Weekend Mirror 3-4 December 2022

Guyana is confident that its arguments will prevail at ICJ – Todd

Foreign Affairs and In ternational Cooperation Minister, Hugh Todd, on Wednesday (November 30, 2022) provided an update to the National Assembly on the recently concluded oral

hearings between Guyana and Venezuela at the Interna tional Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, Netherlands.

During his response to a question during the 51st sit ting of the National Assem

bly Todd highlighted that on November 22, the court heard Guyana’s closing arguments regarding Venezuela’s initial challenges to the legality of the Arbitral Award of Octo ber 3, 1899.

The essence of Vene zuela’s objection is that the court should not exercise the jurisdiction to entertain Guy ana’s claims. The minister said Venezuela contended that the United Kingdom is

an indispensable third par ty to the Guyana/Venezue la border controversy case, which should not be allowed to proceed in its absence. Venezuela’s claim that the 1899 Arbitral Award, which established the border be tween then British Guiana and Venezuela, is void, is at the center of the border con troversy between Guyana and Venezuela. In response to Venezuela’s 1962 claim, the Geneva Agreement of 1966 set forth the strategies to settle the territorial dispute.

Todd said, “Guyana ar gued that the United King dom is not indispensable be cause it has no legal interest that would be affected by a judgement on the validity of the Arbitral Award on Oc tober 3rd, 1899 which fixed the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela or any interests in the boundary itself.” He added that Guyana demonstrated that Venezu ela’s preliminary objections are legally unsupportable and entirely without foundation.

Guyana is confident that its arguments will prevail and that the court will reject Venezuela’s objections and advance the case to the mer its case, he underlined. “The court will deliberate on the is sue over the coming months. A decision is expected by Spring of 2023,” Minister Todd added.

ARGUMENTS

November 22 and Ven ezuela on November 17 and November 21, 2022.

The International Court of Justice, the principal judi cial organ of the United Na tions, started public hearings in the case concerning the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy case on Novem ber 17, 2022. The hearings ran until Tuesday (November 22, 2022).

Guyana is represented in the case before the Court by: Sir Shridath Ramphal, OE, OCC, KC, Co-Agent and Counsel; Mr. Paul S. Reichler, Attorney-at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the United States Supreme Court and the Dis trict of Columbia; Mr. Alain Pellet, Professor Emeritus of the University Paris Nanterre, former Chairman of the Inter national Law Commission, member of the Institut de droit international; Professor Philippe Sands KC, Professor of International Law at Uni versity College London, 11 King’s Bench Walk, London; Mr. Payam Akhavan, LLM, SJD (Harvard University),

Professor of International Law, Senior Fellow, Massey College, University, of To ronto, member of the Bar of New York and the Law Society of Ontario, member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration; Professor Pierre d’Argent, Professor ordi naire, Université Catholique de Louvain, member of the Institut de Droit Internation al, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bar of Brussels; Ms. Christina L. Beharry, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bars of the District of Colum bia, the State of New York, England and Wales, and the Law Society of Ontario; Mr. Edward Craven, Barrister, Matrix Chambers, London; Mr. Juan Pablo Hugues Ar thur, Foley Hoag LLP, mem ber of the Bar of the State of New York; and Ms. Isabella F. Uria, Attorney –at-Law, Foley Hoag LLP, member of the Bar of the District of Columbia.

MOVE TO COURT

In March 2018, Guyana filed its application with the ICJ to confirm the validity and binding effect of the Ar bitral Award of 1899 on the boundary between the two countries and the subsequent 1905 agreement, follow ing the decision by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to choose the ICJ as the next means of resolving the controversy which stems from Venezuela’s contention that the award was null and void.

In its Application before the ICJ, Guyana requested that the Court adjudge and declare that:

• “(a) The 1899 Award is valid and binding upon Guy ana and Venezuela, and the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agree ment is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela;

• (b) Guyana enjoys full sov ereignty over the territory between the Essequibo River and the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement, and Vene zuela enjoys full sovereignty over the territory west of that boundary; Guyana and Vene zuela are under an obligation to fully respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with the boundary established by the 1899 Award and the 1905 Agreement;

•

(c) Venezuela shall imme diately withdraw from and cease its occupation of the eastern half of the Island of Ankoko, and each and

Coalition, acolytes rapped for persisting with baseless discrimination claims

Claims of victimisation and discrimination meted out to Afro-Guy anese by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government were rubbished by Prime Min ister, Brigadier (rtd), Mark Phillips, who stressed that a fact-based approach to the issue would show clearly that this is not the case.

Responding to a state ment from the Institute for Action Against Discrimina tion (IAAD), which alleged “persistent acts of racial discrimination and victimi sation” by the Government, Phillips said, “The APNU/ AFC cabal and affiliated groups continue with des perate attempts at race-bait ing, which they hope would incite civil unrest against the democratically elected People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Government, and end the tremendous benefits being experienced by all Guyanese.”

He reminded that while the APNU+AFC Coali tion failed to deliver a ‘good life’ especially to Afro-Guyanese, whom, the PPP/C has stepped up to deliver for all Guyanese.

The Prime Minister also rubbished the misguidedly by the Coalition and their acolytes for seeking to ex ploit for political relevance.

“In less than two and a half years in office, our Government has rescued the housing development programme and turned it around where, to date, we have issued over 11,000 house lots and low-income houses. The beneficia ries are over 50 per cent Afro-Guyanese,” the PM stressed.

He went on to highlight that every relief grant paid by PPP/C Government saw Afro-Guyanese benefitting. Additionally, he said pay ments made in the sugar industry benefitted over 20 per cent of Afro-Guyanese, which is contrary to what the APNU/AFC would have Guyanese believe.

Further, the Prime Min ister stated that many Af ro-Guyanese are involved in rice, the production of other crops and livestock, and benefitted from flood relief and other support pro grammes for farmers.

To date, thousands have benefited from the GOAL

scholarship programme. A total of 6,280 scholarships were awarded in 2021 of which 2,026 were male, and 4,254 were female. A total of 7,410 scholarships were awarded in 2022 of which 2,026 were male, and 5,384 were female. GOAL is on track in fulfilling its man date to provide equitable access to tertiary education and skills training to per sons all across Guyana.

Further, 7,839, includ ing 4,909 females and 2,930 males, have benefited from vocational training under the Board of Industrial Training. The programmes range from auto body re pairs and agro-processing to plumbing and interior design.

In 2022, the Govern ment of Guyana launched the GROW (Get Ready for Opportunities to Work) initiative which targeted students who would not have been able to matric ulate from High school into a tertiary programme. GROW’s purpose is to pro vide an alternative path way through two interna tionally recognized bridge programmes, which after

completion persons would be able to gain entry to a tertiary education. A to tal of 3,139 scholars were awarded scholarships under the GROW. Of these, 1,848 were awarded a scholarship for the SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) Diploma pro gramme which is geared for those persons who never wrote their CSEC/ GCE examinations. A fur ther 1,291 were awarded a scholarship for the GED (General Education Di ploma) programme which targets those students who did not obtain passes in five or more CSEC/GCE sub jects particularly in Math ematics or English. Upon successful completion of these programmes, the more than 3,000 Guyanese would

be able to obtain a HighSchool equivalent diploma and be granted access to a tertiary education.

Also, scores have ben efited from employment opportunities, including within the public service. Relative to the latter, as of 2022 a total of 1,054 employees have been hired across the 10 Adminis trative regions with the highest number, 214, being drawn from Region 1.

In 2022, a special focus was placed on the com munity of Mocha Arcadia. An ICT training hub under the CEIT was established which saw 13 previously unemployed persons suc cessfully completing the training programme. They were offered immediately employment by Qualfon.

About 124 young pro fessionals have benefit ed from the ongoing pro gramme to build young professional homes.

In terms of housing, almost 19,000 house lots have been allocated land for housing. Importantly, on the point of Afro-Guy anese benefiting from land allocations, the data shows that 50.9% (5,648) of the house lots distributed were to Afro-Guyanese, 41.4% (4,599) to Indo-Guyanese and the remaining 7.7% (849) to persons of the mixed race.

The Prime Minister stressed that the PPP/C is committed to development of all Guyanese through opportunities for self-en hancement and asset cre ation.

Transformation for sustainable development

The PPP/C Administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to delivering on its manifesto promises – from major infrastructure projects already underway to advances with long-term transformation for sustainable development.

The nexus between delivering critical goods and services to a nation’s people in a sustainable manner and development has been recognised globally. It is also aptly captured by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as detailed in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the Guyana context, our development trajectory is captured by the draft Low Carbon Development Strategy 2030, which addresses: one, the building blocks for a new low carbon economy – including forest climate services, biodiversity, water management and the ocean economy; two, how these building blocks can be used as revenue earners for Guyana; and three, how the revenues earned are chan neled through the LCDS Investment Programme to develop Guyana’s human, financial and physical capital, with special emphasis on Amerindian communities. The LCDS 2030, undoubtedly, bolsters other national programmes of develop ment, as funded by tax collection and through bilateral and multilateral partnerships. In all the global threats, including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are addressed, as is sustainable management of Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas economy.

It is recognised that transformation requires addressing the root causes of economic, social, environmental and po litical problems and inequity.

At the political level, work continues to be done to bolster an inclusionary approach to democracy. Further, electoral reforms seek to close the gaps in existing legislation, as well as remove ambiguities and opportunities for mischief.

At the environmental level, work is being done to balance Guyana’s capabilities as an oil and gas producer and the maintenance of Guyana’s green credentials, being a nation that is a net carbon sink. PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jag deo, has said 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. He had said: “We have been called to leave our oil in the ground…we believe it’s totally unfair…we’ll develop our oil industry putting in place regulations for safe, low carbon operations…many have been saying that to get to a de-carbonized future to get to a net zero by 2050 there should be no further investment in oil and gas assets….we believe that is totally unfair…the people who are calling for us to not develop the industry in a small country like Guyana have to understand that we cannot remain locked into a cycle of low emission and low income…our people have a legitimate expectation of prosperity. We have a legitimate expectation to grow the per capita income….if we freeze all new invest ments…there is still a four trillion oil and gas industry that is producing for global demand. What those activists are doing is advocating that this investment be locked in for the incumbent. Why should we not want to displace some of the highest cost producers? We want a share in that market too…. if there is no investment in countries like Guyana where the prospects are cleaner because it is light sweet crude and pro duction costs are less then you are lobbying for a monopoly for the existing producers. So we believe that we can develop the industry in our country…we can do so by continuing to invest in a de-carbonized future consistent with the LCDS.”

Further, billions spent on education, healthcare, care for vulnerable groups and children, workers’ welfare and access to improved services continue to be made give the importance of interventions are the social level.

At the economic level, much emphasis is being placed on improving the environment for doing business and improving stability – all of which are critical to attract more foreign direct investments. The productive sector – sugar, rice and other crops, as well as non-traditional agricultural areas – also continue to receive focus.

In all these areas, attention is given to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals:

• GOAL 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Norton refuses to see political adaptation as a device for a more effective approach

Dear Editor,

O

pposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, a known supporter of certain New York-based African American mem bers of the Democratic Party in the USA should have paid attention to the words of former US President Barack Obama when he declared at a recent public speaking event in the US that: ‘Democracy is under assault in the US and around the world’ and that ‘the foundational principles of democracy are being challenged.’ Placed in the context of political developments in the US, President Obama’s observation reflects a topical issue being debated currently in America. The former US President did not limit his observations to America, he was perceptive enough to note that the threat to democracy is global. Obama’s observations are instructive insofar as Guyana’s elec toral experiences, and by extension, its fragile democracy are concerned.

Guyanese would have recognized the relevance of Obama’s comments to their experience during the March-Au gust 2020 period when Norton’s party launched an assault on democracy in a blatant attempt to rig the results of the election held in March of that year.

Mr. Norton cannot pretend to be deaf in one ear as regards statements by Republican congressmen and sena tors referring to positive developments in Guyana while at the same time supporting negative and uninformed comments about Guyana expressed by NYC Attorney General, Letitia James and congressman Hakeem Jeffries, both Democrats.

In the light of his open support for statements by the two J’s, the PNCR leader has mistakenly chosen to pay no attention to the peculiar and dy namic nature of American politics. His preference was to slavishly and unthinkingly hinge the APNU’s wagon to the jaundiced views held by the two J’s concerning the state of governance in Guyana.

gressmen/ women and fifty senators belonging to the Democratic Party there are many whose views on Guyana differ fundamentally from those of the two J’s.

Whether Mr. Norton likes it or not, apart from its pursuance of mutually beneficial relations with many devel oping countries and irrespective of a Democratic or Republican administra tion in office, Guyana is poised to enter a new dynamic chapter in pursuit of its foreign policy and its bilateral relations with foreign countries especially China and the USA.

Recent visits to the USA by Presi dent Ali and reciprocal visits to Guyana by a constant flow of representatives of American banking and financial institu tions attest to this fact.

President Ali is yet to pay state visits to China and India, and no doubt, when the Lula administration settles down in Brasilia, a state visit to that neighbouring country is likely to be on the cards.

As a former foreign service officer, Mr. Norton must know that foreign policy is an expression of domestic policy. Contextually, the vertical and horizontal expansion of Guyana’s foreign policy is demonstrated at the domestic level by the Ali administra tion’s people-to-people upwards and broadened outreaches currently making waves across the country.

This brings us to the recent pro nouncement by Mr. Norton who ex pressed “fear of government’s taking over opposition strongholds,” a clear sign of organizational weaknesses and visionless leadership by the Norton-led APNU.

But what must be more worrying for Mr. Norton is the AFC’s fallout with the APNU as reflected in its de cision to boycott the impending local government election and to bid au re voir to its concubinage with the APNU.

their needs.

If Mr. Norton thinks he’s doing the right thing by playing the role of the hardliner and by constantly playing the racial card, he is wrong. It is his combative posture and non-cooperation with government, that will see him become his own worst enemy. It is this counterproductive pathway that will help the PPP/C to takeover strongholds he claims to be his party’s.

Mr. Norton appears to be a total stranger to conflict resolution and the need to work with government to im prove the wellbeing of his constituents. Instead, he foolhardily persists in ex posing his supporters unnecessarily to hardship at a time when the economy is on the upswing with numerous govern ment-sponsored developmental projects being implemented across the country.

Had it not been for government’s efforts to reach out to the many non-tra ditional areas of support, residents in those areas would have been ‘left out in the cold’ because of the wooden-head ed policies pursued by the Opposition Leader.

Instead of wasting time discourag ing his supporters from participating fully in government sponsored devel opmental projects across the country, Mr Norton should show his supporters how they stand to benefit from the vastly improved goods and services provided by government.

Mr. Norton seems to be more in terested in pushing the racial envelope hoping that by doing so he can prevent the loss of seats in the National As sembly come General and Regional elections in 2025.

Norton does not appear to be pre pared to accept the prevailing realities. He is determined not to uplift the lives of his supporters. He refuses to see po litical adaptation as a device for a more effective approach for the all round development for all Guyanese.

However, because of the hetero geneous nature, diverse social com position and at times discordant views within the Democratic Party, it is high ly unlikely that the views expressed by the two J’s would reflect the opinions and beliefs of others in that Party.

Worse yet, is Mr. Norton’s pursuit of an uncaring and deliberate policy towards his own supporters who see their needs being frittered away be cause of their leader’s confrontational and inflexible politics vis-a-vis the Ali administration.

Behaving like a big bad wolf won’t work these days nor will such be haviour wash away the images of the electoral heist that was attempted in 2020.

If Norton believes that by huffing and puffing he’ll blow the PPP/C house down he better start thinking again.

• GOAL 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustain

(Turn to page 20)

Of the over two hundred odd con

As he persists in Don Quixote fashion by engaging in useless battles with government, Mr. Norton not only hinders, but denies his supporters of

Yours faithfully, Clement J. Rohee

Opposition must educate themselves about various elections

Dear Editor,

Iam driven to comment on recent protests against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and other threats of the use of protests by the political Opposition, which from all indications are less valuable than the ‘used cardboards’ from which the placards are made.

