28 minute read
GECOM Information
Advertisement
Funds will be made available to complete Berbice, Linden synthetic track
Additional funds will be made available to complete the construction of the synthetic track and field facilities at Burnham Park, New Amsterdam, Region Six and Bayroc Community Centre Ground, Wismar, Linden, Region Ten.
This is according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali, in comments on Monday (August 1, 2022), and he added that his government intends to complete the long-awaited facilities in a timely manner to benefit athletes within the East Berbice Corentyne and the Upper Demerara-Berbice. Responding to a query by New Amsterdam youths as to the completion of the facility in that area, President Ali has committed that, “… before the end of this year, we already went for supplementary, you will see in both tracks, work commencing to give you a final product that you deserve.”
Further to this, the President reminded that the government is working to give Berbice its first international stadium at the Palmyra, Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The President went on to explain that when the government got into office in August 2020, it met two incomplete synthetic track facilities with no funds released to complete them. Inspections were done by the Youth, Sport and Culture Ministry and the contractors were engaged to have both facilities completed.
Subsequently, the ministry procured synthetic materials for the facilities from a German company.
Once completed, the facilities will boast an eightlane synthetic track, a football pitch, security fencing, drainage, and a restroom among other features.
Guyana’s first synthetic track and field facility was constructed by the PPP/C Government in 2014.
Oil and Gas blocks to be auctioned – President Ali
Guyana's government expects that an upcoming auction for oil and gas blocks, in the third quarter of 2022, will attract new companies to its energy industry, President Irfaan Ali said on July 25, 2022, following years of domination by U.S. giant Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and its partners.
Though oil was not the focus of the visit, the President said he was taking advantage of being in the United States to call on energy companies to participate in the bidding round, scheduled for the third quarter.
Speaking to the international news agency, Reuters, Ali said, “We are hoping that the participants in the auction... will add diversification…we have been clear to the United States that we are going to continue an aggressive bid to ... capitalize on our hydrocarbon sector.”
Guyana is expected to reach 1.2 million barrels per day of crude production by 2027 - surpassing Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador - is not currently considering joining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). President Ali said, "We are a new player in the oil and gas sector... That conversation will have its time.”
Guyana’s revenue from the oil and gas sector is expected to accelerate to $7.5 billion annually in 2030, according to consultancy Rystad Energy.
OIL FINDS
ExxonMobil has been the primary operator in Guyana’s oil and gas sector – working in the Stabroek Block.
Currently, two floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating offshore Guyana — Liza Destiny and Liza Unity — have exceeded their initial combined production target of 340,000 barrels of oil per day.
A third project, Payara, is expected to produce 220,000 barrels per day. Construction on its production vessel, the Prosperity FPSO, is approximately five months ahead of schedule with start-up likely before year-end 2023.
The fourth project, Yellowtail, is expected to produce 250,000 barrels per day when the ONE GUYANA FPSO comes online in 2025.
The Stabroek Block is es-
(Turn to page 20)
WEEKEND MIRROR 6-7 AUGUST, 2022 Coalition doubles down on denying attempt to rig March 2020 Elections
The APNU+AFC Coalition’s role in the attempt to rig the March 2020 General and Regional Elections was ignored, as speakers doubled down on the claim that they did nothing wrong and were “cheated” by the PPP/C.
This was evidenced at the public rally hosted by the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition, in partnership with the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), on August 2, 2022.
The speakers included Members of Parliament (MPs) Christopher Jones; Amanza Walton-Desir; Coretta McDonald; Juretha Fernandes; Vincent Henry; Ganesh Mahipaul; Mervyn Williams; and Sherod Duncan. The WPA’s Kidackie Amsterdam, David Hinds, and Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, also took the stage.
Norton, in his remarks at the rally, cited the reports by the Election Observer Missions (EOMS) to back up his calls for a “clean Voters’ List” and the removal of retired Justice Claudette Singh as the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), who was appointed by his predecessor, David Granger, but ignored the EOMs findings on the mischief that was exposed.
