Weekend Mirror 29-30 October 2022

ExxonMobil makes two more oil finds

sive portfolio of development opportunities.

Oil giant ExxonMobil has made two new discover ies in the Stabroek Block off shore Guyana. The two new finds bring the total discov eries in the Stabroek Block to 35.

ExxonMobil subsidiary

Esso Exploration and Produc tion Guyana Limited (EEP GL) announced the discover ies of oil at its Sailfin-1 and Yarrow-1 wells on Wednes day (October 26, 2022) in the Stabroek block offshore Guyana, adding to its exten

The Sailfin-1 well en countered approximately 312 feet (95 meters) of hydro carbon-bearing sandstone and was drilled in 4,616 feet (1,407 meters) of water. The Yarrow-1 well encountered approximately 75 feet (23 meters) of hydrocarbon-bear

ing sandstone and was drilled in 3,560 feet (1,085 meters) of water. Both wells were drilled by the Stena Carron drillship.

Currently, two floating production storage and off loading (FPSO) vessels op erating offshore Guyana — Liza Destiny and Liza Unity — have exceeded their initial

combined production target of 360,000 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 approx imately five months ahead of schedule with start-up likely before year-end 2023.

The fourth project, Yel lowtail, is expected to pro duce 250,000 barrels per day when the ONE GUYANA FPSO comes online in 2025.

The Stabroek Block is estimated to contain resources of about 11 billion oil-equiv alent barrels. ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited is operator and holds 45% inter est. 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).

WELCOMED

Meanwhile, Government has welcomed the latest oil discoveries announced by ExxonMobil. The Govern ment of Guyana has said that it anticipates that these two additional discoveries will further increase Guyana’s petroleum resources with al ready more than 30 discover ies within the Stabroek Block since 2015. As such, the Min istry of Natural Resources and its regulatory agencies continue to build capacity to enhance monitoring and exploration activities as Guy ana’s offshore development and production accelerate at a pace that exceeds the petro leum industry average.

Minister of Natural Re sources, Vickram Bharrat, stated that the Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies were mandated to enhance collaboration with all other operators to expedite their drill programmes as we seek to further expand the sector through the discoveries of recoverable high-quality hy drocarbon. Additionally, the much-anticipated bidding round for the oil blocks off shore Guyana is expected to bring new and emerging major petroleum companies to further increase Guyana’s oil and gas potentials, said Minister Bharrat.

He stressed that the Gov ernment of Guyana remains committed to the sustainable exploration and develop ment of Guyana’s oil and gas resources in keeping with international best practices for production, compliance, and transparency within the petroleum sector, and to en sure benefits are derived for all Guyanese.

TOTAL FINDS

The discoveries to date in clude 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)

34. Seabob (October 26, 2022)

35. Kiru-Kiru (October 26, 2022)

So far, these 35 wells in the Stabroek Block have yielded positive results for oil extraction, which takes the total to 40 oil discoveries offshore Guyana.

Of the 38 finds: 35 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 – Kawa1 (March 16, 2022).

Opposition fueling ‘misinformation industry’ – Jagdeo

There is an “industry” growing in the opposi tion camps which is built on misleading the public on issues of national importance including Local Government Elections.

The Government of Guy ana is committed to the up holding of democracy and believes that the holding of Local Government Elections (LGE) is an important pillar in our democratic political system, according to Min ister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall. This as surance came last week when he announced that March 13, 2023 has been appointed as the date for LGE. Dharam lall has since written wrote to Justice (Retd) Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commis

sion (GECOM) appointing the date based on the work plan submitted by GECOM.

In light of the announce ment and the reactions from the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition, Jagdeo noted that said there are many persons

who present themselves as specialists but do a lot of damage through misinfor mation, which requires a lot of effort to get to the truth of the matter.

As an example, Dr. Jag deo noted that while there

were some persons making statements that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government was delaying the holding of local government elections, that position misrepresented the reality that it is the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM) must have first indicated its readiness to fa cilitation the elections.

The Vice-President not ed that soon after GECOM completed that process, the body’s Chairman, wrote to government indicating the earliest possible date for local government elections – after which, Minister Dharamlall

responded.

LGE, which are usually due every two years, was last held in 2018. At the last LGE in November 2018, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Oppo

sition had secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the holding of the LGE in 2016, during which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs.

Clear signals sent by Coalition’s objections, misinformation on proposed electoral reform

The APNU+AFC Coalition, after the draft of the proposed amendments to the Representation of People’s Act (ROPA) were released for public consultation, as well as the recently concluded national consultation, maintains its opposition to move toward electoral reform.

Guyanese, all recall, the PPP/C government’s promise of electoral reform to ensure that our country never has a repeat of the March 2020 Elections, a process that saw a five month delay between polling and the declaration of final results –interspersed with frivolous legal action that went all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), brazen attempts to tamper with the tabulation of votes, barefaced lies to the Guyanese people and efforts by the now Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to discredit over 100,000 votes that were recounted during the national recount and declare the Elections in favour of the APNU+AFC Coalition. The facts are clear for all Guyanese and no amount of effort by the Coalition will be successful in re-writing history.

So what are the grounds for the Coalition’s objections?

Primarily, the arguments so far have been centered on the stiff penalties for the ‘would be riggers’ at any future election.

The APNU+AFC Coalition Parliamentarian, Khemraj Ramjattan, on a live streamed social media programme, when electoral reform efforts first started taking shape, argued against stiff penalties, saying it will have a “chilling effect” on workers involved in the electoral process. But is that not the point of laws, to deter from certain activities? Ramjattan had said: “Why go there…it is to drive fear…they are saying yes, whosoever, is a Presiding Officer that do some mischief, whatever, big sentence behind him. People sometimes, could, for very good reasons, not do the correct things, not neces sarily because of sabotage of the system or rigging and they can suffer some serious penalties…then also a lot of very competent people, who know that they could make mistakes, they themselves will not want to go out and be members who are going to be Presiding Officers and Polling Agents and so on. This (the amendments for stiff penalties) will have a chilling effect.”

Further, the Coalition has already kicked its misinforma tion campaign into gear – arguing for the input of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and other stakeholders into the electoral reform process, while ignoring the fact that the proposed amendments to the Representation of People’s Act are just that, proposals that informed a lengthy consultation period with GECOM, political parties and any stakeholders from the public interested in making a contribution. The Coalition’s penchant for ignoring facts is not new to Guya nese. However, it continues to be harmful to the progress of our nation.

That said, the Coalition seems to need reminding that the PPP/C Administration has never been interested in wasting time and money, when it comes to serving the Guyanese people. The PPP/C Administration, will not spend months talking to people, then months crafting a proposal, then months more finalizing that proposal before consultations can even begin. The efficient manner of going about this has been adopted. A draft has been compiled and consultations are in formed by that draft – NOT limited by it – before work is done to finalise the document. The Coalition is well aware of this, but continues to act in a manner that is deliberately obtuse.

What is clear are the signals being sent by the Coalition on the move towards electoral reform, but Guyanese must come together to also send a signal of our own – electoral fraud will never be condoned and anyone attempting to stymie the will of the Guyanese people must face the full force of the law.

Timeline for Local Government Elections must be kept

Dear Editor,

A definitive position on the advance ment of our democracy at the local level has been concretized by Hon Ni gel Dharamlall, Minister of Local Gov ernment and Regional Development.

The minister responded to a letter from Chairman of the Guyana Elec tions Commission (GECOM), Justice Claudette Singh, who wrote informing of GECOM’s readiness to hold the Elections between March 13 and April 24, 2023.

The pronouncement and commu nication between the Chairman of GECOM and the Minister is in keeping with the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03 which empowers the Minister of Local Government to appoint a date for the holding of LGEs. Certainly, the indicated selection of March 13, 2023, is the earliest option of the date range provided by GECOM. This choice signals the strongest com mitment of the Government, to ensure delivery of the intent of our nation’s constitutional position in action and spirit. Testimony to the driving com mitment is the budget-by-budget pro vision of financial support to approve GECOM needs toward this end.

More recently, Government has committed $2.9B to GECOM for pre paratory works and to ensure the suc cessful planning and execution of LGE. Minister Dharamlall’s response mirrors the message of His Excellency Presi dent Dr. Irfaan Ali, who is consistent in his public clarification that the PPPC is committed, focused and obligated to deliver on this critical and necessary requirement, not only as a part of the Party’s core manifesto agenda, but also in keeping with the motto of having our citizens intimately involved in key decisions concerning the advancement of the communities where they reside.

Indeed, President Ali has been at the forefront of community empowerment, and it is clear that his undertakings are not clouded by empty promises.

On the contrary, the nation is wit nessing the indication of excuse-driven withdrawal of support syndrome by Opposition elements. Recently, the Al liance For Change (AFC) said it would be boycotting the March 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE) over concerns about a padded voters list, while the People’s National Congress Reform-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) stayed clear of saying what it would do. It is widely known that anyone reacting to Cathy Hughes’ submission of the Ramjattan-led co hoots could practically make a no-case submission. The party has practically become a ‘dead-wood small group’ that cannot prevent its own erosion.

Likewise, it is not that there is much potency from the PNC at the local lev el, except for some central areas that they may wish to hold on to. Although the PNCR have not confirmed, one would believe that there are greater considerations in knowing where their support base stands at this key juncture. Their representatives participated in the update process for the List, and have not done much within the applicable legislation to truly discredit its verifi cation standings. Further, without this mid-term guideline, the Norton admin istration is genuinely aware that they would be shooting themselves in the foot as it relates to effective planning.

The preparation and execution of a proper work plan is essential for avoiding pitfalls in the roll out of transparent processes is very import ant for the holding of successful and credible LGEs, where the results stand for verification on a strong platform of integrity. The Chief Executive Officer Vishnu Persaud and his team did an excellent job in preparation of a work plan with detailed day to day prepa ration and holding of the Elections. It is anticipated that with the Minister’s announcement of the Elections date, the interesting ‘Parties’ will work along and align activities with GECOM Nom ination Day for their representatives.

PNC deceitfully crying foul

Dear Editor,

S uddenly, the PNC is ‘rejecting’ the PPP’s Electoral Reform process and true to its nature is crying foul. In a Press statement released on 17th May, 2022, the Party stated that the ‘nation’ has rejected the amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act and the public consultations on electoral re form. It claimed that ‘it fails to address key systemic and structural flaws and weaknesses in our electoral system’. The APNU contends that ‘it totally avoids any consideration of major con stitutional, statutory, administrative,

operational and technological reforms’.

The ruling PPP has aptly described the claims made by the APNU as ‘wild, unsubstantiated and duplicitous’.

What if the Coalition has success fully rigged the 2020 Elections would they have addressed the ‘flaws’ in the Electoral system?

The APNU is now calling for a ‘clean voters list’. Let me transport Mr Norton back in time. In March 2015, the then Opposition leader, David Granger claimed that the voter’s list is ‘dirty and bloated’ and urged his sup porters to be vigilant on polling day. The then PPP’s General Secretary Mr

Notably, GECOM is in the process training and preparing Election Day staff. It follows that key employment functions will have to be finalized, particularly as it concerns Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Poll clerks, Ballot Clerks along with information Officers at every polling booth.

Notwithstanding, the Commission will have to be extremely careful with the ‘Management Staff’ at GECOM. Although the 2020 National and Re gional Elections went smoothly during Election Day, the cause for concerns emerged from the inefficacies of some members of the Secretariat and partic ularly, some member of the ‘Manage ment Staff’ that really made genuine effort to derail and thief the Elec tions. Hence, it is imperative that the Leadership at GECOM be absolutely careful with the employment of men and women with integrity who will be honest and willing to hold free and fair elections.

The build-up to the 2020 National and Regional Elections was filled with PNC Commissioners making all sorts of excuses in their effort not to go to the polls. They questioned the Voters List, they created issues in respect to ID Cards, they catapulted a deadwood as Chairman of the Commission, and started an exercise of House-to-House Registration with the intent of delaying time in power, but this was subsequent ly aborted. It is recognized that they also installed Secretariat staff that were not inclined to uphold a free and fair elections process.

The PNC never genuinely wants to face the polls under a transparent set ting. All the efforts to delay the LGE’s must be prevented and we must have LGEs as scheduled by GECOM. Guy ana is on the rise, and we must have democracy at the grassroots level, so let us have the LGEs on schedule.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Clement Rohee had asked Mr Granger ‘to come clean on true intentions and desist from making statements that could do harm to the integrity of the elections processes. Mr Rohee further challenged that,’ Rather than hiding un der the fig leaf of broad statements and hasty generalizations, Granger ought to come clean and be specific as to exactly what his concerns are regarding the authenticity of the list.

But Granger was cunningly laying the foundation to create doubts, mis chief, conflicts, and controversies in the minds of his supporters should they lose the 2015 Elections. He had vowed then that if the Coalition was voted into Office on May 11th, 2015, it will overhaul the voter’s list. Unfortunately,

Welcome assurance that Guyana will not abandon Amaila Falls Project

Dear Editor,

About three months ago, President Dr Irfaan Ali rightfully “…made it clear that the Government will continue to pur sue the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), even if it means it has to keep retendering “again and again”. His direct words were quite forceful, saying that “… we are not going to abandon this project… If we have to go out again and again, we are going to, because we know the studies and everything, including the independent re view by Norway, has point to this project as being good for Guyana, being good for the environment, and bringing greater prosper ity… So, this project will get underway.”

So, I do not know when the AFHP will get cracking, but, like President Ali, I am very much behind it. I recall quite vividly, back in December 2016, when the Norway report stated that the AFHP was the “…only way for Govt to fulfil its LCDS commit ment to UN.” This independent assessment of the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project (AFHP), at that early time, did reveal that the only realistic path for Guyana’s moving towards an emission-free electricity sector is by developing its hydropower potential, and the fastest way forward is to maintain the AFHP.

Let me really emphasise that this kind of talk came from Norconsult, an engineering and design consultancy firm out of Norway, contracted by the Government of Norway, and therefore there was no kind of political gamesmanship whatsoever.

Editor, I remind all of us that hydro power is a clean, domestic, and renewable source of energy. It provides inexpensive electricity, and produces no pollution. Unlike fossil fuels, hydropower does not destroy water during the production of electricity. Hydropower is the only re newable source of energy that can replace fossil fuels’ electricity production while satisfying growing energy needs. I further inform readers that because hydropower plants can generate power to the grid im mediately, they provide essential backup power during major electricity outages or disruptions. Hydropower provides benefits beyond electricity generation by providing

flood control, irrigation support, and clean drinking water. It is plus and more plusses when it comes locally to the AFHP.

A second reminder is that the high cost for electricity generation indeed has a neg ative impact on Guyana, and the rest of the region too, in terms of economic and social development. The cost factor negatively affects import bills, worsens terms of trade, erodes competitiveness, and stymies invest ment by the business community. Then, at the personal level, high electricity cost affects economically disadvantaged people, who spend a greater share of their dispos able income on energy. Need I say more?

As of now, China Railway First Group (CRFG) indicated a while back that it is unable to execute the project in keeping with the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model. This means that AFHP is being delayed and may even be retendered, as CRFG, the firm that won the contract, is having difficulties in meeting the contract obligations and wants the financing model changed. CRFG wants to enter into an Engineering, Procurement and Construc tion (EPC) contract with the Government. However, thus far, Government is not in agreement with any attempt to change the basis of the tender that is already out. The bottom line is that if China Railway cannot get the contract done under the BOOT model, then the contract would have to be scrapped and retendered. This I do know, that irrespective of the logistics and elaps ing of time, the AFHP, one of the promises made by the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic in its manifesto, will be realised, even though it was scrapped by the Coalition Administration when they enjoyed control of the National Assembly by a one-seat Op position majority between 2011 and 2020.

My final word is that we need to be pa tient but hopeful, as, when completed, the AFHP is expected to deliver a steady source of clean, renewable energy that is afford able and reliable, and is envisioned to meet approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s domestic energy needs, while removing dependency on fossil fuels.

