Guyana Times - Sunday, January 21, 2024.pdf by Gytimes

Dudley Stephens redefines fine dining with Starlight Restaurant P19 Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 5618 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

Leading Guyana to prosperity required Herculean task of correcting APNU/AFC’s blunders – Ali See story on page 3

PRICE $140 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

Voluntary P20 recall issued for Quaker Oats cereals

Wanted bulletins issued for 3 persons linked to financial crimes P20

P20

Product development: The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), in collaboration with Visit Rupununi, brought together licensed tour operators - Wilderness Explorers, Trail Masters Adventure Tours and Touring Guyana – for an official “Toka Experience” package which is under development by Toka Village, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). In photo, one of the tour operators, who was part of the three-day, two-night adventure, shooting an arrow, as operators enjoyed an archery experience while there (GTA photo)

Greater O&G monitoring, contract compliance are priority in 2024 – VP

…adjusting loopholes in Local Content Act among focus

Police record 927 traffic violation cases in 2 days P21 Essequibo Coast pedal cyclist killed by speeding motorcar

Page7

Deadly Mahdia fire

CoI recommends inspectorate for dorms, modern security systems …continuous training for dorm parents

Vendor survives gunmen's attack, shot twice P21

Page 2

Working from age 10 to support his family, a Venezuelan migrant tells of his search for a better life Page 14

…“justice is all we need” – sister P22

2 NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Deadly Mahdia fire

CoI recommends inspectorate for dorms, modern security systems …continuous training for dorm parents

he report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Mahdia fire has outlined several recommendations to improve the condition of dormitories across the country, and to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy, looking at the combined viewpoints of security, society and safety. The report was handed over to President Irfaan Ali by Chairman of the CoI, Major General (retired) Joseph Singh, on Friday, and was released on Saturday. From the findings tendered, the Commission recommended that an inspectorate be set up to visit the dormitories which have been, or are being, retrofitted, in order to determine the extent to which they are in compliance with the rec-

ommended gender- sensitive standards for dormitories. This should also apply to dormitories that are intended to be constructed. Further, the Report detailed, “The visits should allow for the inspection of fire- suppression systems, emergency evacuation procedures, and assessment of first responder fire-fighting drills and capabilities. Compliance with the statutory schedules for fire drills at schools and dormitories must also be monitored and enforced.” Additionally, technically competent individuals should be included in such inspectorate teams, and reports on the extent of compliance achieved are to be submitted to the relevant agencies for evaluation and follow-up action.

Furthermore, grills should be replaced with a modern security system, inclusive of secured fencing and cameras, to ensure a protected environment and assist in monitoring the entry and exit of all persons using the facilities. On the evening of the May 21 fire, there were 57 female students in the dormitory – a one-flat concrete building measuring about 100 feet by 40 feet, with several heavily-grilled windows and five doors. The Commission heard, during testimonies, that the grills were installed to prevent the girls from escaping. Many students were trapped in the burning structure during the fire, and 19 eventually perished along with the son of the dorm parents.

Training

An assessment into the education sector in 2017 identified grave neglect of duty bordering on recklessness by the persons vested with power during that period for the care and welfare of the country’s children residing in dormitories. It was also indicated that the state of dormitories must be addressed, and that attention must be paid to the level and quality of supervisors. Moreover, in general, ‘House Parents’ are not trained for their tasks, have too many students to overlook, and students are taking advantage of them. Coming out of this CoI, continuous training was recommended for house parents and supervisors. “The training must include training in evacua-

tion procedures and the use of fire alarms and fire-fighting appliances. Further, we recommend that the ratio of supervisors to children in accordance with the MOE/ UNICEF Gender Sensitive Standards for Dormitory Schools in Guyana Report be implemented. This will provide more effective supervision and support to the students under the care of the supervisors,” the report stated. The Mahdia COI also endorsed the Caesar Report’s observation and recommends that there be full con-

sultations with the stakeholders – students, teachers and communities - to ensure that cultural, spiritual, and social values are incorporated in design of schools, dormitories and dining halls. This is so that relocation of students from their community and family to another environment will not be traumatic, and will enhance and motivate students to enjoy their space while ensuring they are imbued with a ‘sense of responsibility for self-management, team work and social cohesiveness’. TURN TO PAGE 7

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

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

Sunday, January 21 – 13:00h-12:00h and Monday, January 22 – 02:30h-04:00h The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, January 21 – 13:05h-14:35h and Monday, January 22 – 13:55h-15:25h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Light to thundery showers are expected in the morning and early afternoon hours followed by sunshine, with clear to cloudy skies at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius. Winds: North-Easterly to East North-Easterly between 3.12 metres and 5.81 metres. High Tide: 13:09h reaching a maximum height

of 2.27 metres.

Low Tide: 06:37h and 19:22h reaching minimum heights of 1.09 metres and 0.93 metre.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 2024

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SUPER

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COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$78.56/barrel

-0.68

Rough Rice

$317.574/ton

+0.24

London Sugar

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Live Spot Gold Bid/Ask Low/High Change

USD Per Ounce $2029.20 $2019.80 +6.80

$2030.20 $2040.10 +0.34%

Leading Guyana to prosperity required Herculean task of correcting APNU/AFC’s wreckage – Ali

he current wave of development and prosperity in every sector has been as a result of a robust five-year plan being implemented by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government, which entailed a great deal of strategic efforts to lift the country from a rickety state of affairs and economic collapse. In measuring his administration’s performance, President Irfaan Ali on Friday sought to analyse the APNU/AFC’s governance ‘matrix’ between 2015 and 2019. When Government took office in 2020, the Head of State lamented, the planning foundation inherited from its predecessor had seen traditional sectors on a ‘free fall’. Gold reserves had been depleted, and there was a startling overdraft. Between key sectors such as sugar, forestry and bauxite, the decline was $61.5 billion in less than five years – representing eight percent of the 2019 Gross Domestic Product. He said, “The sugar industry between this period fell, the aggregate production contracted by $21 billion. What that means is that production level in monetary value contracted by $21 billion. From where they (the coalition) picked it up in 2015 to the time they handed it over to us, it went downwards. The forestry sector declined by $31 billion under the APNU/AFC Government.” Contractions in these sectors had cost the country more than US$283 million in potential export earnings. Additionally, gold reserves at the Bank of Guyana had fallen from $25 billion to $800 million – a decline of 97 percent. “Equally worrisome was the fact that the Central Government overdraft had increased by more than $114 billion, or by 540 percent, during this period. The deficit by Central Government also increased from $9.3 billion to $30 billion.” This was coupled with 200 new tax measures imposed on businesses and consumers – all of which have been reversed by the Ali-led administration to increase the spending pow-

President Dr Irfaan Ali

er and disposable income of Guyanese. The president zeroed in, “It led to an increase in tax revenue, but, more importantly, it led to the extraction of wealth from the pockets of people. Effective tax rate as of 2014 was 15 percent, and that moved to 22 percent under the last Government. That is, the people, in 2019, had to pay an average of 22 cents in taxes on every dollar earned…It’s important for our population to understand this.” Private consumption during that time, which translates to the goods consumed by the common man, declined by $77 billion, falling from 82.7 per-

cent to 53 percent. “What this means is that our people were spending less. They didn’t have the resources to spend, and what it means (is) that the spending rate fell from 20 cents from every dollar earned in four years. Because why? The disposable income was not there!” Ali voiced. Now bolstered by an expected ramping up of oil production offshore and persistent growth in key non-oil sectors, Guyana’s economy is slated to continue its growing trend for yet another consecutive year, with projections putting Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at a 34.3 per cent growth in 2024.

While initial projections had pegged the country’s real GDP to grow by 25.1 per cent in 2023, with non-oil GDP expanding by 7.9 per cent, this surpassed expectations and expanded by 33 per cent overall last year, with a “stronger-than-expected” growth of 11.7 per cent in non-oil real GDP. Government said this was evidence of policies focused on supporting growth in the traditional pillars of the economy while managing the oil and gas sector effectively. Consequently, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector expanded by seven per cent in 2023. In the sugar sector, a 28 per cent growth was recorded last year. In the extractive industries, further growth in oil and gas and other mining and quarrying, as well as an expected recovery in the gold and bauxite mining subsectors, have been projected. The sand, stone, diamonds and manganese subsectors are also anticipated to continue their momentum in 2024, with projected growth of 19.3 per cent. Construction in 2024 will be maintained with a projected growth of 23.4 per cent, while the services industry will expand by 6.9 per cent this year with supported spillovers from the other sectors. (G12)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Industrial Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

The people and sovereignty A

s we slowly embark on the process of instituting “constitutional reform”, we ought to reflect of a fundamental difference between the British structure of Government and ours - notwithstanding our claim to be following their “Parliamentary Tradition”. This difference lies in the locus of “sovereignty” - the ultimate authority over the state, which from medieval times was gradually extended outwards from the monarch or “sovereign”. In Britain, sovereignty was left as residing in their Parliament, composed of the Monarch and the representatives of the people. Thus it was, for instance, that even though the British people voted in a referendum to exit the EU, their Parliament had to ratify - or deny - this move. The US, however, in its Constitution, declares sovereignty to reside ultimately in its people. Very critically, our Constitution was crafted to reflect this latter principle, rather than that of the British. Possibly because they had fought a war to secure their independence from the British Monarch at a time when their parliament was still struggling to pry authority from him, Americans have cultivated a national narrative that stresses the “power of the people” at the collective and individual levels. As such, Americans are very alert to the overreach of those in public office. In Guyana, however, Independence was conferred to a PNC Government that was authoritarian to its core, which simply used the Constitution and other laws as fig leaves for its dictatorship. Guyanese have never been socialised to view themselves as the repository of sovereignty. As such, even though Guyanese trek to the polls to elect their leaders, as soon as these individuals enter office - at all levels of Government - some assume the outlook of the monarchs of yore: they have absolute power over their “subjects”. We remember Burnham riding around literally on his high horse. Those in Central Government can -- for instance, like the PNC in 2015 -- award themselves whatever salaries and benefits necessary to live pampered lives while telling ordinary persons there is nothing for them in the treasury. At the municipal level, we have elected officials in Georgetown who refuse to follow the laws that govern their office, and who awarded a billion-dollar parking meter contract without public bidding and then refused to make the details of the contract available to the full City Council, much less the citizens of Georgetown. The PPP Govt has to find hundreds of millions to contest that contract. Citizens requiring services from the central, regional or local bureaucracy must present themselves as supplicants for personal favours, rather than getting from “public servants” as they are ironically described - services that are their right. The Police continue their arbitrary and peremptory stops, even though they have been publicly informed that this practice is illegal. And this is but the most minor quotidian of indignity those in whom “sovereignty” supposedly resides have to suffer. But why has the US been able to foster a civic culture that privileges the rights of citizens over the powers of government? There is, first of all, the “national narrative” encapsulating this perspective that is purveyed and reinforced in schools, books, movies, TV, and other socialisation institutions. This narrative is based on the “social contract” between the governors and the governed, on which the Constitutional order rests: to wit, that citizens have the duty to contest, through legitimate means, any infringement of their rights. The protest must be within legal parameters, such as was exemplified by MLK. In Guyana, we will have to emulate the various bodies, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), that are willing to litigate official overreach in the courts at no cost to the violated citizen. In American today, we see all these avenues being utilized to articulate citizens’ disapproval of some actions taken by their administration. Because of our history of ethnicised political conflict, leaders will have to be circumspect in the avenues they choose to articulate their differences with the Government. After their mass genocide, Rwanda was able to return to stability because they altered their constitution to preclude ethnic incitement.

Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken was at one of the many stalls at the Farmers Market hosted at the Police Sports Club Ground in Georgetown on Saturday morning (GPF photo)

Ramjattan wickedly wages war and vengeance on sugar workers Dear Editor, Just in case anyone forgets, through NICIL, the Government between 2016 and 2019 usurped thousands of acres of GuySuCo land. In particular, lands at Wales were sold off by the Government to hand-picked persons and entities. Across the country, 4,600 acres of freehold land, conservatively valued by GuySuCo at $80B, were transferred out of GuySuCo. We still owe that money to GuySuCo. Since 1976, when the Forbes Burnham-led PNC Government clumsily nationalized sugar, the Government of Guyana, through illegal taxation in the 1970s, loans from GuySuCo’s accounts in the 1980s, the sugar levy, and transfer of land from GuySuCo to Government, owes GuySuCo billions of dollars. As Minister of Agriculture between December 2011 and May 2015, I often reminded Guyanese and the world that any subsidy that GuySuCo might receive from Government since 2010 was no handout, but partial repayment to GuySuCo for the enormous amount of money owed to the corporation. Billions of dollars earned through the sweat, blood and sacrifice of sugar workers have been siphoned off by Government in the 1970s and 1980s, and again between 2015 and 2020. Incidentally, GuySuCo is also saddled with a 2016 $30B loan taken by the David Granger-led Government through NICIL. Most of that money never led to any meaningful investment in GuySuCo. Khemraj Ramjattan’s response, his only response up to Saturday, January 19, a whole week after Budget 2024 was presented by Minister Ashni Singh, was that the $6B sub-

sidy allocated for GuySuCo is a waste of money. He demanded that the $6B be withdrawn from GuySuCo and added to the $4B subsidy allocated for the University of Guyana (UG). In fact, the allocation for UG is bigger than the budgeted $4B. There is also the allocation of over $1B that would go towards paying off the loans owed by students. It is remarkable how obnoxiously obsessed Ramjattan and his colleagues in the PNCled APNU/AFC are over the GuySuCo subsidy. Listening to Ramjattan and others, one would think that GuySuCo is the only beneficiary of subsidies from Government. No mention is made, for example, of the $5B subsidy given to Region 10 for paying the larger part of the cost of electricity that both private homes and businesses use. The rate for electricity charges in Region 10 is a fraction of what the rest of the country pays. This subsidy has been in place since the nationalization of bauxite in 1976. During his dictatorship, Forbes Burnham threatened to withdraw the subsidy because he maintained that the subsidy was always intended to be phased out. But Ramjattan and the rest of the Opposition pretend this large subsidy is nowhere in Budget 2024. In fact, cumulatively between 1976 and 2024, this subsidy is now more than $100B in today’s value. President Irfaan Ali’s Government, like the governments led by President Cheddi Jagan and President Bharrat Jagdeo, have demonstrated integrity and honour in maintaining the electricity subsidy for Linden and Kwakwani for the foreseeable future. As the population of Region 10 increases around Linden and Kwakwani, and as electrici-

