Guyana Times - Thursday, November 10, 2022

Blocking of Minister from community meeting

immature!” – President Ali to Opposition

OppositionMember of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan is facing back lash for allegedly blocking Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag, from meeting with residents of Belladrum, Region Five (MahaicaBerbice) as part of a follow-up visit.

In an exclusive inter view with this publica tion, Minister Parag relayed that she was attempting to meet with Belladrum res idents on Tuesday when Jordan, her colleague on the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) side of the National Assembly, confront ed her.

What followed next, ac cording to Parag, is that Jordan made efforts to pre vent her from entering the Community Development Council (CDC) building to as sess the building and speak with residents with a view to ascertaining how to help them.

Residents had previ ously requested that the Government look into hav ing a library and an IT hub to conduct training installed in the building.

“I’m the Minister assigned to Region Five. About three weeks ago, the President would have held a public outreach in Belladrum and Cotton Tree, Region Five, and while we were there in Belladrum, we announced that I would be in the com munity working. Besides

that, there was a resident of Belladrum who raised an issue (regarding) the Community Centre Building, the same venue we were us ing for the meeting,” Parag said.

Parag had visited last week, and had also been locked out. Efforts by her to contact the CDC Chairman had been futile, and she had been told that they did not have a key; so, she had prom ised that she would visit the following week. When she ar rived on Tuesday, as per her promise, she was told that the building was vandalised last week, and as a result, no one was allowed in until an audit of the missing items could be done, even though one resi dent at the location told the media that the vandalism happened since last year.

“I was met with the Opposition MP Vinceroy Jordan, the Chairman of the CDC, the NDC Chairman, and the woman who had con

tacted me. They started to make an issue about me not going through the process through the NDC and the CDC. Vinceroy Jordan start ed to (quarrel) that you can’t just come in here and we don’t want development,” Parag re lated.

Residents disappointed

“Now, when he said that, they had some youths who came in at the same time, and they started to object to what he was saying. And he changed his statement to say that they do want develop ment, but I have to go through the process of the NDC. So, I made it clear I am working with the people, because the benefit has to go to the people, and I am working with them directly,” Minister Parag ex plained.

Indeed, a number of res idents who were at the loca tion expressed to the media their disappointment at the fact that the building was not being put to use for the bene fit of the community, but in stead was just standing there as a monument.

“You have a building here that is a stone monument to this community. And resi dents would have made rep resentation to the community to have it upgraded so it can function for the use of the res idents. These persons have stood in the way of develop ment since day one, and they are continuing to stand in the way of it!” one irate resident told the media.

“The group that argu ing here - I don’t want to call names - they don’t want de velopment; but we are here for development, and we have to get development, and we would side with the Minister to get development, because I am catering for my grand children and great-grandchil dren,” another resident relat ed.

Meanwhile, Parag not ed that after being repeated ly refused access to the build ing, she eventually left. As she described it, the environ ment created by the persons blocking her work was a hos tile one, and further, the CDC had no intention of open ing the door. Minister Parag made it clear, however, that she would return to the com munity to deliver develop ment to the residents.

“The issue is it was a quite hostile environment. The door was never opened for me to

check. As a matter of fact, the lady who made the request was there with me, and she was prevented from speak ing. She asked if she can say something and (was) told she can say something at another time,” Minister Parag said.

“So, I was forced to leave. They were not going to open the door for me to do any kind of assessment. And he (Jordan) put out some re sponse that I was there to open a party office…nothing of the sort happened. My only intention in the community is the development of the resi dents and the community at large,” she added.

Condemnation Condemnation of the in cident has been swift, with President Dr Irfaan Ali re leasing a statement in which he lambasted the Opposition and the political directives that were issued to block the PPP/C Government from do ing its work. He made it clear that the Government would not be deterred from bringing development to Belladrum and other communities, and commended Parag for her bravery.

“We are going work in ev ery community, and work with everyone. This is total ly immature! And I want to congratulate Minister Sonia and all the other Ministers for holding their ground and letting them understand that every single community, ev ery single village, every sin gle Guyanese is sacred to this Government,” President Ali said.

“But the very people will go and cry that they don’t see the Government, because that is the false message and narrative that they want to send! My brothers and sisters on the ground, in the commu nities and regions, you’re see ing what we’re doing. The en ergy, the passion, the work that we’re doing…there’s a selective group that are bent on one way. All of us together must reject them!”

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has also condemned the incident. In a statement, that party not ed that Parag’s visit was due to a request from the res idents themselves for the Government to arrange skills training, scholarships, and other forms of assistance for them.

“The PNC-led APNU+AFC has demonstrated, time and

time again, that it is inca pable of offering meaningful leadership to their constitu ents, or anyone for that mat ter, and is therefore in its fa miliar obstructionist mode with racism being its tool of choice,” the PPP has said.

“Their attempt to obstruct the PPP/C Government’s housing drive at Amelia’s Ward in Linden, Region Ten and at Mocha Arcadia on the East Bank of Demerara are just a few examples of how they wanted development to bypass certain communities so that they can continue to peddle false claims of discrim ination,” the party said.

The Mocha Women on Track community develop ment group, which only re cently collaborated with Minister Parag to present awards to the top 10 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) performers from Mocha Arcadia and Barnwell North, also issued a state ment condemning the efforts to obstruct the Minister.

“The 40-plus women who make up the activism group known as ‘Mocha Women on Track’ wish to categorical ly condemn the disrespect meted out to the (Minister) during her recent visits to the community of Belladrum.”

The women of this group have made it clear that they are not politically affiliat ed, but having worked with Minister Parag on developing their community, it is hoped that other communities can receive this benefit as well.

Parag’s colleagues in Parliament, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill and Minister within the Prime Minister’s Office, Kwame McCoy, also condemned the altercation. While this pub lication was unable to make contact with Jordan, he did re lease a video in which he dis puted the reports and claimed that the Minister’s visit was for political purposes.

“We have never refused, and I have never refused, any development from the Government for the people of El Dorado village… We wel come any development, be cause the people of Guyana are hardworking taxpayers. So, when you come to our community to say you will build a road or put a library in place, we cannot stop you from doing that. It is your duty,” Jordan subsequent ly said after widespread con demnation of his actions. (G3)

“Totally

…“We are here for development” – Belladrum resident to APNU

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022 |

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Thursday, November 10 –04:15h-05:15h and Friday, November 11 – 04:15h-05:15h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Thursday, November 10 – 05:20h – 06:50h and Friday, November 11 – 06:00h – 07:30h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily.

WEATHER TODAY

Cloudy skies are expected during the day, with light showers at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Election CoI

GECOM’s security chief recalls rejecting orders to remove observers, party agents from Ashmin’s building

Winds: East North-Easterly to West SouthWesterly between 1.34 metres and 3.12 metres.

High Tide: 17:20h reaching a maximum height of 2.71 metres.

Low Tide: 10:56h and 23:20h reaching minimum heights of 0.64 metre and 0.51 metre.

OnWednesday, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the 2020 General and Regional Elections heard shocking testimo ny from the security chief for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), that efforts were afoot to empty the Command Centre (Ashmin’s building) of party agents and observ ers, even before reports of a bomb threat surfaced.

Taking the stand on Wednesday was Ronald Stewart, who was in charge of security for GECOM during that fateful peri od. It has previously been recounted that senior offi cials in GECOM and the po lice tried to have Ashmin’s building, where the Region 4 tabulation was taking place, cleared owing to an alleged bomb threat.

However, Stewart told the CoI that then GECOM Deputy Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Roxanne Myers had asked him to clear Ashmin’s building even before that threat. According to him, the ex cuse made was that par ty agents were interfering with GECOM’s work. Based on his observations, how ever, this did not seem to be the case nor did Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo communi cate this to him.

“She (Myers) told me, she instructed me to go into the tabulation center and get everybody to come out of the building…she didn’t say who she meant, but she said everybody. She said that they were interfering with the work of the Returning Officer, Mr Mingo. There were observers there.

“There was the American Ambassador, the British and Canadian High Commissioners, the EU and Caricom observer missions and local observers, too… I told her, that that instruc tion was inappropriate and I’m not going to carry it out. That was the first instruc tion. She said okay and ter minated the call,” Stewart recalled.

Bomb threat

The next time Stewart

said he received instruc tions to evacuate Ashmin’s building, it was approx imately 15 minutes later when Police Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) entered the building and told him that they received informa tion that there was a bomb in the building.

He recalled that Assistant Police Commissioner Edgar Thomas went into the tabu lation room to tell the per sons present about the bomb threat and asked them to leave. Stewart recalled that when Thomas emerged, the senior Police Officer had said that everyone had re fused the directions to leave. According to Stewart, re calling the words of those in the tabulation center, “They said plain, they’re not mov ing. Let the bomb blow and kill them. We want to see what Mr Mingo is doing.”

Stewart said that on his part, one reason he refused to comply with instructions

to clear out of the building was because it was appar ent that GECOM officers intended to remain behind in the building when all the party agents and ob servers had left, despite the supposed emergency of the ‘bomb’. Eventually, he said, Myers approached him again and instructed him to clear out the building.

“She said to me, Mr. Stewart, you’re sitting there and a bomb is plant ed in the building? Please get the people to evacuate… I again refused. I felt that those people in there were accredited, they were invit ed and if Ms Myers wanted them out, she should have been the person to go in there and tell them to come out…They were invited by GECOM hierarchy and if GECOM hierarchy want ed them out, they should go and tell them to leave and not try to set me up!”

Stewart said that ow ing to his repeated refusals

to follow what he believed were unjustified instruc tions from GECOM and be ‘set up’, he knew his days at the Secretariat were num bered. Accordingly, Stewart resigned the next day, March 6, before he could be fired. He was only rehired this year, after reapplying when the position became vacant.

Police prevented court marshal

Also taking the stand on Wednesday was Rawle Aaron, who worked as a party agent for the United Republican Party (URP) during the tabulation.

He recalled seeing Police Officers physically prevent ing a marshal from serving a court order on Returning Officer Mingo to stop the count that was being done from spreadsheets no one else had seen, instead of the Statements of Poll (SoPs) that should have been used.

…says he felt he was being “set up” by Roxanne Myers

“They were invited by GECOM hierarchy and if GECOM hierarchy wanted them out, they should go and tell them to leave and not try to set me up!” – GECOM Head of Security

Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761

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Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

Pedestrian deaths

Traffic Chief Dennis Stephen’s revelation that some 60 per cent of road deaths countrywide are of pedestrians is very startling.

To quote the Traffic Chief: “Pedestrians would have been a challenge to us, being the most vulnerable road users… we would have observed that most of the pedestrians do not observe the rules of the road.”

Added to this, there were 87 fatal accidents so far for the year, as compared to 79 in the corresponding period last year.

The sudden and shocking death of someone close, especially due to an accident, can never be easy to endure. The ensuing excruciating pain and mental trauma that are inflicted on surviving relatives can be unbearable.

In a fleeting moment, families have been plunged into sadness and despair after receiving the dreadful news that an accident had taken the lives of persons dear to them. That’s the painful result, and often its real and lingering impact may be hidden from the spotlight of the media.

The reality is that people, including those who survive an accident, suffer in unimaginable ways. The recent spate of accidents, and more so the one in which six persons died in a horrific accident over the weekend in Berbice, has even prompted some to ask the question, “How many more?” One interpretation from that simple question speaks to whether lessons are being learnt from accidents over time. In other words, how many more have to die before better care is taken while using the roadways?

Given what has been taking place on our roadways, one could not be faulted for concluding that the results of the accidents may not have inspired more responsible behaviour. There is uncertainty as to whether the mindsets of the regular errant drivers have been impacted; whether they have learnt anything from what were obviously painful experiences of others. Judging from what continues to take place on the roadways, it seems clear that many drivers have not learnt anything from, or are clearly refusing to even be bothered by, the harrowing fatal accidents.

On a daily basis, many drivers use the roadways in a very reckless manner, thereby endangering the lives of occupants and other road users; not to mention themselves. It becomes painful even to see how they manoeuvre their vehicles seemingly without an iota of care for others. Again, it brings into question the role of law enforcement to try and curb such irresponsible behaviours, especially since some traffic violations do occur in the presence of members of the Police Force. Many of those violations involve a minibus.

The general public is hurting, and is pleading for help. Sometime ago, a 12-year-old schoolgirl was killed in a horrifying accident at Nismes, West Bank Demerara. In the face of that emotional devastation, her mother had made a public plea for passengers to demand being let out of a minibus that is speeding, or from one in which the driver is imbibing alcoholic beverage.

In addition, the suggestion for undercover cops to pose as passengers is repeated. That would help to validate, if nothing else is working, allegations of speeding, reckless driving, and overloading, among other violations.

Importantly, the Police must holistically demonstrate that sense of commitment to genuinely collaborate with members of the public to collectively tackle the situation. This becomes even more necessary given that, generally, the Police’s image in clamping down on errant drivers is not very flattering.

The Government has advertised for a consultant to commence work on a Road Safety Diagnostic and Action Plan (2022-2026), which would see the design of a Road Safety Action Plan (RSAP) aimed at reducing the number of road traffic deaths. We look forward to this action plan, as the pain people feel is real and crushing. The question of “How many?” is therefore relevant, and the cries for mitigating actions must no longer seemingly fall on deaf ears.

Opposition’s track record of stymying/ obstructing development of the country

Dear Editor,

The recent display of disruptive and inciteful behaviour by the Political Opposition is concern ing, yet not surprising. Specifically, I am referring to the incident in which an Opposition Member of Parliament sought to block a sitting Minister of Government from tend ing to the needs of the peo ple. Reference is also made to another recent incident involving the Opposition Leader, in which he sought to instigate the people of Mocha to believe that the Government is taking lands that rightfully be long to them, lands he is referring to as their ances tral lands, and he has ad vised that they must not allow the Government to reclaim those lands.

