MONDAY 25th November, 2019
‘We’ve ended the nightmare of drug wars’ No.105832
…AG tells Diaspora in Antigua as he lays out govt’s first-term successes PAGE …urges them to return to 03 ‘green, green grass of home’
President David Granger (left) greets a young member of the Arundel Congregational Church in Buxton Sunday afternoon. The church celebrated its 175th Anniversary (Ministry of the Presidency photo)
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President praises work of the church in village revival Man dies after car slams into PAGE 11 bridge
Troy Resources continues to ignore union …Lewis says
‘Be the voices of transformation’ 10
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―UG Chancellor urges 09 Berbice Campus graduates
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
President praises work of church in village revival …as Arundel Congregational Church of Buxton celebrates 175th anniversary
THE Arundel Congregational Church of Buxton on Sunday celebrated its 175th Anniversary and President David Granger assured the members that they are not alone in the mission for community improvement, but that his government will do its part to ensure the same. In the community of Buxton-Friendship, a host of members of the various Congregational Churches in Guyana gathered to celebrate its work in the country over several decades. President Granger, invited
as the keynote speaker, underscored the value of the Congregational Church and Christianity to the development of Guyana: he said that the contribution of the church has been integral to the development of African-Guyanese communities such as Buxton-Friendship and this cannot be ignored. It was congregationalism, he explained, that helped to forge the church-community collaboration, which in turn led to the acquisition of the early villages and the building of Guyana as a nation. The
institution of the church and Christianity in general, was credited by the President as having shaped the community of Buxton-Friendship, especially in harder times. He noted the community’s rich educational and cultural legacy and the numerous professionals, scholars and public servants to have come out of it. “Buxton-Friendship has a rich Christian history–Adventists, Anglicans, Congregationalists, Methodists, Roman Catholics and Pentecostal churches – are hosted in the community. There are
still no fewer than 14 Christian churches, representing denominations ministering to the population,” he said. “The majority of people, even 75 years ago, lived in the rural regions without electricity, running water, radio, refrigeration, telephones and public transportation. The church was well attended in that period of pervasive poverty. When prosperity arrived, however, the pews emptied and the church lost its large congregations.” Speaking specifically to the Arundel Congrega-
President David Granger delivering his address at the 175th anniversary of the Arundel Congregational Church on Sunday (MoTP photo)
Several members of the church turned out at the ceremony (MoTP photo)
tional Church, the President highlighted that it was formed by the offspring of the London Missionary Society, which ministered to Africans post Emancipation. The church has 33 establishments and missions across the coast and
provides both religious and secular education through its schools that are linked to the churches. It was named after abolitionist and a Secretary of the London Missionary Society (LMS), John Arundel and was established in Buxton four years after the village was bought. The President pointed out that since then, the church has been engaged in church-community relations through the Men’s Guild; Women’s Union; Young Adult Movement; Young People’s Union; Sunday School; School-feeding and Literacy Programme and
than 200 years.” He told the capacity congregation that the church’s mission is eternal and, as Luke 4: 18 encourages, its work among men and women of faith is ceaseless. The Head of State further assured the gathering that the government will launch a Decade of Development, 2020-2029, which will sustain local democracy and support village renewal. He explained that the church and community have proven that they can be trusted with protecting essential institutions. “Arundel is encouraged to renew its covenant
(MOTP photo)
has established the Buxton Congregational School. With this in mind, he remarked: “The nation owes an eternal debt of gratitude to the Congregational churches for pioneering education and for promoting social change for more
with Buxton-Friendship, particularly in the field of education, in the field of economic enhancement and in the field employment generation. I wish continued success and God’s blessings on this historic church,” he said.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
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‘We’ve ended the nightmare of drug wars’ …AG tells Diaspora in Antigua as he lays out govt’s first-term successes …urges them to return to ‘green, green grass of home’ ATTORNEY-General, Basil Williams on Saturday evening laid out the coalition government’s successes while in office to a large Guyanese audience in Antigua and Barbuda. And, thanking them for their contributions to the country, he also urged them to return to the “green, green grass of home”. Williams is on the island for the 50th Plenary and Working Group Meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in Antigua, which opens today. “I know that many of you have left Guyana for various reasons; some to seek greener pastures, others to enhance your education and professional experience,” he began. “I assure you that the government which I represent values your contributions. All of you in some way or the other would have contributed, and still contribute, to our people’s well-being. “I look forward to you returning to the ‘green, green grass of home’. Our country is perched for economic transformation, and I want to assure all of you that regardless of your political affiliation, you will be welcome,” Williams told the Diasporan meeting. FIRST TERM Giving an overview of the government’s performance thus far, Williams told the gathering that Guyana is about to head into general and regional elections; that it has made tremendous progress over the past five years, and that there is demonstrable proof of its achievements over this period. “Your government has established a model of inclusionary government. The PNCR founded a five-party coalition known as A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), and then joined with the Alliance for Change (AFC) to establish the APNU+AFC coalition, the first time that such a broad-based and credible coalition had contested elections which it won in May 2015,” he said. “We have shown that inclusionary democracy can work, and how it is best suited for our multiracial society. Your government openly embraced political inclusion; we made no excuses, like others have done, about the need for building political trust as a precondition for political inclusion. We believe and we have shown that the best way to build trust is by working together, and we have done this with our coalition partners,” Williams told the
Guyanese living in Antigua at the meeting with the Attorney-General Basil Williams
Guyanese on the island. According to Williams, the government has also restored good governance; that they have dispensed with the rogue governance of the past which spawned a carnival of violence and extra-judicial killings, cronyism, nepotism and corruption. “We have restored sanity and credibility to government. We have ended the nightmare of drug wars, extra-judicial killings, death squads and massacres,” he said. “We have restored peace and calm to our nation, and we are promoting social cohesion, so that our peoples can live in peace and harmony,” he told the audience. LOCAL DEMOCRACY Turning his attention to local democracy, he said the APNU+AFC coalition government has restored local democracy, in that local government elections were held for the first time in 2016, and then again in 2018 after a hiatus of more than two decades. Noting that citizens all across Guyana were able to elect their representatives of their choice, Minister Williams said: “Local government elections have revitalised local communities. Villages once dormant and sleeping are now coming alive. Village economies are being revived. Four new towns have been established: At Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma and Mahdia. These towns have been designated as capital towns; they will be expected to drive the development of their respective Regions.” He said local democracy is leading to urban revival and village renewal, as communities are being encouraged to develop their own village improvement plans to boost their development. TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY On the important issue
of Guyana’s sovereignty, Williams told the Diaspora that the coalition government has protected the Motherland and defended its territorial integrity and sovereignty. “We have been successful in having the Secretary-General of the United Nations refer the territorial controversy between Guyana and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” he said, adding: “This controversy
of 1899 (Guyana v Venezuela). In a presentation to the law students, the foreign secretary said Venezuela has until Thursday, November 28, 2019 to inform the ICJ whether or not it will be putting forward oral arguments on the court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. The oral hearings will be held in The Hague from March 23-27, 2020. The hearing will determine whether the court has jurisdiction over
AG Williams and supporters of the coalition
has bedeviled our nation for more than 53 years; it has impeded our development. We are confident of the rightness of our case, and the eventual affirmation by the ICJ of the 1899 Arbitral Award. A ‘frontline villages’ policy has been unveiled to ensure the safety of residents and the development of frontier communities that are guardians of our territorial integrity and protectors of our national patrimony. Our Defence Force is being recapitalised. The Guyana People’s Militia has been reestablished and decentralised to ensure a presence in all ten administrative regions, thereby allowing for more rapid response, especially in the event of natural disasters.” Only last week Foreign Secretary Carl Greenidge told a forum at the University of Guyana that Venezuela has up to November 28 to inform the ICJ on its participation in the oral arguments on whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the case filed by Guyana – Arbitral Award
the case filed by Guyana on March 29, 2018. By so doing, Guyana seeks to obtain from the court a final and binding judgement that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then British Guiana and Venezuela, remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela. Although contending that the ICJ lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate in the matter, Venezuela has failed to submit its Counter-Memorial on Jurisdiction, in response to Guyana’s Memorial on April 18, 2019, a date which was fixed by the court. Nonetheless, the Spanish-speaking country still has an opportunity to contribute to the process, but it must first indicate its willingness to do so by November 28. The foreign secretary said if Venezuela indicates to the ICJ that it will not submit oral arguments, the case will go on unhindered. “Whether or not Venezuela participates, I wouldn’t put it as being
immaterial, but it does not frustrate the work of the court. The work of the court will proceed, whether or not they participate,” Greenidge told the law students. PUBLIC CONFIDENCE Meanwhile, Minister Williams told the Diaspora meeting that public confidence is being restored in our police service. He said that the government, ever mindful of the need to improve human safety, started the reformation and retooling of the security sector. He made reference to the United Kingdom-funded security sector Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that has been negotiated, and is being implemented with direct oversight from the highest office in the State. “Rogue cops are being removed from the jobs; promotions are now based on merit, and greater accountability is being mainstreamed,” AG Williams said. On the economic front, he said economic growth has been sustained over the past four years, noting that growth over the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 were 3.2%, 3.4%, 2.1% and 4.1% respectively. “We are reversing the financial mismanagement which left the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) bankrupt, the rice industry hobbled, and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) reeling from involuntary indebtedness,” he reported. He said the government has put behind it a series of inherited infrastructural scandals, scandals such as the shoddy construction of the bridge at Moruca and revetments at Kumaka in the Barima-Waini Region; the stelling at Supenaam, in the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region; the bridge at Hope in the Demerara-Mahaica Region; the sugar factory at Skeldon, in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region; the
secondary School at Kato in the Potaro-Siparuni Region; and the fibre-optic cable project in the Rupununi Region. He said investment is increasing and generating new jobs, and that the Guyana Office for Investment in 2018 alone processed some G$89.4B in investments; investments that are expected to result in the creation of 1,644 jobs when fully operational. “We have improved public services wages. The minimum wage of public servants and teachers increased by over 70 per cent, or from $ 39,400 to $ 70,000. This year we have granted a 9% increases to public servants on the lower salary tiers. Corporations have benefitted from the reduction of the corporate tax rate for manufacturing and non-commercial companies from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent. The value-added tax (VAT) was reduced to 14 per cent and the VAT threshold increased from $10M to $15M,” Williams told the Guyanese in Antigua. EDUCATING THE NATION The Attorney General said education is being accorded the highest priority, noting that more than G$170Bhave been expended on education over the past four years. “Expenditure on the public education sector moved from 14.8 per cent of the national budget in 2014 to 17.0 per cent in 2017. This year, 2019, we are spending $52.2 B on education, up from the G$ 31. 8 B expended in 2015, an increase of 64%. The Public Education Transport Services is providing buses, boats and bicycles to allow our children to get to school in all ten of our administrative Regions. PETS has thus far deployed 27 buses, 10 boats and 4,000 bicycles to assist our children in attending school. PETS is saving parents money; in some cases the savings can be as high as $48,000 per month per student – money which can now be funnelled into improving the household.” According to the AG, next year, the government will launch a Decade of Development 2020-2029. The ‘Decade’ will accord the highest priority to education. “It will ensure that there is a school in very village so that children do not have to travel long distances to get to school. The Decade will allow for the emergence of a worldclass education system with campuses in each of our Regions.”
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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Monday, November 25, 2019
Spanish rescue ship stranded off Italy with 62 African migrants on board
ON BOARD THE OPEN ARMS, OFF SICILY (Reuters) - Italian authorities have evacuated 11 migrants
from the Open Arms ship but not granted port access to the vessel, leaving it stranded in rough seas with
62 African migrants still on board, a spokeswoman for the Spanish rescue mission said on Sunday. Among those evacuated are two young children and their families, several people suffering from burns and one man with a gunshot wound to his foot. They will be taken to the Italian port of Augusta. The Open Arms picked up 73 migrants from a packed rubber dinghy drifting about 50 miles off Libya on Wednesday night and is seeking a safe harbor for those who remain on board. Italy has allowed the ship to enter its national waters to shelter from a storm but has so far refused to let the vessel dock, the charity said. Open Arms Mission Chief Ricardo Gatti, who is onboard the ship, said the organization has requested to land in Italy and Malta but has been
denied permission. Italy suggested that the ship should dock at the Libyan port of Tripoli, he said. “We continue to ask for a safe port to disembark which is a legal obligation by the government according to international conventions. We have people on board who probably need to be evacuated due to health issues,” Gatti said. Rough seas were aggravating the situation, he added. However, Italy’s interior minister Luciana Lamorgese signaled the country may yet open a port for the Open Arms and fellow Spanish rescue vessel Aita Mari to dock. “We’ve got two further ships ... with hundreds of migrants on board saved in the past days, which are asking for a safe harbor, and presumably they will have it,” she said in an interview on state TV.
