Sunday Times September 1, 2019

4 Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4033 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Govt must hold investors to int’l standards – US Ambassador Page 3

…on fiscal transparency, environmental protection …as AmCham holds inaugural AGM

Pensioner killed in EBD accident

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GNBS P9 to begin monitoring gold jewellery in 2020 P17

25 teen girls P11 now certified programmers

Page 9

Tuschen-Uitvlugt NDC condemns Govt’s comment on shortcomings

…operations P17 heavily stymied by withheld funds – Chairman

Back-to-school shopping: This father was seen in a Regent Street store getting his daughter’s footwear in the busy bustle of downtown Georgetown on Saturday as parents catch up on last minute shopping for their children’s back-to-school gear (Dexter Ceres photo)

Gunmen Region 7 residents storm allege sex crimes poultry by Police, Army ranks supply store …no report filed – Commander Page 14

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2 to face P8 judge, jury for murder of money changer Environmentalist expresses worry over absent oil spill contingency P7 plan

3 Govt must hold investors to int’l standards – US Ambassador news

SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

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

Sunday, September 1 – 05:30h – 07:00h and Monday, September 2 – 05:00h – 06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, September 1 – 05:15h – 06:45h and Monday, September 2 – 06:05h – 07:35h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Sunny conditions are expected throughout the day. There will be clear skies at night.

Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius.

Winds: North North-Easterly to East SouthEasterly between 2.23 metres and 4.47metres.

High Tide: 05:48h and 18:09h reaching maximum heights of 2.90 metres and 2.85 metres.

Low Tide: 11:44h reaching a minimum height of 0.34 metre.

saturday, AUGUST 31, 2019

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…on fiscal transparency, environmental protection …as AmCham holds inaugural AGM

A

s companies continue to show an interest in investing in Guyana, it is imperative that the Government focus on holding these companies to international standards. This was according to United States Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah Ann-Lynch.

Lynch was at the time speaking during the inaugural Annual General Meeting (AGM) for American Chamber of Commerce in Guyana (AmCham Guyana) at the Marriott hotel on Saturday.

Referencing the recently released Local Content Policy, Lynch hinted that it may send signals to some investors that the employment and other benefits they have to offer are not welcomed.

Instead, she urged that Guyana switches its emphasis.

“Rather, the emphasis should be on whether firms are following international best practices on matters such as financial transparency and environmental protection and otherwise acting in a manner that contributes directly to Guyana’s overall sustainable prosperity,” she said.

“Most importantly, Guyana should look at foreign investors as partners in growing the economy, rather than as adversaries. The US Embassy is prepared to and very much wants to work with AmCham to connect your leadership with US experts who can provide guidance on these key issues”.

Re-elected

The event also saw incumbent AmCham President Zulficar Ally being re-elected to his post. In fact, Ally, whose stewardship of AmCham over the past year was commended

by Lynch, was unopposed.

AmCham Guyana was launched in August of last year, with a stated objective of promoting trade and business between the United States and Guyana. This came after ExxonMobil’s oil finds put Guyana on the global map, leading to increased interest from foreign investors.

Many AmCham branches exist in countries all around the world, including nearby Trinidad. It was only this year that AmCham Guyana collaborated with its Trinidadian counterparts to host a Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) conference.

The one-day event, held on July 17 under the theme “preparing for sustainable development”, featured an appearance from Exxon Guyana’s Production Manager Mike Ryan. The Manager endeavoured to give an account of his company’s health and safety policies, stressing that

Re-elected AmCham President Zulficar Ally

US Ambassador to Guyana Sarah Ann-Lynch

With 23 years of experience and leadership in health and safety, AmCham T&T is ready to assist should the need arrive. So don’t hesitate to reach out to us,” she had said.

Guyana’s state of readiness is a sore issue, considering the fact that first oil is next year and only a single piece of legislation related to the sector has been passed.

This legislation is the Natural Resources Fund Bill, which was signed into law by President David Granger earlier this year.

ExxonMobil Country Manager Rod Henson, who is a Director of AmCham, among the gathering at the AGM

ExxonMobil puts the safety of its workers above business and profits.

Readiness

The need for Guyana to get adequate systems in place to regulate the oil and gas sector was also emphasised at the event, this time

by AmCham’s Trinidad and Tobago chapter.

Making these pronouncements was Trinidadian

AmCham President Patricia Ghany. She warned about the effects of oil spills and other dangers of the sector when appropriate regulations and regulators were not set up. Ghany’s warnings, however, also included an offer of assistance from her organisation to its local counterparts.

“There are many changes to come that will transform business and investment.

The bill to create a Petroleum Commission is yet to pass in the House, while the national oil spill strategy is still a work in progress.

However, a Local Content Policy was recently completed and even discussed by civil society at a Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) arranged forum.

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019

Views 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

Pre-empting abusive relationships

G

uyana appears to have an intractable domestic violence problem, but this should make us work harder to alleviate this pernicious condition. While there have been several initiatives launched, one of the areas that has not received much attention in Guyana has been the dynamics operating between couples. Nowadays, arranged marriages are passé and couples date or otherwise have a relationship for extended periods before actually getting married. An ever-growing phenomenon, of course, are the couples who ‘live home’ even after children are produced in the relationship.

Are there signs of an abuser that can be discerned early on in a budding relationship, which can then be nipped in mandatory pre-counselling before matters proceed too far?

While Guyana has not ‘progressed’ to the stage of having dating services, some interesting warning signals have come out from those studies in the countries that we imitate in our social relations. The concept is the same as where the individual in Guyana reveals his/her personality after a few dates.

A paper published in the journal “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin” examined the influence of prior experiences on partner preferences. The researchers themselves constructed a believable-looking “online dating service,” and thus were able to track the study participants’ preferences and selection of various partners. Although the study participants didn’t know it, the researchers had carefully chosen the profiles so that they differed in systematic ways.

For their first study, the researchers focused on heterosexual women’s preferences, and the men’s profiles that they looked at differed in how much they signalled potential for psychological abuse in intimate relationships.

The profiles themselves were actually real, with the profiles of potentially abusive men written by men who scored high on characteristics associated with abusive personality: impulsivity, anger, jealousy, low self-esteem. A separate sample of participants independently confirmed that the profiles gave off warning signals of potential abuse.

The researchers’ results are sobering: Women who had a history of being psychologically maltreated in a prior relationship were three times more likely to choose potentially abusive dating partners than women without this history. In other words, women who are at risk for being abused in their relationships are more likely to be attracted to the very features that others see as clear precursors of abuse. Often, these choices are rationalised: intense jealousy is misinterpreted as caring, and anger is romanticised as “dangerous.”

In a second study, the researchers turned the tables around, and focused on heterosexual men’s preferences.

Their question was this: Who do potentially abusive men prefer? The results showed that men who scored high on a measure of inflicting psychological abuse were 1.5 times more likely to choose a partner who is high on attachment anxiety. Attachment anxiety is a disposition associated with victims of abuse, and is characterised by an intense anxiety over rejection.

As such, people high in attachment anxiety are particularly vulnerable to being “treated like a God” during the courtship phase of a relationship: being flooded with flowers, adulated, constantly called. Fears of rejection overwhelm the ability to detect an unhealthy balance between independence and interdependence in their relationships. What does one do in the face of such data, with people high in attachment anxiety and their potentially abusive partners essentially judging each other as highly compatible?

Simple as it may sound, one powerful answer is to rely on your social networks. Listen to what your friends are saying.

In fact, people in new relationships should actually ask friends their opinions about prospective partners and these friends should be honest in their evaluation. This is critical advice both if you are attracted to a potentially abusive mate, or if someone you care about begins describing abusive relationship patterns. Sometimes, we need to rely on other people to help us see what we cannot.

Most abuse and violence are committed by “significant others”. We bear much of the responsibility for choosing them. Let us become educated for the signals sent out by abusers.

People’s Progressive Party Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali speaking at a community meeting at Mibicuri, Black Bush Polder, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Saturday as he continues his outreaches across Guyana

India: Whole world will be watching Chandrayaan-2 soft land on moon, former NASA astronaut says

T

he whole world would be watching the soft landing of Isro’s Chandrayaan – 2 near the south pole of the moon, as it is the first time that landing would be made on the South Pole where the presence of ice is expected, said former NASA astronaut Donald A Thomas on Friday. The landing is scheduled for September 7, 2019. Thomas was speaking to reporters after attending an event at Park College of Engineering and Technology near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

Thomas said, “The learning from the mission is of great interest to NASA because it is where NASA plans to land astronauts five years down the lane. They

Former NASA astronaut Donald A Thomas

would be interested in knowing what the surface of the moon would be like, presence of minerals and chemicals and availability of ice”.

Not just NASA, but the

whole world would be interested in knowing about the moon and the universe by following Chandrayaan—2, he added.

He said, “At present,

NASA is building a new rocket called Space Launch System. Its test launch is about a year away. Three years from now, astronauts would be orbiting the moon and five years from now, astronauts would land on the moon. It includes a man and a woman”.

He said NASA is working on sending a spacecraft to Mars, adding, “Travelling to Mars is extremely costly and it takes more than one country and more than a year to land in Mars”. He said that a travel to Mars could be expected in 20 years.

Answering to a question, Thomas said he believes that there is life in places other than Earth, though the discovery is yet to be made.

(Times of India)

Brazil agents raid illegal miners in Amazon as environmental enforcement ratchets up

F

ederal agents in Brazil exchanged gunfire with illegal miners in the Amazon state of Para on Friday, according to Reuters’ witnesses, in a dramatic example of how Brazil has stepped up environmental enforcement in the wake of rainforest fires.

Federal Police and agents with environmental enforcement agency Ibama were carrying out a raid on illegal wildcat miners near the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous reserve, which crosses into several municipalities including the city of Altamira, according to two Reuters witnesses.

“They (the miners) hid in the forest and shot at the team,” said Hugo Loss, Ibama’s national coordinator of enforcement operations,

who accompanied the mission.

The agents returned fire, but all of the miners escaped into the woods and no suspects were apprehended. Noone was injured, according to the official. Ibama and the federal Police destroyed two backhoes and three other pieces of mining equipment.

Ibama had largely rolled back its field operations in Para state so far this year, over failure to reach an agreement with Police at the state-level to offer support, according to Loss. State Police generally accompany Ibama on potentially dangerous operations.

That came on top of efforts by the Government of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro to weaken Ibama,

including prohibiting agents from destroying machinery used to commit environmental crimes and grounding the agency’s Special Forces unit used on riskier raids, according to a Reuters investigation.

But news broke last week that fires in the Amazon surged to their highest level since 2010 and provoked international criticism that Brazil was not doing enough to protect the world’s largest tropical rainforest.

Following several days of public outcry, Bolsonaro authorised the military to support fire fighting efforts, with his justice minister further issuing a decree allowing federal police to support environmental operations.

That federal support al-

lowed for Ibama-organised raids such as the one on Friday to be carried out, Loss said. The raid was not directly related to the fires.

“Only now with the recognition of alarming deforestation and fire data and with the (Justice Minister’s) decree, did we have conditions allowing us to operate in this area,” he said.

“In this area we had operations planned for June and July, but we weren’t able to execute them... because of lack of support”.

Illegal mining contributes to overall deforestation in Brazil, with roughly 10% of the area of the Indigenous reserve near the raid having been deforested this year alone, Loss said.

(Reuters)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, september 1, 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

It is time, Justice House-to-House data Claudette Singh is not credible!

Dear Editor, Having made her observations and having heard the arguments, it is time now to pragmatically follow the rule of law and the Constitution. Her job is not to pander to the politicians on any side but rather to use this opportunity to focus on the greater good of the nation. I was extremely disappointed in her judgment to merge the last updated National Register of Registrants (the original database) with the data from the House-to-House information (H-2-H). First off, the H-2-H information is

polluted, impure and unverified while the original database is cleaner. The hard sciences have taught us that if one adds an impure substance to a pure one, the outcome becomes impure.

Logically we should not expect differently in this case.

To clean the impure data from the H-2-H process will take as much as three months. Firstly, you have to strip it of all the duplicate registrants, then you have to examine it to ensure that only bonafide Guyanese citizens who were not on the original database remain.

That entails an ineffective

investment of a lot of time, effort and money to arrive at a conclusion that could have been easily complied using the tried and tested Continuous Registration process and an extended Claims and Objections period to produce a credible voters’ list. After all, isn’t that what the majority of Guyanese want? Free and fair elections and one free from fear as soon as possible and in compliance with the Guyana Constitution?

Regards, Sasenarine Singh

Irfaan is right on state of economy Dear Editor, Messrs Rennie Parris and Yonnick David in a missive in another paper (Aug 29) described PPP’s Presidential candidate Irfaan Ali as an “amateur” (?) for his mid-year review of the economy. I do not know the two gentlemen and their backgrounds and whether they study economics. I did doctoral studies in economics and other disciplines and taught economics and the social sciences for some 35 years. I also regularly conduct NACTA surveys in Guyana, most recently in early August to gather peoples’ views on the economy.

Irfaan is right in his conclusion – the economy has underperformed based on national expectations and the limited spread effects of growth.

The population expected a better quality of life under the present regime than what was obtained under the PPP (under Jagdeo’s tenure). However, people supporting both major political forces say they were better off under former President Jagdeo’s rule. Both Parris and David need to visit the population on the ground or homes and communities to get a true picture of the state of the economy for an accurate mid-year review.

Don’t fall for only stats!

Ground reality paints a different picture. Both writers would be shocked to hear peoples’ complaints.

In the latest NACTA surveys, the population would agree with Irfaan that the economy has performed very badly over the years.

Statistics tend to be misleading. Indeed, the concept of economic growth tends to be misleading. So don’t form firm conclusions on growth rates. While the economy may show growth, it does not explain where growth takes place and who benefits from growth. Surely, the population at large is not beneficiaries of growth; their earnings and spending power declined. Businesses have also complained that their revenues have declined by half over the last four years. Most sectors of the economy have contracted this year although they performed well between 2015 and 2017. Many businesses have gone bankrupt over the last four years. The population is hurting badly (including in strongholds of the coalition Government) and people are openly voicing their opinions on their poor financial state of being. Both standards of living and quality of life have deteriorated since the last budget as well as over the last four years. The writers did

not cite figures of poverty rates which must have gone up since some 20K lost their jobs. Suicide (including attempted) rate and domestic violence are also on the rise.

People continue to migrate in record numbers.

The writers cite foreign investment. There has been some foreign investment in Guyana (primarily in mining, lumbering and energy) but significant jobs are not created to lift people out of poverty. The investments do not filter downwards. The jobs go to foreigners and locals are not benefiting. And many investors are worried about committing resources in Guyana because of the unstable political climate.

The sooner this issue is addressed, the quicker foreigners would commit to increased investment in the country.

Contrary to what the writers penned, there is no economic boom in Guyana – certainly not from opinions provided by the bulk of the population. The overwhelming portion of the population is not benefiting from the cited growth rates. Sustained economic boom and benefits to the lower classes (poverty) will not come till oil reaches the international market in a couple of years.

Yours truly, Dr Vishnu Bisram

Dear Editor, Guyanese citizens and other public observers will not deny that the infused Keith Lowenfield wicked and corrupt House-to-House Registration lacks credence and authenticity. It has realised results lacking the potency of acceptance by the majority and as it turns out, driven by agents of the PNCR and the Government to cause deliberate confusion by an approach riddled with misinformation. Further, after the Chairman of GECOM ruled that the House-to-House is to cease on August 31, 2019, it is illegal for Lowenfield and the PNC to extend the time for the enumerators to work.

The time for enumerators to do the House-to-House Registration is gazette to take place in the registration areas of Kamarang, Paramakatoi, Mahdia and Annai as follows: 1. Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 17:30 pm and on weekends and holidays 9:00 am to 15:30 pm.

2. Further, GECOM published in the gazette that official time for the House-toHouse Registration exercise is Monday to Friday 15:30 pm to 19:00 pm, and weekends and holidays 09:00 am to 15.30 pm.

Hence, it is illegal for GECOM to change the times at their whims and fancy, which raises numerous questions.

Many enumerators are also complaining bitterly that they are working and they cannot get time off to work all those hours. Inside sources within GECOM informed that the PNC is trying a thing to get some strange people registered.

Why is there a rush to increase the working hours of the enumerators?

One would believe that GECOM has already decided to merge the information of the House-toHouse Registration with that of the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB), without even ascertaining whether the Jamaican model could accurately handle the merger and the cross-checking for the numerous duplications that would unfold.

Islamic New Year

Dear Editor, The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) is pleased to inform the Muslim community that the new moon for the sacred month of Muharram (the first month in the Muslim lunar calendar) was sighted on the evening of Saturday, August 31, 2019, thus, the new lunar Islamic year has begun.

The Central Executive Council of the CIOG congratulates the Muslim community and calls on all Muslims to begin this New Year with extra acts of devotion and remembrance of Allah and a renewed commitment to

obeying our Lord in accordance with the standard He set forth in the Noble Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It is only through strict adherence to the way of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which is the very way of all the previous Prophets from Adam to Jesus (peace be upon them all) that people will achieve purity of faith and freedom from vice and corruption. Any other course will result in lusts such as greed, animosity and prejudice which only induce men to indecencies and vileness. We,

therefore, remind ourselves and all Muslims in Guyana and indeed all Guyanese that it is our duty to learn and live that Prophetic way in all aspects of our lives without exception.

And we pray to Allah that in this new lunar year He forgives us our faults from the previous years and rectifies our hearts and actions and make us among those who are firm and well established in faith so that we can live amongst each other in peace, love and harmony.

I close with the following statement by Umar Ibn Al Khattab (RAD), “Richness

isn’t found in wealth, as wealth can diminish. Nor is it found in beauty, for beauty fades with age. It’s found in good character and kind hearts. So treat people in such a way and live amongst them in such a manner that when you die, they make supplication for you, and when you’re alive, they benefit from you and they thank Allah, the Most High for having you in their life”.

Sincerely, Al Haj Shahabudeen Ahmad President CIOG

We must appreciate that the imminent Justice Claudette Singh as Chairman of GECOM is in the ‘hottest’ seat and that it is necessary for all Guyanese to give her the required support in belling this huge perpetuated corrupt monster. What the Chairperson has inherited at GECOM is indeed strongly embedded roots of corrupt officials planted to administrate and key aspects of the agency. The auditors are fully aware of serious corruption that took place previously and is taking place at GECOM. Hence, Justice Claudette Singh will have to be thorough in her dealings and sanitise GECOM of all its incompetence.