Peaceful protests remain a universal approach for directing or jerking public at tention to one’s opinion, in an attempt to in fluence preferred changes where there are im pacting consequences as a result of oversight, injustices, etc. However, when protests are used to expose ignorance, or, rather, the lack of relevant educational potency to the matter being protested, the relevance and sting of the intervention is defeated before it begins, and even the protesters themselves quickly come to realize that their efforts are a waste of time and are undeserving of consideration.

It is of note that GECOM, following precedence, has taken the current approach of having the Revised List of Electors (RLE) fully scrutinised by the public for twenty-one

days. After this process, GECOM will pro duce the Official List of Electors (OLE) for the whole country. However, for the holding of the LGEs, GECOM will have to extract the Official List of Voters (OLV) from the countrywide OLE, which is specific to per sons residing in the various Local Authority Areas (LAAs).

The circumstances emphasise the point that only persons residing in the specific LAAs are allowed to elect leaders to the var ious Constituency and Municipality Councils according to the defined boundaries.

The Laws governing Local Government Elections refer to the Registered List of Vot ers, hence it is clear that after the Continuous Registration exercise which was followed by the period of Claims and Objections, due process is being followed by GECOM, as they now have the Revised List of Electors in the public domain to ensure a transparent approach for public scrutiny, and allow for further cleansing of the final lists.

The sequential steps are intended to allow for justified corrections in the cleansing pro cess up to a cut-off date.

GECOM’s swift and rational response to the calls by the PNC protestors must be applauded. The response is certainly educa tional, and testifies against the shallow and unfounded allegations perpetuated by the Opposition supporters who protested.

Notably, they, among other things, called for GECOM’s release of the OLV in prepa ration for the Local Government Elections (LGEs), which highlights their lack of un derstanding of the process. Simply put for the update of the PNC strategic planners, GECOM has not reached that stage as yet!

It gives a clearer idea why former Pres ident Granger moved unilaterally to appoint James Patterson as GECOM Chairman, and also suggests a significant breakdown within the PNC camp with those that were instru mental in the Party’s known manipulation ap proaches of the past. The nation is witnessing demonstrated uncertainty in the PNC/APNU/ AFC camp, evidenced by the impending sig nal of a divorce based on the Cummingsburg Accord, and the PNC’s recent noteworthy failure to attend a scheduled clarification meeting with GECOM. It leaves one to ra tionalize on the roles of those who bore such relationships with the now condemned and prosecuted staffers.

Guyanese are fully aware of the many dreams and allegations that Vincent Rip Van Winkle Alexander purports to be immune to in his representation as a PNCR Commis sioner at GECOM. He tried desperately to circumvent the smooth process in 2020. It is necessary to remind him and the public about the subversive role he played as part of the

‘Task Force’ that was set up for the reviewing of the Local Government Elections System in 1995. Consequent to his role, for more than a decade, we could not hold LGEs. The dreamers fell asleep for five years, from 2015 to 2020, as they used the same List for two LGE and National and Regional Elections, but have now reawakened. Hence, GECOM must follow their carefully worked out “Work Plan” and hold LGEs promptly.

All the false comments about voter impersonation must come to light and be proven. The PNC/AFC = APNU must bring proof of these watershed allegations. It must also be noted that Alexander was present at the highly successful National Consultation of The National Registration (Amendment) Bill and he personally also contributed to the discussions.

It is time for our people to rise to the oc casion and work together for a better Guyana. Bitterness must be replaced with better judg ment, and let us work together and be counted in the process as we build ‘One Guyana”.

The failure of the PNC, particularly in the now apparently defunct APNU, to be present at a meeting that they had requested with GECOM is a clear manifestation of the fact that they are not aware of the proper preparation for LGE. They need to educate themselves on the process, stop thinking negatively, and banish the ‘naysayers’ among them.

Let us have the LGEs.

Neil Kumar

Dear Editor,

Julianne Gaul (JG) in the November 21, 2022 edition of Stabroek News, challenged a few of my ideas on the voters’ list but failed to produce any evidence to show how voting at home (Guyana) by registered over seas-based Guyanese would be detrimental to the country and the integrity of the election process. Instead of evidence, JG revelled in rhetorical flourishes. JG implied that House to House (H-to-H) registration is the panacea for credible elections. To suggest that H-to-H registration would shape the way to deliver credible elections is a myth. It is also noted that the legality (and constitutionality) of the names of overseas-based Guyanese on the voters’ list and their right to vote have already been competently addressed by the Attorney General Mr. Anil Nandlall. There is no need to revisit this issue.

JG wanted to know if I agree that the 1992 elections were free and fair and whether I supported the preceding H-to-House regis tration in which she asserted: “thousands of Guyanese living and working abroad were removed from the Register of Registrants.” Where is the evidence for this claim? How ever, what is of interest in this discussion is not the Register of Registrants, but the voters’ list compiled from the 1991 H-to-H registra tion that was precipitated by the widespread electoral fraud at general elections perpetrat ed by the PNC from 1968 to 1985. Here are some startling data on the scope of electoral fraud. In 1980 the PPP, the largest constitu

ency-based party, was allocated 26.4% (or 14) Parliamentary seats vs 69.8% (or 37) Parliamentary seats for the PNC; while in 1980 the allocation to the PPP was 18.9% (or 10 seats) vs 77.4% (or 41) Parliamentary seats for the PNC; and in 1985 that percentage of PPP Parliamentary seats continued to shrink to 15.1% (or 8 seats), while the PNC’s Parlia mentary seats continued to rise to 79.2% (or 42). Incredible!

This pattern of electoral abuse led to widespread political agitation and persistent calls for reform of the electoral process by opposition forces, including the PPP (which along with other political forces formed the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy) and NGOs. The rapid downturn of the economy in the 1980s (when real GDP was negative (-3.28%); the national debt was $(US) 2.1 billion; the Guyana currency was devalued significantly; and the government laid off 6,000 state workers) plus the push by Amer icas Watch, the Carter Center, and the Com monwealth, played a key role in bringing the PNC and other parties to the negotiating table. Americas Watch observed: “a free and fair election cannot be held without fundamental changes in the deeply flawed Guyanese elec toral process.”

The PNC agreed to, among other things: (1) to count votes at polling stations and not at army headquarters or other locations; (2) there would be a H-to-H registration because the entire electoral system including the voters’ list was compromised; (3) the Elec

Sincerely,

To suggest that house-to-house registration is better than “continuous cycles of registration” is not backed by historical or empirical evidence

Norton-led APNU+AFC continues to block community development interventions

The APNU+AFC Coalition for the second time in less than a month has blocked community development efforts, this time in Den Am stel, Region 3.

Following President Dr. Irfaan Ali’s recent visit to Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara (WCD) to improve the community, contractors began works on the rehabil itation of the Den Amstel Community Centre Ground, but their efforts were disrupt ed on Tuesday (November 20, 2022), by the Neighbour hood Democratic Council (NDC) chairman, Kenton Hilliman, who locked the gate to the centre.

Supported by Coalition representatives they blocked the effort to complete works

in the community.

Minister within the Min istry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, visited the site where he posted a video on his Facebook page and explained that the NDC Chairman, an APNU+AFC Coalition representative, together with other councillors, reportedly went to the contractor, hurled remarks at him and chased him out of the ground, there after placing two padlocks on the gate in an attempt to stop the works. He said, “The contractors at the Den Amstel Community Centre were doing their work. This is following the visit by the President of Guyana to this community. I accompanied the President with a number of others. The whole country

saw the promises made by the President to rehabilitate this ground, put lights in, a basketball court, fix up the roads in the community and so forth.”

He explained that the contract was awarded by the Regional Administration of Region Three and that it is paying the contractors. “He should be embarrassed and he should be ashamed of himself… this is for the development of our youths, not for our old washed-up politicians. It is a shameful thing to say but we will deal with it,” Indar said.

The NDC Chairman also moved to lock the gate to the Community Center, where works were being done. Minister Indar noted that

the locks were removed to allow the recommencement of works since, the people of Den Amstel, especially the youths, requested this development.

Meanwhile, President Ali, on Wednesday (No vember 30, 2022), has con demned the flagrant attempts by APNU+AFC Coalition operatives to block commu nity development. “Their incompetence in government and now their self-desire

to stymie the development of our communities will continuously be exposed by right-thinking Guyanese,” he said.

Ali stated that the attack on Minister Indar can only be seen as an indication of the APNU+AFC’s desperation as he added that the combined leadership of the “anti-devel opment cabal” cannot match the Minister’s competence and commitment to the coun try’s development. He said,

“Not only are Minister Indar and my Cabinet proactive, competent, highly skilled and innovative, but we under stand what it is to build One Guyana, unlike the narrow minority of racist elites in the deflated APNU+AFC.”

The Head of State charged that as right-think ing Guyanese have done, the APNU+AFC should continue to embrace the vision and efforts to advance the trans formation of the country.

Norton dodges questions on Voters’ List

Having spent weeks com plaining about the Voters’ List, Opposition Leader, Au brey Norton, on Wednesday (November 30, 2022), dodged questions about what specific concerns about the List were raised with the Guyana Elec tions Commission (GECOM) at a meeting on Tuesday (No vember 29, 2022).

During a news confer ence, Norton was asked about specific concerns. He did not respond. His only retort was that, “It should also be manifest that GECOM is in competent.”

Pressed again on the same issue, Norton gave way to APNU+AFC Parliamentarian, Shurwayne Holder, who also dodged the question. Holder said, “For some issues, the said that they had to go back to the Commission. For other issues, they had to go back to the Secretariat, some would have warranted investigation, others, they would have had to have some kind of discussion at the Secretariat level and

some kind of determination at the Secretariat level and then they would come back to us.

Having not responded, Holder was questioned a sec ond time, and said only that, “All the questions all the is sues raised they said that they will come back to us, the then said the they would have listed a number of them that they had to go back to the commission to address at the commission level and some that they had to address at the Secretariat level. And so that is where it is.”

EXPOSED

Notably, GECOM’s Claims and Objections, which commenced on August 22, 2022, ended on September 25, 2022, exposed Norton’s bloated list claims.

During the process there were: 1,032 requested changes and corrections; 1,862 request ed transfers; and 3,009 persons used the opportunity to make a claim that they were not registered.

Region Four recorded the highest numbers of transac tions, with 1,819 transactions, followed by Region Three with 1,282 transactions and Region Six with 805 transac tions. Region 8 recorded the least number of transactions, a total of 101.

Replacement of national identification cards and retakes of photographs were also ad dressed.

A total of 5,903 transac tions were recorded in the Claims process altogether.

Meanwhile, as at Sep tember 27, 2022, a mere 18 objections were recorded, of which nine were upheld and the other 9 were denied. The objections included: one each in Anna Regina, Region 2; Nouvelle Flanders; Diamond and Coldigen, Region 4; Cor riverton and New Amsterdam, Region 6; and Annai, Region 9. Three objections were re corded in Mackenzie, Region 10 and eight were recorded in Soesdyke, Region 4.

to page 21)

Former Coalition gov’t robbed youths of opportunities now being provided by PPP/C

I n a recent interview, a former APNU+AFC Co alition party representative, has lashed out at the for mer APNU+AFC Coalition government for “robbing” young people of opportuni ties – in stark contrast with what is occurring under the PPP/C government.

Attorney, James Bond, was clear that former Pres ident Granger did a great injustice to young people. “I said there’s not enough young people, I don’t know

if there’s a distrust for young people. You got to give young people the opportu nity and that is something he robbed young people of during his presidency,” he said.

Asked about the perfor mance of the current govern ment, Bond said, President Dr. Ali is doing an excep tional job and has surprised lots of people throughout his tenure thus far. He admit ted that he never expected the impact the President

would have in touching the non-traditional bases. “He has been able to reach out to the non-traditional base, that is commendable and it shows that he wants to govern Guyana and not just govern for his supporters, that’s a good indication,” the former Coalition rep said.

Bond has been vocal about the missteps of the Coalition, particularly under the leadership of the in creasingly embattled Aubrey Norton.

2016 Auditor General’s Report shows APNU+AFC failure in transparency, accountability, good governance

The 2016 Auditor Gen eral’s Report thor oughly examined by the Public Accounts Com mittee (PAC) shows the previous APNU+AFC Government’s failure in transparency, accountabil ity and good governance.

This was revealed by Public Works Minis ter, Bishop Juan Edghill Wednesday (November 30, 2022) in the National Assembly, during his pre sentation for the adoption of the PAC report on its examination of the na tion’s public accounts for the year 2016.

The committee’s report examined the performance of government agencies and ministries, and all that transpired throughout that year.

Accounting officers were brought before the PAC to clarify issues and answer questions.

Following the process,

the committee made find ings and recommendations which were documented.

Referencing page nine of the document, Minister Edghill told the National Assembly that the general challenges observed across agencies included account ing officers and engineer ing staff signing off on incomplete and unverified projects.

Additionally, he said there was no adherence to the stores’ regulations and the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act by accounting officers.

Among the many dis crepancies noted on page 10 of the document, the public works minister said there were many instances of overpayment to contrac tors by budget agencies, with some reimbursement pending for years.

He said full payments were made for goods, ser vices and works. However,

there are instances where no items were delivered, while some items arrived a year or two years later.

Minister Edghill said the procedure undertaken by the previous govern ment breached the Pro curement Act.

“We must ensure at all times that reports that come to the National As sembly, that are sent to committees like the PAC is adequately, properly scru tinised, delt with carefully to ensure we strengthen the accountability frame work of this country,” he added.

Minister Edghill un derscored that many of the public officers that were appointed by the previous government could not be found when they were asked to appear before the PAC. The motion for the National Assembly to adopt the PAC report was passed.

Birth certificates ‘acquired’ by APNU+AFC under investigation

Birth certificates pur chased in bulk by the APNU+AFC Coalition re main unaccounted for, ac cording to the Registrar General, Raymon Cum mings, in a recently tele vised interview.

Cummings said, “There was a lot of excess certif icates printed. When we checked back to see what was delivered and so on, there was excess and there were some issues of ac counting for all the copies that should have been print

ed.”

These certificates, he added, even when printed by national printers are affixed with serial numbers to be able to trace them. However, issues arose with determin ing where the certificates were and whose names were documented on them.

A special investigation into the purchase of 100,000 birth certificates by the Min istry of the Presidency, un der former APNU+AFC government, is currently underway, according to the

2021 Auditor General’s Re port. The report said, “The sum of $288.098M was expended for print and nonprint materials. Included in the said sum were amounts totalling $18.599M, which represented full payments on two contracts for the acquisition of 100,000 birth certificates. The contracts were awarded by NPTAB (National Procurement and Tender Administration Board) through the single source method of procure ment.”

POSITIONS FROM VICE PRESIDENT BHARRAT JAGDEO

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

Gov’t working on digital economy, more – Jagdeo

The PPP/C government is working on separate building blocks of develop ment, simultaneously, and connecting them all – oil and gas, digital economy, massive investment in the social sector infrastructure, according to Vice President,

Bharrat Jagdeo. “There is a big engine room working around the clock every day to try to get these things done in a short period. We've just been two years in an office. And a lot of this has happened already,” he said on Wednes

day (November 30, 2022).

According to him, the PPP/C is working to create a space where the is greater participation and benefits in the oil and gas sector.

He added, “On training, the the government as a mas sive training program, just to

build the capacity of Guy anese to take advantage of, of the opportunities in the sector.”

Jagdeo stressed that in frastructure is critical for for the PPP/C government. He said, “The infrastructure is necessary not for the oil and gas industry. It's to support the new wave of non-oil and gas growth that we have to have, if we want to remain have our country remain diversified in its economy and not totally reliant on the oil and gas sector. So the infrastructure we're putting in is not just support oil and gas alone. It is the hospi tality industry, agriculture, everything else, where a lot of effort will be placed to maintain a diversified econ omy…on the infrastructure side, again, we're doing good quality infrastructure, but we are looking at low mainte nance type of infrastructure, we are thinking long-run. Many third world countries but of these modern things.

And then when the revenue flow ceases or say if we have a sustained period of low oil prices, what happens then you can maintain the infra structure are you and you're in big problems there.”

He added that the PPP/C government is also working on developing a digital econ omy. The Vice President said, “We believe that the whole infrastructure, we lib eralize the telecom sector, we hope that that could be a sup portive if we have a modern grid, and clean reliable pow er, and the roads, bridges and the ports ready. And broad band technology across the country, bandwidth across the country. We need to, now, layer this on with a with a number of things to support a digital economy. And so we're working on that. I just came from the Middle East, and we're looking with a mat ter of months, we're going to start moving in the first step.

