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Region 5 Chamber of Industry and Commerce launches 10/10 President’s Cup cricket competition Sep 26, 2024 Sports Kaieteur Sports – The Region 5 Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Region 5CIC) has launched its 10/10 President’s Cup cricket competition for teams in that Region. The one day competition is set for Sunday October 13th at the Cotton Tree Die Hard Ground, West Coast Berbice. The much anticipated and fun filled one day tournament will be contested among six teams. Namely Cotton Tree Die Hard, West Berbice Achievers, D’Edward Cricket Club, Police United, Blairmont Blazers and Cotton Tree Junior Team. Admission to the event is free. Speaking to the media, Imran Sacoor, stated that the Region 5 CIC is delighted to have been part of this initiative since it believes that investment in youths and sports represents investment for the future. Sacoor said that they are urging the communities to come out and support the matches and enjoy the grand festivity. He noted that the Chamber will continue to support the development of communities within their purview. There will be a number of giveaways and side attractions during the day including Ice cream, face painting, air Horns and flags along with free gifts. Educational Hampers will also be distributed to top performers in the educational sectors in the Region, while 10 elderly residents from the village will also receive hampers. A raffle will be drawn during the festivity where patrons will be given an opportunity to win household appliances. There will be Tassa drumming and musical entertainment during the activity which will culminate with a grand after party. A number of sponsors are already on board including the Guyana Breweries Inc. Quality Deliverer, S D&L Accounting Services, Kean Read t/as JR Engineering Solutions, JS Engineering Services and Supplies, Singh and Sons Construction, Republic Bank Guyana Limited, Singh’s Travel Service, More and Son Auto Sale, J’s Supermarket, Faizal Jaffarally, T & A Construction Service and Supplies, Sheldon Contracting Firm, ECS Auto Sales, Leah’s Enterprise / Global Visa Services, Devin Singh Filling Station and  Sudesh Contracting Services amongst others. There will be a well stock drinks bar, while BBQ and other eatables will be on sale. (Samuel Whyte) Related Similar Articles

Jaikarran Sookai wins Assistant Commissioner (ret’d) Eon Amsterdam’s annual birthday cycle race Sep 26, 2024 Sports Participants organisers and sponsors pose for a photo opportunity at the conclusion of the Eon Amsterdam cycle road race around New Amsterdam. Kaieteur Sports – Veteran cyclists Jaikarran Sookai showed that age is just a number when he won the annual Eon Amsterdam birth Anniversary cycle road race in Berbice. Sookai beat back the challenges of some of his younger and more established counterparts to win the race, which was held last Sunday, for riders in Region 5 and 6. The seven laps’ event around the town of New Amsterdam saw some 18 riders take to the starting line. Amsterdam, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, was a former commander of Berbice.  He was ably assisted by his current counterparts in the GPF including Region 6 Commander Shivpersaud Bacchus and Deputy Commander Assistant Superintendent Michael Newland. The event was started by Bacchus and saw the riders taking off from Republic Road and Charles Place, turn left into Vryheid Street, left into Main Street, to Tacama Turn and left into Republic Road for seven laps. Sookai rode home ahead of Andrea “Padlock” Green with Sidwell Sandy coming in third. Sookai was the top veteran on show with Syborne Fernandes second and Clement Doris third. The top juvenile was Sidwell Sandy, who won from Jeremy Callender. There were eight sprint point prizes up for grabs with Green and Sandy taking 2 each, Sookai grabbed one and Randolph King taking the other.  Franco Crawford Senior got a prize for being the top over 50 on show, while Deon David was second. Top juveniles pose with Amsterdam (centre back row) along with Newland, Roberts (back right) and Bacchus (back left) at the completion of the race and presentation of prizes. Commander Bacchus presented a special prize to nine-year old Franco Crawford Jr for being the youngest cyclists to participate on a racing bike. There was also a special prize presented to 73 years old Daniel Rigby for being the oldest participant to complete the event. Amsterdam, who hails from Berbice, was an ardent participant as well as a fan of sports. He also served as traffic Chief and Commandant of the Felix Austin Training School and Commander of other areas before retiring from the force. Amsterdam along with family members and members of the Berbice police high command assisted with the distribution of the prizes, which included cash, trophies and other memorabilia. The event was organized by the Flying Ace Cycle Club (FACC) and coordinated by long serving National Coach Randolph Roberts. This is the fourth year that the event has been sponsored by Amsterdam. The first was at his retirement. The event has since become a regular affair. Both Amsterdam and Roberts thanked the participants and all those who assisted in making the event successful. (Samuel Whyte) Related Similar Articles

