Weekend Mirror 24-25 September 2022

Coalition attempting to rush Parliamentary scrutiny of 2019, 2020 spending

Members of the PPP/C Government and the APNU+AFC Coalition who sit on the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have different views on the review of the Auditor General’s reports for 2019

and 2020.

As such, the examination of the reports were delayed.

Public Works Minis ter and PAC member, Juan Edghill, noted that the PPP/C Government could bring a motion to the Committee

to ensure that the reports are reviewed separately, as opposed to rushing the scru tiny of the documents, which detail the spending by the former APNU+AFC Coali tion government. “If in any Committee, a matter that is

being discussed there is no consensus, then there are rules of engagement. If it cannot be involved by con sensus, it will be resolved by way of a vote,” Edghill said on Monday (September 19, 2022).

He noted that the fact is that a no-confidence motion was passed in December 2018, meaning that the for mer APNU+AFC Coalition was in “caretaker” mode and had to act accordingly. Edghill said, “We cannot gloss over that period as though everything is well. While it is true that you’ve had examinations of years combined before, that was when everything was normal and everything was equal.”

Notably, the last three meetings of the Parliamenta ry Public Accounts Commit tee have been postponed.

2019 REPORT

For 2019, the Auditor General’s Office noted that several actions involving mil lions of taxpayer dollars by the former David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition gov ernment were under special investigation by the Auditor General’s Office, according to the 2019 Auditor General’s Report.

These included the pro curement of Birth Certifi cates. The 2019 report, on page V, said: “The Ministry of the Presidency entered into two contracts totalling $18.599M for the supply of 100,000 birth certificates, af ter it sought and was granted approval by NPTAB to use the single source method of procurement. At the time of this report, a special inves tigation was being conduct ed into the said acquisition of birth certificates.” The 100,000 birth certificates that were acquired through close ally of the APNU/AFC coalition Larry London, via a Florida-based company.

Further, a special in vestigation was also being done with regards to the Sustainable Livelihood En trepreneurial Development (SLED) initiative. The 2019 Auditor General’s Re port said: “Amounts totalling $249.997M were expended under the SLED Programme as at 31 December 2019, of which $169.555M were issued to Region 9. Audit examination of a sample of Beneficiaries’ Files revealed that application forms were not completed despite it be ing a requirement. In addi tion, no criteria or checklist was seen as utilised for the appraisal and approval of grants. As a result, it was difficult to ascertain the rea son(s) for granting approval to the Beneficiaries. At the time of this report, a spe cial investigation was being conducted into the SLED Programme. Audit exam

ination of a sample of ben eficiary’s files revealed that no application forms were completed despite it being a requirement as stated in the notice inviting applications published in the newspa pers. In addition, there was no criteria or checklist seen as utilised for the appraisal and approval of this grant. As a result, it was difficult to ascertain the reason(s) for granting approval to the respective beneficiaries. As such, a Special Audit into the SLED Programme has com menced and a separate report will be issued.” SLED was launched by the APNU+AFC Coalition after it took office in 2015. There has been no comment from the Coalition on the $249.997M that has not been accounted for.

Also, regarding the AP NU+AFC Coalition-con trolled Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the 2019 Auditor General’s Report stated that the following three special investigations were at various stages and address: Failure to remit workers National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions; Fail ure to remit workers Credit Union contributions due to the Credit Union; and Fail ure to remit workers Guyana Revenue Authority Pay as You Earn (P.A.Y.E) deduc tions from workers. “Issues surrounding the number of contracts in keeping with financial regulations, trans parency, and accountability,” the Report said are also being investigated.

The expenditure of al most $100M by the former Attorney General, Basil Wil liams, was also under special investigation. The 2019 Au ditor General’s Report, on page VI, said: “Despite hav ing a Solicitor General, one Deputy Solicitor General, two Assistant Solicitors Gen eral and six State Counsels in its employ, the Ministry of Legal Affairs paid amounts totalling $99.650M on Legal Fees/Retainer Agreements to three Law Firms and seven external Attorneys-at-Law. At the time of this report, a special investigation was be ing conducted on Legal Fees expended.”

These are only a few of the issues highlighted in the 2019 Auditor General’s Of fice.

2020 REPORT

The 2020 Auditor Gen eral’s report revealed several damning findings.

For example, a perfor mance audit into the procure

Those who ‘manipulate race for their own selfish designs’ must be called out, condemned – Ali

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antó nio Guterres, on Tuesday (September 20, 2022) con demned hate speeches and the misuse of social media, which are causing notable damage to society. “Social media platforms based on a business model that mon etises outrage, anger and negativity are causing untold damage to communities and societies,” Guterres said.

And President Dr. Irfaan Ali, in his comments on for International Day of Peace, condemned the efforts of those who “manipulate race for their own selfish designs, including fomenting hatred and division” in Guyana.

He said, “Racism, in all guises and forms, is abhor rent. On this, International Day of Peace, Guyana pledg es its support for efforts to rid the world of the scourge of racism. We condemn the pur veyors of racial superiority and racial prejudice as much as we denounce those who manipulate race for their own selfish designs, including fo menting hatred and division.

“Peace must be premised on not only the absence of conflict but also on the rejec tion of those practices which poison social harmony and create mistrust and division. As such, Guyana calls on all to rebuff those bent on spreading racial discord.

“Guyana has inaugurat ed a One Guyana initiative aimed at promoting a soci ety characterized by greater social harmony. The One Guyana initiative promotes national unity and fosters a

more cohesive society, one in which racism has no place.”

PLAYING RACE CARD

The issue of racist rhet oric by the PNCR-led AP NU+AFC Coalition to stir tensions has been condemned repeatedly over the past sev eral months by PPP/C lead ers.

Unsubstantiated and wildly irresponsible claims – all worded along lines to stir tensions among Guya nese continue to be peddled by leaders of the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition.

Leader of the PNCR and the Parliamentary Opposi tion, Aubrey Norton, on June 4, 2022, made irresponsible allegations. “I wouldn’t rule out that they (the PPP/C) gave the instruction to kill this young man so they get something to distract people with…I’ve been in politics long enough to know that when they bring these things to side-track us, we will stay focused…this struggle has to continue,” Norton said, without any evidence, refer ring to the matter where three Guyana Police Officers were charged over the death of Quindon Bacchus on June 5, 2022. Norton also mounted comments about not trust ing the PPP. “We do not trust them…we will continue the political pressure,” he charged.

The controversial Da vid Hinds claimed that the PPP/C government “wants to use East Indian people, in order to put their knees on the rest of Guyana and we must not allow them” among

other reckless statements. Hinds used this claim to call for “action” from Afro-Guy anese. Hinds said, “We have to organise ourselves into a big movement…a movement to clean this country….it is our time and we are begin ning to push back….the fight has begun.”

This is not the first time Hinds has made such com ments. On November 22, 2021, Hinds had said: “I think the time has come to defend ourselves…it is time for action…I am also repeating my call to un dermine the government. I said that in August and I am saying it again. A leader does not have to tell you how to undermine the gov ernment. There are many ways…undermine the gov ernment and continue to do so.” At the same forum, Hinds went further to call for Indian-owned businesses to be boycotted. He said, “They were enablers and they are enablers….it is your money that is spending on Regent Street that they does take and give to the PPP as contribu tions for elections so they can get into government… undermine the economic partners of the PPP.” Prior to that, while addressing a small group of protestors at Victoria, East Coast Demer ara in August 2021, Hinds said: “In whatever way you can undermine this (PPP/C) government. Undermine this government in whatever way you can. I can’t tell you how to do it, but ‘hint to Bani ba mek Quashiba tek no tice’ (Old African-Guyanese

proverb meaning actions to hint something will result in awareness). Undermine this government!”

On June 4, 2022, Coali tion Parliamentarian, Chris topher Jones, speaking to a handful of protestors at Bux ton, said, “Black youngsters go to a commercial bank for a loan and they are denied. An East Indian person, the same age, got the same thing like the young black man, go to the same commer cial bank, but he getting the loan….that is the reality of this country….you go to predominantly East Indian villages in this country and you would see rapid develop ment, nice roads, nice street lights…but you go predomi nantly the African villages –bad roads, poor drainage, no street lights, no recreational facilities for them… that is the reality of this country.”

UNDERMINING DEVELOPMENT

The PPP/C Govern ment’s effort to advance a development trajectory con tinues to be dragged down by the Coalition for partisan political purposes, according to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Government, Gail Teixeira, who took aim at the APNU+AFC Coali tion, recently.

She said, “At a time when we are taking the trajectory of our country forward; when we are seeing transforma tion; when the government has given COVID relief; help in the hampers; flood relief; the removal of taxes; the purchase of vaccines for our

people; the PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment)… drugs that were not there; the opening up of housing; and the fixing of roads and bridges. All of this is taking place and all you can do is drag it down to race. That is the only flag you have. The only flag you wave is race.

“…you have stuck loyal ly to your history from 1954 and onwards - of divide and rule in Guyana. That is un fortunate. I don’t accept that the youth don’t know about these things. They are not obtuse…whether the PNC/ RIG/ APNU/ AFC comes to term with past and steps on the road to national unity, you will be found, if you don’t join, left alone….you have a choice.”

Teixeira charged that the PPP/C will push forward with President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s announced One Guy ana initiative, despite the naysayers in the Coalition camp. She said, “The attempt to weaken any embryonic efforts at building a One Guyana will not succeed… efforts at building a ‘One Guyana’- a ‘One Guyana’ for all of us as a people where we will work towards equi table distribution of goods and services; where we will work for the development of the regions of our country… that is our goal and if you don’t agree with it, I’m sorry. You’re lost.”

In February 2021, Presi dent Dr Irfaan Ali announced the establishment of a ‘One Guyana Commission’, which will be spearheaded by Prime Minister, (rtd) Brigadier,

Mark Phillips. Ali had said, ““An essen tial part of my Government is inclusion. Stop being de fined by race; stop being defined by politics. Start being defined by our one na tionality and by our common love for our one country, let us lift it up together and by doing so, let us lift each oth er and ourselves, one people, one nation, one destiny…I propose to give meaning to my call for one Guyana by requesting the leader of Government business in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Brigadier, Hon. Mark Phillips to introduce the adoption of an Act of Parliament establishing a One Guyana Commission which he will head….we must move our nation build ing from abstraction to ac tion and lose not one more moment in doing it. Let us stand up for our one nation, our one Guyana, let us stand up for what we know in our hearts and in our minds to be right. Let us stand up for one identity, the Guyanese identity.”

President Ali said the work of the Commission will be undertaken country wide to encapsulate the free expressions of all voices, re specting the diversity “from which our oneness springs.”

The Commission will also address education con cerning Guyana’s history, religion, ensuring equal op portunity, employment and entrepreneurship and insti tutional strengthening of the Ethnic Relations Commis sion.

Nigel Hinds’ self-interest exposed as center of racism claims

T he shocking statement by Change Guyana’s Nigel Hinds that the “efforts of (Keith) Lowenfield and (Clairmont) Mingo to un dermine the majority vote are now defensible” because the of the current admin istration’s “racist” polices were trashed and exposed as self-serving by Minister of Finance Dr. Ashni Singh.

Hinds made his wild claims in a letter to the press this week – claims that Singh called nothing but self-serving. “The un avoidable conclusion is that his new-found posture as a champion of ethnic rights is firmly grounded in pure self-interest and the advancement of his own nar row cause, instead of that of the masses whose emotions he is trying to excite for his own personal benefit,” he said.

Firstly, Minister Singh noted that Hinds’ statements were made after his request to be “exempt from require ments that apply to all oth er practicing accountants across Guyana” was denied but the local professional body, the affairs of which could not be interfered with by any government of the day.

Singh said, “The fact of the matter is that Hinds wants to be exempt from re quirements that apply to all other practicing accountants across Guyana. I am advised that those requirements re semble those applied by the bodies that regulate the accounting profession across the Caribbean and in many parts of the world. As I have already done pri vately, I would urge Hinds

once again to engage the ICAG (Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana) meaningfully with a view to resolving the matter between him and them. It is most regrettable and completely disingenuous that Hinds would take a bilateral dis pute he has with the ICAG as the basis on which to weave a patently false and blatantly dishonest narrative about racism in Guyana….. put differently, it is my con sidered opinion that Hinds is

now opportunistically using the bully pulpit of racism to try to intimidate the ICAG to extend special treatment to him and to enable him to bypass standard require ments that are applicable to all persons practising the same profession as he does.”

Secondly, Singh under scored the fact that Hinds was asked to serve on the VAT Board of Review, but declined because he wanted to be Chairman of that Board – something that the PPP/C

government did not offer. He said, “It should be added that there might be another cause for the dis satisfaction currently being displayed by Hinds. Recent ly, the Government invited Hinds to be a member of the VAT Board of Review, considering that this might be an opportunity for him to contribute to the work of an important tribunal. Hinds declined the offer, indicat ing that he is not prepared to accept appointment to

any board or entity unless he is being appointed to chair that board or entity. It is, of course, a matter of public record that Ronald Burch-Smith was appointed to chair the VAT Board of Review (and Sharon Roop chand-Edwards to chair the Customs Tariff Tribunal and Emily Dodson to chair the Income Tax Board of Review).”

Singh noted that Hinds’ claims bear a striking re semblance to the posture also adopted by a few others recently, who invoke the racism bogeyman without any basis whatsoever, for the sole purpose of political op portunism, and knowing full well that they themselves failed blatantly to serve in any meaningful way the very people whose cause they now claim to champion.

“The unavoidable conclusion is that his new-found posture as a champion of ethnic rights is firmly grounded in pure self-interest and the advancement of his own narrow cause, instead of that of the masses whose emotions he is trying to excite for his own personal benefit.” Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh.

Using race card, other fig leaves to disguise actions grounded in self-interested

The past several months have seen incidents where persons have spewed unfounded claims of racism by the current Administration – claims that have been exposed to be linked by self-interest.

The most recent case involved Change Guyana’s Nigel Hinds whose rant in a letter to the local media corps charged that the PPP/C government’s policies are racist. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, was quick to point out that Hinds wanted to be exempt from requirements that apply to all other practicing accountants across Guyana, as monitored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Guyana (ICAG) – a matter that the Government of Guyana could not get involved – and he wanted to be Chairman of the VAT Board of Review and would not accept an offer to serve as a member of the said Board. Nigel Hinds’ self-interests were clearly exposed.

The PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition has been the most frequent guilty party in this regard – prioritizing self-inter est in power over the interest of country and people. The debates the political arena if allowed to be directed by the APNU+AFC Coalition would be consumed by divisive rhet oric and would be devoid of focus on policies and the future progress of Guyana and the Guyanese people. The fact that this is so has been evidenced if one reviews the track record of the PNCR-led Coalition. Compounding their approach to so called ‘representation’ they claim to action is the campaign of lies in the face of well-known facts and reality, as well as a consistent resort of playing the ‘race card’ at every opportu nity. Power, not people, has always been the proven focus of the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition. And this endeavour has been plagued by racist rhetoric, bullyism and intimida tion. it is worth underscoring the pattern of behaviour that the PNCR-led Coalition has, and continues to, exhibits when it makes its frantic grasps for power. What is clear is that the PNCR-led Coalition has to be called for its actions. Democrat ic, right-minded Guyanese are not interested in being drawn backwards, but are focused on the progressive, prosperous future ahead. And self-interested leaders in the Coalition must not be allowed to endanger our collective prosperity.

