Kaieteur News

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Some scenes from this year's poorly attended Cricket Carnival Parade Elderly man dies after knocked off bicycle Campbellville to get new $766.2 million

‘Time to modernise copyright laws’ ...Govt.,AFCagree High Court orders $83M to be repaid to investors in New Nigel Supermarket deal health centre

‘Govt will stick with lopsided Exxon contract’ ...Pres.AlitellsNewYorkTimes

Last week, Guyana's

President Irfaan Ali

reaffirmed that his administration will uphold

the Stabroek Block

Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), even though it heavily favours

ExxonMobil and its partners.

ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) is the operator of the Stabroek Block, with a 45% interest,

while Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and China National Offshore Oil Corporation

(CNOOC) Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25% interest.

During an interview at theNewYorkTimesClimate Forwardevent,international climate correspondent Somini Sengupta asked President Ali to address criticisms from Guyanese citizensregardingtheExxon

PSA The agreement exempts the oil companies from paying taxes with Guyanacoveringthosecosts out of its share of profit oil, grantsamere2%royaltyon the country's valuable resources, and allows the companiestorecover75%of their investments before splittingtheremaining25%, of which Guyana receives 12.5%.

President Ali accepted, “Ihavesaidthisanumberof times. They [Exxon, Hess and CNOOC] had the better hand of the deal ” He

outlinedthathisgovernment inheritedthedeal,whichwas signed by the previous Coalition Government and Exxon. “But listen, as leaders, there's something called sanctity of contract. Can I just walk in there and decide, okay, this contract wassigned[but]we'regoing toabandonthiscontract[or] we're not going to honour this contract,” President Ali said.

He asserted that if his administrationhadchosento walkawayfromthecontract, they would have faced criticism for not upholding the sanctity of contract

“Rightonthisstage,youwill say that there's a tyrant and dictatorinGuyanawhodoes not respect contract, who does not respect the sanctity

President Irfaan Ali being interviewed by international climate correspondent Somini Sengupta at the New York Times Climate Forward event

of contract and then you might hear that Guyana will be called before every commission globally,” PresidentAlisaid.

A l i n o t e d t h a t governments often inherit certain agreements, and in Guyana's case, his administration has to find ways to maximise the benefits of the contract without renegotiating its terms Sengupta asked President Ali, whether, in another scenario, would he consider renegotiating the Exxon deal, or if that option wasentirelyoffthetable.

In response, President Ali avoided addressing the question of renegotiation

d

governmenthasintroduceda

new PSA to ensure that all future oil agreements will differ from the Stabroek Blockdeal.“Ifyou examine the new PSAs, you will see thatissubstantiallydifferent than the PSA that the consortium [Exxon, Hess and CNOOC] enjoys,” Ali said President Ali continued, “But we don't focusonthis.Wedon'tfocus thatthisisagovernmentthat recognized that they had a bad PSA that committed itself to design a new PSA. Went beyond that and implementedanewPSA…” Sengupta pointed out that Guyanese citizens have accused the country's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to conduct sufficient environmental assessments.

implement anything that Norway implemented, and evendoitbetter,”headded.

The reality in Guyana with the Exxon deal is that last year the country earned US$1.6billionlastyearfrom oil sales and the 2% royalty However,forthatsameyear the government had to pay overUS$1.4billiontaxesfor Exxon,HessandCNOOCto the Guyana Revenue Authority(GRA).

She noted concerns that Guyanese taxpayers might be held liable for oil spills due to the type of liability insurance required from oil companies. “In one case, a judge in Guyana has called your Environmental Protection Agency derelict and pliant and said its decisions put your citizens and your environment in grave peril. How do you respond?”Senguptasaid.

President Ali first acknowledged that citizens havebeencriticalonvarious issues.Hethennotedthathis administration is committed to upholding their right to freedom of speech

Moreover, Sengupta highlighted that Norway is frequentlycitedexampleofa country that successfully leveraged its oil wealth to improve the well-being and standard of living for its citizens She noted that Norway imposes over 75% windfalltaxesonoilandgas profits.Shethenasked,“You have a very favorable tax rate.Whatisyourtaxrateon oilextraction?”

“You're talking about a countrythatisnewinoiland gas versus Norway, that has decades of oil and gas experience, and oil and gas revenue,”PresidentAlisaid.

He added that his government's priority is to mirror Norway's success to ensure prosperity for every family, aiming for worldclass healthcare, education, andinfrastructuretoenhance the quality of life for all citizens.

“When we get to that point that Norway had the opportunity to get to after decades of revenue earned from the oil and gas sector then we can

Exxon had reported that while it is subject to Guyana's income tax laws, the taxes assessed on the company's operation are paid by the government, rather than the company itself. The provision of the Stabroek Block contract which gives Exxon and its affiliates a tax-free ride in Guyana has attracted criticisms locally and internationally

The contract states in Article 15 1 that the Contractor (ExxonMobil Guyana Limited) as well as its affiliates shall not be subjected to tax, valueadded tax, excise tax, duty, fee, charge, or impost in respect of income derived from petroleum operations, propertyheldortransactions exceptasspecifiedunderthe agreement.

Further, Article 15 4 states that the sum equivalenttothetaxesowed bythecompanywillbepaid by the Minister responsible for Petroleum to the Commissioner General of the GRA. It should be noted that the contract also allows fortheissuingofareceiptto ExxonMobil, indicating that it has met the local tax requirements to avoid the burdenofdoubletaxation.

Article 15 5 of the contract states, “Within one hundred and eighty (180) days following the end of eachyearof assessment, the Minister shall furnish to Contractor proper tax certificates in Contractor's n a m e f r o m t h e Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority evidencing the payment of the Contractor's income tax under the Income Tax Act and corporation tax under the Corporation Tax Act. Such certificates shall state the amount of tax paid individually on behalf of Contractor or parties comprising the Contractor and other particulars customary for such certificates.”

‘Time to modernise copyright laws’

...Govt, AFC agree

Following a recent lawsuitbyGuyaneseartistes

Jackie'JackieJaxx'Hanover and Ivan 'D'Ivan'HarryVice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that he feels it is time that the country's copyright lawsbemodernisedtoallow for the protection of local artistes and other works which fall under the CopyrightAct.

He also acknowledged thatthiswasanage-oldissue andthatthegovernmenthas been looking to update the laws.

“There are citizens who are of the opinion that the country should have an appropriate legislation to govern its copyright and protect its citizens. But I believeourartistsshouldbe protected.Ihopethatwecan advance it now we are also part of the World Trade Organisation and some countries expect us in the new dispensation they are not going to bring certain typesofbusinesshereunless wehaveprotectionforthem sointhemoderneraaswego forward I think the historic position may have to change,”hesaid.

Emphasising that things are becoming more modern Jagdeo voiced his strong support for the evolution of the framework to protect localartists,eventhoughhe admitted to having a different view some years ago.

“I support protection of local copyright strongly

Historically I might have had another view because I thoughtthedevelopedworld at that time maybe you know they were not

protectingalotofourstuff.”

Leader of the Alliance for Change Nigel Hughes during the party's press conference on Friday said that although the legislation is long overdue they are in full support of it being in place. Hughes said that, “I read that the Vice President has said that copyright legislationisontheway We support the call for the implementationofuptodate copyrightlegislation.”

Hughes said Guyana cannot present itself as a modern democratic society and not have the proper legislationinplacetoprotect the intellectual property of notjustGuyaneseartistsbut also the content of persons internationally who seek to have their intellectual products available on the Guyanese market Referencing content online thathaverestrictionsorwith anoticethatsaysthecontent is not available in a particular country when an attempt is made to play them, Hughes said that this simply means that, “your country does not have any (Continuedonpage10)

Guyana could have already paid off debt by ring-fencing Stabroek Block projects

– Glenn Lall

Awhopping US$34 million in interest alone was paid by the state to service its debtduringthefirstsixmonthsof2024, a burden this country would not have had if government had executed better strategies in the management of the petroleumsector

This is according to Publisher of KaieteurNewsandbusinessman,Glenn Lall. The advocate in a recent public message emphasized that the climbing interestratescouldforceGuyanatofork out another US$35 million in interest for the remaining months of the year, taking the total interest on debt service toUS$70MbyDecember

The country's debt service reached US$85.2M in the first six months of 2024, with US$34M alone paid in interest. Although the country's total debt climbed from US$4.5B at the end ofDecember2023toUS$5Battheend of June 2024, the Bank of Guyana (BoG) in its 2024 Half Year Report revealed that Guyana's total debt service,duringtheperiodunderreview, decreased by 7.7 percent to US$85.2 million.

Lall was adamant that the US$5B debtthatcurrentlyhangsoverthehead of each Guyanese “like a dark cloud” wouldnothavebeenpresenthadtheoil sector seen prudent management over

thelastfiveyears.

The businessman reasoned that since Guyana began producing oil in

governmentshavefailedtopreventthe wantonabuseofthecountry'sresources byforeigncompanies.

He said, “Five years into pumping oil, and we still haven't capped the interestratesorequitychargesontheoil companies' investments, nor have we ring-fencedanyoftheoilprojects…had the government and opposition simply ring-fenced these oil projects, Guyana could'vepaidoffitsdebtsbynow.”

A ring-fencing provision would ensureonlycostsrelatedtooneproject arepaidofffromthoserevenues.Inthis way,moremoneywouldbeavailableto share as profits between the

government and Exxon, after the coventurersrecoverthecostoftheproject. Presently, Guyana could have been receivingagreatershareofprofitfrom the three projects producing oil- Liza One, Liza Two and Payara. This, as Exxon has since recovered over US$19BfromtheStabroekBlock,well abovethecostforthethreeprojects.

To this end, Lall said, “Guyana would be on a development drive unmatched in the region, with our people already enjoying the wealth fromourresources.

But no, instead, we'll be heading backtothosesameoverseasbanksnext year, borrowing more money and paying more interest, while boasting about “development” financed by loans.”

K/News Publisher, Glenn Lall

KaieteurNews

PrintedandPublishedbyNationalMedia& PublishingCompanyLtd. 24SaffonStreet, Charlestown,Georgetown,Guyana.

Publisher:GLENNLALL-TEL:624-6456

Editor:NIGELWILLIAMS

Tel:225-8465,225-8491. Fax:225-8473,226-8210

EDITORIAL

Exxon’s profIts and Guyanese poverty

RecentlyExxonMobilGuyanaLimited(EMGL),witha 45% interest in the rich Stabroek Block in its financial statements, reported after-tax profit of $615 billion or approximatelyUS$3billion.HessGuyanaExplorationLtd. holds 30% interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limitedholds25%interest.

Thismeansthatthethreepartnerstogetherwalkedaway withapproximately$1.4trillionorUS$6.5billionin2023.

In the meantime, the government of Guyana, that is contractually poised to benefit from 50% of the profits generatedintheblock,wasonlypaidUS$1.6billioninoil revenue during 2023. Notably, this sum also includes the 2%royalty

Thenearlierthismonthwealsoreportedthatfor2023, theGovernmentofGuyana(GoG)hadtopaythecombined sum of $306 billion in income taxes for ExxonMobil GuyanaLimitedanditsStabroekBlockpartners,Hessand CNOOC according to the companies’ audited financial statements,whileforthesameperiodGuyanaearned$336 billion from its oil. This arrangement which saw the Governmentpayingalmostthesameamountitearnedfrom oil,intaxesfortheoilcompanieslastyearisasaresultof the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) which Coalition Government signed with the U.S oil major Last year, the three companies earned $1.3 trillion in profits –entirelytax-freein Guyana. However, while Exxon, Hess, and CNOOC are not required to pay taxes, the 2016 oil contract provides for the taxes to be paid to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) by the Government out of its share of profit oil.All of this is happenin on the backs of Guyanese,withtheblooddrainedoutofthem.

Considering Exxon’s fabulous numbers, and this country’s contribution to them, all citizens of this country mustbeevenmoredeterminedtoriseupandfightforwhat isrightlytheirs. Givenourownimpoverishedstate,andthe plight of many citizens, there is every justification for Guyanatogetmorefromitsoilwealth,regardlessofwhatit takes,orwhatmustbedone.

More and more, it is registering in the minds of Guyanese that their leaders will not stand up and fight for them, and when they do say something and signal something, there is the sense that their hearts are not into what they put out. It looks like if the most that there are trying do is to pacify the people, at least those who are agitated by the messages of the few others in this country whoaresayingthatExxonMobilisrobbingus,andthatour own elected leaders have not risen to the challenge before them.