These are lands, as I understand it, that the Government may have to reclaim to advance the de velopment of new roads and other public infrastructure (in a subsequent article, I will demonstrate the bene fits and the bigger picture of the Government’s de velopment agenda, includ ing how the reclamation of these lands to facilitate de velopment would also ben efit the people at the com munity level, both directly and indirectly).

Suffice to say that these recent manoeuvres by the political Opposition are nothing but different strat egies to derail develop ment of the country. There is an abundance of histor

ic empirical evidence avail able that suggests this is the track record of the Opposition – that is, block ing development at all costs. But in the end, it is the entire population of a country that suffers.

Editor, hereunder out lined, I present some of this historic empirical evi dence to corroborate my ar gument.

Historic economic context

Since achieving in dependence from Great Britain in 1966, Guyana’s economic performance has been inconsistent. Following a short period of economic growth between 1970 and 1975, Guyana’s accumulated GDP growth between 1976 and 1990 was -32.8% according to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. This eco nomic inconsistency per sisted into recent years, which present average GDP growth for Guyana compared with averages for the Latin America re gion. Source: (Corral et.al, 2009).

The Political Economy

Prior to 1992, Guyana was a central-command, socialist type of dictatori al regime, an economic sys tem that plunged Guyana into bankruptcy, thus lead ing to economic and social devastation. During that era, thousands of Guyanese fled the country in search of better opportunities elsewhere. This, by and large, explains the mas sive human capital deficit the country has currently, wherein less than 5% of the local labour force possesses a tertiary level education.

Post 1992, when there was a regime change (the current Government hav ing been elected through free and fair elections) and restoration of democ racy, the economy at the time had just begun its transition to a free mar ket economy, inter alia, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) economic re form program.

From 1992 to 2014, Guyana suffered many pe riods - short and long in some cases - of political in stability, which largely sty mied the country’s develop

ment and ability to achieve its true economic potential.

Periods of Political Instability

• 1992 – 1997: there was a short period of street protests and violence, hav ing restored democracy, following which the econo my took off (short period of stability).

• 1997 – 2001: pro longed street protests and disruption.

• 2002 – 2003: prison break, crime wave spiral ling out of control, and po litically-motivated disrup tions.

• 2004 – 2008: un rests, politically motivated disruptions

2008 – 2012: Lusignan, Lindo Creek, Bartica massacre, vio lence erupted when protes tors blocked the WismarMackenzie Bridge.

• 2011 – 2014: for the first time, a new political dispensation emerged fol lowing the 2011 elections, where the Government was a minority Government and the Political Opposition controlled the National Assembly, hav ing had a one-seat major ity. Under this dispensa tion, it was difficult for the Government to obtain budget approvals, many major development proj ects were disapproved by the Opposition controlled National Assembly. As a result, snap elections were held in 2015, which resulted in a win for the Opposition.

PNC Region 5 MP must be condemned by all

Dear Editor, It is sad and nasty what the PNC Region 5 Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan did a few days ago in Belladrum, West Coast Berbice, Region 5. This MP holds himself out as, and is believed to be, a Christian preacher, but his actions are more like those of the devil, and maybe he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing going around the church preaching for collection and tithes.

Minister Sonia Parag journeyed to Belladrum to meet the people, especial ly youths, to take devel opmental projects to their community. It was some thing requested by the res idents of the said village for their benefit, especially to get youths positively active and involved in educational projects. Many in that vil lage wanted to hear about the Government schol arship programmes that youths in the area can ben efit from towards elevat ing themselves in various fields that are of interest to them.

Minister Parag went there with good inten tions, to ensure the peo ple of Belladrum also have equal access to, and a fair share of, the development taking place across Guyana under this present PPP\C

Administration, led by President Irfaan Ali.

Minister Parag was there because this Government cared for all of Guyana, no matter their race, religion, political af filiation, status, sex, etc.

Why is this Government so caring for all? When President Ali took office, he said he is the President of all of Guyana, and that is why the President want ed to ensure development happens across Guyana in every village, as “One Guyana” where all are in volved.

But low and behold, that so-called preacher Vinceroy Jordan, who is a sitting MP for the PNC, wants to see less development in Guyana, and to ensure that the people of Belladrum and Region 5 suffer, as he is blocking development in various communities by having himself and goons chasing out those that are taking positive develop mental projects into the vil lage of Belladrum and oth er areas.

This PNC MP should be ashamed, because when the PNC (I am saying PNC because PNC owns APNU and AFC) was in power from 2015 to 2020, they hardly did anything for the people, especially the youths of Belladrum.

I am not singing my own praise, but I am the one who took the former REO to have a look at the Belladrum Secondary School after I had visit ed that school. The former REO sat in his van and said to me, “Abel, nothing is wrong with the school, just a little painting I see it needs on the outside.” I said to him, “You can’t be inside this vehicle and say all is well in the school. Get out, and let’s check inside and see the condition.”

He was shocked when he saw what was happen ing. He then wanted to make excuse that the funds were not there to start any work. I said, “With all the owls’ dung and bats in the library, you are saying what? I then said I would encourage the staff and students to stage a strike and let’s see what will be after. Within days, work started at that very school. His friend was given the contract to resurface the tarmac, and did substan dard work, but it was ap proved by him and not the Works Committee.

Viceroy Jordan should be ashamed to even set foot into Belladrum, because his party did nothing for the people there, but just encourage them to block roads and create problems

Opposition’s track record...

2015 – 2020: Though this period was relatively stable – that is, no violence, crime wave, unrest, and dis ruption, and until the No Confidence (NCM) motion that was brought against the former Government in December 2018, the for mer Government failed to implement any major de velopment projects despite expending over $1.2 tril lion in five years. Much of this was expended on current/consumption or non-productive expendi ture.

Additionally, almost every national election in the 1990s and early 2000s – following the elections results/outcome, violence and unrest erupted, which were all fuelled by the Opposition. These events occurred in 1992, 1997 and in 2000. The only elections in which violence did not ensue were 2006, 2011 and 2015. There is a rich body of academic literature on Guyana’s political and eco nomic history which con firmed empirically that these periods of political instability were designed to, and to a large extent led to, the State becoming dysfunctional and ungov ernable.

Against this back ground, of the 29 years (1992-2021) since Guyana transitioned to a free mar ket economy, there were

several periods of political instability that hindered the country’s develop ment, having transitioned out of a bankrupt State. Thus, with all those years of instability combined, Guyana suffered from 17 years of political instabil ity characterised as polit ically-motivated disrup tion, unrest, violence, and crime. In addition, despite having 4 years of stabili ty (2015 - 2019), inter alia, a regime change, for the first time there was some amount of stability, but with no substantive de velopment and progress. These, altogether, gave rise to a total of some 21 years of stymied and dis rupted progress and devel opment of Guyana, albeit the latter was due to, argu ably and evidently, impru dent fiscal and public fi nancial management.

Despite the chal lenging political land scape described above, the Government at the time (which is the current Government) nonetheless managed to achieve the following:

1. From 1992 – 2014 (22 years) since Guyana transitioned to a free market economy and res toration of democra cy, the then Government (which is now the current Government) only had 5 years of stability out of 22 years in power in which

Guyana moved from a bankrupt State, regard ed as one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, to a GDP of US$4 billion by the end of 2020 from US$300m in 1992, representing 1200% growth in GDP, or 13 times 1992 GDP,

2. Per capita income of US$5,000 from less than US$300,

3. Debt-to-GDP ratio is now less than 50% from a position of more than 600% in 1992,

4. Total public debt service to revenue ratio came down to 30% of rev enue from a position of more than 150%,

5. More than 60% of the population lifted out of poverty,

6. By the time there was a regime change in 2015, that Government in herited about $100 billion in liquid cash in the Bank of Guyana, and by the time they left office in 2020, there was $147 billion overdraft/deficit in those accounts.

Editor, the Opposition’s track record, as demon strated herein, speaks for itself. Guyanese there fore must not allow the Opposition to obstruct, block, and stymie the country’s progressive de velopment.

Yours faithfully, Joel Bhagwandin

just after the 2020 elec tions. That is all the PNC and Jordan are cable of do ing.

Now Jordan is stopping the Minister from taking development to the people? let him tell us what would he and the PNC now do for the people, especially the youths of Belladrum, who want to see and be part of the development and gain ing scholarships.

Jordan was given the MP position because we all know who he is very close to, and he has no political will or strength of his own. He is a weak link in the re gion as a politician, and talks nonsense whenever he opens his mouth to talk about politics. The people need to blame him, and not the Government, now that he has blocked the Minister from outlining what would be done for the people of

that village. But I am sure the Minister, and by extension the Government, would find a way to ensure the people of Belladrum are not being left behind, and are part of Guyana’s devel opment as we strive to bet ter all of our people under “One Guyana”.

Jordan and the PNC do not like the “One Guyana” initiative by the President because they only have a racist agenda in them, and that’s their mantra. They are using racism to gain votes and block develop ment in the villages where our African brothers and sisters are living.

But let Jordan and PNC know that they can’t stop the PPP Government from taking Guyana forward. The people of this land are seeing the rapid develop ment that is taking place

now, and what was hap pening under the PNC rule in their five years.

People of Belladrum: don’t be used for a few to have their political agen da carried out. Stop them from depriving you of what you deserve -- developmen tal projects in your com munity. Don’t allow those wolves in sheep’s cloth ing to stop development in your community. Instead, stop those very devil’s ad vocates from going into your village and blocking its development.

Jordan owes the peo ple of Belladrum, and by extension the people of Region 5, a public apology for his nasty work in block ing development because of his racist agenda. We must all condemn Jordan.

Regards, Abel Seetaram

Condemning all forms, acts of intimidation, bullyism

Dear Editor, Today, as I reflect on some events of yester day, I want to quickly note my perplexity at the news that the Hon. Sonia Parag, Minister of Public Service, was obstructed from engaging residents of Belladrum, Region Five, by a member of the APNU+AFC, who is also a Member of Parliament.

It disappoints me that an elected Opposition, tasked with objectively representing the business of the people of Guyana, can scheme and seek to prevent and withhold de velopment from commu nities and citizens of this country they purport to love.

Today I join with every right-thinking individu al in Guyana to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the obstruction of the Hon. Sonia Parag from carrying out her duties and that of the Government at Belladrum, Region Five, yesterday.

“No village is the per sonal property of any po litical group. Government Ministers and other offi cials must have access to provide services through direct community engage ments.

I urge people not to be come guilty by association, and not to allow them selves to be held hostage by participating in activi ties that they do not sup port or agree with, activ ities that seek to stymie their own or their commu nity’s development.

Resist their intimi dation, use your voice, and stand against all forms of bullying! The PPP/C Government is not a Government of its

own supporters; we are a Government for all of Guyana, regardless of your political persuasion, reli gion, or race.

This has been demon strated time and time again in our projects and investments in every re gion of Guyana, in educa tion, housing, job creation, youth, agriculture and in frastructure development, etc.

Our Government, led by our President, Dr.

Mohamed Irfaan Ali, con tinues to lead the charge in ensuring development in every community across Guyana. So, again I say, condemn every action by anyone seeking to stop or prevent your community’s development. Let’s sup port “One Guyana.”

Sincerely, Juan Edghill Minister of Public Works

Page Foundation

Hoopster: Paper airplane

What do I need?

scissors ruler

3-x-5-inch file cards (or a file folder or some oth er stiff paper) clear plastic tape plastic straws (not the kind that bend)

What do I do?

1) There are 432 girls in a school, if 3/8 of the students are boys… (i) What fraction of the total number of pupils are girls? (ii) What is the total number of pupils.

2) In a pack of 12 pencils, eight are blue and the others are purple. (a) What is the ratio of purple to blue pencils? (b) Jonathan bought 3 boxes of pencils. Calculate the number of blue pencils he received. (c) If one blue pencil was replaced with one purple one, how many boxes of pen cils should Soia buy if she wants to have 35 blue pencils?

3) Find the perimeter and area of the shape below

Step 1: Cut a file card the long way into three equal strips. If you’re using stiff paper, make three strips that are 1 inch wide and 5 inches long.

Step 2: Put a piece of tape on the end of one strip. Curl the paper into a little hoop and tape the ends together.

Step 3: Put the other two strips end to end, so they overlap a little. Tape them together to make one long strip, and put another piece of tape on one end. Curl the strip into a hoop and tape the ends together.

Step 4: Put one end of a straw onto the middle of a strip of tape. Put the big hoop on top of the straw and fold the tape up the sides of the hoop.

Set in box

Our Home Scientists were surprised that their Hoopsters flew. The Graff family wondered how anything that looked so awkward could fly at all! Kids in the Popka family spent days devel oping new designs for their Hoopsters--including one that was 7 feet long! And the kids in the Hino family got out the butterfly net and tried to catch the Hoopsters as they flew by!

Step 5: This part can be a little tricky. Put an other strip of tape at the other end of the straw. Press the small hoop very gently onto the tape. Move it around until it lines up with the big hoop,

then press the tape down firmly. Your Hoopster should look like the picture below:

Step 6: Now comes the fun! Hold the Hoopster in the middle of the straw, with the little hoop in front. Throw it like a spear. It may take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, your Hoopster will really fly!

If you want to experiment with Hoopsters, here are some other things you can try: Put a paper clip at the bottom of the small hoop.

Make a really long Hoopster with two straws. Cut a little slit at the end of one straw and pinch it so it fits inside the other straw, then tape them together.

Make a double Hoopster with two little hoops side by side on one end and two big hoops side by side on the other. (You’ll need two file cards.) (ex ploratorium.edu)

Challenge to NRF Act

Christopher Jones admits APNU/ AFC MPs defied Speaker’s orders

Demerara

High Court

Judge Navindra

Singh has denied an oral request made by Attorney-at-Law Selwyn Pieters for him to recuse himself from hearing the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) challenge to the passage of the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act, in which the lawyer alleged a reasonable bias has occurred.