ty utilization increases in this fast-growing region, the subsidy keeps growing. President Ali’s government continues to unconditionally honour the commitment made to residents of Linden and Kwakwani, even as electricity utilization increases significantly. It is approaching 50 years since this subsidy has been in place. Subsidies to GuySuCo have been in place for less than 15 years. It is also a subsidy that has always been on a sunset basis, meaning that it was always intended to be temporary. Ramjattan and his friends ignore the fact that the GuySuCo subsidy maintains a productive sector of more than 17,000 employees and their families; supports the local economies of Regions 3, 4, 5 and 6; and provides infrastructural and operational support for drainage and irrigation in these regions at a cost of billions. While attacking the GuySuCo subsidy, these charlatans are people protective of the now $5B subsidy to Linden and Kwakwani. We each must judge for ourselves. For me, there is no ambiguity – the position of Ramjattan and his colleagues in the PNC/APNU/ AFC is purely obnoxious racism. To his credit, Ramjattan confessed this when they were in Government. Remember when Ramjattan famously, or rather infamously, screamed across to Bharrat Jagdeo, telling him that the PPP want to keep sugar open because the sugar workers and their families are their supporters? A large part of the subsidy should in fact be considered as payment to GuySuCo for providing drainage and irrigation for rice and other ag-

riculture, and for the residents in Regions 3, 4, 5, and 6. But keeping GuySuCo alive is not just about the sugar workers; the more-than 17,000 employees of GuySuCo support the economies of communities on the West Coast Demerara in Region 3, East Coast Demerara (Region 4), West Berbice (Region 5), Canje and New Amsterdam and Fyrish to Manchester in Region 6. The tailors and seamstresses, the shops, the markets the taxi drivers, etc. struggled when the sugar estates were closed and downsized. When the factories are not operating, these communities come to an almost standstill. The bottom line is that the subsidy is not a handout; it makes economic sense. Khemraj Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo, David Granger and all their colleagues knew this in 2015 when they promised sugar workers and the Guyanese people that no estate would be closed, that SUGAR was “too big to fail”. But there is something else that Ramjattan and his colleagues must never forget. It is sugar that kept their dictatorship alive in the 1970s, 1980s, and up to 1992. They must never be allowed to forget the more-than $100B in today’s value that they ripped out of GuySuCo through the shameful sugar levy. The sugar works have not forgotten how they took out billions every year from GuySuCo for almost 26 years, until the PPP ended the levy in 1997. But, in addition, they borrowed money from GuySuCo that amounted to billions also. Thus, our country is now paying back for some of the loans we took from GuySuCo in the 1980s. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Andre Brandli is wrong about the Jagdeo Doctrine Dear Editor, I write in response to ad hominem attacks against me by one Andre Brandli on 1/20/24. Brandli’s letter is littered with elementary errors that must be corrected for the record. Readers should know that, despite his very lengthy article, Brandli does not refute a single point I made, either about Bharrat Jagdeo or about the Jagdeo Doctrine of 2023. Instead, Brandli jumps around from one inaccuracy to another, from one name-calling to another, and from one emotional outburst to a congeries of personal insults. Brandli states that if someone does not know Guyana, they would, based on my article, think Jagdeo is the president. But unlike Bradli, the reader would have seen from the first sentence

that I addressed Jagdeo as the General Secretary of the PPP. Jagdeo’s speech at Babu Jaan, which was the fulcrum of my article, was also in the capacity of General Secretary. Let’s get to the core of The Jagdeo Doctrine of 2023, which Brandli does not address. I wrote, “The core of the Jagdeo Doctrine is worth restating - We will fight people with all of our strength, whichever quarters they come from who seek to divide our people along ethnic lines and to reverse the progress that we have made and who tried to take away our freedom,” (emphasis in the original). I made it clear that “[t] he Jagdeo Doctrine is partly in response to a new variant of political subversion. This strain is composed of an

admixture of foreign and domestic social forces who use the global history of Black Oppression to disguise their own virulent strategy of racialized political mobilization. When they do this, they knowingly attempt to divide the people of Guyana into racial enclaves. Their intended objective is to take state power through a politics of racialization.” In the above, I clearly state the content of the ‘doctrine.’ I also provide a rationale for its emergence and situation in the historical and contemporary dialectics of Guyanese society. But more than that, I go the extra mile to provide General Secretary Jagdeo’s own reasoning of the doctrine from within the womb of the PPP. On this score, Bharrat Jagdeo did something truly remark-

able. He admitted that the PPP had not done enough to diversify the party, and publicly committed himself to fixing the problem. Note that I specifically pointed out that President Ali’s construction of One Guyana is another form of the same politics of inclusion called for by Jagdeo. None of these fundamental points is addressed by Brandli. Instead, this man of research simply cut and pasted parts of my article without evaluating any of them, or without the most minimal effort at analysis. Rather than a sober, or even passionate engagement with what I argued, Brandli is content to make fantastic and irresponsible connections, such as likening Jagdeo to Putin and Xi Jinping. I have bad news for the alienated Professor Brandli,

International environmentalist lawyers versus Guyana’s development

Dear Editor, It has been recorded that lawyer Melinda Janki has approached the American Export Import (US EXIM) Bank to block loans for the establishment of the gas-toshore plants to be built at Wales. In her letter, she argues that the reason for her making the request is that this project is “improper and contrary to law.” This is a lawyer who comes under the banner of an environmentalist who campaigns for the rights of peoples in the environment. Crudely put, she is supposedly a “concerned human being” who is gravely concerned for the hapless peoples of the world, Guyanese being the prime example here. Now, there are a few questions I would like to put to Ms Janki: Under whose authority are you approaching the international lending agency? Were you ever authorized by the people of Guyana to represent them? After reviewing her claims, let me temper that question by posing the following: I see you are representing the two litigants, Elizabeth Deane Hughes and Vanda Radzic.

The first is a heavily aligned political activist turned environmentalist, the other is a neo-colonialist who believes that she must dictate to a small developing state what we can and cannot do in our own country. Well, I have news for these three, and this is what it is: Guyana is a sovereign state that is governed from a parliament of competent individuals, we are not subservient to persons or organizations that are laced with ulterior motives. Ours is a determination to build for ourselves a nation that is beneficial to all its inhabitants. Where were these socalled concerned masqueraders when Guyana was rated under Haiti on the global economic scale? Where were they when our country was governed by a dictator who exploited our resources for his own personal use? Where were they? Guyana never mattered when we were an economic backwater, a nation that was ridiculed and negatively spoken of in every corner. That’s the time when some of these expatriates spoke down to us in a disdainful manner;

Guyana became an abhorrence to all and sundry. These are the questions I would like these persons to answer. Now that The Almighty has smiled upon us with an abundance of natural resources, the naysayers have come out of the woodwork to do their dirty work. But we would not be distracted by these “obstacles to progress”, our living standards would be elevated, and that’s what we are going to do, despite those who think otherwise. Persons the likes of these three and others would not be allowed to stop the progress that has gathered momentum in Guyana. As the fastest developing country, we will proceed in our resolve to build a prosperous nation. we can, and we will. They, on the other hand, are looking for a puppet government to whom they can dictate, one whom they can control, but that is not going to happen. In this regard, I can hardly wait to get the response of the international lending agency, who will treat that ridiculous claim of theirs with the contempt it rightly deserves. So, let me do a brief recap of the diabolical plot

devised by these individuals: 1. Stop the production of oil, from which our sovereign wealth flows. A brazen attempt to stop our progress. 2. When the natural gas is flared the “environmentalists” went to court to stop its flaring, stating that it is detrimental to the environment. Now that we are making plans for the use of the excess gas, the very same individuals are attempting to block funding for the project. 3. They are now lying in wait for an oil spill to take place 4. Now this: the blocking of a loan to build the gas-toshore facility which would redound to the beneficial use of an entire country. Having analyzed the foregoing, we are forced to ask the question: Are these people in any way concerned about the wellbeing of the people of Guyana? And the answer comes back a resounding no! Therefore, I will end by saying that, in a rapidly developing world, Guyana has long gone past these obstacles that are standing in our way. Respectfully submitted, Neil Adams

Ramjattan wickedly wages war... In fact, when the PNC and Burnham nationalised sugar in 1976, they used the windfall from high prices for sugar that emerged in the 1970s to pay off the debt Guyana owed to GuySuCo. More than US$120M, the equivalent of more than G$25B in today’s value, was paid to Bookers and others for nationalizing GuySuCo. That money was earned by sugar, but was used to pay a Guyana Government debt. It robbed GuySuCo of much-needed resources to recapitalise its factories and its field operations. In 1974, when the PNC instituted a tax on sugar exports, the workers were robbed because the tax was based

on the gross earnings, rather than profits. It meant that workers were taxed twice. By 1977, the workers were owed more than US$85M, almost G$17B in today’s value. This led to the famous and valiant 135-day strike, during which Burnham brought in 6,000 soldiers and public servants to work in the fields and factories, while jailing many sugar workers. This is simply Ramjattan’s shameless, disgraceful, reprehensible vendetta against sugar workers. While making big promises to sugar workers in 2011, only a small number of sugar workers bought their false promises in 2011. When the false promises were even

more extravagant in 2015, Ramjattan, to his utter chagrin, discovered that many of the small band of sugar workers they fooled in 2011 abandoned them and supported the PPP in the 2015 elections. Were it not for manipulation in the Region 4 votes in the 2015 elections, they would have lost that election and lost all the gains they made in 2011. Ramjattan and his Opposition colleagues have ever since waged an unholy war against sugar workers. Outside of the electricity subsidy for Region 10, the Government is providing more than $4B in subsidy for UG and also another

FROM PAGE 4

$1.5B in loan forgiveness for students at UG. By next year, President Ali has promised to make UG free. Ramjattan and his colleagues had also promised to make UG free within their first 100 days in Government in 2015. Instead, they raised the fee and also introduced other charges and introduced VAT for educational services and items. They betrayed the Guyanese people. People expect politicians to spin. But waging war and vendetta on innocent people is unequivocally evil and reprehensible. Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

Jagdeo was elected President of Guyana more than once, and he is the only leader in the history of the Caribbean who signed a term limit which took him out of office. For a man who does research, Brandli does not have even the most basic information about the object of his emotional outburst. Let me help him. First, I hold the title Professor of International Relations, not Associate Professor. Brandli knows the difference between the two is vast, but laziness prevented him from getting my title right. Secondly, the whole of Guyana, and even those in the diaspora, know that I am employed by the Government of Guyana in the capacity of Adviser in the Office of the President. Yet Brandli wants to know if I work pro bono! Brandli says he has worked at several universities and “…never came across such a clumsy and ingratiating propaganda…” Well, had Brandli only read what has come out on the Iraq war from places like Yale and Harvard on international affairs or comparative politics, he would never have so publicly embarrassed himself. For my part, I have spoken at University of Guyana, UWI (T&T); University of Toronto; McMaster; Guelph University, Carleton University, City University of New York (Graduate Centre), UCLA, Georgetown University, New York University, University of Kentucky, University of Connecticut, Virginia Tech, Tufts University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University,

Wake Forest University, Queen’s University (Belfast), University of Sussex, City University of London, London School of Economics, University of Nottingham; University of Kent, University Trento (Italy), International Institute of Social Studies (The Hague), Chubu University (Nagoya, Japan), University of Science and Technology (Tokyo, Japan), Korea University, National Chengchi, (Taiwan); and The American University of Sharjah, UAE. I have also consulted with the World Bank, US Department of State, Council on Foreign Relations, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for Strategic and International Studies; and, inter alia, the United Nations University. I can tell you that despite my wide-ranging international experience, I have never seen something as mediocre as Professor Andre Brandli’s response to my arguments about the internal transformation of the politics of the PPP. What is particularly sad about the alienated Professor Brandli is that, rather than join the fight against the racialization of politics, he has chosen to be a foreign rabble-rouser, all for a little attention. Sad! Brandli should know that the Jagdeo Doctrine of 2023 is emancipatory, and is here to stay. It is the new social ontology of the PPPC. Sincerely, Dr Randy Persaud Adviser, International Affairs, Office of the President

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

06:00 (Sign on) Jewanram Rel. Hour 07:00 Cartoons 08:00 Shekinah Ministry 08:30 Evening News (RB) 09:30 Anthony’s Old Is Gold 10:30 Cartoons 11:00 David Persaud Religious Program 11:30 Blippi Educational 12:00 Movie - Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel (2023) 13:30 Movie - Mikolo (2023) 15:30 Forged in fire 16:30 Payless Power Hour 17:30 The Healing Touch 18:00 Wheel of Fortune 18:30 Week-in-Review 19:00 Lucifer S5 E16 20:00 Arrow S5 E16 21:00 Riverdale S5 E14 22:00 Movie - After (2019) 00:00 Sign off