Guyana’sPresident, IrfaanAliandtheoilchief,Bharrat Jagdeohaveskippedaroundanddancedinsidehulahoops where renegotiation of the contract is concerned, which is whyExxonMobilcanboastaboutitsrecordprofit. Jagdeo thenation’sVicePresidentisputinchargeofrunningthis country’soilsector,onwhichsomuchdepends. Yet,hehas distanced himself (by his weak postures and unpersuasive actions)frompursuinganyvigorouscourseofengagement. Anything that pushes the leaders of ExxonMobil to appreciatethatGuyaneseareserious,andthattheywillnot take no for an answer Thus, the American oil giant can baskintheglowofitsgiganticprofithaulfromthebloodof Guyana. AndLeaderofOppositionAubreyNortondespite his 20-point oil plan unveiled last week has not taken a ferociousandpersistentstandthattheremustbechangein ourdealingswith,andreturnsfrom,ExxonMobil. Thisis why, repeatedly ExxonMobil can take home the milk and honey,complimentsofGuyana’soil.

EventhemostfleetinglookatExxonMobil’snumbers, either in dollar or percentage terms, confirms how the company and its people are riding high. The company’s management,workers,shareholders,andspeculatorsallare doing very well. On the other hand, the people who own this immense oil wealth, the Guyanese people, are

At minimum an apology is required

D

EAREDITOR

, Theunbridledurgeofthe Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports to intervene in such an unsavory matter in such an uncultured way speaks highly of the discontent and concerns expressed by the Afro Guyanese community The callsforthoseinvolvedtobe brought before the ERC are just.

DEAREDITOR

T h e y o u n g a n d inexperienced minister needs to publicly apologise

to the affected party and the Afro Guyanese community Before being disciplined, he s h o u l d a l s o m a k e arrangements to have the 1823 monument moved to Parade Ground as initially requested by the Afro Guyanesecommunity

It is time to get things done correctly and show respect for the sacrifices of the Afro Guyanese community

Withconcern, Mr.JamilChanglee

Access to information

, Knowledge is what we want.Schoolsaresuccessful when they eventually show students how to acquire knowledge themselves Knowledge is not merely information, though it is madeupofinformation.Itis not my intention to write a treatise on the processing and logics of turning information into knowledge bymeansofintelligence,but to remind citizens that civil society is characterized by upholdingtherighttoknow Someofususethiscriterion tohelpidentifygenuinecivil society organisations (CSOs).

Some international CSOsgottogetherin2002to uphold the Right to Know, and September 28 was allocatedadayonwhichthis was celebrated. The United Nations (UN) took it up and recommended treaties that would bind States to uphold the right to access information. Guyana signed one such treaty 6 years ago, the Escazú Agreement, which binds her and other countries in Latin America andtheCaribbeantoprovide citizens with rights of “accesstoinformationabout the environment, public p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n environmental decisionmaking, environmental justice, and a healthy and sustainable environment for current and

The exponential increase of

s processing via artificial intelligence contributed to the UN declaring since last year that September 28 be

celebrated as International Day for UniversalAccess to Information.

Governmentsincivilized countries are often the repositories of most of the information collected Astronomical observations published in all inhabited continents thousands of yearsagohelpedlocatetheir respective agricultural seasons in time and led to s o m e d e g r e e o f predictability Knowledge increases today because scientists have access to information Since governments also spend moneyonbehalfofcitizens, they must be held accountable to citizens by transparent procedures and transactions.Thismeansthat informationtodosomustbe accessible in a practical manner,withouthavingtogo through expensive, lengthy legal proceedings in the Courtstogetit.

The Organisation of American States (OAS) urged the Guyana government, and an Access to Information Act was passed in 2011. For a while this effort pleased the OAS and Guyana had a good rating.However,theActisa contortionofwordsandnice sounding phrases that was really designed to strangle access to information. Here isitsdeclaredpurpose:

“ANACTto provide for settingoutapracticalregime of right to information for persons to secure access to information under the control of public authorities in order to promote t r a n s p a r e n c y a n d accountability in the

scratching around to make a living, and this is only consideringtheessentialsforday-to-dayexistence. Their standard of living is frozen in place, their savings stand unmoving(oraredepletedtomakeendsmeet),astheylive withthiscontradictionofbeingtheownersofthiswealth, butstillgrowingpoorerdespiteit.

Now,Guyanesehavesomechoices. Theycancontinue to pretend to be uncaring and passive or they can be so incensed at the lopsided nature of the Guyana-Exxon relationshipthattheycanworkuptheenergyandpassionto come out, be involved, and ramp up the pressure on local leaderssothatsomethinggivesorGuyanesecanelectorally punish political leaders for abandoning them, and joining handswithdangerousoutsiders,todestroytheirhopes,kill theirdreams.

ExxonMobil must make money, but not as much; and Guyanashouldgetmore,andnotsolittle.

working of the Government and public authorities and for the appointment of the C o m m i s s i o n e r o f Information.”

However,thetruenature of the Act is revealed somewhere in the middle of its42pageswhereitallows, in S 13(2), the Public Authority, from which the information is to be had, to classify the records “in accordancewiththesecurity level required as top secret, secret, confidential, restricted or general and the information contained in all documents which are classifiedasgeneralshallbe accessible by the public in accordance with the provisions of thisAct.”And if you think you can get the documentthatisclassifiedas general, think again. The Public Authority might decide that it is not in the publicinteresttodisclosethe information. If you are not weary and still believe you oughttogettheinformation, the Act provides for a C o m m i s s i o n e r o f Information to whom you canappeal.

Let me relate my experience.Threeandahalf years ago I asked the Ministry of Natural Resources(MoNR)fordaily production and analysis of the oil and gas being produced offshore. I was nevergiventhatinformation. So,oneandahalfyearsagoI asked the Commissioner of Information, after learning of the procedure from him. Hewasveryaccommodating a t t h e t i m e , a n d acknowledged the request. But I still do not have the information and any further response from him. Here is what S 18 of the Act provides:

“18. (1) On receipt of a request, the Commissioner of Information shall acknowledge receipt of the request within thirty days from the date of its receipt and advise the applicant if the request is approved or denied within sixty days from the date the request is received.

(2)TheCommissionerof Information may extend the period of sixty days for approval or denial and

inform the applicant of the reasonstherefor

(

3 ) W h e r e t h e

C o m m i s s i o n e r o f Information fails to give access within the time-limit, he shall be deemed to have refusedtogiveaccess.”

C

T

Information is not even obligated to respond to me after 60 days. What kind of legislation is this that is full of procedures that get nowhere, exemptions that get nothing, and an official that can spend no time on a matter and get paid a salary mostpeoplecouldneverget? Wherearehisannualreports totheNationalAssembly?

Theprimary official source of public information should be the Bureau of Statistics (BoS). However, the officers swear an oath of confidentiality to the Chief Statistician, who swears a similar oath to the Minister of Finance. This pre-Independence legacy of the British still governs the BoS Their website has information, but not information that enables us to make the government accountable. A measure of theirusefulnesstothecitizen is the non-publication of censusfigures.Myvisitsand requests to them for oil and gas data only yielded empty promises. No one, not even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could tell me in 1999 how muchgoldOmaiGoldMines Ltd was extracting. Only in my capacity as Head of the department of Chemistry at the University of Guyana was I able in 2001 to access the BoS data for annual chemicalimports.Cyanideis used in known chemical proportion to gold, so its import data enabled me to estimate the astronomical amount of gold that was being produced while no profitwasdeclared.Yetupto now, EPA and Ministries of Natural Resources are still unable to account for gold. There can be no excuse for the continuance of this ignorance.

Mr.BurnhamhadaLatin aphorism he used when goingbacktobasics.Letme

(Continuedonpage06)

VincentAlexander and constitutional reform’

DEAREDITOR

Yesterday I commented onpresentationsmadeatthe F o r b e s B u r n h a m

Foundation’s Elvin

McDavid Memorial Symposium 2024 ‘How can an Electoral System for Guyanaengineerasystemof

Governance that` s responsivetothePluralityof theGuyaneseSociety?’

The invitation was most timely as last week I argued that in Guyana most of the values of a

liberal democratic society, e g , freedom of information, checks and

b a l a n c e s o n t h e executive, the rule of law,

independence of the legislature and judiciary,

principles of local democracy and focus on the common good instead

of parochial ethnic appeals and coercion, are absent.

On behalf of the Foundation, Mr. Vincent

Alexander began his presentation with an opinion that captures a veryimportantelementof G u y a n a ’s c h a o t i c political story ‘Guyana by virtue of its diverse population: Amerindians,

Europeans, Africans,

Chinese, Madeirans (Portuguese), and

Indians, is a plural society Diversity in such societies is manifested in the difference of

traditions, customs, belief systems, values, cuisine, dress and other aspects of the groups ` cultures or ways of life, across the ethnic groups, which are in themselves each identified by their internal commonalities of the differences earlier referenced

S o c i e t i e s t h u s

p o p u l a t e d h a v e

constituent groups, whose ways of life, and trend of thoughts are

i n c o n g r u e n t t h u s resulting in diverse approaches to resolve the same societal issues

In that regard, the question of Governance looms large It stands to reason that the ‘by whom’ has to be a representative body of the diverse groups and the ‘how’ has to be a convergence of thoughts, consensus and the understanding that the common good should prevail over partisan groupinterests.’

I drew attention to an 1861 observation made by the eminent British

philosopher, John Stuart Mills. ‘Free institutions are next to impossible in a countrymadeupofdifferent nationalities Among a people without fellow feeling (the essence of nationhood) the united public opinion necessary to t h e w o r k i n g o f a representative government cannotexist.

The influences which form opinions and decide political acts are different in the different sections of the country

An altogether different set of leaders have the confidenceofonepartofthe country and of another’ Mills considered liberal democracyimpossibleinthe environmentoutlinedbyMr Alexander, and it is no wonder that the notion of ethnicgeographicalpartition is periodically raised in Guyana.

Ialsonotedthatfromthe very inception of the notion of nationhood, Guyana has been plagued by ethnic strife. So much so that in 1954, the report of the British Robertson Commission, observing the views of another 1951 British Commission which stated that ‘Race is a patent difference and a powerful slogan ready to the hand of unscrupulous men who can use it as a steppingstone to political power’, made Mill’s important structural point that has troubled Guyanaeversince.

‘We do not altogether share the confidence of the Waddington Commission thatacomprehensiveloyalty to British Guiana can be stimulatedamongpeoplesof suchdiverseorigins.’

Inthe1960s,MGSmith,

the Jamaican who helped to popularize plural society theory also predicted that once independence was in the air, African and Indians wouldstruggleforpower

As regards the issue of governance and the possibilitythat‘thecommon good should prevail over partisan group interest’, I noted that at a period when ‘ethnic assimilation’ was acceptable, after he won the 1964 elections, Forbes Burnham in his address to thenation,havingreferredto the ‘apparent’ ethnic cleavage that existed in Guyana, blamed ‘the dishonest, deceitfulness, opportunistic, racist propaganda and policies of the PPP’and promised that ‘beginning immediately my government will behave fairly and will demonstrate to PPP supporters that there is nothing to fair but all to celebrate’andlookwherewe stillaretoday!

It was Sir Arthur Lewis (Politics in West Africa (1965) who made a seminal contribution to making liberal democracy possible in ethnically divided societies.

‘Majority rule’, he argued,‘isdysfunctionalfor pluralsocieties.

The most important requirementofdemocracyis that citizens have the opportunity to participate, directly or indirectly, in decision-making.

This meaning of democracy is violated if significant minorities are excluded from the decisionmakingprocessforextended periodsoftime.

U n d e r s u c h circumstances, narrow majority rule is totally

immoral, inconsistent with the primary meaning of democracy, and destructive ofanyprospectofbuildinga nation in which different peoples might live together inharmony.’ ButGuyanais notsimplyapluralsociety:it i s a m u l t i e t h n i c , bicommunal, society with added problem because two large ethnic groups control over 80% of the population. And ‘[t]o the extent that the constitutional arrangements ignore this (structural) development, tension, alienation, disturbances and underdevelopment result There is little point in blaming the community leadersforinthecompetitive political environment their stories are fit and do win them maximum support There is little point in pleading right-doing for with similar facts the opposite story can also be told.

Nowhere has this story not played out and it’s a mistake to blame the outcomeonanyone.

