Weekend Mirror 2-3 June 2018

2-3 June, 2018 / Vol. 10 No. 24 / Price: $100

Internet: http: //www.mirrornewsgy.com / e-mail: weekendmirror@gmail.com

Public Procurement Commission has ‘done nothing’ – Jagdeo

H

aving been in place for over a year now, the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) has found itself on the receiving end of strong criticisms from Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

“The PPC has done nothing to inspire confidence,” he said, during a press conference held at his Church Street office.

According to him, the National Procurement Tender and Administration Board (NPTAB) is currently mired in corruption scandals, including the tampering with evaluation criteria and setting criteria in contravention of the law.

In addition to this and with the complicity of the APNU+AFC Cabinet, Jagdeo noted that several contracts are being awarded in clear violation of the Procurement Act, which makes it clear that bids must be awarded to the lowest bidder.

The other infractions of the procurement laws are also being ignored, the Opposition Leader added. The report of the Auditor General for the year 2016 listed a whopping

71 breaches of the Procurement Act, as well as 82 breaches of the Fiscal Management and Accountability Act (FMAA).

Meanwhile, members of the Parliamentary Opposition have written to the PPC on several occasions calling for action/investigations into controversial matters, including the infamous ‘drug bond’ contract, the D’uban Park works and the works on a new Demerara River bridge. Relative to the latter, Opposition Chief Whip, blasted the PPC for its inaction and made clear that the Commission has a responsibility to investigate all complaints and cannot use workload or the unavailability of resources to determine which case is looked at first. “The constitution makes it absolutely clear that once there is a complaint the PPC has to investigate, has to examine it. It can’t say that ‘well we have a work programme that says we have these ten other items and we have to do this first or we don’t have enough resources’. This is unacceptable. This is a constitutional body,” she had said.

The members of the PPC are Emily Dodson, Carol Corbin, Sukrishnalall Pasha, Ivor English and Nanda Gopaul.

‘I have not titled any Amerindian Villages’ – Allicock PAGE 12

PNC Paramountcy on display - APNU/AFC colours on public building - Desecration of Golden Arrowhead by adding a sixth feature – APNU/AFC colour

SEE INSIDE

Incompetent gov’t failing to use available fiscal space to lower fuel prices – Jagdeo PAGE 2

Massive traffic backup as bus drivers strike in protest of rising gas prices PAGE 3 APNU+AFC PAGE 7 gov’t will get more repressive as they face reality of their failures – Jagdeo

The marijuana issue – will AFC be able to stand up against Granger and APNU? PAGE 11

2

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Incompetent gov’t failing to use available fiscal space to lower fuel prices – Jagdeo T

he Coalition Government has the fiscal space to make the adjustment with the tax regime to allow a reduction of gas prices for local consumers, but it remains tone deaf to big issues, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

At a news conference today (May 31, 2018), Jagdeo said, “The government has lived up to all expectations.

We have seen the usual acts of incompetence in the past several days, which has come

to characterise this government and the focus on frivolous things. It demonstrates to the people to this country that the longer they stay in office, the more harm they will do to our country and economy. They have been tone deaf on the big issues.

“The major burning issues it the increasing cost of living; some of it because of difficulty in the economy, but a lot of it because of government policies…the recent one is the gas price.

In the past we had a system where we adjust the taxes based on the movement of global prices.”

Jagdeo pointed out that the prices for crude oil stand at about US$75 per barrel, lower that the US$120 high before the rapid tumble a few years ago to about US$28.

He said, “We had argued that with the rapid tumble, the benefits should have been passed on to the Guyanese public, who would have seen lower prices at the pump

and in their electricity bill.

They never did that. And what happened was that they raked in billions in revenue; they collected over $25B at GPL alone.

“Now the crude prices have gone up to about US$75 a barrel. It hasn’t reached US$120, so they do have room to make significant adjustments. They will not do so because the sole purpose of this government is to collect revenue; to collect as they much from people. If

you lower the price at GuyOil and the other companies will have to follow. GuyOil was used in a regulatory sense.”

Acknowledging the reports of protest actions by minibus and other transport service providers, Jagdeo stated that this is a response to the incompetence of the Coalition Government.

“What we are seeing with the manifestation of protests is because of the incompetence of the government and their

desire to rake in as much as they can – and then waste it, not to see how they will temper cost of living,” he said, noting that the matter is being made worse with the costs associated with the recent fees imposed on minibus and hire car drives, as well as the ban on used tyres.

He questioned what will occur if the prices of crude oil go past US$75, given that fuel prices at local service stations range between GYD$230 and GYD$250.

Composition of Total Debt 2000

65%

1800

OUR ECONOMY IN FOCUS

55%

1600 1400

379

395

1200

451

427

438

35%

1000

25%

800 600

1216

1143

1304

1234

1162

400

15% 5%

200 0

Episode One: DEBT

45%

• If Government goes ahead with US$900M loan from IsDB:  Debt-to-GDP ratio will increase by 26.1% to 73% (above CEPAL debt sustainable threshold of 60%);

-5%

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

External Debt

Domestic Debt

Debt-to-GDP

Threshold (CEPAL)

 Debt-to-Export will increase from 121% to 186%;  Debt-to-Revenue will increase from 183% to 282%;  Debt-per-Capita will increase from US$2,340 to US$3611.

Key Observations: Government is about to borrow more than its natural ability to repay (more debt, less income).

Debt situation in Guyana is soon to be considered as unsustainable

Impact of High Debt on Reserves

Burgeoning Debt 100%

140%

131%

120% 100% 80% 60%

44%

40% 20%

12%

0%

2014

2015

Total Debt

2016

Projection

2017

2018

Growth in GDP

Key Observations:

• Growth in total debt continues, naturally, to outpace GDP; • Total debt is projected to increase by 131% if Government agrees to use up US$900M from IsDB. • Interesting Stats:  Budget deficit increased from $9.3B in 2015, to $43B in 2018 (projected) or 362%.  Domestic borrowing increased from $11.3B in 2013 to $34B in 2018 (projected) or 200%.

Debt is increasing monotonically with respect to GDP when compared to 2014 (base year)

When compared to 2014:

50% 0% -50%

2014

2015

2016

2017

-6% -21%

2018

-92%

-100% -150%

• Gold reserve contracted by more than 92% or GYD$23.1B; • Government deposits in central bank fell by 306% or $65.4B;

-200% -250% -300%

-306%

-350%

Gold Reserva (BoG)

Government Deposits (BoG)

International Foreign Reserve (US$)

Market Securities (BoG)

• International Foreign Reserve fell by 21% or USD$134M.