“I mentioned it before to have a national ID card

with all biometrics that will support an electronic passport that is safer, more reliable, all countries will accepted it to revolutionize the airport with it by next year, and e-Gates and everything else. And then the database would allow us to also enhance our security. We're working now, layout cameras with facial recogni tion across the country, that it would allow our banking sector to now use the data and the biometrics to feed into that to have more secure banking apps, mobile ideas, etc. So we're working on that too. These are the building blocks separate but a whole range of issues.”

Jagdeo noted too that in health and education, in the social sector, the PPP/C government has different programmes being rolled out.

Moving forward, he not ed that there are balances that have to be struck at the level of policy makers to ensure the development of Guyana and the Guyanese people.

There has been much talk about revenues from the oil and gas sector, according to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who stressed that the income, at the current stage is modest and the PPP/C remains painfully aware of how easily a country can be bankrupted without prudent financial planning.

On Wednesday (Novem ber 30, 2022), he said, “The resources are modest at this time. The revenue to the country and particularly to the Treasury in the outer years will grow significant ly….at this stage, it's modest compare to our needs. And sometimes expectations are built based on this lack of a nuanced understanding that there is always a timing in revenue flow to the Treasury.

“…you would hear ex tremist views, you hear from abroad, or the country is going to receive x billion, $50 billion. And in some sections of the population, they think you already have the 50 billion US dollars. And you hear the opposition, say, spend all of this and then don't spend, too, they're confusing positions.”

The oil revenues, accord

ing to him, will be used to support Guyana’s infrastruc ture programme and support for the non-oil economy. He said, “One commitment we made in Opposition is that we are not going to pledge future earnings to raise money. Our capacity to borrow has been greatly enhanced. Today our debt to GDP ratio is about it's projected for 2022, at about 24.45%, down from 900% of GDP when we started this journey. So it's one of the lowest in the world. And we are using maybe 6% of reve nue now to service external debt or capacity to borrow has been greatly enhanced.

“Recently, the OECD reclassified us into a catego ry that allows us to borrow cheaper, because the risk pro file of the country has been reduced. However, we have made it clear that financing, we have to look at sustain ability, that sustainability in every one of our investment decisions. And that is why if you look at our borrowing so far, we have not contracted until now, any variable inter ests, that we don't have any variable interests debt in our stock of debt…so if interest rate increases globally they

will not create a big shock on in terms of servicing these debts. As we go forward, we may have to change this policy. It was a very conser vative approach as we move forward. But until now, even in the loan that we're looking for in the bridge and the hos pitals that we're building, the seven hospitals, those are all on fixed terms. So that is very important for us.

“…it's projected that Guyana’s per capita GDP will be about $18,000, which will grow to about 35,000 before the end of the decade. So that is like half of the per capita GDP of the US. So we're already on the verge of graduating out of soft-terms for development assistance. So when you hear on lot about, oh, we're borrowing too much, etc, we're not that is central to our thinking, ev ery debt, every bit of that we contract has to go through a rigorous testing.”

Jagdeo stressed that the PPP/C works to ensure that the country’s debt stock is carefully managed. “Every project that we implement has to have a value to the country into the people of

PPP/C painfully aware of dangers of ‘liberal policy of contracting debt’ – Vice President

ELECTION WATCH: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

Constituency boundaries adjusted for LGE 2023 – Dharamlall

Following extensive con sultations with commu nities, Neighbourhood Dem ocratic Councils (NDCs), government officials and regional stakeholders, the boundaries of constituen cies for Local Government Elections (LGE) have been reverted to what they were in 2016.

Local Government and Regional Development Min ister, Nigel Dharamlall, made the announcement on No vember 25, 2022 during a press briefing at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

A number of these con stituency boundaries had previously been altered by the APNU+AFC Coalition government in 2018. “Some of the constituencies, their boundaries in some cases were collapsed, in other cases merged, just so that support ers of the PPP/C could not have won those constituen cies in 2018. We have decid ed that we will reverse those decisions the last administra tion made, and we will now revert to the 2016 boundar ies, meaning that there will be greater representation on the ground,” Minister Dha ramlall explained.

As a result, a number of adjustments have been made; in Region One, the boundaries of the Mabaruma township have been extended to include Wauna, which was excluded under the AP NU+AFC administration.

In Region Two, in the

Lower Pomeroon area, the Kitty-Providence and Moru ca-Phoenix NDCs will be merged into one due to the small population sizes. This change is expected to serve better for administrative pur poses, capacity development, and physical development.

In Region Three, many NDCs are having their boundaries reverted to what obtained in 2016, after the 2018 changes brought on by the APNU+AFC caused victimisation and a lack of representation.

An extension has also been done for Toevlugt to Patentia, all the way to Freeand-Easy, in order to capture hundreds of residents beyond Patentia who were not with in an administrative area. The current one will now be called the Toevlugt-Patentia NDC.

Region Four will see boundaries reverted to their 2016 states as well.

In Region Five, Wood lands Farm has been extend ed to include areas along the De Hoop access road, which were not part of an admin istrative area. “So, beyond Number 10 Mahaica, Little Baiboo and Big Baiboo, those areas where people actually live, they will now be part of the NDC area, and likewise, we will revert to the 2016 boundaries, as compared to what was ob tained in 2018,” Minister Dharamlall said.

In Region Six, the Num ber 52-74 NDC has been

split into two NDCs; the first of which will encompass Number 52 to 63, and the second of which will cover Number 64 to 74. The split is expected to foster better management and support, and greater representation for residents of those areas.

Areas such as Mahdia in Region Eight, Lethem and Aranaputa in Region Nine and Kwakwani and Linden in Region Ten, will remain the same, as well as Georgetown.

“There were 14 areas that were affected in 2018, and we have decided that for better representation, those areas go back to the 2016 boundaries. So, we believe that at the end of the Local Government Elections on March 13, there is going to be a better representation of people, more activism on be half of residents within these areas, and our government will happily work with all 70 NDC areas, as well as the 10 municipal areas across our country,” the Minister elaborated.

He also announced that the number of councillors within the 80 local authority areas will be adjusted accord ing to these changes.

These include the 70 NDCs and 10 municipali ties.“So, in 2018, we had 1,192 councillors across the country in 596 constituen cies, and for the 2023 Local Government Elections, we will have 1,220 councillors in 610 constituencies across the country,” he said.

Distribution of National Identification cards has commenced countrywide

The Guyana Elections Commission commenced the distribution of National Identification Cards at all its Registration Offices country wide on Monday (November 28, 2022).

Persons who complet ed registration transactions during the Cycle of Continu ous Registration held during the period March, 2022 –May, 2022 and the Claims and Objections Exercise, which was held during the period August, 2022 – Sep tember, 2022 respectively are advised that they can uplift their National Identification Cards from the GECOM Registration Office where the transaction was done during the following working hours:

• Monday – Thursday

: 8:00hrs – 12:00hrs & 13:00hrs – 16:30hrs

• Friday : 8:00hrs –12:00hrs & 13:00hrs –15:30hrs

The Commission has ad vised persons that authoriza tions will not be accepted and registrants must uplift their ID Cards personally in accor dance with GECOM’s stan dard operating procedures in relation to the verification of identity, transparency, and accountability. “Specifically, only persons who would have completed new registration transactions, changes to their

registration particulars , or applied for a replacement are required to visit the Registra tion Office,” GECOM said.

Additionally, the Com mission is also urging per sons who would have con ducted transactions in pre vious registration exercises prior to 2022 and have not yet uplifted their National Identification Cards to do so immediately.

Local Gov’t Ministry weeding out corruption ahead of LGE

Audits have been con ducted, and persons dismissed following multi ple reports of financial in fractions at Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipalities across the country.

The move comes ahead of the March 2023 Local Gov ernment Elections (LGE), to allow for the strengthening of local democracies and im proved financial management at the local level.

Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, disclosed this during an in

terview on the sidelines of a recent event. “We are com mitted to ensuring that we continue to work with NDCs and municipalities to provide training and development, capacity building, institution al support to all 70 NDCs and 10 municipalities, just so that there can be better adminis tration,” he expressed.

The minister noted that while some infractions were as a result of procedures not being followed, others came about due to persons simply being ‘plain corrupt’.

Hence, he said the min istry had supported recom

– Dharamlall

mendations from the Local Government Commission to dismiss overseers, town clerks, and treasurers due to evidence of corruption.

Further, Minister Dha ramlall said those cases re quiring criminal prosecu tions are underway. “So, as we move forward, we will continue to work towards strengthening the work of local democratic organs, and the staff should find a friend in me, in making sure that they manage well, and an enemy in me if they are cor rupt,” the minister asserted.

Op-Ed: APNU+AFC spokespersons creating smokescreen around voters list

By Clement Rohee

Iwrite to express my con cern over the potentially incendiary rhetoric about a ‘bloated list,’ the listing of deceased persons; voter impersonation and the un constitutional and reckless call for the introduction of restrictive measures such as biometrics at polling stations raised time and again by Messrs Norton, Alexander, Lowe and Hughes.

These newfangled de mands by APNU+AFC spokespersons are nothing but a smokescreen to obfus cate and to sway the minds of people in an effort to

make them forget about the despicable and outrageous behaviour displayed by AP NU+AFC operatives at the Ashmins building on March 5, 2020 as well as the abuse of the Court and the ensu ing legal battles at taxpay ers’ expense beginning with the High Court, the Appeal Court, ending up with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) between March-Au gust 2020.

The feigned struggle en gineered by the APNU+ AFC for the introduction of biometrics would be in violation of the constitution and would in effect, impose an additional restriction on

each bona fide voter entitled to exercise their constitu tional right on Election Day. Cumulatively and unmistak ably, such a restrictive voting rule would slow down voting at polling places and even dissuade voters from show ing up to cast their ballots.

As regards the demand for a ‘sanitized voters’ list’, GECOM in a recent press release emphasized that; ‘… it is imperative that we reit erate GECOM’s operations continue to be guided by the applicable Constitutional and legal provisions. In this re gard, it is obligatory for us to repeat that the eligibility re quirement for registration is

that one must be a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalization; or a citizen of a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more. Providing persons met those requirements and have been registered, their registration in the Nation al Register of Registrants (NRR) is and remains le gitimate. Accordingly, any removal of their names from the NRR, without legal ba sis, would be unlawful and unconstitutional.

GECOM’s press release went on to state: “Exist ing legislation provides that the removal of names from the NRR can be done

only through the established methodology comprising (i) the receipt of monthly death reports from the General Register Office (GRO) and (ii) through the Objections aspect of any Claims and Objections exercise, which allows for any elector, or suitably accredited Scruti neers of Political Parties, to object to the inclusion of the names in the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) who may not be eligible for inclusion.”

The latest straw the AP NU+AFC sought to clutch to is the question of over seas voting, in that regard, they posed the silliest ques tion ever suggesting that the

PPP/C is considering rein troducing overseas voting. The electoral reform Bills laid recently in the National Assembly, will go a far way to strengthen the electoral system; help the public reject irresponsible claims of stolen or rigged future elections and to put a stop to dangerous election crimes.

So for APNU+AFC to be harping on the false nar rative about reintroduction of overseas voting it is but a meaningless ‘cry for wolf! wolf! Suffice it to say that that cry is more like the woof! woof! of a toothless poodle.

PPP/C has delivered on promises made in development of oil and gas sector – Jagdeo

Guyanese can rest as sured that every prom ise made by the People’s

Progressive Party (PPP) will be delivered, according to PPP General Secretary

and Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo.

“One thing you can rest

assured about that once we say we are going to get it done,” he declared during a speaking engagement on Wednesday (November 30, 2022).

Looking at the oil and gas sector, he noted that the PPP/C promised to ad dress changes and reform in a manner that is fair to investors and to and also to the country – an effort to bolster shared prosperity. Jagdeo said, “In Opposition, we said, we defined the things, the framework that we will work on. And we didn't do it just like that… we have Opposition to the we just say we want to do this, we also outlined the principles that we would follow in pursuing these changes.

He noted that’s soon the PPP/C government will be making moves to update the Petroleum Act. “When we said, we said, first of all, we had to have a modern Petroleum Act, because the last one was done in 1986. And we pointed out some of the deficiencies in the old act, that would not allow you to regulate an oil and gas industry in 2022, when it was enacted in 1986. And we pointed out the areas that we are going to fix… we already have contracted an international company, to work with us. We've had some engagements with the minister from Qatar when he came here. And they are deploying someone to work with us to ensure that we have a modern Act, that is fit for purpose in the mod ern era. That's the first thing we said we'll do.”

The Vice President noted the controversy sur rounding the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) and underscored that efforts have been made to address this. “There were a number of areas identified by the public NGOs, many others, they feel believe that Guy ana was not getting a fair share of the total revenue. We said we had difficulties about the PSA in a number of areas. And we outlined

some of the areas about ring fencing, the level of royalty taxation, and how much was going to cost recovery. We committed in Opposition that we will fix these ar eas. We have recently an nounced the changes in the fiscal term for the new PSA that will be applicable to the contracts that we signed going forward and to all of the agreements accepting for the Stabroek Block.”

He noted too that the PSA will be updated to be compatible with the new Act. “This is being done at this point in time,” the Vice President said.

On the award of oil blocks, Jagdeo announced that the bid round will be launched in two weeks. He said, “We said in Opposi tion again, that the method of awarding plots or blocks in the past had to evolve. Now, we're a country that is a producing country. In the past, we never had a bid round. It was based on applications to the ministry, or the GGMC…within two weeks, given the work that we're doing now, we will launch that bid round. And as you know, 14 blocks will be will be tendered. So we remain consistent, as we I said predictable.”

Local Content Legisla tion, according to him, is another promise that has been delivered on by the PPP/C. He said, “In Op position again, we said we will work on a Local Con tent Legislation, because although we are not going to show touch the Stabroek agreement, renegotiate that, we believe that through two projects, we will be able to yield more benefits, if not to the Treasury, to the country and to the people of the country.

“And that is through Lo cal Content Legislation…. we did that to December of last year, we pass local content legislation.

“And a second way of helping to rebalance some of the benefits was through the gas to energy project. And as you just saw. We’ve

been working at this.”

A strong Natural Re sources Fund (NRF) was another promise delivered on by the PPP/C, Jagdeo underscored.

The Vice President made clear that the PPP/C has not been “convenient” about calls for renegotiation of the ExxonMobil agree ment; rather the Party has remained consistent. “We said in Opposition – we were not very convenient about it and we didn't use it as a political tool to campaign – we said we are not going to renegotiate this Stabroek block. We remain faithful to that commitment. But we had said at that time that any other production agreement will have to re flect the new fiscal terms that we will determine.,” he said.

Jagdeo added, “And we have determined that 65% for cost recovery 10% roy alty 10% corporate tax and a 50-50 Share. We did not do it in the party headquarters, at Freedom House. We had an international firm IHS Markitt. We work with them in an iterative manner by sharing different configura tions in these four areas that I mentioned. And they did all of the simulations. And then the simulations that were done, we said there was one principle which we outlined in the in opposition to we said that the new fis cal terms will give greater take to the country, but will ensure that the investors re main attractive and compet itive. And one of the terms of reference for the IHS Markitt was the not only do the simulations, but to show us how attractive on a scale compared to other coun tries, the new fiscal terms were. And they concluded that the terms I mentioned, are very, very attractive in this era. So we did not do that in house. We sought the best advice. And that is how we made the changes. So we made the changes, as we said, we will following the same principles we outlined in opposition to the PSA.”

PARLIAMENT HAPPENINGS UNDER REVIEW

THE PPP/C’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, MORE

Opposition stalling establishment of Local Content Committee – Min. Bharrat

Despite invitations sent for the submission of a nominee to be appointed on the Local Content Advisory Committee, to date, there has been no response from the former nor current opposition leaders.

This was revealed by of Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, in response to an enquiry on the status of this committee by Opposition Member, David Patterson.

In his written response, Minister Bharrat disclosed that while the Local Content Secretariat has been in oper ation since January this year, pursuant to Section Five of the Local Content Act No. 18 of 2021, the Local Content Advisory Committee is yet to be established.