Power sharing becomes inevitable because of the logicofpoliticalcleavagein competitive democracies ’ (Orr, Scott The Theory and Practice of Ethnic Politics. Aug2007).

Mr Alexander told his audience that ‘democracy, has three pill

responsibility, and responsiveness. Inherent in this proposition is that no single group should be able todominate.

C o n f l a t i o n a n d consensus should prevail overdomination.’

Among other things, government should be limited at the national and

regional levels based on the Catholic principle of ‘subsidiarity’ – nothing should be done at the national level that could be done well or better at the mostlocallevel.

The determination of whoispresidentshouldbea function of a process in the legislaturethatallowsforthe president to appoint a c a b i n e t b a s e d o n proportionality and a prime minister based on the consensus of the legislature. Thepowersoftheexecutive andthelegislatureshouldbe significantlyreduced.

Mr Alexander appears to have taken the democratic pathway, but his conceptualization needs far more clarity particularlygiventhatheis closely associated with a political party that has previously reneged on its promises.

Jimmy Carter walked awayfromGuyanain2004 complaining that the PPP did not want to change the winnertakesallsystem I n 2 0 0 6 , t h e International IDEA, an NGO that supports the developmentofdemocracy worldwide, noted, ‘If any generalization about

(political) institutional design is sustainable, it is that majoritarian systems are ill-advised for countries with deep ethnic, regional, religious and other emotional and polarizing divisions ’ Recently, USAID and the US State Department recommended that the systembechanged Guyanese are not so dense as not to take cognizance of this kind of advice c

d expert sources and other factors must, therefore, be in play Sartori’s observation that selfinterest usually pervades the constitutional reform process is spot on After some half a century of everyone trying to tame the ethnic structural beast, the PPP has given up and has simply chosen the only other alternative: an autocratic pathway that is more in keeping with its ideological and political socialization, i e democratic centralism and racism that have been its traditional organizational andmobilizationtools!

Sincerely

The time is now

DEAREDITOR

For over 50 years, these two political parties (THE PPP and THE PNC) have Guyanese fighting each other

Time to end the PNC experiment characterise by r i g g e d e l e c t i o n s (politically), wrecked economy (economically) andracialsplit(socially).

Time to also end the Jagdeo PPP experiment as well characterised by nepotismandcorruption. Time for the PPP to becomewhatitoncewas-a political party that fight for social justice for the oppressedespeciallyagainst ColonialMasters.

Sincerely

Recognizing anti-fraud work of Counting Agents & Others of 2020 Elections

DEAREDITOR, Credit for deterring attempts at electoral fraud during the 2020 general electionswasfocusedonthe local and international observers, the foreign diplomats, the media, then opposition politicians, Caricom leaders, those who l o b b i e d f o r e i g n governments and the court, among others. Virtually no

attention and or credit or recognitionwasgiventothe counting agents of the political parties who monitoredtheverificationof the SOPs and helped to expose the attempted fraud.

T

watchfully monitored the aggregate count with eagle eyes cross checking every SOP read by each regional returning officer against the

numbers on their duplicate copiesthatwerepostedatthe door of each polling place. Thecountingagentsplayeda most critical role in discovering and identifying discrepancies and exposing

bringingittotheattentionof the observers and the party leaders This writer (reporter) was at Ashmin building counting center

fromMarch2,2020onwards and witnessed first hand the shenanigans of the region 4 returningofficer Amongthe individuals observed at the Ashmin Counting Center daily monitoring the count were:AzeenaBaksh,Vindya

Rodrigues, Mae Toussaint, Sasenarine Singh, Peter

Ramson,SoniaPariag,Indar Deodat,amongafewothers. Among the local observers

inside the counting certification or verification center from the PSC were Kit Nascimento, Gerry Gouveia, and Roshan Khan. All of the above, as well as agents of other parties and foreignobservers,wereinan innerroomontheleftsideas one entered the Ashmin building Anil Nandlall, Bharrat Jagdeo, and Irfaan Alimadeadailypresenceon the outer section inside the building.Nandlallwasthere dailymoreforhislegalskills rather than as an agent involved in certification or verification of the count of the SOPs. Jagdeo and Ali were there to provide solidarity to the party’s agents and to express grievances against attempted fraud and to address the media. Seeraj Dharamkumar was present daily inside Ashmin in the inner room or on the outer section to give support to colleagues. Lennox Shuman andDrVishnuBandhuwere there regularly Chris Ram, Timothy Jonas, among others, were also seen at various times and were also in court; they too helped to savedemocracy

They too deserve recognitionforsalvagingthe willofvoters.

Norman McLean was there occasionally to give support to the PSC colleaguesaswereanumber ofotherindividualsfromthat organization Therewerealso counting agents of other political parties (ANUG,

URP, etc) that contested the elections There were also PNC observers and agents Members of Guyana AmCham had a presence as observers in the verification room Besides the local observers, there were international observers, including former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason, who had a daily presence the week after March2 Thediplomatsfrom the ABCE countries visited the Ashmin building almost daily speaking out against fraud.

This writer was at Ashmin daily observing proceedings. Besides being at theAshmin building, this writerwasatallofthepress conferences related to the attempted rigging and occasionally at the court house on judicial hearings pertaining to the fairness of thecountorattemptedfraud. This writer was also present atthepressconferencewhen the Foreign Minister Ms. Cummings threatened to withdraw credentials of international observers Everyone protested and volunteered to return them. The former Barbadian PM took his credential badge from around his neck and returnedittoMs.Cummings whorefusedtoacceptit.

The counting agents are commended for their work exposing skullduggery The agents,exceptthosefromthe minor parties, were deservedly rewarded with political positions and or lucrativearrangements.

Yourstruly, VishnuBisram

Access to information...

Frompage04 use it on his regimeperpetuating method Rigging of elections is the fonsetorigo,thefoundation and origin, of denial of access to information.Years after the 2020 election we are still denied access to the PNCStatementsofPoll.

The PPP is responsible for the useless Access to Information Act and for allowing the oil companies to get away with not allowing us to check their meters.

Parties with this kind of mentality will suffer no information to be given out which they imagine could cause them to become accountable.

Whenever citizens detect inconsistencies in the operations of publicly funded agencies and write about it, paid regime apologists and salaried personnel of these agencies write to deny, but usually givenodata.

Without necessary information we will be unabletoorderitintouseful knowledge, and school it intowisdom.

Talented and hardworking citizens will migrate where they are adequately rewardedandthenumberof unruly people hustling for a living by any means will increase.

Sincerely AlfredBhulai

AFC youths appeal to GWI to address water woes in Guyana

The youth arm of the AllianceForChange(AFC), Youth for Change (YFC) is callingontheGuyanaWater Incorporated (GWI) to address challenges citizens in sections of Guyana are facing to have access to potablewater Member of the YFC

Onix Duncan in a statement lastFridayatthepatty'snews conference told reporters thattheaccesstocleanwater is a human right that has an impact on the heath of the public as well as the quality of life. Duncan noted that there has been an ongoing issue with inadequate to no water distribution in regions across the country and has urged the government to prioritiseaddressingsuch.

“There are known reports from Prospect, East Bank Demerara, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, La Parafait Harmonie, West

B a n k D e m e r a r a ,

Beterverwagting and Plaisance, East Coast

Demerara and communities in other regions. The water situation cannot be ignored anylonger Guyanaisknown as the land of many waters, and it is discouraging for citizens to be struggling to access potable water This watersituationwillaffectthe health and wellbeing of citizens for not days or weeks but months, disrupting daily life, and hindering economic opportunities,”Duncansaid. Hefurtherstatedthatthe companyhasremainedsilent for the most part, failing to both address the concerns citizens have raised and to provide any considerable updates on the situation as callstothecustomersupport hotlineareunanswered.

“ T h i s l a c k o f communication by GWI is most unacceptable and undermines the trust that consumers have in organizations that provide critical services. Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI)

was allocated GYD$17 7 billion in the 2023 budget and another $22.5 billion in the 2024 budget to improve accesstopotablewaterinthe hinterland and coastal communities,”helamented.

They also suggested that theGWIshouldreachoutto the communities affected to be able to get a better understandingoftheirneeds and use the feedback to incorporate into their plans to provide a better service. There should be regular communication and open forumsestablishedtoensure that residents are informed aswellasinvolved.

Duncan further stated that, “Customer support is unreachable. GWI needs to ensure that Guyanese can enjoy the right to clean and safe drinking water ( Youth ForChangeisledbyagroup ofvibrantyoungpeoplewho operate within the framework of the Alliance forChange(AFC).TheYFC is focused on issues that

affect young people in marginalized communities while promoting social changeandequity TheYFC champions youth policies and initiatives that promote t h e w e l l b e i n g o f Guyanese.)”

OnSeptember14th2024 this publication reported that, the GWI in a statement said that it has commenced pipe replacement works along Avenue of the Republic and High Street as part of its Georgetown Transmission Replacement Programme.

The company explained thatthecurrenttransmission mains, installed between 1920 and 1960, are being replaced due to frequent leaks and breakages, which have made them costly to maintain. This initiative, backed by a $1 billion investment from the Government of Guyana, aims to upgrade the city's watersupplynetwork.

C & L Construction Inc.

'Dull future ahead for Phase Two of Gas-to-Energy Project' - AFC

AsPhaseOneoftheGas-to-Energy (GTE) Projects lags behind, with no fixed date of completion, the Alliance ForChange(AFC)seesadullfuturefor Phase Two of the initiative, to be financedbyprivateinvestors.

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure and Chairman of the Party, David Patterson during a media conferenceonFridaytoldreportersthat Phase One of the GTE project is unlikely to be completed by the 2025 deadline. He said reports indicate that pile driving activities have only just commenced with equipment for the 300-megawatt (MW) power plant and NaturalGasLiquids(NGL)facilityyet toarrive.

Patterson put Guyanese on notice thattheyshouldexpectalengthydelay tothecompletionandstart-upofthegas plants. Theambitiousproject,expected tocostatleastUS$2Bhasbeendelayed duetothelatehandingoverofthesiteto the contractor, Lindsayca-CH4 by ExxonMobilGuyanaLimited(EMGL). TheoperatoroftheStabroekBlockwas tasked with preparing the site for the projectbutsub-contractorshiredbythe company however completed the preliminaryworkslaterthanexpected.

Government and the joint venture (Lindsayca and CH4) have sought to resolve the dispute over the delayed worksthrougharbitration.Thatprocess isongoing.

Phase One only utilizes 50 million standard cubic feet per

(MMSCFD), which amounts to 40%

capacity of Exxon's 250 kilometer 12inchpipeline.PhaseTwowillmakeuse of the remaining 60% capacity of the pipeline.

The selected bidder will be tasked with the design, construction, and operationofa250MWcombined-cycle power plant, to deliver 2,100 gigawatt hours(GWH)ofelectricityperannum. This will be sold to the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Government also wants the private investortoconstructandoperateaNGL facilitytoproduceapproximately6,000 barrels per day of NGL products (propane,butane,andC5+gasolene).

TheAFC'sDavidPattersonsaid,“If Phase One is already developing into a whiteelephant,youcouldimaginewhat PhaseTwowouldbe.Maybeakangaroo

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson

MemberoftheYFC, Onix Duncan

has been contracted to complete the works.

Notably, the replacement works will be executed in twophases:Lot2coversthe section of Avenue of the Republic between Hadfield and Church Streets, while Lot3focusesonHighStreet betweenHadfieldandBroad Street. Each lot is expected totakesixmonths.

Moreover,GWIsaidthat it is actively engaging with stakeholders, including residents, businesses, and public agencies, that are expected to experience disruptions during the projecttimespan.

InAugustofthisyearthe company came under fire from customers who are voicing their frustrations online over the company's ongoingwatersupplyissues. Many customers expressed outrage, claiming that these

issues have persisted far l o n g e r t h a n G W I acknowledges Some residents report that they have been struggling with water supply problems for weeks,ifnotmonths.

In the comment section of GWI's Facebook post, frustrated customers did not hold back One user, Oshaviyah Kattow said, “This has been ongoing for WEEKS now Months, actually! Residents of Georgetown have been receiving little to NO water for MONTHS now and the water we have been receiving has been of absolute poor quality! If is not y'all making our lives hell, it's GPL. Sick of this! MakehasteandFIXITcause wedon'tbegayo.WEPAY.”

