Weekend Mirror 12-13 November 2022

‘Game over’ for race baiters, anti-development forces – President Ali

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has 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 during a

live Facebook broadcast on Wednesday (November 10, 2022), stood in solidarity with Minister of Public Ser vice Sonia Parag, after a recent incident in Belladrum, West Coast Berbice, where she was denied access to a Community Development

Council building.

President Ali, during a recent visit to the area, had informed residents that Min ister Parag would work close ly with the community to further its development.

While visiting the vil lage to meet with youths

on opportunities they could benefit from, the minister was prevented by APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan and a small group of opposition support ers.

The President is adamant that there is a group that is

politically directed to block the development of their community. “Your politi cal narrative 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 vil lages it’s not going to work because the people are com ing along. “We are ready to embrace every single citizen, our agenda is to embrace all of you in the development process,” he affirmed.

However, this will not hinder the government from ensuring that every citizen benefits from available op portunities. “Let me be very clear, this government is going to work in every sin gle 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.

The Head of State made it clear that communities do not belong to any political party. “They have used the propaganda of race, and they

have used the propaganda of division so intensely in their political work, that the sight of ministers of government working in every single com munity, destroying that nar rative, destroying that only tool that they seem to have in their possession, is really hitting them hard,” President Ali asserted.

The President noted too that many persons who are seeing the developments and are working with the gov ernment on the development agenda are also being ridi culed. “This is totally imma ture and I want to congratu late Minister Sonia and all the other ministers for holding her ground and letting them understand that every single community, every single village, and every single Guyanese is sacred to this government. Be prepared for the progressive hands of the government to work with you side by side and to develop their country every com munity, every day, bringing prosperity to every home”, the President reiterated.

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

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

Guyanese must be mind ful of the few who con tinue to peddle the false narrative of discrimination and racism in Guyana.

Member of Parliament and Attorney at Law Sanjeev Datadin, made the call during his weekly programme, ‘The Thursday Agenda’. “We have a gentleman in New York… referred to as the keyboard puppet, who held what he called a diaspora event [and] at this event he portrays a country that does not exist. He portrays events that are patently false; he refers to situations that are lies…” he said.

He was making reference to statements made during a recently held Town Hall meeting in Brooklyn, New York organised by People’s National Congress Reform activist and extortion ac cused Rickford Burke

This event saw New

York officials, who are seek ing re-election in the United States upcoming mid-term elections, making false state ments about the state of affairs in Guyana.

Datadin, while point ing out that these individu als may have been misled, questioned why Burke, who continues to spew these false narratives, has not returned to Guyana. “He has not been here [ Guyana] for more than a decade or longer … There are people in Guyana…be cause of the things he has been saying and doing, are trying to sue him [and] they can’t find his address , he will never come to this coun try, and there are people who have alleged monies owed , there are extortion schemes that involve…the Guyana Police Force [in which] ex tortion of a businessman… [is purported].”

Guyanese must be mindful of false claims about discrimination, racism – Datadin

‘We don’t want development here’

– Coalition MP tries to block gov’t rep from supporting Belladrum youths

In a bewildering move to block efforts of the PPP/C Government to respond to requests from the Region 5 community of Belladrum for youth training, APNU+AFC Coalition Parliamentarian, Vinceroy Jordan, made clear that the Coalition does not support government inter ventions in areas it claims as it support base.

The PPP/C Govern ment’s Minister of Pub lic Service, Sonia Parag, on Tuesday (November 8, 2022), was blocked from entering a Community Cen ter in Belladrum to conduct an assessment to install a library and ICT Hub or host skills training programmes for young people.

This is the second time

the Minister was blocked from accessing the Commu nity Center.

On Tuesday (November 8, 2022) when she arrived, Coalition Member of Parlia ment (MP), Vinceroy Jordan, said, “We don’t want devel opment here and we certainly do not need it from you and your government.”

When pressed on his position and the fact that hundreds of young people in the community stand to lose, Jordan tried to walk back his comment and said, “Development is welcome but it must be done through a particular channel and that is the functioning NDC.”

Further, when confronted by Parag, who asked if the needs of the community’s

youths must be held up in definitely, Jordan threatened, “She bet ah get out of here before we call out the whole a Belladrum because yall know how we does do it.”

Notably, Minister Parag explained that her visit to the community was in response to requests made by commu nity members who were re cently engaged by President Dr. Irfaan Ali. She explained that a resident asked the gov ernment to investigate the Community Center to see if it would be possible to set up a library, an ICT hub, or organize training programs for young people there. She continued, "A promise was made to have the region examined and to figure out a course of action."

Parag said, “The NDC Chair [on November 2, 2022] said he was only aware [that I am coming] earlier in the day or something. I told him I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that I’ll be back on Tuesday [November 8, 2022] to look at it and I’m hoping that it will be open at that point.

“…I was met by Mr. Jor dan on Tuesday (November 8, 2022)….he said ‘we don’t want development here’…. he changed and said that they want development that I need to come through the NDC and the CDC and so on. So I said just for your information, I was here last Wednesday, I tried [and] got the number of the CDC Chairman from the NDC Chairman and called him. As a matter of fact, when I

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POSITIONS FROM FREEDOM HOUSE

Racist, aggressive posture of PNCR-led Coalition condemned

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) condemns in the strongest possible terms the obstruction of an engagement between Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag and residents of Belladrum, Region Five by APNU+AFC Member of Parliament Vinceroy Jordan.

Minister Parag’s visit to the community was as a result of a request made by residents during an ear lier visit by President Dr Irfaan Ali. The residents had sought the president’s intervention to facilitate access to skills training, scholarships and other em powerment opportunities.

It is in this regard that the Minister visited the

community on Tuesday November 8th, and was prevented from accessing the Community Develop ment Council building by Jordan and a small group of APNU+AFC activists.

The PNC led AP NU+AFC has demonstrat ed time and time again that it is incapable of offering meaningful leadership to their constituents or any one for that matter, and is therefore in its familiar ob structionist mode with rac ism being its tool of choice. While in office they took multi-million dollar schol arships for themselves and their relatives and denied ordinary Guyanese these very opportunities.

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EDITORIAL

political

Political maturity in democratic societies is characterized by the related attitudes, resonating and action by players in the political arena.

In Guyana, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition had demonstrated a lack of political maturity that continues to hurt our society, including the very constituents the Parliamentary Opposition purports to represent.

On November 8, 2022, Coalition Parliamentarian, Vince roy Jordan, has gained some notoriety for rejecting the PPP/C government’s effort to support youths in Belladrum, Region 5 – a response following requests from support that were made by the community to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali. Shut ting the door, after efforts on two occasions, to the roll out of skills training plans for Belladrum’s young people, Jordan declared: “We don’t want development here and we certainly do not need it from you and your government.” The plan was simple, assess an unused Community Center to determine if it can be used to install a library and ICT Hub or host skills training programmes for young people. The task was assigned to Minister of Public Service, Sonia Parag. However, on her arrival, on both occasions, on November 2nd and November 8th, she was blocked from accessing the Community Center. As has come to be expected from the Coalition, after being challenged, Jordan’s response was to backtrack and utter falsehoods, denying that he said, “We don’t want develop ment here and we certainly do not need it from you and your government,” despite the fact that he was recorded. In true PPP/C fashion, the PNCR-led Coalition’s bullyism will not detract. The Minister is expected to return to the community next week to move forward with plans to support Belladrum’s young people.

On November 7, 2022, the APNU+AFC Coalition Par liamentarians walked out of the House, abandoning its duty to its constituents. Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, then attempted a ramble to claim that the PPP/C Government refuses to “discuss critical issues” as a justification for the walkout. The fact remains that while the National Assem bly moved to complete the work of the day, as listed on the agenda for the sitting, and not what the Coalition wanted to do, the matters that were addressed were critically important. The bills included the Constitution Reform Bill, Suicide Bill, Bail Bill and Restorative Justice Bill were on the National Assembly’s agenda.

Prior to that, Norton’s rambles sunk to the realm of petty, after he, twice, refused to shake the hand of President Dr. Ali. The first time was at a reception hosted by UK High Commissioner, Jane Miller, after which he claimed: “[T]he President turned up with a set of cameras … I wasn’t even looking in his direction. He turned to me and apparently had his hand outstretched and he turned to me and asked me if I don’t want to shake his hand and I said no. He then proceeded to, what I consider to be bullyism, and we ended up shaking hands, but I want to make it clear that first of all, I cannot treat this as business as usual.” The second time, was at an Emancipation Day event. In response to Norton’s pettiness, President Ali said: “He [Mr Norton] did not want to shake my hand but I have no place for pettiness. This is a social forum … so I told him ‘Shake my hand. We are mature people.” After the second incident, President Ali said: “If we can’t dance with each other, if we can’t hug each other, if we can’t shake each other’s hands, then how can we uplift each other?...I never, ever want us to lead a country in which my little son must grow up or your little children must grow up ashamed and afraid to shake each other’s hands. That is disgusting and disrespectful and must never ever get seed to grow up in this country.” Norton’s behaviour remains most unusual, for someone in his position and has no place among mature politicians.

In each of these cases, the words of President Ali – who, on November 9, 2022 said, “The PNC-led APNU+AFC has demonstrated time and time again that it is incapable of offer ing meaningful leadership to their constituents or anyone for that matter, and is therefore in its familiar obstructionist mode with racism being its tool of choice” – rings true.

If the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition is interested in representing Guyanese and serving the national interests – not the so far demonstrated interest in power – it must develop some level of political maturity.

LGE brings power to the people and strengthens local democracy

Dear Editor,

The rights and freedoms of people are enshrined in the systemic frame work of democracy that has formed the global acceptance platform for most states. Consequently, most of the global population and the relationships between citizens and their various Gov ernments have been developed along the tenets of this acceptable platform.

Central to the foregoing is the fact that Guyana, through our Constitution, has long supported this approach, with continuous improvements to local and international positions since. Several principal pillars are key to the evolution of Guyana’s internal framework at the local level, the building of which serves to ratify international commitments, support the realization of benefits, and reinforce deserving rights.

The Local Democratic Act, No. 12 of 1980, from which the system evolved was introduced to formally identify the Local Government System as the foun dation of the democratic organization of the state. To foster development in the communities by the communi ties, the country was divided into ten administrative regions, which were further subdivided into sub-regions, districts, communities, neighbourhoods, and “people’s cooperative units”, with specific responsibilities.

In 2009, legislation was enacted to change the system of elections in the Local Authority Areas. The Local Au thorities (Elections) (Amendment) Act, No.26 of 2009, along with subsequent amendments in 2015, provides for Lo cal Government Elections to be held in nine (9) Municipalities and sixty-two (62) Neighbourhood Democratic Coun cils (NDCs) throughout Guyana, using a hybrid system of Proportional Repre sentation and First-Past-the-Post. This hybrid system provides opportunities for voluntary groups, political parties, and individuals to contest for seats in the Municipalities and NDCs.

GECOM must follow and imple ment the elections system following the existing legal positions to ensure

the objectivity of the intent of our Constitution is attained. Given the un acceptable developments following the 2020 National and Regional Elections, it is understood that necessary correc tive mechanisms had to be put in place to assure acceptable results and avoid abuses. To this end, GECOM must be commended for releasing the Revise List of Electors (RLE) for the public to scrutinise.

After this exercise, GECOM would produce the Official List of Electors, which would eventually lead to the production of the Official List of Voters for the holding of Local Government Elections.