Importantly, the issue of self-interest being the motivating factor for some to morph into vocal critics of the PPP/C Gov ernment are not restricted to any persons in a particular class, creed, religion or race. Only recently, PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, called out a prominent Indo-Guyanese for wanting a specific ‘position’ created for him and after being denied, became critical of the Administration. Here again, however, self-interest was exposed.

In an environment where tensions are being stirred along race and other lines, it is imperative that at each turn unfound ed claims, particularly those that are spewed from bully pulpit of racism.

As Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, said, there must be stern condemnation of those who “invoke the racism bogeyman without any basis whatsoever, for the sole purpose of politi cal opportunism, and knowing full well that they themselves failed blatantly to serve in any meaningful way the very people whose cause they now claim to champion.”

APNU+AFC Coalition’s demands should be considered dead in the water

Dear Editor,

The political opposition and its rep resentatives at GECOM are making the following demands for the holding of elections in Guyana:

1. That the Official List of Electors (OLE) to be extracted from GECOM’s National Register of Registrants Data Base (NRRDB) and the said NRRDB must be scrapped because any list de rived therefrom will be ‘bloated;

2. That biometrics be introduced as an additional restriction to vote apart from being registered, and in possession of a voter ID card;

3. That the sitting Chair of GECOM ‘must go’ because to the APNU+AFC, she is not impartial and independent.

The three demands are interrelated, though undergirding them is a sinister strategy. The APNU+AFC seems to be calculating that, in the event they get a sliver of movement on their de mands, chances are they will recover lost ground electorally. In respect to the APNU+AFC’s demands at numbers one and two, we are reminded of the Chief Justice’s August 14, 2019 ruling to the effect that one could not retire the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB), but could only make additions, and that any changes to the contrary would require passage of constitutional and/or legislative amendments.

The Coalition knows that since the events of March to August 202O, their numbers are dwindling. On top of that, their track record at previous elections, especially the 2020 election, makes any chance of them improving their electoral fortunes highly improbable, thus the ul timate alternative they may be banking

on is to hatch issues of a constitutional nature. At this point in time, GECOM is not favourably disposed to the conduct of a fresh house-to-house registration exercise. GECOM is bound by the con stitution and by electoral laws. Unless, the constitution is amended and new laws promulgated, the APNU+AFC’s demands should be considered dead in the water.

But it is its third demand that is the most troubling for the APNU+AFC; to them, it poses a Herculean, if not daunt ing task. In the light of our experiences during the March-August 2020 period, GECOM should not at any time be party to any recommendation that implicitly or explicitly violates the letter and spirit of the constitution nor should the body be party to any illegal act that impugns GECOM’s constitutional mandate to conduct and supervise an election that people expect to be free and fair. In respect to the office of the sitting Chair of GECOM, the general expectation on the part of the populace is that it will demonstrate impartiality and fairness at all times.

But it is precisely the Chair’s ad herence to these principles that is the bee the APNU+AFC’s bonnet, to the extent that they have misrepresented the Chair’s position time and again both internally and publicly. The most recent misrepresentation of the Chair’s decisions was reflected in Commissioner Vincent Alexander’s letter to the press in which he wrongly claimed that the Chair refused a request from the APNU+AFC for an extension of the Claims and Ob jections period as it relates to adding or subtracting names from the Official List of Electors (OLE). The fact of the matter is that the Chair ruled that she would

send copies of the correspondence from the APNU+AFC to the parliamentary political parties requesting their position as regards the APNU+AFC’s request for an extension. The PPP/C has since responded to GECOM signaling its support for a one week extension of the Claims and Objections period.

If the PNC is of the view, that by targeting GECOM’s Chair and mount ing an unconvincing campaign for free and fair elections, they will succeed in duping the electorate, they should re think their elections strategy. Indications are that the PPP/C is making inroads in traditional PNC strongholds. On top of that, as the small and big ticket projects in the PPP/C’s manifesto continue to be rolled out uninterruptedly, the PNC will certainly be forced to concede defeat once again following the impending local government elections. And just as it was predicted that the APNU/AFC would be a one term government, in the same way, it would not be reckless to conclude that the coalition will be hard pressed to make people forget about the electoral travesties committed between March to August 2020 and allowing them to breeze into government once again.

The past electoral machinations of the APNU+AFC cast a long shadow over their current demands. They have taken aim at GECOM’s NRRDB and its sitting Chair who they desperately want to get rid of, but was it not the same mythical ‘bloated list’ that ushered them into office in 2015 and with which they themselves held local government elections in 2016 and 2018?

Sincerely, Clement J. Rohee

Truth remains a stranger to the Opposition

Dear Editor,

A t the hands of PNC/R Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) member Vincent Alexander, another dishonest, irresponsible, and baseless letter was recently published in the Stabroek News. The missive’s intend ed default and sinister contents blared into the public domain and many social media platforms with the emboldened, deceitful headline: “GECOM Chair voted against an extension of claims.” His recent feeble attempt at damage control after being glaringly exposed for his continuous patent untruths serves to fool no one.

Alexander seems unable to re move himself from the apparent pre2020 mode when the characteristic PNC bullish overtures were flagrantly

imposed “by hook or by crook” in attempts to overwhelm the election machinery. His continuous use of a vitriolic-laden pen to brazenly advance unjustified condemnatory attacks on the Chairperson of GECOM is nothing but another backdoor attempt at unleash ing unqualified PNC-driven attacks, on the Honourable Justice of Appeal (Retired), Claudette Singh, SC, CCH.

The issue at hand relates to an AP NU+AFC letter to GECOM requesting an extension of the period for Claims and Objections. The commissioners discussed the request and within 24 hours the commission took a unani mous decision to extend the period for seven days. There could be no miscon strued intent when one reads media articles conveying deliberately imbued falsities with the process.

In sharp contradiction to Alexan der’s letter, at no time did the eminent Chairperson of GECOM vote against the APNU+AFC’s request for an exten sion of claims during the process of the Claims and Objections exercise. The incontestable fact is, the chairperson objectively and reasonably examined the motions and sought the views of PPP/C commissioners as key stake holders in the process.

In a GECOM statement, the institu tion established that resulting from the initial discussions, “it was suggested and decided that the parliamentary political parties be consulted before a determination is made.”

Reliable sources subsequently con firmed that the chairperson approved this position which deposes Alexan

Coalition’s bluff gets called

Dear Editor,

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has called the APNU/AFC Coalition’s bluff. He has re quested that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) investigate the claims made by the APNU/ AFC that “ballots were cast by dead people and persons living overseas.” I can feel the fear of APNU/AFC already. They are get ting what they wanted (or thought they had wanted) and now it’s choking them to death.

First, let me sound the reminder. It was the APNU/AFC were accusing GECOM of failing to act on evidence of voter imper sonation during the 2020 elections. By the way, this only came up after the initial vote count, as reflected in the certified Statements of Polls (SoPs), was thrown into disarray by the weird ‘permutations and combinations’ from the collusive efforts of the following erstwhile officers: Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Keith Lowenfield; his deputy, Roxanne Myers, and Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

Let’s keep in mind that APNU/AFC were in the cul-de-sac of their defeat, that was supposed to be concretised from a proper tab ulation of the count, based on veritable SoPs. So, their shenanigans of attempted escapes led to a recount that they brokered. This of course eventuated to what all had already known, that is the People’s Progressive Par ty/Civic (PPP/C) were the victors of the 2020 elections. During and up this point, APNU/ AFC kept on trying to derail or ‘illegalise’ the elections by coming up with far too many and frivolous complaints. Ultimately, we are now engrossed in this senseless, last minute ‘tentative désespérée’ claims of voter fraud from the APNU/AFC camp.

I mean, it is crunch time and they are running scared. Why? Their claim all along has been that GECOM has the list of the im personators but never acted on it. Then why is it that they are against GECOM’s releasing of the very list, their supposed trump card, that they are supposed to be banking on for acquittal? How silly it is to hide behind the sophistry that says “…the details are already in the elections petition submission.”

As we can see, the ‘running for cover’ never stops, so the big original lie now morphs into “… some persons were ‘mistak enly’ included in their evidence which they claim provides proof of voter impersonation at the 2020 General and Regional Elections.”

Editor, the AG is therefore absolutely right. He, on behalf of the Government, has asked that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) investigate these absurd claims made by APNU/AFC) “… that ballots were cast by dead people and persons living overseas.” The fright and embarrassment are growing for APNU/AFC. They never expected that

their bluff would have been called. So, prov ing time at every juncture is driving them towards a ‘dead end.’ It was funny how they got mad when upon request by the AG, the elections body last week released to the Office of the Attorney General “… those documents that were submitted by the then APNU/AFC in its bid to discredit the Offi cial List of Electors (OLE) used in the 2020 General and Regional Elections.” I mean this should have been their ‘grand slam’ moment and conversely the dread of the PPP/C. In stead, it is the reverse.

Again, rightfully and logically so, the next phase is to use those very documents provided by GECOM, for the corroboration of the data gathered by the coalition. Nobody wants to hear about mistakes at this late hour.

All honest people want “…the determination of the veracity of the data contained in the documents as well the authenticity of some of the documents themselves and all matters and actions of persons connected therewith.”

After all, APNU/AFC are claiming that they delivered documents “…claiming to show that dead people and persons who were overseas on Election Day voted at the elections, as well as documents to claim that there were cases of multiple voting.”

And as the AG pointed out, “These alle gations continue to be peddled in the public domain by leaders and representatives of the aforesaid political entity. At the time and un til now, the impression conveyed is that these documents and/or data were generated by and obtained from the official lawful repository of the specific information, for example, the Immigration Department, the Guyana Police Force, and the General Registrar’s Office.” What we have then is that all relevant State agencies must probe thoroughly in order to give fairness to APNU/AFC and credibility to themselves.

I guess readers can see why “the Opposi tion-aligned Commissioners at GECOM had objected to the release of the documents in question, a move which Nandlall has since expressed is indicative of the APNU/AFC’s lack of credibility”. This is obvious.

Succinctly put then, the AG summarised everything, stating that “… these are the guys who are repeating the very allegations and are relying upon the allegations in their incredible efforts to impugn the 2020 election results…it is they who are speaking about the information in that document and now the Government has signalled an intention to request that document so that it can be in vestigated so we can know the truth, and the people are objecting, the very people who are peddling the information in that document are now objecting to the document being released so that we can investigate.” truly,

Glen Lall quashed like the proverbial bug

Dear Editor, Glen

Lall was quashed like the proverbial bug as he tried to pit his Lilliputian brains against an intellectual giant and Guy ana’s economic wizard, Guyana’s VP Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.

Glen Lall has the courage of a fool who has the audacity and temerity to challenge an indisputable world leader of momentous achievements, among which are, inter alia: being a formidable force in international relations; primary reformer of International Financial Institutions (IFIs); an advocate for climate change adaptation and mitigation –crafter of the internationally accepted Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS); champion of poor and vulnerable countries; recipient of five honorary degrees from pres tigious universities around the world.

He became Chairman of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) sum mit which was held in November 2010 in Guyana, the only Anglophone country on the South American continent, UNASUR was established to create a consolidated integra tion and a unified approach to developmental and trading paradigms in South American nations. In that first meeting at Guyana’s convention Centre President Bharrat Jagdeo was unanimously selected to lead UNASUR as its Chairman.

President Jagdeo led UNASUR into a dynamic where there was extant slow growth within the U.S. and the European Union (EU) and created policies and programmes that generated a rising growth rate in a majority of

nations in the developing world of UNASUR and the CARICOM bloc through collabora tive and integrated endeavours.

He focused on market liberalization and he tried to minimize the developing world’s dependence on the two International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the Washington Con sensus because the diktats of these institutions impeded/impede industrial policy formulation and regional integration; thus Dr. Jagdeo’s uncompromising stance against the EU-CAR IFORUM‘s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which protected the CARIFORUM nations’ sovereignty and prevented a neo-col onisation through regional manufacturing and trading enterprises.

The Cochabamba Summit in 2006 provid ed President Jagdeo with several platforms whereby he engaged colleague Heads-ofStates on Guyana’s place in the emerging continental solidarity. Guyana, he explained, is strategically located between Venezuela and Brazil, which presents opportunities for infrastructural development for physical linkages in the South American integration process, potentially creating a landscape for greater trading and investment opportunities.

The foregoing is merely touching on all the accomplishments that tremendously ben efited this nation in an international context of the visionary and brilliant Past President and current Vice-President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, whom Glen Lall consistently derogates and maligns on false premises with no merit.

Sincerely, Erin Northe

Kwayana’s insinuations are without merit

Dear Editor,

On 17th September 2022, a letter to the Editor captioned, ‘First time a COI is appointed but not gazetted and TORs not publicised’ written under the hand of Mr. Eusi Kwayana was published in the media. The letter inaccurately asserted that the Gov ernment has neither gazetted nor made public the Terms of Reference of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by His Excellency the President on 13th September 2022.

It is in the national interest that it be placed on the public record (again) that on the very same day the COI was appointed, the Instrument appointing the Commission, in which the Terms of Reference were duly and expansively set out, was published in the Official Gazette of 13th September 2022.

As Mr. Kwayana must be aware, publica tion in the Official Gazette constitutes notice to the world. A simple gazette or google

search by Mr. Kwayana would have preempt ed this highly erroneous and bold inaccuracy.

Moreover, news coverage in the main stream media of, and concerning, the Com mission of Inquiry, included copious refer ences to the Terms of Reference of the Com mission [see Stabroek News article ‘Elections inquiry will zoom in on District Four’, 15th September 2022, page 3.]

Mr. Kwayana also erroneously alleged certain limitations upon the President’s powers under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, Chap. 19:03. I am advised that those allegations are not evident, either expressly or by implication, in the Act.

I am further advised that Mr. Kwayana’s insinuations of unconstitutionality are also without merit.

Yours faithfully, Colonel Ronald Hercules, MSM Administrator, Commission of Inquiry

APNU+AFC backtracks on voter impersonation claims

Having vociferously de fended their position that hundreds of persons who migrated and were not in Guyana, as well as persons who are deceased, voted at the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, the AP NU+AFC Coalition is now backtracking.

The new position comes days after an investigation into their claims have been launched.

The Coalition’s Roysdale Forde has said that some persons were “mistaken ly” included in their alleged evidence of voter imperson ation at the 2020 Elections. “We expect the PPP/C will soon crank up its propaganda machine and exhibit a few selected persons who were mistakenly included on the APNU+AFC submissions to GECOM,” Forde said.

Notably, Forde, admit ting that the APNU+AFC Coalition sent about 1,000 names to GECOM as socalled evidence of voter im personation, is now admitting that his Party seemingly did no verification work before making such claims. Forde said, “In relation to the AP NU+AFC’s submission of documented evidence of voter impersonation by the PPP/C, we can inform the public that GECOM wrote to the Chief Immigration Offi cer seeking to verify whether the persons under question were in fact out of the coun try on March 2, 2020. The Chief Immigration officer, in one correspondence dated the 27th May, 2022, confirmed

that over 100 votes on one of the lists submitted by the Co alition were cast for persons who were, in fact, out of the country on Election Day.

“More names remain to be checked and our list of dead persons who miracu lously managed to vote also awaits verification.”

Forde’s comments come as he sought to dismiss the need for an investigated, which was initiated by Attor ney General, Anil Nandlall.

INVESTIGATION

Anil Nandlall, earlier this month, penned a letter to the Chair of the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh, requesting copies of the APNU+AFC Coalition’s so-called evi dence.