In providing a reason for the delay in the formation of this committee, the notice reads, “The names of persons as proposed by their entities have been submitted and the Ministry of Natural Resourc es which has the oversight of the Local Content Secretariat is still awaiting the submis sion of the Nominee by the Leader of the Opposition.

Bharrat said, “The Minis try of Natural Resources has written the former Leader

of the Opposition and the current Leader of The Oppo sition on January 07, 2022, and September 06, 2022 respectively. To date, no response was received. How ever, the work of the local content Secretariat continues in keeping with sections 5 (2) and (3) of the Local Content Act.”

Section Five of the Local Content Act stipulates that there should be the formation of a Local Content Secretar iat, a unit within the Natural Resources Ministry, to pro mote inclusivity of Guyanese nationals and businesses in the burgeoning oil and gas industry.

The secretariat is respon sible for monitoring, de veloping and maintaining measures for the effective implementation of local con tent by contractors, sub-con tractors and licenses. The act stipulates that the secretariat makes assiduous efforts to ensure that Guyanese nation als and Guyanese companies benefit equally from returns of the oil and gas sector.

Additionally, the secre tariat is tasked with devising and developing strategies for the development of local con tent plans, public education

and awareness campaigns, and financial and insurance services.

The act also stipulates that a Local Content Ad visory Committee shall be established, consisting of no less than seven appointed members. This committee will be tasked with providing support to the secretariat in carrying out its functions, as well as provide recommenda tions to the minister.

The act also stipulates that the advisory committee be comprised public and private sector representa tives from various entities, including the parliamentary opposition, to assist with carrying out its functions in relation to the development of the petroleum sector.

The Local Content Act imposes the obligation on contractors, sub-contractors and licenses to seek out and include Guyanese nationals and businesses in their oper ations. This would promote sustainable development to the country’s local capacity.

Guyanese stand to ben efit from US$400 million to US$500 million annually in terms of revenue from the passing of this bill.

Equal protection of consumers, sellers with passage of Hire Purchase Bill

The passage of the Hire Purchase Bill of 2020 supports equal protection of consumers from exploitative practices and sellers from unscrupulous hirers.

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond presented the bill for its second reading to the National Assembly on Wednesday (November 30, 2022). The bill was subse quently adopted and passed by the House.

Minister Walrond in formed the House that the bill benefitted from wide spread consultations which were conducted with stake holders interested in the hire purchase sector.

Twenty-seven (27) of the 30 clauses were amended, ensuring a balanced frame

work to protect consumers as well as vendors.

“It is of some impor tance Mr. Speaker that I say that the Bill seeks to level the playing field and not to distort it. We [government] were mindful of and deter mined to avoid replacing a regime that substantially disadvantaged the buyer with one that disadvantaged the seller,” Minister Walrond explained.

Recognising that con sumers enter hire purchase agreements without informed consideration of their ability to pay; Clause (10) provides for a seven-day “cooling off” period, whereby the consum er, who had the benefit of more informed consideration may cancel the agreement.

In Clause 13, it provides

for a buyer who cancels an agreement to recover any monies paid under that agreement, subject to a re stocking fee charged by a seller to a maximum of 10 per cent. “Once again Mr. Speaker we see this recurring theme of balancing the pro tection of buyer and seller,” the Tourism Minister em phasised.

Clause 14 makes pro vision for a buyer who has two or more agreements with any seller, to apportion pay ments between or amongst the agreements. “This is especially useful where a buyer may experience some temporary difficulty in meet ing payments. Conceivably he or she could avoid default completely on one agree

Approval being sought for additional resources to support the Linden Electricity Company, more

Senior Minister in the Of fice of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh, on Wednes day (November 30, 2022) presented a Supplementary Bill Comprising Financial Papers Numbers 2 and 3 to the National Assembly to address a number of urgent interventions across several key sectors including Energy, Agriculture, Infrastructure and Amerindian Affairs.

The Financial Papers, to gether amounting to over $47 Billion, include Financial Paper No 2 of 2022 totalling $2.9 Billion which caters for Contingency Fund advances covering the period August 15-November 29, 2022 and provides for a number of interventions, including pro vision of additional resources to support the Linden Elec tricity Company and provi sion of additional resources to conduct urgent drainage works including rehabilita tion of drainage channels, access bridges, revetments and dams along with the

installation of stainless steel sluice doors in Regions 2 to 7 including Georgetown.

With respect to Financial Paper No 3 of 2022, $44.4 Billion is being sought, in cluding supplementary fund ing of close to $1.4 Billion under the Office of the Prime Minister for provision of additional resources to sup port electricity companies in Linden, Lethem, Mabaru ma, Kwakwani, Port Kaitu ma, Mahdia, and Matthew’s Ridge. Additionally, $6.6 Billion is being sought for the provision of additional resources for the payment of electricity arrears to the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL). Gov ernment remains committed to absorbing the impact of rising fuel prices on cost of services provided by elec tricity companies to ensure that it does not translate into high electricity bills for the Guyanese people. Approv al is being sought for $1 Billion for the provision of additional resources for op

erational expenses to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and $2 Billion for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

Meanwhile, $18.2 Bil lion is also being sought under the Ministry of Public Works for the provision of additional resources to facil itate the upgrading of roads and drains in various com munities, $938.2 Million for the provision of additional inflows under the Carib bean Development Bank’s programme to facilitate ad vancement of civil works on the Linden to Mabura Road Project, $275.9 Million for the provision of addition al resources to facilitate completion of water supply interventions in hinterland areas and the procurement of a new drilling rig, and $371.1 Million for the provi sion of additional resources to procure vehicles to boost the operational effectiveness of the Guyana Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Linden Hospital has adequate doctors – Anthony to Figueira

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has made it clear that the Linden Hos pital Complex has adequate doctors.

The minister was at the time responding to a question posed by Opposition MP, Jermaine Figueira, about the number of resignations and transfers by doctors, registered nurses and nurs ing assistants at the hospital between June 2020 to August 2022.

“Currently we have 38 doctors at the Linden Hos pital, 25 of them are gov ernment medical officers and we have 13 specialists, so all the specialties at the hospital, surgical, obstetrics,

Gynaecology, medicine, pae diatrics, all are adequately covered,” Dr Anthony said during Wednesday’s (No vember 30, 2022) sitting of the National Assembly.

Dr Anthony noted that in 2020 one doctor resigned, and 22 registered nurses re signed; in 2021 three doctors resigned, while 35 registered nurses resigned, while in 2022 no doctor resigned and 16 registered nurses and five nursing assistants resigned.

Minister Anthony also informed the House that from 2016-2019, 34 doctors were transferred, while 18 regis tered nurses and one nursing assistant were transferred.

He noted too that some

of the doctors moved from the hospital to continue their studies and become special ists.

“The doctors who were transferred…we have doctors who would have served as government medical officers that wanted to get better qualifications and as you know we have a post grad uate programme, between the University of Guyana, Georgetown Hospital and the Ministry where we have 14 different specialties that we offer, so many of these doctors would have come from Linden to join those programmes,” Dr Anthony informed.

Gas-to-Energy project on track to be completed by December 2024

The Wales Gas-to-Energy Project is well on track for completion by the gov ernment’s committed dead line of December 2024. This was disclosed by Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, in response to a

notice paper.

In response to an inqui ry concerning any agree ments signed in relation to the project, Minister Bharrat, disclosed that a heads of agreement (HoA) has been signed with the Stabroek

Co-venturers, ExxonMobil, Hess, and CNOOC Limited.

The tentative agreement was signed on June 30, 2022 and establishes the principles and conditions for the commer cial and technical arrange

PPP/C maintains engagement with communities across Guyana

In landmark move….

Guyana receives TREES credit certification from ART

The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) has issued the world’s first TREES credits to Guy ana. This also marks a mile stone as the first time a coun try has been issued carbon credits specifically designed for the voluntary and com pliance carbon markets for successfully preventing for est loss and degradation -- a process known as jurisdic tional REDD+.

ART is a standalone, independent program that de velops and administers stan dardized procedures for cred iting emission reductions and removals from national and large sub-national REDD+ programmes. ART is gov erned by a Board of glob ally recognized experts and operated by an independent Secretariat, hosted by Win rock International. ART’s standard for the measure ment, 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 transforma tional climate action at scale, while upholding rigorous

Guyana

social and environmental integrity.

Following completion of an independent validation and verification process and approval by the ART Board of Directors, ART has is sued 33.47 million TREES credits to Guyana for the five-year period from 2016 to 2020. These serialized credits, listed on ART’s pub lic registry, are available to buyers on the global carbon market, including for use by airlines for compliance with the International Civil Avi ation 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. Currently, 14 other countries and large sub-national jurisdictions are working toward their own issuances of TREES credits.

Frances Seymour, the Chair of the ART Board, congratulated the Govern ment of Guyana and the many domestic stakeholder groups who contributed to this achievement, which rec ognizes the success the coun

try has had in protecting its forests. “Guyana is the first to complete the ART process for generating high-integrity, Paris Agreement-aligned carbon credits that will allow the country to access mar ket-based finance to continue to implement forest steward ship strategies. ART, other governments, and important stakeholder groups, especial ly Indigenous Peoples and local communities, around the world can now build on Guyana’s experience to accelerate progress towards meeting global forest and climate goals in ways that ensure environmental and social integrity.”

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, lauded Guyana’s leadership and tenacity, which started in 2007 when Guyana set out a far-reach ing 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. The Vice President 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 people of Guyana continue to be willing to play their part - but we also need international standards that keep pace with what science tells us is needed to safeguard the world’s vital tropical forests. So, we are pleased that ARTTREES was created to help accelerate global climate action - by recognizing what forest countries like Guy ana have long called for: that the time for small-scale pilots and projects is long past, the world needs ju risdiction-scale action to make the required impact, and the world also needs to value the ecosystem services that tropical forests provide. Today, the vision set out in 2007 moves to the next phase - where payments for forest climate services can be sourced from global carbon markets. We are pleased that the vision of fifteen years ago moves forward in a major way today,” Jagdeo said. The independent vali dation and verification pro cess was conducted by Aster Global Environmental Ser vices, Inc., an internationally accredited environmental services company, which audited Guyana’s REDD+ results for conformance with

both the carbon accounting requirements and the rigor ous social and environmental safeguards of TREES.

On behalf of his col leagues, the Chair of the National Toshaos’ Council in Guyana, Toshao Derrick John said, “The National Toshaos’ Council welcomes this important milestone in Guyana’s programme on Low Carbon Development which will further support the development of sustain able livelihoods and pro tection of forests within in digenous communities. As the national body which represents all elected Indig enous Villages Leaders in Guyana, the NTC is pleased that Guyana is pioneering efforts on climate finance that will bring direct benefits to Indigenous peoples in advancing climate resilience and sustainable livelihood opportunities.”

Endorsement for the gov ernment to sell credits from Guyana’s Indigenous lands -- both titled and untitled –including the terms of benefit sharing, was given by the National Toshaos’ Council, which includes leaders elect ed by each community and is the legal representative of In digenous peoples in Guyana.

Guyana’s TREES cred

its are also the first mar ket-ready credits issued to a jurisdiction classified as “High Forest, Low Defor estation” (HFLD), which means it has high forest cov er and low historical rates of deforestation. Carbon markets have historically focused predominantly on ar eas that have already experi enced high rates of deforesta tion. This is now starting to change with the first TREES credits issued to Guyana.

Prior to the crediting ap proach 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 pro tect forests to avoid defor estation 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, ev ery year, credits are validated and verified to globally-rec ognized standards, including adherence to Cancun safe guards, and then issued for trade on the global carbon market.

moving forward with first sale of carbon credits - Jagdeo

Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Wednesday (November 30, 2022), the country is moving ahead with the first sale of carbon credits certified under the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART).

The certification was an nounced by ART on Thurs day (December 1, 2022).

ART has issued 33.47 mil lion TREES credits to Guy ana 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, in cluding for use by airlines for compliance with the International Civil Avia tion Organization’s global emission reduction program, CORSIA, as well as for use toward voluntary corporate climate commitments.

Jagdeo said, “We thought we had five last years on the PNC, under APNU. What they did, we never had a successor agreement with Norway, they used some funds that we earned from Norway to create a Green State Strategy, but it had no possibility of earning money.

“So we said, we're going to reverse all of this, we

quickly worked on an ex panded Low Carbon Devel opment Strategy….we made an application for them to certify our carbon credit…. we have been working on this for the past two years.

“…we had gone to the market already, we had a request for proposals we have received those, and the first sale will take place. And we're hoping ultimately, so it will be from credit from 2016, all the way from 2016 back, because those are the legacy credits that we ap plied for….so it's a massive thing that we've worked on, pursuant to the commitments we made in opposition again, and a first big sale will take place.”

Under ART-TREES, every year, credits are val idated and verified to glob ally-recognized standards, including adherence to Can cun safeguards, and then issued for trade on the glob al carbon market. ART is a standalone, independent program that develops and administers standardized procedures for crediting emission reductions and re movals from national and large sub-national REDD+ programmes. ART is gov

erned by a Board of glob ally recognized experts and operated by an independent Secretariat, hosted by Win rock International. ART’s standard for the measure ment, 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 transforma tional climate action at scale, while upholding rigorous social and environmental integrity.

CLEAR APPROCH

The Vice President stressed that the vision and plans of the People’s Pro gressive Party (PPP) has been clear. “When we got back into Office, we made it clear even in Opposition how we're going to treat the climate issue,” he said.

He added, “At the global level, we are working with groups of countries to ensure that we create a framework that takes account of the justice argument on climate change; a framework that

takes account of, of the fu ture and the per capita needs, our GDP, of the developing world when we make deci sions about fossil fuel.

“Because sometimes, the decisions that are being ad vocated for or pushed by some countries and some NGOs, ignore the fact that the world will still need the fossil fuel for a long time to come, given what we have seen now would need fossil fuel. The demand is far outstripping any supply of renewable energy to take up that demand at this point in time. So, there would need it, but it just wouldn't get produced in developing countries. And so, we will miss out from a whole range of opportunities. And will keep the industry mainly in those countries that are cur rently producing.

“And so, we can't accept that. And we will fight glob ally to ensure that you have an accommodative, positive policy, while still doing our bit and strengthening our commitment to net zero.”

The Vice President stressed that Guyana has already made clear that it supports net zero, it supports removing subsidies from fos

sil fuel production; it support early decarbonisation. “But if there is growing demand globally, then we have to be part of that supply chain. Our people and countries like ours – Suriname, Ghana and others they have to find a place in that market. So we're advocating. The longer that happens, or if we follow the justice argument supply, the production can shift the countries like ours, and we have a greater long a longer period for production in these countries like countries like ours. So we have to be part of that framework,” he said.

He explained that de velopment countries like Guyana need resources to re spond to developmental im peratives, as well as climate change mitigation and adap tation measures. “We need the money to help to make this more climate resilient. The development needs…. the massive sums needed for adaptation to climate change because of where we live…the need to manage water….Whether you get to net zero or not; whether there's a trend to 1.5 or not; you're going to have the consequences of historically

accumulated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. So that that's going to happen, and we need some of the oil and gas resources to help us on the adaptation side to be more climate resilient,” Jagdeo stressed.

This latest development, with the carbon credit certi fication and sale, is part of Guyana’s Low Carbon De velopment 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 Guy ana’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 worldclass eco system services forthe long term, by integrating with the global economy and receiv ing 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.

POSITIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT

Next eight years will see ‘heavy lifting’ as part of the economic transformation agenda – President Ali

President Dr Irfaan Ali said the next eight years will focus more on the ‘heavy lifting’ it will take to achieve Guyana’s economic transformation, in order to reap the benefits in 2030 and beyond.

The president was de livering the keynote address at the Guyana Manufactur ing and Services Associa tion’s (GMSA) 27th annual Awards Ceremony, held at the Ramada Princess Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara on Tuesday (No vember 29, 2022).

The ceremony aims to celebrate those businesses in the private sector that make major strides in the economic development of

the country.

President Ali noted that, “transformation and vision go hand in hand,” as such, Guyanese should become more emotionally connected, and develop a collective at titude towards development.