Key Observations: The Banking system may be heading towards insolvency

Guyana may well be on tract towards Debt Unsustainability

There is a high probability of an exchange rate deprecation due to shrinking foreign exchange

Impact of High Debt on Domestic Credit 270% 245%

220% 170% 120%

• During similar period, credit to private sector increased by a miniscule 8%.

70% 20% -30%

• As of March 2018, credit to central government has increased by 245% when compared to 2014;

8%

2014

2015

Central Governamnt

2016

2017

2018

Domestic Credit to Private Sector

Key Observations: Government continues to outstrip private sector for much needed credit (crowd-out private investment); Give the present trajectory, interest rate is likely to increase in the near future.

Conclusion Given the high level of debt, the following may likely occur: • Fiscal Consolidation: Austerity measures in the long-run might be the only plausible solution to reduce burgeoning debt. Social programmes such as education, health, security etc. are likely to see huge cuts in allocation.

• High Inflation: With a highly probably exchange rates depreciation oscillating in the horizon, cost of imports will likely increase.

In the long-run Guyana could be hit by three independent shocks: • Sovereign Debt Crisis: the rise in unsustainable debt could trigger concerns of default risk by the Guyana government.

• Banking Crisis: Because of the continuous loss in assets value (gold, foreign reserve, market securities etc.) liquidity in the banking sector will be placed in doubt.

• Sudden Stop: The economy will eventually come to a halt, due to unwillingness of foreign investors to lend Guyana as a whole.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

My View W e recently celebrated our independence anniversary. At the flag raising ceremony at Durban Park this regime once more showed the direction it is taking our country. It is most disturbing and very, very dangerous.

The Guyana flag had the PNC/APNU colour attached to it. This is taking us back to the period when the PNC flag flew above the Guyana Flag in the compound of the Court of Appeal. It also flew in like manner in the compound of many Ministries.

It was a declaration that the party was above the state. In the words of Burnham, the state was just the executive arm of the Party.

This regime has not made that announcement as yet, but its actions tell the same story. They reflect a mentality, a philosophy and a world outlook, that is detrimental to the welfare of all the peo-

Very dangerous and ominous signs

By Donald Ramotar Former President

ple of Guyana.

The alarming aspect of this latest episode is that it is not an action in isolation.

It follows a series of earlier events all designed to establish a dictatorship.

As everyone knows, by itself, an army is not a democratic institution. It is not based on consultations, etc.

It is command style, give and take orders. This is its training.

This group that wields power in Guyana includes trained officers, accustomed to give orders. The main decision-makers in this group are the people who grew up in the period of Burnham’s domination. They have always longed for a return of the Burnham days when they ran the country as their personal property.

We have pointed out before that the racial and political discrimination that is taking place is reminiscent

of the PNC days of 1964 to 1992. This is reflected in the mass dismissal of Indian Guyanese from the public service.

The only difference is that while, for Burnham, much of that may have been tactical, for this group, which lacks Burnham’s sophistication, it is strategic. They are doing nothing to hide their prejudice. In fact, some of their actions can be interpreted as actually an encouragement to their minions to discriminate.

We see that Minister Scott was not even scolded for his outburst against the Amerindians. The Minister of Education remarks on the Indian Community also went without any reprimand.

The President himself, just brushed aside as trivial the open racist statement of one of his close employee attached to the media.

In terms of action, we see the regime using the state apparatus as an instrument of oppression against the political opposition. The SOCU and SARA are not performing any useful functions.

SOCU seems to have lost its focus and its main purpose has become a tool of PNC/

APNU to attack the PPP/ Civic. The charges and putting in chains of Ashni Singh and Winston Brassington were the most extreme so far.

If he regime was serious about fighting corruption as they claim they would have supported the motion by the PPP General Secretary to mandate all Members of Parliament over the last ten years to declare their assets, local and overseas with compulsory jail sentences for anyone who fail to do so.

If they really believe that the PPP/C officials were corrupt they would jumped on that. The fact that they have not shows that they are defending and hiding their own corruption, while persecuting the PPP/C for perceived wrong doings.

Almost all the deals that they have made since taking power in a questionable elections, cannot stand scrutiny.

The house, rented for a bond for twelve million dollars ($12M) per month is a rape on our treasury. The acquiring of more than half of a billion dollars in drugs without public tender is another.

The unaccountability for hundreds of millions at the Durban Park, coupled with

conflict of interests is terrible abuse to put it mildly.

There are many others, including the airport project that would put many who are in government today in jail.

These are some of the reasons that they jettisoned the motion by the PPP/Civic.

They cannot fight corruption. For this group, which I have described as the bureaucratic capitalist class, corruption is a way of life.

They do not have the will to fight it. They are afraid that doing so would put the whole regime in danger of a collapse.

Another serious consequence of this kind of government is the rise in crime.

Criminals have become bolder and flagrant. In some cases they seem to feel that they are untouchable.

Clearly, too, the police seem to be reluctant to deal with the bandits. In their minds is the fear of reprisals from the regime. They must be thinking of the many attacks they received from the PNC/APNU when it was in the opposition. At that time their support for the criminals was open.

They are seeing right now the attempt of he regime

to frame the army and police in this farcical Lindo Creek Inquiry. They are conscious of how such things are used against them as they are, no doubt, aware of what happened to Seelall Persaud and Wendell Blanum.

We are also seeing the constant attack on the judiciary by the Attorney-General. It is obvious that the pressure on the judges, magistrates and the Director of Public Prosecution office is having some negative impact.

This is reflected in frivolous charges being made, the high bail and illegal handcuffing of former public officials. It appears that some of those officers are succumbing to the pressure.

The Parliament is already captured. It is hardly meeting. When it does opposition members are curtailed and prevented from speaking.

Bishop Edghill had some harrowing experiences in that institution.

The latest act of pinning the PNC/APNU colours on our most important national symbol is one more expression of the disaster that has befallen us and the worst that is yet to come.

Independence Massive traffic backup as Day murder bus drivers strike in protest accused remanded A of rising gas prices

T

here is major confusion on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) at the moment as scores of persons have begun protesting the rising cost of gas in Guyana.

Citizens’ Report understands that vehicular traffic has backed up as the road is blocked off.

Tyres are said to be burning as minibus drivers strike.

Police are on the scene.

Citizens’ Report will provide more details as it becomes available.

35-year-old man was arraigned for murder at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Zamina Seepaul-Ally.

Rawle Munroe, of Two Friends, Ann’s Grove, East Bank Demerara was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on Independence Day (May 26), he murdered 23-year-old Edward Bevaney at Beterverwagting (BV), East Coast Demerara (ECD).

The accused was remanded to prison and is expected to return to court on June 26, 2018.

