Weekend Mirror 10-11 December 2022

Date set for Appeal Court hearing of Election Petition 88

A case management conference on Wednesday (December 7, 2022) by Guyana’s Appeal Court concluded with February 8,

2023 being set at the date for a hearing in the APNU+AFC Coalition’s only remaining election petition, Petition 88 – the second one

having been thrown out by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The matter is being heard by the Chancellor,

Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud and Jsutiuce of Appeal, Dawn Gregory.

PETITION 88

Petition 88 was dismissed in the High Court by the Acting Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire. Delivering her almost twohour long virtual ruling, she underscored the fact that the petitioners had presented not a single piece of evidence to substantiate purported irregularities they sought to advance.

The Coalition, on June 3, 2020, filed an appeal in the case of Petition 88, arguing that the ruling judge erred in the decision that was handed down. The matter is still before the Guyana’s Court of Appeal. November 1, 2022 has been set as the date for a report on the status of the records including the full judgment by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire.

Petition 88 argues that the Recount Order was illegal and unconstitutional and therefore the declaration of results based on the recount is illegal and unconstitutional.

The petitioners, Ms. Claudette Throne and Mr. Heston Bostwick were asking the Court to declare the election results null and void. In further seeking to do so, the petitioners are challenging the national vote recount process, Section 22 of the Elections Laws Act and Order 60 of 2020, which governed the recount.

Thorne and Bostwick are represented by Attorney-at-law and Coalition Parliamentarian, Roysdale Forde.

PETITION 99 DISMISSED AT CCJ

Notably, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), on October 19, 2022, ruled that the Court of Appeal (CoA) in Guyana does not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the appeal filed to challenge the dismissal of the APNU+AFC Coalition’s Election Petition 99 of 2020.

Justices Jacob Wit, Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, Denys Barrow, Winston Anderson and Peter Jamadar presided

over the case at the CCJ, which is Guyana’s final court of appeal.

Petition No.99, which challenged the final election results, was nullified by the Acting Chief Justice on the grounds of non-compliance of service on the second named respondent, former President Mr. David Granger.

Petition 99, argued that fraud was committed in the March 2020 Elections and over 115,000 votes were affected, benefiting the PPP/C. So far, Petition 99 has been thrown out and the other will move forward.

Petition 99 of 2020 was filed on September 15, 2020, by APNU+AFC Coalition agents Monica Thomas and Brennan Nurse. Thomas and Nurse named Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; David Granger – APNU+AFC Coalition; Horatio Edmonson – Federal United Party; Bharrat Jagdeo – People’s Progressive Party/Civic; John Flores –Liberty and Justice Party; Asha Kissoon – The New Movement; Vishnu Bandhu – United Republican Party; Adebin Kindi Ali – Change Guyana; Patrick Bourne –People’s Republic Party, Jonathan Yearwood – A New and United Guyana; Shazam Ally – The Citizenship Initiative; and Gerald Perreira of Organisation for the Victory of the People as respondents. The Attorney General Chambers also joined the proceedings.

In Guyana’s High Court, Acting Chief Justice dismissed Petition 99 on June 14, 2021.

The Appeal Court on December 21, 2021, ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of Elections Petition 99, which was dismissed by the High Court. While the matter was at the Appeal Court, Jagdeo’s lawyers had argued that there can only be an appeal after a determination is made in manner and this was not done in the case of Election Petition 99.

Application by GECOM staff facing charges to stop Elections CoI thrown out

Justice Damone Younge has dismissed a Notice of Application by Denise Babb-Cummings, Sheferen February and Michelle Miller seeking, among other things, a permanent injunction to prevent the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections from compelling them to give evidence.

The Respondents named in the Application were the Attorney General and the COI into the March 2020 Elections.

Babb-Cummings, February and Miller have been charged with conspiracy to defraud the March 2020 Elections, and, on 2nd December 2022, were summoned to give evidence to the COI established by President Irfaan Ali into the March 2022 Elections.

In a Fixed Date Application filed on December 5, 2022 by Eusi Anderson, attorney-at-law, against the Attorney General (the first named Respondent), and the COI established by President Irfaan Ali into the March 2020 Elections (the second named Respondent), Babb-Cummings, February and Miller sought several declaratory, and other orders, including: a permanent injunction preventing the COI from compelling the attendance

of anyone charged with a criminal offence related to March 2020 Elections; and damages in excess of GY$50 million, each, for the breach of the Applicants’ constitutional rights to due process, a fair trial, and the State’s willful exposure of them to self-incriminatory testimony under risk of compulsion and contempt. A Notice of Application seeking virtually similar orders was also filed.

In response to the Notice of Application, the Respondents submitted that while the High Court is vested with power to grant an injunction under section 23(1) of the High Court Act, Chapter 3:02 of the Laws of Guyana, sections 16 (6) and 16 (8) of the State Liability and Proceedings Act, Chapter 6:05 of the Laws of Guyana, expressly, and specifically prohibits the High Court from granting prohibitory or mandatory injunctions against the Respondents in the form of injunctive/coercive orders. The Respondents further argued that the COI into the 2020 General and Regional Elections is a State entity, given that it was established by the President exercising constitutionally granted supreme executive authority, and having activated section 2 of the under the Commissions of Inquiry Act

Cap 19:03, Laws of Guyana. That section provides that “The President [who] may issue a commission appointing one or more commissioners and authorising such commissioner or commissioners to inquire into any matter in which an inquiry would, in the opinion of the President, be for the public welfare.”

Having had the benefit of the Respondent’s written submissions, Anderson sought to abandon the application for an injunction, and instead request a conservatory order, which may be granted against the State in appropriate cases. This application was denied.

Denying all of the Orders sough and dismissing the Notice of Application by Babb-Cummings, February and Miller, Justice Younge ruled that the COI into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections is indeed a part of the State pursuant to section 2 of the COI Act. Consequently, the judge made clear that the injunctive relief claimed against the Attorney General and the COI into the March 2020 General and Regional Election is refused. Justice Young also ruled that the declarations requested for in the Notice of Application are identical to those in the substantive

Fixed Date Application, and to grant them would determine the Fixed Date Application. Further, according to the judge the conservatory order sough for during the hearing, and the elements to be satisfied are different from those required for an injunction. In any case, the case raised in the Fixed Date Application is not appropriate

for the grant of a conservatory order;.

The judge in dismissing the Notice of Application ordered Babb-Cummings, February and Miller are to pay costs of $75,000 each to the State by the January 16, 2023.

Meanwhile, the Fixed Date Application was adjourned until February 2, 2023, by which

time the State is required to file an Affidavit in Defence. The State was represented by Mohabir Anil Nandlall SC MP, Mr. Nigel Hawke, Solicitor General, Ms. Deborah Kumar, Deputy Solicitor General, and Ms. Raeanna Clarke, Senior State Advisor. The COI is being represented by Mr. C.V. Satram, attorney-at-Law.

GUEST EDITORIAL

APNU+AFC and the Afro-Guyanese Agenda

By Kwame McKoy, PPP Central Committee Member

For several years, the APNU+AFC has hoodwinked voters as the only political party that addresses the concerns of Afro-Guyanese.

In fact, the APNU+AFC Coalition has taken on an appalling posture as though it is lording over the affairs of Afro-Guyanese. Predictably, coalition propaganda mills are using race to demonizing the PPP/C administration as it seeks to hide their volley of sins against Afro-Guyanese.

Take for instance, the recent public assertions in the media by Dr. Marcel Hutson, an Afro-Guyanese and consummate professional with no stated political affiliation. Dr. Hudson spoke about his turbulent removal as Chief Education Officer (CEO) under the spiteful APNU+AFC regime. Dr. Hutson said, “My career as an educator, and more so as Chief Education Officer (CEO) spanning more than 33 years could have ended disastrously after being sent on extended leave for doing what I do best: Serving the children and people of this nation. There was a deafening silence on this matter by those with a penchant for talking.”

It was President Dr. Mohamed Irrfan Ali, whose caring and compassionate qualities along with his veneration for professional persons regardless of ethnicity, who was instrumental in Dr. Hudson returning to the Ministry of Education where his immeasurable experience was key to Guyana overcoming the challenges to education during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the APNU+AFC’s masquerading behaviour is unmasked, the corrupt, sordid and evil underbelly is revealed.

The party when gifted with power, use the largess of the state to enrich a handful of elitists within the upper echelon to the exclusion of the Afro-Guyanese working-class.

We saw this in the period 2016-2020 where a concentrated few were enriched with the best lands, seven times the size of Barbados while applications for land by ordinary Afro-Guyanese gathered dust at the Ministry of Housing.

The PNC-led Coalition is a political creature that constantly seeks to forcefully re-establish the Forbes Burnham philosophy of party paramountcy.

Volda Lawrence articulated it best when she said only PNC members could get jobs under the Coalition administration.

That meant that Afro-Guyanese who were not members of the PNC were obviously side-lined for Government contracts and jobs.

Similarly, the APNU+AFC has not demonstrated a lack of will to include Indo-Guyanese and other races in any real way. The inclusion of the AFC in the coalition was mere window-dressing as demonstrated in PNC unwillingness to honour agreements with the AFC.

Wherever there is an appearance of inclusion by the APNU+AFC it is usually to further enrich a tiny few by utilizing the resources of large Indian businesses.

It is well documented that within the APNU+AFC regime 99 per cent of the Permanent Secretaries were Afro-Guyanese.

The argument about ethnic diversity did not apply then to the APNU+AFC, but it only applies now.

The PPP/C Government must be happy that the Parliamentary Opposition has highlighted the need for diversity because the Permanent Secretaries now represent the diversity of Guyana.

While the APNU+AFC cries wolf on race, the PPP/C, to its credit, has retained the Afro-Guyanese leadership in the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force.

Based on the large roll out of developmental programmes and initiatives, the PPP/C policies are people-centered and spread across all communities.

The APNU+AFC cannot find a dozen persons who have been affected by any policy of the PPP/C that speaks to exclusion on the basis of race.

Their feigned support for Afro-Guyanese is evident based on their track record. It is time that Guyanese confront the obsolete wolf seeking to disguise as a sheep, which is seeking uproot our democracy through race-baiting campaigns to divide our country.

The truth has slapped the detractors in the APNU+AFC in the face. No longer can they keep up the shenanigans and pretense about caring for the advancement of Afro-Guyanese when in fact they have worked silently and, in some cases, openly to destroy professional Afro-Guyanese in the public service and elsewhere.

Fortunately, the Afro-Guyanese who were railroaded and left to perish during the fascistic coalition regime that wanted to grab power by the nefarious means of another PNC-led rigged election, are confronting the baseless lies on race relations from an opposition coalition in extremis.

GECOM must cleanse itself from all associated rogue elements

Dear Editor,

The ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the debacle surrounding the true results of the 2020 National and Regional Elections has already confirmed startling positions.

The evidence-driven interrogation of the relevant issues will remove the cover from all involved openly and from behind-the-scenes. Following the trend of PNC politics, increased diversion tactics will be used in an attempt to deflect attention from the crooks. Aside from the flagrant abuse by contaminated officials within the Secretariat of the then Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the freedom of testimony approach so far has exposed the numerous parts of the blatant plot in the attempts by the PNC and its cabal to steal the power to govern after losing the elections.

Notably, GECOM has been very transparent and thorough in its preparation for these upcoming Local Government Elections (LGEs). While the process disappointingly took extra time, we must accept the harsh reality that due process took place within an inclusive environment which allowed full participation by all political parties. The necessary public notices were timely, and sufficiently instructive to allow political parties to take part in a meaningful way in the continuous registration exercises, and their representatives were continually active during the claims and objections process.

Further, the two main political parties have permanent scrutineers at the 29 well established GECOM offices across the country, and are provided

with updates concerning each transaction as they occur. The intent is to ensure that all stakeholders have a point and period of validation from which their objections could be raised before arriving at the final list for the elections. Hence, it is rational for one to accept that GECOM, operating within the legal framework, has allowed inclusiveness and time to the public, and the political parties in particular, concerning the process for arriving at the Official List of Voters for the holding of the LGEs, fulfilling the opportunity for appropriate vetting.

It has recently come to the attention of the public that the PNC are attempting to conjure another delaying tactic to prevent the GECOM from running off the LGEs. I refer to the recently filed fixed-date application by known PNC activist Carol Joseph, which is nothing but another frivolous attempt at abusing our legal system. I will not be sub-judice in this respect by advancing pre-emptive positions before the rulings of the court, but will urge the general public to take note of the suppressive interventions that are being advanced from the hornets’ nest.

Editor, there are still some things to be fixed that will lend to acceptable parity in the Local Government setting. The PNC cannot deny the fact that the gerrymandering of several ‘District’ boundaries was done by them to provide perceived advantages. It was the APNU/AFC who hurriedly went into Parliament in 2015, even before the PPP/C took up their seats, and changed the law to make sure that ‘Continuous Registration’ gives legitimacy to the

List for six months.

All of the “red herrings” about the PNCR being unhappy about the response to some elections’ issues are only an attempt by the cowards to make noise before their humiliation at the 2023 LGEs. Recently, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall, the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, held exceptionally good consultative discussions around the country concerning the boundaries of constituencies. These resulted in the corrective changes to certain boundaries, made via Order No. 44 of 2022, and published in the Official Gazette.

Guyanese must be prepared to take on the challenge and be more proactive at the various levels of our democracy. With all of the developments taking place at the national level, our people of all walks of life must be prepared to work in unity at the local government level for the further development of our country.

Parallel development across the wider spectrum for the benefit of all needs to have candidates contesting the LGEs. Those should include religious and business leaders, be gender-balanced, and include youths and professionals. Such inclusiveness would bring respectability to the newly elected officials.

GECOM must move ahead and ensure the proper cleansing of all clandestine rogue elements, and not allow the cowards who are afraid to face the LGEs to further slow the process.

Let us have the LGEs now.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

APNU's unashamed actions to undermine will of electorate exposed

Dear Editor,

As the CoI into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections continues, more and more startling revelations are being unearthed to show us the barefaced attempt of the APNU party to rig the elections.

I say the APNU because they are the crime partners who are known to be of notoriety in the finer details of rigging. They have done this for decades now, showing scant regard for this country becoming a pariah for the dastardly deed. Thankfully, this was averted by the rule of law and the quick actions of the international community.

Having said this, I would like to ask the PNC/APNU a few important questions. In the first place, for a par -

ty that constantly harps on the subject of a bloated electoral list, I would like them to show us which list Mingo and Lowenfield based their declaration on, or from which list was their declaration extracted?

Are they telling us their declaration was made from the same list that they now abhor? Meaning that this list was suddenly transformed into a gloriously clean list, giving a victory to the APNU while, in the same breath, that list was fraudulent and vile enough to exclude the PPP/C party of a victory?

Doesn’t it add up to the proverbial peeing in our eyes and calling it rain? I think it is all of the above. So, the PNC need to stop this nonsensical act of trying to make a fool out of the Guyanese people, thinking that we

are ever so stupid that we could not see straight through their evil scheme.

Secondly, in an age of instant messaging on social and other media fora, one could not evade the fact that everything was being videoed item by item as the evil saga unfolded before our very eyes. There is no hiding from the fact that this party was, to use the words of the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, “transparent in the act of electoral rigging.”

I cry shame on that party and all those involved in this reprehensible act. I am also crying out for justice, full and complete, for all those involved. Never again should such an atrocity grace our shores, ever!