“The truth is, everything is connected, our behaviour, the way we treat each other, the way we treat our environ ment— it’s all connected to the story of development,” he stated.

This development, the head of state explained, will lead to the creation of the ideal future for Guyana in 2030 and beyond.

The vision will see the building of an integrated, multi-dimensional economy

that will be able to compete among the best economies in the world. This feat will be achieved through the use of resources from the oil and gas sector, which will in turn bolster the non-oil sectors, the president elaborated.

This will ensure Guy ana’s economy remains re silient.

In the first half of 2022, Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a 36.4 per cent increase, with the non-oil sector recording a 9.6 per cent growth.

The 2022 Mid-Year Re port, released by the Finance Ministry also showed that the country’s real GDP growth for the year is now projected at 56 per cent overall.

President Ali engages residents in Herstelling, Grove during visit

– Squatting, infrastructural improvements, other issues addressed

During a walkabout in Herstelling and Grove, East Bank Demerara, Presi dent Dr. Irfaan Ali addressed the concerns of the residents.

Residents raised con cerns about illegal electricity, drainage, flooding, housing and water related matters, crime, road infrastructure, squatting and derelict ve hicles. The Head of State reiterated that the cleanliness and upkeep of the commu nity is a shared responsi bility, as he encouraged the residents to do their part when it comes to the garbage disposal.

In an effort to address squatting in Herstelling on ‘Sea Dam’, President Ali tasked representatives from the housing ministry to in form the squatters about the cement and steel ini tiative. “We will be giving the cement and steel. We will work with them on the low-income houses. We will get NBS [New Building So ciety] to come and qualify them, GBTI [Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry] and Demerara Bank to have one meeting with them to qual ify them. We will build the houses. Let us try to get the houses completed in six to eight weeks. All of those

who have house lots, we will build on their house lots,” he said.

The President added that when the houses are complet ed, the residents will need to vacate the area immediately, as the conditions are not con ducive for families.

As the government con tinues to work aggressively to provide job opportunities, President Ali noted that, “those who do not have jobs. We can get them trained immediately to work in the construction sector because we are short on labour in the construction sector. We can train them as carpenters and masons.”

In relation to flooding, President Ali said an am phibious machine will be utilised to clean the trenches within the community.

He also called on resi dents and community lead ers to work along with the Ministry of Public Works to identify the derelict vehicles.

Noting that the social is sues in the community must be tackled collectively, the president pointed to the Men on a Mission [MOM] ini tiative, which aims to make direct and meaningful impact across the country.

The President was at the

time engaging an elderly resident who lives with her grandson and needed assis tance. “Let us walk through these communities, you have old people like these, let us help them to build a walkway to get into their houses, fix their steps, help with simple wood and fix their houses,” he urged Police Commis sioner (ag), Clifton Hicken, who was part of the team that accompanied President Ali.

In addition, the presi dent informed residents that, “from now to the end of the year, we are hoping to have another 11 kilometres of roads completed in this locality.”

As part of his ‘One Guy ana’ vision, President Ali and members of his Cabinet continue to engage citizens from communities across the country, listening to and addressing their concerns.

The president was also accompanied by Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat, Member of Parlia ment and Attorney of Law, Sanjeev Datadin, Chair man of Little Diamond and Herstelling Neighbouring Democratic Council (NDC), Puneet Jaigopaul, and en gineers and officials from several ministries.

Government has fully supported local investments – President Ali

The PPP/C Government has invested time and energy into the development of local manufacturers and that the interventions made by the Administration over the last two years have resulted in the profitability of companies across many sectors of the economy, according to Pres ident Dr. Irfaan Ali.

In recent comments, the Head of State explained that the Government of Guyana has provided some $80b in fiscal incentives to propel pri vate sector development and that a further $9b is expected to be injected into the econ omy in tax refunds from the Guyana Revenue Authority by the end of 2022.

The $21b in revenue for gone due to the removal of taxes on fuel and the $5b in freight relief were also ref erenced.

These measures, he em phasised, were part of a care fully crafted plan to help stim ulate economic growth and pave the way for companies in various sectors to become profitable.

The President lauded the investments being made by stakeholders in the service and manufacturing sectors, including an $8b invest ment in the last two years by Banks DIH; the Barama Company Limited with their

investments of more than US$5m and Guyana Shore Base Inc with an investment of US$270m among others.

“This is the type of invest ment taking place by inves tors, local investors, right here in this room.”

He also pointed to the Government’s efforts in en suring that local products gain the “right exposure” needed through the Guyana Mar keting Corporation (GMC), and noted that in 2022, the GMC carried more than 150 local products to markets across the world. “The most important thing for the small and medium-sized businesses, you may think its capital, but you can have the capital and the best product, but if you don’t have exposure; if your product doesn’t get exposure, it will go nowhere. And I dare anyone in the manufacturing and services sector to say that this Government has not spared every effort to give your product exposure.”

Dr Ali noted that as the economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, in the “race to beat time”, sustainable ap proaches are necessary.

Opportunities that pres ently exist will be fully re alised in the coming years as Guyana looks to make its mark with its new economy by 2030. To achieve this

transformation, the Head of State noted that it must be a collective goal, one which is reflective in all aspects of life. He said, “The truth is, everything is connected, our behaviour, the way we treat each other, the way we treat our environment— it’s all connected to the story of development.”

He explained that the Government also intends to put systems in place to strengthen the economy, in cluding massive legislative and regulatory changes. Ali said, “What is needed is find ing the right match and the right mix. We cannot be in ward-looking in this massive transformation that Guyana is going through, we have to be competitive, and we have to improve our own business model. We have to improve our own governance model, and that is why we are spend ing so much time and effort in transforming the way gov ernance is delivered.”

President Ali said that the potential ahead cannot be un locked if some major projects are not completed, including in infrastructure and energy.

The Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley (virtually) and several members of the Diplomatic Corps also spoke at the event.

Leopold Street youths to benefit from construction jobs − President Ali

Over 50 ‘young men’ re siding at Leopold Street, Georgetown and surrounding communities will soon be employed through govern ment’s ongoing housing con struction project.

President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali made the an nouncement during a con sultation with several com munity members, Sunday morning.

The Guyanese leader said with the massive expansion in the housing sector, there is a high demand for workers. “If you have 50 plus young men that have a skill in con struction, on Tuesday we are going to meet… we are going to take them in the housing programme and we are going to work with them on the houses we have to build,” the President stated.

Dr. Ali tasked Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn and Commissioner of Police (ag), Clifton Hicken to immediately organise a two-week training for the

interested workers.

The 14-day course will ensure the men work effec tively and are brought up to speed with the standards of the PPP/C Government’s massively expanding home building exercise country wide.

The President believes education is paramount for the development of any com munity.

To this end, he reiterated government’s willingness to provide the necessary re sources to ensure residents benefit from any level of education of their interest.

The prudent move by government to employ the Leopold Street residents, will see more than 50 households receiving a regular income.

The support for the com munity forms part of the Dr. Ali -led administration’s outstanding manifesto prom ise to provide employment opportunities to Guyanese, despite their religion, politi cal affiliation or geographic

location. It also ties into the president’s ‘One Guyana’ vision.

Meanwhile, the Head of State addressed several is sues highlighted by residents during the walkabout.

Issues raised included the need for house lots and better drainage and irrigation sys tem. “We are also going to take that 50 something young men and work with them in the community and drain project,” the president added.

He made it clear that supporting communities is high on the PPP/C Admin istration’s agenda, noting that persons who are bent in their mischievous ways to corrupt communities will not succeed. “I will come to communities and tell the truth; the wickedness where they use the television to spread the narrative of hate, we are going to destroy it in the communities. We are going to come and talk to the people directly,” Dr Ali asserted.

FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE

Minister Sukhai outlines plans for Amerindian development in 2023

Amerindian, remote, and riverine communities are set to benefit from various developmental projects that will be driven by the govern ment through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs (MOAA) in 2023.

Amerindian Affairs Min ister Pauline Sukhai while engaging with residents of Kaburi, Region Seven and Aliki in Region Three out lined some of the projects that will come onstream next year.

One hundred ICT hubs have already been established in communities to cater for internet connectivity; how ever, the government is fac ing difficulties in sourcing a provider that will deliver internet connectivity to these villages. “The local providers like E-networks, Inet, they’re limited […] we have to find a provider that will provide enough, strong, bandwidth that will be able to connect every village so that when more than five or a dozen people go on, it does not break down or it does not buff, it will work,” Minister Sukhai explained.

Two hundred and twelve (212) ICT hubs are expected to be completed by next year. Minister Sukhai is, however hopeful, that by 2023 most of the communities with ICT hubs will be connected to the internet. Sukhai said, “It’s a work in progress, I believe in 2023, all the facilities, 212 facilities are expected to be completed and by then, we expect also, that most of them will be connected. So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed as a government too, that the negotiations, the

search for a provider is going to happen soon.”

The aim is to have 211 communities connected to the internet by the end of 2025.

Amerindian leaders are urged to utilise the monies that their villages were allo cated towards the construc tion of ICT hubs.

Community Support Of ficers (CSOs) will benefit from continuous training as the government aims to enhance the knowledge and skillsets of every Guyanese, in preparation for the ‘new’ Guyana. Already, 55 CSOs graduated from garment con struction and small engine repairs at the Bina Hill In stitute Research Centre in Region Nine. CSOs from Regions One and Seven will be receiving training in these skillsets as the programme is being rolled out.

The ministry will be pro viding materials for persons interested in garment con struction and also funds for the construction of facilities. “We’re giving them between $1.5 million to $2 million possibly to build their sewing centres if they do not have a section of a building in which they can use,” the minister added.

More than 160 CSOs were trained in computer literacy to complement the CT hubs that have been and will be established; Minster Sukhai believes these persons must train residents in their communities. “We expect that every community across the country should become computer literate and when the connectivity is connected, that they can use the internet

efficiently so that informa tion, training, production, marketing and everything that you need can be at your hand reach,” she noted.

In an effort to preserve the Amerindians’ heritage, the government will be fund ing several cultural groups in the new year. Minister Sukhai reminded during the interview that Guyana has six races and it is important for Amerindians to be knowl edgeable about their culture.

“You go to many communi ties and the culture is either not there or refined, there’s nothing cultural. So, we want to ensure that according to the Act we also support the cultural development of the people… Our language and our culture make us what we are. It identifies us and so we will be supporting a few groups next year when the budget pass,” she revealed.

Further, in keeping with its commitment to improving the livelihoods of persons living in the hinterland and remote com munities,the solar power programme will be rolled out in these communities.

“We’re expecting that more than 30,000 solar panels, complete units with ac cessories will be received sometime in the first quar ter in the next year and we’ll roll that out. Riverine communities will benefit, Amerindian communities will benefit, hinterland ar eas that don’t get electrici ty will get solar power,” the Minister said.

The much-anticipated re vision of the Amerindian Act of 2006 is expected to take off in the new year as well.

$59M Water Supply System Commissioned at Isseneru

Residents in the village of Isseneru, Region Seven are now enjoying first-time access to potable water, with the commis sioning of a $59 million water supply system.

The system was com missioned on November 22, 2022 by Minister of Housing and Water, Hon. Collin Croal. Also present were Director of Hinter land Services, Mr. Ram chand Jailal; Toshao, Mr.

Dhaness Larson, residents and other officials.

Minister Croal in his address stated that the de velopment of water and other services in hinterland communities is paramount to the Government. “We intend to provide you with the same type of devel opment available on the coastland […] not until we are able to bridge the gap, will our work feel satis fied,” the Minister said.

Previously, there was no functioning water sup ply system in Isseneru, which has a population of 500 persons. Residents would therefore use water from the Mazaruni River and practice rainwater har vesting. The new system provides water to all res idents in the central area and public buildings such as schools and the health centre.

$18M Water Supply System Commissioned in Parikawarinau

Approximately 211 per sons from 56 households are now benefitting from a vastly improved water supply system in the, village of Pari kawarinau, in the Rupununi, Region Nine. The $18 million water supply system was commissioned on Novem ber 26, 2022 by Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal.

On the occasion, Minister Croal spoke of Government’s commitment to ensuring that there is 100% coverage of potable water in all hinterland regions. He urged residents to play their part in ensuring that they get the maximum benefit from the system by taking care of all components of the system.

Under this project, engi neers from the Guyana Water Inc. installed a complete wa ter supply system comprising of a newly drilled well for improved water source, the installation of a 2 km distri bution network, construc tion of 40 standpipes and the construction of an elevated storage. This new system now serves 95% of the community with access to potable water at a household level. How ever, a total of 12 households that reside far off from the system are not connected and would require approximately

8km of network to be con nected.

Parikawarinau village is situated approximately 35km south of the main town, Le them. It is home to approx imately 211 persons. Prior to the upgrade of the water supply system, residents re lied on a hand-dug well and windmill system to supply the community with potable water. Some residents would have to travel far distances in order to access potable water for consumption, this was one the major challenges faced by the people of Parikawarinau village since there was no net work to serve the community.

Meanwhile, in summing up Government’s investment in the water sector for Region Nine, Minister Croal alluded to the fact that to date, some $200 million has been ex pended in the region.

These investments have seen approximately 400 res idents of Katoonarib, Re gion Nine, now receiving improved access to potable water, following the com pletion of a Water Supply System; residents of Potari nau, Region Nine also now have improved access to po table water following the expansion of the water supply system.

Additionally, Parikwari

nau now has a new water supply system; a new water supply system in Toka, Re gion Nine has provided first time access to potable water for close to 300 residents in the community; the construc tion of a trestle equipped with storage tanks, installation of a Photovoltaic (PV) system and distribution pipelines in Shulinab, Region Nine has also ensured improved ac cess to potable water for 400 residents.

Further, the villages in St. Ignatius, Annai, Rupertee, Aranaputa and Wowetta have benefitted from improved water supply systems.

Additional Projects be ing undertaken in 2022 and extending into 2023 in Re gion Nine, will see an invest ment of some $270 million budgeted for water supply improvement projects in Shu linab, Meriwau, Karadarunau, Masakanari, Achiweb, Shea, Rupunau, Yakarinta, Kato ka, Para Bara, Quarrie and Sawariwau Villages to pro vide full coverage and firsttime access to some residents.

Also present at the com missioning were Regional Chairman-Mr. Brian Alli cock, Hinterland Service Di rector-Mr. Ramchand Jailal, Toshao-Mr. Brian James and other village leaders.

37 Lethem women certified in Solar Photovoltaic Technology

Thirty-seven women from Lethem have made his tory, as they are the first batch of women in Guyana to be certified in Solar Pho tovoltaic Technology fol lowing an extensive threeweek training carried out by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, Human Services and Social Security Min ister Dr Vindhya Persaud, Chief Executive Officer of BIT Richard Maughn, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr Mahendra Sharma and Re gional Chairman for Region One Brian Allicock attended the graduation ceremony recently.

The training aims to achieve more inclusion from

women in the emerging so lar energy sub-sector. It is also geared towards honing their skills when it comes to Productive Use of Energy (PUE) technology.

Minister Hamilton told the women they have over come the challenges and they must now make use of their skills to better their lives. “You have to make that determination. What do I do with this knowledge? The certificate is what it is, fire can destroy it, and water can damage it. Knowledge is what is important, that’s what you have acquired. You have to determine what do I do?,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Minister Persaud commended the graduates, while noting that initiatives like these are

useful in reducing gender inequality in the country. “You will not only work on the farms but you will be the ambassadors of this programme so that we can have a ripple effect of more and more girls and women taking these kinds of op portunities to ensure that in just a few short years, your region will continue to lead the rest of the country,” she said.

BIT’s CEO also im plored the women to use the skills to better themselves, their families and the coun try as a whole.

This is a collaborative ef fort between the Labour and Human Services and Social Security ministries, and the Inter-American Develop ment Bank (IDB).

Over 90 girls complete Guyanese Girl Code programme

Residents along Soesdyke/Linden Highway to benefit from new wells

GWI

T

he PPP/C Administration remains steadfast in its efforts to bridge the digital divide. In a demonstration of this continuous effort, approximately 98 girls from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Ten recently completed the annual Guya nese Girl Code programme.

The initiative provides a platform and safe space for girls across the country to become involved in tech nology.