Like Kattow, numerous other customers shared similar experiences, stating they have been receiving little to no water for an extended period Others posted alarming images showing the brown, murky water coming from their taps. Natalie Ann Gammell, another dissatisfied customer, posted, “Woke up thismorningtocookandthis was the colour of the water runningthroughthetap.Yall reallyneedtodobetter…Fed up.”

The quality of the water has raised concerns about potential health risks, with some residents worried about the effects of using suchwaterforbathing.

Elderly man dies after knocked off bicycle

or giraffe. I want to say quite clearly, this is another money for the boys project.”

He argued that the administration has failed to put systems in place to provide stable electricity for the country, pointing to the purchase of usedgeneratorsandaleasedpowership to provide relief to the frequent power outages being experienced across the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS). Patterson was keen to notethatevenwiththosemeasures,the government is still seeking more electricitytosupplythenationalgrid.

As such, the former Minister said, “This idea of going for another Phase TwoistypicalPPP Moneyfortheboys, lack of transparency, they obviously wanttogivetheimpressionthattheyare onitbutit'sallasmokescreen.”

A 63-year-old pedal cyclist identified as Stanford Benjamin lost his lifeafterhewasknockedoff his bicycle Saturday afternoonontheNumber28 VillageWestCoastBerbice P u b l i c R o a d

According to police the incident took place around 14:00hrs The accident involved motorcar #PZZ 7256, owned and driven by Malcolm Nurse, a 65-yearold resident of New Amsterdam, Berbice

According to their investigations Benjamin was headed west on the southern side of the roadway and the motorcar

was going in the same direction behind him. The driverallegesthathewasin the process of passing Benjamin when he unexpectedly swerved into the path of the motorcar w

s

o n The front of the car hit the pedal cyclist and caused himtofallontotheroadway receiving injuries. He was pickedupinanunconscious condition and taken to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital,wherehewasseen by a doctor and later succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical t r e a t m e n t Investigations are ongoing.

Genuine concern does not confer authority

F e w t h i n g s i n government are more fraught with peril than the w e l l - i n t e n t i o n e d intervention of a highranking official acting beyond the bounds of his authority It is one thing to possess genuine concern overamatterthattoucheson the public good; it is quite another to act without clear legal or constitutional backing.

The recent intervention bytheVicePresidentintothe

e Burrowes School of Art raises precisely these questions Was the Vice President acting out of a sense of duty, or was this a case of authority being

misapplied?

Thedramabeganwithan allegedracialslur—aprivate altercation between the administrator of the Burrowes School ofArt and aprivatecitizen.Onitsface, this was a personal dispute, best addressed through private channels or, at most, through administrative mechanisms within the government Yet, what should have remained a matter between private citizenssoonescalatedintoa public spectacle The administratorreportedlywas summoned to the office of a Minister, and before long, the Vice President himself enteredthefray

While one might argue thattheVicePresidenthada legitimate interest in

ensuring that public employees are not unjustly

treated, the larger question remains: what was his legal standing to do so? It is one thingforaconcernedofficial toofferguidanceorcounsel; it is quite another to involve oneself in a matter far removed from one’s own portfolio.

The Vice President is tasked with overseeing natural resources, finance, and environmental matters. These are portfolios, by any reasonable interpretation, have little to do with the management of an art school.

The Vice President’s r e p o r t e d involvement calling the administrator to encourage him to reconsider his resignation—raises serious questions Why was it necessary for the Vice Presidenttointerveneinthis matter at all? Were there no proper channels through which such concerns could be addressed? The permanent secretary, after all, is the highest-ranking civil servant in a ministry andshouldhavebeentheone to handle this situation. By intervening, the Vice President not only bypassed those channels but also risked politicizing what should have remained a privatematter

But the situation

becomes even more perplexing when one considers reports that the Vice President “spoke strongly” to, or even “scolded,” the Minister in question. If this is true, it needs to be asked what authority does the Vice

President have to rebuke a fellow Minister? As a minister himself, albeit one with the title of Vice President, he remains a peer among equals Unless specificallyinstructedbythe President,hehasnostanding to issue commands or criticismstohiscolleagues.

In a functioning democracy, ministers are accountabletothePresident, not to each other. The division of powers and responsibilities within the executivebranchisacrucial safeguardagainstoverreach. Ministers have defined portfolios, and while collaboration is often necessary, overstepping those boundaries is a slippery slope toward a concentration of power The Vice President may oversee criticalsectors,butthisdoes notgivehimcarteblancheto involve himself in matters beyondhispurview

Even if the Vice Presidentactedwiththebest of intentions, the issue at hand is one of authority and process If the President indeeddelegatedsuchpower to the Vice President, then this raises additional concerns about the distribution of power within the executive Has the Presidentconferreduponthe Vice President a quasipresidential role, one that allows him to intervene in ministries not under his directoversight?Andifso,is this not a subversion of the v e r y s t r u c t u r e o f government?

The more pressing concern is what happens if

DEM BOYS SEH

Is Open Season fuh Stealing Current!

De gat some – not all – food caravans by de roadside wah looking bright like Christmas trees, but not a meter in sight! It look like demcrackdesecretcodefuhfreeelectricity Yuh could call it “by de pole, no meter needed.”Ahmean,whypaywhenyuhcould pluginandforgetit?

Squatters tekkin notes too. Plug in and play,anddelightsstayonlikemagic!

It’s a free-for-all, folks! Hook up to de pole.Nobodycheckingfuhmetersnomore; who need dem?All yuh need is some wire andbravery Buthere’sdejoke:whilesome man laughing all de way to de bank, we de honestcitizenspickingupdetab!

Dem utility companies nah stupid, yuh know Every kilowatt stolen still haffi be paid fuh, and guess who paying? De man withdemeter

Ahwonderifpeopleunderstandhowde math work. Electricity generate fuh

such interventions go unchecked.

IftheVicePresidentcan unilaterally decide to step into matters far removed from his portfolio, what prevents other ministers from doing the same? What then becomes of the principle of ministerial accountability? Without clear boundaries, the risk is that governance becomes a free-for-all, with each official asserting their authority wherever they see fit, regardless of their constitutionalremit.

This incident brings into sharp relief a deeper issue within the government. It is not merely about the specifics of the Burrowes School of Art or the resignation of its administrator, but rather about how power is wielded and distributed. The Vice Presidentmayhavebelieved that his intervention was necessary, perhaps even noble, but the fact remains that he overstepped his

bounds. He inserted himself into a matter that could and should have been resolved t h r o u g h p r o p e r administrative channels, without the need for highlevelpoliticalinvolvement.

Evenmoreconcerningis theprecedentthissets.

If theVice President can involve himself in matters unrelated to his portfolio, and if it is true that he did reprimandafellowMinister, what does this say about the balance of power within the government?.

To be sure, the Vice President may have had genuine concerns—perhaps hefearedthattheresignation of the administrator needed tobereversedintheinterest of fairness and justice. But genuine concern does not confer authority Even in cases where an official feels morally justified, the exercise of power must always be grounded in clear legal or constitutional authority

Anything less risks

undermining the principles ofdemocraticgovernance.

At the heart of this controversyisaquestionthat demandsananswer:Bywhat authority did the Vice Presidentintervene?

And if he had no such authority, why did he feel empoweredtoactashedid? Thesearenottrivialmatters. They go to the core of how powerisexercisedwithinthe state. The Vice President’s actions in this case, whether well-intentionedornot,raise more questions than they answer

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinionsofthisnewspaper.)

everybody—dem wid meter, dem without, and even dem who plug in wid two lil clamps on de corner pole. De power company only care bout how much energy deygenerate,notwhousingitorhow Ifyuh stealing current, yuh just adding to de line losses,anddemlossesdoesenduponallwe bill.

Nowaadys when yuh open yuh electricitybill,yuhliabletobeshocked. Yuhthinkyuhpayingfuhyuhfridgeand fanalone?Thinkagain!Yuhhelpingtopay fuh de fella down de road who stealing de current. It look like in Guyana, de honest man foot de bill fuh everybody else, includingdelightthief!

Itreminddemboysofdemanwhotold hisbossthattwocompanieswereafterhim. Thebossasked,“Whichcompanies?“ De man answered, “Water and electricity!” Talkhalf.Leffhalf

H@RD TRUTHS

A personal embarrassment should be a national one

Many Guyanese will have difficulty,take umbrage, at some of the Hard Truths shared today Thedivehasalreadystarted, can't be turned back in midair Itistowhereverthe road leads, whatever the reaction(s).

By the evolutionary mystery of geology, Guyana finds itself endowed with one of the most prized commodities on earth. It could be rare earths, but the great undersea pools of a product enjoying that rarest ofstandings:globaldemand, continuing worldwide dependencynotwithstanding

some intrusions from other forcesofnature.

By the proximity of latitudes and longitudes, there are these lakes of the viscous black stuff in Guyanathatmanycountries, most of them, in the world would relinquish lots of territoryandmorecitizensto claim some fractional ownership.

It is there and, though some games are underway withthelatestnumber,there is something on which there is

agreement.

controversies from warring

comrades The trouble begins, at least at this address,withhowthosewho raise their hands to be stewards of this richest of nationalendowments.

The would-be stewards kowtow first, then all but collapse on themselves, in their efforts to represent some local substance and viability before those who have planted their corporate flaginthiscountry

Those who sail their oil

boats over the lush patrimony of the Guyanese people. Themore that local political masters wiggle and wormtheirwayforthefavor of the likes of Mr Darren

Woods and Mr Alistair Routledge, the more that there is significant stomach churning and skin crawling here.

WherearetheGuyanese men (and their fawning supporters) who love to chatterabout'arewenotmen to stand on our feet and not wastrels to live on our knees?' If anybody could drop a line about what happened to those stalwarts, any clue about their current whereabouts, a huge debt wouldbedue.

The first personal embarrassment registers sharply The feeling is not liked. If this is occurring at the personal level, then one can only imagine the nationalhumiliation.

The last comfort any Guyanese-fence sitter, partisan, cognoscenti, cheerleader, or simple hopeful-could ever wish for isfortheirpoliticalprincesto be diminished and dumbed downintoplaythingsforthe cocktailhourpleasureofthe Texasmanagementelitenow so firmly established here. There is a cruel irony to this canvas about local men and women degraded into the infantilismandimpotenceof playthings by foreign corporate freebooters, American ones. Guyana's top political players have shuddered at the thought of transforming themselves into the model of servant leaders for their own who trustedthem.

But here they are today, withtheadventofthisoil,all too ready, and very zealous, to be the court jesters of the powers that be from Spring, Texas. OrWashington,DC. What could be more embarrassinglyknavishthan

suchanexpression of low self-esteem, willingly falling to such a low altitude?

But there they are, groveling in the pits, more like crabs in a barrel, seekingtonudgewhoeveris ahead aside, or clambering over the competition by any means.

es caping with the lesser disgrace of consenting to being kicked about like a politicalfootball.

If embarrassment has ever visited more heavily and lingered more immovably, the memory eludes Guyanese own political superstars refuse to be servants to their own people, but they gladly play the fool for the men who speakwithforkedtongues.

Thinking of the willing fool, echoes of Scotland's M a r i e M c D o n a l d McLaughlin Lawrie better known as Lulu, and as remade by American music legendAretha Franklin with some more oomph, reach through the haze of years: “Ohmeohmy(I'mafoolfor youbaby.)”

Those two female great made themselves into fools forthecaressoflove.

OverhereinGuyana,big men are reduced to tots becauseofoil,andwhatthey are told (or tell themselves) that they must do to stay in contention.

Somebody has got to hold the domestic house in one piece, a stable one. If ever there was a bigger letdown, a greater embarrassment, it is still to befelt. Surely,theremustbe many other Guyanese who cringe in disgust at how the cream of local manhood has beencastrated.

Those who have been spared the role of political eunuch up to this point feel good about themselves in

Study the local bigshots carefully and take notes. Those Guyanese who use to railagainsttheinjusticesand inhumanities of slavery and indentureship have seen God.

He is American and his name is Alistair Routledge. Allthevisceralragingabout theCIAandimperialismand capitalism (among the dirtiestoflocalcursewords) have now taken on a new gloss.

Yesterday's poisons are today'sViagra. Lookatthem andlistentothem.

Thosewhocannotspeak astraightsentenceanymore, have difficulty walking a straight line, when oil is the subject.

