Make photography your hobby, rather than a business – photographer Ackeem Thomas
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Pres Ali to deliver keynote address at Int’l Forum on African-Caribbean Leadership
Edghill debunks inaccuracies about Independence Boulevard project
Poor lifestyle choices boost mortality burden – Caricom Director
170 inmates graduate after completing various rehabilitation programmes Passenger busted with over 6kg ganja in minibus
Burglar caught on camera after breaking into grocery shop
Acting on intelligence received, Police in Regional Division
Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara) on Friday unearthed a quantity of ganja at the home of a teacher at Farm Village, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).
Upon arriving at the location, the ranks informed the 23-year-old teacher that they had received information that narcotics and ammunition are kept at her home, and they requested her permission to search the property.
During the search operation, the ranks asked the teacher to allow them to search a small red shop situated in front of her home, but she informed them that that
shop was controlled by her sister and her sister’s husband.
However, some of the ranks stayed at the shop
while the other ranks went to the Vergenoegen location where the couple who controls the shop resides.
On arrival at
Vergenoegen, the ranks received information that the couple had escaped through the backyard and had boarded a car.
Meanwhile, back in Farm Village, Police ranks were getting a strong scent of suspected cannabis emanating from the shop. As a result, one of the ranks broke the padlock on the western main door to gain entry. In so doing, several blue five-gallon plastic jars were seen on the ground. One of the ranks then checked each of those jars and discovered that two of the jars had their bottoms cut open and contained several bulky parcels wrapped with transparent plastic containing ganja. The teacher was questioned about the narcotics, but she denied having any knowledge. The cannabis was then escorted to Parika Police Station, where it was weighed and amounted to 7.257 kilograms.
The Police are on the hunt for the two suspects.
Harvey Mattis, a 35-year-old labourer and resident of Wismar, Linden, was on Friday charged for breaking into the Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home of Sumintra Paul, and stealing items therefrom.
He was arrested on
Wednesday and slapped with the offence of breakand-enter and larceny, contrary to Section 229(a) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act Chapter 8:01.
The Police have said Mattis allegedly committed the offence on the dwelling house, located at Soesdyke Public Road, EBD, at some
time between 18:30h on September 11 and 03:00h on September 12.
Mattis was arraigned before Grove/Diamond Magistrate Sunil Scarce, who read the charge to him, to which he pleaded not guilty. He was refused bail, and has been remanded to prison until October 31.
An alert cop travelling in a minibus on Saturday morning on the West Coast of Berbice (WCB) has led to the arrest of a passenger who had 6,764 grams of marijuana in his possession.
Based on reports received, at about 8:00h on the day in question, the constable, who was heading to the Mahaicony Police Station, boarded minibus BAC 4952 at Lovely Lass village, WCB. During the journey, the Police reportedly received "a high scent of marijuana", and as such, immediately contacted a colleague who was on duty at the Mahaicony Police Station.
At about 08:41h, the rank stopped the said minibus on the Mahaicony Public Road and asked the passengers to take possession of their personal belongings and disembark the bus.
Two travelling bags (one black and one multi-coloured) were left under the second to last seat in the minibus.
The rank asked to whom the bags belonged, and the driver pointed out a 26-year-old passenger, Earl
Vanlewin, who is a miner at Moruca in Region 1. The rank took possession of the two bags and carried out a search, unearthing four wrapped parcels containing cannabis. The youth was told of the offence, arrested, and cautioned. He later told Police that he collected the two bags from a man at Rosignol and he was taking them to another man in Georgetown.
Vanlewin and the cannabis were escorted to Mahaicony Police Station, where the cannabis was weighed and amounted to 6,764 grams. Vanlewin was placed in Police custody, and is assisting with investigations.
The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Sunday, Sept 18 – 22:30 – 00:00h and Monday, Sept 19 – 23:00h – 00:30h.
The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Sunday, Sept 18 – 10:30h – 12:00h and Monday, Sept 19 – 12:10h – 13:40h.
Parika and Supenaam departure times –05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily
There will be sunshine during the day. Expect clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius.
Winds: West South-Westerly to North-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.47 metres.
High Tide: 09:44h and 22:04h reaching maximum heights of 2.05 metres and 2.08 metres.
Low Tide: 13:32h reaching a minimum height of 1.22 metre.
– says developers of Singapore model, Dar Group, also expressing interest
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is in negotiations with interested parties, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on the development of the Innovation Village within Silica City.
President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Saturday made a presentation before members of the Guyana diaspora in Orlando, Florida, during which he informed the gathering about plans for the construction of Silica City along the Soesdyke/Linden highway. According to the President, the new Silica City that is being planned would be modern, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
He explained that this is all part of the Government’s plan to build a technology-based economy.
“This is what we’re building: a knowledge-based economy that is driven by technology and innovation. Just before we came here, we had world leaders from MITs across the world,” President Ali explained.
“The developers of the Singapore model, Dar Group, are also discussing and negotiating with us their interest in developing an Innovation Village in Silica City itself. This is where your country is going -building the jobs for the future.”
MIT is a world-renowned US educational institute with courses that include engineering and the physical sciences and other areas —notably economics, political science, urban studies, linguistics, and philosophy. The school is considered premier, and admission to the institute is known to be competitive.
Last week, the Guyana Innovation Group and representatives of Dar Consultants made a presentation of a masterplan on the Innovation Village concept within Silica City to President Ali and the Cabinet. The master plan was presented by the team at State House. During the presentation, they explained what the Innovation Village would accomplish. For one, it would connect start-ups and business incubators to established companies, maximising their opportunities.
Meanwhile, during the presentation, the President was accompanied by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh; Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal; Public Works Minister Juan Edghill; and Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond.
Also present were Minister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, as well as representatives from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission and the Guyana Office for Investment (GOInvest).
Last month, Rodrigues had visited the site earmarked for Silica City’s first phase development within the vicinity of Kuru Kururu, on the LindenSoesdyke Highway. On her visit, the Minister was accompanied by Permanent Secretary of the Housing and Water Ministry, Andre Ally; CHPA Chief Development Planner, Germene Stewart; Director of Projects, Omar Narine; Deputy Director Intakab Indarjeet;
Deputy Commissioner of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), Michael Hutson, and other technical staff.
In a subsequent release, she had said that the inland city, which would complement Georgetown, is designed to address growing climate change risks.
“We are aggressively pursuing plans for the construction of Silica City, [and] we are here today to advance the planning and designs for the area, so that
we can bring this city to an early realisation,” the Minister had stated.
She added, “Silica City will have in its first phase about 3000 acres of land, but we are starting to do the land-clearing for the first 185 acres, which will feature the ‘Innovation Village’ and the first 400 young professional homes.”
The Minister had stated that the Ministry has already begun shortlisting persons for the homes. The first phase of development of the city is also ex-
pected to feature a number of commercial and industrial developments, as well as hospitals. While these plans are in motion, land acquisition for phase two is also in progress through collaborative efforts with GLSC.
The establishment of Silica City was proposed in 2013 by Ali during his tenure as Minister of Housing and Water. It is in keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the New Urban Agenda, the Housing Act 36:20, and other guidelines.
In his first year in office in 2020, President Ali revealed that Government had begun discussions on Silica City as a secondary city. He had explained that the Government was looking at an area on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway that would be connected to the new four-lane bypass road. It had previously been explained that the city would initially cater to just over 3000 households in the first five years, and eventually grow to house more than 12,500 households.
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"Inever saw an instance of one or two disputants convincing the other by argument." -- Thomas Jefferson
There have been calls from several quarters for the Government to open communication with the Opposition Leader. Communication is normally advisable, but do we not need the kind of communication that we have been forced to endure from the Opposition and their surrogates lately? These sordid displays of political posturing (“apartheid state”?) and whistleblowing in the chambers of Parliament have only served to reinforce in the minds of our people that the Opposition are only interested in stirring conflict.
Who could have thought that a former Minister of Home Affairs – in charge of the security of the entire nation – could have sought to justify the seizure of the Mace? Evidently, because the Opposition are single-mindedly focused only on protecting their political turf, their communication casts more heat than light. At this juncture, they are incapable of playing a constructive role in the healing process that is so necessary at this time.
Even when some may be attempting to transmit “neutral” information, we have seen how quickly the communication can disintegrate into acrimony and bitterness. However, in situations of conflict – which politics unfortunately creates - it is absolutely crucial that communication between the affected groups does not break off completely. We are then left to the mercies of the rumour mongers.
It has been shown all over the world that one of the approaches to making conflicts less destructive and beginning the process of de-escalation is to get the people, whom the politicians purport to represent, to understand why the other feel and act the way they do. This cannot be done by exchanging attacks in the media or on street-corners, or in other public settings – even Parliament, as we saw - where the political parties simply attack each other in an attempt to prove themselves right - and justify their very existence. No progress will come out of political gamesmanship.
In our estimation, we need direct communication between the Government and the people of the various communities of Guyana – especially between the community of Buxton and its neighbouring communities. Whatever may be claimed, it cannot be gainsaid that Buxton represents the oldest tradition in Guyana of self-emancipation. Whether or not it has become the epicentre of claims that African Guyanese have been marginalised and placed outside of the ambit of national progress against their will, few will question the credentials of Buxton to represent those and other concerns to others. The President and his Ministers have begun these conversations, and as he said, no one has ownership of any group of Guyanese to prevent such conversation.
In the past, an ad-hoc group that demonstrated quite a broad and nationalistic approach to resolving our intractable conflict has been the “Social Partners”. Comprised of representatives of the business community, the labour movement and the Bar Association, they worked very diligently to facilitate an approach to crime by the administration and the opposition back in 2002, during the heat of the crime wave. Maybe now that we have survived those dangerous times but some are threatening a repetition, they should be reconstituted to perform the less onerous, but immeasurably more vital task of facilitating communication between communities and politicians.
Some will say that we already have the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) playing such a role in our society – and at great expense to the taxpayers. But we believe that the last iteration of the ERC has disqualified itself primarily over confusion over its role as a medium of communication for the various communities and the formulation of the message in those communications.
First, it interpreted its mandate to improve interethnic relations by holding “consultations” with individual communities and purporting to distil the findings and making recommendations about the way forward.
This approach inevitably means that the ERC is utilising some framework for processing its “findings” and in even framing the question it poses at its various fora. Who can say that their framework is not outcome determinative?
By: Pamela Paul
The death of Queen Elizabeth II has dominated headlines this month, homages to her reign and dissections of the Harry and Meghan situation unsurprisingly pushing other news aside, especially other stories from Britain.
But even amid all the pomp, one news item out of Britain has attracted curiously little attention. Liz Truss, the new Conservative Prime Minister, announced her Cabinet, and for the first time ever, not a single member of the inner circle — what’s referred to as the Great Offices of State — is a white man.
The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, is the daughter of Kenyan and Mauritian immigrants. The mother of the Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, emigrated from Sierra Leone. The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, was born to Ghanaian parents.
Did the left break into applause? Were there hosannas throughout progressive Twitter heralding this racial, ethnic and gender diversity as a step forward for society?
Not exactly.
Instead, the change was dutifully relayed, often with caveats. “Liz Truss’s cabinet: diverse but dogmatic,” noted The Guardian. The new team was criticised as elite, the product of schools like Eton, Cambridge and the Sorbonne. These people aren’t working class, others pointed out. They don’t sufficiently support the rights of those seeking asylum in Britain or policies that address climate change.
“It’s a meritocratic advance for people who have done well in education, law and business,” Sunder Katwala, the
director of British Future, a think tank that focuses on issues of immigration, integration and national identity, told CNN. “It’s not an advance on social class terms.”
This is an interesting criticism. “Meritocratic,” used here in a pejorative sense, means based on ability and achievement, earned through a combination of talent and hard work. Traditionally, merit served as the primary consideration in hiring, but some people today see the very systems that confer merit as rigged, especially against minorities. In an effort to rectify that imbalance and to diversify the work force, particularly for leadership positions, it has become common practice in hiring — in the business and non-profit worlds, as in Government — to make racial or ethnic diversity a more significant factor.