Asked if the vessel would land at the Sicilian port of Messina, she replied “we are carrying out checks.” A Reuters cameraman on the ship saw migrants huddled under a makeshift shelter on deck as the ship rolled through choppy waters and lightning flashed overhead. HARD LINE The Italian government has taken a hard line against immigration and has previously resisted attempts by rescue ships to land migrants in its territory. A prolonged standoff with the Open Arms this summer was only resolved after a court ordered authorities to open a port, allowing 100 migrants to disembark. On the Italian island of Lampedusa, the bodies of five women were retrieved early on Sunday after their boat capsized in bad sea conditions on Saturday, Italian Coast Guard said. Three were found at sea and two more on a beach, a Coast Guard
statement said. Searches were continuing but bad weather was complicating the effort. The Coast Guard saved 149 people on Saturday, including 13 women and three children, from the sinking vessel after it was reported in distress less than one mile off Lampedusa. Survivors said up to 20 people were unaccounted for, a judicial source said. Those missing at sea were from Algeria, Tunisia and Pakistan. There have been nearly 1,000 confirmed deaths on the three main migration routes across the Mediterranean so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. “We need decisive action from the Italian government and form Europe to stop human traffickers,” Lampedusa Mayor Salvatore Martello said from Barcelona, where he is meeting his counterpart Ada Colau to discuss the migrant crisis
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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Monday, November 24, 2019
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Dominica PM accuses opposition of using 'underhanded tactics' ROSEAU, Dominica, Nov. 24, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Lennox Linton, is using underhanded activities in an effort to win the upcoming general election. Skerrit, in an address to supporters here late Saturday, accused Lington of trying to bring foreigners into the country to help him “takeover’ the country. “He is appealing to the OAS (Organisaion of American States) for help. He wants to bring about a change of government without facing the polls. That is a coup….more will be said about this another time,” the Prime Minister said. Skerrit also said the UWP has in the past, collaborated with foreign forces. “This manner of operating is not new to the UWP…. yhey did so in 2005 and got EC$3 million. They did so in 2009 and got US$1.5 million.And after the devastation of Maria, Linton’s first move was, not to look out for his constituents or the people of Dominica, but to recognize the Polisario Front which is known to have links to Jihadists. Once again you can see the puppet-masters, the orchestration, the coordination.I have no ties, no loyalty, no debt and no obligations to any foreign interests. None! They cannot tell the Labour Party and me what to do.” The Prime Minister, who said that the 15-member
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and Opposition leader Lennox Linton
Caribbean Community, supports the process of free and fair elections, recvealed that on Saturday, his administration on Satutrday sent Foreign Minister Francine Baron and Ambassador Vince Henderson, to travel to Washington DC to address the OAS “in order to preempt Linton and the Secretary General of the OAS from trying to take any action against this country.” Skerrit – leader of the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP), was refereing to the stance taken by his administration to not have the OAS observing the upcoming polls. “I say to Linton and his UWP and his foreign friends – take your unpatriotic and uncaring hands off our country Dominica.” “The people of Dominica will decide on December 6 who they want to lead them. Those elections will be free and fair, despite
your lies, despite your nastiness, despite your attempts to sow seeds of destruction and despite your attempt to have outside meddling. Hands off Dominica. The Labour Party that I lead will do everything lawful to uphold the sovereignty of Dominica and the dignity of the people of Dominica. Skerrit, who went to list the names of Dominicans in major leadership positions across the world, said if help is needed, his government could turn to them. “The head of PAHO (Pan American Health Organisation) is a Dominican. The Secretary General of CARICOM is a Dominican. The Secretary General of the Commonwealth is a Dominican. “They are part of our diaspora. They have the wellbeing of Dominica and other Dominicans at heart. If we need help we will turn to them. Not to the Secretary
General of the OAS. Hands off our country Dominica. Dominica is not in any kind of electoral wheelchair that it needs someone to come and help it. We have been helping ourselves and managing electoral processes for 41 years. Hands off Dominica. Hands off Dominica,” he said. “Understand what I am telling you. Election observers in a country are not new, but these are not observers I am talking about,” said Skerrit, who said that the opposition is trying to get external influences, “to either take over the national electoral process, or stop elections and hand over to Linton.” “He cannot lead the country by winning the ballot box, so he is attempting to get foreigners to give him what the people of Dominica know he cannot manage and does not deserve.This is a very dangerous thing. We in Dominica cannot allow this.
You the people of Dominica must not allow this.When it gets to this stage we have to protect democracy in our country. It is no longer about whether you like Skerrit or not.” The Prime Minister also revealed that he was aware of plans by the media entity, Al Jazerra to do a documentary about alleged sales of diplomatic passports in Dominica. “The allegations which are being made, were sent to me. I noticed, as you will notice when the story is broadcast, that the allegations are the very same ones that Linton, the UWP and MasintheCemetry have been making up and repeating for years. It was clear to me, as it will be to you, that either Linton, the UWP directly, or their foreign collaborators, provided this baseless information to Al Jazeera for political reasons.” He then issued a warning stating that “people who libel me, will
find themselves before the Courts. What I am more concerned about however, is the recklessness with which Linton and the UWP are seeking to blacken Dominica’s good name.” The Prime Minister went on to urge Dominicans to remain calm and exercise restraint. “Let us ensure people’s safety. Let us protect property. Let us ensure public order. Let us protect Dominica’s good name and international reputation.” Skerrit, is leading the DLP into the general election, with the party hoping to make it a fifth consecutive victory. However the party is facing a strong challenge from the UWP. In the last general election, the DLP won 15 of the 21 seats in Parliament.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
Ending violence against women
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ODAY, the United Nations-dedicated Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women will be observed here. This day must not only mark a date to recount statistics and talk about mistreatment meted out to one of society’s vulnerable demographic, but it must also be accompanied by a redoubling of efforts to end the violence and sanction those who perpetrate it. In a statement, the UN Women’s Multi-Country Office Caribbean Representative Alison McLean said work on preventing and ending violence against women at the global, regional and national levels shows that there is widespread impunity for sexual violence and rape. She said UN Women-supported research conducted here in the Caribbean in the past two years has reinforced that violence against women and girls (VAWG), including rape, is so entrenched and normalised that both men and women have a high tolerance for its manifestations. There have been well-known and often touted gains by women in public life;there have also been the introduction of laws, policies and initiatives to promote women’s equality. However,prevailing socio-cultural attitudes that perpetuate unequal and hierarchical power relations reinforcing notions of female subordination and male domination, militate against these gains and in turn, fuel VAWG. Violence against women has been declared a global pandemic and human rights violation. In the male-dominated world-view, the role of women in the family, home, relationships and society have been taken for granted; this
taken-for-grantedness has led to the perpetuation of violence in several forms:from seeing women as physically and genetically inferior to men; objectification and promotion of violence against women in lyrics; unequal pay for equal work; domestic/spousal violence and limitations on opportunities to marginalisation in a nation’s decision-making processes; the list is long and angst numerous. Such acts of discrimination having been ingrained in the society, often come as a shock to even the well-meaning, when these are pointed out as acts of violence. Yet these impact the socio-economic well-being of women and girls, thereby impeding progress in areas such as poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS, peace and security. According to the World Health Organisation, violence is “the intentional use of physical force or power--threatened or actual--against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation.” Such as manifested in this classification is distinguished in four modes, namely: physical, sexual and psychological attacks and deprivation. This general definition of violence is based on the same World Report on Violence and Health;it is further divided into three sub-types according to the victim-perpetrator relationship. These are: 1) Self-directed violence in which the perpetrator and the victim are the same individual and is sub-divided into self-abuse and suicide; 2) Interpersonal violence which is between individuals, and is sub-divided into family and intimate-partner violence
and community violence.The former category includes child maltreatment; intimate-partner violence; and elder abuse;the latter is broken down into acquaintance and stranger violence and includes youth violence; assault by strangers; violence related to property crimes; and violence in workplaces and other institutions; and 3) Collective violence which is committed by larger groups of individuals and can be sub-divided into social, political and economic violence. Every member of society, including woman and girl, man and boy, needs to be educated on what constitutes violence against women, since this is the first and most important step in moving to eliminate the violation. In this regard, it becomes even more important for women to play a leading role in shaping, influencing and developing laws and executing national policies and programmes;these would be shaped out of recognition of the problems and measures needed to eliminate the problems. In our society, women comprise more than half of the population and also make up more than 50 per cent of the electorate. Theirs is a potent voice and force with the power to change political fortunes and the circumstances of their lives and family; this is, however, achievable only in an atmosphere:one where there is an absence of fear, violence is eschewed, and women stand up and demand their rightful and equal place in society, be it in politics, government or non-governmental organisations, in the community, in the home, and towards self and each other.
Reckless management and shameful neglect that have no parallel Dear Editor,
I
AM happy that the quiet, but indefatigable Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence has called out the PPP/C on the important question as to what it had done, as a government, with the $34.4B given by the European Union(EU); Guyana’s share of the EURO $1.25B that was given to the Asia-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) sugar-producing countries for important reforming measures, aimed at cushioning the effects of the drastic reduction of the EU purchase of sugar from sugar-producing countries in these regions. Editor, I will be the first to state unequivocally that the coalition government has been extremely charitable in its public remarks/criticisms about the PPP/C’s criminal mismanagement of a once giant industry in which its thousands of workers were always perceived as specifically political support for the PPP/C, which lacked any genuine care and interest about their long-term welfare. And I say this because it may be recalled that as far back as 2011, a leading African-Guyanese penned a letter in the Kaieteur News in which he appealed to a leading Indian activist, about doing something to help the PPP/C regime save the declining sugar corporation. Of course, such a plea fell on deaf ears. One can only surmise that because genuine governments are supposed to be responsible and proactive in times of national crises--as the collapse of the sugar industry certainly
was--that the coalition directed its efforts towards measures to salvage and save whatever could be possible from an industry, particularly ensuring the humanitarian needs of workers. But it was this silence, coincidentally, that exposed and defined the true morality of the PPP/C, its politics, and its established cultural penchant for political immoralities. This national crisis, absolutely caused by the PPP/C, was treacherous, second only to the perfidy of Charandass in its planned use to induce ethnic insecurities among its political support collective, whose socio-economic fears were mercilessly exploited by a rogue opposition who did not have the moral decency to acknowledge its mismanagement of a once mighty industry, much less to join the APNU+AFC coalition government in finding a solution, although invited to do so. One must therefore agree with Minister Lawrence when she accurately highlighted the PPP/C’s naked neglect of sugar workers, by asserting, “History shows that at no time was protecting sugar workers’ jobs a priority for the dishonest PPP.” She went on to emphasise that had the workers’ welfare been paramount, that the EU money would have been paid to GuSuCo, rather than into the treasury. Whatever sums were directed towards the recommended plans for the future of sugar and its workers, were instead disbursed by way of budgetary allocations, from which its future trail was difficult to track. No doubt that it was finally reported in a 2016 study that …. “Not all AMSP funding reached GuySuCo.” And so, the pivotal question – where did all the money go? This is a question for which sugar workers should have
been seeking answers for the Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol (AMSP), from their former PPP/C government, but more so, from their union GAWU. For given such a sea change in the future direction of the industry that entailed a reduction in quota, with its likely effects on revenue sales, it was incumbent on the sugar union to educate its membership on what to expect, particularly with regard to the utilisation of the huge EU sum for what it had been planned to achieve. Editor, GAWU is just as complicit as its political arm the PPP/C, for the tragedy that has befallen the giant that had once been sugar. It has been a tragic disservice to national integrity for the Jagdeos, the Ramotars, the Ramsammys et al, to have shamelessly lied about their collective role and responsibility in bringing economic stress on an important category of the national productive force that they call “supporters.’’ Every caring government that respects their support base endeavours to protect its best interests, inclusive in the national whole of socio-economic development; it is incumbent that such be done. Instead, these so- called PPP/C leaders lived it up in their sumptuous mansions, while GuySuCo, slowly ground to a halt, with the treasonous shout by its former chairperson on the very first day of the new APNU+AFC government – “GUYSUCO IS BROKE”! That was the culmination of the criminal recklessness of the PPP/C cabal. Regards Earl Hamilton
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
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Somebody needs to do something about this man and his agents Dear Editor,
BETWEEN January-March 2019, Mr Deodat and his agents came and used his machine and wilfully destroyed crops of members of the Belle Vue Co-op in Fields # 3, 4, 5 & 6, worth several millions of dollars; the police from Wales Police Station, the Ministry for Social Protection, Minister Keith Scott and the Department of Cooperatives did practically nothing to stop this destruction and illegal occupation of our land. During this unjust and wilful destruction of our crops, some farmers and their families came out to their cultivation and were trying to prevent\stop Mr Deodat, his agents and his machine from entering their cultivation and destroying their crops, etc. When the police showed up, it appears that based on their actions, that they were more interested in removing the farmers from the field dambed, rather than stop and prevent the machine from going into the farmers’ cultivated area to destroy their crops. Can Minister Keith Scott and probably Mr Aubrey Norton tell us what Minister Scott told Mr Deodat, and if he really told him to stop his illegal and unjust destruction of the members\farmers’ crops? Editor, after the first day of this destruction, Minister Keith Scott and Mr Aubrey Norton from
the Ministry of the Presidency came to Belle Vue Scheme one morning, to meet with the members\farmers, to listen to the farmers’ complaints and see their cultivation and the damage to their crops. It was reported that during this meeting with the farmers, Minister Scott told them not to stop and or confront Mr Deodat and his agents, that he will talk to Mr Deodat and tell him to stop his destruction; that the ministry will deal with him. It was reported later in the same day of this meeting, that Mr Deodat came and brought more of his agents\ workers and with his machine continued to destroy our farmers’ crops with greater speed. Editor, sometime in December 2018, I think it was a couple of days before the co-op members representatives \delegation had an appointment for a second meeting with President Granger, Minister Ronald Bulkan appointed investigator Mr O Clark at the Ministry of Communities. *Without prior notice\information, Minister Scott, Mr Francis Caryll, the CCDO and some of his staff came in the afternoon for the first time to meet with the Belle Vue Co-op members. *Minister Scott and his accompanying party were present during this roadside meeting\gathering on the West Bank Public Road, in front of our co-op office; it was then that Mr Deodat and his agents came and started an argument
with Mr Beir, Mr Ferreira, Mr Balkarran, and the other members present. During this shouting and arguing, Mr Deodat several times made threats that he will bring his machine and destroy the farmers’ crops, etc… When the farmers asked Minister Scott if he will report these threats to the police and let the police warn him, the minister told the farmers that whatever is said here let it stay here and went away. Is hoarding of money illegal or a criminal offence? Before and after destroying our co-op members’ crops, it was reported that Mr Deodat is boasting that he have lots of money by the boatloads; that he can hire the best lawyer (s) and law firm to represent him. Later, he also boasted that he has friends who are senior police officers in Georgetown; that breeze cannot pass between them, and that is the reason the police officers from Wales Police Station cannot touch him and his agents. Editor, if this is true or not, it needs to be investigated as soon as possible and if it is true, then disciplinary and legal action must be taken against these officers and this business person to stop the bad image that this can bring to the entire police force and the government. *Editor, we the legitimate members, wrote the President and the prime minister asking them to intervene and help us to get justice, compensation
Physically challenged athlete in finals at ‘Nationals’ 2019 Dear Editor,
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NY student athlete ambitious enough to make it to the country’s highest sporting event which is regarded in short as ‘NATIONALS’ must at all times tap themselves on the shoulders for the hard process they have to encounter/ undertake to make it to the final of any event. One must even be much prouder if you are physically challenged, competing against able-bodied athletes; going through all the rounds from the inter-house aspect and being selected for the district team, qualifying from the heats and making the finals is no easy task. Allow me to single out one such athlete via photo image, which I am attaching for your viewing and someone who I discovered is physically challenged and made it to the final of the 400 metres event for her age group. I will admit, it was the shock of the Guyana National School Championships 2019 for me. I now make a special appeal to the business community throughout Guyana to consider your respective token of appreciation to this young lady. I think her uniform is representative of Region One. It was great to witness Trafficking in Persons (TIPs) and the Filaria Project representatives gracing their presence with their respective booths, sharing education. I am always elated with witnessing members of the Guyana Police Force assigned to overlook the week-long event and the same applies to all other security personnel of the Leonora Track and staff members. To the hard-working officials of the event, great job. I will say credit must be extended to the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union for planning and organising of ‘NATIONALS’ 2019; I was impressed, even though you treated me like a terrorist a few years ago at the Providence Stadium. I don’t think I will ever forgive you for that, because it robbed the athletes of photographic coverage. Minister of Sport Dr George Norton, I don’t know if you will be paid for the days not in office, because it appears you were at every day’s event (I think) which included, cycling in the National Park, swimming at the Olympic-size Pool and Track and Field at the Leonora track. Exceptionally great job to have your presence felt. My photographic coverage can be accessed via social media (FB) and anyone is free to tag the images. Many persons know where to access the photos in question. Allow me to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the persons who came on board but who prefer to be anonymous; they assisted with the production coverage. Thank you. Regards Trevor Pemberton
and the return of all our land and co-op rights. It has been reported that some members have video, photographs and tape recordings as evidence of the destruction and the boasting of police favours, officials’ pandering, etc…. and the members are willing to show and play these, for the President, his ministers and the PPP/C MPs, if they are willing to make time to meet with the affected Belle Vue Co-op members. Some of the members with the information are afraid. The President, Ministry of Public Security and the prime minister must meet with these members and take the necessary action to protect these members and the information for future legal action. Editor, many of the co-op members are afraid of losing their lands and rights to their co-op society. It was reported that some of the members are suffering from low esteem \low morale, undue stress, stroke and death because of this injustice, coercion and loss of income and the constant pandering and dilatory behaviour of
some officials in the Department of Cooperatives and the Ministry of Social Protection. Editor, Our Belle Vue Cane farmers’ Marketing Co-op Society –Reg # 967, is one of the oldest or the oldest Cane farmers Marketing Co-op Society in Guyana and are made up of 55 peasant farmers, from Belle Vue Pilot Scheme, West Bank Demerara. *2017 July –August: the majority of members (over 33), met more than once and the members democratically elected a new committee of management and also decided to go into Other crop farming on their cane lands. See members signed petition, using Regulation # 16 of the Co-op Act. August 2017: the members elected representatives, applied for arbitration and requested Mr Yoganand Persaud to be appointed arbitrator. A copy of this signed arbitration form was submitted to the Chief Cooperatives Development Officer (CCDO), Ministry of Social Protection; the Ministry of Communities; Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of the Presidency and the Office of the Prime Minister.