Voluntary groups and independent individuals are expected to contest these most interesting Local Govern ment Elections. However, the individ ual contestants should not allow them selves to be used as political footballs to contest in the interest of any political party. The widest cross-section of our people should make sure to play a lead role in the development of their respec tive communities. Hence, it is expected that well-established community lead ers would encourage younger persons to contest the LGEs; women, religious leaders, and other prominent persons should take the opportunity to be part of their community development.

There are serious challenges in many Neighbourhood Democratic and Municipality Councils. Over the period since the last LGE, all the NDCs and Municipalities are depleted because of the serious loss of elected members. On many occasions, meetings are can celled because of a lack of quorum. In many instances, required services to residents have been attenuated, while the people’s representation at the grass roots level is of premier importance for informing the required areas for improvement. Further, the holding of LGEs will allow the communities to carefully nominate men and women who are prepared to serve their com munities.

Our people must participate in the LGEs; particularly, our young people

must get involved to preserve our young and growing democracy. While Guyana is on the rise, we must develop a nation with brilliant young minds that would say no to racism and never allow anybody to divide us. The em powerment and involvement of people at the community and village levels at the various tiers will serve as drivers to harmonise the distribution of benefits from national government programmes, leaving no community behind.

In essence, one must recognise that while the PPP/C Government is cer tainly doing a great job to develop the country at the national and international levels, it is imperative that the various levels of our democracy also be more inclusive. Parallel democratic policies and supporting pillars must be used to uphold and sustain the crest which we strive to attain. In this respect, the holding of Local Government Elections (LGEs) in which there is meaningful involvement is certainly an empower ing catalyst and the most significant conduit to ensuring local democracy and development!

Certainly, the strengthening of our local democracy through these elections will give our people at the grass-root levels an opportunity to work togeth er, and strengthen development at the lower level. Our local democracy must be more inclusive, and this will bring tremendous development and build uni ty as a whole! Let us use the upcoming LGEs to ensure citizens at the local or ground level are fully prepared for the further development of the country.

Consequently, the opportunity must be taken to refresh the community leadership, where areas are suffering from attrition due to unavoidable cir cumstances, or have become weak and urgently need to be resuscitated through these elections.

As Guyana gets into full gear for LGEs, the entire nation must be fully involved. The way forward to 2023 LGEs is clear and most welcome.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

PNCR posturing on LGE aimed at undermining its integrity

Dear Editor,

Local Government Elections will be on March 13, 2023.

The governing PPP/Civic has al ready indicated that it will be participat ing in the elections and will be contest ing all seats in all Municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils.

Opposition political parties are yet to pronounce on their participation or the extent of their participation. This is not surprising as it is very much evident that the Parliamentary Opposition has not recovered, even partially, from its

electoral defeat in 2020 national elec tions and its shameless attempt to rig the said elections.

Articles in the local media and in ternet would suggest that main spokes persons for the Opposition, Aubrey Norton and Khemraj Ramjattan, con tinue to live in denial, with the false claim about the PPP rigging itself into power, that the PPP was installed by Western powers, that dead people voted and more. They simply cannot come to grips with the notion that they were voted out of government because of their disastrous performance during five

years in office.

Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, is making noises about a bloat ed voters list. Of course, he doesn’t mention the fact that the same bloated list was used in the 2015 elections which APNU+AFC won. The PNCR is well aware of the tremendous efforts by GECOM to sanitize the list as far as dead persons in Guyana are concerned. The big question is how to remove those deceased persons living overseas and whose deaths are not reported, thus not removed. The Opposition’s answer

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Demonstratable lack of

maturity from Parliamentary Opposition

Resist Coalition intimidation, use your voice, stand against all forms of bullying

Dear Editor,

Today, as I reflect on some events of yesterday, I want to quickly note my per plexity at the news that the Hon. Sonia Parag, Minister of Public Service, was obstructed from engaging residents of Belladrum, Re gion Five, by a member of the APNU+AFC, who is also a Member of Parliament.

It disappoints me that an elected Oppo sition, tasked with objectively representing the business of the people of Guyana, can scheme and seek to prevent and withhold development from communities and citizens of this country they purport to love.

Today I join with every right-thinking individual in Guyana to condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the obstruction of the Hon. Sonia Parag from carrying out her duties and that of the Government at Bel ladrum, Region Five, yesterday.

“No village is the personal property of any political group. Government Ministers and other officials must have access to provide services through direct community engage ments.

I urge people not to become guilty by

association, and not to allow themselves to be held hostage by participating in activities that they do not support or agree with, activities that seek to stymie their own or their commu nity’s development.

Resist their intimidation, use your voice, and stand against all forms of bullying! The PPP/C Government is not a Government of its own supporters; we are a Government for all of Guyana, regardless of your political persuasion, religion, or race.

This has been demonstrated time and time again in our projects and investments in every region of Guyana, in education, housing, job creation, youth, agriculture and infrastructure development, etc.

Our Government, led by our President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, continues to lead the charge in ensuring development in every community across Guyana. So, again I say, condemn every action by anyone seeking to stop or prevent your community’s develop ment. Let’s support “One Guyana.”

Sincerely, Juan Edghill, Minister of Public Works

to this issue is to stop Guyanese living abroad from voting. The Chief Justice has ruled and the PPP has explained, over and over again, that residency is not a qualifi cation to be a voter. To remove registered persons from the voters list who now reside overseas is unconstitutional.

The Opposition would have to make its position clear sooner than later. Opposition supporters are looking on with interest. Many already understand that an Opposition boycott will see the PPP/C taking over all the local government bodies. Most Oppo sition councilors elected at the last local government elections are quite rightfully apprehensive.

From all appearances, GECOM is going full speed ahead with the elections. Most Guyanese are comfortable with that as they know that the robust mechanisms put in place over the years are quite sufficient to prevent voter manipulation, especially mul tiple voting and voter impersonation. The intense scrutiny that takes place on voting day by political parties and local and foreign observers, makes it impossible for skulldug

gery to take place at polling stations on the scale alleged by the Opposition.

The Leader of the Opposition and the PNCR are pretending to be interested in free and fair elections. The opposite is the truth. The history of Guyana is rife with numerous incidents of vote rigging by the same PNCR, which included multiple voting, switching of ballot boxes, wholesale stuffing of ballot boxes in PNCR areas, etc. For the PNCR to now raise the possibility of vote rigging is quite laughable.

The PNCR is the only party that has been exposed so very often in the past as having been involved in the rigging of elections. The most vivid example took place just a little more than two years ago, when for five long months, before the eyes of the country and the world, the PNCR attempted to steal the 2020 elections. Their present posturing can only be seen as red herrings, aimed at undermining the integrity of the elections. How can they expect to be taken seriously?

Respectfully yours, Brian Azore

Election CoI Commissioners refute claim of involvement in drafting of ToRs

The Commissioner son the Presidential Com mission of Inquiry (CoI) have rejected claims by the APNU+AFC Coalition that it was involved in drafting its own Terms of Reference.

In a statement, the Com missioners said, “It has come to the attention of the Commissioners that a suggestion has arisen in the public domain that the terms of reference of this Commis

sion of Inquiry were being worked on and drafted by the Commissioners before they were appointed on Sep tember 13th, 2022.

“The Commissioners state categorically that at no time were they ever in volved in the drafting of the Terms of Reference that was published in the Official Gazette on 13th September 2022.”

The Coalition has shied

away from participating in the Elections CoI.

The members of the Commission are Justice Stanley John, Retired Jus tice of Appeal in Turks and Caicos (Chairman); Justice Godfrey P. Smith, SC, for mer Attorney General, High Court Judge and Acting Justice of Appeal, East ern Caribbean Court; and Justice Carl Singh, former Chancellor, Guyana.

Elections CoI welcomes persons wishing to appear – Chairman

Chairman of the Presi dential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections, Justice (rtd) Stan

ley John, has indicated that persons are welcomed to appear before the CoI, if they believe that evidence unfold ing in the inquiry adversely affect them.

In a statement, the Chair man said, “The Commission advises that, as evidence unfolds in this inquiry, state ments and comments may be made that adversely affect individuals. Those persons are entitled to appear before the commission and be heard if they so desire.

“Anyone who is interest ed in appearing before the Commission and/or to be represented before the Com mission should write to the Secretary to the Commission making that request.

“As the inquiry proceeds, the Secretary of the Com mission will write to those persons against whom any allegation of impropriety has been made, setting out the details of the allegations and inviting such persons to appear before the Com mission and providing a fair opportunity to such persons to comment on any adverse comment or allegation made

against them.”

The international Elec tions Commission of Inquiry (CoI) commenced hearings on November 4, 2022. The hearings are being done at the building located at 92 Middle Street, Georgetown, which was rented and equipped to facilitate the CoI. Evidence during inquiry is being led by Trinidadian Senior Counsel, Sophia Chota. The other legal personnel include Natasha Veira and Keoma Griffith.

The Secretary to the Commis sion of Inquiry (CoI) is Javed Shadick.

Notably, several high-lev el officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the AP NU+AFC are facing charges before the courts for issues relating to the elections. Fur ther, Elections Petition is cur rently before the Caribbean Court of Justice.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced an International Commission of Inquiry into the debacle that was Guy ana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections on June 16, 2022. He had said,

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Op-Ed: Coalition in shameless attempt to save itself from drowning under ‘ugly’ corruption exposed by Auditor General

By Nigel Dharamlall

The Auditor General’s an nual report for the fiscal year 2021 is out and not un expectedly, a sitting member of the Public Accounts Com mittee, Opposition Member of Parliament Ganesh Mahipaul is falling over himself to grab onto the floating straws of this report, in a shameless attempt to save his party from drown ing under the tons of ugly corruption highlighted in the reports of the Coalition’s fiveyear tenure in government, which are currently in the crosshairs of the PAC.

Mahipaul’ s pathetic, trig ger-happy deflection tactic goes to the heart of the des perate struggle of the PNC to muster a modicum of credi bility for its very survival as a viable political force. He and others of the PNC are now desperate, as the party begins to implode under the ineptitude of its new leader Aubrey Norton, who is prov ing incapable of rising to half the caliber of some of his predecessors, resulting in the party losing critical ground among its supporters who are now completely disenchanted with the petty, infantile, little league representation coming from their leaders. It is also a puerile attempt to stave off

Norton’s decision to have him removed from the Public Accounts Committee, a con cern that he expressed to me personally. It would appear that he is now desperate to prove his residual worth to Norton that he is working for the cause and in his interest. His overcompensation is very obvious.

Surely, Mahipaul and Norton would relish nothing better than a full deflection of people’s attention from its sordid record of utter failure and rank corruption that al most bankrupted the country and crashed the economy, in just five years.

They don’t want Guya nese to remember the disas trous COVID hospital project which was commissioned by then President Granger as an empty shell, which drained over a billion of taxpayers’ dollars. A shell that the PPP/C government had to then retro fit to make the facility fit for purpose; or the Albouystown bottom-house health bond rented at a rate of $ 12 million per month; or the incompe tence that saw them spending millions of dollars on an an esthetic machine for the New Amsterdam Hospital, which turned out to be a machine for sick animals.

They don’t want Guya

nese to remember how they squandered over four bil lion dollars in surplus money which the previous PPP/C ad ministration left in the Guyana Forestry Commission’s ac count. By the time they demit ted office, it was all gone, the commission was saddled with hundreds of millions in debt and had no money to pay staff.