6 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024| GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“HOUSE” DOG OR “DOG HOUSE” DOG

n previous columns, I discussed acquiring a pet and the issues you must confront before you make the decision to welcome the arrival of the new family member. Assuming that you have now made the decision, you would also need to determine whether the pet dog would live mostly indoors, or outdoors. There are some pertinent considerations that have to be factored into the discussion: During your “indoors versus outdoors’ deliberations, please remember that the cute, furry ball of fun will develop into puberty and maturity (within months). Female dogs can breed as early as at five months of age. You will have to accommodate the change in size, especially if you have brought home a breed which you know will grow into a large animal. If you have spent a lot of money to purchase a puppy, then you have to safeguard the animal against human and animal predators. Yes, a $100,000 pup can easily be lifted out of the yard by a passing thief. Also, a vicious dog might want to enter your yard and maul the pup. Can the pet puppy or adult dog withstand the stressors of the outdoors? A Toy Breed “lap dog” (so called because it finds itself in one’s lap) really would find it difficult to exist outdoors (within a kennel notwithstanding). Do you have enough space in the yard for a kennel? I have observed that, over the years, houses being built in Guyana occupy the entire ground area, with very little earth surface. In order to ensure the maximum square footage for the living quarters, the house is constructed to ex-

tend to almost touching the fence line. And, the space between the house and the fence is occupied by a concrete apron, with no consideration for an appropriately sized kennel, or even a kitchen garden for that matter. The dog cannot be kept for extensive periods inside a kennel, or tied to a post in the yard. Such actions are manifestations of cruelty, and there are specific laws in Guyana to protect animals subjected to these inhumane circumstances. If you decide to keep your companion animal indoors, please consider the following: There must be areas in the home where the pet ought not to frequent. The animal must be trained to stay away from those areas -- which you may wish, for sanitation or religious reasons- to be free of dog dander, odours and shed hair; and which potentially pose a risk to you and the animal’s safety. Specific areas of

concern (and you, of course, will know your high-risk areas) are the kitchen and the dining room. I have not carried out a statistical analysis, but empirical observations at my clinic reveal that many dogs, wanting to demonstrate love, get tangled up with the feet of the caregivers, and as a result get scald burns from the liquids being transferred from the stove to the table. The owner may also suffer from burns, or may fall and break a limb. It follows therefore that the pet’s food/water bowls mut be placed away from those areas considered to be high-risk/heavily trafficked. You must have the time and patience needed to toilet train. Determine in which area in the house the dog will sleep at nights. I am not conditioned to even accept the concept of a dog sleeping on the bed with adults and children. I know that one can clean and groom a dog daily, and

that the burden of ecto- and endo-parasites is managed with proper veterinary and home care. But the dog’s indoor and outdoor world is just 18 inches off the ground. We humans breathe air that circulates on an average five and a half feet from the surface of the earth. This is a big difference. In the dog’s micro-environment, dust, debris, and every bug known to man exist. Dogs will hunt smaller prey (they particularly love lizards) and happily bring the carcass onto your bed! In the tropics, the heat and humidity levels allow bacteria, other infectious agents, and sundry vermin to multiply and flourish. A well-cared dog with inherent immunity will cope well, However, he can be a carrier of contami-

inhabit. Make every effort to keep your dog and your home environment as clean as possible. It will entail a great effort on your part, but you can do it. After all, you chose the pretty, puny pooch who may not fare well in confronting outdoor life, and that pet has become a new member of your family. If you choose to keep your companion animals outdoors, please consider the following: A kennel is required. It is recommended that the kennel be procured/constructed before the dog is brought home. A puppy can be placed outside from as early as six weeks. The kennel must be functional. To be more specific, here are some further consider-

a dog in the kennel and barbeque it to death. Situate the kennel in a cool, shaded place. “Cool” does not mean draft; the kennel must be draft-free. The selected location must also protect the animal from rain, which may enter from all directions and soak the kennel and the locked-in dog. Placing the kennel under a tree with a large canopy makes good sense. Sanitation: The kennel must be built to facilitate easy cleaning. Cleaning, of course, does not mean dousing with some nice smelling disinfectant on the floor and walls of the kennel. These surfaces need to be physically brushed with a recommended disinfectant. I have always advocated that the roof be detachable so that the physical cleaning exer-

nants. For this reason, I believe that beds, dining tables, sofas, etc. are not places for the dog to

ations to guide you. Elevation of the Floor: All along the coast, and in Georgetown, the water table is relatively high. Therefore, moisture can seep through the floor

cise is facilitated. Periods of time indoors: Once you have decided on an outdoor “dog house”, do not encourage your dog to come indoors for lengthy periods of time. An owner

of the kennel if it touches the ground. Some old concrete hollow bricks will suffice to elevate the kennel. In fact, many dogs enjoy resting under the kennel on a cool surface, especially on hot days. Size: With your knowledge of what will be the adult size of the dog, please ensure that the kennel is at least twice the length, width, and height of the grown dog. This provides for comfort of movement and the concept of space. Shade: We do not want to lock

may wish to bring the dog inside on cold and/or rainy nights and during those festive occasions when they are traumatized by the noise of fireworks and squibs. We live five degrees away from the Equator, and no night is that cold, and your kennel has been built to protect if from rain incursion. N.B: AS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED, CATS HAVE TO BE KEPT INDOORS. THEY WILL GO OUTSIDE WHEN THEY SO DESIRE!

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Greater O&G monitoring, contract compliance are priority in 2024 – VP …adjusting loopholes in Local Content Act among focus

s the country’s oil and gas sector continues to grow exponentially, the Guyana Government continues to work on building the best legislative and regulatory environment for the burgeoning petroleum industry. Since taking office in August 2020, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has undertaken

a number of measures to streamline the nascent oil and gas sector. This has resulted in major steps being taken over the past three years to strengthen the industry’s legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks and structures. This year, according to Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, the focus will be on

greater monitoring of the sector and ensuring better compliance with contract obligations. “We believe this year we have to focus more on greater monitoring and contract compliance. So, the new law would necessitate and clarify data flow between companies. So, we would focus heavily on timeliness of data, the

completeness of data, the assessment of the data when it comes from the oil companies, that it’s not just stored in a depository. We will then look at monitoring of production. These are all issues to focus on this year,” the Vice President said at a press conference last week. Government has already noted that the main coordi-

CoI recommends inspectorate for...

FROM PAGE 2

Counselling

From the testimonies, children at the Mahdia dorm were just confined to their daily routine and school, without any forms of socializing. It was recognised that

this environment influenced their behaviour pattern – leading to experimentation with marijuana, vape, and other negative activities. The Commission drew light on the need for resident

Welfare Officers and persons trained in Guidance and Counselling, particularly for schools in the hinterland, and those with dormitories where teenage students are ‘undergoing the life changing

experiences and emotions’. “It is evident that these students need to be cared for and counselled, because they are particularly vulnerable to the lure of money and grooming by unscrupulous adults.” It was also recommended by the Commission that persons who were interviewed and who were diagnosed as requiring therapy and counselling be revisited. The CoI advised that it may be necessary to have the therapists and counsellors actually assigned to the community for periods of time, perhaps on a rotational basis.” It was explained, “There are students, male and female, who survived and were not physically injured, but are emotionally scarred as a consequence of the impact of the tragedy. While such support services were extended for a six-month period, the requests have been poignant, and deserve attention…Periodic contact should be made with the Community Health workers in the communities from where students originated and a list made of those who still are in need of such support.” (G12)

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo

nating and oversight agencies have implemented systems that allow for both physical and remote monitoring of the offshore activities in real time. Additionally, in 2024, they will be undertaking key survey studies on the offshore blocks, to better assess the potential petroleum resources available for development and production. Jagdeo explained that this is more an internal survey to gather all the data available relating to the oil and gas sector, specifically on the licensees operating here and the various oil blocks offshore Guyana. Some of the framework strengthening done by the PPP/C Administration in the past three years include reforming the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) Act; passing the Petroleum Activities Bill; introducing conditions for, and hosting, Guyana’s first oil blocks’ auction; reforming the model Production Sharing Agreement (PSA); strength-

ening the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as issuing environmental permits to operators. Another key achievement of the Government is enacting, in 2021, Local Content Laws which allow for Guyanese and locally-owned companies to benefit from the opportunities in the oil and gas sector. The Act lays out 40 different services that oil and gas companies and their subcontractors must procure from Guyanese companies. Efforts are now being made to revise the two-yearold law to expand these earmarked services, and also fix loopholes within the legislation. “The Local Content Law, we’re now doing a complete review to see what worked; what didn’t work; what was effective; what was not effective; the loopholes that were exploited in the law; and then we’d have to make adjustments accordingly,” Jagdeo said on Thursday. TURN TO PAGE 22

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Eradicating… poverty? W

asn’t it said in the good book that we’ll always have the poor with us?? And this is the Gospel truth, innit?? From one angle, rich and poor are relative concepts…so it doesn’t matter how rich a society is, compared with those on top, they’ll always have others who are below, and in comparison “poor”!! For instance, in the States, the poorest would have material possessions that’s far beyond what our middle class enjoys over here!! And that’s the truth, Ruth!! You walk the streets of the ghetto neighbourhoods and you’d be surprised at the appliances and furniture, etc, they throw out! But anyhow, let’s turn to our dear Mudland, where we’ve been concededly poor because of the number the Brits and Dutch did on us - for centuries. Literally sucked out all our wealth to live high off the hog in their “Mother Countries”. And that’s part of the problem. Because of how long we’ve been living in poverty, some of us have developed a fatalistic attitude when it comes to get up and get. Now, right now, NO ONE can deny that there are more jobs than people in Guyana. So how can we have poverty if everyone can have a job?? Now, some are saying that many of these jobs need training, and might be in parts of the country where the bodies aren’t there. But the Government is providing training in every area for which there are jobs, and we gotta start somewhere, don’t we? As far as jobs being far away, didn’t we move to almost every country in the world – some thousands of miles away – when Burnham had destroyed the economy?? And we trained on-the-job, didn’t we?? But, in the meantime, there’s another philosophy for solving poverty than providing jobs – giving massive cash transfers that would amount to half of the oil revenues we’d be hauling in at peak!! Over US$1.2 billion!! Now, while this sounds like a good thing, do we really think this will be sustainable when our oil runs out in a few decades?? Shouldn’t we do what Singapore did with its resources and build for the future? It’s slower…it’s not a quick fix, but it lasts!! Now, it’s not like the Government ain’t sharing out SOME goodies to blunt the transition until when the good time gonna be rolling!! There’s all sorts of cash grants, school supplies grants, temporary job grants etc. Sure, it would be nice to suck cane and blow whistle at the same time, but it just can’t be done. Look at what happened here when Burnham tried it, and later when Chavez did the same over in Venezuela. Ruination!! More than half our population left…and Venezuela’s fast catching up!! …mankind? When you think of it, it’s kinda funny that the European countries - who insist they’re more civilized than the rest of us - are the ones who fought two World Wars that killed the most humans ever on planet Earth!! Millions and millions!! And right now, there are all sorts of signs that a third one’s brewing! We’ve had that war between Ukraine and Russia since 2022, and the West’s pouring so much weaponry into Ukraine it’s obvious they’re willing to fight to the last Ukrainian!! And we’re hearing that those Baltic countries on the top of the world are gearing up to “defend” themselves against the Ruskies. Now, one thing your Eyewitness learnt is that there isn’t a truer statement than “truth is the first casualty of war!” So we gotta sift what’s coming into our feeds and decide what’s really going on. For instance, if you go by what’s in our western press, you’d think Ukraine’s one battle away from Russia!! But sadly, the Ruskies can take out us all. …the PNC? If your Eyewitness didn’t know better, he’d swear that some of the erstwhile members of the PNC are determined to take down the “Progress Never Ceases” party. How else do you explain the ennui that has seized them?? The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

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

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Security is paramount

o confront the existential threat from Venezuela to our national security and territory, I had suggested that, as part of our response, we create a military base in Essequibo, to which we allow the US access. Strong objections were raised to any American presence here. One professor (“Guyana, Beware Ravi Dev the Western Proxy-State Trap”, Tamanisha John, SN 12-25-23) scoffed that there could be a “war” between Venezuela and Guyana because of the overwhelming material superiority of the former. One wonders if the professor also did not consider Hitler overrunning Poland in a month in a “war”, and what precisely did that mean to the 66,000 Poles killed and Poland partitioned. Is the Professor suggesting that we simply surrender to Venezuela’s “superior” numbers, rather than preparing for the asymmetrical response I suggested, in conjunction with engaging the US, which has reasons of its own to oppose Maduro? It appears that, according to the Professor, we misunderstand the nature of the conflict pursued by Maduro and Venezuela against us. It has nothing to do with Maduro creating a diversion through stoking nationalistic emotions by annexing Essequibo, to remain in power. She declares: “the crisis which unfolded between Guyana and Venezuela is a crisis of how states become integrated into preferred regimes of Western security, extractivism, and financial governance.” More specifically, she contends that “because Guyana is a captured state by ExxonMobil…it was the likelihood of western intervention, and not “war” between Guyana and Venezuela, that was the real feared possibility over the past (December).” But all of this flies in the face of the facts. Venezuela has nursed a victim mentality of being robbed of Essequibo by the British, and has waged war in all its forms since 1962, when it claimed to the UNGA that the 1899 Arbitral Award was “null and void”. They waged economic warfare when they blocked World Bank financing for the Upper Mazaruni Hydro-Electric Project. Back in 2012, long before Exxon had struck oil in 2015 and supposedly “captured” the state, Chavez had deployed the Venezuelan Navy to seize an Andarco survey ship in a block off our Atlantic waters. Maduro’s actions have been even more provocative, and it is possible that he was yanking the Americans’ chain to also rally Venezuelans around him. Then, of course, when it comes to “western extractivism” isn’t Maduro turning cartwheels to attract western multinationals like Chevron, Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni and Dutch Shell to return? What Maduro has realized is his mentor Chavez’s unilateral reduction of the foreign companies’ share of oil profits after their massive investments was a mistake – call it “state capture” or what you will. As Marx pointed out, “Man make their own history, but not in circumstances of their making”. And this is also true of states. In dealing with extant contingencies, states may be forced to make decisions that are at odds with some interests, but further others they have prioritised. Back in the 1980s, China’s Chairman Deng said, “It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice". This is the essence of principled pragmatism – not mere expediency - that is necessary to navigate the world in which we find ourselves. A blogger also criticised my proposal from another angle by pointing out a seeming contradiction after I had described, some time ago, Quijano’s theory of the “coloniality of power”, in which we are enmeshed. Quijano demonstrated that while “colonialism” might have ended, its structural features, dubbed “coloniality”, remains firmly in place. He posits that we were all conscripted by a European-defined “modernity” that began in 1492 with the conquest of the Americas. It developed and extended the structures of power, control, and hegemony that emerged during the era of colonialism. He posits that the coloniality of power takes three forms: systems of (racial) hierarchies, systems of knowledge, and cultural systems. But we would know that these hierarchies have now permeated the entire world – not just the west. Witness the Chinese distaste for coloured people and their insistence on the “Chinese way”. We have pointed out that we must pragmatically enter relationships with the US – or any country, for that matter – with our eyes wide open. Every country will act to further its own interests, and so should we. I have argued for a military relationship with the US fully aware of the downside risks. However, I do believe that, unlike what Prof John asserts, we cannot count on the “progressiveness” of Maduro’s ideology for our security. The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

HPV testing to be introduced soon, to target women 30 years and older - Ramsammy T

he Health Ministry will soon commence testing for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), as efforts are ongoing to eradicate cervical cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases are caused by the HPV virus, which also supports the development of other forms of cancer, such as breast cancer. Additionally, figures

Advisor to the Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

provided by Guyana’s Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony revealed that

chronic diseases have accounted for 74 per cent of deaths in Guyana, and the Ministry is working to lessen this percentage and ensure the population remains healthy. In this regard, Advisor to the Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, has said the testing programme will be used as one of the frontline interventions to identify people at risk, specifically women aged 30 and above, and ensure that they receive immediate medical

attention. He explained that this measure would be complemented by frequent monitoring and the introduction of pap smears and cryotherapy among other medical interventions for persons with cervical cancer. “This year, in the public sector at Linden, at New Amsterdam, in Georgetown, and then subsequently (at) other hospitals, we will have the capacity to test for HPV. So, everybody will know their