In his letter, he said, “These allegations continue to be peddled in the public domain by leaders and rep resentatives of the aforesaid political entity. At the time and until now, the impression conveyed is that these docu ments and/or data were gen erated by and obtained from the official lawful repository of the specific information, for example, the immigra tion department, the Guyana Police Force and the General Registrar’s Office

“…it is important that the relevant State agency enquires into the source of this information, upon whose directions they were sourced and, perhaps, most impor tantly, to officially reconfirm their inaccuracy, for public

record. In the circumstances, I hereby request a copy of these documents to initiate this process.”

Singh, voted in support of the release of documents presented to her by the AP NU+AFC during the recount process for the March 2020 polls on September 6, 2022.

CLAIMS THAT PER SONS NOT IN GUYANA VOTED

During the March 2020 election debacle, the AP NU+AFC Coalition had writ ten to the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Com mission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh and produced the false data to back up their unfounded claims.

The GECOM Chair had confirmed that the immi gration authorities had con firmed that 172 of the persons she enquired about were not in the country on elections day, March 02, 2020.

CLAIMS THAT DEAD PERSONS VOTED

Claims by the AP NU+AFC Coalition that it has evidence to support the contention that dead persons voted at the March 2, 2020 Elections remain unsubstan tiated.

The Coalition’s Amna Ally had said, “We have quite a lot more [death certifi cates] in our possession, [but] I can’t give you a count right now [of] how much.

At the time, in response, GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, made clear that

no evidence has been present ed to the Commission. He said, “I sat through a meeting [with the APNU+AFC] that was almost two hours long. It started just after 2pm and it ended just before 4pm and absolutely no evidence was presented at that meeting… what the delegation sought to do was to raise the same bare allegations about elec toral irregularities without proof. As I indicated to you, not a single allegation or document has been brought to the Commission level in support of any allegation; and I keep stressing on this word allegation because it is a Commission decision as well that any insertion into the Observation Report at the instance of a stakehold er must be out of necessity termed an allegation, because no proof is being provided from the person….I’ve been here every day. I walk around every day and nothing as far as I’m aware has been presented. Nothing has been presented to the Commission level, absolutely nothing.”

Also, several persons had come forward who were on the list, to state that they were alive and did vote at the March 2, 2020 elections. Persons were even upset that they were being used in the APNU+AFC alleged she nanigans.

OTHER CLAIMS

In May 2020, current leader of the PNCR and the Coalition, Aubrey Norton, had made wild claims that at a polling station in Bush Lot,

Region 5, the People’s Pro gressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) secured 199 votes and the Coalition secured four votes – but there were only 199 registered voters for that polling station.

He had said: “I want to point out that in Box number 5083 at Bush Lot, Region Five, the official list of elec tors had 199 persons.”

The polling station in reference was at the Bush Lot Nursery School [Divi sion 52213C (ii)]and the number of registered voters whose ballots would have been placed in Ballot Box number 5083 is 257 – not the 199 that Norton claimed.

FISHING EXPEDITION

Notably, it had been pointed out that each politi cal party had polling agents would could have objected to any suspect voter, given that they had access to infor mation of every voter listed to vote at a particular polling station – in the form of voter folios.

Also, the almost fourweek long process of Claims and Objections, which pre ceded the March 2, 2022 General and Regional Elec tions, provided an opportu nity for the names of persons who died to be removed from the Official Voters List and the Coalition has not been able to say why it did not make objections during this period, as opposed to making them now, after the voting process.

Importantly, the report from the Caribbean Com

munity (CARICOM) team on the national recount of votes cast on March 2, 2022 concluded that the Coalition had embarked on a “fishing expedition” with its claims.

The Caribbean Commu nity (CARICOM) three-per son observer team, which witnessed the national re count of votes from the March 2020 Elections, said clearly that: “…nothing we witnessed warrants a chal lenge to the inescapable conclusion that the recount results are acceptable and should constitute the basis of the declaration of the re sults of the March 2, 2020 elections.

“….the team categorical ly rejects the concerted public efforts to discredit the polls up to the disastrous Region 4 tabulation…the numerous requests for information on several serial numbers were so bizarre that on one ob served occasion, an APNU/ AFC agent was prepared to query serial numbers on the OLE (Official List of Elec tors) in a work station where no one had noted. These challenges were often made on the ground of death and migration…the team viewed much of the exercise as a fishing expedition designed to gather data for a possible election petition and which resulted in considerable time being wasted during the re count. Furthermore, the net was cast extremely wide in the hope of at least making a small catch and at times the anticipated harvest ended in slim pickings.”

Police Force asked to investigate authenticity of documents used by Coalition says persons were ‘mistakenly’ included on list

Documents from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in hand, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, has moved to for mally request the launch of an investigation by the Guy ana Police Force (GPF) into the APNU+AFC Coalition’s claims of voter imperson ation, as well as verification

of the authenticity of the documents provided by the Coalition to GECOM.

Nandlall, in a Septem ber 14, 2022 letter to Po lice Commissioner, Clifton Hicken, requested a “spe cial” investigation of the information contained in the documents presented by the APNU+AFC Coalition

during the national recount of votes from the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.

“I am forwarding those documents to you with a re quest from the Government that a special investigation be launched by the Guy ana Police Force (GPF) and such other agencies, and/

or person(s) authorized and supervised by the GPF, to determine the veracity of the data contained in the documents as well as the authenticity of some of the documents themselves and all matters and actions of persons connected there with,” the document said.

During the March 2020

election debacle, the AP NU+AFC Coalition had written to the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh and pro duced the false data to back up their unfounded claims.

The GECOM Chair had con firmed that the immigration authorities had confirmed

that 172 of the persons she enquired about were not in the country on elections day, March 02, 2020.

Claims by the AP NU+AFC Coalition that it has evidence to support the contention that dead persons voted at the March 2, 2020 Elections remain unsubstan tiated.

Criminal case related to Jordan’s misconduct in office continues on October 31st

Further submissions were in the case of criminal charges relating to Winston Jordan’s misconduct in pub lic office were submitted to the Magistrate’s Court on September 14, 2022.

Jordan’s matter is being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.

The case is scheduled to continue on October 31, 2021.

Notably, a related civil case was dismissed in the High Court on September 13, 2022.

ARRESTED

Jordan was arrested by ranks of the Special Organ ised Crime Unit (SOCU) on December 2, 2021 for alleged misconduct in public office.

SOCU Prosecutor, Tuan na Hardy, requested that the accused be tried summarily in the Magistrates’ Court. However, Jordan’s lawyers objected and argued for a tri al by jury in the High Court – meaning a Preliminary

Inquiry would take place at the Magistrates’ Court and once the magistrate finds that a case has been made, it would then be referred to the High Court for trial by a judge and jury.

Jordan’s lawyers have not made their submissions in the case, where he is facing charges of misconduct in public office.

The case to which the charge is related is the sale and vesting of the state’s largest wharf facilities locat ed at Kingston, Georgetown. The charge stated that the property, Mudlots 1 & 2, F of Mudlot 3, A, B & D, situated at North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, was valued at billions, but was sold at an undervalued sum.

Jordan issued a vesting order, which passes Title to the purchaser, for prime waterfront properties in Kingston to BK Marine Inc. without full payment. The company is owned by Bri an Tiwari. The property is reportedly worth a whop ping $8B. The purchase

price, however, was set at $400M. In a strange turn of events, Tiwari only paid $20M – not the full price for the land. The Transport was subsequently issued for this property. Notably, the agreement of sale stated that Title must only pass upon full payment of purchase price. The vesting order stat ed that the property is being sold free from encumbrance and liabilities and no further sum of money is owed by the purchaser.

This was among nine transfers of state lands were signed off by the AP NU+AFC Coalition’s Jordan and exposed via the March 28, 2020 edition of the Offi cial Gazette.

INVESTIGATION

In October 2021, Attor ney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, announced that an investiga tion into the dealings of the former APNU+AFC govern ment is actively being pur sued. During a press briefing at the Office of the President

on October 14, 2021, Nandlall said, “There were a number of transac tions that were done under the previous government that will be subjected to investi gations and charges may flow if those investigations yield those charges based on the advice, of course, of the Di rector of Public Prosecutions. That is an ongoing process… many people believe that we may not have been pursuing this with the desired speed. That is not so. There are so many other things that have happened since that have di verted the attention of the Po lice Force in other directors. But we remain committed to that promise to investigate these transactions.”

According to the Attor ney General, Jordan has been implicated in a number of nefarious transactions. “The former Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, has been implicated in a number of nefarious and questionable transactions, which we intend to send to the Police Force and to other authorities for

Norton put on blast for latest attempt to stir divisions among Guyanese along race lines

The latest ramblings of Leader of the PNCR and the Parliamentary Op position, Aubrey Norton, were rubbished by Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, who charged that his misinfor mation seems deliberately intended to stoke divisions among Guyanese.

Norton, at a news confer ence on Tuesday (Septem ber 20, 2022), charged that Afro-Guyanese are being denied lands and lands that were issued at various loca tions are now the subject of legal action initiated by the current Administration.

Nandlall rejected the no tion that the PPP/C Govern ment had been discriminato ry when it comes to matters regarding State lands. “We don’t look at it on the basis of race,” he declared.

The Attorney General, referencing supporting docu ments, disclosed that the for mer APNU+AFC Coalition government’s practices were not above board and noted that in one case, involving three acres at Providence,

East Bank Demerara, the purported contract is null and voice. This land, he explained was leased to the woman in 2017 for some 20 years and she was expected to pay US$1,950 along with VAT as a deposit and the same amount per year but never did. “US$2,000 a year and never paid a cent from 2017 to September 2020… not even the deposit to sign the lease…not even the first month’s rent. NICIL, the landlord took back the land because there was no consid eration in the contract. The contract is null and void,” Nandlall said. According to him, Norton’s move to say that the land was taken back because of race is dangerous.

In a second case where Norton compared the in tended regularisation of Pi geon Island, Region 3, to the removal of squatters in Mocha, East Bank Demer ara, Nandlall explained that the former is a settlement that is over 50-years-old and persons have transports for their properties – a situation

is very different from the latter. The Attorney Gener al underscored the fact that Pigeon Island, Region 3, is not the only area where reg ularization efforts are being undertaken; rather, they are also being done in Number 4 and Number 5 Villages, West Coast Berbice, Region 5, which are areas that are predominantly Afro-Guya nese villages.

Further, Nandlall charged that while the Opposition is talking up legal action ini tiated to retake other lands, Norton and those of his ilk should also admit to the pub lic what process was used to giveaway state lands.

He added that many of the persons who acquired State lands under the previ ous administration he said are giving up the properties as they recognise the illegal ity of the transactions that took place.

Weeks after the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, a 180-page docu ment - extraordinary edition of the Official Gazette on

March 23, 2020 – showed that the APNU+AFC Coa lition’s Jermaine Figueira, alone, secured two plots of land in Linden, Region 10, which totals over two acres. Also while the gazette was dated March 21, 2020, all the land transfer orders were signed by the Coalition’s Winston Jordan on February 28, 2020 – raising concerns that the documents may have been backdated.

There was also a rush in the giveaways after the December 2018 No Con fidence motion. Dozens of land transfers were signed off on. Some of these also took place after the former Coalition government lost the 2020 Elections on March 2, 2020.

Already, former finance Minister, Winston Jordan, has been charged for public misconduct in office and is currently before the court. The case, unlike what Norton is trying to lead Guyanese to believe, does not involve an Afro-Guyanese, but an Indo-Guyanese businessman.

investigations.”

These include:

• Hiding receipt of the US$18 million signing paid by ExxonMobil for over a year;

• The alleged sale of a num ber of prime pieces of land, many “far below market value” and “without the requisite public procure ment process”, after the December 2018 No-Con fidence Motion, as well as after the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elec tions; and

• The alleged sale of several vehicles from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to close associates of the then administration with observing proper proce dures.

Commenting on the in vestigations, Nandlall had said, “This is what we owe, as a government, to the peo ple of this country. After all, we have a duty, a fiduciary duty, to the people of Guyana to protect public property and public funds – public funds that are owned by the people, public property that are owned by the people. We have a duty to protect them and to call in the State’s in vestigative apparatus, where the circumstances require investigations to take place. We have certainly identified certain areas.”

QUESTIONABLE DEALS

Further, while in Oppo sition, the PPP/C had iden tified several questionable

deals and promised to have these investigated – includ ing the alleged sale of vehi cles to Jordan’s children for under $300,000.

Jordan’s arrest followed the move to send the file into his conduct in office to authorities for a criminal investigation.

A statement by the Guy ana Police Force said, “Of ficers of the Special Organ ised Crime Unit (SOCU), Guyana Police Force, made contact with Mr. Winston Jordan and invited him to attend the office of the unit at Camp Road, Georgetown for questioning in relation to a series of alleged fraudulent transactions in which he is implicated, involving public funds and state properties, estimated to value billions of Guyana dollars. Today (December 2, 2021), at or about 10:30 hrs, Mr. Jordan, in the company of two At torneys-at-Law, attended the SOCU office at Camp Road and was interviewed….this is only one of several in vestigations that implicate former Minister Jordan.”

The embattled former Coalition minister was re leased on his own recogni zance. When charged, he was not required to plead to the charge, was released on $3M bail. Jordan’s lawyers are APNU+AFC Coalition Parliamentarian, Roysdale Forde and Khemraj Ram jattan, as well as Attor neys-at-law, Dawn Cush, Joseph Harmon, and Darren Wade.

Claims process ends with almost 6,000 transactions

Objections period to end on September 25th

The Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM)

Claims and Objections, which commenced on August 22, 2022, saw the Claims process ending on September 21, 2022 and the Commis sion recorded almost 6,000 transactions.

Relative to Claims, as of Wednesday (September 21, 2022):

• 1,129 requested changes and corrections;

• 1,858 requested transfers; and

• 3,006 persons used the op portunity to make a claim that they were not regis tered.

Replacement of national identification cards and re takes of photographs were also addressed.

Relative to Objections, as of Wednesday (September 214, 2022), just over 15 has been recorded. The process ends on September 25, 2022.

The Claims and Objec tions process allowed persons

to, among other things, object to any dead persons that may be on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

Once the entire process is completed the Preliminary List of Electors will be used to generate the Official List of Electors (OLE).

OBJECTIONS PROCESS

Objections against the inclusion of names in the PLE can be tendered to the Registration Officer of the Registration Area.

Objections can be made by an Elector who is listed in the same Division list or Sub-Division list in which the person being objected to is listed.

Objections can also be made by approved Scru tineers of Political Parties provided that any such Scru tineer has monitoring respon sibilities for the Division or Sub Division in which the person being objected to is listed.

The relevant original doc uments such as an original Death Certificate must be presented at the time of the hearing to support the basis upon which the objection is made.

The Commission is urg ing all eligible persons to ensure that they use this opportunity to be registered for inclusion in the Revised List of Electors (RLE) and ultimately the Official List of Electors (OLE) to be eligible to vote. “Persons are also encouraged to object to the inclusion of the name of any person whom they believe should not be on the list, based on the legal provisions. Persons who were registered in the recently concluded Cycle of Continuous Regis tration need not reapply to be registered,” the Commission said.

This exercise, according to a GECOM press release, will be conducted at all of GECOM’s permanent Reg istration Offices in the ten Administrative Regions.