See Part IX-Disputes, Section # 49 of the Co-op Act. We are still waiting to hear from the CCDO and the Ministry of Social Protection about our request for arbitration. Editor, Ramnarine (Aron), Balkarran and M Ramadhin have among them lost over G$6M through destruction of our other-crops farm. We had approximately two acres of cassava and sweet potatoes; approximately 1/2 acres of eddoes and dasheen, bora, ochroes, pumpkins, squash, peppers, cucumbers and over 300 plantain suckers(plants); over 350 three-year coconut trees; eight soursop trees; 20 katahar trees; 15 papaya trees and other plants. There are many other members who have suffered great losses too. The Belle Vue Co-op legitimate members and their families want justice and compensation, NOW! *All for Law & Order and Social Justice! All for the Development of our Village Economy. Regards Shyam Balkarran
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
Onus on Guyana to train citizens to meet local-content demands …Ghanaian O&G expert says By Lisa Hamilton THERE are numerous similarities between the emergence of the Oil and Gas (O&G) industry in Guyana and Ghana, with much to be learned from in the areas of local content, contract negotiation, transparency and revenue investment. At the just-concluded Guyana International Petroleum Exhibition (GIPEX) 2019, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Africa Energy Consortium, Ghanaian politician, lawyer and diplomat Kwame Jantuah detailed some of those lessons at reference. Presenting on ‘The Evolution of Local Content: The Ghanaian Example’, Jantuah said that when Ghana found oil, its main concerns were how were they going to spend the revenues with no legislation in place at the time, and how it would ensure that its people would benefit. “From very early,” Jantuah said, “we realised the oil companies weren’t waiting for us to get our laws in place, because they had shareholders to satisfy, and therefore the onus was on us to chase
and catch up with them.” Like Guyana, Jantuah said, a lot of pressure was put on the Ghanaian government to start legislating for a local-content law. However, a major difficulty they encountered was crafting a definition for the term ‘local content’, so as to ensure that local companies and Ghanaians were the prime beneficiaries of the country’s resources. Explaining the many challenges the Ghanaian government faced, Jantuah said: “…We realised that foreign service companies and other related foreign companies who were integral to the functioning of the industry were heeding to the law of registering their companies with the Registrar-General’s Department where every company in the country had to be registered by law. And once this was done, they were parading themselves as local companies. And to make matters worse, a lot of fronting was going on with these companies.” Added to this, he said, international oil companies and services companies were sourcing their employees
from abroad to do jobs Ghanaians were capable of doing. Mix these challenges with the fact that the expectations of Ghanaians were very high, as politicians had expressed a “world-class find” which would be the “end of all the country’s problems”, and it was a manufactured atmosphere of high pressure. Jantuah said that it wasn’t until the crafters sought out professional negotiators and put on their “legal hat” that they decided upon the word ‘indigenous’ to stipulate that one had to be an ‘indigenous Ghanaian’ to be called a local-content company. That led to a two-way definition of local content, which first covered the hiring of technical staff, petroleum engineers, welders, fabricators and the purchasing of goods and services, and secondly, partnership with foreign companies. WHERE GUYANA STANDS On the other hand, Guyana’s Draft Local-Content Policy could be finalised by the end of 2019. The policy framework is
Africa Energy Consortium’s CEO, Kwame Jantuah
meant to outline the guidelines by which local content will be understood, developed, measured, secured and implemented in Guyana’s petroleum sector. It takes into consideration the urgent need for the optimisation of revenues received from oil to benefit Guyana’s economy and citizens, present and future. A key factor, Jantuah noted, is that the definition a country gives to local content must be supported with the relevant conditions for it to be operational. He explained that the onus is on the country to train its locals to meet the needs and standards of the industry, because, in order to
benefit from local content, locals must have the ability to do the jobs. “We realised after a while the oil companies were not interested in hiring our welders and fabricators, but what we didn’t understand was that welding and fabrication in the oil industry was totally different from normal welding and fabrication, and these had to be trained specifically for the industry,” he said, adding: “One might expect the oil companies to help, but, really, it wasn’t their job to do so. They could give the specification of what grade of technician or welder they required, but it was up to us to meet this specification. “We therefore set up a welding and fabrication association, and got the oil companies to help bring experts to train members, and also threw an open invitation to those Ghanaians who were working, especially in the gulf countries doing welding and fabrication, to come home and help and they brought their expertise to bear and help train others.”
INNOVATIONS The country also improved its standards in the
agriculture sector by growing fresh produce under greenhouse conditions, which opened local and export markets for the producers, including supply to the energy industry. Ghana also turned its fisherfolk into divers, seeing that they had no fear of the sea, and taught them new skills in underwater fabrication and maintenance of sub-sea infrastructure. Welders were trained to maintain Containerised Cargo Units (CCUs), machines used to transport equipment and goods to rigs and FPSOs. Jantuah advised: “Don’t think money; think quality of product, because a good product will bring the money in and make one competitive.” He said that while the time exploration to production for Guyana has been short, similar to Ghana’s, the country ought to accelerate the implementation of requisite laws, training, capacity building. Meanwhile, he urged citizens to remain patient, and to think positively towards the long-term, as several factors can influence production.
Jadgeo never cared about public servants Dear Editor
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RIME is one of the most common features that exist in every society-- the developed and the developing. There are many contributing factors that result in individuals committing all manner of crimes or being involved in unlawful conduct. A study completed by the White House reflected that raising the minimum wage reduces crime by three to five per cent. More education, more job opportunities, school-enrichment activities, and a basic living wage all aid in reducing both property and violent crime, as well as crime among adolescents. (The Atlantic Monthly; 2016; https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/raisethe-minimum-wage-reduce-crime/480912/). The aforementioned study and official statistics prove that President Granger is frontally addressing the issues relating to crime and poverty in Guyana. Most will agree, that one who is knowledgeable/educated is more equipped and is better positioned to make good decisions and not get involved in crime and more importantly, can lift him or herself out of poverty. The greatest investment in our people and the country’s future is in the education sector. A sector under the David Granger administration that has been given consistently the largest share of the national budget. The President’s belief in an “education nation” to lift Guyana out from the abyss of 23 years of corruption, crime, personal enrichment of politicians, their families and cronies, drugs, extra-judicial killings and much more nefarious doing is by making resources available and using it strategically. The David Granger administration has been providing improved educational opportunities and accessibility to all forms of education (scholarships, academic, vocational, training, STEM, robotics, etc), providing a more equipped and well-trained police force, restoration of trust in our judiciary and has consciously provided our hard-working Guyanese with unprecedented and consistent increases in wages and salaries since our political independence, starting from 2015 to present. From its embryonic stage into government in 2015 to present, the David Granger-led administration has raised the salaries of public servants by 77 %, with the increase for 2019 being up to 9 per cent “tax-free” retroactive salary increase for “all public servants.” Additionally, personal allowances have also increased significantly. The government has consciously reduced income-tax rates and the tax on employees’ contributions to the NIS was removed over the last four and a half years. All those undertakings and more were continuously done to ensure that all Guyanese experience
“the good life”. With these living wages, all Guyanese, especially youths, can aspire to legitimate forms of employment, unlike what we experienced under the PPP/C administration, when Guyana was a cesspool of illicit drugs a narco-state, and many of our youths who had no opportunities fell prey as mules of the once-thriving underworld economy. It must be noted that the PPP showed wanton disregard for public servants. Each year the PPP that politicised, manipulated, influenced and hijacked our armed forces, gave the armed forces only a bonus at the end of each year as a pathetic loyalty hire-purchase instalment. They did so without any significant increase to their salaries. Our compassionate leader and arguably the most progressive and transformative President of our generation, has consistently given increases to “all public servants” without discrimination. His only motive being to advance the living standards of all Guyanese citizens who deserve it. Mr Editor, please note that all of the unprecedented increases in salaries and allowances were done without “oil funds.” Can you imagine, can our public servants imagine, what will happen when the APNU+AFC administration goes back into power after March 2 and manages the oil funds? Guyanese citizens will be the ultimate beneficiaries. Mr Editor, on the contrary, we have seen how Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP mismanaged the country’s economy. We have seen who were awarded huge and consistent government contracts and lands; we have seen how the PPP’s friends and cronies amassed unexplainable wealth. We have seen who were enriched under the Jagdeo PPP regime, just Jagdeo and his chosen few, while the underground economy was allowed to grow and flourish; legitimate businesses suffered under the PPP/C administration. Mr Editor, since President Granger and the APNU+AFC government have focused on providing a good life for all with creating a living wage for our Guyanese public servants, their spending power has increased and those legitimate businesses are now enjoying and are flourishing, based on the spending power of our public servants. Jagdeo’s PPP, unconscionably gave public servants mediocre increases, then subsequently raised the NIS rates and even taxed public servants’ NIS contributions. Even the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), which is sustained by private and public workers, was hijacked by the Jagdeo cabal. A forensic audit carried out under the coalition government noted that the PPP/C used the NIS funds as a convenient slush fund. The minutes of the 448th meeting of the NIS board held on July 20, 2012, reflected that the PPP/C
Cabinet used NIS funds to purchase a property in Paramaribo, Suriname, for €535,000 (G$123,561,394.00). It is unclear why Jagdeo used insurance contributions from hard-working Guyanese to purchase a property in Suriname. The minutes of the 445th meeting of the NIS board reflected that the PPP/C administration instructed the NIS board to purchase 950,000 shares in the Berbice Bridge Company Inc. Jagdeo, without consulting, gambled with the future pension payments of workers, many of them public servants, whom he ensured receive small salaries. In 2019 the Finance Ministry’s Half Year Report revealed that the NIS was in a $748.4 Million deficit for the year. Jagdeo, the PPP/C’s leader, general secretary, opposition leader, ventriloquist of his party’s presidential candidate and PPP/C’S only vociferous spokesperson will always be remembered for wrecking industries, hijacking the best of Guyana for himself and his chosen few and paying public servants low and unlivable wages. Jagdeo’s legacy of paying public servants unlivable wages is not his only transgression: his tattered legacy also includes giving Guyana the most expensive river bridge in the world; crippled the National Insurance Scheme and plundered the treasury to keep the dead GUYSUCO sugar afloat, to mention a few. In addition to Jagdeo’s long list of transgressions, his unpardonable sin that most Guyanese don’t know, especially the Guysuco workers, is that of giving himself a $3,000,000.00 dollars pension, with uncapped benefits a month, will never be erased from the minds of the public servants whom he kept in poverty, on the bread line, living from pay cheque to pay cheque, while himself and his chosen few enjoyed the nation’s wealth. It is important to note that Jagdeo’s self-administered pension was equal to the old age pension of 240 persons. His Excellency, Brigadier Retired, David Arthur Granger, will go down in the annals of history as a man with a vision for Guyana; a vision that includes transforming of education sector; social services provision and transformative infrastructural development that is bridging the gap between the hinterland and the coastland, Since 2015, President Granger has provided public servants with a liveable wage, which is key to increased opportunities for a better life, crime reduction and enhanced public safety. As was said before, President David Granger’s administration is better equipped to continue leading this country for the betterment of all Guyanese. Regards Jermaine Figueira Member of Parliament Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice)
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
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‘Call her the CEO of the house’ …Chandarpal says society should do away with the title housewife
Chairperson of the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) Indranie Chandarpal addressing the gathering
a woman as “house wife” since she is not married to the house but to a person, she should instead be referred to as the CEO of the house”. She told the well-attended gathering of mostly women. In the same vein she said that society must stop expecting their sons to be supermen, ‘being everything for everyone’ and if he cries he is seen as being weak, or a ‘sissy’. She said that society should move away from the belief that ‘men don’t
By Elvin Carl Croker CHAIRPERSON of the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) Indranie Chandarpal has called on all Guyanese to help dispel some traditions and innuendos that have labeled men and women over the years. At a symposium on Friday organised by the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO) in Observance of International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Chandarpal said women should not blindly follow customs and traditions without trying to understand them. “We should move away from some customs and traditions such as referring to
General-Secretary of the WPO Sheila Veerasammy addressing the gathering
cry’ and that they should not sweep the house or do other domestic chores and that men should be the bread winners, and that girls should not climb trees because they will make the fruit sour, this she said would be very harmful to them. Today the world will ob-
serve International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women under the theme “Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands Against Rape”. Gender-based violence is everybody’s business Chandarpal noted and urged all mothers and women not to perpetuate discrimination of their daughters because of the belief that women need a man to protect her and that if she is not married and have a child, she is not a proper woman. “We are pleased that the government is engaged in educating and bringing this issue to the fore”. The WGEC chairperson said. In 1993 the UN General Assembly defined violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” Meanwhile General-Secretary of the WPO Sheila Veerasammy in her opening remarks called for an end to the scourge of violence against women noting that it impedes the lives of most people especially women and girls. She said that all Guyanese should work together to
A section of the audience at the Symposium
achieve this objective which she said cannot be achieved by a single organisation or community, but must be tackled collectively by everyone throughout Guyana. “Violence against women and girls is the most universal and pervasive human rights violation affecting about one-billion-woman worldwide and much more needs to be done to comprehensively address the structural barriers, gender discriminatory and cultural practices that deny women their socio economic rights and undermine their resilience to move ahead,” she said.