Resulting from this apparent milieu is the persistence of deliberate advisory misinformation peddled from the Secretariat to the Chairman of the Commission.

It is clear that the merging of the current House-to-House Registration information to the existing NRRDB would create enormous problems or delays, as some duplications would not be easily identified

for elimination, based on the incorrect recording of information during the registration.

Certainly, more time would have to be utilised to correct the deliberate mishaps. It is of note that Keith Lowenfield did not invite the PPP as the main Opposition to provide scrutineers for the registration exercise, and thus, significantly compromising the validity of the exercise with regards to monitoring.

The way to go to ensure a valid list is simply to go straight to the Claims and Objections where names of those qualified to register is added to the preliminary List of Electors, and the names of the deceased on the list are verified and deleted. This process would provide a far more accurate list than the merging factor and considering that the elections have been due since March, this process would enable an election by October of this year.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

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Help your child get organised M

ost children generate a little chaos and disorganisation. Yours might flit from one thing to the next – forgetting books at school, leaving towels on the floor, and failing to finish projects once started.

You'd like them to be more organised and to stay focused on tasks, such as homework. Is it possible?

Yes! A few children seem naturally organised, but for the rest, organisation is a skill learnt over time. With help and some practice, children can develop an effective approach to getting stuff done.

And you're the perfect person to teach your child, even if you don't feel all that organised yourself!

Easy as 1-2-3 For children, all tasks can be broken down into a 1-2-3 process.

Getting organised means a child gets where he or she needs to be and gathers the supplies needed to complete the task.

Staying focused means sticking with the task and learning to say "no" to distractions.

Getting it done means finishing up, checking your work, and putting on the finishing touches, like remembering to put a homework paper in the right folder and putting the folder inside the backpack so it's ready for the next day.

Once children know these steps — and how to apply them — they can start tackling tasks more independently. That means homework, chores, and other tasks will get done with increasing consistency and efficiency. Of course, children will still need parental help and guidance, but you probably won't have to nag as much.

Not only is it practical to teach these skills, but knowing how to get stuff done will help your child feel more competent and effective. Children feel self-confident and proud when they're able to accomplish their tasks and responsibilities. They're also sure to be pleased when they find they have some extra free time to do what they'd like to do.

From teeth brushing to book reports To get started, introduce the 1-2-3 method and help your child practise it in daily life. Even something as simple as brushing teeth requires this approach, so you might use this example when introducing the concept: Getting organised: Go to the bathroom and get out your toothbrush and toothpaste. Wet your toothbrush and put on the toothpaste.

Staying focused: Dentists say to brush for three minutes, so that means keep brushing, even if you hear a really good song on the radio or you remember that you wanted to call your friend.

Concentrate and remember what the dentist told you about brushing away from your gums.

Getting it done: If you do steps 1 and 2, step 3 almost takes care of itself. Hurray, your three minutes are up and your teeth are clean!

Getting it done means finishing up and putting on the finishing touches. With teeth brushing, that would be stuff like turning off the

water, putting away the toothbrush and paste, and making sure there's no toothpaste foam on your face!

With a more complex task, like completing a book report, the steps would become more involved, but the basic elements remain the same.

Here's how you might walk your child through the steps: 1. Getting organised Explain that this step is all about getting ready. It's about figuring out what children need to do and gathering any necessary items. For instance: "So you have a book report to write. What do you need to do to get started?" Help your child make a list of things like: Choose a book.

Make sure the book is OK with the teacher. Write down the book and the author's name. Check the book out of the library. Mark the due date on a calendar.

Then help your child think of the supplies needed: The book, some note cards, a pen for taking notes, the teacher's list of questions to answer, and a report cover. Have your child gather the supplies where the work will take place.

As the project progresses, show your child how to use the list to check off what's already done and get ready for what's next.

Demonstrate how to add to the list, too. Coach your child to think, "OK, I did these things. Now, what's next? Oh yeah, start reading the book" and to add things to the list like finish the book, read over my teacher's directions, start writing the report.

2. Staying focused Explain that this part is about doing it and sticking with the job. Tell children this means doing what you're supposed to do, following what's on the list, and sticking with it.

It also means focusing when there's something else your child would rather be doing — the hardest part of all! Help children learn how to handle and resist these inevitable temptations. While working on the report, a competing idea might pop into your child's head: "I feel like shooting some hoops now." Teach children to challenge that impulse by asking themselves "Is that what I'm supposed to be doing?"

Explain that a tiny break to stretch a little and then get right back to the task at hand is OK. Then children can make a plan to shoot hoops after the work is done. Let them know that staying focused is tough sometimes, but it gets easier with practice.

3. Getting it done Explain that this is the part when children will be finishing up the job. Talk about things like copying work neatly and asking a parent to read it over to help find any mistakes.

Coach your child to take those important final steps: putting his or her name on the report, placing it in a report cover, putting the report in the correct school folder, and putting the folder in the

backpack so it's ready to be turned in.

How to start teaching the 1-2-3 process Here are some tips on how to begin teaching the 1-2-3 process: Introduce the idea Start the conversation by using the examples in Thursday’s article. Read it together and ask for reactions. Will it be easy or hard? Is he or she already doing some of it? Is there something he or she would like to get better at?

Get buy-in Brainstorm about what might be easier or better if your child was more organised and focused. Maybe homework would get done faster, there would be more play time, and there would be less nagging about chores. Then there's the added bonus of your child feeling proud and you being proud, too.

Set expectations Be clear, in a kind way, that you expect your children to work on these skills and that you'll be there to help along the way.

Make a plan Decide on one thing to focus on first. You can come up with three things and let your child choose one. Or if homework or a particular chore has been a problem, that's the natural place to begin.

Get comfortable in your role For the best results, you'll want to be a low-key coach. You can ask questions that will help children get on track and stay there. But use these questions to prompt their thought process about what needs to be done. Praise progress, but don't go overboard. The selfsatisfaction children will feel will be a more powerful motivator.

Also, be sure to ask your child's opinion of how things are going so far.

Start thinking in questions Though you might not realise it, every time you take on a task, you ask yourself questions and then answer them with thoughts and actions. If you want to unload groceries from the car, you ask yourself: Q: Did I get them all out of the trunk?

A: No. I'll go get the rest.

Q: Did I close the trunk?

A: Yes. Q: Where's the milk and ice cream? I need to put them away first.

A: Done. Now, what's next?

Encourage children to start seeing tasks as a series of questions and answers. Suggest that they ask these questions out loud and then answer them. These questions are the ones you hope will eventually live inside a child's head. And with practice, they'll learn to ask them without being prompted.

Work together to come up with questions that need to be asked so the chosen task can be completed. You might even jot them down on index cards. Start by asking the questions and having your child answer. Later, transfer responsibility for the questions from you to your child.

Things to remember It will take time to teach children how to break down tasks into steps. It also will take time for them to learn how to apply these skills to what needs to be done. Sometimes, it will seem simpler just to do it for them. It certainly would take less time.

But the trouble is that children don't learn how to be independent and successful if their parents swoop in every time a situation is challenging or complex.

Here's why it's worth your time and effort: Children learn new skills that they'll need – how to pour a bowl of cereal, tie shoes, match clothes, complete a homework assignment.

They'll develop a sense of independence. Children who dress themselves at age four feel like big children. It's a good feeling that will deepen over time as they learn to do even more without help.

From these good feelings, children begin to form a belief about themselves – "I can do it."

Your firm but kind expectations that your children should start tackling certain jobs on their own send a strong message.

You reinforce their independence and encourage them to accept a certain level of responsibility. Children learn that others will set expectations and that they can meet them.

This kind of teaching can be a very loving gesture. You're taking the time to show your children how to do something – with interest, patience, love, kindness, and their best interests at heart. This will make children feel cared for and loved. Think of it as filling up a child's toolbox with crucial life tools. (Exc kidshealth.org)

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Gunmen storm poultry supply store T

wo armed bandits on Saturday stormed a city poultry business, robbing employees of the day’s proceeds at gunpoint.

The robbery occurred at about 13:00h at Rambarran Enterprise, located on Middleton Street, Campbellville.

According to information received, the two males, armed with handguns, pounced on the business place and held the employees at gunpoint whilst de-

manding cash.

The staffers complied with their demands, as one of the bandits scaled the counter and emptied the cash register of an undisclosed sum of money.

The perpetrators then made good their escape in a getaway car, which was waiting outside with two other occupants.

Police were summoned to the location, and an investigation has been launched into the matter.

When Guyana Times visited the scene, the day’s operation remained normal as customers were observed purchasing poultry supplies.

However, employees were unable to speak to media operatives.

When contacted, one staff member would only confirm that the incident happened, telling this newspaper that they were exhausted from giving statements to the police moments before.

The business place where the robbery occurred

Environmentalist expresses worry over absent oil spill contingency plan …Guyana still without plan despite EPA promising one by mid-2019

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espite Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Head Dr Vincent Adams promising to have the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan finished by mid-2019, Guyana is well into the second half of the year and this critical document is yet to be completed. According to one wellknown environmentalist, the absence of this document is worrying.

In an interview with this publication on Saturday, founder of the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS) and aviator, Annette Arjoon-Martins spoke about the challenges regarding environmental advocacy and oil.

“I’m very outspoken about things I come across, from my own experiences in the marine environment. For example, the fact that we do not have a National Oil Spill Contingency Plan as yet. It is greatly disturbing.”

She pointed out that in her experience, having conversations and interacting with oil companies regarding environmental issues is no walk in the park, par-

ticularly without a structure in place. Martin stressed the need for independent Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to be able to play their part.

“I think it’s imperative that we have some kind of independent effort, so persons like myself and there are many of us, who know [protected areas], how do we have that kind of independent national element, I don’t see a lot of willingness by the oil companies to work with NGOs like myself,” she said.

“My experience is we don’t speak the same language as them. We are very independent in our views.

So I think they should look at having mechanism to have these conversations… if you’re looking at the monitoring aspect of marine environment, you must have Guyanese organisations that have decades of experience and a physical presence along our coastline. We must be involved in any monitoring programme.”

Environment

Guyana’s last taste of an

Environmentalist Annette Arjoon-Martins

environmental disaster was a cyanide spill in 1995. In gold mining, cyanide is used as an extracting agent for the ore. In the case of Guyana’s cyanide spill, the highly poisonous material spilt out of a reservoir into the Essequibo River.

Since ExxonMobil announced its oil find in the Liza-1 well in 2015, a pertinent question has been the capacity of the relevant agencies to protect the environment in case of an oil spill. It is a topic that has regularly been raised at public lectures.

Previously, President David Granger commissioned Guyana’s first oil spill response operation service at the Gaico Wharf at Nismes, West Bank Demerara – Gaico Oil Spill Response Operation Services. The service was set up as a pre-emptive measure against probable spillage once production commences in the future.

The Gaico company began in 1991, with owner Komal Singh working on small construction projects in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). At the commissioning, Singh had stated that he had noticed that there are a number of near-misses of oil spills and decided to pursue the avenue of preparing for one in Guyana.

“Should there be a spill anywhere we can respond within 24 hours,” he said, adding that the company is in the process of putting together documents to gain approval for an oil spill facility which will collect the contaminated soil and process it.

A study by the EPA had found that while an oil spill was possible, factors such as

the location of ExxonMobil affiliates’ operations, combined with the region’s water temperature would minimise the effects.

On the side of the Government, it is understood that efforts have been underway to train and build capacity in the Natural Resources

Ministry. When it comes to the oil spill contingency plan, a workshop was organised in March of this year to work on the draft. Civil Defence Commission (CDC) Head, Colonel Kester Craig was recently quoted saying that the long-overdue plan was almost complete.

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

2 to face judge, jury for murder of money changer ...1 freed

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erwin Dos Santos and George Hope, both 25, of Freeman Street, La Penitence, Georgetown were last week committed to stand trial at the Demerara High Court after they were found guilty for the murder of an America Street money changer, following the conclusion of a preliminary inquiry (PI).

The decision was handed down by Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Providence Magistrate’s Court.

Magistrate Latchman found that a prima facie case was

Kacey Heyliger

made out against Dos Santos and George. The charge against their co-accused, Kacey Heyliger, was dis-

missed after the Magistrate found that there was insufficient evidence.

The trio was initially facing a joint charge for the capital offence of murder, but 26-year-old Heyliger exited the courtroom a free man whilst the now convicted duo will stand before a Judge and jury at the next practical sitting of the Demerara Assizes.

The indictment brought against the men detailed that on February 4, 2018, at America Street, Georgetown, they mur-

dered Shawn Nurse called “Fabulous”.

According to reports, Nurse, of Apartment 33 Shopping Plaza, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown, was shot during a struggle with a lone gunman, who attempted to relieve him of a large sum of foreign and local currency that he was carrying in a bag.

However, the now dead man was shot to the head during the process, and was relieved of the bag containing the cash and several pieces of gold jewellery.

Misdirection...

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…in elections ver the last nine months, your Eyewitness has watched with alarm as the PNC launched its rearguard actions to remain in office against all odds.

The odds, however, were set for players who obeyed the rules of the game and the PNC has consistently reminded us over its sixty-year existence that they don’t give a hoot about rules. Our Constitution, of course, embodies the rules from which all other rules flow in governing this country, but the PNC flaunted its cynicism to the nation and the world when Burnham scrapped the Independence Constitution and wrote a brand new one – just confirming the dictatorial powers he’d already been enjoying.

But with all of that, Burnham always insisted on observing the FORMS of legality even though he ground the SUBSTANCE of the law into dust. Take elections— Burnham could’ve followed the lead of many tin-pot dictators, especially in Africa, and made himself President for life. But he didn’t. He dutifully held elections, which he just as dutifully rigged!! He was of the firm belief that the powers-that-be didn’t care about the fine print and only read the headlines: PNC wins elections!!

He perfected rigging to a fine art and to his credit, showed creativity in his methods of rigging. In 1968, he used the overseas vote and proxies; in 1973 he used the army to seize the ballot boxes and killed some PPP members trying to accompany the ballot boxes; in 1980 he again used the army but didn’t bother to shoot anyone this time. His successor Hoyte rigged a bigger majority than Burnham ever did by ejecting PPP election agents from polling places and refusing counting at the place of poll.

Fast forward to the present, where the PNC’s stretching out the elections date by any means necessary. What’s one to think? The hyena doesn’t change its stripes!! Their plans to rig the next elections hadn’t been consummated: more time was needed. But gradually, the contours of their plans were revealed. While Suriname and Brazil imposed visa requirements for Haitians, Felix gave them an automatic six-month stay – without insisting they show means of support for that time. Persistent reports show that the poor Haitians didn’t even have money to purchase food!!

While most might’ve moved on, the PNC know they don’t need more than 5000 votes to return. Following Hoyte’s lead, they would’ve instituted a menu of measures to rig this time – one being providing fake IDs and birth certificates to some Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, etc, and get them registered. But the PNC is slick.

Knowing that the fake papers would surface, they’ve accused the PPP of handing them out before their loss!!

The PPP rigged themselves out of office in 2015??

Misdirection!! …in corruption Helped by a bitter PPP media foe, the PNC threw so much “corruption” mud at the former’s officials, inevitably, some of it stuck. And played not too small a role in their post-2011 loss. Immediately after winning the whole shebang in 2015, the PNC went after the PPP, threatening to lock them up and throw away the keys. Extensive audits were done and accusations hurled.

But to its credit that the PPP had rebuilt credibility in the Judiciary and the rule of law. The PNC now had to legally prove their case!! Which they haven’t been able to do, even though they created a billion-dollar outfit called SARA, staffed with some of the PPP’s most dogged enemies!

One by one, the PNC “fraud cases” have bit the dust – the latest being one about GRDB officials pilfering mega bucks.

But rather than admitting there wasn’t any fraud, the PNC persists with dangling threats!

Misdirection to hide their own corruption. …on filth in the city The City Public Health Officer just accused the good burgers of Georgetown of being dirty and unsanitary in their practices. He accused them of dumping their garbage right where they live and breeding rats and other vermin.

But wasn’t it the “spiteful” PPP who’d done that??

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

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Pensioner killed in EBD accident

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71-year-old pensioner was killed on Friday evening after he was struck down by a motorcar on the Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara (EBD) Public Road.

Dead is James Augustus of Second Dam, Garden of Eden, EBD. According to Police reports, the incident occurred at about 22:30h. Investigations revealed that the vehicle, bearing registration number PKK 6734, was proceeding north along the western carriageway (heading to Georgetown), when the victims allegedly ran from the western side of the road, heading east, and ended up in the path of the motorcar.

Upon impact, the elderly man was picked up and rushed to the Diamond

Diagnostic Centre, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The 26-year-old driver of the motorcar was taken into Police custody and is assisting with the investigations.

Reports are a breathalyser test was also conducted on the driver but no trace of alcohol was detected.

On Saturday morning, the police had cordoned and marked the spot where the incident occurred as their investigations progressed.

When Guyana Times visited the victim’s home, neighbours indicated that he lived alone after moving from the North West District, Region One (Barima-Waini), some years ago.

Bissondyal Boopat, who lives a few houses away, said that Augustus would do odd

jobs around the community for a living and was constantly seen imbibing at his house.

However, he was described as an easygoing person.

“We get a message. The neighbour said that he dead and that something knock he down. He does live around but he didn’t have a wife or children. He don’t have family. We don’t know much about he but he’s not a bad man and he don’t trouble nobody. When you ain’t see he around, it mean he working,” said Boopat.

Opposite to Augustus’ dwellings, another neighbour recalled, “he’s sort of a single farmhand working all around different places. He comes over when I visit my mom so I know him as a mutual friend”.

This is the second pedes-

GNBS to begin monitoring gold jewellery in 2020

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he Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) recently concluded its last arranged outreach in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) geared towards sensitising jewellers on its intent to begin monitoring items come 2020.

The Bureau said that goldsmiths and jewellers who attended the forum, which was held in Fort Wellington, were informed on the required standards which are mandatory.

The first outreach was held in Region Three (Essequibo Islands – West Demerara) back in July of this year. Following that successful session, GNBS hosted similar exercises in Regions Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and most recently, Region Five.

The standard Specification for Gold Articles GYS 50-1:2003 stipulates marking requirements which mandate that all gold jewellery be marked or labelled with the manufacturer’s identification and

the assayed purity, either in karats or parts per thousand.