GECOM appoints Assistant Chief Election Officer

T he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) at its Statutory meeting held on Tuesday (September 20, 2022) appointed Bev erley Critchlow as Assis tant Chief Election Officer (ACEO).

According to a statement from GECOM, Critchlow’s appointment emanated from a transparent process that involved all of the Members of the Commission. The Commission made clear that the process saw all Com missioners being availed of the opportunity to interview all of the shortlisted candi dates and, thereafter, indi cate their respective choice to fill the position.

“In this regard, having heard the submissions of all of the six the Commis sioners relative to the can didate of their respective choice for the position of ACEO, Justice of Appeal (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, Chairperson of the Com mission concluded that Mrs. Critchlow’s qualification and experience, as well as her institutional knowledge, placed her at an advantage above the other candidates,” the statement said.

GECOM added that the newly appointed ACEO was

employed with GECOM for 20 years and acted in the position as ACEO on mul tiple occasions, the most re cent being 2017-2019. “The experience she garnered in the field of registration and electoral processes; having worked in differ ent areas including but not limited to the registration of eligible non-resident per sons, non-resident balloting, overseeing the operations of 29 Registration Offices and Sub Offices, preparation of Official Lists of Electors (OLE), extracting names of members of the disciplined forces from the OLE, make her eminently qualified for the post. The Commission extends best wishes to Mrs. Critchlow on her appoint ment and for a successful tenure,” the Commission said.

Meanwhile, GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gun raj, noted that the final vote on the appointment saw the APNU+AFC Coali tion-nominated GECOM Commissioners not support ing the appointment. “We went through a competitive process. They obviously have their person who they want but everybody had a vote on…Mrs. Critchlow

is the most qualified person who has served without any issue,” he said.

According to Gunraj, the three Coalition-nominated GECOM Commissioners preferred Ms Melanie Mar shall, a former Returning Officer for Region Four.

Notably, Marshall’s ap pointment to the post of Voter Registration Manager in April 2022 was mired in controversy, as was her functioning as former Re turning Officer for Region Four.

Marshall – who was contracted as Registration Officer at GECOM – func tioned as the Region 4 Re turning Officer during the 2015 Elections. Her office was locked and her where abouts unknown at the time that PPP/C was attempting to request a recount of votes in Region 4.

Further, sacked Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, had bypassed the Commission to appoint Marshall as Voter Registra tion Manager. Given that the position of Voter Regis tration Manager is a senior position, it had to have been approved by the Commis sion. Marshal continues to function in this post.

Coalition ‘mortally afraid’ of being fully exposed in attempt to undermine will of people – Nandlall

The Parliamentary Oppo sition’s “mortal fear” at what the international Com mission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 Elections will expose is being mani fested in various ways, ac cording to Attorney General, Anil Nandlall.

And he charged that the latest gimmick to attempt to raise eyebrows at spending on the Commission of Inqui ry. Noting that all funding for the Commission has to be appropriated by the Na tional Assembly, Nandlall, on Tuesday (September 20, 2022), said, “It is going to be an expensive undertaking, and I want to assure that ev ery single cent of the monies that are going to be expended will be made public, because it is public funds. We are going to make it public.

“But they’re not wor ried about the money, what they’re worried about is the exposure. What they’re worried about is what the commission of inquiry may expose; that is what they’re worried about, and the con sequential actions which may flow therefrom. So, the monies expended and to be expended are to be made public.

“…APNU+AFC would be vehemently opposed to the CoI for obvious reasons. They are mortally afraid of the CoI uncovering the roll

that they played… exposure is imminent, those who are guilty are going to naturally object, and you are seeing the manifestation of the ob jections, manifestation of the pandemonium, manifestation of the hysteria unfolding. They don’t want this com mission at all…it is not about money, it was never about money.”

The Attorney General stressed that the operations of the international Elec tions CoI are important to Guyana. He reminded of the destruction Guyana and its people had to face econom ically and socially during past elections’ riggings in the 1900s – something which he noted the country has not fully recovered from. Nandlall said, “This inquiry must ensure that those things never happen again, and if you think this inquiry mustn’t happen, well then you assess the monetary value of the destruction which took place when elections were rigged in this country, and then you will understand that the monies that will be spent here is of a miniscule value when you compare the damage that rigged elections have done to Guyana and its people.

“The benefits [of this CoI into the 2020 Elections] are that those who acted in consort with those who are part of the rigging cabal to

rig those election results must be exposed, so that the public would know them and appro priate actions can be taken thereafter. Secondly, that their role and what transpired must be enquired into and put on the public, permanent record of this country, so that future generations will know who they are and what role they played or attempted to play in the destruction of this country.”

“..this inquiry and its re port must prevent others from ever attempting the type of atrocity that we witnessed on March 2, 2020 and the events that followed thereafter.”

SEVEN-MONTH DEADLINE

The members of the inter national Elections Commis sion of Inquiry (CoI) were sworn in on September 13, 2022.

Retired Justice of Appeal of the Turks and Caicos Is lands, Stanley John took the oath before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan as chairman of the commission. Former High Court Judge and Act ing Justice of Appeal in the Eastern Caribbean, Godfrey P. Smith SC; former Chair and Former Chancellor (ag), Carl Singh, OR, CCH, were sworn in as members.

According to the Order, detailing the appointment, the Commissioners, in keeping

with the Terms of Reference for their functioning, are to: • Inquire into and report upon the relevant circumstances and events leading up to, and the procedures following, the Regional and General Elections held in Guyana on the god day of March 2020, not limited to but including: - the counting ascertainment and tabulation of votes polled and the public declaration of those results by the Returning Officer of Electoral District No. 4 and other election officers, as prescribed by sections 84 to 89 of the Rep resentation of the People Act, Chap. 1:03:

- what attempts, if any, were made to obstruct, frustrate, subvert and prevent the counting, ascertainment and tabulation of votes polled and a declaration of the true re sults of Electoral District No. 4 as prescribed by sections 84 to 89 of the Representation of the People Act, Chap. 1:03, and by whom;

- what attempts, if any, were made to obstruct, frustrate, subvert and prevent a deci sion of the Guyana Elections Commission made on the 14 day of March 2020, to con duct a national count of the votes polled at the General and Regional Elections held in Guyana on 26 March 2020, from being executed and implemented, and by whom;

- the conduct of the Chief Election Officer, other Elec tion Officers, and others, - in respect of the discharge and execution of the statutory duties of the Chief Election Officer prescribed by section 96 and 97 of the Representa tion of the People Act, Chap. 1:03

• Make such recommenda tions as the Commission deems fit and necessary to permit the Guyana Elections Commission to discharge its statutory functions prescribed by sections 84-89.96-97 of the Representation of the People Act, Chap. 1:03 in a manner which is impartial, fair and compliant with the Constitution and relevant leg islation and to make any oth er recommendations which the Commission deems ap propriate having regard to the law and to any evidence which may be presented.

In October 2020, Ali dis closed that the Government of Guyana was in talks with the international 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 much interested…the international

community was a key part in ensuring that democracy was protected…so the inter national community is going to play a key part in this and they are very keen and they are very interested…in rela tion 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 in vestigation into the elections was made by Ali, during his inauguration speech on Au gust 8, 2020. “All of us have an obligation to the nation and to ourselves to ensure that, never again, should any generation of our people be subjected to such unlawful behaviour. Therefore, a re view of events related to the electoral process over the last five months will begin shortly to determine forensi cally exactly what transpired and to hold accountable any person who sought to pervert and corrupt the system.” The Head of State had said too that all necessary reforms will be pursued to make de mocracy stronger, and the electoral process more trans parent.

The Commission of In quiry was appointed in accor dance with Section 2 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, Chapter 19:03.

BHARRAT JAGDEO

[A review of Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent engagements]

Oil revenues to be utilised for capital investments in major sectors – VP Jagdeo

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo has made it clear that the PPP/C Administration will uti lise revenue from the bur geoning oil and gas sector for capital investments in education, healthcare, in frastructure and other trans formational projects.

The Vice President was speaking at the Albion Com munity Centre, Region Six, where some 268 contracts were signed to the tune of $6.8 billion for road works across the region.

VP Jagdeo said the AP NU+AFC’s anti-develop

ment policies and lack of transformative initiatives resulted in economic hard ships during its tenure.

However, he noted that the PPP/C Government re versed many of these mea sures and will continue to invest to improve the liveli hood of all Guyanese.

The Vice President pointed out that, “Capital works means building for the future. It allows new industries to be developed. It allows the citizens to have greater access to better ser vices, but that was not the objective [of APNU+AFC].

So we made it clear that any oil money has to go towards capital expansion, roads, hospitals, schools, sea de fences, eating industry, so we can diversify the econ omy and produce new jobs in the future. That is quite clear,” the VP added.

Further, Dr Jagdeo said while the government, since assuming office, was chal lenged by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other external factors, a proactive approach is being taken to buffer the effects of the increased cost of living. “We now have massive

plans that we promised, we didn’t drop the plans be cause of COVID. We prom ised to cut electricity price by 50% in the five years. We are now moving forward with a power plant to do that… that would have sta ble electricity for the whole country at half the price. We then have enough power to put every street light that you want,” he highlighted.

Dr Jagdeo said the gov ernment has ensured the operationalisation of the Natural Resources Fund (NRF) to ensure the prudent and transparent utilisation of the oil funds.

Reference was made to the part-time jobs initiative which is supplementing household income. “So job creation was one of the things we campaigned on and that is why we’ve seen an upsurge in jobs now, since the last two years in spite of the COVID. Many countries have lost jobs, but we’ve had an upsurge and now we’ve had nearly 11,000 people working as part-time workers,” VP Jag deo highlighted.

In the region alone some 4, 000 persons have been employed through the pro gramme.

public assistance and pen sion, every $1,000 increase in public assistance and pension is close to a billion US dollars. So we increased the old age pension by 40%. That’s about $1,000 and we said we’ll double it by the end of the term, but that really is equivalent to nearly $8 billion,” the VP related.

Dr Jagdeo said the gov ernment remains committed to its promises. He also addressed a number of con cerns raised by the resi dents.

Region Six will benefit from $8.6 billion in road works, as 268 contracts were signed today at the Albion Community Centre to commence works.

Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo who led an outreach to the region said overall, some $20 billion will be expended on roads and bridges in the region. He noted that one of the main demands throughout the country has been for better infrastructure.

According to him, the recent meeting held in the region has prompted an increased investment in community roads from $4 billion to $10 billion. It was also highlighted that the in vestment in the region is to compensate for the neglect the region has endured for five years under the previ ous administration. “To day we are here now where over 200 more roads with about over 260 contracts will be awarded. So that will keep the promise that over

300 roads will be done this year,” Dr Jagdeo said.

“I said we had $4 billion in the budget for and that we would probably have to in crease another $4 billion to get this done. Well it will be $10 billion that will be spent on community roads in this region,” he added.

The investment has been described as essential by the Vice President, who also made it clear that in the next budget, the government will continue to invest in the de velopment of infrastructure in the region.

The Vice President also disclosed that $10 billion in contracts have been awarded to facilitate the widening of the main access road to four lanes. However, he said the government is still ironing out some kinks to make the transformation possible.

“We want a major four lane from Moleson all the way to New Amsterdam. So that is what we are now look ing at but already contracts to the cost of $10 billion

have been awarded to do 99 bridges on the main road to widen them. If we are going with the four lane, we probably have to amend those contracts to widen them even further so we can accommodate the entire four lane road,” the Vice Presi dent stated.

Contractors executing the works were issued a stern warning by the Vice President to not only com plete the work in the stip ulated time but also to pro duce quality work. This means, carefully following the scope of works as out lined in the contracts. “If when we test that and we find that any one of those things are not met, you are not getting another contract”

The regional leaders were also called upon to ensure that the people of the region get value for their money.

The Vice President is currently in the region on an outreach with several minis ters of government. contracts signed for road works in Region Six says $20B for roads, bridges in the region

The fund, unlike under the previous government, is now being managed by an independent board. “The Minister of Finance does manage it. We put in place a board of directors to manage the fund. And the private sector has one representa tive on the board and the parliament has submitted a representative on the board. The opposition has a nom inee now on the Oversight Committee to see that the money is spent properly.”

The return and increase of the ‘Because We Care’ education grant, when com bined with the school uni form and supplies grant, sees each child in the public and private schools receiv ing $30,000.

“So that’s a transfer of $6.2 billion into the pockets of the children and their families. That was not there before. People sometimes don’t realise how much that costs. And when you look at public assistance, and

The Vice President was accompanied by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibil ity for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, Minister of Agri culture, Zulfikar Mustapha, Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, Min ister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, Minister within the Ministry of Pub lic Works, Deodat Indar, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, and other regional officials.

Hundreds engaged during

Having stressed the impor tance of outreaches to main tain engagement with Guyanese across the country, Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, led a team on an

outreach to Region 6 on Septem ber 16, 2022.

Notably, Jagdeo, in addressing the importance of engagement at the grassroots level, had said,

“This is an essential part of our ethos as the PPP, which is keep ing in touch with people on the ground…the best form of that en gagement is to gather your infor

mation directly from the people, without that information being sterilized…the only way you can get a feedback on how your poli cies are affecting people is go to

the ground and listen to them….it is essential for a country like ours to give people that sort of forum.” Jagdeo had also noted that that a country’s democratic credentials

during Region 6 outreach

are thought to be bolstered by more formal engagements, such as conferences, etc., but the biggest test of a participatory democracy is how much a government can

give people a voice at every level in rural and urban areas. “This is the ultimate test of a participatory democracy…the NGOs may not like that, some of that, because

many of them will never do what we do….to allow free expression without censorship or fear…it is an important thing when people can stand up and fearless speak…

that is good for a democracy….we see that all as positive, even the criticisms about government ser vices….it gives us an opportunity to fix the issues,” he said.

Several PPP/C government officials have been engaged in community outreaches since the current Administration took of fice.

POSITIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT

Guyana ready to lead in climate, energy, food security ─ President Ali tells Diaspora in Florida

T

hough the global com munity continue to bat tle major issues associated with climate change, energy and food security, Guyana has positioned itself to lead the world in these areas.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali, while meeting with Guy anese living in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, said his government is managing the country in a way that will ensure sustainability, resilience and prosperi ty. “We want to position Guyana through the lever aging of our natural assets, through the leveraging of our natural competitive ad vantage, position Guyana at the front seat of all three of these areas. And we are very humble about this. We un

derstand our responsibility in the world, we don’t need anyone to lecture us about our responsibility in this world,” the president stated.

The COVID-19 pandem ic has severely ravaged the globe, leaving an additional 97 billion people to survive on less than US$2 per day. Dr Ali said global poverty has increased from 7.8 to 9.1 per cent between 2020 and 2021, a direct result of Covid-the worst the world has ever seen. Ali said, “The food security in one year, equals the collective food insecurity for five years prior to 2020. You think you have a problem with Covid? Brace for what is to come with food security in the world…and it is getting

worse. Not only is the war in Ukraine that will make it worse with the supply chain prices, but the devastation in the floods in Pakistan, the drought in Europe, the supply is getting slimmer and slimmer. This is another major, major problem com ing at us like a Tsunami.”

In addition to the war in Ukraine, there is an export ban on rice from India and wheat from Russia, which are contributing to a 12.3 and 9 per cent increase in rice and wheat on the global market.

Guyana however, has been leading a massive food security agenda in the Ca ribbean Community (CAR ICOM) heightening efforts to reduce the region’s US

$5 billion food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

In the area of climate change, Guyana has also taken a lead, holding de veloped nations responsible for the role they play in the debilitating issue.