Veerasammy said she recommends a revision of the policies and legislation that address the problems so that it can be able to influence social norms and practices that stymied women’s growth and development. “While Guyana has been able to create an enabling environment to facilitate women’s socio economic and political opportunity, much more needs to be done,” she posited. She noted that in the Guyanese society they are too many single parent mothers, who are left with the responsibility of providing, nurturing and instilling values in their children.
According to a survey done by the United Nations, a large percentage of women are affected by some kind of violence around the world. In North America 32 per, Latin America and the Caribbean 38 percent, Europe 46 percent Asia 64 percent and Africa 64 percent. A p a r t f ro m t h e 3 5 percent of women in the world who are affected by violence, they are 87,000 women who are intentionally killed globally by their partners. Also women account for nearly half or 49 percent of all human trafficking victims that are detected globally.
Troy Resources continues to ignore union …Lewis says company in breach of labour laws, refuses to pay salary increases
By Tamica Garnett THE People’s United and General Workers Union (PUGWU) is concerned about the continued refusal by Australian-owned gold-mining company Troy Resources Inc, to meet with or negotiate with the union, even as it has terminated the services of over 300 employees. The union recently wrote the company contending that the workers were fired without requisite notice being issued either to employees or the union, as required by law. PUGWU President Lincoln Lewis, says this most recent disregard of labour practices adds to an ongoing situation with the company over the past few years. “It is clear that the company over the years is not comfortable dealing with the union at any point; and while they are speaking about how much food they are giving to workers and how much other things they are doing, what they need to say to the Guyanese public [is] what percentage wage increase they give this year and when they intend to conclude wage negotiations, which includes increase in pay for workers,” Lewis questioned.
Troy Resources, which has a history of developing and operating mines in both Australia and South America, has been operating in South America since 2002 and in Guyana since 2013, after buying over Azimuth Resources Limited. It is said to have acquired the company for some US$100 million. The company said it later invested an additional US$75 million to set up operations subsequently. The company also has operations in Brazil and Argentina; however the company ceased its Brazil operations in 2016 and sold 70 per cent of its Argentina operations, according to the company’s annual report. Facing financial issues for some time now, the company is banking heavily on its operations in Guyana at its Karouni Mines in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region. The company is currently involved in open- pit mining while considering underground mining in the future. However, Lewis contends that all may not be as it seems. “The company has received over the years a number of tax concessions and it is unfair and unjust for them today to say to this nation that their performance is uneconomical, when in fact
the senior managers in this company receive in excess of US$30,000 per month. It is in the balance sheet. Even their auditor said that they cannot verify the numbers that are in the book, in a number of areas,” Lewis said.
PUGWU President Lincoln Lewis
The company has been in the limelight since the October 8 death of geologist Ryan Taylor at the company’s “Hick’s One Extension” pit. Since the occurrence, PUGWU has contended that Taylor’s death was avoidable, as the union has been raising concerns over safety at the pit with the company for over a year. “As we speak about local content the union is convinced that for Troy Resources local content means the creating of jobs that
are below the standards established by the ILO [International Labour Organistation]. Conditions that are unsafe and more so paying wages that are not commensurate to an operation of its nature,” Lincoln said. “Today we are hearing that they are considering to do underground mining. And we hope that the EPA, the GGMC and the OHSD will hold these people accountable; because if they can’t be trusted in performing a proficient job in managing an open-cast mine, God help the workers who they are prepared to send underground.” Lewis said after receiving multiple reports from members over concerns at the mines, and receiving no commitment from the company to rectify, the union did the justifiable thing of writing the necessary oversight bodies: the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Department of Labour (DoL). Lewis asserts that since the union reported the matter to the authorities, the company began making it even more difficult to negotiate. “Troy Resources was written to around May [2018] by the PUGWU asking for negotiations [on wages and salaries]. They took a long time and when a reminder was sent to them in August, they said
that the proposal was with the CEO and he is the persons who wants to deal with it himself. But in fact we cannot remember meeting this man, for the last two years we haven’t met this man,” Lewis said. On a media tour of the mines on November 14, the company contended that salary increases were not feasible, noting that the company was paying relatively higher salaries than other companies in the industry. The company has some 512 employees, of which some 83 per cent are locals. Lewis note that instead of dealing with the union, the company started to address the issue with the workers. NO PAY INCREASES “They immediately sent out a circular to the workers stating that they are not in a position to pay increased wages and salaries; this was done before any engagement with the union. The union at that time, recognising that the company has taken a position of reluctance to discuss wages and salaries, wrote tthe DoL requesting conciliation and a meeting was convened early August. Minister Scott advised them that what they were doing was in bad faith and requested that the circular be withdrawn… they gave
the commitment themselves to withdraw the circular. But instead of withdrawing the circular, they presented what we consider another nasty circular accusing the union and other personnel of behaving in bad faith,” Lewis said. Lewis said it was further worrying that when the company was written to for a meeting, Troy responded that the executives were out of the country, at a time when evidence was presented that they were on local soil. He noted that workers also sent pictures of the executives on site at Karouni, when they said they were out of the country. “On every occasion that they said that managers are not on site the union’s representatives took out their photographs. On the 1 or 4 November we wrote them. The company wrote back stating that no senior manager is in the country. But the following day in afternoon hours the senior managers met with Amna Ally in their office,” Lewis said. Additionally, Lewis said the union was also restricted in visitations to the operations, noting that while the union was allowed to visit the camp, they were not allowed to visit the mines where operations took place.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
‘Be the voices of transformation’ ―UG Chancellor urges Berbice Campus graduates By Nafeeza Yahya CHANCELLOR of the University of Guyana Professor John Edward Green delivering the feature address at the 18th convocation exercise at the Berbice Campus in Tain, East Berbice Corentyne urged the graduates to be the voices of transformation and help promote social cohesion
organisations of Guyana, and empower the marginalised and the disadvantaged. He continued by urging the 216 graduates to make use of technology and the Information Age to help shape policies for the betterment of all. “Let me then say, Let our multi-cultural heritage influence messages of cohesion rather than divisiveness, and help people recognise
importance of commitment, discipline and support as being critical components for success. He further highlighted many of the campus’s projects that extend beyond the walls of the campus through public-private partnerships that he described as phenomenal initiatives, and the need for continued human capital investment through education. “The UG and GOG must utilise gains of oil and gas to support programmes such as those offered on this campus that are complementary to oil and gas, and provide the basis for sustainable or responsible development and the ‘green’ economy,” Professor Greene said. Meanwhile, this year’s
Valedictorian, 24-year-old Juanita Beejaimal, a teacher of the New Amsterdam Secondary School became the first student from the faculty of Natural Sciences to receive the Best Graduating Student award for
UGBC Class of 2019
A section of the graduating Class of 2019
rather than division. “Be the voices of transformation; use your voices to shape public opinion by talking about issues of inclusion and equality of keeping them on the front burner, and taking action to ensure their fulfillment,” Greene, who was recently installed as chancellor, said. He urged the graduates to champion the causes of civil society and the grassroots
the double sword of the digital revolution for which social media has been a boon but also a major source of disinformation. And then graduates engage in legacy thinking to frame policies and prime people to think about accountability to the future thereby leaving this world a better place. Go forth and conquer the world.” During his presentation, the chancellor stressed the
the Berbice Campus, having obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. During her address, she highlighted the many challenges the Class of 2019 faced but managed to overcome through determination and
Sasha Ramsarran receiving her certificate
perseverance and can now look towards the future with renewed hope. “As we close this chapter and move on to the next, degree in arms,” Juanita said, “we risk oblivion, making the wrong choices, disappointing those we care about. But more than that, we risk failing by not trying.” In closing, she urged her colleagues to remain humble, learn from their mistakes and hold their heads high with pride. “Despite our having our degrees, let us remain open to learning,” she said, adding: “The truth is, having a degree does not mean we
Valedictorian Juanita Beejaimal delivering her address on Saturday evening
have our lives figured out, nor that we are infallible. We will make those mistakes, and inevitably disappoint those we care about and make the wrong choices here and there, but in all of these, let us look for the lessons to be learnt. Now that we will be embarking on the next chapter, let us define success on our own terms! Let us rise with even more grit than after every fall! Let us actualise the ambition cradled in us!” Of the 216 persons that graduated, 151 were females, while 65 were males. With 69 graduates, the Education and Humanities faculty had the largest batch of students. Among the graduands was 36-year-old Colleen Hamilton of the Faculty of Social Scences, who, despite being differently abled, was able to persevere to the very end. The youngest was 17-year-old Sujada Azeez, who graduated with an Associate Degree in computer science.
Anti-gender-based violence campaign for Linden today
THE Ministry of Social Protection will be launching a campaign in observance of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, in Linden on Monday. The campaign will be
launched at the Egbert Benjamin Exhibition and Conference Center at 15:00hrs and will conclude with a candle light vigil at 17:30hrs. An exhibition of the services provided by the Ministry and
other key stakeholders will commence at 14:00hrs. Apart from Monday’s activities, the ministry will col-
within schools, workplaces, community and religious organizations from November 21 to December 10 and a Men
Global Leadership Institute in 1991. Over the next 16 days, beginning today and up until Human Rights Day on Decem-
laborate with the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Policy Unit, the Region’s local authorities, Non-Government partners and civil Society for a series of other events. These include a public awareness and sensitization sessions
against Violence Forum on November 29, 2019 in the Boardroom of the Mayor and Town Councilor in Linden. 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s
ber 10, Guyana will join the rest of the world in calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. A recent report has shown that more than one in three Guyanese women experience
CARICOM congratulates Suriname on 44th Independence Anniversary THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has extended congratulations to the Government and people of Suriname as the country celebrates its 44th anniversary of independence. CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, in a congratulatory message to the President of Suriname HE Desiré Bouterse, noted that as the people of Suriname pause to celebrate the growth and achievements of their country, they do so against a background of dedication and commitment to country that has ensured solid progress since the attainment of independence. The secretary-general also noted that the community has benefitted from Suriname’s invaluable contributions to regional integration. “We are particularly grateful for Suriname’s leadership within the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet in matters pertaining to Culture, Gender, Youth and Sport, matters that bolster the CARICOM identity and spirit of Community,” Ambassador LaRocque stated. Suriname celebrates 44 years of Independence on Monday, November 25, 2019.
intimate partner violence (IPV) and some 20 per cent of women in Guyana have experienced non-partner sexual abuse (NPSV) in their lifetime. Around 13 per cent experience the latter form of abuse before the age of 18. This is according the Guyana Women’s Health and Life Experiences Survey Report launched between the government, the UNDP and UN Women; USAID, Inter Development Bank (IDB), the University of Guyana, the Global Women’s Institute of George Washington University, and the Canadian Institute of Health Research. At the launching earlier in November, Minister of Social Protection, Amna Ally had pledged that the recommendations coming out of the study will be looked at. The report calls for programmes that focus on changing patriarchal cultural norms and gender attitudes, including through educational initiatives in primary, secondary, technical, vocational education and training and tertiary level educational institutions.
GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, November 25, 2019
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Man dies after car slams into bridge A 31-year-old father of one and staff of Republic Bank Limited died early Sunday morning when his car slammed into a bridge at Felicity Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara. Dead is David Matthew Headley. Guyana Chronicle was informed that the young man, who hails from South Ruimveldt Gardens, recently welcomed a bouncing baby into the world. According to a police statement which was released on Sunday morning, it was noted that sometime around 05:00hrs, Headley was reportedly driving his motorcar, PRR 2531, at a fast rate when he lost control. As a result, the young man received injuries about his body. He was removed from the vehicle and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where doctors on duty pronounced him dead on arrival. Headley’s death sent shockwaves among his friends, some of whom took to social media to express their sadness. Lisa Hamilton, a church friend, said “David, you will be missed. I only remember the good times. Just Saturday, I saw you at church. You went to dedicate your son to God. We spoke
outside, briefly, where we joked about something. You were holding him in the car seat and he was fast asleep. I am so sorry that he won’t be able to grow up with his father and you with him. I’m so sorry and it’s unfair,” Hamil-
the good times. You and our group of friends who met online in the Guyana Conference of SDA group would come all the way up to Linden to hang out…” “This is the first time that a friend of mine has died and I’m not sure how
behalf of the group of friends we shared (Odella, KeaneAnn, Chevy, Cowen, etc) we miss you already. I promise we’ll only remember the good times.” Christopher Matthias, another friend, said it was only
The mangled vehicle of David Matthew Headley
ton, a reporter at the Guyana Chronicle stated. “You asked me how I was doing and said you hadn’t seen me in ages. I blamed work and tiredness. I swear I only remember
to feel. Feels surreal. Feels like it’s not true. Feels like somebody else, not you. But what I feel must be a fraction of what those closest to you must feel. I’m so sorry. On
on Saturday he and Headley shook hands, embraced and greeted each other. “Your family and self were all smiles as you arrived to have lunch at one of my favourite
spots. It appeared as if you had just come from church. Then, this morning (Sunday), as I made my way to perform my regular Sunday market chores, my friend read the news of a crash involving a Dead: David Matthew Headley Republic Bank staff. Upon enquiry as to who it was, I more. I want your mom to had to pull over as I couldn’t have you back and for your believe the name that was son to grow with you. I just being told to me,” Matthias want to wake up and be told wrote on his Facebook page. this is not real…” Roberts He added:” So sudden! So expressed. Former assistant youth soon! Just after the dedication leader of the Guyana Conof your baby. You were one of the few individuals who ference of Seventh-Day were passionate about your A d v e n t i s t , B r a n d f o r d work, sports etc. and although Burke, recalled that Headwe were mostly friends on ley would fondly call him facebook, it felt as if we had “Pops” and was full of life known each other for such a and energy. “I could not long time; as if even from the understand why he stepped same home/neighbourhood. aside from the original Condolences to your entire course, but I gave him family, relatives, workmates whatever support he reand friends,” Matthias wrote. quested. A football fanatic . Another Adventist youth, like I am and a basketball Latoya Roberts, also recalled fan, we differed in so many seeing Headley at church instances, but he remained on Saturday “As you came a “cool ruler”. I underto church and offered your stand that he did what son back to God and I sat most parents do with their there feeling so hopeful and babies, at his home, church, thought about him coming Carmel SDA Church just up through the ranks like Saturday. Today, he’s no we did...Now this morning longer here, another victim (Sunday) you are gone. I of road accident in GT,” want a do over. I want to call Burke, now living in New you more and encourage you York, wrote.
Church service ushers in road safety week THE Guyana Police Force’s (GPFs) Traffic Department, in observance of National Road Safety Week, held a church service on Sunday under the theme ‘Accidents Can Be Deadly, Use the Road Safely, Drive Defensively and Stay Alive’. The service was held at the Police Officers’ Mess Annex and included the singing of worship choruses, selections from the Police String Band, scripture reading and a message from Force Chaplain, Reverend P. Doolichand. Speaking to the media on the side, Guyana Road Safety Council (GRSC) Coordinator, Ramona Doorgen, said that the Road Safety Council continues its yearly collaboration with the GPF each November as the month is, unfortunately, infamous across the world as the most deadly month when it comes to road accidents. “You find that people are actually hustling for Christmas, people are actually more in the mode of [trying] to
make things happen because it’s the end of the year. So you find October-November people always, some way or the other, don’t pay attention and [get into accidents],” she said. Doorgen added that, over the years, there have been improvements as the Road Safety Council and other governmental and non-governmental stakeholders work to curb the habit of reckless road use. “You might not see the improvement in road traffic crashes, but we have made improvement in a lot of areas,” she said. “We’ve formed a strategy, we have a national plan, we have the vital data for the Ministry of Health. We worked on the alcohol consumption for communities with PAHO/ WHO and a whole lot of other stuff,” Meanwhile, Council Member, Eon Andrews said that the Road Safety Council is working along with the GPF to ensure that certain penalties are enacted and road safety
Members of the Road Safety Council, including Guyana Road Safety Council (GRSC) Coordinator, Ramona Doorgen, repaint the pedestrian crossing at Camp and Robb Streets. (Samuel Maughn photo)
instruments such as road signs are in place. This aside, he noted that more need to be done to educate the younger population about safe usage of the roadways. “What is not good enough, it needs to be upgraded, especially in the education sector where you have to educate children and we are hoping too that we can have road safety being taught in schools as a special part of their curriculum because the kids need to learn. The older ones might be fixed in their ways, but we have to teach the young ones now,” Andrews said. Following the service, the Council, in collaboration with the GPF, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, the Guyana Oil Company (GuyOil) and Teleperformance, painted the pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Camp and Robb Streets. Five schools around the GuyOil head office also saw their pedestrian crossings being repainted.
Several members of the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Road Safety Council and the public turned out to the National Road Safety Week church service at the Police Officers’ Mess Annex. (Samuel Maughn photo)
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What it takes to foster a child
INITIALLY, it might seem underhanded for an officer from the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) to visit a child’s school to check that his/her attendance and punctuality are good. But this is just another part of the job carried out by members of the Foster Care Unit at the CPA. They also enquire about the child’s appearance, conduct and welfare while attending school. Foster Children are always monitored to ensure they are receiving quality care, and Foster Parents are trained to understand why this line of investigation is necessary, and the reasons why they must comply with CPA Officers. It would be futile to attempt to safeguard a child from one set of circumstances to then place that child in a dysfunctional setting where they will not receive the attention or care that he/she needs. When a child is being fostered, the child’s well-being and state of mind are of utmost importance to the CPA. The environment they inhabit away from home is meant to provide the same
care, consideration and affection for the Foster Child that is offered to other children in the family. From time to time, Officers will visit the home unannounced to ensure that the child is comfortable and contented, and that his/her basic needs are being met. The child’s bedroom will be inspected to ensure that it is comfortable, tidy and clean. Foster Children are allowed to talk to the CPA officer along with the Foster Parent, or, if preferred, in private, about any concerns he/she may have. Most Foster Parents prefer to care for small children, and sometimes they even end up with two or three siblings for a while. Keeping siblings together in a family setting helps young children to cope with their temporary new home, and it makes bonding with the Foster Parent easier. When a mother was sentenced and sent to prison for 10 months, one courageous foster mother (Ms Hines) took in the four children left behind by these unfortunate events. She said, “It can be hard work at times, but I’ve had harder challenges in life. Having a close-knit family
of my own also helps. My children play games with Foster Children, and assist in small ways, such as putting on shoes and brushing teeth.
forced to take a particular child; the child (or children) they eventually foster is matched as closely as possible to the details they would
“When the CPA rang to tell me about the children, I immediately saw the importance of keeping them together. The youngest was only five months, and the eldest was six years old. I often think about how we will handle the ‘hand over’ when their mum is released, because the baby has bonded well with my family, and has no, or very little, recollection of her mother. But of course, this is another bridge we will cross once we get to it.” Foster Parents are never
have supplied on their application form. Only relevant information about the child’s circumstances and background are shared with the Foster Parent to enable him/her to better cope with the child. On occasion, Foster Children may need to attend supervised visits with their biological parent(s), and the Foster Parent will be responsible for bringing the child to a pre-arranged location, which is usually a quiet area at the CPA. Foster Parents
and Biological Parents very rarely meet, as CPA Officers always facilitate the visits and the handing over of the child to his/her parent(s). The CPA has dealt with many varied cases, where children were made vulnerable due to their parents’ reckless behaviour or thoughtlessness. Knowing that a Foster Parent is on hand to give some comfort and consideration towards the child makes all the difference. In one incident, a tenmonth-old baby boy could consistently be heard crying while his Mother and Father would be drinking, quarrelling and occasionally fighting. A vigilant neighbour reported the couple, and an investigation by the CPA revealed that the child was not only unhappy but also malnourished. The role of the Foster Parent, in this case, was not only to care for the child, but to provide nutritional foods to boost the child’s health and well-being while his parents attempted to sort out their lives. Both parents attended the Parenting Skills Programme (run by the CPA) where they learnt about the importance of good parenting, and were
made to examine their lack of the same. Between them, a hostile, disjointed, somewhat miserable existence was being created for their son instead of him being their centre of attention. The programme ran for six weeks and the child remained in care for three months. During this time, fortnightly supervised visits were arranged by CPA Officers between the parents and the child. After a review was completed on the family to the satisfaction of CPA Officers, reunification was approved by the Director of Children Services. Every Foster Child brings along a new experience; an experience where the Foster Parent may need to monitor and modify his/her fostering skills accordingly, in the best interest of the child, while providing care, protection understanding and love. If you are concerned about the welfare of a child call the CPA hotline on 227 0979 or write to us at childcaregy@gmail.com A MESSAGE FROM THE CHILDCARE AND PROTECTION AGENCY, MINISTRY OF SOCIAL PROTECTION
Newest party to push for legalisation of ganja A NEW party-- The New Movement-- with a woman at the helm, has been launched to contest next year’s general and regional elections. The newly formed party hosted its official launch on November 21, 2019, when it announced Dr. Asha Kissoon as the party’s pick for Presidential Candidate and Dr. Gerald Ford as its Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2020 elections. Kissoon, in remarks, said the party was birthed out of a collective vision held by a group of young professionals who wanted change. She said the founding members of the grouping wanted to create a party that would foster change, that would bridge the gap of racism and division that has been rampant in the country. The party, according to its manifesto, is pushing for
greater national unity, citizen and youth involvement, democratic accountability, the legalisation of marijuana, and constitutional reform, among other things. The party is aiming to secure the maximum number of
seats possible in the general elections. Kissoon is a medical doctor by profession and is currently reading for her master’s degree in public health administration at the Texila American University.
In addition, she had been involved extensively in volunteer work throughout her life. “We took this step towards making Guyana the best Guyana we can have. We believe that we are the change we want to see. We want im-
(From left) Presidential candidate, Dr. Asha Kissoon; Prime Ministerial Candidate, Dr. Gerald Forde; Leader of the Women’s League, Donneille Forde (Elvin Croker photo)
provement; change has been promised to us many times, but we are above change right now; what we need is improvement,” Kissoon told the gathering at the launch. The movement, she said, supports women’s rights “which is something we are very passionate about. We are working to ensure that women’s rights are protected, as well as focusing on greater national unity, citizen and youth involvement, democratic accountability…” “I believe this country deserves leaders who make it possible for everyone to live their best life,” stated Kissoon. The party is the fourth political party to be birthed this year, since talks of early elections became a front-burner issue following the December 21 no-confidence motion against the government. In January 2019, Liberty
and Justice Party (LJP), led by former Vice Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC) Lenox Shuman, was the first party to be launched. Later that month, a group of Berbice lawyers launched the Federal United Party (FED-UP), which was quickly followed by the launch of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), led by former PPP executive, Ralph Ramkarran. Endorsing the party’s efforts was proprietor of GuyEnergy, Turhane Doerga, who said, “let us give this fresh crop of politicians which believe in research and development which is looking at how to make this a welfare state where everybody can prosper; these are the people I want to support.” Further, he stated that the change the party would bring in the country’s current political state is a welcomed one.
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Man shot dead, teen injured in Agricola shooting A 15-year-old boy was shot and injured by stray bullets on Saturday afternoon while 24-year-old Sean Bobb, for whom the barrage of bullets were intended, died after two men opened fire on him with handguns at Agricola, East Bank Demerara. The injured teen has been identified as Daniel Webster of Agricola. Police, in a statement, incorrectly listed the fifteen-year-old as one of the intended targets for the gunmen, noting that the shooting took place just before 18:00hrs.
Bobb was rumoured to be a leading member of one of two gangs based in the community and at war with each other. Police sources
indicated to the Guyana Chronicle that the names of the gangs are not yet known to them. Two of those identified as the shooters, ac-
cording to the police press statement, go by the call names ‘Plucking’ and ‘BIG Life’. Bobb was struck below the chin by the gunshots which were fired in his direction. Webster was shot in the region of the chest, according to the police in their statement. It was also noted that a 30-year-old has been arrested for questioning in relation to the matter. Guyana Chronicle learnt from reliable police sources that the shooting is connected to two recent events in Agricola which saw the
beating of one individual who is still hospitalised and who is said to be a gang member, while the other connecting reason for the shooting has to do with a police operation which led to the discovery of some arms and ammunition in the village a few days ago.
Last week, a young man, whose name was given as O’Neil Jeffery, was beaten and tied up in the community after he allegedly carried out a robbery in the village against the advice of the leader of another gang in the community.