HPV status…but there is a hospital…that doesn’t have the equipment this year, that doesn’t prevent people from Region One from getting the test. Because the health centre, the hospital, will collect the samples and send them to Georgetown,” Dr Ramsammy explained. While the testing programme will be on stream this year, parents and guardians are still being advised to ensure children under their care get vaccinated against HPV. Dr

Ramsammy explained that vaccines for HPV are available at all primary healthcare facilities across the country. “If a child is vaccinated with HPV, we are setting the stage to end cervical cancer in this country… This is one of the few countries, so we have now expended it: even if you are an older woman, before 45, and you want your HPV vaccine, come, it is available,” Dr. Ramsammy stated. TURN TO PAGE 15

14 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

By Mishael Henry

ighteen-year-old Miguel Hernandes (not real name) recalls vividly the gruelling journey undertaken in having to flee from his hometown and leaving behind his beloved friends, cousins, aunt and uncles in search of a better life. Miguel’s story hails from a socially and economically torn land that is over 550

miles away from where he currently resides in Guyana. Miguel and his family abandoned everything they had in Venezuela, when he was just 10, in order to move

to Guyana with hopes of having a life free from fear, trials and pain. A son of supportive elderly parents and a brother to two siblings, Miguel found himself hammocked by riveting emotions on Tuesday evening as he spoke with this publication about his past life – memories he had kept locked away for years. His current dwelling – a rental property – is not much, but it is home, and has

been so for the past year. The young man recounted that every new morning in Venezuela began with turmoil, prompting his family of five to make the tough deci-

sion to leave behind everything they knew and loved. Despite the sad state of affairs at home, Miguel did not want to abandon his home. “I was frightened to leave; I left back two of my aunts and my cousins that I really miss; and since I leave, I’ve never seen them since,” he said. He explained that his family has Guyanese roots – his mother being a Guyanese by birth – hence the decision

was an easy one to settle in Guyana. Upon arrival on these shores with virtually nothing in their name, Miguel recounted, his family endured struggles in seeking food, shelter, and comfort. Initially, they were accommodated by family members as they desperately searched for jobs in order to earn a livelihood. His father worked in construction and a mechanic shop back home, while his

mother did cleaning jobs. Equipped with those skills, his parents picked up odd jobs they could find just to make ends meet. In fact, Miguel recalled, he had to quickly learn several different trades, and he remembered his efforts toiling in order to help support his family, all at the age of 10. “As soon I came to Guyana, I got the opportunity to work to support my family.” His primary jobs were in the mechanical field, in which he learned onsite with his father, who worked as a mechanic back home. In Guyana, Miguel first started working in the mechanical field, then onto washing cars. Now he works at construction sites. The scars on his hands are a testament to what Miguel has been thriving for ever since the new chapter of his life started in Guyana: a better life. “Mano eso es lo que hacemos para sobrevivir,” he re-

marked, which translates to ‘Man, this is what we do to survive’. Life for Miguel and family is indeed much better in Guyana than it was in Venezuela, but it came with a huge sacrifice. “Any time I call my other family members from Venezuela on the phone, I does feel to cry, boy. Knowing the distance and how long you never see a family member does hurt bad. When you so far away from family, you does feel alone,” he said. While noting that he has seen improvement in his life and the lives of his family since their migration, Miguel gave thanks to God for the fortunes showered upon them, acknowledging that the journey of other migrants is probably even more challenging. When asked, his advice to other migrants around the world is to push through the hardships and work to obtain income, because ‘without money, you can’t do anything’.

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

EPA's Achievements in 2023: A Year of Environmental Impact

he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) remains at the forefront of sustainable environmental management, shaping decisions that balance economic development with ecological responsibility. In 2023, the Agency's twelve dynamic departments undertook impactful endeavours, demonstrating their commitment to environmental well-being and fostering a harmonious coexistence between development and nature.

1. Communication Department: Shaping Narratives The Communication Department took center stage, orchestrating significant events like 'World Environment Day 2023' and skillfully disseminating positive achievements across social media platforms, fostering public awareness and engagement. 2. Environmental Investigations: Pioneering Compliance This department, commonly known as the "complaints department," not only did they diligently address 164 out of 282 complaints received, they also crafted an Environmental Guideline for Wash Bays in collaboration with NDCs. In addition, they reinvigorated the Honorary Litter Warden program in regions 1, 4, and 9, this stands as a testament to their commitment to increasing compliance. 3. Emergency Response: Aiding National Preparedness Successfully supported the Civil Defence Commission during Tradewinds 2023, the Emergency Response team enhanced national readiness by testing the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Their efforts resulted in an increased number of personnel trained in Incident Command System and shoreline cleanup assessment techniques. 4. Oil & Gas Department: Pioneering Environmental Monitoring Executing the first phase of the Ecosystem Reference Survey Programme, the Oil & Gas Department aimed to monitor the offshore industry's impact on the environment. The department also engaged in Compliance assistance outreaches, in collaboration with key stakeholders, targeted gas stations and fuel storage facilities, thus reinforcing regulatory adherence. 5. Forestry Department: Balancing Conservation and Utilization Screening 126 applications, issuing 80 permits, and developing Terms of Scope for EIA logging projects showcased the Forestry Department's commitment to sustainable forest operations. 6. Agriculture Department: Success Stories in Compliance Completing 54 compliance inspections, investigating 47 complaints and offering environmental compliance assistance, the Agriculture Department achieved commendable success stories, thereby aligning their efforts with the EPA's mandate. 7. Manufacturing and Industry Department: Managing High-Risk Facilities Processing 93 applications for Environmental Authorisation in the Oil & Gas and Construction sectors, this department improved compliance with the Environmental Regulations, particularly for high-risk facilities. Strengthening environmental monitoring requirements and standards showcased their commitment to public and environmental health. 8. Mining Department: Strengthening Compliance With a focus on compliance inspections in mining districts, the Mining Department heightened oversight for medium and high-risk permitted mining facilities. Compliance assistance initiatives reached communities like Bartica and Karrau, contributing to responsible mining practices. 9. Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) Unit: Global Participation Active participation in global projects like the Global Environmental Facility Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Phase 3 Regional Project, highlighted the Unit's dedication. The commencement of the Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Mining Project, which was delayed for two years, showcases their resilience. Supporting Pillars: MIS and GIS Departments The Management Information System (MIS) digitized the Agency's complaints and permitting processes. Simultaneously, the GIS Department played a pivotal role in analyzing and plotting inspections and investigations, providing valuable insights for longterm support. As the new year unfolds, the EPA remains committed to community engagement, compliance assistance, and the execution of its workplan. The strides made in 2023 set the stage for a future where environmental protection and economic development harmoniously coexist. The views expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Guyana Times’ editorial policy and stance

HPV testing to be introduced...

FROM PAGE 13

HPV

The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is sexually transmitted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who is infected with the virus. It also spreads through close skin-to-skin touching during sex, even if the individual with the virus has no visible signs or symptoms. There is no cure for the virus (HPV) itself; however, treatments are available for health problems that HPV can cause, such as genital warts and cervical cancer, among others. In 2023, the Health Ministry expanded access to HPV vaccines to persons beyond 15 years of age, in keeping with new guidelines issued by global health authorities. The Government of Guyana has significantly increased its health investment, with more than a doubling of the per capita investment in health between 2020 and 2023. In acknowledging these advances, the Ministry of Health has been urged to el-

evate the strategies and actions to manage and control cancers in our country.

Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix, which is located in the lower part of the womb. It is the result of abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Having sexual intercourse at an early age, or having multiple partners; smoking, and contracting sexually-transmitted infections like chlamydia, gonorrhoea or syphilis increases a person’s chance of developing the disease. The two most effective

procedures to detect cervical cancer are: the pap smear test, which looks for pre-cancer cells that might become cervical cancer; and the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), which examines the womb or the cervix for changes that might lead to cancer. However, while both of these tests can get the job done, the VIA test is more readily available to women, compared to the pap smear test. Further, the Human Papillomavirus infection examination and vaccines can help prevent women from developing cervical cancer. Screening for cervical cancer using the pap smear and

VIA method should be done every three years upon attainment of the age of twenty-one, while testing for HPV should start from the age of thirty years. However, it is recommended that, if someone has undergone both examinations, the procedure should be repeated every five years, and not three years.

Budget 2024

The Ministry of Health has received its largest budgetary provision this year, with the sum of $129.8 billion being set aside to help to tackle chronic diseases in Guyana. The allocation is part of Government’s transformation goals aimed at executing programmes which seek to mitigate the spread of transmissible diseases. These goals include the improvement of services, specialised training for health practitioners, construction and rehabilitation of healthcare facilities, and updating of guidelines as well as legislation.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

18 NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

FEATURE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

fine dining with Starlight Restaurant I n the heart of the picturesque Essequibo Coast, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam) a young entrepreneur has returned to his roots, and his homecoming brings not just nostalgia, but a culinary renaissance. Dudley Stephens, a native of Suddie Hospital and once a resident of Maria’s Lodge, Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), embarked on a transformative journey to New York at the age of 13. And after nearly three decades in the United States, he’s now back in Guyana, and is igniting the coastal skyline with his entrepreneurial spirit. For the past four years, the 43-year-old has been on a mission to weave a tapestry of businesses that reflect the unique charm of Guyana. The roots run deep; his father, the esteemed businessman Franklin Stephens, and late mother, Dr. Evelin Stephens, sowed the seeds of a profound love for business in Dudley. In the concrete canyons of New York, Stephens had carved a niche for himself as a wealth advisor for over two decades, showcasing a flair for financial prowess. Yet, the

allure of his homeland beckoned, and he found himself drawn to the endless possibilities that the Essequibo coast holds for business development. Guyana, a land as diverse as its landscapes, presented a unique question to

bridge in Essequibo? The answer, born out of his own passion, was fine dining. Enter Starlight Restaurant – a beacon of elegance, warmth, and culinary brilliance. Recognizing the absence of a fine dining haven on the coast, Stephens en-

vites patrons to revel in a space where friends, family, and couples can create lasting memories over delectable dishes that transcend the ordinary. The creation of Starlight was not a solo endeavour. Stephens credits his stellar

Businessman Dudley Stephens and his wife Tilita Stephens

Starlight Restaurant located at Suddie, Essequibo Coast

the businessman: What could be brought from the bustling entertainment scenes of New York to create a cultural

visioned Starlight as more than just a restaurant; it is an experience. The ambience, bathed in warm lighting, in-

team for turning his vision into reality: his brother Dean George, actively establishing his ventures in Guyana;

decorator Colette Langford, with an eye for aesthetics; father Franklin Stephens, offering guidance; and friends Hal Lambert and Oliver Young all played pivotal roles. He said the unwavering support of his wife Tilita Stephens, who added her touch to the fabric of Starlight’s success, was major to its establishment. Behind the scenes, a patient chef, having chosen to wait for Stephens’s vision to materialise, now infuses life into Essequibo’s first fine dining establishment. As the aroma of culinary

excellence wafts through the coastal air, he extends an invitation. Starlight Restaurant is not just a destination, he said, but rather it’s a celebration of Essequibo Coast’s potential, an invitation for locals and visitors from all walks of life to indulge in an unparalleled dining experience. With Dudley Stephens at the helm, Starlight isn’t merely a restaurant; it’s a testament to the thriving spirit of Essequibo, where every visit promises to be an unforgettable journey into the heart of Guyanese elegance. (G14)

20 NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Voluntary recall issued for Wanted bulletins issued for 3 persons linked to financial crimes Quaker Oats cereals

he Guyana Police Force (GPF) has issued wanted bulletins for three individuals in connection with money laundering and other financial crimes. The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) is actively seeking information in regard to the whereabouts of Jason Van Lange, Rajeshwar Persaud and Swastie Singh. Jason Van Lange is believed to have his last known address at 20th Avenue, Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara; Swastie Singh’s last known address is Hubu, East Bank Essequibo; and Rajeshwar Persaud is associated with addresses in Hubu, East Bank Essequibo, and Lot 10 Public Road, Prospect, East Bank Demerara. Police reported that Persaud is also known by aliases such as ‘Raj Persaud’ and ‘Dave Persaud.’ He also has a history of involvement in financial misconduct. On February 25, 2019, he was remanded in connection with an investigation related to obtaining money by

Wanted: Jason Van Lange

Wanted: Rajeshwar Persaud

false pretence. The Police disclosed that, under the guise of a Police officer, Persaud al-

Wanted: Swastie Singh

legedly collected significant sums of money from individuals, promising assistance in Police-related matters. Subsequent investigations revealed that he also purportedly engaged in the unauthorized sale of vehicles and properties that did not belong to him. The public is urged to provide any relevant information that could assist in the apprehension of these individuals. Anyone with details on their whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) or the nearest Police station. (G9)

he Government Analyst-Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) of the Health Ministry has notified of a voluntary recall issued by the Quaker Oats Company for certain cereals under the brand. In informing the general public via a statement on Saturday, it was revealed that the recall was initiated by the potential contamination of the products with Salmonella, a bacterium known to cause severe infections and particularly pose risks to young children, frail or elderly individuals, and those with weakened immune systems. The recalled products include Quaker Oats Squares Cinnamon, Quaker Oats Squares Brown Sugar, and Cap’n Crunch OOPS! All Berries Cereal. Typical symptoms of Salmonella infection include fever, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The GA-FDD has advised that persons who have consumed any of the listed products and experience any of the aforementioned symptoms are strongly advised to seek medical attention at the nearest health facility. The affected Quaker Oats cereals were produced in the United States

and distributed in Guyana. Consumers in possession of the recalled products are urged to discontinue use immediately, and return them to the original point of purchase. “The GA-FDD is actively monitoring the situation, and collaborating closely with the importer and distributor to swiftly remove all affected products from circulation within the local market.” For a comprehensive list of affected products that have not been imported into Guyana by the authorized importer, consumers can refer to http://www.quakergranolarecall.com/. For further information or inquiries, individuals can contact the GA-FDD at 222-8859/222-8860, or via WhatsApp at 222-8011. The

GA-FDD emphasizes the importance of consumers taking immediate action to avoid the recalled products, prioritizing their safety and well-being. Globally, the company has recalled several other products, including Quaker Chewy Granola Bars and Cereals, Cap’n Crunch Bars and select Cereals, Gamesa Marias Cereal, Gatorade Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars, Munchies Munch Mix and Snack Boxes that include these products. This recall does not include: Quaker Oats, Quaker Instant Oats, Quaker Grits, Quaker Oat Bran, Quaker Oat Flour and Quaker Rice Snacks. According to the US FDA, the company has received no confirmed reports of illness related to the products covered by this recall. Quaker has informed the FDA of our actions.

NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Police record 927 traffic violation cases in 2 days O

ver the past week, specifically on Tuesday and Thursday, the Guyana Police Force Traffic Department had been on high alert, as a total of 927 cases flooded their records. Violations ranged from speeding infractions to incidents of driving under the influence (DUI). A significant portion of the reported cases, 154 to be exact, were related to motorists exceeding the speed limit. The danger posed by such behaviour is evident, emphasizing the need for stringent measures to be implemented to curb reckless driving. In a report from the GPF, it was stated that DUI cases, numbering seven, added another layer of concern to the week’s enforcement efforts. Driving under the influence poses severe risks to both the individual behind the wheel and to other road users, prompting authorities to intensify their focus on combatting this hazardous behaviour. Regional Divisions 4C (East Coast Demerara),

4B (East Bank Demerara), and Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) emerged as high

performers during this twoday traffic blitz. Division 4C recorded an impressive 243 cases, followed by Division 4B with 164 cases and Division Six with 139 cases. These divisions showcased commendable efforts in addressing and managing the surge in traffic violations. As 2024 progresses, authorities are urging road users to adopt a proac-

less driving by dialling 911 or contacting the nearest Police station”, the release stated. The enforcement actions are not solely punitive; they are coupled with a commitment to traffic education. Over the two-day period, 11 lectures were delivered to drivers across all divisions, and ten lectures were conducted at local bars, and an-

In tandem with these efforts, 40 warrants were executed, holding violators accountable for their actions. The Police Force has also announced that it has set up suggestion boxes, and collaboration with members of the Regional Road Safety Councils and other partners is ongoing. These initiatives are all aimed at fostering a positive shift in the mindset of motorists, and enhancing public safety on the roadways. (G9)

Vendor survives gunmen’s attack, shot twice

Police officers conducting traffic enforcement exercises

tive approach by adhering to the 5Cs: Caution, Care, Courtesy, Consideration, and Common Sense. “Observing the rules of

the road is paramount, and the public is encouraged to report any instances of reck-

other ten were conducted at schools. These educational initiatives, according to the Guyana Police Force, aim

to raise awareness and promote responsible road behaviour.

evin Lachish, a 32-year-old coconut vendor of Broad and Lombard Streets, Georgetown, was shot twice on Thursday evening by two men on a motorcycle. According to reports, two men on a black XR motorcycle approached Lachish at his coconut stand at about 19:30h, and one of them was armed with a handgun. During the confrontation, the armed suspect discharged three rounds at Lachish, two of which struck him to his left thigh and left wrist respectively. The suspects, who remain at large, then made a quick getaway on the motorcycle. Police said Lachish was rushed to the Georgetown

Injured: Kevin Lachish

Public Hospital by public-spirited persons, and was admitted a patient. According to Police, a 9mm spent shell was recovered

from the scene. As Police continue their investigation, CCTV footage obtained in the area is also being reviewed. (G9)

22 NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Essequibo Coast pedal cyclist Greater O&G monitoring... killed by speeding motorcar

FROM PAGE 7

…“justice is all we need” – sister

35-year-old pedal cyclist was killed on Friday evening after a motorcar crashed into him on the Queenstown Public Road in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam). Dead is Garfield Dudley Bridgmohan, a logger of Queenstown Village, Essequibo Coast. Guyana Times was told that the accident occurred at about 20:30h on Friday, as a white motorcar that was proceeding north along the western side of the road at a fast rate of speed collided with the rear wheel of the pedal cycle Bridgemohan was riding in the same direc-

Dead: Garfield Bridgmohan

motorcar PXX 9235, owned by a resident of Parika and driven by a 71-year-old man, was proceeding north at a

The grieving sister, Malinda Mc Garrell

tion as the car, but ahead of the vehicle. This collision caused the cyclist to fall on the road, and the vehicle allegedly drove over him, causing him to suffer severe neck and other body injuries. The vehicle then drove some distance away before coming to halt. Police said in a release on Saturday evening that

fast rate when, according to the driver, he suddenly saw a man who was riding a bicycle make a “sudden lean” and collide with the front left side of his vehicle. The man hit the windshield, and was picked up by the driver and taken to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The car that was involved in the accident

Justice Bridgmohan’s sister Malinda McGarrell told Guyana Times that she received a call from her daughter informing her about the accident. She is calling for justice to prevail, as she said that Bridgemohan was riding in the correct lane. “We need justice! My brother was on his lane riding coming home and the car man was speeding and hit him from behind, and then drove over (his) head… We need justice! Justice is all we need! My brother was a good person, he never did anyone wrong, and that car man is wrong to hit my brother and kill him,” she said. Bridgemohan’s body is at the Suddie Mortuary awaiting a postmortem examination. Police have said the vehicle driver has been arrested and is in custody at the Anna Regina Police Station, where he is assisting with the investigation. (G14)

One of the issues that need to be addressed is the practice of ‘fronting’, or ‘renting a citizen’, by which some Guyanese companies and/ or individuals are entering into sham partnerships with foreign companies in order that those companies can capitalize on the benefits set aside for locals.

Enforcement Unit Back in August, Director of the Local Content Secretariat, Dr Martin Pertab, had announced that an Enforcement Unit had been set up within the agency to go after those companies involved in these illegal acts. Nevertheless, Government has reported that the Local Content Act 2021 continues to bear fruit. In fact, since January 2022, contractors, sub-contractors and licensees reporting to the Local Content Secretariat have recorded 3,938 local hires, 785 of which were within the first six months of 2023. Of this total, 824 Guyanese were employed as plant and machine operators, 1,203 as professionals (accountants, lawyers, engineers, etc.), and another 485 as technicians. This brings the total number of Guyanese persons employed in the sector to more than 6,000. In accordance with the Act, 33 companies operating in the oil industry have each submitted their five-year master plan detailing employment, procurement and capacity development, and these plans project growth by 601 persons in 2024, 509 in 2025, and 536 in 2026. Also, in keeping with the Act, annual plans received from contractors, subcontrac-

tors and licensees amount to an estimated US$721 million in procurement of goods and services and training; above the $700 million in 2022 which covered 40 categories of services. Current estimates suggest that US$518 million in goods and services had been procured from Guyanese suppliers in 2023. Of this amount, roughly US$15.8 million, US$5.5 million, and US$130 million were spent on providing accommodation services, catering, and lay down yard facilities respectively. Other major expenditures include the provision of manpower and crewing services, and ground transportation at US$74.6 million and US$13.6 million respectively. Catalyst Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh, in presenting the 2024 Budget last week, said, “The implementation of the Local Content Act in Guyana has proven to be a catalyst for numerous partnerships between foreign and local companies, fostering a collaborative environment in the nation’s burgeoning petroleum industry.”

Some of these notable alliances include joint ventures and partnerships to provide shore base facilities ; offshore support vessel services; offshore helicopter services; offshore catering services; machining and fabrication services; and hazardous waste management. “These partnerships not only signify compliance with local content provisions as stipulated by the Act, but also contribute significantly to business expansion, capacity development, and knowledge-sharing within Guyana’s petroleum industry, and augur well for the sector’s growth in the near and medium term,” the Finance Minister stated. Dr Singh further noted that among the initiatives to be rolled out this year are: a paid internship programme, with the 45 Tier 1 contractors targeting approximately 100 paid internships; the development of an enhanced digital platform to allow immediate notification of employment opportunities and procurement needs; and local content sensitisation workshops to further increase awareness of opportunities that the Act affords.

23 UG’s research, teaching capabilities bolstered as 31 faculty members graduate with PhDs NEWS

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…“Blessing to UG and the Nation” - Vice Chancellor

he University of Guyana (UG) has received a substantial ‘shot in the arm’ after 31 of its faculty members who were studying for their PhDs and Ed.Ds graduated in December 2023, thus giving the tertiary institution a lift in its research capability while also enhancing the quality of its teaching staff. The scholars from across UG’s eight Faculties and several service units are already back at the University carrying out teaching, research and administrative functions. The Advanced Scholars Programme, which began in the 2018/2019 academic year with funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation, was developed by the University of Guyana in a close collaboration with Arizona State University. The project also funded three Masters students, and six doctoral scholarships are expected to be completed in the coming months. The project, designed by Professor Paloma MohamedMartin, then Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, and Professor Gary Dirks of Arizona State University in the United States, is aimed primarily at increasing the number of teaching staff with terminal degrees (doctorates) at the University of Guyana by 30 per cent by 2024, and to power up UG’s research capacity. Now Vice Chancellor, Prof Mohamed-Martin has said the programme was aimed at solving UG’s “dysfunctional composition” of its faculty staff – 80 per cent of whom mainly had Masters degrees or less. The programme was designed in two parts, placing

20 scholars in the Education Doctoral programme and 17 in the PHD Sustainable Science programme. The UG Vice Chancellor has said the programme is a blessing to the University, its students and the country, since it would immediately increase the research output of the University, improve the quality of teaching, and bolster the fundamental levels of administration and service. “This experience for these dedicated staff was meant to be more than an academic exercise. It was an experiential one which was critical to operating UG’s Blueprint 2040. This goal has been achieved,” she said. Prof. Dirks has said, “The programme with UG was absolutely critical to ensuring that The University of Guyana is able to deal with the tsunami of developments which are about to descend upon the country. I was honoured to be part of this very, very important moment for UG and Guyana. So, I think the benefits are going to be far-reaching for this programme. To begin with, this number of PHDs - and of course there’s an Ed.D programme as well - expands the capacity considerably for the University of Guyana. At the time when there is enormous change happening in Guyana, I believe these graduates will be an important capability that can be applied to all the extraordinary events that lie ahead for Guyana.” The University of Guyana’s Advanced Scholar Programme focused on action research on key problems located in all 10 regions of Guyana, as well as

Some of the new UG scholars after their graduation ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona

the University of Guyana itself as a community of interest. Dissertations on sustainable agriculture and forestry, energy, education and Indigenous communities, water and pollution, biodiversity, chemical and mechanical innovations and technologies, computing, labour economics, education, educational administration and support systems, to name a few, were produced over four intensive years of study and research. Scholars under the project have so far published over 60 research papers. Two books and a conference on their work are currently in preparation, and the project itself is being studied as a model system for rapid results use of the academy in sustainable development. The University of Guyana will be featuring one scholar and their work every week starting in February 2024. “This was a blessing, and it was wonderful to see them all graduate on time

and excellent… They did UG proud and they did Guyana proud… Really delighted that this came to fruition,” VC Mohamed-Martin has posited. This bolstering of UG’s capability comes on the heels of Vice President Dr Bharrat

Jagdeo highlighting the need for the tertiary institution to improve not only the quality of teaching staff, but also the quality of degree programmes being offered there as well. During a recent press conference, the Vice President

was asked about the need for comparable salary for UG lecturers. This was premised against the same services being offered by the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship initiative. However, Jagdeo noted that while Guyana needs both UG and the GOAL programme, the former needs enhancement. “[The University of Guyana] needs to have a good quality of degree [programmes], particularly first degrees. Around a core number of areas and quality is important…so a lot has to be reviewed there too; and the Government, now that it will be using taxpayers’ resources to fund the entire university, needs to ensure that we have solid leadership, and also that we have value for money, and the output – the quality of the degree [programme] – is of a standard that is recognised everywhere in the world,” the VP stated. (G8)

‘Izwe’ confesses to killing girlfriend, burying body …implicates victim’s sister

Shaquawn Alleyne, also known as 'Izwe’, and his late girlfriend Shonnette Dover

n a significant development that has come after almost three years of waiting, Shaquawn Alleyne, also known as 'Izwe,' the man who was wanted for the murder of his 20-year-old girlfriend Shonnette Dover, has reportedly confessed to his involvement in the murder. The shocking revelation unfolded not long after Alleyne was apprehended in neighbouring Suriname and brought back to Guyana to face charges. Upon his arrival in Guyana on Friday morning, the suspect was immediately escorted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters of the Guyana Police Force in Georgetown, and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum subsequently disclosed that during the interrogation, Alleyne admitted to murdering Dover. Blanhum said Alleyne implicated Dover's sister in the crime by alleging she had

been involved in assisting him to dispose of the victim's body in a shallow grave. This confession marks a crucial development in the ongoing investigation, as it sheds light on the circumstances surrounding the tragic 2021 murder case. The GPF, in a statement on Saturday, said it would continue its thorough examination of the evidence and statements provided by the suspect to ensure a comprehensive legal process in the pursuit of justice. After shooting Dover dead on April 3, 2021, Alleyne buried her body in his backyard, but Dover’s younger sister who had witnessed the shooting alerted Police to what had transpired. With guidance from that sister, the victim’s decomposed body was found in a shallow grave behind Alleyne’s Canvas City Linden home on April 30, 2021. Alleyne’s father and Dover’s 15-year-old sister

had been arrested during the investigation. Police had indicated that the teen had led them to the shallow grave where the missing woman’s remains were buried, after confessing to being at the scene of the crime when the woman was killed on April 3, 2021. A post-mortem examination (PME) conducted on Dover’s body revealed that she died as a result of a single gunshot injury to the head. On May 4, 2021, Dover’s teen sister was charged with accessory after the fact of murder in relation to Dover’s death. Alleyne had managed to elude the Police, and Guyanese authorities had strongly suspected that he had fled to Suriname to evade arrest. After thorough investigation, he was identified, arrested, and handed over to the Police in Suriname for arraignment. (G9)

24 FEATURE Challenges, coping strategies, seeking help for ADHA L SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

iving with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), previously known as ADD, can present significant challenges for adults across various aspects of life, ranging from managing daily responsibilities to maintaining relationships, both personal and professional. Individuals with ADHD may face difficulties with time management, meeting deadlines, and impulsive behaviour, often leading to them feeling that they are being misunderstood by others. Despite these challenges, there are skills and strategies that can be learned to effectively cope with the symptoms.

Guyana Times had the opportunity to sit down with David Loncke, a professional mental health counsellor attached to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, who shared his personal and professional take on ADHD, and how we, as Guyanese, can find coping strategies to deal with the challenges of living with ADHD. He also shared on finding the professional help we may need. As he spoke on adopting daily habits, recognizing personal strengths, and developing techniques that can help to better manage ADHD, Loncke said, “When you exercise, it has been known to increase your

mood. Through exercising, you look better and you feel better. With ADHD, it has a tendency of impacting your self-esteem.” Loncke said, as he spoke directly on developing techniques to better manage ADHD, that educating others about the condition can also contribute to building understanding of what you’re living with, while seeking the support of friends, family, and colleagues. Living with ADHD can pose unique challenges, Loncke highlighted, some of those main challenges or attributes may look like inability to fulfil task, inability to complete task, mood irregularities, or problems with relationships and maintaining them.

