Black Immigrant Daily News

Women’s 100m hurdles

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn owns the Olympic gold medal. Kendra Harrison holds the world record. What neither has is a world outdoor title.

That could easily change at the July 15-24 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon when both chase victory in the 100m hurdles, an event that is loaded with top performers and contenders and shapes up as one of the meet’s must-see competitions.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, of Puerto Rico, on her way to victory over Jamaican Megan Tapper in a heat at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 31, 2021, in Tokyo.

Camacho-Quinn has been in top form all season after capturing the Olympic title in Tokyo last year in dominant fashion, clocking an Olympic record 12.26 in the semifinals (fourth on the all-time list) and then running 12.37 in the final to become the first athlete from Puerto Rico to win an Olympic track and field gold. Harrison took the silver in Tokyo in 12.52.

This will be the first World Championships for Camacho-Quinn, a three-time NCAA champion who was born and raised in South Carolina. The 25-year-old competes for Puerto Rico, her mother’s native home.

Camacho-Quinn has won eight of the nine hurdles races she has finished this year, including a season’s best 12.37 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome on June 9. She also won at the Prefontaine Classic in May at Eugene’s Hayward Field – the World Championships venue – in 12.45.

But Camacho-Quinn will face a daunting quartet of US challengers for the world title. The Olympic champion’s 12.37 stood as the world-leading time this year until Harrison and Alaysha Johnson both went faster in finishing 1-2 in the final of the US Championships on June 25. Harrison out-leaned Johnson to win in 12.34, with Johnson clocking 12.35 to move into a tie for fifth place on the all-time US performer list. NCAA champion Alia Armstrong took third in a personal best 12.47.

Reigning world champion Nia Ali won her semifinal in 12.49 and skipped the final as she had a bye into the World Championships as the winner in Doha three years ago. The 33-year-old Ali has struggled to find her best form this year, winning only one of her 10 races, but will be determined to defend her title.

Oregon could mark a defining moment on home soil for Harrison, who is looking for that elusive gold at the age of 29. She set the world record of 12.20 in 2016, just weeks after the disappointment of failing to make the US team for the Rio Olympic Games.

Harrison has silver medals from Tokyo and the 2019 World Championships in Doha. She is also a five-time national champion and won the world indoor 60m hurdles title in 2018. A world outdoor title would be a crowning achievement on an already stellar career.

The deep field also includes Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2021 Diamond Trophy winner. She finished fourth at the Tokyo Games and Doha World Championships, but should challenge for a podium place in Eugene.

The 25-year-old Amusan has been in superb form, winning a Diamond League race in Paris on June 18 in 12.41, the fourth-fastest time of the year. She finished a close second to Camacho-Quinn in Stockholm on June 20, with the Puerto Rican winning in 12.46 to her 12.50.

The field also includes Jamaica’s new national champion, Britany Anderson, who has a season’s best of 12.45.

Overall, at least half a dozen athletes have a realistic shot at winning the star-studded event. The preliminary rounds take place on July 23, with the semifinals and final contested on the final day of the championships.

Devon Allen (centre) in the 110m hurdles heats at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. (PHOTO: World Athletics)

Men’s 110m hurdles

Before embarking on an American football career as a wide receiver in the NFL, Devon Allen has some business to complete on the track.

The 27-year-old US hurdler is aiming for his first global medal in the 110m hurdles, and he goes into the World Athletics Championships as a top contender for gold.

Allen has been a major force in the sprint hurdles this year, posting the third-fastest time in history when he clocked 12.84 seconds at the New York Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium on June 12. Overtaking reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist Grant Holloway midway through the race, Allen crossed the line just 0.04 off the world record.

Allen followed that stunning performance by winning Diamond League races in Oslo (13.22) and Paris (13.20). Just a few days after his father, Louis, passed away, Allen competed at the US Championships at Eugene’s Hayward Field and narrowly sealed his spot for the World Championships, finishing third in 13.09 behind Daniel Roberts (13.03) and Trey Cunningham (13.08).

Holloway, who won his semifinal in 13.03, skipped the final as he had a bye into the World Championships as defending champion.

Allen goes into the championships performing a difficult juggling act on the track and the American football gridiron. Just nine days after the World Championships hurdles final on July 17, he will suit up for the start of training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Allen was a two-sport star at the University of Oregon from 2013 to 2016. A two-time NCAA champion on the track, he also caught 54 passes for 919 yards and eight touchdowns in 22 games in three seasons for the football team.

After suffering two separate ACL tears, Allen put his football career on hold and focused on track and field. A three-time US national champion in the 110m hurdles, he finished fifth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and fourth at the Tokyo Games.

He was also seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

The US team boasts extreme depth in the 110m hurdles and could easily sweep the podium in Eugene. At the US Championships, Roberts ran from the front to capture his second national title, while Cunningham showed the form that made him the NCAA champion to take second. Allen finished just three-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamal Britt to claim the final spot on the team.

Four US athletes hold the three fastest times this year – Allen’s 12.84 followed by Cunningham at 13.00 and Roberts and Holloway at 13.03. Aries Merritt’s world record of 12.80 could be under threat at the championships.