Yours truly, H Singh

Dear Editor,

Reference is made to a letter published on October 20, 2022 under the headline “What does being Afro-Guyanese, proud, and PPP really mean?” written by Sherwood Lowe.

The questions he asked in his missive do not deserve a response from Prime Minister Brigadier Mark Phillips, because they appear petty.

They deserve a response from any critical, open-minded and objective Guyanese, who is up-to-date with current affairs and the happen ings in terms of governance, Government, and common political party policies.

I wish to state that everyone should be able to freely choose the political party they wish to support and/or represent without fear of mal ice, lambasting, and derogatory terms being attached to their choice. This is under Article 21 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Hu man Rights, of which Guyana is a signatory.

Firstly, the PM does not stand “on guard, constantly vigilant, reversing any acts or decisions by the PPP that deny equal respect and equal access to opportunities for all”. PM Phillips has no need to, because there are no incidents of racism that I can point to being practised by the PPP Administration either internally or externally towards the people of Guyana; more specifically, the Afro-Guyanese as a group.

Further, there is no willful policy by the PPP Administration that denies “equal respect and equal access to opportunities for all”. That is Lowe’s imagination at work, and playing games with him, because every single oppor tunity reaches all the people of Guyana via the same means.

For example, the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant is for all school-age students, and reaches every administrative Region in Guy ana, even Regions Four, Seven and Ten. I challenge Lowe to point out where one group is being favoured at the expense of another on this policy initiative. Further, cash grants distributed to pensioners, disabled commu nities and children, Amerindians, fishermen and farmers are all equal opportunity policy measures.

There is no need to be vigilant and on guard. There is no need to reverse any policy adumbrated by the PPP/C. The Administra tion’s policies are not clandestine, but are clear for all to see.

Secondly, if Lowe had taken the time to do even a minute amount of research, he would have been aware that it was the Prime Minister who spearheaded a cabinet outreach to the community of Buxton on July 4. Had he only utilised Google’s search engine, he would have seen the Prime Minister himself interacting with, listening to, and addressing the concerns of residents who were mostly Afro-Guyanese.

Thirdly, the PM does not need to call up a single Minister to ensure that funding for all RDCs and NDCs is devoid of political and

ethnic considerations. The PM is a part of the Cabinet, and is privy to all the discussions that take place about topical geopolitical issues. He knows the law is followed to its letter and spirit. Again, here ethnic consideration is not a factor in the PPP’s policy measures, and all NDCs and RDCs are funded by law and according to the discretionary need.

Fourthly, if Lowe really wanted answers concerning the Prime Minister’s advocacy for unity and inclusivity, I am positive that he would have stumbled upon the Prime Minis ter’s visit to Golden Grove, where he yet again addressed the grave concerns of the people, who were also mostly of African descent.

Fifthly, this PPP/C Administration appears to not be satisfied with the documents and explanation put forward by the IDPADA-G grouping. So, if he is seeking to intertwine the PM in this issue, he will not get further an swers. I feel the issue is not one of discrimina tion or racism, never mind the fact that some of its principals are allegedly accused of being racists and African supremacists, like Vincent Alexander and Dr Norman Ng-A-Qui. It has to do with accountability and transparency, as well as making sure that the money is spent on African Guyanese, and not for funding Oppo sition political groups or elements.

Consequently, the PPP/C Administration does not need the PM to play the role of en forcer. There are people of African descent or Afro-Guyanese at all levels of the party who would not see a policy that is potentially being carried out in a discriminatory and racist manner and not say something or object to it.

Also, the PM is just one member of this Administration. I dare say there are hundreds, if not thousands, of prominent and popular Af ro-Guyanese who are in the PPP Government and do not see the racism and discrimination. These are questions that Guyanese must first ask themselves before allowing function aries like Lowe to corrupt and disorient their way of thinking with vacuous propositions.

Finally, Lowe’s letter has a certain racist and political undertone. It is aimed at pulling the PM and PPP into a divisive and ethnic debate when he is consumed by the ‘One Guyana’ mantra and Commission that seeks to promote unity and togetherness among all groups of the country.

In the Guyana that is governed by the PPP/C, the colour of one’s skin is not import ant to how the leadership sees development and distributes resources. Similarly, political affiliation does not matter.

I think the PM should continue working towards the President’s “One Guyana” initia tive, because it is coming to reality, and Lowe will continue to write these objectionable letters because they speak to only his base and divisive politics. He appears to be the in stigator-at-large, and only comes to the fore to comment on these things that have to do with racism and politics against the PPP.

by peddling lies and making fake promises they won. The Coalition went to Office but was this promise kept? The PPP is keeping its promise to embark on meaningful Elec toral reforms.

The APNU Press in its Press Statement on 17th May stated that’ results must accu rately reflect the will of those who voted, and every step of the election process must win the trust and confidence of the public, participating parties, and other relevant. Hav ing tried for 5 long months to rig the 2020 Elections and thwart the will of the people of

Guyana, the PNC suddenly realized that elec tion results must reflect the will of the voters. What did the Returning Officer for Region 4 do? He pulled numbers from a bag and gave the Coalition victory by 15,000 votes. How come the PNC’s general Secretary’s signature appeared on the SoPs? Thankfully they are before the Court facing charges of electoral fraud. Such barefacedness! Imagine the ballot boxes had to be guarded against tampering and disappearing which the PNC is competent enough to make happen.

The PNC wants the election process to ‘win the trust and confidence of all stake holders but what did they contribute towards achieving this goal? They illegally appointed

the Chairman of GECOM, blatantly flouted the Constitution, they ensured that GECOM was filled with their supporters to rig the process, they made a mockery of the judicial system and our laws by making spurious claims and embarked on a spending spree of taxpayers’ dollars in an effort to remain illegally in office. One could recall the nu merous months of litigation to prove whether or not 33 is the majority of 65. Fortunately, the legal system worked.

The Electoral reforms seek to correct all the ambiguities and deficiencies which the Coalition sought to undermine the results of an Election that was free and fair and consultations are underway. The Attorney

General’s statement reflected what the elec toral reforms will address. He stated that ‘Whatever weaknesses were in the law, they were exploited to their hilt. Wherever there was discretion, it was abused. Wherever there was latitude, interpretative latitude, it was vulgarized. Wherever there was an opportunity to bend the law to the repulsive end, it was exploited’.

Come on Mr Norton, are you afraid to face the polls? Let the public hear about the APNU’s ‘achievements’ when they were in Office!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Yours truly, Michael Younge

PPP/C Administration does not discriminate, and is not racist; therefore, does not need an enforcer

APNU+AFC called out for silence on controversial land sale

Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton has called out members of the opposition for not lending support to Beterverwagting residents following the controversial land sale which will affect their livelihoods.

The village is situated within the BV/Triumph NDC and is home to pre dominantly Afro-Guyanese.

This village has been making headlines recently as the NDC attempted to sell 143.10 acres of land to John Fernandes Limited (JFL) for housing development but pulled out of the agreement since it is in no position to sell the privately owned lands.

Minister Hamilton, re cently, visited the commu nity where he highlighted this issue and assured of the government’s support during this period. “The Leader of the Opposition whose party is managing the council, who’s attempting to sell these people’s land, he again chants daily about the inter est of Afro-Guyanese, he has not come to this village to say to the council, what he is doing is wrong, he has not

come to this village to speak to the people who predom inantly vote for the PNC,” Minister Hamilton said.

John Fernandes Limited had paid $20 million to the BV/Triumph NDC follow ing the signing of an agree ment of sale, but they are no longer interested in making the purchase.

However, Mohamed and Sons and Daughters, Trading, Mining, Logging and Construction Inc has purportedly taken over the rights to the lands, and through their attorney, Edri anna Stephen from Hughes, Fields and Stoby threatened legal action if the convey ance is not done for the land cited in the Agreement of Sale and Deed of Assign

ment.

The Labour Minister pointed out that the law firm representing the company that is claiming ownership of the landsis also connect ed to the opposition party.

“These people don’t care about you and your wel fare […] every day they chant their champions of Afro-Guyanese rights. Da vid Hinds must be following the news, this matter exists … all of these people are champions they say of Af rican Guyanese,” Minister Hamilton expressed.

The Minister who grew up in the BV Village in formed that the lands are ancestral lands and have been privately owned for 183 years.

Norton put on blast over ‘imaginary’ poll that shows Coalition returning to gov’t

Abizarre claim by lead

er of the APNU+AFC Coalition, Aubrey Norton, saw him coming to blows this week.

According to Norton, a “poll showed that the com bined APNU+AFC will beat the PPP in the next elec tions,” but when pressed on the source of the poll, the embattled official veered off into stranger territory.

Norton said, “There is a poll that showed that the combined APNU+AFC will beat the People's Progres sive Party…if I tell you my source, the persons in the PPP will be dealt with.”

When pressed on why the APNU+AFC was tiptoeing

around the issue of Local Government Elections, if the so-called poll showed it winning the elections, Norton baffled by saying, “Because we know we know, we know we will beat them much more handsomely, if we get the clean voters list. It is not a reluctance. It is a mechanism to ensure that the election results reflect the reality of the Guyanese people.”

Meanwhile, Attorney General rubbished Norton’s claim and dubbed it another bizarre concoction of the APNU+AFC Coalition. He said, “This obviously is a concoction of his… I don’t know of any poll that was done. But I don’t know

which pollster can come to a conclusion [that the] APNU/AFC at this point in time or any point in the near future is likely to beat the PPP at any elections… it’s either that he [Norton] invents these things, or he is so gullible that anyone can concoct a lie, irrespective of how outrageous the lie may sound to an objective listener or bystander, and he believes the lie. And what is worse, he regurgitates it publicly.”

Norton’s ramblings at his weekly press conference, which rarely last more than a half hour, in recent weeks, have resulted in the Coalition coming in for blows, more often than not.

Norton’s claims of discrimination at co-op societies rubbished

M inister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton has rubbished claims by Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton of racial discrimina tion at co-op societies.

Norton on Tuesday (Oc tober 25, 2022) claimed that several co-op societ ies across the country in cluding the Mocha-Arcadia Multi-purpose Agricultural Co-op Society, are experi encing racism from the cen tral government. He claimed that the co-op has not been receiving a subvention from the government.

Minister Hamilton rapped Norton for being disingenuous. He said, “Central government has no direct relationship with the Mocha-Arcadia Multi-pur pose Agricultural Co-op Society about subvention. [Therefore] interaction be tween government and coop societies are [only] done via the Chief Co-op Devel opment Officer (CCDO), which is a statutory position – not a political position that is governed by law and procedures.”

Moreover, the transfer of funds by the International Decade of People of African

Descent Assembly-Guy ana (IDPADA-G) without reference to the co-op de partment of the Ministry of Labour, “is a breach, be cause before a co-op society can access a grant, a loan, a subvention, etc., the refer ence point, to begin with, would have been the co-op department. Therefore, the rules and regulations have been breached with regards to the transfer of funds.”

Minister Hamilton clar ified that the Ministry of Labour through the CCDO is only fulfilling its obliga tion, which is to regularise all societies as set out in the Co-operative Societies Act, Laws of Guyana (Cap. 88:01).

Regarding the infighting disrupting the Guyana Pub lic Service Union (GPSU), Minister Hamilton said the disruption is occurring between parties that have openly pledged their alle giance to the APNU/AFC opposition party. There fore, attributing the need for control by the PPP/C Government of the GPSU is simply nonsensical and has no merit, minister Hamilton opined.

Hamilton said, “The conversation that is suppos edly occurring in the public domain by the opposition is that the membership of credit unions and/or co-op societies are only made up of Afro-Guyanese, this is ludicrous, to begin with.”

The labour minister made it clear that the mem bership make-up of any of the organisations that the opposition states are being victimised cannot be tak en seriously. The Labour Minister said, “Any pub lic servant can become a member of the GPSU and co-op societies that have members who are not Af ro-Guyanese because the neighbourhood that they hold interests in are made up of Guyanese from all ethnic background.”

Furthermore, the min ister slammed the fabrica tion and lies being peddled about other co-op societies such as Essequibo, Vigals tra Housing, and the Lin den Utility Services Co-op Society. “Our authority is to supervise coop societies to ensure that they are run transparently with account ability,” Hamilton stresses.

“The Leader of the Opposition whose party is managing the council, who’s attempting to sell these people’s land, he again chants daily about the interest of Afro-Guyanese, he has not come to this village to say to the council, what he is doing is wrong, he has not come to this village to speak to the people who predominantly vote for the PNC.”

– Minister Joseph Hamilton

Hearings by international Elections CoI set for November 3rd

The international Elec tions Commission of In quiry (CoI) will commence hearings on November 3, 2022, according to a public ly advertised notice.

The hearings will done at the building located at 92 Middle Street, George town, which was rented and equipped to facilitate the CoI.

Notably, several high-level officials of the Guyana Elections Commis sion (GECOM) and the AP NU+AFC are facing charges before the courts for issues relating to the elections. Further, Elections Petition is currently before the Ca ribbean Court of Justice.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced an International Commission of Inquiry into the debacle that was Guy ana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections on June 16, 2022. He had said, “We, and particularly your President, promised an in ternational CoI, so I say to all those who struggled and sacrificed, all those who worked in protect ing the democracy, that we

have, in your honour, be fore dawn on next Tuesday, your President will name the members of that inter national CoI…those who subverted democracy, those who cannot present their SOPs, and those who strug gled against the will of the people, the CoI will set the truth free from the untruth and the CoI will set those who dwell in the house of democracy and those who dwell in the fire of undem ocratic rule and norms…in honour of the these martyrs too and in honour of all the Guyanese who fought for freedom and democracy, who fought relentlessly in those five months to ensure our country never ever was allowed to go down as an undemocratic nation, in honour of your sacrifices, I committed that we will have an international CoI into the last elections.”

The members are Jus tice Stanley John, Retired Justice of Appeal in Turks and Caicos (Chairman); Justice Godfrey P. Smith, SC, former Attorney Gen eral, High Court Judge and

Acting Justice of Appeal, Eastern Caribbean Court; Justice Carl Singh, former Chancellor, Guyana; and Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former Chair and Chief Elections Commissioner of India. Dr. Afari Gyan and Dr. Nasim Zaidi will serve as resource personnel.

Ali stressed that the Elections CoI is a promise made by the PPP/C Admin istration and his Adminis tration is pleased to be able to deliver. “I promised a CoI. So that is why there is a lot of work going on now on how that Terms of Refer ence is developed,” he said.

In October 2020, Ali disclosed that the Govern ment of Guyana was in talks with the internation al community regarding a Commission of Inquiry into the events of the March 2020 Elections, which saw a five-month delay in the declaration of final election results. He had said, “We’ve already started conversation with various international stakeholders on the subject matter and the international community is also very

Transparency remains a top priority for elections CoI − Secretary

The Presidential Commis sion of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections will be guided by the principles of transparency and credibility, Secretary of the Commission, Javed Shadick said.

He noted that everyone should trust the process, add ing that, “This commission of inquiry is, for something, that everyone felt in this country and it is something that the President of this country thinks we should get over or we should have some answers to. He is trying his best to make it as open and fair as possible. Every person who comes here, they should have that in mind and trust the process.”

Shadick explained that interview sessions for wit nesses will be held at the commission’s office. He fur ther explained, “that is why we have this openness, the

media being invited, the pub lic being invited.”

Areas within the building are designated for the public, counselors, media, and wit nesses. The sessions will be live-streamed as well.

Security measures are in place for witnesses who will be providing their state ments, Shadick noted, “We can assure you that any wit ness that comes forward to give evidence, they should have no fear. This entire area will be secured. They should also have faith in what is being done is open, transparent, and credible. We’re trying to keep that as our top priority.”

Shadick noted that pro tection for the witnesses will be arranged based on how critical the evidence is, “that will be on a person-to-person basis. It depends on what critical their evidence may be or what are the risks they

are taking to come forward.”