“This standard was prepared with the intent to prevent fraud and deception arising from misleading labels. It also gives guidance to manufacturers and helps them provide adequate labelling information, which will give guidance to consumers when they wish to purchase gold articles,” GNBS stated.

In addition, it provides information to goldsmiths and jewellers on the manufacturing process for gold articles using the short cut fire assay method, and to serve as a guideline for good manufacturing practices.

Meanwhile, with respect to the testing of gold jewellery by a recognised test method, the Guyana National Standards clearly outlined the procedure for the modified fire assay or cupellation method of testing. Prior to any marking or labelling of purity on these articles, either of these stipulated methods should be used.

These standards, once complied with, according to

GNBS, would assure confidence in customers on the quality of jewellery manufactured, and create an atmosphere for a thriving export market.

The GNBS added that it is encouraging goldsmiths and jewellers to participate in the Product Certification Scheme, which is voluntary and manufacturers desirous of having their gold jewellery certified could join the scheme.

“Once the requirements of the Scheme have been fulfilled, the manufacturer would be granted a permit to use the National Standards mark on his/her products. Gold Jewellers are encouraged to take advantage of the scheme to access the numerous benefits to be derived,” the agency explained.

Further it noted, “Customers, seeing the standard mark on gold articles, would have the confidence that the jewellers are producing items of acceptable quality and there would be corresponding growth and development of the sector”.

trian to have lost his life in recent time. Just last month, a 30-year-old man was killed as he was attempting to cross the Number 11 Village Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

Stanley Bronne of Lot 8

Number 11 Village, was crossing the roadway when he was struck by motorcar PTT 8022.

Reports are the driver of the motorcar allegedly swerved to avoid a collision but the right front of the vehicle collided with Bronne.

As a result of the im-

pact, Bronne fell onto the front windscreen then onto the road and received injuries about his body. He was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he died while receiving medical attention.

NEWS

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesGY.com

25 teen girls now certified programmers Politics and identity in Guyana

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s we stagger fitfully towards general elections between bouts of engaging the Courts to interpret what were once thought to be pellucid road signs, the discourse is seemingly inevitably becoming dominated once again by “race talk”. It would appear that the announcement of the demise of such an orientation in our political campaigns with the emergence of another generation of voters have been rather premature.

Sadly, the questioning of the right of Indian-Guyanese, through their preferred party the PPP to seek national power – has reappeared. I am reminded of the observation of iconic Barbadian writer George Lamming, who observed in his foreword to Dr Walter Rodney’s, “A History of the Guyanese Working People”: “This perception of the Indian as alien and a problem to be contained after the departure of the Imperial power, has been a major part of the thought and feeling of Black West Indians and a very stubborn conviction among the Black middle layers in Trinidad and Guyana. Indian Ravi Dev power, in politics or business, has been regarded as an example of an Indian strategy for conquest.”

The irony is that after 181 years in the Guyana, IndianGuyanese have become “Guyanised” to such an extent by the plantation system and the post-colonial experience that they are as distinct from the present day “Indian Indians” as AfricanGuyanese are from “African-Africans”. While the first part of our hyphenated designation may signify our “motherlands”, are we not all bound by the common second part, being Guyanese? Of course, there is always the problematic associated with “the narcissism of small differences”.

The Jamaican poet Olive Senior, of mixed heritage, used the activity of “gardening” as an extended trope in her book “Gardening in the Tropics” to analyse well the brutal colonisation all of us in the Caribbean by the Europeans and their influence in the formation of all our of identities. Gardening does involve “rooting out”, discarding” “cultivating”, “nurturing”, “grafting”, “hybridity” and so many activities that are also at work in cultures and relationships in the construction of identities. All of us have been and continue to be “cultivated” whether we like it or not and are to a lesser or greater extent been “hybridized”.

Even when we were uprooted from homelands in Asia, Africa and Europe, we were all already “hybrids” that had been variously constituted. For instance, the North Indians of the Bhojpuri belt were the product of continuous invasions for thousands of years, of which the Moghul invasion and its Islamic world view was only the most extensive. Ditto for the West Africans with different tribes and Islam.

In the Caribbean, the Indians, Portuguese and Chinese indentureds would encounter the Africans who had been subjected to hundreds of years of European imposition of culture and religion – forcibly and later hegemonistically. While against all odds, the Africans retained elements of their cultures in West Africa, it was into their “creolised” culture that the new arrivals would be thrown into.

The Africans were expected to inculcate “English culture”, even though their humanity was denied and by definition could never be “English”. This was interesting since most of the overseers they interacted with were Irish and Scottish.

The indentured servants inevitably imbibed much of their new culture from the African creoles who preceded them on the plantations, and who were expected to “season” them into the new dispensation.

However, in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean, people of African origin sought to counter the European hegemonic cultural imposition with the ideologies of “Black Power”, “Negritude” and “Pan Africanism” all of which privileged the African culture as the “root” of the tree of “national culture” here. There was never a comparable Pan-Indian movement, but with independence we were told that we were “One people; One Nation; One Destiny”.

Reviewing the broad sweep of Caribbean history, however, Senior sought to make the point that there are no “pure” origins and no “one root” that we can discover on which to construct our Caribbean identity. She borrowed the metaphor of the “rhizome” – with its multiplicity of roots that privilege no one root for Caribbean identity from the Martiniquean Edouard Glissant. He was consciously reacting against the construct of “negritute” and of “hybridity” that been proposed to describe French Antillean identity. The first excluded all others such as people of Indian origin and the French and the latter that still privileged the “African root”.

We are all equally Guyanese with the right to all our country offers.

A few of the girls proudly displaying their certificates in the presence of officials from the Public Telecommunications Ministry

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A few of the girls proudly displaying their certificates in the presence of officials from the Public Telecommunications Ministry

wenty-five girls between the ages of 14 and 16 on Saturday graduated with certificates from a five-week coding programme hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

This year’s Girls’ Code Camp is the second annual training hosted by the Public Telecommunications Ministry. The Outreach Coordinator, Donnella Collison, explained that the Ministry decided to focus its attention on girls, recognising that a gender gap exists in the computer science field, with men dominating

these jobs.

Further, Collison pointed out that this year’s batch of students was selected from lower-performing schools to mend the gap which exists, to hopefully show persons that Information Technology is not only for persons who are “very educated”.

One such student, Delisa Rose, a 14-year-old student of East Ruimveldt Secondary explained that she was excited to be part of the training. She shared, “I learnt how to properly do an animation, which I never knew how to do. I also learnt how to code. It was hard in the beginning but then I got

help and it was very easy”.

Rose said she hopes to use the knowledge she gained to begin her career.

Sherola Brandt, a 16-year-old student of St John’s Secondary explained, “I have learnt Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word Documents and how to build a scratch animation”.

Brandt said most of these areas were new to her and was challenging at first but she was motivated by her colleagues to learn.

Another student, 15-yearold Angeleena Thompson of South Ruimveldt Secondary said she was eager to learn more about coding, given

that she attended the first training held last year. She said, “When I went to the last computer classes we learnt simple things but when I came here I learnt more difficult things like how to build a web page and so forth”.

The girls were involved in activities such as scratch and block lead programming, coding, problem-solving, storytelling and learning about the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

They were also being taught how to use programming to solve problems relating to the SDGs during the sessions.

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019| guyanatimesgy.com

Region 7 residents allege sex Motorcyclist charged crimes by Police, Army ranks for causing death by …no report filed – Commander

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esidents from various communities in Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni) are claiming that women from their villages are being sexually assaulted and in some cases raped by ranks of the Joint Services stationed there.

According to a recently launched report on the land tenure situation of Indigenous peoples in that region, residents from the Kaikan Village, Region Seven, have complained about females in their community being sexually molested and harassed by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), in addition to them stealing from the community.

“Police officers and army soldiers have entered the village supposedly to do patrols and provide security for the airstrip. However, villagers report that these Police and army soldiers have assaulted

Commander of F Division (Interior locations), Kevin Adonis

women and stolen from the village…the village has complained over the years that women in the community have been sexually assaulted and that army soldiers have had relationships with married women, causing strife,” the document which was released on Thursday night stated.

It was further stated that residents also reported being threatened and intimidated

by soldiers when they try to protect their daughters from the military men who “come uninvited” to their homes.

Villagers in Kaikan also alleged that both Police and military ranks are also taking advantage of Venezuelan nationals who reside in that area. “…recently, army and police officers have also been taking advantage of Venezuelan prostitutes…taking away their identity cards and forcing the women to have sex with them in order to have their documents returned.”

Additionally, according to the land tenure report, villagers from the Kambaru/ Omanaik area have reported rapes of community members.

The report also states that third parties occupying Indigenous customary lands have been reported to be threatening and assaulting village residents.

“There have been nu-

dangerous driving

merous reports of deliberate rights violations by miners, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) officers, the police and soldiers, who are occupying Indigenous customary, including titled lands. There are complaints of miners bulldozing residents’ farms and destroying villages’ traditional trail lines. There are also reports of miners threatening village residents,” the report stated.

However, Commander of F Division (Interior locations), Kevin Adonis, when contacted about the allegations made against ranks of the Joint Services, stated that to date, no one has come forward to lodge a complaint or make an official report.

“The villagers have never reported these things to us. They have not. I have not, we have never gotten a report from them or anyone about such allegations,” the Police Commander stated.

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ight months after 70-year-old Hubert Caesar was hit and killed by a motorcycle on the Nismes Public Road, West Bank Demerara, the motorcyclist was on Friday hurled before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer to the charge.

Gregory Bess, 26, of Bagotville, West Bank Demerara, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, where he denied that on January 28, 2019, at Nismes Public Road, being the rider of motorcycle CJ 5283, caused an accident involving Hubert Caesar, where he failed to stop and render assistance.

Another charge detailed that on the said day and location, he drove motorcycle CJ 5283 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Hubert Caesar.

According to facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield, on January 28, the defendant was proceeding south along the eastern carriageway of the roadway at a fast rate when he collided with the pensioner.

The court further heard that Bess, having knowledge what had happened, fled the scene without offering help to the now dead man.

The now deceased was rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital by public-spirited citizens in an unconscious state and

Dead: Hubert Caesar

was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Prosecutor objected to Bess being released on bail, pointing out that the defendant went into hiding after the accident in an effort to evade Police apprehension.

It was disclosed that Police ranks recently managed to apprehend Bess after receiving information that he was at his reputed wife’s house.

The Chief Magistrate upheld the prosecution’s submission and remanded Bess to prison. He is expected to make his next court appearance on September 5, 2019 at the Wales Magistrates’ Court.

news

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SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Comparative analysis of real GDP

(at current basic prices) for the periods 2011-2014, 2015-2018

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oday’s article focuses on a comparative analysis of the composition of real GDP for the period 2011-2014 and 2015-2018. The table below shows real GDP at basic prices – the actual computation that is for the period 20112018. The purpose of this analysis is to show a comparative analysis of the growth of GDP for the four-year period 2011 -2014, relative to 2015 – 2018.

Essentially, the composition and the performance of GDP constitutes fourteen sectors as outlined in the above table, of which the agriculture, fishing and forestry sector is the largest contributor to GDP, accounting for 16 per cent of GDP. Then, mining & quarrying is the second largest contributor to GDP representing 13 per cent of GDP together with the wholesale and retail trade sector representing accounting for 13 per cent of GDP as well. Third, is the construction sector accounting for 12 per cent of GDP; transportation and storage sector accounts for 11 per cent of GDP; and the manufacturing, and Information and Communications Technology Sectors, together with the public administration sector account for 7 per cent of GDP, respectively. These sectors combined accounts for 93 per cent of GDP, while the others such as electricity and water, financial and insurance services, health and social services, education, real estate activities and other services activities account for the remaining 7 per cent of GDP. Having said that, the interesting and worrying revelation of the data above for both comparative periods is such that for the period 2011-2014, the economy experienced a more broad-based and vibrant growth in all sectors. More so, for both of the “four-year periods”, the level of overall real GDP growth was almost the same at 20 per cent. Notwithstanding this, the level of growth for the period 2015-2018 when compared to the previous period was driven by growth in only three sectors that accounted for only 38 per cent of GDP – that is, mining and quarrying, construction and wholesale and retail trade.

While the other sectors, which account for the remaining 62 per cent of GDP, did experience positive growth altogether – with the exception of agriculture, fishing and forestry, which declined relative to the corresponding period; the level of positive growth experienced for the other sectors, were all characterised as weaker growth relative to the period 20112014. To this end, as shown in the data: manufacturing was 72 per cent lower than the corresponding period. The other sectors namely electricity and water was down by 79 per cent, transportation and storage down by 28 per cent, ICT down by 55 per cent, financial and insurance activities down by 88 per cent, public administration down by 57 per cent, education down by 73 per cent, health and social services down by 67 per cent, real estate activities down by 24 per cent, other services activities down by 19 per cent; and the agriculture, fishing and forestry down by 112 per cent.

The three sectors that kept the economy growing for the period 2015-2018 which, fortunately were suffice to offset this level of weaker performances of the sectors that account for 62 per cent of GDP were the mining & quarrying sector which went up by 1831 per cent relative to the previous period of 2011-2014; construction which went up by 132 per cent and the wholesale and retail trade sector up by 113 per cent.

Taken together, the last four years growth were not as vibrant as the economic growth performances achieved for the period 2011-2014 wherein the economy experienced real broad-based and healthy growth in all the sectors as compared to growth in only three key sectors that account for a mere 38 per cent of total GDP. This effectively means that 62 percent of the economy which constitute GDP are in serious trouble and this is not healthy for the long term economic stability.

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

16 news

SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Govt fails to fully recognise rights Guyana cops Destination of Indigenous peoples – APA Stewardship Award from CTO

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espite being in office for over four years, the APNU/AFC coalition government has failed to fulfil its commitment to relook at sections of the Amerindian Act of 2006, and this has resulted in severe hardships on the livelihoods of Indigenous folks throughout the country.

This is according to the latest land tenure report, the third of its kind, issued by the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) which cited the presented administration’s failure to make amendments to laws regarding resource rights for the Indigenous peoples as a major factor for inherently limiting land tenure security across Guyana.

“The Act fails to set out clear and fair rules for defining and agreeing on land titles and also lacks clear ways of resolving land disputes.

The law gives overly broad discretion to the Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, which has resulted in land titling decisions that infringe upon Indigenous land rights, including titles…and titles that exclude key farming, hunting, fishing, or gathering grounds or important spiritual sites”.

According to the docu-

ment, the APNU/AFC coalition had promised that it would assist Indigenous folks and protect their rights but by failing to revise the Amerindian Act of 2006, it has done more harm than good.

It was further stated that in December last, the National Assembly held a no-confidence vote against the governing coalition and that the coalition Government has been back and forth between the Courts since that time to challenge that vote.

However, the report elaborated that according to Guyana’s Constitution, a NoConfidence Motion passed against the government requires elections to be held to conduct new elections within a three-month period but this process has put the revision of the Amerindian Act of 2006 in limbo.

“As a result of the court challenges and the Elections Commission’s stated inability to conduct elections within the constitutional threemonth period, it is unclear when the next national elections will be held. There is uncertain timing to revise the Amerindian Act, a commitment undertaken by the current governing coalition.

Revision of the Act has the potential to address many of the problems with the existing legislation and documented in this report”.

Indigenous persons continue to lobby for several changes to be made in the laws governing Indigenous peoples’ lands so that their rights can be upheld and protected in the country, the report stated.

The APA’s document added that the Amerindian Act of 2006 urgently needs to be revised since there are many flaws and policies that infringe on the livelihoods and development of all Indigenous peoples in Guyana.

The report stated that the Act also fails to provide for measures of restitution, which would return third party property rights and interests existing within Indigenous lands to Indigenous communities.

“Almost all of the flaws in Guyanese laws and policies relating to Indigenous land tenure stem from the fundamental problem that the government does not fully recognise the customary tenure systems of Indigenous peoples and the rights that arise therefrom,” it added.

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uyana was recently bestowed with a “Destination Stewardship” award from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), for its collaborative approach to maintaining the cultural, environmental and economic integrity of the country.

Receiving the award on behalf of Guyana were the Guyana Tourism Authority’s (GTA’s) Director, Brian Mullis and Deputy Director, Carla James at a Caribbean conference on “Sustainable Tourism Development” in St Vincent and the Grenadines under the theme “Keeping the Right Balance:- Tourism Development in an Era of Diversification”.

After receiving the award, the Deputy Director noted that the GTA has been working tirelessly to include tourism best practices into all that the agency does.

“Guyana, through the work of the Guyana Tourism Authority and its partners, has expended considerable effort in recent years to incorporate sustainable tourism best practices into all aspects of its tourism strategy, policy, planning and programming. It is always good when your des-

tination or business is recognised for the hard work that is put in,” she said.

In addition to the Destination Stewardship Award, Guyana also received a “Karanambu Lodge - Sustainable Accommodation” award.

In this regard, GTA said it is committed to sustaining the GTA Director Brian Mullis (right) and momentum.

Guyana Times Deputy Director Carla James proudly was told that the show off the award (GTA photo) 26 members of the Ecotourism” destination in CTO were judged based on the world. The award was their input to improving the presented to Guyana at the long-term competitiveness ITB global travel trade fair in of tourism businesses and Berlin, Germany. destinations; improving the The second annual “Best of well-being of communities as Top 100” Awards is a selection safe places to visit, live and in- of the finest top 100 destinavest; preserving and conserv- tions selected by a panel of exing cultural, historical and perts who review sustainabilnatural heritage; promoting a ity success stories submitted sense of place and authentic- by destinations worldwide. ity, including tourism stakeThe newly created “Best holders in decision-making of Ecotourism” category was and communicating and pro- added in 2019 and put Guyana moting sustainable tourism up against very well-known good practices to other tour- and experienced ecotourism ism stakeholders. destinations, such as Sierra Back in March of this Gorda in Mexico, Tmatboey in year, Guyana was award- Cambodia, and the Galapagos ed the number one “Best of Islands in Ecuador.

news

17

SUnDAY, september 1, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com

Tuschen-Uitvlugt NDC condemns Sophia CSEC night school Govt’s comment on shortcomings welcomes new students

...operations heavily stymied by withheld funds – Chairman

T

he Tuschen-Uitvlugt Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) has called out Government for statements made during an outreach on Wednesday, which suggested that the local organ was responsible for all shortcomings within the communities.