What is their priority, theirprimaryobjective,their first sweeping commitment are all shrouded in a granite sarcophagus of stony silence. Isthisadumb-maan country?

There is no pride, zero self-respect, only the pitiful. Oil does that to the natives, wherever it goes Embarrassment does not s u f f i c e a n y m o r e Eviscerationisclose,buttoo fancy Eureka! Dead men walkingfits.

(Theviewsexpressedin this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the o p i n i o n s o f t h i s newspaper.)

‘Time to modernise copyright...

Frompage3 legislative framework to protect the intellectualpropertyofothers.”

TheAFCisofthebeliefthateventhough it is long overdue, artists have been making these calls for decades and as long as the government is sincere in these efforts they “shouldtablethebillasamatterofpriority.” nd

OnSeptember22 2024,thispublication reported that Guyanese musicians Jackie 'JackieJaxx'HanoverandIvanD'IvanHarry havefiledaUS$1.6MlawsuitinaUSDistrict Court in the Eastern District of New York

against recently rebranded One Communicationsfortheunauthorizeduseof their musical compositions “Guyana” and “OhGuyana”.

According to a statement released to the media by their lawyer, “Jackie Hanover, popularly known as Jackie Jaxx, and Ivan Harry who performs as D'Ivan, have filed a

copyrightinfringementlawsuitintheUnited States, against One Communications (Guyana) Inc. and Tennicia De Freitas, knownbyherstagenameNEKEITA,forthe unauthorized use of their musical compositions “Guyana” and “Oh Guyana” during a rebranding event hosted by One Communications.” It is alleged in the lawsuit that One Communications and NEKEITA by performing, broadcasting and commercially exploiting the songs without obtaining the permissionneededinfringedonthecopyright oftheplaintiffsmusic.

Harry and Hanover are contending that the company, One Communications, in particular has gained significant benefits when it infringed on their copyright protection. The lawsuit was reportedly filed after efforts made to have the dispute resolvedwithOneCommunicationsfailed.

BLUNT BLUNT BLUNT BLUNT

Norton'spipedreams

Last week the Honourable Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton came out with a 20-point plan to govern the oil and gas industry if he ever becomes President.

We generally do not take some leaders of this country seriously, but when one speaks on oil we sit up and listen.

But here is Norton who can't bring himself to say the word renegotiation, is now telling the nation, he will do a "top to bottom review" of the Exxon contract, if he becomes president.

He is promising to review the same oil deal his party signed 8 years ago, if he becomes president.

He sat down four years as the Opposition Leader, never said a word, never lifted a finger and now he wants us to believe, that if we give him our finger, he will magically review the contract to benefit us. It's all dreams and fantasies designed to win votes.

Man fined for slapping woman, possession of narcotics

A 31-year-old miner was fined the sum of $40,000 on Friday for possession of narcoticsandassault.

A report from a woman hadledpolicetodiscover23.4 grams of marijuana on the man at Port Kaituma Waterfront, North West District (NWD) The accused, Daniel Rodrigues, made his first court appearance virtually from the Port Kaituma Police Station, b e f o r e M a g i s t r a t e Rabindranauth Singh, at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate's Court,wherethechargeswere readtohim.

Rodrigues pleaded guilty to the assault and possession ofnarcoticscharge.

Considering his plea, the magistrate imposed a fine of $20,000 on each charge for Rodrigues.Failuretopaywill resultinimprisonment.Police reportedthatonWednesdayat 20:20h, the 22-year-old womanandRodrigueswereat Port Kaituma Waterfront, consuming alcohol, when the woman reportedly left to go

visit her sister Police said in the report that this move by the woman angered Rodrigues. He later dealt her severalslapstotheface. Asa result, she lodged a report at the Port Kaituma Police Station. Shortly after police arrested Rodrigues and found on him 27 zip-lock bags containing cannabis, which when weighed amounted to 23.4grams.

Daniel Rodrigues

Kumu, Moco-Moco power plants nearing completion

Work is advancing on the Kumu and Moco-Moco power plants in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), with both projectssettobecomeoperationalbytheend of 2024, providing clean, reliable energy to theregion.

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret'd) Mark Phillips during a recent visit to the region, inspected the progress of the two major hydropowerprojectsthataresettotransform theregion'senergylandscape.

AccordingtoareleaseissuedonSaturday, the PM was provided with detailed briefings fromtheconstructionandengineeringteams ontheground.TheKumuHydropowerPlant, with a capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MW), is approximately 78 per cent complete, while theMoco-MocoHydropowerPlant,whichis beingupgradedtoacapacityof0.7MW,is95 per cent complete. The plants are being constructed under an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract valued at around US$12.85 million. ThecontractwasawardedtoSriLankanfirm Vidullanka PLC.“The Kumu Hydropower Plant will supply power to the Kumu community and the Lethem power system, (Continuedonpage16)

Jackie Jaxx, D'Ivan seekIng audience with Culture Minister to discuss copyright reform in Guyana

Gu y a n e s e musiciansJackie Jaxx and D'Ivan have dispatched a letter to Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr tobegintalksoncopyright reforminGuyana.

Accordingtoastatement released to the media from their lawyer, “The duo who recently filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States, against One Communications (Guyana) Inc.andTenniciaDeFreitas, known by her stage name NEKEITA, have written to the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr , seeking an audience to discuss copyright reform and other issues affecting the music industryinGuyana.”

The letter which was dated September 28th, 2024 theduonotedthatascreative professionals they face numerous challenges as a result of insufficient intellectual property protections, and this raises a deep concern for the lack of stringent mechanisms to “safeguard the rights of Guyaneseartistsandcontent creators.”

Thelawsuitrecentlyfiled

Campbellville to get new $766.2M health centre

bytheduohascreatedabuzz locallycatchingtheattention of the Vice President and even the leader of the AllianceforChange.

Speaking about her pending lawsuit against One Communications and Nekeita, Jaxx has said “My hope is that this lawsuit will force corporate entities to showrespectforsongwriters and content creators by implementing proper copyright clearance policies for all works used at their events”.

“Jaxx and D'Ivan contend in their letter to Minister Ramson, that rapid evolution of the global creativeeconomy,createsan urgent need for Guyana to moderniseitscopyrightlaws and policies to ensure local artists are protected and empowered to meaningfully contribute to national development,” the release furtherstated.

The Vice President's viewonthemodernizationof the legislation is welcomed and the duo has informed Minister Ramson that they would like a meeting to “discuss how Vice President

J a g d e o ' s d e c l a r e d commitment to protect the

rights of local artistes could bemadeareality.”

On September 22nd this publication reported that Jaxx'andD'Ivanhavefileda US$1.6M lawsuit in a US District Court in the Eastern DistrictofNewYorkagainst recently rebranded One Communications for the unauthorized use of their musical compositions “Guyana”and“OhGuyana”. Musical compositions during a rebranding event, h o s t e d b y O n e Communications.

Itisallegedinthelawsuit that One Communications a n d N E K E I TA b y performing, broadcasting andcommerciallyexploiting the songs without obtaining the permission needed infringedonthecopyrightof theplaintiffsmusic.

Harry and Hanover are c

particular has gained significant benefits when it infringed on their copyright protection.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed after efforts made to have the dispute resolved with One Communicationsfailed.

The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) is currently seeking bidsfortheconstructionofanewbuildingfor theCampbellvilleHealthCentre.

The GPHC in its tender stated that the construction works are estimated to cost $766.2millionandbiddingwillbeconducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures specified in the Procurement Act 2003, and are open to all eligiblequalifiedbidders.

This publication understands that the decisiontohaveanewbuildingconstructedis to properly improve the infrastructure of the healthcentresoastointroducemoreservices forpatientscomingthere,whichwillbeable totaketheloadoffoftheGPHC.

Speaking with Kaieteur News on Saturday, GPHC's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Robbie Rambarran said that the current building is very old and has several defectswhichisunsafeforpatients.

“It is a very old building and what has happened over the years, is that pieces were add on, add on (extensions) and so it's very old,it'sleaking,whenitrains,itfloods,there is no proper logical flow for patient care becausetherewerepiecesofthingsthatwere built all around so there is no proper logical flow for patient care and the processing of patients,”heexplained.

Hesaidtoothatthecurrentfacilityisvery smallandcannotmeetthecurrentdemandof thenumberofpatientsthatgoesthere.

The Campbellville Health Centre on a monthly basis sees patients from Campbellville, Prasad Nagar, Sophia and evenpersonsfromKitty Rambarran disclosed that GPHC intends tointroduceadditionalservicesattheHealth

Centreincludingbutnotlimitedtox-rays.He said the new building will be equipped with anasthmaticbay

“This health centre will have something that majority of the health centre don't have and that is an asthmatic bay, a lot of people with asthma rather than they come to the GeorgetownPublicHospitalandhavetowait for some time to get treated, people with asthmawillgothere,”theCEOrelated.

Questioned on the location for the new facility,Mr Rambarranstatedthatitwillbeat the same location and also cover the area wherethepostofficeissituated.

“Sonextdoor,thereisapostofficesothe plan is to build one big two-storey building; we will incorporate the post office in the building as well and therefore, we will get additional space,” he mentioned noting that thepostofficeandhealthcentrewilloperate separately

Notably, the CEO revealed that the operation of the Kitty Health Centre will merge with the Campbellville centre in that big building. He mentioned that they have done surveys and observations for this transition over a two-year period and the found that the Kitty Health Centre can be accommodated at the Campbellville Health Centresinceitisinthesamecatchmentarea.

According to the CEO, when the constructionbegins,thecurrentoperationsat Campbellville Health Centre will relocate to a temporary building.Thehospital has since goneouttotenderforthatlocation;acontract is yet to be awarded. It was reported that health centres across the country are being upgradedsoastocomfortablyservepatients andhaveenhancedhealthcareservices.

The GPCH's tender document further stated that the bids for the project will be opened on October 22, 2024 at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Boardoffice.

Guyanese musicians Jackie Jaxx and D'Ivan have dispatched a letter to Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. to begin talks on copyright reform in Guyana.
The Campbellville Health Centre.

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Labour Ministry aims to integrate Venezuelan migrants into Guyana’s formal economy

With an estimated 28,000 to 40,000 Venezuelan migrants residing in Guyana, the Ministry of Labour is facilitating their transition into the legal economy. This involves addressing key issues such as training and development, health and safety opportunities and education on local labour laws.

In a press statement issued on Thursday last, the ministry highlighted a meeting at its Brickdam office that focused on supporting migrants in their transition to Guyana.

The meeting included Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, Natecia Garraway, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), Juan Francisco Espinosa, Special Advisor to the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), Maria-Alexandra Bassermann, Regional Labour Mobility and Social Inclusion Coordinator, IOM-UN, Eraina

From page 14 contributing to regional development and improving energy access. It is expected to produce about 9,700 MWh annually and reduce power costs to the community,” the release

Yaw, Deputy Regional Coordination Officer for the Caribbean and Chief of Mission for Guyana among others.

Furthermore, Minister Hamilton informed Kaieteur News that such engagements are to ensure that the migrants become a part of the formal economy which will allow them to have access to education and other social services.

In relation to programmes and training for the enhancement of migrants, the minister said, “That has already started; we (Government) hope to do more with support from international partners.”

To that end, the Ministry stated in their press statement, “Upon the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Hamilton pledged his and by extension, the Government of Guyana’s support to partner with both parties to address this matter in a meaningful way.”

Kumu, Moco-Moco power plants nearing completiona... stated.

Meanwhile, the MocoMoco Hydropower Plant will generate approximately 4,565 MWh annually.

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The plant, built in 1999, was temporarily shut down after a landslide damaged its infrastructure. Rehabilitation works are now nearly complete, with the final grid connection anticipated by October 2024.

PM Phillips reaffirmed the government’s commitment to renewable energy invest-

ments to ensure long-term sustainability and energy security. He said that the Kumu and Moco-Moco projects will play a vital role in meeting the country’s renewable energy targets.

These projects advance the promise outlined in the PPP/C’s 2020 manifesto to implement an energy-mix that includes hydropower, solar and wind. Similar projects include the 0.65 MW solar farm in Mahdia, which is expected to be completed this year, and

three other solar farms, namely a 10 MW solar farm in Berbice, 8 MW solar farm in Essequibo, and a 0.6 MW solar farm at Leguan. PM Phillips was accompanied by Regional Chair, Bryan Allicock; Chief Executive Officer, of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Dr. Mahender Sharma; Chair of the GEA Board of Directors, Jerome Khan; and Chair of the Lethem Power Company Board, Rodger King during his visit.

Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton during the meeting

High Court orders $83M to be repaid to investors in New Nigel Supermarket deal

The High Court last Friday ordered that businessmen Otillo Pereira and Troy Phillips to repay their investors, Jamal

Shamsudeen and Ian Shamsudeen in excess of $83 million for failing to uphold their end of the bargaininabusinessdeal.

The Shamsudeens had taken Perreira and his co defendants to court over the sum on the grounds of a failure of consideration and unjust enrichment The Shamsudeens had brought the claim against Perreira and Phillips both personally and in their capacity as directors, shareholders and officers of the company that operated the New Nigel Supermarket.

According to the court document, the issues arising for consideration before the Court were: whether the evidence establishes a basis for bringing a claim against the defendants in their capacity as shareholders, directors or officers of the company; whether the parties had an agreement with respect to the money a d v a n c e d b y t h e Shamshudeens If not, whether the money is repayable.

TheShamshudeenswere represented by attorney, Senior Counsel, Roysdale Forde while,Attorney Nigel H u g h e s a n d J e d Vasconcellos represented Pereira and Phillips. Justice

Fidela Corbin presided over thematter

According to court

documents, around November 2018, Perreira approached Jamal and and Ian Shamsudeen requesting a loan of $70,000,000.00 (seventy million dollars) for him to invest in a supermarket venture. At the meeting, the businessman informed them that he had acquiredapowerofattorney from Joseph Nigel Johnson inrespectofthebuildingand supermarketbuildingknown as Nigel’s Supermarket. He informed them that he wanted to acquire the building, refurbish and restockthesupermarket.

The investors informed Perreira that they would considerhisrequest.Abouta week later they informed himthattheywouldlendhim $70,000,000.00 to invest in the supermarket venture. At that time the parties did not agree to any terms and conditions of the loan. At that time Perreira was informed that the Shamsudeens would invest $70,000,000whichwastobe repaid by him (Perreira) personally “within a year, half of the sum being $35,000,000 6 months from January 2019 that is to say July 2019 and the balancebyJanuary2020.

“The 1st defendant’s [Perreira] response to his position on the sum and the datesforrepaymentwasthat

The New Nigel Supermarket

“we will see”. As a result, Mr J Shamsudeen informed the businessman that he and Ian Shamshudeen would each loan him the sum of $35,000,000.00.

The business proposal formed part of a debt recovery proposal which was submitted by and in the name of the company Reguim International Inc, which Phillips is listed as a director and shareholder to Republic Bank Limited around 22nd November 2018. He participated in the preparation of the business proposal.

Perreira and Phillips assertthatthemoneywasto

be treated as an investment repayable over a 20 year period.Theysaidthatthe1st J Shamsudeen was part of the team that prepared the Nigel Supermarket Debt Recovery Proposal which was submitted to Republic Bankandtherewasa20year repayment structure and not one year The businessmen also disputed inter alia that anyagreementwasmadefor Shamsudeens to be listed as a shareholder or director of thecompany

In her ruling, Justice Corbin noted that the investors advanced the money with the expectation that an agreement would be

reached with respect to the terms governing the sums advanced. The judge noted that “This expectation did not materialise and no agreementwasreached….”

As such, the court found that the defendants have been unjustly enriched and failed to establish a defence to the restitutionary claim. As a result, the judge said that the defendants must therefore repay the sums by which they have been unjustly enriched The defendant Perreira shall pay the sum of $12,350,000.00 toMr JShamshudeenbeing the total sum advanced by him. The company shall

Shamsudeen being the total sum advanced by him and the company shall repay the sum of $35,000,000.00 to Mr I Shamshudeen being the sum advanced him Meanwhile in determining the basis upon which costs should be quantified, the courttookintoconsideration all the circumstances includingthereasonablerate for the attorney-at-law, the nature and value of the claim, the time reasonably spent in dealing with the matter and awarded costs to thedefendantsinthesumof $1,500,000.

Barbados Minister of Energy says a wide cross-section of stakeholders consulted on the draft of the Electricity Supply Bill

(NS) Minister of Energy Lisa Cummins

Barbados NationMinister of Energy Lisa Cumminssaysawidecrosssection of stakeholders was consulted on the draft of the Electricity Supply Bill, 2024.

Leadingoffdebateonthe bill in the Senate yesterday, she said it was being prepared from 2019 and included input from a large

numberofentities,including theBarbadosLight&Power Company, Fair Trading C o m m i s s i o n , t h e Government Electrical Engineering Department and the Electric Light & PowerActCommittee.

“There can be no justifiable allegations that the development of the bill has been rushed or less than

fully transparent,” she said, adding that an open invitation was extended to thepublic.

“Based on this early consultation, the draft bill was updated during 2020 and was later presented to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel for its review In 2022, an updated draft bill, basedontheguidanceofthe Chief Parliamentary Counsel,wasmadeavailable totheMinistryofEnergyand Business and was submitted to the Cabinet of Barbados forapprovalinNovemberof 2022. Drafting instructions were given to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and oncethebillwasreturnedto theministry,inlegalform,it was ready for broad public consultation.”

Cummins stated that in 2023aconsultationwasheld

at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre where a large crowd gathered. The bill was again circulated to over 45 stakeholders after thatmeeting.

“Consultation and the views of a wide crosssection of Barbados were critical due to the pending changes to the electricity sector and this time those invitedtogivecomments,up to this month, included development agencies and globalenergyspecialists.”

Theministersaidfurther comments from local and international partners were still being submitted, considered and, where appropriate, included in the draft.

“This has been an exhaustive process of engagement so there can be no justifiable allegation that

the development of the bill has been rushed or less than fullytransparent.

“The bill paves the way for Barbados to overcome the technical and regulatory constraints to transitioning an isolated island electricity grid towards 100 per cent r e n e w a b l e e n e rg y generation.

Moreover, the bill has been created on the foundation of establishing greater coordination between the key policy, licensing and regulatory

maximum efficiency and transparency within the management and regulation of the island’s electricity sector.”

Cummins said the bill before now the Senate represents one that “reflects our policy position of

movingtowards100percent renewable energy whilst ensuring the necessary protective measurements and promoting fairness to all”.

She told fellow senators that Barbados was a small market and a single utility company was common, pointing out that across the Caribbean region the same obtainedbecauseofsizeand scale.

She said her ministry now had a full grid characterisation study, wheretheentirecountryhad beenmappedtoshowwhere clusters of solar systems exist, clusters on t r a n s m i s s i o n a n d distribution lines, where storageneedstobedeployed and for what purpose through the help of other partners.

77 killed by Israel in Lebanon in Sunday’s attacks

Aljazeera - Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 77 on Sunday, as army jets

continue non-stop bombardment across the country, including in the suburbsofthecapitalBeirut.

Israel says “more than 20” Hezbollah members were killed alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan NasrallahonFriday

AnotherIsraeliattackon aGazaschoolshelterkillsat least four Palestinians and wounds many Israel has killed at least 28 people in the Strip since early this morning.

Israeli air force targets power plant and seaport in Yemen’s Hodeidah and Ras Issa.

In Gaza, at least 41,595 people have been killed and 96,251 wounded in Israeli attacks since October In Israel, the number killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is at least 1,139, while more than 200 people weretakencaptive.

got the point,” said the second official, who said the recent attacks and the killingofHezbollahleader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah figureswasa“wake-upcall” for the Arab world in terms ofwhatIsraelcando.

Smoke billows after IsraeliAir Force air strikes in southern Lebanon villages, amid crossborder hostility Show more But both officials conceded that Hezbollah doesstillposeathreat

Thesecondofficialsaid Hezbollah still has “way too much [missile] capabilitytocausedamage toIsraelanditscivilians ”

Twenty-onepeoplehave been killed and 47 others have been injured in strikes in the eastern part of Lebanon on Sunday, and another 24 people were killed and 29 hurt in an Israeli strike inAin al-Delb, about 20 miles south of Beirut, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

officialtoldABCNews.

Following October 7, 2024 the downbeat mood in Israel and throughout much oftheconflictinGazaisnow gone,andinsteadthereis“a senseofeuphoria,”anIsraeli

“National pride is back. We are happy we’ve shown peoplewhatwecando,”the officialsaid.

Two Israeli officials suggested Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon still

has some time to run its course and both of them claimed Israel has now “significantly degraded” Hezbollah’s long- and medium-range missile capabilities.

“I think Hezbollah has

“We are going to finish the job We’ve done a lot, but there’s a lot more we can do, and Iran should take note,” the official said

On Iran’s potential response, the second officialsaid,“Ourmessage to them, Iran: Don’t Because if they do, they’ll be hit harder than they can imagine ”

Election Live Updates: Trump Repeats Insults of Harris after Rebukes from Both Sides

New York Times -

Donald J. Trump spoke in Pennsylvania a day after he called Kamala Harris “mentally impaired” and “mentally disabled, ” prompting criticism from DemocratsandRepublicans.

Ms. Harris is to hold a rally tonightinLasVegas.

Kamala Harris was “mentally impaired” during a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, after members of both parties and the American Association of People with Disabilities

rebuked him for his demeaningremarks.

Mr Trump renewed his insults of Ms. Harris in a meandering speech at a convention center in Erie, Pa , after several Republicans had sought to distancethemselvesfromhis earlier remarks Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said on CNN that “the better coursetotakeistoprosecute thecasethatherpoliciesare destroyingthecountry.”And Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Marylandwhoisrunningfor

Senate,saidonCBSthatMr Trump’s remarks were “insulting”toMs.Harrisand to “people that actually do havementaldisabilities.”

Mr Trump’s speech — which included attacks on President Biden and his oftrepeatedfalseclaimsthathe lost the 2020 election because of fraud — came hoursbeforeMs.Harriswas set to speak at a rally in Las Vegas, her second visit to Nevadasincesherosetothe topoftheDemocraticticket. There are 37 days until Election Day Here’s what elsetoknow:

Trump’s personal attacks: The former president escalated his attacksonMs.Harriswitha series of demeaning insults in an often rambling speech atarallyinPrairieduChien, Wis , on Saturday Mr Trump himself admitted the grim nature of his remarks, saying, “This is a dark speech.” It was a startling series of broadsides amid a presidential campaign, even foracandidatewhoseemsto delightinoffensiveremarks. Democrats seized on his

remarks, with Gov JB Pritzker of Illinois saying, “Whenever he says things like that, he’s talking about himself but trying to project it.”

V.P debate:Mr Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, and Ms. Harris’s running mate, Gov TimWalzofMinnesota,will both use Sunday to prepare for their debate on Tuesday, a pivotal face-off that will most likely be the highestprofile moment of the campaign for both men

Recent polling by The New York Times and Siena College found that voters in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin view Mr Walz more favorably than Mr Vance.

Post-election legal battles: In Pennsylvania, Nevada and other states, Republicans have filed a flurry of lawsuits challenging voting procedures, a possible prelude to a sprawling and combustible court battle aftertheNovemberelection.

The legal push has already led to more than three times the number of lawsuits filed beforeElectionDayin2020, according to Democracy Docket,agroupalignedwith the Democratic Party that tracks election cases Several embrace debunked theories about voter fraud and so-called stolen electionsthatMr Trumphas promoted in the last four years.

Scoring political points: AutumninAmericaisprime time for political campaigning and college football, and the two collided on Saturday when Mr. Walz attended the Michigan-Minnesota game inAnnArbor,Mich.,andMr Tr u m p h e a d e d t o Tuscaloosa, Ala , to see Alabama play Georgia. The Harris campaign ran a TV advertisement during that game taunting Mr Trump over his unwillingness to agreetoaseconddebate.

Earlier in this rally, Donald Trump called concerns about the environment “one of the greatest scams of all time.”

Campaigning last week in Northern Michigan known for its beautiful landscapes — JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, praised Trump’s record on environmental protection, even as his administration was responsible for rolling back many rules governing clean air and water “Of course we believe in p r o t e c t i n g t h e environment,”Vance said at a rally in Traverse City on Wednesday

For the second day in a row, Trump pushed an emerging falsehood in his attempt to blame Vice President Kamala Harris for the opioid epidemic. “She even wants to legalize fentanyl,”hesaidduringhis rallyinErie,Pa.