The Guyanese Girls Code programme is organ ised by the Office of the Prime Minister-Industry and Innovations Unit, and targets females between the ages of 11 to 16-years-old.

A principle aim of the programme is to address and combat the gender dis crepancy in the Information and Communications Tech nology (ICT) sector, while simultaneously creating and

solidifying ICT skills in the young female population, to advance the sector.

It seeks to advance girls’ knowledge of computer sci ence through several areas, including coding, robotics and programming.

Director of the Indus try and Innovations Unit, Shahrukh Hussain, com mended the participants for capitalising on the oppor tunity to become involved in ICT. He said, “Everyone who participated here over the last two months had the opportunity to gain self-con fidence and creativity while developing a network with their peers so that Guyana’s ICT sector can grow.” He said that the program goes hand-in- hand with achiev ing the fifth Sustainable Development Goal: achiev ing gender equality, and empowering all women and girls. “Ending all forms of

discrimination against girls is not only a basic human right, but it also has a mul tiplier effect across all other developing areas-especial ly in ICT. The promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women is central to the mandate of the Government of Guyana, and intrinsic in its develop mental approach,” Hussain emphasised.

He noted that the govern ment continues to advocate for equal rights, especially in the fields of science and technology, and works as siduously to combat discrim inatory practices.

Moreover, he stressed that ICT involvement is extremely important, as the sector is the vehicle of the future.

This year’s edition of the programme was delivered under the theme: Access and Safety.

First 100 beneficiaries ink agreements for Lethem Housing Support Programme

– homes to be completed in first quarter of 2023

The first one hundred ben eficiaries of the Lethem Housing Support Programme signed their agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Water-Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA), on November 26, 2022 to move forward with the con struction of their homes.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal led the exercise along with the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Housing and Planning Authority, Mr. Sherwyn Greaves. Regional Chairman, Mr. Brian Alli cock and Mayor of Lethem, Mr. John Macedo were also at the activity, which was held at the CHPA Regional Office in Lethem, Region Nine.

The Lethem Housing Support Programme is the brainchild of His Excellen cy, President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali. The agency will be constructing a $3 million low-income home and pro viding $1 million in support to each beneficiary for the building cost. Moreover, the Ministry will be partnering

with the New Building Soci ety, Republic Bank Guyana Ltd. and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, as they will be offering loans to the tune of $2 million, at a rate of 3.5% to the prospec tive homeowners.

Minister Croal stated that the programme is aimed at promoting occupancy in housing schemes. He noted that assessments will show close to 300 empty allocat ed lots existing in nearby schemes such as Tabatinga and Culvert City. “So what we also do in addition to al locations is to recognize and have support programmes that have home construction and homeownership at the fore,” Minister Croal said.

CEO Greaves stated that the project is also aimed at job creation and improving the regional economy. “We are pleased to say that all the contractors are from Region Nine, all the timber and bricks are from Region Nine [and] all the work ers that will be working on these houses will be from

Region Nine,” the CEO stated. During the activity agreements were also signed between CHPA and the first two villages: Surama and Kwatamang for the supply ing of clay blocks.

Moreover, Expression of Interests have been pub lished for lumber and other hardware materials to con struct the homes. In another two weeks these contracts are expected to be awarded.

Some six hundred land allottees in Lethem are ex pected to benefit from the Lethem Housing Support Programme. With support provided by the government, the allottees will not be re quired to provide collateral to the banks. They will also benefit from the govern ment’s Steel and Cement Housing Subsidy for the construction of their foun dation. The first set of homes are slated for completion during the first quarter of 2023.

Approximately forty house lots were also distrib uted at the event. This will add to close to 19,000 house lots allocated by the Minis try since 2020.

CEO Mr. Shaik Baksh and a team of technical officials on Novem ber 25, 2022 visited a number of communities along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

The aim of the visit was to enlighten residents about the utility’s plans to improve and in some cases, provide first time potable water ac cess to them.

One such community was

Kairuni, where the team met and held discussions with the Vice Chair of the Community Development Council and residents, to inform them of plans to drill a new well.

The GWI team also visit ed Moblissa and Long Creek, where they pledged their commitment to drill new wells there.

According to the CEO, the realization of these wells

signals first time access to potable water for these vil lages.

Mr. Baksh said works are expected to commence this year.

Meanwhile, Waiakabra will benefit sooner, as a new well has already been drilled there and is being developed.

These projects are all in an effort to provide relief to these communities.

Mechanisms being put in place to improve seed paddy production in MMA Scheme – Mustapha

During a meeting with farmers from Burma Housing Scheme and other surrounding areas on Sat urday, Agriculture Minis ter, Zulfikar Mustapha, an nounced that systems are being put in place to satisfy farmers’ demands for seed paddy in the region.

Minister Mustapha made the disclosure while engaging farmers during the commis sioning of the new office building for the Mahaica/ Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS) in Burma, Mahaicony.

Some $14 million was expended by MARDS to ex ecute rehabilitation works to its existing office and procure a new Nissan truck that will be used to improve services offered by the agency.

During the meeting, one farmer present told the min ister that there was need for an upgraded seed facility to service the rice farmers in the region as the current facility is not always able to satisfy the farmers’ demands.

Farmers also raised con cerns about the housing de velopment programme that is ongoing in the area, noting that, once developed, persons residing in the new housing area may have issues with some of the systems used by farmers during rice cul tivation.

While responding to the issues raised, Minister Mu stapha told the farmer that a mechanism will soon be in place to address those issues.

“Region Five has the capaci ty to produce approximately 105,000 acres of rice. I am optimistic that most, if not all, of the fields in the region will be cultivated in the next crop. I want to assure you; we are in the process of set ting up a system in Region Five to bring the seed paddy production capacity to about 65,000 bags per crop. As it stands now, we are getting about 30,000 bags. For the next crop, I want to assure you, that this region will pro duce all the seed paddy for the farmers. With the system that we are putting in place, MMA alone will be able to produce 50,000 bags of seed paddy next crop. As it relates to the issues raised about housing, a lot of planning and evaluation was done for this.

As a government, we have a plan and are committed to delivering affordable housing to all Guyanese. This is part of our overall developmental agenda so we have to work together to achieve this,” the minister said.

He also said farmers who were promised seed paddy will receive it. While stating that there was a reported instance where a

farmer who benefitted from seed paddy did not use it for its intended purpose. The minister said that systems will now be in place to ensure farmers do not take advantage of the system.

“We’ll put systems in place to ensure farmers that need seed paddy receive it. All the commitments that were made for seed paddy, those farmers will receive it. Our officers will also ensure those farmers who receive the seed paddy use it for its intended purpose. Only yes terday we received reports that someone collected seed paddy and was selling it to other farmers. We have to put a system in place to deal with this. So, the same committee managing the fertilizer distribution will manage this programme because while some farmers might have a genuine need, other persons are requesting assistance with the intent to smart the system,” he noted.

Minister Mustapha also told the farmers that the government is working ag gressively to address the high cost of fertiliser. He ex plained that the gas-to-shore project will allow for the production of fertiliser local ly and that the government is still engaging its bilateral partners to source fertiliser at a cheaper cost.

Over 700 graduate from BIT training in Region Six

Government, through the Labour Ministry con tinues to create avenues for upskilling and employment countrywide.

An indication of this con tinuous endeavour is the expansive reach of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) programmes, equipping thou

sands of Guyanese with new skills and strengthening the country’s workforce.

Over 700 persons gradu ated from various BIT train ing programmes in Upper Corentyne, Rose Hall, Port Mourant and Canje.

During a three-day visit to the county, Labour Minis

ter Joseph Hamilton attended the graduation ceremonies and engaged with the grad uates.

Hamilton commended the graduates for capitalising on the opportunity to learn a new skill, highlighting that hard work will facilitate

DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Finance Minister outlines Government’s plans for Guyana realizing its full potential

Senior Finance Minister

Dr. Ashni Singh on Mon day (November 28, 2022) outlined Government’s plans including to utilize its oil revenue to diversify its nonoil economy into a globally competitive one and to in vest in citizens to create a suitably equipped and skilled workforce in line with the current and future demand for new sets of skills. The Finance Minister was at the time holding discussions with Development Director for the Caribbean, Foreign, Com monwealth and Development Office and UK Director to the Caribbean Development Bank Malcolm Geere, and Economics Adviser, Team Leader, Inclusive Economic Growth, Caribbean, Foreign, Commonwealth and Devel opment Office Liz Brower at the Ministry of Finance

during an introductory meet ing. The British Officials were led by British High Commissioner to Guyana Her Excellency Jane Miller.

Besides its introductory purpose, the meeting served as an opportunity for the British team to discuss with the Minister how the United Kingdom could partner with Guyana to increase mobiliza tion of development support as Government continues to forge a number of interna tional partnerships to cata pult its current development agenda.

“Notwithstanding the commencement of oil pro duction in Guyana and this illusion that there is windfall revenue, we still feel strong ly about utilizing as much development support as we can,” Dr. Singh explained to the UK officials as he re

minded that Guyana values its longstanding relationship with the UK.

The Senior Finance Min ister explained that Govern ment plans to ensure that revenues earned from oil currently being extracted will be used to lay the foun dation for the future as he listed agriculture, transport infrastructure (for improved access to productive land and to improve access to contin uous markets), energy infra structure (to provide reliable and affordable energy as this would be important especial ly to facilitate a competitive manufacturing sector), phys ical infrastructure such as roads, bridges schools and hospitals, investing in people ensuring they are adequately equipped with the skills to meet new demands.

Dr. Singh also noted that

Guyana optimistic about procuring Paxlovid for COVID-19 patients – Dr Anthony

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said on Tues day (November 29, 2022) that Guyana remains opti mistic about procuring the Paxlovid medication for COVID-19 patients.

Dr Anthony highlighted that Guyana has been work ing with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to secure the medication.

Paxlovid is an oral anti viral medication produced by

Pfizer. The average cost for a treatment is US$530.

Dr Anthony emphasised that Guyana will get a dis count through the global agreement between UNICEF and Pfizer. “Through that agreement, we were hoping to get Paxlovid at a very dis counted rate. So far, I don’t think UNICEF has been able to source any of the Paxlovid as yet. But we remain opti mistic,” the minister said.

The health minister point ed out that once UNICEF can initiate the process of secur ing the medication, Guyana will certainly benefit.

The medication, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Adminis tration in December 2021, should be administered to pa tients as soon as it is detected they have COVID-19 and no later than five days after the onset of their first symptom.

Government intends to fully capitalize on its Low Car bon Development Strategy (LCDS) and will continue to manage Guyana’s tropical rainforest in a sustainable manner in order to be com pensated by the world for its forest conservation and clean air contribution.

The Minister also touched briefly on Guyana’s Sover eign Wealth Fund which he reminded comprises part of the oil proceeds being put aside for future generations but added that along with this, Government wants to ensure the improved well-be ing of Guyanese such as al lowing for them to have their own homes, are educated and have marketable skills and careers while the future generation will also be able to enjoy a modern, diversified economy where they can con

tinue to thrive as well as be provided with modern health care once the country’s oil would have been exhausted in the future.

Guyana and the UK have been collaborating on a number of develop ment projects with recently the UK Caribbean Infra structure Fund providing US$66 Million toward the US$190Million Linden to Mabura road project. The two-lane highway between Linden and Mabura Hill forms part of the arterial link between Linden and the Lethem Highway and links Georgetown to the Brazilian border. Addition ally, through the UK Ex port Finance (UKEF) the Government of Guyana is constructing a Pediatric and Maternal Hospital. The building and equipping of

the state-of-the-art hospi tal will cost 149 Million pounds.

Meanwhile, Co-opera tion programmes/projects between Guyana and the UK also include the Dia mond Diagnostic Centre, the Lethem hospital, the Leonora Cottage Hospital, the Mabaruma Hospital and the Paramakatoi Hospital. Through collaboration be tween the two countries as well, earlier this month Guyanese have been able to visit the UK visa-free. President Irfaan Ali had stressed as well during an nouncement of this waiver on visas, that the two Gov ernments aim to further expand bilateral relations with the hope of furthering investments, including ex pansion of Guyana’s tour ism market.

$13.6M contract signed for new community centre in North Sophia

– To create employment opportunities for youths, residents

Inkeeping with the gov ernment’s commitment to providing employment op portunities for all, the Min istry of Local Government and Regional Development signed a $13.6 million con tract with the North Sophia Community Development Council (CDC) to develop a community centre.

The PPP/C Government through the Health Min istry is powering the efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance in patients by spreading aware ness of the effects of misusing antibiotics.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on November 25, 2022, said, “We [health min istry] have to be ready to start working on becoming wise in how we prescribe antibiotics to patients. Patients themselves have to be more cognisant of the importance of how you use antibiotics…when to use antibiotics.”

This comes as Guyana joins the rest of the world in celebrating Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022.

This year’s awareness week calls on policymakers to

encourage health workers and the public to adopt best prac tices to prevent the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.

It also calls for all sectors to encourage the prudent use of antimicrobial medicines and to strengthen preventive mea sures to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) under the One Health approach.

Antimicrobials are sub stances that can be used to prevent microbes (tiny living things that are too small to be seen by the naked eye) from multiplying.

Minister Anthony said that over the years people have been using antibiotics widely in conditions where antibiot ics are not recommended. “If someone has a viral infection

and you use an antibiotic then that antibiotic would not kill the virus but we have seen people using antibiotics in very indiscriminate ways…and be cause of this very indiscrimi nate use of antibiotics, some of the microbes that would have normally been suspectable to antibiotics have now devel oped resistance…and because of that, you have to now use different generations of anti biotics to offset these diseases. So, microbial resistance is becoming a very, very serious problem globally,” he said.

Further, the minister noted that health officials will not be able to cure many diseases if persons continue to misuse antibiotics, which causes resis tance to develop to the majori ty of currently available drugs.

Permanent Secretary of the Local Government Min istry Prema Ramahah-Roop narine and Chairman of the CDC, Uriah France signed the contract at the North Sophia playground on No vember 25, 2022.

The execution of the project will be undertaken solely by members of the community with supervi sion from the ministry. La bour and materials will also be sourced from within the community.

Local Government Min ister, Nigel Dharamlall while delivering remarks, said part of President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s vision of ‘One Guyana’ is to ensure every one benefits from the support of government including employment opportunities.

Apart from the construc

tion of the centre, persons will be employed as com munity enhancement work ers shortly. “People must also benefit in terms of the employment landscape. In North Sophia and many oth er communities, we have quite a lot of unemployed people or underemployed persons. So, we would like Mr. Chairman that quite a lot of these youngsters with in the community, whether male or female that you are contracted, you’re given a job on this project, you’re going to be paid,” Minister Dharamlall stated.

He noted that this is the biggest government invest ment that will be executed at the community level and the CDC must provide the government with names of persons who are employed on the project. “It can’t be people from outside the con stituency, it got to be people from this area and I am sure they have a lot of skilled people as well as people who deserve to work,” the minis ter pointed out.

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Public Af

fairs, Kwame McCoy in his remarks described the sign ing of the contract as ‘signif icant’ and demonstrative of another commitment fulfilled by the PPP/C Government.

During past outreaches to the community, residents raised the need for a commu nity centre to be established for the younger generation to benefit educationally and socially. Minister McCoy iterated the government’s commitment to the devel opment of every Guyanese. “We are committed to your development, we are com mitted to working with you, it doesn’t stop here, it will continue but as I said we need everyone of you in this community onboard and we need you to be onboard as a community in a united fash ion,” the minister expressed.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the CDC commended the government for delivering on its promiseand assured that everyone will be involved in the execution of the project.

France urged members of his community to come and work together and do what’s best for the development of their community.

Gov’t powering efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance as the world celebrates Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week

ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Over $165M in contracts awarded to Albouystown, West La Penitence contractors for community development

Thirty-five contracts for the rehabilitation of bridges, roads and the desilt ing of drains were award ed to contractors from Al bouystown and West La Pen itence, South Georgetown to the tune of over $165 million, on Wednesday (November 30, 2022).

This is the delivery of a promise made by President, Dr Irfaan Ali, when he visit ed the two communities back in October. The contracts were awarded to provide residents with meaningful employment, while fostering community development.

Contracts for the reha bilitation of concrete roads and bridges totalling $135.6 million and drainage works to the tune of $25.6 million were awarded.