“However, though these may be some symptoms indictive of ADHD, it must be noted that there are other challenges and complications that may cause you to think that it is ADHD when it could be something else,” David explained. Further, he explained that it is absolutely necessary to get in touch with a professional to get a thorough clinical interview done. “It’s only through that path you can really know,” Loncke underscored. While emphasising that some may experience those very symptoms, he said it often falls under misconceptions which a lot of persons make the mistake of believing. While ADHD typically develops from childhood, it can also impact adults. This

often leads to poor performance at work, or in any professional setting. While in Guyana there are no specific data on the prevalence of ADHD, research has shown that four per cent of children live with it, while two per cent are found in adults. The Mental Health Unit under the Ministry of Health is urging individuals who suspect they may have ADHD to seek professional help, rather than believing this kind of behaviour pattern might be normal. Addressing ADHD in workplaces, Loncke expressed that it is vital to obtain accurate diagnoses through comprehensive assessments for each individual. Regarding risk factors, Loncke noted that although

researchers have not been able to identify a particular cause for ADHD, some risk factors they have been able to narrow down include ‘brain structure and the way the brain functions mainly in premature births. Due to premature birth, these individuals are more likely to develop ADHD. Genetics does also play a part in developing ADHD. On treatments, he said that while non-pharmaceutical methods may be helpful, medication can provide sustained support, allowing chemicals to remain present in the brain for longer periods, thereby aiding in symptom management. Loncke implored, “It is important to trust the healthcare system and consult professionals for comprehensive assessments and any potential diagnoses.” Understanding ADHD, recognising its impact, and seeking appropriate help can significantly improve the quality of life of individuals navigating this condition. With the right support, coping strategies, and access to professional care, individuals with ADHD can effectively manage their symptoms, and lead fulfilling lives both personally and professionally. If you are seeking resources for help with ADHD or mental health support, the following organizations and contact information may be valuable: Equal Guyana: +592 610 5428; Push Foundation: +592 666 3193; Mental Health Unit: +592 223 6624; Kadijah Mc Clure: +592 664 6670; West Dem Hospital: +592 684 4526, +592 713 9867; Desert Flower: +592 645 3349; GPHC Psych Clinic: +592 660 8805.

FEATURE

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

HEALTH TIPS UNDERSTANDING AUTISM

Dr. Tariq Jagnarine Family Medicine, Endocrinology/Diabetes

utism spectrum disorder (ASD) accounts for the range of strengths and support needs that autistic people have. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects social interaction, behaviour, and communication. Autistic individuals vary widely in their strengths and need for s u p -

port. For this reason, people often refer to autism as Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The features of autism often appear in the early years. Autism is not a disease, but early intervention can equip children to manage some of the specific challenges they may face in the wider world. It is estimated that 1 in 54 children can present with autism. Males are diagnosed with ASD four times more often than females. One explanation may be that females present with different signs and symptoms that may go unrecognized.

What is Autism spectrum disorder?

ASD is an umbrella term that includes a range of neurodevelopmental features. Autism is not a disease, but it can have a

significant impact on a person’s life. Its effects can vary widely. Some people will need lifelong support, while others can live and work independently. In some cases, the features of the condition may be present from infancy. In others, the signs may become more obvious as the individual becomes older. Parents or caregivers may notice that a young child: • Does not babble by the age of 12 months, or produce words by 16 months. • Does not respond when people talk to them, but reacts to other sounds. • Does not make eye contact. • Lines up toys or objects excessively • Does not want to be cuddled. • Does not play with others, or play make-believe games. A n older child may: •

Have difficulty starting conver-

sations. • Have difficulty making friends and interacting with others. • Use repetitive or atypical language. • Be uncomfortable with changes to their routine. • Be extremely passionate about specific topics or objects.

CAUSES

Researchers are still trying to find out why ASD occurs. Factors that may play a role include: • Genetic features • Environmental factors • Early disruption of brain growth • Preterm birth • Being male, as ASD affects about four times (trusted source) as many males as females • Having a twin who is

autistic Researchers have found no evidence that vaccinations or parenting practices contribute to the condition. Features ASD can affect a person’s way of perceiving the world. The person may be hypersensitive to some stimuli, such as light, sound, and taste, leading to the overstimulation of one or more senses. This is called sensory overload. It can make everyday experiences, such as going to a shopping mall, confusing and overwhelming. Other people may notice that the person with ASD has: • Atypical speech patterns and tone of voice • Late development of speech skills • Difficulty maintaining or responding to conversation. • Limited eye contact • Limited response to social interaction • Repetitive speech and behaviour patterns • Difficulty in understanding other people’s feelings, and expressing their own The individual may also show repetitive behaviours such as: • Hyperfocus on a specific topic, such as cars or train timetables • A preoccupation with particular objects, such as a toy or household item • Repetitive movements, such as rocking from side to side • Lining up or arranging toys or objects in an orderly way Needing to go through a predictable routine each

day For an autistic person, a break in routine, an unexpected event, or exposure to loud, overstimulating environments can be overwhelming. Such situations can lead to outbursts of anger, frustration, distress, sadness, or shutdown that others may misinterpret as “bad” behaviour. Approximately 1 in 10 autistic people show signs of savant syndrome, in which a person has extraordinary abilities in a particular field. Their skill could be playing a musical instrument, calculating complex sums at high speed, or memorizing vast amounts of knowledge. Autistic people may also have a higher risk of other conditions, such as: • Depression • Anxiety • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) • Gastrointestinal problems • Sleep disorders • Obesity • High blood pressure • Diabetes • Seizures

ASSESSMENT

The features of autism often appear during early childhood, and a reliable diagnosis is usually possible at the age of 2 years. However, many people do not receive a diagnosis until much later. Sometimes, having an early diagnosis helps enable a child to get, during their developmental years, support that will benefit them throughout their life. The features of autism vary widely, but if a parent or caregiver has concerns about a child’s reactions or behaviour, they

should seek help and advice. There is no one test for autism, but doctors and psychologists will use behavioural assessments, questionnaires, observations, and criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to determine whether ASD is present. They will also need to rule out other possible causes of some behaviours and symptoms seen in ASD, such as hearing loss.

Support

ASD is a lifelong condition, but various interventions can help people manage the challenges they may face. Medication and therapy can help with • Speech development • Social interaction • Epilepsy • Depression • OCD • Sleep disturbances • Behavioural challenges A multidisciplinary team comprising ASD specialists, speech therapists, teachers, and psychologists can work with the individual and their parents or caregivers to provide support.

Strategies and skills

Autistic people may behave in ways that appear unusual to others. These behaviours — for example, performing a repetitive movement — are most likely strategies to help them cope when they feel overwhelmed. These behaviours may be ways for a person to: • Protect themselves from an environment that feels overwhelming. • Manage their emotions. • Establish a sense of order.

Neurotypical people may not understand these reactions, which can lead to the person feeling isolated and distressed. Parents, caregivers, and others can maximize a child’s quality of life by learning about ASD and providing support. For instance, they can help by: • Learning how ASD affects the child. • Accepting that while an autistic person may be different from a neurotypical person, they are still complete with their own strengths and weaknesses. • Being consistent in routines and rules • Building on the child’s strengths and interests • Researching and building up a support network • Following routines where possible • Planning and preparing for changes in advance. • Avoiding overstimulating environments where possible, or introducing them gradually • Encouraging cooperative behaviour by setting limits and offering choices • Listening to autistic people who speak and write about their experiences. They can also work with the child to find out: • Triggers • Likes and dislikes. • best way to communicate. • Learning preference • Strengths and weaknesses Each autistic person is unique, and no single definition can describe an individual or predict how their life will be. Some people will have high support needs throughout their lives, while others will live independently, attend college, and be high achievers. ASD is a lifelong condition, but support and therapies can help autistic people manage the various challenges they can face. Parents or caregivers who suspect that a child may have signs of autism can help by seeking professional advice as soon as possible. Early intervention can help maximize the chances of an autistic individual achieving their full potential.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

guyanatimesgy.com

Regional

“Murderer!”: Peru’s President faces fierce 6 nuns among 8 persons kidnapped in Port-au-Prince backlash in slain protesters’ hometown

eligious officials in Haiti say that eight persons, including six nuns, were kidnapped on Friday. “(We) were saddened to learn that six nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne, and others from the bus they were on, have been abducted,” said the Catholic Church-affiliated group Haitian Religious Conference. It’s reported that an armed group kidnapped the women around 07:00h (local time) as the nuns travelled to work. According to a statement from the President of the Haitian Religious Conference, P Morachel Bonhomme, the nuns were from the country’s Congregation of the Sisters of St Anne. He said “other occupants” of the bus were also taken and lamented “too many kidnappings” in Haiti are filling its people’s souls with “sad-

Although the perpetrators have not been described or identified, the nation’s kidnapping epidemic is attributed to gangs that have become emboldened amid the chaos that followed the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

ness and fear”. “May the spirit of strength be given to the Sisters of St Anne to find a way out of this terrible situation,” Bonhomme said. “May the solidarity of the consecrated people of Haiti and the world help them overcome this difficult ordeal.” Although the perpetrators have not been described or identified, the nation’s kid-

napping epidemic is attributed to gangs that have become emboldened amid the chaos that followed the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The nonprofit Assessment Capacities Project, which provides data to humanitarian groups says gangs have taken over about 80 per cent of the geography of Port-auPrince. (CMC)

eruvian President Dina Boluarte faced fierce backlash on Saturday from residents during a visit to the southern Andean region of Ayacucho, where 10 persons were reported killed during anti-Government protests in December 2022. Unverified videos shared on social media show people pushing up against security officials shouting “Dina is a murderer!” One woman, who said her husband had been killed in mid-December 2022 in protests that would go on for months, managed to evade security and shake up the President. Local media reported that she was taken away by Police, but not detained. The woman identified herself to reporters as Ruth Barcena and said her late husband, Leonardo Hancco, had been fatally shot during protests in December 2022. “My husband was murdered here. They killed my husband, and they want me to calm down?” Barcena

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, flanked by Prime Minister Alberto Otarola, addressing the media in Lima, Peru, December 29, 2022 (Reuters/Angela Ponce file photo)

shouted in the crowd. The December 2022 protests broke out after former President Pedro Castillo was ousted and arrested while illegally trying to close Congress. His Vice President, Boluarte, was rapidly sworn in, but dozens died in ensuing protests, mostly in southern Peru. Boluarte has faced a constitutional complaint and probe on charges of “genocide, qualified homicide and

serious injuries”, charges she denies. Prime Minister Jorge Otarola condemned Saturday’s protest as a “lamentable” act on X, saying it had “put in danger the Head of State’s integrity and this is very serious. With violence, we all lose as a country”. Peru’s Interior Ministry said it would carry out investigations to identify those responsible. (Excerpt from Reuters)

Overseas Jamaicans urged Municipal palace set on fire in southern Mexican town after Police kill young man to invest in the country

amaican nationals living overseas are being encouraged to take advantage of the sustained growth in the economy by investing in the country. Minister of State in the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Ministry, Alando Terrelonge, in making the call, said that the country was experiencing unprecedented growth and development and it was “a great place to make some money”. Terrelonge, who was speaking in an interview on Irie Jam Radio, which is based in New York City,

highlighted opportunities in various sectors such as construction, which he noted is a booming industry. “For the first time in some 40 years, our exports in Jamaica have exceeded our imports. The Jamaican economy is growing, the rest of the world is doing great business in Jamaica, and we are saying to members of the Diaspora, this is your opportune time to come home and invest in Jamaica,” he said. Terrelonge said that the Government sees the Diaspora as a strate-

gic partner in building a “very strong Jamaica, for all Jamaicans,” and is urging persons to participate in the upcoming 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference. The four-day event is scheduled to take place from June 16-19 in Montego Bay, St James. “We are encouraging all Jamaicans; Montego Bay is the place to be for the Conference because it is your country and your voice,” Terrelonge said. (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)

esidents of a Mexican town set fire to the municipal palace overnight on Friday in a violent protest after local Police shot a young man in the neck, according to his relatives, after he did not stop his car at a checkpoint. National media reported that Police shot dead 27-year-old Brandon Arellano, the son of a local teacher, as he arrived outside his grandmother’s house. Videos shared online show his father attempting

to revive him at the scene. “Once he had parked, they opened fire against the car and killed him instantly, shooting him in the jugular like cowards,” father Delfino Arellano said on video. “My son died instantly.” Authorities did not disclose why Arellano had been stopped. Residents of Lerdo de Tejada, a town in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, overturned a Police car and set it on fire and clashed

with Police Officers at the scene. They also broke windows at the local government palace and set it on fire. A social media post from the state’s Public Security Ministry shortly after the killing said four municipal Police Officers had been detained for suspected homicide and would make their statements to State Prosecutors. “There will be no impunity,” the Ministry said. (Reuters)

Dominican Republic to trial 4-day work week

NCC Chair invites world to I Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival

espite travel advisories warning citizens from countries such as Canada and the United States against coming to Trinidad and Tobago, National Carnival Commission (NCC) Chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters has invited the world to this year’s festival. In a phone interview with Sunday Newsday, Peters said there were plans for increased security in the buildup to Carnival Monday and Tuesday on February 12 and 13. On January 10, the Canadian Government updated a travel advisory which told its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when coming to T&T, owing to violent crime. Under the subhead of safety and security,

it said violent crime including armed robberies, assaults and sexual assault occur frequently, especially in Port of Spain.