It was previously reported that Munroe and Bevaney of Ogle Street, Triumph, ECD, used to work together in the interior several years ago but parted ways over a sour business deal.

The two reportedly crossed each other’s

paths when Munroe visited a shop in BV at about 08:00hrs on Saturday last and left his bicycle unattended.

When the accused reportedly returned, he observed that his bicycle was missing and as such, began to make inquiries.

It was then that he was informed that the now deceased man had taken it.

A confrontation subsequently ensued between the two men, with Bevaney reportedly being armed with a cutlass and a knife.

Investigators at the scene of the crime were told that during the conf r o n t a t i o n B e v a n e y a llegedly chopped Munroe on his left hand.

In retaliation, the accused then whipped out a sharp object from his waist and allegedly dealt the 23-year-old miner several stabs about his body.

4

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

EDITORIAL

The Paramountcy Cultural intolerance is unacceptable and cycle continues

T

he desecration of the Golden Arrowhead by adding a new feature, making it six colours, is yet another symbolic episode of an evolving trend that suggests that the doctrine of “Paramouncy of the Party”, adumbrated and implemented by the late President Forbes Burnham, is an intrinsic part of the belief system within the PNC, the dominant political component within the APNU/AFC coalition.

Guyanese were painfully reminded of this vicious one-party dictatorship that ruled post independence Guyana when the colour “Green”, used to depict APNU/AFC coalition, was used to repaint government buildings such as the Office of the Presidency and State House.

Guyanese are reminded of the hoisting of the PNC flag at the Supreme Court which symbolized the Burnham government’s total control over Guyana, including the judiciary.

Many would recall the days when the Office of the General Secretary of the PNC was made part of a government ministry and all the bills were paid from the treasury.

Today we have this government giving out items like busses and bicycles and painting them in the colours of the ruling coalition.

The same mentality persists.

And there are some many other acts by this government that show clearly that the intention is to bring back those stifling conditions that Guyanese experienced under the more than two decades of PNC rule.

The same way the PNC handled the economy, the same way the APNU/AFC is handling the country’s affairs. They use the public purse as their private property and indulge in wasteful spending, heavy borrowing from international institutions, miniaturizing the private sector, bloating the public sector, heavy spending on travels, the security sector and foreign missions.

Paramountcy resulted in the country becoming the poorest in the Caribbean, unparalleled human rights abuses, political and racial discrimination, political repression and economic bankruptcy.

The result was mass migration, mass poverty, mass unemployment and an overall decline in social services.

Many still do recall when getting foodstuff in Guyana, amidst shortages, one had to get a PNC party card.

And the corruption that accompanied these policies was unimaginable.

The younger generations will not notice the similarities between the PNC days and what is playing out these days. They are, however, experiencing some of what has happened in the past. Many are now realizing that some of their present day experiences under this government, are things that happened under the PNC. Further many young Guyanese are realizing that those problems created by the PNC in those days, are underlying causes of many present day difficulties faced by the nation.

The level of un-accountability in relation to use of the consolidated fund is alarming. Tens of billions have already been wasted while services to the people are declining rapidly.

Except for a few infrastructure works being carried out, many of them started under the PPP/C government, very little is going on, especially outside of Georgetown.

From their own admission, the economy is faltering.

Revenues are behind expenditure – a trade mark of the PNC regime. They standard response is another predictable trade mark – borrow more. And so a pattern has emerged that this vicious cycle will engulf Guyana and the prospects of future oil revenues may not be able to bail the country out of the mess.

Guyanese should take warning less they are confronted with an even more difficult situation than under Burnham.

counterproductive to social cohesion Dear Editor,

I

n his speech to the nation to commemorate Guyana’s 52nd Anniversary of Independence, President Granger urged greater protection of the nation’s children and said, ““we need to bequeath to them, much more than we inherited from our own parents”. I’m sure the historian in him was not only referring to property and wealth, but also to moral values: ethics; integrity; and tolerance for someone else’s religion, ethnicity and culture. Guyana is a country blessed with rich diversity. But all too often some in authority use their position to discriminate against others.

On Independence Day, an article in the Stabroek News confirmed a story of a student of Mae’s School that gained wide coverage in the social media the day before.

In the words of the student’s mother, Karen Small, “A letter came home from my son’s school requesting that he dress in an ethnic wear today. I decided to dress him like an Amerindian and he was so happy when he left the house as he was taught mostly by his father to be proud of his appearance and culture. Once he got to school, he was greeted by the security guard who told him he had to put on a top because he was inappropriately dress this was also supported by some of the teachers, who said it was inappropriate to bring him to school like that. All this is unfolding in front of him, which of course brought him to tears and later on went on to say he hated the way he looks. So its okay to dress like the other race but inappropriate to dress like Amerindian?”

According to the Stabroek News article, the mother put a shirt on her son and left him at school for the day.

But despite this, he was mocked and laughed at.

Editor, on October 18, 2013, Stabroek News published a photograph of students cerebrating Culture Day at Stella Maris Primary School. A cute little boy in that photo was shirtless and dressed like his African ancestors.

On August 1, 2017 the Guyana Chronicle carried an article captioned “Rich Guyanese culture celebrated on Emancipation Day”. The article was accompanied by a photograph of youths dancing shirtless in celebration of the 179th Anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

There are many similar photographs online with similar themes.

The persons in these photographs were all appropriately dressed for they represented the cultural diversity that defines us as Guyanese.

What was done to the little boy from Mae’s School is a violation of at least two Articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

These are: Article 3 (Best interests of the child): “The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children.” and Article 30 (Children of minorities/ indigenous groups): Minority or indigenous children have the right to learn about and practice their own culture, language and religion. The right to practice one’s own culture, language and religion applies to everyone; the Convention here highlights this right in instances where the practices are not shared by the majority of people in the country.

Despite the school’s explanation, the child was appropriately dressed in traditional indigenous attire in cerebration of

his culture, an event that the school participated in. Had he turned up for school dressed like that on a regular school day that would have been inappropriate and unacceptable. Mae’s cannot apply the school’s dress code on Culture Day or even Halloween (if participation is encouraged by the school) now that Guyanese have adopted yet another American culture. Cultural intolerance is unacceptable, and counterproductive to social cohesion. If the Ministry of Education fails to address this unfortunate incident, it may well affect future participation of our children to cultural events.

This incident should never have happened, but it once again demonstrates the lack of respect that is given to out First People, the Indigenous People of Guyana. Clearly, this would not have happened if the child was of African descent sporting a similar attire. For I have no doubt that the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) would have turned up at Mae’s with placards, urging its members to pull their children from the school.