Respectfully, Neil Adams

PPP/C gov’t has robust housing plan benefiting all Guyanese

Dear Editor,

What a tremendous achievement! It is that the Government has thus far distributed some 18,000 house lots since coming into office, and it is now like ‘a given’ that the PPP/C (People’s Progressive Party/Civic) Administration will deliver their promised 20,000 house lots by year-end.

I say this, as again the robust housing plan of the Government unfolded with another episode, giving some 700 more house lots to residents of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

The house lots were allocated during the second “Dream Realised” housing drive in the region for the year. As we can remember, the first phase was held earlier in the year, and this saw at least 400 persons receiving house lots.

Readers, this is huge, as we all know that on the socio-psychological level, a good home provides protection. Children are less at risk of violence and sexual abuse. They are also less likely to be forced into child labour, married off at a young age, or forcibly recruited by stealthy groups and persons, to be exploit-

The AFC is beyond salvaging

Dear Editor,

March 2, 2020 General Elections.

ed. Then a home ensures that displaced people have better access to humanitarian aid. So, what is happening is that the housing sector is pre-empting these evils from encroaching society.

According to the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues, “… the land that is (currently) being developed was acquired by the Ministry back in May 2021 … (and just) several months later, we (the Government) are here to allocate 700 house lots to you the residents” Simply put, this is testimony “… to the expediency in which we (the Government) are working; this demonstrates the commitment of the Ministry to reaching its target of distributing 50,000 house lots by 2025.”

Another factor here is that housing is a basis for taxation – often Local Government taxation, and this is a significant contributor to the fiscal health of Local Governments and their capacity to deliver basic urban services. Due to its size, the housing sector has a major impact on any country’s macroeconomy. Noting what has been happening, as far as housing in Guyana is concerned, great dividends, of a perpetual nature, will eventually descend on the economy. I need to add, that the actual building of these houses, with their relevant amenities, is also a boost to the workforce and the sale of building materials.

Yes, monies are being spent (over $800

million on new infrastructure, upgrading existing housing schemes in Experiment, upgrading roads in Bath, and monies to develop the new site for the hospital etc). But the returns will be more than matching the investment, and long-lasting as well.

Editor, the conception of a ‘house as a home’ being a place of comfort and security is global. This established view of shelter reinforces the idea that many other qualities derive from the place we call home. In fact, the home has come to symbolise family, stability, and wealth. As the largest single investment for most families and the driver of demand in enormous sectors of the economy, housing has therefore plays a huge role in the economies of many nations. It is nothing to be taken lightly.

On the contrary, being without homes or finding them unaffordable is stressful and creates negative tolls on people’s mental health. 33 per cent say housing costs cause stress and depression in their family, with 25 per cent being kept awake at night by the stress of paying their rent or mortgage. Building a better life begins with a safe environment to call home.

All in all, the Government deserves to be lauded.

Yours truly, H. Singh

tremendously in every nook and cranny, to the extent that “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” cannot put it together again.

T

he Alliance For Change (AFC) will never change, and its current course of action to boycott the March 13 Local Government Elections (LGE) has confirmed its “dead meat” status. The Party is deathly afraid of what the LGE results will reveal, since it will be unable to hide behind the APNU.

In the 2018 LGE, the AFC was greatly embarrassed when they could have only mustered four per cent of the votes, whilst its estranged partner collected 34 per cent.

The PPP/C won by a landslide, with 61 per cent of the votes. What number of votes would the AFC expect in 2023 is anyone’s guess, since they continued to tarnish their already bad reputation when they supported the PNC’s attempts to interfere with the

The Guyanese people have seen enough to understand that the AFC was never about Guyana, and they had been totally consumed by the PNC; completely subservient. Now that they have been thrown into the deep to fend for themselves, the final extermination is at hand.

On November 13, 2022, the AFC confirmed that it will boycott the 2023 LGE because the list is “bloated” (a term which is gaining popularity by the Opposition), “illegitimate” and “a source of electoral fraud”. Why is there deafening silence in the AFC camp on the 2020 rigging attempts? First and foremost, the AFC needs to denounce the 2020 rigging attempt. These statements by the AFC will never gain traction; they need to come clean.

The AFC did not get four per cent votes in the 2018 LGE because of a “bloated list,” “voter impersonation,” “duplication” and the dead voting for the PPP/C. They got severe licks because of what they had promised in 2015, and what they had delivered from then to 2020. Many who voted for the AFC in 2015 went back home.

The same is true for the APNU. They received 34 per cent of the votes because that was what their die-hard supporters could deliver, and those that were disgruntled remained home. Furthermore, the 2018 LGE was the harbinger of the decimation of the coalition and was the catalyst for the no confidence motion in December the same year. The prognosis is that this upcoming 2023 LGE will be worse for both the AFC and the APNU.

The year-end “break up” is quite expected. The AFC has nothing to offer the coalition. The AFC will attempt damage control. But this salvaging strategy will not work. The AFC is “dead meat” and its fall echoed

The people will always remember that every unconstitutional act, every socio-economic destabilisation strategy, every act to erode the standard of living of the people, every corrupt practice and every attempt to interfere with the 2020 General Elections were all fully supported by the Alliance For Change. Will the AFC admit that it has failed the people? Will it put itself at the mercy of Guyanese and beg for forgiveness? This would be the defining moment which Guyanese will be waiting for. But alas! It will never come!

The AFC would be wise to heed the advice of the great Martin Luther King who once said: “Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act.”

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

Dear Editor,

Please allow me a moment to respond to a letter published in your daily newspaper captioned “At end of November, Public Works Ministry has spent only 51% of its budgeted $88B”

Firstly, the author of the above-mentioned letter has gone to lengths to cast a shadow over the management of the Ministry of Public Works, and as depraved as this is to the hard-working men and women employed under the Ministry, I will oblige my Opposition colleague with an answer yet again.

As stated in the Parliament, there are some big-ticket items for which transactions are to be completed before December 31st, 2022, and what this means is that that will significantly change the percentage of the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), namely:

-$2.6B approved for the construction of office complexes for Government Ministries. This sum represents the mobilisation advance payment, which will be paid out before December 31, 2022. This project is awaiting NPTAB approval, after being advertised publicly.

-$21.1B approved for the New Demerara River Bridge. This bid was publicly advertised, and the contract was signed in May 2022. This sum will be disbursed before December 31, 2022.

Meanwhile, with regards to the Miscellaneous Roads / Drainage Programme, the following should be noted: the sum of $17.049B was approved by Parliament, and as of December

6th, the sum of $16.297B was disbursed, representing 95.5% expenditure. The additional sum of $18.1B was approved for rehabilitation/ construction of community roads and drainage works. this sum represents a fraction of what is required to ensure all Guyanese have proper roads and functional drainage.

Our citizens must know that their Government, through the Ministry of Public Works, will continue to award contracts in accordance with the Procurement Act of 2003.

Every effort is also being made to ensure the contracts for the East Bank Demerara Road between Grove and Timehri, and the Soesdyke-Linden Highway are awarded as soon as possible. The loans for these two projects have been approved in the second half of 2022, and as a result, the sum of $4.89B would not be disbursed in 2022.

Now, please bear with me as I address another statement made by Mr. Patterson, this time of compliantly expending budgeted money by the Ministry.

This statement is without basis and substance.

The PPP/C Administration has repeatedly demonstrated, and will continue to demonstrate, its transparency in all its engagements and transactions, which is not something that could be said about the previous APNU+AFC Government, to which Mr. Patterson belonged.

Mr. Patterson, I urged you then, and I urge you now: please do not come saint-like, uttering folly when you had presided over the signing of questionable contracts and at dubious timings as well.

Let’s take a look at the Leguan Ferry Stelling. Following

an audit conducted by the Audit Office of Guyana, it was determined that the contractor was not only incapable and unable to do the job, but also did not possess the wherewithal to successfully execute this $413,259,260 project. A project, a contract signed on September 20, 2018 under the leadership of Mr. Patterson, then Minister of Public Infrastructure.

Further, the contractor had received payments totalling $199,435,000, almost 50% of the contract sum, which is an unheard-of occurrence outside of normal procurement practices, and a breach of the Fiscal Management Accountability Act. Here the question of corruption should come to mind, and as if this were not enough, shall we mention the contract to rehabilitate sections of the road leading to St. Cuthbert’s Mission, where work on the $100 million road from the Soesdyke/ Linden highway into the community had to be terminated because the contractor could not complete the works?

Another project that raises many questions, and is engaging the attention of the Police, is the procurement of 3 weigh-in-motion scales. The audit report of 2021 stated that the sum of $72.264M was paid for the supply and delivery of three motion scales; however, to date, the supplier is yet to deliver the scales as per contract, even after receiving 100% of the contract sum.

Editor, coming into office in August 2020, the PPP/C Administration inherited the most troublesome, wasteful, corrupt, and poorly managed contracts of the then Government, which fell under the purview of David Patterson. This is not an accusation, but a fact which The Auditor General’s Report of 2021 supports.

Lastly, with regard to Mr. Patterson’s wail of corrupt and discriminatory practices, this is nothing but a cry for attention; something, unfortunately, I can-

Patterson’s comments baseless, unsubstantiated

CDC closely monitoring heavy rainfall and possibility of flooding

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips has urged persons in low-ly-

ing and flood-prone areas to take precautions in the coming days as Guyana continues

to experience heavy rainfall. He said, “We are in the rainy season and some amount of

PM

flooding is expected. While we do not hope for it, we are working to closely monitor the situation. Persons who reside on low-lying areas and those who are affected by flooding, I encourage you to take all precautions to minimise the damage that is associated with flooding in all communities.”

Prime Minister Phillips, under whose purview the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) falls, made this comment during a briefing held at the CDC’s Headquarters, Thomas Lands.

The Senior Government Official, who holds responsibility for disaster risk management, revealed that the Cabinet Taskforce on Flooding is also monitoring the rainfall.

Director-General of the Civil Defence Commission, Colonel (Ret’d), Nazrul Hussain in an invited comment relayed that the CDC has embarked on a public awareness campaign on their social media platforms and is urging residents to take all necessary precautions.

He noted that the Com-

mission is working with the Ministry of Agriculture’s Hydrometeorological Service and several other stakeholders to monitor and respond to reports of flooding.

In the meantime, a flood advisory warning is being issued based on the predicted weather forecast for the week.

CDC also advised citizens to remain vigilant and cautious and to report any impacts to local authorities or the National Emergency Monitoring System (NEMS) on 600-7500 at any time.

‒ Calls on citizens in low-lying areas to take necessary precautions

Guyana advances efforts to strengthen of anti-corruption measures

Guyana joined with 187 member states to the UN Convention against Corruption to observe International Anti-Corruption Day on Friday (December 9, 2022).

And in a statement, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, stressed that the Government of Guyana remains committed to not only upholding the Constitution, democracy, and human rights, but also to strengthening the mechanisms and measures necessary for greater transparency and accountability, inclusion, and participation. The Government believes that one of the most effective pillars in the fight against corruption is openness, transparency, and accountability.

The statement said, “The Government of Guyana has taken several steps to enhance transparency and accountability as critical to good governance of the state, to prevent and combat corruption at all levels of public administration, and to have multi-agency coordinated anti-corruption policies/ practices.”

FRAMEWORK

According to the Ministry, Guyana’s anti-corruption framework and policies are implemented through Constitutional Bodies, Statutory Bodies, and Parliamentary Oversight Bodies.

“There are Constitutional provisions that protect the independence of constitutional post-holders and constitutional bodies from interference. Guyana also has ongoing legislative reform that provides for greater transparency and accountability to prevent, detect, and prosecute acts of corruption, and there is oversight of government at the national, regional, and international levels with the anti-corruption conventions Guyana has ratified. There are a total of 16 constitutional bodies established by the constitution with specific responsibilities across key sectors, including human rights and anti-corruption. These Constitutional Bodies enjoy independence in the execution of their mandates and are not subject to programmatic interference by any arm of government. The annual recurrent and capital budgets of these agencies are direct charges on the Consolidated Fund in keeping with constitutional provisions and these sums are therefore examined and approved by the National Assembly.”

Those who play a role in the anti-corruption framework are:

• Constitutional Bodies

o The Office of the Auditor General

o The 3 Service CommissionsJudicial, Public and Police The Ombudsman

o The Supreme Court

o The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) The Public Procurement Commission (PPC)

o The Public Service Appellate Tribunal (PSAT)

• Statutory Bodies

o The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) (Procurement Act) The Integrity Commission (IC)

o The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)

• The Special Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) of the Guyana Police Force The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA)

• The Securities Council

• The Commissioner of Information The Bank of Guyana

• The Police Complaints’ Authority (PCA)

• Parliamentary Oversight Bodies

o The parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) oversees the government’s expenditure of funds whilst the parliamentary Sectoral Committees on Foreign Relations, Social Services, Economic Services, and Natural Resources oversee government policies, programmes and performance.

“In a direct effort to enhance transparency and ensure the public are well informed the Government has upgraded many government websites, while at the same time uses traditional and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to reach as many people as possible,” the Ministry said.

GLOBAL PARTICIPATION

Additionally, the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance established, in June 2021, a National Coordinating Committee (NCC) on the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC). Currently sixteen (16) agencies are represented on the Committee. The NCC enhances institutional and systematic inter-agency collaboration and builds capacities within the anti-corruption framework of Guyana. Further, the first Guyana Anti- Corruption Framework document was published in June 2022 by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance. This publication is user friendly and simple to understand. The National Coordinating Committee organised two training workshops on anti-corruption measures in Guyana. The first anti-corruption workshop was held on June 25, 2022, and the second was held on August 30-31, 2022. These workshops focused on sensitizing partic-

ipants from the Government, private sector, and civil society on the critical need to uphold the key pillars of transparency and accountability relative to their sectors.

Guyana is a member of and participated in the 8th Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Caribbean Association of Integrity Commissions and Anti-Corruption Bodies (CCAICACB) held in May 2022 in St. Kitts. Notably, Guyana will be hosting the 9th annual Conference of this body in 2023.

The Guyana Parliament, through the Public Accounts Committee is also now a member of the Commonwealth Association of Public Accounts.

As a member state to the Mechanism for the Oversight of the Implementation of the Inter- American Convention against Corruption Guyana will be preparing for its 6th Cycle of Review in 2023 as it shall also be preparing for the in situ visit of the UNCAC assessors of its Second Self-Assessment in 2023.

Guyana also reported and was reviewed by CFATF/ FATF and the Extractive Industry Transparency Institute.

In its September 2022 Article IV Report, the IMF stated that the recent amendments to the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) Act set clear ceilings on withdrawals from the fund for budgetary spending and promotes transparency in the management and use of oil resources with parliamentary approval. The authorities in Guyana were praised for the thorough review of the new NRF Act before making amendments and the restraint in using any oil revenues before the passage of this statute.

In addition, Guyana is now qualified to join the Egmont group following the passage of the August 2022 Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Act. This will now allow the Financial Intelligence Unit to collaborate with other FIUs globally in combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

“Not only has there been a strengthening of anti-corruption measures, noteworthy are the number of cases before the courts for corruption of state assets by former government officials and functionaries, including electoral conspiracy and fraud, as well as bribery and other acts of corruption. Despite many challenges of timely data collection, investigative and prosecutorial capacities and timely judicial decisions, Guyana has and continues to made progress in its fight against corruption,” the Ministry said.

Guyana undoubtedly has developed over the last 19 years a robust Anti-Corruption Framework. The implementa-

tion of the framework through the work of the Constitutional, Statutory and Parliamentary Oversight bodies contribute to building greater awareness of acts of corruption and enhancing public trust and confidence in these institutions to carry out their mandates effectively, professionally, and efficiently.