So far, the commission has seven staff including three commissioners, two receptionists, one secretary, and an administrator.

Shadick said the hiring of additional staff will de pend on the needs of the commission. “So, there is the session where the com missioners will be conduct ing the inquiry, they will be asking questions. For the report writing, we will need more people to help with that process. The process, as they change, we will need more staff or less staff as the case may be,” he added.

Persons who wish to give evidence on matters relating to the Commission’s Terms of Reference may contact the Secretary at 95 Middle Street, South Cummingsburg, or on Telephone numbers: 592-231-9820 and 592-2319828.

much interested…the in ternational community was a key part in ensuring that democracy was protected… so the international com munity is going to play a key part in this and they are very keen and they are very interested…in relation to a timeframe in having the CoI, I would say that it is in the, not the medium-term, but the immediate-term plan for the Government as we

proceed towards the end of the year.”

The first mention of an investigation into the elec tions was made by Ali, during his inauguration speech on August 8, 2020.

“All of us have an obliga tion to the nation and to ourselves to ensure that, never again, should any generation of our people be subjected to such unlaw ful behaviour. Therefore, a

review of events related to the electoral process over the last five months will begin shortly to determine forensically exactly what transpired and to hold ac countable any person who sought to pervert and cor rupt the system.” The Head of State had said too that all necessary reforms will be pursued to make democracy stronger, and the electoral process more transparent.

Electoral reform to be addressed in Parliament in two months – Jagdeo

The People’s Progres sive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government will be bringing amendments to the Repre sentation of the People Act (RoPA) Bill, which will provide critical amendments to Guyana’s electoral laws, to the National Assembly in a month or two, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

“In the new law that is going to Parliament, to be passed within the matter of a month or two, the polling places have to be identified long before and notified to the political parties. For ev ery number of individuals, let’s say 500 individuals, there must be a polling place and it must be close to where they live,” he said.

In recent comments, he explained that these amend ments will address a number of loopholes, that allowed elements within the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM) to attempt to rig the 2020 General and Re gional Elections.

He said, “Before you start tabulating votes at the regional level, all the State ments of Poll have to be uploaded by GECOM. So, if you have a good calculator, by 7:00 in the morning if everything is uploaded the

same night, every citizen should be able to know who won the elections.

“…a number of other things (will be) fixed. And serious penalties for breach es. So, the law is now before us. APNU doesn’t want that passed. They issued a state ment that they’re opposed to any changes in RoPA. So, this making election more transparent and holding pub lic officials more accountable and closing all loopholes for capricious action.”

NATIONAL INVOLVEMENT

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs released, for public perusal, the draft of the Na tional Registration (Amend ment) Bill. The National Registration (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend the Na tional Registration Act to address offences, clearer processes and more.

Also, released was the updated version of the Rep resentation of the People (Amendment) Bill and the Representation of the Peo ple (Elections) Regulations. Changes to these were cir culated since November 5, 2021.

In a comment to the Weekend Mirror, Miner of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira,

said, “As promised by the President at his last press conference, the draft amend ment to the Representation of the People’s Act, includ ing the regulations, will be posted from Friday. Hard copies of the draft amend ments will be sent to all po litical parties as well.”

According to her, once the draft amendments are made public, all stakeholders will have about six weeks to respond, after will work will be done to finalise the docu ments before they are taken to the National Assembly.

Teixeira added that the next step in strengthening Guyana’s electoral laws will include amendments to the National Registration Act.

NON-PARTICIPATION

The Parliamentary Op position has not participated in the public consultation process on proposed elector al reform.

The APNU+AFC Co alition, in addition to its GECOM Commissioners, have maintained a position of calling for a review of the March 2020 Elections, be fore any legislative changed are advanced.

In a statement, on May 10, 2022, the Coalition-nom inated GECOM Commis sioners said, “We further re iterated our previous position

that GECOM should conduct a review of its conduct of the 2020 elections as the precursor to making any sub mission on electoral reform.”

On May 17, 2022, during a news conference, Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, called for a com prehensive review of what took place in March 2020. Opposition Parliamentarian and General Secretary of the PNCR, Geeta Chandan-Ed mond, who was with Norton for the press conference, said, “A thorough review by GECOM of its performance in managing recent elec tions. The plethora of faults and irregularities (intended and unintended) in the 2020 elections alone must not be brushed under the carpet to resurface again. They must be swept out for good. To achieve this, a thorough and honest review must be con ducted as a necessary first step. Here, we agree with GECOM Commissioner Vin cent Alexander that GECOM itself must not conduct such a review but should commis sion it.”

Notably, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in response stated that the call from the Coalition camp for a comprehensive review of what took place in March 2020 before electoral re forms are addressed is noth

ing but a delay tactic. “Re call that every report from the international Election Observer Missions, includ ing the CARICOM team, detailed what took place at the March 2020 Elections –every Guyanese is aware of what took place during the March 2020 electoral pro cess, civil society is aware, the international community is aware. It would seem that the only ignorant party, by their own claim, is the PNCR/APNU/AFC,” the party said in a statement is sued on May 18, 2022.

The PPP made clear that the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition is the only party with an interest in keeping our electoral laws vague and ambiguous, hence the delay tactics.

FOCUS ON REFORM

Jagdeo, in prior com ments, had said, “The idea is to make more transparent and to define responsibil ities in the Act that are unambiguous and… to put in place a set of penalties for people who may try to steal the elections…any right-thinking person will support that. That’s the ob jective...we will look at is sues right from registration to declaration of the results, so everything that is not un ambiguous, not transparent

etcetera.”

Jagdeo had explained that the electoral reform process is necessary to en sure Local Government and other elections are conduct ed in a free, fair and trans parent manner.

Referencing proposed changes to the ROPA, he had said, “In that Act, which requires a simple majority to pass, there will be some key reforms, so there is no ambiguity in how things are conducted. So, the areas which we have issues in are recruitment of staff… We have to build into the legis lation a clear process for re cruitment and placement of staff that is fair, open, trans parent, random placement, so it favours none of the parties.” Jagdeo added this should include substantial penalties, a clear definition of how recounts are to be conducted and publication of the Statements of Poll (SOPs) before tabulation begins. “A lot of changes along these lines will have to take place,” he said.

Guyanese were subject to a five-month wait for the final results from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections because of the actions of several persons involved in the process at the GECOM Secretariat and other elements.

Measures being put in place to prevent repeat of 2020 elections debacle

In keeping with the gov ernment’s commitment to fostering inclusivity and transparency in the electoral process, the Ministry of Par liamentary Affairs and Gov ernance on Tuesday (October 25, 2022) hosted the National Stakeholders Forum at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Over 100 organisations were invited to have their concerns addressed as well as to lodge recommendations. This is one part of the con tinuous consultation process which began in 2021.

Proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act were presented, as well as two additional proposals: the National Reg istration (Amendment) Bill, and the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill.

In delivering remarks,

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira stated that the consultation process serves as a testimony to the admin istration’s commitment free and fair elections. “The Gov ernment of Guyana remains committed to creating more robust and coherent elections legislation as part of the democratically developing architecture of One Guyana,” she said.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, stat ed that the catalyst of the reform process was the 2020 elections debacle. He said a series of provisions were put in place to strengthen the accountability process on voting day. “We examined the law, and where we found ambiguities, we sought to clarify that. There is not

a single proposal on these pieces of paper that are in tended to create an electoral advantage for any political party. We are prepared to hear an argument if one feels that there is some bias or prejudice towards any par ticular sector, or segment of the country. These reforms are good for the system, the process, the country, and for democracy,” he stressed.

Additionally, Regions Three, Four, and Six will be divided into sub-dis tricts, each distinguished by the names and acting independently. Region Three will be separated into three polling sub-districts- namely Essequibo Islands and River, St. Lawrence to Cornelia Ida and Den Amstel to Arabio Creek.

Region Four will be di vided into four units: East

Bank Demerara, North Georgetown, South George town and East Coast Demer ara, while Region Six will be divided into three sub-dis tricts; East Bank Berbice to Canje, Upper Corentyne, and Lower Corentyne. This is to enforce greater levels of accountability and coherence in the electoral process.

In addressing concerns, AG Nandlall noted that the plight of polling agents who have had to go above and be yond to fulfill their duties has been taken into consideration and that measures have been put in place in the amended legislation to ease the burden. “We have put in the legisla tion here arrangements for changing of the staff during polling day. There are mech anisms in place for there to be a break, and a change, if possible,” he said.

In response to a concern regarding measures put in place to combat unregistered deaths posing a threat to the credibility of the voters’ list, he expressed that approx imately 90 per cent of the deaths within the country are registered, and noted that the floor is open for suggestions on mechanisms to sanitise the voters’ list.

“The PPP/C will never be opposed to any form of scrutiny over the elector al process. In fact, we are championing the cause for more scrutiny. We have al ways been supportive of a process that makes the sys tem transparent, that makes the system responsible and accountable,” the attorney general declared.

He also reiterated that technology has been and continues to be implemented

in the electoral process. “The current law doesn’t speak to how the statement of poll is to be displayed. Now, we are putting in the law that the statements of poll can be pre sented manually or electron ically. The point is two-fold; one, that it is the statement of poll being projected, and sec ondly, those who are entitled to participate and observe are given a fair and adequate opportunity to participate and observe,” Minister Nandlall explained.

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., Minister within the Office of the Prime Min ister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame Mc Coy, and Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud were also in attendance at the forum.

National Stakeholder Consultations on Electoral Law…

GECOM to invite political parties to submit symbols soon

– polling day staff currently being trained

Preparation mode for the Guyana Elections Com mission (GECOM) to car ry out Local Government Elections (LGE) is in full swing, particularly since a date has now been set for the holding of the polls.

GECOM’s Yolanda Ward explained that the secretariat is currently in preparatory mode. She not ed that now that a date has been fixed, the next step will see GECOM advertis ing for contesting parties to submit their symbols. “We’re currently conduct ing training and I think that the next steps will be advertising for symbols of parties contesting elec tions. But we have start ed training… for poll day staff,” Ward explained.

An important aspect of GECOM’s preparations is training. According to Ward, they have already completed training for elec tion managerial staff such as Returning Officers and further training is ongoing for the more junior staff. “We would have already conducted training for management staff, which would include Returning Officers and Deputy Re turning Officers and so on,” she explained, noting that the polling day staff currently receiving training

number in the thousands.

Last week, Minister of Local Government and Re gional Development Nigel Dharamlall, wrote GECOM Chairperson, Retired Jus tice Claudette Singh, an nouncing March 13, 2023, as the date for LGE. Ac cording to Dharamlall, Government is committed to upholding democracy and believes that the hold ing of local polls is an important pillar in Guy ana’s democratic political system. It was against this backdrop that the date for hosting the LGE was de cided. “Please be informed that pursuant to Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, I appoint March 13, 2023, as the day on which elections of Councillors for Local Authorities shall be held,” Minister Dharamlall wrote to Justice Singh.

LGE is constitutional ly due every two years in Guyana and was last held in 2018.

While the polls were due in 2020, the elections fiasco that played out fol lowing the March 2 Gener al and Regional Elections that year resulted in LGE being deferred.

More than $750 million has been set aside in Bud get 2022 for the prepara

tions to be undertaken by GECOM for the hosting of LGE this year. This money is part of an overall $4.1 billion allocation to GECOM’s in Budget 2022 and was examined and ap proved by the National As sembly during its consid eration of the 2022 Budget Estimates. Included in the $783 million for LGE is a more-than-$300 million increase in “other goods and services purchased”, which jumped from $250.8 million in 2021 to $575.9 million in the 2022 budget.

Local Government Elections were deferred, among other challenges, because of the absence of key senior GECOM staff ers, including a Chief Elec tions Officer, given that the former CEO, Keith Lowenfield, was fired and placed before the courts on changes related to public misconduct and electoral fraud.

LGE, which are usu ally due every two years, was last held in 2018. At the last LGE in November 2018, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Opposition had secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the hold ing of the LGE in 2016, during which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs.

APNU non-committal, AFC flip-flopping on Local Government Elections

The Parliamentary Oppo sition has waffled and backtracked on its participa tion at the upcoming Local Government Elections.

Notably, it is also unclear if the APNU+AFC Coalition will be contesting LGE 2023, set for March 13th, together or if they will contest separately, as was done in 2018, the last time Local Government Elec tions were held.

FLIP-FLOPPING

The Alliance for Change, for its part, has been inconsis tent with its positions on LGE 2023, with different positions in less than a week.

AFC’s Cathy Hughes on October 20, 2022 declared that the AFC will be boy cotting the March 2023 Lo cal Government Elections and cited concerns about the Voters’ List as its reason. In publicly reported comments, Hughes said, “If we are going to have any elections, if we are going to talk about democ racy, we must have a system that everybody has confidence in. If not, you’ll have half the population unhappy and what kind of actions would you have as a result of that.”

In less than 24 hours, leader of the AFC, Khemraj Ramjattan, on October 21, 2022, announced a different position. He charged that the Party’s National Executive Committee will reveal posi tion on the LGE after consul tations. “We have not yet de

cided whether we’re running together or not with APNU. We will make that determi nation and reveal our position later,” Ramjattan said.

NON-COMMITTAL

Meanwhile, leader of the PNCR and APNU, Aubrey Norton, has been non-com mittal about the APNU’s position on Local Govern ment Elections, other than to complain about the need for a clean Voters’ List.

When pressed on the is sue, Norton, said, “If you want credible elections, you will have a clean voters list. If you don’t want credible elec tions, then you are opening up some new areas that we will have to deal with.”

More recently, at a news conference on Tuesday (Oc tober 25, 2022), Norton said, “I will repeat the party's focus in first and foremost, on a clean voters’ list. We will not be distracted by Dharamlall announcing some date. We are continuing to do our polit ical work to be ready for any elections in this country. But for us now, our focus is on a clean vote as it is.”

When asked directly about disenfranchising supporters of the Opposition, Norton dis missed this as a concern and said, “I am not at all worried. Neither did I suggest that they will be disenfranchised. In fact, we continue to engage our supporters and our sup porters know the position on

the ground.”

DEFERRAL

Notably, the APNU+AFC Coalition has been pushing for a deferral of Local Govern ment Elections, which have already been delayed due to several factor, including the firing of embattled former Chief Elections Office, Keith Lowenfield, and other Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials over elec toral fraud charges.

AFC’s Ramjattan, in com ments on this issue, said, “We have indicated to even the diplomatic corps that there ought to be a deferral of the elections until we get the list right and all the other meth ods right, and then hold the elections.”

Norton, for his part, con tinues to dodge questions on the issue.

Commenting on this de velopment, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition is in a confused state.

He said, “Whether AP NU+AFC contests as a col lective or as individual parties or whether they do not contest at all will not affect the cred ibility of the elections or its legality….it will have dev asting political consequences for those who choose not to participate…the opposition as usual is in a confused state… it is characteristic of them.

“…whether they boycott

(Turn to page 23)

Op-Ed: The AFC is detached from Guyana’s reality

By Clement Rohee

The AFC, through Cathy Hughes, finally let the cat out of the bag. However, gripped suddenly by a fit of embarrassment, her leader, Khemraj Ramjattan tried unsuc cessfully to shove the cat back in the bag, it was too late, both the cat, the bag and the boat ‘had gone a fall.’

The ‘hold me, loose me’ pantomimed act was reminiscent of the AFC’s 2018 per formance, when the party, in the wake of a fall out with the APNU, announced they will be going it alone come Local Government Elections due to be held that year.

As of October this year, the AFC could not say definitively whether it would contest LGE alone or in alliance with the APNU. What appeared to be the most worrisome, if not tormenting for the AFC was, at the last LGE held in 2018, they secured a paltry four per cent of the total votes cast.

In LGE 2023, a total wipe out appeared inevitable.