Or about the $7.5 million of taxpayers’ money, they gave to the woman whom they used to file the Elec tion Recount challenge; or the $12 million in legal fees they covered from taxpayers’ money for the private citizen who filed the No Confidence Motion challenge. And what about the hiring of party hack Carol Smith Joseph as Petro leum Advisor to then Pres ident Granger, along with several other high-level posts for which she had no quali fication, skills nor aptitude; and how about the whopping contract to their party hack Larry London to produce birth certificates that were intended to help them rig the elections; and the $25million Prado bought by Trevor Benn for just $2.5 million from the very commission he was heading?

Mahipaul and the PNC expect Guyanese to forget the $16 million the party racked up at the state-owned NCN

but never paid. They want you to forget the millions of bar bershop equipment found in the house of their Parliamen tary Chief Whip Christopher Jones, purchased under their SLED programme that was intended to benefit single par ents and other vulnerable cit izens, and the multiple tracts of state lands he was gifted. They are hoping that you for get the hundreds of millions in rackets that were being run among party elites through the Demerara Harbour Bridge asphalt plant and through the Guyana Oil Company.

Pathetically, Mahipaul thinks that by rushing to offer

quasi, misplaced interpre tations, exaggerations and extrapolations of the con tents of the Auditor General’s report on the PPP/C’s first year, the eligible members of the Guyanese electorate who are poised to cancel his par ty’s relevance for Guyana’s new transformational agenda, would forget the $170 billion of capital expenditure under the Coalition yet unaccounted for, or the US$18 million oil contract signing bonus their finance minister treated as a gift; and worst of all, the disastrous blood-sucking 2% oil contract their Natural Re sources Minister saddled our

future generations with.

No amount of race-bait ing, fearmongering, bully ism, obstructionism, diaspo ra-fueled terrorism, nor guiltshame smokescreens will be able to save the PNC from political annihilation coming their way at the hands of the Guyanese electorate.

In fact, all in the qua si-leadership of the PNC should take notice, that it Is their very petty, infantile, little league representation that is producing such a mediocre anti-Guyanese, anti-develop ment agenda that will deter mine their own homemade political destruction.

APNU+AFC Chief Whip admits to defying Speaker’s orders

The disruptive conduct of the APNU+AFC Mem bers of Parliament during the December 29, 2021, sitting of the National Assembly violated the Standing Orders, which are the rules that gov ern the National Assembly, according to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall.

The Attorney General highlighted this following the trial of the APNU+AFC Co alition’s challenge to the va

lidity of the NRF Bill, which was heard in the High Court on Wednesday (November 9, 2022), before Justice Navin dra Singh. Jones and trade unionist, Norris Witter, filed a lawsuit in the High Court, arguing that the Bill could not become law since it was not validly passed in the Na tional Assembly. Jones and Witter are requesting that the court declare as ultra vires the Constitution the holding and/ or continuing of the National

Assembly's sessions on the day in question with the use of a substitute Mace without any approved motion to do so. Nandlall explained that the MPs had formed a chaotic mob that sought to derail the passage of the amendments to the Natural Resource Fund Act of 2019 as they were being presented by the Senior Minister within the Office of the President, Dr Ashni Singh. The Standing Orders state that an MP present in the assembly

“shall maintain silence while another MP is speaking and shall not interrupt, except by these standing orders”. Sub ject to those standing orders, no MP is allowed to interrupt another, except by rising on a point of order, when the speaking MP resumes his or her seat and the interrupting MP brings to note a point of concern and submits it to the Speaker or Chairman for decision, or to elucidate some matter raised by the speaking MP in the course of his or her speech, granted that they are willing to resume their seat and the interrupting MP is called upon by the Speaker.

Meanwhile, APNU+AFC Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, took the stand at the High Court to give his account of the events that transpired on December 29. Under cross-examination by the Attorney General, he testified that on the date in question, despite the Speaker of the House, Manzoor Na dir, instructing Dr. Singh to commence with the second reading of the amendments to the NRF Act, the majority of APNU+AFC MPs caused a commotion in direct violation of the standing orders, to pre vent the bill from being read. “[Christopher] Jones began to testify today…. He confirmed

that the Speaker is in charge of the National Assembly under the standing orders, he confirmed that the Speaker is responsible for maintaining order in the assembly, and he confirmed that the Speaker’s ruling must be obeyed by members of parliament. He then agreed with me that the Speaker rejected his applica tion for the matter of the bill to be taken to the Select Com mittee,” the Attorney General explained, in his recap of the trial.

MP Jones had also agreed that opposition MPs stood in defiance of the speakers in their seats, debating the speak er’s ruling, and proceeded to exit their seats without the permission of the speaker and descend into the hall of the National Assembly in what he deemed a ‘protest’. This involved shouting, marching, and blowing whistles.

Jones further confirmed that this went on for some time, despite the speaker be ing forced to suspend the National Assembly for some time. However, he denied recollection of the speaker citing opposition MPs for their conduct at the time. “He said that he did that for sev eral minutes. He said that, as Dr. Ashni Singh continued to speak, they then approached him and gathered very close to him. He agreed that during that period the speaker kept telling them to take their seats and they ignored him. He

also agreed that the govern ment members, because the opposition was getting very close to Dr. Singh, and was surrounding him, the gov ernment members then came and barricaded Dr. Singh as he was speaking,” Minister Nandlall recounted.

Jones had then confirmed, still, under cross-examination, that opposition MPs then grabbed the ceremonial mace and hauled it away from its place. He also agreed that a tug-o-war ensued between opposition MPs and parlia mentary staff, to have the mace returned to its place. The commotion continued out of the assembly, where it was alleged that a parliamentary member of staff was dragged along the floor by opposition MPs in their refusal to release the mace.

When the mace was re turned, it was damaged, and as such, a replica of the mace was utilised to allow for the passage of the bill. The Parlia mentary Opposition, however, is now contending that the passing of the bill to amend the NRF Act was illegal on several grounds, including that government did not ad equately consult on the bill, that the opposition was not permitted to speak on the bill, and that the bill was passed without the proper mace being in place.

The continuation of the trial has been deferred to De cember 9, 2022, at 09:00 hrs.

Coalition under fire for alleged attacks on state media videographers

The PNCR-led AP NU+AFC Coalition was, this week, condemned for its attacks and intimidation tac tics on staff of the National Communications Network Inc. (NCN).

In a statement, NCN said, “The latest incident was on Sunday November 6, 2022, at Arcadia Four Corner, Mocha, EBD, where APNU + AFC held a public meeting. In the course of executing their duties to provide coverage of the meeting, two cameramen in the employ of NCN were attacked and intimidated led by APNU + AFC Member of Parliament, Nima Flue-Bess. MP Flue-Bess demanded that the cameramen present their IDs. Upon stating their place of employment, the camera men were told there was no need for them to record the event. This was in spite of other cameras that were in place to cover the said event.

“Having stood their ground to execute their du ties, MP Flue-Bess then called the Police officials present to have the camera men removed. The Inspector

and Sergeant on the scene engaged the cameramen and then threatened to seize their equipment if they recorded the event. It was only after the intervention of a Senior Officer that the cameramen were able to proceed with the execution of their duties.

NCN noted that this is not the first time, its staffers have had to contends with similar tactics from the APNU+AFC Coalition. The media house said, “NCN forthrightly con demns these attacks by the APNU + AFC on its staff and views it as a direct attempt to intimidate and prevent them for performing their duties at a public event. This exposes a glaring double standard by the APNU + AFC which claim that NCN withholds coverage of their events.”

For its part, the Guyana Press Association (GPA) made clear that it condemns all acts of intimidation and attacks on media workers. In a statement, the Association said, “On Monday, it was reported that two production videographers attached to the state-owned National Com

munications Network were intimidated by a named sit ting APNU/AFC Member of Parliament and persons who were attending the APNU Public Meeting held on Sun day 6th November, 2022 in the East Bank Village of Mo cha. Reports from the two videographers are that they were confronted by several persons when they turned up to provide coverage to the public meeting. They said too were denied access to sound by persons operating the sound system and were verbally abused by the MP and several persons at the public meeting on several occasions. At several times the videographers sought the intervention of the Guyana Police Force while at the venue.

“The Guyana Press Asso ciation condemns this most reprehensible act of harass ment and intimidation of media workers. We urge the Leader of the Opposition Mr Aubrey Norton to first and foremost set the tone of rela tions with the media by being forthcoming with proper and

detailed answers rather than being abrasive and evasive when asked for details and supporting evidence. The Guyana Press Association reiterates that media workers are to be respected by all and call on politicians as well as

other members of the public to respect the need for media workers to operate in an environment free of intimi dation.

“…gone should be the era when a TV news camera is snatched and taken to Con

gress Place, media workers are labeled vultures or identi fied in an unflattering manner by political figures at public meetings.”

NCN has since lodged a formal complaint with the Guyana Police Force.

ELECTION WATCH: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

Norton misinformed about protocols for Local Government Elections − Teixeira

Opposition Leader, Au brey Norton, is grave

ly misinformed about the regulations that govern the

Preliminary List of Electors for the local government elections (LGE), according to Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira.

The Minister on Tues day (November 8, 2022) ad dressed Norton’s allegations of the 2022 Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) violating the constitutional rights of voters.

Norton had claimed in a statement that the list, which displays voters by division rather than constituency for LGE, violates the law.

However, Minister Teix eira contested the allegation, stating that the preliminary list of electors for LGE does not usually contain constit uencies. She said, “The problem with Mr Norton’s statement is that the list of electors is broken down into constituencies when the list becomes an Official List of Electors (OLE), not the PLE, which is the preliminary list of electors.”

She explained that the PLE serves as a final opportu nity for voters to confirm that their information is accurate so that any concerns can be brought forward.

The Minister also noted that before elections under the APNU+AFC Govern ment, several Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) and municipality boundaries were changed under then Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan.

As a result, Minister of Local Government and Re gional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, issued orders to revert the boundaries to the locations they held before 2016. Those orders were presented to the National Assembly on Monday (No vember 7, 2022).

“All of this is in a con sultative process which the minister led when he went to communities, went to NDCs, etc. And so out of that came these boundary shifts, and it’s going back to what it was be fore 2016 changes and 2018 changes made by [former] Minister Bulkan,” Minister Teixeira said.

Changes made include the division of the NDC for Numbers 52 and 74 Villages, Corentyne. She explained that since 20 communities made up the NDC, it was split for more efficient manage

ment. She said, “So, Minister Nigel, I believe, will have a meeting with the press to describe this in greater detail and to explain the procedures he went through, consulta tions he went through, etc.”

Coming back to the main issue, however, she reiterated that the PLE does not include constituencies for the local government elections.

Once the list has gone through the final correction, is reviewed by voters, and becomes the Official List of Electors (OLE), the constit uencies will be reflected on that list, including those that were reverted to their pre2016 state.

“As I said, Mr. Norton likes to make a mountain out of a molehill as they say. But fundamentally, he needs to have good legal advice and he seems not to be having it,” Minister Teixeira said.

Electoral reform bills tabled in Parliament

T he National Registra tion (Amendment) Bill 2022, Bill 23 of 2022, and the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill 2022, Bill 24 of 2022, were tabled in the National As sembly on Monday (No vember 7, 2022).

The Bills were read for the first time in the House after being put to the Na tional Assembly by Attor ney General, Anil Nandlall.

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

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

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

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

• For the Chief Election Officer to be subject to the direction and control of the Commission, and an elec tion officer to be supervised by the Commission;

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

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

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

• For a presiding officer, in the event of needing to be

satisfied of the identity of any elector, may accept in lieu of the prescribed iden tity paper, a valid passport;

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

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

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

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

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

• The removal of references to residency and house-tohouse registration;

• The Guyana Elections Commission to continue to use the Official List of Elec tors in force created from the 2001 General and Re gional Elections as its base;

• For the Registrar General of Births and Deaths to the Commission once evert month a list of all persons

14-year-old or more whose deaths have been registered to facilitate the removal of that person from the National Register after ver ification.