The Ministry said, “The Government remains fully committed to promoting transparency and strengthening institutions in the continuous implementation of its anti-corruption framework consistent with its treaty obligations under the UN Convention Against Corruption and the Inter-American Convention against Corruption.”

COMMITMENT

As stated by the United Nations, “The 2022 International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD) seeks to highlight the crucial link between anti-corruption and peace, security, and development. At its core is the notion that tackling this crime is the right and responsibility of everyone, and that only through cooperation and the involvement of each and every person

and institution can we overcome the negative impact of this crime. States, government officials, civil servants, law enforcement officers, media representatives, the private sector, civil society, academia, the public and youth alike all have a role to play in uniting the world against corruption.” It is globally recognized that corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that affects all countries. Most importantly, it is also recognized that corruption undermines the foundation of democratic institutions by distorting electoral processes, perverting the rule of law and creating bureaucratic quagmires whose only reason for existing is the soliciting of bribes. Economic development is stymied as valuable resources for the development of the countries are squandered to the detriment of those who are the most poor and vulnerable. Corruption contributes to governmental instability and is therefore a major obstacle to development. It infects education, health, justice, democracy, and prosperity. And it is one of the biggest impediments to

achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Preamble to the UN Convention Against Corruption declares that “the States Parties to this Convention are: Concerned about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law; Concerned also about the links between corruption and other forms of crime, in particular organized crime and economic crime, including money- laundering, and; Concerned further about cases of corruption that involve vast quantities of assets, which may constitute a substantial proportion of the resources of States, and that threaten the political stability and sustainable development of those States.”

Guyana ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption on April 16, 2008, and the InterAmerican Convention Against Corruption, the first treaty of this nature, on December 11, 2000.

PARLIAMENT HAPPENINGS UNDER REVIEW

THE PPP/C’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, MORE

Single Window System legislation presented in National Assembly

The Planning and Development Single Window System Bill of 2022 was tabled by Minister of Housing, Colin Croal, in the National Assembly.

The bill caters for the establishment of a single window electronic processing system to increase business efficiency, as the housing and construction industries are expanding rapidly.

It also seeks to provide

for the establishment of the Planning Oversight Committee, to define the functions of the committee, to centralise functions relating to land use preparation and development and for matters associated to it.

Back in October, Minister Croal highlighted that the government acknowledged the increased demands for building permits and other services by the Central Housing and Plan -

– more business-friendly environment to be created

ning Authority (CHPA) and Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).

Once the legislation is in place, it will, among other things, standardise application forms and checklists, as well as drastically cut down on the time needed to complete a transaction.

The ministry will also transition from paper-based to computerised records.

The implementation of the single window system

forms part of the government’s efforts to create a business-friendly environment and improve the ease of doing business, through an electrical portal that

allows investors to submit planning and building permits, and check the status of the permits from anywhere in the world.

Extensive consultations

were also held with the relevant stakeholders including the local Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, heads of service agencies, and regulatory bodies.

National Assembly passes amendments

to ROPA – to promote fair, transparent elections

Recognising the disastrous events immediately following the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections, the PPP/C administration has championed amendments to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA).

These amendments are to prevent further abuse of the electoral system and promote transparency.

In presenting the bill for its second reading to the National Assembly on Monday (December 5, 2022), the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall, said the bill is an important piece of legislation, as it seeks to prevent a recurrence of the flagrant efforts made by the opposition to thwart the democratic rights of the electorate. “It seeks to enhance, modernise and reform the democratic quality and architecture of our country and to make our electoral machinery and the registration process and the compilation of the list of electors more transparent, more accountable and more effective. The 2020 elections brought to light the way that the legislation in its current form can be subjected to abuse,” he said.

Further, the minister stated that the bill attempts to examine, organise and compile the various scattered pieces of electoral legislation, allotting them to their respective places in either the ROPA or the National Registration Act. He said, “Even without amendments, this exercise has been great for our law revision process in that it has now, for the first time after approximately three decades, assembled all of our electoral laws, registration laws and related laws, and are now putting them into their respective homes so that they can be easily and conveniently accessed.”

He also noted that the bill has undergone a series of consultations incorporate

contributions from over 100 stakeholders.

The attorney general emphasized the importance of having a sufficient number of polling stations to accommodate the electorate, and noted that the amendment addresses this.

Moreover, the legal affairs minister reminded that, upon assuming office in 2020, the PPP/C Government made several commitments that are well underway, including electoral reform. “We promised that the investigative arm of the state will be activated, and criminal charges will be instituted if there is evidence to support these charges. We also promised that the commission of inquiry will be launched under the hand of the president.”

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE (AMENDMENT) BILL

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2022 addresses itself to several changes in election day procedures, including provisions:

• For the division of polling districts Region No. 3, Region No. 4 and Region No. 6. District Region No. 3 shall be divided into 3 sub-districts, Region No. 4, into 4 sub-districts and Region No. 6 into 3 sub-districts;

• For a sub-district to have the same number of assistant agents and counting agents appointed by the election agent for a district and for the appointment of a polling agent and an alternate polling agent for each polling place and polling station;

• For election agents to appoint additional assistant agents to be counterparts of deputy returning officers appointed to perform certain duties assigned to them;

• For the Chief Election Officer to be subject to the direction and control of the Commission, and an election

officer to be supervised by the Commission;

• For an amendment to extend the time period for sending an application for appointment of a proxy from not later than the 10th day before election day to not later than the 21st day;

• For every village or locality to have such number polling places necessary to accommodate the electors of that village or locality;

• For the election materials and information which shall be given to polling agents by the presiding officer on the opening of poll, namely, a copy of the official list of electors containing the names of the electors entitled to vote at the polling place, a copy of the list of proxies, the number of Statements of Poll Forms 23A issued to the presiding officer, and a copy of the registration records of the electors;

• For a presiding officer, in the event of needing to be satisfied of the identity of any elector, may accept in lieu of the prescribed identity paper, a valid passport;

• For an offence to be created where an election agent, assistant agent, a polling agent, a counting agent or an election staff to the category of persons obstruct or otherwise interfere with in the exercise of their functions, and increases the penalty for the commission of the offence;

• For an offence to be created if an elector is misled on the day of poll or is provided with misleading information or a misleading statement.

• For an addition to the procedure that a presiding officer shall follow upon the completion of count. The presiding officer shall give opportunity to the duly appointed candidates, counting agents and the polling agents or alternate polling agents present to ascertain the accuracy of the information recorded on the relevant Forms.

PARLIAMENT HAPPENINGS UNDER REVIEW

THE PPP/C’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, MORE

Fixed periods for voter registration, regular removal of dead persons from OLE – as National Registration Amendment Bill passed

F ixed periods for voter registration, regular removal of deceased persons from the official list of electors, and cyclic issuance of national Identification Cards are among the significant amendments to the National Registration Act (NRA).

The Bill, No. 23 of 2022, was read for the second time early on Tuesday (December 6, 2022) morning by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall. It was subsequently passed in the National Assembly.

The amendments to the NRA go hand-in-hand with amendments to the Representation of the People

Act (ROPA), and complete the cycle of amendments being made to the electoral system.

The AG said the bill, like ROPA, contains a number of necessary amendments, which bring clarity to ambiguous sections of the law. “What this bill seeks to do generally is to strengthen and clarify the concept of a continuous registration system which is provided for by law. There are sections within the law that can create some kind of doubt, and that is why there is an argument continuously made for house-to-house registration,” he said.

The National Registration (Amendment) Bill

2022, was tabled in the National Assembly on November 7, 2022.

NATIONAL REGISTRATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

Several other amendments are addressed by the Bill and with the National Registration (Amendment) Bill, some 29 amendments are recommended, including provisions for:

• Continuous registration to be done in two period, during January and May with the qualifying date of June 30th; and during the months of July to November, with the qualifying date being December 31st;

• The removal of references

to residency and house-tohouse registration;

• The Guyana Elections Commission to continue to use the Official List of Electors in force created from the 2001 General and Regional Elections as its base;

• For the Registrar General of Births and Deaths to the Commission once evert month a list of all persons 14-year-old or more whose deaths have been registered to facilitate the removal of that person from the National Register after verification.

Additionally, several offences are created under the National Registration (Amendment) Bill including summary conviction for providing false information

for the purpose of registration, with a fine of $500,000 and a jail term of five years.

FOCUS ON REFORM

The Parliamentary Opposition has not participated in the public consultation process on proposed electoral reform.

People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking at a news conference recently, had said, “The idea is to make more transparent and to define responsibilities in the Act that are unambiguous and… to put in place a set of penalties for people who may try to steal the elections…any right-think-

ing person will support that. That’s the objective...we will look at issues right from registration to declaration of the results, so everything that is not unambiguous, not transparent etcetera.”

In prior comments, Jagdeo had said that the electoral reform process is necessary to ensure Local Government and other elections are conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.

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

Over $47B approved for transport infrastructure, security, support to electricity companies

Supplementary allocations totalling over $47 billion for support to various major sectors including transport infrastructure, energy and security were today secured when Senior Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh successfully piloted the Supplementary Appropriation Act, Number 2 of 2022.

The Supplementary Appropriation Act comprising Financial Papers Numbers 2 and 3 of 2022 and totalling $2.9 billion and $44.4 Billion respectively were presented by the Minister on November 30, 2022, after which they were meticulously scrutinized and debated, with the Opposition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) posing a number of questions before the Motion was passed on Monday (December 5, 2022).

As Government continues to aggressively implement its transformative development agenda, funding was secured for a number of key development interventions. Provisions totalling $2.9 billion Contingency Fund advances for the period August 15-November 29, 2022 in Financial Paper Number 2 include $740 million to conduct urgent drain-

age works including rehabilitation of drainage channels, access bridges, revetments and dams along with the installation of stainless steel sluice doors in Regions 2 to 7 including Georgetown. Also included in this paper is $1.7 billion of additional resources for the Linden Electricity Company Inc.

As Guyana continues to be a global leader in the fight against climate change, $360 million was provided for the payment of the issuance fee for forest carbon credits under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) TREES programme for the period 2016-2020. It was only on Friday last that Guyana became the first country in the world to be issued with carbon credits for forest protection when ART issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana. It marked a historic milestone for the country making it the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation — a process known as jurisdictional REDD+. This occurred following the completion of

an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors. ART issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. Then, on Friday last as well the Government of Guyana signed an agreement with Hess Corporation, a global oil and gas firm, with HESS committing to purchasing a minimum of US$750 million in carbon credits from Guyana with respect to the period 2016 to 2030.

With respect to Financial Paper No 3 of 2022, $44.4 Billion was approved. This included supplementary funding of close to $1.4 billion under the Office of the Prime Minister for provision of additional resources to support electricity companies in Linden, Lethem, Mabaruma, Kwakwani, Port Kaituma, Mahdia, and Matthew’s Ridge. Also significant in the Supplementary provisions is $6.6 billion for the provision of additional resources for the payment of electricity arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL). Back in March, 2022, President Ali had committed that the government would absorb the impact of rising

fuel prices on the cost of services provided by electricity companies so that it does not translate into high electricity bills for the Guyanese people.

With respect to transport infrastructure, a priority area of Government, $18.2 billion was provided under the Ministry of Public Works for the provision of additional resources to facilitate the upgrading of roads and drains in various communities and $938.2 million for additional

inflows under the Caribbean Development Bank’s programme to facilitate advancement of civil works on the Linden to Mabura Road Project.

With the ultimate goal of providing 100 percent water coverage for Amerindian Villages across the county by 2025, an additional $275.9 million is provided to facilitate water supply interventions in hinterland areas and the procurement of a new drilling rig.

National Assembly passes...

NO SELECT COMMITTEE

Lending his voice in support of the bill, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat noted that the opposition’s demand for the bill to be placed into a special select committee is simply a ploy to delay the process. He said, “Every single amendment is to ensure that there is transparency, and free, fair elections. These changes are being made to safeguard the rights of every single Guyanese regardless of which political party is in power. These amendments are a representation of good Governance and true democracy and the will of the people. As

a government we will continue to made amendments to strengthen every process, including the electoral process.”

Also offering her contribution in support of the bill, Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira, highlighted the level of transparency involved in the consultation process for the bill. She pointed out that it is driven by a duty to provide Guyanese with a fair and coherent electoral process, and to prevent a repeat of the abuse suffered at the hands of the opposition during the 2020 elections debacle. Teixeira said, “These amendments are crucial com-

Under the area of security, a sector which is of vital importance to the administration to ensure that the security sector is modernized to keep abreast with the modernization of the country, $371.1 million for the provision of additional resources to procure vehicles to boost the operational effectiveness of the Guyana Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs was also provided as part of the Supplementary Appropriation.

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ponents of transparency, and accountability for the Guyanese people, and to give our people assurances that their votes count and that they will not experience what happened in 2020 again. We owe that to the Guyanese people.”

The bill was passed by the National Assembly after it as considered clause by clause in the Committee of Supply with the APNU+AFC opposition participating in the debate, then walking out of the House before the voting took place.

The Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2022, Bill 24 of 2022, was tabled in the National Assembly on November 7, 2022.

GECOM postpones Monday’s LGE Nomination Day

Nomination Day, initially set for December 12, 2022, has been postponed, due to court action by the APNU+AFC Coalition.

Pursuant to Section 41(1) of the Local Authorities Act, Cap. 28:03, the Guyana Elections Commission had appointed 12th December 2022 as Nomination Day for the Local Government Elections to be held on 13th March 2023. In this regard, all Political Parties, Voluntary Groups, and Individuals desirous of contesting the said Local Government Elections were required to submit their respective Lists of Candidates, and pre-approved Symbols, on Nomination Day.” Additionally, GECOM said that political parties and voluntary groups contesting the proportional representation component of LGE must complete and submit their lists of candidates using Form 12 accompanied by Form 13, which is the statutory declaration to be made on Nomination Day. In the case of political parties, voluntary groups, and individuals contesting the firstpast-the-post or constituency component of the election, they must complete Form 2A accompanied by Form 13A, which is the statutory declaration.

After a meeting of the Commission on Thursday (December 8, 2022), GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, confirmed the postponement of nomination day. He explained that a new date will be announced at a later date by GECOM. “As a consequence of the filing of the case, the Chief Elections Officer has made a proposal for the List to undergo certain scrutiny. This proposal is being considered and as a con-

sequence of which, Nomination Day has been postponed,” he said.

Meanwhile, GECOM in a statement on Thursday (December 8, 2022), said, "The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has postponed Nomination Day, for Local Government Elections, which was scheduled to be held on 12th December, 2022, until further notice. This decision was taken at a special meeting of the Commission held on Thursday, 8th December, 2022 which was held to deliberate on a proposal submitted by the Chief Election Officer (CEO), Mr. Vishnu Persaud to conduct an Exercise to correct the Registers of Voters for Local Government Elections under Section 24A of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03. Subject to further deliberations on this matter, which has been deemed necessary by the Commission, information on the way forward would be shared, in a timely manner, with all stakeholders."

LGE

Minister Dharamlall in November 2022 wrote GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, announcing March 13, 2023, as the date for LGE. According to Dharamlall, Government is committed to upholding democracy and believes that the holding of local polls is an important pillar in Guyana’s democratic political system. It was against this backdrop that the date for hosting the LGE was decided. “Please be informed that pursuant to Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, I appoint March 13, 2023, as the day on which elections of Councillors for Local Authorities shall

be held,” Minister Dharamlall wrote to Justice Singh.