The trouble is that for many of the same people, ethnic and racial diversity count only when combined with a particular point of view. Even before Truss’s Cabinet was finalised, one member of the Labour opposition tweeted, “Her cabinet is expected to be diverse, but it will be the most right-wing in living memory, embracing a political agenda that will attack the rights of working people, especially minorities.”
Another Labour representative wrote: “It’s not enough to be a Black or ethnic minority politician in this country or a cabinet member. That’s not what representation is about. That’s actually tokenism.”
The implication is that there’s only one way to authentically represent one’s race, ethnicity or sex — otherwise you’re a phony or a pawn. Is that fair?
I’m not politically aligned with Truss on most issues. This is not the team I’d choose
to lead a country reeling from COVID, an energy crisis and the twin disasters of Boris and Brexit. But it’s Truss’s prerogative to hire people with whom she is ideologically aligned and who support her policies.
And one has to assume those new hires joined her willingly and with conviction. Surely, they, like all racial and ethnic minorities, are capable of the same independence of mind and diversity of thought as white people — some people Trumpy, other people Bernie.
Nor are they the first conservative minorities to hold top positions of power in Britain. It was the Conservative Party that, despite widespread antisemitism, first appointed a Jewish-born Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, in 1868.
The three women who have served as Prime Ministers — Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May and now Truss — have all been Conservatives. The former Prime Minister David Cameron was no lefty, yet he made a point of emphasising ethnic and racial diversity among his leadership appointments.
Black and other ethnic minority voters in Britain aren’t uniformly lefty, either. They cast 20 per cent of their votes for Conservatives in 2019.
A similar diversity of political opinion among minorities exists in the United States, and it bewilders the left. An increasing number of Latinos are running as and voting for Republican candidates. Donald Trump got more votes from ethnic minorities in 2020 than he did in 2016. Black men’s support for Trump increased by six percentage points the second time around. And that was after the murder of George Floyd, an event assumed to have galvanised many minority voters on the left.
In his prescient 1991 book, “Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby,” the law professor Stephen Carter decried many of the assumptions around diversity nascent at that time — including the notion that racial or ethnic minorities are expected to think as a group, not as individuals. He bemoaned “the idea that Black people who gain positions of authority or influence are vested with a special responsibility to articulate the presumed views of other people who are Black — in effect, to think and act and speak in a particular way, the Black way — and that there is something peculiar about Black people who insist on doing anything else.”
It’s been three decades since Carter’s book was published, and that lamentable assumption has only gained purchase. As he pointed out then: “In an earlier era, such sentiments might have been marked down as frankly racist. Now, however, they are almost a gospel for people who want to show their commitment to equality.”
It seems odd to have to point out in 2022 that “diverse” hires can be every bit as diverse on the inside as they are on the outside. For every Ketanji Brown Jackson, you’re liable to get a Clarence Thomas. Apparently, we need constant reminders that there’s more to people than meets the eye and that in multicultural societies, an acceptance of diversity must be more than skin deep.
(The New York Times)
(Pamela Paul became an Opinion columnist for The Times in 2022. She was the editor of The New York Times Book Review for nine years and is the author of eight books, including “100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet.”)
President Dr Irfaan Ali has a packed schedule while he is in New York for the 77th session of the United Nations, which includes delivering the keynote address at the International Forum on African-Caribbean Leadership (IFAL) in New York.
The President is scheduled to present the keynote address when IFAL holds its meeting at the New York Hilton Midtown on September 21, under the theme “Redefining Trans-Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Peace and Development”.
It is expected that the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and challenges to these countries achieving their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will be discussed.
Challenges, Strategies and Urgent Action.”
Guyana has been leading efforts in the region when it comes to food security. The Government’s focus on agriculture is down to the vision of making Guyana the bread basket of the Caribbean and reducing the regional food import bill.
Last year, President Ali declared that his Government would be pursuing an aggressive campaign to dismantle regional barriers to agricultural trade and that in the next four years, with the assistance of more diversified crops, Guyana would aim to reduce Caricom’s food import bill by 25 per cent.
United States, Joseph Biden and is expected to hold discussions with the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, among other officials.
“Since arriving in the US this week, the Guyanese Head of State attended a meeting between Caribbean leaders and the US Vice President, Kamala Harris. The meeting was a follow-up to President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’s commitment at the recent Summit of the Americas to partner with the Caribbean to promote energy security, access to finance and food security.”
The meeting is expected to attract Heads of State, Heads of relevant regional and trans-regional bodies, senior Government officials, members of civil society, key stakeholders, international development institutions, and academics.
27, 2022 in New York. While there, he will participate in a number of bilateral engagements and address several high-level events.
Meanwhile, President Ali will also be at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which is being held from September 13-
On Monday, President Ali is expected to chair the Education Summit Leaders’ Roundtable at the start of the high-level week of the
assembly. The next day, President Ali will attend several events including a roundtable/lunch with the Americas Society/Council of Americas and a forum with the CAF Development Bank of Latin America, under the theme: “Food Security in Latin America and the Caribbean:
Dear Editor,
We woke up to the news that two policemen were caught accepting $400,000 in bribes to drop gun charges against a man found with an unlicensed firearm. In another newscast, we are apprised of two other cops being found in possession of cannabis with the sole intent to resell the prohibited substance. We are talking about two instances in recent times, where those who have sworn to uphold the law were caught in corrupt transactions, occurrences that do nothing else than to place policemen and the GPF in a very bad light. I say corrupt cops and persons of similar ilk will be wiped clean, they would be put in their rightful place, separate and far from the law-abiding majority of us.
Now, as a frequent visitor to Facebook, I expected every john public out there to rain down brutal punishments on the offenders, however, to my surprise and amazement the social media platform was inundated with a plethora of excuses for absolving the policemen from their crimes. From persons trying to absolve the Police of such crimes. There was this outpouring of sympathy for the lawbreakers. Now, I would like my readers to understand where these apologists stood, they were making these statements of apology from a political
standpoint.
And so, it is with many issues in Guyana today, instead of taking a high moral or legal ground, decisions are based on the political backdrop. In their reasoning, the officers should be declared innocent because the salaries of the lawmen are low, therefore taking of bribes should be overlooked, utterly preposterous! If I should remotely consider that asininity as an excuse, then why not accept squatting based on the logic that Guyana is a country of 83,000 square miles so persons are entitled to go live anywhere, even on privately-owned land? The logic is you see land just take it!
Or should we accept the drug traffickers’ mantra, who will say we are just out to make a “decent” living? These are some of the foolish statements some folks in our society would like us to accept.
I have left this statement as my final point, that is, the politicians who will say that monies are coming in for projects under my watch, then why shouldn’t I be a party to it? This makes good reasoning for the base and corrupt in society and persons who would like us to wallow in that quagmire of corruption, but we will not! We will not accept such foolishness nor would we allow it to take root in this country again. I say gone
are the days when such reasoning held sway, but now we are on a clean and progressive trajectory.
You govern a country based on the whims and fancies of the base and corrupt elements of society, and I say we are bound for the dung heap of history. At
this stage of our development, Guyana will not, I repeat, will not countenance such corrupt practices. In my book, those who break the law must face the full penalty of the law.
Respectfully, Neil Adams
Dear Editor, It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of Justice Duke Pollard, a colleague and friend of many years. He was indeed a legal luminary, respected globally as much for his exceptional body of scholarly work in international law as for service to the UN; the CARICOM Community; the Caribbean Court of Justice, as one of its inaugural appointees; and, more recently, as Professor of Law at the University of Guyana. It was an inspirational experience to share the space with him in the senior management of the Caricom Secretariat, and to witness at firsthand the expansive nature of his intellect, creative talents as Caricom’s Legal Counsel, and his role in the drafting of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. In this regard, he leaves the legacy
of his foundational contribution to the modernisation of Caricom.
In his latest position at the University of Guyana as a Professor of Law, I can only imagine the awe in which he was held by those who benefited from his tutelage. l know that the University will never record an inadequate appreciation for his wise counsel and advocacy for the elevation of the Faculty of Law and its graduates by the Caribbean’s Council of Legal Education. He will be greatly missed for his professionalism, wisdom, and abounding wit.
On behalf of the Council of the University of Guyana, I pay tribute to the life and service of the late Justice Pollard, and extend my deepest sympathy to his family.
Sincerely,
Edward Greene
Months after assuming office, President Ali had charged the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry to assess and address the hurdles related to exporting food and agricultural products to markets within the Region. As such, concerns about barriers to trade in some Caricom markets were raised with the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) earlier this year.
President Ali will also attend the International Economic Alliance Symposium and deliver Guyana’s National Statement in the UN General Assembly Hall. Additionally, he will also attend an event hosted by the President of the
“Following that engagement, President Ali attended a protocolary meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Washington, DC, to welcome the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader Corona and to discuss concerns about his country and the region,” a statement from the Office of the President said.
Currently, President Ali is in Orlando, Florida, where he is expected to meet with members of the Guyanese diaspora, before he participates in an Interfaith Forum on September 18 in New York. He is currently joined by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud.
01:04
- The Batman (2022)
Movie - Afterlife of the Party (2021)
Jewanram Rel. Hour 07:00 Cartoons 08:00 Shekinah Ministry 08:30 Evening News (RB) 09:30 CPL: Guyana vs Barbados 14:00 D. Persaud Religious Program 14:30 Dharmic Ki Awaz 15:00 Movie - Little Women (2019) 17:30 The Healing Touch 18:00 Maths is Fun 18:30 Week-in-Review
19:00 CPL: St. Lucia vs TT 23:00 Girl Boss S1 E8 23:30 Movie - The Siege of Robin Hood (2022)
Over the last six weeks, the PET CARE column has been discussing all the salient aspects of worm burdens in dogs (and cats). I can tell you, dear readers, that never have we received so many calls on this theme. And quite rightly so. Gastro-intestinal worm infections do indeed seriously impact on the health of both young and adult companion animals. I shall therefore continue the discussion on worm infestation and respond intermittently to queries made.
The most frequent enquiry thus far was/is:
CAN HUMANS CONTRACT WORMS FROM THEIR PETS?
The answer is yes. Worms infecting dogs (to a lesser degree cats) can in fact assume residence in humans. Then, of course, it becomes a human medical problem. Caregivers are advised to discuss the matter with their physicians for prevention, detection and treatment accordingly.
I had decided to deal with the Heartworm infestation when the discussions would center on heart problems. However, since we were dealing extensively with worms (albeit those that infect the Gastro-Intestinal Tract), it may be more appropriate to include Heartworm infestation at this stage.
Let us begin Heartworm Disease (HD) is a potentially fatal, but preventable, infection caused by worm parasites, similar to the causative agent for Elephantiasis (aka “Big Foot” in local parlance) and Filariasis (in humans). Mosquitoes transmit these worms, especially in areas where temperatures are above 80 ℉ (27 ℉), and where humidity levels are high (over 80%).
As the name suggests, this worm lives in the hearts of dogs (and cats), primarily in the right heart chambers
Dog’s Heart infested with Heartworms
As you can see, the dog with the heartworm infestation is in big trouble
and in the pulmonary artery (and sometimes also in other large blood vessels). This is one wicked worm, especially because of the insidious nature of the development of the ailment it causes. By the time the symptoms show themselves, the dog has been seriously weakened. If the dog dies after a lingering and excruciating sickness (due to heart function first being compromised and progressive shutting downs of all the other organ), one can find – usually via a postmortem examination –a bundle of worms like spaghetti in the right heart chambers and in the large blood vessels that enter and leave the heart chambers.
any veterinarian with a microscope can also determine – with a fair degree of accuracy – the presence of heartworm larvae in a fresh blood sample I should mention that canine heartworm is to be
The prev -
alence of this disease is increasing in Guyana in proportions that are disturbing, especially in areas where preventative medication is not available or in animals which do not receive regular monthly medication. There are certain areas in this country that one can designate heartworm enclaves. The Lower East Coast of demerara is one such area. The extent of canine heartworm infection is, in all probability quite huge (pan-Guyana?), but we are not researching this disease in any great detail. A large-scale investigation is needed so that we will gain a better understanding as to how widespread this malady truly is. I understand that at least one commercial laboratory has the wherewithal to accurately check for heartworm. Of course,
give birth to as many as 5,000 microfilariae in one day. The veterinarian can pick up hundreds in one drop of blood.