Opposition Chief Whip Christopher Jones and trade unionist Norris Witter (the claimants), earlier this year, filed a Statement of Claim (SoC), arguing that due to the absence of the parliamen tary Mace – the most signifi cant symbol in the National Assembly and parliamentar ians not being seated—the Act cannot be regarded as be ing lawfully passed. On the night of December 29, 2021, Members of the APNU/AFC had dislodged the Mace from its position at the House Clerk’s desk and protested in an attempt to prevent the Natural Resource Fund Bill from being passed.

At one point in the National Assembly pro ceedings, Speaker Manzoor Nadir’s Personal Assistant was seen latching onto the Mace while lying on the floor in an attempt to secure it, while the Opposition parlia mentarians stood by hurl ing racial slurs and taunts at him.

The APNU/AFC’s protest and mounting calls for the Bill to be sent to a Special Select Committee had no effect as the Government passed the Bill. Nadir is ad amant that the NRF Act was lawfully passed, noting that a replica Mace was in place. He had explained that al most all Parliaments in the Westminster system have two Maces in case one is not being found or is stolen.

Rejected

When the trial into the matter continued on Wednesday, Pieters asked Justice Singh to recuse him self from hearing the case because he refused to shake his hand on Tuesday when he was taken to the Judge’s chambers by Roysdale Forde, SC, to be introduced to him for the first time.

Pieters told the court that Justice Singh effectively said that he did not want to be in troduced to him, and made other impolite remarks. Pieters and Forde are repre senting the two claimants.

According to Pieters, he believed the Judge acted in the manner he did because of testimony he gave about him at the 2016 Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Camp Street Prison riots.

During his testimony then, Pieters had called out Justice Singh for imposing inordinately lengthy sen tences on convicts, which he

had noted, is contributing to overcrowding at the prisons.

As a result of Justice Singh’s position on Tuesday, Pieters contended that he cannot fairly and impartial ly adjudicate the matter, that his judicial tempera ment was inappropriate and that his conduct towards him was hostile. Additionally, Pieters told Justice Singh that although the case is be ing heard via audio/visual link, “your court has not let me into the Zoom meeting.”

These incidents, he argued, signal that the Judge would be biased.

Completely irrelevant

Weighing in on Pieters’ request, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, expressed that it was quite unfortunate that Pieters chose that man ner in which to ventilate the issue. “It could have been done much more civilly and elegantly… the law is very clear upon what grounds one can allege bias…and upon what grounds a tribunal can recuse itself.”

While it is a very seri ous matter when such al legations are made against a Judge and very serious when a Judge is invited to re cuse himself, Nandlall point ed out that the incident that took place in Justice Singh’s chambers is “completely ir relevant” to the case at bar.

“I don’t see any basis

whatsoever for the allegation to be made and no basis for it to be sustained,” emphasised the Attorney General as he asked the Judge to dismiss the application.

Justice Singh, in his rul ing, held that given what transpired on Tuesday, there was no ground upon which an application alleging bias could be made.

In fact, the Judge noted that Pieters “has not demon strated that the court has any bias against him.”

“The court does not wish to be introduced to him [Pieters]…I don’t know that that is a bias,” stressed the Judge in dismissing counsel’s request.

Defied Speaker’s orders

When the trial continued on Wednesday, Jones, the Opposition’s Chief Whip, re called that a list of names of

parliamentarians to speak on the NRF Bill was submit ted to the House Speaker.

Among the names were APNU/AFC MPs Juretha Fernandes and Khemraj Ramjattan. Led into testi mony by Forde, Jones agreed with his lawyer’s suggestion that before an MP rises to ad dress the House, the Speaker would usually call his/her name.

Although Ramjattan’s name was listed, he was not called upon to speak, Jones said. He further agreed with Forde that a replace ment Mace was used by the Speaker to continue the National Assembly proceed ings because the standard Mace was taken outside.

Under cross-examina tion by the Attorney General, Jones admitted that the Speaker was in control of the National Assembly, which

was regulated by Standing Orders.

Further probed by the AG, Jones recalled that he had stood up and requested of the Speaker that the pas sage of the NRF Bill be de layed, for it to be sent to a Special Select Committee.

He agreed with Nandlall that his request was rejected by the Speaker, who informed him that the Opposition would get an opportunity to pursue any action on the Bill. Asked by Nandlall, if he was bounded by the Speaker’s ruling, Jones replied “yes”. Questioned as to why he and his colleagues were pound ing their desks and shout ing, the Opposition Chief Whip said that this was to ensure that Article 13 of the Constitution was complied with by Parliament.

“Ma’am, my erection gone since meh turn 55 years” – convicted child rapist tells Judge

…jailed for 15 years

Despite being found guilty by a jury of his peers of raping an underage boy, 61-yearold Laldeo Jagdeo, a resi dent of Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) has continued denying his involvement in the crime.

Before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the High Court in Essequibo on Wednesday, Jagdeo was convicted on three counts of rape of a child under the age of 16. The offences were commit ted between September and October 2019. At the time, the victim was 15 years old.

In her sentencing re marks, Justice Barlow told Jagdeo that he had violated a position of trust, since the boy had worked with him on weekends and holidays to earn some extra money. According to her, the child continues to suffer from psy chological trauma.

As for Jagdeo, he main tained his innocence. “Ma’am, my erection gone

since meh turn 55 years,” the remorseless rapist told the trial Judge.

In the end, Justice Barlow imposed a 13-year prison sentence on the con vict in relation to the first and second counts respec tively. She, however, in creased his sentence on the third count to 15 years, not ing that Jagdeo became brave in perpetuating the crime.

The three jail terms will run concurrently, which means that he would be im prisoned for 15 years.

The judge has also or dered that Jagdeo must un dergo counselling tailored for sex offenders.

This is the third person who has been convicted for the offence of raping a child under the age of 16 this month. Earlier this month, a man was jailed for life, with no parole eligibility before he has served 18 years of that sentence, while another has been sentenced to nine years in prison. Both have

been convicted of child rape.

In the first case, a life sentence has been im posed on 33-year-old Troy Chapman of Republic Avenue, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara- Berbice), who raped a sleeping threeyear-old.

When he appeared be fore Justice Sandil Kissoon in the Sexual Offences Court earlier this month, Chapman pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual penetra

tion of a child under the age of 16. He committed the of fence on June 15, 2021 at the toddler’s home.

Chapman was known to the child’s parents, and he regularly visited their home. On the day in question, the child was left in Chapman’s care, and while the child slept, he carried out the unlawful act. He was sen tenced to life in prison.

In a separate matter, Andrew Blackman, 28, a construction worker of Wismar, Linden, Region 10, was handed a nine-year jail sentence for the rape of a 14-year-old girl.

Blackman, like Chapman, pleaded guilty to the offence of engaging in sexual penetration of a child below the age of 16. Blackman, who had known the teenager’s father for sev eral years, committed the of fence between September 10 and 11, 2021. It is alleged that he raped the girl while they were in an abandoned building.

Recognition...

…for Chanderpaul

There’s the old saw about the prophet not being recognised in his own country; which, if truth be told, applies to every field of endeavour. Why is that so?? Familiarity breeds contempt?? Jealousy?? Well, whatever the reasons, our local cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaul has certainly not been given the recognition he deserves for his contribution to cricket in Guyana and the West Indies.

Sure, there’s that sliver of a street in front of the Office of the President that’s named after him – Shiv Chanderpaul Drive – and ends near Bourda. It was at Bourda that he made his Test debut in 1994 as a slight sliver of a boy of 19 against England - as a replacement for the injured local smoothie Carl Hooper. He batted at number 6 and made 62 in a match that was eventually drawn. He went on to score over 11,867 runs in a two-decade-long career that, more than anything else, showed the West Indies the meaning of “true grit”.

He was never the flashy player like, say, Brian Lara, whom he partnered when the latter broke Sobers’s record for the most runs scored in a Test – an even 400 – over in Antigua against England in 2004. During that knock, he displayed his uncanny maturity as he literally steadied his senior comrade towards his goal.

His lifetime performance is even more extraordinary when it’s considered he played in a declining WI team and invariably played on as wickets tumbled around him. While he’s been characterised as a dour, stolid, defensive player, it’s forgotten he was picked as an attacking player after his exploits the year before as an under-19 player touring England.

His style was an adaptation to the exigencies of playing in a team with a brittle middle order: he literally had to “hold the fort” whenever he stepped to the crease. He did score the third fastest Test century at Bourda, not exactly a “fast” pitch. His exit from Test Cricket was mired in controversy, since he was on the cusp of eclipsing Brian Lara’s record overall Test runs of 11,953 – 86 runs away – when he was unceremoniously dropped. But more disrespectfully, he was not allowed a “farewell” tour.

As Lara wrote, "I was very disappointed that Shiv was not allowed a couple of more Test matches, not necessarily to break the record, but to have a proper send-off. Something I think he is very disappointed and unfortunately that did not happen." But, finally, he was been given the recognition he deserves when he was inducted this week into the ICC Hall of Fame.

If WI are ever to even hope of regaining their once dominant role in world cricket, they should take a page out of Chanderpaul’s playbook!!

…of a polarised America

Well, by the time you read this, the final results of the American mid-terms would’ve been declared. Even though Guyanese have been trekking to the States in numbers for over five decades, this is the FIRST time their “midterm” elections appeared on our radar!! Meaning that midway in their presidential four-year term, they hold elections for a number of Governors, Senators, Congressmen/women, Attorneys General etc. No need to rehash what brought on this newfound awareness, eh?

As far as our locals are concerned, the biggest change is that while the Republicans didn’t generate their “Red Wave” to drown the Democrats, they yet captured control of the House of Representatives!! And why is this important locally?? Well, the PNC’s claim to US relevance was Congressman Jeffries supposedly poised to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi!! This is a big deal, Budday!! Never mind Letitia James winning her NY AG post…there ain’t much she can do to influence anybody – in NY or GY!!

What say those now, who were riding Jeffries' coattails??

…of PNC’s irrelevance

It appears that the times are a changin’! The PPP keeps harvesting support in “traditional” PNC constituencies while PNC leaders keep shooting themselves in the foot!! Boycotting the decriminalisation of small quantities of marijuana…really??

APNU/AFC now wants all overseasbased Guyanese off voters’ list – AG

Mr Norton” – Nandlall to Opposition Leader

and report its recommenda tions to the standing com mittee for transmission to the National Assembly.

In conducting the re view, the Commission will also consider the full pro tection of the fundamen

tal rights and freedom of Guyanese under law, the rights of Indigenous people of Guyana, the rights of chil dren, eliminating discrim ination in all forms, and improving ethnic relations while promoting ethnic se

curity and equal opportuni ty.

Any amendments to the Constitution of Guyana re quire a two-thirds majori ty support in the National Assembly or support via a national referendum. (G8)

Attorney General and Legal Affairs

Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, has said that the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC)

Opposition wants to disen franchise overseas-based Guyanese by removing their constitutional right to vote and be registered in Guyana.

Citing data from the United States Homeland Security, Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton disclosed on Tuesday that within a fiveyear period some 54,000 Guyanese have received permanent visas to the US alone while more than 200,000 Guyanese were is sued a visitor’s visa – and 25 per cent of them over stayed.

Against this backdrop, Norton said that the APNU/ AFC coalition was now willing to work with the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government to amend the constitution and have these persons re moved from the country’s voters’ list.

“We are prepared to work with the Government to amend the legislation to ensure that we can clean a voters list,” the Opposition Leader stated.

But AG Nandlall argued that this move would disen franchise Guyanese living overseas, including many of the Opposition’s supporters.

“This political party that you support, they want to disqualify you from ever be ing registered in Guyana and from voting in Guyana –that is what they want to do and they’re prepared to part ner with the PPP. So much they want to disenfranchise you and deny you of your right to vote in Guyana, that they are prepared to partner with this big, bad, dictatori al PPP to achieve that objec tive… the same party that they are telling you to at tack,” the Attorney General contended.

According to Nandlall, the coalition Opposition has failed to understand that migrants, even though they no longer live in Guyana, are still lawfully on the vot ers’ list and as such, could not be considered a bloat.

Moreover, the AG noted that the APNU/AFC failed to implement any consti tutional reform, which was one of its manifesto prom ises during its tenure in of fice and now it wanted to unilaterally do it while in Opposition.

“They promised [con stitutional reform] in 2015 with the full participation of the people. If they wanted to change and clean the voters’ list all the time and amend the Constitution, which they promised they will do with in three months of 2015 get ting into Government, why they didn’t do it? But im portantly, they promise that when they do it, it will in volve the full participation of the people and here it is, Aubrey Norton – the leader of that party – is saying to the people of Guyana, he’s going to abandon that prom ise. He’s not going to the people anymore, he going now to the PPP to strike a deal,” the AG stressed.

However, he point ed out that the PPP/C Administration was com mitted to involving the peo ple of this country in its con stitutional reform process, which has already started.

“No, Mr Norton”

“We are saying no, Mr Norton. We have promised constitutional reform and we have said to people of Guyana that we are com ing to you and asking your views on how we should re form the Constitution. We are not Aubrey Norton for political and narrow purpos es…

“So, we are not going to [engage] in no secret deal with Norton to change the Constitution. We are com mitted to a constitution al reform process, and we have laid and passed a bill [on Monday] in the National Assembly, outlining how that constitutional process will take place,” Nandlall asserted.

He noted that if during that process, it was consen sually agreed by the peo ple that the requirements to be registered and vote in Guyana need to be changed, then such amendments would be dealt with.

Ironically, howev

er, this new stance by the Opposition Leader to col laborate with the PPP/C Government, which the Opposition has persistently refused to accept as legiti mate comes on the heels of the APNU/AFC Members of Parliament (MPs) storm ing out of the National Assembly on Monday as the Attorney General was pre paring to start the debate on the Constitution Reform Commission Bill 2022.

Presented to the House in August of this year, the Bill provides for the es tablishment of a 20-mem ber Constitutional Reform Commission to review the country’s supreme laws.