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

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

More than $750 million has been set aside in Budget 2022 for the preparations to be undertaken by GECOM for the hosting of LGE this year. This money is part of an overall $4.1 billion allocation to GECOM’s in Budget 2022 and was examined and approved by the National Assembly during its consideration of the 2022 Budget Estimates. Included in the $783 million for LGE is a more-than-$300 million increase in “other goods and services purchased”, which jumped from $250.8 million in 2021 to $575.9 million in the 2022 budget.

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

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

Coalition moves to block LGE with court action on Voters’ List

Chief Scrutineer of the APNU+AFC Coalition, Carol Smith-Joseph, has move to the court in an effort to block the planned holding of Local Government Elections, schedule for March 13, 2023.

Joseph, currently before the court on electoral fraud charges, on December 2, 2022, brought a lawsuit against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Chief Election Officer, Vishu Persud, and the Attorney General, Anil Nandlall. On behalf of the APNU+AFC Coalition, Joseph is seeking over 21 declarations and orders intended to nullify the preliminary list of electors.

She is being represented Coalition Parliamentarian and Attorney, Senior Counsel, Roysdale Forde.

Joseph’s Fixed Date Application was filed in the High Court.

The Coalition rep contends that, “The process employed by the Commission to prepare a Register of Voters for use at the next Local Government Elections has deprived the electors and/or voters of the opportunity to object to persons on the Register of Voters in the manner provided for in, and contemplated by, Local Authorities (Elections) Act Cap. 28:03.

“…the process employed

by the Commission to prepare a Register of Voters for use at the next Local Government Elections has not been in accordance with the Local Authorities (Elections) Act.

“….by failing to comply with the aforesaid provision of the Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Act Cap. 28:03, the Commission has acted in dereliction of its duty under the said Act, and moreover in dereliction of its constitutional duty to ensure that registration of Electors are conducted in accordance with law.”

A decision on the way forward is to be made by the High Court.

PPP/C ‘not opposed’ to another round of Claims and Objections

The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), in a brief statement on Tuesday (December 6, 2022), made it clear that the Party stands ready to support the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in the conduct another round of claims and objections.

“The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) will not be opposed to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) embarking upon another round of Claims and Objections in respect of the Register of Voters for the upcoming Local Government Elections proposed to be held in 2023,” the Party said.

Notably, the statement comes after Chief Elections

Officer (CEO), Vishnu Persaud, has written to the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh asking to conduct a 14-day exercise to correct the Register of Voters (ROVs) for the Local Government Elections. Persaud proposed that the Commission approve the conduct of a 14-day exercise under Section 24A “Correction of Registers by Elections Commission” for the elections, which would give the electorate the opportunity to scrutinise the ROVs, with specific reference to the constituency ROVs. “It is acknowledged that the approval of

this proposal would cause the conduct of Local Government Elections to be further delayed. However, it is humbly submitted that value to be derived from the unimpeded involvement of all concerned at the level of all Local Authority Areas is of greater importance… this proposal is submitted in view of the vital need for the upcoming Local Government Elections to not only be free, fair and credible, but to be seen by all concerned as being free, fair and credible.”

The LGE is currently set for March 13, 2023 with Nominations Day just days away, having been scheduled for December 12, 2022.

POSITIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT

Children’s homes, high school graduates to benefit from GOAL scholarships – President Ali

The PPP/C Government will continue to roll out programmes to benefit all children, including those from children’s homes, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

During a special Christmas ceremony for young people from over a dozen children’s homes, hosted at the weekend, the President reminded them of their importance to the development of Guyana. He said, “So, my dear children, I want you to know that we love you a lot; your country loves you. You are part of the One Guyana family.”

The President said that in order to ensure that the children are given opportunities, he has asked the Ministry of Education to pay special emphasis on their education, including at the tertiary level. He said, “So all the children from the homes who will finish CXC will get a scholarship under the GOAL programme to pursue your studies.”

The President implored the youngsters to take advantage of the opportunities and told them that they are part of the development of the country.

He also encouraged them to continue to be good

ambassadors and to work together while lauding the caregivers for their service and care.

The work of his Office, the Office of the First Lady and the Ministry of Human Services over the last year were also highlighted. He said, “In the last year, we have been able to support many of the homes, many of the children. We have been able to get more corporate support to make your life easier.”

He also assured the children that in the coming year, the Government will be working on many new programmes to further enhance and enrich their lives, giving them more opportunities at an individual level, while bolstering support through new programmes at the different homes.

One of those programmes will be the nurturing of talented youngsters. Ali said, “We also want to ensure that children in the homes who have special talents that we can identify those children and we can also give them opportunities… In many of the homes, you have children who are gifted; some gifted in sport, some gifted in different talents, artistic talents. So we also want to work on

supporting children in the homes who have special talents.”

The President, who was joined by his son Zayd, wished them all a Merry Christmas and said that he was elated to be able to spend time with them. He said, “And we are so, so happy that we can share this time with you today. I am so happy that I’ll be sitting with you today, and we shall be eating together. Thank you very much. God bless you. We love you.”

Along with special treats and toys, the children and their caregivers were treated to a string of lively, cultural performances from the boys and girls from the various homes.

The Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce, the Honourable Oneidge Walrond; the Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, the Honourable Kwame McCoy; the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the President, Ms Abeena Moore and other staff of the Office of the President participated in the activity.

The President said that different teams will be dispatched to other homes across regions for similar exercises.

President Ali, Men on Mission rebuilding elderly woman’s home at Herstelling

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali said his government will work with the Guyana Football Federation as well as other stakeholders for Guyana to obtain a space in the World Cup.

In fact, the President reiterated his government’s commitment to removing all barriers that may prevent players from getting into the big game.

The Head of State made the disclosure Wednesday (December 7, 2022), during the official launch of the highly-anticipated event at the Baridi Benab, State House.

Dr Ali explained that following his outreaches across the country he found that Guyana has tremendous talent that is not being utilised in national sport and school

development. “I found that the format of cup football is a good format and for us to achieve a vision of getting to the next world cup, we had to get a tournament that allows us to see every single player perform,” he pointed out.

The President announced that, at the end of the tournament, he is committed to jointly working with the Guyana Football Federation to select a pool of 75 players to establish a national team, which will subsequently be converted into the national football academy. “Aim at making football your food and fuel for the next couple of years in preparation of us going to the world cup. You will have to subject yourself to training. We are going to work in putting you in

the part-time employment programme so you can have some amount of income,” the president urged the players.

He encouraged women to get onboard with football, citing the intention is not only to have men dominating the sport.

Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF), Wayne Forde stated that the tournament will be remembered as a crossroad for football development across Guyana. He noted that the president’s football undertaking has a community-based format that forces the GFF to push beyond its limitations. “I am pleased to announced that on the 11th of this month we will witness 25 of the most gifted players from each

Meena

Bafan, an 85-yearold elderly woman of Herstelling, East Dank Demerara will soon be moving into her newly constructed home following the delivery of a commitment made by His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali during a recent outreach.

The head of state led a group of men under the ‘Men on Mission’ [MOM]initiative to the area Thursday morning, to demolish the elderly woman’s dilapidated house to facilitate its reconstruction.

Bafan, who has been living in Herstelling for over 42 years, occupies the building along with her grandson.

President Ali said the intention is to have the house rebuilt by the end of next week so that the elderly woman and her grandson can enjoy the holiday season in a comfortable environment. “I intend to be physically and personally involved and I thank all the members of Men on Mission here and what we are hoping to achieve is to complete the structure by next Friday,” he said.

The president said that MOM will be embarking on similar projects across the country in keeping with its mandate to promote positive change in society. “These are some of the things that in every community we want men to gather their efforts to come together, helping oth-

ers, creating positive impact not only on the social side, but also to uplifting the lives of people,” he said.

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, Government Member of Parliament, Sanjeev Datadin and Police Commissioner (ag) Clifton Hicken also participated in the exercise.

Minister Bharrat spoke of the role MOM will play in enhancing the lives of the less fortunate, particularly the elderly citizens. He is calling on residents to identify persons who are living in similar conditions, in their communities, so they too can get assistance. “If anyone know of individuals who are vulnerable, especially our elderly who live in this condition, they should update us so that we can extend some kind of help as we are doing here today,” he urged.

Meanwhile, Commission-

er Hicken said that the Guyana Police Force will play its part in engaging communities and providing assistance to vulnerable groups, as part of the force’s community relations efforts. “We are going to continue to build capacity by enhancing these buildings and ensuring that we have adequate security mechanisms in place,” he stated.

The promise to rebuild the home was made when President Ali made an impromptu visit to Herstelling and surrounding East Bank Demerara communities on Saturday last.

The initiative will be conducted through a collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, including the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), and the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA). GAICO Construction is also part of the undertaking.

One Guyana Cup is more than football

– President says initiative aims to get players into the World Cup

Guyana signs agreement for first sale of carbon credits for minimum of US$750M

In an historic move, on December 2, 2022, Guyana signed the first agreement for a sale of 2.5million carbon credits to Hess Corporation – an annual agreement that runs until 2032 that will see a payment of a minimum US$750M coming to Guyana, depending on market changes.

Guyana has 18.4 million hectares of pristine forest, covering more than 87 per cent of the country’s landmass. The forests store in excess of 19 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and remove over 150 million tonnes of carbon per annum.

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), on December 1, 2022, issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana. This also marks a milestone as the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation - a process known as jurisdictional REDD+. Following completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors, ART has issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. These serialized credits, listed on ART’s public registry, are available to buyers on the global carbon market, including for use by airlines for compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s global emission reduction program, CORSIA, as well as for use toward voluntary corporate climate commitments.

Signing the agreement were Hess Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), John Hess, and on behalf of the Office of the President, the Permanent Secretary, Abena Moore.

ENGAGEMENT IN THE CARBON MARKET

Guyana’s engagement in the carbon market is led by the Office of the Vice President.

This engagement is part of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 (https://lcds.gov.gy/).

The LCDS is a strategy document that: outlines the approach and actions that Guyana, as a nation, can take to develop and grow for the inclusive benefit of all in a non-polluting, low carbon way; involves utilising Guyana’s natural resources in a sustainable manner while combating climate change and its adverse effects such as floods and droughts; outlines how Guyana can sustain its world-class ecosystem services for the long term, by integrating with the global economy and receiving payments for ecosystem services; and seeks to align with and contribute to global climate goals as set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, including keeping global temperatures below 1.5˚C.

MINIMUM PAYMENTS

Jagdeo, at the signing event, explained that the sale represents 30 per cent of the available carbon credits for sale and explained that the agreement with Hess Corporation will be subject to price changes depending on movements in the carbon market.

Explaining the pricing of the carbon credits, he explained that “minimum” payments have been categorized into three five—year periods:

• A minimum of US$15 per tonne for credits from 2016 to 2020 for 12.5 million tonnes, which will bring in US$187.5 million over the next 13 months.

• A minimum of US$20 per tonne for credits from 2021 to 2025 for 2.5 million tonnes of each year, which

will being in at least US$250 million between 2024 and 2027; and

• A minimum of US$25 per tonne for credits from 2026 to 2030 for 2.5 million tonnes each year, which will bring in at least US$312.5 million between 2027 and 2032.

Looking forward, he said, “We are not going to go back into the market. We still have 70 per cent of the accredited carbon credits for sale.”

The road to Guyana’s first sale of carbon credits has been 15 years in the making, according to the him. “Our role at the beginning of this effort was to point out facts… it’s been a long walk, coming over 15 years. That is why we are so pleased that we are moving forward....we have successfully transition from a bilateral agreement to engagement with the voluntary markets,” he said.

ANOTHER FIRST

Meanwhile, President Dr. Irfaan Ali stressed that the importance of the forest and its importance in the climate change fight has been championed by Guyana for almost two decades and the move forward with the first sale of carbon credits demonstrates Guyana’s leadership in this area. “Our commitment to climate change and responding to environmental issues is beyond questions. Although we are pursuing an aggressive energy agenda, our commitment to the environment remains unquestioned,” he charged.

The agreement for the first sale of carbon credits is another first from Guyana, as a developing country, according to him, adding that the 2009 Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) was a global first and served as a model for the world.

Ali also bemoaned the loss of opportunity in the 2015-2020 period, when

Guyana’s “unquestioned” and globally recognized green credentials were negatively affected by because of lack of political will and Guyana’s global leadership on environmental leadership lapsed. This, the Head of State, explained, is clear, given that 12.5 million of the 33.47 million certified carbon credits, were “legacy” credits.

Ali said, “In 2009, Guyana produced the first low carbon development strategy from a developing country. As one of only nine national jurisdictions in the Amazon Basin, we said long ago that national or jurisdiction-scale action on forests, coupled with access to global private finance, could create solutions that benefit the peoples of forest-rich countries while also achieving global climate goals. We have stayed the course, and today’s signing represents a massive step forward in showing the world that developing countries can lead the way to global solutions. I thank the tens of thousands of people across Guyana who participated in the seven-month national consultation that culminated in our latest LCDS policy, LCDS 2030. And of course, I thank John Hess and the Hess Corporation for their continued partnership with and commitment to Guyana. This deal goes a far way in proving that they are a global leader in accelerating ambition to reverse deforestation, and they set an example that I hope will be welcomed by forest countries everywhere as well as all those who care about the world’s forests and nature.”

BUILDING ON SUCCESSES

In 2007, Guyana set out a far-reaching vision for how national scale action on forests could unlock huge global benefits in the fight

against climate change, the preservation of biodiversity, and building energy and food security. At the time, the Government stressed that ambitious progress was possible - in Guyana and elsewhere - if the peoples of forest countries designed their own way forward so that action on forests boosted their legitimate development aspirations.

The 2007 vision became the 2010 Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) after one of the biggest national consultations in Guyana’s history. At its core was the framework for Guyana’s forest climate services – whereby Guyana committed to maintain the country’s 18 million hectares of forests, sustain one of the world’s lowest deforestation rates, store in excess of 19 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and remove over 150 million tonnes of carbon per annum. In return, Guyana would be paid for these services, and invest the revenues in the LCDS. From 2010-2015, Norway paid Guyana US$220 million for forest climate services – these revenues were invested in renewable energy, job creation, land titling, the creation of jobs, and protecting citizens, farms and business from flooding.

In October 2021, President Ali set out an updated vision for the LCDS, and inaugurated a seven month national consultation to create LCDS 2030. He called on the people of Guyana to share their views on how we can create a prosperous, inclusive, sustainable Guyana – many thousands of Guyanese citizens and others participated in the consultation over many months.

Further, Guyana’s completion of the ART process paves the way for other governments that are looking

to receive carbon market finance for success in protecting and restoring forests. Currently, 14 other countries and large sub-national jurisdictions are working toward their own issuances of TREES credits.

Guyana’s TREES credits are also the first market-ready credits issued to a jurisdiction classified as “High Forest, Low Deforestation” (HFLD), which means it has high forest cover and low historical rates of deforestation. Carbon markets have historically focused predominantly on areas that have already experienced high rates of deforestation. This is now starting to change with the first TREES credits issued to Guyana.

Under ART-TREES, every year, credits are validated and verified to globally-recognized standards, including adherence to Cancun safeguards, and then issued for trade on the global carbon market.

ART is a standalone, independent program that develops and administers standardized procedures for crediting emission reductions and removals from national and large sub-national REDD+ programmes. ART is governed by a Board of globally recognized experts and operated by an independent Secretariat, hosted by Winrock International. ART’s standard for the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of emission reductions and removals from the forest sector — The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard, known as TREES — represents the next step in the evolution of global efforts to protect and restore tropical forests. TREES supports transformational climate action at scale, while upholding rigorous social and environmental integrity.