The whole cycle – development in the mosquito, growth within the host’s
found all over the world, especially in areas at sea level (and below) in the tropics and sub-tropics, wherever the mosquito can be found. The mosquito transmits canine heartworm!
HEARTWORM LIFE CYCLE
The prevention and treatment of canine heartworm cannot really be attempted unless one understands the life cycle of the worm.
The tiny (not visible without the aid of a microscope) immature stage (microfilariae) of the heartworm, which is in the mosquito’s mouth parts, is deposited by the mosquito on the skin. These robust microfilariae then actively penetrate the skin. These immature stages of the worm begin to grow (for almost two months) before heading for the heart. Once they arrived in their new home – the right-side heart chambers – they begin to mature and become sexually active. Then they begin to give birth to new microfilariae, which your veterinarian can discover by examining a blood sample. It is documented that one female heartworm can
tissues, circulation in the dog’s blood, further development in the heart chambers – is roughly around six months. In the tropics, this cycle could be shorter (4-5 months) than in temperate and sub-tropical climates.
Of course, once undetected, and untreated, the adult worms (as long as there are males and females in the heart) can continue to produce the microfilariae. The worms can live in the heart for years before even the well-cared for dog succumbs. During postmortem examinations, hundreds of adult worms are found in the heart (see photo). Worms generally measure about six inches in length. The literature tells us that the females are larger than the males and can reach lengths of 12 inches and number as many as 250, with the mature females discharging thousands of young microfilariae into the bloodstream daily!
Next week we shall describe the symptoms of canine heartworm disease.
says matter will be brought to Caricom’s attention
The matter of Suriname’s harassment of Guyanese fishermen and the Dutchspeaking republic’s continued refusal to grant licences to them will be brought to the attention of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo warning Suriname that Guyana can also reciprocate this treatment.
He made this statement during an exercise he led on Friday at the Port Mourant Community Centre Ground and the Skeldon Community Centre Ground
which saw hundreds of people, including fisherfolk, in attendance.
According to Jagdeo, a large factor in the difficulty they are facing securing licences for the fishermen is the exposure to the corrupt practice of renting licences. This, he noted, is nothing more than retaliation. Jagdeo warned that Guyana would itself be toughening its stance if the mistreatment continues.
“We know that they control fishing in their waters and they have a right to license whomever they wish. But we also have a right,
in this country, to deal on a reciprocal basis with the Surinamese who are here doing business.”
“Because for too long now we are just tiptoeing around the issue. We are working at the diplomatic level, but the commitment of the Government of Suriname seems not to be worth the paper it is written on.”
With Guyana being the oil and gas hub that it is, the Vice President noted that Guyana can reciprocate in like manner with the Surinamese. Jagdeo
went on to draw parallels with Guyana’s experiences with Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), where the twin island republic’s phytosanitary restrictions on food imports from Guyana were so restrictive that they hampered trade and were deemed to be arbitrary. The matter had to be raised in the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was subsequently signed in May, between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), with the two countries agreeing to work with each other in eradicating trade non-tariff barriers, as well as in the areas of infrastructure development and transportation.
According to Jagdeo, the Government will be bringing the mistreatment of its local fishermen by Suriname officials, to the attention of Caricom. According to him, it is time for Guyana to play “hardball”.
“As we did with Trinidad and Tobago, we have to start demanding reciprocal behaviour. The way you treat our people, you’re going to be treated here. Your companies, when you come into this country. We have to start doing that,” he said, to applause from those
gathered.
“First of all, we have to go through the proper route. We’ll write Caricom on this matter. Because they belong to Caricom. This harassment of the fishermen has to stop and only we stop, we can’t trust them on a bilateral basis to resolve this issue. We have too many commitments that have not been honoured. So, our strategy has to change.”
Following the high-level meeting in Guyana in August 2021 between President Ali and President Santokhi, the two leaders issued a joint press statement indicating that the age-old issue of licences for Guyanese fisherfolk to operate in Suriname’s territorial waters would be addressed.
These fishermen operate from the Corentyne coast and have to use the Corentyne to get access to the Atlantic where they get most of their catch. The Corentyne River is considered Surinamese territory. Currently, the licences are issued to Surinamese businessmen at US$100 per year and rented to the Guyanese fisherfolk at US$3000 annually.
About 150 boats operate from the Number 66 Fisherman’s Co-op Society thus providing direct employment for about 800 fish-
ermen. Additionally, some 200 persons are employed in providing services which include transportation, fish vending, and repairs to machinery and equipment.
During a meeting with Jagdeo in April of this year, Chairman of the Fishing Coop, Pamashwar Jainarine explained that while they were expecting to get their licence for 2022, fisherfolk are now being further pressured. He had said the Surinamese are now demanding that they reduce the size of their vessels.
Currently, most of the boats are 40 feet in length and they are now asked to reduce them to 30 feet. Jainarine argued that because of the amount of ice that is needed to store catch during a fishing expedition and the 100 pounds of seine they carry, using the suggested smaller boat will not work.
Further, it is now required that the fishermen leave their boats on Suriname’s side of the Corentyne River. However, the Co-op Chairman pointed out that no security is provided for the boats and the water current is very strong which could result in them being pulled into the Atlantic. He further explained that each boat is valued at over $4 million.
Police are on the hunt for a man and his accomplice after he forcefully entered a shop in New Amsterdam on Friday evening.
The masked burglar was caught on surveillance cameras after making his way into Shanta’s Grocery situated at Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Region Six
(East Berbice-Corentyne).
This is the third time in recent months that the business place has been burglarised.
Javid Benjamin called “Anthony”, speaking on the most recent incident, said his mother saw the thief in the shop when she opened to door at around 4:00h on Saturday.
“We hear the dog barking and we get up and when we check the camera, we see the individual in the shop so I start to make noise.”
Benjamin said he alerted the intruder that he was being seen on camera as he shouted for “thief”. With that, the perpetrator hurriedly left. Surveillance footage shows that a car was waiting outside for the perpetrator. Benjamin said the person took about $31,000
in groceries.
The suspect, he said, was in the shop the day before and made a purchase. A few days prior, the suspect had also gone into the shop, Benjamin recalled.
In June a lone intruder had broken into the shop and carried away a number of items including bags of rice and beverages. “I did not make a report to the Police the last time,” Benjamin said.
We’re past the halfway mark of Amerindian Heritage Month, but frankly your Eyewitness doesn’t see enough activity in the public space to mark the occasion. The first point that must be highlighted is when we talk about colonialism - now that Queen Elizabet’s passing has catapulted the topic into a meme - the Indigenous peoples have suffered the LONGEST since they were the first to be colonised!! They suffered the ultimate demonisation when Columbus announced he’d DISCOVERED a new world. Meaning that those who were living here have no consciousness of their humanity - but whereas the other animals, he’d encountered!!
It wasn’t surprising that within a few decades of Columbus’s “discovery”, 99.999% of them have been wiped out across the ENTIRE West Indies!! That’s right –WIPED OUT!! So we owe a great debt – as inheritors of the European conquest – see that suit and tie? to make amends for that initial genocidal holocaust. What can we do?? Well at a minimum take a united stand that the Government keeps its treaty – unlike the PNC – to give the Indigenous Peoples all the land to which they’re entitled. Your Eyewitness says “treaty” ‘cause their land ownership agreements are at the same level as an international treaty - since it was part of the Independence Agreement of 1965 - “Annex C”.
Then there’s this matter of “development”. While we on the coastland bicker about who’s getting what from the oil revenues, it’s “out of sight, out of mind” where the Indigenous Peoples are concerned. And that’s why some – especially the Opposition – are kvetching that this PPP government’s working overtime to set that matter right!! Did you hear all the “slang” thrown at the President when he announced those 600 houses in Reg 9 for locals who’d get a $1 million grant to start construction?? PLUS an inside track with the banks to finance the rest of the $3 million cost with collateral-free mortgages!?! Not to mention the sling of cement that had been given to coastal low-income home-builders – also thrown in!?!
The kvetchers obviously feel that the Indigenous Peoples should continue living in thatched mud-houses!!
Continuing with ‘development”, there’s gotta be some massive job creation scheme in each interior region so that this embarrassing practice of donating handouts to Indigenous Peoples will cease. All this does is perpetuate the dependency syndrome that was started by the European colonialists with their beads and baubles!! Take that plywood factory at East Bank Land of Canaan. Why wasn’t that built-in Reg 1 from where the wood gotta be transported?? That’s the only way our Indigenous peoples will finally have equitable development!!
And end this pattern of exotifying them with their grass skirts and feathered headdresses.
…to the Royals
It suddenly dawned on your Eyewitness that the British Royalty was the first Reality Show in the world!! It launched in the 18th century - coterminous with the pamphlets and press that covered with the execution of Marie Antoinette!! The Fourth Estate was as much – if not more - about covering the Royals and the “nobility” than about “the people”!! Ironically, the latter thought they were cutting back the powers of the former, but overlooked they were given a house of COMMONS!!
Did you realise that Christmas Trees became popular in the British Empire because Queen Victoria’s German husband Albert brought them from his little principality?? And the way the Royals speak is the ultimate in “posh”to which everyone strains?? And that as the radio was invented the King’s message was eagerly awaited across the empire?? And those grainy newsreels then picked up the tradition -as did TV by the age of Diana??
It's all a Reality Show. That is probably why QE II didn’t like Donald Trump!!
…to the outcasts
Like in Heaven, some Royals can be cast out from the high firmament!! But apparently, the passing of QE II has brought a reprieve. Harry and Uncle Andrew can wear their pretend uniforms at the funeral!!
Local beverage giant, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Group has recorded $1.801 billion profit after tax in its 2022 Interim Report.
This turnover for the period – January 1 to June 30, 2022 – is $14.17 billion, when compared to $12.24 billion in the preceding year. It represents an increase of $1.93 billion or 15.8 per cent over the previous year.
Meanwhile, the company’s Domestic Revenue grew by 14.2 per cent; while Export Revenue also went up by 19 per cent.
According to DDL Chairman Komal Samaroo in the mid-year report, the Group has managed to maintain a robust level of performance despite a challenging background caused by global crises – most of which were external in nature but adversely affected the results for the period.
Samaroo highlighted that the first half of 2022
has been extremely challenging for the DDL Group, as it battled to overcome a series of overlapping crises.
“Just as the unprecedented effects of two years of the COVID-19 pandemic started to take an apparent positive turn, with the gradual return to some degree of normalcy, the war in Ukraine started in February 2022. The war in Ukraine introduced additional unfavourable variables to the international business environment which compounded the existing difficulties created by the pandemic,” he noted.
The DDL Chairman outlined that during the first six months of this year, prices of goods and services generally have skyrocketed. He pointed out this has specifically affected the beverage giant in its production processes, having had to absorb unprecedented price increases in the cost of fuel, transportation, raw materials as well
as packaging materials.
Shipping rates, he noted, both on imports and exports have also increased exponentially.
“In addition, delays in shipments, whether on account of unavailability of containers, or delays at in-transit ports because of vessel capacity, have disrupted the supply chain for both inputs into our operations as well as exports of our products,” the Chairman stated.
Samaroo added too that the effects of the war in Ukraine also disrupted the economies in western Europe, resulting in the decline of the value of the Euro, which is now on par with the US Dollar. This, he further explained, adversely impacted the real dollar value of DDL’s export revenue proceeds from the European
Union (EU), which is one of the Group’s major markets.
According to the DDL Chairman, with Profit Before Taxation for the period being $2.439 billion compared to $2.340 billion – an increase of $0.99 billion or 4.2 per cent – the high cost of inputs and transportation eroded the additional profit margin that the company should have earned from the incremental sales.
Meanwhile, during this mid-year reporting period, the beverage giant completed the construction of the Bulk Terminal near its Distillery Operations at Plantation Diamond, East Bank of Demerara.