It said tourists have been targeted, and since 2018, incidents of kidnapping for ransom had increased. It advised cruise ship passengers to be very careful when walking around. “Shootings, kidnappings and other gang and drug-related violence also occur. There is a risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the advisory said. While people have expressed their views on T&T’s crime rate and Carnival – with some questioning whether it should be held at all, given the crime rate

– Peters said even without crime there are some people in the country who believe Carnival should be stopped. “We were taught and made to believe that Carnival was the worst thing to ever happen to this country, it belongs to the devil, it is a devil thing and it is against God. Without all the crime publicity, we are having, there are people who will say that anyway. “I don’t take on that kind of thing. We were taught in this country to hate ourselves. Hate Carnival, hate calypso, hate steelpan, hate mas.” He said these people are in the minority and many understand the significance of Carnival. (Excerpt from Trinidad Newsday)

n February, the Dominican Republic will become the first Caribbean nation to test a four-day work week, following similar trials in countries such as the United Kingdom. The six-month pilot will be voluntary for companies and will not involve a pay cut for participating employees. Growing calls for a shorter work week have stemmed from COVID-19-era discussions and anecdotes that long and in-person work hours do not necessarily guarantee higher productivity. So what is the fourday work week trial in the Dominican Republic, and has it had success elsewhere? Beginning in February, organisations in the Caribbean nation can choose whether to implement a sixmonth-long trial of a four-

The pilot follows successful four-day work week trials in countries such as UK and Iceland [Tatiana Fernandez/AP file photo]

day work week. The standard week will drop to 36 hours from 44 hours, typically running from Monday through to Thursday. Employees will continue to earn the same salaries. Some of the companies expected to participate in the trial run include the Government’s national health insurance agency;

power company EGE Haina; Claro, a Latin American telecommunications company; and IMCA, a heavy-equipment business. A local university has been tasked with analysing the results, including any health changes in workers and the relationship between work and their personal lives. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

Around the World

Israeli soldiers uncover Gaza tunnel OILNEWS OIL NEWS that once held hostages, army says China defies sanctions to make Russia its biggest oil supplier in 2023

ussia leapfrogged Saudi Arabia to become China's top crude oil supplier in 2023, data showed on Saturday, as the world's biggest crude importer defied Western sanctions to purchase vast quantities of discounted oil for its processing plants. Russia shipped a record 107.02 million metric tons of crude oil to China last year, equivalent to 2.14 million barrels per day (bpd), the Chinese customs data showed, far more than other major oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Imports from Saudi Arabia, previously China's largest supplier, fell 1.8 per cent to 85.96 million tons, as the Middle East oil giant lost market share to cheaper Russian crude. Shunned by many international buyers following Western sanctions over the Kremlin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian crude oil traded at significant discounts to international benchmarks for much of last year amid a Western-imposed price cap. Accelerating demand from Chinese and Indian refiners for the discounted oil boosted the price of Russian ESPO crude through 2023, pushing past the Group of Seven's US$60 a barrel price cap imposed in December 2022 as alternative shipping and insurance options to circumvent the sanctions proliferated. ESPO crude shipments for December delivery were priced at a discount of around 50 cents to 20 cents per barrel to the ICE Brent benchmark, versus a US$1 premium for October delivery cargoes and a discount of US$8.50 for shipments delivered in March, according to trading sources. At the same time, Saudi Arabia raised prices for its signature Arab Light from July, pushing some refiners to look for cheaper cargoes. To support prices, Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's top three oil producers, announced output and export cuts last year. Saudi Arabia is rolling over output cuts of one million bpd this quarter, while Russia said it would deepen its cut in exports this year to 500,000 bpd from 300,000 bpd. Chinese refiners use intermediary traders to handle the shipping and insurance of Russian crude to avoid violating the Western sanctions. Buyers also use the waters off Malaysia as a transshipment point for sanctioned cargoes from Iran and Venezuela. Imports tagged as originating from Malaysia climbed 53.7 per cent last year. China reported no official shipments of Venezuelan crude in December despite an easing of US sanctions on Caracas in October following a deal between President Nicolás Maduro's Administration and its political opposition. Shipments to China from the US last year surged 81.1 per cent last year despite geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington as US crude production increased. China's overall crude imports for 2023 rose to a record of 563.99 million metric tons, equivalent to 11.28 million bpd. (Excerpt from Reuters)

t the end of a kilometre-long, booby-trapped tunnel in the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers discovered cramped cells where the military said Hamas kept about 20 hostages. They found a holding area, five narrow rooms behind metal bars, toilets, mattresses, and even drawings by a child hostage who was freed during a November truce, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. No hostages were there when it was discovered. The military released photos from the underground labyrinth and said it brought in Journalists to document the tunnel before it was destroyed. The tunnel entrance,

Hagari said, was in the house of a Hamas member in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where Israel has been focusing its fight in recent weeks against the Palestinian Islamist group. "The soldiers entered the tunnel where they encountered terrorists, engaging in a battle that ended with the elimination of the terrorists," Hagari said. The tunnel was rigged with blast doors and explosives, he said. "According to the testimonies we have, about 20 hostages were held in this tunnel at different times under harsh conditions without daylight, in dense air with little oxygen, and terrible humidity that makes breathing difficult," he said.

An underground cell which, according to Israel's military, was used by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to hold hostages in the Gaza Strip, in this handout picture released on January 20, 2024 (Israel Defence Forces/Handout via Reuters)

Some of the hostages kept there were freed during the week-long Qatari-mediated truce. Others are among the more

than 130 captured during Hamas' October 7 rampage through southern Israel that are still in Gaza. (Reuters)

Thousands of New Zealand Maori meet to discuss response to Government plans

ore than 10,000 New Zealand Maori congregated in the central North Island on Saturday to discuss how to respond to Government plans that are seen by many Indigenous groups as undermining their rights and status. Maori King Tuheitia, who hosted the event, told attendees their voices matter but it was not just talk, a solution that was needed. "But turning up today, we've sent a strong message that has been heard around the world. People are watch-

ing us," he said. New Zealand's centre-right coalition which took office in October is planning to undo policies of previous Governments, particularly those promoting the official use of the Maori language and seeking to enhance Indigenous living standards and rights. Critics say these vows are the most significant step backward for Maori rights in decades, and some have taken legal action. The Government of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon

says its plans address voters' concerns, and are aimed at giving all New Zealanders equal rights. The Maori King had called on tribes from around the country last month to gather at his traditional meeting grounds, or Marae in Ngaruawahia, south of Auckland, to discuss how Maori respond. Those gathered attended breakout sessions which including discussing topics such as national unity and the place of the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi. The 1840 treaty is New Zealand’s founding docu-

ment and underpins claims of Maori sovereignty. “The best protest we can do right now is be Maori, be who we are, live our values, speak our reo (language), care for our mokopuna (younger generation), our awa (rivers), our maunga (mountains),” Tuheitia said. “Just be Maori, Maori all day, every day, we are here, we are strong,” he said. Some politicians also attended the event, but Luxon did not take part. The Prime Minister met the Maori King earlier this week and said he was supportive of the meeting. (Excerpt from Reuters)

US personnel injured in missile attack on Al Russian lawmakers to Asad airbase in Iraq debate seizing property of those who ‘discredit’ army

number of US military personnel have been injured in a missile attack on an airbase in western Iraq. The US military's Central Command said an Iran-backed militia targeted the Al Asad airbase, which hosts American troops, with ballistic missiles and rockets on Saturday evening. An unspecified number of US personnel were "undergoing evaluation for traumatic brain injuries". At least one Iraqi service member was wounded in the attack. The strike against the base was claimed by a group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. According to the US-based Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the group emerged in late 2023 and is comprised of several Iranaffiliated armed groups operating in Iraq. It has claimed other attacks against US forces in recent weeks. And Al Asad

base has been attacked repeatedly in recent years. The US military said most of the missiles fired on Saturday were intercepted, but some evaded air defences and hit the base, adding that an assessment of the damage is ongoing.

It is the latest in a series of attacks on US positions in Iraq and Syria by Iran's proxies in the region since the outbreak of the IsraelGaza conflict last October. The US military and allies have also intervened to stop Houthi missile attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. US forces carried out another airstrike on Saturday against the Houthis – an Iran-backed rebel group controlling much of western Yemen. The US military said it targeted a launch site, after identifying an anti-ship missile "that was aimed into the Gulf of Aden and prepared to launch". (Excerpt from BBC News)

ussia’s parliament will consider a law allowing for the confiscation of money, valuables, and other property from those deemed to spread “deliberately false information” about Moscow’s military actions, a senior lawmaker has said. Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma, wrote in a Telegram post on Saturday that a bill has been developed in an attempt to punish “scoundrels” who “pour mud” on Russia and its soldiers participating in the war in Ukraine, which is approaching its two-year mark. He said the bill will be submitted to the Duma, which is Russia’s Lower House of Parliament, on Monday. The proposed measure would apply to those publicly inciting “extremist activities” or calling for the introduction of sanctions against

Russia, the Speaker explained. It would also be applicable to those “discrediting” the armed forces, a criminal offence under a law adopted as part of Moscow’s crackdown on dissent after it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Those found guilty also face being stripped of any honorary titles. “Everyone who tries to destroy Russia, betrays it, must suffer the deserved punishment and compensate for the damage inflicted on the country, at the cost of their property,” Volodin said. The existing law against “discrediting” the Russian military, which covers offences such as “justifying terrorism” and spreading “fake news” about the armed forces, is regularly used to silence critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

ARIES

Assess your situation and

(March 21- consider what needs an overApril 19) haul. Tally your expenses and think about how to cut back. Start implementing changes that will get you where you want to go.

Explore and expand your TAURUS mind. Learning or trying some(April 20thing new will prove what’s May 20) possible. Travel, educational pursuits and research will help you discover what’s out there. Be open to suggestions, GEMINI but make decisions that suit (MAY 21your needs. An emotional inJune 20) cident will raise questions. When in doubt, be observant. Patience is necessary. Pay attention to how others CANCER (June 21- react. Knowledge is the key to July 22) making the right decision and avoiding compromising situations. Don’t feel you obligated to go above and beyond to impress someone.

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Pickles VIRGO

Take care of yourself and the people you love. Domestic problems will surface if you don’t address emotional issues. Share your feelings and be willing to compromise. Stick to the truth.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Frustration and tension will mount if you spend time arguing instead of taking care of responsibilities. Concentrate on finishing what you start and taking care of your emotional well-being.

SCORPIO

Don’t apply pressure where it isn’t necessary. Be innovative and use your insight and experience to succeed. An open dialogue will help ward off interference.

(Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Peanuts

Learn from your mistakes, share your thoughts and listen to others’ concerns. Don’t feel the need to enforce a change because someone else does. It’s OK to head in a different direction.

(Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Handle financial affairs SAGITTARIUS and shared expenses careful(Nov. 23ly. Giving someone access to Dec. 21) personal information will end up costing you. Set boundaries before you enter an agreement.

Calvin and Hobbes

Be open to suggestions, CAPRICORN but do what’s best for you. A (Dec. 22change at home will give you Jan. 19) breathing room. Don’t give up on your dreams when you should be initiating a foolproof plan.

AQUARIUS Network, reach out to experts and connect with peo(Jan. 20ple who can further your inFeb. 19) terests. A change of scenery will spark your imagination and encourage you to consider your options. PISCES Take time to rethink your (Feb. 20- next move. Don’t let anyone Mar. 20) pressure you into something you aren’t ready to pursue. Consider what makes you happy and brings you peace of mind. Invest in furthering your dream.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

Jackson, Watson crowned Jamaica’s 2023 National Sportswoman, Sportsman of the Year W

orld champions Shericka Jackson and Antonio Watson were crowned Jamaica’s Sportswoman and Sportsman of the year, respectively, at the 2023 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Friday. Jackson claimed the award for the first time after a phenomenal 2023 season which saw her successfully defend her World 200m title with a personal best 21.41, the second fastest time ever, in Budapest in August. In addition to her 200m title, Jackson also ran 10.72 for 100m silver. She ended her season with the sprint double at the Diamond League Final in Eugene with times of 10.70 and 21.57, respectively, in September. The 29-year-old also achieved a new personal best in the 100m with 10.65, the fifth fastest time ever, to defend her national title in July. Watson shocked the world to become the first Jamaican man in 40 years to win 400m gold at the

Shericka Jackson and Antonio Watson were named Jamaica's 2023 National Sportswoman and Sportsman of the Year

World Championships. After running a massive personal best 44.14 in the semi-finals, the 22-year-old produced 44.22 to take gold in the final. Watson also ran 44.54 for second at the National Championships in July. Watson also took home the people’s choice award for his gold medal-winning performance. Danielle Williams was named runner-up for Sportswoman of the Year while Hansle Parchment was runner-up for

Sportsman of the Year. Williams, like Watson, shocked the world in Budapest by claiming her second 100m hurdles World title, the other coming all the way back in 2015. Parchment, the reigning Olympic champion, claimed his second World Championship silver medal with a 13.07 effort in Budapest. He followed that up in September with a new personal best 12.93 to win at the Diamond League Final in Eugene. The recipient of the 2023

Icon Award was 400m hurdles Olympic and World champion Deon HemmingsMcCatty while West Indies Under-19 batsman Jordan Johnson was named the winner of the VM Group Y.O.U.T.H award. Some other athletes receiving awards for their individual sports included CAC Games bronze medallist Tahlia Richardson for badminton, Ricardo “Big 12” Brown for boxing, Sherea Clarke and Wayne McCalla for bodybuilding, West Indies batter Rashada

U19 batsman Jordan Johnson was also among the awardees

Williams for cricket, and Sara Misir and Fraser McConnell for motorsport. Arguably Jamaica’s two most successful sports teams, the Sunshine Girls and the Reggae Girls, were given special awards for their performances in 2023. The Reggae Girls were rewarded for their historic performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand from July 20-August 20. They became the first Caribbean team ever, male

or female, to advance to the Round of 16 at a FIFA World Cup. The Sunshine Girls also had a historically good year with a gold medal at the CAC Games held in El Salvador from June 25-29 and bronze at the Netball World Cup held from July 28-August 6 in South Africa. That World Cup also saw the Jamaicans get their first-ever World Cup win over world number one and eventual champions, Australia. (Sportsmax)

Top-seed Swiatek stunned by 19-year-old Noskova

orld number one Iga Swiatek is out of the Australian Open after being stunned by Czech 19-year-old Linda Noskova in the third round. The Pole, 22, had looked in control, but the highly-rated Noskova fought back to win 3-6 6-3 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena. In the decider, the world number 50's power rocked Swiatek, who was hampered by forehand errors. "I'm speechless," said Noskova, who has reached the fourth round of a major for the first time. "I knew it was going to be an amazing match with the world number one, but I didn't really think it would end up like this. "I'm just really glad to get through this round." Noskova is playing in the main draw in Melbourne for the first time, having lost in qualifying last year as an 18-year-old. She fell to the floor in disbelief after converting her first match point following a tight third set. The loss also ended Swiatek's 18-match unbeat-

Linda Noskova is making her first Australian Open main draw appearance

en run, which stretched back to September. Swiatek's exit follows second-round defeats for third seed Elena Rybakina, fifth seed Jessica Pegula, and sixth seed Ons Jabeur, with only three of the top 10 seeds – defending champion Aryna Sabalenka, US Open winner Coco Gauff and Barbora Krejcikova – left in the draw. Noskova will play Ukrainian 19th seed Elina Svitolina next.