Some 350 residents are expected to benefit from em ployment. This is in addition to the ongoing $1.5 billion Independence Boulevard and Cemetery Road enhancement works project.

Minister within the Min

istry of Public Works, Deodat Indar encouraged contractors to hire residents especially youths. “Every single con tractor that signed here today are required to hire people from Albouystown, it is the people from right in here got to get the work done. There is a lot of youths that met us that need work and this is what this is about. It is for us to get the contractors involved so that you make money and you get the work done through people from the community so that they can make money, so the money is in the community,” the Minister stated. Further, the minister urged contractors to give ‘adequate and rea sonable’ pay to the residents being hired. He also urged the residents, who are set to be employed to unite and work diligently to complete the works.

Minister within the Of fice of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy reiterated the PPP/C Administration’s commitment to enhancing

the lives of all Guyanese, and Albouystown is not left out. “Albouystown is not a place that we will forget…. Our interest is about working with every community and everyone across this country because you all belong to Guyana and we govern for all the people of this country. We are here to work with you, we want to see your lives enhanced, we want to see your families develop and the community in which you live become as wholesome as possible,” he assured. Minis ter McCoy proceeded to call on residents to unite to attain ‘Destination Albouystown’ a community that is in line with Guyana’s transforma tion. He said, “The quickest way of reaching destination ideal, destination beauty, destination Albouystown, top notch is by making sure that we are working together in partnership with government and communities.”

Meanwhile, works are expected to commence im mediately.

$161 million Early Childhood Centre of Excellence commissioned

Early childhood educa tion is on the trajectory to be transformed with the commissioning of the Early Childhood Centre of Excel lence at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.

The Early Childhood Centre of Excellence is fund ed by the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank, through Basic Needs Trust Fund Guyana. It creates a conducive environment for young learners to explore, grow and develop.

The Minister of Edu cation, Priya Manickchand in her remarks, noted that Guyana has the highest nurs ery enrollment rate in the Commonwealth, as such, the investment is fitting since Guyana and the Caribbe an can learn from practices which will be implemented at the institution. She stated that the important level of educa tion is at the early childhood

age and urged people to not view the Early Childhood Centre of Excellence as just another nursery school. She said, “This as a research unit can make all the difference in education in Guyana…I didn’t say early childhood education, it can make all the difference in education across all sectors primary, secondary and nursery.”

Meanwhile, UNICEF Representative, Mr Nicholas Pron expressed that UNICEF believes that the centre will not only contribute to the best start to life, it will also facilitate and foster a holis tic, inclusive approach to improving early childhood development, as well as en hancing the knowledge and competencies of early child hood development practi tioners, researchers, parents and other caregivers.

Meanwhile, Vice Chan cellor of the University of

Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed said the project was long in the making and help the university to find solutions to the challenges in the way in which children are socialized and raised.

Director of the Centre, Dr Lidon Lashley, said that the facility currently caters to 102 young learners, 26 of whom require additional education needs. He noted that each child’s need is catered to. “And we do so in an atmosphere that embraces the Ministry of Education’s Early Childhood Curriculum but also extended it with practices and research that is done on the upper level.”

The $161 million facility is equipped with all the ame nities needed by learners and early childhood practitioners and caregivers. The building was also designed to ac commodate differently-abled learners.

597 spectacles distributed through ‘snap on’ spectacles initiative – Dr Anthony

As the government con tinues to make signif icant steps in providing eyecare services to Guya nese, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, on Tuesday (November 29, 2022), said some 597 spectacles have been distributed to residents in various regions so far.

Dr Anthony said that the ‘snap on’ spectacle ini tiative is a new programme introduced by his ministry.

He highlighted that the government purchased some 4,500 spectacles through the programme.

So far, the health min ister said that 23 spectacles were distributed in Region

Ten, 124 in Region Seven, and 450 spectacles in Re gion Eight.

The ministry continues to bridge the gap in the provision of health care ser vices in hinterland commu nities. A team is deployed to the communities to con duct eye examinations and spectacles are provided to those who require it.

Some 4,000 hinterland residents are expected to benefit from the ‘snap on’ spectacles initiative.

Dr Anthony explained that the snap on spectacles were invented by one of the professors at John Hopkin’s University which is being

utilised by many countries worldwide. He said the ministry and the university have a partnership which has helped Guyana during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We learnt about this pro gramme because we have a collaboration with Hopkin’s on different initiatives. So, we have been working with them on knowledge sharing. More recently, we have been collaborating with them on malaria.”

Dr Anthony underscored that the programme will continue in other regions, “we should be going to Re gions One and Nine short ly.”

19,000 house lots distributed in just over two years – Croal

The PPP/C Administration since it got back into of fice in August 2020, has dis tributed some 19,000 house lots to Guyanese across the country.

This was revealed by Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal during an activ ity in Region Nine (Upper Takutu – Upper Essequibo). “By the time we are finished with the month of Novem ber, we will be crossing the 19,000 allocations since we got back into office…That means, 19,000 potential per sons for homeownership, 19,000 potential persons who may be applying for a mort gage at the banks,” Minister Croal noted.

This, the minister said, was done through the Cen

tral Housing and Planning Authority’s (CHPA) ‘dream realised’ house lot allocation exercise held in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and Ten.

Allocations were also done through the turn-key initiative, which allows per sons to purchase housing units in the low, moderate and middle-income catego ries, as well as young pro fessionals.

Not only will the com mercial banks see an influx of persons applying for mort gages, but the construction, transportation and service sectors will experience a significant boost.

“Home building, home construction, homeownership is one of the drivers of the

economy. So, when you want to measure how the economy is performing one of the pil lars is the housing sector,” Minister Croal asserted.

This brings the PPP/C Government closer to achiev ing its manifesto promise of delivering 50,000 house lots to Guyanese by the year 2025.

With the distribution of house lots, comes the respon sibility to create new housing schemes, and expand and up grade existing ones with the necessary infrastructure such as roads, culvert, bridges and drainage systems.

To date, in excess of $25 billion has been invested to expand housing development in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Nine and Ten.

The Government of Guy ana through the Minis try of Natural Resources announced that BP Interna tional Limited of the United Kingdom has been selected, following a competitive pro curement process, to market Guyana’s share of petroleum from the Liza Destiny and Liza Unity floating produc tion storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.

The Ministry of Natural Resources publicly issued its Request For Bids on Septem ber 16, 2022, with October 11, 2022, as the submission deadline. Fourteen (14) bids were submitted to the Na tional Procurement and Ten der Administration Board (NPTAB).

The procurement board appointed an Evaluation

Committee and that com mittee recommended BP International for the award of contract as part of its evaluation report. That report was cleared by NPTAB and received the Cabinet’s ‘no objection’.

The duration of this con tract will be for twelve (12) months at a marketing price of US$0.00 per barrel. This procurement process was initiated after the contract with Aramco Trading Lim ited ended.

The services to be pro vided by the marketer in clude the following:

• Provide support and guid ance to the Government of Guyana in all operating and back-office responsibili ties of managing the crude sales and each individual

lift whilst facilitating timely and cost-effective crude op erations;

• Support the government in the continued introduction of the grade to multiply geogra phies and refinery systems, and provide benchmark and performance comparisons of prices paid for Guyana’s crude;

• Work closely with the gov ernment to understand the behaviour and yields of the Liza blend and how these can affect pricing differentials.

The Guyana Govern ment will continue to employ transparent and international best practices in the man agement of the nation’s pe troleum resources so as to attain maximum returns and advance the livelihoods of all citizens.

Gov’t identifies BP International Limited to market Guyana’s share of crude

Equal protection of consumers, sellers with... (From

ment while making partial payment on the others,” she said.

In addition, Clause 15 makes certain arrangements in respect of agreements concerning vehicles. This Clause requires the Guyana Revenue Authority to make an annotation on the registra

tion of a Vehicle indicating that the said vehicle is the subject of a hire purchase agreement. This annotation would put a potential buyer on notice that there is an encumbrance on the vehicle.

The culture of repossess ing items from consumers by sellers will be discounted

$59M Water Supply System...

The Minister in his address also lauded the work of the contractor, Adamantium Holdings for the delivery of the project despite a number of chal lenges with the location and terrain.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jailal urged the community to ensure that the system is utilised correctly. He also noted that two Community Service Officers (CSOs) were trained in water op eration and maintenance to assist with the management of the system.

The scope of works for the water supply system included: the drilling of a new potable water well to a depth of 390 feet; the installation of 3000 meters of 50mm (2”) PVC pipes & 1000 meters of 19mm (3/4”) pipes with 90 ser vice connections; construc tion of a 20 feet elevated metal trestle with storage and 6 No. 600 gallon stor age tanks; installation of photovoltaic pumping sys tem including submersible

pump, controller, solar panels and accessories; and construction of gal vanized chain-link fence around well and photo voltaic system. The water has also been tested to ensure its quality conforms to the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Residents of the com munity also welcomed the project. Community Health Worker, Mr. Ronald Gayral stated “it would be very beneficial to the village, our main water supply would be from the creek, but when it’s dry season it would be very hard on the villagers.” He also added that the new well would provide safer drinking water, which is expected to reduce the number of illnesses caused by the contaminated water from the river.

Overall, when the Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali Gov ernment took Office in 2020 access to potable wa ter supply in Region Seven

as Clause 29 will prohibit the seller from repossessing goods without first approach ing the court and obtaining an order if 70 per cent or more of the purchase price has been paid.

In the instance whereby less than 70 per cent of the purchase price has been paid,

(From page 15)

was approximately 34%. However, after the comple tion of three water supply systems in 2021 at Kuru tuku, Kamarang and Jawal la, access was increased to 47%. Moreover, the Government is undertaking six water supply projects in 2022 – including the Is seneru system – which are expected to further push access of water in Region Seven to 65% by the end of the year. Through GWI’s 2020-2025 strategic plan, the Government is looking to increase water coverage to 95%-100% by 2025.

During the meeting, the Minister also highlighted several interventions to benefit the residents in education, health, agri cultural and infrastructure development and handed over a number of sports gears to the community. Residents were also given the opportunity to raise a number of issues affecting the community, which will be addressed at the Cabinet level.

Over 700 graduate from BIT...

continued development in Berbice. He said, “By the time 2022 comes to an end, we would have trained 1,100 persons in the county of Ber bice with new skills so that they can participate in the development of this country.”

The minister also noted that the programmes are tai lored to ensure equity, cater ing to persons who would not be able to attend day classes.

The Labour Minister said too that BIT training provides

persons with the scope to find their passion. “We have programmes fashioned to ensure that in the evenings for the single mothers, or the young boy under stress, we can fashion programmes to ensure we can uplift them,” the minister said.

The minister pledged that BIT will continue to provide opportunities for upskilling.

“The fact that we are here celebrating these young peo ple is a testimony to what

(From page 16)

the government is doing,” he noted.

Participants in Region Six were trained in commer cial food preparation, motor vehicle repairs, cosmetolo gy, welding and fabrication, garment construction, and agro-processing, among oth ers.

This is in keeping with the PPP/C Administration’s manifesto promise of making training available country wide.

page 11)

the seller is obliged to give 21 days’ notice of an intent to repossess the items. This will allow the buyer to cure the breach.

Agriculture Minister, Zu lfikar Mustapha commended the bill and noted that it will have a significant impact

on the agriculture sector. “This will allow our farm ers to confidently invest in high-value assets to improve their production as hire pur chase will now be seen by many farmers as a financial solution for expanding the agriculture business,” Min

ister Mustapha stated.

The Hire Purchase Bill was also supported by Min ister within the Housing and Water Ministry, Susan Rodrigues, Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton and Mem ber of Parliament, Sanjeev Datadin.

Guyana is confident that its...

every other territory which is recognized as Guyana’s sovereign territory in accor dance with the 1899 Award and 1905 Agreement;

• (d) Venezuela shall refrain from threatening or using force against any person and/ or company licensed by Guy ana or engage in economic or commercial activity in Guyanese territory as deter mined by the 1899 Award and 1905 Agreement, or in any maritime areas appur tenant to such territory over which Guyana has sover eignty or exercises sovereign rights, and shall not interfere with any Guyanese or Guya

nese-authorised activities in those areas;

• (e) Venezuela is interna tionally responsible for viola tions of Guyana’s sovereign ty and sovereign rights, and for all injuries suffered by Guyana as a consequence.”

Further, in March 2022, Guyana submitted its Memo rial on the Merits of its bor der controversy Case against Venezuela – as required by the Court following its de cision of 18 December 2020 confirming its jurisdiction to decide the merits of Guy ana’s claims. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the Memorial was submitted,

said, “Guyana seeks from the Court a decision that the Arbitral Award of 1899 determining the boundary is valid and binding upon Guyana and Venezuela, and that the boundary established by that Award and the 1905 Agreement demarcating it, is the lawful boundary between Guyana and Venezuela. The Court has agreed in its earlier decision that it has jurisdic tion to do so. Guyana now looks to the Court’s judicial process and its settlement of the matter under the rule of law.” [SEE RELATED PARLIAMENTARY RE PORTING ON PAGE 11]

Transformation for sustainable...

able agriculture

• GOAL 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

• GOAL 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality edu cation and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

• GOAL 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

• GOAL 6: Ensure availabil ity and sustainable manage ment of water and sanitation for all

• GOAL 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sus tainable and modern energy for all

• GOAL 8: Promote sus tained, inclusive and sustain able economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

• GOAL 9: Build resilient

infrastructure, promote in clusive and sustainable in dustrialization and foster innovation

• GOAL 10: Reduce inequal ity within and among coun tries

• GOAL 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

• GOAL 12: Ensure sus tainable consumption and production patterns

• GOAL 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

• GOAL 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

• GOAL 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and

halt and reverse land degra dation and halt biodiversity loss

• GOAL 16: Promote peace ful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

• GOAL 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development.

The Administration’s ‘Plan for Prosperity’, the 2020-2025 manifesto, and its comprehensive range of policies and programmes are being actioned in the interest of all Guyanese and our peo ple can continue to expect improvements in standard of living.

To suggest that house-to-house...

tions Commission to be expanded to three Commissioners each from the PPP/C and the PNCR, with the Chair appointed by President Hoyte from a list of 6 candidates submitted by Dr Cheddi Jagan, the PPP leader.

Despite these and other measures at elec toral reform, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) observed in 1995: “the Guyana electoral system requires extensive rehabilitation to achieve adequate standards of fairness, efficiency and sustain ability.” This statement aligns to my position that the voters’ list is just one aspect of the electoral system, and that other components like professionalization of GECOM staff, are equally important.

The implication that “thousands of over seas-based Guyanese voters” were disen franchised in the H-to-H registration is not supported by evidence. The 1992 voters’ list shows a 3.8% (or 15,109 voters) reduction in voters’ names, compared with the previous voters’ list of 1985. The number of registered voters in 1985 was 399,304 compared with 384,195 in 1992. How much of the reduction was applicable to each of the following cat egories is not known:(1) names of deceased persons being deleted; (2) emigration (1980s had the highest rate of emigration than in any other decade); (3) the likelihood of the discarding of names of overseas-based Guyanese; and (4) declining fertility level of families.

Notwithstanding the struggle to make

(From page 4) (From page 5)

changes and correct errors in the electoral system which had been skewed in favour of the PNC, it was evident that a voters’ list compiled from H-to-H registration is not without serious flaws. To suggest that H-to-H registration is a better method than “continuous cycles of registration” to achieve clean and credible elections is not borne out by historical or empirical evidence. What the evidence shows instead is that the electoral process could be sabotaged, for example, by the Elections Commission and its staff. This level of corruption found its finest expression in the post-March 2nd elections of 2020 when there was a brazen attempt to stage an elec toral heist, a situation described by the head of OAS Observer Mission proclaimed that it was: “the most transparent attempt to steal an election.”

While a clean voters’ list is a vital compo nent of a credible election process, the lessons from the fraudulent elections of the 20th century and the recent 2020 general elections, demonstrate that an immensely powerful force of unprofessional and partial GECOM staff, could derail the integrity of the elector al process. A GECOM staff complicit with political operatives poses a graver threat to democracy and election integrity than taking away the right of registered overseas-based Guyanese to exercise their franchise.