Speaking with Guyana Times on Saturday, Chairman of the Council, Vishal Ambedkar expressed his dissatisfaction with some of the assertions that were made by Government officials.

At the outreach at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Community Centre, the NDC was blamed for not cleaning the school compounds among other things.

However, Ambedkar pointed out that the maintenance of schools are budgeted in the Regional Democratic Council’s funds.

“I want to make it unequivocally clear that maintenance of schools and their compounds are budgeted for in the national and regional budgets by the Ministry of Education and, in the case of Region Three, the RDC. As a matter of fact, it is the regional administration that has the slasher which is to be used for maintaining schools and community grounds,” he informed.

Tuschen-Uitvlugt NDC Chairman Vishal Ambedkar

The Chairman further went on to say that the Communities Ministry reduced the Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) workers assigned to the Council, from a total of 16 to just six.

Payments to ensure these activities were carried out were also stifled.

“Before this Government came to power, the NDC had 16 CIIP workers cleaning and clearing drainage paid for by the Ministry of Communities. That number has been reduced to six and the disbursements to pay them have been stifled by the Ministry”.

He related that while they were elected to serve the communities, their operations are stymied by lack of funds from Government’s end. The $1M grant to maintain recreational compounds and facilities was rescinded

and despite numerous calls, there has been no response.

Ambedkar told this publication, “Community centre grounds no longer receive a grant of $1M to improve their recreational facilities from the Ministry of Sports in collaboration with the NDCs. Funding which they depended on. The NDC has written the Ministry of Communities many times for assistance with the improvement of grounds but nothing has materialised”.

He added, “The Regional Executive officer is aware of the issues facing the residents of Tuschen-Uitvlugt and of engagements between the RDC and the NDC but letters sent to the REO’s office requesting assistance has proven to be a complete waste of time since no actions are taken on the many issues discussed”.

He insisted that they are many plaguing issues in the communities which have not been addressed.

“The residents particularly Zeelugt New Housing Scheme, observed that roads leading up to the Nursery School were graded days before the Minister stopped by for what was called community outreach. The residents are not fooled. They recognise political pageantry. I am not going to talk about low and no water pressure, blackout, crime rates, or this, or that, or the rest”.

…aimed at qualifying vulnerable persons of all ages

T

he Sophia Community D e v e l o p m e n t Association (SOCDA) on Saturday welcomed over 30 individuals to their night school programme, which will provide classes for them to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination next year.

The programme was established by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) in 2016 for persons who never had a chance to write the examinations, or those who would have done so but failed to achieve satisfactory results. To date, over 450 persons have registered from ages 14 to 50.

Subjects offered presently during the evening classes are: Mathematics, English, Electronic Documentation and Preparation Management, Social Studies, Principle of Business, Principle of Accounts, Integrated Science, Human and Social Biology and Agricultural Science.

Speaking at the orientation ceremony, Treasurer Sidney Nelson explained that SOCDA was created to reduce the prevalence of crime and violence within the community. The objectives are “to foster a sense of community identity by providing resources and opportunities to promote self-determination through educational and vocational training”.

Operations Manager

The new batch of individuals and past students from SOCDA’s CSEC night school programme

Morgana Bethune-Adolphus emphasised the need to educate persons with the relevant skills to make valuable contributions to their own lives and society.

“The mission of SOCDA is to educate, empower and develop innovative leaders with the skills, competencies and predisposition, which will contribute to the nation’s development. And that is exactly what we do,” Bethune-Adolphus said.

Social Cohesion Minister, Dr George Norton was present at the gathering, as he lobbies for a foreign language to be introduced in the curriculum. He made promises to assist the organisation with a subvention to continue their work.

“In congratulating the night school for the increase in subjects which they would have offered in such short period of time, I would ask that they make every effort to get a foreign

language involved, whether it is Spanish, Portuguese, or French,” Norton suggested.

Teachers of the evening sessions raised some challenges they would have faced in the past, relating to the availability of textbooks and educational materials.

In some cases, the classroom space is limited and can barely accommodate the students.

On their student’s end, it was highlighted that many of them are challenged with financial problems, causing some to drop out. Others travel from far distances to take advantage of the free classes.

In 2019, 26 individuals wrote the examination and achieved outstanding results. Some have opted to pursue tertiary studies while others have gained employment. For the 2020 batch, over 30 students will be taking the classes.

18

SUnDAY, september 1, 2019

guyanatimesgy.com

Around the World

5 killed, including gunman, 21 Hong Kong commercial injured in West Texas shooting centres paralysed as

protesters, Police exchange petrol bombs and tear gas

A

white male in his 30s who was known to Police killed four people and wounded 21 others on Saturday in a gun rampage between the West Texas cities of Midland and Odessa that started with a traffic stop and ended when he was killed by officers, authorities said.

The suspect hijacked a postal van and opened fire on Police officers, motorists and shoppers on a busy Labour Day holiday weekend before being shot dead outside a multiplex cinema complex in Odessa, Police said.

Authorities originally thought there were two shooters driving two vehicles, but Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke told a news conference on Saturday evening that he believed there was only one.

The gunman was heading from Midland to Odessa on Interstate 20 when he was stopped at 15:17h local time, Gerke said. He shot the Police officer, took off west on I-20 and then exited at Odessa. There, he drove to a Home Depot and opened fire on passers-by.

“At some point the suspect stole a mail truck and ditched his car,” Gerke said.

A priest urges people to join the protest in Hong Kong

H People are evacuated from Cinergy Odessa cinema following a shooting in Odessa, Texas, US in this still image taken from a social media video August 31, 2019 [Photo by: Rick Lobo via REUTERS]

He drove the mail truck back east, pursued by Police, before crashing into a stationary vehicle behind the Odessa Cinergy multiplex complex, where he engaged in a gun battle with police and was shot dead, Gerke said.

Video shown by a local CBS affiliate showed the white postal van crashing into a vehicle at high speed outside the movie theatre

complex before the man believed to be the shooter was swarmed by Police.

Screaming theatre goers ran from the complex.

Gerke said the suspect was known to him but declined to comment on a motive for the shootings.

The Medical Centre Hospital in Odessa took in 13 victims, including one who died, the hospital’s Director, Russell Tippin,

told reporters. Seven were in critical condition, two serious, and two were treated and released. One “paediatric patient” under the age of 2 was transferred to another facility, he said.

“Grab onto your loved ones, pray for this town, stop and give your prayers for the victims,” Tippin said.

Midland Mayor Jerry Morales said hundreds of people were enjoying the holiday weekend inside the Cinergy complex when the gunman was confronted by officers who boxed in his vehicle in the parking lot before shots were exchanged.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

ong Kong Police fired tear gas and water cannon on Saturday and pro-democracy protesters threw petrol bombs in the latest in a series of chaotic clashes that have plunged the Chinese-ruled city into its worst political crisis in decades.

Police fired round after round of tear gas and protesters took cover behind umbrellas between the local headquarters of China’s People’s Liberation Army and the Government. Protesters also threw bricks dug up from pathways at Police.

Protest numbers had dwindled by the early hours of Sunday, with just a few hundred demonstrators and some riot police visible.

The water cannon unleashed blue-dyed water, to make it easier for Police to identify protesters.

There were unconfirmed reports of an off-duty policeman being wounded.

In the neighbouring

Wanchai bar and restaurant district, Police fought running battles with protesters, some beating them with truncheons, according to Reuters witnesses. There were several arrests.

The protests, which at one point blocked three key roads, came on the fifth anniversary of a decision by China to curtail democratic reforms and rule out universal suffrage in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was returned to China in 1997.

The People’s Liberation Army on Thursday rotated its troops in Hong Kong in what it said was a routine operation.

Senior Chinese officials have warned that if the turmoil persists, “the central Government must intervene”.

Police were targeting MTR subway trains to make arrests, with TV footage showing people being beaten as they cowered on the floor behind umbrellas. Some rail lines were closed.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

sunDAY, September 1, 2019

19

2nd Test, Windies vs India…

India in firm control Bumrah collects hat-trick, Vihari scores ton

J

a s p r i t Bumrah became only the third Indian to collect a Test hat-trick, while Hanuma Vihari and Ishant Sharma posted personal firsts with the bat to give India a massive advantage against W e s t Indies in the second Test at Kingston.

After Vihari had scored his first Test ton and Ishant had collected his maiden Test fifty to lift India to 416 in the afternoon, Bumrah tore through the West Indies’ batting by collecting six of the seven wickets to fall, including those of Darren Bravo, S h a m a r h Brooks and Roston Chase, in a back-toback reaping of scalps to collect the hattrick. Bumrah could’ve caused more damage, had he not been beset by cramps and had to leave the field.

By the time he left, he had reduced West Indies to 22 for 5, effectively breaking the back of their resistance.

At stumps, West Indies were a further 129 runs away from avoiding a follow-on, with only three wickets in hand.

Opener John Campbell was the first of Bumrah’s six wickets. He was on two, and struggling with Bumrah’s full deliveries when the bowler went shorter, trapping him on the back foot. The seam movement that Bumrah was getting all afternoon nipped the edge of Campbell’s bat and went to second slip.

But Bumrah’s fourth over is the one that entered the record books.

The first delivery to Darren Bravo had swung too much, but Bumrah made amends in the next delivery, which he aimed at middle stump, and the away movement caught Bravo’s outside edge and was

pocketed by second slip.

Shamarh Brooks walked in next, and the delivery Bumrah bowled this right-hander swung into him and trapped his back leg. Brooks reviewed, but that was in vain, the ball would have hit leg stump.

Then came the hattrick delivery, a n d R ost on

Hanuma Vihari looks skywards after his maiden Test century

Chase was welcomed with three slips, two gullys, a short-leg and two catchers behind square.

Bumrah went for his trusted full delivery, which swung into Chase and caught the front of his left leg. Although the review was turned down, India captain Virat Kohli trusted his instincts to review, and it was discovered that Chase was trapped right playing across the line. Bumrah had taken a Test hat-trick in just his 12th Test match, joining Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan in that illustrious list.

Opener

Ishant Sharma is all smiles after scoring a maiden Test halfcentury

Kraigg Brathwaite soon became Bumrah’s fifth victim in 35 deliveries when he edged a full delivery to the wicket-keeper.

A brief resurrection followed, with Jason Holder and Shimron Hetmyer adding 45 runs for the sixth wicket, but then Mohammad Shami ended the possibility of Bumrah joining the ranks of Anil Kumble or Jim Laker by having Hetmyer chop one onto his stumps. Bumrah, however, returned in his last spell of the day to sniff out Holder and have the West Indies captain sky a wide delivery.

At the end of the day, Bumrah’s figures read: 9.1 overs bowled, 3 of which were maidens; 16 runs scored, and 6 wickets taken.

Earlier in the day, Vihari had made 111 before being dismissed as the last India batsman, with the score reading 416. The Vihari-Ishant partnership had yielded 112 runs for the eighth wicket, and had dominated most of the post-lunch session, frustrating the West Indies after they had had a reasonably successful morning. Holder had sent back Rishabh Pant off the day’s first ball; and while Ravindra Jadeja’s patient 16 had helped Vihari score in the morning, India had reached 302 for 7 by lunch.

Having started the day on 42, Vihari battled through a difficult period after lunch, scoring two runs in the first nine overs, but finding his form even as Ishant settled in. He drove Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach, offering a straight bat to collect a few boundaries, despite playing and missing earlier on. Vihari reached his hundred by taking a sharp single halfway through the session, and Ishant reached his fifty 3 overs later.

Ishant grew in confidence as the innings progressed, offering free-flowing drives to the pacers and to debutant off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall.

He used his feet smartly through the innings, either walking across the line to guide shots past the keeper’s left, or taking a big stride to drive through the off-sides.

When Ishant reached his fift y , the applause from the Indian dressing room was even more than what Hanuma Vihari had received on attaining his first Test ton two overs earlier. Vihari had reached the landmark in the 133rd over, pinching a risky

single and then punching the air in delight.

Ishant’s sweep to reach his 50 also brought up their hundred stand. Kohli particularly looked elated. The duo did have their nervous moments, especially with their running between the wickets, but West Indies couldn’t hit the stumps directly, and both batsmen continued to prosper. They even took India past 400, a total that must have seemed difficult to achieve when Pant had fallen to the first ball of the day. At 414, Ishant holed out to part-time bowler Kraigg Brathwaite, and India’s innings had come to a swift close four runs later.

The Vihari-Ishant stand had already put West Indies on the back foot at tea, but little did they imagine they would be losing seven wickets in the day’s final session. (Excerpt from Cricinfo

SCOREBOARD

India 1st Innings KL Rahul c Cornwall b Holder 13 MA Agarwal c Cornwall b Holder 55 CA Pujara c Brooks b Cornwall 6 V Kohli (c) c †Hamilton b Holder 76 AM Rahane c †Hamilton b Roach 24 GH Vihari c Roach b Holder 111 RR Pant † b Holder 27 RA Jadeja c Bravo b Cornwall 16 I Sharma c Hetmyer b Brathwaite 57 Mohammed Shami c †Hamilton b Cornwall 0 JJ Bumrah not out 0 Extras 31 (b 11, lb 19, w 1) TOTAL 416 all out (140.1 Overs, RR: 2.96) Fall of wickets: 1-32 (KL Rahul, 6.5 ov), 2-46 (Cheteshwar Pujara, 16.5 ov), 3-115 (Mayank Agarwal, 40.5 ov), 4-164 (Ajinkya Rahane, 59.5 ov), 5-202 (Virat Kohli, 72.1 ov), 6-264 (Rishabh Pant, 90.1 ov), 7-302 (Ravindra Jadeja, 110.1 ov), 8-414 (Ishant Sharma, 138.4 ov), 9-416 (Mohammed Shami, 139.2 ov), 10416 (Hanuma Vihari, 140.1 ov) BOWLING O M R W KAJ Roach 30 9 77 1 ST Gabriel 21 4 74 0 JO Holder 32.1 9 77 5

RRS Cornwall RL Chase KC Brathwaite

41 10 105 3 14 4 45 0 2 0 8 1

West Indies 1st Innings KC Brathwaite c †Pant b Bumrah 10 JD Campbell c †Pant b Bumrah 2 DM Bravo c Rahul b Bumrah 4 SSJ Brooks lbw b Bumrah 0 RL Chase lbw b Bumrah 0 SO Hetmyer b Mohammed Shami 34 JO Holder (c) c sub (RG Sharma) b Bumrah 18 JN Hamilton † not out 2 RRS Cornwall not out 4 Extras 13 (b 8, lb 5) TOTAL 87/7 (33 Overs, RR: 2.63) Yet to bat: KAJ Roach, ST Gabriel Fall of wickets: 1-9 (John Campbell, 6.4 ov), 2-13 (Darren Bravo, 8.2 ov), 3-13 (Shamarh Brooks, 8.3 ov), 4-13 (Roston Chase, 8.4 ov), 5-22 (Kraigg Brathwaite, 12.5 ov), 6-67 (Shimron Hetmyer, 24.6 ov), 7-78 (Jason Holder, 28.1 ov) BOWLING O M R W I Sharma 6.5 2 20 0 JJ Bumrah 9.1 3 16 6 Mohammed Shami 8 3 19 1 RA Jadeja 9 5 19 0

Forrester continues to excel in USA leagues W

inston Forrester has continued to produce stellar knocks at the top of the batting order, proving himself to be valuable with the bat in any given situation.

In his recent feats of 2019, he pulled together a string of half-centuries in representing the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC), and has even played an outstanding knock of 62 to help GCC defeat Everest in the finals of the NBS 2nd Division 40-Over competition.

For 2019, he has thus far played in three leagues in the USA, racking up an impressive tally of runs. His first stint with the New England Cricket Club (NECC) Hawks in the Massachusetts Cricket League has seen him play two matches in the Pro40 tournament for 2019 and score 117 runs, with a high score of 103 and an average of 117.

His 2019 season has seen vast improvement over his 2018 season, wherein he had averaged only 25. In 2017, he had scored more than 240 runs at an average of 82.33.

To date, he has accumulated 514 runs from 12 matches at an average of 51.40, inclusive of three centuries and one half-century.

Forrester represents the Novo Cricket Club in the US Cricket League, and has this season played 5 matches in which he scored 371 runs, inclusive of 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries. He also played a vital role in leading the club to the 2019 T20 title.

Forrester is currently representing the Atlantis Cricket Club, for whom he has played 8 matches and scored 342 runs at an average of 48.86. his innings comprise one century and one half-century, with a high score of 119. Since his return to the USA, he has been able to score more than 1000 runs from 19 games.

Forrester declares that he continues to strive, despite excelling at the top of his level. He explained that he works hard to play cricket at the highest level.

Forrester celebrating his century

20

guyanatimesGY.com

sunDAY, september 1, 2019

Schultz grateful for involvement in Windies cricket T

he West Indies Women’s team are on the hunt for a premier left-arm spinner, and Kysia Schultz has been tipped for grooming in this regard.

The Guyanese left-arm spinner has disclosed that she is excited at being included in a senior Windies Women’s training camp.

Prior to selection of the final 13-member squad, the Windies Women were engaged in a training camp in Antigua. With Shemaine Campbelle sustaining an injury, the remaining Guyanese women in the camp were Sheneta Grimmond, Kysia Schultz and Shabika Gajnabi.

Gajnabi, who hails from Chesney, Corentyne, East Berbice, was the lone Guyanese selected in the ODI squad to face Australia.

Left-arm spinner Kysia Schultz spoke to veteran spinner Anisa Mohammed on the experience she had gained at the training camp thus far.

“It is a joyful feeling for me! (It is) one of the biggest achievements I have accomplished for me thus far,” Schultz described the experience.

She added that she has benefited a lot from the senior players in the Windies Women’s team. “It is good to gain a lot of experience from them on and off the field. I am comfortable,” she explained.

Schultz explained that she sees herself playing for the West Indies Women in the future. “It is something serious, and it calls for a lot of hard work, but one day I see myself playing”, Schultz declared.

Having played for the Guyana Senior Women’s Team and the Guyana Under-19 Team, Schultz described this training camp as being more intense. “At the Regional level it is just basic, but this level is more intense”, Schultz has said.

This is the second camp in which this young spinner Kysia Schultz has been involved for the West Indies Women team. She is being placed on reserve for the Aussie tour to the Caribbean.

She said she has seen a lot of improvement in her game.

“I am thankful for the experience, and (I am) confident” Schultz declared.