The likelihood of the AFC either boycot ting or contesting LGE 2023 separately is probably based on their own subjective as sessment of the political situation obtaining in the country at this historical juncture. In

dications are that the Rip van Winkles in the AFC have now become cognizant of their status as political ‘has beens’ belonging to a failed political organization that performed poorly at the last LGE. In that regard, fear ing they may be wiped out completely, the AFC must have concluded that both options makes no sense.

As a consequence, the last resort as ‘political wannabes’ would be to hang on to the APNU. But the AFC must be aware that hanging on to the APNU is fraught with many complications since it is now an open secret that within the Coalition itself, and more particularly within the PNC, there is constant bickering driven by internal feuds, personal hatred and ideological disagree ments to the extent that the organization has become ungovernable by its own Leader.

In a prior letter to the editor, I had envi sioned four options facing the APNU+AFC as they contemplate their move in respect to LGE 2023. First, that they may part ways as they did in 2018 and contest LGE 2023 separately; secondly, that they may boycott LGE 2023 individually or collectively, third; that they may resort to hooliganism on the streets aimed at bullying their way into a reformed electoral process. Fourth, that they

should behave themselves and participate in the LGE which is the preferred choice of their constituents in their respective Local Authority Areas (LAA’s).

As for boycotting LGE 2023, the AFC is bound to end up marooned even more remotely in the political wilderness. And were they to align themselves with any shape or form of street hooligans, they would be unable to extricate themselves from the political quagmire which such actions will impose upon them for years to come. In either situation, the AFC will find themselves as losers once again. Listening to Cathy Hughes say: “If we are going to have any elections, if we are going to talk about democracy, we must have a system that everybody has confidence in. If not, you’ll have half the population unhappy and what kind of actions would you have as a result of that,” one is left to wonder where this kind of language was in 2020. And who is responsible for making not only half, but the entire population unhappy for five long months, not to mention the damage that was inflicted on the country’s image.

Moreover, for Hughes to say; “Why aren’t we more concerned about the people of Guyana saying at the end of the day after

election that ‘I endorse these results because I have confidence in the system;” has left many dumbstruck by Hughes’ unabashed and willful guile, who by use of such lan guage, sought to throw dust in the eyes of the electorate especially when they recall the farcical brer anancy story about two Russians, a Libyan national and a fourth unknown person who were in Guyana ‘hang ing out at the Marriott Hotel, ‘armed with computers, tablets, flash drives and a number of electronic things to hack into GECOM systems in favour of the PPP’.

But the larger truth is that the state ments emanating from Cathy Hughes flies in the face of her party’s reckless efforts to push Guyana’s electoral process into an abyss. Thanks to the organized defenders of democracy, the international commu nity including the Caribbean Community, collectively, they managed to pull Guyana back from the abyss and save the country from being a laughingstock within the international community. Once again, the AFC has proven itself detached from Guya nese reality. They continue being a party of incompetents and self-serving opportunists who has run one race too many.

POSITIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT

LGE 2023 integral to building governance, strengthening communities

The March 13, 2023, Lo cal Government Elec tions (LGE) are important to building the local gover nance system for all of Guy ana, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

In recent comments he said, “March 13th is there

fore important date in which I call upon all Guyanese to work in renewing our effort at building the governance system, building our com munities, strengthening our communities, but impor tantly, our municipalities our townships. For long, we

have seen what mismanage ment can do in townships, and in some municipalities, some areas.”

President Ali said his government would spare no effort to work with every community and municipal ity in bringing together a

team reflective of the “One Guyana’ agenda. “A team that will promote devel opment, a team that will work integrally with the regional governance system and a central government to ensure that our develop ment takes place not only at a rapid and efficient pace but our development, bring people together that are in development, strengthen our communities and that better services are delivered to our communities,” Ali said.

With the local govern ment election, President Ali said an important aspect will be the bringing togeth er of local leadership that includes women and young people, as the administra tion is keen on building and strengthening governance at every single level.

The head of state urged all stakeholders to fully

Ali

participate in the process. “We ask all political parties and opposition to get ready. You have long enough no tice to be part of this dem ocratic process. We believe in democracy. We believe in allowing democracy to work,” he said.

Local governance and the local government sys tems are essential parts of Guyana’s governance framework.

President Ali was ada mant that during the PPP/C Government’s campaign for the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, it committed to upholding the rule of law and following a democratic pathway to good governance.

When the government took office in August 2020, it promised that as soon as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)

signalled its readiness for hosting LGE, a date would be named.

In 2021, monies were allocated in the national budget for LGE, but those elections were not held, as the government maintained that issues at GECOM need ed to be addressed. In 2022, a total of $783 million was also allocated for LGE.

GECOM commenced a Claims and Objections Ex ercise in August to produce an Official List of Elec tors (OLE). This exercise was conducted at all the GECOM permanent Regis tration Offices in the ten (10) Administrative Regions.

Guyanese will go to the polls in March to elect lead ers for ten townships and ap proximately 70 Neighbour hood Democratic Councils (NDC). LGE was last held in 2018.

Consortium to be established for local chefs to tap into oil and gas industry

Guyana could soon see local chefs directly benefitting from the oil and gas sector, with the estab lishment of a consortium of cooks supplying food and food items to Floating Production Storage and Off loading vessels (FPSOs).

President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Sunday (October 16, 2022) disclosed that he has called for the formation of the body, to prepare chefs from across the country to tap into the massive oppor tunity. “I have instructed the Minister of Natural Re sources to work on bringing together a consortium of all our major caterers in the country into one company and let them buy the man agement skills, whether it is international or regional so that together in a consor tium, they could participate in the bidding process to provide all FPSOs offshore with food and food sup

plies.”

The President empha sised that local enterprises must come together to create consortiums to better posi tion themselves to access economic opportunities.

With the right type of integration, through consor tiums, Dr Ali said there will be room for massive growth. He pointed out the need to form consortiums to create necessary local linkages.

Dr Ali noted that the economy’s immediate re quirements are to devel op sustainable choices for Guyanese, improve their quality of life, and open up job opportunities. The move will also guarantee Guya nese have equitable access to opportunities. “These are services that are externalised because we have to learn to work together. We cannot operate in a mega economy if we don’t bring together consortiums. We bring ten

small people together, we have a medium company, we bring ten medium people together, we get a large size company. So, we are going to use this mechanism, this network to bring this country together, as part of the ‘One Guyana’ umbrella.”

By using this approach, Guyana will also strengthen its economy, encourage in dustrial growth, boost local company capacity, develop a trained labour force, es tablish a competitive sup plier base, and distribute the wealth created by the oil and gas boom to Guyanese citizens.

The president said this kind of unity is what the nation needs to advance and requires the involvement of all Guyanese.

He said he intends to build a future of equal op portunities for the growth of every citizen regardless of location.

AGE PENSION BOOK

CASH GRANT

REGION

Centre

Hotoquai Village Hobodeia, Hotoquai, Wanakai/Aruau, Scared Heart 26th Oct

St. Mary’s Primary School St Domonic’s, Waicarabai Aruka, Arukamai 27th Oct Lower Koriabo

Peter and Paul Morawhanna, Smith’s Creek, Imbotero, 28th Oct

Primary School Almond Beach, Three Brothers Extension Center Kumaka Koberimo, Kumaka Stretch, Barabina, 29th Oct Kenchie Creek, Aruka Mouth, Broomes Estate

Town Hall Mabaruma Mab- Compound, Mab- Township, Khan Hill, 30th Oct Compound Thomas Hill

Mabaruma Multipurpose Building (Mabaruma Mab- Settlement, Barimanabo 31st Oct Settlement) Hobo Hill

Hosororo Primary School Hosororo Stretch, Hosororo Hill, 1st Nov Bumbery Hill, Wanaina, Tobago

Wauna Primary School White Water, Yarakita, Wauna, Kamwatta 2nd Nov

St. Niniana Primary School Barima Koriabo, Savannah B Water, Red Hill, 3rd Nov Baracina. Barima B Water

St. Anselms Primary School Unity Square, St. Anselms, Lower Kaituma 4th Nov Pawaikuru

Port Kaituma

Centre

Port Kaituma Sebai, Canal Bank, Oronoque, 25th, 26th, 27th Oct

Community Centre Citrus Grove, Fitzburg, Four Miles, Quarry Top Canal Bank & Sebai Sebai, Canal Bank 28th Oct

Arakaka Primary School Arakaka, Fourteen Miles, Anni Creak, 29th Oct Manacura, Smiles, Providence

Matthews Ridge Heaven Hill, Hell Hill, Station Street, Cemp ground, 30th Oct Community Centre Gunason Hill, Pakira, Orange, Lower Parika, Baramita village office Central Baramita, Baramita, Wrapapa, Arankika 2nd, 3rd, 4th Nov Return, Willian Aree, Cusi Cruk,

Moruca

(Villages to be contacted directly to communicate

Community Hub Admin Building Santa Rosa & Island, Kumaka 25th Oct Community Centre Rincon, Huradiah 26th Oct Community Centre Meeting Hall Koko, Kairie & Island 27th Oct Community Centre Carbora 28th Oct Kamwatta Guest House, Kamwatta, Parakeese 29th Oct Parakeese Hub

Primary School Wallaba, Karaburi 31st Oct Councillor Residence, Haimaruni, Mora 1st Nov

Community centre

Village Office, Health Centre Waramuri, Haimacarabra 2nd Nov Community Centre Manawarin, Kwebanna 3rd Nov Village Office, Computure Hub, Kariako, Kokerite, Chinese Landing 4th Nov

Primary School

Health Centre, Community Centre, Waikrebi, Santa Cruz, Warapoka, Assakata 5th, 6th Nov Guest House, Health Centre

REGION

North

Imam Bacchus Play Park Taymouth Manor, 14th Nov Affiance, Columbia Aberdeen, Three friends

Dilasa Presbyterian Church Plantation Phillips, Better Success, (Better Success) Better Hope, Plantation Andrews, 15th Nov Maria’s Delight, Evergreen, Somerset and Berks

Lima Sands Multi-Purpose Centre Lima Sands, 17th, 18th Nov Mainstay Lake, Tapakuma St.Denny’s Mission

Dartmouth Seventh Dunkeld, Perth, Dartmouth, Day Baptist Church West Bury, Bounty Hall, 16th Nov Hampton Court Primary Devonshire Castle, Walton Hall, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court, 21st, 22nd Nov Exmouth,Paradise, The Jib Sparta Radhay Shaam Mandir Lima, Coffee Grove, 20th Nov Danielstown, La Belle Alliance, Sparta Anna Regina Town Council Land of Plenty 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 28th Nov Mainstay Village, Reliance Bush Lot, Cotton Field, Anna Regina , Henrietta, Richmond

SOUTH ESSEQUIBO

Centre

Supenaam / Good Hope Supenaam, Supenaam Creek, 14th, 15th Nov Transformation Centre Bethany Mission, Good Hope, Spring. Garden Aurora NDC Good Intent, Aurora, Makeshift, 16th, 17th Nov Dryshore, Hibernia,Fairfield Huis’t Dieren Primary Vilvoorden, Middlesex, School Pomona,Husi’t Dieren, Riverstown,Airy Hall 18th, 19th Nov Mashabo Mission Mashabo Area, Ituribisi River 20th Nov

Suddie Amerindian Hostel Adventure, Onderneeming, Suddie, 21st, 22nd Nov Maria’s Lodge

Dolly’s Shop Golden Fleece Johanna Cecilia, Zorg, Golden Fleece , 23rd, 24th Nov Perseverance, Annandale, Abram Zuil ,Cullen. Queenstown CBR Centre La Union,Queenstown,Zorg-en-vlygt, 25th, 28th Nov West Field, Dageraad,Hoff Van Aurich. Capoey Lake The entire lake 27th Nov

POMEROON 230 REGION 3 WAKENAAM (310) [8:30AM – 4PM UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED]

Charity NDC New Road, Charity, 14th, 18th, 21st, 25th, 28th Nov Amazon, Pomeroon River Pomeroon Pomeroon 22nd,23rd, 24th Nov

Wakenaam NDC

Sans Souci, Melville, 27th Oct, 5th Nov Good Success, Bell Plane, Sarah, Friendship, Bankhall Maria’s Pleasure Health Post Meerzorg, Free and Easy, Maria’s 25th Oct, 3rd Nov Pleasure, Bendorf Verna Luke Health Centre Domburg, Fedricksburg, Arthurville, 26th Oct Maria Johana, Ridge, Noitgedact 4th Nov Zeelandia Health Post Caledonia, Zeelandia and Zeelandia Estate 26th Oct, 4th Nov Caria-Caria and other Riverain area. Caria-Caria 28th, 29th Oct

LOWER WEST CENTRAL DEMERARA (320)

Meten Meer Zorg Masjid De Willem, De Kinderen, 2nd and 3rd Nov Meten Meer Zorg

Zeelught Shri Rama Krishna Vergenoegen, Zeelugt 28th Oct Mandir (Silk Cotton Dam) Tuschen Old Road Masjid Tuschen Old & New Schemes 31st Oct, 1st Nov Uitvlugt Center Uitvlugt, Zeeburg 7th, 8th Nov Parika tarmac (opposite Market) Parika, Lookout, Lakabu, 25th Oct, 11th Nov Naamryck, Bendorff Farm NDC Barnwell, Ruby, Orangestein, 4th Nov Good Hope, Greenwich Park, Philadelphia Hubu Mandir Hubu 27th Oct

Riverain Lanaballi, Aliki, Hogg Island, 26th Oct Fort Island, Present Hope, Bonasika Shut Ins 9th, 10th Nov

UPPER WEST COAST DEMERARA (330)

Stewartville NDC

Stewartville,Sara Lodge 25th, 26th Oct Leonora Masjid Leonora, Groenveldt, Edinburg 1st, 2nd Nov Cornelia Ida Dharmic Vishnu Mandir Anna Catherina, Cornelia Ida 27th, 28th Oct Den Amstel NDC compound Den Amstel, Hague, Fellowship, 3rd, 4th Nov Blankenburg

Caricom Insurance Compound La Union, Rotterdam, Harlem, 7th, 8th Nov Mary, Waller’s Delight, Windsor Forest, La Jalousie

Rice Producer Compound Vreed-en-Hoop, New Road 9th, 10th Nov Best Mandir Best Village 11th Nov

Desmond Residence, 63 Best Road Crane 14th Nov Min. of Education Compound Plastic City, Pouderoyen, 15th, 16th, 17th Nov Phoenix Park, Plantain Walk Shut Ins 18th Nov

WEST

2023 OLD AGE PENSION BOOK

GRANT

DEMERARA

Centre Catchment Date

Jesus Christ of the Latterday La Grange, Bagotville, Nismes 26th, 27th Oct Saints Church La Grange

La Retriate/ Stanleytown La Retraite, Toevlugt, Stanleytown 28th Oct Community Hub

Goed Fortuin NDC Goed Fortuin, Leyden 31st Oct, 1st Nov

Patentia Tarmac Wales, Patentia, Vive la Force, 2nd, 3rd Nov Reystein, La Harmonie, Free & Easy, Voorburg, Strk-en-Hevur

Goed Intent NDC Goed Intent, Sister’s Village, Belle Vue. 4th , 7th , 8th Nov

Prashad’s Residence Beau Voisin, Geneve, L’Oratiore, Mes Delis, 9th, 10th, 11th Nov

Canal #1 Bourdeaux, Le Desir, San Souci, Good Hope, Ostend, Endeavour, Soesdyke, Orange Field, Tenez Farme, Vriendscap, Two Brother’s, Java, De Kinderen, Uitkmost,Anna Catherina, Mon Bijou, Noithedact, De Ridder’s Fate, L’

Esperence

La Parafait Harmony Masjid Onderneeming, La Parafaite, West Minister, 14th, 15th, 16th Nov Lust en Rust, Rech Door Zee, Schoonard