Karen Small and her son have been traumatised by the cynical actions of these teachers. She finds it hypocritical, “This is just wrong. You might as well tell them to wear culture wear except for those from the Amerindians.”

Who knows what devastating effect this will have on this child’s performance in school and his relationship with his classmates. The head teacher and the staff of Mae’s School owe Karen Small and her nine-year old son a public apology. And in the interest of social cohesion, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs should demand that this be done.

and calculated way, done by the British Government to give the then opposition parties an electoral advantage, all in an attempt to remove the PPP from government in the 1964 elections. It is no secret that Britain, under pressure from the United States, was reluctant to grant independence to the colony under a PPP government, mainly out of ideological and geo-political considerations.

Realizing that the PPP's parliamentary strength under the constituency method was much greater than its popular strength, an obvious way to defeat the PPP was to introduce Proportional Representation. In the 1961 elections, for instance, the PPP obtained 57% of the parliamentary seats with 46% of the total votes. The result of that electoral engineering was the formation of a

PNC-UF coalition government in 1964 despite the fact that the PPP won a plurality of the votes by a wide margin.

As the Barbados results showed, it is possible to win 100% of the parliamentary seats with under 50% of the total votes, depending on the number of constituency candidates and the manner in which the vote is configured.

The above notwithstanding, Prime Minister Mia Mottley must be congratulated for having won a landslide victory and for having joined that esteemed group of female Heads of State which included our own Janet Jagan, Kamla Persad Biscessar of Trinidad and Tobago, Portia Simsom Miller of Jamaica and Eugenia Charles of Dominica.

HARRY GILL, PPP/C Member of Parliament

Congrats to new B’dos Leader Dear Editor,

T

he complete elimination of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) by the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) showed the downside of constituency politics which was handed down to us from our mother country, Great Britain.

And while there are clear advantages of constituency politics, especially from the standpoint of accountable and stable governance, there are also some disadvantages such as significant levels of political alienation and exclusion from the decision-making processes.

Guyana is one of the few countries in the Anglophone Caribbean that moved away from constituency politics to a system of proportional representation (PR). This was, in a deliberate

Hydar Ally

5

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

A re-evaluation of the communist label of Cheddi Jagan is needed Dear Editor,

his lifetime, Dr Cheddi Jagan was GAWU will continue to take principled During skewered, humiliated, and removed from in 1953 and again in 1964 after approaches in the interest of workers government being labelled a “communist”. More recently,

- A response to Dr. David Hinds Dear Editor,

T

he GAWU has seen Dr David Hinds’ response to our letter which appeared in the Stabroek News under the title “Why can’t GAWU acknowledge that this gov’t took the brave decision to confront the sugar problem?”; in the Kaieteur News with the title “Guyana has far to go for ethnic, political reconciliation”; and in the Guyana Times entitled “Guyana’s greatest enemies are its zero-sum politics, political culture”.

Dr Hinds starts off by accusing our Union of ignoring his critical views regarding the implementation of the Administration’s plans for the sugar industry. On this score, we urge Dr Hinds to carefully re-read our letter as we did note his decrying of the Government’s failure to communicate its approach on sugar.

The political scientist then goes on to say that the Government established a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) which, in his words, was required to “investigate the problem” in the sugar industry. Here, we urge Dr Hinds to look at the Commission’s report, if he hasn’t read it as yet. There he would see, without ambiguity, that the Commission which comprised gentlemen chosen by the Government – with the exception of the GAWU representative – saying that the Coalition should not close estates. There he would see the Commissioners advising the Government that there was a possibility of overcoming the difficulties by pursuing sugar diversification. There he would see that the Commission telling the Government not to pursue non-sugar diversification on sugar lands. There he would learn that there is light at the end of the tunnel once the correct approach is adopted. Those and several other important recommendations were ignored by the Government. It seems, from all appearances, that the Administration was not pleased by the results of the Commission’s investigation. Maybe it didn’t have the narrative it sought.

Then the Government, even before the Commission’s report had time to gather dust, did the unthinkable and announced in January, 2016 that it would close Wales Estate.

That closure put at direct risk the employment of 1,700 sugar workers and hundreds of cane farmers, and, indirectly, upset the lives of thousands of Guyanese resident along the West Bank of Demerara. At that time, the Government said it would pursue non-sugar diversification at Wales despite the realities of past failure and the recommendations of the Sugar CoI. To date, those initiatives have failed to come off the launching pad, save and except for a seed paddy experiment which had most disastrous results.

One, quite logically, thought the Administration would have had its fingers burnt with the Wales fiasco. But again they defied the odds when on December 31, 2016 the Government announced it would close East Demerara and Rose Hall Estates and divest Skeldon Estate. This policy, we may add has not on to this time, benefitted from any study to determine the ramifications. At the end of it all, the workers of Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara Estates have been put on the breadline. Even the statutory redundancy payments were bungled by the Administration which despite having months

of advanced warning simply didn’t cater to make the payments.

The WPA Executive goes on to say that “…the government has pumped billions of dollars’ worth of subsidy in the industry…”.

But what impact did it have? Sugar production, using round numbers, declined from 231,000 tonnes sugar in 2015 to 137,000 tonnes in 2017, a mammoth 40 per cent drop.

Workers earnings fell by 15 per cent in the same period. Wages have been frozen at 2014 levels. The Annual Production Incentive, which dates back to colonial days, went to zero. Debt, which we have previously shared our concerns, has largely remained the same.

But, at the same time, between 2015 and 2017, monies going to top management rose astronomically. All of this happened when the Administration, again using Dr Hinds’ words, “…took the brave decision to confront the sugar problem…”. Regarding the recently announced $30B financing package, we wish to advise Dr Hinds that those monies are intended to be utilized on the operational GuySuCo estates and not the “…upgrading of the closed estates…” as the good doctor posits.

Dr Hinds then says that “…the government’s action on the sugar industry is the closest it has come to a clear policy on anything”. If this is indeed the case, then may the Good Lord help the Guyanese people! The press is filled with reports of the confusion and clear indecision the Administration has had regarding sugar. Just in recent weeks, we saw the Agriculture Minister disowning the industry then suddenly resuming responsibility. The story of the confusion surrounding the appointment with the Board of Directors could probably provide substantial material for a book. And also we have seen the discord playing out in the media between the SPU and the GuySuCo. We are then told that our views are driven by factors outside of compassion for the sugar workers. This is completely baseless and certainly not factual. We have demonstrated time and again our sincere concern about the well-being and welfare of sugar workers. Certainly, we have used every avenue to advance their cause and plight. We have put to the Government workable solutions to safeguard the sugar industry which the Administration has not responded to thus far. Incidentally, some of these, we understand, will be pursued using the $30B financing secured. Clearly, from all appearances, we were on the right track.