“The anticipated benefits derived from this project came to fruition in a very timely manner, as the delay in shipments of bulk products required addition-
al storage to keep the distillery operational,” Samaroo noted.
In addition, with regards to DDL’s subsidiary – Demerara Shipping Company Limited (DSCL) – upgrade and rehabilitation works of its port facility continued through this period and the current phase is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The DDL Chairman, in his report, expressed gratitude to the company’s staff at all levels in the organisation for their continued hard work, commitment, and determination as they continue to weather the existing and emerging storms during this turbulent period.
This interim report comes on the heels of the DDL Group, earlier this year, reporting an outstanding performance in its 2021
Annual Financial Report.
The company had said it achieved its “best results ever” and ended that year at its strongest financial position. The Group’s turnover for 2021 was more than $27.6 billion compared to almost $24.7 billion in the previous year, 2020.
Profit After Tax for the 2021 Financial Year was $4.789 billion, reflecting an increase of $896 million or 23 per cent over that in the previous year.
In that report, the Chairman noted that the DDL Group continues to invest in the expansion, diversification, and upgrade of its production capacity to take full advantage of the positive economic environment while ensuring international competitiveness in the segments in which it operates.
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, and his wife, Mignon Bowen-Phillips, joined the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller on Saturday for a Service of Commemoration in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at the St George’s Cathedral in Georgetown.
The Prime Minister, who is fulfilling the duties of the President, during his tribute, said that Guyana, much like the rest of the world, recognises the late Queen’s illustrious legacy and outstanding contributions to the world, and mourns her passing.
“Even in her absence, the countless lessons she has left behind and the indelible ex-
ample she has set for diplomacy, discipline and wise leadership in the 70 years of her reign must be remembered and exemplified…. Her Late Majesty, The Queen, will for-
ever be remembered for her warmth, her dedication, her fervour and her wisdom.”
The Acting Head of State was joined by Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh;
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn, other Cabinet Ministers and Government officials.
In addition, members of the diplomatic community, members of civil society and members of the local British community were in attendance.
However, British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller recalled the Queen for her wisdom, warmth and compassion.
“As a child, I remember lining the streets of London just to get a glimpse of her passing in the carriage or on a boat, or the balcony of Buckingham Palace. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the happiness, joy and community spirit.”
The Queen as the British Monarch was the supreme governor of the Church of England and as such the
Titular Head of the Church of England or the Anglican Church.
Queen Elizabeth II, who died at the age of 96 last Thursday, reigned for 70 years. Her body will be interned on Monday at Westminster Abbey, United Kingdom, and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira will represent the Guyana Government.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), there will be a service at Westminster Abbey, cortège, and military procession across London, followed by a family ceremony at a chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Queen’s funeral is expected to be attended by 2000 guests including 500 representatives from 200 nations.
The Abbey is a historic church, where the Queen’s coronation in 1953 was held. It is also
the venue where she married Prince Philip in 1947.
Meanwhile, President Dr Irfaan Ali has already declared Monday as a National Day of Mourning in sympathy and solidarity with the Royal Family and the people of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth nations.
According to the proclamation signed by the President, all authorities, boards, commissions, corporations, public agencies, Ministries, and citizens are asked to fly the National Flag at half-mast.
The Guyanese Head of State in his message after the Queen’s passing stated that her death marked the end of an era.
Following her death, her eldest son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, leads the country as the new King.
BRavi Dev
ack in 1959, the US sociologist and political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset examined a wide global cross-section of nations and reported a strong and positive correlation between income per capita and democracy. And “modernisation theory” was launched: economic development linked with democratic governance by the US to counter the communist calls for revolution by the “proletariat” to improve the lot of the poor. Even though our early leaders balked, they went along with the imperatives of modernisation theory. While later studies couldn’t show any causation between democracy and development, the correlation sufficed to encourage policymakers to stress both factors.
However, Guyana’s ethnic voting since the 1950’s muddied the waters of democratic governance and its purported linkage with economic development here. The Indian Guyanese majority was assured of forming the government, creating an “Ethnic Security Dilemma” for African and Indigenous Guyanese in the majoritarian political system. The PNC and Forbes Burnham got a free pass from their African Guyanese supporters to rig elections and rule with an iron fist from 1968 to 1992. Free and fair elections in 1992 might have introduced democracy under the PPP but not stability since even though the economic situation was improved for all groups (as shown by internationally supervised empirical surveys) ethnically directed violence was unleashed by the PNC and African Freedom Fighters up to 2008.
With high differential emigration rates, however, the 2012 census confirmed that Indian Guyanese had dropped to 39.9% compared to African Guyanese, 29.2%, and Mixed Guyanese 19.9%. This offered insight into the 2011 election results where the PPP secured 48.6%; APNU, 40.6%, and AFC, 10.3%. With no single ethnic group commanding a majority, each ethnic-based party had to seek crossover votes or a coalition with the multi-ethnic AFC. The latter option was taken by the APNU in 2015 and the PPP was ousted by APNU/AFC’s 50.3% versus their 49.2%.
In March 2020, benefitting from APNU alienating AFC’s Indian supporters by shuttering 4 sugar estates, the PPP was returned to office 2020 with 50.69% versus 47.34% to APNU/AFC. Additionally, by 2020 when the PPP took over, oil revenues had started to flow and the prospects for the economic development of Guyana had become much rosier as the PPP stressed their better record in this area versus that of the PNC. They promised to focus on infrastructure and job creation while unleashing a welter of cash and other material infusions into communities. The question was what would the impact of improved economic conditions be on the ethnic voting pattern?
Back in May-June 2021, Vanderbilt University seemingly set out to answer this question in Guyana in a LAPOP “Pulse of democracy” survey of 3011 adult citizens. They posed the question as to whether they preferred a political “system that guarantees access to a basic income and services for all citizens, even if the authorities cannot be elected” them. In a nutshell, they were being asked what would Guyanese put first, “bread or ballots?”
The answer, which has been out a year now, was unequivocal: 65 percent of the population prefer “guaranteed basic income and services even if no elections”. And that percentage went up among the young, poor, and lesser educated. On a related metric of measuring governance style, 57% of those surveyed 57 percent of Guyanese – the highest in all the 22 countries surveyed - would prefer a “strong leader” in the government, even if the leader bends the rules to get things done. So what the vast majority of Guyanese want, according to the LAPOP poll is a strong leader handing out bread, whether there are elections or not.
The most intriguing piece of data is from the question, “How well is President Ali doing”: 41% of African Guyanese; 53% of Mixed Guyanese, and 80% of Indian Guyanese answered, “very good and good”. In the year since the poll, the PPP has intensified its developmental program and direct material infusions into communities – while projecting a strong Pres Ali. Meanwhile, the APNU/AFC Opposition has countered this by claiming that the PPP is favouring the Indian Guyanese community, and in fact is in the process of constructing an “apartheid state” in Guyana. Meanwhile, the LAPOP survey suggests that such views are not gaining traction in the African and Mixed Guyanese communities to reverse the PPP 2020 gains.
And might even be alienating some.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand was on Wednesday conferred with the title of Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in Calgary, Canada. The title was conferred on Manickchand in recognition of her outstanding service to the advancement of quality education and so-
cial justice which has made a positive difference in the lives of her fellow Guyanese. Her servant leadership, boldness in tackling difficult issues, and results-oriented, solutions-focused approach came in for high commendation and were noted to be of significant relevance and importance in the delivery of quality education general-
ly and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The institution has credited the Minister’s trademark countrywide consultations for her success in achieving goals and milestones as it evidences her respect for diverse perspectives and her conviction that everyone counts.
Under Manickchand’s leadership, during COVID-19 Guyana saw a steadfast return to relative normalcy in the education sector; has seen the expansion of the country’s only teacher training college with the aim of 100 per cent of teachers being trained or in training by 2024; the expansion of the Guyana Learning Channel – a television channel dedicated to the delivery of education equitably; the
establishment of a radio station dedicated to education; the provision of textbooks to all primary school children; expanded TVET offerings; the establishment of GROW, a second chance programme for those who did not attain secondary exit qualifications; new curricula and sensible practical responses to COVID-19 closures including the consolidating of relevant curricula; the preparation of curriculum-aligned, teacher-crafted worksheets for each topic from Grades 1 to 9 and a commitment to delivering universal secondary education.
It was Manickchand’s leadership that saw Guyana enter into a partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning and Coursera, which in less than 6 months
had realised more than 43,305 certificates issued to 9473 Guyanese, making Guyana a leading country as it relates to registrants and graduates.
She also launched nationally, the ProFuturo programme, where teachers are trained in the usage of ICT, which became even more necessary during the pandemic.
More than 50 per cent of the country’s teachers have enrolled and begun the training.
“In all her roles, the Honourable Minister has given practical expression to her love of country, her spirit of service, and her alma mater Queen’s College motto Fideles Ubique Utiles (or Faithful and Useful Everywhere),” COL said.
The award of Honorary Fellowships was instituted by the Commonwealth of Learning in 1999. It is intended to honour carefully selected individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the growth and development of technology-mediated learning in their own country, and internationally, and to the advancement of education in the Commonwealth generally.
The award was conferred at the Tenth PanCommonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF10) held in partnership with Athabasca University –Canada’s online university, from September 14 to 16 under the theme “Innovations for Educational Resilience”.
Preparing for a big examination can sometimes be nerve-wracking, particularly if that examination is one that may determine your successful move towards prosperous adulthood.
This is the opinion of Uotam Heeralall of the Anna Regina Multilateral School, who secured 24 Grade Ones and one Grade Two at the 2022 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
Hailing from Affiance on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), Heeralall was born into a nuclear family. He has two brothers, and his father is a trench clean-
er and a vendor at the Anna Regina Market.
The young Uotam attended the Affiance Nursery School before progressing to the Taymouth Manor Primary School, during which he realised the importance of education.
“During my primary study, I knew I can become a top student, at least for my school. However, with the guidance and support from my parents and teachers, I was able to score 80 to 90 percent in every class,” Uotam disclosed.
He was more motivated after writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations and being awarded a spot in one of the leading secondary schools in Georgetown, although he opted to attend
the Anna Regina Secondary School.
While attending this sec-
ondary school, he participated in almost all the co-curricular activities, including
athletics and debating competitions, and was also a member of the social cohesion club.
“The love for my school grew more and more, since the teachers recognised our contribution as students. Each year, I was invited to ARMS prize-giving exercise, where I received several accolades for being one of the best performers in the various subject areas.”
As time passed swiftly, the fifth-form life was quickly approaching, and that thought sometimes caused him to shiver.
“5th Form meant it was time to buckle up, so I decided to accept challenges wholeheartedly. I aimed for the stars, so I put my foot on the accelerator and got serious. I established a study timetable, since I believed that being consistent was the key that guaranteed success. At the bottom of that, I wrote the number “251” which was an indication that the goal was to achieve 25 Grade ones.
TURN TO PAGE 15
She continues to surpass her goals, and when the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations’ (CSEC) results were released this month, visually-impaired teen Mekyla Belgrave waited anxiously to see how she fared at the regional exams.
The results: Mekyla, who had her eyes removed as a baby because of a cancerous tumour, passed the three subjects she sat at the examinations; those being English B, History and Family Resource Management.
“She got a grade 1 in Family Resource Management, a grade 3 in History, and a grade 2 in English B,” her ecstatic mother Celeste Hercules told Guyana Times this past week.
The soft-spoken teen told Guyana Times that she tried her utmost while preparing for and during the regional examinations. She expressed appreciation to her teachers, whom she noted had “dedicated their time and energy to help me.”
Mekyla has said she plans to relax for the next few months, but that relaxation won’t be for long, as she has plans to read for a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Guyana next year.
She also had some valuable advice for persons who are visually-impaired or who may be differently-abled. “My advice to them is to remember that despite their ability, the sky is the limit,” the ambitious teenager said.
With the three passes she scored this year, Mekyla, who is a student of the North Georgetown Secondary School, now has a total of six CSEC passes under her belt. In last year’s sitting of the examinations, she braved the challenges of her disability as well as the pandemic and scored three passes at CSEC; those being English A, Social Studies, and Human and Social Biology. At the time, she was still in Grade 10.