A f t e r s e v e r a l Republicans criticized Trump on Sunday morning for his demeaning insults of Harris, Trump repeated some of them at his rally in Erie. He reiterated his false claimthatshehadbeenborn “mentally impaired” and added, “there’s something wrongwithKamala.”

Aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs [Ali Alloush/Reuters]
US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump

Head,ShortensureAustraliabeatEnglandandtheraintotakeseries

(ESPN Cricinfo) - A power-packedpowerplayby Travis Head and Matthew Short, followed by astute batting by stand-in captain Steven Smith, ensured Australia beat the rain and England in the nick of time to take the one-day series in Bristol on DuckworthLewis-Stern.Forthesecond time in the five matches, their spinners engineering a collapse,includingacareer-

best for Head, after Ben Duckett’s second ODI hundred alongside a Harry Brookonslaughthadputthe home side on track for a hugetotal. Australia’s chase was never going to be about 310 in 50 overs - the 20-over DLS, which moved with wickets lost, was the vital figure. The visitors clearly knew the sums and after a watchful first three overs,

Head and Short cut loose as 62 came off the next four Being 100 for 1 after 10 overs put them so far ahead theyhadbreathingspacefor the loss of a couple of wickets.

BrydonCarsestruckfirst ball to remove Head and Short edged behind after a 23-ball maiden ODI fifty ButSmith,whosuccessfully reviewedbeinggivenlbwto Matthew Potts on 10, and

Josh Inglis ensured against further setbacks although England missed reviewing for an edge off Inglis at 122 for2inthe15th.

However, England needed more than one further breakthrough given Australia’s flying start and the tactics became clear when Brook returned to all pace instead of Adil Rashid onapitchassistingspin(and Potts suddenly realised he neededanewboot).

The rain, which had initially arrived during the interval, then returned four balls after a result had been assured with a DLS of 116 for2.

Monday September 30, 2024

ARIES(Mar.21–Apr.19)

Aries, love of all kinds - the love of friends, the affection of family members, romantic love - flourishes in the home todayasyouhearfromagreat deal of people, perhaps unexpectedly

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Apowerfulbondbetweenyou and a romantic partner could haveyouwalkingaroundwith yourheadintheclouds,Pisces. Things between you seem to be improving by leaps and bounds.

replaced Sean Abbott and Cooper Connolly was handed an ODI debut Speaking on TV before the game, Ricky Ponting said Australiawouldrateaseries win very highly given the challengeswithinthesquad.

Phil Salt set the tone in the opening over which included three boundaries off Mitchell Starc and two playsandmisses.Itmeant,at thatmoment,Starc’slasttwo

overs of the series had cost 40 following his pasting at the hands of Liam Livingstone at Lord’s. Salt continued to alternate between missing and connecting,outsideedginga swishoverdeepthirdforsix against Starc before a brace offarmoreconvincingsixes against Hardie’s first two deliveries which brought up England’s fifty in the seventhover.

Australia didn’t entirely defendtheirwaythereasthe weather closed in a little more slowly than first looked likely: Inglis pulled consecutive sixes off Carse inthe20thover I n n o r m a l circumstances, Rashid and England’s other spinners might have turned the game around but Australia were goodvalueforvictorygiven the way they fought back in thefield.

Like at Trent Bridge, it wasagamethatfellawayfor England from a very strong battingfoundation.

Aferociousstandof132 off98ballsbetweenDuckett and Brook brought up their 200inthe25thoverbutfrom the moment Brook fell to Zampatheinningsfellaway withthefinalcollapsebeing 107 for 8. Smith used 23 consecutive overs of spin and28offthelast29intotal.

After 2.2 overs Zampa’s figures read 0 for 42 but he became a significant threat onadrysurfacethatoffered increasing help to the spinners.Headwinkledouta List A best of 4 for 28, including the key scalp of Duckett for a 91-ball 107, the highlight of which had been how quickly he picked up length against the quicks early on, a trademark of his batting during a productive homesummer Yetsuchwas the change of momentum that England only hit one boundary between the 27th and 43rd overs. The 194 ballsofspinwasarecordfor Australiainamen’sODI.

At the end of a tour markedbyillnessandinjury they had again been forced to shuffle their pack after Marsh pulled up sore after Lord’s where he bowled for the first time since early April. Aaron Hardie also

RHTYSC and NAMILCO renew 1st Division sponsorship for the 5th consecutive year

The cricket sponsorship betweentheRoseHallTown Youth and Sports Club and the National Milling Company of Guyana has been renewed for another year Representatives of the club Hilbert Foster led a delegation of club members at the company’s Agricola East Bank Demerara office. The announcement of the renewal was done by the NAMILCO managing director Bert Sukai in the presence of RHTYSC NAMILCO player Matthew Pottaya and West Indies under 19 player Denelli Manns and several officials of the company including marketing manager Alicia Anderson. Foster stated that

NAMILCO has been the official sponsor of the Rose HallTownYouthandSports Club under 21 and first divisionteamsince2019and addedthattheclubwasvery delightedwiththerekindling of the relationship The longstanding club secretary noted that both teams were very proud to represent the NAMILCO Thunderbolt Flour brand on and off the cricket field as the NAMILCO has been a true friend over the years. The RHTYSC NAMILCO Thunderbolt flour first division team has been the mostdominantBerbiceteam over the last few years and has produced numerous plays for Berbice aand Guyana. A total of 13 club

Guyana over the last year whilecloseto30werepartof Berbice’s teams at the different levels These players include Kevin Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson, Junior Sinclair, Shemaine Campbell, Silas Tindell, ShenetaGrimmond,Shabika Gajnabi , Trisha Hardat, Danellie Manns, Sohail Mohammed and Romesh Bharat Foster proudly informed the NAMILCO representatives that the RHTYSC has six members in the 2024 Caribbean PremierLeague,3malesand females Campbell is currently with the West Indies female senior team where she is the vicec

NAMILCO players Kevin Sinclair, Junior Sinclair, Kevlon Anderson and Silas Tindell also enjoy contracts at the national level while Campbell Grimmond and Gajnabi have regional contracts. Foster stated that the first division team has only lost one title under the NAMILCOsponsorshipand the club is investing heavily in new equipment such as practice Nets, batting mats, filling practice equipment, bowling machine, junior cricket kits and numerous boxes of cricket balls for trainingprograms.

The teams under the leadership of Clinton Pestano were successful in completing over 60 selfdevelopment programs underthesponsorship.

Among the programs completed were the annual A c a d e m y, Aw a r d s ceremony, grade 6 summer camp, tribute to medical workers, tribute to town council workers, Tribute to

law enforcement officers, Walter Nero tribute to heroes, Jessica Sandia tribute to mothers and the highly popular annual Christmas village.The team alsorecentlyfromthe14thto the25thofSeptemberhosted the 5th Anniversary celebration of Rose Hall Town in conjunction with theRoseHallTownCouncil.

Amongthe16eventshosted wastheawardingofbursary awards to six youths while 16-year old Marissa Siriram received a $250,000 University of Guyana scholarship. The teams on the 29th of October will be hosting a team of medical personnel from the USAfor a Medical outreach and will also host their 13th annual Christmasoutreachprogram from December 15th to the 24th.

The NAMILCO

Managing Director, Bert Sukai, stated that his company was very pleased with the output of the team

onandoffthefield.Henoted that the company receives widespread media coverage and it has been a highly successful bonding between the NAMILCO and the RHTYSC He urged the teamtocontinueplayingasa collective unit on the field while working hard off of it tomakeapositivedifference inthelivesofothersviatheir self-development programs. Foster and Sukai also discussed the NAMILCO support for the upcoming SayNotodrugsalcoholand suicidecampaign.Theteams presented a unique piece of artdonebySeanBascomasa Thank You-gesture to the company

Amongtheotherplayers currently playing for the NAMILCO team are Jonathan Rampersaud, Matthew Pottaya Romesh Bharat,JasonSinclair,Keith Simpson Jeremy Sandia, Keon Sinclair and Rafael McKenzie (RHTYSC Release)

NAMILCO managing director Bert Sukai hands over sponsorship cheque to RHTYSC Matthew Pottaya in the presence of other officials.

IPL mega auction: Six retentions, RTM back, Impact Player to stay

Franchises can retain up tosixplayerseach,therightto-match (RTM) option is back at the auction, and the Impact Player rule will remaininplaceforIPL2025. Thataside,theauctionpurse is bigger at INR 120 crore (US$14.33millionapprox.), INR 20 crore more than in the last auction. These are among the most significant decisions taken by the IPL

governing council, announced on Saturday, in

connection with the retention of players, which will be applied ahead of the 2025megaauction.

According to the retention rules, shared with thetenIPLfranchiseslateon

Saturday evening, a maximum of six players, includingamaximumoftwo uncapped Indians, can be retainedpriortotheauction. The IPL has also said that a maximum of five capped players - all Indian or all overseas or a combinationcanberetained.

Retentionslabs

Incaseafranchisewantsto retain five players, the following amounts will be deductedfromthepurse:

Forthefirstthreeretentions -INR18crore,INR14crore and INR 11 crore; for the remaining two - INR 18 crore and INR 14 crore; this means a franchise retaining five players before the auction will lose INR 75 crore of the overall purse of INR120crore.

As for the uncapped players, the IPL has stuck withINR4crore,aswasthe case in the 2021 mega auction That means a franchise retaining six players will lose INR 79 crore from its purse, and go into the auction with just INR41crore.

Decks cleared for ‘uncapped’ Dhoni to be retained If five-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings(CSK)want,theycan retain their former captain andtalismanMSDhoniasan uncappedplayer

This is because the IPL has decided to bring back a rule that it had instituted in 2008, allowing Indian playerswhohadretiredfrom international at least five years prior to go into the auction as an uncapped player The rule was scrapped in 2021. However, during the broader

discussion on uncapped players,theIPLinformedthe franchises that it was revivingtherule.

In the document listing the retentions rules shared with franchises, the IPL described the rule pointing out it would only be applicableforIndianplayers : “a Capped player will become an uncapped player who has in the five calendar years preceding the year in whichtherelevantSeasonis held, not played in the starting XI in International Cricket (Test match, ODI, Twenty20 International) or (b) does not have a Central Contract with BCCI. This willbeapplicableforIndian Playersonly,”

Ahead of the 2022 mega auction, Dhoni was retained asthesecondplayerbyCSK for INR 12 crore. Dhoni, who turned 43 in July, has only played in the IPLsince retiringin2020.IncaseCSK now decide to retain him as an uncapped player, Dhoni wouldbepaidINR4crore.

Impact Player not going away Despite objections

from franchises and concerns from high-profile players like India’s Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma thatitcouldbedetrimentalto the development of allrounders, the IPL has decided to retain the Impact Playerrule,whichitsaidwill be in play for the next three seasons - 2025, 2026 and 2027 Since it was introduced in the 2023 season, the rule has stirred wide debate over whether it isindeedbeneficialtoIndian cricket, which was the original motive, or whether it could be hurting the developmentofallrounders.

That was one of the pointstheIPLdiscussedwith the franchises during a meeting on July 31, which wasattendedbyseveralteam owners and team principals. While there was no unanimous nod to the rule, themajoritywasinfavourof itbeingretained.

Nine of the ten highest totals in IPL history have been recorded since the Impact Player rule, which allows a team to sub out a first-XI player and field a specialist batter or bowler depending on the match situation. The IPL believes the rule has managed to enhance the product by

creating such spectacles and it is good from the spectators’ point of view, oo. RTM card - final bidder togetextraopportunity

The RTM option gives a franchise the chance to buy back a player, who was in their ranks in the preceding seasons, during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise once the bidding is over It was previously used in the 2017 mega auction but discarded ahead of the 2022 mega auction.

The IPL has decided to reintroduce it after at least three franchises argued in its favour It is understood that owners of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) said that they wanted seven-to-eight RTMs However,playershave generally not favoured the RTM only because they feel theydon’tgetthedesiredprice tagasaresult

To advance the cause of the players, the IPL has now modified the rule The rule now reads: “The highest bidderwillbegivenonefinal opportunity to raise their bid for a player before the team holding the RTM card can exercise their right For example, if Team 1 holds the RTMforPlayerXandTeam2 has placed the highest bid of Rs 6Cr,thenTeam1willbe firstaskediftheywillexercise RTM, if Team 1 agrees, then Team2willhavethechanceto increase their bid. If Team 2 raisestheirbidtoRs.9Cr,then Team1canusetheRTMand acquirePlayerXforRs.9Cr. If Team 2 chooses not to raise the bid and keeps it at Rs.6Cr,Team1canusethe RTM and get Player X for Rs 6 Cr ” Injury

replacements and player loans

TillIPL2024,franchises hadtoseekareplacementfor aninjuredplayerbeforetheir

seventhmatchoftheseason.