We have also not failed to attend any engagement the Government, the GuySuCo, or even the SPU have sought to invite us to. We have gone as far as meeting with President David Granger. If our intent, as Dr Hinds put it, was the “…demonization of the Government” wouldn’t our approach been different?

But, at the same time, the Union cannot fail to call a spade a spade and put on record our serious concerns regarding the Administration’s approach to sugar and other matters of national life and our people’s well-being.

We hope to continue in taking principled approaches and positions in our members’ interests and well-being and advocate proposals helpful, as we see it, to the industry.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary GAWU

in his article captioned, Cheddi Jagan, Communism and the African Guyanese (Stabroek News, March 22, 2018), Professor Clem Seecharan writes “… Having graduated in dentistry in the United States, he (Cheddi Jagan) and his Chicago-born wife, Janet Rosenberg (1929-2009), settled in British Guiana in 1943… They were both communists…”

The brief bio-sketch preceding the article notes “He (Professor Seecharan) is working on a book on Cheddi Jagan and the Cold War to be published by Ian Randle Publishers”.

One may ask, why another book on Cheddi Jagan? After all, his life and times have been documented in numerous articles and several books, including Stephen Rabe’s U.S. Intervention in British Guiana: A Cold War Story, and Colin Palmer’s Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power: British Guiana’s Struggle for Independence.

Why not a book on the life and times of Forbes Burnham? And why was Mr Burnham never labelled a “communist”? He was the one who recognized and supported the communist USSR, China and Cuba with exchange of ambassadors; welcomed the US arch-enemy, Fidel Castro, into the country; made the economy almost totally state controlled; and proceeded to de-emphasize Christmas. Yes, Jagan did support some of these initiatives, but he was not the initiator, and Burnham remained in power while the Cold War still raged.

In labeling Cheddi Jagan as “communist”, Professor Seecharan may be relying on Dr Jagan’s qualified answer to a question from his long-time nemesis and prominent lawyer, Lionel Luckhoo, at the Wynn Parry Commission hearing into the disturbances of February 1962. Jagan was badgered by Luckhoo into giving an answer, and what is often missing, in restating Jagan’s admission to being a “communist”, is (Jagan’s) his definition of communism and commentary. Incidentally, Jagan’s definition of the communism he believed in, has its origin in the Biblical Book of Acts 4:32-35. Also, it was the basis of the Liberation Theology preached by many Latin American Catholic Bishops in the 1970s who were protesting against the poverty in their countries.

Of the heated exchange between Luckhoo and Jagan at the hearing, in a July 3, 1962 letter by Sir Ralph Grey, then British Governor, to the Colonial Office, regarding a dinner-party he hosted for a visiting US State Department Official for Caribbean Affairs, Governor Grey writes “…Lionel Luckhoo was there and I purposely teased him a little about his cross-examination of Jagan before the Commission and said that while it might have been a forensic triumph it did not seem to have any particular purpose, that it had wrung out of Jagan admissions that would be widely publicised in their simple form but that were in fact much hedged about with qualifications, etc., and that this would do the country no good abroad…” US declassified documents have now proved the accuracy of the Governor’s view about “doing the country no good abroad”. It gave the US the rationale for covert action in the country which not only led to the ultimate removal of Jagan from government, but also to the racial polarization which haunts the country to this day.

With the availability now of official documents previously kept secret by the British and the US governments, a re-evaluation of the communist label of Cheddi Jagan is needed. In a February 12, 2007 article captioned, The ‘coup’ in British Guiana, 1963, Mark

Curtis, historian and former Research Fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, writes “The US files vary between describing Jagan’s PPP programme as ‘communist’ and ‘nationalist’… The British believed, according to the US files, that ‘Jagan is not a communist’ but ‘a naïve, London School of Economics Marxist filled with charm, personal honesty and juvenile nationalism’…

Therefore, the threat posed by Jagan’s PPP was essentially a radical nationalist one, replicated on numerous occasions throughout the postwar era, but invariably described as ‘communist’ for public relations, as in the 1953 overthrow.”

Earlier, in 1990, Victor Navasky, in an article, Schlesinger & the Nation, Remembering an eminent activist historian whose passing has left the public sphere much poorer, states that at a luncheon hosted by the Nation magazine, Arthur Schlesinger Jr, Harvard’s history professor and key member of President Kennedy’s staff who had plotted against Cheddi Jagan, apologized to Jagan for what he called “a great injustice” he and his Kennedy colleagues had helped to perpetrate. Subsequently, in a 1994 article, A Kennedy-CIA Plot Returns to Haunt Clinton, Tim Weiner states that Schlesinger “acknowledges” that his account of the Kennedy-Jagan meeting of 1961 as documented in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Thousand Days, “is incomplete” and the history should be revised. Further he quotes Schlesinger as saying “We misunderstood the whole struggle… He (Jagan) wasn’t a Communist. The British thought we were overreacting and indeed we were. The CIA decided this was some great menace, and they got the bit between their teeth. But even if British Guiana had gone communist, it’s hard to see how it would be a threat… The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.”

Professor Seecharan also writes “Jagan’s ideological inflexibility and his limitations of statesmanship (particularly during his meeting with President Kennedy in the White House on 25 October, 1961), eventuated in the American saddling Guyana with the increasingly dictatorial regime of Forbes Burnham, from 1964 to his death in 1985”. This is the account (which is now accepted as fact) that was stated by Schlesinger in A Thousand Days, an account he “acknowledges” to Tim Weiner that “is incomplete” and should be revised. The released documents show that the US was pressuring the UK to prevent Jagan from winning the elections held on August 21, 1961 as can be seen in this extract from a telegram dated August 11, 1961 (i.e. just ten days before the elections) from the US Secretary of State to the British Foreign Secretary: “… we do believe that Jagan and his American wife are very far to the left indeed and that his accession to power in British Guiana would be a most troublesome setback in this Hemisphere. Would you be willing to have this looked into urgently to see whether there is anything which you or we can do to forestall such an eventuality?”

The October 21 meeting was thus a “cover” for public relations purposes for what was to follow later, i.e. covert action resulting in the removal of Jagan from office and preventing him from leading the country into independence. Professor Seecharan should not be gullible now that the relevant documents are in the public domain.

With his planned new book on Cheddi Jagan, one hopes that Professor Seecharan will fulfill the duty to history by rewriting it, as suggested by a repentant Arthur Schlesinger Jr, a former History Professor at Harvard and plotter against Cheddi Jagan, who conceded “He (Jagan) wasn’t a communist”.

