone has a price” – and Granger negotiated the “Cummingsburg Accord” which promised the AFC the sun and moon. They took the bait and won the 2015 elections with their APNU/AFC coalition. It was soon clear, however, that Granger had suckered them— apart from grandiose titles and hefty salaries, they had absolutely no real power!!

As PPP’s candidate Donald Ramotar had predicted on the hustings, they got “larwah”!!

Which they evidently enjoyed!! …for the future So what’s ahead for the PNC? With elections coming, whether they like it or not, the PNC has decided to continue with the charade of hiding their stench with paper parties! PNC’s George Norton says they’re “against one-party government”!!

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

news

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SUnDAY, JUly 28, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Court orders Govt to pay former Deputy Solicitor General withheld salary …says actions of Legal Affairs Ministry breached basic rights, were abuse of power

A

cting Chief Justice (CJ) Roxanne George has ordered that the Legal Affairs Ministry pay former Deputy Solicitor General Prithima Kissoon all monies owed to her, ruling that the Ministry’s decision to withhold her salaries was whimsical and an abuse of power.

Kissoon took the State to court after the Attorney General Chambers decided to withhold her salary when she went overseas while on administrative leave. The Ministry had claimed that this was because she left the country without permission.

At the time, the Public Service Commission (PSC) was reportedly investigating Kissoon for conduct while she served as the Deputy Solicitor General.

According to Kissoon’s lawyer Nigel Hughes, the PSC never instructed that her salary be placed on hold.

“The PS (Permanent Secretary) of the MOLA (Ministry of Legal Affairs) wrote to Ms Kissoon’s attorney advising him that her salary had been with-

Former General Williams

Deputy Prithima

Solicitor Kissoon

held because she had left the country without permission and that ‘on the directive of the Attorney General’s Chambers, [she] was advised and instructed that her salary be withheld with immediate effect pending the course of disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission,’ no investigation was ever conducted,” law firm Hughes, Fields & Stoby stated on Saturday.

According the law firm, upon her return, Kissoon was summoned by the Public Service Commission to attend a meeting with the PSC. Kissoon attend-

ed the meeting with her Attorney, Nigel Hughes, who enquired at the meeting about why her salary was withheld and the commissioners present denied issuing such a directive.

In her ruling, Justice George noted that the Permanent Secretary of the Legal Affairs Ministry overreached and exceeded authority by withholding Kissoon’s salary. Justice George pointed out in her ruling that it was the PSC that had sent Kissoon on administrative leave and thus, the Permanent Secretary could not usurp the Commission’s role in handing out punitive measures.

“Indeed, the letter inviting the applicant to meet with the PSC did not say in relation to what the meeting was about. This is especially relevant as the circumstances of this case disclose that the PSC was dealing with more than one issue as regards the applicant – the allegations by the AG against her regarding her work, the complaint that she made against the AG, and the

Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George

issue of her leaving the country without permission,” the ruling states.

The Chief Justice also found that Kissoon’s fundamental right to her property was violated. The Court also noted that the AG Chamber’s advice to the Permanent Secretary to withhold Kissoon’s salary seemed to be aimed at punishing her. Besides Kissoon’s salary, the Chief justice also ordered the Permanent Secretary to pay costs in the sum of $500,000.

Controversy at AG’s Chambers

Kissoon

was

dis-

missed as Deputy Solicitor General in 2017, after a Public Service Commission inquiry into the complaints against her. Last year, the High Court dismissed her attempts to overturn the commission’s decision. She has since filed proceedings in the Court of Appeal.

The incident arose with Attorney General Basil Williams, with accusations being traded against each other. The AG had launched a probe into cases which Deputy Solicitor General Kissoon was involved in, following by the Court of Appeal, dismissing a State-sponsored appeal against a High Court decision that quashed a private criminal charge against Opposition Leader Dr Bharrat Jagdeo.

The Appeal Court ruled that the appeal was null after Kissoon had conceded to a claim by Jagdeo’s lawyer that the Attorney General was not a proper party to the proceeding.

Williams had since blamed Kissoon for the outcome of the case.

However, although he has blamed Kissoon for

Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams

the loss, Solicitor General Sita Ramlall, in a letter to the editor, had pointed out that Williams had insisted to Kissoon and herself that he be named as the plaintiff in the appeal when he was not a party.

For her part, Kissoon has made public several accusations, including that she was harassed, verbally abused and prevented from carrying out her duties, all in an effort to oust her from her position. Kissoon had served as Deputy Solicitor General under the previous administration.

10 news

SUnDAY, juLY 28, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Transparency, accountability

GPSU among trade unions red-flagged for not submitting financial returns

G

PSU among trade unions red-flagged for not submitting financial returns In the interest of transparency, trade unions around the world are expected to file their annual returns with regulators, which include financial and membership information. But it has been revealed that a number of trade unions in Guyana owe years in returns.

According to a notice from the Trade Union Registry, gazetted on July 27, 2019, over 50 trade unions have outstanding returns. Some outstanding

returns date all the way back to before World War II, as is the case with the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (AT&GWU), which won the right to be the sole bargaining body for the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) back in 2009 and has owed returns since 1939.

One of the most recognisable names on the list is the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), which is headed by its longstanding President, Patrick Yarde.

According to the notice, the GPSU has not submitted annual returns from 1949 to 1972; from 1975 to 1995;

for three years from 1997; from 2003 to 2009 and from 2012 up to 2017.

It was only earlier this month that the GPSU wrote to President David Granger to request a Board of Inquiry (BoI), following what the organisation has described as “unauthorised” spending on the part of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union Limited (GPSCCUL).

At a press conference, Yarde complained of monies being wasted on several unnecessary contracts.

Some of the contracts, ac-

GPSU President Patrick Yarde

cording to him, were in excess of US$25,000 for activities for merely six staff members.

He further charged that

another $2 million was used for air conditioning, while $2.5 million was handed out by the Committee for telephone services and $1.6 million for reviewing security systems.

In June last year, the High Court, in an order, reinstated the Governmentinstalled Interim Management Committee (IMC) at the GPSU Credit Union. This was done after High Court Justice Gino Persaud had discharged a previous interim order which was granted to the old management committee to stay the decisions of the IMC until the matter

was resolved.

Another recognisable name is the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), which represents certain categories of municipal workers at City Hall. According to the notice, the Union owes annual returns for intermittent periods dating from 1960 all the way up to 2017.

The National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), whose constituency caters largely to sugar workers, was also featured on the list having outstanding returns from 1947 to 1969 and then from 1978 to 2018.

President claims AG...

Further, the CCJ President had noted that with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) also responsible for the conduct that elections, it therefore means that the elections body “too must abide by the provisions of the Constitution”.

He went on to point out that elections should have been held on March 21, 2019 following the December passage of the Oppositionsponsored motion, but that process was on “pause” pending the legal proceedings.

That process, he added however, was no longer on pause following the Court’s June 18, 2019 ruling, which upheld the validity of the NCM and, thus, triggering the need for fresh elections.

This means that General and Regional Elections would have to be held on or before September 18, 2019, to be consistent with the three-

month constitutional deadline. Dissolving Parliament is a necessary prerequisite to holding General and Regional Elections.

Legal fiction Although Article 106 (6) of the Constitution of Guyana clearly states that the President and Cabinet must resign after a no-confidence vote, Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan last week claimed that this provision is a “legal fiction”.

He made this pronouncement during an appearance on radio programme ‘Hot Seat’, hosted by broadcaster Stan Gouveia, alongside People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament Bishop Juan Edghill.

Ramjattan, who is also a lawyer by profession, described Articles 106 (6) and (7) of the Guyana Constitution as “legal fiction” when he was called out

from page 3

by Edghill for not complying with its provisions, that is, for the Government to resign and have elections within three months.

“We’re not going to resign! We are not going to resign because we are still… there’s absolutely nothing in the Constitution that indicates a formal resignation. That was gone through by the CCJ and it was even gone through by the High Court”.

“Announce what?

Because the next article says notwithstanding that resignation, whatever it is, we continue in government.

Who will the President send in his resignation to? I could send my resignation in to the President, but then I stop becoming a Minister that will have any powers whatsoever. So it’s a kind of a legal fiction that is spoken to in that article”.

NEWS

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SUnDAY, juLY 28, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

Guyana on high alert to safeguard against Ebola outbreak …local ports of entry being monitored …as health emergency declared in DRC

The next war R

eflecting on the sudden agreement on the next GECOM Chair reached by caretaker President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, after the long war of attrition waged by the PNC leader, I was reminded of the salutary advice of George Orwell: “…the object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in which to wage another war”. Orwell made the observation in his classic dystopia novel “1984”, which has since been proven to be quite prophetic about the actions and motives of despots who are driven towards totalitarian “solutions” to societal challenges.

Granger, of course, has famously confessed that he is driven to fulfil the “legacy” of his mentor and founder of the PNC, Forbes Burnham. Nothing he has done since 2015 has disabused us about his seriousness of purpose towards that end. We must remember he was in charge of inculcating Burnham’s “revolutionary” ideology Ravi Dev in the Disciplined Forces, and as such was totally transformed by it. He is a “true believer”. It was for this reason when Hoyte cleansed the PNC of its Burnhamite wing, Granger was passed over as Head of the Army for an innocuous advisory post. So in seeking an answer to Orwell’s prediction of Granger positioning his party for waging “another war” after the GECOM Chair skirmish, one has to look at Burnham’s articulation of the PNC’s end game to predict what lies ahead. This was announced quite pithily in the 1974 “Declaration of Sophia”— to have his PNC must be the “paramount” party not only in the political hustings of electoral politics, but also over the State itself.

As such, it should be quite clear that while the next skirmish will be over the date of the next elections, the attenuation of this latter process against all logic since the NCM was successfully passed last Dec 2018, should also alert us to the fact that there has to be more at stake than just not giving the PPP the satisfaction of truncating their term of office, much as they had done to the latter in 1997. The PNC has something up their sleeves to remain in office beyond 2020, for which they need the time to put the pieces together. And it has to be rigging the next elections as the prelude to their creation of Burnham’s utopia.

When it comes to rigging elections, the PNC takes second place to none. But as to how exactly they will achieve this, one thing we can be sure about: it will be different from what they did in 1968, 1973, and 1978 (referendum), 1980 and 1985. After all, in each of those elections, they rigged by a different method: give the PNC “A” for creativity when it comes to maintaining the fig leaf of plausible “democratic” elections, but gaming the system to ensure their hold on power.

Their fig leaf was signalled by PNC Executive George Norton when he recently “assured” the nation that the PNC does not want to govern alone – but will do so in tandem with the coalition they forged in 2015. But what exactly is the status of that coalition as far a broadening the electoral base of the PNC? Among the micro parties it coalesced with to form APNU, only the WPA had credibility – not in securing votes but in blunting concerns among those in its constituency that had to hold their noses to vote for the palm tree. The AFC did bring over a key chunk of votes from the PPP’s traditional Indian constituency in 2015, but since then, more by the actions of the PNC than anything else, those votes have returned home.

Since the fig leaf has become quite threadbare, unless Granger is prepared to use the army to do a repeat of 1973 and seize ballot boxes – which he described as a praise worthy operation – the mechanism for the upcoming rigging has to lie in the apparatus established by Winston Felix in his “Ministry of Citizenship” which was hived off Ramjattan’s Public Security Ministry immediately following the 2015 elections.

Granger’s insistence on H2H registration has less to do with removing dead bodies and emigrant Guyanese and all to do with inserting names that will end up alongside the palm tree (or its substitute) in the next elections.

Forewarned is forearmed?

I

n light of the new spike of Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the virus can be spread within the Caribbean region due to tourists traversing ports of entry and as such, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging that all countries take precautionary measures.

Guyana’s Chief Medical Officer (ag), Dr Kay Shako has since said that Guyana is no less safe than its neighbours and, therefore, it is imperative that measures be adopted as advised by the WHO, relevant to safeguard all passengers and the country’s ports of entry.

According to Dr Shaho, particularly, emphasis is always placed on monitoring civil aviation activities (international travel) given that this medium can facilitate the movement of communicable diseases via infected passengers and thereby spreading the threat.

“The processes related to air travel, specifically, processes associated with outgoing passengers, incoming passengers and activities onboard an aircraft can be managed to control the spread of any communicable diseases. At this time, the risk of contracting Ebola currently has diminished and as such only the basic measures/Standard Operating Procedure shall be implemented,” she said in a statement on Saturday.

Dr Shako noted that the WHO has established phases of a pandemic which can be compared to “colour-coded alert levels”.

These alert levels are green, yellow, orange and red.

She explained that Alert Green requires no security measures to be adopted because there is no risk of the disease being communicated, however, it is important to conduct periodic exercises to test the effectiveness of equipment and the communication channels and to ensure that personnel are adequately trained.

“Alert Yellow would require basic security measures, whilst Alert Level Orange would require maximum security. Alert Red would be the stage where WHO would have declared a pandemic and the commencement of a ‘activation of security measures’ would be executed.”

“Currently, the WHO has declared an “Alert Yellow” level and several measures were considered and recommended for implementation during this phase. One of which is that all travel agencies and airlines selling seats or tickets for travel must take on the responsibility of sensitising their clients on the risk of Ebola.”

Among other recommen-

Guyana’s Chief Medical Officer (ag) Dr Kay Shako

dations are the establishment of an isolated/sterile facility at the airport which is remote from public access should there be a suspected case or cases of Ebola victims, airport personnel reporting suspicious cases of illness to Port Health Officials (PHO) and that the PHO along with medical support team from the Public Health Ministry will subject suspected cases to further evaluation and determine if and when such cases should be taken to the isolated/sterile area.

Recently, there was an international emergency meeting held with all Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO)/WHO Resident Representatives (PWRs) on the Ebola Virus outbreak in the DRC.

It was revealed that as of July 16, 2019, there are 2522 confirmed or probable cases, including 1698 deaths.

Of the reported cases, 136 are health workers, including 40 who died. There are increased numbers of cases in Butembo and Mabalako.

The epicentre has moved from Mabalako to Beni and one case was registered in the city of Goma, bordering Rwanda.”

Factors affecting the spread of outbreak include population movement in highly densely populated areas; weak infection and prevention control practices in many health facilities; complex political environment; continued reluctance in the community; and the ongoing unstable security situation, which led to the

recent murders of two community health workers in that country.

According to PAHO, no country (member state) should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel and trade.

“Such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science.

They push the movement of people and goods to informal border crossings that are not monitored, thus increasing the chances of the spread of disease. Most critically, these restrictions can also compromise local economies and negatively affect response operations from a security and logistics perspective,” PAHO stated.

According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) symptoms of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal (stomach) pain, unexplained haemorrhage (bleeding or bruising). These symptoms, the CCD states may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after contact with the virus, with an average of 8 to 10 days. Many common illnesses can have these same symptoms, including influenza (flu) or malaria.

12 news

SUnDAY, juLY 28, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Mechanic killed during home invasion 179 boys, 801 girls sexually molested in 2018 … 90% abuse cases unreported — CCPA Director

S

Dead: Reginald Atherly, popularly known as “Diesel Boss” and “Reggie”

T

he start of a new day quickly turned tragic for the family of a well-known mechanic after he was brutally killed early Saturday morning when gunmen invaded his Guyhoc Park, East La Penitence, Georgetown home.

Dead is 44-year-old Reginald Atherly, popularly known “Diesel Boss” and “Reggie” of Lot G26 Guyhoc Park, East La Penitence, Georgetown, who owned and operated a mechanic shop at his home.

Reports surrounding the killing indicate that the father of five was shot multiple times at close range by two masked gunmen who invaded his home at about 04:00h on Saturday morning.

Guyana Times understands that the gunmen gained access into the home by removing louvred panes from the windows situated on the side of the house.

When this publication visited the dead mechanic’s home, his partner, Roxanne Crawford, explained that

Neighbours, family and friends outside of the home after the shooting

she awoke to the voices of men inside her home, whom she soon realised had guns.

Crawford told this publication that she started to scream, before breaking down into tears.

“So I sleeping and I hear like two men talking, so as I hear this talking I open my eyes and I realise two men deh aiming the gun, they had on this black hoodie and one taller than one and they got this old gun…and I start screaming cause I say when I scream they gon panic and they gon gotta go out back how they come in,” the grieving woman said.

In tears, she added that Atherly, who was on the bed with her, also awoke, sprang up and rushed towards the men.

“I hear the shots dem start fire so I wake up my lil daughter and tell she bandits! Bandits! Go under the bed….and when I peep now to see wuh going on, I see he got one at the front door, he lay down on the ground and he grabble one of them and I run back fuh the cutlass, me ain’t see he moving,” Crawford cried.

Meanwhile, the dead man’s mother, Ingrid Atherly, was still in a state of shock but the visibly shaken woman described her son as friendly while expressing uncertainty as to why someone would want to kill him.

“All we heard her screaming, and she call out for ‘Miss Atherly! Miss Atherly!

Reggie just get shoot’, and we run at the back and saw him lie down there lifeless….he don’t have no enemies, he’s so friendly a lot of people would come to him, he always got a raise to pull out his pocket and gave them. So I don’t know who would want to out his light so cruel, he didn’t deserve this at all,” the grieving mother said.

After the shooting, Atherly was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The now dead man leaves to mourn his wife, five children, mother and other family members. The police have since launched an investigation.

(Leah Hernandez)

ome 179 boys and 801 girls were sexually molested, totalling 980 cases in 2018 recorded by the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA). However, authorities believe that this is not a true reflection of this scourge in Guyana, and a significant number of such cases continue to be unreported annually.

The Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ann Greene, during her address at the recently held University of Guyana (UG) Tain Talks – themed “Interrogating Sexual Violence in Guyana”— revealed that many victims do not have a voice to tell their stories or the ability to identify their abusers.