The integrity of the entire electoral process was seriously compromised by the non-transparent and non-credible tabulation of results in the largest and decisive Region 4 by senior GECOM officials, acting in blatant violation of the law and High Court orders issued in this regard, according to the European Union (EU) Election Observer Mission in its final report on the March 2020 elections. The EU was one of five international Election Observer Missions (EOMs) that were in Guyana for the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. The other four included the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Carter Center, the Commonwealth and the Organisation of American States (OAS).
The harshest condemnation came on May 13, 2020 from the then Chief of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM), Bruce Golding, was no holds barred, when he addressed the OAS Permanent Council. He stressed that the declaration of election results for Region Four was based on fictitious documents. “I have never seen a more transparent effort to alter the results of an Election. More than a dozen copies of the Statements of Poll are prepared at each polling station after the ballots are counted on election night. One copy is posted on the wall outside the polling station and each party representative – and there were nine in all – each party representative is entitled to receive a copy. It takes an extraordinarily courageous mind to present documents with fictitious numbers when there is such a sturdy paper trail exists. And this is being illustrated now as the recount proceeds,” he said.
(Turn to page 22)
trepreneurs, persons with permanent disabilities and those receiving dialysis treatment benefited from larger grants.
Similarly, interventions have been undertaken to stabilise the cost of basic food items and fuel as Guyana and the rest of the world grapples with inflation driven by external factors of COVID-19 and the Ukraine war. The Government is committed to monitoring prices and is prepared to undertake more interventions to cushion the effects on citizens.
Amerindian Community Service Officers were rehired, the land titling project for hinterland communities has recommenced and development programmes of villages will soon be re-incorporated into the economic model of the Expanded Low Carbon Development strategy 2030.
The president’s ‘One-Guyana’ vision, intended to involve and include every citizen at home and abroad in the transformation process, has begun in earnest and is gaining momentum.
Government is fully engaging with all Guyanese in communities across Guyana through Cabinet outreaches with feedback from these meetings helping to define policies, prioritise projects and shape a new approach on how Government responds to citizens.
Today, as we mark two years since the ‘triumph of democracy’ in Guyana, let there be no mistake nor ambiguity about our resolve as a Government to prevent and address any actions or activities that would threaten the foundations and pillars of our democratic society.
Those who are focused on drumming up racial hostilities at every opportunity in their unpatriotic quest to divide our country and torpedo our development agenda through incitement, instigation, and outright acts of terrorism, will not succeed and will be held accountable.
The Government would not be distracted by those who have embraced obstructionism to the detriment of Guyanese achieving their full potential.
When Dr. Ali was sworn in as Guyana’s nineth, democratically elected executive President, along with senior Cabinet appointees on August 2, 2020, it marked the ‘Triumph of democracy’.
Scores of journalists, social media reporters and influencers with smart phones and ‘live stream’ access were present with the observers at every polling station across the country and later converged at the command-and-control Centre of the Guyana Elections Commission to witness the results tabulation process.
None of that mattered as when the APNU-AFC Coalition government realised it had lost, a plan was orchestrated to steal the elections which plunged the country into one of the darkest episodes in our history that would last five long months.
Those who perpetrated the acts, meant to steal the elections, now face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
President Ali and the PPP/C Administration have worked tirelessly to commence the process of re-examining our institutional frameworks and constitutional architecture needed to safeguard the integrity of our electoral process and democracy itself.
The Government is well advanced with electoral reforms and will transition to broader constitutional reforms in the coming months.
Guyana’s transformation will succeed, while the ballot box and the revised provisions of the ‘Representation of the People Act’ will continue to be the basis of our democratic system for elections, and the integrity of the electoral process which produces a government that reflects the will of the people, will remain sacrosanctly protected.
timated to contain resources of about 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45% interest. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25% interest. The Stabroek block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers).