Yours faithfully, Harry Hergash

6

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Disrespect to Amerindians Dear Editor,

Putting up a front this 52nd Independence Anniversary Dear Editor,

T

he PNC-led Coalition pulled off yet another political stunt rather than a celebratory event this 52nd Independence Anniversary of our country. I say this in review of the pathetic show foisted on the people at Durban Park. They have rented the schoolchildren (Typical PNC Style Propaganda Machinery) from all across the country to populate the stands to hear the most depressing of speeches in a long time. Well, if you should take The President's speech in its truest sense the children were not the ones catered for in that address. His talk was mainly for the adults and those at home. The kids in their chatter could care less of what he was saying. They were more interested in the fun ride that was afforded them if anything else. So, Mr Granger's address was simply "talk" that was over their heads.

Right from the very start of the ceremony, that is, the salute and inspection of the guard, showed that empty void of pomp and pageantry that usually greets you at these events, with the President in most somber of appearance and looking the epitome of a man who lacks the confidence of being a leader. Even when he was invited to inspect the guard of honour Mr Granger was literally running ahead of the ceremonial officer, never stopping for one moment to smile or acknowledge the presence of a single officer assembled there; he showed no stately confidence, no suavity, no finesse.

The common formalities that important dignitaries show on such important events were woefully lacking. He looked lost, confused and bewildered.

The President's show of nervousness may have been symptomatic of his address that came after in which he gave himself away in all that he said. His was a prepared speech full of political innuendos and nothingness in that he contradicted himself throughout the address. Whether by accident or design he completely forgot his campaign promises, chief of which was the ushering in of the

"good life" soon after taking office. That promise we now know was a farce, seeing the good life is not an achievable good for the present generation, but something in the far distant future. Yes, we heard him, loud and clear a "future good life" and not a present one. When will we get there and when will they get it right, only heaven knows, so, we can only conclude that our president is really, really amnesiac.

Of course, this is the newest "pie in the sky" campaign type rhetoric coming from a president three fifths into his rule. Very interesting gaff if anyone should read into his nonsense. But if I was The President I would be honest with the people, level with them and tell them the truth that my government never really had anything to offer them, it was all about themselves, it was all about getting into power and settling in to the "good life for us," and not for the masses out there. The People of this country recognizing that fact are now disillusioned and lost. With no hope in sight they act as doomed individuals destined to a world of hopelessness.

So the supposed additional bacchanal of this Independence anniversary being a "carnival" event that too was a damper as the people saw this as another ploy to divert attention from the present sad situation that has enveloped this nation. That Burnhamite strategy resurrected

by Granger, is a sure way in keeping the nation in a stupor. Dance away your worries, dance your stresses and your distresses away. But even that was low-keyed because there is nothing to party about because most of us lack the means with which to party. Where are the means to do so? With over 25,000 persons out of a job and others not sure of the one that they now hold, the situation is terribly dreadful!

To sum it up in these simple words it was an "abysmal performance by The Granger Regime," typical of dictators when their time in office is coming to an end.

Respectfully Submitted Neil Adams

Stop pussy-footing around with the sugar industry Dear Editor,

I

refer to Mr EB John’s letter: “Fundamentally counterproductive interventions on GuySuCo” in a section of the media.

One cannot gainsay the excellent points made by Mr John about the deep psychosocial role and impact of GuySuCo and the sugar industry on the lives of Guyanese who work and live on the sugar estates. As someone whose roots are firmly planted in this nodal industry, I also feel a deep sense of hurt and disappointment at the virtual ruination taking place in the sugar industry.

However, I do not believe that any amount of sentimentality will return the industry to

its halcyonic days. Those days belong to an era when the industry was under private ownership or management by an ‘independent’ management ‘contractor’.

So, as long as the Government continues to ‘pussy-foot’ with its control of the industry, the decline will continue; to me there can be no better solution but to return to the ‘status quo ante’, ie, to accept the recommendations of its own Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the industry to completely privatise it or appoint an effective, independent management team to run it.

Sincerely, Nowrang Persaud

I

t is with great disgust and anger that I have decided to pen this letter in relation to an article that was published in your daily newspaper, dated Saturday, May 26, 2018 under the theme “Student prohibited from participating in culture day.’’

Editor, as an Amerindian by birth and a proud Amerindian, I must say that I am totally angry and sad with tears in my eyes whiles reading this article which depicts a total disrespect and a slap to the face by the administration and staff of the Mae’s Schools to the Amerindian peoples of Guyana.

Editor, I have participated in numerous Amerindian activities organised by my village and even went on to showcase my culture by being a part of the opening of the annual Amerindian Heritage Month in reciting a poem titled ‘Proud Amerindian Man’ in the year 2008 and was decked out in a costume similar to that which the student wore which was considered inappropriate by Mae’s Schools.

Amerindian People are a unique ethnic group which has a wide range of traditional Indigenous wear that we showcase as a way of preserving our culture. If the Mae’s Schools had known the history of the Amerindian People, which they have shown that they do not, they could have known that our earlier ancestors used to wear laps and were

decked out in different designs of tibisiri skirts, shirts, and tops which showcases the Amerindian culture, so nothing was wrong or inappropriate with the costume worn by that student.

Editor, I must say that if I am not mistaken, the other students may have decked out themselves that day with outfits that showcases the cultures of the different ethnic groups and deemed appropriate but this child because it’s an outfit by Amerindians, it is inappropriate which only showcases the lackadaisical and racist attitude of the administration of the Mae’s Schools.

I do hope that the Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry looks into the story of this child which was made a laughing stock of the Mae’s Schools; I known for sure this will affect the self-esteem of that student, me myself would have felt bad if I were in that situation.

I would not stand by and watch my culture and ethnic group being disregarded by members of society because I know Amerindian people have contributed significantly to the development of this nation and a typical example that is common is the name of our country (Guyana) which is an Amerindian word of the Arawak tribe which means ‘land of many waters’.

Regards, Robin Joseph Waramuri Mission

Is this a case of victimisation?

Dear Editor,

D

uring the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) term in power, I’ve penned numerous letters pleading for help to combat school dropouts, and the increase in drug usage and crime that is plaguing the village of Zeelugt.

Quite early after the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change acceded to power, I penned letters asking them to consider starting some sort of pilot project but apparently no one took notice. I should mention that the village is pre-dominantly inhabited by East Indian Guyanese.

On Tuesday, March 29, 2018, my sister who operates a pre-school/play school informed me that a “Ms Grey” visited the play school with a group of people claiming they were from the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and instructed her to shut the school down. According to “Ms Grey”, even though there is a toilet outside of the building, my sister was told she has to build one in the school because it is unsanitary for the children and the occupants of the house to use same toilet, even though

the house has its own toilet on the upper flat. The drains around the environs have been clogged for quite a while now – compliments of the same NDC – and because of the blockage, water cannot recede fast enough from the drain in the yard.