Under President Ali’s leadership, the country launched an impressive Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 in its bid to protect the envi ronment while at the same time receiving payment for its contribution of carbon credits. “We have been safe guarding a forest the size of England for all our lives, saving the world, being the lungs of the world… and we are going to continue to safeguard that forest,”

President Ali asserted. Guyana presents 18.3 million hectares of standing forest, covering 87 per cent of the country’s land area, the second highest percent age of forest cover on earth and stores 19.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide.

The president said while the world has changed over the last two years; it will also change in the next 10 years. He noted that unless a system is built which will allow the development of a successful framework, the country will fail. “So, the investments that we are making now, must be in vestments that will prepare the population, prepare the country, prepare the econ omy for what is to come in

10 years. That is important, very critical to the develop ment path,” he stated The president is in the United States to address several high-level events while at the 77th session of the United Nations Gen eral Assembly (UNGA), currently underway in New York.

Since his arrival in the US last week, Dr Ali at tended a meeting between Caribbean leaders and US Vice President, Kamala Harris, a follow-up to Presi dent Biden’s and Vice Pres ident Harris’s commitment at the recent Summit of the Americas to partner with the Caribbean to promote energy security, access to finance and food security.

US$28M to advance food security in the Caribbean

finance for various projects.

The PPP/C government’s ‘One Guyana’ initiative is aimed at putting Guyana first, according to Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.

The president was at the time speaking to members of the diaspora at a One Guyana Interfaith Forum at the Jamai ca Performing Arts Centre in Queens, New York. “If we conceptualise the concept of One Guyana as a phrase, we would not achieve what One Guyana is looking to achieve, because One Guyana is not a phrase, a slogan or pieces of words, One Guyana requires action, commitment, it re quires the fulfilment of ev ery single one of us, joining collectively in pushing one thing forward. I’m not asking anyone to be PPP, APNU… PNC, all I’m asking for in the One Guyana construct, is for all of us to put Guyana first and do what is right in posi tioning Guyana first, and the rest will take care of itself,” the president said.

There must be individual effort in putting Guyana first and working towards a pros perous and unified country, President Ali asserted. “Once we are able to understand that our country should be first and our efforts should lead to position our country first, then we will rid ourselves of the selfish desires that bar us sometimes from putting our

country first,” he added.

The president noted that the country must be built on values and a system that promotes peace, dignity and honour, and is embodied in the constitution and rule of law. “We cannot claim to love the country and at the same time find it convenient not to abide by the rule of law or to respect constitutional rule or to respect and honour democracy or the rights or the will of people. Those are principles and values we must never sacrifice and if together we all agree that these are principles and values that are paramount to anyone any in dividual, any system, whether political system or political party, we are standing on these values that will support the future of the country we want to build,” the president said.

The head of state also informed the gathering about the developments taking place in Guyana, citing rapid growth in all sectors includ ing infrastructure, housing, health, education, and tour ism, among others.

He also highlighted a multiplicity of opportunities now that Guyana has the resources to realise its true potential.

The president also and fielded questions from the audience.

HisExcellency Dr Ir faan Ali, last week, an nounced that Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean will benefit from US$28 million from the United States (US) government.

The investment will sup port increased food produc tion and agriculture develop ment in the region.

The president made the announcement following a meeting with US Vice President, Kamala Harris, President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, and other members of the US-CARICOM-Dominican Republic sub-committee on food security and agriculture.

Guyana currently has the responsibility of chairing the US-CARICOM-Dominican Republic sub-committee on food security and agriculture.

Dr Ali explained that over the past week, there have been 10 meetings of the sub-committee, which is cochaired by Foreign Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Robert Persaud.

The president also used the meeting as an opportunity to propose a joint approach to

ensure regional sustainability in the energy sector, which includes natural gas, fossil fuels, and renewables. “As you are aware, Barbados, Su riname, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are key players in the energy sector. I pro posed at the meeting that the US engage these countries in an effort to build a sustain able development strategy for energy security—not only for the region, but for the US and for the oil field,” he stated.

An agreement was also made to tackle trade barriers that exist within the region and the US.

“We have agreed that we’re going to have a com mon agenda, in which we will support a common certi fication programme, sanitary and vital sanitary programme to ensure that we are all op erating on the same playing field, and that all the barriers are removed,” the president noted.

The United States Gov ernment will also be help ing the Caribbean region in advancing its agenda for energy security along with assistance in securing more

Guyana has been advanc ing its efforts to reduce the cost of energy by 50 per cent by 2025 through an energy mix of solar, hydro, wind and the use of natural gas.

Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean will also ben efit from improved access to finance from the United States, a release from the White House stated. It said the US Administration will continue to work to expand access to U.S. International Development Finance Cor poration (DFC) financing for private sector-led projects in the Caribbean.

Back in July, Guyana signed a historic US$2 bil lion Memorandum of Un derstanding with the EXIM Bank to fund projects in several areas including, in frastructure, energy, telecom munications and agriculture.

Based on the release, the US Treasury Department will intensify its engagement with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in Fall 2022, to expand access to develop ment finance for Caribbean countries.

The US Treasury De partment is also expected to explore US membership

in the Caribbean Develop ment Bank. This includes consultations with the U.S. Congress and discussions with the Office of Manage ment and Budget and consis tent with U.S. standards for membership in multilateral development banks, in Fall 2022. “The U.S. government will elevate engagement with Caribbean nations to im prove access to correspon dent banking, including by convening a correspondent banking working group in Fall 2022, reestablishing the U.S.-Caribbean Public-Pri vate Bank Dialogue in late 2022/early 2023, and helping Caribbean nations establish a single bank to consolidate cross-border flows across the region,” the release said.

President, Dr Irfaan Ali was in the US to participate in several bilateral engage ments and address several high-level events, including the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 21, 2022. He, along with several Caribbean leaders met with United States Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, a follow-up to the Summit of the Americas held back in June.

‘One Guyana’ requires action, commitment by all − President Ali

─ President Ali meets with US VP Harris

FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE

Hinterland youths urged to ‘seize opportunities’ being created

Hinterland youths are be ing encouraged to seize the plethora of training op portunities being offered by the government to ensure they remain part of the mas sive educational development underway in Guyana.

Amerindian Affairs Min ister, Pauline Sukhai under scored that the government has made available special ised skills training in the health and education sectors targeting hinterland youths.

“We are going to ensure that our young people, in this first term, have the opportunity to develop themselves aca demically; where not only the coastal young people, but also the hinterland young people are being put first, with respect to the initia tives for young people. His Excellency has pronounced that all the young people of the hinterland who are qual ified in various subjects and who are interested in joining the teaching profession or the health system, that they should make sure they send in their applications so that we can start training in mass, the young people of the hin

terland, to fit into the edu cation and health services”, Minister Sukhai said.

The minister was at the time delivering remarks at the North Pakaraimas foot ball competition recently held in Kato, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). t the event, which saw Mahdia emerging as the winner of the male category and Para makatoi as the female cham pions, Minister Sukhai also urged persons to put their athleticism on show when they compete in the heritage games in Georgetown, next month.

As part of President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s One Guyana initiative, the dispar ities between the coast and hinterland are being aggres sively addressed.

President Ali himself, as well as government minis ters, continue to wing out to these far-flung areas, provid ing the necessary support and offering opportunities for em ployment and empowerment.

Persons in the hinter land have already benefitted from scholarships under the Guyana Online Academy

of Learning (GOAL) pro gramme.

However, the PPP/C Government, which believes in holistic development, has already paved the way for these hinterland scholars to study right in their villages, by releasing hundreds of mil lions of dollars to rehabilitate or construct Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hubs in each Amerindi an village.

This programme, which restarted when the govern ment took office in August 2020, also employs persons in the villages, as the vil lage council is tasked with managing and executing the construction of the buildings.

When completed, the ICT Access and E-services for Hinterland, Poor and Remote Communities Unit, under the Office of the Prime Minister will be tasked with outfitting the ICT Hubs with comput ers, solar panels, batteries as well as internet connectivity.

So far, over 60 communi ties have been powered and residents are enjoying access to the internet.

19 Community Health Workers graduate in Region Seven

N ineteen persons on September 17, 2022 graduated from the Commu nity Health Workers’ Train ing Programme in Bartica, Region Seven.

The event was hosted at the Maternal and Child Health Clinic.

This programme was a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Health and the Regional Democrat ic Council (RDC) of Re gion Seven. The five-month training programme com menced on April 11, 2022.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, while con gratulating the graduating batch, encouraged them to continue improving in the health profession, as there will always be something

new to discover. “What we don’t want is for people to come into the sector and stagnate. With this pro gramme, it is great. You’ve passed and you’re doing well. But now, you have to gain some experience. When you gain those expe rience, we hope that you’ll start thinking about the next step. What else would you like to do in health? And once, you start thinking about those next steps, we’ll be there to facilitate you so that you could grow and de velop,” the minister stated.

Dr Anthony urged the graduating class to use the knowledge gained to bet ter serve their communi ties. “One of the things that we’re doing at the Ministry

of Health is that we’d like to see more trained profession als. And you would notice that we’re not having these classes where you have to travel to Georgetown. But instead, we’re bringing the tutors to you, so that you could be trained right in the region,” he said.

The minister further not ed that this initiative has made a ‘tremendous differ ence’ as more persons are applying to be a part of the programme, since the train ing is closer to home and the same quality of teaching is being provided.

Regional Health Officer, Dr Edward Sagala encour aged the graduating class to always provide quality ser

Farmers from Kato, Monkey Mountain benefit from $32 million in equipment to boost agriculture

As part of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Rural Agriculture Infrastructure Development Project (RAID) farmers from the villages of Kato and Monkey Mountain in Region Eight (Potaro-Si paruni) are now set to benefit from improved pastures and land preparation for rowcrops production.

This was made possible through the procurement of heavy-duty farming tools to the tune of $32,587,766. Each village received a heavy-duty tractor with im plements that include a disc plough, a roam plough, a cassava planter, and a ditch digger.

Through this interven tion, communities are expect ed to benefit from improved land preparation for tradi tional crops such as cassava, row crops, and pasture lands. Farmers will also be able to plant seeds and other crops mechanically, thus reducing labour costs and enhancing productivity.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha while meeting with farmers and residents from Kato said the government was working to ensure farmers in hinterland regions benefit from the same opportunities as farmers on the Coast. “This project will cost over $16 million. These pieces of equipment will be assigned to the community to help farmers develop ag riculture in the community. The village will also receive assistance from the NDIA to maintain the machinery. We will assist you with fuel and

servicing of the tractor,” the minister said.

Minister Mustapha told the farmers that a compre hensive agriculture pro gramme needs to be devel oped to guide the operations of the machinery. This he noted, will ensure all of the farmers benefit from the use of the new equipment.

Meanwhile, at Monkey Mountain, several farmers raised a number of concerns with the minister. They noted that their farms were located across the river in Region Nine because they didn’t have land to plant close to their homes. Additionally, farmers and residents said that they needed assistance with irrigation, access to markets, and technical sup port to develop and expand their production.

Many farmers related that, in the past, crops like Irish Potatoes were grown on a large scale in the village and sought his assistance with providing the necessary support to cultivate those crops once again.

Minister Mustapha told farmers that it was time to expand and increase their cultivation, adding that the ministry will make the nec essary resources available to ensure this happens. “It is time for us to do agriculture in a smarter way. We need to move away from subsistence farming. If you need assis tance with your production, we will help you. If you need markets for your produce, we will help you. We have the New GMC that is now tasked

with finding markets for your produce. Now that you have the tractor, you will be able to improve your farmlands.

For persons whose farms are in Region Nine, we will work with you to develop plots on this side of the river so that you are closer. This will also help with the use of the machinery that you have here. We’ll help you to develop 50 acres of farmland on this side of the river. You have the tractor and imple ments and we’ll also make fencing materials available.

Through NAREI we’ll also make the necessary planting materials available so that farmers can cultivate the different varieties of cassava and root crops. For those per sons planting cassava, we’ll send a cassava mill here so that you can process your cassava,” he added.

The minister also an nounced that each household will benefit from 25 black giant chicks to help boost poultry production in both villages.

Teams from the ministry are expected to return to the villages to discuss improved irrigation, aquaculture de velopment, and poultry ex pansion projects, as well as how the ministry can assist with helping farmers expand their vegetable and root crop cultivation.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Hon. Pauline Sukhai and other officers from the Ministries of Agriculture and Amerindian Affairs also formed part of the visiting delegation.

Minister Zulfikar Mustapha

while handing over the keys to the brand new tractor to the Toshao of Kato

PPP/C DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Gov’t approves Local Content Master Plans with new 45-day payment period

The Ministry of Natural Resources on September 14, 2022 approved the Local Content Master Plans of tier-one contractors – SBM Offshore, Halliburton among others – operating in Guy ana’s oil and gas sector.

The signing, which took place in the boardroom of the Ministry of Natural Resourc es’ head office in Kingston, Georgetown, comes on the heels of a newly proposed modification by the Local Content Secretariat. This amendment, which is in cluded in the five-year local content plan and is enforce able by law, will now see contractors and sub-contrac tors operating in the nation’s petroleum sector issuing payments to Guyanese sup pliers within 30 to 45 days following the receipt of a correct invoice.

At the signing, Minis ter of Natural Resources Hon. Vickram Bharrat un derscored the importance of contractors and sub-con tractors implementing this

amendment. He reminded that the move promotes lo cal suppliers’ competitive financing and growth through appropriate contract and pay ment terms, and is in keeping with Guyana’s Local Content Act.

Also sharing comments on the signing, the General Manager of SBM Offshore Mr Martin Cheong expressed the company’s excitement about the approval of its Master Plan. He went on to state, “We have been hiring an increasing number of Guyanese, engaging more local suppliers for the provi sion of goods and services, and expanding our training and capacity building pro grammes as our operations increase in the country.”

Meanwhile, Halliburton’s Country Lead Mr Vahman Jurai said with the approval of the company’s five-year local content plan, it is cogni zant of one of Halliburton’s guiding principles of “Global Citizenship”.

Mr Jurai related, “Hal

liburton is eager to work closely with our local ven dors, sharing our knowledge when needed. We hope to significantly contribute to the development of Guy ana’s talent in the oil and gas sector, whether through the university programmes we support or through hands-on experience working with us.”

The identified contrac tors, sub-contractors and licensees have demonstrated, through their Master Plan submissions, their commit ment to fostering local con tent in their operations by:

• prioritizing Guyanese nationals for employment;

• having policies aimed at non-discrimination and equal treatment of Guya nese nationals;

• implementing training and other programmes to build the capacity of both their employees and the larger Guyanese work force;

• coordinating with indus trial and technical educa

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25 Buxtonians sign $56M in contracts to rehabilitate bridges

– employment, training underway

Twenty-five contractors from the village of Bux ton, East Coast Demerara were awarded contracts to rehabilitate 25 bridges in the community to the tune of $56 million.

The massive upgrade is a commitment made by the PPP/C Administration, fol lowing a ministerial commu nity outreach led by Prime Minister, Mark Phillips back in July.

The signing ceremony was held at the Buxton NDC on September 14, 2022.

Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill said the project is a demonstration of the government’s pledge to bring development across the country. As the govern ment creates opportunities for employment for residents and increases community

engagement, Buxton will not be left out, the minister assured. “This intervention should not be taken lightly. You spoke, we heard, we re sponded. We expect that with the awards of these contracts your workforce will be from Buxton. So that would mean employment for young men and women during the period of this project,” he stated.