According to the pro visions of the Bill, the Commission will review the Constitution to pro vide for the current and fu ture rights, duties, liabili ties, and obligations of the Guyanese people. It is man dated for that purpose to receive, consider and eval uate submissions for the al teration of the Constitution,

Berbice man dies in accident after overtaking 3 vehicles

A21-year-old man has succumbed to inju ries he sustained in an accident that occurred on Saturday morning along the Number 75 Public Road, Corentyne, Berbice, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne).

Dead is Aftar Wazidally of Scottsburg, Corriverton, Corentyne, who succumbed to his injuries at around 13:30h on Monday while being a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Reports from the Police are that Wazidally was driv ing motorcar PWW 5659 proceeding north along the western drive lane of Number 75 Village at a fast rate of speed, and he al legedly overtook three vehi the vehicle, which then col

lided head-on with motor car PPP 8156, which was proceeding south along the eastern drive land of the

Both drivers sustained injuries from that collision, and were each picked up by public-spirited citizens in a conscious condition and taken to the Skeldon Public Hospital. They were both attended to by a doc tor on duty before later be ing transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital, where they were both ad mitted as patients.

Wazidally, who had sus tained injuries to his chest and about his body, was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he eventually died.

Man nabbed after stealing car from bodywork shop

The stolen car that was recovered

Street, Grove, East Bank Demerara.

Police in Regional Division 4 B (East Bank Demerara) have arrested a 22-year-old suspect who was in posses sion of both the keys and vehicle that was stolen from a bodywork shop in Grove, East Bank Demerara.

Commander Mahendra Singh has confirmed that his ranks are investigating an alleged simple larceny committed on Rameshwar Dehali, a 41-year-old au to-body repairman of Grove Squatting Area. A grey Primo motorcar, PSS 6964, valued at $2,400,000, prop erty of 22-year-old Anesa Yusuf, was allegedly stolen between November 8 and November 9, 2022, at some time between 18:30hrs and 08:00h. The incident occurred at Lot 6 Tank

Reports are that Yusuf took the vehicle to the body work shop to be sprayed. Dehali parked the car in the yard, and returned the following day to commence work on the vehicle, but discovered the car missing. The keys of several other vehicles were also missing. The lone security, who was left in the compound, was not at the site.

According to business man Dehali, he immediate ly tried to contact the guard via cellphone, to enquire from him if he had removed the vehicle, but to no avail.

He thereafter contacted Yusuf via cellphone, and en quired from her if she had collected her vehicle, and she replied in the negative.

A search was immedi

ately started for the vehicle, and based on information received, the search par ty went to Second Street, Craig, EBD and saw the car parked on the road, with three men standing within close proximity of the vehi cle.

The men were asked who was the driver of the car, and two of the men pointed out Christopher Persaud, a 22-year-old unemployed man of Craig, EBD.

Dehali carried out a search on Persaud, during which he found the car key, along with the other miss ing keys in the man’s pants pocket. He then called the Police, who arrested the sus pect. Persaud was placed in custody and the vehicle was lodged. The security guard has still not been located.

12 years’ jail for farmer who killed Brazilian man over wild meat

Thirty-seven-year-old Darrell Williams, a farmer of Moco Moco Village in Central Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), was on Tuesday sentenced to 12 years’ im prisonment by Demerara High Court Justice Brassington Reynolds on a conviction of manslaughter committed on Elvis Aulicio, a 44-yearold Brazilian national, on December 26, 2018.

Initially indicted for the capital offence of murder, Williams admitted to the lesser count of manslaugh ter.

Reports are that Aulicio and Williams, who had been known to each other, had been imbibing at a birthday celebration when Williams accused Aulicio of stealing labba meat from his haver sack, which Aulicio denied.

Williams became annoyed,

armed himself with a knife, and followed Aulicio as he made his way into the Moco Moco Savannahs, where he stabbed Aulicio in the neck and left him there to die.

Williams was charged with the murder of Aulicio on December 31, 2018. (G1)

60% of road deaths are pedestrians – Police

…warn drivers to stop for persons to cross roadways

The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has sounded a warn ing to the motoring pub lic about the rules of the road in relation to keeping pedestrians safe at cross walks. This warning comes on the heels of the Force’s records reflecting that 60 percent of road deaths in the country this year are of pedestrians.

Traffic Chief Dennis Stephen made this shock ing revelation in an inter view on Tuesday with the GPF’s PRO, Stan Gouveia.

“Pedestrians would have been a challenge to us, being the most vul nerable road users… We would have observed that most of the pedestrians do not observe the rules of the road”, Stephen has said.

Stephen is warning that, according to the laws of Guyana, vehicles must stop when a pedestrian is crossing a roadway at a marked or unmarked crosswalk. He said a pe destrian is considered to be crossing when any part or extension of the body moves into the roadway in a crosswalk.

“Even though you are at the pedestrian crossing, there is an offence that in dicates under the regula tions, Chap 189, speaks that if a pedestrian (is) at the pedestrian crossing, the driver proceeding must stop and allow that pedes

trian to pass…if they fail to do so, an offence has oc curred,” the Traffic Chief explained.

He said in the case where there are no zebra crossings, the pedestrian must observe the curb drill by looking at both sides of the road before crossing.

“The pedestrian must also use the designat ed pavement or sidewalk, and a high pass, where it is available…also, do not cross the road in the path of a moving vehicle, be cause that will be an of fence for the pedestrian also,” Stephen has point ed out.

Thus far, in total, 87 fa tal accidents have been re corded this year, as com pared to 79 for last year. Those accidents, accord ing to the traffic Chief, oc

cur from Friday to Monday between 18:00h and mid night, with victims being in the age range between 18 and 45.

As such, to reduce acci dents on the roadways, the Police have embarked on several initiatives.

“We are looking at hav ing exercises targeting drunk drivers. We have had interaction with bars and have a dialogue with owners, so that they would have some sort of responsi bly to observe when a per son is incapable of driv ing, and have systems in place, such as calling a taxi for that driver to make his way home safe ly,” Stephens said.

Stephen also said the Police are looking to vis it accident victims in hos pitals, and would make it

mandatory for drivers who have caused those acci dents to visit patients. He said that by doing this, mo torists would have a first hand look at how families are affected as a result of accidents.

Electric bikes

The Traffic Chief has also said the use of elec tric bikes continues to pose challenges for the Police Force. There are no laws governing the use of elec tric cycles, and there has been concern expressed by many road users over the use of these cycles, espe cially by young children, many of whom do not know traffic signs and laws.

Considering that, by law, these electric bikes can not be considered driven, only ridden, reinforcement of protective gear poses a challenge.

Stephens has said that, for this year, the Police Force has recorded sev eral accidents involving these bikes. He says this is a concerning develop ment, since no accidents were recorded in the previ ous year.

“For last year, we would have recorded zero accidents with these cy cles, and this year we would have recorded sev en deaths and 12 serious injuries as it relates to these cycles. It is current

ly a challenge for us. We would have realised that it’s lack of knowledge us ing the road on their (rid ers) behalf, and there are many issues as it relates to the cycles. There are no indicators, and the vehicle is very silent, so it poses a danger for the user over taking and persons not hearing they are passing,” he related.

In March this year, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) engaged in discussions on the reg ularisation of the use of electric bikes on the coun try’s roadways. To date, however, no firm decision has been taken. (G9)

GECOM’s security chief...

“The process that was being used was that the count was now being called from a spreadsheet and not the SoPs… we began to protest, along with other party members, that they were using a spreadsheet. And then subsequently, a court marshal came with a notice to stop the count. He was dressed in uniform and he announced that he was from the court and he had a

document to stop the count.

“He was prevented from (serving it) by Police Officers there and he could not get to Mr Mingo to serve that. And the count continued. He remained and he kept trying to get to Mr Mingo, to serve the no tice. We started to protest and in particular, Mr Anil Nandlall was there and he said to the court repre sentative, you need to go

FROM PAGE 3

and serve it to him,” Aaron said.

Despite the marshal’s best efforts, Aaron ex plained that the Police held onto his arms and pre vented him from going to serve Mingo with the no tice. It took about a half hour of trying before the court marshal was finally allowed to serve the notice, after which Mingo stopped the count.

Murder accused pleads guilty to killing shop owner

Nathan Anthony

Stoute, who was charged with the 2014 murder of a Rock Creek, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) shop owner has pleaded guilty to a charge of murder.

Stoute, 24, of Helena No. 2, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD) appeared before Justice Jo Ann Barlow at the High Court in Essequibo, earlier this week.

The man admitted that between February 26, 2014, and February 27, 2014, at Rock Creek, Cuyuni River, he murdered Sheniza KhanBhola in the course/further ance of a robbery.

Following his guilty plea,

old mother of two, of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), was found stabbed to death in her shop at Rock Creek, Cuyuni River.

The day prior to her demise, she had a heat ed argument with two men over a pump she had giv en them for mining. Police Headquarters had said that

Stoute was one of the two men who had been staying with the woman around the time she was brutally mur dered.

Stoute and the other man were employed by KhanBhola. It is alleged that the men hatched a plan to kill her after she had fired them and wanted to take back her pump. According to reports,

Khan-Bhola had given them the pump with the expecta tion that they would pay her for it.

However, things turned sour when the men took the pump to another loca tion without giving her mon ey. Stoute was arrested for the murder in December 2018 after returning from Suriname. (G1)

Christopher Jones admits...

Grilled by Nandlall if he and his associates' be haviour were in defiance of the Speaker’s direction for Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh to speak on the Bill, Jones responded, “correct”.

In recapping what trans pired on that night in the National Assembly, Jones said that Parliament staff and Government and Opposition MPs were grabbing onto the Mace.

Witter and Ramjattan have already testified. The trial will continue all day on December 9.

Abuse of court process

In an Affidavit in Defence, Nandlall contended that the SoC was an abuse of the court process and without any legal basis. In light of this, he has urged the court to dismiss the matter.

According to the Attorney General, there is no princi ple known to the law, nei ther does the Constitution nor the Standing Orders of the National Assembly re quire that the Mace must be present and in place for Parliament to exercise its constitutional power to make laws for peace, order, and good governance.

He argued that whether the Mace was in place or not, or whether an instrument could be used as a Mace, the purpose of the Mace and mat ters connected to Parliament

were matters over which the High Court had no jurisdic tion, as they constitute proce dural matters of Parliament over which the Parliament has exclusive jurisdiction under Article 165 of the Constitution.

In any event, Nandlall ar gued, too, that the Mace has “no relevance and place” in the exercise of Parliament’s constitutional power and au thority to make laws.

Excluded from consultations

Jones and Witter, in their claim, are seeking a number of declarations including one that the conduct of the busi ness of the House without the Mace and the later passage of the NRF Bill were illegal. They argued that this was contrary to constitutional val ues of the rule of law, democ racy, inclusive governance, and the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.

The Opposition’s position is that civil society bodies were excluded from consulta tions on the Bill.

Witter argued that un der Article 154A of the Constitution and Article 25 of the Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, he has a fun damental right to political participation in the conduct of public affairs. He argued that this right was violated with the passage of the Bill.

In light of this, Jones and Witter are asking the court to declare that pursuant to Article 154A, the Government in formulating an NRF policy, had a responsibility to engage in consultation.

Manifesto promise

But Nandlall submitted that a lack of consultation did not in any manner affect the law power and authority of Parliament. He deposed, “It will be contended that the debates among the elect ed representatives of the peo ple in the National Assembly, which is a component of the legislative process constitutes consultation.” He said that the Natural Resource Fund Bill received widespread na tional consultations. To sup port his argument, he re minded that the legislation was a promise contained in his party’s manifesto for the 2020 National Elections – a document he has included as an exhibit. He said that the manifesto itself was a prod uct of five years of public con sultations from 2015 to 2020, across all 10 regions, includ ing a grand public consulta tion held at New Thriving Restaurant, Providence, on February 17, 2019.

For the aforementioned reasons, the Attorney General

submitted that he main tained “most resolutely” that the Natural Resource Fund Act was lawfully, validly, and properly passed, and received the due assent of President Dr Irfaan Ali in accordance with the Constitution.

Replenish

Since the passage of the legislation last December, the Government has gone on to es tablish the Natural Resource Fund Board. Following par liamentary approval, the Government has made sever al withdrawals from the fund amounting to tens of billions of dollars which were trans ferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance national de velopment priorities.

This sum, which was tak en out following parliamenta ry approval, has been trans ferred to the Consolidated Fund to finance national de velopment priorities.

However, Jones and Witter are further asking the High Court to declare null, void and of no effect, all ac tions taken by anyone, in cluding the Finance Minister, pursuant to the passage of the Bill, or the constitution of any Board under the NRF. They are also seeking orders neces sary to ensure that the NRF is replenished to the extent of all sums disbursed from it.

The defendants in the claim are the Attorney General, Speaker of the House, Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, and the Parliament Office.

The Government has said that the NRF Act would en sure the security, transpar ency, and accountability that Guyanese need in order to benefit from the oil and gas revenues.

The law provides for a governance structure of how these monies will be used with continuous public disclo sures, audits, and parliamen tary approvals.

Following the ruckus in the National Assembly, the following Opposition MPs were suspended by the Parliamentary Committee of Privileges: Christopher Jones, Ganesh Mahipaul, Sherod Duncan, Natasha Singh-Lewis, Annette Ferguson, Vinceroy Jordan, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, and Maureen Philadelphia. The MPs have moved to the High Court seeking a declaration that their suspension, is, among other things, uncon stitutional and a breach of the principles of natural jus tice.

Their case comes up for another hearing on Friday be fore Justice Damone Younge. (G1)

Fisherman beaten, bound, thrown overboard by crew

Thirty-nine-year-old

Fizal Khan, a fish erman and father of two of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was last Wednesday beat en, bound, and thrown over board by his crew mem bers while on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. He was, howev er, rescued by members of the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard Division who were in the area.