From IPL 2025, teams can seek replacements till up to the12thmatchintheleague phase. While the rule has

neverbeentriggeredyet,the IPL has decided to “reinstate” the player loan process, which can only be activatedduringtheseason.

MS Dhoni and his team-mates have a chat with umpire Anil Chaudhary, Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2024, Lucknow, April 19, 2024. (AFP/Getty Images)

Pooran breaks Rizwan’s record for most T20 runs in a calendar year

( S p o r t s M a x ) -

Trinidadian wicketkeeperbatter Nicholas Pooran has etched his name in T20 crickethistorybysurpassing Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan for the most runs scored in a calendar year in

T20 cricket Pooran achieved this milestone on Friday, September 27, during the Caribbean PremierLeague(CPL)2024, where he scored 27 off 15 balls for Trinbago Knight Riders in a match against BarbadosRoyalsattheBrian LaraStadium,Trinidad.

Pooran, 28, has accumulated 2,059 runs in T20 cricket in 2024, eclipsing Rizwan’s previous record of 2,036 runs set in 2021.WhileRizwanreached his total in 45 innings at an average of 56.66 with one century and 18 fifties, Pooran has achieved his record-breaking tally with a

faster strike rate of 160.63 compared to Rizwan’s 132.03. Pooran’s runs have come from across the globe, representing several franchises such as Durban Super Giants, Lucknow Super Giants, MI Emirates, MI New York, Northern Superchargers, Rangpur Riders, Trinbago Knight Riders,andtheWestIndies.

Despite his prolific runscoring, Pooran is yet to notch a century in 2024, though he has come close with multiple scores in the 90s He has, however, managed to rack up 14 fifties, underlining his consistency and ability to score quickly across formats.Hisoverallaverage fortheyearstandsabove42, solidifying his place as one of the most dangerous batsmen in T20 cricket today Pooran’sremarkablefeat

comes as no surprise, considering his explosive forminrecentmonths.Inthe CPL 2024 alone, he has already amassed 312 runs from nine innings at an average of 39, with two fifties and an impressive strike rate of 175.28. His aggressive style of play and ability to take apart bowling attacks has been a standout feature, making him a key playerinallhisteams.

This is the third time Pooran has crossed the 1,000-run mark in T20 cricket in a calendar year, having previously achieved the milestone in 2019 and 2023. His consistency in the shortest format of the game has solidified his reputation asoneoftheworld’stopT20 batsmen.

Incomparison,Rizwan’s record-breakingyearin2021 saw him playing for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Multan

Bryan Charles replaces Dwayne Bravo at TKR

(ESPN Cricinfo)Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) have signed local offspinner Bryan Charles as D w a y n e B r a v o ’ s replacement for the rest of CPL2024.

Bravohadannouncedhis retirement from all cricket on Thursday after a groin injury cut short his stint in CPL 2024 Bravo had suffered the injury when he attemptedtotakethecatchof Kings’captainFafduPlessis in the seventh over in Tarouba.

Charles, 29, plays for Trinidad & Tobago in domesticcricket,butisyetto play an official T20. He is betterknownforhisred-ball skills, having recently earned a call-up to West Indies’Testsideforthehome Test series against South Africaearlierthisyear

Charles was also the leading wicket-taker for Trinidad & Tobago in the West Indies four-day championship, taking 31 wicketsinsevengamesatan average of 17. The tally includedacareer-bestmatch haul of 13 wickets against JamaicainKingstoninApril.

Charlescouldpotentially actascoverforSunilNarine,

Bryan Charles (WICB)

who has missed TKR’s last three games with a quad complaint. In the injuryenforced absence of Narine, Kieron Pollard had Tim David bowling offspin with the dry new ball in TKR’s last home game of the season, against Barbados Royals,onFriday Withthree left-handers in Royal’s top six - TKR could potentially meet Royals again in the Eliminator - there’s a possibility of Charles coming into contention for selection if Narine’s still unfitfortheplayoffs. David has also joined TKR’s injury list, Pollard suggested, after he had seemingly hurt his side and

Sultans, and Pakistan, while Pooran’s 2024 exploits have spannedvariousleaguesand teams The two players’ contrasting styles are evident, with Pooran’s superior strike rate emphasizing his powerhittingabilities.

Pooran currently leads the T20 run charts for 2024 byasignificantmargin,with South Africa’s Reeza Hendricks in second place with 1,555 runs from 47 innings, followed by Pakistan’s BabarAzam with 1,480 runs from 35 innings, andAustralianopenerTravis Head with 1,442 runs from 39innings.

Pooran’s recordbreaking achievement was capped off with Trinbago KnightRiderssecuringa30run victory over Barbados Royals, further cementing his role as one of the most influential players in the

ongoing CPLseason.As the yearprogresses,Pooranwill undoubtedlylooktobuildon

hisremarkableformandadd more milestones to his alreadystellarT20career

Premier League: Tottenham beat Man Utd 3 –

0 at Old Trafford

banged his head into the ground while saving a six at theboundaryonFriday

“Yes, the injuries are a big, big concern,” Pollard said after the match

“Obviously Tim [David] coming off the field as well, Narine [is] still not fit, Russell with his injury as well. My body is getting down a bit after a long tournament.

“Buthavingsaidthatwe aregoingtocontinuetorally, continue to try hard and continue to rest when needed. The support staff and the physio and doctorsthey are all doing a really, really good job to keep the guysonthepark.”

( B B C S p o r t )Tottenham produced a magnificent display to o u t c l a s s 1 0 - m a n Manchester United at Old Trafford and pile renewed pressure on manager Erik tenHag. Spurs, even without injured Son Heung-min, tore Manchester United apart as they set the platform for victory with a first-half masterclass, the only mystery being how they only had Brennan Johnson’s third-minute goal to show for their overwhelmingdominance.

Johnson’s simple finish was created by Micky van de Ven’s barnstormingrunfromhis own half, and Spurs went on to create chance after chance without adding to their advantage - Timo Werner being the biggest culprit when he allowed United keeper Andre Onana to save when clean through.

United’s cause was not helped when captain BrunoFernandeswassent off three minutes before the break for a lunge at James Maddison – but

Ten Hag’s side were an overrun, indisciplined rabble well before they h a d a n u m e r i c a l disadvantage

Spurs finally extended theirleadtwominutesafter the interval when Dejan Kulusevski lifted a deft finish over Onana after a finebreakbyJohnson.

The hard-working Dominic Solanke got the

goal his industry deserved and gave the scoreline a more realistic appearance 12 minutes from time, turning in Pape Matar Sarr’s headed flick at a corner to spark a mass exodus from Old Trafford by United’s supporters.

Delap scores twice as Ipswich draw with Aston Villa

A superb individual strike from two-goal

Liam Delap earned Ipswich Town a draw against Aston Villa, who missed a chance to move level on points with Premier League leaders Liverpool.

WithIpswichtrailing21inthesecondhalf,striker Delapcollectedtheballjust

inside Villa territory, raced into the penalty area and tricked his way beyond Diego Carlos before firing low past goalkeeper Emi Martinez The former Manchester City forward had turned in Jack Clarke’s cutback to give Ipswich an eighthminute advantage, but visitors Villa recovered to lead by half-time at PortmanRoad.

Morgan Rogers collected Jacob Greaves’ poor clearance and exchanged passes with Ollie Watkins before crashinginhisfirstgoalfor theseasontoequalise.

Leon Bailey’s cross from the right then picked out unmarked England striker Watkins, who nodded pastArijanet Muricfromsixyards. At that stage Villa looked set to achieve a comeback victory for the third Premier League matchinarow

However, Delap’s intervention secured a fourth successive league draw for Ipswich as the Tractor Boys climbed to 15thinthetable.

Nicholas Pooran (AFP)

Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League…

Pooran’s fiery ton stuns Warriors as TKR claim massive 74-run win -GAWfinishesatopthetable

Trinbago Knight

Riders (TKR) upset defending champs Guyana Amazon Warriors by a whopping 74runmarginlastnight,aftera mind-boggling hundred from Nicholas Pooran, coupled with a barrage of wickets between spinner WaqarSalamakheilandfastbowler Terrance Hinds, silencingacapacitycrowdat Providence.

Pooran scorched the Warriors on their home ground, amid thousands of fans, shaking the monkey off his bat as he finally converted one of his three 90-plus scores to a ton this season

The left-hander smoked8maximumsand9 fours as he lit up

Providence with his clean strokeplay which saw him race to 101 off 59 balls, adding a whopping second wicket stand of 153 with England’sJasonRoy(34) KeacyCartykeptTKR’s innings ticking after the dismissalofPooran,hittinga vital 27 off 13 (3x4 1x6), while Captain Kieron Pollard ended on 19 off 13 (2x41x6).

Warriors ace pacer Shamar Joseph led with 3-50, despite being a bit expensive, managed to provide a bit of spark for the Guyanese crowd, with awicketeachcomingfrom Dwaine Pretorius (1-33) andImranTahir(1-29). The Warriors’ chase f e a t u r e d s e v e r a l obstacles, none more than

Salamakheil (3-26) who was the boogeyman for Guyana, who at one point lost 3 wickets in the space of4balls

His partner in crime, Hinds (3-17) had a great spell, with inroads being made by young seamer Nathan Edwards (3-19) and left-arm spinnerAkeal Hosein(1-24).

Warriors opener

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (36) looked good before his countryman Salamakheil removed h

Hosein trapped his West Indies teammate Shai Hope LBWfor28,finishingasthe twomainscorers. Salamakheil removed Shimron Hetmyer (9) and Gurbaz before Keemo

West Indies Women fall short against India in T20 World Cup warm-up

(SportsMax) - West Indies Women missed the chance to build crucial momentumaheadoftheICC Women’s T20 World Cup, falling to a 20-run defeat against India Women in a warm-up matchin Dubai on Sunday

Afterwinningthetossand optingtofield,theWestIndies women managed to restrict India to 141-8 from their 20 overs India’s total was anchored by Jemimah Rodrigues, who top-scored with a well-crafted 52 off 40 balls before being run out.

Yastika Bhatia (24) and Smriti Mandhana (14) provided valuable support, but the Indian innings was largely contained by West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, who produced a stellar bowling performance withfiguresof4-17.

In response, the West IndiesWomengotofftoapoor start, losing early wickets, including that of captain Matthews,whowasdismissed foraduck TheCaribbeanside quickly slumped to 13-3, puttingthemonthebackfoot intheirpursuitof142.

Chinelle Henry tried to rescue the innings with a fighting unbeaten 59, forming a crucial 57-run

Chinelle Henry’s unbeaten 59 was in vain

partnership with Shemaine Campbelle, who added 20 valuable runs However,

once Campbelle was dismissed, the West Indies struggled to maintain their momentum, losing wickets atregularintervals.

Afy Fletcher’s quickfire 21 from 14 balls gave the West Indies a glimmer of hope late in the game, but they ultimately ran out of time,finishingat121-8from their 20 overs, falling 20

runsshortofthetarget.

India’s bowlers put in a disciplined performance, withPoojaVastrakarleading the attack, taking 3-20 Deepti Sharma was also instrumental in choking the West Indies’ scoring, delivering an economical spell of 2-11 from her three overs.

The loss leaves theWest Indies Women with work to do as they prepare for their T20WorldCupcampaign.

Paul (1) was pinned leg before wicket by Hinds and got into the action, as the pair stifled the champs, despite resistance from Gudakesh Motie (26*) and Tahir(20).

Pooran controlled the entire innings after the early loss of Shaqkere Parris (0), finding a suitable partner in Roy, who helped repair the innings

TKR brought up their 150 in the 14th over, as Pooran reached his halfcentury off 22 balls, with his first century of the season requiring a mere 57 deliveries for his milestone; leaving Carty and Pollard to push TKR over the 200 mark (C Ross)

Rahmanullah Gurbaz offered some respite at the top of the order for the Guyana Amazon Warriors (Getty Images)

Pooran’s fiery ton stuns Warriors as TKR claim massive 74-run win

West Indies Women fall short against India in T20 World Cup warm-up

West Indies Women will faceAustralia in their next warm-up match on Tuesday. (Photo: Getty Images)

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