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$14M SLED projects at Hiawa working well …$8M multipurpose building commissioned
Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Amna Ally presents sport gear to a member of the community
Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Amna Ally is assisted by a young girl from the community of Hiawa to cut the ribbon to officially open a multipurpose building
A total of nineteen projects have been executed within Region 9 at the cost of just over $200M under the Sustainable Livelihood Entrepreneurship Development (SLED) programme within the Ministry of Social Protection. The community of Hiawa, located in Central Rupununi, Region 9 benefitted from two of the projects namely an agricultural initiative which includes sheep rearing at the cost of $6M and a multipurpose building at the cost of $8M. During a visit to the community on Saturday, the Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Amna Ally commissioned the multipurpose building. The minister and her team were warmly welcomed with cultural presentations from villagers and had a packed audience at her community engagement. In her remarks, the minister reminded the residents of the developments they currently enjoy and promised more as requested.
The commissioned multi-purpose building in Hiawa
“Your government has, and will, continue to bring the good life to all of Region 9 and Guyana. At Hiawa, we delivered potable water, built a state-of-the-art Nursery School, and today you will have a multipurpose building to benefit everyone here. The sheep rearing agricultural project is bringing in money to your community and by extension, lifting your living standards. We will continue to transform your lives for the better because our mission is to bridge the gap between coastland and hinterland,” Minister Ally remarked. The community collectively expressed their appreciation to the David Granger-led administration for the projects executed in their village and also requested a tractor and trailer. The minister acknowledged the request and has committed to exploring the option of providing the equipment by mid next year. Joining Minister Ally on her visit was Managing Director of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Dr. Richard Van West-Charles and his team. They inspected the well that was constructed recently and assured the residents that it is fully functional. (DPI)
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Empowering Entrepreneurs ― 24 graduate in Financial Literacy, Small Business Training
Government’s ability to provide employment is limited and persons should aim to be entrepreneurs as 24 more persons graduate from courses in Financial Literacy and Small Business Training Programmes. This is according to Assistant Director on Economic Empowerment, Samuel Saul in his remarks at the closing ceremony of training held at the National Racquet Center, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown on Saturday. The programme was hosted under the Ministry of the Presidency Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport empowerment. In total 169 persons have benefited from the programme. “In any country, the populace needs to be aware that no government can provide employment for all its citizens, as a consequence this training serves our youth in their quest to become entrepreneurs,” he said. The Assistant Director on Economic Empowerment in giving an overview of the programme said the finance literacy and business programme was conceptualised almost four years ago by the then Presidential adviser on Youth Empowerment Aubrey Norton and team. He said that the programme is geared towards proving youths with the necessary skills and knowledge as they gravitate towards becoming entrepreneurs. Saul said the financial literacy and the management of businesses were taught to the participants. He explained that there were two batches of students for this year, with one course from April to May and the other September to October, 2019. “All two of the programmes persons showed enthusiasm in joining the programme. However, as
we would know when a programme commence everyone will not necessarily complete it and so in our first batch, there were a total of 25 persons who registered, but only 12 persons completed,” he said.
Underscoring that each individual was required to present a business plan, Saul said multiple innovative plans were submitted. “We recognized that a number of persons would have either established busi-
Assistant Director on Economic Empowerment, Samuel Saul
mention a few,” Saul noted. The Assistant Director on Economic Empowerment said youths need the training and resources to establish their own businesses as a means of providing for their livelihood.
anthropology, archeology, architecture, the arts, mathematics and spirituality. “Because our training is nonresidential, we have only been able to attract persons form regions three and four. However, as a means of ex-
Programme Facilitator Daren Torrington
Officials of the programme (seated) flanked by graduants of the Financial Literacy and Small Business Training Programmes. (Delano Williams photo)
He continued: “And then in the last batch we had a total of 38 persons who registered, only 24 completed. One of the important things about this programme is to look at discipline, and this meant persons must be punctual in terms of their attendance.”
nesses or strengthen their businesses, some of those businesses in which persons are operating are; agro-processing, wine production using local barks and fruits, rearing of honey bees and the manufacturing of honey and the byproducts, stationery and photocopy shop just to
He noted that the plans that were submitted have the opportunity to vie for grants under the youth innovate project of Guyana which falls under the Department of Youth. Further, he noted that the plans must be in the areas of science, technology, engineering, agriculture,
panding this training to other regions, we are proposing to have a residential programme come 2020,” Saul disclosed. He added that finance is not just about making money but achieving deep goals and protecting the fruits of labour, stewardship and achieving a good society.
Programme Facilitator Daren Torrington said an entrepreneur culture among youths in Guyana is very important and the programme is a testimony of the Ministry’s effort to promote economic development and ventures in Guyana. He explained that entrepreneurship as a career is no longer a luxury, but a necessity since the conventional way of seeking employment is no longer adequate in society. “Entrepreneurship is the key, when our young people are given opportunities, their skills, abilities, innovation, energy and enthusiasm they possess will most certainly eliminate the socio-economic issues that exist,” he said. Adding that the training programme is a testimony that young people once given opportunities will deliver, Torrington said the Ministry must be congratulated in the efforts in the finance literacy and business programme. “This finance literacy and small business training programme with the objective of each participant submitting a business proposal over a six week training period is a unique one, it had enlisted 24 participants who had the opportunity to run a practical one-day business operation and share their experiences with the investment of just $20,000 given to two groups,” he explained. He noted that profits ranged from $49,000 and $70,000 in respective groups. Noting that the training programme required discipline, he said this was measured by attendance, creativity, innovation and determination measured in the submissions of business proposals received. He said being an entrepreneur is not easy but with self-determination and focus on overcoming challenges success is inevitable.
AG and team attending CFATF conference in Antigua ATTORNEY General, Basil Williams and a team of officials are currently attending the 50th plenary and Working Group Meeting of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in Antigua, which opens today. On the delegation are: Joann Bond, Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Romel St. Hill Assistant Solicitor General and Perlina Gifth of the Ministry of Social Protection; Special Organised Crime Unit Superintendent Althea Padmore; Matthew Langevine, Director
of the Financial Intelligence Unit; Ms. Alicia Williams, Senior Compliance Officer; Guyana Gold Board, Ms. Eondrene Thompson, General Manager; Gaming Authority Mr. Lloyd Moore – Chief Executive Officer; Office of the DPP Ms. Natasha Backer, Mrs Teshana Lake; Guyana Securities Council, Shaun Allicock; Bank of Guyana Governor, Dr. Gobind Ganga and Mr Ramnarine Lal and Mrs Kara Duff -Yehudah of GGMC. The CFATF’s meetings will deal with important matters such as: Steering
Group Meetings; CFATF Working Group on FATF Issues such as the Mutual Evaluation Reports of Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, where Ms. Bond is the Legal Assessor in the Mutual Evaluation of the Turks and Caicos Islands. This meeting has been organised to bring together various member states of the Caribbean, allowing them to present assessment reports, action plans and to discuss procedures for the fourth round of evaluation of countries.
Attorney General, Basil Williams
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End rape: An intolerable cost to society By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
IF I could have one wish granted, it might well be a total end to rape. That means a significant weapon of war gone from the arsenal of conflict, the absence of a daily risk assessment for girls and women in public and private spaces, the removal of a violent assertion of power, and a far-reaching shift for our societies. Rape isn’t an isolated brief act. It damages flesh and reverberates in memory. It can have life changing, unchosen results—a pregnancy or a transmitted disease. Its long-lasting, devastating effects reach others: family, friends, partners and colleagues. In both conflict and in peace it shapes women’s decisions to move from
communities through fear of attack or the stigma for survivors. Women and girls fleeing their homes as refugees also risk unsafe transport and insecure living conditions that can lack locked doors, adequate lighting and proper sanitation facilities. Girls married as children in search of increased security at home or in refugee camps can get caught up in legitimized conditions of rape, with little recourse for those wishing to escape, such as shelter and safe accommodation. In the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are most at risk of sexual violence from a current or former husband, partner or boyfriend. As we know from our work on other forms of violence, home is not a safe place for millions of women and girls. Almost universally, most
perpetrators of rape go unreported or unpunished. For women to report in the first place requires a great deal of resilience to re-live the attack, a certain amount of knowl-
sexual assault, and they have to cope with an unwarranted sense of shame. The result of these aspects is a stifling of women’s voices around rape, significant under-reporting
edge of where to go, and a degree of confidence in the responsiveness of the services sought – if indeed there are services available to go to. In many countries, women know that they are overwhelmingly more likely to be blamed than believed when they report
and continuing impunity for perpetrators. Research shows that only a small fraction of adolescent girls who experience forced sex seek professional help. And less than 10 per cent of women who did seek help after experiencing violence contacted the police.
One positive step to increase accountability is to make rape universally illegal. Currently more than half of all countries do not yet have laws that explicitly criminalize marital rape or that are based on the principle of consent. Along with criminalizing rape, we need to get much, much better at putting the victim at the centre of response and holding rapists to account. This means strengthening the capacity of law enforcement officials to investigate these crimes and supporting survivors through the criminal justice process, with access to legal aid, police and justice services as well as health and social services, especially for women who are most marginalized. Having more women in police forces and training them adequately is a cru-
cial first step in ensuring that survivors begin to trust again and feel that their complaint is being taken seriously at every stage of what can be a complex process. Progress also requires that we successfully tackle the many institutional and structural barriers, patriarchal systems and negative stereotyping around gender that exist in security, police and judicial institutions, as they do in other institutions. Those who use rape as a weapon know just how powerfully it traumatizes and how it suppresses voice and agency. This is an intolerable cost to society. No further generations must struggle to cope with a legacy of violation. We are Generation Equality and we will end rape!
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Violence against women, girls normalised …Caribbean research WORK on preventing and ending violence against women at the global, regional and national levels shows that there is widespread impunity for sexual violence and rape, Ms Alison McLean UN Women Multi-Country Office, Caribbean Representative has said. In a message to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, McLean said UN Women-supported research conducted here in the Caribbean in the past two years reinforced that violence against women and girls (VAWG) including rape is so entrenched and normalised that both men and women have a high tolerance for its manifestations. Notwithstanding women’s well known and often touted gains in public life and the introduction of laws, policies and initiatives to promote women’s equality, prevailing socio-cultural attitudes that perpetuate unequal and hierarchical power relations reinforcing notions of female subordination and male domination, mitigate against these gains and in turn fuel VAWG. The UN Secretary-Genera’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women Campaign is focusing on rape as a specific form of harm committed against women and girls, in times of peace or war. The UN System’s 16 Days of Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls activities begin on 25th November under our 2019 global theme: Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape! The UN Women-supported research, which is available for four Caribbean countries to date, shows non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) which includes rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual touching and sexual harassment, is reported at significantly higher rates than intimate partner sexual violence and a significant risk factor is
being young. In Guyana, most women reporting sexual IPV reported being forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (8 per cent) and nearly as many women reported having sexual intercourse with their partner because they were afraid to refuse (7 per cent). On the other hand, 20 per cent or - 1 in 5 women - in Guyana reported non-partner sexual abuse in their lifetime; with 13 per cent experiencing this abuse before the age of 18. One-fifth of Jamaican women reported being sexually abused before reaching 18 years of age. Further 1 in 7 reported that their first sexual experience was before the age of 15 years. Under Jamaican law, the age of consent is 16 years old; any sexual intercourse under that age is statutory rape. The Suriname GBV prevalence survey revealed that the prevalence of NPSV among all women (14 percent) is almost double that of sexual IPV/intimate partner violence (8 percent). In Trinidad and Tobago, the prevalence of NPSV (21.3%) is almost four times higher than that of sexual IPV (5.0%). Without reliable and relevant data, it is not possible to adequately treat, reduce and prevent violence against women and girls. Representative for UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean, Ms. Alison McLean has noted that: “UN Women has invested significantly in supporting member states in strengthening capacities to fill the data gaps on violence against women and girls. Working with regional partners, the Caribbean Development Bank and CARICOM, we developed the CARICOM Prevalence Survey Model. The CARICOM Model is based on the long-tested global World Health Organization (WHO) model which is considered internationally to be the best practice for national, population-based studies
on prevalence data on GBV. This CARICOM model also allows us to capture information on the consequences of GBV for women, their children and families, women’s help-seeking behaviours and risk and protective factors for violence. It allows in a real way for the voices of women and girls to be heard.”