This was an issue for the NDC representatives. When the source of the problem was pointed out, they informed my sister that on Saturday, the drain around the area will be cleaned. In the yard, there is a ‘Christmas’ tree and it is one of the tallest trees of that type in the village and many places I’ve visited. They instructed her to cut the tree even though it poses no threat or has any sign of deterioration.

A gutter is not attached to the building and that is another problem that has to be addressed before the school could be reopened, along with my sister having to get a good handlers certificate.

Now, with a fairly new Government that barely acceded to power based on promises to youths that they have not begun to address, I would have been pleased to know that instead of immediately closing the school down, they could have pointed out the faults, provide

guidance and give her a time frome within which to rectify the faults.

Instead, under this Administration, we are witnessing people’s jobs being taken away, unemployment increasing and frustration building.

So, my question is this: is this a case of victimisation because they are in cohort with someone who operates a similar business or are they just out to create hardship for young people who are trying to make an honest living?

Go around the corner and you will see a mechanic’s waste oil in the drains and papers which are damaging the environs. But the NDC is not going there. There are many children liming and not going to school but the welfare officers are not going to investigating that.

I have visited the Child Protection Agency’s office at Pouderoyen and made communication with the head office but they never investigated complaints made. But someone who is trying to do something decent for herself and assist the community, they find fault.

Sincerely, Sahadeo Bates

7

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Irfaan Ali MP calls on Government to take immediate steps to reduce high fuel prices

P

PP Member of Parliament, Irfaan Ali has called on the government to take immediate measures to protect the consumers and industry as gas prices are increasing at petrol stations.

Below is a statement issued by the MP: I note the significant increase in fuel prices at the fuel stations where at the state owned GuyOil service stations the price for gasoline has leaped from $200 per litre less than a month ago to $230 per litre.

Diesel is now being retailed at GuyOil for $214 per litre while kerosene is $145 per litre. Meanwhile at the Shell Gas Stations, the price for gasoline is $247 while diesel is a whopping $233.

At Rubis, gasoline is $236 while diesel is $226.

When the PPP was in Government, we had con-

stantly adjusted the tax regime to cushion the effect of fluctuation in fuel prices in the international market so that all Guyanese were protected from increases in their expenditure. However, it seems that the current APNU+AFC regime is deaf to the cries of the population and are bent of driving Guyana’s economy to the ground. It is well established that any increases in the price for fuel – gasoline or diesel – would translate in increases in costs of production for manufacturers, increase in expenditure for transportation operators and drivers. Ultimately, these increases are passed on to the consumers who are already burdened with increases in more than 200 license fees and taxes.

I call on the APNU+AFC Government to take immediate steps to

reduce the cost of gasoline, diesel and kerosene so that Guyanese would not have to bear the brunt of the price increases. We urge the Government to utilize the formula, which the PPP Administration had used to reduce the taxes in order to protect consumers across the country from high fuel prices.

APNU+AFC gov’t will get more repressive as they face reality of their failures – Jagdeo

T

he demonstrated vindictive nature of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has been shamelessly put on full display for the Guyanese people, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. “I don’t have any illusions or delusions on where I stand on the list of people who they are coming after,” he said (May 24, 2018), when asked about the latest arrest made by the Special Organised Crimes Unit (SOCU).

Established as part of Guyana’s international obligations to strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework, SOCU was intended to support the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The Unit was set up to be an arm of the Guyana Police Force. The mandate of the Unit is to address investigations, detection and preparation of criminal investigative reports and case files

for prosecutions of financial crimes, including money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Having failed to address a single case of money laundering, SOCU recently arrested former Finance Minister, Sasenarine Kowlessar, relative to land deals.

At his weekly news conference, held at his Church Street office, Jagdeo explained again that every major privatisation deal dealt with between 1993 and 2011 are listed in the 88-page ‘Privatisation in Tables’ document, which was tabled in the National Assembly. “There is no secret about these matters,” he said.

The cases being made out by SOCU is that lands were sold at prices below the valuations prices. However, Jagdeo pointed out that while valuations were done, the selling prices were determined by the market via public bidding processes.

“The process used is clear…

it is what is used around the world…you test the markets if you want to sell something,” he said.

The Opposition Leader made it clear that as in the cases involving former Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh and former NICIL Head, Winston Brassington, the actions taken by Kowlessar were done based on decisions taken by Cabinet. He dismissed the latest charges as more trumped up accusations.

He said, “As this government gets more desperate, and they can’t totally ignore reality, they will get more repressive…they are getting more desperate because when they emerge from the cocoon they get a cussing from people on the ground and that does not accord with their fake reality.”

Jagdeo added that more actions to intimidate Guyanese are expected, as Local Government Elections, edge closer.

Two-year hydrology risk study on Amaila falls project AFC back-peddles on marijuana reform leaves many questions unanswered - Jagdeo

T

he Parliamentary Opposition has taken note of statements made by Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman in relation to a twoyear hydrology risk study being conducted on the Amaila falls project, but maintains that there are still many unanswered questions.

Taking into account that studies were conducted on Amaila falls to test the feasibility of making it a hydro power station, Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday stressed that there is limited information on the new study.

The hydrology risk study is slated to be conducted, after which Government will be presented with a report by the end of this year. This is according to Trotman recently during a parliamentary meeting.

“So I would like to know who is doing this study. Who contracted the people to do this study and at what is the cost?” he questioned.

Jagdeo asserted that these are important details that the Government should seek to share with the Opposition especially since it is the first time his party is hearing about this new study.

Additionally, he noted that details of this study comes just months after State

Minister, Joseph Harmon was quoted in the press saying that the hydro projectwhich was initiated under the People’s Progressive Party- has been canned.

“Harmon went on to explain that they couldn’t find an investor and who will give them the money…a lot of extraneous things, like the World Bank is not funding it,” he recalled.

The former President further stated that Harmon’s statement points to his lack of knowledge on the financial model used for the Amaila Falls Hydro project.

Only recently, Minister Trotman affirmed that the project is actually a renewable energy option for Government, but says funding is an issue.

Trotman was at the time answering questions before the Natural Resources Committee. Asked about the conflicting statements on hydro, he denied that the project was ever off the table.

The project, which was the brain-

child of Jagdeo, formed part of the Low Carbon Development Strategy.

The independent, facts-based assessment of the Amaila Falls Hydropower project in Guyana, which was done by an independent Norway-based engineering and design consultancy firm, Norconsult AS, found that the project is the only realistic path for Guyana to achieve greater levels of renewable energy.