“So the reports we have may just only be a tip of the iceberg and this is not unique to Guyana. It is believed that 90 per cent of sexual violence against children are not reported to authorities. And of the cases that are reported, how many have made it through the judicial system?”

She explained that all sexual abuse cases reported to her agency are subsequently reported to the Police because a crime has been committed and failure to do so is a felony as outlined in the Protection of Children Act. However, when the reports are forwarded to the Police, a series of events occur; which in the past, have proven to have negative results in ensuring the perpetrators pay for the crimes they would have committed.

“A number of these events was not children-friendly. And from reports, the main contributory factor to cases not making its way to and through

Director of CCPA, Ann Greene

the judicial system is faulty interrogation processes starting with the child not being believed”.

However, according to Greene, the establishment of child advocacy centres in 2014 helped to improve services relating to handling child sexual abuse cases.

But, to date, there are still problems which need to be addressed at these “one stop advocacy centres” that must lead to improved inter-professional, interagency collaboration for greater impact on the lives of children, she acknowledged.

“There is still the power and authority struggle and seeming lack of integration and cohesion among the team members. Some, at times, would lose the connection with each other and appear to be working independently and not effectively collaborating to achieve common goals.

Because the child victim tends to be the only eye witness to sexual abuse other than the perpetrator, the child report is an extremely important piece of evidence in any abuse case”.

In light of this importance, the CCPA Director emphasised that “great care” must

be taken in getting a child’s report, so that the best quality of evidence could be obtained.

This, in turn, will ensure that the perpetrator can be brought to justice and to protect the child at the same time.

“There must be social change to prevent the re-victimisation through lack of child-friendly and faulty interrogation practices. Child sexual assault can last a lifetime and spans generations. This sexual assault on our children must stop at all costs,” she added.

Just four months ago, ChildLink— an activist group – found in a study that it had conducted in 2018 that there has been a whopping increase in the number of children being abused.

According to the ChildLink report, national statistics compiled by CCPA confirmed that abuse of children – both physical and sexual – starts from as young as birth to three years old. The data indicates that the sexual abuse of girl children remains high in the country. The number of reported cases is as follows: 801 in 2018, 392 in 2017 and 616 in 2016.

Similarly, cases reported for boy children were 179 in 2018, 442 in 2017 and 118 in 2016.

The ChildLink research also found that children between the ages of 14 to 18 and 8 to 13 years were more vulnerable to these attacks.

The Non-Governmental Organisation also found in its research that some parents were reluctant to accept the abuse story their children had told them.

In this regard, it was noted that all victims, at one point after their abuse, blamed themselves for what happened.

news

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SUnDAY, juLY 28, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Regional engineer makes damning victimisation claims against REOs …says he is “off the job” after exposing malpractice, misappropriation

E

ngineer and Head of Department of Public Works for Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), Latchman Singh, who had been contracted to the Regional Democratic Council since September 2013 but was rotated to Region Two (Pomeroon- Supenaam) in 2017, has been unable to resume duties for about 10 months now.

This is as a result of the Public Service Commission (PSC) saying that they had not received a resumption of duties form after he returned to work from vacation. However, the engineer says this is totally incorrect, since upon his return to work on September 1, 2018, he signed his resumption form and returned same to Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Eight, Gavin Gounga.

According to Singh, he then proceeded on authorised medical leave from September 19, after he fell ill.

“I went on approved medical sick leave after I had taken ill but to date I have been informed that my letter of assumption has not been sent to the Public Service Commission by neither the Region Eight RDC nor the Ministry of Communities, which will allow for my Government Order to be issued to take effect for payment and formal acknowledgment on the job (I have not been on the job since the end of my medical in November 2018),” Singh explained to this newspaper.

The engineer said he has since made several visits to

sought legal advice and had his lawyer, Attorneyat-Law Anil Nandlall, issue letters to the Minister of Communities and its Permanent Secretary as well as Regional Executive Officer. As a result of this, he was able to successfully complete that contract but still was not paid at the time.

Regional Engineer Latchman Singh

the PSC, which seemed to be dragging their feet on the matter.

“Visits to the Public Service Commission remains futile, with the Secretary once saying they have not received my letter of assumption from the Region nor the Ministry of Communities. Another check with the Secretary of the Public Service Commission as of the 16th July 2019, she said whenever the Commission makes a decision I will be notified,” he said.

Malpractice and misappropriation

This, Singh described as a grave injustice and discrimination against him, while noting that he has a family to support. He believes that he is being victimised because he had disclosed malpractice and misappropriation of Government funds by the REO of Region Two at a Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting last year.

“At a PAC meeting in early 2018, after the REO,

Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) Regional Democratic Council

Rupert Hopkinson denied (the allegations), I was furthered question by the Chairman of the PAC if malpractices and misappropriation of Government funds is still being done in Region Two, where I told the truth that the practice is still being carried out by the REO. Subsequent to this, in March 2018, I was transferred from the Public Works programme to the Agriculture programme of Region Two, which is a lesser demanding programme with all responsibilities as Programme Head restricted as well,” he related.

Furthermore, Singh disclosed that he was rotated to the Region Two RDC by the Communities Ministry in May 2017, to complete the remainder of his contract but during that period, he was still being paid by the Region Eight RDC until the end of the contractual period.

The engineer explained that on May 18, 2017 via Memorandum from the Secretary of the Public Service Commission (PSC), he was notified that at the

end of his contractual period that he will assume duties and work on the pensionable establishment in Region Eight.

He went onto to note that in April 2018, he applied to the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO) in Region Two for his annual vacation leave, which was approved and in May 2018, he was furthered granted approval by the Permanent Secretary of Department of Public Service within the Ministry of the Presidency to leave the country and travel to Brazil.

However, Singh said that on August 11, 2018, upon his return to his living quarters to retrieve his belongings and prepare to resume duties, he found that the locks on his living quarters were broken into and changed; and same was also done to his office.

“I also found out that my salary for the months of July and August along with my benefits-for which I have signed approval certificates were being withheld,” he related.

In light of these, Singh

Singh has also sought the intervention of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) a few months ago but is still to receive any updates. This newspaper was unable to get Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkhan along with Hopkinson and Gounga for a comment on the matter.

14 news

SUnDAY, juLY 28, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Know your Public Health Ministry still awaiting word about inquest into nurse’s death carbon ...Commissioner of Police still to respond – Minister Lawrence footprint

O

ver three weeks have passed since the death of 26-year-old Schenise Apple, whose lifeless body was discovered at a nurses’ hostel in Mahdia, Region Eight (PotaroSiparuni), and to date, calls for an inquest into the matter have gone unanswered.

Although some two weeks ago Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence made the call for such an investigation into the young nurse’s death after meeting her parents, there has been no word as to when the inquest will commence.

Minister Lawrence, during a telephone interview with Guyana Times on Saturday, stated that she officially dispatched a letter to the Police Commissioner, Leslie James, in relation to the death of the nurse but she has not received any information from the police about the matter.

“I wrote the Commissioner of Police

Deceased: Schenise Apple

for an inquest. I have not had an answer from him,” she told this publication.

Attempts by this newspaper on Saturday to get a comment from the Police Commissioner proved futile.

Apple’s body was found on July 2 after she did not report for duty at the Mahdia Hospital.

Initially, the Public Health Ministry, along with the Guyana Police Force (GPF), treated the investigation as a suspected suicide.

However, following a meet-

ing with the grieving family members earlier this month, the Minister at that time had said that an inquest was necessary.

“I it is only in that way we will be able to have a deeper investigation into what really happened, so I am asking for an inquest…

I am happy that I’m taking this step… All the answers to questions must come out in that inquest,” Minister Lawrence was quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.

Meanwhile, a usually reliable source from Mahdia, Region Eight, previously told this publication that there are reports in the mining town that the nurse was murdered and the suicide was staged.

“Everyone saying that the young lady was murdered. They are saying that from how the body was discovered, it was as if it was placed there and who would hang themselves with a tow-

el? It just doesn’t add up,” the source opined.

Apple of Lot 323 Block 22, Linden, Region 10, was last seen after completing the night shift.

This publication understands that she retreated to the nurses’ hostel. Speaking with Guyana Times, another nurse said that no one saw Apple during the day but that was nothing strange.

“It is normal when you finish the night shift to sleep most of the day. So after no one saw her, we didn’t take it for anything,” a nurse told this publication.

However, at about 18:15h, another colleague inquired about Apple and it was then that they visited the hostel and found her body. It is suspected that the woman committed suicide since she was allegedly found hanging in her room.

The police were notified and the woman’s body was removed. The police have since launched an investigation.

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s we go through our routines every day, we contribute to the release and build-up of substances that can cause harm to our environment. One of these substances is a group of gases called the greenhouse gases – which are emitted constantly without us being cognizant of how much we contribute and their effects.

Carbon footprint is a measure of the impact of our activities on the environment and can contribute to climate change. It relates to the amount (tonnes or kg) of greenhouse gases produced in our dayto-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, transportation and production, among other activities.

Some of us might have a carbon footprint that is larger than others. This means that the larger your carbon footprint, the more emissions you produce. Even activities that seem virtually harmless can increase your carbon footprint and add to the greenhouse gas problem. By measuring your carbon footprint, you will have an idea of the quantity of greenhouse emissions you, as an individual, produce during your daily activities.

We can contribute to carbon emissions through activities such as driving vehicles and operating machines that use fossil fuels, emissions from factories and industries etc. Additionally, the cutting down of trees allows carbon dioxide to accumulate, food and water wastage and leaving our lights on when they are not in use.

The carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to understanding the impact of personal behaviour on global warming. Most people are shocked when they see the amount of CO2 their activities create! If you would like to contribute to fight global warming, work towards reducing your carbon footprint because collective action can make a difference.

Jamaican singer joins Caribbean Voice on suicide prevention campaign

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he Caribbean Voice (TCV) has welcomed its newest member, Jamaican reggae and dancehall star, Garfield Mclean, popularly known as “G-Mac Citylock”, to its suicide prevention campaign spokespersons team.

The Jamaican star joins a number of other media and entertainment stars on TCV’s spokespersons team including chutney singers: Satish Udairam (Guyana/ Florida), Natty Ramotar (T&T/Florida), MC Drew P

(Guyana/Canada), reggae singer and university lecturer, Jah (George) Dover (Guyana/California), versatile singer Roger Hinds (Guyana), media personalities Lakshmee Singh, Imran Ahmad and Shanaz Hussain (US).

Comprising of mainly volunteers, TCV is engaged in suicide and abuse prevention in the US, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, with plans to officially launch in Canada and Jamaica within the

next two years, followed by the rest of the Caribbean region.

This organisation’s work is premised on five pillars mainly: advocacy and lobbying, research, information dissemination and awareness building, training through workshops (seminars and outreaches), counselling interventions and building stakeholders' collaboration for social activism.

Others issues which

The Caribbean Voice’s newest spokesperson, Garfield Mclean, called “G-Mac Citylock”

TCV focuses on include: gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual abuse, elderly abuse and, to a lesser extent, drugs and alcohol addictions.

G-Mac has been embraced by some of the most influential music practitioners and has been involved in a number of notable collaborations, such as with the reggae legend Ken Boothe, in a remix of his hit song “Everything I Own” and three collaborations with Sizzla Kalonji, including the remix of his hit song “Holding Firm” which garnered rave reviews and accolades.

“I am about music that can inspire and elevate, but I am also about fun music that will help people release the stresses of life,” the artiste noted. In fact, G-Mac has released his own suicide prevention song called “Love Your Life” which has added another dimension to his music as he seeks to play a critical role in saving lives.

For this inspirational song, “G-Mac Citylock” worked with Beenie Man and Fido Guido from Italy.

The song is currently receiving international airplay in Australia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean as efforts are being ramped up to promote suicide prevention.

You can reduce your carbon footprint by: * Reducing the amount of waste you produce * Reusing items as much as possible * Recycling when possible * Turning off lights when they are not needed. Making use of daylight –open windows and draw back curtains to use natural light as much as possible * Opting for energy saving light bulbs * Turning off computers and fans when not in use * Purchasing energy efficient appliances that have the energy star symbol * Conserving water. Our water companies burn fossil fuel to purify and pump water to our homes * Avoiding using disposable items * Avoiding using plastic bags. Opt for reusable bags or baskets when going to the market * Using public transport or car pool as much as possible Greenhouse gases occur naturally. However, our activities have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere beyond the point that nature can handle. This, according to scientists, has resulted in global warming and climate change. We cannot stop our carbon emissions completely, but we can take actions towards reducing it so as to help fight climate change. Do your part to help improve your quality of life!

You can calculate your carbon footprint at the website http:// www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx and take action towards reducing the size of your footprint. It will save you money and it will also help to save the environment.

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O ECEA Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

news

Stabroek Market Wharf

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Several vendors reluctant to relocate from dilapidated structure

G

An analysis of Government’s revenue & expenditure for the periods 2011-14 & 2015-18 (Part 2) In last week’s article, the data showed that Government’s current consumption expenditure for the period 2015-2018 increased by a whopping 48 per cent when compared to the previous four-year period; capital expenditure for the period 2015-18 actually fell by 8.65 per cent or $18 billion relative to the period 2011-14. To that end, the essence of this analysis validates the contentions that while over the last four years Government expenditure has undergone massive increases compared to the period under the previous administration, such expenditure is largely concentrated in unproductive areas that could be deemed wasteful spending owing to weak institutional frameworks to ensure value for money projects. In fact, as can be seen from the numbers, Government expenditure on real capital projects has actually declined by 8.65 per cent or $18 billion compared to the last four years.

It is perhaps not enough to emphasise that this is a worrying trend, especially in a developing economy context – wherein for the period 2011-14, 30.5 per cent of government total expenditure was allocated towards capital projects, while for the Analysis of Aggregate Expenditure period 2015-18, 21 per cent of government’s total expenditure 3000.00 was2500.00 diverted towards capital projects, a decline of 10 per cent 2,649.50 2000.00 to the2,425.70 relative previous period. It means, therefore, that though 2,100.60 1,918.20 1500.00 Government’s revenue has grown exponentially in the last four 1000.00 years by some 41 per cent, much of it has gone into the financing 500.00 731.30209.00 714.10 406.20 4.75 1.62 325.10244.00 255.90 499.903.13 0.68 505.10 223.80 249.20 214.20bloating 124.959.2397.38 42.85 size of consumption goods and services, thereby, the 0.00 of the public sector and a much larger government, rather than -1.63 (0.94) (182.40) (35.00) -34.21 (58.27) (8.68) (14.34) 2011-14 2015-18 Variance Variance (%) -500.00 (avg.) resources Inflation (avg.) funding Private Investment diverting GDP more towards new capital projects Consumption Total Private Expenditure Public Investment that will Private enable sustainable future economic development and Public Consumption Total Public Expenditure prosperity.

Gov't Revenue GDP (avg.)

Inflation (avg.)

Private Investment Private Consumption Total Private Expenditure Public Investment Public Consumption Total Public Expenditure

2011-14 GY$B 533.4 4.75 1.62 325.10 2,100.60

2015-18 GY$B 751 3.13 0.68 731.30 1,918.20

Variance GY$B 217.6 -1.63 (0.94) 406.20 (182.40)

Variance (%) 40.79 -34.21 (58.27) 124.95 (8.68)

2,425.70 2,649.50 244.00 209.00 255.90 505.10 499.90 714.10 Source: Bank of Guyana Annual reports

223.80 (35.00) 249.20 214.20

9.23 (14.34) 97.38 42.85

Extending on this analysis today, the author has opted to examine total expenditure over the period, disaggregated to show public and private expenditure in consumption and investment, together with a comparison of average GDP and inflation growth rates for the two periods 2011-14 and 2015-18. In these respects, the above data has revealed that average GDP growth rates for the period 2011-14 was stronger compared to the period 201518— which weakened by -1.63% in 2015-18 relative to 2011-14.

Total private expenditure increased by $223.8 billion or 9.23 per cent in the period 2015-18 from $2.4 trillion for the four years period 2011-2014. This was driven largely by increases in private investment by $406.2 billion or 125 per cent in the period 2015-18 – which can be safely deduced that this outturn was largely because of oil & gas related activities in the economy where ExxonMobil, in particular, has injected billions of dollars into the economy to its sub-contractors for services utilised in its operations. Conversely, private consumption has fallen by 8.68 per cent or $182.4 billion.

Total public expenditure, on the other hand, increased by $214.2 billion or 43 per cent relative to the corresponding period; while total private expenditure increased by a meagre 9.23 per cent. The alarming revelation of total public, when disaggregated, has shown that public investment fell by $35 billion or 14.34 per cent in the period 2015-18 compared to the period 2011-14 while public consumption has increased dramatically by almost 100 per cent or $250 billion from $256 billion for the period 201114 to $505 billion. This level of massive increases is equivalent to the entire national budget for 2017— which was $250 billion— and can thus be interpreted to say such that: for the period 2015-18, Government has expended an entire year’s budget on consumption expenditure alone. This is extremely worrying as it points to weak fiscal discipline on the part of central government, while noting that public investment has declined by some $35 billion coupled with a huge decline in private consumption. The private investments are all largely driven by oil and gas related activities in the economy – thus, this is nothing to be excited about other than it being an indicator that Guyana has already been permeated by the so-called “Dutch disease syndrome”.

Suffice it to state, therefore, there is a wide debate as to how Government will expend monies from the oil wealth, and, this analysis has actually revealed a worrying trend that leaves much to be desired. Massive increases in consumption expenditure will almost certainly fuel hyperinflation.

In next week’s article, the author shall examine public and private expenditure relative to GDP and the major sectorial performances over the two periods.

(For comments, questions and responses on articles featured in this column, readers can reach the author at jbinsights@outlook.com).

eorgetown Mayor, Ubraj Narine plans to meet with vendors who are still plying their trade on the dilapidated Stabroek Market Wharf.