In an interview with Guyana Times on Wednesday, Khan’s sis ter Elan Jacobus said she was in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) on Thursday last when she received the news that her brother has been hospital ised. She said she travelled to Georgetown and was in formed by her brother that he was beaten, bound, and thrown overboard by the captain and two other crew men on a boat which had gone out to sea for fishing.

The woman said Khan had left on Wednesday

morning to go work on the boat, on which he had been working for the past four months. Shortly after, Khan began feeling unwell and requested that the captain take him back to shore. She said, “He told me that they were supposed to leave on Tuesday, but they didn’t get to go until Wednesday. He said he told them he ain’t feeling well to go, and want to go in back. But he did col lect $15,000 advance from them.”

She said her brother told her the captain informed him he was not turning the vessel around, and that he had already collected an ad vance for the trip.

“He said he turn and tell them, ‘Man, I really not feel ing good,’ and he kept insist ing that he want to go back. This is like his eighth trip with them, and he said they weren’t that far out. When he insisted, the captain get vex, and one of the crew members, who is family to the captain, took out a steel and hit him in his head. He said he fell down,” the wom an related.

She added said at the

time her brother was ask ing to return home, he was making roti in the kitchen of

the boat, as it was his turn to cook. After he was hit to the head, he passed out,

but woke up and ran to the kitchen for shelter.

“After he run in the kitch

en, they run behind him, this is the captain and two others. They started beating him, and then they tied him up. He said he kept falling down because he couldn’t take the licks anymore,” she related.

“They tie his throat, his two hands…while they were doing that, another boat was probably passing and see and called in the Coast Guards…they throw him over in the water. When the Coast Guards reached, they found him tied up and took him to Georgetown Hospital, where he was hospitalised,” she explained.

As a result of the beat ing, Khan’s sister said, he sustained a broken jaw and nose, along with other inju ries. “Right now he is bleed ing through his ears, mouth, and nose, (and) he can’t walk or eat. He is just crying out for pain. He is also now behaving delusional and talking out of his head. He keeps screaming, ‘They gon na kill me! They gonna kill me!” the woman said after visiting her brother at the hospital.

Govt working to get treated patients from Psychiatric Hospital back home

…many families refusing to accept them – Health Minister

Aspart of the Guyana Government’s plan to tackle mental health issues in the country, the Administration is working on deinstitutionalising patients who have been treated and should be allowed to reinte grate into society.

This is according to Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Wednesday, who pointed out that the pieces of Guyana’s legislation deal ing with mental health were very old and antiquated. In fact, the country’s Mental Health Ordinance dates back to 1930. However, this was repealed in August after the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic Administration imple mented a series of new laws that now sees the country be ing governed by modern and progressive mental health legislation.

A major element of that new law is deinstitutionali sation, that is, having mental health patients reintegrated into society after treatment rather than putting them in the National Psychiatric Hospital and locking them away.

“The new way of treating mental health patients is re ally to have them at home

and in the community and for them to function like normal persons because once they get their treatment, they’re able and capable of function ing like anybody else. And so, we shouldn’t be locking them away. They should be func tioning in the society as reg ular people. So, we are going to work to make sure that this part of the legislation is implemented,” the Health Minister posited.

Presently, there are about 200 persons at the Psychiatric Hospital in Fort Canje, Berbice – many of whom should not even be there.

According to Dr Anthony, while the modern thrust now

is to deinstitutionalise pa tients, this is proving to be difficult since families are not willing to accept these patients who have recovered through treatment.

“The challenge that we’re having is that the relatives of these patients sometimes do not want to accept them back home and so that has been one of the main reasons why many of these patients who can really go home are not able to go home. So, that is something that we’ll have to find some solution and deal with it,” he said.

The Health Minister out lined that the new legislation was centred more on patients’ rights to be treated much bet ter than what the previous

legislation would have con templated.

“This is really progressive. This is modern. This is what is happening is the more en lightened jurisdictions and so this is what we’re implement ing here,” he added.

As it is, the exact num ber of mental health-related cases in Guyana is unknown since a lot of people with these illnesses – depression, anxiety, sycosis – go undiag nosed. So, only a fraction of these cases are being record ed.

To this end, Dr Anthony pointed out that Government has been placing a strong em phasis on mental health is sues.

“Mental health is some thing that is often not spo ken about a lot, but in terms of morbidity, we are seeing lots of persons who suffer from various types of men tal health illnesses, and this is something that we want to draw attention to, because, over the years, there have

been lots of research that have been done and there are newer techniques on how to work with patients with mental health and some times people are not aware that these techniques exist,” he stated.

Only this week, a Suicide Prevention Bill was passed, paving the way for the de criminalisation of suicide, among other initiatives. Another intervention under taken by the PPP/C admin istration was reviewing the National Suicide Prevention Plan 2015-2020, which was done by two consultants from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), who determined how much of that plan was implemented, and from that, Government was able to ascertain what need ed to be done in the new plan.

The Health Minister ex plained that while strate gies and plans were often implemented, they needed constant reviewing, because they tend to disconnect with

the realities of a modern so ciety.

Mental Health Conference

Moreover, to further high light the importance of men tal health not just in Guyana but in the Caribbean Region, the Guyana Government has also initiated an annual Mental Health Conference –the second edition of which is slated for next week –November 15 to 18 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.

This conference will see presentations from an im pressive line-up of experts in this field who will talk about a number of topics re lated to mental health. At least 20 international ex perts from Australia, South Africa, Europe, Asia and North America along with officials from PAHO/WHO Washington Mental Health Division and local stakehold ers will be participating in the conference. (G8)

Fisherman beaten, bound...

Khan has since been transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

Jacobus said a report was made to the Police after the incident, and the three suspects were arrested but were later released.

“When I went to the Police, they told me that the transfer is to Mahaica, because it happened in the

Mahaica area…they told me that the people them (the suspects) will come back on Monday, but they nev er showed up. When contact was made with the Police station in Mahaica, they said no report was there, and nothing ever came through to them, and they told us that they sent it through to Mahaica. Now, tomorrow (Thursday) we have to go to Mahaica to make a report,”

the distraught sister said.

She added that she reached out to the media since the Police were frus trating the family. She re lated that her family wants justice for Khan, adding that had the Coast Guards not arrived, her brother might have lost his life.

Up to press time on Wednesday, there has been no media release from the Police on the incident.

Charity Squatting Area residents to receive land titles soon

Residents of the Charity infor mal settlement in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) will soon be in receipt of their land titles.

On Wednesday, a re lease from the Housing Ministry stated that Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal and Minister with in the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, led a team from the Central Housing and Planning Authority

(CHPA) on an outreach with the informal settlers and other residents at the Gaulin Supermarket park ing lot. The meeting was a follow-up to an engage ment President Dr Irfaan Ali had had with residents the previous day.

During the Ministers’ Outreach, some 50 in formal settlers were able to register for their Agreements of Sale and Certificates of Title.

“This is a matter that has been outstanding for a

while… [and] within a few days, those persons are ex pected to receive their ti tle,” Croal is quoted in the release as saying. He add ed that the priority of the Government is to ensure that all Guyanese live in a developed and wholesome environment.

Regularisation of the area began in 2011 under President Ali, who was the Minister of Housing and Water at the time. A total of 226 lots were cre ated. However, the pro

cessing of titles was put on hold to verify owner ship of the area. Field ver ifications were conducted by CHPA staff in March 2021, and 123 lots were verified. Fifteen persons were found to be occupy ing road and drainage re serves. However, fifteen lots within the area have since been identified for their relocation.

Rodrigues, during a brief site visit to the area, high lighted that the infrastruc tural works are also expect

ed to commence soon. In keeping with the President’s commitment, the Minister noted, two concrete roads and drains would be con structed, one at the front of the settlement and one to wards the back.

A number of the resi dents stated that the own ership documents as well as the development of roads would significantly impact their community.

“I believe it will be a great improvement, es pecially for the school

children,” shared Mr. Washington Chase, who has been an informal set tler for some ten years.

Meanwhile, for infor mal settler and father of six, Ralph Garraway, the work of the Ministry pro vides a sense of pride and comfort for those residing in the area.

Another follow-up meeting would be held with residents to facilitate the processing of addition al agreements of sale and certificates of title.

Govt confident suicides would be reduced with new measures in Suicide Prevention Amendment Bill

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony an ticipates that the new Suicide Prevention (Amendment) Bill passed on Monday in the National Assembly would significant ly reduce Guyana’s suicide rate.

The amended bill out lines several measures, in cluding the establishment of a National Commission on Suicide Prevention and Suicide Prevention Centres in various parts of the coun try, to help tackle the issue.

Guyana has one of the highest suicide rates in the world; however, the num bers have been dipping re cently, and are expected to fall lower as the measures are implemented.

“We are very confident that, with these new in terventions, we would be able to make a bigger im pact on suicide prevention in Guyana, and (on) those people who want to com mit suicide. We are going to see a drop in cases. In 2017, for example, we had 185 cases of suicide, and that dropped. Last year we had 165; this year, so far, we have just about 100, and I hope that it stays that way. But with all of these mea sures that we are putting in place, we are going to see a significant reduction,” the Health Minister has said.

Dr. Anthony noted that many cases of suicide occur

because vulnerable persons were not detected, thereby preventing the relevant in tervention. He said this will change, as primary health care workers and members of the community would be trained to help identi fy vulnerable persons and streamline the help they need.

“In many cases, the rea son why we have a high number of people commit ting suicide is that a lot of these persons might have had depression, but when they come to the health sys tem the depression is not detected; and if it’s not de tected then, we are not able to treat them,” he ex plained.

He added that newer, more effective treatment methods would also be used.

“In this new legislation, what we are advocating is

to have both treatments: with psychoactive substanc es plus to be able to do cog nitive behavioural therapy. This has been found to be very effective with patients, and we are going to estab lish several suicide centres where cognitive behavior al therapy will be admin istered,” Dr Anthony has said.

The Ministry would also work with the relevant agencies to restrict vulner able persons from access ing firearms and poisonous substances. A mobile unit has also been established to provide immediate help for persons. Three lives have already been saved since the unit began operating.

The Ministry has under taken several studies with Columbia University for an evidence-based approach to address the social issue.

Saudi Police release US mother arrested for 'destabilising public order'

AnAmerican woman who says she and her eight-year-old daugh ter are trapped in Saudi Arabia has been released from jail, two days after she was arrested on the charge of "destabilising public or der".

Carly Morris told the BBC last month that her Saudi ex-husband had per suaded her to visit the coun try with Tala in 2019, so that his parents could meet their granddaughter. The two had married in the United States a few years earlier when he was studying there, but lat er divorced.

Ms Morris, a Muslim con vert, claimed that soon after she arrived, her ex-husband obtained Saudi citizenship for Tala without consulting her.

This meant that under Saudi Arabia's male guard ianship laws, the child could not leave the coun try without his permission. Although her daughter has American citizenship, dual nationality is not recognised in Saudi Arabia.

For the last three years, Ms Morris been engaged in a custody battle with her ex-husband. Throughout this time, she has lived with Tala in a Saudi hotel, where she says she has been de pendent on him for food and financial support.

She said she rarely leaves the hotel and few peo ple have seen her face since she began staying there sev eral years ago.

Ms Morris claimed that at one point, her former part ner abducted their daughter after learning that she had been appealing for inter national help to bring Tala back to the United Statesa charge he denied when the matter came before a Saudi court.

The judge ruled that Tala should be returned to her mother, but told Ms Morris that she must not leave the

Saudi city she lives in, nev er mind take her daughter back to the US.

The BBC approached Carly's ex-husband for com ment about the case last month, but he did not re spond.

Morris's mother in California has repeatedly voiced her concerns over her daughter and granddaugh ter's plight, and what she believes is the lack of help from US embassy staff.

Denise White, who said she spoke to Ms Morris on Wednesday, was shocked to hear of her daughter's re cent arrest following her public calls for help in media reports and on Twitter.

Ms Morris told her that she was summoned on Monday to a police sta tion in Buraydah, a city about 320km (200 miles) north-west of Riyadh, on the grounds that there was a problem with her ex-hus band's identity card.

When she protested that this was nothing to do with her, police said she needed to attend a meeting there because her daughter was listed on the card.

About an hour after she arrived at the station, her ex-husband walked in and talked with police officers. A short while later, Ms Morris

was told that she was under arrest.

Mrs White said her frightened daughter had told her that during her stay in jail, she was stripped by jail staff, hand cuffed and her legs were shackled. Her daughter did not know why she had been arrested or when she would be freed.

Ms Morris told her mother that after being re leased in the early hours of Wednesday morning, she was reunited with Tala, who had been placed in the tem porary care of her ex-hus band.

Mrs White said her daughter's joy at this was tempered by what she found on returning to their self-ca tering hotel room. The little food they had in their fridge and freezer had been re moved. Tala's clothes were also gone, leaving her with out pyjamas or anything else to wear.

Ms Morris also men tioned to her mother that a mysterious security camera placed outside her door, the only one she had seen in any of the hotel's corridors, has also vanished. Somebody, she thinks, clearly did not think she and Tala would be coming back for a very long time. (BBC)

Nicole strengthens into a hurricane after striking the Bahamas

Hurricane Nicole lashed the north western Bahamas on Wednesday on its way to eastern Florida, where it is expected to strike by early Thursday and deliver dam aging winds and heavy rain to some places still recover ing from Hurricane Ian.

Nicole strengthened from a tropical storm into a hurricane Wednesday evening as it brought strong winds and danger ous storm surge to Grand Bahama Island, the US

National Hurricane Center said. Nicole’s center, with sustained 75 mph winds, passed over the Bahamas’ Great Abaco island early Wednesday afternoon and then Grand Bahama and its more than 50,000 resi dents.

The eye of Nicole even tually is expected to make landfall on the southeast ern or east-central Florida coast overnight, according to the hurricane center.