Belle West Masjid Belle West, Claybrick 17th and 18th Nov

Canal #2 NDC De Buff, New Annglet, North Section, 21st and 22nd Nov South Section, Government Land, Conervancy Dam

Timehri Police Station Low Wood 23rd Nov

Riverain Santa Mission, Santa Artack, 25th Oct Sand Hills, Princess Carolina

La Grange Masjid All those who missed the previous 24th Nov dates and shut ins

LEGUAN (350) [8:30AM – 4PM UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED]

Centre Catchment Date

La Bagatelle Post Office Enterprise to Canefield 2nd Nov 9th Nov

Richmond Hill Health center Vetrowen/ Doorn-Haag – uniform 1st Nov 8th Nov

Success Health Centre Thriens - Henrietta 7th Nov, 8th Nov

REGION 4

Centre Catchment Date

National Aquatic Center Atlantic Ville/Liliandaal 25th & 26th Oct

Holy Rosary Church Subryanville 27th Oct

Cummings Lodge/ Industry Cummings Lodge/Pattensen 28th & 29th Oct Hindu Society (Mandir)

Iskcon Guyana (at UG Cummings Lodge/ Pattensen 31st Oct & 1st Nov Stoplight on Railway line)

Holy Rosary Church Kitty 2nd & 3rd Nov Pastatoon Kitty 4th & 5th &7th Nov (Alexander St. Kitty)

Masjid (Kitty) Newtown 8th Nov

Shut- Ins All Areas 9th-11th, 14th-18th Nov

BLOCK 1B (410)

Centre

Date

Bel Air Village Jagans’ Bel Air Village/ / 25th Oct

Heritage Home Bel Air Springs / Bel Air Gardens

North Sophia Pentocol North Sophia all Blocks 26th Oct

Holliness Church

Redeemer Lutheran Church Campbellville /Blygezight 27th & 28th Oct Prashad Nagar Masjid Prashad Nagar/Lamaha Garden/Bel Air Park 31st Oct

Praise Tabernacle Holiness Farmers Field/ A Field 1st Nov

Church A Field

B Field Community B Field Sophia 2nd Nov

Centre Ground

Church of Christ C C Field 3rd & 4th Nov Field Sophia

Turkeyen Masjid D Field D,E Field Sophia, Guyana. 7th & 8th Nov

Shut Ins All Areas 9th-11th, 14th-18th Nov

BLOCK II (420) [9AM – 2PM]

Centre

Date

Guyana Post Office South Cummingsburge, Brickdam. Lacytown 25th Oct Naeem’s Kitchen (Palms) Wortmanville/ Brickdam/ Lacytown 26th & 27th Oct Demerara Cricket Club Queenstown/Thomas Lands 28th Oct

Trinity Methodist Church Charlestown / Werk-en-Rust/ 31st Oct, 1st Nov (High Street) Newburg/ Stabroek

Albertown Basket Ball Albertown/ Bourda/ Lacytown/ 2nd, 3rd Nov Court Robbstown/ Newtown Christ Church (op. Kingston/ Eve Leary/North Cummingsburg 4th Nov Promenade Gardens) Girl Guides Wortmanville/Brickdam 7th & 8th Nov Shut Ins 9th -11th-, 14th -18th Nov

BLOCK III (430)

Centre

Date

Night Shelter East La Penitence, Tucville Terrace Oct 25 & 26 between Aubrey Barker Street &Cole Hemraj’s Bridge Church of the Nazarene, South Ruimveldt Park Rasville, Stevedore Scheme, Postal & Oct 27 & 28 Telecommunication H/S, South Ruimveldt Park & Gardens, Lamaha Spring

East Ruimveldt Community Princess Street, East Ruimveldt, North Nov 1 & 2 Center East La Penitence, Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Shirley Field Ridley Square

East La Penitence Post All areas that were not captured – Block III Nov 3 & 4 Office Church of the Tuckville/Guyhock/Lamaha Park/ 7th Nov Transfiguration Meadowbrook Culture Centre Tarmac Durban Backlands, Hadfield Street, Nov 8 & 9 Palm Springs, Meadow Brook Gardens, Lodge H/S, Lodge Shut Ins All Areas Nov 10 -11, 14 - 18, 21 - 25

BLOCK IV (440)

Centre

Date

Alexander Village Masjid Alexander Village / Riverview/ 25th & 26th Oct Ruimveldt/ Yarrow Dam, Guyhoc Gardens/West Ruimveldt (Back Road)/ Shirley Field Ridley Square

Rome Methodist, Agricola Agricola/ Evans Phillips Park/ Huston/ 27th & 28th Oct McDoom, Meadow Bank/ D’Aguiar Scheme/ Rahaman’s Park

An-Najm Masjid Albouystown / Independence Boulevard 31st Oct, 1st Nov Middle Road La Penitence/ West La Penitence

David Rose Health Centre West Ruimveldt/Walker Terrace 2nd - 4th Nov Williams’ Residence, 95 Castello H/S, Laing Avenue 7th & 8th Nov Costello H/S, West La Penitence

Shut Ins 9th Nov – 11th Nov 14th Nov – 18th Nov

LOWER EAST BANK DEMERARA (450)

Centre Catchment Date

Eccles Health Centre

The entire Eccles community 27th, 28th Oct Peter’s Hall Masjid Peter’s Hall, Republic Park, 25, 26, Oct Bagotstown, Nandy Park, Continental Park Providence Primary School

The Entire Providence and 3rd, 4th Nov Perseverance community

Mark Supermarket Mocha The Entire Mocha 31st Oct (Two Friends) Arcadia Community Herstelling NDC

The entire Herstelling community 7th, 8th Nov Alwin’s Shop (Prospect) Covent Garden, Prospect, Little Diamond 1st, 2nd Nov

LOWER CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (460)

Centre Catchment Date

Success Mandir (Near the Success, Le Ressouvenir, 25th, 26th Oct playground) Gas Station Road Felicity & Happy Acres Better Hope Community Centre Atlantic Gardens & 27th,28th, Oct

Better Hope North and South Bosco Boy’s Orphanage Plaisance, Sparendaam, 31st, Oct & 1st, 2nd Nov Goedverwagting Better Hope Hindu Temple

The entire Vryheid’s Lust South 3rd, 4th Nov (Vryheid’s Lust Road)

OLD AGE PENSION BOOK DISTRIBUTION

CASH GRANT

LOWER CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (460)

Centre Catchment Date

Adventist Church Brothers, Montrose North 7th, Nov (131 Third St, Montrose) & South, Vryheid’s Lust North Ogle Community Centre Ogle, Oleander Gardens, 8th, 9th Nov Prado Scheme, Shamrock Gardens, Corrida Park, Industry

CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (470)

Centre

Annandale Masjid Annandale, Eastville ECD 25,26, 31 Oct, 1 Nov Tipperary Hall Buxton, Friendship, ECD 27,28, Oct, 2, 3, Nov Word of Truth Pentecostal Coldingen,Strathspey, 4, 7, 8 Nov Church, Strathspey Bladen Hall, Vigilance Shut-ins All areas

WEST CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (475)

Centre

Lusignan Community Centre

Good Hope Masjid Phase 1

Full Life New Testament

of God Church

Triumph Masjid (Surat Drive)

The entire Lusignan community Oct. 25 & 26

The entire Good Hope community Oct. 27 & 28

The Entire Mon Repos Community Oct. 31 Nov. 1& 2

The entire Triumph Community Nov. 3 & 4

REGION 5

WEST COAST BERBICE (520)

Centre

Bushlot Assembly Lovely Lass, Golden Grove, Oct 28th, 2022 of God Church Bushlot, Armadale, 23 St. Michael’s No. 22 Bel-Air, St John, Oct 27th, 2022 Anglican Church Onderneeming, Fort Wellington, Catherina’s Lust, Hopetown Supa Value Hope, Waterloo Jib, Waterloo, Oct 26th, 2022 Supermarket, No. 9 Experiment, Bath, Woodley Park, No. 12 Woodlands Sharon Moravian No. 10/ Woodlands, No. 9 Oct 25th, 2022 Church No. 9 Expectation, No. 8, No. 7

MAHAICONY (510)

Centre

Zeskendren Seventh Drill, Yorkshire Hall, Zeskendren, Oct 25th, 2022 Day Adventist Church Farm, Le’ enterprise, La Raisonable

Highdam Health Center Dantzig, Columbia, Glazer’s Lust, Oct 26th, 2022 Harmony Hall, Highdam, Carlton Hall, Prospect

Zealand Primary School Planter’s Hall cottage, Now or Never, Oct 27th, 2022 Belmont, Bushy Park, Perseverance

Beterverwagting Health Centre

The entire B/V Community Nov. 7 & 8 La Bonne Intention Mandir

The entire La Bonne Intention Nov. 9 & 10 and Chateau Margot Community Shut Ins All Areas Nov. 11 & 14 - 18

UPPER CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (480)

Centre

GWLI Building Cove & John, Craig Mille, Victoria, 25th & 26th Oct COVE & JOHN, E.C.D Belfield, Nootenzuil, Lowland Ann’s Grove NDC, Hope, Douch Four, Two Friends 27th & 28th & 31st Oct Ann’s Grove E.C.D , Ann’s Grove, Clonbrook, Bee Hive & Green Field Mahaica Hospital, Lancaster, Mosquito Hall, 1st Nov Unity E.C.D Unity, Tranquility Hall & Cambridge Mexie’s Shop, Good Intend, Jonestown, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Nov Hand-en-Veldt, Voorzigitheid, Hand-En-Veldt, Mahaica, ECD. Good Hope, Vereeniging, Supply, Belmonte, Helena# 1 & 2 & Mahaica Cane Grove Police Virginia, Strathavon & Cane Grove 7th & 8th Nov Station Compound, Cane Grove E.C.D.

EAST CENTRAL EAST DEMERARA (490)

Parbamel Community Hall Melanie, Bachelor Adventure, October 25, 28, & 31 2022 Bare Root, Elizabeth Hall Paradise, Dazzell November 1,4, & 7 2022 Enterprise Community Enterprise, Enterprise October 26 & 27 2022 Centre Garden,Non Pariel November 2,3 & 8 ,2022 Logwood Masjid Enmore Enmore, Logwood, 25th, 26th Oct, 1st, 2nd, 7th Nov Blossom Scheme, Beezie, Foulis

Golden Grove, Haslington Golden Grove, Haslington 27th, 28th Oct, 3rd Nov, 4th Nov, 8th Nov. and Nabaclis Community and Nacablis Center

REGION 5

WEST COAST BERBICE (520)

Centre

Dianne Saul’s Residence Ithaca, Zor-gen-Hoop Oct 25th, 2022 Blairmont NDC OFFICE Blairmont No. 1, 2, 3, 4 Shieldstown Oct 26th & 27th, 2022 Rosignol Assembly of Rosignol, D’Edward Village 28th & 31st October, 2022

God Church

Save Abee Foundation Cotton Tree Nov 1st & 2nd, 2022 No. 2 Masjid Zee Zight, No. 2, No. 3 Nov 4th, 2022

No. 5 Primary School Edderton, No. 4, No. 5 Nov 7th, 2022

Belladrum Church Hall Profit, Foulis, Eldorado, Nov 7th, 2022 Belladrum, Golden Fleece, Weldaad. Seafield Primary School Washington, Hope, Seafield, 40,41,42 Nov 4th, 2022

37 Church Lichfield, Belle Vue, Moore park, Nov 2nd, 2022 Kingelly, Brahn, Cottage Britannia Masjid Ross, Yeoville, Chester, Nov 1st, 2022 Britannia, Tempe

St. Gabriel’s Anglican No. 30, No. 29, Union, No. 28 Oct 31st, 2022

Church & Trafalgar, Onverwagt

Mahaicony Technical Park, Fellowship, Grove, Huntley Oct 28th, 2022 Institute

Dundee Seventh Day Airy Hall, Dundee, Novar, Good Faith Oct 31st, 2022 Adventist Church

Catherinevill Methodist Recess, Calcutta, Catherine, Little Abary, Nov 1st, 2022 Church Champagne Burma Perth Society Hall Perth, Strath Campbell, Chance Nov 2nd, 2022 Mortice Primary School Mortice, Wash Clothes, Hyde Park, Nov, 3rd, 2022 Esau & Jacob

Mora Point Health Center Mora Point, Gordon Table, Yarrow creek, Nov 4th, 2022 Waterdog, barabara, Pine Ground, First Savannah Mangal’s Residence Industry, No. 10 Nov 5th, 2022 Little Biaboo Primary Little Biaboo, Big Biaboo, Nov 6th, 2022 School Handsome Tree, Grass Hook, Dehoop Primary School DeHoop, Broken Waterland, Nov 7th, 2022 Johanna, Bygeval, Belvedere, Manilla, Content, Strageon Moraikaboi Moraikaboi Nov 8th, 2022

REGION 6 NEW AMSTERDAM (610)

Centre

New Doe Park NDC Mara, Germania, MaRetraite, Belmont, Plegt Anker, Light Town, Hibury, De Kinderen, Deutichem, 25 & 26 October, 2022 Kortberaad, Friends, Sisters, Brothers, Lonsdale, Rotterdam, Edingburgh Village, Heatburn Gay Park Mandir Glasgow Village, Gaypark, 31st October, 2022 Overwinning, Islington Martin Luther Play Ground Stanleytown (Streets -Lot 31 to Lot 60 East and West, Republic Road, Strand), Amsville, Martin Luther Housing 3 & 4 November, 2022 Scheme, Savannah Park, New Savannah Park, Cummingsville, Pearl Stewart Housing Scheme.