National-level efforts should seek to de-stigmatize the experience of intimate partner violence and to shift gender norms and roles in order to create a society in which violence against women is openly rejected and firmly addressed. Information on where women seek help and where they do not, should inform how services to support victims should be designed and
located. Data on women and girls’ vulnerabilities, partner characteristics and other socio-demographic factors should guide how to prevent and respond to this violence. The MCO Caribbean Representative has further stressed: “UN Women, along with other UN agencies will be using the data gathered from these surveys to support na-
tional efforts to prevent intimate partner violence through school-based and community-based initiatives; including working with men and boys through Batterer Intervention and Prevention programmes; and private sector initiatives that prevent work-related spill overs of family violence to create safe spaces at work”.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Monday November 25, 2019
Flamengo win Copa... from backpage
ternazionale, tapped in from close range with a minute left and then rifled home from 15 metres in injury time to secure victory. Barbosa was sent off in the dying moments, along with Exequiel Palacios of River Plate, in a chaotic finish. The result gave Flamengo only their second Copa Libertadores and means they will represent South America in the Club World Cup in Qatar in December. The first single-match final of the Copa was moved from Santiago to the Peruvian capital because of street protests in Chile. Flamengo will win the Brazilian championship on Sunday if second-placed Palmeiras fail to beat Gremio. They came into the final on the back of a 26game unbeaten run but appeared overawed. River Plate seldom looked like losing their lead as they outplayed and outmuscled Flamengo before their unlikely late comeback.(The Guardian)
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday November 25, 2019
Azam century in vain as Aussies beat Pakistan by an innings SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia duly wrapped up victory over Pakistan by an innings and five runs in the first test in Brisbane
on Sunday but they were forced to wait until late on day four by a magnificent rearguard action from Babar Azam and Moham-
mad Rizwan. The hosts needed only seven wickets on Sunday to ensure they would take a 1-0 lead to Adelaide Oval for
Babar Azam celebrates after reaching his century during day four of the first Test against Australia at The Gabba. - (Getty Images)
the second and final match of the series but Azam’s second Test century and 95 from Rizwan stalled their march to victory. The pair were finally dislodged after a 132-run partnership and the Australian quicks finished the job with the second new ball, dismissing the last four batsmen for 30 runs to maintain Australia’s 31-year unbeaten run at the Gabba. “Really happy, any time you win a test by over an innings you’ve done a lot right,” said Australia captain Tim Paine. “Really proud of the way we started the innings and to maintain our record at the Gabba is excellent.” Josh Hazlewood took 4-63 and his fellow quick Mitchell Starc 3-73 but it was off-spinner Nathan Lyon who played the most decisive role in finishing off the tourists. Azam showed the quality many believe will one day make him one of the world’s best batsmen in a superb 173-ball innings, hitting 13 fours including the confident drive that brought him to cricket’s most significant milestone. He was caught behind off Lyon for 104 half an hour before tea - a slightly quicker ball catching the
outside edge of his bat and flying through to wicketkeeper Paine. Rizwan had already secured his first Test half-century and was not done yet, batting expansively as he moved towards what would have been his maiden century only to misjudge an uppercut on 95 with Lyon taking the catch at deep
backward point. Marnus Labuschagne was named Man of the Match for his knock of 185 on Saturday which, with David Warner’s 154, helped Australia accumulate a first-innings tally of 580 in reply to Pakistan’s 240. “We were really pleased for a team mate like Marnus to finally arrive on the big stage,” Paine added of the ebullient 25-year-old, who secured his maiden Test century on his way to the tally. “He looks like he’s getting better and better, which is a good thing for Australian cricket.” Pakistan’s dream of an unlikely maiden Test series triumph in Australia might now be gone but their fightback on Sunday should give them renewed hope heading into the second Test, a daynight affair which begins on Friday. Captain Azhar Ali paid tribute to Azam and Rizwan as well as 16-year-old debutant pace bowler Naseem Shah, but rued the batting collapse on day one of the match. “I think on the first day we won two sessions but we lost one very badly,” he said. “I think if you lose one session very badly it is always very hard to come back from that, especially against Australia in Australia.”
SCOREBOARD PAKISTAN 1st innings 240 Australia Ist innings 580 Pakistan 2nd innings o/n 64 for 3 Shan Masood c Tim Paine b Pat Cummins 42 Azhar Ali lbw Mitchell Starc 5 Haris Sohail c Tim Paine b Mitchell Starc 8 Asad Shafiq c Steven Smith b Pat Cummins 0 Babar Azam c Tim Paine b Nathan Lyon 104 Iftikhar Ahmed c Tim Paine b Josh Hazlewood 0 Mohammad Rizwan c Nathan Lyon b Josh Hazlewood 95 Yasir Shah c Matthew Wade b Josh Hazlewood 42 Shaheen Afridi c Pat Cummins b Josh Hazlewood 10 Imran Khan c Matthew Wade b Mitchell Starc 5 Naseem Shah Not Out 0 Extras 9b 9lb 1nb 0pen 5w 24 Total (84.2 overs) 335 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-13 Ali, 2-25 Sohail, 3-25 Shafiq, 4-93 Khan, 5-94 Ahmed, 6-226 Azam, 7-305 Rizwan, 8-324 Shah, 9-331 Afridi, 10-335 Khan Bowling: Mitchell Starc 16.2 - 1 - 73 - 3 (1nb), Pat Cummins 21 - 6 - 69 - 2 (1w), Josh Hazlewood 21 - 3 - 63 - 4, Nathan Lyon 21 - 3 - 74 - 1, Marnus Labuschagne 5 - 0 - 38 - 0 . 7.60
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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Monday November 25, 2019
India steamroll Bangladesh in pink Test to sweep series B y A m l a n Chakraborty KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - Umesh Yadav struck three times as India took less than an hour on day three to complete formalities and bulldoze Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in the second and final test for a 2-0 series sweep on Sunday. Having barely managed to avoid a defeat inside two days, Bangladesh resumed on 152-6, hoping to score another 89 runs to avoid a second successive innings defeat. But once Mushfiqur Rahim fell for 74, the highest by a Bangladesh batsman in the one-sided match, the game was effectively over for them. Bangladesh, skittled out for 106 in the first innings, managed 195 in the second as India registered their 12th consecutive home series victory to consolidate their lead in the World Test Championship points table. Mahmudullah, who retired hurt on Saturday with a hamstring injury, did not come out to bat for Bangladesh. Umesh claimed 5-53, while Ishant Sharma returned 4-56 to go with his five-wicket haul in the first innings. Ishant bagged both the man-of-the-match and player-of-the-se-
SCOREBOARD BANGLADESH 1st innings 106 India 1st Iinnings 347 for 9 declared Bangladesh 2nd innings o/n 152 for 6 Shadman Islam lbw Ishant Sharma 0 Imrul Kayes c Virat Kohli b Ishant Sharma 5 Mominul Haque c Wriddhiman Saha b Ishant Sharma 0 Mohammad Mithun c Mohammed Shami b Umesh Yadav 6 Mushfiqur Rahim c Ravindra Jadeja b Umesh Yadav 74 Mahmudullah Retired Hurt 39 Mehidy Hasan c Virat Kohli b Ishant Sharma 15 Taijul Islam c Ajinkya Rahane b Umesh Yadav 11 Ebadat Hossain c Virat Kohli b Umesh Yadav 0 Al-Amin Hossain c Wriddhiman Saha b Umesh Yadav 21 Abu Jayed Not Out 2 Extras 8b 9lb 0nb 0pen 5w 22 Total (41.1 overs) 195 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-0 Anik, 2-2 Haque, 3-9 Ali, 4-13 Kayes, 5-133 Miraz, 6-152 Islam, 7-152 Hossain, 8-184 Rahim, 9-195 Hossain Did Not Bat : Das, Hasan Bowling: Ishant Sharma 13 - 2 - 56 - 4, Umesh Yadav 14.1 - 1- 53 - 5, Mohammed Shami 8 - 0 - 42 - 0 ( 1w), Ravichandran Ashwin 5 - 0 - 19 - 0, Ravindra Jadeja 1 - 0 - 8 - 0. ries awards. India captain Virat Kohli singled out his pace attack for their sizzling form. “These guys can take wickets on any surface, be it at home or away,” Kohli said. “They are very hungry and at the top of their game.” India’s seventh straight Test victory was also their fourth successive innings win. Bangladesh had to call in two concussion substitutes in the match after Liton Das and Nayeem Hasan sustained nasty blows to their helmets in the first innings. Mominul Haque made a forgettable debut as Bangladesh’s new test captain, scoring a pair of ducks in
Kolkata. “It’s very disappointing for everyone including me, we have to learn from this,” Mominul said after the drubbing. “I think the pink ball is different when it’s a new ball and it was a little bit challenging.” India had triumphed inside three days in the series opener in Indore. There was a buzz around India’s maiden pink-ball test with near-capacity crowd on the first two days of the contest. “We didn’t think so many would turn up today, given we were in a position to end it early,” Kohli said. “To have so many people witnessing an India win is special.”
Pacer Umesh Yadav claimed 5-53
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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday November 25, 2019
Santner strikes as Kiwis take control SCOREBOARD of first England Test …BJ Watling scores first Test double century
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Mitchell Santner scored his maiden test century and then grabbed three quick wickets to reduce England to 55-3 at the close of play on the fourth day of the first test at Bay Oval on Sunday. England are still 207 runs behind New Zealand’s first innings of 6159 declared and need to bat the entire final day in Mt. Maunganui today to save the match. Joe Denly was on seven, while Joe Root will join him on Monday after nightwatchman Jack Leach was caught in close for a duck off Santner with two balls remaining in the day’s play. Left-arm spinner Santner had earlier removed openers Dom Sibley for 12 and Rory Burns for 31. He finished the day with figures of 3-6 off 8.4 overs. “It’s not going to be easy to take seven wickets,” Santner said in a pitchside interview of the possibility of completing victory on Monday to take a 1-0 lead before the second match of the two-Test series starts in Hamilton on Nov. 29. “The ball is getting older and getting softer.
“We just have to stay in the areas for longer (to put pressure on England’s batsmen) and go from there.” Captain Kane Williamson had closed New Zealand’s first innings with a 262-run lead about 15 minutes after the tea break with wicketkeeper BJ Watling having scored his first Test double century. Watling was eventually dismissed for 205 and, having batted for just over 11 hours, he did not take the field for the first hour of England’s second innings with Tom Latham taking the gloves temporarily. The 34-year-old Watling, however, took a sharp catch when he did return to dismiss Sibley off Santner. The catch was a milestone in itself, with the last 101 wickets taken by New Zealand at home all falling to pace bowlers. Todd Astle was the last spinner to take a wicket at home, against England in March 2018. Santner struck again with less than three overs remaining when Burns mistimed a sweep and spooned a catch to Colin de Grandhomme at square leg, bringing Leach to the
wicket before he fell in the final over. T h e 27-yearold Santner had earlier also s c o r e d New Zealand’s Mitchell his maid- Santner celebrates the e n T e s t wicket of England’s Rory c e n t u - Burns REUTERS/Ross Setford ry as he c o m bined with Watling for a 261run partnership, a New Zealand record for the seventh wicket, as the hosts dominated the fourth day’s play. “It was nice to get a hundred (as) it set the team up for a good score,” Santner said. “I think the way me and BJ built the partnership, we knew that if we could bat a long time and get a bit of a lead ... we knew the pitch was going to get harder to bat on. “It’s probably a little bit up and down with those cracks so we just knew that we had to keep building the partnership and keep going.”
Volcanoes squash US challenge to seize victory in final outing TAROUBA, Trinidad, (CMC )– Windward Islands Volcanoes wrapped up a disappointing Super50 Cup campaign on a high note when they beat United States by 12 runs here Saturday night. Choosing to bat at the Brian Lara Stadium, Volcanoes rallied to 264 all out with four balls left in the innings with veteran opener Devon Smith getting 45, Alick Athanaze scoring 40 and Keron Cottoy chipping in with 35. Fast bowler Rusty Theron (3-48) and left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar (3-60) both finished with three wickets apiece as Volcanoes slipped from a strong position of 170 for three in the 35th over to lose their last seven wickets for 94 runs. In reply, United States got a top score of 71 from former West Indies star Xavier Marshall but other than for Aaron Jones with 37, the batting group failed to show any enterprise and they came up short in the 46th over.
CRICKET QUIZ CORNER (Monday November 25, 2019) COMPLIMENTS OF THE TROPHY STALL-Bourda Market & The City Mall (Tel: 225-9230) & CUMMINGS ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD-83 Garnett Street, Campbellville, Georgetown (Tel: 225-6158) (1) (2) (1) (2)
Answers to yesterday’s quiz:
68-Evin Lewis 79-Ramanullah Gurbaz
Today’s Quiz:
What were the best innings bowling figures by a WI in the recent WI/AFG T20 series? What were the best innings bowling figures by an Afghan player in the series?
Answers in tomorrow’s issue
ENGLAND 1st innings 353 New Zealand 1st innings o/n 394 for 6 Jeet Raval c Joe Denly b Jack Leach 19 Tom Latham lbw Sam Curran 8 Kane Williamson c Ben Stokes b Sam Curran 51 Ross Taylor c Ollie Pope b Ben Stokes 25 Henry Nicholls lbw Joe Root 41 BJ Watling c Jos Buttler b Jofra Archer 205 Colin de Grandhomme c Dominic Sibley b Ben Stokes65 Mitchell Santner c Ollie Pope b Sam Curran 126 Tim Southee c&b Jack Leach 9 Neil Wagner Not Out 11 Trent Boult Not Out 1 Extras 22b 9lb 2nb 0pen 21w 54 Total (201.0 overs) 615 decl Fall of Wickets : 1-18 Latham, 2-72 Raval, 3-106 Taylor, 4-127 Williamson, 5-197 Nicholls, 6-316 de Grandhomme, 7-577 Santner, 8-598 Southee, 9-603 Watling Bowling: Stuart Broad 33 - 13 - 64 - 0, Jofra Archer 42 - 15 - 107 - 1(2w 1nb), Sam Curran 35 - 7 - 119 - 3 (1w), Jack Leach 47 7 – 153- 2, Ben Stokes 26 - 5 - 74 - 2 (4w 1nb), Joe Root 18 - 3 - 67 - 1 ( 4w) ENGLAND 2nd innings Rory Burns c Colin de Grandhomme b Mitchell Santner 31 Dominic Sibley c BJ Watling b Mitchell Santner 12 Joe Denly Not Out 7 Jack Leach c Tom Latham b Mitchell Santner 0 Extras 4b 1lb 0nb 0pen 0w 5 Total (27.4 overs) 55-3 Fall of Wickets : 1-48 Sibley, 2-53 Burns, 3-55 Leach To Bat : Root, Stokes, Pope, Buttler, Curran, Archer, Broad Bowling: Tim Southee 4 - 0 -18 - 0, Trent Boult 5 - 4 - 2 - 0, Colin de Grandhomme 4 - 1 - 8 - 0, Mitchell Santner 8.4 - 4 - 6 - 3, Neil Wagner 6 - 1 - 16 - 0.