In March this year, her mother told Guyana Times that her daughter wrote the examinations privately through the Guyana Society for the Blind, which came to her aid when the pandemic hit the public school system during the teen’s preparation in 2020.
This time around, young Mekyla received assistance from the Ministry of Education’s Unit for the Blind. The unit offers classes to students who are visually impaired, and as such, they attend classes at the unit’s offices in Alberttown. Mekyla has been receiving much-needed assistance from the unit ever since she entered the school system.
The former St Agnes Primary School student surprised her family members, relatives and friends in 2016 when she scored 494 marks at the National Grade Six Examinations (NGSA) that year.
As a baby, she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, which is a cancer of the eyes. In March, her mother explained to Guyana Times that when her daughter was five months old, her eyes appeared glossy.
Several months later, a scan revealed that a cancerous tumour was affecting her eyes. In 2005, she was diagnosed with cancer following a visit to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Trinidad and Tobago, and following extensive discussions with the family, medical personnel there undertook surgery to remove both of her eyes. Although the surgeries were performed close to her brain, they never affected her cerebral functions.
Mekyla told Guyana Times this week that while she is taking a much-needed break from studies, she is anxious to continue studying after her recess.
Her rise throughout the school system thus far has surprised many, and her mother has described her as a blessed child, noting that she has beaten the odds thus far as she conquers the many challenges she has faced since she was a baby.
This contributed to setting the correct mindset before the examinations. I will not be that student to tell them to work hard and make sacrifices, I will tell them to be yourselves and focus on what is best for them.”
With the commitment and dedication to work, and with the effective guidance of the teachers, his classmates were able to complete their School Based Assessments (SBA) in a timely manner.
Much to their dismay, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and it was a concern for not only Heeralall, but for all the students who were preparing for the exams.
While he was a little skeptical about the learning process, he attended lessons regularly, and stayed focused without taking his eyes off ‘251’. It is with perseverance and much-needed support that he was able to
write 25 subjects with ease.
After he had completed the exams, which took care of the ‘25’ in the number ‘251’, his anxiety grew as he thought about the ‘1’, which to him meant ‘Grade Ones’.
Anxiety grew even further when he learned that the CSEC results would be released at his school. Upon the release of the much-anticipated results, he was in tears of joy after learning that he and his schoolmate Ramoll Baboolall had topped the country.
“I felt elated because my prime objective was to make myself, my parents, my country, and also my school proud, and I’ve certainly achieved that. Now that I am finished my Secondary Education, it is my fervent wish to further my studies at an overseas university… I would like to follow along the path of medical field, especially because I want to
become a surgeon, because I have a deep love for science and also there is endless opportunity for me to progress my career.”
The valedictorian thanked God for his guidance and protection, and his parents, especially his father, who worked tirelessly to ensure that finance was intact for him to attend school and several private lessons.
He also expressed gratitude to his mom, who spent more time with him during the night, and also to the teachers of Anna Regina Secondary School, for their efforts and time spent behind his studies.
“My father made the necessary sacrifices and managed to pull it off successfully. Also, I am actively involved in the vending business, where I go to sell during the Christmas holidays and assist at home
FROM PAGE 13
with the packaging of produce. This vending business is what kept me going, so it is the most valued asset to me. Moreover, I could not thank my mom, Chitrakha Heeralall, enough for all she did for me. Technically, she could have been considered my assistant, since she is the one who stayed up late with me and have all my stuff in place so I can easily leave for school or any extra classes. Not forgetting my two brothers, Neshal Heeralall and Mahendra Heeralall, for supporting me throughout my venture. They are more experienced than I, so they were able to work with me when I made a mistake. So, if I am to be faced with any challenges, I already knew what to do.”
Presently, the young man is exploring several options that are available at his disposal to further his studies.
Ackeem Thomas was born on February 17, 1995 to Sean and Amelda Thomas, and is the eldest of four siblings. He attended the Sophia Primary School, and after sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, was awarded a place at St. George’s High School.
Unfortunately, due to personal setbacks, he was unable to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, but this did not deter him from achieving his career path of becoming one of the best cinematographers in the country under the brand Ackeem Thomas Photography.
He started his career path at Pressy’s Enterprise as a photographer, but after
spending a few months there, he was offered a job at the National Communications Network (NCN), where he spent another few years.
However, he later joined Enetworks as a videographer/ photographer, and after working there for a few years, he moved on to the Department of Public Information. Finally, he branched off on his own, and has since been doing private gigs, including ‘Virtual tours’, which give clients a wider view of a space of their interest. This is also known as the 360 degrees shot. Nevertheless, arriving at this point in his life did not come easy. There were lots of hurdles that had to be crossed. While working at his job, he saved his salary and
was able to purchase his first camera. After acquiring that device, he started to practice by taking nature shots.
It is with hard work, lots of practice, and determination that he was able to master the art form. Now he owns sev eral pieces of gadgets, includ ing several Nikon cameras, GoPro camera, Insta360 camera and DJI products.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
To enhance the image to get a professional output, the talented young man utilises Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. Nevertheless, while owning several pieces of equipment, his favourite is the 17-50mm 2.8 sigma lens, since it is best for any event or pho to shoot.
In fact, he uses full manu al mode. Using his experience by thinking ahead of his projects, he en - visions the shots, and, as such, directs his client appropriately without them being offended. During his career in the media, which spans about eight years, he has taken thousands of photos, but his favou -
and John
of which are
entities who have made a name for themselves in the business. What has kept Thomas going on a daily basis is the positive feedback and testimonies from his clients about his work.
rite is the multiplicity shots (‘clones’ of a person or object in one photo).
“I was the first person in the country to do multiplicity photos and incorporated them into my portfolio,” the young man added.
He is nevertheless influenced by 55
“It feels good and exciting to get feedback from the clients… but still I am always open for suggestions and also criticisms, so that I can become even better… I want the clients to have an experience, rather than just a photo shoot or taking
some photos at an event,” Thomas told Guyana Times For those who want to get into the business, he encourages them to “make photography your hobby, rather than a business. You have to love what you do… do it with passion and consideration”. Being on the move quite regularly, he still finds the time to look at a good movie, play games, and surf the internet. He enjoys pasta, and his favourite colour is blue. His work can be viewed on his Facebook page, Ackeem Thomas Photography.
Pulse Entertainment are putting the final touches on what is expected to be an epic party stand experi ence at the Guyana National Stadium. They are promising the ultimate party vibes for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) home games.
An electrifying entertainment experience awaits Guyanese for the Cricket Carnival events, and the highlight is the Pulse Warriors setup for the games – one which they’re calling the best spot at the stadium.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Saturday, Robbie Singh of Pulse Entertainment explained that they want to create a VIP party ambience for fans and supporters.
“We wanted to bring a VIP party stand experience, and we definitely decided to go ahead with it. The stand has the capacity to have about 250 to 300 persons. It’s going to be an all-inclusive experience: free food, free drinks, and a great game view. We’re between the green and the red stands. You have the scoreboard and the replay screen. The party vibes here are going to be completely different,” Singh expressed.
With its location right in the centre of all action, fans will not miss a single aspect of the games when they’re at the Pulse Party Stand. Perks of choosing the party stand include an airconditioned lounge, food, an open bar during game hours, models, exclusive cocktails, waitressing service, bartenders, private security, dancers, and tassa drums.
“If you want to have an experience where you love cricket and you want to have that feeling, the Pulse Warriors Party Stand is where you want to be. We’re already set up. You can come to check it out,” he encour-
aged.
According to Singh, tickets for the finals are almost sold out. With the rush to secure spots for these thrilling games, people are sparing no chances to get hooked.
Tickets for the party stand are available at the Tribe Gastronomic Lounge on Church Street. Prices start at US$150, US$225 for the semi-final games, and US$257 for the finals.
“The party vibe is going to be here. We’re going to have the music, the entertainment, models, dancers, services…
We have a premium bar and vegetarian food too. The place you want to be is the
Pulse Warriors Party Stand.
“We have to support the Warriors, and this is where you want to have the enjoyment with your friends. With this, you don’t have designated seats. It’s a very open concept. You have couches, cocktail tables, and bars. It’s just a great experience, and as you know, when we do a party stand, we really give you everything you deserve, and give you that experience,” he added.
Registration is also open for the all-inclusive on-the-road experience, which costs US$150. The road parade is slated for October 2, 2022.
ublic Works
PMinister Juan Edghill, on Friday, addressed a number of inaccuracies and racial undercurrents about the construction of Independence Boulevard.
He explained that the project was launched last month to enhance the 1.8 kilometres of Independence Boulevard moving from Saffron Street to Cemetery Road. Works commenced on Wednesday.
Edghill noted that a conditional survey was compiled and submitted by the Ministry which included detailed information about the 13 residents living on the boulevard.
The contractors were urged to employ persons from within the community to work on the $1.8 billion project, creating employment opportunities for those persons.
The Minister highlighted that work has been moving rapidly within the community to construct the boulevard.
“Written notices were served to everyone that is occupying the Government reserve. And I would like to emphasise that the Punt Trench Dam or the Independence Boulevard is not transported land. It is not privately owned land. It is a Government reserve. The Government is using the Government’s reserve to bring about an enhancement and development.”
He alluded to his visit on Wednesday where he engaged with the 13 residents individually.
“The first question the residents were asked was ‘did you receive a notice that you have to move?’ The second question was ‘have you applied for a house lot?’”
Residents who applied for house lots were re -
quested to present their documents. Copies were made and presented to the minister.
Minister Edghill said that on September 15, a letter including the names of the applicants was sent to the Ministry of Housing and Water to expedite allocation and make the necessary interventions for the 13 residents to be relocated.
Meanwhile, another letter was sent to the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, about assistance for a resident, Miss Singh, who lives in a container and has no relatives.
“The Minister of Humans Services and Social Security, last night, engaged me on this matter. As a matter of fact, today sent me a text message that officers went to visit Miss Singh about her welfare and about her being removed. Let me make it very clear, at no time at all on Wednesday or any other time did I or any of the contractors or the engineers of the Ministry of Public Works threaten to bulldoze anybody. We were very firm people have to move,” the Minister revealed.
The Minister noted, “I cautioned a number of persons whom I engaged about the statements that they were making that were tantamount to race-baiting where there were suggestions that other Ministers are looking after their people…I’m not dealing with race. I’m dealing with principles.
“Government took the high ground in engaging all 13 residents, including the lady in the container to offer the requisite help to get them where they need to go,” he emphasised.
Minister Edghill de -
bunked claims that the Ministry and engineers are threatening to bulldoze the houses of residents.
“The documentation and the evidence are clear and the only thing you can conclude is that the political types have seen the development that is taking place, went into the area whipped up political sentiments and created rhetoric that is based upon racism,” Minister Edghill expressed.
The Minister noted that this is a purely developmental programme since, “the property value will increase, the ambience of the area will be different, safety and security will be there, lights through the boulevard”.
It is evidence of the PPP/C Administration’s dedication to assisting every Guyanese as the nation continues on a development trajectory.
18-year-old Mark Singh, a resident of Kaneville, East Bank Demerara, was arrested last Tuesday and arraigned on Friday before Principal Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Diamond/ Golden Grove Magistrate Court on an illegal posses-
sion of ammunition charge. When the charge was read to him, Singh entered a not guilty plea to possession of ammunition (one 9mm round of ammunition) without a licence, and he has been remanded to prison until October 31.
Stavo Evons, a 35-year-old labourer of Middle Road, La Penitence, Georgetown, was arrested on Thursday and charged on Friday with two counts of armed robbery committed on Nitisha Klass and Kevin Frazer on the Soesdyke Public Road, East Bank Demerara (EBD), on Tuesday last.
The accused was arraigned on Friday before Principal Magistrate Sunil Scarce at the Golden Grove/ Diamond Magistrate’s Court, and he pleaded not guilty to both charges. He was refused bail, and has been remanded to prison until October 31, when the matters will be called again.