Hansle Parchment wins the men’s 110m hurdles at the Jamaica trials at the National Stadium on Sunday, June 26, 2022. (PHOTO: Marlon Reid).

The Jamaicans shape up as the US athletes’ main rivals, led by Tokyo Olympic champion Hansle Parchment. He clocked 13.09 at the Birmingham Diamond League on May 21 and won the Jamaican Championships in 13.14 ahead of Rasheed Broadbell (13.20) and Orlando Bennett (13.28). The 2017 world and 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod stumbled after the second hurdle and finished last in 13.54.

Brazil’s Rafael Pereira and France’s Sasha Zhoya, who both clocked 13.17 this year, should also be in the mix. The heats will be held on day two of the championships, with the semifinals and final the next day.

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Addressing a large contingent of private sector representatives from both Saudi Arabia and Guyana, President Dr Irfaan Ali impressed on them the need for collaboration and partnerships, including the forming of consortiums, where both sides can mutually benefit from investment opportunities.

President Ali gave the main address during the Guyana-Saudi Arabia Investment Engagement that was held in the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Saturday. In addition to an over 60-member delegation of investors from Saudi Arabia led by Deputy Minister for Investors Outreach, Badr al Badr, Guyana’s private sector including members of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) was present.

“In the private sector, if you have a specific idea, today, that you can bring to the private sector and partner with them in a consortium, an opportunity that you see today…put the two private sector bodies in a room. Let us not do circular talks,” President Ali said.

“Put the two private sectors in a room and let us come up with five or six areas that we will move forward on. And then let us agree that we’re going to remove all the barriers in those areas… let us not work in a way that is circular. Let us identify the areas, and the priorities, and put together two working groups from the private sector and from the Government agency. And let us get this ball rolling.”

According to President Ali, in the same way, the Government has taken a decision to establish an embassy in Saudi Arabia, Guyana is also ready to accommodate the Saudi Arabians, with the grant of a piece of land for them to establish a permanent footprint. Additionally, he said that Guyana is prepared to house the Saudi Arabian Development Fund branch for the region.

“I’ve said to the leadership of Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince. And I’ve said to the Minister of State, we are prepared to make the land available for you to establish your embassy for this region, in Guyana.”

“And I expect that within the next quarter, we must have positive movement on this. I’ve already established there are many additional reasons beyond investment and economic ties, that you should have a footprint here,” the President also said.

President Ali explained that work is already well advanced in Guyana establishing an embassy in Saudi Arabia. The President also said that the Ministry of Finance will be establishing a help desk for the Saudi’s.

Since the passage of the Local Content Act last year, the Government has said that foreign companies have been actively seeking out local companies with which they can form a partnership.

According to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo back in May, the Government saw the passage of local content legislation as a way of making sure that Guyanese could reap the benefits of the oil and gas sector, though it is not limited to this industry.

The Vice President noted that even today, Guyanese individuals and companies are reaping those benefits and that foreign companies looking to invest in Guyana are actively seeking partnerships with locals.

“We had to get a legislative framework. We passed a tough law now, that created huge opportunities for Guyanese and Guyanese companies. And you should ask the people, the Guyanese companies here now, that the foreigners are busy now running them down. When they were treating them with disdain because now there’s a benefit to partnering with a Guyanese company.

The Local Content Act lays out 40 different services that oil and gas companies and their subcontractors must procure from Guyanese companies by the end of 2022. For instance, these companies must procure from Guyanese companies 90 per cent of office space rental and accommodation services; 90 per cent janitorial services, laundry and catering services; 95 per cent pest control services; 100 per cent local insurance services; 75 per cent local supply of food; and 90 per cent local accounting services.

These are just a few of the services highlighted in the first schedule of the Local Content Act. The Local Content Act mandates penalties for oil and gas companies and their sub-contractors who fail to meet the minimum targets of the legislation, as well as those who are in breach of the Act. These fines range from as low as $5 million to as high as $50 million.

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The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government plans to go out to tender for a partner to help them develop the Block C offshore oil block, which is currently unawarded and which the Government believes holds significant resources and investment potential.

This was according to Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, during the Guyana-Saudi Arabia Investment Engagement that was held in the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) on Saturday. He described it as a major opportunity for investors.

“There’s a major opportunity for persons, companies, and countries that wish to invest in Guyana’s oil and gas sector. If you notice, Block C, which is close to Suriname and is close to the discovery, Apache discovery in Suriname, that block is unawarded.”

“It still lies with the Government of Guyana. And we’ve already decided that before the end of this year, we will go out through an open bidding process, to award Block C to any country, company or organisation, that is willing to partner with us to develop Block C,” Bharrat further said.

Earlier this year, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo had said that Guyana had been the recipient of significant interest, particularly from Middle Eastern companies, to partner with the State in developing Guyana’s remaining blocks.

Guyana has long been expected to go out and auction oil blocks, both untapped and relinquished. Considering the more than 30 oil finds that have been made by oil giant ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block, the country is likely to be in a good position to leverage the value of those blocks when the context of the global oil and gas industry is considered.