Additionally, several offences are created under the National Registration (Amendment) Bill including summary conviction for providing false information for the purpose of registra tion, with a fine of $500,000 and a jail term of five years.

The House is expected to debate the Bill soon, paving the way for imple mentation of key reform to strengthen Guyana’s elec toral system.

The Bills’ tabling in the National Assembly come after months of national consultation.

NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS

The Parliamentary Op position has not participated in the public consultation

process on proposed elec toral reform.

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

In a statement, on May 10, 2022, the Coali tion-nominated GECOM Commissioners said, “We further reiterated our previ ous position that GECOM should conduct a review of its conduct of the 2020 elections as the precursor to making any submission on electoral reform.”

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

should commission it.”

Notably, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in response stated that the call from the Coalition camp for a comprehensive review of what took place in March 2020 before electoral re forms are addressed is noth ing but a delay tactic. “Re call that every report from the international Election Observer Missions, includ ing the CARICOM team, detailed what took place at the March 2020 Elections –every Guyanese is aware of what took place during the March 2020 electoral pro cess, civil society is aware, the international community is aware. It would seem that the only ignorant party, by their own claim, is the PNCR/APNU/AFC,” the party said in a statement issued on May 18, 2022.

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

FOCUS ON REFORM

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

That’s the objective...we will look at issues right from registration to dec laration of the results, so everything that is not un ambiguous, not transparent etcetera.”

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

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

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

POSITIONS FROM

Gov’t to create national marine strategy to promote sustainable use of Guyana’s marine space – President Ali

With support from the United Kingdom Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme, Guyana has implemented a plan for the sustainable use of Guyana’s marine space, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

Under this plan, the gov ernment will create a nation al marine strategy that will be country specific, and in keeping with the Low Car

bon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.

President Ali was speak ing at the American Carib bean Maritime Foundation (ACMF) Anchor Awards Gala at the Ft. Lauderdale Yacht Club, Florida, where he was invited as a special guest.

The Guyanese leader highlighted the importance of promoting the sustainable use of Guyana’s maritime

space, noting that it will bring tremendous economic development to the country and its people. “The sustain able use of the space will open up our potential for renewable energy, shipping, port development, bring op portunities,” he stated.

To cater for these op portunities, President Ali said the government intends to diversify training, and extend to other skilled areas

such as; coastal engineering, naval architecture, marine service, port engineering, planning and development, marine pollution prevention and fisheries management, among others. “I’m saying this to say to you that part of our strategy is to build our human resources in all these areas. You will not see a concentration of investment in human resources only in oil and gas,” he asserted.

The overall aim, Presi dent Ali said is to support the CARICOM region in building a first-class human resource capacity to serve regionally and globally.

The marine space of the Caribbean constitutes a ma

jor trading route. It is an im portant link between South America and markets in the North, he pointed out.

In the case of Guyana, President Ali said the coun ty will eventually have a deep-water harbour with the aim of becoming a major shipping hub.

He said the maritime in dustry, must assume greater responsibility of protecting the environmental integrity of the region’s marine re source.

The president further stated that the maritime sec tor must be modernised in or der to help the region to seize the opportunities for global trade and exploitation of the

‘blue economy.’ “Enhancing the region’s human resources is an integral element of that modernisation,” he stated.

In this regard, he ap plauded the efforts of the ACMF to strengthen the region’s human resources in the maritime sector through scholarships, grants and oth er forms of support.

The annual Anchor Awards of the ACMF hon ours stalwarts in the cargo and cruise industry for their accomplishments and posi tive impact on the Caribbean shipping and maritime sec tor. Funds from the event support scholarships for as piring Caribbean maritime professionals.

Fifth Chinese expo provides greater economic ties between Guyana, China – President Ali

Guyana is a particularly attractive investment destination for several factors including its rapid economic growth, resource wealth, multi-sector op portunities, accessibility to regional and global markets, and a favourable fiscal in centive regime for investors.

This was highlighted by President Irfaan Ali during his virtual address at the 2022 China International Import Expo (CIIE) on No vember 4, 2022.

The fifth CIIE will be held from November 5 to 10 at the Hongqiao Interna tional Economic Forum, in Shanghai.

The Head of State not ed that the expo provides an unparallel opportunity for the promotion of busi ness opportunities, increase trade, and for promoting Guyana and the rest of the world.

He noted that companies investing in Guyana can be assured of support and protection since Guyana’s development trajectory is in ‘take-off’ mode. He said, “Our country is now ranked by the International Mone tary Fund as one of the five fastest-growing economies in the world. Our economy is expected to grow by 47 percent this year.”

Ali emphasised that Guyana is now an oil-pro ducing state with an esti mated 11 billion barrels of recoverable petroleum reserves, one of the high est per capita levels in the world.

Guyana, he reminded is also rich in gold, diamond, timber, bauxite, and agri culture. Guyana is also di versifying and modernising its agricultural sector.

Despite being an oil-pro ducing state, President Ali noted that Guyana is com mitted to a low-carbon goal trajectory. He said, “The development framework is crafted and entails the pru dent and effective manage ment of our oil resources, an investment of the resources and infrastructure, agricul ture, health, and education. And the development of low carbon sectors including tourism, information tech nology in communication, and aquaculture.”

He explained further, that Guyana’s LCDS pro motes economic stability, diversification of the econ omy, investment in climate mitigation, adaption, util isation of carbon credits, enhanced biodiversity and ecosystem management sys tems, and transitioning into a clean energy future.

The objective is to re duce the high cost of energy by 50 per cent by 2025, “thereby overcoming what has been one of the major impediments in develop ment and high energy cost.”

According to the CIIE Bureau, approximately 90 per cent of the top 500 com panies and industry titans around the world will par ticipate in the event.

President Ali said Chi na’s support has been as tounding. He said every aspect of national growth has been covered by the partnership with Guyana, “In areas inclusive of hu man resource, training and scholarships, medical cor porations, food security, ag riculture, and technological and infrastructural transfor mations.” He said Guyana welcomes the opportunity to showcase its products and services through the virtual exhibition.

Dr Ali underscored that the success of the exposition runs parallel to China’s im pressive strides, “The coun try [China] has emerged as a global economic giant. Its economy is characterised by strong and sustained economic growth. These ac complishments result in an improvement in its peoples’ living standards.”

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Road upgrades, improved drainage for Annandale

President Ali announces during community outreach

The community of An nandale, East Coast of Demerara, is set to benefit from major road and drainage upgrades.

This was announced by President Dr. Irfaan Ali who led a community engagement in the area on November 3, 2022.

President Ali said the drainage issues will be ad dressed through collabora

tion among the Ministries of Housing, Public Works, and Local Government and Re gional Development, as well as the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA).

The president acknowl edged that drainage is a major issue in many communities along the coast, and there fore, “they [the agencies] are going to work over the next week on a drainage plan to

see how we can address the drainage issue.”

Addressing the issue of roads, he explained that sev eral cross streets in the vil lage were identified to be up graded to reinforced concrete roads. “We are looking for local involvement in build ing concrete roads,” he said while noting the importance of community participation to create jobs, particularly for

the youths.

Another road that con nects the community to the Railway Embankment will also be upgraded.

He said the community developments coincide with the four-lane highway from Unity to Sheriff Street along the railway embankment. “So, we have to now clear all that encumbrances and get the drainage system going as well and that will bring tremendous value to all the

properties here,” the Presi dent noted.

Additionally, he said Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson will address concerns related to the community ground.

Further, some 50 resi dents in the area will finally access their legal documen tation for their lands. “So, the last Friday of this month there will be an exercise to finalise the distribution of ti tles so the people in this area

can expect that,” he assured.

These initiatives form part of the PPP/C Govern ment’s plan to build sound infrastructure while spurring development within commu nities across the country.

Accompanying the presi dent were, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC, Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, and Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar.

PARLIAMENT HAPPENINGS UNDER REVIEW THE PPP/C’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, MORE

Opposition abdicating responsibilities as elected leaders – Teixeira – following walk-out of National Assembly

Government has called out APNU+AFC for failing to fulfil its responsibilities as elected officials after mem bers walked out of the Na tional Assembly on Monday, with critical bills yet to be debated.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixeira, during a joint press conference, on the side-lines of the 50th sitting of the National Assembly, said the opposition had again failed its constituencies by failing to participate in law making to the betterment of the society.

She emphasised that par liamentarians have an import ant role in decision making in the National Assembly.

The APNU+AFC Coa lition’s departure came mo ments before a number of important bills were set to be debated. The bills included the Constitution Reform Bill, Suicide Bill, Bail Bill and Restorative Justice Bill were on the National Assembly’s agenda.

Teixeira said, “The op position is becoming more and more irrelevant. The behaviour of the opposition by walking out of parliament when these major issues are before the house is indic ative that they really more and more are becoming ir relevant, in that they are not prepared to stand up in the House, and to be able to de

fend their positions.

“…Mr. Norton can bel low as much as he likes from the far corners. But he is abdicating his responsibilities as Leader of the Opposition when we have bills here. We have bills on drinking and driving, and using drugs and driving, important be cause the issue has no par tisanship….suicide has also been a social issue of great concern across the country. It crosses partisanship and, therefore, the absence of the opposition is noted again as abdicating their responsibility as members of parliament, and elected officials of their constituency,”

“…he (Opposition Lead

Constitution Reform Commission Bill passed…

er, Aubrey Norton) is abdi cating his responsibility as the leader of the opposition when we have bills here, Constitutional Reform which is an important one, which will allow the opposition parties and the government to have equal numbers.”

The minister expressed the view that the mantra displayed by the opposition at Monday’s (November 7, 2022) sitting was an attempt to distract citizens from the ongoing Commission of In quiry (COI) into the events surrounding the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

“The APNU+AFC can not hide from the role they

played during the March 2, 2020 elections in attempt ing to thwart the will of the people, the electorate over and over again for the five months,” the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance said.

She also told media oper atives that the actions of the APNU+AFC are indicative of the party becoming irrel evant. Teixeira said, “Their behaviour today once again reinforces the APNU+AFC coalition is becoming more and more irrelevant, it is at its lowest tide as opposition and that it has nothing to contribute.”

Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Bishop Juan Edghill

lambasted the opposition for leaving the National Assem bly and laying the blame on government’s refusal to dis cuss the high cost of living.

“You walked out because you are intellectually lazy and you are politically immature. You should have been stand ing in Parliament to say what else can be done to improve,” Minister Edghill stated.

Currently, the AP NU+AFC Coalition’s voting power in the National As sembly is diminished after the suspension of eight of its Parliamentarians, follow ing the mace-grabbing and destruction of the control room debacle on December 29, 2021.

Way paved for national consultations on constitutional reform

The APNU+AFC opposi tion on Monday (Novem ber 7, 2022) left the dome of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre moments before the important debate of the Con stitution Reform Commission Bill 2022 got underway.

This move was con demned by Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, who explained that the constitu tional reform efforts require the support of two-thirds of the National Assembly or in some cases, a referendum.

The bill is one of the fundamental expressions of the PPP/C Government’s commitment to modernise the legislative agenda of Guyana.

The Attorney General described the bill as a sacro sanct and secret pact between

citizens and the state, outlin ing the state will administer and elaborate mechanisms to guarantee their civil liber ties, fundamental rights and freedoms.