The reality of Caribbean people facing increased risk factors due to poor lifestyle habits has resulted in a mortality burden for the region – an issue in which Caricom wants a turnaround.
Caricom Director of Human Development, Helen Royer on Friday stated that the lifestyle being adopted by a majority of people within the country is an epidemic that has severe implications.
“We are aware that our current reality is shaped by a number of challenges. The Region, for some time, has been experiencing an increased mortality burden associated with non-communicable diseases, mainly due to the rise in risk factors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets. This is of concern for many reasons.”
Not only are these concerns health-related, but it also takes a toll on econo -
mies due to productivity loss and a decreasing life expectancy.
“It is becoming an epidemic and has implications for the delivery of health services. Its economic implications can result in loss of productivity, increased mortality and morbidity, and decreased life expectancy.”
According to the Caricom official, an un -
healthy population will not suffice to sustain other developments despite the advancements being made. Calls were made for countries to place emphasis at the community levels to achieve health targets.
“It is timely and necessary as a community that we examine our challenges, opportunities, and approaches in going forward. Being mindful that despite technological advances, we will always remain dependent on a healthy and vibrant population to sustain the gains that we have made over the years.”
“The Caricom Secretariat wishes to add our voice to the call for action that includes more community-based solutions for addressing the unhealthy lifestyle practices and a paradigm shift to the all of society approach for mainstreaming health into all sectors and working together at all levels to build a future for our next generation,” Royer added. It was reported at the
wellness week event that Guyana is making efforts to reduce Non-Communicable Diseases among the population. A whopping 76.8 per cent of persons in the
Caribbean die from NonCommunicable Diseases - of which 30 per cent are cardiovascular diseases.
A 2017 study showed that for every 100,000 persons in Guyana, 345 were dying from chronic NCDs. An estimated 60,000 persons are affected by diabetes –some of whom do not know their status.
Hours after an East Canje cyclist was killed after being run over by a car, another man was on Friday struck down and killed by a canter on his way home.
Dead is Nizam Haniff, 45, of 141 High Reef Albion, Corentyne.
The man had gone to pay an electricity bill and was on his way home when the accident occurred.
Police say motorcycle CF 2522, ridden by Haniff, was proceeding east along the roadway. It then turned onto Copper Access Road when the canter, GAC 329, which was heading in the said direction, overtook another vehicle and the front right-side collided with
Dead: Nizam Haniff
the motorcyclist. The injured man was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital and due to his in -
juries, he was transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was treated and further referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital but died on his way.
Family members say the victim was bleeding from his hose and ears and there was nothing much doctors at the New Amsterdam Hospital could have done to save his life.
“They tried their best,” his daughter Nafeeza told this publication. The father of four leaves a widow behind.
The Traffic Department in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) has recorded 13 road fatalities thus far for the year.
Some 170 inmates from the various prisons countrywide have graduated after completing training courses in various programmes aimed at preparing them for reintegration into society.
The areas of training were anger management, agriculture, electrical insulation, yoga, tailoring, carpentry, joinery, literacy, welding, aquaculture, family reconciliation, charcoal production, and culinary arts.
In remarks made at the various graduation ceremonies, Director of Prions, Nicklon Elliot, said rehabilitation is a central goal of the correctional system. He noted that the GPS established the rehabilitation programme with the aim of creating an opportunity for inmates to make a smooth reintegration into society, and he said the programme has been successful to date.
Elliot added that the GPS remains committed to rehabilitating inmates so
that they can have productive lives and not return to prison upon their release.
Prison rehabilitation programmes are considered impactful in promoting their physical, mental health, psychological, social, vocational, and economic potential.
As such, the Head of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) has said the Service does not only identify the causes of the inmates’ anti-social behaviours, but ensures their path to reforma-
tion by impacting on their potential and subsequent change unto social functioning.
Officer-in-Charge of Prisons’ Welfare and Corrections, Marielle Bristol-Grant, disclosed that the department continues to adequately prepare inmates, whether it is with skill or educational training, so that when they are released back into society, they are productive citizens. She expressed her hope that the inmates would continue
to take advantage of these opportunities, and encourage others to do the same.
Bristol-Grant further disclosed that a total of 770 inmates have completed various training programmes thus far for the year.
Such, she said, was a commitment by the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Prison Service to rehabilitate 1200 inmates for 2022.
The Government has adopted a policy of prisoners’ reform, which is done
through the provision of training opportunities, allowing inmates to acquire basic income-generating skills and improve their literacy levels while serving their sentences.
Earlier this year, the Government increased the budgetary allocation in the area of training for inmates, earmarking a sum of $88.9 million to train prison inmates in an effort to further reduce recidivism and support reintegration through the Fresh Start Initiative.
The United States has signalled its commitment to continue work through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in addressing the HIV needs and response in Jamaica.
Last Saturday, UNAIDS Regional Director Dr Richard Amenyah told guests at a Health Connect Jamaica Dinner and Awards Ceremony that “In the Caribbean there are 92,000 people waiting to go on treatment or yet to be diagnosed [with HIV]”.
He also said that in Jamaica there are approximately 15,000 people yet to be put on treatment.
To this end, the Global
Fund, which provides support for the treatment of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, is seeking to raise US$18 billion for its next wave of programming, which includes achieving HIV epidemic control in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Assistant Secretary Pace told the Observer that in addition to the Global Fund’s need to raise the US$18 billion, it is important for those funds to be equitably distributed so that no one is left behind.
The updated UNAIDS targets for 2025 — 95-9595 — aim for 95 per cent of those living with HIV to know their status, 95
per cent of those who know their status to be on treatment, and 95 per cent of those on treatment to be virally suppressed. While the previous 90-90-90 targets for 2020 were met by some countries, they were not met globally.
When asked if these targets are too ambitious, Assistant Secretary Pace said, “I ask the question of whether we can afford to be less ambitious. We got to get this done if we’re going to make a difference. The hard part is reaching that last mile. It’s going to get harder the better we do. But it doesn’t mean we stop trying.” (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)
Adiplomatic tussle intensified after Chile’s President put off accepting the credentials of Israel’s new ambassador to Santiago over the killing in the occupied West Bank of a Palestinian teenager.
In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned Chilean ambassador Jorge Carvajal for what it called a reprimand at a meeting where, it said, “Israel’s response will be made clear.”
The dispute began on Thursday when Chilean Foreign Minister Antonia Urrejola informed newly appointed Israeli ambassador Gil Artzyeli that Chilean President Gabriel Boric was postponing a meeting to accept his credentials until October.
“That’s because today is a sensitive day because of the death of a minor,” a spokesperson from Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a text message, referring to the death of Odai Trad Salah, the 17-year-old Palestinian boy that day. Salah was shot in the
head by Israeli forces in the village of Kufr Dan near the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, becoming the 149th Palestinian to be killed by Israel this year.
Israel assailed the snub on Friday with its Foreign Ministry labelling it “puzzling and unprecedented behaviour” and adding in its statement: “This seriously harms the relations between the two countries.”
On Thursday, Artzyeli, the new ambassador,
sought to ease tensions following what he said was an “extensive” meeting where Chilean authorities repeatedly apologised.
“Being an Israeli and a Jew my people have seen worse things in the last 4000 years,” he told reporters in Santiago. “We’re going to overcome this incident for the good of Chile, the good of Israel and our bilateral relations.” (Excerpt from Reuters)
Peru’s central bank on Friday lowered its economic growth estimates for 2022 and 2023, amid worsening expectations despite a package of Government stimulus measures aimed at boosting local production.
The central bank now expects 2022 growth of 3.0 per cent, compared with 3.1 per cent previously, and 2023 growth of 3.0 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent previously. It also predicted that annual inflation would rise to 7.8 per cent this year and 3.0 per cent in 2023.
This comes after Finance Minister Kurt Burneo last week launched an economic
package aimed at lifting the economy at times of a global slowdown and falling copper prices, which are key to the country’s economy.
Burneo had earlier in September said Peru could achieve economic growth of 3.9 per cent in 2022, rising to 4.3 per cent in 2023, thanks to the stimulus package, although many of its measures are still awaiting approval from Congress.
“There are no magic wands”, central bank chief Julio Velarde told a press conference, saying the bank was still examining the impacts of the Government’s stimulus measures.
Velarde said the bank
was maintaining its 2022 fiscal deficit projection at 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and at 1.8 per cent of GDP next year.
Regarding Peru’s key mining sector, Velarde said investment should decline by 3.7 per cent in 2022 and in 2023 this decline should deepen to 16.2 per cent, following the completion of Anglo American’s Quellaveco copper project in the south of the country.
Peru is the world’s second largest copper producer and its mining exports total around 60 per cent of the South American country’s overall exports. (Reuters)
Following the passage of Tropical Storm Fiona late Friday, at least one person has been declared dead after being swept away with his house in Rivière des Pères.
According to the emergency services on the island, more than 600 calls were received as the storm lashed the country.
As of 8 am (local time) Saturday, the Miami based National Hurricane Centre said Fiona was maintaining 60 mph winds with higher gusts.
The system grew in strength after passing by the northern Leeward Islands. Its centre was located about 145 miles southeast of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands moving
west at 13 mph.
Torrential rain left behind heavy road damage on Guadeloupe with video on social media showing fast-moving floods flowing down streets up to washed out roads and streets flooded up to two feet washing away cars.
Projected rainfall had been more than 8 inches in some parts of the island.
Government officials with the French overseas department said one person is dead and another was injured after being swept away by rising waters. Already under a tropical storm warning, hurricane watches were issued for Puerto Rico as well as for parts of the Dominican Republic.
Warnings remain in place for the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Saba, St Eustatius, St Maarten, Guadeloupe, St Barthelemy, St Martin and parts of the Dominican Republic.
The system’s updated path forecasts it to travel away from Florida, while gaining hurricane strength ahead of landfall on the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola. It’s expected to keep hurricane strength as a Category one system with 75 mph winds and gusts up to 90 mph as it passes over the island, approaching the Turks and Caicos and threatening the southern Bahamas early next week. (Excerpt from Nation News)
Nearly two-thirds of Argentines see economy getting even worse – poll
Nearly 64 per cent of Argentines fear the country’s ailing economy will get even worse in the coming months, according to a survey published on Friday, against a backdrop of surging inflation and the weakening purchasing power of the peso currency.
The Sept 2-13 poll by Buenos Aires-based consultancy Management & Fit marks the highest level of economic pessimism in five years.
Those who held a gloomier view about the future of the economy ticked up from about 59 per cent in the pollster’s July’s survey.
The growing pessimism also extends to views of centre-left President Alberto Fernandez, whose disapproval rating stood at 73 per cent.
Asked who they will vote for in next year’s presidential election, 60 per cent of those surveyed said they will pick someone from the Opposition, and only 29 per cent said they plan to stick with a candidate from Fernandez’s ruling Peronist-led coalition.
Latin America’s third-largest economy is in the midst of a prolonged economic and financial crisis, with an increasing poverty rate fuelled by spiralling consumer prices that are expected to end the year up 95 per cent, according to official estimates.
The economy is nevertheless seen growing 4 per cent this year, but down from 10 per cent growth in 2021. Economic growth is expected
to slow to 2 per cent next year, according to the 2023 budget draft.
The Management & Fit survey showed that inflation, higher taxes and corruption are the country’s main problems.
The survey was conducted by telephone nationwide among 2200 participants aged 16 to 75 and has a margin of error of about 2 per cent.
(Reuters)
Officials from the United States and Paraguay met this week in Washington to discuss ways to deepen trade ties between the two countries under a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement that entered into force in 2021, the US said on Friday.
The US Trade Representative’s office said the first meeting of a trade and investment council created under the framework touched on issues including anti-corruption, agricultural trade and the digital economy.
“They affirmed the importance of the bilateral relationship, including working together to deepen engagement on trade and
promote pandemic recovery,” USTR said in a statement. It said technical work was planned through the next year on several key issues, and the two sides would meet again in Asunción in 2023.