The NDC Chairman had initially highlighted 16 bridges that are in urgent need of rehabilitation.

However, upon further inspection by the ministry’s engineers, it was discovered that a total of 25 bridges would need to be rebuilt.

To this end, the ministry has awarded one lot to each of the 25 contractors.

Additionally, an engineer was assigned to overlook

the process and offer advice to contractors so that the works could be effectively executed.

In order for contractors to acquire the knowledge to bid for government contracts, the public works ministry will also be facilitating training on Sunday from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.

The move is another measure by the government to assist persons to gain con tinued employment. “We are starting you off this way so that the little profit that you may garner from this contract is to give you a seed to tendering for other jobs to get your foot going,” said Minister Edghill.

A representative from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Reve nue Authority (GRA) will be present to teach persons how to apply for their business compliances.

Squatters to be relocated to facilitate $1.5B Independence Boulevard project

– Public Works and Housing ministries to discuss way forward

The Public Works Minis try will be engaging the Housing and Water Ministry to put systems in place to relocate squatters residing at Cemetery Road, Punt Trench, and Saffron Street to facili tate the Independence Bou levard enhancement project.

Public Works Min ister, Bishop Juan Edghill on Wednesday engaged the squatters to chart a way for ward for the $1.5 billion project. “Quite a few people who have dwelling, have al ready applied for house lots, we will engage the Ministry of Housing and Water to see how we can get them relo cated fastest so that we can get this process going,” said Minister Edghill.

The 1.8-kilometre Inde pendence Boulevard project will be constructed in three phases.

There will be two car riageways, a double and a single on each side. Concrete drains will also be construct ed, along with a promenade between the two carriage ways.

The engagement with the housing ministry will allow squatters to acquire a title, and comfortable living accommodations, while en abling them to access legal electricity and water. It is a demonstration of the PPP/C Administration’s commit ment to supporting every Guyanese, as the country continues on its upward tra

jectory. “We have engaged everybody. We don’t want to take a strong-arm approach, so we have engaged people to move and we will provide whatever support,” the min ister stated.

Meanwhile, the minister pleaded with the public to refrain from turning the relo cation process into a political issue. “Anybody who wants to make small politics and create confusion out of this will not be tolerated, because the general attitude is people want to see that this area developed,” he emphasised.

He extended sincere gratitude for the level of cooperation by businesses and squatters following the discussions.

Fire prevention training to roll out across Guyana

The Fire Advisory Board of Guyana has launched an education awareness out reach programme to inform the public on fire safety and prevention.

The programme was launched via a small cere mony at the Laurie Lewis Lecture Hall, RK Security National Headquarters, on September 14, 2022.

Speaking during the cer emony, Chairman of the Board, Ramesh Sugrim said

that the outreach will be conducted in all regions.

“Guyana is taking off rapidly, and likewise the skill of our people, the safety of our peo ple, and the future as a whole, we will have to incorporate all those developments for our future,” he noted.

He expressed hope that the security and safety in Guyana could resemble that of the ABC countries in South America.

The ABC countries are

the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, seen as the three most powerful, most influential and wealthiest countries in South America.

“Our security skill is par amount, our fire safety skill is also paramount important, because we need to protect our assets too,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, highlighted that there is still a long way

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Airy Hall, Mashabo, Bethany residents benefitting from TVET training

Sixty- two persons from Airy Hall and the Amer indian Villages of Mashabo and Bethany in Region Two (Pomeroon- Supenaam) will benefit from the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) technical training courses for self and community de velopment.

Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton who spearheaded an outreach to the region, on Saturday noted that the train

ing will transform the lives of the participants.

The training is part of the PPP/C Administration’s commitment to upskill Guy anese in preparation for the upcoming job opportunities in the country.

Participants will receive training in Fitting and Ma chining, Welding and Fab rication and Heavy-duty Mechanics. The four-month training programmes were

tailored specifically to the demographic of the areas.

The minister has also committed to providing free transportation, for persons residing in farflung commu nities.

All the training pro grammes have a practical component, which caters to community development. Persons will be issued with accredited certificates at the end of the programmes.

Distribution of $150,000 cash grant to fisherfolk begins in Region Six

Fisherfolk in Region Six on Friday began re ceiving the government’s $150,000 one- off grant.

The exercise was led by Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo at the Port Mourant Community Centre Ground and the Skeldon Community Centre Ground respectively.

The distribution of the grant is the fulfilment of a commitment made by Presi dent, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali to fisherfolk back in May.

While fisherfolk were ex pecting to receive the grant sooner, Vice President Jag deo explained that the gov ernment had to take every measure to verify the list of persons who registered for the grant.

This he said is based on past experience with persons being dishonest with the dis tribution of the flood relief

grant. The actions of those persons, he said, reflected the government in a negative way. “One thing we don’t want to do is to not help people who actually are fish ermen. That is why we took some time on putting up the names, asking the same peo ple from the community… So we say don’t blame us if you don’t come and object now. Don’t come and blame the PPP saying this man did not catch any fish,” the Vice President told the gathering.

He said the government has decided that the process cannot be delayed any longer because many of the persons on the list are in need of the assistance now.

However, he noted that while most people will be receiving their grants today, some will have to wait for further verification due to

several issues. This includes some persons who do not have any form of identifica tion. “We look at the voters list and we look at the ID. So a lot of the people who are on both and that is majority of the people will get their grant today. Some people don’t have ID cards. We have the cheque but we are not going to give you. We are going to meet with you and you are going to verify who you said you are. And then there is another set who don’t have ID cards and are not on the voters list so we don’t know if they exist or if it’s the right person,” the VP explained.

Those fisherfolk without identification were assured by the Vice President that they will not be excluded, but stressed that there is need for verification.

Small contractors benefit from taxation training

Days after 25 contractors from Buxton East Coast Demerara, signed $56 mil lion in contracts to rehabili tate bridges in their village, the Ministry of Public Works on Sunday facilitated a taxa tion training for contractors there.

Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill urged participants to take advantage of the training in order to understand the mechanisms involved in the bidding process. “We want you to be able to follow the process, and come out with a

competitive advantage. We came to Buxton to demon strate our love, concern and willingness to work with you.

The PPP/C Administration wants to ensure that every small, medium, and large contractor get a piece of the pie for the development of Guyana,” the minister told participants.

The training was facili tated by representatives from the Guyana Revenue Author ity (GRA) and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). Participants were guided in

the key processes in applying for business compliances, such as applying for a TIN certificate, and registering for E-services.

Last week, 25 contractors from the village were award ed contracts to rehabilitate 25 bridges in the community to the tune of $56 million.

Minister Edghill had said that the project demonstrates government’s pledge to bring development across the coun try and was another measure to assist persons to access continued employment.

200 Lethem residents receive house lots

S ome 200 residents of Lethem, Region Nine are now closer to achiev ing homeownership as the Ministry of Housing and Water- Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) took it’s second ‘dream realised’ house lot distribution exercise to the township on Friday.

The allottees were al located house lots in the new Tract CHPA Housing Scheme, where $530 mil lion is being spent on the first phase of infrastructural works.

The activity was led by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal and Minister within the Minis try, Susan Rodrigues. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CH&PA, Sherwyn Greaves, Regional Chairman Bryan Allicock and Mayor of Le them, John Macedo were also in attendance.

Speaking at the open ing ceremony held at the regional housing office compound in Tabatinga, Minister Croal said the ac tivity forms part of the gov

ernment’s national housing programme which aims to ensure every citizen has access to decent, safe and affordable housing. “At the end of the day, these are all intended to stimulate a transformation within this lovely Region Nine and how do we do this and what is the spinoff? It also ensures that in all that we are doing, we are creating jobs, and investment op portunities for residents all across this region,” he told the more than 500 persons gathered at the event. The minister said that these developments are being undertaken under the ‘One Guyana’ umbrella, where every citizen regardless of their location or back ground, will benefit.

Similar sentiments were shared by Minister Ro drigues who said that the President Irfaan Ali-led PPP/C Government’s vi sion for the housing sector goes beyond just provid ing a piece of land, but it is ensuring that persons have the means necessary

to build their homes in wholesome communities equipped with all the basic amenities. Speaking on the 50,000-house lot target by the year 2025, she said, “We have been reaching our targets annually, and we will continue to distribute house lots for those persons who have been waiting.”

Meanwhile, the minis try officially launched its Lethem housing support programme which allows prospective homeowners to receive $1 million each to commence the construc tion of their homes. The initiative was announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali during an outreach to the Rupununi Region last month.

A total of 350 allottees successfully registered for the programme. Represen tatives from the New Build ing Society (NBS) and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) were also on ground pre-qualifying persons for loans.

Last November, some 400 house lots were distrib uted in the township in the low-, middle and high-in come brackets.

– programme

PPP/C DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

‘Street Light’ project launched to keep children off streets

The Ministry of Human Services and Social Se curity on Monday launched the ‘street light project,’ an initiative aimed at ensuring children have a safe environ ment away from the dangers that lurk on the roadways.

The programme was launched on the second day of Child Protection Week 2022, which is being held under the theme “Keeping Children Safe through Com munity Collaboration.”

Human Services and So cial Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud reempha sised government’s effort to provide the necessary support to ensure no child dwells on the street. “We want a coun try where there is no child on the street, if that child needs shelter, and food, and education and everything else that is a child’s right. The ministry is committed to providing that, the ministry is also committed to work ing with the parents and the family, to ensuring that when that child goes back into the

family’s care, those things will be provided, because we will create a database and follow up those children to ensure that they have stability in their lives,” the minister stated.

Officers from the minis try’s child protection office have reported seeing over 30 children on Monday alone in specific areas, especially at traffic lights in Georgetown.

Minister Persaud said the initiative comes after a year of actively working with par ents and children to resolve this growing issue.

The Child Protection Law of 2009. Section 49, states, “A person who by commis sion or omission wilfully contributes to a child being a child in need of protective intervention commits an of fence and is liable to a sum mary conviction to a fine of $200,000 or to imprisonment of six months”.

The minister called on parents, guardians and cit izens to report instances of children being on the streets,

as they are exposed to a se ries of risks. “It’s important when we have children on the street to understand the risk out there not only of exploita tion, but of abuse. And it is also important to look deeper into the matter to see what triggers those children being on the street, and why their parents are not integrally involved in supervising them.

So, when you see children on the street, report it, make that call 914, three easy numbers to remember, make that call report what you see,” Dr Persaud urged.

The ministry is collabo rating with the Guyana Po lice Force to ensure children receive the help they need.

Child Protection Officers will also be patrolling com munities across the country to ensure children are kept off the streets.

UN Resident Coordina tor Yesim Oruc, UNICEF representative Irfan Akhtar and members of the police force were also present at the launch.

20 new swine farmers benefit from improved breeds to boost production

As part of the govern ment’s continued ef forts to ensure food security, the Ministry of Agriculture through its Guyana Live stock Development Authority (GLDA) and the Agriculture Sector Development Unit (ASDU) today handed over a number of improved breeds of pigs to new and estab lished swine farmers.

A total of 20 pigs (17 fe males, 3 males) were handed over to the farmers to assist them with improving their stock and boosting the coun try’s overall pork production levels. These farmers will also be required to assist other swine farmers once their pigs mature and begin to reproduce.

are taking precedence. Tak ing note of what took place over the last two years as a result of the global pandem ic, many countries, though having financial resources, were unable to purchase food because of the restrictions. Guyana, on the other hand, produces most of the food we are consuming. As a govern ment, we want to do more. We want to produce more food for local consumption and export. This is why we continue to make budgetary allocations in various sectors, especially in the agriculture sector. If the agriculture sec tor is successful, we’ll have food security,” Minister Mu stapha said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources wishes to reiter ate that the model production sharing agreement (PSA) that is currently being developed by the Government of Guyana will garner more economic benefits for the nation and its people. The government’s position has been and will con tinue to be, that the 2016 PSA, shared between ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) and its partners, re mains without a renegotiation as in keeping with contract sanctity. Notwithstanding this, the licencing for every new field to be developed since 2020 has seen significant im provements in both environ mental and fiscal benefits for Guyana. This will continue to be the trend for all new invest ments in the Stabroek Block until the contract renegotiation period is reached.

The government is fully aware of the amendment made to the 2016 PSA by the former APNU+AFC government, dat ed April 26, 2019. The amend ment saw that ExxonMobil Guyana is disallowed from

recovering, through cost oil, the two per cent royalty to be paid to the nation. This modi fication has been implement ed and enforced through the mechanisms on the payments for royalties and cost recovery conditions, and the monitoring features which set out for the governance of the cost bank regarding the projects subject to petroleum operations.

The recent reports in the media present that the 2019 amendment to the PSA sets the precedent for the renegotiation of the entire contract between Guyana and ExxonMobil. The government reiterates that the contract will remain fiscally unchanged for the country and investors’ benefits.

The model PSA being developed will be adapted for all new petroleum activities offshore Guyana – whether it be for exploration or produc tion operations. This includes the upcoming competitive bidding round that the govern ment intends to host in the last quarter of this year and other commercially viable discover ies that will be made in other oil blocks. The 2016 model or

any previous PSA will not be applied to any other oil block where a discovery has been made.

The government is of the view, as has been under scored by His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Vice President Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, that if specific fiscal considerations are amended in the current PSA, then that could impose unfavourable effects on current and future investments in Guyana, given the current world petroleum economy.

The Government of Guy ana respects the investments made by the petroleum con sortium in the Stabroek Block and will continue to work assiduously, through various agencies, on every additional license and environmental permit as has been done for Payara and Yellowtail devel opments. These projects have shown that with the prudent management of the oil and gas sector, Guyana can garner more economic and social benefits for improved inter generational equity of the local economy.

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said the programme forms part of the government’s overall efforts to ensure food secu rity and reduce the regional food import bill. “Today’s activity is not only about giving these farmers im proved breeds of swine to boost their production. This activity will contribute to the bigger picture of achieving food security, reducing CAR ICOM’s food import bill, and accomplishing the goals and programmes of the govern ment. Today, in our country and around the world, we are seeing that our food pro duction and food security

Minister Mustapha also alluded to the fact that, for the first half of 2022, the live stock sector has grown. This, he added, was testimony to the government’s commit ment and unwavering support towards the development of the livestock industry and agriculture as a whole. The minister further stated that the ministry is now seeing an increase in demand for pig breeding stocks in regions that were not considered pig-producing regions.

Chairman of GLDA’s Board of Directors and MoA Director General, Madanlall Ramraj said the GLDA is well on its way to achieving its 2022 swine production

target. “We have a target of 4,200 sows to be produced by the end of 2022. To date, we are over 3,000 and we hope, long before the end of the year, to meet and surpass that target. Along with other areas in the livestock industry, we’ve set other targets. As a Board, we measure our per formance. We assess where we were before and continue to measure our production on a monthly basis. As it stands, we have over 11,000 in our flock of swine in Region Nine and over 36,000 heads of cattle. We still haven’t covered all of the areas in that region. So, whether it is on the Coast or the hinter land, we’ll continue to work to enhance the livestock sec tor,” Mr. Ramraj said.