The discoveries to date include at the Stabroek Block by Exxon Mobil, include: 1. Liza-1 (May 9, 2015) 2. Liza Deep (January 9, 2017) 3. Payara-1 (January 9, 2017) 4. Snoek-1 (March 30, 2017) 5. Turbot-1 (October 11, 2017) 6. Ranger-1 (January 5, 2018) 7. Pacora (March 5, 2018) 8. Longtail-1 (June 20, 2018) 9. Hammerhead-1 (August 30, 2018) 10. Pluma -1 (December 3, 2018) 11. Tilapia-1 (February 4, 2019) 12. Haimara-1 (February 4, 2019) 13. Yellowtail-1 (April 16, 2019) 14. Tripletail-1 (September 16, 2019) 15. Mako-1 (December 20, 2019) 16. Uaru-1 (January 23, 2020) 17. Yellowtail-2 (July 29, 2020) 18. Redtail-1 (September 7, 2020) 19. Hassa-1 (March 23, 2021) 20. Uaru-2 (April 28, 2021) 21. Longtail-3 (June 8, 2021) 22. Whiptail-1 (July 26, 2021) 23. Whiptail-2 (July 26, 2021) 24. Turbot-2 (September 9, 2021) 25. Pinktail-1 (September 9, 2021) 26. Cataback-1 (October 6, 2021) 27. Fangtooth-1 (January 5, 2022) 28. Lau Lau-1 (January 5, 2022) 29. Barreleye-1 (April 25, 2022) 30. Lukanani-1 (April 25, 2022) 31. Patwa-1 (April 25, 2022) 32. Seabob-1 (July 26, 2022) 33. Kiru Kiru-1 (July 26, 2022)
So far, these 33 wells in the Stabroek Block have yielded positive results for oil extraction, which takes the total to 38 oil discoveries offshore Guyana.
Of the 38 finds: 33 were made by ExxonMobil in the Stabroek Block; One at the Kaieteur Block – Tanager-1 (November 16, 2020); Two at the Orinduik block – Jethro-1 (August 28, 2019) and Joe-1 (September 23, 2019); One at the Kanuku block – Carapa-1 (January 1, 2020); and One at the Corentyne block – Kawa-1 (March 16, 2022).
COMMENTARY
Remarkable developments in two short years have positioned Guyana on transformative trajectory
By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy
The dream of national unity, of a country in which our people live in solidarity with each other, where we celebrate each other and see our diversity as national pride and as an asset, has been elusive, ever since we flirted with it in 1953 under Cheddi Jagan.
By 2020, many of those who never gave up on the dream, many who held on to the hope that the dream was still possible had begun to drift away from the dream, giving up. In two short years under a new PPP government, under President Irfaan Ali, the dream has been reignited and for the very first time since 1953, we have arrived at a place where there have never been so many people who believe that ONE GUYANA is possible, in our lifetime.
The development achievements since August 2, 2020, in just two short years, have been most remarkable. There has never been a two-year period at any time in Guyana’s history when there have been so many development projects, physical, social and cultural. But the most noteworthy development that has taken place in this first two-years under President Irfaan Ali is that the vast majority of Guyanese people, including a significant number of persons who voted for APNU/ AFC, the PNC in disguise, believe that ONE GUYANA is desirable and possible.
President Ali has been persistent and tenacious in pushing a ONE GUYANA agenda. He is passionate about the ONE GUYANA platform, refusing to accept that it cannot be achieved. There was never any doubt that the PPP supporters would support him in the pursuit of the ONE GUYANA agenda. But very few persons would have envisaged that a significant number of those who voted against the PPP and President Ali would have supported him. The fact is that President Ali has succeeded in building a support-base, a coalition, beyond the PPPbase, for the ONE GUYANA platform.
To be fair, while President Ali has been the architect of the ONE GUYANA platform, without the indispensable role of the Vice President, Bharat Jagdeo, the ONE GUYANA platform might not have been able to gather the steam it has garnered so far. Guyana has found itself in a place where two visionary leaders are together working to transform Guyana, in many myriad ways.