Both countries discussed the importance of trade facilitation and re-committed to reviewing their customs fees and procedures with the aim of reducing the time and cost of compliance for traders and operators. They also agreed on the importance of transparency and anti-corruption measures.
USTR said Paraguay was considering Washington’s invitation to join the work of the InterAmerican Coalition for
Business Ethics in the Med Tech Sector. Paraguay also provided an update on planned changes to its procurement law to enhance transparency and encourage greater participation in its procurement regime, it said.
The two countries agreed a road map for working to address issues on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in Paraguay.
In the area of agricultural trade, they discussed efforts under way to authorise the import of raw beef products from Paraguay into the United States, with an eye to completing the necessary processes as soon as possible in 2023. (Excerpt from Reuters)
OPEC+ heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia, with their +11 million bpd quotas, are looking at US$100 oil as a fair price good for all, anonymous Reuters sources familiar with both Russian and Saudi Arabian government thinking said.
Russia and Saudi Arabia, who together make up more than half of OPEC+'s total quota, are widely considered the leaders of the OPEC+ group, and a US$100 preference could lead to an active defence of this desired floor price.
OPEC has long decried the accusation that it targets specific oil prices—rather, as OPEC says, it looks to keep the oil market in balance. However, oil prices still have a role to play in maintaining that balance.
The OPEC+ officials, who wish to remain anonymous, said that OPEC+ has sent out signals that it prefers a price around US$90 or US$100 per Brent barrel—higher, as Reuters points out, than some in the industry had previously thought.
In the August OPEC+ meeting, when oil prices were near US$100 but falling, OPEC+ took action—albeit minor action— to defend this price by cutting 100,000 bpd off its production quota. It wasn't enough to keep Brent prices near US$100, but perhaps it has helped to keep Brent prices above US$90 for the most part, as it fights against recession fears that seek to spook the market into believing crude oil demand could slump amid tough economic times.
As to why OPEC+ seems to have raised its desired floor price, one of Reuters Saudi sources indicated that materials costs have risen with inflation and that crude producers need more revenue to make up for higher production costs.
"An oil price at US$120-130 is risky and Saudi will prevent that, but at US$100 it won't have a huge impact on the global economy - Saudi would be comfortable with that price," one of the anonymous sources said.
As for Russia, which has had to offer its oil at discounts for months, it wants to see oil at no less than US$100 per barrel, two Reuters sources familiar with Russian thinking said.
With both Saudi Arabia and Russia backing the US$100 oil horse, it could only be a matter of time before OPEC+ agrees to actively defend this price level by cutting production. (Excerpt from Oilprice.com)
Typhoon Nanmadol: Japan urges nearly 2 million to seek shelter
Nearly two million people in Japan have been asked to seek shelter before Typhoon Nanmadol, national broadcaster NHK said, as the weather agency issued a rare “special warning” about the powerful storm, which is expected to make landfall today.
NHK, which compiles alerts issued by local authorities, said on Saturday that level four evacuation instructions – the second highest – were in place for people in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki in the southern Kyushu region.
The move came as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest alert for the Kagoshima region, a warning that comes when it forecasts conditions seen only once in several decades.
On Saturday evening, Typhoon Nanmadol was classed at the agency’s top category of “violent”, and was packing gusts of up to 270km/ hour (168mph) as it hovered about 200km (124 miles)
north-northeast of Minami Daito island, part of a string of remote isles that form the Okinawa region.
The typhoon is expected to approach or make landfall today in Kagoshima prefecture, then move north the following day before heading towards Japan’s main island.
“There are risks of unprecedented storms, high waves, storm surges, and record rainfall,” Ryuta Kurora, the head of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s forecast unit, told reporters.
“The wind will be so fierce that some houses might collapse,” Kurora told reporters, also warning of flooding and landslides.
The evacuation warnings call on people to move to shelters or alternative accommodations that can withstand extreme weather.
But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events, authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
President Vladimir Putin on Friday brushed off a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive with a smile but warned that Russia would respond more forcefully if its troops were put under further pressure.
Speaking after a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Putin cast the invasion as a necessary step to prevent what he said was a Western plot to break Russia apart.
Moscow, he said, was in no hurry in Ukraine. And its goals remained unchanged.
"The Kiev authorities announced that they have launched and are conducting an active counter-offensive operation. Well, let's see how it develops, how it ends up," Putin said with a grin.
It was his first public com-
ment on a rout of his forces in north-eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region a week ago that has prompted unusually strong public criticism from Russian military commenta-
tors.
Russia hit Ukrainian infrastructure in response - including a reservoir dam and electricity supplies - and Putin said those attacks could get
worse.
"Recently, the Russian armed forces have inflicted a couple of sensitive blows. Let's assume they're a warning. If the situation continues to develop like this, then the response will be more serious," he said.
Putin also said Russia was gradually taking control of new areas of Ukraine.
Asked if what he calls the "special military operation" needed correction, he said: "The plan is not subject to adjustment."
"The General Staff considers one thing important, another thing secondary - but the main task remains unchanged, and it is being implemented," Putin said. "The main goal is the liberation of the entire territory of Donbas." (Excerpt from Reuters)
Cheetahs are set to roam in India for the first time since they were declared officially extinct in 1952.
A group of eight cats arrived from Namibia on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on Saturday.
They will undergo a month-long quarantine before being released in a national park in central India.
Cheetahs formerly shared jungles with other big cats like lions and tigers but disappeared 70 years ago.
They are the world's fastest land animals, capable of reaching speeds of 70 miles (113km) an hour.
This is the first time a large carnivore is being moved from one continent to another and being reintroduced in the wild.
At least 20 cheetahs are coming to India from South Africa and Namibia, home to more than a third of the world's 7000 cheetahs.
The first batch of eight - five females and three males, aged between two and six years - arrived from Windhoek in Namibia to the Indian city of Gwalior on Saturday.
Wildlife experts, veterinary doctors and three biologists accompanied the animals as they made the transcontinental journey in
Florida Governor defends migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard, suggests more to come
Florida's Republican Governor on Friday defended his decision to fly dozens of migrants to the wealthy vacation island of Martha's Vineyard from Texas, and said similar actions could follow as a political dispute over border security deepened in the run-up to US elections in November.
DeSantis claimed credit for a pair of chartered flights on Wednesday that carried around 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, as part of a broader Republican effort to shift responsibility for border crossers to Democratic leaders. At a news conference in Daytona Beach, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blamed Democratic President Joe Biden for what he portrayed as a failure to stop migrants from crossing the USMexico border, as a record 1.8 million have been arrested this fiscal year.
DeSantis said the Florida
Legislature set aside $12 million to transport migrants out of the state and that his Government would likely use the funds "to protect Florida."
The flights to Martha's Vineyard follow a busing effort by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, that has sent more than 10,000 migrants to the Democrat-controlled cities of Washington, New York and Chicago since April.
The Republican Governor of Arizona also has sent more than 1800 migrants to Washington.
The scene left some of the island residents who volunteered to shelter them in a church for two nights in tears. Locals had come together to donate money, toiletries and toys for the migrants. A local thrift shop donated clean clothes, restaurants took turns organizing meals and pro-bono lawyers flew in to help the migrants with paperwork and immigration cases.
(Excerpt from Reuters)
a modified passenger Boeing 747 plane.
Spread over a 289-squaremile area, the Kuno National Park is a sprawling sanctuary with prey like antelope and wild boars for the wild cats.
Each cheetah will be giv-
en a dedicated team of volunteers, which will monitor it and keep tabs on the animal's movement. Satellite radio collars have been put on each cheetah for their geolocation updates. (Excerpt from BBC News)
Almost 30 reported dead in clashes at KyrgyzstanTajikistan border
Almost 30 people have been reported killed and dozens injured in clashes on the KyrgyzstanTajikistan border.
Fighting regularly flares up between the two former Soviet states, whose border has been disputed since the collapse of the USSR.
A fresh skirmish which began earlier in the week continued on Friday, despite the two countries agreeing a ceasefire.
Both sides blame the other for beginning the violence and breaching the ceasefire.
Some 24 people in Kyrgyzstan have so far been killed, the Kyrgyz Health Ministry said on Friday.
Earlier reports from Tajikistan said at least three people had been killed there.
Almost 20,000 people have fled their homes to avoid the violence, a regional branch of the Red Cross reported.
The conflict has renewed fears of an all-out war between the two countries.
In 2021, unprecedented fighting killed almost 50 people.
The dispute flared up on Wednesday with at least two people killed in three separate incidents.
Kyrgyz border guards accused Tajikistan of taking positions on part of the border that has not been demarcated, while Tajikistan said Kyrgyz guards had opened fire without provocation.
The countries share a 1000-km (600-mile) border, more than a third of which is disputed.
A ceasefire took effect from 16:00 local time (10:00 GMT), but Kyrgyzstan said two of its villages were later shelled.
It accused its neighbour of using tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
In turn, Tajikistan accused Kyrgyz forces of shelling an outpost and seven villages with "heavy weaponry". (Excerpt from BBC News)
TAURUS (April 20May 20)
(MAY 28June 20)
(June 21July 22)
VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) (March 21April 19)
Settle your differences. It’s worth your time to do what’s right if you want to eliminate guilt and stress. Consider what you want to achieve and head in that direction. Use your voice.
Uncertainty could thwart your progress if you let it. Every decision you make can be a learning experience. The ability to think clearly and make decisions on the spot will be key. Believe in yourself.
Preparation will pay off. Organize things and put a schedule in place that will help you achieve all that you set out to pursue. A high-energy approach to life, love and happiness will win you support.
Formulate a plan before you speak up. Hide your emotions from people who may use your moodiness against you. An original idea masterfully executed will set you apart from the competition.
You can talk circles around those you encounter. Show interest in others, ask questions and offer suggestions. A short trip, reunion or family gathering will be informative.
Don’t overdo it or let anyone take advantage of you today. Know when to walk away from a situation with nothing good to offer. Put your energy into something challenging that helps you grow.
LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)
Let situations play out in real time before you stick your oar in. Don’t overreact or exaggerate if you want to come out unscathed. Work quietly by yourself to accomplish the most.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)
(Nov. 23Dec. 21)
(Jan. 20Feb. 19) (Dec. 22Jan. 19) LEO (July 23Aug. 22)
(Feb. 20Mar. 20) PISCES
Make changes that put a smile on your face. Follow your heart and intuition. Refuse to let anyone deter you from pursuing your dream. When it comes to love, your instincts will be right on the money.
Slow down, think matters through and look over all your options. Channel your energy into projects that stabilize your lifestyle and relationships. Take better care of your health.
Changing how you handle or invest money will make your life easier and less stressful. Improving your surroundings and fitness routine will lift your spirits and encourage you to take on new challenges.
Keep your life simple. Refuse to let anyone complicate matters by toying with your emotions. Be blunt, find out where you stand and do whatever it takes to press forward with enthusiasm.
Spend more time at home or with those who share your sentiments. Refuse to let anger seep into conversations. Distance yourself from people who annoy or upset you. Avoid traveling.
After an absence of over five (5) years, the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) will again host the senior inter-county tournament from October 9 to October 15, 2022.
This tournament had been played annually for decades, until the introduction of a local franchise league during the 2014/2015 season. That league was conducted under the stewardship of the previous GCB executives, whose decision to abort the hosting of the senior inter-county tournament was not accepted by most stakeholders, the majority of whom had demanded its return.
Those stakeholders included, but are not limited to, several players, coaches, managers, cricket development officers, and administrators at the various levels of the domestic organisational cricket structure.
Consequently, the current executives of the GCB have incorporated this tournament
into their 5-Year Strategic Plan, with the senior inter-county matches being placed under the competition component of cricket development. Though international players generally earn their spots on the respective national teams, availability and performances in coveted intercounty tournaments have been promoted as the primary means for national selection. Under the local franchise league, team composition and operation of the league deviated from the valuable county structure
and inhibited many players from accessing the opportunity to play on this platform. The senior intercounty tournament was at one time considered first-class cricket, and several stakeholders are of the view that the conduct of such a premier tournament should remain part and parcel of the GCB’s core business objectives.