Last March, 10 farmers benefitted from a similar ex ercise also intended to assist them with improving their breeding stock. During that event, GLDA’s CEO (ag) Dr. Dwight Waldron said that the animals were being made available through the Guyana Livestock Develop ment Authority’s 2022 swine improvement programme. The pilot programme he not ed, formed part of a $1.8 million investment by the government, and will see the GLDA collaborating with farmers to improve the swine sector’s breeding and meat production capacities.

2021 Auditor General’s Report handed over to Speaker of the House

Auditor General, Deo dat Sharma on Mon day (September 19, 2022) presented his 2021 report to Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, ahead of the statutory dead line.

Five performance audit reports namely the Manage ment of Medical Waste at Hospitals, Management of Drugs and Medical Supplies at the Ministry of Public Health and Regional Health Facilities, Receipt, Storage and Distribution of Text books at Schools, Review of Training Programmes Established and Developed by the Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and Guyana’s Preparedness for Marine Oil Spill Response were also pre sented to the house speaker.

Auditor General, Deodat Sharma hands over a copy of

the 2021 Auditor’s General Report and five performance audit reports to Speaker of the National Assembly, Man zoor Nadir

The speaker noted the importance of the reports.

“The five areas, are needed, necessary of course not suf ficient, but when you look at text books, when you look at drugs, those are two of the biggest areas of expenditure and the performance audits are designed to give an objec tive, critical, impartial analy sis of the processes so that we can get more efficiency out of the system,” Nadir said.

He noted that the perfor mance audits could be used for all of the accounting units to look at their own systems and utilise finances better.

According to him, Parliament has voted to make the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) become a member of the

Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts Commit tees, which will give Guy ana’s PAC exposure to the best practices obtained across the commonwealth. “We must feel proud that while windfalls are coming our way in terms of the resources, that all arms of the state are ensuring that the resources at our disposal are going to be transparent, traceable and used in the most efficient way possible,” Nadir said.

According to the Auditor General, the achievement reflects the office’s objective of timely reporting to the leg islature and the public. He said during the course of the year, in addition to regular audits, there was a roll out of several cash grants, includ ing the ‘Because We Care’, Children Living with Disabil ities, and the hinterland and

Gov’t reaffirms new model PSA will accrue more economic benefits for Guyana

Maintains 2016 Stabroek PSA will remain uncontended

Coalition attempting to rush Parliamentary...

ment, storage and distribution of COVID-19 supplies by the former APNU+AFC Coali tion government, during the period March 2020 to Au gust 2020, turned up several breaches.

The Ministry of Public Health and the Civil Defence Commission spent over $1 billion to buy equipment, food, drugs, and medical sup plies to fight the coronavirus disease or COVID-19. As well, donations were received from organizations to help in the fight. An audit conducted by the Auditor General’s office focused on how both agencies procured, stored, and distributed the items.

The Auditor General’s office, in its report, found that contracts were lacking key details. “The Ministry had no protection against late suppliers because the contracts did not have start and end dates and penalty clauses. Suppliers delivered close to $400M in supplies a month late, but the Ministry could not act against them. The Ministry lost money by not inserting penalty clauses in contracts, and vulnerable persons waited for supplies.”

The report, on page 2, said, “A penalty clause serves as a deterrent to prevent parties from breaching the terms and conditions of a contract…. we found that the Ministry had no protection against

late suppliers because many of the contracts did not have penalty clauses… in one in stance where the clause was included, the Ministry did not deduct penalty fees of close to $5M. This saving could have been used to purchase additional supplies to help fight the disease.”

Additionally, the report ed noted that over $400M in contracts was handed out without the necessary ap provals. Page 3 of the report said, “A total of eighteen (18) contracts valued at over $424M were awarded before approval was received from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.” The report on page 6 added that, “There was no monitoring of the perfor mance of contracts, which resulted in millions of dollars of supplies being delivered close to a month after the delivery dates had expired. In addition, the entities pre pared Purchase Orders after receiving supplies. These findings made us conclude that the entities did not pro cure COVID-19 supplies in an efficient manner.”

Hampers, according to the report, were not reaching intended recipients. “The Civil Defence Commission did not explain how it chose the recipients for more than 6,000 food hampers, valued at over $124M. The hampers

may have gone to ineligible persons and organizations. Further, the hampers were left at the entrance of homes, risking theft. Hampers were stored for months. More than 100 food hampers were in the Civil Defence Commission stores for over three months awaiting distribution. This delay denied citizens much needed assistance during the pandemic.” The report on page 12 said, “We concluded that the hampers may have gone to ineligible persons and organisations…. there was a lack of accountability for the more than 6,000 hampers distributed. There was no ev idence of acknowledgement from the recipients of the hampers…. as it relates to Government Ministries and Regions, the hampers were delivered to senior officials. We were unable to determine whether the distribution pro cess was transparent and only eligible persons received the hampers.”

Notably too, the report pointed out that donations were not always tracked. “The agencies did not al ways keep track of donations received in kind. Such poor practice could have resulted in the misuse of the items and citizens not receiving needed items.” The report on page 7 added that, “We noted that donations were received by the Ministry at its main

2021 Auditor General’s Report...

(From page 18)

office, the Materials Manage ment Unit and the Kingston Bond. The Ministry’s main office was the only non-com pliant unit that did not keep a gift register. Rather, bin cards were used to account for the items received. At the Kings ton Bond, we found that there were delays in updating the gift register. We noted that the register at the Materials Management Unit was last updated on 2 January 2019.” The Audit Office charged that

these poor practices could have resulted in the misuse of items and resulted in citi zens not receiving the needed items. The donations were also not valued by the receiv ing agencies.

The Audit office noted that in conducting Perfor mance and Value-for-Money Audits, the Auditor General examines the extent to which a public entity is applying its resources and carrying out its activities economically,

efficiently and effectively with due regard to ensuring effective internal manage ment control.

This report was prepared in accordance with Part V Section 24 (1) (b) of the Au dit Act 2004.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General Deodat Sharma has handed over the 2021 Audit Report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir, on Monday (Septem ber 19, 2022).

riverine villages cash grants.

“Our team of auditors were engaged in real time audits, where we were able to ensure the objectives of the activity were achieved beneficiaries received their grant without prejudice of any minor post review documentation issues, these real time audits also provided us with an opportu nity to witness firsthand the process, and there is no better audit evidence than first hand

witness,” Sharma noted.

He lauded the cooper ation received from minis tries and departments, and even ministers who availed themselves to answering questions.

Truth remains a stranger to...

der’s baseless rants. Guyanese, therefore, must demand that the PNC leaders stop their relentless efforts to malign and tarnish the personalities of people of substance in our country. It must be noted that a mere seven objections were recorded during the first three weeks of the Claims and Objections exercise. It is heartening to know that the

chairperson did not have to use her ‘casting vote,” since the decision to accept the AP NU+AFC request was unanimous.

It is also pleasing to know that at the end of the process, the numbers suggest that GECOM is not likely to be burdened with the numerous objections that the PNC usually, and shamelessly makes without any

substantiating proof. Further, the Continuous Registration exercise was also thorough, and all the political parties /stakeholders took part in the process without any nega tive comments at the end. This unanimous decision of the commissioners is a move in the right direction and with an acceptable Preliminary List of Voters, Guyana will be able to have Local Government Elections.

It is anticipated that the extension would serve to allow an extended acceptance period for the accommodation of all legitimate and evidence-based objections that ought to lend to further purging of the list of registered persons, qualified to be electors on the final official list of voters. From this perspective, the intent of the extension was supported by the PPP/C. After the process, there should be absolutely no talk of bloated lists, as the APNU/AFC/ PNC representatives should be using the opportunity to properly validate the accuracy of details presented to them.

Notably, Alexander alluded to persons turning up to make claims on September 13, only to be advised that the process was closed on September 12. The situation begs the question as to the reasons for the GECOM publication of the period of which Alexander and his party must be duly aware

and do their homework! The many efforts to delay Local Government Elections by known suspects must not be ignored or condoned.

One suspects that the opposition will continue to advance efforts intended to frus trate all efforts by GECOM to hold early LGEs. However, when Alexander blatantly lies and continues to throw false innuendoes in contradiction to objective actions by the Chairperson of GECOM, is a clear indication of how desperate the opposition could get.

The opposition is disdainfully con temptuous in attempting to use its lack of preparedness to splash dirty water in the face of the chairperson and the nation. They need to accept that genuinely prudent work was done successfully during the soon-tobe-completed process to produce a proper Preliminary List of Voters (PLVs) which GECOM will use to hold the overdue LGEs.

GECOM must win the confidence of the electors and demonstrate the institu tion will hold free and fair elections. The eminent retired Justice Claudette Singh must assert herself and win the hearts of our people.

Yours respectfully, Neil Kumar

Gov’t approves Local...

tion training institutions in Guyana to provide spon sorships and/or internship opportunities; • incorporating the require ments of the Act and the Procurement and Bid Eval uation Guideline issued by the Secretariat into their procurement strategy; • outlining the criteria for

the supply of goods and provision of services relat ing to their operations; • planning capacity-build ing activities for Guyanese nationals and Guyanese companies that supply goods and services to the industry, such as feedback sessions, supplier forums, etc.; and

(From page

• projecting anticipated ex penditure on local content values

The Ministry of Natural Resources through the Lo cal Content Secretariat will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that the goals of the Local Content Act are achieved.

Fire prevention training...

to go in improving safety and security in Guyana. “We need to talk more about pre vention, we need to talk more about prevention, we need to speak more about safety in totality and the security which goes along with it, and we need to improve our responses at the level of the fire service.”

He pressed the need for training in public and pri vate institutions, especially in domestic circumstances, where a large number of fires occur. “We have many more steps to undertake to have improvements and to make sure that the public is aware of the improvements we need to make, and the fact that we

(From page 16)

have to be vigilant in respect of the question about fires.”

The programme will be rolled out in businesses and schools across Guyana. The board consists of persons from the Environmental Pro tection Agency, the Minis tries of Home Affairs and Legal Affairs, the Guyana Fire Service, among others.

19 Community Health Workers...

vice within their communi ties. Dr Sagala advised the graduates to seek help when they have doubts about an issue.

Deputy Director, Health Sciences Education, Chan droutie Persaud encouraged them to be agents of change within their communities. She noted, “Today marks the pinnacle of your efforts. You’re now qualified to be a part of an extended team of healthcare workers with one common goal and that goal is to improve access to public health in your communities…Becoming a community health worker is not only a job but should be viewed as an honour to help your community to

become more health con scious. You would be their go to person.”

Meanwhile, Health Ed ucation Officer, Petal Gor don noted that this is the third batch of decentralised community health workers trained in the region, how ever, this was the first time that the revised curriculum was used in that region.

“The revised curriculum consisted of two phases, a community phase (health centre attachment) and a classroom phase,” she stat ed.

Valedictorian, Rattena Mohamed encouraged her fellow graduates to strive for greatness, be proud of their accomplishments and

(From page 15)

be an inspiration to others. Basic anatomy and physiology, English, dis ease surveillance, vector control, common illnesses, nutrition, first aid, mater nal and child health and integrated management of childhood illnesses are some of the areas covered during the programme.

There were six distinc tions, 12 credits and one pass. The initiative is part of the government’s plan to improve primary health care services across the country.

Presidential Representa tive of Region Seven, Erwin Ward, tutors, and staff of the Health Science Educa tion division also attended the ceremony.

Agri ministry rubbishes ‘malicious claims’ that Baracara farmers did not receive flood relief assistance

Claims by the AP NU+AFC Coalition’s leader, Aubrey Norton, that farmers in Baracara did not receive flood relief were rub bished as lies by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“A recent visit to Ba racara revealed a similar pattern of discrimination.

The residents of Baracara contend that the Ministry of Agriculture visited their com munity, assessed their losses which included many heads of cattle, among other live stock and crops and promised relief. The residents noted that similar losses on the Corentyne resulted in farmers obtaining millions of dollars as relief. The residents fur ther contended that when it came to their community, they were given $50,000 re gardless of the fact that they lost far more than that. The residents believe that it is a clear case of discrimination,” Norton said.

The Ministry of Agri

culture, in a statement, said, “These claims are a figment of the imaginations of the wild men in the PNC/APNU/ AFC and are intended to play on ethnic sentiments- a known tactic of the oppo sition to foment strife and discord.

“The truth is, following the floods, the Ministry of Agriculture deployed ex tension staff and regional officials to conduct several rounds of assessments in all farming communities in the country, which resulted in all affected farmers, including those in Baracara, who suf fered losses as a result of the floods, benefitting from the relief grants.

“Furthermore, the records will show that both livestock and cash crop farmers from Baracara benefitted from the grant, their signatures are on the distribution records of the Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, fifty-one (51) cash crop farmers received

cash grants for flood relief. Farmers also received lime stone, fertilizers, and farming tools, along with vegetable seeds and seedlings. With regards to livestock, an addi tional fifty-four (54) farmers benefitted from relief grants ranging between $50,000 to $500,000.”

SEE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

The Ministry of Agricul ture condemns in the stron gest possible terms, the ma licious and bogus claims by the desperate APNU/AFC, that farmers in Baracara did not receive assistance as part of the government’s flood relief efforts.

These claims are a fig ment of the imaginations of the wild men in the PNC/ APNU/AFC and are intended to play on ethnic sentimentsa known tactic of the oppo sition to foment strife and discord.

The truth is, following the

floods, the Ministry of Agri culture deployed extension staff and regional officials to conduct several rounds of assessments in all farming communities in the country, which resulted in all affected farmers, including those in Baracara, who suffered losses as a result of the floods, bene fitting from the relief grants. Furthermore, the records will show that both livestock and cash crop farmers from Baracara benefitted from the grant, their signatures are on the distribution records of the Ministry of Agriculture. Additionally, fifty-one (51) cash crop farmers received cash grants for flood relief. Farmers also received lime stone, fertilizers, and farming tools, along with vegetable seeds and seedlings. With regards to livestock, an addi tional fifty-four (54) farmers benefitted from relief grants ranging between $50,000 to $500,000.

On August 11, 2022, His

Excellency President Dr. Ir faan Ali made a historic visit to Baracara and committed additional resources for farm ers of that community and others in the Berbice River, including clearing of farm lands, drainage and irrigation works, setting up a bee-keep ing operation, farming tools, seeds and livestock, includ ing Black Giant Chickens and two replacement Brahman Bulls. These were all deliv ered to the community.

As a matter of fact, Bara cara is the only community that benefitted from both financial and biological assets in the form of replacement bulls following the 2021 floods.

What we stated above was reported widely in the press and could be easily validated. However, we are not surprised the opposition chose to deliberately mislead the public on this matter in their deliberate bid to paint the People’s Progressive Par

ty/Civic in a negative light. The reality is, the APNU/ AFC is embarrassed at the fact that, for five years, it failed to provide any sup port to Baracara and many other communities with its fallacious claims to be its ‘stronghold’.

We assure all farmers and citizens of this country that the PPP/C will continue to govern in the interest of all Guyanese. We will continue to equitably distribute the resources to everyone.

We, therefore, urge the people of Guyana to ignore the racist campaign of the desperate and deflated oppo sition whose modus operandi is to create division and racial hostility among our people. Let us focus on the bright and promising future ahead as we work together in support of President Ali’s vision of a ‘One Guyana’.

[SEE RELATED RE PORTING ON PAGE 7]

Ali stresses commitment to judicial settlement in Guyana-Venezuela border controversy

Guyana will continue to champion the peaceful resolution of the territorial controversy with neighbour ing Venezuela, according to President, Dr Irfaan Ali, who made the comment during his address at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Wednesday (Sep tember 21, 2022).