Vryheid Masjid Sandvoort , Locaber, Vryheid, 10 & 11 November, 2022 Caracas, Mount Sinai Smythfield Drop In Centre Angoy’s Avenue, Smythfield 16 & 17 November, 2022

Bermine Housing Scheme, M&TC Housing Scheme, Errolsville, Vryman’s Erven, New Amsterdam (Strand, Smytown, Philadelphia Street, Nicholay State House Lawns Street, Alexander Street, Asylum Street, 21 & 22 November, 2022 St Magdalen Street, St. John Street, Pope Street, Kent Street, Coopers Lane, Pitt Street, St. Ann Street, Charlotte Street, Coburgh Street, Strand, Tucber Park, Winkle, Vryheid Street), New Amsterdam (Mixed), Mixed (L/C + N/A)

2023 OLD AGE PENSION BOOK DISTRIBUTION

CASH GRANT

UPPER CORENTYNE (650)

LOWER CORENTYNE (620)

Centre Catchment Date

Speculation, New Forest, Gangaram, Goedland, Goldstone Hall, Betsyground Good Bananen Land, Veda Center Adelphi, Reliance, Rosehall, Coast Road 27 & 28 October, 2022 Canje (Mixed), Fort Canje (L/C + N/A, Courtland, No. 2 Village

Rosehall Community Canefield, Comberland , Coast Road 1 & 2 November, 2022

Centre Ground Canje (Mixed), Fort Canje (L/C + N/A, Courtland, No. 2 Village

Fyrish Hall Ball Field Gibraltar, Courtland, Fyrish, No.1, 7 & 8 November, 2022 Onderneeming, Coast Road Canje (Mixed), Fort Canje (L/C + N/A, Courtland, No. 2 Village

No. 19 Mandir No. 23/ Dunrobin, No. 21/Warren, 9 November 2022 No. 19 Kendall No. 15/Susannah, No. 11/Treurniet, No.9/Lewis Manor, No. 12, No. 6, No. 7, Maria Helena Coast Road Canje (Mixed), Fort Canje (L/C + N/A, Courtland, No. 2 Village

Sheet anchor Masjid Palmyra, No. 2 Village Fort Ordinance, 14 & 15 November 2022

Sheet Anchor Coast Road Canje (Mixed), Fort Canje (L/C + N/A, Courtland, No. 2 Village

Baracara Health Centre Baracara 18 November, 2022

WEST CENTRAL CORENTYNE (630)

Centre Catchment Date

Albion Community Centre Toopoo Albion, Chesney, Kilcoy, October, 25th Sandreef, Guava Bush & New Scheme

Nigg Bible Church Nigg, Hamsphire & Belvedere October 26th & 27th Rose Hall Town Williamsburg & Rose Hall Town October, 28th & 31st

Wesleyan Church

Port Mourant Ankerville, Portuguese Quarter, November, 1st & 4th Community Centre Port Mourant, Haswell,Miss Phoebe Tain and John’s

Shut -ins Toopoo Albion, November, 2nd Chesney, Kilcoy, Sandreef, Guava Bush and New Scheme

Shut - ins Nigg, Hampshire November, 3rd And Belvedere

Shut -ins Williamsburg and Rose Hall Town November, 7th Shut - ins Ankerville, November, 8th Portuguese Quarter, Port Mourant, Haswell,Miss Phoebe, Tain and John’s

EAST CENTRAL CORENTYNE (640)

Centre

Date

Mohan Residence #45 Village to #51 Village 25th October Next 48 Vishnu Mandir

Eversham Community # 35 Village to #44 Village 26th October Centre

Kildoan Masjid Tarlogie Farm to Adventure Village 27th & 28th October

Bisnauth Canteen Yakusari Black Bush Polder 31st October Mibicuri NDC Compound Lesbeholden to Mibicuri BBP 1st & 2nd November

Alness Bible Church Hogstyle to Manchester 3rd November Whim Community Centre Whim to Bloomfield 4th November

UPPER CORENTYNE (650)

Centre

Date

Orealla and Siparuta Village Orealla and Siparuta Village 1 5, 16, 17 Nov.2022

Crab Wood Creek Jackson Creek, Moleson 25 Oct. 2022

Shiva Mandir Creek, Grant 1779, 2767 Grant 1802, 1803, 1804, 1806, Backlands, Ballfield area

Elperazim Full Gospel Black Water, Fellowship Line Path E & F, 26 Oct. 2022

Pastor M. Alim Block 19 , New Calcutta, Circle street, Skeldon, Payton Place, Line Path ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ & ‘D’, Skeldon C/ton

Kingston Masjid Kingston, Queenstown, 79 Corriverton 27 Oct. 2022

FACT NGO Springlands, 78 Corriverton, 28 Oct. 2022 Race Course, Eliza Mary, Rampoor

Centre

Agape Ministries Full Dukestown, Princetown, 31st Oct. 2022 Gospel Fellowship Scottsburg, No. 75, 76 &77 Village Agape Ministries No. 72,73, 74 Village 1st Nov. 2022 Full Gospel Fellowship

Pastor Dev. Ghanie No. 70 Masjid No. 69, 70, 71 Village 2 Nov. 2022

Roadside Baptist Church No. 65, 66, 67, 68 Village 3 Nov. 2022 No. 63 Village New No. 61, 62, 63, 64 Village 4 Nov. 2022

Testament Church of God Pastor Joseph Itwaru And He Shall Reign No. 57, 58, 59, 60 Village, 7 Nov. 2022 Full Gospel Fellowship No. 52, 53, 54, # O, 55, 56 Village

Pastor Nigel Gunraj Shut-in No. 52 Village - Crab Wood Creek 8 Nov. 2022

REGION 10 LINDEN (010)

Date

Date Centre

Christianburg Wesleyan Poker street, Christianburg & Third Alley 25th & 26th October Church

Bayrock Ballfield One mile, One mile Ext, Block22, 27th & 28th October Prassville, Wisroc

Van Hersal Residence West Watooka, Watooka Hill top 29th October Half mile Greater Half Mile, Greater Canvas City 30th-31st October Wismar Post Office Greater Silvertown, Buck Hill, Green Valley 1st -2nd November Pentecostal Chapel Blue Berry Hill, Andyville 3rd-4th November Upper Demerara River Malali, Muritaro 6th November Pentecostal Fire Slivercity, First Alley And Victory Valley 7th & 8th November Bamia Church Silver Hill, Moblissa, Tues 25/10/2022 Adventure, Linden Highway

Amelias Ward Seventh South A/ Ward, Phase I Wed 26/10/2022 Days Church Thur 27/10/2022 A/Ward Community Centre Central A/Ward, Hopetown Fri 28/10/22

Mon31/10/22

Mabura Mabura Community Sat 29/10/2022 Great Falls 58 miles mabura Sat 29/10/2022 57 miles mabura

Upper Room Full Kara Kara, Rainbow City Industrial Area Wed 2/11/2022

Gospel Church - Kara Kara Rockstone Landing Benab Rockstone, Anarika and River view Tue 1/11/2022 Praise Tabernacle Richmond Hill Thur3/11/22 Assembly of God Noitgedacht Church Watooka Fairs Rust Coomacka Mines Old England, Coomaka, Three Friends, Fri 4/11/2022 Nottinghamshire Egbert Benjamine Lower Kara Kara, Mon 7/11/22 Conference Centre Speightland , Tue 8/11/2022

Central Amelias Ward Central Amelia’s Ward Wednesday, 9 November 2022 Thursday, 10 November 2022 South A/Ward South A/Ward Friday, 11 November 2022 Lower Kara Kara Lower Kara Kara Speightland Speightland Monday, 14 November 2022 Richmond Hill Richmond Hill Noitgedacht Noitgedacht Tuesday, 15 November 2022 Fairs Rust Fairs Rust Old Kara Kara, Old Kara Kara, Wednesday, 16 November 2022 Rainbow city, Retreive Rainbow city, Retreive Thursday, 17 November 2022 Industrial Area, Mora Industrial Area, Mora Friday, 18 November 2022 Street, Constabulary Street, Constabulary

LINDEN (020) [9AM - 2PM – TO BE COMMUNICATED DIRECTLY WITH THE COMMUNITIES]

Centre

Date

Ituni Ituni district 25.10.20222 26.10.2022

Kwakwani Kwakwani Park 27.10.2022 Staff Hill 28.10.2022 Housing Scheme 31.10.2022 Aroima Aroima 01.11.2022 The crack 02.11.2022

Aroima settlement Lamp Island Lamp Island 05.11.2022 Waterfront Berbice River Develdt Village 06.11.2022

Sandhills village 07.11.2022 Wiruni village 08.11.2022 Kimbia village Morganstead Village Calcuni Village Hururu Village

FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE

Paruima to get resident doctor, $14M doctors’ quarters completed

Residents in Paruima Village, Region Seven, will no longer have to travel long hours to Kamarang Village or Georgetown to seek medical services, fol lowing the construction of a doctors’ quarters.

Member of Parliament, Lee Williams, in recently comments explained that the final touches are be ing done to the building.

“The government allocated $14 million for a doctor’s quarter in Paruima […] the project commenced in May and now it is completed at this point in time,” he said.

From budget 2022, $121 million was earmarked for the provision of health fa cilities and living quarters for doctors to be stationed in the hinterland commu nities, and Paruima was

identified.

MP Williams who is also from the village, ex plained that there was never a doctor stationed there. He said, “It will mean a lot to the village especially to the residents of Paruima be cause the travelling distance from Paruima to the nearest health centre, Kamarang, it takes about 8 hours by boat and yeah, we do have air

Technical and vocational training for Hiawa

Pledging the govern ment’s continued sup port to Hiawa, Region Nine, Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton said residents will benefit from more technical and vocational training.

Last year, residents re ceived training in garment construction, agro-process ing and food preparation. In 2023, residents will benefit from joinery and solar panel technology training pro grammes.

“They have facilities, but the major issue is that we have to bring some training to the community so that

they will be in a position to manage their assets, and they would be able to sus tain the projects that they have. They have assets they have machines and gener ators. It is how you help them manage it to develop the programmes they have and to help them sustain it,” Minister Hamilton said during his recent visit to the region.

He noted that officers from the Small Business Bu reau (SBB) will partner with the ministry’s co-op society to facilitate the delivery of these training sessions.

“They have great promise here, great assets, and they are far ahead of most coop societies,” the minister expressed.

Region Nine has signifi cantly benefitted from tech nical and vocational training. More than 400 persons have benefitted from various pro grammes in the region, and the range of occupational areas being made available continues to widen.

Minister Hamilton said the government will endeav our to make adequate train ing available throughout the region.

RHOs get ATVs to boost healthcare delivery in hinterland

T he Health Ministry hand ed over some 10 ATVs to the respective Region al Health Officers of Re gions One, Seven, Eight and Nine to facilitate a boost in healthcare delivery.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said the equipment will help to trans fer patients from one loca tion to another within these remote areas. He said that a loan from the World Bank enabled them to procure resources to facilitate an improvement in the response to the COVID-19 pandem ic. “We also recognised in doing some of the assess ments across the country that apart from procuring the equipment for the hospitals,

it was also essential that we were able to transport patients when they are sick from one point to another, especially in the remote ar eas,” the minister conveyed.

Minister Anthony urged the healthcare workers in these regions to make good use of the equipment.

Region One will receive three ATVs, and these will be stationed at the White Water Health Centre, Baramita Health Post, and Manawarin.

Region Seven will re ceive three ATVs as well, dispersed to Bartica, Kama rang, and Waramadong.

Also, Region Eight will receive two ATVs at Cheung Mouth and Karisparu while

Region Nine is set to receive two ATVs at Sand Creek, and Fairview.

Advisor to the Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ram sammy noted that the project is also meant to fortify the country’s approach to any pandemic. He said, “One of the focal areas was im proving the transportation network in our country. So, today we have reached the stage of giving out some ATVs to those regions that need the strengthening of the transport system.”

In 2021, the Health Min istry also donated seven ATVs and 33 motorcycles to RHOs in these hinterland re gions to improve the quality of services delivered.

strip but its not guaranteed that the aircraft would come at any time. So, the doctor’s quarter will really cut down on the cost not only travel ling and also travelling to Kamarang hospital.”

Paruima is a small vil lage situated in Region Sev en, Upper Mazaruni with a population of 800.

The construction of doc tors’ quarters and health facilities is also ongoing in

Issano and Kaikan, com munities also located in Upper Mazaruni. These interventions all tie in to the government’s overall effort to enhance primary health services across Guyana.

ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Masters Certificate in Leadership for Hospital Administrators

I n an effort to further de velop the health care sys tem in Guyana, the Gov ernment of Guyana through the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Ser vice has partnered with the Schulich ExecEd at Canada’s leading business school, the Schulich School of Business at York Uni versity, to develop capacity training for Hospital Lead ership.

The programme is de signed to teach manage ment and leadership skills to work professionals, as piring leaders, managers, and senior leaders in the health sector and will be de livered on a virtual platform to participants from all ten (10) administrative regions.

The virtual launch was held on October 13, 2022, with attendance from Min ister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Public Service Ms. Sonia Parag, distinguished faculty from Schulich ExecEd, Schulich School of Business, and representatives from both Ministries and all partici pants.

Minister Parag in her re marks added the importance of training citing the “Gov ernment’s commitment to

provide quality training to all Guyanese” but especial ly so to those serving in the health care sector of our country.

These comments were further emphasised by Min ister Anthony who added that the Ministry of Health has embarked on an ag gressive campaign to de velop the healthcare sector through the construction of several hospitals including the country’s first Mater nal and Paediatric Hospital and several other projects to build and rehabilitate hospitals in the hinterland areas. This he said creates the need to develop the ca pacity of the administrators who will be assigned to these hospitals. The pro gramme he further stated will provide this training.

“We are delighted to partner with the Ministry of Health, Government of Guyana as they overhaul the delivery of healthcare services by developing their top hospi tal administrators across all 10 regions, equipping them with the skills necessary to lead this transformation,” says Rami Mayer, Execu tive Director of Schulich ExecEd. Our goal is to help the Guyanese Government

transform its health care system and develop better hospital administrators and provide innovative health care solutions to improve patient outcomes.”

Meanwhile, Mayer said, “The Schulich ExecEd-Guy ana Masters Certificate in Hospital Leadership Pro gramme is customised for Guyana’s hospital adminis trators providing them with the necessary interpersonal skills and hands-on busi ness tools to improve their management, leadership, and service delivery skills at all levels. At Schulich Ex ecEd, we help organisations like Guyana’s Ministry of Health, build and foster a high-performing, collabora tive workplace culture with a strong emphasis on pro moting leadership, commu nication, and innovation to help achieve organisational and performance goals.”

This training is just one of many training pro grammes which the Minis try of Health has embarked on to develop skills training not just for the medical staff but for all staff attached to the Ministry of Health in a combined effort to enhance and develop health care de livery in Guyana.

Gov’t to construct Vergenoegen Hope and Justice Centre – as bids open

The Government will be constructing a Hope and Justice Centre at Vergenoe gen, Region Three (Essequ ibo Islands-West Demerara) under the Support for the Criminal Justice System, funded by the Inter-Amer ican Development Bank (IDB).

On Tuesday (October 25, 2022), the Legal Affairs Min istry issued an invitation for bids for eligible and qualified contractors desirous of pro viding their service for the construction of the facility.

The Hope and Justice Centre is expected to provide a wide range of services to persons experiencing vio lence, including legal and medical aid, counselling, and law enforcement. It will

be under the purview of the Human Services and Social Security Ministry.

The construction period is a minimum of nine (9) months from the start date.

Bidding will be con ducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures specified in the Inter-American Develop ment Bank’s Policies for the Procurement of Works and Goods financed by the IDB.

It is open to all bidders from eligible source countries as defined in the policies.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Offi cer – Support for the Crim inal Justice System, at East Street, South Cummings burg, Georgetown from

9:00h to 15:00h from Mon day to Friday.

Bids must be delivered to the tender box of the Na tional Procurement and Ten der Administration Board (NPTAB) at the Ministry of Finance, Main and Ur quhart Streets on or before 9:00h, Tuesday, December 13, 2022.

The Government of Guy ana has received a $US8 million loan from the IDB towards the cost of the Sup port Criminal Justice Sys tem, which seeks to address overcrowding in prisons. The programme aims to over come prison overcrowding, by reducing pre-trial deten tions and increasing the use of alternative sentencing, among other measures.

Region Three community advocates being trained to identify, report gender-based violence

The Ministry of Human Services and Social Se curity on Wednesday (Octo ber 26, 2022) took its Com munity Advocates Network (CAN) programme to the Essequibo Islands-West De merara (Region Three), to train some 90 residents in identifying and reporting gender-based violence.

Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud, launched the pro gramme at the Leonora Tech nical Institute. Persons from communities including Anna Catherina, Crane, Parika, Belle West, and Leonora are participating in the two-day training programme.

Minister Persaud said it is disturbing to see reports of women dying from abuse. She said it is important for the public and agencies to collaborate to end the age-old social issue. “If we are to tar get domestic violence in all of its form, we all need to be involved, so the network is exactly that. It’s a partnership among the public, and many stakeholders and ministries. And so, with this type of collaborative effort, I believe we can address the gaps and loopholes that exist,” Minis

ter Persaud related.

She urged persons to re port any form of abuse their relatives or other persons might be experiencing. “We have to educate families. Don’t wait until something happens, someone losing their life, report it, don’t turn a blind eye to your daughter, your daughter-in-law or the males in your family […] it is not okay,” Dr Persaud expressed.

Meanwhile, Depu ty Commander of Region Three, Khalil Mandall said the Guyana Police Force is looking forward to working with the community advo cates after their training.

“When you start doing your social work, coming into contact with persons who are abused, whether psycholog ically, physically, sexually, when you come across those cases, we want you to bring it to the attention of the po lice immediately because we have some victims who are reluctant to come forward and sometimes, they would need a little encouragement for them to step forward because in most cases, the persons who abuse them are

the sole breadwinners,” he noted.

Some 1,200 persons from Regions Two, Five and Ten have already received train ing to identify and report violence. The number will increase gradually as the ministry trains more advo cates in various communities.