GCB President Bissoondyal Singh pointed out that “the GCB can ill-afford to play franchise leagues in place of the inter-county tournament. Both the Cricket Administration Act, 2014, and the Constitution of the Guyana Cricket Board give the County Boards supremacy over other cricket associations, committees and potential legal franchises. As a result, the GCB holds the view that senior inter-county cricket must be played annually regardless of the existence of additional tournaments which can be used to feed players into the GCB’s coveted inter-county tournament.
By TimoThy Jaikarran
While the Strongfest event, which was held in Barbados, is done and dusted, the experience of the event and accomplishment for Junica Pluck will forever be something she remembers.
This seasoned Guyanese powerlifter competed in the powerlifting and strongwoman event of the competition. The powerlifting event consisted of powerlifting, squat, deadlift and bench press, while the Strongwoman event consisted of tyre flip, overhead press, farmer carry, yoke carry, sandbag carry/ stone challenge and kettle bell backward throw.
“It is against this backdrop that we have outlined in our 5-Year Strategic Plan the need to conduct inter-county championship tournaments for all levels of cricket where there are CWI regional tournaments. Our aim at the GCB is to administer cricket in an impartial manner, giving opportunities to all those who participate in the game across the depth and breadth of Guyana. As the President of GCB, I am proud to announce that senior inter-county cricket
will return to our competition structure from October 9, 2022. I reiterate that senior inter-county cricket tournament is here to stay. It will be an annual feature, and aspiring senior cricketers will have another avenue to showcase their skills and abilities with a view of donning national colours with pride”.
The finals of the GCB OneDay 50 Overs Tournament will be played at the Albion Community Centre ground under floodlights.
In the powerlifting segment, Pluck was able to cop second place, which meant that she received silver in all 3 lifts. While on the strongwoman side of things she came in third, behind her fellow countrywoman Kean Andrews.
When asked how she feels about the results gained at the tournament, Pluck said, “The results were good. We all showed up with the mindset to win. I
trained hard daily, sometimes twice daily, waking up 4:30 to prepare for training before work. Weekends taking time off from work to train. I’m satisfied with the results. I got silver (2nd) for all my lifts for the first event. Bronze (3rd) for the second day, which was the strong woman event, which was very challenging because I weighed less, so some events were challenging for me.”
Pluck further noted that the competition was not what she had expected. She explained that the time it started was really late, which caused a few athletes to drop out at the last minute. She also clarified that next on her agenda will be the seniors powerlifting in December, of which she noted that she has already started training, as she will be competing in the 63kg category with the intention to meet her total to compete overseas in 2023 to represent the Golden Arrowhead.
In closing Pluck said, “I’m grateful and very thankful for everyone who support and play a great part in my success at strongfest 2022.”
Led by a fine spell from veteran bowler Ravi Rampaul, the Trinbago Knight Riders have defeated the Jamaica Tallawahs by four wickets in match 21 of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League, played at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rampaul’s four-wicket haul restricted the Tallawahs to 116-7 while the TKR ended the match on 119-6 and earned a win that has pushed this home team to third place after the end of Saturday’s matches.
Colin Munro struck a fine 40 from 28 balls in an innings that included three fours and three sixes and important-
ly set up the chase for TKR. He watched the top-order of Nicholas Pooran and Tion Webster falling for ducks, and Tim Seifert labouring for his 31-ball 28.
At 96-6, TKR finished their innings compliments of Andre Russell and Akeal Hosein, with Russell slamming 18 from 12 while Hosein made 14 from 19 balls to take TKR across the line.
Mohammed Amir was the pick of the Tallawahs bowlers with 2-15 in four overs.
Earlier, the Jamaica Tallawahs won the toss and opted to bat first, but TKR made early inroads, picking up four wickets in the powerplay. Ravi Rampaul and Akeal Hosein ran riot over the Tallawahs’ line-up. Hosein sent back Amir Jangoo for six, at 13-1, and two runs later, Brandon King was sent back by the same bowler.
The veteran Rampaul
ended the efforts of Rovman Powell by bowling him for a single, and then continued to prove his worth by removing Raymon Reifer for a duck, when he was stumped at 22-4.
Tallawahs found it hard to score, as the Brian Lara Cricket Academy eruped with a sea of red. Shamarh Brooks attempted to rebuild, but he was trapped in front by the magician Sunil Narine for 20. Brooks’s attempt to rebuild the innings lasted 21 balls and included two fours.
Imad Wasim and Fabian Allen then added a half-century run stand for the sixth wicket. Wasim was Rampaul’s fourth wicket of the night, after scoring a 35-ball 19. He and Allen added 57 runs to the Tallawahs’ score, bringing their tally to 95-6 in 17 overs.
Allen reached his half-century in the process, but he was removed in the final over as he held out to long-off. He made 50 from 35 balls in an innings that included three fours and three sixes. With eight runs coming from the final over, Tallawahs ended on 116-7 in 20 overs. Rampaul was the star with 4-19 in four overs.
The CPL continues today, with Guyana Amazon Warriors taking on Barbados Royals from 10:00h at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, while TKR will play St Lucia Kings at 19:00h at the same venue.
Dewald Brevis played a patient knock of 32
Faf du Plessis scored a quickfire 41
St Lucia Kings (20 ovs maximum) Faf du Plessis (c) c Dananjaya b Jansen 41 Johnson Charles c Rutherford
b Rashid Khan 61 Niroshan
St Kitts And Nevis Patriots
(T:190 runs from 20 ovs)
Andre Fletcher †b Joseph 9
Evin Lewis run out (du Plessis) 19
Dewald Brevis c sub (M Deyal)
b Williams 32
Darren Bravo c Hose b Wiese 19
Sherfane Rutherford c Primus b Wiese 0
Dwayne Bravo (c) lbw b Wiese 3
Dwaine Pretorius c Joseph b Williams 15
Rashid Khan c & b Primus 26
Duan Jansen c Forde b Primus 1
Akila Dananjaya not out 1 Jaden Carmichael not out 2
Extras (lb 2, w 11) 13
TOTAL 19.5 Ov (RR: 7.05) 140/9
ov),
7-189 (Alzarri Joseph, 19.6 ov)
BOWLING O-M-R-W
Jaden Carmichael 3-0-30-0
Duan Jansen 2-0-24-1
Akila Dananjaya 3-0-16-0
Rashid Khan
Dwaine Pretorius
Dwayne Bravo
4-0-45-2
4-0-48-2
4-0-26-2
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Andre Fletcher, 4.2 ov), 2-34 (Evin Lewis, 4.4 ov), 3-67 (Darren Bravo, 9.1 ov), 4-67 (Sherfane Rutherford, 9.2 ov), 5-73 (Dwayne Bravo, 11.3 ov), 6-89 (Dewald Brevis, 12.6 ov), 7-123 (Dwaine Pretorius, 16.5 ov), 8-132 (Duan Jansen, 18.2 ov), 9-136 (Rashid Khan, 18.4 ov)
BOWLING O-M-R-W Matthew Forde 2-0-17-0
Larry Edward 2-0-17-0
Alzarri Joseph 4-0-31-1
Roston Chase 1-0-10-0
Kesrick Williams 3.5-0-32-2
David Wiese 4-1-8-3
Roshon Primus 3-0-23-2
The Saint Lucia Kings have moved back into the play-off spots with a commanding 49 run victory over the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 20th match of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022 season.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to field first, but Faf du Plessis got the Saint Lucia Kings off to a dominating start by scoring boundaries throughout the opening overs. Johnson Charles then continued to score runs, before big hit-
ting from David Wiese and Roshon Primus powered the Kings to a total of 189/7.
In their chase, the Patriots could not find fluency, as they lost four wickets in the first ten overs. Wiese was the standout bowler for the Kings, taking three wickets for just 8 runs as the Patriots finished on 140 all out, and lost by a margin of 49 runs.
Saint Lucia Kings had a positive start to their innings, with du Plessis and Charles comfortably hitting boundaries
at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, although the former lost his wicket while attempting a scoop shot. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals, the Kings managed to score 189/7 largely thanks to the performance of Charles, who scored 61 and was at the crease for over 15 overs.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots had begun to build a foundation in their chase, but lost both openers Andre
Fletcher and Evin Lewis in the fifth over. With Wiese then taking the wickets of both Darren and DJ Bravo, the Patriots began to rebound, with Dewald Brevis scoring some crucial runs before he was caught out. As the Patriots lost more wickets, Kesrick Williams proving a threat with the ball, they were unable to keep up with the required run rate, and were bowled out for 140, losing by 49 runs. (CPLT20)
B y B randon C orlette
The Guyana Amazon Warriors will battle the table leaders Barbados Royals in a crucial encounter today, Sunday September 18, from 10:00h at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago, in match 22 of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League.
Warriors are sitting at the bottom of the table, having recorded only one win to date, while the Royals have recorded six wins and have suffered only one defeat.
Kyle Mayers (286 runs) has been in sublime form for the Royals, while the South African trio of Quinton de Kock (221 runs), Corbin Bosch (186 runs) and David Miller (166 runs) have been dangerous with the bat.
For the Warriors, Shimron Hetmyer with 137 runs and Heinrich Klaasen with 112 runs are the two Warriors batsmen with more than 100 runs in this season thus far.
In the Royals’ bowling department, West Indies pros Obed McCoy and Jason Holder have claimed
11 wickets each in the season thus far.
Tabriz Shamsi has taken eight wickets for the Warriors, while Shepherd has taken six scalps.
Veteran cricket commentator Joseph "Reds" Perreira, in a comment invited from this publication, has noted that Hetmyer must learn from other captains in the ongoing CPL. "Hetmyer must look at the other captains and see the kind of role they are playing, and ensure that they limit their dangerous shots and bat as many overs as possible. When you look at Miller and Powell, that is the responsibility of a captain," Reds explained.
He further disclosed that the Warriors’ batting owes the bowlers an apology, after that defeat against TKR. "The batting owes the Amazon Warriors bowlers an apology. They silenced the massive TKR crowd. The sea of red had very little to cheer for, but the batting never seemed to have the discipline to come to terms in what could have been a major win," Reds added.
The veter an cricket com mentator said: "I think most of the batsmen threw their hands away. (Chandrapaul) Hemraj had a start, and need ed to capitalise. He was ahead of the game. Many of his dismissals have been because of picking up the wrong line and length. I would not want to see a similar shot again by Keemo Paul, it was something he would want to forget, and Odean Smith was not far away. Going forward, I would like to see (Jermaine) Blackwood in the team, I don't think Ingram is the right number three."
Based on reports, Afghanistan's wicket-keeper/batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz will join the Amazon Warriors camp soon, as a replacement player, as would be Shakib Al Hassan. Barbados Royals squad: Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, Kyle Mayers, Hayden Walsh Jnr, Devon Thomas, Oshane Thomas, Nyeem Young, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Harry Tector (temporary replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman), Azam Khan, Corbin Bosch, Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua Bishop, Justin Greaves, Teddy Bishop, Ramon Simmonds. Guyana Amazon Warriors squad: Shimron Hetymer, Odean Smith, Romario Shepherd, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Keemo Paul, Gudakesh Motie, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Colin Ingram, Paul Stirling, Heinrich Klaasen, Shai Hope, Jermaine Blackwood, Veerasammy Permaul, Ronsford Beaton, Matthew Nandu, Junior Sinclair.
go on sale on Monday
Vehicle passes for CPL matches at the Guyana National Stadium will be available from Monday at the CPL box office at 233-234 Camp Street, Georgetown.
The passes are only available for the games on September 21, 22, 24, and 25.
Passes will cost $2000 for internal parking and $1500 for external parking.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors will face Jamaica Tallawahs on September 21 followed by St. Lucia Kings the next day. On September 24, the Warriors will battle Trinbago Knight Riders before ending the league stage against Barbados Royals. All matches will be played at 19:00h.
Tickets are also available for the 10am games where Barbados Royals will take on St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots (September 21), Trinbago Knight Riders facing Patriots (September 22) and Jamaica Tallawahs versus St. Lucia Kings (September 25).
Vehicle passes for the playoffs and finals will be available soon.