Forecasters added that people affected by the

storm should not focus on the exact track of the storm center because Nicole is a large storm with “haz ards extending well to the north” of the projected path. “Outer bands from Nicole have already start ed impacting east central FL,” the National Weather Service office in Melbourne, Florida, said in a 3:30 tweet. “Conditions, espe cially along the coast, are dangerous. Waters will be gin rising yet again this af ternoon as high tide arrives

Record demand for Jamaica in the UK — Tourism Ministry

Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Ministry of Tourism, Delano Seiveright is elat ed that three major UK air lines, TUI, British Airways, and Virgin Atlantic will op erate a combined total of at least 18 flights per week with Jamaica over the win ter months.

Seiveright is among offi cials that Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is lead ing in engagements with in ternational tourism stake holders in London, United Kingdom, for the World Travel Market.

“The ramp up will com mence this month and run straight through the win ter tourist season. TUI will have at least eight non stop flights per week into Montego Bay from multiple UK cities; Virgin Atlantic will run a daily service into Montego Bay from London Heathrow and British Airways will continue to service Kingston nonstop," Seiveright noted.

Bartlett is also accom panied at the World Travel Market, one of the larg est international trav el exhibitions, by chair man of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), John Lynch and Director of Tourism, Donovan White. Jamaica is among thousands of partic ipants in the annual World Travel Market (WTM) London, which showcases offerings from the biggest travel destinations, accom modation suppliers, airlines and tour operators. The oc casion was also leveraged for the London media launch of the JTB’s “Come Back” mar keting campaign. “We could not be more pleased to high light this positive milestone for this important market

of the destination. It speaks to the dedication and hard work of our team here in the UK,” said Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica. Created by the JTB’s advertising agency, Accenture Song, the cam paign showcases Jamaica’s picturesque natural attrac tions and its friendly, wel coming people working to gether to help visitors live their best lives.

Seiveright underscored that Jamaica is seeing a sus tained surge in visitors from the United Kingdom all set to beat arrival and earnings records, with overall holi days to Jamaica selling at 25 to 40 per cent more than in 2019. This he noted is at tributable to the decision by Bartlett to have his officials remain dynamic and strate gically focused in the global tourism space over the last two and a half years.

In 2019 Jamaica wel comed 225,000 UK visitors, those numbers dipped sig nificantly in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID 19 pan demic that ravaged glob

al travel. In 2022, despite challenges at the begin ning of the year due to the Omicron variant of COVID 19, Jamaica is still on track to surpass the record break ing 2019 numbers. If projec tions hold the island should welcome well over 225,000 UK visitors.

Bartlett in response to mounting queries from stakeholders about the availability of hotel rooms to meet the record-breaking demand noted that several hotel development projects amounting to thousands of new rooms are either al ready in development or are on track to commence soon.

Meanwhile, British Airways Holidays told Jamaica’s Senior Tourism officials at the World Travel Market in London, UK that the entity has sold over 15,800 room nights for their British customers coming to Jamaica this year alone, nearly tripling what they sold in 2019, which was just under 5,800 room nights. (Jamaica Observer)

around 8:20 to 8:30 PM.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BEACHES.”

Nicole would be the first hurricane to make land fall in the United States in November in nearly 40 years. More than 5.3 mil lion people along Florida’s east coast are under hurri cane warnings and 4.1 mil lion are under a hurricane watch.

Tropical-storm force winds (39 to 73 mph) al

ready were hitting parts of the eastern Florida coast line Wednesday morning, the hurricane center said, as was flooding. Ankledeep water was collecting in parts of Boynton Beach north of Boca Raton, pic tures posted by police on Facebook show.

Some drivers also were navigating through an kle-deep floodwater on streets in West Palm Beach on Wednesday morning, video from CNN affiliate

WPEC shows.

After Florida landfall, Nicole is expected to weak en while moving across the southeastern US on Thursday and Friday.

Yet it’s still a threat to bring flooding and dam age to Florida, which is reeling since Ian struck in September along the west coast, then raked damage across the state, killing at least 120 people in the state and leveling neigh borhoods. (CNN)

Regional

Another Journalist killed in Haiti as violence continues

An eighth Journalist has been killed in Haiti so far this year, the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) report ed, as the Caribbean na tion grapples with surging gang violence and targeted attacks against members of the media.

The association said on Wednesday that Fritz Dorilas, who worked with Radio Tele Megastar, was shot dead near his home in Tabarre, northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince, on November 5.

“We continue to deplore crimes against Journalists this bloody year in our re gion,” IAPA official Carlos Jornet said in a statement.

“The lack of justice gives even more incentive to the violent individuals.”

Violence continues to surge across the capital, where increasingly pow erful criminal gangs have been battling for control in the political vacuum creat ed by last year’s assassina tion of President Jovenel Moise.

Haiti is suffering from

a continuing security and humanitarian crisis as a weeks-long blockade on a key petrol terminal has led to electricity and water shortages, and exacerbated already-high rates of hun ger.

Dorilas’s killing came less than a week af ter a Haitian Journalist with Radio Tele Zenith, Romelson Vilsaint, died

during a protest in Port-auPrince.

Vilsaint died on October 30 when a tear gas canister hit him in the head during an incident in which wit nesses said Police threw tear gas and opened fire on a group of Journalists de manding the release of a colleague.

UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay

last week called for an in vestigation into Vilsaint’s death and for those respon sible to be held accountable. “Journalists must be free to attend and report on events of public interest without fearing for their safety,” she said in a statement.

The neighbourhood where Dorilas lived has seen an uptick in fighting between gangs. (Al Jazeera)

Dominican Opposition to boycott snap election

The main Opposition United Workers Party (UWP) on Tuesday said it had taken a decision not to contest the December 6 snap general election, say ing it remains convinced that the electoral reform “as demanded by the Dominican population is needed to facil itate free and fair elections” in Dominica.

Nomination Day is set for November 18.

The Party said that it was calling on President Charles Savarin “to revoke the call ing of election by the Prime Minister,” who on Sunday announced the date for the polls three years after he led the ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to a convincing 18-3 victory in the general election of 2019.

On Sunday also, the sole Commissioner to ad vance efforts towards elec toral reform in Dominica, Sir Dennis Byron, had pro posed presenting the first phase of his report by the end of November with the Parliament tabling the Register of Electors legis lation in December and the plan to enact it in January 2023.

Brazilian music icon Gal Costa dies aged 77

GalCosta, one of the giants of Brazilian popular music, has died at the age of 77.

The singer rose to fame in the 1960s when she spear headed the Tropicália move ment alongside fellow stars Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso.

Her press team did not disclose the cause of her death.

Costa had recently had to cancel some concerts on doctor's orders after an oper ation, but had planned to re turn to the stage next month in São Paulo.

Those paying tribute to Costa on social media in cluded President-elect Luiz

Inácio Lula da Silva, who called her one of the world's greatest singers.

He said she was one of the main artists to put Brazil, and Brazilian music, on the world map.

2 Cubans fined for overstaying visit, forgery in Jamaica

Two Cubans were fined a total of J$180,000 for charges relating to overstaying their vis it to Jamaica and forgery, when they appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish, on Tuesday.

The two accused, Rosa Ramos and Babaro Mormigo, visited the is land on September 23, 2022 on the condition that they would remain in the island no longer than September 26, 2022. It was revealed that they were both found on the island after that date.

Ramos, a restaurant manager, and Mormigo, a mechanic, through a trans lator, both pleaded guilty to the charges of overstay ing their visit, possession of a forged driver’s licence, possession of a forged deed poll documents supported by birth certificates, conspiracy to obtain a Jamaican birth certificate, attempting to obtain passports by forged document, making a false declaration on a passport application, and two counts of uttering forged document.

The court was told by the translator that Ramos and

Mormigo entered the coun try to purchase a generator and food supply because the living conditions in Cuba are not desirable. It was also re vealed that they were living in Ocho Rios, St Ann, before they were caught.

Expressing her under standing of the circumstanc es which led to them commit ting these offences, Senior Parish Judge, Lori-Ann Cole-Montague said, “They have breached our laws, but the court takes into account why they did what they did.” (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

Inless than two weeks, and unless an under taking is given by the Prime Minister, the National Security Minister and the National Security Council (NSC), the High Court will give a date for its ruling on an injunction former police commissioner Gary Griffith is asking for to prevent the publication of the contro versial firearm user’s li cence (FUL) audit report in Parliament.

On Wednesday, the first hearing since Griffith re ceived the court’s permission to challenge the decision of the Prime Minister, the mem bers of his Cabinet who sit on the NSC and three Police Officers who signed the re port came up before Justice Devindra Rampersad.

On October 28, Rampersad granted Griffith

leave to pursue a judicial re view claim challenging the legality of the setting-up of the committee to do the au dit and its investigation.

Named in Griffith’s law suit are Dr Rowley; former Attorney General Faris AlRawi; Ministers Fitzgerald Hinds, Colm Imbert, Stuart Young and Marvin Gonzales, as members of the NSC; as

The UWP had demand ed electoral reform ahead of the last general election, but the Skerrit Administration said it had been stymied by Opposition legislators who refused to debate the nec essary legislation needed to advance the electoral reform process.

Sir Dennis, a former president of the Trinidadbased Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), had written to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, as well as the Opposition Leader, Lennox Linton, indicating that he was “working towards ex pediting the presentation of my Recommendations for the improvement of the Electoral Process in the Commonwealth of Dominica”.

In a statement, the UWP said it views with “disap pointment and dismay” the pronouncement by the Prime Minister to hold a “snap” general election, saying “this call for national elections is seen as an outrage to all Dominicans, especially the residents of the east of the country who were reeling un der the impact of a natural di saster.” (Excerpts from CMC)

well

Wellington Virgil, Raymond Craig, and Lennard Charles, who formed part of the audit team.

On Wednesday, the judge was expected to hear submis sions on Griffith’s injunction application as well as one for the disclosure of the names of everyone involved in the audit.

However, he has asked the parties to discuss the possibility of an undertak ing not to publish the report until Griffith’s claim is deter mined.

At a virtual hearing, Griffith’s lead attorney, Avory Sinanan, SC, said his client took no comfort in an assur ance from Young that there was no intention to lay the re port in Parliament nor a dan ger of it being laid. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

El Salvador, China to begin free trade talks

China

and El Salvador will begin free trade talks, the Chinese Ambassador to the country and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said during an event in El Salvador Wednesday.

The two countries would work together to finalise the process "as soon as possi ble”, the Chinese Embassy in El Salvador said in a

statement.

The announcement came as El Salvador was receiving a donation of fertiliser and wheat flour from the Asian nation, which El Salvador said would "mitigate the im pact of the worldwide eco nomic crisis."

On Monday, a Salvadoran court upheld a suspension of El Salvador's free trade agreement with Taiwan,

which China's Ambassador to El Salvador Ou Jianhong celebrated.

"We express our grati tude and appreciation for this ruling on the basis of the One China Principle," she said at the time.

The One China Principle is the position held by China that both China and Taiwan are part of “one China”. (Reuters)

"Her talent, technique and audacity enriched and renewed our culture, rocked and marked the lives of millions of Brazilians," he added. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Trinidad: Griffith “not comforted” by assurances FUL audit report will not be made public

Oil prices plunge 3% on US inventory build, China COVID worries

Oil prices sank by roughly US$3 a barrel on Wednesday after industry data showed that US crude stockpiles rose more than expected and on concerns that a rebound in COVID-19 cases in top importer China would hurt fuel demand.

Brent crude futures settled at US$92.65 a barrel, shedding US$2.71, or 2.8 per cent, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled at US$85.83 a barrel, dropping US$3.08, 3.5 per cent. The benchmarks fell around 3% on Tuesday.

US crude in storage jumped by 3.9 million barrels last week to 440.8 million barrels as oil production increased to about 12.1 million barrels a day, US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed. Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected a stockpile rise of 1.4 million barrels.

US gasoline stocks were down by 900,000 barrels in the week to 205.7 million barrels, the EIA said, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a drop of 1.1 million barrels. ?Distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by about 500,000 barrels, a smaller-thanexpected decline.

"Adding to downside pressure is the continued concerns over the future Chinese economic growth path that could prompt adjustment of global oil demand views," Jim Ritterbusch, of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.

Last week, the market had latched onto hopes that China might be moving toward relaxing COVID-19 restrictions, but over the weekend health officials said they would stick to their "dynamic-clearing" approach to new infections.

COVID-19 cases in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities have surged, with millions of residents of the global manufacturing hub being required to have COVID-19 tests on Wednesday.

"With that (China reopening) narrative getting pushed back, coupled with a considerable build on U.S. inventory data, implying dimming US demand, the recessionary crews are back out in full force this morning in Asia," Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a note.

A stronger US dollar, which makes oil more expensive for buyers in other currencies, also weighed on crude prices. The dollar advanced against several major currencies as results so far for the U.S. midterm elections on Tuesday dispelled notions of a resounding Republican victory.

Meanwhile, supply concerns remain.

The European Union will ban Russian crude imports by December 5 and Russian oil products by February 5, in retaliation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)

Around the World

Russia abandons Ukrainian city of Kherson in major retreat

RussianDefence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered his troops to withdraw from the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson and take up de fensive lines on the opposite bank of the River Dnipro.

The announcement marked one of Russia's most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war, now nearing the end of its ninth month.

In televised comments, General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, reported to Shoigu that it was no longer possible to keep Kherson city supplied.

"Having comprehensive ly assessed the current situ

ation, it is proposed to take up defence along the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River," said Surovikin, standing at a lectern and in dicating troop positions on a map whose details were

greyed-out for the TV audi ence.

"I understand that this is a very difficult decision, but at the same time we will preserve the most import ant thing – the lives of our

servicemen and, in general, the combat effectiveness of the group of troops, which it is futile to keep on the right bank in a limited area."

The news followed weeks of Ukrainian advances to wards the city and a race by Russia to relocate more than 100,000 of its residents by ferrying them to the op posite side of the river.