With the next West Indies Women’s camp

Kysia Schultz, Anisa Mohammed and Steffi Soogrim interact

set for October 1, Schultz has said she would return home and work on her game, especially her batting. “Being a reserve player is a step

further, and when I return, it’s a follow-up for me from the things I left off,” Schultz has declared. (Brandon Corlette)

Good news for the ancient county…

N

Chess returns to Berbice!

ational Chess competition will return to Berbice today, Sunday, September 1, 2019, when the Berbice Chess Association (BCA) stages the A. Ally and Sons Open Rapid Chess competition, a one-day tournament that will be played at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC) at Tain Settlement, Corentyne Berbice.

The anticipation is that all the top chess players in the country would participate. There will be seven rounds of competition using the Swiss System format, with each player being allotted 20 minutes per game.

Registration begins at 09:00 hrs, and play will commence at 10:00h. Cash, trophies and other incentives will be presented to the top players, all compliments of A. Ally and Sons, whose chain of stores has branches in Berbice and Demerara, and whose management is known for benevolence in a wide cross-section of activities.

Rubina Somwaru, a representative of A. Ally & Sons’ chain of stores, presented the sponsorship cheque for the tournament to President of the BCA, Krishnanand Raghunandan, and Vice President Steve Leung outside the company’s head office on Main Street and Coopers Lane in New Amsterdam Berbice on Wednesday last.

Berbice Chess Association President Krishnanand Raghunandan (centre) receiving sponsorship cheque from Rubina Somwaru, a representative of A Ally & Sons. At left is BCA Vice President Steve Leung

According to Mr. Raghunandan, the BCA had contacted Managing Director Fizal Ally concerning sponsorship for the tournament, and this was readily agreed.

For further information, interested persons can contact BCA President Krisnanand Raghunandan on 667-0433; Vice President Steve Leung on 644-9721; Kriskal Persaud on 626-2386, or Professor Gomes at the UGBC on 610-3345.

US Open 2019…

Daniil Medvedev fined for unsportsmanlike conduct R

ussian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev has been fined $9,000 (£7,400) for his behaviour during a US Open third-round win, wherein he was booed by the crowd.

Medvedev, 23, was fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and $4,000 for a visible obscenity.

He snatched a towel from a ball person, and then made an offensive gesture to the fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

After beating Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, Medvedev thanked the crowd for giving him “the energy to win”.

The world number five received an ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ code violation for snatching a towel in the first set, and later putting his middle finger up on the side of his head. He escaped punishment for the gesture because it was unseen by umpire Damien Dumusois, but was later replayed on a television screen in the stadium.

Medvedev, also booed while being interviewed on court after the match, said: “I want all of you to know, when you sleep tonight, I won because of you. The energy you gave.

The more you do this, the more I win.”

Medvedev, who next faces German qualifier Dominik Koepfer, has said he would try to improve his behaviour.

“I am working on myself, and hopefully I will be better next time,” the Russian added. (Excerpt from BBC)

sunday, september 1, 2019

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guyanatimesgy.com

Caneville, Grove students receive bicycles in time for school G etting to school on time will not be a problem for ten students in the Caneville, Grove squatting area, as they will be doing so on wheels.

Today (Friday) the Sonic Hunters Motorcycle Club, in collaboration with the Industrial Supply of Guyana Inc (ISG), presented the ten students with their new bicycles in time for the new school term.

The presentation was done in the Grove community in the presence of their parents and guardians.

Terry Liben, President of Sonic Hunters Motorcycle Club, said this is the third year that the club is donating to deserving students before the opening of the new school term.

Public Relation Officer of

the club, Kwame Ridley said a team from the club visited the community last week and identified the children from homes that need assistance.

A sales representative of ISG, Sylvester Persaud, said the company jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with the club as it is in keeping with their corporate social responsibility.

Parents and guardians of the ten recipients expressed their gratitude to the donors for the gifts to their children. The bicycles, the parents said, will see them having more finances to contribute to the wellbeing of their children.

The Sonic Hunters Motorcycle Club was formed in 2000 and has a membership of more than forty motorcyclists.

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Some of the students with their new bicycles

Commonwealth Cricket League…

NAMILCO WCW dominated by commemorates Khyber CC in quarterfinal 50th anniversary I

Lucky me Lucky you seek Sales Representatives to sell tickets in their respective region. Requirements: ID, Two Proof of Address. Call: 6600275 / 624-3507.

GUYANA TIMES

21

T

he Imam Bacchus Ground, Affiance, Essequibo Coast, will be the venue for a series of sports activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Milling Company (NAMILCO).

The activities, which involve cricket and football, will take place over the weekend and according to the organisers, for NAMILCO’s 50th anniversary, exercise books will be given free of cost to children at the ground.

According to NAMILCO Marketing Consultant Affeeze Khan, the cricket match will take the form of a 20-oversaside affair with the two teams – NAMILCO XI (Thunderbolt Flour Power) taking on an Imam Bacchus team (Bacchus Bull)— for the top prize of $50,000, a trophy and medals for the winning team, but only trophy and medals for the runner-up team.

In football, two teams from Essequibo, with the approval of the Guyana Football Federation— Henrietta Under-17 will take on Dartmouth Under-17 in a specially arranged match with the winning team to receive $50,000, a trophy, and medals, while the losing team will only receive a trophy and medals.

Being Guyana’s largest facility of its kind, NAMILCO has greatly enhanced the nation’s ability to produce and export flour rather than to import. While in 1969, the mill was producing 3,300 hundred-pound sacks of flour daily, they are presently producing 240 metric tons of wheat per day, with 136 employees. It exports its produce to Brazil, Canada, Antigua, Barbados and other locations. Today, they are producing, amongst other items, the Thunderbolt All Purpose Flour, Maid Marian Self-Rising Flour, and Maid Marian Pholourie Quick Mix. Prior to the incorporation in 1969 of the National Milling Company of Guyana Inc (NAMILCO), a subsidiary of Seaboard Corporation of the USA, Guyana imported flour from various suppliers. Seaboard Corporation based in Shawnee Mission, Kansas City, USA saw an opportunity to set up a flour mill in Guyana and negotiated with the Government in 1967 to make this a reality.

t was a day filled with lots of drama as the action continued in the Commonwealth League. The inform West Coast Warriors (WCW) finally met their match as they were bundled out for an all-time low of 47 against Khyber CC in their quarterfinal match-up.

West Coast Warriors won the toss and elected to bat under sunny conditions as they sought to post a mammoth total in their 25 over affair.

Openers Rajendra Khan and Balbinder Shivpersaud walked confidently on to the field as they took first strike, but in an unexpected plot twist, both openers soon found themselves in the pavilion being dismissed for duck. After the loss of the openers, things took a stranger turn as wickets still continued to tumble, no batsman could hold on to their wicket for more than 4 runs. The Guyanese pair of Shivpersaud and Cornelius Jaisingh were no match for the inform Khyber. Ameer Singh came to the crease and spanked a splendid 18 inclusive

The victorious Khyber side

of 1 maximum and 1 boundary, but could not carry on as he was forced to attack as no player could support him. In the end, WCW were dismissed for a meagre 47 in 19.3 overs, bowling for Khyber were Asif Khan 2-3, Abdullah Khan 2-11, Ravish Khanchi 2-5, Javed Khan 2-9 and Farhanullah Bangash 2-1.

Need a small total of 48 for victory, Khyber had the world of time to approach the

small total set before them.

Danish Bangash was the first wicket to fall after he looked comfortable smashing a massive six; however, he was bested by Ryan Francis as he fell for 8. But with such a small total, it was a futile effort for the WCW side, no bowling combination seemed to work.

In the end Asif Khan and Javed Khan took their side across the line with scores of 10 and 16 and the score on 48-1.

22 Máximo makes good on ‘balanced squad’ promise guyanatimesgy.com

SUnDAY, september 1, 2019

… 20-member team shortlisted

W

ith the aim to foster continuous exposure and development of young Guyana-based players on the international field, newly-appointed Head Coach of the Guyana Senior Men’s National Team, commonly known as the Golden Jaguars, Márcio Máximo has shortlisted a 20-man squad to play the first two matches of the CONCACAF Nations League against Aruba and Jamaica respectively.

The squad, which includes 10 Guyanabased players, comprises three goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and five forwards.

“Of course, I have been here just 10 days and while that time was not enough, I have been able to see the characteristics of the players to provide a good combination of Guyana and international-based players in the squad,” said Coach Máximo in an invited comment following the announcement of the squad yesterday.

He said team preparations have been steady and going well and while the intent for the upcoming matches is to win, there’s no guarantee in international football: “Preparations have been going very well, the guys are very motivated. The guys have shown great interest and, of course, they understand the tactical elements. While we will set out to win the upcoming matches, there’s no guarantee in football. We, however, will go to the game with optimism that we can have a good result against both Aruba and Jamaica”.

A 31-man Guyana-based provisional squad has been in training at the GFF’s National Training Centre, Providence for just under a month in preparation for the CNL. Guyana’s first match

is scheduled for September 6 against Aruba in Curacao.

Guyana will then play its first of three home matches a g a i n s t Jamaica on September 9 at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora from 19:00h.

The team is scheduled to depart on Monday and the international-based players will join the squad in Curacao on the said day for encampment before the first match.

The allocation of teams for the current group stage of the tournament was determined following the one-off qualifying phase held in September 2018 – March 2019. Guyana has been placed in League B – Group C with Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Aruba based on its performance, which earned it a place at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. In this current group stage, teams have been placed in three Leagues – A, B and C – with four groups and will play home and away matches, round-robin format for promotion and relegation. The winner of each group will be promoted, while the loser will be relegated. Six nations – Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras and Trinidad & Tobago – have gained automatic qualification having reached the final qualification stage for the 2018 World Cup. The 34 remaining nations

Chase is 1st Guyanese ITO G

uyanese Amateur Boxing Referee/Judge Elton Chase recently made history for the fraternity when he became the first International Technical Officer (ITO) to emerge from its ranks.

This is the direct result of Chase’s success at the ITO examination which was sat in May of this year and was facilitated in St. Lucia.

The Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) received this week from the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) the news of Chase’s elevation; and it has been highlighted that Chase is the first Guyanese to have recorded such an achievement.

GABA President Steve Ninvalle has applauded Chase’s success, claiming it as another pillar in the development of amateur boxing in Guyana.

“Boxing and Guyana must be proud of his(Chase’s) recent achievement. Mr. Chase remains

Guyana’s first ITO, Elton Chase

one of our most dependable officials, and ascension to the rank of ITO clearly speaks to his tenacity for personal development and that of the sport,” Ninvalle said.

Extending to Chase the best wishes of himself and the GABA, Ninvalle has also expressed hope that other officials would follow suit.

“Obviously, the hope is

that others would follow in his footsteps. On behalf of the executives of the GABA, I take this opportunity to heap congratulations on Guyana’s first ITO,” he said.

An elated Chase had gratitude of his own to express to those who were instrumental in his achievement.

“I feel very honoured to have successfully completed this course. The long hours of work (have been) rewarded.

That being said, I must thank God; Mr. Ninvalle of GABA; the St. Lucia Boxing Association and its President, Mr. Shakes; and all those who participated in the course, for their contributions to this success story,” he said.

Chase has made known his intention to play a role in the development of boxing in Guyana.

“I anticipate contributing to the advancement of amateur boxing in Guyana, the Caribbean and internationally,” he said.

have been placed in the group qualifiers.

League A contains 12 teams, with the six hexagonal participants joined by the top six teams from the qualification phase. League B contains the next 16 teams from the qualifying phase who finished in seventh to 22nd place.

League C contains the remaining member associations, with the teams who finished 23rd to 34th in qualifying.

The semi-finals and finals are set for March

2020 with the winners of Groups 1 – 4 in League A competing in two semi-finals.

Guyana’s other matches in the tournament are as follows: October 11: Antigua & Barbuda v Guyana in Antigua.

October 14 – Guyana v Antigua in Guyana.

November 15 – Guyana v Aruba in Guyana.

November 18: Jamaica v Guyana in Jamaica.

Thisara Perera now available for all CPL matches

T

he St Lucia Zouks have confirmed that Thisara Perera is now available for the duration of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The tournament gets underway on September 4th, and the Zouks play their first match on September 5, when they face off against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at the National Stadium at Providence, Guyana.

It had previously been announced that Perera would not be available for the first two matches of the Zouks’ season, and a temporary replacement was being sought; but with him now available for all 10 group games and the playoffs, should the Zouks reach the knockout stages, that replacement is no longer required.

Perera, who was part of the Sri Lanka squad for the 2019 ICC

Cricket World Cup tournament, has a huge amount of experience playing T20I cricket around the world. He has featured in 79 of the 260 T20I matches he has played, including in domestic leagues in India, England and Pakistan, as well as in his native Sri Lanka. In previous play in the CPL, he represented the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

Thisara Perera

guyanatimesgy.com

sunDAY, september 1, 2019

Caribbean Premier League…

23

“New boy” King ready to adapt in GAW set-up – GAW continue intense training session at GNS

GAW members at the practice session held at the GNS Story and Photos by Brandon Corlette

J

amaican right-handed batsman Brandon King is ready to embrace the new challenges the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ franchise has to offer. Speaking to the media on the second day of the pre-tournament camp at the Guyana National Stadium (GNS), King, as a new member of the GAW squad, disclosed that he feels excited at being involved in a new set-up.

“One of skills you have to get as a cricketer is being able to adapt to different situations,” he declared. “It is always good to experience new things.”

This 24-year-old stroke-maker has said that, given the necessary time, he would familiarize himself with the players, and figure out the role that best suits him in the team.

Having played for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 2018 edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), King is looking for a smooth transition into the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

King has also played for the West Indies ‘A’ team against the India ‘A’ team recently. He said

he would be aiming to improve every aspect of his game during his stint with the GAW, and is eager to play a huge role in the GAW’s success in this 2019 campaign.

“This franchise has been doing well. Hopefully, I can be a part of taking the team across the final line”, King disclosed.

There are some hugely experienced names in the GAW squad, and King will be aiming to capitalize on gaining knowledge from them. “It’s definitely a plus playing with guys who have years of experience. I will be looking to have as many conversations with these guys and learn as much as I can, and incorporate this into my game”, the elegant batsman disclosed.

Being a Jamaican national, King has said that whenever he plays against his ‘home boys’, he would be motivated. “It’s franchise cricket, and you tend to move around a lot; so I will use that challenge as a motivation”, King explained.

With the T20 International World Cup set for play in 2020, King has said he would be aiming to register some solid performances in the CPL, to push his chances of being selected.

Fans can catch a year’s supply of Carib beer A

t this year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), there is a chance for fans to win a year’s supply of beer with the “Catch a Carib” challenge. Any spectator who catches a six one handed, and does so cleanly, at the Hero CPL final, won’t have to buy a beer again for 12 months, with Carib taking care of them until this time next year!

It isn’t just at the final where fans can get their hands on Carib beer. Any fan who catches a six one-handed at any CPL match will win two months’ supply of beer, and the first to do so in each tournament location will win tickets to the CPL final courtesy of Carib.

CPL’s Head of Marketing, Chris Watson, said: “CPL are always striving to make the fan

experience the best that it can be. Innovative and engaged brands like Carib finding ways to reward supporters for coming to games in a way that is fun and interactive is so important to us as a tournament. We are delighted to have Catch a Carib as part of CPL this year and we are very excited about seeing the winners at the final at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on 12 October”.

Antron Forte, Marketing Manager for Carib, said: “Carib, the beer that brings the vibes, the energy and the fun is excited to partner with CPL in the Catch a Carib promotion. We can’t wait to award lucky winners with free beer…

Catch a Carib... catch the vibes… that’s the way we, at Carib, play”.

“This is the premier T20 competition in the Caribbean, and players are selected based on their performances; so it’s a stepping stone,” he said, adding that CPL is televised globally and it is a big stage on which to showcase one’s skills.

King made his CPL debut in 2017 against GAW, wherein he scored only 11 runs. In that season, he played 11 matches for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and scored 125 runs in seven innings. The right-handed middle order batsman has had few opportunities in a team that once included the likes of Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. In his 2018 season with that franchise, King had opportunity to bat in only seven innings.

He tallied 142 runs, including a career best 60.

King’s batting is distinguished by elegance and grace. He has a healthy strike rate of 135.23

in a career in which he has played 18 T20I matches and has scored 267 runs, with a lone half-century and a T20 career strike rate of 119.

At the Regional level, King has been a good performer for Jamaica in First Class and List ‘A’ matches.

Since making his First Class debut in 2015, King Catches win has participated in 27 matches, matches, from which and King is preparing he has scored 1703 to pouch runs. He has scored two one during centuries and 11 halfa fielding centuries, including a session career best of 194.

King has the ability to bat in challenging situations, and can score quickly if required. He was Jamaica’s leading batsman in the recently concluded 2018/19 Regional Four-Day season. In seven First Class matches, he accumulated 630 runs at a brilliant average of 48.46, and had six half-centuries and a high score of 133 in his best Regional season.

King represented the West Indies ‘B’ team in the Global T20 Canada, and has played for West Indies U-19s. His performances in the Regional arena have seen him participating in West Indies High Performance Camps in recent times.

Having the luxury of time on his side, King is one for the future. When he suits up for the Guyana Amazon Warriors he will be aiming to continue his consistency in the Regional arena, and push for higher representation.

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

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

guyanatimesgy.com

Caribbean Premier League…

"New boy" King ready to adapt in GAW

Fans can catch a year’s supply of Carib beer

Pg 23

– GAW continue intense training session at GNS

Pg 23

Brandon King rocking his new GAW kit

2nd Test, Windies vs India…

Pg 19

India in firm control

Máximo makes good on ‘balanced squad’ promise Pg 22

Bumrah collects hat-trick, Vihari scores ton

… 20-member team shortlisted Interim Head Coach Márcio Máximo

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.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

2 Sunday Times Magazine

September 1, 2019

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

n the belief system of the Carib tribes, Kanaima is an evil spirit that possesses people and causes them to turn into deadly animals and/or go into a murderous rage. Assassins, or Carib people seeking revenge for a slain relative, sometimes invited the Kanaima spirit into themselves by taking certain drugs or conducting certain magic rituals.

Kanaima, as a spirit of vengeance, attack and kill their victims in retaliation for some injustice. It is a human lizard-like creature. Some say it is like the werewolf but instead of seeking out a pack, it seeks a master. Once the master gains its trust, he can make it kill/harm anyone and anything. It has a paralytic toxin on its claws that can paralyse your whole body in just a couple of seconds.