Calling on the educated and enlightened of Guyana Sep 26, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column Kaieteur News – In the best of circumstances, the educated and enlightened should be made of a singular material, possess the same foundations, and clean visions.  Regrettably, the best of circumstances and Guyana are so far apart as not to belong in the same sentence.  What should be and what is are strangers to each other.  Having earned and compiled distinctions in learning at a higher level and being beneficiaries of the good and troubling in life’s experiences, some rare wisdom, some extraordinary idea and relationship with truth and integrity, should be almost automatic.  And if there is difficulty, some recoiling, from embracing the distinguishing in their lives, their public essences and works, then even the minimum of the ordinary would be acceptable.  This is the call to the bright PhDs, JDs, DDs, and MDs, and others of what should be a gloriously patriotic and ethical pantheon: be about some light.  Please. GHK Lall Those who have a leader or group to extol, to defend, to caress and devote themselves blindly, keep on doing so.  It is a sacred right that inspires the sturdiest defense; such is endorsed here.  But there is another side to that loyalty, regardless of what it is based on, be it the oneness of race, the richness of reward, or the depth of reasoning.  There is that side, that internal construction and commitment to principle and honor, that sees the holes no matter how camouflaged, the weaknesses notwithstanding how they are nonchalantly ignored, always dismissed and made to disappear.  The gaps and failures that just cannot be looked away from, for the simple reason that there are so many of them.  There is the additional worrying consideration that they represent so many massive matters in a country precariously poised where it is.  The genuinely educated and the even more morally and honestly enlightened see and say: hey, wait a minute: this can’t be right, something is wrong here.  Over there also, and then, in more that is checked up and down the line.  This is where tone deaf partisanship begins to fray at the edges, where total submission to the cultish splits at the seams.  Educated men and women pause, honest human beings reel and steel themselves for the hard and bitter: of this and with this, I cannot be.  It shouldn’t matter which side is backed, which man is followed slavishly.  There comes a time when enlightenment demands the freeing of oneself.  Praise as much as pleases publicly; but also summon the courage and find the ethos somewhere to whisper powerfully: govern right, lead in a cleaner manner, be about what incorporates authentic change.  When mistakes and malfeasances multiply, decent men, educated and enlightened men and women with some residual call to honor in them stop and insist with a straight tongue: enough!  This cannot and must not go on.  If so, then count me out.  If not, what’s the point, what’s the sense, of all that education, that long and tough walk along life’s tricky corridors? Nobody is being asked to switch sides.  Not in the least, for that would add perversity to poignancy.  But there must be that code of character that compels cutting loose when ongoing calumnies expand and explode like some out-of-control monstrosity.  A man is not a machine where a button is pressed, or a lever pulled, for the same results endlessly.  A man is a thinker, a woman is a helper who sees the whole territory, and there is Guyana before all and sundry.  In a one-dimensional society, luck and chance and commendable governance and leadership may help to skim the tide.  But not in a plural society, where even the best in leadership may not ever be good enough, cherished as acceptable.  Worse still, beyond the usual considerations, Guyana is a plural society that is ragingly polarized.  Of that may there be some honest agreement.  It is why there is this call for the learned of Guyana to bring to bear their talents and contexts, so that this whole country could be lifted.  May our PhDs and JDs and all the other Ds of the highest exposures and snowiest sheepskins be conscientious enough to recall two endeavors, two only, which are now shared. First, there were those scientists of lofty pedigree who lent their names (often secretly) to the call of their oil masters.  Climate change is a hoax, based on bogus science.  Where doesn’t have landslides, try to cope with floods. Guyanese are struggling to survive with a heat blanket that is cripplingly oppressive.  Shroud is a more proper substitute for blanket, since there is the sense of death hovering.  But the PhDs and professors and prize winners said it’s all a voodoo operation.  Who had it right all along, and who sold their learning and bartered their reputations for what was wrong is no longer a question.  Second, there was tobacco.  Seductive pleasures gave way to sickness that killed lungs, then voice, then all the rest in strung out agony.  The knowledge was there; revelation came belatedly about what was done with it.  Who looked the other way and helped in the cover up.  Who allowed their credentials and character to be pawned for a pat from a hand with some coin inside.  The things that men do-whether DDs or EDs [or GEDs] don’t live after them, but with them. The call is repeated to the galaxy of Guyana’s educated stars: shine with some light, sparking and undeniable truths.  There is a time for partisanship and cult leadership.  Then there is that time when a man must be true to himself. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.) Related Similar Articles