Historic breakthrough for the forest carbon market – Norwegian gov’t

The Government of Norway has congratulated Guyana on becoming the first country to sell ART certified carbon credits for protecting its rainforest.

SEE THE FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

A historic milestone was met on December 1st when it was announced that Guyana was the first country to get issued carbon credits under the new high-integrity carbon standard ART (Architecture for REDD+ Transactions). Guyana was issued 33.47

million forest carbon credits for preventing and reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the period 20162020.

The credits have been verified by a third-party against ART’s robust environmental and social requirements. The announcement marks an important step for how tropical forest countries can sell high-integrity carbon credits for preventing and reducing deforestation and forest degradation.

“I congratulate Guyana on being the first country to issue

forest carbon credits certified by ART, paving the way for many others to come. This marks a breakthrough for the emergence of a high-quality global carbon market to protect tropical forests”, said Espen Barth-Eide, Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment.

Guyana is the first country to conclude the ART process out of 15 jurisdictions that have so far entered the ART pipeline.

In a separate announcement the Government of Guyana announced that they

had entered into a multi-year agreement worth at least USD 750 million with Hess Corporation for the purchase of 37.5 million credits. This translates into 2.5 million credits per year from 2016 to 2030, roughly a third of Guyana’s current and projected credit issuance.

GUYANA’S LONG-TERM VISION ACHIEVED

Norway and Guyana have collaborated on green development and forest conservation in Guyana since 2009. In this period, Guyana has suc-

cessfully maintained one of the world’s lowest deforestation rates. Norway’s support to Guyana has added up to approximately USD 220 mill (NOK 1.5 billion at the time) in total for maintaining its low deforestation rate. The funding has provided support to Guyanas Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), and the agreement was the first international commitment of financial support to the strategy, including activities such as the development of solar energy, climate adaptation, and strengthening Indigenous

Peoples rights.

“It is great to see Guyana fulfilling its vision from 2009, to mobilise international private capital in support of its Low Carbon Development Strategy. Norway is proud to have been a partner of Guyana in this journey”, says Mr. Eide.

Guyana’s more than 18 million hectares of rainforests (almost one and a half times the area of England) are estimated to store approximately 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Follow-

WCS congratulates Guyana on Issuing the world’s first credits

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has congratulated Guyana on the issuance of the world’s first credits from the REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES), marking the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically targeted at voluntary and compliance carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation.

In a statement, WCS said, “These credits also represent the first time that a jurisdiction with high forest cover and low rates of deforestation, also known as High Forest Low Deforestation (HFLD), has the potential to access carbon market finance at scale.

“Guyana is one of the most forested countries in the world, with around 85% of the country covered by vast expanses of high integrity or intact forests. Guyana’s credits are the culmination of over a decade of commitments and collaborative efforts to pursue a Low Carbon Development Strategy through incentives from jurisdictional REDD+. Its TREES credits, independently validated and verified against the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) TREES standard and

One Guyana Cup...

(From page 11)

of the ten regions vying to be the inaugural champion of the One Guyana Cup,” Forde stated.

Every player that will be part of the 25-man squad will receive a one-off incentive of $80,000. The captain and head coach of the team will receive $100,000 each.

As the teams progress through the tournament, for every victory they will earn US $1, 000 to be shared among squad members, and as they move to the semi-finals they will earn US$2,000.

Cumulatively, the tournament will have an incentive budget exceeding some $30 million. President Ali thanked all sponsors for playing an integral part in the games. Among those are Caribbean Airlines, GTT, Ansa Mcal, Digicel, E-Networks and the Beharry Group.

conforming with rigorous environmental and social safeguards, can help enable Guyana to strengthen stewardship of its forests and contribute to meeting global climate goals while pursuing economic security and prosperity for all Guyanese.”

Meanwhile, Joe Walston, Executive Vice President for WCS Global Conservation, said, “This is huge. Guyana's issuance of the world's first market-oriented jurisdictional REDD+ credits through the ART TREES standard is a testament to its commitment to pursuing equitable economic development through the safeguarding its forests. We must prioritise global support for countries and jurisdictions that follow this approach.”

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guyana on December 1, 2022.

ART is a standalone, independent program that develops and administers standardized procedures for crediting emission reduc -

tions and removals from national and large sub-national REDD+ programmes. ART is governed by a Board of globally recognized experts and operated by an independent Secretariat, hosted by Winrock International. ART’s standard for the measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of emission reductions and removals from the forest sector — The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard, known as TREES — represents the next step in the evolution of global efforts to protect and restore tropical forests. TREES supports transformational climate action at scale, while upholding rigorous social and environmental integrity. Following completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors, ART has issued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. These serialized credits, listed on ART’s public registry, are available to buyers

on the global carbon market, including for use by airlines for compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s global emission reduction program, CORSIA, as well as for use toward voluntary corporate climate commitments.

Guyana’s completion of the ART process paves the way for other governments that are looking to receive carbon market finance for success in protecting and restoring forests. Current -

ly, 14 other countries and large sub-national jurisdictions are working toward their own issuances of TREES credits.

Prior to the crediting approach in TREES, there had not been a market-oriented approach that allows HFLD jurisdictions to benefit from carbon market finance. The HFLD crediting approach in TREES recognizes that HFLD jurisdictions must continue to aggressively protect

forests to avoid deforestation and degradation, and that carbon market finance can be a powerful incentive to help achieve this. All HFLD credits are tagged as such on ART’s public registry.

Under ART-TREES, every year, credits are validated and verified to globally-recognized standards, including adherence to Cancun safeguards, and then issued for trade on the global carbon market.

Historic breakthrough for the...

ing the LCDS 2030, Guyana aims to maintain 99.5% of its forests.

HIGH FOREST COVER, LOW DEFORESTATION

A considerable portion of the world’s remaining tropical forests are found in countries like Guyana, with high forest covers and historically low deforestation rates (HFLD), collectively known as “HFLD-countries”. While forest carbon market and climate finance schemes historically have tended to

focus on areas that have reduced high levels of deforestation this is now starting to change with the first ART credits issued to Guyana. The multi-year purchase agreement with Hess Corporation stipulates that there is significant demand from the private sectore to purchase high-integrity forest carbon credits from HFLD-countries such as Guyana.

“Guyana has demonstrated that it is indeed possible to protect rainforest over time. This is the result of dedicated,

(From

page 12)

strategic work over more than a decade”, says Mr. Eide.

The revenues received by Guyana under the new agreement with Hess Corporation will finance Guyana’s LCDS 2030 plan, distributed according to a benefits-sharing mechanism, and will be used towards activities including renewable energy, village-based job creation and land titling, climate adaptation, and enhancing trade and market development for sustainable forestry and agriculture products.

Ramjattan’s talk of AFC, APNU split exposed

Opposition

PNCR’s Randolph Critchlow called out for misrepresentation

Confirming the view of majority of Guyanese, Coalition Parliamentarian, Roysdale Forde, on Tuesday (December 6, 2022), admitted that the Alliance For Change (AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) will remain tied to each other until 2025.

STILL A COALITION IN PARLIAMENT

Losing ground in the political arena and on the ground with Guyanese, Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Khemraj Ramjattan, had, announced that his party will be pulling out from the APNU+AFC Coalition, come December 31, 2022.

While the Cummingsburg Accord expires on December 31, 2022, the AFC Parliamentarians who currently sit in the National Assembly represent the Coalition, having been elected on an APNU+AFC Coalition slate. A split between the two parties will only affect this arrangement, if the AFC members leave Parliament.

Essentially, despite Ramjattan’s talk, the AFC will still be part of the Coalition, in its role as the Parliamenta-

ry Opposition.

Forde said, “The list is one indivisible list for the life of the term and the Alliance For Change has indicated it publicly through their leader and my party recognises that the list is one indivisible list for the life of the parliamentary term. They have said so and I am confident it will remain that way…we remain a solid, complete unbreakable list.”

NO COMMUNICATION

Further, while Ramjattan has talked up a split with the APNU, the Coalition’s Ganesh Mahipaul on Tuesday (December 6, 2022) confirmed that it has not received any official correspondence from AFC.

On a prior occasion, leader of the PNCR, APNU and the APNU+AFC Coalition, Aubrey Norton, had said, “When we are formally communicated with , we will then make the decisions as to what we will do. There are a number of options that exist and we will at the right time respond.”

Ramjattan did not elaborate on the AFC’s plans for the future, one its leave the

APNU and breaks from the Coalition.

The AFC had joined hands with the APNU to contest the 2015 General and Regional Elections and the Coalition subsequently won. However, APNU, led by former President David Granger, had been accused of continuously violating the accord. In addition, there has been the former Government’s strategic reallocation of responsibilities away from Ministries that were headed by AFC officials, to other Ministries. This has included removing citizenship from Ramjattan, himself, when he acted as Public Security Minister. Also, while it was agreed that the former Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo being vested with the responsibility for chairing Cabinet and domestic issues, the former APNU Government never honoured this, instead Nagamootoo was left in charge of the State Media.

On December 24, 2019, after much back and forth between APNU and the AFC, a revised Cummingsburg Accord was signed, but the full details were never released to the public.

Coalition’s Carol Joseph summoned by SOCU

The APNU+AFC Coalition’s Carol Smith-Joseph was on Wednesday (December 7, 2022) summoned to the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

She was asked to report to SOCU headquarters in Georgetown on Friday (December 8, 2022).

Joseph in April 2017 was exposed for using her office as a Region 5 Councillor to obtain unusual amounts of a prescription painkiller, Pethidine injections, from the Fort Wellington Hospital. The whistle-blower who wrote to then Health Minister, the APNU+AFC Coalition’s George Norton, in a letter said, “To this date no disciplinary action was done to curb this situation…I am still awaiting intervention on this matter.”

The whistle-blower, later identified as nurse Shemilyn Mark, was transferred from her post. Joseph resigned as Region Five Councillor after her drug abuse, via state resources, was expose.

According to documents,

the contents of which were made public in April 2017, Joseph was being receiving pethidine almost every single day the Fort Wellington Hospital in Berbice. The records showed that on December 6, 2016, Joseph received a 100mg injection of pethidine around 11:20hrs, a similar dose at 22:10hrs on the same day. On December 27, 2016, Joseph received a 100mg dose of pethidine at 13:30hrs and again at 19:05hrs. On January 18, 2017, records showed that Joseph received a dose of the narcotic drug at 11:10hrs and again at 21:50hrs. On February 23, 2017, Joseph was administered one dose at 00:40hrs and another at 21:30hrs.

It was later exposed that the APNU+AFC Coalition know about Joseph’s addition and abuse of state resources for years.

Additionally, Joseph is currently facing forgery and conspiracy to defraud, respectively.

In what was a clear case of

fraud, provision was made for the signatures of 'witnesses' on the Region 4 declaration of results from the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. While the first fraudulent declaration on March 5, 2020 was signed by the PNCR’s Volda Lawrence, Joseph signed the second fraudulent declaration issued by Mingo on March 13, 2020. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in comments on the issue had said, “Interestingly, the only 'witness' who signed was the embattled APNU+AFC Coalition's Carol Joseph. This is a clear attempt to obfuscaste the conspiracy between the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition and complicit GECOM officials – a conspiracy to perpetrate electoral fraud.” The completed recount of votes from Region 4, which were cast in the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, exposed the fact that the Returning Officer, did, in fact, manipulate the results he presented on March 13, 2020.

Member of the PNCR, Randolph Critchlow, was this week called out by local sportsman, Keevin Allicock, for misrepresenting issues in a bid to criticize the PPP/C Government.

Critchlow, on Tuesday (December 6, 2022), during an APNU+AFC Coalition news conference, said, “All we will ask at this point on Sport is for the Minister and the National Sports Commission to show Guyanese where the $3.2 Billion allocated to the development of sport has gone. The recent revelations by our national athletes, including national boxer Keevin Allicock, have indicated that those billions have not gone into helping them.”

The sportsman, for his part, responded and made clear that he has always had

the support of the Office of the President and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport. He said, “A clip of a press conference with the Opposition was sent to me where someone who I do not know made mention that I indicated that government money has not gone into helping me and other athletes.

“Let me state for the record that I have never met that individual before, and I do not even know who he is. Let me also clarify once again that my previous public statement had nothing to do with the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport but had to do with the Sports Associations.

“In fact, I issued a subsequent statement immediately thereafter stating that

I have “ALWAYS had the support of the Office of the President and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport” and I expressed my gratitude for that support.” Allicock called on the Coalition to leave him “out of their drama” moving forward. “As we say in Guyana you have to give jack his jacket - this Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport has been the most active, supportive, effective and visionary that this country has ever seen. Anyone who does not say that is lying to themselves. I would like to express my gratitude once again to His Excellency President Irfaan Ali and Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Honourable Charles Ramson for all the tremendous work they have been doing,” the sportsman said.

‒ Forde says group remains united as Parliamentary

FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE

Region Nine housing programme to provide jobs, stimulate Amerindian village economies

Amerindian communities within Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) are set to benefit significantly from the government’s housing programme being rolled out in the Lethem township.

On November 26, 2022, the first 100 beneficiaries of the Lethem Housing Support Programme signed their agreements with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) to move forward with the construction of their homes.

This was followed by the signing of contracts with the villages of Surama and Kwatamang, North Rupununi for the supply of

materials- timber and clay bricks.

Senior Councillor Bertrand Allicock, who signed the contract on behalf of Surama Village to provide the wood, commended the government for extending its housing initiative to the hinterland. He said that apart from realising homeownership for many, the programme will help to stimulate the local village economies since the materials that will be used to construct the homes will be sourced from the villages.

“It’s a good initiative. It generates income for the people, create job opportunities for those who are not fortunate

to have job elsewhere,” he said. Allicock explained that while the contract was signed under Surama Village, all five of the villages in the Annai District will benefit. “All the villages will have a certain amount of quota they will have to provide for the Lethem programme…The people are pleased about it, especially the men they will be closer to their families and not have to go out seeking jobs. This is a step in the right direction.”

Toshao of Kwatamang, Davion Moses said his village will be supplying the clay bricks for the programme. He said the initiative is a big plus for his

Major development underway in Karrau – Min Sukhai

The Amerindian village of Karrau, Region Seven is undergoing major development, since the PPP/C Administration returned to office.

Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai in a recent visit to the village shared that she has been keeping abreast with the community’s development. “I have been following your development over the two years that we have been back in office and I have realised that there is a number of development projects to complement your development here in Karrau.”

Some of the development ongoing in the region include the rehabilitation of some 2,000 kilometres of roads amounting to some $70 million in works. The infrastructural works are some of the largest to be implemented in the village.

The village has also been provided with street lights through the Office of the

Prime Minister.

The residents who are skilled in sewing are also being hired to sew uniforms for the village. Minister Sukhai noted that the money being acquired, in the village through the government’s ‘Because We Care’ programme can be circulated right in the community.

“Our government feels that the skill can be built in the village to sew the school uniforms and now you can turn that skill into an economic venture and so the monies that come to the parents can remain here,” the minister said.

Additionally, garment construction is being offered through the Community Service Officer (CSO) programme to further build the capacity of the women.

Meanwhile, Minister Sukhai highlighted that the government recently signed an agreement with Hess Corporation to purchase carbon

credits for a minimum of US$750 million. The agreement aims to support the government’s efforts to protect Guyana’s forest, while enhancing the lives of Guyanese. The investment is part of the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, which will see some US$112 million being expended for the development of Amerindian villages.