It is said to be scared of its own reflection. If we looked like a giant blue lizard, we’d be smashing mirrors and hiding from glass windows, too.

It is also said to be a weapon of vengeance and in this capacity, it is used as a sort of servant to carry out the bidding of its master.

Physical traits of a Kanaima The Kanaima is roughly the size of an average human male, covered in scales, yellow eyes with slits, and can climb up walls like some varieties of lizards. It has a long prehensile tail and long claws that secrete venom that can paralyse victims for hours.

When the Kanaima is not in control, the human half is susceptible to its own venom.

The Kanaima will not limit itself from harming or killing the friends, family, and loved-ones of its victim.

Individuals possessed by the Kanaima do not live among others but in the jungle or wilderness. Kanaimas are known to track their victims to any location that they may

have fled or may be hiding.

Kanaimas possess supernatural powers as they are spirits. They have the power to shapeshift and to possess the bodies of animals

and h u m a n s .

Kanaimas possess supernatural weapons.

The Kanaima is believed to be able to drive people insane with one look.

Amerindians have it that, “Time nor distance are of any importance to those possessed by the Kanaima as they will track their victims to any location that they may have fled or may be hiding”.

An interesting aspect of the

Kanaima is that it seeks the painful suffering of its victim and will not kill its victim outright. Instead, the Kanaima works it so that the victim dies a painful death three days after its attack. During this process, the Kanaima slashes the tongue of its victim so that he/she cannot speak of what is occurring.

The victim will first become aware of an impending attack when the Kanaima approaches his house by night, or on lonely forest trails, making a characteristic whistling sound. A direct physical attack might come at any point, even years thereafter, for during this period of stalking, the victim is assessed as to their likely resistance and their suitability as “food.”

In some attacks, the victims may have minor bones broken, especially fingers, and joints dislocated, especially the shoulder, while the neck may also be manipulated to induce spinal injury and back pain. This kind of attack is generally considered to be a preliminary to actual death and mutilation.

The fatal attack will certainly follow but may come many months, or even a year or two, later. When a fatal physical attack is intended, victims are always struck from behind and physically restrained.

A variety of procedures, intended to produce a lingering death, are then enacted. The victim has their tongue pierced with the fangs of a snake, is turned over and either an iguana or an armadillo tail is inserted into their rectum so that the anal muscles can be stripped out through repeated rubbing.

Then, pressing on the victim’s stomach, a section of the sphincter muscle is forced out and cut. Finally, the victim’s body is rubbed down with astringent plant and a thin flexed twig is forced into the rectum so that it opens the anal tract. Packets of herbs are then rammed in as deeply as possible. This is said to begin a process of auto-digestion, creating the special aroma of Kanaima enchantment, rotting pineapple.

As a result of the completion of these procedures, the victim is unable to speak or to take any sustenance by mouth. Bowel control is lost and the clinical cause of death becomes acute dehydration through diarrhoea.

The Kanaima will try and discover the burial place of their victim and await the onset of putrefaction in the corpse that usually occurs within three days, the rest remains unknown. (Taken from the Things Guyana website)

guyanatimesgy.com

september 1, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat

“I

have noted the need to preserve my culture and that is exactly what I want to do. I want to become a voice for the Indigenous community and I will use my camera to achieve that. I want to become that advocate and to share the stories that excite us, stories that show our way of life, stories that highlight the issues we face, and stories that preserve our culture,” said the vibrant Chris Elliman.

Chris has been working for a number of years to share the stories of life in his village, Paruima.

Paruima is an Amerindian settlement with a population of about 800 persons and is located in the Upper Mazaruni District of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). Paruima is said to be the only Arecuna-speaking community in Guyana though Chris said the village is now home to many other Amerindian tribes.

For Chris, growing up in Paruima was an experience he would not trade for anything else. His early days were centred around school, gardening and church. For the villager, religion is of paramount importance and most of them are from the Seventh Day Adventist denomination.

As a child, Chris spent hours helping his parents in their garden, which was the only source of income as well as

feeding the family. The 31-year-old said that his initial schooling was done mostly in the village but after he sat the Common Entrance Examinations, he was offered a place at President’s College in Georgetown.

For him, that was perhaps one of the scariest times in his life because of the fact that he had never interacted with coastlanders. He was mostly reserved and shy and that was quite evident when he began classes at his new secondary school. However, after a few years, he felt at home and began having fun.

“Life in secondary school was hard for me. I had to leave my village and my family behind and it was hard because I could not take the loneliness. My parents never worked so there was also the issue of finances. When it was CXC time I wrote 5 subjects and was only able to secure 3 of the 5 because I passed through a lot where the dormitory was burned down. I lost everything and I gave up on that day. I saw that my parents could not afford to get back the books and so.”

“When I returned home for the holidays I told my father that I don’t want to return to the school because I know he could not afford to buy the things I needed but he encouraged me to go back and told me to see

what I can do and complete and that no one is going to pressure you.”

After he finished secondary school, Chris worked for a while in the city before moving back to his home. When he got back, he became engrossed in taking care of his family and to this day, he still helps in whatever way he can.

Paruima is heavily dependent on self-sustenance since job opportunities are very limited. So villagers would plant their gardens and whatever they cannot consume they would, in turn, sell, which serves as their main form of income. For Chis, it was this simple life he enjoyed.

However, he has always had a knack for technology and loved cameras.

He wanted to become a videographer and now he is a part of the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) Youth-led Media programme which allows him to fulfil that dream.

With funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD), the Youthled Media project is one that focuses on developing the skills of Indigenous youths in the field of media and communications, primarily in film and video production.

At present, the project involves youths from Santa Rosa, Region One; Wakapao, Region Two; Waramadong and Paruima, Region Seven; Paramakatoi, Waipa and Kato, Region Eight; and Aishalton in Region Nine.

The youths are given the knowledge and tools to become their own storytellers and share the issues affecting the Amerindian communities. They are encouraged to highlight the livelihoods and the culture of the Amerindian people.

Before the APA’s Youth-led Media project came to par, Chris was doing exactly that. He had his little camera and whenever there were

events or anything that excited the

village, he would capture those moments.

He would then transfer those videos onto DVDs and sell them as a way of making money.

“Persons in the Upper Mazaruni got to know about the DVDs and it grew.

Even some neighbouring villages in Venezuela would be requesting DVDs. I stopped after a while and that was what led the APA to ask me to join the Youth-led Media programme.

“At that time when they asked me I was looking at ways to become a videographer and they had people come on from the USA to show us how to compile our stories and we are here still learning.”

Since he became a part of the programme in 2017, Chris has had to move to neighbouring Waramadong because his village lacks stable internet connection and cell signal. Despite moving, Chris’ heart remains in Paruima and he has been making his mark in Waramadong as well.

He has been volunteering his IT skills at the DC Caesar Fox Secondary School.

Now Chris dreams of becoming a bigger voice for his people as he seeks to highlight the culture that makes them unique. He is on the path to ensure that the issues affecting the Indigenous communities are addressed or at least placed in the public domain.

“You always have to do something you enjoy. I enjoy film and I am happy that I am given this platform to make sure that our voices, our stories, our culture is out there.”

4

Sunday Times Magazine

september 1, 2019

Feature

By Lakhram Bhagirat

E

very community is different. It has its own set of rules, customs and traditions and when we introduce those things that make that community unique, it creates a recipe for exchange – the exchange of stories, experiences and knowledge that leads to the further development of surrounding areas.

That is the goal of young Kyle Anthony Joseph. He is on a mission to link the communities in the Rupununi with each other and then take that link even further to other Indigenous villages.

At just 22, Kyle is already making his mark in the Amerindian communities in the Rupununi. He currently serves as a United Nations Volunteer with UNICEF as a Youth Advocate for Monitoring and Evaluation. It is a post he holds dearly since his interest lies in youth development and bridging the communities.

“The main purpose of what I do has to do with linking the Georgetown-based UNICEF with rural communities. They wanted someone from the region. Someone who has grown up here and understand the life here and have those programmes implemented. I really go out a lot in the communities to find out certain programmes have been implemented and how I can get more people involved and promote more volunteerism and how they can help UNICEF and our mandate,” he said.

The Aishalton, South Rupununi youth takes great pride in executing his functions. Though it has only been a few months since he officially started with UNICEF, Kyle has been giving back to his community for quite some time.

Having lived in Aishalton for the first seven years of his life, Kyle moved to Georgetown where he got his schooling until he was in Grade Five. He then moved back to his village where he completed his primary education. Achieving a place at Queen’s College in Georgetown meant that Kyle would have to move again to the capital city.

He received a Hinterland Scholarship to pursue his secondary education and it was from there that the idea of giving back and meaningfully occupying his time was birthed.

After he completed his secondary schooling, Kyle had a plan in mind and that plan was to become a medical doctor.

To pursue his dream career, Kyle was granted a scholarship through the United World Congress (UWC) colleges. He was one of four Guyanese students that were selected in 2015 and he completed studies in Natural Sciences at the UWC College in Canada.

The UWC emphasises a holistic curriculum for its stu-

dents and it meant time spent in community services. That further fostered Kyle’s growing love of helping those in need.

“The curriculum there [at UWC] was not just work alone but a lot of extracurricular activities and volunteerism.

They pushed the idea of helping your community or just a small group by just giving your time. I saw a lot of my colleagues doing that, and even now because we have a great network, and that further drove me to volunteerism.

“Originally I wanted to become a doctor and that was the plan but within the last two years volunteering I really saw my passion in being around here and being involved in social work and how it can go a long way for young people especially. The goal now is to find my niche in volunteering. If I can continue working within the NGO field that has been interacting with young people and helping them to better their community that would be my end goals.”

Now that he has identified his new goal, Kyle has been working assiduously to achieve that. He was given the post with UNICEF because of voluntary work he had already been doing. He had been at the helm of organising and planning various youth conferences, particularly the Indigenous Youth Conference in Deep South Rupununi.

Additionally, he has been working on getting a radio programme that focuses on youth issues.

“I noticed that there is not a lot to do because it is not really a developed place as yet so just to have conversations going around that topic. I feel like that a lot of people don’t put resources into finding things for young people to do. There is not a lot to do in here [Rupununi].

“There is a lack of access to information in Region Nine because the information is available just in Lethem and that is what I want to change. That is where I am focusing on now, to get that network because, with my work and the work I had done previously, we had tried to get young people together through conferences and meetings.

Even now, with the work I do, I travel a lot to communities, I try to get them into contact with other villages and so on.

My goal is to create a link between these communities, especially for the youths.”

For now, he is urging the youths to dream big and think beyond their village borders. His goal is for every young Amerindian to find their niche and be the best they can be while helping to develop their communities.

guyanatimesgy.com

guyanatimesgy.com

september 1, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Understanding the earliest inhabitants

Feature

Prehistoric Warau of Guyana

T

here is a well-known saying that goes something like this: “Until lions tell their own stories, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.”

Unlike our knowledge of other nations’ history, little knowledge of the prehistoric story of our first peoples is known or understood among Guyanese, often leading to discrimination and stereotyping.

However, the indefatigable efforts of Jennifer Wishart and others, seek to ensure that Guyana’s indig-

enous history has its own narrators. For this 2019 Indigenous Heritage Month Sunday edition, Sunday Times Magazine presents the text of “The Prehistoric Warau of Guyana” (1994) by Jennifer E. Wishart More than 7,000 years ago, when the sea was farther inland than it is today, the Warau lived along the edge of the swamps where the waters of the ocean met with the waters of the rivers.

They ate shellfish which fed off of the roots of the mangrove trees (Rhizophora mangle). Because their diet comprised mainly shellfish, and they lived this way for thousands of years, their refuse heaps, of various sizes, are found along the northwest coast of Guyana. We call these refuse heaps, shell mounds.

The Walter Roth Museum has excavated many of these shell mounds. The artefacts recovered from these excavations tell us how the Warau lived between 7,000 and 4,000 years ago.

Postholes in the refuse tell us that the prehistoric Warau lived in rectangular houses, which were probably thatched with the leaves of

the ité palm.

They used beeswax torches for light. The women collected the chewed out honeycombs and boiled them to separate the wax from other unwanted materials. Before the wax cooled, it was formed into lumps, and then pressed into rolls from 30 to 90 centimetres long, and about three to five centimetres thick, like very long candles without wicks.

Strands of ité fibre were wrapped around the rolls and tied, to form external wicks. The wicks were coated with melted wax and the upper end trimmed to complete the abehe, as it is known in the language of the Warau.

The ité palm, also known as the “tree of life”, provided flour for bread. When felled, a large trough was cut into its trunk and the inside pounded with a wedgeshaped pestle to reduce the mush or pulp. This mush was then squeezed to extract the liquid. Recovery of a basketry awl suggests that the aruhuba (matapi) may have been used for this purpose.

The liquid was then strained through ite leaves into small containers, maybe calabashes, and left to settle, after which the liquid was poured off to reveal the flour.

The larvae of the Rhyncophorus beetle, mo arani, which lays its eggs in the pith of the fallen trunk, provided fats.

From the nearby brackish-water swamps, the Warau gathered protein in the form of shellfish such as crabs, oysters and the Zebra nerite (Puperita pupa). The nerites were put into cala-

bashes of water, a n d

stones, heated in the fire,

were dropped into the calabashes until the nerites were boiled into a soup broth, aho.

Animals were hunted with spears and bows and arrows, and fish were caught using line sinkers and cadels.

Women wore bead aprons made from grass seeds, while men wore a loin cloth from the bark of the kakaralli tree (Eschweilera spp.). With a stone bark beater, they beat the bark of the tree until it opened up into thin leaves from which the loin cloth was made. Some Warau today use these leaves to roll cigarettes in times of shortage. Necklaces made from animal teeth were also worn.

Body paint, made from annato (Bixa orellana) mixed with oil from the crabwood tree (Carapa guianensis), protected their bodies from insect pests.

When a Warau died, he was wrapped in his ité hammock and placed in his dwelling with his head towards the West - the Land of the Dead. In Warau belief, there is a ‘light’ shaman, bahanarautu, who travels to the House of Smoke in the East, and a ‘dark’ shaman who is in contact with the spirit of the West, hoarautu.

Hoarautu feeds on the blood and flesh of human beings.

Around 5,300 years ago, the Warau invented the dugout canoe on Haimarakabra creek, a tributary of the Moruka river.

Stone from the Aruka river was taken to Haimarakabra where it was chipped into the desired tool shapes.

These blanks w e r e then t a k e n t o Warapoko creek where they were ground and sharpened on the boulders there, to form proper tools. These tools were then taken back to Haimarakabra

The dugout canoe was the earliest seaworthy vessel. With its invention, it was possible for the islands of the Caribbean to be peopled.

Artifacts found in Cuba date at around 5,000 years ago.

Warau means “tribesman” or “kin”. So Warau living at Waramuri, Warapoko and Warapana may have been related. Fish traps drawn on the rocks at Waraputa Falls on the Essequibo river also appear on the rocks at Warapoko on the Waini river.

Warauan, which is spoken only by the Warau, is the most ancient of the tribal languages of Guyana. Unlike the Arawakan (Arawak, Wapisiana) and Cariban (Carib, Akawaio, Arekuna, Waiwai, Makusi, Patamona) languages, its source cannot be traced and the nearest

where they were used to shape canoes from the numerous Mora trees (Mora excels), which once grew there.

language to it is Timucua, a now extinct language of Florida, in the United States.

6 Sunday Times Magazine

Preserving our literary heritage

by Petamber Persaud

W

henever he was in Georgetown, Guyana, Peter Kempadoo would insist on talking over lunch. I would eat and he would carefully put a few morsels into his mouth, mindful of his long flowing, white beard and moustache, masking his humility and his assertiveness, masking a lot of his trials and triumphs. But his eyes would twinkle and his well-modulated voice would take me on journeys to England, Africa, Asia and lands in between, enthralling me with his ideas – rural developmental projects not only in theory but executed with satisfaction, sharing knowledge and experiences, and exploring ways to make books readily available to all and sundry. Printed indelibly on my mind was his philosophy – caring and sharing. Perhaps, a throwback to his origins.

The Kempadoos of Guyana have their genesis in the system of Indentureship which saw Indians been brought as indentured labourers from India to Guyana to work in the sugar industry.

This movement began in 1838 to fill the void left by the African labour force, many of whom turned their back on the plantation system when emancipation was declared the same year.

That indenture system brought the Tamil parents of Peter Kempadoo together. James Kempadoo aka Lauchmonen and Priscilla Alemeloo Tambran were matched in marriage by their parents who were ‘jahaji bai’ – a brotherhood of men travelling on the same ship across the ‘kala pani’ (dark waters) from India to British Guiana.

While many returned to India at the expiration of their con-

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tracts, others stayed. The maternal side of Kempadoo’s linage turned away from farming the land and concentrated on fishing as was its heritage in South India. The paternal side of his family stayed on the estate because of its acquired elevated position benefiting from numerous privileges.

Kempadoo’s father became a chauffeur to an estate manager. He was also a champion cyclist and cricket all-rounder, captaining the Port Mourant team for decades. Peter Kempadoo was born into a Christian home still steeped in Tamil traditions; the two sets of customs enriching his cosmopolitan outlook.

Kempadoo for most of his life was a self-taught, self-made man. But he benefited from early formal education. Kempadoo started out at St. Joseph Anglican School under head master Charles La Rose. At 10, by a twist of fate, he was shifted to Port Mourant Roman Catholic School where he was sidelined into agriculture class coming under the influence of Mr. Willis. A precocious child, he was helped in and out of school by many of his elders including Mr. R. N. Persaud, a Hindu Priest who was also learned in the classics.

Passing both the Junior and Senior Cambridge examinations, Kempadoo started teaching as a pupil teacher at Port Mourant. At 17, he became a certified teacher.

In 1947, he moved to Georgetown where he trained as a male nurse at the Georgetown Public Hospital, dreaming of becoming a medical doctor. From this base, he reported on hospital matters for the Argosy newspaper until the editor of the periodical, Fred Seal Coon, invited him to join the staff. From this other base, he prepared news bulletins for the radio and was later invited by Rafeek Khan to read those items.

In 1952, he married the stunningly beautiful and brilliant Bishop’s High School student, Rosemary Read.