He told this newspaper on Saturday afternoon that he will listen to the concerns of the vendors but added that a motion was already passed to have them removed by this monthend.

“We will have a meeting again this week with them to see what are their complaints again. We are trying to meet with them in all their turns and twists. We indeed moved a motion but yet the people are still occupying there and that wharf only recently a piece fell into the Demerara River and that thing can collapse at any time,” Narine said.

Due to the deplorable state in which the structure remains, the Mayor has again appealed for those persons to vacate the area. He said notices were recently issued in this regard and

Business ongoing at one of the stalls at the Stabroek Market Wharf

the meeting scheduled will allow for the vendors to explain what is preventing them from occupying Russel Square, the former Route 42 minibus park.

The former bus park was transformed into a vending area to allow the vendors to earn their livelihood while

the wharf is being rehabilitated. But although several stalls were built, some vendors relocated to the area while others are reluctant to do so.

The initial plan was to have those vendors removed from the Stabroek Market Wharf by this month-end. In fact, plans

were announced to have City Constables placed around the area to ensure it remains vacant.

During a recent visit to the wharf by this publication, persons were selling off their plantains, vegetables, salted fish and peanuts among other articles below a roof that looked as though it would collapse at any time.

In fact, several zinc sheets had already blown off by heavy winds, leaving behind the mere frames.

Along with the horrific roofing, several boards were missing from the structure’s floor.

The remaining woodwork was rotted and covered in garbage at a number of different sections.

To make matters worse at the already crumbling structure, the wharf was partially blazed in November. It is suspected that the fire may have been started by a female, who had an argument with another vendor.

Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary’s top NGSA achievers honoured by US firm …as Sterling Products rewards successful students

The pupils who were honoured by US-based consulting firm Keen360

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he top ten performers at the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) of the Meten-MeerZorg Primary School were on Friday honoured by USbased consulting firm in Guyana, Keen360.

This recognition was made possible through Keen360’s ‘Scholarship Programme’— which extends cash grants as well as trophies.

In addition, the students were treated to a full day of activities, which included a field trip to the Botanical Gardens and the zoo, with a relaxing lunch afterward.

In their continued bid to improve the school’s learning environment, the USbased firm also provided paint for all the desks and benches for grades 5 and 6 and sponsored their graduation— which was held on July 10, 2019.

Keen360 will also provide each student at the MetenMeer-Zorg Primary School with backpacks and essential stationery supplies for the new term ahead.

At the prize-giving ceremony, Arif Khan, Director of Operations at Keen360, stated, “We believe in giving back to the community in order to strengthen the social fabric and sustain economic vitality”.

“This investment in our shared future is being rolled out under the ‘School Supply Programme’, through which close to 450 students will benefit,” the firm noted.

Khan also pointed to the social and economic benefits of these types of programmes. He noted too that the professionals at Keen360 look forward to future events

for celebration and recognition, especially for the youths who are Guyana’s future.

Meanwhile, Sterling Products Ltd has rewarded 12 children, who successfully wrote the National Grade Six Assessment examination and are preparing to enter secondary school come

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sterling Company Limited Ramsay Ali and Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson with the awardees

September. Each child received a cash award of $60, 000 during a small ceremony at Sterling’s Providence office on July 26. The annual bursary programme has been in place for over two decades.

Addressing the awardees, the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ramsay Ali, said there are

continuous improvements on how the children are assisted.

Wishing the children well in their secondary education, the CEO advised them that the next five years of their academic life will be different from what they are used to. He also encouraged them to remain dedicated to their studies.

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UCITC students gain insight into emerging oil and gas industry

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number of students attached to the Upper Corentyne Industrial Training Centre (UCITC) were given insight on the country’s rapidly emerging oil and gas industry during an interactive session. The teens were lectured on the potential impact and trans-

formation it will have on the economy.

Office Manager at the Energy Department Sharon Patterson explained that through these interactive sessions, the aim is to improve the level of awareness about the oil and gas sector and what it has to offer, es-

pecially to young persons.

“We want to be able to provide information and sensitise persons, regardless if it’s young people, the RDC, or religious groups.

We want to provide information on the sector and what it offers. Additionally, we want to make persons aware

of the opportunities that exist within and beyond the sector, benefits that can be derived and our aim is to provide an opportunity for participants to directly be involved in the discussions of oil and gas,” Patterson noted.

Further, she said that at the end of 2018, more than 54 per cent of persons directly employed in the oil and gas sector were Guyanese, with plans for that figure to increase to 75 per cent by the end of 2020.

These interactive sessions seek to educate a large number of Guyanese, as scores of Berbicians were also sensitised earlier this year on the multiplier effect of the new sector. This session was, however, hosted

by Head of the Department of Energy Dr Mark Bynoe.

During this recent session, Bynoe explained that

A section of the students during the interactive session

the sector will be managed through recruitment and instructional strengthening, the revision of the legal framework, and partnering with other agencies, while informing that the right policies will be established to assist with managing the

sector.

In March of 2019, 24 Guyanese operations and maintenance technicians had joined the US oil giant, ExxonMobil, while another 50 technicians will commence recruitment in early 2020.

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Mexico to help create 20,000 jobs in Honduras to curb migration

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exico’s Government said on Saturday it would help Honduras create 20,000 jobs this year and support its coffee farmers as the two countries seek to curb migration to the United States that has created tensions with US President Donald Trump.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his Honduran counterpart, Juan Orlando Hernandez, pledged to work together to lift prosperity in Central America, where poverty and violence have fuelled an exodus of people

north.

That migration has angered Trump, who has made border security a priority, and issued economic threats against Mexico and Central America if more is not done to contain the flows.

Speaking after the Honduran and Mexican leaders met in the eastern State of Veracruz, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Lopez Obrador had given instructions to help Honduras create 20,000 jobs between now and December.

He did not provide further details, but afterwards,

the two presidents offered more insight into their plans in speeches in the eastern city of Minatitlan.

Hernandez said he was hoping a “great international coalition for mass job creation” in Central America could be forged, while Lopez Obrador stressed that Mexico would support the region with funds and employment schemes.

In particular, Lopez Obrador said Mexico would assist Honduran coffee farmers, whose businesses have suffered this year from a drop in international prices.

Migrants from Honduras en route to the United States walk by an immigration checkpoint in Huehuetan, Mexico

(Excerpt from Reuters)

NYPD demotes 2 cops caught drinking on job

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ew York Police D e p a r t m e n t (NYPD) brass this month ordered the demotions of Detectives

Rigoberto Licona and David Castro for boozing in a popular cop bar in Westchester Square while on duty in January, sources with

Nigeria to label Shia group a ‘terrorist organisation’

At least 20 members of the group have been killed since Monday during clashes with security forces [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]

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Nigerian court has granted the Government permission to label a local Shia group as a “terrorist” organisation.

Dayo Apata, Nigeria’s Solicitor General, confirmed on Saturday that a federal court allowed the Government to proscribe the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) as such, a move offering the authorities the chance to clamp down harder on the group.

IMN members have been marching in the capital Abuja calling for the release of their leader, Ibrahim elZakzaky, who has been in detention since 2015 despite a court order to release him.

The protests have often turned violent. The Shia organisation said at least 20 of its members were killed this week during a series of protests in Abuja. No official death toll has been released

by Police.

Security was stepped up across the country in the

face of the ongoing protests, which Police say are violent and unruly.

Zakzaky has been held in detention since December 2015 when the army killed almost 350 of his followers at his compound and a nearby mosque and burial ground in northern Kaduna state.

He faces charges of murder, culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of public peace, and other offences following the 2015 violence. He has pleaded not guilty.

The latest round of protests and the ensuing deadly crackdown has raised concerns, with rights groups calling for an investigation into the killings.

The group, which represents Nigeria’s minority Shia Muslims, says it will continue protesting until it secures the release of Zakzaky, an Islamic scholar who founded IMN in the late 1970s.

(Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

knowledge of the case said.

The department confirmed the demotions on Friday, but did not comment on them.

Although the two were fit for duty, the pair were ordered stripped of their guns and shields and reassigned to a VIPER detail, where they spent months watching feeds from Housing Authority surveillance cameras.

It also sparked an NYPD probe of several other precincts were detectives were

accused of boozing on the clock, sources said.

The drinking came to light in early January when a man who knew the pair from an investigation with which he was involved saw them inside McDermott’s, a bar on E. Tremont Ave. The man dropped a dime on the detectives, claiming they were drinking beer during lunch, which triggered an internal probe in which investigators camped outside the watering hole, which is owned by a retired

cop.

“They did surveillance and saw these guys in there a few times,” one source told The News in January. The evidence the department collected included video of the two detectives ordering and drinking beer as they waited for their food orders.

Only undercover cops are allowed to have two drinks while on duty so they can blend in during an investigation. The Patrol Guide also specifies that cops, whether on or off the

clock, can’t drink to the point where they’re unfit for duty.

“Drinking on the job while on duty is prohibited,” Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Phil Walzak said in a statement in January. “The NYPD holds its members to the highest expectations for performance. Behavior as alleged here is simply not tolerated in the NYPD.” (NY Daily News)

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guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

Tobago fishermen robbed of boats St Vincent hops onto ganja train

before dawn on Friday. One battered craft was later recovered in Studley Park without its engine. Spokesman for the fishermen Fitzgerald Hades, said fishermen at Belle Garden were fed up of having their equipment stolen. He said the losses could amount to over $100,000 for each boat. Two engines were also stolen earlier this year.

According to Hade, who lost an engine to thieves two years ago, the bandits tend to strike whenever Tobago is hosting a major fete or event. Tobago is currently in the midst of the Tobago Heritage Festival.

Hades said the affected fishermen are feeling the pinch since the season was good for fishing and fishermen usually take in upwards of 500 pounds of fish a day. Hades does not believe that the attack at Orange Valley was related to the Belle Garden incident but said he would not rule out any possibility. Four years ago a boat was stolen at Belle Garden and was later recovered intact at Maracas Bay. Hades is calling in the Tobago House of Assembly to install CCTV cameras in the area to monitor the boats and the facility. The fishing facility is located in an isolated area at the end of Bay Street which is over two kilometres off the Windward Road. (T&T Guardian)

team, headed by Fitzgerald Hinds, sitting to treat with the CA matter,” he said.

In 2017, Wylie told a UK House of Commons and US Senate committee of alleged unauthorised possession of personal private data from 87 million Facebook user accounts, obtained for creating targeted political campaigns for the 2016 US presidential elections. In evidence he alleged Aggregate IQ (AIQ), a company set up alongside CA worked on a project in T&T in 2013 for a former national security minister, attempting to harvest browsing data of T&T’s population.

UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar later said the UNC wasn’t involved.

However, the Congress of the People (COP) confirmed in April 2018 that they had talks with CA and another company, SCL, to do press releases and imaging for the 2013 local government election. The COP said that “it never went

any further than that.”

COP leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan said that as COP chairman in 2013 she wasn’t aware of the extent of the engagement with the data-mining company but was aware then COP leader Prakash Ramadhar and then vice-chairman Nicole DyerGriffith spoke with SCL regarding re-imaging of the COP. She said there were discussions as far back as 2009 for a customer-relationship-management system but said nothing took place and that no payment was made or agreed to.

Former People’s Partnership National Security Minister Gary Griffith who is now the Commissioner of Police later welcomed Government’s probe of the CA matter. Netflix on Wednesday released a movie on Cambridge Analytica. The UNC has said it wouldn’t participate in, or testify before the JSC. (T&T Guardian)

Fisherman Fitzgerald Hades stands next to the damaged 23-foot pirogue that was recovered at Belle Garden Bay, Tobago, on Friday

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ays after an attack on fishermen in Orange Valley and Carli Bay, Couva, bandits have robbed the fishing community in Tobago, stealing two boats and two engines from the Belle Garden fishing community. Fishermen say they left their boats anchored in the bay Thursday night, only to discover them missing just

Prime Minister Gonsalves

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Dr

Ralph

he St Vincent and the Grenadines Parliament has amended legislation that would make smoking two ounces (56 grammes) or less of marijuana a ticketable offence, if the offender admits to the crime.

Under the new law, a person who is in possession of

up to two ounces of marijuana cannot be arrested, cannot be jailed, and would not get a criminal record as a result.

The law also makes it legal for persons to use the drug in their home or at places of Rastafarian worship.

However, it also makes an offence, the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana carrying a maximum penalty of EC$500.

But Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said this penalty doesn’t have to be imposed because the law states that there is a way in which the liability can be discharged, adding that this is an important point because the international convention says possession of marijuana is an offence.

He said in order for a person who is accused of being in

possession of two ounces or less of marijuana to appear in court, they have to be summoned.

Gonsalves told legislators on Thursday that if a police officer meets someone with two ounces of cannabis or less, and the person admits to possession, the officer would have to give that person a card containing health and education information about the use of marijuana.

“The health information here is where you can get counselling. And the policeman must draw to your attention, if you are under 18, or if it appears reasonable to him that you are dependent on the cannabis, they have to point out specifically to you where you can get counselling,” Gonsalves said. (CMC)

T&T Govt seeks CA whistleblower for JSC Johnson tells EU: Ditch backstop or face no-deal Brexit

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overnment is moving to have Cambridge Analytica’s (CA’s) “whistleblower” Christopher Wylie appear before Parliament’s Joint Select Committee (JSC) on the data-mining issue, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said yesterday.

Speaking at the weekly Government media briefing, the AG said Wylie’s attorneys have indicated willingness to help T&T identify the culprits in the CA data matter “who sat in the last Government.”

He said Government is seeking to “bring home” the evidence on the CA matter and had talks with the appropriate channels on this.

“Government’s evidence will come via testimony by someone who will blow the whistle,” Al-Rawi added.

Al-Rawi said Government’s attorneys were in touch with Wylie’s over the last 18 months.

“We have a Parliament

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

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ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned the European Union on Saturday that the “anti-democratic” Irish backstop must be ditched if they were to strike a Brexit divorce deal.

Johnson, since taking office on Wednesday, has repeatedly said that if the EU continues to refuse to re-

negotiate the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by his predecessor Theresa May, then he will take Britain out on Oct. 31 without a deal.

His biggest demand is that the most hotly-contested element of the Brexit divorce agreement, the Irish border backstop, be struck out of the Withdrawal Agreement, a demand that has angered Ireland and perturbed other EU capitals.

“If we get rid of the backstop, whole and entire, then we are making a lot of progress,” Johnson said, when asked if it was only the Irish border backstop that he wanted changed.

Speaking before a Stephenson’s Rocket, a 19th century steam locomotive, in the northern England city of Manchester, Johnson dedicated most of his speech to im-

proving public services, transport and the internet and driving up economic growth.

“Our post-industrial towns have a proud, great heritage but an even greater future.

Their best years lie ahead of them,” he said, announcing new long-term rail links and promising immediate improvements to bus services.

That message, aimed at what Johnson called “left behind” towns, is seen as the early stages of an election campaign, even though Britain is not due a parliamentary election until 2022 and Johnson is adamant he will not hold one before Brexit.

His Conservative Party does not have a majority in parliament, is divided over how to deliver Brexit and under threat of a no-confidence vote when parliament returns in September. (Reuters)

US Supreme Court says Trump can spend military funds on wall Hong Kong protests: Police fire tear gas at rally

US President Donald Trump

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he US Supreme Court on Friday ruled in favor of President Donald Trump, allowing him to proceed with plans to divert billions of dollars in Pentagon funds towards construction of his border wall with Mexico.

“Wow! Big VICTORY on the Wall,” Trump tweeted in reaction to the ruling, which boosts his ability to fulfill a major campaign promise to construct the massive barrier.

“Big WIN for Border Security and the Rule of Law!” Trump declared a national emergency earlier this year

in a bid to bypass Congress and obtain funding for his signature project, after the standoff led to the longest government shutdown in US history.

But about 20 US states along with rights and environmental groups and border communities are backing lawsuits that claim the emergency declaration violates the constitution.

A federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had issued a temporary injunction against using Defense Department funds for wall construction.

On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision with a 5-4 ruling, writing that the government had “made a sufficient showing at this stage” that the groups did not have the standing to challenge the allocation of funds, freeing up the money for the president’s use while litigation proceeds.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top congressional Democrats, denounced the ruling.

Pelosi insinuated that the

president had exercised executive overreach in bypassing Congress to get the funding, writing on Twitter that “our Founders designed a democracy governed by the people — not a monarchy.”

Schumer, meanwhile, called the matter “deeply regrettable” and “nonsensical,” adding that it “flies in the face of the will of Congress and the Congress’s exclusive power of the purse.” Trump had originally requested US$5.7 billion for his border wall, but after a tug-of-war that included a record 35-day federal government shutdown, he reluctantly signed a spending bill that included appropriations of just US$1.4 billion for border barriers, and not specifically a wall.

Then, citing an “invasion” of drugs and criminals, he declared a national emergency at the border, allowing him to repurpose billions of dollars in other Government funding.

The US$2.5 billion in Defense Department funds at play in the Supreme Court ruling were part of that repurposed money. (AFP)

Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the protesters

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ong Kong police have fired tear gas at an unauthorised protest held by tens of thousands of people to condemn an attack by armed masked men last week.

As a small group of protesters refused to disperse in the northern district of Yuen Long, police fired rubber bullets.

The demonstration took place where pro-democracy protesters had been attacked

by suspected triad gang members.

Police have been accused of turning a blind eye and colluding with the attackers, claims they deny.

Hong Kong has seen seven weeks of anti-government and pro-democracy protests sparked by a controversial bill that would have enabled extraditions to mainland China.

The government has since halted the legislation

but protesters have demanded its complete withdrawal, as well as an inquiry into police violence, democratic reform, and that the territory’s leader Carrie Lam resign.

Saturday’s march had been banned by the police, a highly unusual move in the territory, where protests are usually allowed.