Kherson is the main city of the region of the same name – one of four Ukrainian regions which President Vladimir Putin proclaimed in September he was incor porating into Russia "forev er", and which the Kremlin said had now been placed under Moscow's nuclear um brella.(Excerpt from Reuters)

Store owner who sold record US Powerball ticket gets $1M bonus

US Senate control hung in the balance while Republicans moved closer to securing a majority in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, a day after Democrats outperformed expectations and avoided a Republican "red wave" in midterm elections.

The Senate contests in Nevada and Arizona, where Democratic incum bents were seeking to hold off Republican challengers, were as yet undecided, with thousands of uncounted bal lots that could take days to tally.

If the parties split those races, the Senate's fate would come down to a Georgia runoff elec tion for the second time in two years, after Edison Research projected nei ther Democratic incum bent Raphael Warnock nor Republican Herschel Walker would reach the 50 per cent necessary to avoid

Stranded migrants disembark in Italy as 1 ship heads to France

The remaining passen gers on two humani tarian ships that Italy had initially refused to take in have been allowed to dis embark, as another vessel carrying 234 people head ed to France in the hope of a safe port.

<<<The Ocean Viking>>>, operated by the European organisation SOS Mediterranee, left Sicily for the French island of Corsica on Tuesday.

It was not yet clear if the ship would be allowed to dock by the French Government, which had

previously called on Italy to grant a safe port to the ref ugees and migrants.

The organisation told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that it had sent nine “place of safety” requests, but had not yet received any re sponse.

The Ocean Viking has been at sea for more than two weeks since its first rescue in the Central Mediterranean.

The new hard-right gov ernment of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week remained silent to repeated requests by rescue groups

to provide safe harbour, ef fectively blocking at sea the Norwegian flag-bear ing <<<Ocean Viking>>> and <<<Geo Barents>>> and the German-flagged <<<Humanity 1>>>.

Rome sent letters to the Embassies of Norway and Germany, say ing Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) ships flying their flags were not following European security rules and were undermin ing what it described as the fight against undocumented immigration. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

a December 6 one-on-one rematch.

Republicans were clos ing in on the 218 seats needed to wrest control of the House from Democrats, with 208 now in their col umn, Edison Research pro jected. But 23 of the 53 most competitive races, based on a Reuters analysis of the leading nonpartisan fore casters, were still pending as of Wednesday afternoon, raising the prospect that the final outcome may not be known for some time.

Even a slim House ma jority would let Republicans hem in Democratic President Joe Biden during his next two years in office, blocking legislation and launching potentially polit ically damaging investiga tions.

Speaking at a White House news conference, Biden vowed to work with Republicans and said he un derstood voters are frustrated despite Democrats' surpris ingly competitive campaign. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Joseph Chahayed says he loves selling lot tery tickets – and he'll love it a little bit more after Tuesday's world record-set ting US Powerball jackpot.

The store owner has re ceived a US$1 million bo nus for selling the win ning ticket in Altadena, California.

The grandfather of 10 –who arrived in the US from Syria in the 1980s – said he was excited, but would re turn to the shop as usual at 06:00 every morning.

One ticket scooped the US$2.04 billion jackpot, ac cording to Powerball.

Chahayed said he did not know who had bought

the ticket, but hoped it would be someone local.

As for his own plans, he said he would help his chil dren.

"My son is expecting a baby in two months, so we are excited!" Chahayed said, according to the BBC's US partner CBS. "We can have a nice celebration for another baby."

"All what I do, I work hard, seven days a week," he told the news outlet.

Tuesday's jackpot was the world's largest lottery prize.

The odds of winning it were set at one in 292.2 mil lion, according to Powerball. (Excerpt from BBC News)

Elon Musk tells Twitter advertisers he wants to

Twitter's

new owner Elon Musk told adver tisers on Wednesday he aimed to turn the social media platform into a force for truth and stop fake ac counts in an effort to as suage brands and adver tising agencies that have increasingly been backing away.

Days after Twitter rat tled users and advertis ers by cutting half its staff, over 100,000 listeners tuned in to hear Musk speak on Twitter's Spaces feature.

He was joined by Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and integrity, who has reassured users that Twitter would uphold its policies against harmful content.

Musk, the world's richest man, spoke calmly about his vision for Twitter, touting an US$8 charge for premium subscriptions as a bot rem edy and musing about the possibility of someday offer ing money market accounts.

In the week since Musk took over, GM, General Mills and Mondelez International

Inc have pulled ads off Twitter, concerned Musk could loosen content moder ation rules. Major brands in cluding Wendy's Co, Chickfil-A, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co monitored Musk's talk on Wednesday.

Musk blamed Twitter's "massive drop in revenue" on a coalition of civil rights groups that has ramped up pressure on advertisers, de manding they suspend ads globally after he laid off roughly half of the staff.

(Excerpt from Reuters)

Biden urges Republicans to work with him as control of U.S. Congress unclear

stop fake accounts, pursue truth

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2022

T20I World Cup…

-make light work of New Zealand Near-perfect Pakistan storm into

Pakistan - the team that lost to Zimbabwe earlier in the tourna ment; they who had limped into the semis, thanks only to the Netherlands’ unlike ly win over South Africa - have stormed into the fi nal of the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup, having pro duced a near-perfect game to defeat New Zealand in their semi-final match. So much that is so great about this Pakistan team fell into place in this game. Shaheen Afridi got his first-over wicket when he trapped Finn Allen in front with a vicious inswing er with the third delivery. Their seamers locked down

the back end of the innings, conceding just 53 runs off the last six overs (this is something they’ve done well right through the tour

nament).

Then, having restricted New Zealand - who strug gled to find boundaries - to 152 for 4, their openers re

2022 ICC T20I World Cup… England, India in blockbuster semi-final at Adelaide Oval

–– England sweat on injuries as India await

Theself-anointed big boys of world cricket are going at it at the Adelaide Oval. The neutrals may struggle to pick a side, but one thing is certain - it will be a blockbuster occa sion.

Familiarity will breed competition in this instance, given what’s at stake. Just a few months ago, these two sides spent a concentrated fortnight at one another’s throats, with India taking the T20I leg with a pretty convincing 2-1 series win.

However, things are dif ferent now, very much in a good way. Jos Buttler is a more accomplished captain, settled in the rigmarole of the job and his tactics, while Virat Kohli has rediscov ered his mojo. England will feel they have an edge of sorts, what with two mustwin games ticked off against New Zealand and Sri Lanka to get them out of Group 1. There is a renewed confi dence about them as setters, having long been chasers, to the extent that the toss may be academic, provided eve ning dew is minimal.

As for India, the only team to have won four matches in the Super 12 stage, the pressure to go on to a reunion with Pakistan at the MCG in Sunday’s fi nal will be great, though no greater than what their players usually contend with. Quite apart from their obvious strength is a cere bral approach to their T20 work that gives them a unique edge over opponents

before they have set foot on the park. Much of England’s public preparation has been on bigging that up, while privately racking their brains to take them down a few pegs.

The shorter square boundaries in Adelaide, as detailed in our Tactics Board, will play to the strengths of both batting line-ups. That no Englishman other than openers Buttler and Alex Hales have hit more than one six in the tournament speaks of a middle order that hasn’t quite come to the party. And while it’s tempt ing to say they are “due”, India will no doubt be focus ing on keeping them quiet.

One expects Sam Curran’s emergence as Buttler’s goto death bowler would also face its sternest test against a side who are striking at 11.90 at the death.

In the spotlight

In a team of superstars, Suryakumar Yadav strides above them all as the man of

this World Cup. No one has had a more profound effect on his team - and opponents - quite like this 32-yearold phenom, equipped with more scoring options than Erling Haaland. The num bers he’s posted so far - 225 at a strike rate of 193.96are remarkable, the stroke play drawing admiration from all quarters, even from AB de Villiers, who is the only one that comes to mind when it comes to the consis tent destruction this man is serving up. Can he be stopped?

Reliable with the ball, the usual excellence in the field, and against Sri Lanka, finally a score of note with the bat. Picking Ben Stokes in this section is as clear as the sky is blue. But in Dawid Malan’s likely absence, the allrounder is the only batter likely to hold the innings to gether and take things deep in the event of early losses. They say the big moments find him, and few come big ger than this.

turned to dazzling form.

Having been dropped in the first over, Babar Azam struck 53 off 42 balls, whipping quicks through square leg, and thumping spinners down the ground. Mohammad Rizwan was even more impressive, hit ting 57 off 43 as the pair put on 105 for the first wicket.

There was a slight stut ter towards the end, as Pakistan lost their openers and slowed down a touch. But Babar and Rizwan had foolproofed the chase, and Pakistan got there with five balls to spare.

Dominant at the death

At 99 for 3 at the end of the 14th over, New Zealand weren’t exactly flying, but given the firepower in their middle order, they could have had a score in ex cess of 160 in their sights. Pakistan’s quicks mixed up their pace, bowled expert ly to their fields, and were backed up beautifully in the field, where Pakistan excelled this evening. New Zealand could muster only three fours in the last six overs, relying instead on hard-run twos, Daryl Mitchell taking the lead on those.

Quicks taken down Trent Boult could have had Babar in the first over, when the batter nicked his first ball. But a div ing Devon Conway could only get the webbing of his gloves to the chance, and couldn’t make it stick.

In Boult’s next over, Pakistan’s openers kicked the innings up into high gear, where it stayed for the duration of their stand. Babar crashed Boult through point, before Rizwan glanced him fine, then thumped him square

Shadab Khan 4-0-33-0 Mohammad Nawaz 2-0-12-1

on the offside as well, the pair taking 15 off that over.

Off Tim Southee’s sec ond over, they took 15 again, Rizwan slamming him twice through midwick et before Babar cracked him through backward square leg.

The spinners provided New Zealand with a little control, but the pair nego tiated that period smartly, rarely failing to find the boundary off the bad balls. By the end of the 12th, the required rate was just 6.37.

A sliver of hope

If there was one pe riod New Zealand could claim to have been on top, it was likely overs 11 to 14 of their own innings. They’d been 59 for 3 at the halfway stage, desperate ly needing to get a move on. Mitchell hit two fours off the 11th over, bowled by Shadab Khan. In the 13th over, Williamson hit

Pakistan (T: 153 runs from 20 ovs)

Mohammad Rizwan †c Phillips b Boult 57 Babar Azam (c) c Mitchell b Boult 53 Mohammad Haris c Allen b Santner 30

Shan Masood not out 3 Iftikhar Ahmed not out 0 Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 3) 10

TOTAL 19.1 Ov (RR: 7.98) 153/3

Did not bat: Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi

Fall of wickets: 1-105 (Babar Azam, 12.4 ov), 2-132 (Mohammad Rizwan, 16.6 ov), 3-151 (Mohammad Haris, 18.6 ov)

BOWLING O-M-R-W

Trent Boult 4-0-33-2

Tim Southee 3.1-0-24-0

Lockie Ferguson 4-0-37-0

Mitchell Santner 4-0-26-1

Ish Sodhi 4-0-26-0

the innings’ first six, smok ing Mohammad Wasim over deep square leg, before Mitchell launched Shadab into the sightscreen in the 14th. All up, they scored 40 runs in those four overs. They did not match that rate of scoring after that pe riod.

Nerves eased

There was a slowdown after Babar and Rizwan were parted, and a slight unease when Rizwan was out at the end of the 17th over, leaving Pakistan with 21 to get off 18 balls.

Mohammad Haris, howev er, put Pakistan back on the smooth road to victory next over. He backed away and drilled a Lockie Ferguson yorker wide of mid-off for four, before sitting back to hook him into the stands next ball. He was out before the winning run came, but he’d made the game safe.

Matarkai NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour Power Inter-Club Football league…

Qualifiers produce furious action

Matthews Ridge FC and Fitzburg United FC have each recorded victo ry at the launching of the Matarkai NAMILCO “Thunderbolt Flour Power” Inter Club Football League last Saturday at Fitzburg Ground in Port Kaituma, Region One.

In front of a sizable crowd, Matthews Ridge FC defeated Port Kaituma Secondary School FC 2-0, while Fitzburg FC humbled Oronoque FC 2-0 to lead the table standing with three (3) points each.

Matthews Ridge FC player Noah Thomas, #11, opened his team ac count with a superb goal in the 15th minute, while Joel George, #8, chipped in with one in the 52nd min ute of play. The boys from the manganese community received two yellow cards, while they also suffered a blow during the climax of play, as Cleon Green was

red-carded for a dangerous tackle. On the other hand, Port Kaituma Secondary School received one yellow card.

However, the ten mem ber Matthews Ridge FC team managed to hold their nerve to keep the aggressive Port Kaituma Secondary School FC players at bay until the sound of the final whistle.

Meanwhile, Fitzburg United FC managed to humble Oronoque FC after both teams displayed qual ity football skills but were scoreless within the first half of play. When play re sumed for the second half, Fitzburg United FC player Tushawn Valenzuela net ted a magnificent goal in the 49th minute, while the Tyrell Jacobs goal scored in the 55th minute helped his team maintain a dominant lead until the end of regula tion time.

Five registered clubs in Matarkai: Fitzburg

United FC, Port Kaituma FC, Matthews Ridge FC, Oronoque FC and Sebai FC, will be competing against each other in the inter-club league, with Fitzburg United FC taking on Sebai

Meanwhile, the Club that notches the most points in the competition will play against the sub-regional

winning clubs of Moruca and Mabaruma. The cham pion Barima Waini Football Association regional club will join Guyana Football Federation’s nine other football-playing associa

Barima Waini Football Association now joins Guyana Football Federation’s nine other football-playing associa tions to manage and run off the GFF-NAMILCO “Thunderbolt Flour Power” Inter Club Football League.