However, even as the attorney general was about to make his contribution, the APNU+AFC opposition walked out of the national assembly. To get the required two-thirds majority, opposi tion Members of Parliament must give their support. “We cannot travel the other half without the other half. I hope that the empty benches to which I am speaking is not a forbearing of what is to come in relation to this process,” he lamented.

On July 8th, the govern ment presented the Constitu tional Reform Commission

Bill to the national assembly as the first tangible step in advancing the process of reforming Guyana’s consti tution, the country’s supreme law.

The bill caters for the establishment of a 20-mem ber commission appointed by the president. The com mission will comprise five members nominated by the government and five mem bers by the opposition, as well as representatives from the Guyana Bar Association, the labour movement, the National Toshaos’s Council, the private sector, as well as women, youth, religious organisations, and farmers.

The commission will also implement reforms relating to elections and the Guy ana Elections Commission

Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Bill passed

The National Assembly on Monday (November 7, 2022) passed the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2022 to promote and enforce safe driving.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, emphasised the causal relationship be tween drunk driving and the high number of road fatalities, dubbing the bill as a timely law-making intervention to address a “chronic” problem. He said,

“Our government’s prior ity is the protection of our citizens. Public safety is an important objective and se curity-priority, of our gov ernment. An integral factor in the equation of public safety is [the] safety of our roadways. We must be able to traverse our roadways. Our children must be able to traverse our roadways. Our citizens must be able to traverse our roadways with a sense of security and psy chological peace of mind that some erratic, drunken

driver is not using his ve hicle as a lethal weapon along the roadways of this country. We must have that sense of security.”

The Attorney General stressed the need for a col laborative effort to facili tate safer roadways. “This can’t be the government’s job alone, and legislative changes alone can never be able to curb this horren dous, tragic loss of human life in our country. Every member of society, every responsible organisation in

(GECOM), taking into con sideration its composition, method of electing its chair man and members, and its jurisdiction over the national registration and electoral processes.

The bill also provides for the establishment of the Con stitution Reform Commission and its membership.

Once enacted into law, it will provide for the com mission to receive, consider and evaluate submissions for the changes to the constitu tion. Those recommenda tions will then be submitted to a standing committee for consideration by the national assembly. “This fundamen tal document Mr Speaker in an evolving society, driven by democratic principles and tradition, necessarily

this country must join hands with our government, as we begin to chart a new course of making our roads safe,” he pointed out.

The bill introduced the offence of motor man slaughter, where a person causes the death of another by driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of a drink or drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle. It also pro vides penalties for causing grievous bodily harm while driving under the influence of alcohol or a drug.

The bill also imposed

requires constant review to ensure that as our society evolves, as the aspirations of our people change, as our country transforms that, that sacred pact between the state and the citizen reflects those transformation and reflects those changes,” the Attorney General told the house.

Minister Nandlall re minded the house that the government’s model for constitutional reform is laid out in its manifesto promise. That process, he noted, must be done through a consultative pro cess as mandated by the commission. “Constitution al reform, therefore, has rightfully been a forefront issue on our government’s agenda, and we have always underpinned a fundamental

harsher penalties for the offence of driving under the influence. Currently, the penalty is a fine be tween $30,000 to $60,000, or 12-year imprisonment. The amendment proposed no less than $200,000 for first-time offenders and no less than $300,000 for repeat offenders. It also adds that persons convicted under this section will be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s license for 12 months.

Moreover, the bill sub mits an increase in the fine to $200,000 for driving or attempting to drive while

principle in respect of con stitutional reform, and that is, it must be driven by pub lic participation,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker and opposition mem ber Lenox Shuman com mended the government for the work done on moving ahead with the process of constitutional reform. He was assured that indigenous organisations will be includ ed to ensure the full partici pation of Amerindians in the process.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira and Member of Par liament Sanjeev Datadin also supported the bill.

The bill was considered in the committee clause by clause and passed without amendments.

blood alcohol levels exceed the prescribed limit. The current law stipulates a penalty fine of $7,500.

Minister of Human Ser vices and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, and Minister of Education, Pri ya Manickchand, offered support for the Bill.

Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, underlined that for the first time in 16 years, Guyana had reported a 28.8 per cent decrease in road fatalities in 2021, making the second reading and subsequent passing of the bill even more significant.

PARLIAMENT HAPPENINGS UNDER REVIEW

THE PPP/C’S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, MORE

Norton’s motion rejected over violation of parliamentary rules

Justice sector strengthened with passage of Restorative Justice Bill

to facilitate a clean voters’ list pre sented by Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, was rejected by Speaker of the House, Manzoor Nadir, on Monday (November 7, 2022) because it violated parliamentary rules.

Amotion

Standing Orders of Guyana.

was none,” she explained.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, responding to oppo sition Member of Parliament (MP), Ganesh Mahipaul, explained this in a statement to the media on Tuesday (November 8, 2022).

While there have been re peated calls for the list ahead of next year’s Local Gov ernment Elections (LGE), the associated concerns have been repeatedly addressed by members of government, the Guyana Elections Commis sion (GECOM), and ruled on by the High Court in a 2019 judgment handed down by Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George.

However, the motion was not allowed by the house speaker because it was not urgent.

The speaker said Norton violated parliamentary rules by tabling the motion to cleanse the voters’ list by amendments to the Consti tution, since amendments to electoral laws were slated to be debated the same day.

Minister Teixeira had later explained, in a press conference, that members of parliament are not allowed to bring forward motions anticipating matters coming before the House. This has been ruled on by several past speakers and is part of the

Following the rejection of the motion, Norton and other A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) parliamentar ians later exited the chamber, missing the key debate on the Constitutional Reform Commission Bill.

“I very carefully outlined the issue regarding the rea sons why the motion that was submitted by the Opposition was rejected by the speaker. And I want to reiterate what I said then and that is that the motion they’re referring to was never seen by anybody on the government side,” Minister Teixeira reiterated.

As a result, Minister Teixeira stated that the Op position Leader was pres suring the speaker to collude with him with regard to violating the constitution and disregarding the ruling of the chief justice and the courts of Guyana regarding residency. “It is very clear that all of this must have gone over Mr. Mahipaul’s head, because the courts have ruled on the issue of residency, therefore… you can remove people who have died through the provision of legitimate death certificates. They did rule that there is no residency clause in our constitution or legislation, and therefore, anybody, once registered, and they may emigrate, or they may go live in another region. They’re allowed to vote in the elections. There was no provision in the constitution to remove anybody based on the residency clause as there

The minister dubbed Nor ton’s motion to cleanse the voters’ list as a move to prevent migrants from voting in upcoming elections. “So, this whole issue of the socalled motion to deal with the clean voter’s list and voter impersonation was one that the speaker could not comply with, particularly as on that day, Monday, November 7, the first reading of the two bills on electoral reform were tabled, that is the… amend ments to the Registration Act, and also the amend ments to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA).”

She said Norton and Ma hipaul cannot be ignorant of the fact that the clean voters’ list is a matter of constitu tional reform, and therefore will have to be addressed during the constitutional re form process.

The minister also ad dressed the ongoing inves tigation into the PNRC’s claims of difference in figures and recommended that the party submit their Statements of Poll (SoPs) to the Com mission of Inquiry (CoI), which is the body that will be examining all issues raised leading up to and during the elections. “And so, if there’s a claim of voter im personation, I believe the APNU+AFC should provide to the police the list of the persons and their addresses, who they claimed voted in the in the 2020 elections, and they should also provide that and their Statements of Poll to the Commission of Inquiry,” she said.

National Assembly approves Suicide Prevention Bill

The Ministry of Health’s ‘comprehensive and transformational’ Suicide Prevention Bill 2022 was on Monday (November 7, 2022) passed in the National Assembly, enacting the de criminalisation of suicide in Guyana and marking a major step in the country’s move to address mental health countrywide.

The bill seeks to provide measures to fight the high number of occurrences of suicide that have pervaded

Guyana’s society for a num ber of years.

It will see the provision of suicide prevention ser vices and support to sur vivors of suicide, persons with suicidal ideations, and support for those who lost loved ones to suicide.

It will also see the es tablishment of a National Suicide Prevention Com mission, which will serve in an advisory position to the Minister of Human Ser vices and Social Security in

regards to legislation and regulations surrounding sui cide prevention and mental health support.

The commission will also be responsible for the preparation of a National Suicide Prevention Plan, the planning, design and im plementation of public pro grammes to reduce suicides and suicide attempts in the country, sensitisation and awareness training on sui cide and suicide prevention,

The National Assembly on Monday (Decem ber 7, 2022) passed the Restorative Justice Bill of 2022 with no amendments, paving the way for the use of restorative justice in Guyana’s criminal justice system.

Restorative justice is an approach to problem solving that, in its various forms, involves the victim, the offender, and the com munity. Restorative justice programmes are based on the fundamental principle that, criminal behaviour not only violates the law, but also injures victims and the community. Its main objec tive is to repair the harm caused by the offence.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, informed the

National Assembly that the new concept is not a substi tute for imprisonment, but is rather aimed at reducing prison term based on the facts and circumstances of the case. “We now have this new concept of restor ative justice as part of our statutory landscape. As I said, it is a new concept, it is evolving, it is exciting, and it will allow our courts to make orders outside of the conventional penal na ture of orders that it is now circumscribe to make and explore a whole host of potential and opportunities to address in a real way, in a practical and pragmatic way the circumstances that may have led to criminal conduct and also for that conduct to be rehabilitated for compensation to be paid

and for society to also bene fit,” Minister Nandlall stated in conclusion.

The bill will see the min ister appointing a Direc tor of Restorative Justice to manage and organise the restorative justice pro grammes and supervise per sons in the programme.

The office of the Direc tor of Public Prosecution (DPP) may refer an offend er, in writing to the Director for the offender’s participa tion in restorative justice.

It is important to note that the restorative justice concept is not open to all criminal offenders but a few outlined in the act.

These include, any of fence under section 160; (b) simple larceny under sec tion 164, other than larceny

Defendant’s right to bail, amendments to conditions of bail in long-awaited Bail Bill

The

Ministry of Legal Af fairs’ long-awaited Bail Bill was on Monday (De cember 7, 2022) passed in the National Assembly and will see the regulation of the granting of bail across the country.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, said the bill has been anticipated for a long time since other coun tries within the region al ready have the legislation in place. “Some feel that bail is too rigidly granted, and others argue that it is too capriciously granted, and the granting of bail is not

consistent. Most countries in the world have moved in the direction of putting a statuto ry code in place to govern the grant of bail,” he explained.

He noted that while usu ally, bail is to be determined by the tribunal before which a charge is pending, the new law will allow police officers to grant bail as well, in the absence of a warrant for arrest.

The AG added that the drafting of the bail bill began in 2015 and has gone through several revisions since then.

The bill addresses pri marily a defendant’s right to bail, amendments to the

(Turn to page 21) (Turn to page 21) (Turn to page 21)

conditions of bail, bail pro cedures and appeals, and the right of a court of law to refuse bail under special circumstances.

It also reduces confine ment time from the current 72 to just 24 hours, while allowing for necessary exten sions of time under reason able suspicion that a suspect has committed a crime.