Police say they refused permission because they feared violent clashes between protesters and residents. The rally was planned as a response to last Sunday’s attack, in which about 100 men descended on Yuen Long’s metro station, beating protesters - as well as passersby and journalists - with wooden and metal sticks.

The attack left 45 people injured and was widely blamed on triad gang members. They appeared to target those wearing black, the colour people had been told to wear for the protest. (BBC)

sunDAY, july 28, 2019

19

Tour de France 2019…

Egan Bernal set to win from Geraint Thomas E

gan Bernal is poised to become the first Colombian to win the Tour de France, after finishing Saturday’s penultimate stage in the yellow jersey.

Tradition dictates that the race leader is not challenged on Sunday’s largely processional final stage to Paris. Bernal, 22, will become the youngest Tour winner for 110 years, with Ineos team-mate Geraint Thomas in second.

Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk moved up to third, as Julian Alaphilippe faded on an Alpine stage won by Vincenzo Nibali.

Italian Nibali, winner of the Tour de France in 2014, was in the day’s break, and attacked again on the climb to the finish at Val Thorens, winning by 10 seconds from Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.

Bernal and Thomas, who won last year’s Tour, finished stage 20 a few seconds later, crossing the line arm-in-arm, with huge grins on their faces. They came into the race as joint leaders for Ineos, and providing they both reach the finish in Paris on Sunday, will end it first and second in the general classification.

“We’re now close to making it official,” said Bernal. “There’s one stage left, but, normally, if everything goes well, I can say that I’ve won my first Tour.

“It’s incredible. I just want to get to the finish line in Paris, and after I’ll be calmer.

“Colombia is on the verge of winning its first Tour. We already had won the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta a Espana, but the Tour was missing, and it’s a great honour to think that I’m the one achieving this.”

Welshman Thomas, who ended the stage trailing in the overall standings by one minute, 11 seconds, wrote on Twitter: “Congrats, Egan Bernal. What a rider. The first of many.”

Bernal, who will also collect the white jersey as “the best young rider in the race”, will put to an end a run of four successive British winners - Chris Froome winning three of his four titles from 2015, and Thomas triumphing last year.

The green points jersey classification will be won for a record seventh time by Slovakian Peter Sagan, who pulled a wheelie as he rode over the finish line several minutes after the stage winner; while the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey will go to Frenchman Romain Bardet.

That will be some consolation for the French supporters, who had been hoping to see a home victory for the first time since Bernhard Hinault won his record-equalling fifth Tour in 1985.

Alaphilippe, the world’s number one-ranked male cyclist, had led the race for 14 days, and after holding the yellow jersey through the Pyrenees in week two, also retained it after the first day in the Alps.

However, he finally cracked on Friday’s storm-shortened 19th stage, and he again fell away on Saturday’s final climb of the three-week race. He is set to finish fifth overall.

France’s other big hope, Thibaut Pinot, had also looked strong in the Pyrenees, but a freak injury, caused when his thigh hit his handlebar on stage 17, saw him eventually

Thomas congratulated Ineos team-mate Bernal as they crossed the finish line together at the end of stage 20

abandon the race from fifth place during stage 19.

How stage 20 unfolded Saturday’s stage was reduced by 71km to just 59.5km, with one major climb - the 19.9km ascent of the Cormet de Roselend - chopped from the race because a landslide caused by stormy weather in the Alps had blocked the road. That left the riders facing an unusual race along a dual carriageway across the valley from Albertville to the bottom of the day’s solitary 33km climb to the ski resort of Val Thorens.

More than 20 broke clear and opened a lead of around two minutes, 30 seconds as they reached the ascent, but with the race for the overall title happening in the peloton behind them, their lead was gradually eroded.

The Jumbo-Visma team of Kruijswijk, who started the stage in fourth, 88 seconds adrift of Bernal, set a furious pace from the bottom of the ascent. Kruijswijk started the day just 12 seconds behind third-placed Thomas and 40 behind Alaphilippe, and his team’s efforts were rewarded when Alaphilippe cracked with around 13km of the race remaining.

However, Kruijswijk was unable to break the Ineos riders, with Thomas and Bernal content to sit and ride tempo all the way to the finish line. Dutch rider Kruijswijk eventually finished eight seconds behind Thomas to cement third place overall, one minute, 31 seconds behind Bernal.

Why the Bernal win will not be a surprise The climbing specialist, who was born on 13 January, 1997 in Colombia’s capital city Bogota at an altitude of 2,600m, showed his potential at last year’s Tour when he rode as a domestique to Thomas and four-time champion Chris Froome.

After pacing Thomas to victory on Alpe d’Huez and ultimately the overall title, Froome said: “He’s got an amazing engine. You only have to look at what he did on Alpe d’Huez.

For a 21-year-old, that’s amazing.

“There is a lot in Egan that reminds me of myself when

I was younger. It’s great having him on the team, and he brings a lot of young new energy to the group.”

He joined Team Sky for the 2018 season, after winning the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir - a stage race for under-23 riders that has seen many of its winners go on to Tour de France success.

He won the Tour Colombia and Tour of California last year, before making his Tour de France debut as a domestique to Thomas and four-time winner Chris Froome.

This year, three crashes helped Bernal arrive at the Tour as joint leader of the Ineos team. The first was his own, on a training ride in Andorra, and it ruled him out of May’s Giro d’Italia, where he had been due to lead the team for the first time in a Grand Tour.

Froome’s season-ending crash at June’s Criterium du Dauphine then pushed Bernal up the Ineos pecking order for the Tour de France, while Thomas’s spill at the Tour de Suisse later that month saw Bernal take over as the sole leader of that team, and he went on to win the race.

And he twice rode away from Thomas in the Alps this week to position himself as Ineos’s strongest rider at the Tour and secure his first Grand Tour win in only his second attempt.

Bernal will become the third youngest winner of the Tour.

The youngest is France’s Henri Cornet, who was 19 when he was controversially awarded victory in the second edition of the race in 1904; while Luxembourg’s Francois Faber was a few days younger than Bernal when he took the 1909 title. (BBC.COM)

Overall standings after stage 20: 1. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) 79hrs 52mins 52secs 2. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) +1min 11secs 3. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +1min 31secs 4. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 56secs 5. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/ Deceuninck-Quick Step) +3mins 45secs 6. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +4 mins 23 secs 7. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +5mins 15secs 8. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +5mins 30secs 9. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +6mins 12secs 10. Warren Barguil (Fra/Arkea-Samsic) +7mins 32secs Stage 20 result: 1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Bahrain-Merida) 1hrs 51mins 53secs 2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +10secs 3. Mikel Landa (Spa/Movistar) +14secs 4. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos) +17secs 5. Geraint Thomas (GB/Ineos) Same time 6. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Education First) +23secs 7. Emanuel Buchmann (Ger/Bora-Hansgrohe) Same time 8. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/Jumbo-Visma) +25secs 9. Wout Poels (Ned/Ineos) +30secs 10. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) Same time

England pick Jofra Archer for 1st Ashes Test J

ofra Archer is in line to make his Test debut in Birmingham, after suffering a side injury © Getty England have selected Jofra Archer in a 14-man squad for the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston next week.

Archer, who delivered the match-winning Super Over in the World Cup final, has not yet played Test cricket, and could make his debut in Birmingham after recovering from a side injury.

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler return to the squad after being rested for the victory against Ireland at Lord’s, while Lewis Gregory and Jack Leach, ‘man of the match’ against the Irish, have been left out. Stokes has also been reappointed to the Test vice-captaincy for the first time since the well-publicised incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September 2017.

Whether Archer makes a Test debut in Birmingham remains to be seen, given he is still recovering from the left side injury which plagued him throughout the World Cup. He played for Sussex in the Vitality T20 Blast on Friday

evening without any issue, and England will continue to monitor him once the squad assembles in Birmingham on Monday.

A key consideration will be whether they think he can get through the required quantity of overs in a five-day match, having last played a first-class game in September last year.

The performance of Chris Woakes at Lord’s on the final day, when he picked up six Ireland wickets, may mean that England do not feel the need to rush Archer into the team, and could opt to save him for later in the series.

Archer’s first-class record is excellent, although he remains relatively inexperienced with the redball, having played just 28 matches in all. In those games, he has taken 131 wickets at 23, and with a strike rate of a wicket every eight overs. England will hope his pace and aggression proves a useful point of difference against the Australian batting line-up.

Alongside Archer, there are five other fast-bowlers in the squad, including James Anderson, who is expected to be fit after missing the match against Ireland as a precaution whilst managing a calf injury. Stuart Broad, Olly Stone and Sam Curran are all included after doing well at Lord’s, while Jofra Archer

Moeen Ali is the only spinner selected.

Leach will, however, train with England in the build-up to the match, given he is not part of Somerset’s T20 squad.

Chief selector Ed Smith decided against making any knee-jerk changes to the batting line-up after England were bundled out for 85 inside the first session of the game against Ireland. Instead, they will keep faith with a top three of Jason Roy, Rory Burns and Joe Denly against Australia, while Stokes and Buttler will come into the middle order.

No spare batsman has been named in the squad.

Commenting on the selection of the squad, National Selector Ed Smith, said: “Though it is unusual to select a squad of 14 for a home Test, there are compelling reasons to do so here. Several bowlers are recovering from injuries or niggles. In addition, some bowlers who played in the World Cup are being closely monitored to assess their preparation for Test match cricket.

“The wider circumstances - a successful home World Cup campaign followed so quickly by a home Ashes series - are unprecedented. It feels sensible to select an expanded squad and leave a number of bowling options open for the final team selection.”

Stokes’s return as Test vice-captain was agreed by ECB Chairman Colin Graves after Ashley Giles, Director of England Men’s Cricket, and Tom Harrison, ECB chief executive, put forward the recommendation. (cricbuzz)

20

guyanatimesGY.com

sunDAY, july 28, 2019

BCCCC cricket academy set for August 12 ─ AGM to commence shortly

T

he Blairmont Community Centre Cricket Club (BCCCC), voted the Guyana Cricket Board’s (GCB’s) Cricket Club of the Year 2018, will this year host its cricket academy from August 12 to August 25.

The BCCC will also host a field trip for its players: to the National Stadium at Providence for the first One Day International match between the West Indies and the Virat Kohli-led India team.

This BCCC academy aims to expose more youths to the intricacies of the game of cricket, besides keeping its players active during the summer break.

Located on the West Bank of Berbice in Region Five, the BCCC is, moreover, looking to regroup in all categories from the under-13 level upwards. Additionally, this club will shortly hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Speaking to this daily publication, BCCC President, Shabeer Baksh, explained that this AGM will create an interim body that would serve the cricket club from the latter part of 2019 into 2020, when the next AGM will be held.

Flashback: Blairmont CC President with Nigel Deodat and Javed Karim at the GCB Awards Ceremony (Brandon Corlette photo) Blairmont Blazers

He said the BCCC is, further, planning its annual fund-raising activity, and after the AGM, decisions will be made.

The Blairmont Community Centre Cricket Club won the 2018 West Berbice Cricket Club/Team of the Year award at the Berbice Cricket Board’s

(BCB’s) Annual Awards Ceremony, when the top clubs across the four respective zones were recognised.

This club has, in 2019, won the annual Cotton Tree Die Hard Cup and the D’ Edward Cup, which were among the few tournaments played this year.

In past Berbice Cricket

Board awards, the BCCC was awarded the Most Improved Cricket Club in Berbice.

The BCCC continues to produce players who are ‘eligible’ to participate in cricket matches for Guyana and the West Indies at the highest level. Former West Indies Test players Roy

Fredericks (deceased) and Brandon Bess are among the notable personages this club has produced.

The young promising players that have been produced by the Shabeer Baksh-led BCCC are former two-time Guyana Under-19 player Javed Karim, present Guyana Under-19 player Seon Glasgow,

Guyana Under-17 and Berbice Under-19 player Nigel Deodat, and Guyana Under-17 player Marvan Prashad.

Kevin Jawahir, Kalim Butts, Naresh Roopnarine, Parmanad Ramdhan and Derick Narine are some of the other players who have been exceptional performers for the BCCC. (Brandon Corlette)

Narine’s blistering half-century Cameron returned as spurs Montreal Tigers to win Kensington President ─ promises club transformation F F

By Ravi Madholall in Toronto

Barbadian hard-hitting batsman Dwayne Smith and Pakistani Umar Akmal to provide a good amously known for his shrewd off-spin, start, but the former was bowled by fast-bowler West Indies player Sunil Narine continues Sean Abbott for 9. to make a huge impression with the bat, However, Akmal and South African veteran having slammed a blistering 59 on Friday to spur batsman JP Duminy repaired the early damage Montreal Tigers to a 24-run win over Winnipeg with a promising 52-run second wicket Hawks, who had won the toss and had elected partnership; but once they were separated, to field. wickets fell quite rapidly to diminish their This was the second match of the 2019 efforts.

Global T20 taking place at the lone tournament Akmal departed for a 30-ball 40, which venue, CCA Centre in Brampton Ontario, and included four sixes and three fours, having been the left-handed Trinidadian was opening the caught by wicket-keeper Mathew Cross off the batting. He immediately went about employing bowling of medium-pacer Mohammad Naveed. his admirable aggression on a lightning-fast Duminy played some outfield. exciting shots in his Montreal Tigers were able to notch up a enterprising, 30 which challenging 135-3 from the reduced 12 overs, counted three sixes and while the Hawks replied with only 111-5 two boundaries. Apart when their overs ran out. from Naveed’s 2-26 from his Narine’s compatriot, Dwayne Bravo, maximum three overs, there bowled the other opener, Kyle Coetzer, was a wicket each for Fawad for 11 in the fourth over, but Narine Ahmed, Abbott and Nikhil found a willing ally in New Zealander Dutta.

Anton Devcich, who also portrayed The action is scheduled great belligerence. to resume on Saturday They crafted a steady 65-run with a double-header. At second-wicket stand, with Narine 12:30hrs, Edmonton Royals belting five sixes and four fours will trade punches with from his 30-ball exhibition.

Toronto Nationals, while Anthon, another left-hander, debutant Brampton gave the relatively large crowd Wolves and reason to provide additional Montreal Tigers entertainment to cheer on w i l l do battle just consistently, by hoisting after the completion of three sixes and hitting two that game. exquisite fours.

The other participating Bravo, the only bowler Franchise is Vancouver who delivered with any sort Knights, who pulled off an of accuracy, maintained an emphatic eight-wicket victory to excellent line and length to commence their defence against finish with 1-16 from three Toronto Nationals Thursday. overs, while the Tigers lost their The second tournament is West Indian two other batsmen via the runslated to conclude on August Sunil Narine in out route.

11 with lucrative monetary action at the Fully cognizant of the healthy prizes at stake.

Global T20 asking rate of 11.25 runs per over, Winnipeg Hawks expected

ormer Cricket West Indies President, Dave Cameron, was on Thursday returned unopposed as president of the Kensington Cricket Club in Jamaica at that entity’s Annual General Meeting held at the Kensington Clubhouse.

Having led the club’s executive body for now 18 years, Cameron has said his focus will now be on “transforming the club into a First World club in the next couple of years.”

Kensington’s First Vice President is Wavell Hinds, while David Bernard Jr is the Second Vice President. Hinds has, also, succeeded Robert Haynes as Kensington’s technical director. On duty a CWI selector, Hayes has been lauded for his years of service to Kensington.

Meanwhile, Major Radcliffe Daley is the Treasurer and KelliDawn Hamilton is the Assistant Treasurer. Former CWI Communications boss Carole Beckford is the Honorary Secretary, and Wayne Lewis is Assistant Secretary. Brian Blair is Club Captain, while Jamie Hay and Jamar Symester are players’ representatives.

Major Marlon Kennedy and Lorna Litchmore have been made Executive Members.

In expressing his delight at being returned to the top office, Cameron said he wanted “Kensington to be the place where a young and aspiring cricketer would want to be a part of.”

The club marks 140 years of existence this year, and the milestone will be celebrated on the weekend of October 11 – 14, 2019, when there will be a church service, brunch, and cricket matches featuring past and current players.

There will also be a party at the clubhouse, and Cameron has said the club would look to initiate activities to identify the role cricket has

Dave Cameron

played in the community, show the impact all the great cricketers have had on the community, Jamaica, the West Indies, and the world; as well as help refocus the community on how it can re-engage residents to continue the path to growth and development.

Kensington won the JCA All Island T20 competition which ended last month, and the club performed creditably in the Junior Cup, which they won in 2018.

The club is participating in the 50-overs allisland competition and the Kingston Wharves Under-15 Competition. Kensington plays away to the Jamaica Defence Force on Saturday, July 27 in the JCA 50-overs match. The game starts at 10hrs. (Sportsmax)

sunday, july 28, 2019

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guyanatimesgy.com

NSC contributes to YBG, Jefford’s Track and Field Classic ─ clubs, coaches, athletes encouraged to register on time

T

he National Sports Commission (NSC), in continuing its support for grassroots sport, officially handed over its contribution to Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG) and Jefford’s Track and Field Classic X on Friday at its Homestretch Avenue Office in Georgetown.

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, has said such support for sport is a prerequisite for the development of sport in Guyana.

Jones has lauded the efforts of both organisations, indicating that they are both established entities in their efforts to mobilise sports at both the community and schools’ levels.

Founder of the Jefford Track and Field Classic, Edison Jefford, thanked Jones for his support, and said the Director of Sport has been very consistent in terms of his contributions to development of sport.

Jefford said Jones’ scope spawns every discipline, and such dynamism is required to continue to thrust sports forward.

The Jefford Track and Field Classic X will be held

on Sunday August 11 at the MSC Ground in Linden.

Jefford used Friday’s opportunity to appeal to coaches, clubs and athletes to register on time in order to compete.

Registration closes on Tuesday, August 30, and Jefford expresses optimism that the process would be smooth.