The relinquishment clause is typically included in contracts so that companies can relinquish a portion of the block when the renewable period is up, thereby allowing other companies to buy into the respective blocks.

For the Stabroek and Canje Blocks, operators are required to relinquish 20 per cent of their blocks after the first renewal period; while those of the Demerara and Corentyne Blocks are expected to relinquish 15 per cent within this period.

The Kaieteur Block’s relinquishment provision is said to be 25 per cent, then 20 per cent by the first renewal; with the Mahaicony and Roraima Blocks at 25 per cent. By the time of the first renewal for the Orinduik Block, the operators are not expected to relinquish any portion.

Another revelation from Bharrat during his presentation to the Saudi investors, is that Guyana is currently producing 300,000 barrels of oil per day, from the Liza Phase One and Two fields and the Liza Destiny and Unity Floating Production and Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessels, combined.

“We discovered oil in May of 2015, and we started production in December of 2019. To date we are producing at over 300,000 barrels per day with only two FPSOs. This, I’m sure you would agree with me, is unprecedented speed and I don’t think this has happened in any small developing country around the world – the rate at which we are moving our petroleum sector.”

“We have already signed two more licences. So very soon, as a matter-of-fact next year, we will see our third FPSO arriving in Guyana’s waters. Which will have a capacity of 220,000 barrels per day. And this will take us close to 600,000 by the ending of 2023,” Bharrat said.

He also noted that in the case of the Yellowtail development, a fourth FPSO will arrive in Guyana by 2024 called the One Guyana FPSO.

This, he said, will produce 250,000 barrels. Another Field Development Plan (FDP), for the fifth Warrau development, will also be handed over to Guyana very soon.

“And Government will be placed in a position where we will review and finally approve the fifth project in the Stabroek Block. And that will take us to over 1 million barrels per day of production. And this, we see, will happen in another five to six years from today. So, by 2027-2028, Guyana will be safely producing over 1 million barrels of oil per day,” the Minister said.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEGPL) is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block. Hess Guyana Exploration Limited holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest.

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débat

Vendredi et samedi, la journaliste Rokhaya Diallo et la cofondatrice du mouvement Black lives matter Ayo Tometi ont tenu des conférences autour du militantisme de la communauté noire.

France-Antilles Guadeloupe

979 mots – 11.07.2022

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POINTE XPRESS: The ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) took a definitive step in its preparations for general elections on Sunday when it endorsed the slate of candidates who will contest the polls which are constitutionally due by March next year.

During the party’s convention yesterday afternoon at its new headquarters on Nugent Avenue, there was standing room only as the ABLP’s seventeen candidates were introduced to rousing applause.

The convention heard from Chairman of a Suitability Committee, Hilroy Humphreys, who headed the team selected to interview the persons who presented themselves as potential candidates.

Humphreys said four candidates were interviewed for the All Saints East and St. Luke seat, however, Col- in James was ultimately selected as the most suitable candidate.

An identical number came forward in Barbuda, but Senator Knacyntar Nedd got the nod.

In St. Peter, two candidates presented themselves, but the three-member Suit- ability Committee voted for Rawdon Turner as the preferred candidate.

The other candidate, the incumbent Member of Parliament for St. Peter’s, Asot Michael, was deemed unsuitable by two of the three members of the panel.

Humphreys explained that the committee was only empowered to make recommendations, with the final selection of candidates left to the selection of the convention.

Following several amendments to the party’s constitution, the seventeen candidates presented were all approved by the convention.

This now finalises the party’s slate for the upcoming elections.

In his remarks, Chair- man, E. P. Chet Greene said the ABLP has proven itself through its record of achievements over the past eight years. Among them, he identified the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We introduced measures to keep our economy afloat and to continue paying government workers and paying pensions, even though the economy had declined by more than 20 per- cent and government was getting little or no revenue. We fought hard to ensure there was at least one person per household being paid,” he said.

According to Chairman Greene, people are now back to work, hotels have re- opened and ports of entry to the country are bustling.

“There is no denying that our economy is bouncing back, that has happened de- spite the blows delivered by COVID-19 and, it happened only because the government of this great ABLP rose, once again, to the occasion of safeguarding our nation’s economy and protecting the welfare of our people,” he declared.

Delivering the feature address, the ABLP’s Political Leader, Gaston Browne, gave a stirring account of his administration’s stewardship of the nation’s affairs since taking office.

He recalled the significant sums spent by the government on education from the preschool to tertiary levels, with student grants amounting to over $240 mil- lion since 2014.

Other expenditure on education has included the expansion of most secondary school plants and the crowning jewel of the counry’s education system, the fourth landed campus of the University of the West Indies located at Five Islands.

The ABLP leader also detailed his administration’s expenditure in other sectors of the economy:

Tens of millions to im- prove and expand the health care infrastructure.

Over 1000 subsidised homes valued at over $300 million

Duty free and tax waiv- ers exceeding $250 million to facilitate car ownership, home ownership and for capital purchases for small business development

Over $100 million to upgrade and expand the infrastructure of the country’s schools, including the co struction of the Sir Novelle Richards Academy.

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