The PPP is a fortunate political party in that these two leaders are piloting Guyana on this fabulous journey at the same time. They have crafted a development strategy that have lifted from the positive aspects of previous development platforms, such as Jagan’s New Human Order and Bharrat Jagdeo’s Expansion and Modernization and LCDS, and have added new twists. Every region of Guyana, every group of citizens in our country and even people in the diaspora and from other countries believe that Guyana is the country of the 21st century.
It is why, Guyana today leads the whole CARICOM combined in direct foreign investment. It is why Guyana’s GDP growth is many miles ahead of any other country in the world. These are just phenomenal achievements in just two years.
The past two weeks have provided vivid examples of the ONE GUYANA takeoff.
Emancipation 2022 has been an eye-opener. President Ali was leading the celebration in Guyana. Never before has our people celebrated Emancipation as we did in 2022. Across Guyana, citizens took time to celebrate a Guyanese holiday, remembering that the slaves who fought against the inhumanity of enslavement made the first inroads in the struggle for freedom and dignity, for freedom from colonialism. Emancipation Day is one of the most auspicious days in our history.
Many fought for ending slavery. It, however, were the various rebellion by the slaves themselves that hastened the end of slavery. The slaves in Guyana played one of the most crucial roles in the ending of slavery. It is for this reason that the Father of the Nation, Cheddi Jagan chose August 1 as the proposed date for Guyana’s independence. Burnham betrayed the Afro-Guyanese when he rejected the August 1 proposal in favour of May 26. I have no understanding why Burnham chose May 26. What I know is that May 26 marks one of the most shameful dates in our history, the day when many Indo-Guyanese women were raped, many of them beaten and killed and all their homes burnt to the ground.
While Irfaan Ali, VP Bharat Jagdeo and the Cabinet were out engaging the Guyanese people, not just in celebrating Emancipation Day, but in community outreach bringing development to the communities across Guyana, over the last few days, the Leader of the Opposition was out with his colleagues spreading hate and venom and insisting that the only way for ONE GUYANA is if he and his party have political power. Nothing short of political power is good enough for them.
This is not my conclusion; this is what Norton and his colleagues have been preaching. They brazenly held a rally on August 2 making it clear that in their books there is only one solution and that solution is political power for the PNC. They did not even try hiding their threat -power by any means is their end goal.
President Ali, VP Jagdeo, PM Phillips and the PPP/C ministers have not relaxed even for a single day since August 2, 2020. They have been everywhere in Guyana, in every community, bar none, bringing development everywhere. President Ali and the PPP government ministers have been in communities that did not vote for them, such as in Linden, Kwakwani, Buxton, Melanie, Bartica, Mahdia, New Amsterdam, Queenstown. They have been in communities that have been steadfast in support for the PPP, such as in Chesney, Leonora, Wakenaam, Reliance etc. Roads, bridges, schools, hospitals have been built and continue to being built. Water systems are bringing better water or water for the first time. Electricity is now reaching more people. In just two years, more than 12,000 house lots have already been provided, more than 20,000 jobs already created and many more slated to come on board. More than 10,000 scholarships have been provided to Guyanese young people in all regions of Guyana.
While the government’s Because We Care cash-grant and school uniform voucher programs were being rolled out for 2022 on August 2 across every region of Guyana, hoping to reach more than 202,000 children in less than a month, with a distribution of more than $6.1B, with ministers leading the distribution everywhere, Norton and his sorry group have been spreading hate and racism. On a day when they ought to have been out giving support to the government’s cash-transfer program and assisting people, especially their own supporters, to easily access the distribution sites, they were out threatening mayhem unless they are handed back political power.