PPP/C painfully aware of dangers...

this country that far exceeds the cost of the loan. That's a rigorous process internally that we manage. So don't think it's glibly done. So I've seen some people talk about from the Opposition, ‘oh, we are contracting a lot of a lot

of debt’ and all of that is it's not true. It's not true. Because we are painfully aware of how a liberal policy of con tracting debt can lead to the bankruptcy of the country. And that is what happened in the past. So fiscal prudence

Norton dodges questions

This is despite the fact that the Parliamentary Opposition, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition has been claiming that the Voters’ List is bloated.

GUYANESE WHO MIGRATED

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

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

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

GUYANESE WHO DIED

(From page 8)

is, is very, very important for us. And in your planning decisions that you make at the corporate level, or wher ever else, that you need to factor that in that you have a government that will do just that,” he declared.

on...

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

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

(From page 6)

Objections period to make file an objection and have their relative removed from the Voters’ List.

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

This is not the first time, the PNCR-led Coalition has claimed that the Voters’ List is bloated.

Gas-to-Energy project on track...

ments of the project.

The response reads, “There are other agreements on supply, buyer’s agree ment, field development, licensing conditions, onshore works, and land matters that are currently being drafted.”

It said that these policy documents and agreements will be presented once they are finalised and executed.

According to the minis ter’s written response, “All agreements are being done in a timely manner to meet the Final Investment Deci sion which will allow for the project to be completed by our committed deadline of December 2024.”

The minister noted that the first Environmental per mit for the Gas-to-Energy Project was approved and signed by all parties. The authorisation was granted

to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), and allows for the transmission of natural gas onshore from the Liza field in the Stabroek block.

According to the Envi ronmental Protection Agency (EPA), approval was grant ed based on the following grounds:

The Environmental As sessment Board reviewed and declared the Environ mental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact Assessment related to this project, acceptable in accor dance with section 11(13) of the Environmental Protection Act, Cap. 20:05.

The EPA is satisfied that the project can be conducted in accordance with good environmental practices, and in a manner that avoids, pre vents and minimises any

adverse effects which could result from the activity.

The technical reviews and recommendations from a team of independent Inter national Experts, the public inputs at the scoping stage, views expressed by members of the public during consulta tions, the submissions made after the EIA was submitted for public review, and all other relevant considerations, indicate that the project is environmentally-sound and in the public’s interest.

The project is expected to cut electricity cost by at least half, as well as pro mote a transition to cleaner, renewable energy sources. This is in keeping with the government’s commitment to significantly reduce the coun try’s reliance on fossil fuels.

The project is expected to have a life cycle of 25 years.

‘Do not fall prey to the propaganda of small...

February 2002 and Septem ber 2006 – 151 murdered by bandits, 30 security officers were killed and 239 were killed during confrontations with the police and in un

explained circumstances. It added that the drug trade was a major part of the period in question. After the report was published, comments along this line subsidised,

but has returned and are now greatly exaggerated with the claim being almost 2,000 young Afro-Guyanese died under the former PPP/C gov ernment.

Further, in November 2021, the Coalition-aligned, David Hinds had said: “I think the time has come to defend ourselves…it is time for action…I am also repeat ing my call to undermine the government. I said that in August and I am saying it again. A leader does not have to tell you how to under mine the government. There are many ways…undermine the government and continue to do so.” At the same forum, Hinds went further to call for

Indian-owned businesses to be boycotted. He said, “They were enablers and they are enablers….it is your money that is spending on Regent Street that they does take and give to the PPP as contribu tions for elections so they can get into government…under mine the economic partners of the PPP.”

Prior to that, while ad dressing a small group of pro testors at Victoria, East Coast Demerara in August 2021, Hinds said: “In whatever

way you can undermine this (PPP/C) government. Un dermine this government in whatever way you can. I can’t tell you how to do it, but ‘hint to Baniba mek Quashiba tek notice’ (Old African-Guya nese proverb meaning actions to hint something will result in awareness). Undermine this government!”

The past several months have seen incidents where persons have spewed un founded claims of racism by the current Administration.

Persons being urged to get boosted as Guyana sees increase in COVID-19 cases

G uyana is currently ex periencing an increase in COVID-19 cases, which is leading to more hospital isation. Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony is therefore reiterating the call for per sons to get boosted.

The Minister noted that October saw no recorded COVID-19 death and only 87 overall cases. Howev er, November shows an in

crease. “In November, this year we already have three deaths and we have 107 cas es so far. So, there seems to be an upward tick in terms of cases and in terms of people requiring hospitalisation,” Dr Anthony said.

The Health Ministry has since heightened its systems to prepare for this increase and the possibility of more hospitalisations. “We have

put all our doctors and medi cal personnel, again on alert. The systems at Ocean View Hospital are fully deployed. So, really sick patients would go there. All the units that we have across the country at different regional hospitals are available if people get really sick,” he added.

However, despite the increase in cases, people are hardly taking their booster

shots. Currently, only 76,131 persons received their first booster dose and only 4,276 have taken a second booster dose.

Persons eligible for third and fourth booster doses are also being urged to take them.

The health minister is encouraging persons to keep themselves immunised by taking a booster shot every

four to six months, especial ly those who have under lying health conditions and may be more vulnerable. “We haven’t seen a lot of people coming forward to be vaccinated. So, let’s take over the last 24 hours, we have had 63 vaccines being administered and that’s with all the vaccination centres that we have, at this point in time. We are really encour

aging people if you have had your vaccines more than six months ago, or four months ago, it is time for you to come back and get either your booster shots or to con tinue your vaccination,” Dr Anthony said.

Also, arrangements were made to send samples from the three deaths, for genetic sequencing at the Caribbean Public Health Agency.

Virologists are still scrambling to keep up with Omicron’s rapid evolution

(New York Times) On Nov. 26, 2021, the World Health Organiza tion announced that a concerning new variant of the coronavirus, known as Omicron, had been dis covered in southern Africa. It soon swept to dominance across the world, causing a record-breaking surge in cases.

Now, a year later, Omicron still has biologists scrambling to keep up with its surprising evolutionary turns. The variant is rapidly gaining mutations. But rather than a single lineage, it has exploded into hun dreds, each with resistance to our immune defenses and its own alpha numeric name, like XBB, BQ.1.1 and CH.1.

“It’s hard to remember what is what,” Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, said.

But unless some radically dif ferent variant emerges, Dr. Bloom predicted, this confusing jumble of subvariants will endure, making it more challenging for scientists to plan new vaccines and treatments.

“It’s always going to kind of be like it is now,” he said. “There’s al ways going to be some soup of new variants out there.”

When Omicron emerged last November, it carried more than 50 mutations that set it apart from other variants of the coronavirus. Many researchers favor the idea that it arose in a single person, per haps with a compromised immune system, who had a chronic case of Covid that lasted months.

Last month, however, a team of scientists at the University of Minnesota suggested that an early form of the coronavirus had infected mice. In their scenario, it evolved into Omicron in the rodents and then infected humans again.

However it arose, Omicron surged to dominance in the weeks after its discovery because of its mu tations. Some of them allowed the virus to slip inside cells more suc cessfully. Others let it evade some of the antibodies from vaccines or previous infections.

Most antibodies stick to the “spike” proteins on the surface of coronaviruses, blocking them from

entering our cells. But some of Omicron’s mutations changed parts of the spike protein so that some of the most potent antibodies could no longer stick to it.

As Omicron multiplied, it con tinued to mutate. New versions emerged, but for the first few months they replaced one another like a series of waves crashing on a beach. The first version, BA.1, was replaced by BA.2, then BA.5, both of which evaded some antibodies produced from earlier Omicron infections.

But in February, Theodora Hat ziioannou, a virologist at Rockefel ler University in New York, and her colleagues ran an experiment that suggested Omicron was primed for an evolutionary explosion.

Dr. Hatziioannou’s team tested Omicron against 40 different an tibodies that could still block the variant. They discovered that it was remarkably easy for a few extra mu tations to make it resistant to almost all of those antibodies.

Surprisingly, when the research ers added those same mutations to the spike protein from the original version of the coronavirus, there was no effect on its antibody resistance. Dr. Hatziioannou suspected that the large number of new mutations in Omicron changed its evolutionary landscape, making it much easier to evolve even more resistance.

“We were actually worried when we saw this,” she said.

In the months since, Omicron has lived up to those worries. Thanks to the huge number of Omi cron infections, the virus has had more opportunity to mutate. And it has gained some of the concerning mutations that Dr. Hatziioannou and her colleagues identified in their experiments.

The new mutations are building up quickly, most likely because they are providing the viruses with a big evolutionary edge. In the first year of the pandemic, most people who were infected had no antibodies for Covid. Now, most people do. So viruses that have extra resistance to antibodies easily outcompete others lacking it.

“The evolution that’s happening

is the fastest rate it has been up to this point,” Sergei Pond, a virologist at Temple University in Philadel phia, said.

A single subvariant is not gain ing all of the new mutations, how ever. Ben Murrell, a computational biologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and his colleagues are tracking more than 180 Omicron subvariants that have independently gained mutations causing them to grow faster than BA.5.

These subvariants are going through a process that Charles Dar win recognized some 160 years ago, called convergence. Darwin noted how birds and bats independently evolved wings that work very much the same way. Today, Omicron sub variants are independently escaping the same antibodies with mutations at the same spots on their spike proteins.

The competition taking place in the subvariant swarm may be preventing one of them from taking over, at least for now. In the United States, the once-dominant BA.5 now accounts for just 19 percent of new cases. Its descendant BQ.1 has risen to 28 percent. And BQ.1.1., a descendant of BQ.1, is the cause of 29 percent. Thirteen other Omicron subvariants make up the rest.

But elsewhere, other subvariants are rising to the top. Singapore, for example, has experienced a surge of XBB, a hybrid of two different subvariants of BA.2. But XBB is rare in most other parts of the world.

“Most of that has just to do with which one seeded an area first,” Thomas Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said.

As each lineage gains more mutations, fewer types of antibod ies work against them. Last month, Yunlong Cao, a biochemist at Pe king University, and his colleagues reported that XBB and three other subvariants had become entirely resistant to the antibodies in blood samples from people who were vaccinated or had Covid infections.

That development threatens what had been one of the most important defenses against Covid: monoclonal antibodies. To create these treatments, scientists collected

blood of Covid patients early in the pandemic, isolated their most potent antibodies, and made vast numbers of copies of the molecules. One formulation, called Evusheld, can prevent people with compromised immune systems from getting in fected. But as resistant subvariants become more common, these treat ments will no longer work.

“I can’t really be confident whether or not monoclonal antibod ies will play a major role in treat ment going forward,” Dr. Bloom, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, said. “It’s going to be really import ant to design another generation of antibody cocktails that hopefully stand up longer.”

The latest booster shots produce spike proteins from both the original version of the virus and BA.5. Stud ies on people who have gotten this so-called bivalent booster show that their antibodies are better at neutral izing BQ.1.1 and other new subva riants than the antibodies produced

by the original Covid vaccine. Even so, the subvariants can evade many of the bivalent antibodies.

Fortunately, the new subvariants don’t seem to be more deadly than earlier forms of Omicron. Despite their growing ability to evade an tibodies, Dr. Hatziioannou said that the subvariants will probably not be able to entirely escape im munity from vaccines or previous infections.

Moritz Gerstung, a computation al biologist at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, said that the lessons scientists were now learning about Omicron’s conver gence might allow them to predict its coming evolution. And those pre dictions, in turn, could allow public health officials to prepare for the next stage of Covid more effectively.

“It has made me very hopeful for the future as a paradigm,” Dr. Gerstung said. “It’s an instance of how one could basically get ahead of the game.”

‘Do not fall prey to the propaganda of small self-serving group’ – President appeals to Guyanese

The small group that con tinues to peddle rac ism and discrimination, in self-service, must not be allowed to trump the desire of Guyanese who want to live in peace, harmony and to come together to enhance growth and development, declared President Dr. Irfaan Ali. And he committed the PPP/C Ad ministration to working on dismantling this effort.

“What there is, is a great yearning to come together, great enthusiasm and energy to come together, there is a great opportunity for us to fuse ourselves together, that is what the ordinary people want. There are however a select few out there who drive a narrative that is far different from reality,” Ali said.

During a meeting with

dozens of Christian lead ers (both locally based and members of the diaspora) he highlighted that the Church is an important partner in achieving national unity and dismantling the narrative of division. The President noted that under the banner of ‘One Guyana’, the country can tru ly be transformed. He noted that the Government and the Church have interconnecting

roles to play in the develop ment of Guyana. “I see the Church as fundamental to the development and advance ment of our country.”

The ‘One Guyana’ initia tive, according to President Ali, extends beyond healing and unity to ensuring that the well-being of every single individual is taken care of. This, he explained, will allow all Guyanese to lead mean

ingful lives. “Today, I am very pleased to be here and to say to you that this should be the beginning of a system of interaction and communi cation to create a pathway.”

This is not the first time or the first effort Ali and the PPP/C Government has made to address the use of the race card to divide Guyanese for partisan interests.

Last week, Ali made it clear that the PPP/C Admin istration will put an end to the opposition’s race narrative by working with every citizen in the country’s development process. The President on November 10, 2022, stood in solidarity with Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag, after a recent incident in Bel ladrum, West Coast Berbice, where she was denied access to a Community Develop ment Council building. The President is adamant that there is a group that is polit ically directed to block the development of their com munity. “Your political nar rative of using race as your mobilising tool has come to an end, it is over, game over. We are going to destroy it and bury it in the ground. As President, I’m going to work on every single community, so this directive that you have given to block ministers and to block villages it’s not go ing to work because the peo ple are coming along. “We are ready to embrace every single citizen, our agenda is to embrace all of you in the development process…let me be very clear, this gov ernment is going to work in every single community, but what is bothering me is that it seems like some political operatives at the behest of a central command, have been directed to obstruct the work of the government in different communities, have been di rected to create barriers in the different communities for the government,” Ali said.

He is urging Guyanese to reject such behaviour and not fall prey to the propaganda of the selective group.

STIRRING TENSIONS

Unsubstantiated and wildly irresponsible claims –all worded along lines to stir tensions among Guyanese – continued to be uttered by leaders of the PNCR-led AP NU+AFC Coalition.

Coalition Parliamen tarian, Christopher Jones, speaking to some of the pro testors, in June 2022, said, “Black youngsters go to a commercial bank for a loan and they are denied. An East Indian person, the same age, got the same thing like the

young black man, go to the same commercial bank, but he getting the loan….that is the reality of this country…. you go to predominantly East Indian villages in this country and you would see rapid de velopment, nice roads, nice street lights…but you go predominantly the African villages – bad roads, poor drainage, no street lights, no recreational facilities for them… that is the reality of this country.”

Also in June 2022, leader of the PNCR and the Coali tion, Aubrey Norton, made irresponsible allegations.

“I wouldn’t rule out that they (the PPP/C) gave the instruction to kill this young man so they get something to distract people with…I’ve been in politics long enough to know that when they bring these things to side-track us, we will stay focused…this struggle has to continue,” Norton said, without any evidence, referring to the matter where three Guyana Police Officers were charged over the death of Quindon Bacchus on June 5, 2022. Also, despite the fact that the recommendation for charges to be laid was made on June 4, 2022, by the Police Com plaints Authority, which was independently investigating the matter, Norton claimed that there seems to be a plot to cover the “Indo-Guyanese” ranks – a claim made without evidence. “If they say that this was something carried out by a particular (Police) Unit, then the head of that Unit should know…you are not charging the Head of the Unit…we are seeing, within this, an attempt to cover some Indo-Guyanese who were involved…they are going to protect them because they are Indo-Guyanese and I say that without fear of contradic tion,” Norton said.

The most Coalition’s re peated claim is about young Afro-Guyanese men being killed. However, in No vember 2019, the 32-page findings of an investigate report by the independently–run Stabroek News, exposed the falsehoods peddled by the APNU+AFC Coalition about the crime wave and disman tled the notion that young Af ro-Guyanese men were killed indiscriminately. While, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coa lition had claimed that -some 400 young Afro-Guyanese died as a result of extra-judi cial killings during the crime wave. However, the Stabroek News investigative report pointed out that some 420 persons were killed

between