The PPP/C gov’t has provided...

million to upgrade the water transmission lines in Georgetown;

● The Government expended $510 million on Solid Waste Management that benefitted the citizens of Georgetown And the list goes on. The lack of accountability by M&CC necessitated these interventions be undertaken directly by Central Government, as it was clear that resources for these developments would have otherwise been squandered and mismanaged by the Mayor and his team. Ironically, in terms of the Mayor’s accusation that Government owes the M&CC rates and taxes, the Mayor has failed to mention that the M&CC in fact owes the following to Government Agencies:

● Guyana Power and Light Inc. – $3.2 billion

● Guyana Revenue Authority – $1.7 billion in taxes for the period 2016 to 2023, representing outstanding PAYE which was deducted from employees but never remitted to the GRA. As an employer, M&CC has a legal obligation to deduct and remit such to GRA in a timely manner.

● National Insurance Scheme – $387 million owed in NIS contributions as at end of April 2023, jeopardising workers benefits.

Further on in his letter, Ubraj Narine ranted that the PPP/C Government has wilfully refused to do property valuations that would have resulted in the citizens paying higher rates and taxes. Here he exposes his party’s plans, some of which have been coyly used as reverse psychology in his party’s Local Government Elections (LGE) campaign ut-

Sincerely, Dr. Tara Singh

← FROM PAGE 5 terances. In examining this statement and based on the APNU/AFC’s accusation in its current LGE campaign that the PPP/C will increase rates and taxes, this statement clearly indicates that it is instead the APNU/AFC that intends to do this.

This is the nature of APNU/AFC, to repeatedly claim that they will cut taxes when, to the contrary, as has been demonstrated in their previous term in office, they instead did the opposite and imposed over 200 taxes and fees including taxes on electricity, water, medical supplies, education services, and construction materials and equipment.

We should not be surprised of the dishonesty of Ubraj Narine and the APNU/AFC who have demonstrated their blatant disregard for the principles of transparency and accountability, pillars upon which democratic governance in modern societies are based.

The General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party Bharrat Jagdeo highlighted the support that Central Government has provided to the citizens of Georgetown, and with a supportive Georgetown Council the lives of the citizens of Georgetown can be improved at a faster rate. The PPP/C Government has and will always stand on the side of transparency and accountability and safeguarding our sacred Constitution. Our record is clear to see.

Sincerely, Hon. Dr Ashni Singh, M.P. Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance

Fortified in his belief and determination, he was unrelenting in his struggles for the advancement of Guyana and Guyanese. Having founded the PPP in 1950, Dr. Jagan, despite being incarcerated and deprived of his rights during the decades of his unremitting struggles, never succumbed to the atrocities meted out to him and his followers by the oppressive forces.

The struggles of the Enmore Martyrs and Dr. Jagan were guiding forces during that ominous period when thousands of sugar workers were coldheartedly fired and plunged into economic despair through the politically motivated closure of estates by the APNU+AFC coalition.

It was also a source of inspiration when the APNU+AFC government, through its visionless and inept leadership, strangled our people through harsh and unjustified economic policies and when in full view of the world, they shamelessly tried to steal the March 02, 2020, elections in defiance of

Norton caught in a lie...

four if so many.”

Questioned about the fact that People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, had indicated that APNU did not contest in many constituencies, Norton doubled down on his position at the April 20, 2023 news conference and said, “Jagdeo is a pathological liar. Look, we are contesting all constituencies in Georgetown, all constituencies in New Amsterdam, all constituencies in Linden, the will of the Guyanese people.

Their efforts have imbued in us that profound sense of the value of our freedoms and the need for them to be safeguarded from those with a penchant for totalitarianism and constitutional transgression.

The PPP will continue to honour the memory of those martyrs so as to ensure their sacrifices will not be forgotten.

People’s Progressive Party

June 15, 2023

← FROM PAGE 12 all constituencies in Anna Regina, Rose Hall, in Corriverton, I think one might be out. We are contesting. The only place we are not contesting in which we said, we had a problem with is Lethem, which means more than 90 per cent of the local authorities of the town council by us.”

Jagdeo’s position was supported by the Guyana Elections Commission on May 25, 2023, when it confirmed that there will be no contest in 291 of the 610 constituencies being contested for the 2023 Local Government Elections (LGE). According to the Commission, 98 of the constituencies where there is no contest – meaning only one political party submitted list of candidates – are found in 13 Local Authority Areas in Regions 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9. GECOM explained that the other 193 of the constituencies are from other Local Authority Areas (LAAs).

LGE 2023 voting process free...

interest of the inhabitants. The Commission wishes to state that the holding of free, fair and transparent elections is a vital tenet of democracy and for the promotion of unity and peaceful co-existence. The ERC fielded an observer team of more than 50 members for Regions 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10,” the ERC said.

Ahead of the June 12 polls, political parties, in- dependent groups, and individuals contesting the much-anticipated elections signed the Ethnic Relations Commission’s Code of Conduct on May 27, 2023 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). Executive Secretary of the PPP, Zulfikar Mustapha;, Shazam Ally of The Citizen Initiative; and Mark France of Guyana United, among other party

← FROM PAGE 13 representatives signed the code. The APNU boycotted the signing. This signing of the Code of Conduct was geared toward ensuring that contestants promote ethnic harmony and abstain from hate speech before, during, and after the elections, in an attempt to preserve the harmonious relationship which exists between the Guyanese people.