The Attorney General assured that the bill has re ceived the highest possible consultation, foreign consul tation included, to ensure that it is thorough and allows for no misinterpretation or abuse

DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’

Guyana aiming for 90 per cent reduction in Malaria cases by 2025

T he Ministry of Health (MOH) is seeking to reduce the mortality rate and the number of cases of malaria in Guyana by 2025, in keeping with the 2030 target of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

WHO aims to reduce malaria cases and mortality rate by at least 90 per cent; eliminate malaria in at least 35 countries and prevent a resurgence of malaria in all malaria-free countries.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, speaking at an event held in obser vance of Malaria Day in the Americas on Friday, said the government has strongly embraced WHO’s targets. He said, “We certainly like to do this much earlier and you would have seen from the plan that we have un veiled that we’re trying to get closer to the WHO target for 2030 by 2025, and we strongly believe we can do this with the techniques we’re employing.”

Malaria is endemic in Regions One, Seven, Eight,

Nine, and in some parts of 10, “But we believe by adopting a strong strategy where we can be more in the community, that we will be able to change this endemic nature of malaria in these regions,” the health minister relayed.

The Health Ministry has collaborated with Harvard University to train labo ratory personnel to detect whether the parasite respon sible for infecting a person with malaria has become resistant to medication.

Dr. Anthony, “I think it’s the first time we’ve been able to do that here in Guyana but now that we’ve done it, we have to keep monitoring at this level and this would give us more accurate results about re sistance. So, we have been making progress in several areas and this is the kind of collaboration that we’d like to see not just to be able to do the traditional things, but we want to use innovations that are in the field so that we can improve what we’re

doing.”

Breakthrough Action Guyana, an international organisation funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been working to ensure infected persons properly take their medi cation.

Minister Anthony said there is a need for an analy sis to see whether the com pliance rate has improved. The minister also said the ministry must be able to respond swiftly to emerging cases. He said, “One of the collaborations we have to build with miners is to make sure that when we finish mining in an area, we fill the areas back up so that we don’t create habitats. These habitats and the breeding sites for mosquito is what is going to help to endanger you in the long run, espe cially in that area.”

The Health Minister not ed that, with traditional and new effective ways, the population of mosquitoes can be reduced.

Multi-agency Coordinating Committee addresses influx of migrants from Venezuela into Guyana

Foreign Affairs and Interna tional Cooperation Minis ter, Hugh Todd, convened a meeting of the Multi-agency Coordinating Committee to address the influx of migrants from Venezuela into Guyana, on Wednesday (November 9, 2022).

Present at the meeting were key stakeholders the relevant government agen

cies and international part ners such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The meeting received reports from the agencies on the on going efforts that are being undertaken to address the situation of the migrants from Venezuela.

The Minister underscored

the importance of data gath ering and information sharing among the agencies to allow for a coordinated approach to address the issues faced by the migrants in Guyana. He reminded the meeting that such collaboration will greatly assist in the maximization of the resources available to the Committee to carry out its functions.

Resident Vet, shade houses, improved drainage for Region 10 farmers - Mustapha announces

Farmers of West Watoo ka, Dallawalla, Block 22, Rockstone Wisroc and Nottinghamshire in Linden, Region 10 will soon benefit from a host of new initiatives to help improve their lives.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha met with the farmers on Saturday, where he learned of a number of issues affecting them.

Farmers from West Wa tooka sought assistance for the development of cattle pastures, an access road to gain entry to their farms, soil testing, farming tools and implements, improved drain age and irrigation as well as assistance to develop poultry rearing.

After listening to their concerns, Minister Musta pha said the government is committed to developing the agriculture sector to reduce the large food import bill. As such, the ministry will work with each farmer to resolve the issues.

The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) will conduct drain age and irrigation works in the area. The ministry will also construct an access road to help farmers access their farmlands. Twenty poultry farmers will each receive 25 chickens and two bags of feed to expand production. “We’ll help you to get the

frame for the shade house and NAREI will assist you and we will help you to fix the shade house too and get the crops […] We’ll help you to build a pasture, you all have to form a partnership and you will have to start some work…. we’ll provide all the seed for the grass to get a proper pasture in the area,” Minister Mustapha announced while addressing West Watooka farmers.

Medium and small-scale farmers at Dallawalla also raised drainage and irriga tion issues. They requested fertilisers, planting materi als, farming tools and input. “NDIA will come here to look at the site where the ca nal will be…. We will work with the farmers to increase their production and look at the plots that they have,” Minister Mustapha stated.

Block 22 and Rock stone farmers will benefit from drainage and irrigation works, shade houses, farming tools and inputs, and fresh water. Minister Mustapha said, “All the single parents, I want to assure you that we will work with you, we will give you the tools, we will give you the seeds, and we will help you all to farm. Those persons who raised issue of cattle […] I want us (farmers) to form a cattle as sociation in Region 10 so that

we can work with you all to help you get land and also to help you develop your herd so that we can increase cattle production in Region 10.”

In addition, shade house materials will be given to farmers in Nottinghamshire at half price. An inoper able machine will be re placed within a week to help with drainage and irrigation works. The Minister said, “We have to work together. Many persons might not know what we are doing, we have extension officers, they will have to inform you on what we’re doing. There are a lot of facilities, a lot of budgetary allocations that the government is making in the agriculture sector.”

Farmers were urged to take advantage of the agro-processing facility which will be commissioned in Watooka within a month, which will provide more eco nomic benefits and expand their production.

Government has been in vesting heavily in the agricul ture sector to ensure econom ic diversification with less dependence on the oil and gas industry. The agriculture minister told farmers that the budgetary allocation will be increased every year to allow agriculture to expand and become an important pillar to Guyana’s economic growth.

Remaining black belly sheep to arrive from Barbados within two weeks

With the PPP/C Govern ment’s vigorous ef forts to develop the livestock sector, some $177.7 million was allocated to offer extra funding for the promising Black Belly Sheep Project.

During a community out reach at Enmore Community Centre, Minister Mustapha disclosed that the remaining black belly sheep from the 1000 will arrive from Barba dos within two weeks.

He noted that the ship is scheduled to leave Guyana, on Saturday, for the sheep. Minister Mustapha said, “Very shortly, in two weeks, we will receive the entire set of sheep from Barbados to start that programme that the President launched a few months back at the MMA scheme.”

This undertaking will also see Guyana integrally involved in the move to reduce CARICOM’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025. Minister Mustapha stated, “We want all of the sectors in the country to be robust. We want all sectors to be sustainable and all the sectors to be performing.”

The first flock of black belly sheep arrived on Au gust 4, which saw a total of 132 sheep, which included 20 rams and 112 ewes.

The breed is mainly reared for meat and by-prod ucts that are in high demand.

Back in August, Minister Mustapha highlighted that Guyana has enough land, the ideal climate, and all other prerequisites for increasing the production of black belly

sheep.

Fifty per cent of the sheep was given to farmers around the country, 30 per cent to women, and another 20 per cent to young people, Minister Mustapha noted.

On March 27, President Dr Irfaan Ali launched the project in Region Five.

With Region Five being Guyana’s largest livestock producer, the president stat ed that it could become the livestock capital of the Ca ribbean Community.

The proposal also fits in with President Ali’s ‘One Guyana’ agenda. Even in the face of the profitable oil and gas sector, the admin istration is leading several initiatives to increase pro duction and diversify the economy.

FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE

Housing development, 24-hour water access for Mahdia

Residents of Mahdia and surrounding areas in Re gion Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) will benefit from improved housing and water as part of continued development within the township.

This was announced by Housing and Water Minister, Collin Croal, who along with Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai, led a com munity engagement at the Mahdia Secondary School on Sunday (November 6, 2022).

During brief remarks, Minister Croal explained that in 2004, the housing ministry held lotteries where persons were allocated house lots in an area earmarked for hous ing development in Mahdia.

Subsequently, the town council allocated house lots in the same area which re sulted in double allocations coupled with encroachment by miners.

Notwithstanding this, Minister Croal has commit ted to addressing these issues within the shortest possible time as steps will be taken to regularise the Mahdia Hous ing Development.

He said a team will return early next month to reassess the area located aback of the airstrip. Each household and available house lots will be documented. Other housing

services will also be provided including updates to pending applications, as well as new applications. “It is our inten tion to address these housing areas as we have been doing across the country…once there are remaining lots, we will do the necessary regular isation,” the Minister assured the residents.

Mahdia has a population of over 14,000 people spread across four constituencies.

Meanwhile, the water supply system in the area consists of a gravity fed sys tem which transmits water from the Salbora spring to the township. This is in addition to two small wells located at 7 Miles and Central Admin istrative area which supply water to the residents on a rotation schedule.

To this end, Minister Cor al announced that as part of the Guyana Water Incorpo rated’s (GWI) 2023 work programme, a new well will be drilled within the housing area which will provide 100 per cent access to water on a 24/7 basis.

He reminded the resi dents of the interventions made by the PPP/C Admin istration since 2020.

In 2021, in Region Eight alone, close to $50 million was invested, with another

$220 million to be spent on new wells this year in areas such as, Kato, Itabac, Ka mana, Sand Hill, Maikwak, Danju Hill and Pepper Hill.

Minister Sukhai ex plained that the visit forms part of the government’s mandate to engage the resi dents at the community level, listen to their issues and chal lenges and provide solutions. “Our government is building a Guyana where everyone can make a contribution and continues to provide the plat form for residents to raise issues and concerns affecting them,” she asserted.

One of the issues resi dents raised was the need for decentralisation through the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the passport office and the deeds registry. Min ister Sukhai said that she will be making representation by proposing the establishment of a ‘one stop shop’ where all those services can be ac cessed in Mahdia, to ease the burden of residents having to travel to the coast to access those services.

Following the meeting, Ministers Croal and Sukhai along with other technical officers visited the Mahdia Housing Development.

complete leadership

Sixty-six Toshaos and trea surers from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10 on November 3, 2022 re ceived certificates in leader ship, following an extensive two-day training hosted by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.

The leadership training was geared at providing vil lage leaders with knowledge in specific areas to help them achieve their community development goals.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh and Minis ter of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai presented the certificates to awardees at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

Dr Singh told leaders to be attentive to the needs of their electorate. He said it is for this reason, several government officials have

been fanning out to various communities to get a picture of what are the priorities of citizens. “We consider this to be part of accountable gover nance and accountable gov ernance is good governance and in the same manner, you have an obligation constantly to be attentive to the prior ities, problems, concerns, and views of the people you serve. We are, whether in central government or in a village council, we are ser vants of the people,” Minister Singh stated.

He said the theme for the programme, ‘Accountability for Good Governance’, is in keeping with government’s commitment to be account able to citizens at all times.

“Accountability is all about us as elected leaders remain ing accountable to those who elected us, the electorate. In the case of the central government, we are account

able to all of the citizens of Guyana. As elected leaders within your villages, you are accountable to all of the citizens and residents of your respective villages,” Minister Singh remarked.

Proper management of public resources, account ability for financial resources as well as assets, is a top pri ority of the PPP/C Govern ment, Minister Singh added. The finance minister com mended the Ministry of Am erindian Affairs for organ ising the training sessions, stating that the importance cannot be overemphasised.

Amerindian leaders were reminded that they are part of the transformation currently underway.

Similar training sessions will be rolled out in Regions One, Seven, Eight, Nine and 10 over the next few weeks. Some 440 toshaos and trea surers will participate.

137 tractors and trailers distributed to Amerindian communities

Some 137 tractors and trailers have been dis tributed by the government through the Ministry of Am erindian Affairs to Amerin dian communities across the country, as the government advances its food security agenda in the hinterland.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh made the disclosure, recently, when he addressed Amerindian leaders at the conclusion of a leadership training pro gramme at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Dr Singh said every vil lage must have a viable economy. He said the hin terland has a comparative advantage in agriculture, which is why the govern ment has been distributing

equipment for agricultural activities. “We have already distributed almost a hundred if not more tractors and trailers and I know many of you come from villages that have received a brandnew tractor and trailer with implements, plough, harrow and other implements have already been distributed so far,” he said.