CAN is geared at erad icating all forms of gen der-based violence by es tablishing a network of vol unteers at the community level who will advocate for identifying and reporting all forms of gender-based vio lence in communities.

Community advocates will work with the local po lice officers and the minis try’s toll-free 24-hour Do mestic Violence Hotline -914 staff to report any form of abuse.

This forms part of a holistic approach by the ministry to rid Guyana of gender-based violence. Pro grammes including the Sur vivor Advocate Programme, COPSQUAD, I matter app and the -914 toll-free 24hour hotline are all geared at annihilating gender-based violence.

Guyana, PAHO renew strategic note to aid local health sector

Strengthening its ties with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), the Ministry of Health on Tues day (October 25, 2022) re newed the strategic note, which outlines plans to assist the development of Guyana’s health sector.

The strategic note is re newed and signed every five years to demonstrate PA HO’s collaboration and com mitment to the development of Guyana’s health sector. The note was signed by the Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony and Director of PAHO, Dr Carissa Etienne.

Speaking at the signing, Minister Anthony expressed his gratitude for the work PAHO has done in Guy ana over the last decade. He said, “So, the note that we signed today, the strategic note, is very comprehensive, touching almost all aspects of health. Therefore, we are very pleased to be able to sign this note with the direc tor of PAHO and be able to expand the work that they will be doing.”

Some of the areas which will continue to benefit from PAHO’s assistance include:

• Technical assistance in disease surveillance and infectious diseases. It has helped with the control of malaria, elimination of neglected infections, and transmission of the Hu man Immunodeficiency Vi rus (HIV), especially from mother to child.

• Procurement of vaccines for immunisation, equip ment, and other medical resources.

• Expansion of the HEARTS in Americas ini tiative- a national approach to tackle cardiovascular disease.

• Technical assistance in the development of health regulations and laws.

• Human resource develop ment- the training of more personnel in areas of high demand and scholarship opportunities.

PAHO has also agreed to work in the non-communi

cable diseases sector which includes cardiovascular dis eases, cerebral vascular dis eases, hypertension, etc.

Dr Etienne said she is proud of the ambitions Guy ana has to renew the health sector and, in her time, remaining as Director of PAHO, will continue to give support. “Welcome to a new Guyana where there is a strong commitment and lots of dedication to health and wellbeing, that you have aspirations in the beginning, not only as the center of excellence for Guyana, but a centre of excellence in many respects for the rest of the Caribbean and beyond and this is a dream and vision that you have every possibility to realise.”

Officials from the Min istry of Education and the Pan-American Health Or ganisation

Minister Anthony thanked the director for her commitment and steadfast approach to supporting Guy ana.

ON ‘PLAN FOR

Guyana records outstanding improvements in 2022 Global Gender Gap Analysis

Guyana ranked well on the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 produced by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum, indicative of progress being made.

The Global Gender Gap Insight Report which has been published annually by the World Economic Forum since 2006 has been measur ing gaps between men and women based on four key indicators: Economic Par ticipation and Opportunity, Health and Survival, Educa tional Attainment and Politi cal Empowerment. The 2022 edition covers 146 countries, including Guyana, which ranked 35th, moving up 18 slots from its 53rd ranking in 2021. Guyana also ranked 6th in the Latin America and Ca ribbean Region. Guyana has therefore recorded significant progress towards achieving gender equality, consistent with our ongoing rapid eco nomic development.

In the area of Economic Participation and Opportu nity, Guyana ranked 53rd globally. Gender equality at the level of legislators, senior officials and manag ers places Guyana in 17th place, an astonishing score of 0.879/1, and tied with oth er countries in 1st place for gender equality at the level of professional and technical workers globally.

Notably, in the areas of access to financial services, land assets and non-land as sets, Guyana recorded “near equal rights” with distinc tively equal rights for widows and daughters with regards

to inheritance. These statis tics are mere reflections of the accumulative results of the numerous projects and initiatives being implement ed by Government through its various ministries and agencies. In Guyana, wom en, for example, can apply for and successfully acquire house lots, loans, mortgages, business registrations and other financial and non- fi nancial assets which create economic stability and parity.

Implementation of initiatives such as WIIN, empower ment grants for women, small business grants, and others, have created opportunities for women to become more involved in entrepreneurial activities and achieve greater economic independence.

In Education Attainment, Guyana ranks 1st globally, tying with 21 other countries such as Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands and Jamaica, which is the only other Ca ribbean country in first place. Guyana has also tied for 1st place with other countries in the ranking for enrollment in both secondary and tertiary education. This is especial ly important as it clearly indicates the outcomes and long-term impact of projects implemented by Govern ment. The

construction of schools and provision of human and other resources in Amerin dian communities through out the interior regions of Guyana has made education accessible and attainable, even during periods where Guyana has had limited fiscal

capacity. Other pilot initia tives such as the school feed ing and text-book provision programmes have grown to create even more opportuni ties for children and youth all across Guyana to access education as a fundamental human right. The school uni form vouchers also allowed parents and guardians to have more spending power to purchase supplies needed to send children to school, and with more resources available, government intro duced a $10,000 cash grant in 2015 for children enrolled in schools. This cash grant project was stopped under the APNU/AFC government but was reintroduced in 2020 as soon as the PPP/C reas sumed office. The “Because We Care” cash grant has been increased in 2022 to $30,000 further incentivizing enroll ment in school and empow ering every Guyanese parent and guardian to provide the basic necessities for their children to access a robust education. Other opportuni ties such as the introduction of GROW and GOAL schol arships have seen thousands of Guyanese benefitting from free tertiary education, and preparatory courses for tertia ry education. In 2021, 6000 applicants were awarded full scholarships for tertiary studies, of which 69% were women and 31% were men.

Notwithstanding, the Government of Guyana rec ognizes the importance of supporting boys and men, who for various reasons are not as actively involved in

further education. Having recognized these existing gaps, Government continues to make efforts to encourage the participation of men and boys, and President Irfaan Ali has most recently announced the introduction of a Men on Mission (MoM) project; a 1000 men initiative aimed at engaging men across Guyana to tackle existing and emerg ing social issues.

In the “Health and Sur vival” index, Guyana yet again ranks 1st, tying with 27 other countries across the world. In sub-components of this index, such as Sex Ratio and Birth, and Healthy Life Expectancy, Guyana also ranks first globally. Wom en in Guyana are afforded reproductive autonomy and have a legal right to make their own decisions regarding reproduction. This right is further reflected in the mean age of women at the birth of their first child, which is recorded at 26.7 years old; a healthy age and a signifi cant improvement from the situation in Guyana thirty years ago. Further, 98.5% of live births in Guyana are attended by skilled personnel. This is especially noteworthy considering Guyana’s geog

raphy and the diverse terrain across the 10 administrative regions. Whilst government recognizes gaps in healthcare provision and continues to plan for improvements, the construction of healthcare facilities including hospitals, outposts, and health centres, the training of healthcare professionals and consistent budgetary allocations for the health sector over the past two decades has created almost universal access to healthcare across Guyana.

Guyana has also record ed equal rights for men and women in access to justice, and men and women also have equal rights to divorce. These are only some of the civil and political rights sub-indices that are analysed in the report, however, other factors such as elections lists quotas and party membership quotas for women are also analysed.

It is important for us to recognize that development is measured as a combina tion of various elements, and each and every project and initiative implemented by government forms part of a larger vision towards promoting development and realizing the fundamental hu

man rights of all Guyanese. The outcomes of each project when viewed in isolation may appear small, however, the total impact of all the invest ments by Government creates positive change as is clearly shown in the 2022 Gender Gap Report.

The promotion of gender equality is no easy task, and the 2022 report even shows that various factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, global fuel and food crises, unprecedented natural di sasters as a result of climate change, and civil conflicts have affected gender pari ty negatively on the global scale. Despite this fear of backsliding in even some of the most developed countries, Guyana’s ranking continues to rise; the results of the commitment over many years of the Government, rights commissions, and other key gender equality stakeholders in Guyana are becoming more evident. Government therefore acknowledges these positive changes as quintes sential in creating compre hensive national develop ment, and remains committed to promoting and protecting gender equality, consistent with its One Guyana vision.

Hundreds of Bare Root families to receive land titles before year-end

Atotal of 312 families of Bare Root, an area located aback of Bachelor’s Adventure, East Coast De merara (ECD), will finally receive their Certificates of Title to their lands by the end of the year.

This assurance was given by Minister within the Hous ing and Water Ministry, Su san Rodrigues, who said that the ministry’s Central Hous ing and Planning Authority (CHPA) is working to ensure the age-old issue is resolved.

For decades, the residents of the village have been with out formal property rights for their lands. Surveys of the area were done in 2004, 2009 and 2017 respectively, however there were some discrepancies which were

rectified during the final sur vey in June 2022.

During her engagement with the residents, Minister Rodrigues explained that while some persons would have received land titles some years ago, it was done based on a plan which has a number of inconsistencies.

She said that a new plan was done that accurately re flects what was on the ground and so, some of those titles will have to be adjusted. “So, I’m making a public plea for us to work together. I want all 312 to receive their titles… So, in order for us to get to the end of this process, where each and every one of you will have an outstanding title to receive, we have to work together,” she implored the

residents.

The minister reiterated the PPP/C Government’s commitment to not only en suring that every Guyanese of age, has access to a piece of land, along with the ac companying titles. She said, “And that is why we have committed to ensuring that all of those communities that are outstanding in terms of regularisation, that we bring them to completion in the shortest possible time. Our development plan and our vision is for a ‘one Guyana’ and for bringing development to every single person in ev ery single community.”

As part of the national housing programme, govern ment will ensure residents in every community have access

to basic necessities such a roads and bridges, drainage, water and electricity, as well as recreational facilities.

Six roads will be upgrad

Housing upgrades to be conducted along East Bank Corridor

The Housing and Water Ministry’s Central Hous ing and Planning Authority has extended an invitation for bids for the upgrading of roads, drains and structures along the East Bank of De merara.

The Road Network Up grade and Expansion pro gramme, which is funded by the Inter-American Devel opment Bank, forms part of the government’s Adequate Housing and Urban Accessi bility Programme.

It will see upgrades be ing conducted on seven lots along the East Bank corridor.

The objective of the pro gramme is to enhance urban and suburban mobility and safety by reducing road fatal ities and decreasing transpor tation costs and travel times.

Meanwhile, the invita tion calls for bids for the construction of fair-weather roads to the asphaltic con crete surface, reinforced con crete drains as well as the installation of road signs and

thermoplastic road marking.

The communities set to benefit from these upgrades are Peter’s Hall, Providence North, Providence South, Perseverance, Herstelling, Farm Phase I and II, and Covent Garden.

The $5.6 billion Ade quate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme is geared towards enhancing the quality of life for low-income earners by improving access to housing, infrastructure and mobility.

COMMENTARY

Norton’s conundrum: LGE 2023 spells big trouble for PNCR-led Coalition

A popular video is cir culating of the leader of the PNCR and the AP NU+AFC Coalition, Aubrey Norton telling the media that he is in possession of a poll results that showed the APNU+AFC (the PNC) will win an election against the PPP/C at this time.

When asked what poll and who did the poll, he ar gued that the media should ask the PPP/C. He claimed that if he revealed the source of his information, the PPP/C will punish the people who did the poll or who revealed its results.

Norton has a weird knack for making up stories and telling people that he cannot give them sources or reveal the information in full. It is like their “famous” SOPs that they claimed and still claim showed they won the elections in March 2020. One farmer in West Berbice stated “they think we stupid. If they have the “winning” SOPs why they can’t show we”. Yet they would not show anyone the famous SOPs that would have kept them in government. Now they have a poll that showed they can beat the PPP/C, but no one will ever see these polls, just like no one has ever seen the SOPs. It is weird and it is stupid. It is the emperor without clothes story all over again.

When asked why then he does not want to contest the LGE, he says that if there is a new list, they will beat the PPP/C even worse. Why would he wait for a new list when he can throw out the PPP/C from the NDCs and municipalities now? It is because Norton’s fake information is entirely made up by him. There is no poll done by anyone anywhere that showed the PNC or the APNU+AFC which is another name for the PNC winning against the PPP/C. There have been recent polls published for everyone to see that showed President Ali with popularity and approv al rates in the 70% range, unprecedented in the Ca ribbean. But nothing show ing Norton’s PNC winning anything.

March 13, 2023, has been announced as the date Local Government Elections Day. The PPP/C is optimistic of winning more than 66% of the seats in the various NDCs and it is predicted that the PPP/C will win more mu nicipalities. Importantly, the prediction is that the PPP/C will strengthen their seats in the traditional PPP/C com munities and gain more seats in the PNCR strongholds. No one can doubt that the PPP/C will win the municipalities of Corriverton, Rose Hall, Anna Regina, Mabaruma and Lethem. There is little to no doubt that the PPP/C will gain votes in New Am sterdam, Georgetown, Lin den, Bartica and Mahdia. Shockingly, no one will be surprised if the PPP/C wins in New Amsterdam and Mahdia.

The PNCR-led Coalition knows that they also lose Bartica. While Linden and Georgetown appear rela tively safe for the PNCR-led group, they must now rec oncile themselves with the possibility that the PPP/C will be present in their mu nicipalities with more seats than they have ever imag ined. The future looks dim for the PNCR.

While the party brought this upon itself, the downfall is also driven by its choice of leader. Aubrey Norton is the worst ever leader of the PNCR, the worst ever leader of any political party in the Caribbean now and in the past history of the Caribbean.

Every day almost, Au brey Norton gives proof of how “lightweight” he is. Looking at him, listening to him, must make staunch supporters of the PNCR hang their heads in shame.

President Irfaan Ali’s announcement of LGE for March 13, 2023, left Norton dazed and, in the words of Bharat Jagdeo, “mortal ly afraid”. There are good reasons for Norton and his comrades in the PNCR to be mortally afraid of the LGE.

President Ali and his team have been walking through, interacting with the Guyanese people ev

erywhere in our country. President Ali has been in communities that are PPP/C strongholds; he has been in communities that are PNCR strongholds. Every single community that President Ali visits, he has been given rock-star treatment. No head of state anywhere in the world today enjoys as much support as President Ali at this time.

In stark contrast, Norton walks through communities that are PNCR strongholds. Up to the last elections, these communities treated PNCR leaders as almost GOD. When a PNC leader walked into Sophia before March 2020, the people of Sophia walked with him and sing along “follow the lead er”. There used to be hun dreds of people screaming and celebrating their leader walking through their com munities. Last week Norton walked through Sophia; he was walking almost alone. Almost alone because the only persons with him or those from Congress Place that he took with him.

It was interesting and sad at the same time to watch how far downhill a PNCR leader has fallen. Those who came with him were walk ing far from him. It was as if they did not want anyone to know that they were with him. The people of Sophia ignored him completely. The dogs were walking be hind barking. It was a sad spectacle.

President Irfaan Ali has walked through Sophia. He has walked through Bux ton. He has walked through Linden. He has walked sev eral times through South Georgetown, Albouystown, Belladrum, Mocha, places where the PPP/C barely got any votes in March 2020. But it does not matter where President Ali walks through, whether it is a PPP/C strong hold or a PNCR stronghold, hundreds of people walk along, they scream in joy, they shout out how much they love him.

No wonder Norton is desperately looking for a reason to boycott the LGE 2023.

WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE

In the health sector, as of November 1, 2022, the fees charged for CT scan at GPHC will be eliminated. CT for GPHC patients will now be free of charge. Presi dent Irfaan Ali’s PPP/C Gov ernment wants to ensure that the Guyanese people have access to the best healthcare possible. Since 2016, many persons who need CT at the GPHC had major difficulties getting a CT because they could not afford the fees. While some got help from the MOH or had the fees waived by GPHC, most had to pat at least $17,000 for a CT. In the meanwhile, CT at New Amsterdam or Bartica were free. At the same time, the Ministry of Health is busy making preparations to install four new mam mography machines to help quicker diagnosis of breast cancer for free. Guyana has announced doubling of the chemotherapy medicine bud get for 2023. In 2023 every child in school will have a sight/vision screening and those who need glasses will be provided for free. Hear ing AID provision for loss of hearing is already free in Guyana. In 2023, pros theses for limbs – arms/legs – whether because of defor mities or because of violence

or accidents, will also be free. Actions like these are people-centered.