Raise the bar in our public discourse Sep 26, 2024 Editorial Kaieteur News – With elections due next year the political temperature has arisen in this country and so too is the uncouth manner in which some of our leaders relate to each other and the public at large. Only recently a senior member of a political party was called a ‘low life’. Followers of opposition parties are branded as insane and other derogatory names. These are words spoken by very senior public officials who will soon seek the votes of citizens. The lack of civility in our society has reached a point where reporters of this newspaper have had to steel themselves to deal with the uncouth, disrespectful and crass display every week by politicians. When as society our leaders can be so bitter then this is a cause for serious concern.  We certainly have the right to hold convictions and take strong stands on important issues, but there is a right way to state right positions. Our leaders must be reminded that they must always be prepared to give an answer to everyone even if the question is unsettling and do so with gentleness and respect. Civility involves disagreeing with dignity as well as dignifying those with whom we disagree. There are actually three facets to civility: civility as respect for others, civility as public behaviour and civility as self-regulation. The first element insists that civility involves a demonstration of respect for others.  As a young man, George Washington, father of the American Republic set down his ‘110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation’.  His first rule was: ‘Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.’This emphasis on respecting others is still the core of the idea of civility today. Civility provides a universal tool for signalling respect for others: the significance is in the symbolism of the act more than the result of the behaviour. The second element suggests that civility requires us to show respect to strangers and this requirement invests it with a strong moral quality. Concern shown to friends and family may arise from empathy or love, and it is likely to be strengthened by the certainty that we shall have to interrelate with them again in the future. Civility towards strangers, however, requires that we behave in certain ways towards people who may mean nothing to us, and whom we are unlikely ever to encounter again. This “Good Samaritan” ethic implies that civility is not restricted to a concern or sympathy towards specific others, but is rather the product of a generalised empathy and sense of responsibility that we feel with all who share our society. The final constituent of civility is what one expert calls ‘sacrifice’, or what we might more mundanely refer to as “self-regulation”. Civility involves trimming one’s immediate self-interest—we desist from doing what would be most pleasing to us for the sake of harmonious relations with strangers. Civility means doing the right thing. In a holistic sense then, civility is behaviour in public which expresses respect for others and which requires restraining one’s own immediate self-interest when appropriate. Would we not all agree that this quality is very much needed in our society to begin the process of forming “one people”? The bottom line is that civility, by definition, is inherently a good: ‘It is morally better to be civil than uncivil.’ Being civil towards others is part of being a good and moral person. It indicates to our fellow citizens that one is willing to follow common rules and not act in a manner that subverts their well-being. This practice has to assist social cooperation. The sociologist Edward Shils notes that civility is a social good because ‘there is not enough good nature or temperamental amiability in any society to permit it to dispense with good manners…Good manners repress the expression of ill nature.’ In other words, people have to be civil to each other if social life is to function harmoniously and with a minimum of unnecessary conflict and upheaval. Lastly, civility is the favoured alternative to increased State coercion. John Rawls argues that if ‘liberties are left unrestricted they collide with one another’. This is inherently true since diverse individuals will always want and desire different and incompatible things and their unencumbered pursuit of their own objectives will unavoidably lead them into conflict. This raises the question as to how (as well as how far) individual liberties are to be constrained. Ultimately, this will either be achieved by the State apparatus, or through enlightened self-regulation. As Edmund Burke recognised back in 1791: ‘Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their own disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.” Let us return civility to Guyana. Related Similar Articles

How the PNCR and AFC Sealed Their Fate Sep 26, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom Kaieteur News – By now, any reasonable observer of Guyanese politics should recognise the perennial theater that the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) continues to stage regarding the voters’ list. Their persistent calls to “sanitise” the list are as predictable as they are unconvincing. It is an exercise in distraction, nothing more. The PNCR and AFC have mastered the art of deflection, conveniently shifting blame to externalities like the electoral register rather than confronting their own failures. But behind this smokescreen lies a more fundamental truth: the greatest threat to free and fair elections in Guyana is not the voters’ list, but the Opposition itself. To understand the depth of the PNCR and AFC’s betrayal of democratic principles, one need only revisit the events of 2020. The ignoble attempt to rig the election was not just a political blunder—it was a grievous assault on  democracy in Guyana. With each passing day, it becomes clearer that this Opposition coalition has no interest in the will of the people unless it serves their purposes. Their rejection of electoral outcomes that do not favor them has transformed them from contenders for power into pariahs within their own country. This betrayal has consequences, and one of those consequences is the near-certainty that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC) and