Kimtse Castello, Barima-Waini Football Association’s Interim 3rd Vice Chairman, would like to extend gratitude to Orlando Thorne, Matarkai NDC Chairman, for his support; Gailann Kellman of Gailann’s Variety Store for the six cases of wa ter received; International Import and Supplies for the donation of a football; Terrence Ash, BarimaWaini FA committee mem ber, for the transportation, teams, spectators, referees and all others who helped to make the launching a success.

Chandrabali’s Construction invests $385,000 into second-division sponsorship of ACCC

CHANDRABALI’S

Construction of the United States of America has ploughed $385,000 into the Albion Community Centre Cricket Club (ACCCC) as sponsor ship of the club’s second di vision team for the 2022 sea son.

At a simple launch ing ceremony held recent ly at the Albion Community Centre’s Main Hall, Mr. Deva Chandrabali, pro

prietor of Chandrabali's Construction in New York, USA, disclosed via live so cial media appearance that he is extremely happy to be associated with Albion crick et.

“I am from Nigg. I spent a lot of time at the Albion Community Centre in my childhood days, and I am delighted to invest in this outstanding club. It is al ways a pleasure for me to give back to my people,” said

Chandraballi.

President of the ACCCC, Vemen Walter, has thanked Chandraballi for the ges ture and assured him that his sponsorship of the club’s second division team would tremendously assist not only towards development of Albion cricket, but also cricket in Berbice, Guyana, and by extension the West Indies.

“This sponsorship will not only assist the ACCCC,

Trophy Stall on board Prime Minister’s Softball Cup tourney

Guyana National Stadium at Providence, EBD.

Sunich has said he is more than delighted to make a contribution to this mega softball event. President of the League Inc., Ian John, in response, expressed his appreciation to Sunich for his continued support.

Over 2 million dollars are up for grabs at this an nual tournament, which will be its sixth year in suc cession.

Prominent business man Ramesh Sunich has again committed to supporting this year’s Prime Minister’s Softball Cup tourney, having donat ed a trophy.

At a simple ceremony held at the South Road loca tion in Georgetown, Sunich presented the trophy to

president of the Georgetown Softball Cricket League Inc. Ian John.

The three-day Prime Minister’s cricket ex travaganza is set to bowl off on Friday with a le gion of matches being played in Georgetown, be fore things go to be com pleted on Sunday at the

There will be three male categories: Legends (8 teams), Masters (10 teams) and Open (8 teams). Four female sides are slated to compete as well. For each male winning team, the top prize is $600,000, while the triumphant lady side will take home $200,000. Other attractive prizes are at stake.

Again, the League is running off the tournament in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.

but will also contribute to wards the development of the game in Berbice, Guyana, and the West Indies generally. As we all know, Albion is a major player in Berbice, Guyana and West Indies’ cricket, having been known to produce top qual ity cricketers over the years.

“Cricket is a very expen sive game, and I must thank Mr. Chandrabali for this sponsorship,” Vemen has said.

He also took the oppor tunity to thank Mr. Fabian Naiken, who was very in strumental in the develop ment of Albion’s cricket in the early 1990s, before mi grating to Canada, for the role he played in securing

the sponsorship.

The Albion second-divi sion team for the 2022 season will be known as the “Albion Chandrabali's Construction Second Division Team.”

Among those present at the launching were Naiken via social media, along with former Guyana and West Indies opening batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon, currently the Head Coach of Albion. Jonathan Foo and several other members of the club’s first and sec ond-division teams were also present.

With the exception of the Albion first-division team, which is partly sponsored, all of the club's other teams are now fully sponsored.

The club’s under-19 team is sponsored by K.P. Jagdeo General Contracting, while Orvin Mangru’s Contracting Services is the under-17 team’s sponsor, Permaul’s Trading & Distribution (PT&D) is the under-15 sponsor, Harichand’s Business Establishment is the under-13 team’s sponsor, and Cell Towers Builders of the USA are the under-21 team’s sponsors.

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Bowling hails excellence of MACORP Golf tourney

…LGC seeking to end 2022 with a bang

TheMACORP Golf tournament that con cluded last Saturday at the Lusignan Golf Club lived up to expectations and was a definite improvement from the previous years’ tournaments.

According to LGC Secretary Chet Bowling, the tournament was fantas tic, and a plethora of players came out to play.

Speaking exclusive ly with this publication, Bowling was asked to com ment on the tournament, and he said, “The tourna ment was fantastic. I think we had at least 53 players, so that is why we had to split the tournament into two time periods. It felt as though Guyana Open had repeated itself, as it was

very competitive, as people were looking forward to win. The prizes were attractive, we had a Caterpillar watch as the number one prize. There were lots of prizes, so people felt that they had a chance to win something, and that motivated them in the tournament.”

Bowling further related that while the weather was a bit stiff, the tournament was still fantastic as the grounds were in good condi tion; so, although there was a lot of rain, the grounds quickly drained.

He detailed that MACORP continues to demonstrate good corporate social responsibility to the game of golf and Guyana, and it reflected why they are market leaders in what they do, as they understand the need for excellence, which is what they bring to golf.

“For the club, there will be one or two bigger tour naments coming up to the end of the year. Some of our regular sponsors, whom we have worked with over the years, we are hoping to get them. We are a little bit wor ried about the rainy season and how it is going to affect the game, but as I said, the grounds are in good condi tions,” Bowling posited.

The LGC Secretary re iterated optimism that the club would close the 2022 calendar year with a bang. He clarified that they will also be seeking to work on the children’s golf issues by the end of the year, as they would be looking to run off a weekend clinic as 2022 draws near, to keep the chil dren involved.

Red Force bundle out Eagles to qualify for semi-finals

CG United Super50 champi ons the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force have defeated Guyana Harpy Eagles by six wickets to

Defending

ed their innings on 183-4 in 34.3 overs, having bun dled out the Harpy Eagles for 182.

In the chase, Red Force lost Amir Jangoo for two, caught at mid-on by Clinton Pestano.

The promising Kjorn Ottley then gifted a re turn catch to Gudakesh Motie after scoring 27, and the Harpy Eagles were fight ing back. Discarded West Indies batsman Darren Bravo (05) was caught at short cover, while Jason Mohammed ran himself out

But after the Red Force had been reduced to 88-4 in 20 overs, Nicholas Pooran came and slammed Veerasammy Permaul to all parts of the ground, causing Permaul’s first over to yield 19 runs. Jyd Goolie part nered Pooran, and the duo took the score to 127-4 in 26 overs.

That was when the rains came at Queen's Park Oval with Red Force ahead of the game. The players returned to the field after a 43-min

ute delay, and Goolie and Pooran each scored half-cen turies to end the Red Force

At commencement of the match, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force won the toss and opted to field first. Guyana’s batting lineup had al ready looked depleted with Tagenarine Chanderpaul departing for Australia and Shimron Hetmyer falling ill.

removed for a golden duck, caught at short mid-wicket off Cariah's bowling.

A frustrated Kevin Sinclair departed after fac ing 11 balls and producing a duck after hitting one into the air to give Cariah anoth er wicket.

innings on 183-4 in 34.3 overs, effecting a win with 93 balls remaining.

Pooran was unbeaten on 56 from 47 balls, while Goolie, who scored his maid en List A half-century, was on a run-a-ball 58. The duo added 95 runs to seal the match by six wickets.

Motie had 2-44 from eight overs. Guyana Harpy Eagles will play CCC on Saturday November 12.

Guyana then lost Anthony Bramble cheaply; he ran down the track and was stumped for one off the bowling of Akeal Hosein. Kemol Savory, playing his first match of the season, was partnered by Tevin Imlach, and the duo added 59 runs for the second wicket. Legspinner Yannic Cariah then bowled Savory for a 44-ball 32, after the left-hander from Essequibo had stroked one four and one six.

Captain Leon Johnson was caught at square-leg off a Shannon Gabriel shortball, and the Red Force were wreaking havoc on the Eagles.

While Imlach dropped anchor, he saw his part ner Akshaya Persaud be ing run-out for three and Sherfane Rutherford being

Organizers express gratitude to sponsors of Port Mourant Turf Club horse meet

In the third race of the day, Princess Stefan’s got the better of American Traveller in that G & Lower event. Amicable Kate and Memories finished third and fourth respectively.

Imlach's long innings, which had a solitary bound ary, concluded when he was bowled by the fiery Gabriel for 34 from 64 balls. The big Berbician Romario Shepherd then came to the crease and strengthened the Eagles’ position with support from the brave Gudakesh Motie. The duo joined forc es with the Eagles at 97-8 in 31.2 overs, and they add ed 79 runs, which saved the Harpy Eagles from further heartache. Shepherd, who scored a fifty against Red Force earlier in this tour nament, was eventually caught at short third-man for 56 from 50 balls after an innings that was laced with three sixes and four fours.

Motie was left unbeaten on 39 from 47 balls in an in nings decorated with three

fours and one six. Cariah was the pick of the bowl ers with 3-30 from 10 overs, while Gabriel and Hosein each had two wickets for Red Force.

The tournament will continue on Saturday in Trinidad and Tobago.

ThePort Mourant Turf Club horse meet has been described as a successful event by the sponsors. Jumbo Jet's Looking to Heaven clinched the one-million-dollar fea ture event, being piloted by Guyana’s champion jockey Colin Ross to pole position.

Among the sponsors of

this successful event were Banks DIH, KP Jagdeo, AJM, Jumbo Jet Auto Sales, Anil Sawh Contractor, Kascon Engineering, P&P Insurance Brokers, and Delmur Company Limited.

The meet on Sunday last was held under clear skies with the J3 Non-Starters race being the first event

to be held. Tiny finished first ahead of Lord’s Gift l, Perfect Progressive and Republic 2 in that order.

The second race of the day was the J Class event, which saw Red Star pipping Cash Return to claim the $300,000 cash prize. Perfect Storm finished third while Skittles came fourth.

In the fourth race, which was the two-year-old race for maiden horses, 13 animals started the race, and Red Ammunition left the compe tition in the dust, finishing first to claim the $400,000 first prize. Hayley finished second, while Legacy and Rough Ride rounded out the top four.

Race five was the fea ture event, and it was won by Looking to Heaven, while race six saw Republican claiming the top spot. The next horse meet for the Port Mourant Turf Club is billed for December 11.

Sherfane Rutherford 2.4-0-17-0

Akshaya Persaud 0.2-0-1-0

Gudakesh Motie 8-1-44-2

Veerasammy Permaul 4.3-0-40-0

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has writ ten a letter to former Guyanese/West Indian top class cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the occasion of his being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. In that letter, the Head of State has paid deserving homage to this cricketing legend.

The correspondence from President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali states as follows: “I join all Guyana in offer

Induction into the ICC Hall of Fame…

President Ali congratulates cricketing great Shivnarine Chanderpaul

ing congrat ulations to Shivnarine Chanderpaul on his induction into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. His place amongst the immortals of cricket is richly deserved and a fitting recognition long overdue to one of the game’s most du rable batsmen. His record speaks volumes of his ser vice to the cricket, and justly accords him a revered place in the pantheon of all-time cricketing greats.

“‘Shiv’, as he is often re ferred to by cricketing fans and colleagues, has been one of the game’s most ver

satile batsmen. He placed a high premium on his wick et, never prepared to easi ly surrender it. Known for his dogged batting, supreme powers of concentration and tenacious spirit, he was a great accumulator of runs,

ever prepared to occupy the crease for extended periods. But Shiv was equally adept at changing gears as the cir cumstances dictated and to essay seamlessly into at tacking stroke-making. His fans and foes alike will re

call his ability to blend im pregnable defence with deft touches and, at times, flam boyant stroke play.

“His commitment and dedication to Guyanese and West Indian cricket is un questionable. Shiv has been

a faithful, loyal and devot ed member of West Indian cricket. Shiv stands as a role model for young cricketers. His approach to training and his discipline are exem plary and worthy of emula tion by all upcoming and as piring cricketers.

“Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s love for the game is limitless, as is his commitment to contribute his vast cricketing experi ence and knowledge to help ing West Indian cricket soar once again to the heights it once enjoyed. On behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, I wish him con tinued success in his service to cricket.”

Shiv receives Hall of Fame Cap in gala ceremony at SCG

West Indies legend Shiv Chanderpaul received his commemorative cap at a ceremony as the new est member of the International Cricket Council Hall of Fame on Tuesday night.

The 48-year-old was on Monday named by the ICC as inductee 107, and was joined by iconic Pakistan leg-spin ner Abdul Qadir and England’s multi-time World Cup-winning captain Charlotte Edwards. On Wednesday they were “capped”

ahead of the first semifinal of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup between Pakistan and New Zealand. Ricky Skerritt, CWI President and ICC Director, was among several delegates and special guests at the ceremony.

“This is an amazing honour to follow the footsteps of many legends and so many other great cricketers of the past,” said Chanderpaul. “I’m grateful for the recognition, and would like to enjoy the moment with family, friends, and, most importantly,

the West Indies cricket fans and fans around the world who pas sionately supported me through out my career.”

Geoff Allardice, ICC Chief Executive Officer, said Chanderpaul, Edwards and Qadir were great “ambassadors” of the game.

“The ICC Hall of Fame con tinues to celebrate the icon ic individuals that have shaped the history of cricket,” he said in a statement. “Only the very best are honoured in this way,

and it is wonderful to commem orate the lasting contributions of Shivnarine, Charlotte and Abdul.”

Allardice added: “These three ambassadors of our great game enjoyed tremendous success on the international stage, and are richly deserving of their status as ICC Hall of Famers.”

During his illustrious ca reer, which spanned 21 years, Chanderpaul played 164 Test matches – the most by a West Indian. He scored 11,867 runs,

with 30 hundreds at an av erage of 51.37. In One-Day Internationals, he notched 8,778 runs from 268 appearances with 11 centuries at an average of 41.60.

Chanderpaul is second on the all-time West Indies run-scoring list in Tests, and is one of just two players – the other being Brian Lara – with over 10,000 runs. The Guyanese is third on the ODI run-scoring charts, be hind Chris Gayle and Brian Lara. (Windies cricket)