Fortunately, the people continue to reject them. People were too busy looking to build on the platform for prosperity that President Irfaan Ali’s ONE GUYANA platform beckons. Imagine, they mobilized across Guyana for a rally at Parade Ground, the buses came from east, west, south, north. They fetched from Berbice, Regions 3 and 5 and 10 just to preach hate. Yet they were not able to even fill the small Burnham Basketball Tarmac at Parade Ground. It was a sad story that in Georgetown where the vast majority of their supporters live, they could not fill a small basketball court. Burnham and Hoyte used to full more people for small community political meetings in Georgetown than Norton could mobilized for a rally, even after bringing dozens of busloads of people from across Guyana.
Even as they continue to push the narrative of racial discrimination, President Ali’s government published the list of the 2022 GOAL scholarship awardees. Several well-known PNC members were awarded GOAL places. But a quick perusal of the more than 4,200 awardees so far for 2022 show that no single group dominated. In fact, the percentage of Afro-Guyanese awardees out-numbered the percentage Afro-Guyanese in the country’s population. No doubt Aubrey Norton and his band of losers will denounce the Afro-Guyanese awardees of house lots, scholarships, jobs, small loans, infrastructure contracts as “house slaves”. The PNC problem, therefore, is that only a small group of persons is left as their support base.
As the government spread-out across Guyana every single day, Norton and the PNC/AFC beg their supporters not to cooperate with the PPP, demanding that their supporters boycott PPP events. They even threaten their supporters who refuse to listen to them. Threat or no threat, no matter how much they beat their chest, their own supporters ignore them and come out to see, engage with and benefit from the government outreaches. Norton continues to show that he has no answers, that he is clueless and that he is not ready for the big stage. Every single day, as more development takes place, as the government rolls out more social programmes to benefit every community in Guyana, people are becoming believers that the ONE GUYANA platform is genuine and no mirage.
It is real and the Guyanese people are believers in ONE GUYANA. President Irfaan Ali in just two years has already sealed his legacy as the architect of ONE GUYANA.
Coalition doubles down...
(From page 18)
While Guyanese went to the polls on March 2, 2020, the final election results were not announced until August 2, 2020 – five months after. During the protracted delay: there was manipulation of election results in Region 4 – as confirmed by the national recount – by the then Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, who increased votes for the APNU+AFC Coalition by over 19,000 and decreased the votes for the PPP/C by over 3,000; there were several court challenges, one of which ended up at Guyana’s apex court, the Caribbean Court of Justice; a national recount that lasted 34 days; and multiple attempts by the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to present results that did not reflect the outcome of the national recount.
Region Nine leading hinterland in Covid 19 vaccination for 5-11 years
Region Nine (Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo) is leading the way in the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 vaccination of children ages 5-11 years.
The region is ahead of Regions One, Seven and Eight with 39.9 percent first dose vaccination.
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony stated that since vaccination for this age group began in June, some hinterland regions areas are doing better than others. “First dose coverage in Region Nine is about, so when you consider that the average across the country is 3.7%, Region Nine first dose us 39.9 percent, that’s very good, when you look at their second dose, they haven’t done any second dose as yet,” Dr. Anthony said.
He said some time needs to elapse before the second dose is rolled out in this region.
Region Eight (Potaro / Sipuruni) follows closely with a 36 percent coverage, with 2.8 per cent taking a second dose.
Region Seven has a 4.7 per cent coverage for the first dose, while the second dose is 3.7 per cent.
Region One currently has three per cent coverage with a second dose coverage of 0.3 per cent.
Vaccination for children ages 5-11 in Guyana was first introduced in June 11, 2022 and so far, over 6,800 children have taken a first dose of the vaccine, while over 1,960 have taken a second dose.
Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on the population, Minister Anthony believes that the current number does not represent the reality of the situation as persons are not tested frequently.
“So, the numbers remain artificially low, so that’s something that we have to bear in mind, so the numbers that we see and that we report, we think are an underestimate, and it’s not a phenomenon that is only happening in Guyana but is happening across the globe,” Dr. Anthony said.