“That alone is more than what the Amerindian Affairs budget put together for a number of years received. So that signals the income that will come to Amerindian communities, riverine communities, local communities, that are not naturally Amerindian but non-forest, poor remote communities.”

The minister encouraged residents to support their village council and join in the country’s development as the government forges ahead with its ‘One Guyana’ agenda.

village since the residents will have opportunities to earn an income. “I’m happy for programme because in the region we don’t normally have many opportunities like this so now, from the groundwork until the completion of the homes. the people and the region will benefit,” he said.

The Lethem Housing Project was announced by His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali back in August. The $600 million programme will see the government contributing $1 million each to 600 low-income homeowners to mitigate the cost of their home construction. The commercial banks will finance the $2 million for the pro-

spective homeowners.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal highlighted the spinoff benefits of the programme since each of the units will require some 4,000 clay bricks and a large quantity of wood. “So, $ 3 million per unit will be circulated right within your region. This will augur well for the region, this will auger well for the villages. this will auger well for the people,” he emphasised.

The first 100 homes are expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023. Minister Croal impressed upon the contractors to ensure the delivery of quality

materials in a timely manner.

The minister also used the opportunity to encourage villages to utilise every available opportunity to upskill and reskill themselves, noting that “opportunities abounded for skilled individuals.”

Approximately 500 house lots were distributed to residents of Lethem over the past two years. To date, the government has allocated close to 19,000 house lots to Guyanese countrywide.

CHPA’s Chief Executive Officer Sherwyn Greaves, Regional Chairman Brian Allicock and Mayor of Lethem, John Macedo were also at the event.

$9.6M pick-up handed over to Region Eight to aid fight against malaria

The government has boosted mobility in the fight against malaria with the provision of a pick-up truck to Region Eight valued at $9.6 million.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Tuesday (December 6, 2022) handed over the keys to a brand new 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser pickup to Region Eight’s Vector Control Supervisor, Natalie Griffith in the ministry’s compound on Brickdam, Georgetown.

The Health Minister, in brief remarks noted that the close partnership with the Global Fund is a necessary resource in the fight against Malaria. “Over the last couple of years, we have been working very closely with Global Fund to get the necessary resources to help with our Malaria programme. This is just one example where we were able, through the Global Fund to acquire this vehicle and we will be sending this vehicle to Region Eight”, he

stated.

Meanwhile, Griffith expressed her gratitude on behalf of the region. She said it will assist greatly in traversing the challenging terrain.

The Health Ministry’s Head of Vector Control (Malaria), Dr Reza Niles-Robin shared with the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the acquisition will enable personnel to finally reach residents in a region that has the second-highest number of malaria cases. “We are grateful to the Global Fund along with the Ministry of Health for this vehicle because the terrain is a bit difficult and mobility is very important to us. The region accounts for the second highest number of cases of Malaria that we have, and we are glad that [with the vehicle] the programme will finally be able to reach these hard-to-reach areas, where we might or may not have some cases, but at least we want them to have access,”

she said.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organisation that aims to “attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to support attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations”.

Guyana through the Global Fund was also able to access insecticide-impregnated bed nets.

In 2021, the Government was able to donate over 57,000 bed nets to different communities across the country and is continuing to do so, especially in mining communities.

Present at the event was the coordinator of Health in the Hinterlands, Michael Gouveia and other personnel from the ministry’s vector control programme.

Masakenari residents to benefit from telemedicine programme

Residents of Masakenari also known as Gunns Village in Deep South Rupununi Region Nine, will benefit from access to quality health care with the introduction of the TeleMedicine Clinic.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony along with Regional Health Officer of Region Nine, Cerdec Mc Watt, Coordinator of Health in the Hinterland, Michael Gouveia and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of 19Labs, Ram Fish travelled

to this far-flung community to officially launch the programme on Wednesday (December 7, 2022).

With this programme coming on stream, community health workers (CHW) will have access to expertise from doctors and specialists in Georgetown via tablets and other electronic devices, to deliver health care to residents.

Minister Anthony said this is in keeping with President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s vision of

creating a ‘world class’ health care system for Guyanese. The minister explained, “When you add the things that we are doing in other parts of the system, like upgrading our hospitals and so forth, this really would improve primary healthcare and this would help us to connect with those hospitals.”

The clinic has been equipped with a digital stethoscope, pulse oximeter, infrared thermometer, blood pressure monitor, mobile ultrasound, exam cam-

eras among other technological devices that will be used in the delivery of this service.

“We’re also able to take the electronic medical record of the patient….and I think that’s extremely important because in many instances, we don’t have accurate data on the patients we have in remote communities. This is now going to help us to build an electronic health record system across the regions” Dr Anthony noted.

The health minister said

while this is a pilot programme, from all that has been seen so far, it is working. “The way that has worked so far, it’s promising and the team at the GPHC is going to be available to support the community health workers. So, by doing that, we’re twinning some of the best in medicine with those persons who are in the remote communities, Minister Anthony added.

He said there will be an evaluation of the programme. Further, the ministry will be looking

to implement such programmes in other remote communities.

Funding for the expansion of the programme has already been secured.

Gunns Village is one of four communities in Region Nine benefitting from the telemedicine initiative. Minister Anthony also visited the Lethem Regional Hospital to inspect the telemedicine project there.

Children of Gunns Village also received Christmas gifts from the health minister.

DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Gov’t looking to implement e-governance structure

84 Bare Root residents receive land titles after more than 20 years

– Parag says archaic public service rules being modernised After more than twenty years of waiting, the first eight-four (84) families of Former Parcel 914, Bachelor’s Adventure (Bare Root), East Coast Demerara are now in possession of the legal documentation for their lands.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration is examining the possibility of implementing an e-governance structure to deliver its services to citizens digitally, in an effort to develop and modernise the public service in Guyana.

Public Service Minister, Sonia Parag made the revelation as she appeared on a programme recently.

Electronic governance or e-governance is the application of information technology (IT) for delivering government services, exchange of information and communication transactions.

“We’re looking at an e-governance format that will go across the agencies and the ministries so that we have a very unified way of dealing with documentation and the processing of infor-

mation, the transmitting of information and of course in a very structured way so that we can all be on the same page,” Minister Parag said.

However, for this to be implemented, personnel in the public service must become familiarised with information technology. As such, robust training will be rolled out for the public service as well as at the community level in 2023.

The Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT), which falls under the ministry’s purview will be executing the training programme.

In addition, the archaic public service rules are being modernised.

“We did a draft of the Public Service rules of 1987. The Attorney General Chambers and I would have

done a draft of updated rules and would have based it on what we need in Guyana but also on modern rules in the rest of the Caribbean … that have not come to pass as yet because we have to do the consultation. We have to be able to consult with the various stakeholders. So, that is on the cards,” she said. The Housing and Water Ministry is also working on legislation for the Single Window Electronic Systemwhich will make doing business in Guyana much easier.The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is also looking to go digital with its governance structure.“All of these things are coming onboard and those are the things that the public service can look forward to in the upcoming years,” the minister expressed.

$50M contract signed for construction of ‘Blacka Bridge’

Permanent Secretary of the Public Works Ministry, Vladim Persaud on December 4, 2022, signed a contract with Modern Construction and Trucking Services for the emergency construction of an improved ‘B’ Field Sophia Bridge (Blacka Bridge).

The contract, valued at some $50 million, will span a period of three months, and will see a brand-new bridge built to replace the previous one, which had been in a dilapidated state for some time.

Following a recent visit by ministers of government, a commitment was made to have a sturdy and efficient bridge in place of the current one, which has been in a deplorable state for some time.

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Public Affairs, Kwame McCoy, who was present at the sign-

ing, reassured residents of the government’s continued commitment to delivering quality service to all residents of Guyana. “This is demonstrative of your government working for all the people. Whether you reside in Sophia, Enmore, Buxton… in any community, we are for all the people, in every country across the region. And as we move forward as a government, we look forward to your partnership in making these things happen. Because the representation from the community was important in bringing us to this point where we are actualising emergency works on this bridge… So, you have to continue to work with us as a government, because we want to continue working with you,” he said.

Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat

Indar told residents that the construction of the bridge would be of good quality. He reminded residents of the government’s recent commitment to building the bridge and the timely intervention. “Ministers Oneidge Walrond, Kwame McCoy, Collin Croal, and myself came here a few weeks ago. We made the commitment, the President of Guyana and Vice President said let’s go out to tender. I want to let you know that it’s emergency works, and because of the emergency nature of the bridge, we went to restrictive tender, and the best contractor, based on the tender submitted, won,” he explained.

Residents of Sophia expressed their relief at the timely intervention. Construction of the new bridge is set to begin within the new week.

The Certificates of Title were handed over by the Minister within the Ministry of Housing and Water, Susan Rodrigues at a community engagement on Friday, in keeping with a promise made to the residents in October 2022.

Minister Rodrigues was accompanied by a team from the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), including the Director of Community Development, Mr. Gladwin Charles; the Head of the Conveyance Unit, Ms Esther Stephens; and the Head of CHPA’s Legal Secretariat, Ms Hannifah Jordan.

She stated that the ownership documents will bring empowerment to the beneficiaries, as it provides a sense of protection and can also be used at financial institutions to help persons enhance their homes or even launch a small business. “We want to ensure that we uplift all the citizens

in our country and […] that all the services we deliver to you, touch your lives in a real way,” said the Minister.

She further noted that although some of the families were unable to pay the transaction fees, the Ministry took an extra step to still process the documents, so that each person can close that chapter of their lives. As such, they were given the opportunity to make the necessary payments and receive the document at the event or at the Ministry’s Headquarters. “By processing your Title, even without the full payment we are saying that we are committed to you, we want to ensure that you can obtain your ownership documents and we will work with you,” the Minister assured residents.

The area, which was regularised, is divided into 312 lots. A survey was completed by the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC) in 2004, however, due to omissions of parcel numbers, bearings and incorrect acreages, resurveys were done in 2009 and 2017. In June 2022, a final survey was completed to rectify discrepancies and former Parcel 914 was verified by CHPA. Although some lot numbers

remain the same, the acreage and lot numbers of others have changed.

Minister Rodrigues has further committed to delivering the remaining land ownership documents. She, therefore, urged the cooperation of residents to make the process a success.

Additionally, the Ministry of Housing and Water, through CHPA allocated a number of house lots to residents of Bare Root with outstanding applications at Friday’s event. This is also in keeping with a commitment made by the Minister during her previous visit.

Several interventions are also in-line for Bachelors’ Adventure such as $407 million in road rehabilitation, and the construction of a $US 7.8 million ($GY 1.5 billion) water treatment plant that will serve communities from Coldingen to Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara. “We want wholesome communities and that is why the Ministry of Housing, the Government of Guyana, and the President of Guyana are committed to building these communities and building a One Guyana, where our people can be happy,” said Minister Rodrigues.

Five-day Electric Vehicle Repair Training wraps up

Thirteen trainees received certificates for their successful completion of a Level Three Hybrid and Electric Vehicle training programme on Friday at Cara Lodge in Georgetown.

The five-day programme taught participants how to identify, repair, and maintain various parts of electric vehicles.

It was a collaboration among the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), REVAMP and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The IDB’s Country Representative for Guyana, Lorena Salazar commended the government for beginning the

transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy. “This is another milestone in the partnership supporting Guyana shifting to a Low Carbon Development economy,” she said.

Minister within the Public Works Ministry, Deodat Indar, expressed satisfaction at the foresight of the GEA and IDB as it relates to electric vehicles, and urged trainees not to let their knowledge go to waste. “You don’t wait until the problem is upon you, then try to learn how to deal with it. So, learning to deal with it now is good. I applaud you, and I am asking and imploring you to

continue with this trend. I am sure that the GEA through the partnership with the IDB will continue to support this training because that is what diversification in the energy matrix is about: renewable energy,” he said.

The first batch of training was conducted in July and saw 12 persons graduating from a similar training programme. To date, 25 persons have benefitted from this training.

It ties into the government’s vision to shift away from the use of fossil fuels and combustible engines, and towards the use of sustainable energy by 2030.

Government committed to small business development – PM Phillips

Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), the Honourable Mark Phillips said the Government remains committed to the development and expansion of small businesses in Guyana.

He made the statement while attending the Small Business Bureau Annual Awards Reception and Dinner recently. “Our Government is committed to creating such an

environment to allow the expansion and success of small and medium-sized enterprises and the private sector in general, to thrive and expand while achieving the capacity to operate on a globally competitive scale,” Phillips said.

He added, “In the past two years, this Government, through sound and consistent investments, has strengthened the business climate”.

The emerging oil and gas industry, the Prime Minister explained, has brought massive opportunities for businesses to benefit through partnerships or by becoming part of its massive supply chain with their products and services.

He told recipients that, “Government is also aware that for these businesses to thrive there must be adequate

access to finance for small businesses, which directly contributes to their increased output and employment and the overall advancement of economic growth and development”.

He also emphasised the essential role of the bureau in facilitating small business development and called it “a hub for opportunities”, while congratulating its management

unit. “With the Small Business Bureau, you have a dedicated guide in helping you to access financing; you also have access to training and education, increased visibility through the promotion of your products and services, access to Government procurement opportunities and a range of other business and technical support,” Phillips said.

The Senior Government

Official also encouraged recipients and all small business owners to pursue upward mobility and diversification of their businesses, products, and services on a continuous basis.

The bureau is a Government-funded institution that aims to make financing more accessible to small businesses and to address issues that they face.

– residents commend swift action by gov’t

ON ‘PLAN FOR

New high-yielding coconut variety launched as part of Govt’s efforts to boost sector

The Ministry of Agriculture’s Hope Coconut Industries Limited, in collaboration with the Caribbean Agriculture Research and Development Institute (CARDI), on Wednesday (December 7, 2022) hosted an exercise to launch the introduction of the Brazilian Green Dwarf coconut variety in Guyana.

The first shipment comprising 1,000 seed nuts arrived in Guyana from Brazil last October paving the way for intensive research and product development intended to become a game changer for the local coconut industry.

The Brazilian Green Dwarf variety is best known for its high-yielding properties, as well as its high tolerance to attacks from common pests and diseases that usually affect other varieties of coconuts. Its most outstanding characteristic, however, is its ability to produce a higher volume of water than other varieties commonly grown in Guyana. This variety is also said to produce water that has a very high sucrose level, making it sweeter than other varieties.

While speaking at the exercise, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha said coconut is one of the priority commodities that has been identified for increased production. “Approximately $1.5 billion was earned from the export of coconut and coconut products during the

period January to September 2022. As CARICOM seeks to reduce the food import bill by 25% by 2025, with Guyana having the lead responsibility of agriculture in the region, coconut is one of the priority commodities that has been identified for increased production. A large portion of the coconut industry engages in the primary processing of coconut. We are working with our private sector counterpart to produce more value-added products,” he noted

The minister also said, with the international coconut industry anticipating tremendous growth by 2026, it was critical for Guyana to ensure it was in a place to tap into that market. “Internationally, the coconut industry is expected to be a USD 30 Billion industry by 2026, therefore it is important for us to set the stage to tap into this market. We will be working to develop industries utilizing four popular bi-products of coconut which include the husk, shell, meat, and water. This is why the ministry has been working to develop coconut nurseries and decentralize the production of coconut seedlings across the country. Through close collaboration with CARDI, Hope Estate was able to development of one of its first coconut nurseries under the National Coconut Decentralization Programme. This intervention has seen further expansions over the

past two years. This has led to Guyana becoming one of the leading producers of coconut seedlings in CARICOM,” he added.