“All coaches and athletes should use this opportunity to compete and earn at the same time. I have already secured the cash prizes, thanks to our generous donors, and I am hoping that the events can be as competitive as possible, with mass participation from the athletes. I don’t think any coach should deny their athletes this unique opportunity,” Jefford said.

Athletes will compete for a total of $2 million. Each event carries a total purse of $80,000, with the winner taking home $40,000, second place $25,000, and third place $15,000; each along with memorabilia medals.

The Champion Male and Female athletes would benefit from $25,000 worth in Under Armour Sports Gear,

Director of Sport, Christopher Jones (second left) posing with Founder of the Jefford Track and Field Classic, Edison Jefford (left) and YBG Director Rayad Boyce (second right) as cheques are displayed on Friday

and $25,000 cash along with trophies; while the top three finishers in the school boys and girls 150m will take home hampers and medals.

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Nassir grateful for experience Strikers edge Wolves

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QC Manager Mohamad Nassir alongside his team

By Timothy Jaikarran

T

he 33rd Annual Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Tournament has seen Sir Everton Weekes’ School of Excellence defeating Alleyne’s High in grand style.

However, for the Queen’s College, which represented Guyana in the competition, finishing 10th place was more of a learning experience for the young side.

In a sit-down with Guyana Times Sport, manager of the Queen’s College team, Mohamad Nassir, when asked about the team’s performance, said: “As manager of the team, (I think) it was a better outing.

This is my second time with the team, and we did better than we had done the last time. The experience was great. We had the chance to see many Barbados cricketing legends, and to see how Barbados cricket is set up. Touring the island and learning cricketing tips from the legends, not just for me but also for the team, was extraordinary.

“The team’s performance, as I mentioned, was better than last year’s. Finishing 10th out of a total of 18 teams, for a young crick-

et team that has now started, is an improvement.

“The major highlight of the tournament was a brilliant century from captain Navindra Persaud, an unbeaten 99 by Brandon Jaikarran, a 6-wicket haul by Gary Ross, and Bedesh Persaud’s 5-wicket haul.”

Nasir also noted that, in terms of moving forward, if the team is to participate in the 2020 edition of the tournament, preparations would necessarily have to commence earlier. He said it would give the team opportunity to utilise their recently resuscitated cricket ground. Inclusive of practice and training, the performance would be on another level.

The QC manager also said that while training is important, exposure is also another factor that would allow the team to lift the prize that has slipped their grip for some time now.

Nassir said, “We like to thank Mid Atlantic Oil and Gas, Metallic Group of Companies, GT&T, PPDI, our alumni group, and everyone else that made this tournament possible.”

he intermittent weather pattern is a constant threat to football in Bartica. However, the Bartica Football Association has continued with their GFF-BFA Senior League 2019, despite heavy showers cancelling play for some of the highly anticipated matchups at the Bartica Secondary School ground.

On Friday July 26 the action continued with Potaro Strikers duking it out with Wolves United. With the Strikers ranked 3rd and the Wolves 6th on the points table, the matchup was deemed an easy win for the Potaro side. Potaro Strikers won their match 2-1 to add valuable points to their tally, the main goal scorers for the Strikers were Karon Spencer and Cleavon Murray while the lone goal for the Wolves came from Shane Rahman.

In a brief statement President of the BFA Alden Marslowe when asked his expectation on the league said, “Well for now we are having the Senior League for now we will pick up the other leagues in August. We need to wrap up senior first. The rain is still a challenge but we are getting the games in. This has been our only league in many years and its winding down now. It was not without it challenges but the clubs have given full cooperation, and together we are pulling it through to a successful finish.”

The action in the Senior League will continue during the course of the week, if the weather permits.

22

guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, july 28, 2019

Campbell, Erskine hope tennis facilities improve ─ addition of floodlights would be beneficial

Timothy Jaikarran

T

he summer tennis camp sponsored by the Diamond, EBD branch of the Guyana Bank for Trade & Industry Limited (GBTI) concluded on Friday. As such Head Coach of the Diamond Tennis Club and Junior Coach Andre Erskine while pleased with the turnout is optimistic that more can be done in the future for lawn tennis.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sport Erskine said, “At the beginning of the camp the participants learnt the basics of tennis, such as fore hand, back hand serves etc.

Because of the amount of participants, we received, which is a total of 65 we were forced to start the tournament early, the five categories saw Jonathan Jordan, Raymond Paul, Shania Juman, Ronela Jordan and Renata Jordan winning in their respective categories. We targeted between the ages 5 and 55 and received a tremendous turnout which was more than what we had over the past 5 years. The main reason for this camp is to encourage children, especially when school is out to be involved in some form of sport. In terms of looking towards the future, the participants have a bright future ahead of them, the only challenge we currently face at this point and time is facility. In Guyana there is no facility with flood lights so we are forced to play in the day only, which is extremely difficult for students and those who

Head Coach of the Diamond Tennis Club, Andre Erskine

Vice President of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association, Christy Campbell

work as play would usually last between 3:30 to 6 hrs.”

Erskine also noted that the only courses that are avail-

able for use with floodlights are those that are privately owned. He also stated that it would be of great help if the sports commission is to install floodlights at the Racquet Centre as this would highly beneficial to those of working class and it would allow them to learn at their own pace.

Also echoing the same remarks was Vice president of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association Christy Campbell who said, “we are quite happy with the turnout and we know that our junior coach Andre is very competent and we are happy with the progress. With the 65 that has turnout it speaks well for tennis, we are putting a lot of input in to the development of tennis. Facility wise GBTI has been our rescue as they have allowed use to use their facilities. We are looking forward to the improvement of the Racquet Centre and National Park Courts both of which are in a deplorable state.”

In closing Campbell stated that she is hopeful that the relevant authorities step in and take the issue into consideration. She also noted that the addition of food lights would allow interested individuals to compete to their maximum producing the best game on the court.

Guyana, Windward Islands to open regional U-19 campaign today 2018/19 Regional Super50 Cup. The contest will be a scintillating clash between Guyana and the Windward Islands, with Guyana looking to clinch their sixth Regional Under-19 title in as many years.

Guyana squad reads: Ashmead Nedd (Captain), Kevlon Anderson (Vice Captain), Alex Algoo, Sachin Singh, Garfield

Benjamin, Alphius Bookie, Seon Glasgow, Adrian Hinds, Daniel Mootoo, Kevin Umroa, Joel Spooner, Qumar Torrington, Leon Swamy and Junior Sinclair. Julian Moore is the Head Coach, and Andy Ramnarine is the manager.

Windward Islands squad reads: Kimani Melius (captain) Lincoln Durand, Savio Anslem, and Malakai Xavier from

Dominica; Teddy Bishop, who played for the Grenada senior team; Seandell Regis and Ronel Williams from Grenada; Ackeem Auguste, who made his debut this year for the Saint Lucia senior team; and Simeon Gerson from Saint Lucia.

From St. Vincent & the Grenadines come Jeheil Walters, Carmalo Cain and Tijorn Pope. (Brandon Corlette)

India A ease to comfortable victory in Antigua

A

Kimani Melius

F

ive-time Cricket West Indies (CWI) One-Day Regional Under-19 defending champions, Guyana, will open their campaign against the Kimani Melius-led Windward Islands team at Arnos Vale, St Vincent and the Grenadines today, Sunday July 28, from 9:30h local time.

Led by their captain, Ashmead Nedd, the Guyana Under-19 Team appear to be a strong outfit, with eight players from the 2018 champion team included in this 2019 team. Their batting will be led by West Indies selectees Kevlon Anderson and Sachin Singh, known prolific run scorers.

Opening batsmen Junior Sinclair and Alex Algoo are each a perfect complement for the other, and each will be aiming to provide their team with a good start in this One-Day 50-over tournament.

In Singh and Anderson, the middle order looks solid, with Alphius Bookie, Garfield Benjamin and Seon Glasgow also in the fold.

Adrian Hinds, who plays for the Transport Sports Club, is expected to perform wicket-keeping duties,

while West Indies U-19 spin twins Ashmead Nedd and Kelvin Umroa are expected to perform in the middle overs.

Joel Spooner and newbie Daniel Mootoo, the rightarm off-spinner, are anticipated to offer sterling support in the spin department.

P a c e ace Qumar Torrington is expected to lead the pace attack, with support from quickie Leon Swamy.

Guyana’s first opponent, the Windward Islands, are by no means a walkover team.

Further, they are led by the highly talented Kimani Melius, the 18-year old who has already played in an ICC Kevlon Under-19 Anderson

Cricket World C u p tournament, besides three First Class matches and five List ‘A’ matches for the Windward Islands.

T h i s right-handed opening batsman has recorded a FirstClass 50 against Barbados, and has played for The West Indies ‘B’ team in the

crucial 49-run stand between skipper Hanuma Vihari and Srikar Bharat ensured that India ‘A’ cross the finish line without much fuss against the West Indies ‘A’, whom they defeated by six wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three match series.

With less than 70 runs away from victory, India ‘A’ started the day in a commanding position at 29/1.

West Indies ‘A’ needed a miracle to win in that situation. They started off well by taking the wicket of Abhimanyu Easwaran, but the partnership between Vihari and Bharat smashed their hopes of making a comeback in the match.

West Indies ‘A’ did manage to take the wickets of Bharat and Vihari, but by then it was too little and too late. Wriddhiman Saha and Shivam Dube, who took India out of trouble in the first innings, got together and fittingly steered them to victory.

The 84-run lead which India ‘A’ had in the first innings proved to be crucial, as West Shabaz Nadeem was adjudged Player of Indies ‘A’ could manage only 180 in their sec- the Match for his 10 wickets in the match ond innings, and India ‘A’ just had a meagre target of 97 to chase.

West Indies ‘A’, in the second innings, were restricted India A 2nd Innings 97-4 Total 97 (4 wkts, 30 Ov) mainly because of the brilliance Priyank Panchal c Shamarh FOW 29-1 (Priyank Panchal, of Shahbaz Nadeem. The pitch Brooks b R Cornwall 5 10.3), 33-2 (Abhimanyu Easwaran, 11.3), 82-3 was tailor-made for the left-arm Abhimanyu Easwaran c (Srikar Bharat, 24.3), 90-4 27 spinner, who brought his ‘A’ Blackwood b Chemar (Hanuma Vihari, 29.1) game to the fore and picked up Hanuma Vihari (c) c R Cornwall Bowling b Warrican

19 a stellar five-wicket haul (5/47) Miguel Cummins 7-1-35-0 Srikar Bharat c Shamarh Brooks b to put India ‘A’ on the cusp of a R Cornwall

28 Chemar Holder 10-3-33-1 victory.

Rahkeem Cornwall 12-4-18-2 The second Test of the se- Wriddhiman Saha (wk) not out 9 4 Jomel Warrican 1-0-7-1 ries starts on July 31 in Port-of- Shivam Dube not out Extras 5 (b 4, lb 0, w 0, nb 1, p 0) Spain. (cricbuzz)

SCOREBOARD

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sunDAY, july 28, 2019

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CPL Guyana games’ tickets on sale tomorrow T

ickets for the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ home matches of the 2019 Hero CPL season will go on sale from Monday, July 29, at the CPL OPCO (Guyana) Office located at Lot 238 Camp and Quamina Streets in Georgetown.

Tickets can be purchased from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.

The cost per ticket for this year’s CPL matches are as follows:

GREEN STAND - G$5,000 RED STAND - G$5,000 ORANGE - STAND

- G$3,000 * GRASS MOUND - G$2,000 There have been numerous enquiries regarding the sale of tickets for the Guyana CPL games, and fans and cricket enthusiasts are advised to make early purchases so as to avoid the rush as we get closer to Match Days.

The five home matches are as follows:

* Thursday September 5 – Guyana Amazon Warriors vs St. Lucia Stars at 6:00pm * Saturday September 7 – Guyana Amazon Warriors

vs St Kitts Patriots at 8:00pm * Sunday September 8 – Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Barbados Tridents at 5:00pm * Thursday October 3– Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Jamaica Tallawahs at 6:00pm * Friday October 4 – Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Trinbago Knight Riders at 8:00pm For further information on ticketing, please feel free to contact the CPL OPCO (Guyana) office on telephone numbers 231-5344, 5020448, or 502-0454.

Guyana Amazon Warriors’ fans gathered in the blistering sunshine to acquire their CPL tickets last year

UWI partners with CWI to host Level Charlestown Secondary bag 2 coaching programme in Guyana ExxonMobil Under-14 Tournament

3rd place before downpour … girls’ final to be contested next Saturday

A glimpse of the third-place playoff, which was won by Charlestown Secondary

By Jemima Holmes

W

hat would otherwise have been an electrifying final to close off the Girl’s division of the ExxonMobil Under 14 tournament was unceremoniously discontinued by a sudden heavy downpour of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, on Saturday afternoon. the once dry grounds of the Ministry of Education facility on Carifesta Avenue became completely inundated, and the Girls’ final had to be postponed.

However, prior to this, the male semifinal enjoyed good weather, the result of which will see Cummings Lodge Secondary facing off with Carmel Secondary for this year’s spoils.

An ever consistent Cummings Lodge team took to the field for their encounter against Queenstown Secondary, and signalled their intention to head to the final within the earliest minutes of the game.

One of this week’s standout players, Shiloh Adams, opened the scoring in the 6th minute, and the goals continued to flow thereafter. Antwan Samuels found the back of the net in the 15th, and Jitzak Martinez began his personal tally with three goals in the 16th, 18th and 22nd.

Adams returned in the 20th to push his tally to 2, resulting in a 6-0 score at the half.

But the boys from the East Coast were not finished with their opponents, Adams (33rd, 44th) and Martinez (39th) each completed a helmet trick in the second half to close off a 9-0 thumping of the Queenstown outfit.

A surprise kick from the half field by Ian

Daniel in the 33rd was golden for Carmel Secondary, as they barely edged past Dolphin Secondary to book a spot in next Saturday’s final.

Shem James gave Carmel the lead in the 10th minute, and it was not until the 33rd minute that Dolphin’s Dwayne James was able to level the scores. However, Daniel’s heroics in the same minute ensured that Carmel would take the lead again, and eventually the game at 2-1.

Meanwhile, the Girls’ third- place playoff was also contested before the rain had an opportunity to announce its presence. 2018 Champions Charlestown were able to save face, and were relentless against their opponents, Tucville Secondary.

An eager Donna Lowe began the scoring early with a goal in the 2nd, and this was followed by Carletta Ross pushing the scores to 2-0 in the 6th minute. Lowe went on to seal a hat trick with goals in the 10th and 24th, and Ross added another in the 11th for a 5-0 score at the half.

In the drizzle affected second half, Daniel Smith found the back of the net for Charlestown’s 6th goal and a win.

This week’s Outstanding Player Award was shared by the Cummings Lodge duo of Shiloh Adams and Jitzak Martinez, who each netted 4 goals in their semifinal game.

As a result of the inclement weather, the Boys’ third place playoff will kick off at 13:00hrs on Saturday August 3. The female and male finals will be contested at 14:00hrs and 15:00hrs respectively on the same day at the Ministry of Education Ground, Carifesta Avenue.

Participants engaged in a session conducted by Oba Gulston

C

ricket West Indies (CWI) continued their ground- breaking investments in cricket by partnering with the University of the West Indies (UWI) to host a Level Two coaching programme at the Guyana National Stadium (GNS) at Providence, EBD. Twenty-seven persons participated in this CWI Revamp Education programme.

Speaking exclusively with Guyana Times, CWI Project Officer Junior Mitchell explained that the Level Two coaching programme is an advanced one that builds on what the participants would have gained from the foundation and Level One stages.

“This is a more advanced skill and knowledge on how to coach, and this programme caters for those at a higher level”, Mitchell explained.

He added that this programme is more of a discovery type, in contrast to instructing the participants.

“In contrast with the Foundation and Level One coaching sessions, where tutors are required to do more pushing, this Level Two will basically build on the knowledge of participants”, Mitchell disclosed.

Meanwhile, UWI Sport Faculty Sport Management/Consultant Ryerson Bhagoo explained that this partnership with CWI is the first of its kind.

“The CWI and UWI Sport Faculty have entered into a partnership to deliver the Level Two coaching programme to the territorial boards”, Bhagoo disclosed. He further re-

vealed that the content was reviewed more than a year ago, and the UWI has further set a benchmark to make this programme a reality.

“It was a collaborative approach by both parties (UWI and CWI) lending their expertise in areas of skill acquisition. Presently, Dr Oba Gulston is conducting sessions,” Bhagoo noted.

The UWI Consultant said this partnership is one which would benefit all Caribbean coaches, because CWI and UWI are deeply involved in the Caribbean for Coaching education.

The coaches taking part in the programme include: Akshaya Persaud, Anthony D’Andrade, Travis Dowlin, Steven Jacobs, Vishal Singh, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Leon Johnson, Veerasammy Permaul, Anthony Adams, Jermaine Neblett, Ryan Hercules, Kenroy Joseph, Andre Percival, Floyd Benjamin, Nicholas Fraser, Zaheer Mohamed, Travis Harcourt, Tremayne Smartt, Bevan Butts, Ravindranauth Seeram, Garvin Nedd, Latchman Yadram, Jeremiah Harris, Quasen Nedd, Clive Grimmond, Subrina Munroe and Anil Persaud.

In addition to CWI tutors and project officers present, Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Territorial Development Officer Colin Stuart is also involved in the four-day session, which commenced on Friday July 26 and will conclude on Monday, July 29, 2019. (Brandon Corlette)

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

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2019

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CPL Guyana games' tickets on sale tomorrow UWI Charlestown partners Secondary with CWI to bag 3rd host Level place before 2 coaching programme downpour in Guyana ExxonMobil Under-14 Tournament

… girls' final to be contested next Saturday

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

July 28, 2019

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2 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 28, 2019

Feature

Bringing peace from troubled beginnings

Church of the Immaculate Conception Victoria

Emancipation Hut. The original building where the village was purchased in 1839

N

ovember 7 will mark 180 years since 83 freed Africans who were previously enslaved, bought Plantation Northbrook and renamed it Victoria, in honour of then monarch of British Guiana, Queen Victoria.