The current first dose vaccination rate for adults is at over 86 per cent with over 67 per cent second dose. While over 48 per cent of the 12-17 population has had a first dose, over 35 per cent took the second dose.
The Health Minister is also urging persons who have had both first and second doses to take their booster shots as so far, only about 71,000 booster doses have been administered.
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony is encouraging citizens experiencing flu-like symptoms to get tested for COVID-19.
The minister explained that signs and symptoms of the BA5 variant can resemble the flu as such it is important to be tested to verify whether or not a person is infected with the coronavirus. “If persons have flu like symptoms, they shouldn’t assume it’s a flu they should go and get tested to verify whether or not it’s COVID and if its COVID then they’ll need to isolate at least for five days,” he said.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health ministry has established a number of testing sites across the country. The sites are still available to the public.
Minister Anthony said getting tested will reduce the spread of the virus and allow for better management of active cases. “We have testing facilities available across the country and we’ll like to encourage more people to be tested, the unfortunate thing is that a lot of people now might have COVID, but they don’t come forward to be tested and that’s unfortunate because they can continue to spread it to other persons and that can be more challenging to manage,” he said. Additionally, he noted that there continues to be a very low rate of testing in hinterland regions, especially in Region Eight. That region has not recorded any COVID-19 cases for the past weeks, because of the limited tests conducted. “I would encourage people, especially in Region’s Eight that again if they have flu-like symptoms they should be tested,” Dr. Anthony said.
Government, as well as public healthcare facilities, have been offering Antigen and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing across Guyana.
However, PCR testing in the public system is only conducted on persons who have been hospitalised, and those who have been in environments susceptible to COVID-19 infection.
Also, Guyana has introduced its COVID-19 home testing. Many persons have opted to this method, however, if found to be COVID-19 positive they should report it to the Ministry of Health.
Long-COVID symptoms can last longer
than a year ‒ Health Ministry still monitoring, and treating patients
COVID-19 continues to affect many persons not just in its acute phase or period of infection, but also after infection, a condition termed longCOVID.
Studies have shown that about one-fifth of persons infected or re-infected with COVID-19 can develop prolonged symptoms that last for more than a year in some patients.
Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, who made the disclosure, said, “After someone would’ve had the acute phase of the infection, let’s say they were hospitalised and discharged, some persons would continue to experience symptoms for long periods of time, in some cases as much as a year and in other cases probably longer.”
Minister Anthony explained that having prolonged symptoms does not mean a person is infectious but is experiencing lingering health problems caused by the infection.
He noted that according to the British Medical Journal, about five per cent of persons who were infected or re-infected continues to have problems with their smell and taste.
The latest symptoms of long-COVID include problems with sex drive and hair loss. Dr. Anthony noted that studies are ongoing to determine all the symptoms of long-COVID.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has established a multidisciplinary team to monitor and provide care for long-COVID patients. “In Guyana, we have set up teams of people who would normally see these patients depending on what symptoms we’re seeing or what symptoms they’re presenting with and we continue to treat them symptomatically,” the Minister said.
In addition, 400 local physicians have been trained by top experts from the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to help them better detect and treat patients affected by these prolonged symptoms. The health minister added that the medical team at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) will work with patients to ensure they receive treatment.
Demonstrating a commitment to stirring division in Guyanese society, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition, in partnership with the increasingly discredited Working People’s Alliance (WPA), hosted a public rally on August 2, 2022.
And the engagement morphed into a platform for racist and divisive rhetoric before the end of the event.
The speakers included Members of Parliament (MPs) Christopher Jones; Amanza Walton-Desir; Coretta McDonald; Juretha Fernandes; Vincent Henry; Ganesh Mahipaul; Mervyn Williams; and Sherod Duncan. The WPA’s Kidackie Amsterdam, David Hinds, and Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, also took the stage.
Norton and Hinds were billed as the main speakers.
Hinds in comments made clear that the group wanted power. “What we want is power; political and economic power.”