“Stressed” Swiatek stumbles

Wins over Jabeur, twotime Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina on the WTA Tour last year drew attention to Noskova, but this is by far the biggest win of her young career. She is the first teenager to beat a world number one at a Grand Slam since Petra Kvitova overcame Dinara Safina at the 2009 US Open. After two tight sets, Noskova broke serve for 2-1 in the decider, saw a refo-

cused Swiatek break back before then regaining the decisive break at 4-3. The four-time Grand Slam champion applied pressure at 30-30 when Noskova served for the match, but the Czech fired down an ace before a big first serve helped wrap up victory. For Swiatek, this is her earliest exit at a Grand Slam since 2022, although it continues her mixed fortunes in Melbourne where one semi-final appearance is her only run beyond the fourth round in six attempts. This year she almost lost in the second round, having to mount a comeback from 4-1 behind in the third set against Danielle Collins, and after Saturday's defeat, she admitted she was "more stressed" this week than in other tournaments on tour. "I feel like I did everything I could in pre-season to improve some stuff that I wanted to," she said. "Then I came here and I wasn't playing kind of natural any more [and] reactions a little bit slower." She said a fourth-round defeat last year "took her off

balance", but this year she wants to be "back to work". "I know I'm going to have plenty of chances during the season to show my game," she added.

Zheng taking inspiration from Li in open draw

Swiatek's defeat leaves 12th seed Zheng Qinwen of China as the highest ranked player in the top half of the draw. She edged out compatriot Wang Yafan in a thirdset tie-break to win 6-4 2-6 7-6 (10-8) – 10 years after Li Na became the first Chinese winner of the women's singles title in Melbourne. "That final I have watched more than 10 times," said Zheng, who was 11 when Li won, and met her in person for the first time after the win over Wang. "I have a lot of memories. "I was sitting there in front of TV. I watched from beginning to the end. " Azarenka is the only Grand Slam finalist remaining in the top half after she progressed with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Latvia's 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko.

The Belarusian 18th seed trailed 5-2 in the second set and had to save break points as she served for the match. Svitolina will be seen as another contender after she brushed aside Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic 6-2 6-3. The 29-year-old made it to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and Roland Garros last year on her comeback after giving birth, but has never reached a major final. Zheng will play French world number 95 Oceane Dodin after she beat compatriot Clara Burel 6-2 6-4. Russian Anna Kalinskaya, who is ranked 75th in the world, beat American Sloane Stephens 6-7 (8-10) 6-1 6-4 and will play Italian Jasmine Paolini. Twenty-sixth seed Paolini reached her first Grand Slam fourth round by beating Anna Blinkova, who stunned Rybakina on Thursday, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4. She will face Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska, who defeated American 27th seed Emma Navarro 6-2 2-6 6-1.

30 MCYS’ sport budget hits Kitty Square Mall fuels National Chess Championship bullseye – Archery Guyana U12 – First Rapid Chess for 2024 T GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

nother sport association in Archery Guyana has come out in support of the $4.6 billion allocation that sport received for 2024, as announced by Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh in his presentation of Budget 2024 to the National Assembly on Monday. Archery Guyana wrote, “The Board of Directors commended the unprecedented allocation of $4.6 billion in the 2024 Budget to the sport sector. This is definitely a step in the positive direction for the development and sustainability of sport in Guyana. “Archery Guyana wishes to recognise the tremendous support of, and appreciates the tireless energetic Director of Sport, Mr Steve

Ninvalle, who has not only raised the level of archery in Guyana but other sports. Assistance is particularly rendered to Archery Guyana with not only support for prizes at competitions hosted, but for use of shooting facilities for practice and competitions. A constraint has always been the shared use of venues and it is hoped that a dedicated facility for archery can be supported in the future. “Archery Guyana further lauds the announcement of the removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) and duty on sport equipment. This is particularly timely amidst a Level 1 Coaching seminar being conducted in Guyana with 21 new Coaches. According to President of Archery Guyana, Mrs Vidushi Persaud- McKinnon, this

means that each coach by next week will have their respective school(s) to return to and to serve as Coaches to the school clubs. The sport has automatically grown and students will need equipment. It will definitely alleviate the financial burdens of parents, schools, sports clubs and archers all over Guyana. The Board of Directors of Archery Guyana would like to thank the Honourable Minister Charles Ramson Jr; the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS); the Government of Guyana; Director Steve Ninvalle and his team at the National Sports Commission for recognising that our sports sector is undergoing its greatest transformation in the history of our country and looks forward to our continued collaboration.”

he Guyana Chess Federation (GCF), aiming to expand its competitive pool of junior chess players, hosted its annual National Under-12 Championships on Saturday, January 20, 2024. The two tourneys, sponsored by the Kitty Square Mall, come on the heels of the just-concluded Grand Prix One chess tournament, where more than 30 senior and junior ranking players participated to earn points for selection to major upcoming tournaments. The National Chess Championships, National U-12 Open, and National U-12 Girls Chess Championship promise to be exciting and competitive for our young chess players. Winners in first, second, and third ranks in each tournament will receive trophies at the end of the seven rounds. The games will be played under the Swiss System: each player is granted 20 minutes with 5-second increments after each move. The competition starts at 09:00h sharp at the School of the Nations auditorium in Georgetown. A total of 41 students under the age of 12 are set to play in the oneday match-up representing schools in and around Georgetown: School of The Nations, Marian Academy, New Guyana School, Mae’s, Covent Garden Primary, Comenius Primary School, Apex Education, Valmiki Vidyalaya Primary and the

Reigning U12 Girls champion Kataleya Sam

Reigning National U12 Open Chess champion Aquilani Swaminadha

Georgetown International Academy. A record number of 19 girls will be participating in this particular competition, some making their debut in the competitive arena. Reigning U-12 Girls champion Kataleya Sam, Chelsea Harrison, and Saura Ruplall are some of the notable names contending for the National U-12 Girls Chess Championship title. A total of 22 boys are competing for the National U-12 Open Chess Championship title. Notable names are reigning National U-12 Open Chess champion Aquilani Swaminadha, who will be fighting to hold on to his title for another year. The Mohabir siblings, Julian and Landon; Arush Ramnarine, and Javier Davenand are some of the contenders for the top prizes. Prizes will be awarded to the top U-10 and U-8 players in each competi-

tion. The tournament will be conducted according to the FIDE laws of chess and overseen by FIDE Arbiter John Lee, assisted by National Arbiters Odit Rodrigues and Kim Shing Chong. Winners of both categories will automatically enjoy free entry into the National Under-14 Chess Championships scheduled for next Saturday, January 27, 2024, at Queen’s College. The Chess Federation said it looked forward to future events and was committed to promoting chess and nurturing the talents of our young players. The GCF wishes to thank the School of the Nations for providing the venue for the tournament. The School of the Nations supports junior chess in Guyana continuously by providing a space for the GCF’s chess club on Saturdays for students. The GCF also wished to thank the Kitty Square Mall for sponsoring this event.

Forde presents FIFA badges to top referees

GFF President Forde is flanked by Guyana’s 2024 FIFA Referees The lone female referee, Denish Isaacs receives her badge from GFF President Wayne Forde

uyana Football Federation (GFF) President Wayne Forde on Friday presented the official FIFA badges to Guyana's top four referees. During a modest morning ceremony at the Federation's headquarters in Georgetown, Forde congratulated FIFA Assistant Referee Kleon Lindey, who has earned this prestigious recognition for an impressive 10 consecutive years; the lone female FIFA Assistant Referee Denisha Isaacs, as well as FIFA

Referee Shavin Greene and FIFA Futsal Referee Colin Abel. The four officials made the FIFA 2024 referee list because of their exceptional on-field performances in 2023. This is Isaacs, Green and Abel’s second year as official FIFA referees. “I am honoured to present you with these badges which symbolise your commitment to maintaining the highest standards as match officials. Your dedication to football makes us proud at

the Federation as we continue to work towards professionalising football in Guyana,” President Forde shared. He added: “We are witnessing tangible outcomes from our investments in the referee programme. Congratulations once again on this well-deserved achievement.” Referees Project Officer Lenval Peart, a former FIFA referee, reiterated the need for increased female participation in the referee programme and also encouraged the four officials to persist in upholding the highest standards of officiation. “The sky's the limit,” he told the group. “Continue to

fly the Guyana banner across the world.” FIFA Assistant Referee Isaacs shared that “for my first year, I had a wonderful year. I’m overwhelmed to be here today.” “It’s been a great journey so far. I just want to encourage my colleagues to keep up the hard work.” The core goal of the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC) is to increase the representation of Guyanese match officials on the FIFA List in the coming years through heightened investments in training initiatives and collaborative efforts with all stakeholders.

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

GHE practice match…

Anderson shines as Adams’ XI shows resistance F ollowing two days of rain, the Guyana Harpy Eagles (GHE) 4- Day practice match continued at the Meten- MeerZorg Ground on Friday, after bowling off on Tuesday. Matthew Nandu’s XI resumed play on Friday trailing by 25 runs, after bowling out Anthony Adams’ XI for 144. Ronaldo Ali Mohamed top-scored for Nandu’s XI with 69, as Raymond Perez hit 41, Kemol Savory 21, Shamar Yearwood 39 and the Captain, 43 to get to 235 before being bowled out. Zeynul Ramsammy was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3-23 from 5.1 overs, while Junior Sinclair and Adams claimed two wickets each.

Nandu’s XI put on a 91run lead, which Adams’ XI cut down before the close of play on Friday.

Kevlon Anderson stood out with an unbeaten 83, while Rampertab Ramnauth and Akshaya

Persaud contributed 20 and 19 respectively. Play is scheduled to resume this morning on 139-2, with Steven Sankar claiming both wickets.

The Harpy Eagles are preparing for the West Indies Four-Day

Championship, which bowls off on February 7 in Jamaica and St Kitts.

Strengthening, shopping expected from Slingerz New sponsors/branding for Elite League return for horse racing

espite missing out on their first chance to re-enter the Elite League, Slingerz Football Club got it right on their second try. A 1-0 victory over Victoria Kings Football Club roughly a week ago solidified the West Demerara Football Association (WDFA) team’s place in the upcoming sixth season of the Guyana Football Federation’s Elite League. However, Slingerz’s journey did not come without bumps in the road, as detailed by Head Coach Charles Pollard. “Like I said before, it’s very important, because we were advocating to head to the Elite League for a while now, but under circumstances, we were not qualified due to the authority. But

Fazal Habibulla Slingerz Head Coach Charles Pollard

hurdle, succumbing to a 1-0 loss against Monedderlust FC in the Elite League Promotional Play-off final. Now, in hindsight, the Coach has chalked that performance up to nerves from his players.

Slingerz FC (orange) in action

we took the route, we had to go and play in the West Side league, win the League and then come to the playoff. Unfortunately, we lost the playoff finals, but we get a next opportunity by playing the second-to-last team from the last Elite League,” Pollard shared. He added, “So, I think this is good for us.” As the Coach shared, Slingerz faltered on the first

The Slingerz Coach explained, “No, I think we have a lot of youngsters in the team, and both games was nerves. I think we felt that we had to win, but I think the performance did not shape the results for the last game. Also tonight, was a little bit disappointed, but I understand these guys are under a lot of mental pressure. Like ‘we gotta win, we gotta win’. So, it was more

than them tonight.” With Slingerz having won the inaugural season of the Elite League in 2015/2016 and being one of the most storied clubs in Guyana, Pollard admitted that there would be pressure on the team heading into the League. As such, some shopping is expected this transfer window. About their intention to pick up some fresh faces in the January transfer window, Pollard said, “I think when we build the team, we build the team to get past the West Side league. So, the transfer market open, I think we’re gonna do some shopping. I think we need to strengthen certain areas, but I think we’re ready for the Elite League. “Slingerz alone, the name is a lot of attention, it’s a lot of pressure on players and staff to deliver, and we have a wide support base. So, the pressure is always on Slingerz,” the Coach further stated. The Sixth Season of the Elite League is set to commence on Sunday, February 25, at the GFF’s National Training Centre (NTC) at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

onfidence in the future of horse racing has increased manifold after the Honourable Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr announced on January 12, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, that legislation to regulate the sport should be laid in Parliament in the coming months. This announcement propelled a renewed confidence in the sport according to racing promoter Fazal Habibulla, who will be staging the new season's Day 2 race card on Sunday, January 28 at his Rising Sun Turf Club (RSTC), West Coast Berbice. Habibulla, whose father the late racing icon Sonny Habibulla served the industry with RSTC race course and by importing horses from Trinidad, also followed in his dad's footsteps. He took the baton and continued the trade prior to his dad's death one year ago. Habibulla stated, "There is a big demand for horses, and this increased significantly after the Honourable Ramson Jr's announcement that legislation to regulate the sport will be laid in Parliament

New sponsors on board for next week’s horse racing at Rising Sun

shortly." He outlined, "Minister's announcement has paved the way for the sport to grow. I can tell from the interest shown by new owners to get horses. I am staging racing at Rising Sun next Sunday. A number of new sponsors have come on the horse-racing band wagon. They realised that horse racing can take their product to a wider audience." "For example Shi Oil Fuel Distributor is a firsttime sponsor. This company is the largest oil supplier adding their name to the sponsorship of the 1100-metre feature event for horses classified E & Lower. We also have Just Friends – comprising Stuart Gonsalves, Zaid Khan and Densil Jagroop. This just goes to show how interest is peaking in the sport. This happened after Minister Ramson Jr announced legislation to regulate horse racing will be tabled in Parliament shortly," Habibulla revealed. Slingerz Racing Stable owner Javed Ali explained, "Shi Oil is the leading Guyanese-owned fuel distribution company in Guyana. They have a lot

of customers countrywide, especially in the whole region of Berbice and the rice-farming communities. The company is always giving back in different sporting disciplines. We are part of the horse-racing fraternity, and it is only right that we give back, and help grow the sport. It is the first time the company is adding its brand in sponsoring the races. The company continues to do more, and is now supporting the horse-racing industry to develop." Habibulla also thanked sponsors AJM Group of Companies, KP Jagdeo General Contractors, T&R Construction Services, Eagle Eye Construction Company, Jumbo Jet Group of Companies, Banks DIH, and Ramesh Sunich's Trophy Stall. He shared, "It will be a very exciting race day with a mix of USA-bred, Brazilian-bred, and T&Tbred and home-bred horses. So do not miss out on a race card in which the majority of races are written to highlight Guyana-bred horses in action." Post time for the seven-race card is scheduled to get underway at 13:00h.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2024

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

Pg 31

GHE practice match…

as Adams’ XI shows resistance

Pg 30

FIFA badges to top referees Pg 31

Strengthening, shopping expected from Slingerz for Elite League return GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.