“Guyana does not con done or support the threat of, or use of force in relations between states or in the reso lution of disputes. Consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, Guyana subscribes to the use of peaceful means to settle disputes,” he said.

CARICOM SUPPORT

Guyana has the support of the Caribbean Commu nity (CARICOM) on this issue, which, on July 6, 2022, stressed its “full support” for Guyana in the ongoing judi cial process addressing the Guyana/ Venezuela border controversy.

The communiqué at the conclusion of the forty third regular meeting of the Con ference of CARICOM Heads of government, said, “With respect to the case before the International Court of Justice concerning the Ar bitral Award of 3 October

1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela), Heads noted that Guyana had submitted its Memorial on 8 March 2022, in accor dance with the schedule set by the ICJ to hear the case, concerning the validity of the Arbitral Award of 1899 and the related question of the definitive settlement of the land boundary between the two countries. Heads re iterated their full support for the ongoing judicial process that is intended to bring a peaceful and definitive end to the long-standing controversy between the two countries. Heads reaffirmed their firm and unwavering support for the maintenance and pres ervation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana.”

The Forty-Third Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held from 3-5 July 2022. Chair of the Conference, the President of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi presided over the proceedings.

DELAY

In June 2022, the Reg istrar of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has advised that the Government of Venezuela has submitted a

Preliminary Objections to the admissibility of the case be fore the Court regarding the Arbitral award of 3 October, 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela).

And the Ministry of For eign Affairs has noted that the Venezuelan Government is engaged in an effort to delay the Court’s final judge ment on the merits of the case.

In a statement on June 8, 2022, the Ministry said, “Venezuela had previously not recognised the jurisdic tion of the Court to consider the case, the Ministry of For eign Affairs and International Cooperation also notes that, by submitting an objection at this advanced stage of the proceedings before the ICJ, the Venezuelan Government is patently engaging in an effort to delay the Court’s final judgement on the merits of the case.

“Nonetheless, by its ac tion, the Venezuelan govern ment now joins the judicial process which Guyana had always urged it to do, a step that Guyana welcomes, con fident of the validity of its position on the merits of the case.”

The Rules of Procedure of the ICJ allow for such an objection to be lodged and considered by the Court, and

that, as a consequence, the proceedings on the merits of the case are suspended until the Court rules on the Prelim inary Objections.

“The Guyana Govern ment will submit its observa tions, with dispatch, as soon as the Court advises of the time by which it expects to receive them. The Ministry emphasises that, at all times, Guyana has steadfastly ad hered to the rule of interna tional law, and the rules and procedures of the ICJ, with regard to this matter, and we will continue to do so,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

JURISDICTION

The ICJ on December 18, 2020 delivered its Judgment in the case concerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezue la) – relative to the question of the Court’s jurisdiction. The court ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear Guyana’s case seeking the validation of the 1899 arbitral award es tablishing the boundary with Venezuela. Venezuela did not take part in the proceed ings. The judgment found that both Guyana and Vene zuela had conferred authority on the UN Secretary General under Article 4, paragraph two of the February 17th 1966 Geneva Agreement. That agreement allowed the Secretary General to choose a means of settlement under Article 33 of the Charter of the United Nations which included judicial settlement.

A press statement from the ICJ said, “In its Judg ment, which is final, without appeal and binding on the Parties, the Court, by twelve votes to four, finds that it has jurisdiction to entertain the Application filed by the Co-operative Republic of Guyana on 29 March 2018 in so far as it concerns the validity of the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 and the related question of the defin itive settlement of the land boundary dispute between the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Bolivarian

Republic of Venezuela… (the Court) unanimously, Finds that it does not have jurisdiction to entertain the claims of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana arising from events that occurred after the signature of the Ge neva Agreement.”

ICJ CASE

The Hague-based Inter national Court of Justice (ICJ) held public hearings on the question of the Court’s jurisdiction in the case con cerning the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v. Venezuela) on June 30, 2020. The ICJ had postponed the long-anticipated hearing of the Guyana/Venezuela border dispute case that was sched uled to begin on March 23, 2020, citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Guyana is seeking to ob tain from the Court a final and binding judgment that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the location of the land boundary between then-British Guiana and Ven ezuela, remains valid and binding, and that Guyana’s Essequibo region belongs to Guyana, and not Venezuela.

Guyana took its case to the Court following the de cision by the Secretary-Gen eral of the United Nations, in January 2018, that the controversy between Guyana and Venezuela should be decided by the International Court of Justice. In taking his decision, the Secretary-Gen eral was exercising the power vested in him in the 1966 Geneva Agreement between Guyana, Venezuela and the United Kingdom to decide how the controversy should be settled.

Venezuela has claimed, in a letter to the Court, that the Secretary-General exceeded his authority under the Ge neva Agreement, and that the Court therefore lacks ju risdiction to adjudicate Guy ana’s lawsuit. On this basis, Venezuela has indicated that it will not participate in the proceedings. On November 19, 2018, Guyana submitted its Memorial to the Court

refuting Venezuela’s argu ments and demonstrating that the Court has jurisdiction. However, under well-estab lished judicial precedent, the Court will proceed to decide if it has jurisdiction over Guyana’s claims, irre spective of whether or not Venezuela participates in the proceedings.

MOVE TO COURT

Under the United Nations Charter and the Court’s own rules, its final judgments both on jurisdiction and the merits will be legally binding on Guyana and Venezuela, whether or not Venezuela participates in the proceed ings.

Efforts over more than half-a-century, including a four-year Mixed Commission (1966-1970), a twelve-year moratorium (1970-1982), a seven-year process of con sultations on a means of settlement (1983-1990), and a twenty-seven-year Good Offices Process under the UN Secretary-General’s authority (1990-2017), all failed to end the border controversy.

The move to the ICJ was advanced there was no suc cess with a further attempt, using the United Nations’ Good Offices process, to resolve the matter of Ven ezuela’s renewed claim to Guyana’s territory, the Esse quibo County. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in 2015, charged that the signing of the 1966 Geneva Agreement rendered the 1899 Arbitral Award null and void.

On 30 January 2018, United Nations Secre tary-General António Gu terres, acting under the au thority bestowed upon him by the Geneva Agreement, chose adjudication by the Court as the means for resolving the controversy with finality. Guyana commenced proceed ings before the Court on 29 March 2018 in accordance with the Secretary-General’s decision.

Guyana’s legal repre sentatives before the Court includes the efforts of Sir Shridath Ramphal.

COVID-19 remains a public health emergency – Dr Anthony

Despite international re ports, COVID-19 re mains a public health emer gency in Guyana, even as the situation is under control.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, on Wednes day (September 21, 2022) said that people must remain vigilant in the fight against the disease to protect them selves and their families.

Dr Anthony noted that it is up to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Centres for Disease Con trol (CDC) to make such declarations that the pan demic is over.

He maintained that Guy ana takes guidance from the two agencies and not a spe cific country. “We take a lot of our guidance both from CDC and WHO, the WHO they have a special com mittee responsible for all public health emergencies.

That committee is scheduled to meet maybe in a month. When that committee meets it will evaluate where we are with the pandemic and then make a decision as to wheth er we continue in the mode that we are in, meaning that we have a public health emergency,” the minister explained.

He said until that status is changed, every country must be on alert. “I’m not sure that the report that the pandemic is over in the Unit ed States is entirely accurate, I do know that President Biden made a statement on 60 Minutes, saying that he thinks the pandemic is over because of how people are behaving, but in the United States, I think they still have lots of challenges because they are averaging, I think maybe about 400 deaths per day, globally have about

1600 deaths per day.”

Dr Anthony said people should pay attention to new strains of the virus like the BA2.75 which is more diffi cult to detect.

The current strains BA4 and BA5 cause milder symp toms for most people, with few having complications.

He reiterated the impor tance of getting boosted, which helps the immune system to be better prepared to fight the effects of the disease and prevent compli cations.

Currently, over 444,680 persons in Guyana have taken at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while over 346,500 have taken a second dose.

There remains a chal lenge in getting persons to return for their booster doses, the health minister related.

How deadly is monkeypox? What scientists know

(Nature) Symptoms of se vere disease differ from those seen during past out breaks, causing researchers to re-evaluate their assump tions.

The global monkeypox outbreak has caused some deaths, but the death rate is lower than expected from historical data — and sci entists are breathing a cau tious sigh of relief. Out of more than 57,000 people confirmed to have had mon keypox infections, at least 22 have died, representing a death rate of about 0.04%. That’s significantly less than the 1–3% that has been reported during outbreaks caused by a similar viral strain in West Africa over the past few decades.

All of this has caused researchers to re-evaluate what they thought they knew about severe mon keypox.

In reality, the true death rate is almost certainly high er than current estimates: countries in some parts of the world, including Africa, might not be capturing all deaths during this outbreak because they have limited resources for testing and surveillance. And it could still rise, especially if the virus spreads more exten sively among people at high risk of severe disease, such as children, older people and those with severely com promised immune systems, says Andrea McCollum, an epidemiologist who heads the poxvirus team at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

HOW DOES MONKEY POX SPREAD? WHAT SCIENTISTS KNOW

Still, for the community that has so far been most affected — young and mid dle-aged men who have sex with men — the disease can be “extremely painful” and has been “causing a lot of suffering”, says Jason Zucker, an infectious-dis ease physician at Columbia University in New York City who has treated peo ple for monkeypox. The pain arises from distinctive fluid-filled lesions that the disease causes. Although some people have been hos pitalized for life-threatening complications such as diffi culty breathing or swelling of the brain, Zucker says, it has been more common to see people hospitalized for

pain management.

In the current outbreak, clinicians have been seeing fewer lesions overall than in past outbreaks in Africa. But a higher proportion of lesions are appearing on the body’s mucosal tissues. Previously, lesions appeared mostly on the skin — on people’s hands, feet and faces. Mucosal lesions ar en’t inherently more severe, but they aggravate sensitive tissue, so they can cause immense pain and interfere with swallowing, eating or drinking when in the throat, or urinating and defecating when in the genital and rec tal areas, Zucker says.

These lesions are also more difficult to identi fy and characterize than skin lesions. That means the monkeypox severity scale recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which uses number of lesions as a proxy for severity of illness, might need some fine-tuning, Mc Collum says.

SERIOUS OUTCOMES

So far during the global outbreak, deaths from mon keypox have occurred in at least ten countries, including Brazil, India, Nigeria and Spain. Efforts are under way to understand how the virus contributed to these deaths.

Some people who died — including one in the Unit ed States and one in Mexico — were severely immu nocompromised and had serious illnesses other than monkeypox. (These deaths have not yet been recog nized as monkeypox-related by the WHO.)

Two people who died in Spain developed encepha litis, or brain swelling, and had no other known risk factors. On the basis of previous monkeypox data, these deaths are “certainly alarming, but not totally surprising”, says McCol lum. Encephalitis is a rare but serious complication of many viral illnesses, includ ing those caused by herpes simplex and West Nile vi rus, and has been known to occur in otherwise healthy people who become infect ed, Zucker says. It is still not known whether encephalitis from monkeypox happens as a result of the virus infecting brain tissues, or because of an excessive immune response that causes brain swelling.

Researchers have also

seen seizures and enceph alitis in people with mon keypox during previous outbreaks: a review of past monkeypox literature pub lished on 8 September found serious neurological symp toms in less than 3% of the 1,512 people analysed1.

“We have to move be yond just considering mon keypox a skin and respira tory disease,” says Jonathan Rogers, a neuropsychiatrist at University College Lon don who co-authored the analysis. The monkeypox virus might have evolved since past outbreaks, but scientists are also learning new things about it because of the broader and more geographically-diverse pop ulation it is now affecting.

WHO’S AT HIGHEST RISK?

More research is needed to understand which indi viduals are most at risk for developing severe monkey pox — and which routes of transmission might be most dangerous, McCollum says. After a 2003 outbreak in the United States, when a shipment of rodents from Ghana spread the virus to pet prairie dogs in Illinois and infected more than 70 people, researchers noticed that disease severity differed depending on the route of exposure. People who were scratched or bitten by infect ed animals tended to have more severe disease than did people who were exposed to respiratory droplets and particles from the animals.

Although most infec tions in the current outbreak have resulted from close sexual contact, McCollum says, the site on the body that the virus first infects — skin versus mucosal tissue — might dictate the severity of disease.

More data are also need ed to understand whether the effects of a severe case of monkeypox can linger after an infection clears, Zuck er says. In their analysis, Rogers and his colleagues noticed that it is common to see scarring at the sites of former lesions. Not only could the scarring trigger stigma and depression, but it could also cause inflamma tion by constricting bodily canals such as the oesopha gus and colon, Zucker says.

“This is a reminder that this is not a mild illness,” McCollum says. “It can be quite serious.”

Constitutional reform could address further strengthening of electoral system – Nandlall

In addition to efforts by the PPP/C government to strengthen the electoral sys tem, via proposed amend ments to the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA) and the National Registration Act, Attorney General Anil Nandlall, noted that future constitutional changes could be advanced.

He explained that propos als for constitutional changes, where electoral laws are con cerned, could be entertained by the Constitution Reform

Commission, once it is set up. He said, “Nothing is cast in stone. Everything can change but we must understand the process and we must under stand what the law says on each of these matters.”

The Attorney General added, “We are committed to the constitutional reform process….we are going to strengthen the law by the electoral statutory reforms that are coming. We have a constitutional reform process that will come shortly and

that also…we have said it is a publicly driven process. Once the public consultation produces suggestions and recommendations to alter any part of the constitution, that will be addressed by the constitutional reform com mission.”

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 Constitu tion Reform Commission to review the country’s supreme 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 Com mission which will consist of 20 members.

Members of the Commis sion shall be appointed by the President and will include five members of the PPP/C, four members of the AP NU+AFC, one member each from the ANUG, the Guyana Bar Association, the La bour Movement, the National Toshao’s Council, the private sector, representatives of women organisations, youth organisations, Christian, Hin du and Muslim organisations, as well as nominee represent ing farmers.

Details of the Bill state that the commission will re view the constitution to pro vide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of the Guyanese people.

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

In conducting the review, the commission will consid er the full protection of the fundamental rights of and freedom of Guyanese under law, the rights of indigenous people of Guyana, the rights of children, eliminating dis crimination in all forms, im proving 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 after the National Assembly comes out of recess on October 10, 2022.

PROMISE KEPT Government’s model for constitutional reform is laid out in its 2020-2025 mani festo, and promotes the inclu sion of all Guyanese in the re view process. “We are aware that issues concerning con stitutional reform, particu larly in relation to a national, inclusive governance model, management of elections, fiduciary accountability, en hancing rights of Guyanese and ensuring constitutional language is simple have been raised and discussed in the public domain. However, we believe that these, as well as other issues, must be part of a process of widespread consultation with the people of Guyana before being acted upon. The extensive changes to our Constitution under the PPP/C followed such a pro cess,” government said in its party’s manifesto.

The manifesto said too that it is committed to contin uous revision of the Constitu tion and will ensure that the Committee on Constitutional Reform which will advance the work, will pursue nation wide consultation following the model used in the past, with half of the members from civil society and equal representation from Govern ment and the Opposition.”

The Constitution of Guy ana is the highest governing document in Guyana. It came into effect on October 6, 1980, replacing the consti tution enacted in 1966 upon its independence from the United Kingdom. Guyana’s Constitution was last amend ed on August 3, 2000.