In a call back to the PNCR-inspired ‘Slow Fyah, Moh Fyah’ campaign, Hinds added, “I’m saying we gotta be at the table. And if you don’t want us at the table, we gonna kick down the feet of the table.”
Hinds also attempted to segregate the working class into race groups saying, “When you say sugar workers, you mean Indian Guyanese. When you say Public Servants you mean African Guyanese. When you say Police and Army you mean African Guyanese.” This is unsubstantiated, as persons of all races are employed in these three areas.
This is not the first time that Hinds’ comments have created controversy.
On July 8, 2022, Hinds claimed that the PPP/C government “wants to use East Indian people, in order to put their knees on the rest of Guyana and we must not allow them” among other reckless statements. Hinds used this claim to call for “action” from Afro-Guyanese. Hinds said, “We have to organise ourselves into a big movement…a movement to clean this country…. it is our time and we are beginning to push back…. the fight has begun.”
On November 22, 2021, Hinds had said: “I think the time has come to defend ourselves…it is time for action…I am also repeating my call to undermine the government. I said that in August and I am saying it again. A leader does not have to tell you how to undermine the government. There are many ways… undermine the government and continue to do so.” At the same forum, Hinds went further to call for Indian-owned businesses to be boycotted. He said, “They were enablers and they are enablers….it is your money that is spending on Regent Street that they does take and give to the PPP as contributions for elections so they can get into government… undermine the economic partners of the PPP.” Prior to that, while addressing a small group of protestors at Victoria, East Coast Demerara in August 2021, Hinds said: “In whatever way you can undermine this (PPP/C) government. Undermine this government in whatever way you can. I can’t tell you how to do it, but ‘hint to Baniba mek Quashiba tek notice’ (Old African-Guyanese proverb meaning actions to hint something will result in awareness). Undermine this government!”
In recent weeks the Coalition’s use of racist rhetoric has been heightened.
Leader of the PNCR and the Parliamentary Opposition, Aubrey Norton, on June 4, 2022, made irresponsible allegations. “I wouldn’t rule out that they (the PPP/C) gave the instruction to kill this young man so they get something to distract people with… I’ve been in politics long enough to know that when they bring these things to side-track us, we will stay focused…this struggle has to continue,” Norton said, without any evidence, referring to the matter where three Guyana Police Officers were charged over the death of Quindon Bacchus on June 5, 2022. Norton also mounted comments about not trusting the PPP. “We do not trust them…we will continue the political pressure,” he charged.
On June 4, 2022, Coalition Parliamentarian, Christopher Jones, speaking to a handful of protestors at Buxton, said, “Black youngsters go to a commercial bank for a loan and they are denied. An East Indian person, the same age, got the same thing like the young black man, go to the same commercial bank, but he getting the loan….that is the reality of this country….you go to predominantly East Indian villages in this country and you would see rapid development, nice roads, nice street lights…but you go predominantly the African villages – bad roads, poor drainage, no street lights, no recreational facilities for them… that is the reality of this country.”
The PNC-led APNU+AFC Coalition’s expressed intentions to “undermine” the Dr. Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C Administration, according to PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, in prior comments, has not gone unnoticed.
Jagdeo said, “People like David Hinds, who for decades misled people into thinking they represent Afro-Guyanese, had no interest in development for Guyana, much less development in the interest of Afro-Guyanese…they are parasitic…when they came into office, they had no intention of supporting Afro-Guyanese…he is smarting from the person loss of privileges that he and his family enjoyed… the bitterness stems from there.”
Moving forward, Jagdeo noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition must drop racism as a tool and get on board with a national development agenda – all in the interest of all Guyanese across the entire country. “It is a dead end if they don’t drop the racism…there is room for inclusion, providing that you work for the people… you can’t bully people and you can’t lie to people…. currently, we have an ineffective Opposition Leader…more often than not, he has a shallow understanding of crucial sectors,” he stressed.