Kempadoo was attracted to her for another reason: the way she marked up her text books at a time when it was unheard of to deface a book. This led him to read ‘serious’ literature.

As a reporter, he was quite visible covering the Venn Commission. That and the events of the politically charged 1953 influenced the migration of Kempadoo and family to England. In England, Kempadoo worked for the BBC. It was while living here, he wrote and published ‘Guyana Boy’ because all his colleagues (mainly writers) were writing and publishing. This first novel was well received. His second novel, ‘Old Thom’s Harvest’, also set on the

Corentyne Coast of Guyana.

This second novel Kempadoo wrote while living in Trinidad with the call of home becoming distinctly clearer.

His return to Guyana was not by a direct route.

Bookers had established the Caribbean Printery to cater for the printing needs of the West Indian Federation. When the Federation flopped, Kempadoo was asked to look around the Caribbean for printing material to supply the press.

While that was happening, a Canadian publishing house, W. J. Gage’s, financed Kempadoo to supply that press with things Caribbean.

In 1970, Kempadoo with family returned to Guyana, settling in Golden Grove.

Kempadoo returned to radio, producing local programmes like ‘Rural Life Guyana’, ‘We the People’, ‘Our Kind of Folk’ and ‘Jarai’. Kempadoo also produced with his wife a booklet titled, ‘A-Z of Guyanese Words’. He fathered two women writers of which one is Oonya Kempadoo of ‘Buxton Spice’ fame. During one of our meetings, he mentioned a third novel, ‘All in a Saturday Night’, which was never prepared for publication.

Kempadoo would refer to himself as an accidental writer but his contribution to Guyanese literature tells of an enduring legacy – he was a pioneer Guyanese novelist and the first Guyanese of Indian Ancestry to publish a novel.

Walk Good, Guiana Boy. Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com

Heritage Now the dead past seems vividly alive, And in this shining moment I can trace, Down through the vista of the vanished years, Your faun-like form, your fond elusive face.

And suddenly some secret spring’s released, And unawares a riddle is revealed, And I can read like large, black-lettered print, What seemed before a thing forever sealed.

I know the magic word, the graceful thought, The song that fills me in my lucid hours, The spirit’s wine that thrills my body through, And makes me music-drunk, are yours, all yours.

I cannot praise, for you have passed from praise, I have no tinted thoughts to paint you true; But I can feel and I can write the word; The best of me is but the least of you.

By Claude McKay - 1889-1948

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Sunday Times Magazine 7

Feature

Natural oil and soap from oil extracted from the seeds of the Crabwood tree from the North West District

I

ndigenous culture, unlike others, is a process of accommodation with nature. Their concern for ecology and the environment, and the balance of nature, is part of their belief system.

Ecology is woven seamlessly into the fabric of their culture. Everything in the forest and the surrounding area has a role to play in the overall scheme of things and nothing is wasted. They live in harmony with nature and do not adulterate the landscape or endanger plants or wildlife. One example: they once hunted fish for survival only until they were confronted with a market economy when their entire cultural landscape changed.

Their rich indigenous heritage and culture greatly impacted others. Many of the technological contributions of their societies have already been recognised by the native terminology, which has also entered our culture. In Guyana, quite a number of native products became current only after the Europeans and other immigrants settled on the coast: pepperpot, hammocks, balata, medicinal herbs, íte palms, and troolie leaves (for thatching roofs).

In their widely differing environments, indigenous peoples adapted and produced a stream of unique inventions, each one a distinct response to a local necessity: asphyxiating fish with ground leaves and roots of specific plants in the absence of hooks and nets, for example, or bending twigs to mark a trail or preventing one from getting lost in the forest and to mark their route.

It was through these bent twigs in Guyana and an indigenous line as a guide, that the cattle trail was cut (19161920) from Surama in the Rupununi to Takama in Berbice.

Also, these bent twigs helped explorers find their way in the dense jungles and, enabled the discovery of many Amazonian tribes, bringing them to civilisation.

Some indigenous persons can be superb mimics of animals and bird sounds. They can mislead even the jaguar.

They bring the yarrow fish to the surface, for instance, through a slow seducing whistle, and can even reproduce the mating call of the tapir. They bring other fish to the surface by splashing the water in such a way to mimic the fall-

A selection of natural products produced by a group of indigenous women from North Rupununi

WaiWai family returning from their riverside farm where they grow sugar cane (Photo by Robert Harding)

Fishing circa 1925 (Photo from R. H. Carr family album)

ing of ripened seeds. They showed settlers a range of dishes based from the forest plants and animals, e.g., food from root crops like cassava and yams, and oil from turtle eggs.

Their intimate knowledge of forest resources is extensive and remarkable. They can recognise medicinal properties in hundreds of plants – knowledge that is a priceless resource of the rainforest. From oral contraception to insect repellent, scientists are still to analyse the scientific properties of Amazonian plants. Armed with the knowledge of thousands of medicinal plants, shamans and piaimen fought goitre, headaches, malaria, constipation and other illnesses. Ipecac from Amazonian roots cured amoebic dysentery. Quinine from the cinchona bark cured malaria. Curare killed without affecting the heart. These medicinal plants were eagerly sought by the early colonists to supplement the old world’s pharmacies.

Apart from introducing the benefits of forest resources to the world, the indigenous’ greatest contribution to modern Guyana was the help they gave to colonists and subsequent coastlanders in penetrating and understanding its hinterland.

All expeditions into the heart of the country and beyond relied on indigenous skills as guides, hunters, boat hands, woodsmen or canoers knowing every treacherous rapid, jungle trail, mountain, hill, tree, cataract or waterfall. Indeed, it was these expeditions that opened Guyana to its non-indigenous settlers and showed the riches of the interior – forest products, minerals, natural scenes and other phenomena that brought tourists.

Text provided by overseas-based Guyanese author, Lal Balkaran - MBA, FCPA, FCGA, FCMA, CGMA. Balkaran worked as a teacher in the Rupununi in the 1970s and travelled throughout the interior. He is the author of “Encyclopaedia of the Guyanese Amerindians”, “A Photojournal of the Guyanese Amerindians”, “The Rupununi - A Visual Journey” and several documentaries including “Historical and Contemporary Georgetown – Guyana’s Heartbeat”. He can be reached at lalbalkaran@rogers.com

8 Sunday Times Magazine

september 1, 2019

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Travel and Tourism

By Kizzy Coleman

T

he Nulli Secundus youth group, meaning “Second to None”, which has selflessly donated their services to Guyanese throughout the length and breadth of Guyana, is now being nationally recognised.

The group, which has been active since the year 2010 and was coordinated by Robert Lee, received a national award for their humanitarian work on Saturday last.

The now 100-member strong group emanated from the First Assembly of God Church and is funded largely through fundraisers and sponsors. The aim of Nulli Secundus is to create a sense of pride among young Guyanese in Guyana through the hosting of annual expeditions whereby the group visits various regions of Guyana, delivering help in areas such as spiritual, physical, economical as well as the social aspect of wellbeing and growth.

The Sunday Times Magazine sat down with a number of members of the group who talked about the journey thus far.

“It is an organisation which empowers young people who are the future of Guyana to develop national pride. So the first thing that comes to mind is to recognise and own Guyana instead of migrating. We are divided into different teams, we have a legal, science team, business, arts and engineering which are the focal point for most of the members that we have. So we do a lot of training and preparation, we do a lot of community outreaches because we have a lot of skills” Vice President of Nulli Secundus, Tiffany David shared.

Six expeditions were held thus far, the El Dorado expedition being the first in 2010 where a visit was paid to the Essequibo Coast.

“Our members who went on that was able to climb Samarock’s Peak, that’s part of the Kamuku Mountain Range, the tallest point of the mountain range. We planted the national flag as well as the Christian flag on there and we sung national songs and so on. We also painted the culverts in that area with high visibility colours because they were having frequent accidents at the culverts in Lethem, that’s something that we did as part of the community works there” David reflected.

In 2016, expedition Cinderalla was carried out in Region Eight where villagers were trained in hygiene, clothing and textile, education, business and awareness among other things.

“We also did community projects, we felt that Region Eight was the most beautiful part of Guyana and we felt like it was a forgotten part of Guyana that’s why we named that expedition Cinderella” David said.

In 2017, expedition Wapishana Wave saw the group visiting Aishalton and climbing the She Rock (South Rupununi).

Expedition Link Up in 2018 saw the group attempting to link Region Eight and Nine where visits were paid to Annai, Surama, and Orealla among other villages.

“We did training in Information Technology (IT) and cake decorating training.

What we found in those villages is that some of them actually had equipment for IT, they had equipment for cake decorating that was donated to them but they were never trained in those areas, so we were able to train and help them to utilise a skill and based on the reports that we have received, some of those trained have since started their own businesses in cake decorating doing that for wedding and so on so we feel a sense of pride in being able to serve the people of those communities. We did training in steel pan as well because we actually took up our steel pan with us and what is very interesting is that they picked it up within minutes” David revealed.

2019 saw expedition Esprit de Corps, meaning pride and loyalty, among groups being carried out.

“We did training in two villages, Mahdia and Chenapou, training in cake decorating and life skill. In life skill we looked at self-awareness, decision making, resilience and coping with emotions, critical and creative thinking. We also had presentations on climate change as well as teenage pregnancy and substance abuse. We did community projects in Mahdia where we helped to complete a washroom area and at Kaieteur we helped them to build bridges and to clean the airstrip area and so forth…this year was the largest that we have ever had, a number of 42,”a member, Imani McKenzie, shared.

The Nulli Secundus members said that they feel a sense of pride for their achievement and for their work finally being recognised.

“The activities were planned, coordinated and executed by young people , it was amazing to see how capable young Guyanese are once given the opportunity, to be able to see Guyana in such a way, it was scenic, the air is different in every part of Guyana, it indeed built a sense of national pride and appreciation to know that Guyana is more than Georgetown, that Guyana is more than one or two groups of people, to interact with the different culture in the different villages, to be away from Wi-Fi and the internet for days to spend hours on the water, five hours at one point on the Potaro River, to sleep in hammocks and tents and boats, all of those are experiences that we wouldn’t trade for the world” another member, Joshua Griffith, shared.

When questioned about the national award, one member said “We are very excited but we didn’t expect this to happen, it is very exciting considering the amount of outreaches that we did and projects that we undertake, this is a welldeserved award.”.

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Sunday Times Magazine

The versatile Ite Palm F

rom a refreshing beverage to a tasty delicacy, the source of a staple to material for clothing, shelter and jewellery, the Ite Palm has truly been the tree of life for the indigenous society, providing all the necessities of daily living.

Before the Arawaks brought cas- sava to Guyana, the wonders of the Ite

Palm were explored by the Warrau tribe.

“To the Warrau, the Ite was called the ‘tree of life’ and we can see why with its benefits and the fact

that j u s t about every part of the palm can be used,” Guyanese archaeologist Jennifer Wishart had previously said.

Scientifically called Maurita flexuosa and is generally known as the ‘Morichi’, Ite can be found growing in moist acidic soils in the North Western regions along the coast and in the interior savannah of Guyana.

A wide variety of market and household products, as well as various environmental, ecological and economic benefits, can be derived from the tree itself. Even the by-products of the tree are also be used as a good source of protein and starch.

“The tree provided a source of starch before cassava because the Arawaks were the ones who brought the knowledge of cassava here as the Warrau were already using their Ite. That is why they are called Arawak meaning the ‘cassava root’ in Warrau,” noted Wishart.

When the fruit is in season it is used for several purposes around Amerindian villages. The drink is very tasty when chilled and the otocumba [tacuma worm] is used in tumapot (pepperpot) or is fried to be eaten with bakes or cassava bread”.

Even left to rot, the tree

proves its worth. In event the dugout tree trunks are left to rot, the Rhyncophorus palmarum beetle comes and lays eggs in the holes. These larvae that feed off t h e

tree trunk develops into the otocumba worms, which are prepared as a great delicacy.

“The tacuma worms come from the fallen palm trees. We would dig out holes in the trunk, cover it with the leaves from the tree and let it rest for about six weeks. Within the six weeks we check it constantly. When we hear them buzzing, we take the axe burst it open and take all you can get,” a local Indigenous Restaurant employee explained.

Traditionally, the Warrau would dig out the heart of the trunk and is usually eaten raw or cooked. This pith would later be drained through a matapi and its juice is used to make the Ite drink. When the juice settles, the remnants would also produce a powder-like substance that the Warrau use as flour to make bread and cakes.

Additionally, they utilised the dugout trunks to make canoes and planks to build houses and structures.

“Even the fibre of the leaves were utilised to make tibisiri, which creates intricate baskets, hammocks, furniture, carpets, thatch and warishis [haversacks],” Wishart outlined.

The shoots of the leaves could be boiled to weave clothing and the ribs used to make kite frames during the Easter season.

Today, the tradition of using the tree’s fan-shaped leaves to bake cassava bread continues to be a dominant part of the indigenous culture.

Notably, the red-brown rounded fruit of the Ite tree, usually available in the dry season, is picked and consumed as fresh fruit or dried to make oil or vegetable ivory - both economical and sustainable alternatives to otherwise expensive and environmentally hazardous products.

“The Brazilian Indians are using the seed of the Ite Palm to make vegetable ivory, a sustainable alternative to elephant ivory,” Wishart mentioned.

When dried, the seeds can be carved and dyed just like elephant ivory to make figurines, beads, buttons and jewellery. This is a tremendous ecological and environmental benefit in preventing the deaths of hundreds of elephants who are killed yearly for the ivory found in their tusks.

Unfortunately, only few Warrau along the Venezuelan border and their families know how to extract starch from the Ite Palm, although historically it was their staple according to an excerpt from Marileen Reinders’ “Medicinal Plants and their uses and the Ideas about Illness and healing among the Warao of Guyana”.

a

9

Health

10 Sunday Times Magazine

september 1, 2019

guyanatimesgy.com

Feature

Amerindians are quite creative people. They can utilize most unbelievable creations. Here are some of their unique

whatever is around them and come up with some of the clothing creations:

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Sunday Times Magazine 11

Home & Cooking

Heritage Recipes Ingredients • 2 lb chicken, cut into pieces • 2 lb stew beef, cut into 2 inch pieces • 1 lb cow foot • 1/2 lb salted beef, cut into 2 inch pieces • 1 cup genuine cassava cassareep • a few wiri wiri peppers or 1 scotch

bonnet if you can't find wiri wiri • 4 cloves garlic • 1 small onion • 1 bunch thyme • 1 teaspoon of salt, or salt to taste • 3 tbsp sugar • Lime juice or vinegar • 4 cloves • 2 pieces orange peel • 1 stick cinnamon

Home Décor

Easy Home Decor Ideas That Will Instantly Transform Your Space If your home is due for a design update but you have a limited budget and even less time, you're in the right place. With something as simple as an accent wall, colorful light bulb, or new throw pillow, your entire space can feel fresh, on-trend, and refined. You can tackle each of these decorating ideas in one day, even though the results will look like it took way longer to pull off.

Get Inspired By Nature This space is rich with texture, which creates warmth and dimension. There's also plenty of character even though it's sticking to a strict color palette. For a similarly inviting and grounded environment, get inspired by nature. Think seagrass, rattan, jute, wood, brushed concrete, and marble.

Instructions 1. Trim excess fat off meat and soak in vinegar for about 15 to 30 minutes. Puree garlic, onion and thyme. Marinate fresh meat with marinade and 1/3 cup of cassareep.

2. Meanwhile, in a pressure cooker, place salted beef and pressure for a 10 minutes. Discard the water and set meat aside.

3. Wash cow foot thoroughly by soaking in vinegar for about half an hour. Rinse. Place in pressure cooker and pressure for 20 minutes or until tender. Discard water. *If the cow heel isn't soft after 20 minutes, continue to pressure in 5 minute intervals, checking for tenderness.

4. In a stock pot, cook beef and chicken in marinade until all liquid evaporates. Add the cow foot, salted beef, sugar and remaining cassereep with a stick of cinnamon, cloves, orange peel and enough water to cover. If the stew is brown, add more cassareep to attain a deep, dark color.

5. Cook slowly until tender. Add pepper and salt to taste. This meal tastes better the next day, so it is best when made a day ahead. To serve this meal, warm and serve with bread or cassava bread.

Ingredients • 4 lb cassava • Salt to taste Instructions Peel, wash, and grate cassava. Squeeze out as much of the juice as possible, using either a matapee or wringing in a towel (juice can be used for making cassareep).

Leave in lumps to dry (slightly) in open air. Pound, sift, and add salt. Heat a girdle pan and a metal hoop to the size of the cake required.

Cook until set, using moderate heat. Remove the hoop, level the surface, and press firmly.

Turn and cook on the other side. When cooked through, remove cake and sun-dry until crisp.

Reupholster Your Furniture

Reupholstering your furniture will automatically freshen up an entire space and if you love eclectic decorating, take notes from this impeccable living room.

Apply Accent Wallpaper

You don't have to wallpaper your entire room—just pick a wall and accent with it. It's fast, easy, and makes a big difference.

Reupholster Your Furniture Ingredients • 4 lb cassava • Salt to taste Instructions Peel, wash, and grate cassava. Squeeze out as much of the juice as possible, using either a matapee or wringing in a towel (juice can be used for making cassareep).

Leave in lumps to dry (slightly) in open air.

Pound, sift, and add salt.

Heat a girdle pan and a metal hoop to the size of the cake required.

Cook until set, using moderate heat. Remove the hoop, level the surface, and press firmly. Turn and cook on the other side. When cooked through, remove cake and sun-dry until crisp.

Your chairs and couches don't have to line up—in fact, you don't even have to have chairs. Put your side table in the corner flanked by two sofas, and if you don't have enough arm chairs for a classic living room setup, just place floor cushions by the coffee table.

12 Sunday Times Magazine

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Puzzles

87 Port near Kilauea 88 Goes on the stage 1 Tomato jelly 89 When you're in a jam (2 wds.)

6 Ode penner 90 Novelty 11 Bete -91 Sir's companion 16 Dye process 92 Havens 21 Norse neighbor 93 Bedding plant 22 View from Everest 94 Prefix for cycle 23 Scallion 95 By -- (alone) 24 Ms. Verdugo 97 Hot tub features 25 Reef maker 98 Beatnik drum 26 Flee to the JP 99 Bunyan's ox 27 Physique 100 Zodiac twins 28 Running late 101 Fragrant trees 29 High dudgeon 102 Fountain treats 30 Gets the picture 103 Senor's wherewithal 32 Water sources 104 Thundering herd 34 Dregs 106 Furry hoppers 36 Estuary 107 Move after swerving 37 Hammer home 108 WWW addresses 39 Spiteful 111 -- it the truth!