President Irfaan Ali will coast to victory in 2025. But the PNCR and AFC have no one to blame for their electoral demise but themselves. What is most striking about this ongoing charade over the voters’ list is its glaring hypocrisy. The very system that they now decry was perfectly acceptable to them when they won the 2015 elections. Did they protest the validity of the list when the results favored them? Of course not. Back then, there was no talk of “sanitization” or manipulation. It was only when they lost in 2020 that the voters’ list suddenly became an issue. Their protests now are not rooted in genuine concern for electoral integrity, but in the calculated politics of grievance—a desperate attempt to stay relevant when their legitimacy has all but evaporated. The obsession with the voters’ list is also a subtle admission of the Opposition’s realization that they are unelectable. The PNCR and AFC would have the public believe that their exclusion from office is the result of some nefarious plot by the ruling party to manipulate the electoral list. But the truth is far simpler and more damning: they have made themselves unelectable by their own actions. The attempt to rig the 2020 elections was a catastrophic self-sabotage that has rendered them politically toxic. The people of Guyana can no longer trust the Opposition to respect the outcomes of free and fair elections, and this distrust is not going away anytime soon. For those who have long supported the PNCR and AFC, this must be a bitter pill to swallow. The rigging debacle of 2020 has done more than just cost them a single election—it has likely ensured that they will never hold power again. The coalition’s supporters may bristle at this conclusion, but the reality is unavoidable: in attempting to steal an election, the PNCR and AFC have permanently alienated the very voters they need to return to office. Their reckless gambit has closed off any path back to power, and all the protests in the world won’t change that. The Opposition’s strategy of clinging to the narrative of an “installed” government is both pathetic and pernicious. It is pathetic because it reveals their inability to move on from their defeat, clinging instead to a fantasy that paints them as victims of a grand conspiracy. It is pernicious because it undermines the very democratic processes they claim to champion. By refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 elections, they have sowed the seeds of doubt in the minds of their supporters, fomenting division and distrust in Guyanese institutions. This is not the behavior of a responsible opposition—it is the behavior of a political faction that has abdicated its duty to the people. If Guyana’s democracy is to flourish, the public must resist the Opposition’s attempts to deflect attention away from their own failures. The voters’ list is not the problem; the problem is an Opposition that refuses to accept the will of the people. The PNCR and AFC have made it clear that they are only willing to play by the rules when the rules suit them. But democracy cannot function on such terms. Democracy demands that all participants respect the outcomes of elections, win or lose. By attempting to circumvent this principle in 2020, the Opposition has forfeited its claim to moral authority. In the lead-up to the 2025 elections, it is imperative that the people of Guyana remain vigilant. The Opposition will continue to peddle its narrative of victimhood, blaming the voters’ list for their failures rather than confronting the real reason for their exclusion from power: themselves. But the public must not be fooled. The PNCR and AFC are not champions of democracy—they are its saboteurs. Their protests, their pickets, their endless complaints about the voters’ list are all part of a broader effort to deflect attention from their own self-inflicted wounds. They hope that by muddying the waters, they can obscure the truth of their complicity in their own downfall. But the truth is plain to see: the Opposition is its own worst enemy. And what of the future? It is difficult to see a path forward for the PNCR and AFC that does not involve permanent relegation to the opposition benches. The attempt to rig the 2020 elections has indelibly marked them as untrustworthy stewards of power. Even if they were to somehow regain office, the stain of their past actions would hang over them like a cloud, casting doubt on their legitimacy. In this sense, the Opposition has not just lost an election—they have lost the trust of the people. And without that trust, they have no future in Guyanese politics. In the end, the Opposition’s undoing was not orchestrated by their political rivals—it was a result of their own hubris. By attempting to benefit from rigged elections, they have consigned themselves to the political wilderness. And the people of Guyana, who value democracy and the sanctity of the vote, will not soon forget. (The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.) 