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The body of 57-year-old Dharmindra Sarabjit was found in a swamp at Vryheid Village, West Canje, Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) at about 11:45 hrs Saturday.

Police Headquarters reported that Officers visited the scene on Saturday after an anonymous caller reported seeing the man’s body in a swamp with thick vegetation.

At the scene, the ranks saw the body in an advanced stage of decomposition.

The scene was processed, documented and photographed by detectives. Subsequently, the body was positively identified as Sarabjit, a drainage and irrigation worker of Vryheid Village, by his 32-year-old daughter Amrita Mahadeo.

Enquiries revealed that Sarabjit was allegedly regular consumer of alcohol and at about 07:00 hrs Monday, he left home to go by a female friend. He did not return home after that.

At about 08:30hrs Wednesday, Mahadeo went to the Central Police Station and reported that her father was missing after numerous searches on her own were unsuccessful.

The decomposed body is at the Bailey’s funeral parlour, awaiting a post-mortem examination.

Investigations are ongoing

Courtney Benn, a 43-year-old fisherman of Winiperu Village, Region Seven (Cuyuni- Mazaruni) is believed to have drowned sometime between Thursday and Saturday.

Police Headquarters reported that that man left his home in a wooden boat (without an engine) to check a fishing seine in the Essequibo River on Thursday.

He was said to have visited Ovin Hubert’s shop on Sherima Landing, where he sold fish. Benn then proceeded to another shop about 200 meters from Hubert’s shop, where he spent approximately 45 minutes consuming an alcoholic beverage.

Police said Benn was last seen paddling his boat alone towards Winiperu Village.

On Friday at about 08:10 hrs, however, Benn’s boat was found drifting in the Essequibo River near Winiperu Village. His personal belongings were inside the boat but Benn was not seen anywhere.

After discovering the drifting boat, residents checked Benn’s home. They failed to locate him and then raised an alarm.

A search party was formed by relatives and community members with Police Officers joining the efforts.

At about 08:00 hrs Saturday morning, Benn’s body was discovered floating in the Essequibo River. It is believed that he drowned.

His body was transported to Bartica Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigations are ongoing to determine the exact circumstances surrounding Benn’s death.

Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Incorporated, Shaik Baksh engages residents during a community outreach

He emphasised that these new wells are part of broader efforts to improve water access and quality nationwide.

“We have already completed five wells along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway…These five wells are the priority ones. This is because the government wants to ensure that you have access to water. We want to bring the water to you through the well and the distribution network,” he said.

Some of the residents at the community meeting

With the installation of new distribution networks, some residents will no longer need to travel long distances to access water.

Follow-up visits are planned for these communities to conduct further evaluations and prepare for the mobilisation of drilling teams.

The communities of Swan, Waiacabra, Long Creek, Kairuni, and Bamia have recently benefited from the drilling of wells.

With two games left in Group 2 of the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight stage, it’s largely a three-way fight for the semi-final spots.

USA aren’t completely out of it, but they will need huge wins to be in the hunt.

Here’s a look at the qualification scenarios based on the result combinations in the two remaining matches: England vs USA, and West Indies vs South Africa.

If England and West Indies win

That will leave three teams – England, West Indies and South Africa – on four points each. West Indies’ huge win against USA means they will finish with a higher net run rate than South Africa if they beat them by any margin on Sunday night.

So West Indies will qualify for sure with a win, regardless of the England-USA result.

For England to go past South Africa’s NRR, the sum of margins of the two results will have to be 10 runs (assuming first-innings totals of 160).

That means, if England win by 10 runs, they will go ahead on run rate even if South Africa lose in the Super Over.

If the margin of result is under 10, South Africa will stay ahead and qualify with four points.

If USA and South Africa win

South Africa will top the table with six points, while the other three teams will finish on two points each. If England lose in the Super Over chasing 160, West Indies will have to lose by 43 or more runs for their NRR to drop below that of England.

If England lose by a bigger margin, West Indies will have more leeway, which means in such a scenario South Africa and West Indies are the likely semi-finalists.

USA’s poor run rate means they’ll need two huge results to stand any chance of finishing in the top two: they will first need to beat England by at least 56 runs (assuming a total of 160) to go past them on NRR, and then hope that West Indies lose by at least 91 runs for their run rate to drop below USA’s.

If USA and West Indies win

In this case, West Indies and South Africa will qualify with four points, while England and USA will finish on two.

If England and South Africa win

South Africa, with six points, and England, with four, will be the semi-finalists. (ESPNcricinfo)