Located some 18 miles east of the capital city, Georgetown, Victoria Village is revered as the first village that the Africans purchased after becoming free from years of bondage and abject suffering. Today it rests peacefully along the East Coast of Demerara, after initially harbouring its original inhabitants, scarred from generations of slavery, who were finally free to choose their own

destinies.

According to historical folklore, the 83 persons pooled their money in a wheelbarrow and assembled at a common point, now known as the Emancipation Hut where the village was bought. The hut was converted to a butcher shop and now houses a snackette but has retained its original design from since the village purchase was made, back in November 1839.

The plantation then was bought for 30,000 guilders or $10,283.63.

A modern construction boom is now evident in the area, with many concrete buildings replacing the traditional wooden designs that once dominated the village.

Victoria Honey House

One striking example was the venerable Wilberforce Congregational Church, which had been first built in 1845 but was converted around five years agousing modern construction techniques.

In the church lies a plaque that honours the memory of William Africa Baptiste, who has been widely known as ‘Boss Africa’.

He was the first school master in Victoria and taught in the Wilberforce Church. ‘Boss Africa’ passed away at the age of 92 in 1881.

The Wilberforce Congregational Church was the first constructed in Victoria, and named after William Wilberforce,

who has been noted as an abolitionist. Residents described the village as one where religion plays an important role in providing guidance.

While the majority of inhabitants were said to be members of the Seventh Day Adventist movement, others churches maintain their presence in the village.

One such is the Church of the Immaculate Conception Victoria, which will mark its 153th Anniversary in December.

Given the historical significance of the village to Guyana’s cultural footprint, African heritage and its associated observances have been passed down throughout the many generations.

These include, “throwing box” where a group of persons pool money and alternate those who obtain a specified sum; preparation of cultural foods like conkie, metem and dry food; masquerade bands and African drumming, notably celebrated around Emancipation season.

Many persons in Victoria are farmers but have encountered several challenges throughout the years. Though there has been an issue of youth unemployment in the area, it has not broken the spirit of inhabitants who have remained as resilient as their ancestors, throughout the history of Victoria Village.

JUly 28, 2019

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Feature

‘From Cuffy to Critchlow:

Fighters for Political Emancipation’

By Hazel Woolford

O

n February 23, 1763, Cuffy led a revolution that shook this hemisphere. It undeniably contributed to the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution. Cuffy was the first African Guyanese slave to attempt to establish a Republic. He gained control of the colony and ruled Berbice for over a year.

His attempts at social cohesion or unity of the Dutch and Africans in the fledgling black republic failed. Cuffy was a high achiever. He succeeded in communicating with the Dutch, with the assistance of white sympathizers. Cuffy recognized the importance of self-sufficiency. Their farms gave the revolutionaries a sense of security. However, the Cuffy-led republic did not have a strong military base, economic stability or the international ties to defend themselves against a growing and restive Dutch enemy.

Prof Emeritus Alvin Thompson, a historian, wrote: “The slaves, attempting to shake off the thraldom of slavery, decided to beat their ploughshares into swords and exact their pound of flesh from the master class. The fact that the revolt was ultimately unsuccessful was not due simply to the ineptitude of the slaves, but to overwhelming odds they were up against.”

The quest for freedom, and political independence, was not lost on succeeding generations. The leaders of the 1823 Demerara slave rebellion continued the struggle, with limited success.

However, when the African-Guianese Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow organized the first registered trade union in the Commonwealth Caribbean, he laid the foundation for Guyana to be led to political independence on May 26, 1966.

Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow was born on December 18, 1884. He died on May 14, 1958. His father, James Nathaniel Critchlow, was a dock labourer foreman with Booker Brothers. James was a Barbadian. Critchlow’s mother, Julia Elizabeth (née Daniels), who was born in Essequibo, was a housewife.

Hubert was never married, and had two sons. He was educated at Bedford

Wesleyan primary school. At the age of 14, Hubert was apprenticed to the Demerara Foundry. While working there, he made a toy cannon for his own enjoyment. Subsequently, he went to work with a cigarette packaging firm as a cigar maker. But the low wages, intolerable working conditions, and long hours of work were very discouraging. Hubert became a bottle washer, and later a stopgap office boy with the Booker Brothers. He later became a dock worker on the Booker Brothers wharves. He also worked as a gold miner and electric car motorist.

Hubert was an athlete: a cricketer and footballer. In 1925, while in England, he was invited to become a professional cricketer, but refused the offer. Hubert represented the Malteenoes Cricket and Football Club. He was an excellent singer, and a member of the St. Barnabas Choir.

Towards the end of his life, he became a member of the Salvation Army.

On November 28, 1905, Hubert led the dockworkers of the Sanbach Parker wharf on strike in protest against the poor working conditions. By this protest, the “Father of West Indian Trade Unionization” had begum his career as a trade unionist as well as politician.

He established the British Guiana Labour Union on January 11, 1919. The British Guiana Labour Union was the first labour union to survive in the colony, and became the first registered trade union in the colony on July 21, 1922.

Early in 1924, the Union had requested equal wages for Indian labourers. The Union was strongly opposed to ‘piece – work’ on the estates, since it was stated that the managers could easily exploit the labourers. When the dock workers of Georgetown went on strike, they did not only obtain the support of the urban working class, but also the workers on the sugar estates. In fact, the strike had later escalated into a general strike.

On April 1, 1924, the Union led a demonstration through the streets. The members of the Union wore red hibiscus flowers in their hat bands as a show of solidarity with the estate workers.

They became disorderly when the ‘centipede’ or ‘apache’ gang joined the procession. They invaded private houses and business premises.

On the following day, workers from Diamond, Farm, Providence and Peter’s Hall sugar estates on the East Bank of Demerara began to march to Georgetown accompanied by brass band music.

According to Ramprashad, an engineer who gave evidence before the Ruimveldt Commission of Inquiry, the crowd comprised of all Indians in front: boys, women and young men. “They told us that they were going to see Mr. Critchlow in Georgetown,” Ramprashad said.

The members of the establishment accused the Union of incendiary behaviour.

It was suggested that the handbills, which were circulated by the Union, were emotive and contributed to the Indians’ decision to strike.

However, the Union responded that a high percentage of the Indian workers did not read nor write English, and in some cases, did not speak the language.

Secondly, the administration of the estates suggested that the Indians who did not proceed on strike were intimidated and prevented from working.

During the riots, 12 persons were killed, including two women.

The two women were not active participants in the riots. In the case of the woman Sanichari or Beeput, the evidence was inconclusive.

She was giving water to a wounded man in the gallery when she was shot. There were two bullet holes in the room in which her body was found. Her feet were also muddy “as if she had recently crossed the trench”.

Since, it was observed that she had not participated in the riot; the Stipendiary Magistrate Reid left it an open incident.

The other female, Jasoda, was inside her house when she was shot. The coroner concluded that her death was a regrettable accident of the kind that almost invariably accompanies the use of firearms with crowds and the surprising thing is that, with so many thickly populated ranges in the vicinity, there were not more deaths of this sort.

Hubert participated in active politics since 1925. He supported Theophilus Marryshow, the “Father of West Indian Federation”, in his struggle for the region to become a united political unit. He supported and campaigned in the local government elections for the candidate in the Lodge constituency.

In 1943, Governor Sir Gordon Lethem arrived in British Guiana and introduced a new Labour Ordinance. Hubert was appointed the first labour representative to the Legislative Council in 1944. Hubert was hailed as “British Guiana’s Greatest Social Reformer”. He was widely celebrated in the African-Guianese community. In 1947, Hubert and his fellow trade unionists launched the British Guiana Labour Party.

In a very real sense, Hubert was actively involved in the early political life of Forbes Burnham, Cheddi Jagan, Janet Jagan and, Ashton Chase, who had fought for the political independence of Guyana.

Hubert Critchlow delivered his last Labour Day address at the May Parade of 1957. On May 14, 1958 he died. He achieved many successes for the workers. His “don’t fight, let me negotiate” underlined his bargaining with employers. These included the establishment of the eight-hour day, higher standards of living, abolition of night work in bakeries, Rent Restrictions Ordinance, Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance, Picketing Ordinance, Non-Contributory Old Age Pension Scheme, Universal Adult Suffrage, relief for the unemployed in the days of depression, housing scheme, free breakfast for school children, and the Friendly Society Ordinance.

At a meeting held at Bourda Green on April 30, 1933, Hubert had boasted, “There is not a man that can deny that Hubert Critchlow is a pioneer of labour in this country. If you want to prove it, read the Centenary Book.”

Thousands of workers turned out to bid farewell to the pioneer of trade unionism in the Commonwealth Caribbean. The funeral procession was led by the BGLU with draped banner, and the Invaders Steel Band.

The PPP members were next to follow with red, black and yellow banners, and among them were Mrs. Janet Jagan, Minister of Labour, Health and Housing; Mr. Ram Karran, Minister of Communications and Works; and Mr. Brindley Benn, Minister of Education and Community Development. After the funeral service, the cortège passed through the streets of Georgetown.

Hazel Woolford is the registrar of the Guyana Institute of Historical Research.

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Feature

Traditional African religious practice still carried out among the Yoruba: Obatala priests in their temple in Ife (Photographer Dierk Lange, Wikipedia)

A

frican culture, also known as Black culture, refers to the cultural contributions of Africans to the culture of their country, either as part of or distinct from that country’s culture.

The distinct identity of African culture is rooted in the historical experience of the African people, including the Middle Passage.

African culture for Guyanese is rooted in West and Central Africa, understanding its identity in the anthropological sense, conscious of its origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures.

Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Africans to practice their original cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived, and over time have been modified and/or blended with European cultures and other cultures that comprise the Guyanese population.

African identity was established during the slavery period, producing a dynamic culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on Guyanese culture as a whole, as well as that of

Guyanese Africans in years gone by were known to “draw a crowd” with the traditional “Kwe Kwe” or “Keh Keh” as it is called in parts of Berbice. Most African Guyanese would gather together at the home of a bride the night before the wedding in what is said to be a massive celebration of African/ creole songs and dance. Today, there is hardly any such activity, especially in the urban parts of the country; very few are practiced in the countryside.

Another practice of the African community was the well-known Comfa. Up to the 1940s, some areas were as African as could be expected in the circumstances. Even then it could be found in church hymns and symbols. It seemed focused on the Water Mumma, or goddess of the water. There were stories of fair maid giving combs

Kwe Kwe dancing (Information and photo from guyfolkfest.org)

the wider Caribbean.

Elaborate rituals and ceremonies were a significant part of African ancestral culture. Many West African societies traditionally believed that spirits dwelled

in their surrounding nature. From this disposition, they treated their environment with mindful care.

They also generally believed that a spiritual life source existed after death, and that ancestors in this spiritual realm could then mediate between the supreme creator and the living.

Honour and prayer were displayed to these "ancient ones," the spirits of those past. West Africans also believed in spiritual possession.

In the beginning of the 18th century, Christianity began to spread across North Africa; this shift in religion began displacing traditional African spiritual practices. The enslaved Africans brought this complex religious dynamic within their culture to the Caribbean. This fusion of traditional African beliefs with Christianity provided a common bond for those practicing reli-

Stages of the Kwe Kwe Celebration A Ganda is opened by sprinkling rum on the floor and around the doors and windows, inviting the spirits of the dead to join in the celebration.

The Greeting Song “Good Night Ay” is raised by the Tutor or Caller.

That is followed by the General Invitation “Come to My Kwe Kwe” The Buying of the bridegroom, the advice on matrimonial matters, the demand for a demonstration of the couple’s Sexual skill “Show Me Yuh Science” Ends with the Departure Song “Las Wan, Las Wan gion in Africa and the Caribbean.

After emancipation, unique African traditions continued to flourish, as distinctive traditions or radical innovations in music, art, literature, religion, cuisine, and other fields. 20th-century sociologists, such as Gunnar Myrdal, believed that Africans had lost most cultural ties with Africa.

But, anthropological field research

by Melville Herskovits and others demonstrated that there has been a continuum of African traditions among Africans of the diaspora.

The greatest influence of African cultural practices on European culture is found below the Mason-Dixon Line in the American South.

For many years African culture developed separately from other cultures, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in the Caribbean, as well as African slave descendants' desire to create and maintain their own traditions.

to earth men for their enrichment and of the men being found with neck mysteriously broken when the union went sour. The full moon and black water were important in the timing and placing of ceremonies.

One thing leads to another, and Comfa ceremonial often leads to fortune telling. The star of the ceremony is the one who will "come through" and after that be recognised and authorised to ‘read’ a person's future, somewhat like an oracle.

It must have been in the inherited tradition. The practice runs far beyond a race community, just as ‘readers’ of other groups attract African patrons. So it is that healers, readers, workmen and women of one race attract a following that transcends race.

But as African Guyanese become more metropolitan, such things are little openly spoken of or encouraged.

guyanatimesgy.com

JUly 28, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

By Kizzy Coleman

E

mancipation day is observed annually in Guyana to memorialise the ending of slavery of the African people and celebrate their freedom from servitude.

August, 1, 1838 was one of the most important days of the country’s history: it brought an end to a European institution deliberately designed to acquire wealth from the “sweat” of Africans through forced labour.

But on August 1. 1838, the people forced into enslavement were finally freed from anguish and poverty and were free to live – to really live. However, being free did not mean Afro-Guyanese forgot the struggles that they endured to acquire that freedom; as such, monuments were erected to stand as reminder of what was fought for.

A monument is a structure erected to commemorate a historical event in history or significant figures that contributed greatly to some major historic event.

There are a number of emancipation monuments erected throughout Guyana over the years, to remind of how grateful Guyanese should be towards those who came before us and fought for what we are able to realise today.

One of these is the 1823 Emancipation Monument, designed and built by US-based Guyanese sculptor Ivor Thom.

Located along the Seawall Road opposite the Guyana Defence Force’s Camp Ayanganna headquarters, it was unveiled August 5, 2013 to remind Guyanese of the largest revolt in its history,

Damon Monument

which took place exclusively on the East Coast of Demerara.

The 1823 revolt is of historic significance because it was the largest slave revolt in Guyana’s history, with over 10,000 slaves being involved. It is said that it also helped to hasten the decision for emancipation.

Occupying the southern side of the grand base of the monument is the figure of a woman armed with a machete. There is no fear in her piercing eyes but rather a striking look of determination. On the opposite side is the equally fearless figure of a man holding a musket in one hand, demanding his people’s freedom.

The 1834 Monument or the Damon Monument immortalises Damon, an enslaved African

who was executed for his role in the protest against a new system of apprenticeship on August 8, 1834.

He had led a group on a strike, declaring their decision to work only half day, as opposed to all day, which they were doing for many years. Acting as the leader of the people, Damon hoisted a flag in the Trinity churchyard at La Belle Alliance. For his role in the protest, this hero was hanged.

The Damon Monument, erected in 1988, honours his existence and the role he played, and serves to remind Essequibians of the struggles of their forefathers in that region. This monument, which was financed through government funding, was also de-

signed and built by Ivor Thom.

This monument of Damon is a giant chair, sculpted of bronze, weighs three tons and stands nine feet tall. It rests on a con-

crete plinth. It was unveiled at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast on the 150th anniversary of emancipation celebrations on July 31, 1988 at Damon Park.

The Beterverwagting Monument is a striking structure showing a hand with a broken chain, clutching a book which represents the registered title to the property in which the village was founded.

Beterverwagting, called ‘BV’, was bought by 62 slaves for the sum of $52,000 from Baron Van Gronigen. This community now houses almost 20,000 people and measures a half-mile by eight miles in extent.

The village of Victoria was also bought by slaves, 83 of them who pooled their finances. To mark the significance of the purchase, the Victoria Emancipation Monument was erected.

The clay brick monument still stands in the Victoria Culture Centre Yard. It continues to pay tribute to those who purchased the plantation. It is now more than 170 years since the village was purchased by the slaves.

There are a number of other monuments that were erected to memorialize this time in Guyana’s history. These include monuments such as the Ann’s Grove and Two Friends Centenary Monument, the Golden Grove Centenary Monument, the Lichfield Centenary Monument, Nabaclis 150th Anniversary Monument, the Friendship Emancipation Monument, the Kildonan Independence Monument and the Plaisance Independence Monument, and the most well-known, the 1763 “Cuffy” Monument.

6 Sunday Times Magazine

JUly 28, 2019

Feature

P

roverbs are an integral part of African culture, notes the BBC. Passed on from generation to generation for centuries, they are still in wide use today and are very much part of everyday speech.

Proverbs are used to illustrate ideas, reinforce arguments and deliver messages of inspiration, consolation, celebration and advice.

The great Nigerian author Chinua Achebe once wrote: "Proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten."

Here are a few to ponder on: “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable” (Kenya)

“Wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight” (Ashanti) “Beautiful words don’t put porridge in the pot” - (Botswana) “Rain beats a leopard’s skin but doesn’t wash off the

spots” - (Ashanti) “Don’t sweep another’s house whilst your own is dirty” - (Kenya) “You can wash the basket in the stream but you can't carry water home with it” (Nigeria) “A skunk does not smell itself” - (Xhosa/Ndebele) “Make some money but don’t let money make you” (Tanzania) “If you lift yourself up, that's better than if others lift you up” - (Bantu) “Someone with more firewood than you also has more ash than you” (Kenya)

“Sheep wander together but have different prices” (Ivory Coast) “Never mind if your nose is ugly as long as you can breathe through it” - (Zaire) “A man who uses force is afraid of reasoning” (Kenya) “Wealth, if you use it, comes to an end; learning, if you use it, increases” (Swahili) “Marriage is like a groundnut; you have to crack it to see what is inside” - (Ghana) “War has no eyes” - (Swahili) “A single bracelet does not jingle” (Congo) “ B a d friends will prevent you from having good friends” - (Gabon) “By labour comes wealth” - (Yoruba) “One cannot both feast and become rich” - (Ashanti) “If there is character, ugliness becomes beauty; if there is none, beauty becomes ugliness” - (Nigeria)

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Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

Battle at Bachelor's Adventure. An artist rendition of the Demerara Slave Rebellion 1823 (Guyana Gallery photo)

still be forced to work in their detested old posts.