Seegobin, Wilson condemn Diplomats to 202 run thrashing
Devon Smith
Cottoy completed a strong all-round display when he picked up three for 38 with his leg spin while left-arm spinners Larry Edward (2-46) and Kavem Hodge (2-50), along with speedster Shermon Lewis (2-43), all finished with three wickets each. The result was of academic importance only as both teams were already out of the running for semi-final places. For Volcanoes, the win was only their second in eight games and it saw them finish on 10 points while United States lost for the sixth time in seven outings to end bottom of Group B. Left-hander Smith, who struck seven fours in a 50-ball knock, put on 68 off 64 balls for the first wicket with Desron Maloney whose 31 came from 30 balls included five fours and a six. When both fell in a three-wicket slide for 50 runs, Athanaze and Cottoy anchored half-century stands to help the innings recover. First, Athanaze posted 52 for the fourth wicket with Emmanuel Stewart (29) before Cottoy put on a further 62 for the seventh wicket with Ryan John who made 28. The US were then languishing at 19 for two in the fourth over before Marshall and Jones combined in an 82-run stand third wicket stand to halt the slide. Marshall faced 94 deliveries and counted three fours and four sixes while Jones supported with four fours in a 62-ball innings. Jones’s departure in the 23rd over signalled the start of the US decline, however, and late efforts from Theron (29) and Karima Gore (23) went in vain.
Stephon Wilson grabbed 6 wickets for GCC
DEONARINE Seegobin stroked a match-winning 70 while Stephon Wilson grabbed 6 wickets for the Georgetown Cricket Club (GCC) who whipped Diplomats by 202-runs on Saturday at the GCC ground, Bourda. Action in the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA)/ New Building Society 2nd division 40-over tournament was limited this weekend to the one match played. Seegobin, who led the batting with his half-century, smashed 7 fours and a six, opening the batting for GCC, who eventually made a whopping score of 246 all out in their 40 overs. Timothy McAlmont chipped in with 38 while Carlos LaRose supported with 26 for GCC, as Diplomats skipper, Nigel Sampson, grabbed 3 wickets. Taking full advantage of the home conditions and the big total, GCC followed up their ruthless batting outing with some hostility in the bowling department. A woeful Diplomats eventually crashed to a paltry 44 all out in just 17 of their allotted 40 overs. Left-arm spinner Stephon Wilson returned impressive figures of 6-11 as no Diplomats batsman reached double figures.
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GUYANA CHRONICLE, Monday November 25, 2019
Wilder knocks out Luis Ortiz to defend WBC world title in Las Vegas DEONTAY Wilder defended his WBC world heavyweight title for the 10th time with a stunning knockout after being out-boxed by Luis Ortiz for six rounds. The American looked set to see his world-title reign end just short of five years as Ortiz picked him apart for half of their Las Vegas rematch. But in the seventh round, Wilder’s devastating right hand left Ortiz stunned and beaten on the canvas. “I found my measurement, seen the shot and took it,” said Wilder, 34. “We have Tyson Fury the rematch next. It’s set to be done in February so we will see how that goes and then after that I am looking for a unification bout. “The heavyweight division is too small to have so many belts lingering around, there should be one champion and I think I am the perfect man for that job.” Ortiz, 40, made it to his feet but could not beat the 10 count and was left with a look of
shock on his face, because Wilder had barely thrown a combination or landed a punch of significance. The defeated Cuban was left beating the ropes with his fists in frustration after bamboozling Wilder with feints and footwork, while boxing at the kind of pace he looked capable of maintaining. He found repeated joy from his tricky southpaw stance with the left hand and after landing on Wilder in the fourth, the champion beat his chest with both hands because he clearly knew he was second best. Some will ask questions as to how flat Wilder looked for six rounds but he has built a reputation as one of the most destructive punchers in boxing history and his straight right hand thrilled those ringside at the MGM Grand. With this success he moved level with Muhammad Ali in recording 10 straight title defences. Only Tommy Burns (11), Vitali Klitschko (11), Wladimir Klitschko (18), Larry Holmes (20) and Joe Louis (25) have managed
Luis Ortiz had dominated the first half of the Las Vegas fight until DeontayWilder found a knockout
to defend the heavyweight crown more times in a row. His 42nd win in 43 bouts will also take Wilder past five years as world heavyweight champion having secured the title by beating Bermane Stiverne in January 2015. Fury almost fell to the same power as Ortiz 12 rounds into his Los Angeles draw with Wilder in December. This latest knockout again adds to
the mystery around how the Briton got to his feet. If they do fight on the slated date of 22 February, Fury will get the chance to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. His trainer Ben Davison was ringside to see Wilder keep hope of that fixture alive but this win once again underlined he holds the kind of ferocious power that ensures he can never be written off. (BBC Sport)
Bravo misses out on century but puts Red Force in Super50 semis
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) – Darren Bravo passed 400 runs with his third straight half-century and fifth of the Regional Super50 Cup as Trinidad and Tobago Red Force dealt Guyana Jaguars’ semi-final hopes another blow with a six-wicket win here Saturday night. The left-hander, left out of the West Indies team due to poor international form, extended his heavy scoring with 98 as Red Force overcame an early blip to overhaul their target of 219 with nine balls to spare at Queen’s Park Oval, and confirm their spot in the final four. Red Force found themselves in a spot of bother at 51 for three in the 14th over after left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (2-49) struck twice but Bravo put on 165 for the fourth wicket with Mohammed who stroked an unbeaten 71, to see Red Force
Darren Bravo passed 400 runs with his third straight half-century.
comfortably over the line. Bravo, who struck an unbeaten 115 in Red Force’s opener, was in sight of his second century of the campaign when he perished with three runs required for victory. All told, the 30-yearold faced 119 deliveries and crunched four fours and seven
sixes, to reach 447 runs for the tournament at an average of 111. Jaguars, needing a win to enhance their semi-final bid, could only muster 218 for eight after a delayed start due to rain turned the contest into a 46-overs per side affair. Sent in, they were going
Jonathan Foo pummelled an unbeaten 97 off 92 balls for Guyana Jaguars.
nowhere fast at 78 for five in the 25th over before Jonathan Foo arrived to pummel a top score of 97 not out off 92 deliveries. However, while several other batsmen got starts but none carried on, leaving Jaguars’ bowlers with a tough task of defending a small total. Opener Chandrapaul Hem-
Rio Indoor Street-ball Championship …Sparta Boss, Gold is Money through to ‘KO’ stage SPARTA Boss, Gold is Money, Rio All-Stars, Leopold Street and Bent Street earned elimination berths in the Inaugural Rio Indoor Street-ball Championship on Saturday at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue. Sparta Boss downed Alexander Village 3-1. Gregory Richardson, Ryan Hack-
Action in the Rio Indoor Street-ball Championship
raj (8) and Chris Barnwell (6) fell cheaply with just 32 runs on the board in the 13th over and though Foo tried to rebuild, he continued to lose partners cheaply. With the innings lagging, he took matters into his own hands, blasting half-dozen fours and four sixes as he put on a crucial ett and Nicholas MacArthur scored in the fifth, seventh and 11th minutes, respectively, For the loser, Kacey John scored in the eighth minute. Similarly, Gold is Money sneaked past Sophia 1-0. Josiah Charles netted in the eighth minute. Meanwhile, Rio AllStars blanked Spot-7 by a 5-0 scoreline. Kelsey Benjamin netted a double in the sixth and 12th minute while Job Caesar, Jermin Junior and Andrew Murray scored in the ninth, 16th and 18th minutes, respectively. Leopold Street dismissed Ol Skool 5-1. Dorwin George scored a hat
71 for the sixth wicket with Ronaldo Alimohammed (27) and 50 for the eighth wicket with Permaul (22). Leg-spinning captain Imran Khan was the best bowler with three for 23 from 10 frugal overs. Permaul then removed both openers to set back Red Force, bowling Tion Webster for eight and then getting Kyle Hope to hole out to mid-off for 14, as the hosts stumbled to 26 for two in the seventh over. When Akeal Hosein followed for 16 in the 14th over, Red Force were in need of a rebuild and Bravo and Mohammed came to the fore to deny Jaguars. Red Force top Group B on 24 while Jaguars, in third on 16 points, and West Indies Emerging Players – second on 18 points – will do battle for the second semi-final spot.
trick in the eighth, ninth and 18th minutes, while Mark Jhalu and Darren Benjamin scored in the fourth and seventh minutes, respectively. For the loser, Timothy Thomas netted in the 13th minute. Bent Street crushed BV 5-0. Colin Nelson smashed a helmet-trick in the fifth, seventh, 12th and 16th minutes, while Pernell Schultz netted in the ninth minute. In other results, Albouystown crushed Stabroek Ballers 4-1 while Gaza Squad and Island All-Stars battled to a 1-1 draw. The tournament continues on Thursday at the same venue.
GBA encamp 22 boxers ahead of Caribbean Championship in T&T Nobregia, DeNobreiga are Kings at Battle of Champions motorcross championship David De Nobreiga in chase of Nickoce Wilson at the Battle of Champions Motocross race on Sunday(Stephan Sookram photo)
STEVEN Nobriega, one week after sticking it to the 125cc bikes, turned his attention to the dirt tracks of Linden to take top honours at the Battle of Champions Motorcross. Held in the Lower Kara Kara region yesterday, Nobregia mopped the floor with the competition in the pro class, picking up three wins from as many races. His high flying jumps thrilled fans, but not as much as crowd favourite, Marlon ‘Rasta Man’ Brown aboard the number 23 bike. Brown, originally a novice rider, joined the Pro race and thrilled the fans by popping wheelies all around the track. The instant crowd favourite did not last the day, however, as bike troubles forced him out. In the novices class, David DeNobreiga snapped up races one and three with Orlando King picking up race two. The final event of the day was the open class, which pitted all the riders against each other. Nobregia delayed his start to allow the riders first jump but catching them proved difficult. The terrain of the Kara Kara track, traversed by riders all day, threw Nobreiga off his game twice, with the rider getting back up on both occasions and finishing third. Second belonged to DeNobregia with Ravi Singh taking the chequerd flag by some margin.
Presentation will take place on Friday at Banks DIH head office. The day’s sponsors included, Banks DIH Limited, New Generation Clothing, Wismar Market, Ministry Of Business Department of Tourism, Broad Money Spares & Accessories, Republic Avenue; Bolo’s Variety & Furniture Store, Sunflower Street Wismar; Star Party Rental, Georgetown; Region 10 Tourism Development Association; Cho’s Bar, Burnham Drive Wismar; Sports Plus, Toucan Mall, Amelia’s Ward; Foreign Links, Linden/GT Bus Park Linden; Allegiance Corporations Inc. Georgetown; B. Harry Lumber Yard & General Store, Waterlily Road, Linden Enterprise Network. Inc. Republic Avenue; Trophy Stall, Georgetown; Tropical Reflection, Washer Pond Road; Solomon Fresh Vegetables, Potaro; Ms. Orleena Obermuller, Town Clerk, Linden Mayor & Town Council; Mr. Orin Gordon Regional Executive Officer, Region Number 10; Golden Taste Fish Shop, Wismar; Snooks Variety Store, Mackenzie Market; R & R Modern Meat Centre, Potaro Road; Alternative Measures, Mackenzie Linden; VJ’s Construction, Canvas City, Linden; Pleasurable Flavors, Amelia’s Ward; Wills Electrical Hardware Store; Mr. Rogers, Bosai; Mr. Dublin, General Manager, LECI; Mr. Alves, CEO Linmine Secretariat; and Pauline Meat Centre, Mackenzie Market.
Flamengo win Copa Libertadores with amazing comeback against River Plate
BOXERS preparing for the Caribbean Championship will be encamped for one week starting tomorrow, with the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), in a release, stating that the encampment is being held even though they’re yet to hear from government regarding the scope of its support for the trip to Trinidad and Tobago. The GABA has named a team of 22 boxers for the Caribbean Championship, including Caribbean Junior female champions, Abiola and Alesha Jackman. GABA president Steve Ninvalle said that he remains optimistic of a full team representing Guyana in the Twin Island Republic, following a phone call with Sports Minister George Norton on Friday.
Caribbean middleweight champion Desmond Amsterdam is among the 22 boxers selected by the GBA for the upcoming Caribbean Championship
Team Guyana will be led by elite Caribbean middleweight champi-
on, Desmond Amsterdam and bantamweight, Keevin Allicock.
William Wallace replaces David John-Williams as TTFA president
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23 New TTFA president William Wallace (Photo Compliments: Allan V Crane)
Gabriel Barbosa celebrates scoring Flamengo’s winning goal in injury time of the Copa Libertadores final against ( Pilar Olivares/Reuters)
FLAMENGO won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 38 years with two goals from Gabriel Barbosa in the last three minutes, beating the defending champions, River Plate, 2-1 after an astonishing comeback in Lima.
River took the lead through Rafael Borré after 14 minutes and looked to be cruising to their fifth Libertadores triumph. However, Barbosa, the striker nicknamed Gabigol who is on loan from InSee Page 23
SECONDARY Schools Football League (SSFL) president, William Wallace, is the new president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA). Wallace, a retired Carapichaima East Secondary teacher, defeated incumbent David John-Williams after two rounds in the TTFA’s Annual General Meeting yesterday. Ironically, the election was held at the Home of Football, which has been a major talking point for this campaign with John-Williams’ supporters holding the project up as a symbol of success while critics pointed to the lack of transparency surrounding the project. In the end, it turned out to be the venue
Printed and Published by Guyana National Newspapers Limi ted, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. Telephone 2 2 6- 3243-9 (General); Editorial: 2 2 7- 5204, 2 2 7- 5216. Fax:2 2 7- 5208
for John-Williams’ last stand. With 46 delegates allowed to vote—the Primary Schools Football Association failed to meet the criteria—the threshold to be elected president was 24. After the first round, Wallace had 20 votes, John-Williams had 16 and Richard Ferguson had 10. It meant Ferguson was eliminated from the ballot for the second round of voting. It would appear that six of Ferguson’s supporters then voted for Wallace while the remaining four opted to back John-Williams. And it meant a 26-20 victory for Wallace, who would steer local football for the next four years. (www. wired868.com) MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2019