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Who will keep the political class from their self-destructive behavior? Sep 26, 2024 Letters Dear Editor, I was recently reminded that Lady Justice is blindfolded with a balance of justice in one hand and a sword in another. The press has been illustrating quite aptly that there is corruption in the current administration. The former Auditor General has raised some very serious concerns targeted at the current administration, and the current Attorney General was also very clearly pointing out the corruption of the previous administration on his program “Issues In The News”. Both sides have very strong examples of the corruption that is rampant in the government, and it is and should be clear to everyone that corruption flourishes independent of who is governing. The upcoming elections may or may not see a change in the guard, but if the way business is done does not change it is guaranteed that corruption will live on. The most recent column by Freddie Kissoon, “The Self-Destructive Game of the PNC Elders” was a very good analysis of the upcoming elections. A must read for voters. The question now becomes, “who will keep the political class from their self-destructive behaviour?” Is it the Judiciary or is it an external entity that must garner respect for the law? The politically charged atmosphere of Guyana, especially around elections, leads to unchecked bias and racial division. Violence has become a mainstay in the country when going to the polls. The images of bloodshed and rape have polarized villages and communities. It has also kept investors at bay. The fight for an opportunity to gain illegal wealth through corruption that lives on the “is who you know” way of getting business done continues to proliferate. Comrades, the only solution before us now is the strengthening of our institutions, with processes that embrace transparency, accountability and good governance. The usual conversation of whose hands are cleaner and who can throw stones at who is becoming prevalent once again. If we truly believe that Justice must be impartial with no favour to race, religion, gender or political affiliation, then we must not choose between the messenger and the message. Instead, focus on the message and search it for its merits. To remove corruption from our government institutions we must allow for the continual establishment of timely financial audits that are acted upon regardless of who is involved. Strength comes from integrity, honesty and the embracing of unbiased Justice for all. CRG invites all voters to embrace their conscience during the next election. Focus on who is planning to lead you where and how. Is it someone that will strengthen the law and order within our country? Is it someone that will do what’s best for future generations of Guyanese? Is it someone that embodies the values that you and your family hold dear? Voting based on your personal value system sends a clear message that our vote goes beyond race. Our choice of who we choose to elect is rooted in both what the leader plans to do and how he or she plans to do it. Best regards, Mr. Jamil Changlee Related Similar Articles

Where is the substantial support to Small Businesses? Sep 26, 2024 Letters Dear Editor, Permit me some space in your newspaper to share my concerns with the public and those who need to look into this. I am a small business owner and I am concerned about the small business sector in Guyana. I see the Small Business Bureau (SBB) traveling around Guyana but what I do not see are the results of all this activity. Maybe we do not see the results because the travels are more of a social (and not business) nature. I will share more on that particular travels in another missive. Since we the public have not been updated via Press Conference/Statements from the Small Business Council (SBC), can the good folks at the Small Business Bureau inform the public if there is a functioning Small Business Council as required by the Small Business Act? If there is, can the SBC tell us what is the documented process being used to declare a business as an Approved Small Business. This is defined in the Small Business act 2004 (amended in 2021).According to the Small Business Act 2004, “small business” means any person or persons, including a body corporate or un-incorporate, carrying on business in Guyana for gain or profit and satisfying all three of the following conditions (conditions listed on SBB’s website). I have seen persons who do not even have an active business, receiving monetary grants and other benefits. Loans were facilitated to “businesses” undeserving of same. Year before the last and I believe this year too, the Auditor General flagged these programmes. Can the Ministry of Tourism Industry and Commerce, The Small Business Council and the CEO of SBB prove to the public that this is not true? Has the SBC been delivering on their mandate? The Small Business Act, in defining the deliveries of the SBC, states that the SBC must submit annually to the Minister, Small Business Policies, Administrative Reform Agenda, recommendations for developmental issues, the granting of incentives to small businesses and facilitation of measures affecting these small businesses. Has the esteemed Council done any of these? Come on guys and gals, there are tons of areas with high impact results that you can execute on. Do not just be happy to sign for the monthly stipend, but be ashamed to take that cheque to the bank knowing fully well that you have failed in your mandate. Hey, there is still time to save face and return those cheques! The issuers of the cheques are also culpable but the Quran and the bible will give you your just rewards. Now can (will) the good folks at the Small Business Bureau and the Public Procurement Commission tell us what is going on with the Small Business Procurement Programme? The Act (since 2004) is clear that the government shall set aside at least 20% of its procurement of goods, services and works for small businesses. Can you share which Ministry/Agency has fulfilled this mandate? You all know that our government’s annual budgets have been in the billions of dollars. Small business owners, lend your voices! Where is the support? In closing, let me borrow the words of a great man – Martin Luther King Jr. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”.  This to me is worse than any betrayal. Sincerely, Danesh Sharma Small Business owner Related Similar Articles