But this condition was part of the Emancipation Act - an Apprenticeship period of six years - where the freed slaves were compelled by law to serve their old masters just as they had done when they were slaves. The masters were required to provide moral and religious education for the ex-slaves, but the planters' hostility to the Emancipation Act as a whole really meant that they would treat this six year period as an extension of slavery, even though the working hours were greatly reduced to seven and a half hours a day instead of the nine and ten hours they formerly demanded of each slave.

There was disorder on the East Coast of Demerara

By Odeen Ishmael

T

he campaign for the end of slavery gained momentum in Great Britain and it was expected that slaves in the British colonies would soon be set free. Finally, on August 28, 1833, the House of Commons in England approved the Emancipation Bill which was earlier introduced by Thomas Buxton.

The final Act, which would come into effect on August 1, 1834, stipulated that immediate and effective measures would be taken for the abolition of slavery throughout the British colonies; all children born under the passing of the Act, or under the age of six shall be free; all slaves over the age of six years would have to serve an apprenticeship of six years in the case of field slaves, and four years in the case of others; apprentices should work for not more than 45 hours per week without pay, and any additional hours for pay; apprentices should be provided with food and clothing by the plantation owner; funds should be provided for an efficient stipendiary magistracy, and for the moral and religious education of the ex-slaves; and compensation in the form of a free gift of 20 million English pounds should be paid to the slave owners for the loss of their slaves.

The Emancipation Act successfully ended one phase of a long and bitter struggle against a system which transformed people into beasts of labour with absolutely no human rights.

Actually, slave society regarded the African slaves as mules and even referred to the offspring of a European and an African female slave as a "mulatto", meaning literally a "young mule".

As one phase of Guyana's colonial society came to an end, an equally difficult period began. The slaves were told of their forthcoming freedom and waited with ea-

Execution of rebel slaves at the Parade Ground in the aftermath of the East Coast Demerara Slave Uprising in 1823 (From print by Joshua Bryant, 1823)

ger joy to throw off their cruel chains and, in some cases, even more cruel masters.

It will be recalled that the East Coast Demerara rebellion of 1823, led by Quamina and implicating Rev. John Smith, was largely fuelled by the feeling that the planters were deliberately withholding news of the impending freedom of the slaves.

In 1833, however, Governor James Carmichael Smyth did not make the same mistakes as John Murray did ten years earlier when he failed to make public a circular from Britain proposing certain improvements in the conditions under which slaves lived and worked in British colonies. It was this document which the slaves mistook at that time for the Emancipation Order, a mistake which precipitated the slave revolt of 1823.

Governor Smyth, however, had informed the slaves of the freedom date fixed by Britain even before that Act was published in the colony on October 19, 1833.

However, he did not explain clearly to the slaves the implications of the apprenticeship system which was to succeed slavery.

There were some planters who were unwilling to comply with the Emancipation

Act. Some Berbice planters announced their intention to remove their slaves immediately to Nickerie in Suriname before Emancipation Act came into force so as to avoid its effect. Suriname did not abolish slavery until 1863.

It must be noted that attached to the Emancipation Act was the condition which bound most of the freed slaves to their former masters until 1840 and which required them to work on the masters' estates seven and a half hours each day for six days each week of the year.

On news of their emancipation, the slaves were either too overjoyed to note this binding condition, or did not fully understand what it meant.

Their masters, who were generally bitter about it, and in opposition to emancipation, avoided all discussions and preparations for the changed status of the slaves on August 1, 1834.

The long-awaited day, Friday, August 1, 1834, finally arrived. It was a public holiday and many Africans who were now Christians attended religious services. Others danced in their homes, in their yards and in the streets and the merry-making continued late into the night.

But a rude shock await-

ed all the ex-slaves early the following morning when they were ordered back to the fields and other workplaces.

This caused great confusion since they failed to understand how they could have gained their freedom and

and grumbling throughout the colony in this first week of August. The Governor appeared personally in various places to address workers and explain the obligations which now fell upon them.

Rev John Smith

The planters called for marital law, no doubt hoping to by-pass the Emancipation Act altogether. But Governor Carmichael Smyth refused this request.

Confusion and disorder broke out on the West Coast Demerara and on August 8 four women were sentenced to the treadmill for riotous behaviour and refusal to work.

Five men were sentenced to two days each on the treadmill, and thirty-nine strokes with the cat-o'nine-tails.

The Governor visited West Coast Demerara and brought some amount of order and understanding to the workers.

With the end of slavery, the plantation owners in Guyana received very high compensation from the British Government for the "loss" of their slaves. For each slave they received an average of 52 English pounds, which was the highest amount paid in any British colony. For a headman or driver, slave owners received as much as 230 English pounds. On the other hand, the ex-slaves, who had laboured to produce wealth for the planters and the colonial Government, received not a single cent in compensation. (From “The Guyana Story� by Odeen Ishmael)

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Sunday Times Magazine

9

Feature

A

Mandazi

frican cuisine is as diverse as the hundreds of different cultures and groups that inhabit the continent. This diversity is reflected in the many local culinary traditions in terms of choice of ingredients, style of preparation and cooking techniques.

Many of the dishes are also affected by the subsistence nature of living in many parts of the continent – you find farmers, herdsmen and fishermen everywhere. The crops they grow or the animals they keep thus affect the popular dishes in their regions.

The dishes have also been influenced by foreign visitors and invaders.

The food of North Africa has been heavily influence by the Phoenicians of the 1st century who brought sausages, followed by the Carthaginians who introduced wheat, then the nomadic Berbers adapted the semolina from wheat into couscous – a main staple diet in the region.

From the 7th century onwards, the Arabs introduced a variety of spices, like saffron, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and, from the New World, they got chillies, tomatoes and potatoes.

In East Africa, the Arab influence on cuisine is evident. Settling on the coast over 1,000 years ago, the Arabs sailed in with rice and spices, particularly no-

Jollof rice served with fried plantain (dodo) and chicken

ticeable in the Swahili foods of the coastal regions. They also brought lemons, oranges and domestic pigs from China and India.

Next came the British Empire and with it Indian workers who brought their foods with them, such as spiced vegetable curries,

lentil soups, chapattis and pickles. The British themselves also influence food by bringing in new breeds of sheep, cattle and goats along with high-quality coffee.

As we go more inland, even though cattle, sheep and goats are widespread in eastern Africa, they are

and Christian faiths have greatly impacted the food.

There is no pork for starters, and as for Coptic Christians they adapted to the meatfree fast days with an increased use of pulses, lentils and chickpeas.

The main traditional dishes in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine are very similar and both are dominated by tsebhis (stews) served with injera - a flatbread made from teff, wheat, or sorghum, also found in Somalia. In Somalia an interesting addition to their cuisine is pasta, which arrived with the Italians in the 1880s, and sweet dishes that came with the Arabs and Yemenis.

Just before the British and the Indians, the Portuguese came to Africa and introduced techniques of roasting and marinating. This is evident in East Africa with the nyama choma (roast meat) culture, but

peanut, and Chile pepper plants arrived along with the slave trade during the early 16th century.

After careful consideration of the various regions and cross-boundary recipes here are some of the top most popular dishes on the continent, according to mgafrica.com:

Jollof rice - The most popular rice dish in West Africa, the most common basic ingredients are rice, tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, salt and red pepper.

Chermoula - A mixture of herbs, oil, lemon juice, pickled lemons, garlic, cumin, and salt very popular in North Africa.

North Africa, named after the type of earthenware pot in which it is cooked.

Fried plantain or Dodo - Found anywhere that plantains grow, this is a staple on the continent and served with meats dishes.

Suya - A spicy shish kebab-like skewered meat delicacy in West Africa.

Fufu. You pull off a piece then dip it into a sauce or soup

Garri. It is often eaten with richly made soups and stews, with beef, stockfish or mutton

often regarded as a form of currency and a store of wealth by pastoralists. So while they may be used for dairy products, they are not often used for their meat.

Many people in the eastern region therefore rely heavily on mainly on grains, beans and vegetables, with fish providing protein in lake and river regions.

One of the most widespread staples in eastern Africa, and in southern Africa too, is ground maize. Maize flour is cooked with water to form a stiff porridge or dough - called ugali, nsima or sadza, depending where you are.

It may be neighbouring East Africa but the food in the Horn of Africa is very different. Here the Islamic

also in Southern Africa.

Southern Africa has the most varied cuisines of any region on the continent, this is a result of the blend of cultures – the indigenous African tribal societies, European and Asian populations. Most of the African ethnic communities have diets that include meat and milk, some vegetables and grains.

The Portuguese influence saw the introduction of piri-piri (chilli seasoning) into the region, and the European settlers brought with them curing techniques that produced the infamous cured meat – biltong.

West and Central Africa were far less influenced by the European settlers. Centuries before the Europeans arrived, West African people were trading with the Arab world in spices and thus typically West African food is filled with hot spices.

With the least contact with the “outside world”, Central African food remains the closest to traditional ingredients and cooking techniques. The only notable adoption of cassava,

Biltong - Cured meat exported all over Africa, originally from South Africa.

Fufu - Very popular in West Africa, it is made by boiling starchy food crops like cassava, yams or cooking plantains and then pounding them into a doughlike consistency.

Mandazi - A form of fried bread, taken in sweet or savoury form, popular in East Africa.

Injera - A sourdough-risen flatbread with a unique, slightly spongy texture, popular in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

Nyama Choma/ Braaivleis /Mechoui Many different names and cooking techniques, but meat roast over charcoal is popular all over the continent.

Couscous - Made from steamed and dried durum wheat, couscous has become a popular alternative to rice and pasta in North Africa.

Garri - A popular West African starchy carbohydrate made from pounded and fermented cassava tubers.

Tagine - A historically Berber slow-cooked meat, chicken or fish dish from

Mafé - A famous and popular West African stew with meat simmered in a sauce thickened with ground peanuts.

Sadza/Nsima/Ugali - Cooked with water to a porridge or dough-like consistency, this is the most common staple starch in East Africa, the Great Lakes region and southern Africa.

Piri Piri Sauce - A hot and fragrant sauce originally from Portugal but widely adopted in southern African cooking.

How many dishes do you recognise?

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Sunday Times Magazine 11

Jollof Rice

Ghanaian Ingredients • 2 pounds plantain • 1 pound cassava • 1 pound yam • Salt (to taste) • Freshly ground black pepper

(to taste) • 1 teaspoon olive oil Instructions Peel, wash and boil vegetables until tender. Pound yam and cassava together then combine with plantain and pound until all ingredients are combined. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. Form into balls and serve with stews or pepperpot.

Ingredients: • 1 lb cornmeal • 1 lb pumpkin • 1 oz lard • 1 tsp black pepper • ½ pt water • 1 grated coconut • 1 oz margarine • 2 tsp salt • Sugar to taste • 4 oz dried fruit • Twine • Banana leaves

Preparation: 1. Grate the coconut and pumpkin, and add all the other ingredients. Stir in enough water to make a mixture of dropping consistency.

2. Wipe the banana leaves clean and heat them to make them pliable. Cut them into 8 x 8 inch squares, and wrap around lumps of filling, tying the bundles with the twine.

3. Place in boiling water and boil for about 20 – 30 minutes. If banana leaves are not available, mixture may be steamed in a greased bowl instead.

Maafe (West African Peanut Soup)

Ingredients • 1/4 cup oil or more • 1-2 pounds beef or chicken • 1 teaspoons smoked paprika • 1/2 teaspoons white pepper • 2 fresh tomatoes chopped • 1 medium onion chopped divided • 3-4 garlic cloves • 2-3 tablespoons parsley • 1/2 cup ground peanuts or

Peanut butter paste • 3-4 cups broth chicken or beef • 1 or more pound vegetable

potatoes, carrots • 1 whole scotch bonnet or habanera pepper • Salt and pepper to taste Instructions 1. In a large saucepan, season meat with salt, and onions and boil until tender, depending on the choice of meat. You should have at least 3-4 cups of stock. Remove the meat and reserve stock (broth) 2. In a large pot, heat oil over low heat, then add the beef/chicken and sauté stirring, frequently, any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Remove and set aside 3. Blend tomatoes, and 1/2 onion, garlic, and parsley. Add half of the onions to the pan, sauté for about a minute

and pour the mixture in the saucepan; add paprika, white pepper and sauté for about 7-10minutes. Stirring frequently to prevent burns, add stock as needed.

4. Then add potatoes, Carrots, peanut butter paste, scotch bonnet pepper and about 3 cups broth. Continue cooking until potatoes tender- about 10 or more depending on vegetables. Throw in the browned beef, Adjust the soup thickness with water if necessary.

5. If not, return your soup to the heat and let simmer to desired thickness

Ingredients • 2 large yellow onions, roughly

chopped • 1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus

2 tablespoons, divided (80 mL) • 14 oz diced tomato, 2 cans (395 g) • 6 oz tomato paste, 1 can (170 g) • 1 habanero pepper • 2 teaspoons curry powder • 1 teaspoon garlic powder • 1 teaspoon ground ginger • 1/2 teaspoon mixed dried herbs • 3 chicken bouillon cubes, crushed • 2 1/2 cups long grain rice, rinsed (500 g) • 1 cup frozen mixed vegetable (150 g) • 1 1/2 cups water (360 mL) Preparation 1. Add onions and 2 tablespoons of oil to a blender and pulse until smooth.

Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and habanero pepper to the blender, and pulse until smooth. Transfer to a separate medium bowl.

2. Heat the remaining 1/3 cup (80 ml) of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onion puree and cook until the water has cooked out and the puree is starting to brown, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the tomato puree and add the curry powder, garlic powder, ginger, dried herbs, and crushed bouillon cubes. Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the stew has reduced by half and is deep red in color.

4. Add the rice, mixed vegetables, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with foil and a lid. Simmer for another 30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through and the liquid is absorbed.

Ingredients • 1 chicken cut into serving pieces • 3-4 large onions, sliced • 2 tablespoons of Dijon-style mustard • 1 head of garlic (optional) • 1/2 cup of red vinegar • 2 fresh chili peppers • 1 teaspoon of dried chili peppers • 1 tablespoon of black pepper (freshly ground) • 3 Maggi cubes • 1 bay leaf • 2 lemons or limes • Salt to taste • Cooking oil

COOKING METHOD 1. Wash the chicken pieces and dry them with a clean cloth. Now score the chicken and set aside for later.

2. In a large cooking-pot, mix the onions, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, bay leaf, mustard, vinegar and chilies. Now add the chicken pieces, stirring in well - preferably by hand.

3. Let the chicken marinate for at least one hour. (For the best results you can keep the chicken marinating in the fridge for several hours or overnight). Before any cooking, remove the chicken pieces from the

marinade; and, grill, over charcoal, until done on

both sides.

4. Remove the onions from the marinade; sauté gently in a little oil until soft and brown. Add the marinade and cook for five minutes. To this, add the chicken pieces and half a cup of water. Cover with lid and simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until the chicken is properly cooked; adding the Maggi cubes, salt and pepper to taste. Serve with plain boiled rice (preferably Basmati Rice).

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Puzzles

88 Ski slope bump 89 -- Marie of "Lovergirl" 90 Prefix for dynamic 91 Dive 93 Break a promise 94 Possesses 95 "Surprise Symphony" composer 96 At the drop of -- -97 Retainer 98 Checkers side 99 Hindu attire 100 Was sorry about 101 First-rate (hyph.)

103 Actress -- Diaz 106 Heat conduit 107 Young fella 108 Change position 111 Model 112 Wooden trunk 113 Faked out the goalie 115 Give a wolfish look 116 Of the stars 117 Berlin single 118 Sporting spear 120 Poetic adverb 121 A night in Paris 122 Where to sign (2 wds.)

125 Paddles 127 Pinch of salt 128 Fit to be tied 129 Turn inside out 130 Show clearly 131 Mont. neighbor 132 Loafs around 133 Fresco base 134 Thicker, as fog

DOWN 1 Composer -- Mahler 2 Minerva, in Greece 3 Petting may go on there (2 wds.)

4 MPG monitor 5 Unwelcome mail 6 Dromedary pit stops 7 Breaks loose 8 Noisy gulps 9 Dillydally 10 To be, to Balzac 11 Spanish monarch 12 Amos -- Stagg 13 Clumsy 14 Memorial Day race 15 No, to a lassie 16 Lady's past 17 Fly in Florence 18 Hazards a guess

ACROSS 1 Summerhouse 7 Organic compound 12 Curing cheese 17 Sotto -21 Idyllic world 22 Metamorphic rock 23 Pineapple island 24 Unfenced 25 Sandbars 26 Pungent spice (2 wds.)

28 Hum cheerfully 29 Part of AT&T 30 Spy novelist (2 wds.)

32 Pitch-dark 33 Not as stout 35 Dwarf buffalo 37 Oversentimental 38 Misty 39 -- hangs a tale 40 Fuzzy 42 Lo- -- graphics 43 Pedro's wine 44 Tawny predator 45 Ice huts 47 Rome's fiddler 48 Bronze or pewter 49 Rocket trajectory 51 Abner's partner 52 Say aye or nay 53 Burn with steam 54 Audit pros 58 Starfleet weapon 60 Goose eggs 61 -- de plume 62 S.A.'s Gran -63 Vexes 64 Hatha- -65 "Alice" waitress 66 Palms off 67 "Bus Stop" author 68 Kinks' hit tune 69 Stone marker 71 DEA agents 72 Mauna -73 Violent cold wind 74 Derrick or crane 75 Clutched 76 Freud topic 79 Geneva's river 81 Funny -- Radner 82 Veneer wood 83 -- B'rith 84 Persuade 86 Write bad checks 87 Frolic

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- PULSATE (PULSATE: PUL-sate: To throb or move rhythmically; vibrate.)