Meanwhile, European Union Ambassador to Guyana, H.E. Rene Van-Nes in his remarks said that the coconut sector will also play a role in Guyana’s Green Goal and presents a winwin situation for everyone involved. “I’m really proud that the European Union is supporting Guyana and the Guyanese farmers to create better livelihoods for all the people involved in the production, processing, and distribution of coconuts and its by-products. The coconut sector in Guyana is contributing to the Green Goal, for example by inter-cropping, you really make sure that you have more biodiversity, you’ll need less pest control, and you’ll diversify the income from the land. This presents a win-win situation for all those involved,” Ambassador Van-Nes noted.

An additional shipment containing 1,000 seed nuts is expected to arrive in Guyana before the end of the year.

The introduction of the Brazilian Green Dwarf variety will result in the expansion of Guyana’s local genetic diversity adding to the government’s efforts to further develop its national coconut breeding programme which is expected to commence shortly.

7,410 GOAL scholarships awarded to date – Parag

I n keeping with the PPP/C Government’s commitment to delivering 20,000 online scholarships to Guyanese,7,410 Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarships have been awarded to persons to date.

Public Service Minister Sonia Parag made the disclosure as she appeared on a recently televised programme.

The GOAL programme is a collaborative effort between the Education and Public Service ministries.

Minister Parag said, “This is such a significant initiative and programme and we have seen an overwhelming response to it. So, in 2021 when the GOAL

scholarship was rolled out, we initially intended to grant 4,500 scholarships because the target was 20,000 online scholarships by 2025. We intended to give 4,500 but we were able to give ordinary Guyanese and 6,000 ordinary Guyanese the opportunity to either gain a skillset or a tertiary-level education through the programme. In 2022, that number significantly went up from 6,000 to 7410.”

This means 4,780 scholarships were awarded to Guyanese for 2022.

GOAL ushers in a new era of higher tertiary education. It plays a significant role in mitigating the challenges facing persons living in remote and riverain areas.

“We did an oil and gas training as well that added another 70 to that programme. So, the programme has been quite successful and it’s just not to be able to have self-development but to be able to have national development, to be able to reach a wide cross-section of our country,” the Minister stated.

$1.3 billion was allocated in the 2022 budget for the GOAL scholarship programme. This programme is aimed at improving the relevant skills required to support Guyana’s rapid development.

Apart from the GOAL scholarship programme, 350 students are on scholarships

CAPE programme launched in Region Five

The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE®) programme has been extended to the Rosignol Secondary School in Region Five.

This is part of the Ministry of Education’s efforts to expand the delivery of education across the country to ensure each child has access to educational opportunities. Currently, there are six students at Rosignol Secondary enrolled in the programme.

During brief remarks at the commissioning of the programme on Tuesday (December 6, 2022), Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said that the

Ministry of Education has been investing heavily to ensure schools are equipped to deliver quality education “because our children across this country deserve nothing less. She further highlighted that this is the third school where the CAPE® programme has been extended to, the others were Anna Regina Secondary School in Region Two and West Demerara Secondary School in Region Three. She further announced that over before the end of 2025, CAPE® colleges will be established in each county. “Those are colleges dedicated to teaching and training sixth form

students from those counties, one on the Essequibo Coast, one in Demerara and one in Berbice with dorms where necessary. So, the intention, my friends, is to make sure every child who wants a secondary education to its highest level can get a quality secondary education.”

Also present were Chief Education Officer, Mr Saddam Hussain, Deputy Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Amerindian Hinterland Education Development, Mr Marti DeSouza and Assistant Chief Education Officer- Secondary, Ms Tiffany Harvey.

Works progressing in new Cummings Lodge Housing Development

Massive infrastructural works are ongoing in the new Cummings Lodge Housing Development which starts from Sophia, Greater Georgetown and ends in the vicinity of Eccles, East Bank Demerara.

Housing and Water Minister Collin Croal during a visit to the area Tuesday (December 6, 2022) said some $1.4 billion is being invested in developing the area.

He was accompanied by Director of Projects at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) Omar Narine and a team of engineers.

Works being undertaken include land clearing, and the creation of road networks such as the Aubrey Barker Road access.

Minister Croal noted that with the initial phase of works completed, a number of persons who were allocated house lots in the area will begin to access their lands from next week. “Initially we were concentrating closer to Sophia and there is where we have the construction of the houses. “The next devel-

‒ $1.4B being expended

opment that will happen is that there were allocations that were done many years ago and no infrastructure works was done in the last government tenure and so immediately when we came back into office, we sought to make resources available for at the back here,” he explained.

The Cummings Lodge development will also unlock a commercial and medical zone at the southern end of the scheme. An area is also being cleared to commence the construction of a massive water treatment plant.

Notably, the access road at the southern end will interconnect with the East Bank – East Coast Road being constructed through the Ministry of Public Works.

“So, you have seen the distance we have covered and now one can grasp the level of infrastructure works that is taking place. We are pushing the contractors now to move quickly…there was an issue of access, there was an issue in terms of having to drive all the way and then dealing with the congestion of the traffic. So now that

we had that breakthrough in terms of coming through Aubrey Barker Road, we are able to now move quicker in this direction,” Croal said.

Minister Croal also visited the area where the government is constructing a number of elevated and flat housing units.

While a number of persons have begun to occupy their homes, the ministry is working to complete the remaining homes earmarked for that scheme.

Minister Croal explained that there were some issues with some contractors who were lagging with regards to completing some units. Some of those contractors were terminated and mechanisms are in place to ensure the units are completed in a timely manner.

However, he said the construction of the additional 84 flat three-bedroom units recently awarded, are moving ahead smoothly.

The Cummings Lodge Housing Development is part of the government’s national housing programme which involves the creation of sustainable schemes.

Over $356M in contracts signed for upgrades to Parika, Leonora markets

Residents and vendors in Region Three will benefit from upgrades to the Parika and Leonora markets.

The signing ceremony was led by Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar.

Minister Indar assured residents that this development is only one aspect of the greater plan to foster devel-

opment in region three. The Minsiter said, “We respect everybody and their right to earn a living. We applaud the people coming out to make an honest living, and we want to make sure that that honest living and the standard is improved.”

Meanwhile, Minister Dharamlall said the modernisation of the markets will benefit vendors who conduct business on the parapets, providing them with a tarmac so that

vending is done in a healthy manner. “We believe that we have to make this centre of business much more upgraded and enhanced. We expect that vendors are going to use this opportunity to improve their businesses,” he said. Moreover, he assured vendors that they will not be displaced during the construction process, which is expected to last five months. Minister Dharamlall affirmed, “While the

at the University of Guyana (UG) to date.

Meanwhile, she further explained that the ministry aims to roll out a robust training programme through the Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT), in Information

Technology (IT). This programme will not only focus on public servants but on communities as well. “I still think that even though we are the Ministry of Public Service and geared towards building capacity in the public

service itself, the communities, I find that we can also go into communities and help them,” Minister Parag expressed.

The centre is an institution tailored to delivering high-quality specialised ICT training to the public sector.

Over $356M in contracts signed...

construction is taking place no one is going to be affected in the sense that we don’t expect you to be moving out. What we expect, at the end of the five months, is that the vendors who are on the roads will also be able to come back into the market and occupy it,” He added that, “While we

are developing as a country, we also have to create a better environment for people to do their business. This is an investment in your business. Regions three and four are where a lot of the development is currently taking place, and you have to grasp the opportunity now and make sure

that you are part of this bigger plan of President Ali and the PPP/C government.”

The two contracts for the works cost approximately $356.245 million and will enable vendors to ply their trade in a designated area, providing them with opportunities for enhanced trade.

Cooperative Republic of Guyana MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND WATER

MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND WATER, CENTRAL HOUSING AND PLANNING AUTHORITY

1. The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana represented by the Ministry of Housing and Water, Central Housing & Planning Authority, Lot #41 Brickdam and United Nations Place, Stabroek, Georgetown, Region #4 hereby invites sealed bids from eligible and qualified bidders for the following Infrastructural Development Works as depicted in Table 1 below;

2. NB – Table 1

No. Description of Works Project Areas Region Lots Tender Opening Date

1 Infrastructure Development Works Meten Meer Zorg, Phase III, WCD 3 1-10

2 Infrastructure Development Works Stewartville, East and West, WCD 3 1-19

3 Infrastructure Development Works Leonora, Phase II, WCD 3 1-6

4 Infrastructure Development Works De Endgrat, ECD 4 1-5

5 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 6 Hope, ECD 4 1-4

6 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. C and D Hope, ECD 4 1

7 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. A and B Hope, ECD 4 1-2

8 Infrastructure Development Works La Ressouvenir and Success, ECD 4 1-8

9 Infrastructure Development Works Good Hope, Phase IV, ECD 4 1-7

10 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 3 Great Diamond, EBD 4 1-5

11 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 7 Great Diamond, EBD 4 1-4

12

Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 11 Golden Grove, EBD 4 1-7

13 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 13 Golden Grove, EBD 4 1-4

14

15

16

17

Infrastructure Development Works Burma, Phase II 5 1-4

Infrastructure Development Works Balthyock, WCB 5 1-4

Infrastructure Development Works Shieldstown, WCB 5 1-3

Infrastructure Development Works Palyrma, Canjie 6 1-10

18 Infrastructure Development Works No. 75 Village, Corentyne 6 1-4

19 Infrastructure Development Works No. 76 Village, Corentyne 6 1-7

20 Infrastructure Development Works Bartica 7 1-3

21 Infrastructure Development Works Silica City 10 1-4

3.Bidding will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) process, specified in the Procurement Act 2003 and is open to all eligible bidders.

4. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from Ministry of Housing and Water, Central Housing & Planning Authority; Projects Department (227-8886 / 226 – 1809) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address below, from 08:30hrs – 15:30hrs.

5. A complete set of Bidding Documents in English (one electronic copy which would be provided on a flask drive) may be purchased by interested bidders from the Central Housing and Planning Authority’s Cashier at 41 Brickdam and United Nations Place, Stabroek, Georgetown for a non - refundable amount of Ten Thousand Guyana Dollars (GYD$10,000). The method of payment shall be cash.

January 3rd, 2023

January 4th, 2023

6. Bids shall be accompanied by a Bid Security as follows;

a) GYD100Million bid security - 2% of the bid price

b) GYD101Million to GYD500Million bid security – 1.5% of the bid price

c) GYD501Million above bid security – 1% of the bid price

7. The delivery/construction period for the projects depicted in table 1 above is 210 days per Lot

8. Envelopes shall:

i. Contain the original (in paper) and 2 electronic copies (flash drive only) with an exact PDF version of the paper tender ii. Clearly indicate the name of the contract

iii. Bear the warning “DO NOT OPEN BEFORE 09:00 HRS on January 3rd, 2023”

iv. Bear the warning “DO NOT OPEN BEFORE 09:00 HRS on January 4th, 2023”

9. Bids must be delivered to the Chairman, National Procurement and Tender Administration Board, Ministry of Finance (North Eastern Building), Main and Urquhart Street, Kingston, Georgetown, on or before 09:00 HRS on January 3rd, 2023 and January 4th, 2023.

10. Late bids will be rejected.

11. Bids will be opened physically at

09:00 hrs in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.

12. A bidder may submit bids for any or all of the lots in any of the Project Areas depicted in table 1 above.

13. Contracts will be awarded to the lowest evaluated qualified bidder and only one lot will be awarded to any bidder in a Project Area. However, a bidder may be considered for award of more than one lot providing that they submit sufficient documentation as it relates to their financial, equipment and human resources to execute more than one lot simultaneously.

- Also, in the event that one bidder is adjudged the lowest qualified bidder for more than one Lot, the Evaluation Committee will recommend to the benefit of the Client, which LOT the bidder is recommended for.

14. Also, a bidder would be eligible for

award for one lot in each Project Area. However, a bidder can only be awarded for more than one lot providing that they show sufficient human, equipment and material capacity and resources to execute more than one lot simultaneously.

15. Details of the Pre – Bid Meetings are depicted in table 2 below;

No. Description of Works Project Areas Region Lots Date of Pre-bid Office Meeting

1 Infrastructure Development Works Meten Meer Zorg, Phase III, WCD 3 1-10

2 Infrastructure Development Works Stewartville, East and West, WCD 3 1-19

3 Infrastructure Development Works Leonora, Phase II, WCD 3 1-6

4 Infrastructure Development Works De Endgrat, ECD 4 1-5

5 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 6 Hope, ECD 4 1-4

6 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. C and D Hope, ECD 4 1

7 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. A and B Hope, ECD 4 1-2

8 Infrastructure Development Works La Ressouvenir and Success, ECD 4 1-8

9 Infrastructure Development Works Good Hope, Phase IV, ECD 4 1-7

10 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 3 Great Diamond, EBD 4 1-5

11 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 7 Great Diamond, EBD 4 1-4

12

Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 11 Golden Grove, EBD 4 1-7

13 Infrastructure Development Works Bk. 13 Golden Grove, EBD 4 1-4

14

Infrastructure Development Works Burma, Phase II 5 1-4

15 Infrastructure Development Works Balthyock, WCB 5 1-4

16 Infrastructure Development Works Shieldstown, WCB 5 1-3

17 Infrastructure Development Works Palyrma, Canjie 6 1-10

18 Infrastructure Development Works No. 75 Village, Corentyne 6 1-4

19 Infrastructure Development Works No. 76 Village, Corentyne 6 1-7

20 Infrastructure Development Works Bartica 7 1-3

21 Infrastructure Development Works Silica City 10 1-4

Chief Executive Officer

Housing & Planning Authority

December 16th, 2022 at 10:00 AM

December 16th, 2022 at 14:00 PM

COMMENTARY

Carbon credit vision now a historic global breakthrough

By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

Last week, Guyana made a significant breakthrough. The world has never had a mechanism for formally identifying and valuing tradable carbon credits. While a handful of countries and jurisdictions still have measurable amount of forest which can be translated into a carbon credit value, only Guyana, as of today, has an officially recognized amount of tradable carbon credit.

It is truly a historic breakthrough. It is one of the powerful instruments that global authorities have put forward as a weapon to combat climate change. Carbon credit is now being valued in a currency called TREES which can be exchanged for cash in any form of currency. Indeed, Guyana is already selling TREES. Hess Corporation has already agreed to exchange $US750M for about 30% of Guyana’s TREES for the period 2022 to 2032.

What a difference in less than three years: between March 3 and August 2, 2020, the PNC-led APNU/AFC government brought shame and disgrace upon Guyana

when that government tried to steal an entire election in plain sight of the world. A former CARICOM Prime Minister who led the Observer Mission for the Organization of American States (OAS) declared that the attempt to steal the elections of March 2, 2020, was the “most transparent attempt ever to steal an election”.

During a hearing held by the Commission of Inquiry on December 7, 2022, a former GECOM Assistant Registrar told the Commission that it was the Returning Officer of Region 4 who gave her a spreadsheet with fake numbers to substitute for the actual SOPs. She testified that in past elections spreadsheets were never used. This is the kind of legacy that the PNC has brought for Guyana. Contrast the PPP’s rich legacy. It create “historic breakthroughs” such as the first ever REDD+ carbon credit certificates that will earn billions of dollars for decades to come.