Further, on Wednesday last, President Irfaan Ali recalled High Commissioner Charandass Persaud from his post in India. The Guy anese High Commissioner had used sexually abusive language against a woman in India. While the police in India did not charge him with committing a crime, President Irfaan Ali insisted that Persaud had violated his oath and had brought disrepute to the image of our country. Consequently, he had no option but to request that Persaud return home. This is in keeping with the policy of government to reduce and eliminate any gender gap that might exist in Guyana.

Guyana is making rapid progress in the goal to elim inate gender gap. The Global Gender Gap Report for 2022 is out and Guyana which had ranked #53 previously jumped to # 35, jumping up the ladder by an impressive 18 spots. In the Latin Amer ica and Caribbean Region, Guyana is ranked #6. Presi dent Ali’s own commitment to girls, women and children, to vulnerable populations has played a pivotal role in Guyana ascending the ladder in removing gender gap.

These are the kind of leadership examples that have made the PPP/C gov ernment so popular. These are the kinds of actions that have made President Irfaan Ali a rock star.

These are the kind of actions targeting poor people that have caused people who never supported the PPP/C to now sing the praises of the PPP/C and its leaders.

There are many good reasons why President Ir faan Ali and Vice-President Bharat Jagdeo are the most liked and most popular pol iticians in the Caribbean. Together with Mia Mot ley, these two Guyanese politicians stand head and shoulder above any other politician in the Caribbean.

The popularity of Pres ident Ali in Guyana is in contrast to the shame that PNCR supporters feel about their leader, Aubrey Norton. The popularity of Guyana’s President and Vice-President in other Caribbean countries have made citizens in their countries singing Guyana’s praises.

Truly even the diehard members of the PNCR, pub licly in many instances, but in a significant way in pri vate, have sung the praises for the visionary leadership and hard work of the PPP/C team.

Guyana among top tourist destinations for 2023 and beyond – National Geographic

Indicative of the country’s advancement in the global scheme, Guyana has again been named one of the top 35 tourism destinations for 2023 and beyond.

In a recent article pub lished by National Geo graphic Traveller (UK), Guyana has been listed as a top destination in the nature category. The list is compiled by the global editors and highlights the top destinations across five categories: culture, nature, adventure, community, and family.

The article describes Guyana as a small nation with “thick rainforests, sprawling savannahs, mag ical mountain ranges, and epic rivers”. It boasts a truly off-grid experience and spot lights the country’s wildlife and forestry.

Director of the Guyana

Tourism Authority Kamrul Baksh, in response, said the feature is a culmination of the hard work being done by the government to position Guyana as a sought-after destination. “It’s because of greater access that the government has been able to secure for Guyana, has made it to one of the top publica tions and we are very happy about that,” Baksh said.

He noted that in April’s edition of the publication, Guyana was also featured on multiple pages. “We contin ue to ensure that all of the beauty of the tourism prod uct is featured in multiple markets,” Baksh said.

To continue to promote Guyana, the country will also be represented in the upcoming world travel mar ket in London. “All around I believe it’s the efforts be ing made that have led to

this wonderful news this morning,” the GTA Director added.

Baksh noted too that des tination Guyana has been getting more interest from tourists. “From reviews from tour operators that we are in constant contact with, they are getting a lot of traction, a lot of interest in the desti nation, people are enquiring a lot about the destination, for example with the recent BA (British Airways) an nouncement with the flights, tour operators who have never looked at destination Guyana are suddenly inter ested in coming to have an understanding of what is on offer,” he pointed out.

Baksh said there will be several familiarisation trips in the new year for some of the world’s leading tour op erators interested in Guyana and all it has to offer.

Hundreds of Bare Root...

ed in the community the tune of tune of $407 million. Ten ders are out for the project and works will commence by year-end.

Minister Rodrigues said the project is part of a joint initiative between the Hous ing, Local Government and Public Works ministries, where over 1,000 community roads will be constructed or upgraded.

Further, a US$7.8 million

water treatment plant is set to be constructed in Bache lor’s Adventure. The water treatment plant will serve communities from Coldin gen to Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara.

The Minister said that the project is also at the tender ing stage and once complet ed, it will see a significant increase water quality in the area.

During the meeting res

page 17)

idents were also given to opportunity to raise other concerns with the minister, who committed to ensuring all the issues are resolved within the shortest possible time.

Representatives from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission were also on the ground assisting with addressing some of the issues regarding the regularisation process.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective for children

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, addressed a social media video from an unidentified source using the Pan American Health Organisation’s (PAHO) logo to peddle misinformation that the COVID-19 vaccine is harmful to children. The video is circulating in En glish-speaking Caribbean countries as a ‘Public Warn ing Alert.’

“It’s misinformation and the misuse of a reputable agency’s logo is even more despicable because they are trying to use that to create confusion and more misin formation,” Dr Anthony said.

He reiterated that the vaccines for children are safe relating that studies have shown they are effective in boosting the immunity of the young population. “Millions of children have already received these vaccines and it is helping them to prevent

severe COVID disease… so, whoever started this an ti-vaccine campaign, they should desist because they’ll be doing more harm to peo ple and causing more confu sion which is something we have seen throughout this pandemic,” Dr Anthony said.

He has cautioned persons against using social media to peddle misinformation about the vaccines and appealed to the public to get infor mation about COVID-19 from reputable sources in cluding the Centres for Dis ease Control and Prevention (CDC), PAHO, WHO, and other stringent bodies. “So, I really urge people to check the scientific information if they have any doubts. And locally, if you have any doubts, consult with one of your doctors. They will be able to give you reputable information,” the Health Minister said.

Due to misinformation, Dr Anthony said vaccina tion rates have been low in regions across the country.

He said wearing a mask as a preventative measure for the disease is a choice that people and institutions must make, pointing out that it is safer to wear masks, espe cially the N-95 masks. An thony explained, “Different institutions would require, dependent on the safety lev els that they are practicing, would require masking or no masking. So, people would have to abide by those rules. We have made it optional and, therefore, people would have to exercise their judg ment.”

Minister Anthony high lighted that 200 vaccines are administered daily which covers all age categories, as he appealed for persons to ensure that they are vac cinated.

APNU

or participate they are going to get a beating. We also know that they know that they will get a beating…all the bad talks and threats and boasts, judgment day is coming very shortly and they are mortally afraid of that.”

Nonetheless, Nandlall re minded that local governance is of crucial importance, not only for democracy but for grassroots representation and governance at the level of communities. “It is that plat form that allows the ordinary Guyanese to participate in the governance structure. It plays a real and true part in the political-administrative management of local affairs,” he said.

RED-HERRINGS

Further, GECOM Com missioner, Clement Rohee, charged that the position of the APNU+AFC Coalition coincides fully with the dil ly-dallying posture adopted by the opposition commissioners at GECOM.

He said, “They seek to use their rejection of the timely and useful public consultation organized by the Ministry of Governance and Parliamen tary Affairs as a smokescreen to cover their sinister motives. This is yet another a lame manifestation of bravado and a poor attempt at pretending to be defenders of free and fair elections when the whole world knows that it is the oth er way around.

“It is clear that the AP NU+AFC do not want Local Government Elections since it will expose their weak and degraded underbelly in so far as their electoral fortunes are concerned. What the APNU+ AFC want is regional and general elections held exclu sively under their hobbled together terms and condi tions, using international best practices, which they them selves blatantly ignored and pushed aside following the 2020 election and the months that followed. All the mea sures they have called for in their press statement, cumu latively, is aimed at bypassing Local Government Elections (LGE) and to bully their way to a General and Regional Elections held in accordance with their diktat. That will not happen.

“In the circumstances, there are two options open to the APNU+AFC, to boy cott LGE and to resort to their well-known street tactics which the nation has long recognized as the hallmark of the PNC, the most influential in the coalition when they in particular do not get their way. This time around how ever, they should think twice about their threats to engage in such activities, since it is hardly likely to make any im

pact nor push the government away from its chosen path.

The PNC and it’s cohorts in the APNU+AFC have never had any interest in free and fear elections. Their track re cord since 1968, would show, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the multiple local and exter nal shenanigans they have resorted to rig an election thus denying the Guyanese electorate the right to have a government of their choice by engineering an outcome that gives them a majority in the National Assembly and control of the Executive, even if it means purposely miscal culating what a majority of 65 would be.”

Rohee added that the call for a clean Voters’ List is nothing by a red herring. “A clean voters list, removal of the deceased from the list nor preventing persons who are constitutionally entitled to vote at a Regional and Gen eral elections will not deliver power to the APNU+AFC.

The numbers across ethnic lines have moved by leaps and bounds into the camp of the PPP/C, the process continues inexorably,” he said.

GUYANESE WHO MIGRATED

As per Guyana’s con stitution and a ruling of the High Court, Guyanese who were registered to vote, but have since migrated cannot be removed from the Voters’ List. International report from Elections Observer Missions (EOMs) in 2020 recognized that this contributed to the total number on the Voters’ List.

The final report from the Election Observer Mission fielded by the Carter Center, on page 10, said, “The num ber of registered voters seems disproportionate to Guyana’s estimated population, in part because Guyana allows Guya nese living overseas to remain on the voters list.” Further, the European Union Election Observer Mission in their final report, on page 16, said: "...Guyana’s high emigration rate may be the most signifi cant factor accounting for an ‘inflated’ list.”

However, the international EOMs lauded the mechanisms in place to ensure that no per son who is not eligible to vote does so. The European Union Election Observer Mission in their final report, on page 16, also said: “Overall, existing safeguards – notably the use of voter lists with ID pictures by polling staff and party agents – were robust enough to prevent the risk of voter im personation on election day.”

GUYANESE WHO DIED

A second major cause for the total number on the Voters’ List is persons who have died, but are yet to be

removed from the List.

Removal of persons from the Voters’ List must be done on legal grounds. Death is one such legal ground. However, it requires death certificates to be sent to the Guyana Elec tions Commission by the General Registrar’s Office for this to be done. Where this is not done, relatives with the death certificate can take advantage of the Claims and Objections period to make file an objection and have their relative removed from the Voters’ List.

Further, to ensure this is addressed at the legislative level, the proposed amend ments to the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA), address a public and trans parent process to ensure that the names of Guyanese who have died are removed from the list.

OLD CLAIM

This is not the first time, the PNCR-led Coalition has claimed that the Voters’ List is bloated. In 2019, the justifi cation advanced by then Pres ident Granger for his delay in setting a date for Elections was that the Voters’ List. He has claimed that the Voters’ List was bloated by 200,000 and there must be a new house-tohouse registration to correct this. If Granger’s claim was analytically considered, then its false nature is exposed. Granger insisted that the Vot ers’ List is bloated by 200,000. However, the list of Guyanese registered for the 2015 Gener al and Regional Elections in 2015 (a number that was not much varied at the November 2018 Local Government Elec tions) was 570,708. If you reduced that List from 570,708 by Granger’s 200,000 you end up with 370,708 voters. This 370,708 is less than the number of people who actually voted at the 2015 General and Regional Elections. A total of 412,012 Guyanese voted at the 2015 Elections – an election that the Coalition won.

Further, GECOM in 2019 made clear that Granger’s claims were speculative.

Importantly, Guyana’s Voters’ List is compiled based on a continuous registration process. This process is simi lar to that of other Caribbean Countries and the percentage of the Guyanese population on the Voters’ List is lower that some countries, like St. Lucia where, as at 2016, 98.43 per cent of their population were recorded as registered voters. Further, the voter turnout in 2020 was 72.5%. This was a small increase from the 72.19% voter turnout in 2015. At the 2020 Elec tions, 460,352 persons vot ed from a list of 661,3378 – meaning there were over 200,000 persons listed on the Voters’ List who did not vote.

Constitutional Reform process to get underway in new year – Teixeira

The PPP/C Government will commence the pro cess to address the promise of constitutional reform in 2023, according to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira.

On Tuesday (October 25, 2022), while at a nation al consultation on electoral reform, she said, “I should point out that this process that we’re going through

today, which is dealing with electoral law, that is amend ments to statutes is distinct ly separate from the con stitutional reform process, which will commence in early 2023. That bill for the composition for the Com mission for constitutional reform, which is made up equally of members of polit ical parties and civil society is on the order paper for the

National Assembly when it meets after recess,” she said.

Teixeira stressed that the government intends to fulfil its commitment to the continuous review and en hancement of the country’s Constitution, according to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira.

Meanwhile, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, in

comments on the issue, add ed that the Commission will do its work based on public engagements with citizens across the length and breadth of Guyana.

“The constitution will be under review meaning from article one to the end and have the Guyanese populace consult, engage, discuss and offer recommendations in relation to those provisions.

That process will, first of all, bring into focus some of what I understand is being expected from this engage ment [statutory electoral reform]….When we take the constitution to the country, you go out there and you tell the Constitution Reform Commission [your recom mendations] and get the people of Guyana to support you and those changes will be realized,” he said.

The National Assembly went into recess in August 2022 and that break ended on October 10, 2022.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

In its bid to ensure con stitutional reform, govern ment moved to the National Assembly with the Consti tution Reform Commission Bill 2022, which seeks the establishment of a Consti tution Reform Commission to review the country’s su preme laws.

The Bill was presented by Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira.

The explanatory mem orandum states that the Act seeks the establishment of the Constitution Reform Commission which will consist of 20 members.

Members of the Com mission shall be appointed by the President and will include five members of the PPP/C, four members of the APNU+AFC, one member each from the ANUG, the Guyana Bar Association, the Labour Movement, the National Toshao’s Council, the private sector, represen tatives of women organisa tions, youth organisations, Christian, Hindu and Mus lim organisations, as well as nominee representing farmers.

Details of the Bill state that the commission will review the constitution to provide for the current and future rights, duties, liabil ities, and obligations of the Guyanese people.

It is mandated for that purpose to receive, consider and evaluate submissions for the alteration of the constitution, and report its recommendations to the standing committee for transmission to the national assembly.

In conducting the re view, the commission will consider the full protection of the fundamental rights of and freedom of Guyanese

under law, the rights of in digenous people of Guyana, the rights of children, elim inating discrimination in all forms, improving ethnic relations while promoting ethnic security and equal opportunity.

The commission will also, among other things, implement reforms relating to elections and the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM), taking into con sideration its composition, method of electing its chair man and members and its jurisdiction over national registration and electoral process.

The Bill comes up for debate and approval af ter the National Assembly comes out of recess on Oc tober 10, 2022.

PROMISE KEPT Government’s model for constitutional reform is laid out in its 2020-2025 manifesto, and promotes the inclusion of all Guyanese in the review process. “We are aware that issues concerning constitutional reform, par ticularly in relation to a na tional, inclusive governance model, management of elec tions, fiduciary account ability, enhancing rights of Guyanese and ensuring constitutional language is simple have been raised and discussed in the public domain. However, we be lieve that these, as well as other issues, must be part of a process of widespread consultation with the peo ple of Guyana before being acted upon. The extensive changes to our Constitution under the PPP/C followed such a process,” government said in its party’s manifesto.

The manifesto said too that it is committed to con tinuous revision of the Con stitution and will ensure that the Committee on Consti tutional Reform which will advance the work, will pur sue nationwide consultation following the model used in the past, with half of the members from civil society and equal representation from Government and the Opposition.”

The Constitution of Guyana is the highest gov erning document in Guyana. It came into effect on Octo ber 6, 1980, replacing the constitution enacted in 1966 upon its independence from the United Kingdom. Guy ana’s Constitution was last amended on August 3, 2000.