Average mark 47 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 65 or more words in PULSATE?

TODAY'S WORD -- PULSATE pale palest past paste pastel pate pause peal peat pelt pest petal plat plate plea pleat plus

pule pulse upset lapse lase last late leap leapt least lest letup lues lust lute sale salt

salute sate saute seal seat sepal sept setup slap slat slate slept slue spat spate spelt splat

stale staple steal stela step suet apse tale talus tape taps taupe teal east

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of "s," such as "bats" or "dies," are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a "d" or an "s" may not be used. For example, if "bake" is used, "baked" or "bakes" are not allowed, but "bake" and "baking" are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

19 20 27 31 34 36 38 39 41 43 44 46 47 48 49 50 52 53 54 55 56 57 59 60 62

"People" people Contest mail-in "-- Man" (Billy Joel song) Bounce back --, meeny, miney...

Summer mo.

Brings on board Works the land Cherbourg shes Kill, politically Andes ruminant Not their Mrs. Charles Squirrel snack One of 12 Jungle charger First-magnitude star Hagar's pooch In vogue Extinct birds (2 wds.)

Fake it Brillo rival Have a look Defender of Dreyfus Firewood quantity

64 Nostalgic time 65 Passport companion 66 "Columbo" star 68 Only 69 Merry king of rhyme 70 Relief 71 First-quarter tide 73 -- Raton, Fla. 74 Discover (2 wds.)

75 Fiber plant 77 Dashboard dial 78 Fixed the squeak 80 Attila's subjects 81 Braces for trouble 82 Whistle sound 83 -- mot 84 How was -- -- know?

85 Futuristic 86 Type data (2 wds.)

87 Kind of hog 88 Shakes hands 90 Burr or Spelling 91 Soy or Bearnaise 92 Make keener 93 Ten-percenter

95 Hastings loser (2 wds.)

97 Friend of Che 99 Nintendo rival 100 Got crowned 101 Likes (2 wds.)

102 Eureka!

103 Like jeans 104 Easel buyer 105 Graham of dance 106 Gift recipients 107 Pry bars 109 Raw wool 110 More succinct 111 Bamboo eater 112 Please, in Vienna 113 "Great" dogs 114 Minced 117 Term paper abbr. (2 wds.)

118 Swing music 119 Pew locale 123 California fort 124 Lower limb 126 Famous author See Solution on page 14

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Sunday Times Magazine 13

G

allery Go is a new app from Google designed to let people with unreliable internet connections organize and edit their photos.

Like Google’s regular Photos app it uses machine learning to organize your photos. You can also use it to auto-enhance your pictures and apply filters. The difference is that Gallery Go is designed to work offline, and takes up just 10MB of space on your phone.

Gallery Go is just the latest lightweight version of an app designed for developing markets like Nigeria, where Google announced the new app. Facebook has produced “Lite” versions of the main Facebook app, as well as Messenger and Instagram, and Twitter has done the same with the Twitter Lite app. Google has even done something similar on the OS level with Android Go, a lightweight operating system based on Android that’s designed to run on inexpensive smartphones lacking powerful processing.

Google’s new photos app is available now to download in the Play Store. To run it, you’ll need a device that’s running Android 8.1 Oreo or higher. (The Verge)

S

F

ujifilm is getting into surveillance cameras with the SX800, a long-range surveillance camera with a 40x optical zoom that’s designed to offer security at international borders and large commercial facilities. It’s got a built-in lens with a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 20mm to 800mm, and an additional digital zoom of 1.25x. Combined, Fujifilm says this gives the SX800 a total equivalent focal length of 1000mm, which is enough to focus on a car’s license plate from 1km or roughly 0.6 miles away.

We’ve seen consumer cameras with support for more zoom than this in the past (Nikon’s P1000 has a 125x, 3000mm-equivalent zoom lens for example), but the difference here is that Fujifilm has equipped its commercial security camera with a number of features that will make its footage more usable when filming at these extreme distances. It’s got a fast autofocus that can focus in as quickly as 0.3 seconds, optical image stabilization, and an image processing engine that’s able to reduce the effects of fog and heathaze. The camera also supports ISO levels of up to 819200 for filming at night.

For an idea of what this amount of zoom is capable of, a recent Fujifilm promotional video shows how the camera is able to just about read a handheld sign from 2.2km (around 1.36 miles) away. Another promotional image shows how the camera can focus on a car’s license plate at a distance of 1km (around 0.6 miles).

Fujifilm suggests a couple of different places where a camera with the zoom capabilities of the SX800 might be useful, including international borders, forest areas, or public facilities like airports, harbors, or highways. From a cost perspective, this makes total sense for the facilities themselves since they’ll be able to cover a larger area with a smaller number of cameras. (The Verge)

T

he Pokémon Company is expanding its selection of mobile games with a new title called Pokémon Rumble Rush. Like past Pokémon Rumble games, it’s a simplified version of even the easiest pokémon battle: you tap or hold the phone’s screen to initiate attacks in linear dungeons that typically clock in under a minute. It’s a low-stakes beat ‘em up that’s as forgettable as it is easy to play.

Rumble Rush was soft-launched on Android back in May, but this release marks its arrival on iOS. It’s a straightforward premise. You control a single pokémon as it forges ahead through a straight-shot level.

Defeating waves of oncoming hostile pokémon will net you rewards like a capture or loot.

With each new pokémon, you have a better chance of increasing your collection or obtaining a stronger fighter to then take into battle.

To progress through the game, you’ll need to fight Super Bosses, aka juiced-up versions of normal levels that require you to complete a task first.

Sometimes that means catching specific pokémon; sometimes it means reaching a certain threshold of attack power.

You’ll have to beat each boss within a time limit, but any frantic amount of tapping should get you there.

That’s true of much of Pokémon Rumble Rush, which

does little to challenge players. Because the world is gated off, it’s impossible to move into reasonable challenges.

The only difficulty of the game is dealing with the monotony of the whole experience. You can customize your pokémon with different items to boost things like its health or fighting power, and specific element types will do better against different foes. But there is no unity found in build-

nap continues to rebound, adding 13 million daily active users to Snapchat this past quarter. Those added users bring the total number of people using the app around the world every day to 203 million, which is the highest it’s been since Snap went public. The growth indicates that Snap’s investment in product features for a more global user base is paying off and that its luck in creating viral face filters is helping it grow, too. Snap estimates that between 7 and 9 million users joined because of the face filters with the remaining 4 to 6 million users being attributable to the company’s broader product focuses.

Last quarter, it released an updated, optimized version of its Android app after years of Android users complaining about a lagged experience and poor quality. Given that most of the world’s population uses an Android device, the redesigned app clearly makes it appealing and functional for more people. CEO Evan Spiegel said in prepared remarks that the change encouraged Snapchatters using the Android app to send 7 percent more snaps compared to the old version. Beyond the app release, however, the company is also taking other steps to ensure that people outside of Englishspeaking countries are welcomed on the app.

Spiegel says the company is partnering with global telecommunication companies that serve more than a billion people so that it can manage data costs. He didn’t elaborate in his prepared remarks how this arrangement works or with which companies it’s working. But people in developing countries often have more data usage restrictions, so ensuring that data costs are kept low is essential for companies looking to expand abroad. In 2019, the company also launched in eight new languages that are spoken by more than 750 million people globally, including Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Vietnamese, and Urdu. Given that most of the languages are spoken in the Indian market, it’s likely safe to assume that Snap sees India as a place for growth.

Apart from its global efforts, Snap had a bit of viral magic with the launch of a filter that made users appear like the opposite gender. It also made them look like babies, and celebrities like Kim Kardashian West shared the filter results on Instagram. Even still, people had to download or at least reopen Snapchat to try the filter, regardless of where they posted the results. Snap says it’s “cautiously optimistic” that the growth trend in user engagement will continue into the next year. (The Verge)

ing a strong, beloved team or even decorating where your pokémon hang out. They wander listlessly across the screen, seemingly bored unless you give them a tap for a little heart.

Pokémon Rumble Rush hardly feels up to the caliber of some of the series’s other mobile games. Where titles like Pokémon Quest have playful awareness and an aesthetic charm, Rumble has none. Its rubbery pokémon look like discount balloons or like they’re borrowed from the Sonic 3D Blast era. Other games like Magikarp Jump offer an emotional connection to even the least beloved of creatures. Rumble Rush seems to sprinkle in the original cast of Pokémon sporadically.

For a growing series like Pokémon, which has proved that it can take small experiences and make them spectacular, Pokémon Rumble Rush is a lackluster addition. It’s a quick fix for bored fingers during a commute with little else to offer. The drama of Twitter’s daily meltdowns seems preferable. (The Verge)

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Bollywood/Hollywood

J

uhi Chawla is currently living out of a suitcase travelling between Mumbai and the UK, where both her kids Jahnavi and Arjun are studying. She also believes in devoting her time to organic farming and work towards spreading awareness on environmental causes.

However, on the acting front the actor seems to be yearning to play meatier parts and is awaiting substantial film offers. Even though she is happy to be associated with a film like Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, she is in the lookout for stronger roles.

Usually after crossing an age milestone, heroines are unfortunately written off while their male counterparts continue to romance younger actresses; Juhi makes a valid point doing one film in a year or two.

She says, “Films still come to me though few and far between, but not necessarily satisfying.

There’s a sifting process. There are some which aren’t worth considering at all. Not to put anyone down, but some who come really don’t have a proper project or a complete story. I’ve worked in smaller films and in big projects, too. I was lucky to get ELKDTAL...

But Chalk N Duster was a new producer, a relatively seasoned director but not a known name and we managed to make a good film.”

She further adds, “I loved the script so much, I went with them to Shabanaji saying ‘Can we do this together’. I’ve done that too.

But I’m not very good at…well I feel very awkward picking up the phone and saying I want to work. Though I wouldn’t say I’m eager on quantity, but I’d love some amazing quality work to come and then have it win.”

(Hindustan Times)

A

ctor Salman Khan in a wide-ranging interview has said that he has never been approached for marriage. The actor, famous for being a bachelor, had previously claimed to be a virgin as well.

Speaking to Filmfare, Salman said that despite a scene in his recent film Bharat--in which Katrina Kaif’s character proposes to him--it hasn’t happened in real life. “No, so far it’s never happened,” he said.

“Because I don’t do candle light dinners. I can’t see what I’m eating in candle light. But I do feel sad that I haven’t been approached yet.”

The actor has long been rumoured to be dating singer Iulia Vantur, who is often spotted in public with him. He was previously in a relationship with Katrina. He was engaged to actor Sangeeta Bijlani. He said in the same interview that Katrina was his first choice for Bharat, but that actor Priyanka Chopra contacted the film’s director Ali Abbas Zafar, and co-producer and Salman’s sister Alvira Agnihotri, to be a part

of the film. But ‘five days before’ the shooting was supposed to begin, Priyanka backed out, because she was going to get married to American singer Nick Jonas.

Salman repeated a story he’s told earlier, and said, “Priyanka took this call five days before our schedule was to start. She came home and told me she was getting married.

I said we’d adjust those three-four days. She said she had to get the clothes ready. I said the designer would take care of that. Then she said she doesn’t know the actual dates.”

In the end, Salman said, “She got what she wanted. Katrina got what she wanted.”

Bharat garnered mixed reviews, but in typical Salman fashion, made over Rs 300 crore at the worldwide box office. The actor will next be seen in Dabanng 3, a prequel to his hit action series. (Hindustan Times)

A

ctor Disha Patani, rumoured girlfriend of Tiger Shroff, often matches both dance steps and stunt moves with the Student of the Year 2 star. However, in the course of her gymnastics training, she once lost her memory, Disha has now revealed.

According to a report in Mid Day, Disha fell on her head and lost her memory while training on a concrete terrace floor. “I lost six months of my life because I couldn’t remember anything,” the tabloid quoted her as saying. Recently, she had injured herself while attempting to pull off a front salto (forward or backward body flip performed in a tucked position) for Salman Khan-starrer Bharat.

She further said, “I took to gymnastics three years ago. It’s always good to learn it when you are young, because the body changes after the age of 20...When I am not

shooting, I alternate between practising gymnastics and MMA in the week. MMA is relatively easier. But for gymnastics, you have to be both, consistent and brave. It has taken me a while to reach where I am. You have to do it every day. [Only when] you break your bones and knees do you reach somewhere.”

Last seen as a circus artiste in Bharat, Disha made her Bollywood debut with Sushant Singh Rajput’s MS Dhoni The Untold Story and is now working on Malang.

(Hindustan Times)

R

ihanna unearths her doppelganger as a child on Instagram, which left her shaken.

The internet thinks Rihanna may have a daughter that even she doesn’t know about.

The Barbados-born superstar posted a photo on social media of a young girl that has an uncanny resemblance to herself as a young girl. So much so that RiRi said she was so shook when she saw the picture that she almost dropped her phone. It’s not very often we get to see homegirl being shook, but seeing the photo for the first time will make you believed that it’s an old photo of the pop singer as a child. This little girl and her mom lives about to be changed.

“Almost drop my phone. How?” the caption read Tuesday afternoon.

The photo originally posted to Instagram by the girl’s mother shows her with a pouty look in the back seat of a car, very similar to a gritty face that we’ve seen from Rihanna when she’s in boss mode. Fans began to tag Rihanna in the post, and it eventual-

“D

escendants” director Kenny Ortega paid tribute to the late Cameron Boyce on Wednesday as the filmmaker was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

“Cameron Boyce was so excited for me and wanted to be here, isn’t here today, ” Ortega said, per video posted by Variety. “His all-toobrief appearance in this life inspired me beyond words, and many of us here and generations of kids and families all over this world.”

Ortega, who directed Boyce in Disney Channel’s “Descendants” films before the actor’s death earlier this month, also praised the young star’s “extraordinary talent and loving heart,” as he spoke in front of an audience that included the actor’s father, Victor Boyce, and his sister, Maya Boyce, as well his “Descendants” co-stars Dove Cameron and Booboo Stewart.

“Cameron said, ‘We can’t take it with us, so it’s about what you leave,’ and with this, I promised Cameron that I will carry this goodness with me in all the days of my life,” said Ortega, 69.

Boyce died at the age of 20 from an epileptic seizure.

A preliminary report from

ly caught her attention. The original photo has since gotten over 140K likes.

In Rih Rih’s Instagram comments, many fans and celebrities were also taken aback, some of which said they thought the “ANTI” singer was participating in the FaceApp challenge – an app that allows you to upload a photo and see what you would look like at a different age.

This is just another example and confirmation that 31-year-old Rihanna does indeed stay current on social media, memes, and internet trends. On July 11, Rihanna used a clip of Karlie Redd from Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta to troll her Navy fans about when exactly her long-awaited album would be dropping.

Rihanna has given us some small glimpses of her in the studio this year (with no release date yet), but one thing we know for sure is – she’s definitely on the internet.

the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office noted that his death was the result of natural causes.

In the wake of the Disney star’s death, Boyce’s family announced the inception of the Cameron Boyce Foundation, which Ortega touched upon during his speech.

“It has been set up by his family to remember Cameron by continuing his pursuit to make a positive change in the world,” he

said.

“Descendants 3,” which is set to premiere on Aug. 2, canceled the red carpet premiere following Boyce’s passing.

Boyce starred as Carlos, the son of Disney villain Cruella de Vil, in the “Descendants” franchise.

(Page Six)

Crossword Solution

guyanatimesgy.com

JUly 28, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

JUly 28, 2019

Fun Times

Archie

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

Don’t make a fuss at home or you will likely face opposition or an ultimatum.

Don’t let something that happened a long time ago cause trouble for you now.

GEMINI

Express your feelings and share your intentions with someone who makes you feel good. A physical change will improve your appearance and boost your confidence. A passionate encounter is encouraged.

(MAY 28June 20)

CANCER (June 21July 22)

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

Engage in something you enjoy doing. Activities that challenge you physically should not include taking foolish risks. Know your limits and plan to have fun. It’s not always about winning.

Don’t get involved in something just because someone is putting pressure on you. If you don’t feel comfortable, say so. Stick with what you are comfortable doing.

An opportunity to make a difference should not be ignored. Explore your options and look for excellent ways to use your skills and services to improve your environment.

Romance is highlighted.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Keep your life simple and your mood positive.

Steer clear of excessive entertainment and people who make a big deal out of nothing. A little relaxation is encouraged.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Visit a friend or participate in events that encourage you to live your dream.

A positive change to your current lifestyle is within reach. Romance is encouraged.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Peanuts

Don’t let a change someone else makes disrupt your plans. Use your intelligence to make the necessary adjustments and carry on. A creative venue will motivate you to engage in something you enjoy doing.

SAGITTARIUS You’ll gain leverage if you handle matters yourself and (Nov. 23on your terms. If someone Dec. 21) puts up a fuss, consider it a red flag and keep your distance.

Calvin and Hobbes

When in doubt, rely on CAPRICORN your experience to help you (Dec. 22out. Determination, willJan. 19) power and a willingness to work with your opponents will help you overcome any pitfall you face.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Take a break and relax with friends or family. Hosting a get-together doesn’t have to be costly if you get everyone to pitch in and help. Romance is in the stars.

Truth matters; important decisions cannot be made if someone is not being honest. A heart-to-heart talk will break down barriers. Face emotional problems head-on.