40 Ground grain 112 Ants at a picnic 41 Prominent nose 113 Purse items 42 Web-footed bird 117 Nectar gatherer 43 Lugged about 118 Course finale 44 More jolly 119 Silly comedy 46 Future fries 120 Mountain passes 49 Kidded around 121 -- Maria liqueur 50 Thinks is groovy 122 Jellybean shapes 51 Adult content (hyph.)

124 Consumer advocate 55 Catcher Tony -126 Survey findings 56 Promising rookie 128 Metal eaters 57 MD's magazine 130 Taxpayer's dread 58 Rhino, e.g. (2 wds.)

131 Theaters 59 Early U-235 regulator 132 Word on an invoice 60 Bucket of song 133 Freighter hazards 61 Gridiron's end -134 Physicist Nikola -62 Anagram for rats 13 A crowd, for Cato?

135 Please greatly 63 White wine aperitif 14 Waves 136 As -- -- (generally) 64 More stalwart 15 Win over 137 Not just some 66 Funny Martha -16 Poker stakes 67 Brewery tanks 17 Gulf st.

DOWN 68 Crawford's ex 18 Earth, to Pierre 1 Computer acronym 69 Shooting stars 19 Krishna's land 2 Avowed 70 Janitors' tools 20 Type of canoe 3 Dijon dads 71 Windshield option 31 Wapiti 4 Wyo. neighbor 72 Check a suspect 33 Soho co.

5 Temperature scale 73 Ski lodge instructor 35 Panaceas 6 Bow down 74 Rendered powerless 38 Mock fanfare (hyph.)

7 Lampreys 76 -- Scala of film 39 Witches' band 8 PFC's mail drop 77 Pocket change 40 MHz part 9 Plain drink (2 wds.)

80 Lap dog, slangily 41 Blow hard?

10 Rained ice 81 Charged particles 43 Oven accessory 11 Generously 82 Lull 44 Play charades 12 Disagreeable task 86 Organic compound 45 Joule fractions 46 Involuntary jerk KATHLEEN SAXE 47 Calvin of golf 48 Full-length 49 Comic's inventory 50 Guy like Hamlet 52 Sulu, on "Star Trek" TODAY'S WORD -- PASTURE 53 Qatar heads 54 "10" knockout (PASTURE: PAS-cher: Land used for livestock grazing.)

56 Egyptian capital Average mark 47 words Time limit 60 minutes 57 Pilots' controls Can you find 69 or more words in PASTURE?

ACROSS

WORD GAME

pare parse part past paste pate pause pear peat pert pest prase prate pure purest purse aper apse

TODAY'S WORD -- PASTURE

aster sate saute sear seat sept setup spar spare spat spate spear sprat sprue spur spurt star stare

step strap strep suer suet super supra sure tape taper taps tare tarp taupe tear trap true tsar

upset urea user rape rapt rase rasp rate reap repast rest ruse rust east erupt

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.

58 Fiberglass bundle 60 Hounds' trails 61 Shocks somebody 62 Astronaut's ade 65 Fight off 66 Colosseum site 67 Monsieur's wines 68 Visual aid 70 Dangerous shark 71 Large casks 72 Dubious 74 Steer 75 Composts 76 Mural base 77 Dashboard button 78 Absurd 79 Internet hookup 80 France's "Little Sparrow" 82 Steps on a ladder 83 Jots 84 Race-car engine 85 Iroquois speakers 87 Nova Scotia city 88 Muses' domain 89 Declaims violently 91 What's cooking 92 Dynamic prefix 93 Warsaw citizens

96 Bro and sis 97 Forsake a lover 98 Trading post patron 99 Panhandles 101 Missive to Madonna, say

(2 wds.)

102 Lash darkener 103 Cruise ship fare 105 Stag honoree 106 Any ship 107 Nothing 108 WWII craft (hyph.)

109 Ziegfeld offering 110 Clues 112 Do Latin homework 113 Eat a little 114 Good for something 115 Fluffy quilt 116 Full of back talk 118 This, in Tijuana 119 Yard contents 120 Author -- Sheehy 123 Rapper -- Wayne 125 Spiral molecule 127 Grounded Aussie 129 Cleveland cager See Solution on page 14

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Sunday Times Magazine 13

Tech

with official Google apps, says Google

H

uawei may face a major roadblock for its next flagship phone, the Mate 30 — it won’t be able to launch with Google apps and services due to the White House banning US companies (like Google) from doing business with the Chinese telecommunications firm, according to a report from Reuters.

That means that the Mate 30 — and presumably, other upcoming devices like the now-delayed foldable Mate X — could be severely limited at launch. They’ll still run Android, which is at its core open-source software that’s freely available.

But Google has confirmed to The Verge that the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro (rumored to launch on September 18th) won’t be able to ship with Google’s apps and services on board, which could put them at a severe disadvantage given how important Google’s apps are.

Huawei was granted a three-month extension from the United States Commerce Department back in May to

allow it to take action “necessary to provide service and support, including software updates or patches, to existing Huawei handsets that were available to the public on or before May 16, 2019.”

A second 90-day extension was just granted to the company last week and is set to end on November 19th, but that only applies to previously released phones. The Mate 30 (and any other variants of it that Huawei plans

to release) doesn’t fit that bill and therefore won’t be included under that exemption.

Google apps and services — including, crucially, the Google Play Store — are considered a key part of Android as an operating system, so much so that the European Union fined Google a record $5 billion last year for using Play Store access as leverage to force Android phone manufacturers to default to

Google search on their hardware. The only real success story for Android without Google services is Amazon’s inexpensive Fire tablets, and those aren’t exactly in the same ballpark as the Mate 30, which is a flagship device meant to compete with devices like the Galaxy Note 10 Plus, Pixel 4, and OnePlus 7 Pro. Chinese phone companies have had to work without the Play Store for years (since Google doesn’t offer services within the country), but its a much more chaotic marketplace, with hundreds of app stores all competing and different apps available depending on the store.

Huawei has been working on its own Play Store alternative since 2018 as a contingency for this exact sort of situation, but the US’s ban means that it’ll still have an uphill battle ahead, since companies like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or any other US-based company won’t be able to offer apps for that store, even if they wanted to. (The Verge)

S

ony has announced two new APS-C mirrorless cameras: the flagship A6600 and the lowertier A6100. The A6600 has several high-end features that position it as the successor to the A6500, which was introduced in October 2016.

Like the A6500, the new A6600 features 5-axis in-body image stabilization, a 24.2-megapixel APS-C Exmor CMOS image sensor, and super fast autofocus (AF), which can find the subject in 0.02 seconds. It also has Real-Time AF tracking and the new Real-Time Eye AF tracking that originally debuted in the A6400,

which we reviewed earlier this year.

Sony has added a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a first for the company’s alpha series of cameras.

The A6600 claims to have the longest battery life of any APS-C mirrorless camera, which Sony says is thanks to its Z battery pack, and it should last twice as long as the A6500. All in all, that should amount to about 720 shots before

needing to be swapped out.

Sony also says that its new BIONZ X image processing system, borrowed from its A9 and A7-series cameras, gives a 1.8x gain in data processing speeds over the A6500.

Sony’s other new model, the A6100 — like most of its other APS-C cameras — relies on in-lens stabilization and doesn’t offer the BIONZ X image process-

ing, but it does offer the same fast AF and Real-Time Eye AF tracking tech with still shots that the A6600 offers (although not for movie recording) along with the 24.2MP sensor.

Both of these cameras will be released later this year. The A6100 will release in October, and it will cost $750 for the body in the US. Sony is releasing a bundle that includes its 16-50mm E-mount lens for $1,100.

The A6600 will release in November, and the body will cost $1,400 in the US. Sony is releasing a bundle that includes an 18-135mm E-mount lens for $1,800.

Sony is also releasing two lightweight E-mount lenses later this year that are compatible with these cameras and its other APS-C cameras: the E 16-55mm (F.28) will cost $1,400 when it launches in October. The E 70-355mm with a variable f/4.5-6.3 will follow in November for $1,000. (The Verge)

S

potify wants as many podcasts on its platform as possible, and it’s now testing a new button within its app that’ll encourage people to create one.

Code leaker Jane Wong spotted a new button in Spotify’s podcasts library that says “Create podcast,” and if tapped, will either send people over to the Anchor app, if it’s already installed, or send them to an informational webpage about the app.

Spotify acquired Anchor, a podcast creation technology company, earlier this year. Anchor is designed to make it easy for anyone to create a podcast by recording right off their phone. Spotify’s ownership of Anchor hasn’t been super obvious in either app, but

A

pple has issued a formal apology for its privacy practices of secretly having human contractors listen to recordings of customers talking to its Siri digital assistant to improve the service. “We realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize,” Apple’s statement reads.

The company also announced several changes to Siri’s privacy policy: First, by default, we will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions.

We will continue to use computer-generated transcripts to help Siri improve.

Second, users will be able to opt in to help Siri improve by learning from the audio samples of their requests.

We hope that many people

it looks like that could be changing.

Spotify called the feature a test in a statement to The Verge: “We are always testing new products and experiences to improve the overall Spotify experience.

Some tests will eventually make way for upgrades to our product, others are only tests. We have no further news to share at this time.”

What’s particularly interesting about this test is that Spotify also owns a company called Soundtrap that recently launched a podcast creation tool. The difference is that Anchor is designed to be more casual, whereas Soundtrap is seen as more serious editing software that’s designed to be used in a studio setup, even if it’s at home. (The Verge)

will choose to help Siri get better, knowing that Apple respects their data and has strong privacy controls in place. Those who choose to participate will be able to opt out at any time.

Third, when customers opt in, only Apple employees will be allowed to listen to audio samples of the Siri interactions. Our team will work to delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of Siri.

Apple was one of several major tech companies — including Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft — that was caught using paid human contractors to review recordings from its digital assistant, a fact that wasn’t made clear to customers. (The Verge)

14 Sunday Times Magazine

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Bollywood/Hollywood

J

A

Pune court has issued summonses to actor Akshaye Khanna and two producers of upcoming Bollywood movie Section 375 directing them to appear before it on September 9 on a petition filed by a lawyer seeking the stay on its release.

Referring to the teaser of the movie released recently, petitioner Wajed Khan contended that it will create a “wrong impression” among rape survivors and they will not approach police to register a case.

He also claimed that a scene from the teaser has portrayed the legal profession in bad light and “maligned” the image of lawyers.

Civil judge R H Nathani on Monday issued suit summons to Khanna, producers Kumar Mangal Pathak and Abhishek Mangal Pathak and asked them to appear before it on September 9.

“In one of the scenes, a male police officer is seen taking statement of a rape survivor in open in a police station and in court also, the rape victim is seen giving answers to vulgar questions of a lawyer,” the petition said.

Khan stated that such scenes from the teaser will create a wrong impression among rape survivors and they will not

approach police to register a case. “A scene from the teaser also portrayed the legal profession in bad light and maligned the image of lawyers,” he said.

The petitioner requested the court to stay the release of the film, which is slated to hit the screens on September 13.

“After admitting my petition, the court summoned the actor and two producers, and asked them to appear before it on September 9,” he said on Monday.

Section 375, starring Akshaye and Richa Chadha, is an upcoming courtroom drama based on Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The IPC section defines rape as “sexual intercourse with a woman against her will, without her consent, by coercion, misrepresentation or fraud or at a time when she has been intoxicated or duped, or is of unsound mental health and in any case if she is under 16 years of age.” (Hindustan Times)

A

ctor Ranveer Singh, who worked with director Rohit Shetty in last year’s blockbuster film Simmba, says he always wanted to be his hero.

“Rohit is the king of the action-entertainment and the masala genre. I always wanted to be his hero and when I got this opportunity, I gave it my all. Both of us are entertainers at our core - we like entertaining the audiences to the hilt,” Ranveer said.

In the film, Ranveer played a cop named Sangram Bhalerao. For him, the character has a special place in his heart. “Sangram Bhalerao will always stay extraordinarily close to my heart because I got to act in a film, in a genre which was my home territory. I’m thankful to

Rohit Shetty for believing in me and making me part of his power packed cop universe.”

Actor Sara Ali Khan, who played

a pivotal role in the film, too, praised Rohit. She said: “The way I define a masala Bollywood film is a Rohit sir film. I think it has every emotion, every flavor is depicted, and in a rather grand way, which makes watching a movie a fulfilling experience.

“There’s drama, romance, good music, large sets, cars are flying. When you come with your friends and family for two hours you get fully transported into his grand larger-than-life world which makes the cinema-going experience totally memorable and fully Paisa vasool,” Sara said.

Simmba, which raked in over Rs 450 crore worldwide, will had its world TV premiere on Saturday. (Hindustan Times)

T

he news of Sanjay Leela Bhansali shelving his next big budget film, Inshallah, starring Salman Khan and Alia Bhatt, has led to speculation over what made the filmmaker shut the project down, merely two days before its shoot. The filmmaker’s creative differences with Salman have emerged as the major reason behind the move.

According to a source close to Bhansali, the ace filmmaker didn’t appreciate the constant interference in his artistic vision. The source said, “Sanjay Leela Bhansali respects and loves his actors and suggestions are welcome but not if they aim to alter the narrative. Hence, he has taken the decision to shelve the film.

However, they are still friends and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has immense love and respect for him.”

Soon after Salman broke the news of the film not releasing on Eid, 2020, the Bhansali Productions Twitter account

ohn Stamos is, apparently, still Lori Loughlin‘s hand to hold onto.

The “Full House” star, 56, who has thus far largely refrained from weighing in on Loughlin’s legal troubles, has given the closest thing to a definitive statement on the matter to GQ in a new interview published Wednesday.

“Whatever happened, I’m pretty sure that the punishment is not equal to the crime, if there was a crime,” he said.

Loughlin, along with husband Mossimo Giannulli, is accused of paying mastermind William “Rick” Singer $500,000 to get their two daughters into USC by falsifying extracurricular activities. They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering and both face up to 40 years behind bars if convicted.

“I can’t figure it out,” Stamos added. “It doesn’t make sense.

I talked to her the morning everything hit. I just can’t process it still.”

Stamos’ inability to figure “it” out extends to whether or not the corruption case will even proceed further than it has: “I want to wait until the trial happens, if it does, or whatever the result is, and then talk about it.”

The couple appeared in court on Tuesday. (Page Six)

E

d Sheeran announced to his audience Tuesday at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, that he would be taking a break from music after two years of touring. The 28-yearold wrapped up his 260th show with his song “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.” Maybe so, but with 9 million people attending his “Divide” tour, and his fourth album, “No. 6 Collaborations Project,” debuting at No. 1 in 12 countries, melancholy-pop fans definitely need him.

“There is something very bittersweet about it. I love that you guys are here and we are ending it in Ipswich. This is my last gig for probably 18 months,” said the “A Team” singer, who will be dealing with legal battles over his music in the coming months.

The surprise news comes about two weeks before his scheduled court date over allegations that he ripped off Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit “Let’s Get It On” on his 2014 track “Thinking Out Loud.” Structured Asset Sales, which owns partial copyrights to Gaye’s music (James Brown and David Bowie are among its other clients), is suing Sheeran for $100 million.

What’s more, the pop god has been blocked from receiving royalties for his blockbuster “Shape of You” after accusations from musician Sam Chokri that he appropriated the music.

Chokri claims the catchy chorus is actually lifted from his song “Oh Why,” from 2015, a song he sent to Sheeran’s team in a bid to work with the superstar. The High Court of England is expected to hear the case in 2020.

Ed Sheeran now has the highest-grossing tour of all time The singer-songwriter joins fellow UK artist Adele in the breather, who canceled two shows in July 2017 due to vocal cord damage and hasn’t performed since. Still, Adele hinted to fans that she’s working on new music in an Instagram post celebrating her 31st birthday.

Sheeran, too, may soon be back in the spotlight. “See you in a few years’ time,” he said to the British crowd. Just as long he gets out of court. (Page Six)

Crossword Solution

had made it clear that they were “not going ahead with the project for now.”

Salman was to unite with Bhansali after two decades.

They previously worked together in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. His pairing with Alia was a hot topic of discussion and was criticised by a section of their fans on social media, because of the age difference between them. (Hindustan Times)

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september 1, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

Fun Times

Archie

ARIES (March 21April 19)

Expand your interests, develop your skills, and strive for independence and personal growth. Don’t be confused by someone’s false implication or bureaucratic lies. Trust in what you know is fact.

Trust your instincts, not TAURUS someone who’s trying to get (April 20an emotional rise out of you.

May 20) Bring about positive change by surrounding yourself with people who share your values.

Don’t expect something GEMINI from someone who tends to (MAY 28June 20) exaggerate. Put your priorities in order and stick with the person who has always been there for you.

CANCER

Make it happen. Set a goal and don’t stop until (June 21you finish.

Use your knowlJuly 22) edge, experience and enthusiasm to get what you want.

Romance is in the stars.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

Get out and mingle with people who have something to offer, and avoid those pressuring you to do things you shouldn’t.

Having fun doesn’t mean you have to be excessive.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Peanuts

Calvin and Hobbes

Benefit by making a decision and taking action. The time to act is now. Follow your heart and stick close to the people who share your dreams and your values.

Keep your thoughts to yourself until you feel up to debate.

You will need to be balanced and understanding when you address people’s concerns.

You’ll benefit more if your actions are well thought out.

Try something new or SCORPIO travel to a place you’ve nev(Oct. 24er been before. The experiNov. 22) ence will be insightful and will plant seeds for future adventures. Share your dreams with a loved one.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23Dec. 21)

Stick close to home.

Avoid getting into an argument with a friend or relative. Too much of anything will end up backfiring on you. Pace yourself and focus on personal growth.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19)

A couple of changes will help ease stress and improve your current living situation. If you make a promise to a loved one, you’ll receive what you want in return.

It’s OK to be a bystander AQUARIUS if you don’t feel the time is (Jan. 20right to make a move. Don’t Feb. 19) let outside pressure push you into something you cannot handle emotionally.

PISCES If you keep your life sim(Feb. 20- ple, it will run smoothly.

Mar. 20) Say no to anyone who tries to complicate your life or infringe on your space or freedom. Make peace and love priorities.