The senior minister told those gathered that ‘malnu trition’ must be a thing of the past and every single village must enjoy food security by producing food to meet their domestic and export needs. He said, “If you produce cassava, you produce enough cassava to meet your domestic re quirements and you pro duce enough cassava to sell beyond your village or to

produce agro-processing products, cassava bread, cassareep, or other cassava derivatives.”

The leaders were urged to work collaboratively to achieve food security in their communities. They were told to also capitalise on arts and craft and other economic activities. “If not you, then who? We want to see the arts and crafts of our Amerindian villages adorning shelves, adorning desks, adorning study cor ners, adorning mantle pieces around the world….and they can be yours,” Singh said.

The government is working towards achieving food security countrywide as it works together with other Caribbean countries to reduce the food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

Massive investments in new wells for Region One in 2023 – Min. Croal

Residents

from various communities in the Mabaruma sub-district, Re gion One will soon have improved access to water service following the drilling of several wells.

Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal recently conducted an assessment of several Guyana Water Incor porated (GWI) sub-stations in the sub-district. “I want to assure them [residents] that we have a plan and we have already put some plans in place to correct this. In the first quarter for 2023, we will be sending a rig that is currently in the Matarkai sub-region to drill a number of wells,” Minister Croal stated in a recent update.

Two new wells will be drilled at Khan’s Hill and the Mabaruma Settlement.

Minister Croal explained that the wells will supply the entire Mabaruma central and compound area.

In addition, a new well will be drilled within the Wauna community since res idents are currently access ing water from the Wanaina sub-station, and Hosororo. He said, “Wauna will be independent in terms of the water source. So, what that means is that this Wanaina system will now be able to supply to the Hosororo com munity a greater volume of water.”

As part of the PPP/C Ad ministration’s programmes to ensure that residents can benefit from electricity, the Wanaina sub-station will be linked to the electrical grid to increase service hours for water, as the govern ment continues to push the Hinterland Electrification Programme. Croal said, “I want to assure persons within the Mabaruma municipality vicinity or those constituen cies to show them, in a few months, they will be receiv ing a larger pumping hour of water and even improved lev el of service. Because we are, also, connecting the system at Baramita, that Baramita system will be connected to Kamaka in 2023 as part of our programme.”

It is in keeping with the government’s pledge to fulfill Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six- water and sanitation for all – by 2030.

Minister Croal said Mabaruma is no exception since the government will continue to invest money in the hinterland expansion for new areas to benefit from wa ter. He disclosed, “When we are finished with the Maba ruma municipality, we will then move onwards to some of the communities, for ex ample, the satellite for White Water, etc as part of our pro gramme for 2023.”

Currently, several wells

are being drilled in Matarkai.

Minister Croal disclosed that residents within Port Kaituma will benefit from a new engine to provide addi tional pumping hours by the end of the new week.

He revealed that a new well will be drilled in De cember in Port Kaituma for residents within the area and neighbouring communities.

New wells have also been drilled in several areas in cluding Arakaka, Pakera, and Matthew’s Ridge.

A plot rig is currently drilling several wells in the Moruca sub-region. The rig will be relocated to Kwe banna, after which it will be sent to Manawarin and then to Waramuri to complete the well there.

Another well will be drilled in Santa Rosa, adding to the recently completed well at Horadia.

More than $1.5 billion has been invested by the PPP/C Government to in crease access to safe, clean, and reliable water in the hinterland and riverine com munities.

This has resulted in more than 10,000 residents bene fitting from first-time access to potable water since August 2020.

The minister was joined by the Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley, and other officials.

– part of govt’s efforts to achieving food security in the hinterland

66 Toshaos, treasurers

training – urged to be ‘attentive’ to needs of electorate

called the phone number, the person picked up the phone and didn’t answer, then it was hung up. Then I called back again. That’s while standing outside of that building last week and it rang out.

“…I told Mr. Jordan, I said you can shout from now until next year, but we’re not going to get anywhere. I said I am really here for devel opment. I said come another time, I will walk through the entire community but right

now I’m only here to visit the building because somebody made a request in relation to the building. So my po sition remains the same, our presence in any community is for the community’s de velopment and the people’s development and if people are dealing with us directly, I don’t see the problem.

“…I started to talk to a few of the youths that wanted to find out about scholarships as well. So I went on to talk to them about it and then I

Racist, aggressive posture of...

Their attempt to obstruct the PPP/C government’s housing drive at Amelia’s Ward in Linden, Region Ten and at Mocha Arcadia on the East Bank of Demerara are just a few examples of how they wanted development to bypass certain commu nities so that they can continue to peddle false claims of discrimination.

The blame for this worrying develop ment should be laid squarely at the feet of PNC and Opposition Leader Mr. Aubrey Norton who has been unabatingly setting a tone of racism and aggression towards the legitimately elected government and its officials. Norton has also started pivoting his poisonous rhetoric and confrontational tone towards members of the media as was recently witnessed during a community rally in the East Bank Demerara commu nity of Mocha Arcadia.

walked out of the yard. I was walking out of the yard when Vinceroy Jordan said she better beat out of here or get out or something before we call the whole of Belladrum.”

Jordan and his party, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Co alition have been condemned for trying to block develop ment in communities and attempting to deny Guyanese the benefits of development and progressive initiatives being piloted by the PPP/C Government.

(From page 3)

The PPP unequivocally condemns MP Jordan’s cowardly behaviour and bullying tactics towards Minister Parag and urge that it be similarly denounced by Civil Society and other national stakeholders.

The Party further calls on Civil Society and other national stakeholders, as well as all patriotic Guyanese at home and abroad to make their voices heard to Mr. Aubrey Norton and members of his cabal, on this most vexing and worrying matter of his racist and aggressive posture, and the subtle as well as overt messages he con tinues to send to his cabal and supporters against the duly elected Government and its functionaries, and against the national interest of the state.

People’s Progressive Party November 9th, 2022

Justice sector strengthened with...

of agricultural products or livestock; (c) larceny from the person under section 182; (d) larceny by a tenant or lodger under section 183; (e) larceny by a clerk or servant under section 184; (f) larceny in a dwelling house under section 187; (g) embezzlement by a clerk or servant under section 190; and (h) fraudulent conver sion of property entrusted for sale under section 198. Offences such as murder,

terrorism, treason and other offences outlined in the bill are exempted from restor ative justice.

The Attorney General also noted that the bill will ease the overcrowding in the prisons in Guyana. The bill was supported by Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn who said the prison population has increased by 40 per cent. “The overall question of restorative jus tice is critically important,

(From page 15)

first as a concept at the lev els of schools as I said and particularly having persons know that there is a formal way of resolving conflict, of getting victims support and compensation too,” he said.

The now passed Restor ative Justice Bill is part of government’s commitment to strengthening the jus tice system in Guyana and reducing the prison popu lation through alternative sentencing.

Defendant’s right to bail, amendments to conditions of...

of the law. “It is a consensual product of both the legal fraternity, including the Di rector of Public Prosecutions, the practicing Bar, and the Judiciary to aid stakeholders in administering a fine and enforcing this law,” he said.

Particular focus is placed on ensuring the rights of the suspect are respected, and that he or she is presumed innocent until proven or has pleaded guilty.

The importance of victim consideration is also high lighted, especially in inform ing them when a decision has been made to release the suspect on bail.

The extensive Bail Bill will provide bail reform in Guyana, which is a key com ponent in remedying the overcrowding of prisons, as well as the unnecessary im prisonment of persons who have not been found guilty

National Assembly approves...

and the establishment of Suicide Prevention Centres across Guyana.

Presenting the bill to the National Assembly, Min ister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, highlighted that the bill places importance on psychological support, for survivors of suicide attempts as well as those suffering from mental health issues that often go unnoticed.

He said the health min istry will address the issue by providing mental health support for persons at a high risk for suicide, and training primary healthcare providers to identify and report signs of mental issues such as depression.

This, he said, would en able those persons to receive critical assistance, and there by reduce the risk of them attempting or succeeding in

committing suicide. “This bill contemplates that if people need help, that we will be able to respond very quickly and send a team out to that person, or those persons who need help,” he said.

He noted that suicide is a serious problem, but expressed confidence through the enactment of the 38-clause legislation, mechanisms would be put in place to curb suicide and suicide attempts, and foster the mental well-being of Guyanese.

Minister of Human Ser vices and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud, ex pressing support for the bill, underlined the importance of the decriminalisation of sui cide attempts under the law.

“This bill addresses many critical areas, and I believe

before a court of law.

It provides for the court to hear and determine bail applications without undue delay, and also sets out re quirements for the legal sys tem to fulfill in its granting or revoking of bail and outlines clear circumstances under which bail may be refused.

The Minister of Legal Affairs may also make any necessary regulations to exe cute the provisions of the act.

(From page 15)

that it is pertinent at this point in time, because in this country, we are still encoun tering persons who attempt suicide and self-harm. If per sons are to stop… every ef fort must be made to ensure those persons understand quite clearly that attempting suicide is not a crime, but an appeal for help,” she said.

The bill will address mental health promotion and care across a number of institutions through gov ernment collaboration and cooperation. It will also see schools, employers and families benefitting from education and awareness campaigns to prevent suicide and suicide attempts.

Policies to punish per sons who may play a role in enabling a person to commit or attempt suicide are in cluded in the bill as well.

Guyanese must be mindful...

While rejecting and de nouncing these anti-devel opment tactics by the Oppo sition to score cheap political points, Datadin said Burke and other opposition voices, who continue to force their race influenced discrimina tion accusations against the government, are yet to pro vide evidence of such.

He reiterated the call to Guyanese to continue to ig

nore Burke’s empty rhetoric and embrace President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s ‘One Guyana’ vision.

Several government min isters have also denounced this shameful trend by the opposition, of divisive pol itics and have exposed the inaccuracies with facts.

The PPP/C Government since assuming office in 2020 has implemented a

slew of measures and pro grammes that have benefit ted Guyanese all across the country.

The IDB, in its recent report, has noted that the Government of Guyana has been managing the country effectively and transparently.

The government’s peo ple-centred policies are geared towards the uplift ment of all Guyanese.

Elections CoI welcomes persons wishing...

“We, and particularly your President, promised an inter national CoI, so I say to all those who struggled and sac rificed, all those who worked in protecting the democracy, that we have, in your honour, before dawn on next Tuesday, your President will name the members of that international CoI…those who subverted democracy, those who can not present their SOPs, and those who struggled against the will of the people, the CoI will set the truth free from the untruth and the CoI will set those who dwell in the house of democracy and those who dwell in the fire of undemocratic rule and norms…in honour of the these martyrs too and in hon our of all the Guyanese who fought for freedom and de

mocracy, who fought relent lessly in those five months to ensure our country never ever was allowed to go down as an undemocratic nation, in honour of your sacrifices, I committed that we will have an international CoI into the last elections.” Ali stressed that the Elections CoI is a promise made by the PPP/C Administration and his Ad ministration is pleased to be able to deliver. “I promised a CoI. So that is why there is a lot of work going on now on how that Terms of Reference is developed,” he said.

The first mention of an in vestigation into the elections was made by Ali, during his inauguration speech on Au gust 8, 2020. “All of us have an obligation to the nation and to ourselves to ensure

that, never again, should any generation of our people be subjected to such unlawful behaviour. Therefore, a re view of events related to the electoral process over the last five months will begin shortly to determine forensi cally exactly what transpired and to hold accountable any person who sought to pervert and corrupt the system.” The Head of State had said too that all necessary reforms will be pursued to make democra cy stronger, and the electoral process more transparent.