Last week, the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) issued the world’s first REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (TREES) credits to Guyana,

marking the first time a country has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and compliant carbon markets for successfully preventing forest loss and degradation – a process known as jurisdictional REDD+. When Bharat Jagdeo spoke of this in 2009, asserting that Guyana’s forest is worth more alive than dead, few believed him. But now the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions has credited Guyana for 33.5M TREES. While many countries have applied for certification, Guyana has blazed the path as the first to have been granted certificates for TREES. Fourteen other countries have applied or in the process of applying for TREES, but it is Guyana that has made the breakthrough. Each TREES represent a certain tonnage of carbon credits and the country can trade these as a formal product, just as a country sells gold. Guyana is the very first country that officially, formally, owns this product.

Make no mistake – this would not have been possible with the vision and leadership of Bharat Jagdeo. It was Bharat Jagdeo, as President

of Guyana who articulated a vision early in his presidency that Guyana’s forest is worth more alive than dead and that while playing a role in saving the world from climate disaster, Guyana could also earn money for its own development. His vision drove the PPP government to invite an international team in 2007 to craft a low-carbon development strategy (LCDS). At the time, few were thinking of utilizing a low-carbon development strategy and many deemed the move a “don quixote” move. But, in fact, it was a bold visionary move. The team produced and Guyana launched the first low carbon development strategy in 2009. While it was lauded by global environmental groups, there were local naysayers. One person who regarded himself as Guyana’s leading economists deemed the whole exercise as being “lost in the forest”. But Bharrat Jagdeo knew what he was talking about and the award by the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions of 33.5M TREES to Guyana is ample vindication that Bharrat Jagdeo was right.

IN 2010, Norway signed an agreement with Guyana to pay Guyana up to $US250M to secure carbon credits. Norway was one of the countries that believed in Guyana’s vision and supported by signing a financial deal with our country. That original deal saw Guyana receiving a total of $220M. When Norway signed a voluntary deal with Guyana in 2010, it was the first time a country was paying another country to save its forest and it was the first ever time a country earned significant resources for committing to keep its forest alive, rather than cutting it down.

The Norway deal was essentially stymied once the PPP demitted office in 2015. The new David Granger-led APNU/AFC government, essentially a PNC government, immediately did exactly what they had threatened to do during the 2011 and the 2015 election campaign; they dumped the LCDS. But in dumping the LCDS, they did a number of other things.

For one, they jeopardized the Norway deal. In addition, they thrashed the Amaila Hydroelectricity project. They also brought the Amerindian land titling exercise to a halt. Among other things, they also ended the Amerindian Development Fund. Among the targeted beneficiaries of the LCDS were the Amerindian people. They were the ones who mostly lived in the forested areas. They were the one who the government identified to be major beneficiaries of carbon credit financial resources. The PNC-led APNU/AFC government by dumping the LCDS also took away major benefits from the Amerindian communities.

The announcement that Guyana has been certified as owners of official tradable carbon credits called TREES that could result in as much as $US250M annually was also followed by an announcement that a portion of all carbon credit earnings will be committed to the Amerindian people. The PPP government has always placed a high premium on the welfare of the Amerindian people. It is the reason why, in every free and fair elections, the Amerindian people overwhelmingly vote for the PPP. In contrast, it is the PNC that always tried to restrict benefits for the Amerindian people. The right to their land through a mechanism of land titling was enshrined in the Independence Declaration for Guyana and in the Amerindian Acts of 1976 and 2006. Yet David Granger and his PNC-led government tried maliciously and deviously to derail the land titling exercise by creating a land commission to investigate claims for lands by persons claiming “ancestral lands”. It was also the PNC-led APNU/AFC government that stopped any funding of the Amerindian Development Fund. It is the reason the overwhelming majority of Amerindians do not trust the PNC.

Leadership matters and leaders matter. Bharrat Jagdeo brilliantly led Guyana. His brilliance was not merely in management. His brilliance came from bold, inno-

vative ideas and the courage to pursue them. LCDS was merely one of the many bold, visionary ideas that today see Guyana poised to move rapidly toward a developed country status. Working alongside President Irfaan Ali, Bharrat Jagdeo has also been instrumental in ensuring that Guyana does not fall prey to the Dutch Disease. Guyana’s rapid economic growth because of OIL has not tempted the PPP government into simply building Guyana’s economy around OIL and GAS.

Bharrat Jagdeo has worked assiduously with President Ali to ensure that Guyana’s economy is a widely diversified economy, with many different areas of contributions. Carbon credit is one of the economic platforms that was developed before any notion that Guyana would become an OIL-giant in the world. It would have been easy for Guyana to abandon the LCDS, like the PNC-led APNU/AFC government tried to do. But Bharrat Jagdeo and President Ali have stuck to the promise that Guyana will build a diversified economy so that when OIL is no longer viable for Guyana, Guyana will also have no need for it.

When Bharrat Jagdeo announced in 2010 that Guyana would expand and modernized the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and began the negotiation for the $US250M loan, the then PNC and AFC claimed that it was a waste of money because what would Guyana do with such a large airport. The claimed that no one wants to come to Guyana, that with one airline, Guyana does not need a large airport. Today, Guyana has already almost outgrown the airport. Several international airlines now operate through the CJIA. But they said the same thing about the Marriot. They claimed that the Marriot would be a white elephant. Yet, today, the Marriot is almost always fully-occupied.

The leaders of the PPP/C, including Bharrat Jagdeo, have demonstrated what visionary leadership is.

Citizens urged to take precautions as COVID cases increase – Min. Anthony

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony this week disclosed that there are 161 people who have tested positive for COVID across the country.

There has been an increase in the number of recorded cases, as well as the number of people currently hospitalised at the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast of Demerara.

“We are again appealing to the general public to take all the necessary precautions because over the last two weeks the cases in Guyana have been going up and hospitalisation has been going up,” Minister Anthony urged.

He is also calling on citizens to take personal responsibility in protecting themselves against infection by following preventative measures that have been put in place by the government

over the last two years. “For example, mask-wearing, avoiding crowded places, etc., because these are the basic non-pharmaceutical measures one can use in terms of preventing COVID.”

Moreover, the variants of the virus currently circulating, mimic the influenza virus, which can lead to persons mistakenly thinking they have the flu.

Therefore, it is important that persons experiencing such symptoms get tested for COVID-19 even if they have flu-like symptoms. The health minister emphasised the importance of vaccination. “Unfortunately, we do not see a lot of persons coming in to be tested although we have a number of testing sites. What would help is people getting vaccinated [because] we have seen a significant drop in vaccination rates. We are encouraging people who are

older and/or those who have underlying medical conditions to get vaccinated” he reiterated.

Dr Anthony said the ministry will continue to provide all the relevant information to the public.

However, information must be acted upon by everyone, including those who have been vaccinated. This cohort is being encouraged to return to get the booster doses.

“This is the only way you can protect yourself especially for those who are vulnerable. We also need people and organisations to assess the risk for themselves and then be able to make those decisions to protect themselves and others”

Meanwhile, the minister established that healthcare workers in each region have adequate PPEs and access to the necessary vaccines and other medication.

LCDS 2030 a ‘unique and comprehensive’ policy – FZS’ Dr

Head of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) Department for South America and Southeast Asia, Dr Antje Müllner, has praised Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 as a ‘unique and comprehensive’ policy.

It is one which she believes is important in the fight to preserve biodiversity and combat the factors contributing to climate change.

Frankfurt Zoological Society, Head of South America and Southeast Asia Department, Dr. Antje Müllner

At the ceremony for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Guyana and FZS to improve Guyana’s protected areas system on Wednesday (December 7, 2022), Dr Müllner noted that a vast number of measures will need to be taken to tackle the current climate crisis, and as such, it is necessary to adopt a holistic, “all hands-on deck” approach.

This approach, she pointed out, is outlined in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy. “I really want to congratulate Guyana for this strategy, which is ambitious, yes, but also very important. I don’t know of any similar document from another country that really compiles in such a comprehensive way, the many aspects of low carbon development, and also sets so clearly the goals,” Müllner expressed.

Since protected areas are a focal point for the FZS, Müllner emphasised the importance of the LCDS in outlining the planned expansion of Guyana’s protected areas system, which will contribute to safeguarding the country’s natural heritage and contribute to the global 30 by 30 goal. “Protected areas play a fundamental role in any national biodiversity strategy. We think they are a main pillar of conserving long-term, healthy ecosystems, and the ecological functions we need for our food security and climate stability,” she said.

As such, “FZS would be glad and also proud to support Guyana’s government in designing and developing new protected areas in the coming years.”

In 2014, FZS began its cooperation with the Government of Guyana, through the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), the government agency responsible for managing the

National Protected Areas System (NPAS).

Since then, the organisation has been instrumental in supporting the operationalisation of the commission in the areas of system-wide strategic planning, capacity development, and improved management of the Kanuku Mountains Protected Area (KMPA).

This new MoU, which is the second one the FZS has signed with Guyana, will span a five-year period, and will see the expansion of FZS’ cooperation in Guyana within the context of the LCDS 2030.

It will allow FZS to establish and operate a country office here, support the expansion of the NPAS, continue its collaboration with the PAC for strengthened management of the KMPA and the NPAS, foster indigenous community engagement and development, and support Guyana to advance participation in key global biodiversity and climate-related initiatives.

LCDS 2030

Guyana’s finalised Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030, a 152-page document, was subject to over eight months of national, countrywide, consultations.

Launched by President, Dr Irfaan Ali, in October 2021, the new and expanded programme, which is still in its draft stages, seeks to create a new-low-carbon economy in Guyana by establishing incentives which value the world’s ecosystem services, and promote these as an essential component of a new model of global development with sustainability at its core. In Guyana’s case, it is about harnessing the value of the country’s ecosystem services to build a long-term, low-carbon diversification opportunity.

The LCDS 2030 sets how – in line with the 2009 vision - Guyana will advance its payment for forest climate services model and invest new revenues in the low carbon economy, while also expanding the vision to include Guyana’s other globally significant ecosystem services. It summarises how the country aims to achieve the right balance between (i) low impact mining and forestry to enhance employment and income generation opportunities – today these sectors employ 40,000 people and contribute over a billion dollars to export

earnings – while preparing for new opportunities as the world seeks more advance minerals for the global transition to renewable energy and electric mobility; (ii) continuing to provide forest climate services, maintaining Guyana’s 18 million hectare forest, and sustaining one of the world’s lowest rates of deforestation; (iii) advancing Guyana’s next generation of ecosystem services such as water management and biodiversity protection.

It also outlines how Guyana’s Protected Areas System will be expanded (page 30), how partners will be sought for the International Centre for Biodiversity Research (page 32) and a sustainable Ocean Economy will be nurtured (page 33).

The document addresses too how Guyana has evolving from the 2009 vision for forest climate services. It provides more detail (Page 36) on the three phases first identified in 2009, and how Phase I – the Guyana-Norway Agreement – saw Guyana receive US$220 million payments for the period 2009-2015. The specific investments from the payments from Norway are summarised in Appendix III (page 134). Further, it sets out how Guyana is preparing to move to Phase 2 (pages 37-42), when payments from Norway can be replaced or augmented by payments from the voluntary carbon markets. A revenue sharing mechanism, which resulted from the national consultation, and which was endorsed by the National Toshaos’ Council as the final step in the national consultation was also detailed in the document. This revenue sharing mechanism focuses on how indigenous peoples and local communities can receive revenues through: National programmes as outlined in the LCDS 2030 (e.g. renewable energy as described in Chapter 3, land titling as described in Chapter 4, protecting against climate change as described in Chapter 5); and Community/ Village-led programmes for indigenous peoples and local communities as set out tin Village Sustainability Plans (VSPs) or equivalent, put together by communities themselves in accordance with the principles of Free Prior and Informed Consent (more detail is set out on Page 43 and 44).

The finalised document can be found at https://lcds.gov.gy/

Patterson’s comments baseless... (From

not and simply do not have time for.

The Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali Administration’s “One Guyana” initiative is a social contract of inclusion: legislatively, politically, and socially. Its vision is about creating a more equal society; guaranteeing that everyone is afforded the opportunity to lead productive and happy lives; and reducing inequality in access to education, health, employment, income, and justice. Since coming into office, this has been our practice across every sector; ensuring our programmes

include everyone and are for the benefit of all citizens.

Our vision for infrastructural modernisation will see massive road networks connecting all parts of the country; and this, as you know, has already started.

Editor, let this not be a tit-for-tat, as I must get on with the business of the people of Guyana.

Respectfully, Bishop Juan Edghill, Minister of Public Works

Balanced approach to development allows Guyana to exploit resources to fund developmental imperatives – Jagdeo

The PPP/C Government firmly believes in and advances a “balanced approach” to development in Guyana, in an effort to deliver on its obligation to ensure improvement of the lives of all Guyanese, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Vice President, Bharrat

Jagdeo.

“The whole concept of oil and gas companies, and forestry, and climate change, and the controversy…we've made it clear at the national level that we believe in balancing our approach to development.

So, even with ten FPSOs operating offshore, we will still

remain carbon negative. Not carbon neutral, not net zero, but carbon negative even with 10 FPSOs,” he said.

Jagdeo added, “…the scale of funding that is required for mitigation efforts and our plan on mitigation is clear. We're hoping from the energy sector to triple install capacity and reduce

emissions from that sector by 70%. And then on adaptation, the needs there on both sides are enormous. Enormous, runs into billions of dollars. Our experience with … and just the recently concluded one is not cause for optimism…the developed world has failed to meet the pledge that they

made in Copenhagen where your promise $100 billion per annum to assist developing countries. The UN Secretary General in 2010 I think it was, put together a group of 12 persons; Larry Summers, Prime Minister Stoltenberg, a number of people. I was part of that group, and we demonstrated how the money could be raised $100 million per annum without shifting the burden to the developing world. Since then, we've had about 80% of this delivered. When we left Copenhagen, the promise was $100 billion…in our mind was supposed to be grant. The $80 billion of the 100 has been delivered, the international community says 80% has been delivered, but most of it is in loans, not grants. So clearly that commitment is not being met.

“Recently, the agreement for the Loss and Damage Fund, which originated in Poland, the concept of loss and damage, which started that meeting that we had in Poland, and was agreed conceptually to be included in the UNFCCC process. But there is no pledge of resources there. So, the concept was being approved and frankly speaking I'm not very optimistic.”

The lack of resources, to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation, necessitates a balanced approach to development, according to him– development in a manner that allows Guyana to exploit its resources to fund the development imperatives of the country and transition to a net-zero economy. Jagdeo said, “It may sound a bit selfish but countries like

Guyana, we have to secure our funding to make… continue to make our contribution to climate change- global climate change have their objectives, but to secure this country, the country that we're elected to secure and the oil and gas sector, developing the oil and gas sector and allow us to get the revenues to fund the billions of dollars of adaptation needs that we have to meet. And this agreement, and the funds here will also allow that to happen. So, we don't see any conflicting objective here between …we don't have a big conflict in our hearts about the fossil fuel and our climate objectives. We support net zero. We support removal early decarbonization. We support removal of subsidy from fossil fuel production. We support those global objectives, but the world is … most of the demand is coming from the developed world for energy and it clearly can’t be met by renewables. If the developer wants us to, to move faster to decarbonize the world, they should tame their energy demand, or alternately put more money into renewable energy add scale so that it can meet any incremental need for energy. So just needed to see that a bit.”

The PPP General Secretary has maintained, consistently, that Guyana will develop its oil and gas sector in a manner that is environmentally safe and not remain locked into a cycle of “low emission and low income” – a cycle that ignores the fact that Guyana is a net carbon sink, among other facts.