Persons who wish to give evidence on matters relating to the Commission’s Terms of Reference may contact the Secretary at 95 Middle Street, South Cummingsburg, or on Telephone numbers: 592231-9820 and 592-231-9828.

COMMENTARY

Constitutional Reform: PNCR-led Coalition missing in action, yet again

By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

In his inaugural address to Parliament on January 11, 2021, President Irfaan Ali announced the government's intention to establish an in dependent body to consult widely on constitutional re forms, saying: “I remind the Parliament that our nation suffered five long months of fear, anxiety and nervousness waiting for the results of general elections, a circum stance caused by those who put themselves above the law and their political greed over the wellbeing of the people. In all that time, no budget was presented for consent, no borrowing was authorized, and no spending approved. In defiance of the law and the rulings of the highest Courts of the land, the previ ous administration arrogated power unto itself, spending the tax-payers money with no authority and no legitima cy. This must never happen in Guyana again. That is why constitutional reform to guarantee a democratic Guyana will receive priority attention, based on a national consultative process. My government will introduce, in the National Assembly, a Bill to authorize such a consultative process by an independent body.”

The PPP/C’s 2020 Elec tions Manifesto also prom ised constitutional reforms will be a priority should it win the elections. Every po litical part that contested the 2020 elections also promised constitutional reforms. Every international organization, citizens in general believe that constitutional reforms must be prioritized.

This past week, the PPP/C took a giant step to wards another era of consti tutional reforms. This past week, the PNCR took anoth er shameful step toward ob structing progress in constitu tional reforms. They walked out of parliament before the Constitutional Reform Bill came up on the agenda.

During the sitting of par liament on Monday, Novem ber 7, 2022, the Attorney General stewarded the 2nd and 3rd reading of a new Constitutional Reform Bill 2022. The Bill was passed unanimously by MPs who were present. This included

all thirty-three PPP/C MPs and one MP from the LJP was represents the joinder parties, ANUG, CI and LJP.

Notably, all thirty-one MPs from APNU/AFC were not there for this important bill.

They had walked out of the National Assembly, some ensuring they stayed long enough to have lunch at tax-payers expense. We all agree that constitutional re form is a priority for Guyana. Even Norton has demand ed that whenever the talks between the President and Opposition Leader resumes that constitutional reforms must be high on the agenda. But every and each time the opportunity arises for moving the process towards further constitutional reforms, Nor ton’s party, the PNCR and its appendages, such as AFC, obstructed and walked away.

Once signed into law by the President, a broad-based commission made up of five PPP/C representatives, five APNU/AFC representatives and ten civil society mem bers. The commission will, therefore, have equal rep resentation from both gov ernment and opposition and equal political and civil soci ety representation. The gov ernment has ensured that it is not sitting with a majority on the commission. The gov ernment has ensured that the politicians do not dominate the commission. But the most critical part of the legislation is it mandates broad public consultation throughout the country. It is not who makes up the commission that is the most important element, it is that citizens will have an opportunity to exercise their freedom and to have a voice.

The Bill was approved by the Standing Committee on Constitutional Reform of Parliament in which APNU/ AFC fully participated. This standing committee on con stitutional reform was estab lished after the 2000/2001 constitutional reform Acts of Parliament. The stand ing committee was a rela tively active committee and worked alongside a local government committee that was co-chaired by former minister Clinton Collymore, representing the PPP/C and Vincent Alexander, repre senting the PNCR. It was

that committee that drafted the new electoral system for local government elections. The standing committee was active and met often until 2011.

In 2011, APNU/AFC used its one-seat majority to change the composition of the Standing Committee on Constitutional Reforms. They elected David Granger as the Chair of the Standing Committee. That committee met two times between 2011 and 2015. The first meeting lasted less than two minutes during which they elected David Granger as Chair. The second meeting was about ten minutes during which the committee requested that I prepare a report on those recommendations from the Constitutional Reform Com mittees of 1994 and 1999.

After I submitted the re port, the committee never met again. In 2015, APNU/ AFC elected Basil Williams as Chair of the Standing Committee. There were only two meetings of that commit tee between 2015 and 2020.

Thus, in ten years un der APNU/AFC’s control, the Standing Committee on Constitutional Reform met only four times for a total of about twenty minutes. Sadly, this is how serious the PNCR or APNU/AFC is about con stitutional reforms.

The PPP/C, on the other hand has shown a fervour for constitutional reforms. Consistent with the promise of constitutional reform, the Cheddi Jagan-led PPP/C moved a motion and passed a resolution on December 1, 1994 establishing a Special Select Committee (SSC) for Constitutional Reforms. The SSC was tasked with making proposals for the reform of the constitution before the next general elections which were due by March 1998. That SSC was chaired by Mr. Bernard DeSantos, the then Attorney General. Oth er members included: from the PPP/C: Reepu Daman Persaud, Feroze Mohamed, Bernard De Santos, Clement Rohee, Moses Nagamootoo, Komal Chand, Pauline Sukhai and Winslow Zeph yr; from the PNCR: Winston Murray, Dr. Kenneth King (who subsequently resigned as an MP and was replaced by Hukumchand), Clarissa

Rhiel, Arthur Alexander; from the WPA: Rupert Roo pnarine; and from the UF: Mansoor Nadir.

When Parliament was dissolved in October 1997 to allow for elections in De cember 1997, the SSC had not completed its work and the SSC's life came to a pre mature end. But the SSC had completed 50 meetings, 26 of which were for public hear ings (18 in Georgetown, 2 in Region 1 and one each in Re gions 2, 6,7,8,9 and10). The SSC received a total of 68 memoranda from individuals and organizations with rec ommendations for changes in the constitution. Of these, 17 organizations and 15 individ uals (total = 32) requested to provide oral presentations to support their written memo randa. All four parliamentary political parties submitted written memoranda and made oral presentations. Only one organization and two indi viduals who requested oral presentations did not attend. In addition, in the public hearings, 83 presentations were made by organizations (6) and persons (77) who had not submitted memo randa. Three (3) eminent Guyanese experts joined an Expert panel to work with the SSC - Dr. Harold Lutchman, Keith Massiah and Dr. Rudy James. Five (5) eminent Guy anese experts, invited to be members of an Expert Panel, although expressing willing ness, could not join because of international commitments - Dr. Fenton Ramsahoye, Sir Sridath Ramphal, Dr. Mo hamed Shahabudin, Ashton Chase, Miles Fitzpatrick.

Two international bod ies worked closely with the SSC - UNDP and National Democratic Institute (USA), through a grant from the USAID. The NDI prepared 1,300 copies of the 1980 constitution, updated with all amendments made until 1996. No report was prepared since the SSC was abruptly ended after the dissolution of Parliament in 1997 to provide for the December 1997 gen eral and regional elections.

After the 1997 elections, Parliament established an other SSC to formulate a Constitutional Reform Com mission Bill to establish a Constitutional Reform Com mission. Outside of the need

to continue the work initiated by the Bernard De Santos-led SSC, the new SSC had its mandate from the Herdman ston Accord. Violence after the 1997 elections resulted in an intervention by CAR ICOM and the result was the Herdmanson Accord which was signed on January 17th, 1998. The Herdmanston Ac cord was a political com promise and was brokered by A CARICOM Mission comprising of former Bar bados Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Sir Henry Forde, Q.C., then Vice Chan cellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Alistair McIntyre, and former Com monwealth Secretary General Sir Shridath Ramphal.

The accord was named after the building in which the document was negotiated.

Ralph Ramkarran S.C. (PPP/C) chaired this Com mission and Haslyn Parris (PNCR) was its secretary. The Commissioners were sworn in on January 22, 1999 and the first meeting was held on January 25, 1999. The Constitutional Reform Commission held 85 public hearings (Region 1 =4; Region 2=6; Region 3 =11; Region 4= 25; Region 5=7; Region 6=13; Region 7=6; Region 8 =3; Region 9=4; Region 10=6). There were, in addition, 8 special hearings at the City Hall and

at the Tower Hotel for or ganizations which request ed extended presentations.

At the City Hall hearings, 10 organizations (political parties, professional organi zations and social organiza tions) and three individuals presented. At Tower Ho tel, the Private Sector, The Guyana Association of Lo cal Authorities (GALA) and the Guyana Indian Foun dation Trust (GIFT). The Commission received and reviewed 4,601 recommen dations made by individuals (3,672), by organizations (619) and by political par ties (210). Although this number appeared large, there were significant rep etitions.

The Constitution Reform Commission crystalized these recommendations into 200 proposals for constitu tional reforms. These were culled, refined and crystal lized into about 200 amend ments by the Oversight Com mittee of parliament that were all incorporated into the Constitution in various con stitutional amendment acts in 2000, 2001 and 2002/2003 under the Presidency of Bharat Jagdeo.

Once again, the PPP/C under President Irfaan Ali is leading a new era of con stitutional reforms. Once again, the PNCR is missing in action.

Norton challenged to present ‘winning’ SOPs to Elections CoI

Leader of the PNCR and the APNU+AFC Coali tion, was, on Tuesday (No vember 8, 2022), challenged to present the Coalition’s so called ‘winning’ State ments of Poll (SOPs) to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI), as well as their ‘evidence’ of voter im

personation.

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, note that while the Parliamentary Opposition continues to claim that there was voter impersonation – that dead persons and per sons who migrated from Guyana were recorded to

have voted – the Coalition has an opportunity to address its claim at the CoI.

EXPOSED

Notably, the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Claims and Ob jections, which commenced on August 22, 2022, ended

on September 25, 2022, ex posed Norton’s bloated list claims.

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

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

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

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 Flan ders; Diamond and Coldigen, Region 4; Corriverton and New Amsterdam, Region 6; and Annai, Region 9. Three objections were recorded in Mackenzie, Region 10 and eight were recorded in Soes dyke, Region 4.

This is despite the fact that the Parliamentary Op position, the PNCR-led AP NU+AFC Coalition has been claiming that the Voters’ List is bloated.

GUYANESE WHO MIGRATED

Further, as per Guyana’s constitution and a ruling of the High Court, Guyanese who were registered to vote, but have since migrated can not be removed from the Voters’ List. International report from Elections Ob server Missions (EOMs) in 2020 recognized that this contributed to the total num ber on the Voters’ List.

The final report from the Election Observer Mis sion fielded by the Carter Center, on page 10, said, “The number of registered voters seems disproportion ate to Guyana’s estimated population, in part because Guyana allows Guyanese 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 internation al EOMs lauded the mecha nisms in place to ensure that no person who is not eligible to vote does so. The Europe an Union Election Observer Mission in their final report, on page 16, also said: “Over all, existing safeguards – no tably 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

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. How ever, it requires death certifi cates to be sent to the Guyana Elections Commission by the General Registrar’s Office for this to be done. Where this is not done, relatives with the death certificate can take advantage of the Claims and Objections period to make file an objection and have their relative removed from the Voters’ List.

Further, to ensure this is addressed at the legis lative level, the proposed amendments to the National Registration Act address a public and transparent pro cess 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.

SOPS

Notably, in May 2022, Norton backpedaled on pro ducing the APNU+AFC Coalition’s Statements of Poll, after being challenged by PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo.

During the five months after the March 2020 deba cle, dozens of countries made similar comments, stressing the need for Guyana to re main in the global fold of democratic nations.