It was outlined that the Amaila Falls could have been almost operational by now and consumers could have been close to seeing the end to expensive and unreliable electricity.

The project, which would have been the largest Foreign Direct Investment in the country’s history, had the potential to reintegrate the country with the global capital markets for the first time in over 40 years.

The incumbent Administration when in Opposition was vehemently against the project, even withholding support from the National Assembly in 2013 for legislation pertaining to the project.

The major investor, Sithe Global subsequently pulled out from the US$858M Project, citing a lack of national consensus on the part of the Parliamentary opposition.

A

s has happened previously, the Alliance For Change (AFC) is contemplating backing down from its quest to push for reforms regarding marijuana possession to satisfy President David Granger, the leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC).

AFC Parliamentarian, Michael Carrington in 2015, wanted to table a draft amendment Bill to soften the penalties for persons caught in the possession of small amounts of cannabis. However, Government Chief Whip, Amna Ally instructed the AFC not to allow the backbencher to do it because it will upset Granger.

Granger is allegedly against reforms to legislation governing marijuana usage. Opposition Leader, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has a more modern approach to the issue, he said should the Bill be presented, he would vote in favour to relax the laws. Instead of jail time, Jagdeo said persons caught with small amounts of marijuana should do

community work or be sent to non-custodial rehabilitation.

Carrington has waited three years for a response from the PNC-led A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) but to no avail. He has since announced publicly that he will be moving to have his Bill tabled despite the lack of support from the APNU. President Granger is said to be displeased by this and efforts are underway to prevent the Bill from being debated and voted on in the National Assembly.

State Minister, Joseph Harmon has since called for public consultation on the issue but Jagdeo contended that this is just a delaying tactic for the AFC and APNU to work out their differences on the subject of marijuana reform.

Sources have said that the AFC leadership is contemplating succumbing to pressure and allow Granger to have his way.

8

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Local Government and You!

GECOM has to do better to get people registered T

he Guyana Elections Commission has commenced yet another Cycle of Continuous Registration.

This process started on Monday 21st May, and is expected to conclude on the 19th July 2018.

The advertisement is indeed most interesting as it speaks about Claims and Objections and Registration Phase 2 Exercises. During the present period it is of significance to note that all forms of objections and applications for corrections of particulars and transactions shall be sent by the Registration Officer to the Commissioner of Registration.

Applications may be made by persons whose names appear in the Preliminary List for change and corrections of particulars as shown in the

List and effect transfers from one Registration District/ Division/ Sub- Division/ Local Authority/ Area /Constituency to another.

This is very important, and it is imperative that the Guyana Elections Commission provide the citizens with the most appropriate Preliminary Voters List. A thorough check with the list that is posted–up by GECOM is a Divisional/ Sub- Division List. Whereas the appropriate list is the Constituency list where the citizens and particular the village leaders can look at the List and have a clear under-standing on List that will have the voters in the correct Constituency.

This is the Eleventh Cycle of Continuous Registration and it is sad to note that

GECOM is not providing the NDCs with the respective Constituency List. Local Government Elections is all about the First- past- to- post Constituency and Proportional Representation Elections in the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and Municipalities. Hence, the citizens must be fully aware of the people who are on the List within the specific boundaries.

The suggestion that there will be several new Local Authority Areas is very worrying. Further, they are also rumors that there will be adjustments to Constituency Boundaries. These changes cannot be catapulted on GECOM and the Guyanese voters. The PNC is very worried about the fact they were humiliated in the 2016

Local Government Elections which was immediately after they took office. The people in this country are totally fed-up with the growing high-cost of living and the un-bearable taxation. Our youths cannot find jobs the crime situation is getting worst and our people are looking for a better life. We could see a genuine interest in our people as they are continuously going house to house and checking the List.

The concern citizens will spare no efforts to get a clean the present list and produce a proper Voters List.

Mobile Registration would also be done during this Cycle; however the commencement of the mobile would depend on the Tender Board approval of the costs for Land, Water

and Air transports among other administrative expenses. The Tender Board procedures should have been completed before the Cycle of Registration commences to ensure that the mobile Registration Exercises commence in time with two rounds in the Hinterland Regions other than the one round that was done in the previous Cycle of Continuous Registration.

If the Tender Board does not approve the quotations to provide services in a week time then certainly GECOM would have the excuse to do only one round of Mobile in the Hinterland, considering that this Cycle of Registration has already been delayed by two weeks merely because of the Order not been gazette and published.

GECOM has to do better

to provide the services to the citizens of this Country to ensure that they are registered among the other transaction that they are doing. The Registration Officers at GECOM Centre has to be more encouraging and tolerant to persons who are seeking to have transactions done.

The dress code should also be relaxed to accommodate persons other than to inconvenient them to change clothing before they could enter a Registration Centre.

The onus of GECOM is to have everyone registered thus they should be flexible to accommodate persons who might not return if they are sent away for change of clothing.

By Neil Kumar, Mr. S and Mr. A

Marx, Jagan and a new world order

By Hydar Ally

T

his year marked 200 years since the birth of the German philosopher and revolutionary, Karl Marx. It is also 100 years since the birth of Cheddi Jagan. There are quite a few things that these two men have in common even though separated from each other by both time and distance. Karl Marx was born 100 years before Dr. Jagan and in the continent of Europe. Dr. Jagan on the other hand was born in a small and relatively unknown British colony of British Guiana on the South American mainland.

However, they have one thing in common. They can both be regarded as change agents; men who see their roles not simply to interpret society but more fundamentally to change it.

The influence on Jagan by Marx was defining. It opened up “whole new horizons.� Indeed, the records showed that one of the reasons given by the British Government in the

suspension of the Constitution was that a number of the leaders of the Party including Dr. Jagan, his wife Janet, Rory Westmass and Brindley Benn were Marxists, who the British claimed, accepted unreservedly the classical communist doctrines of Marx and Lenin; were enthusiastic supporters of the policies and practices of modern communist movements and were contemptuous of the European social democratic parties, including the British Labour Party.

Interestingly, Forbes Burnham also sought to project himself as a Marxist.

Ideologically, he was ambiguous and sought to play one superpower against the other.

When opportune, he claimed that his party, the PNC ideologically was influenced by the ideas of Marx, Lenin and Engels. He declared in an interview in 1978 that he was ' a Marxist, a cooperative socialist and a Christain!'

According to Dr. Jagan, LFS Burnham was " all things to all men.' To the so-

cialist world, he is a Marxist; to the capitalist world, he is a cooperative socialist and a Christian. In a Machevillian manner, his regime opportunistically and pragmatically plays off the socialist world against the capitalist world and vice-versa."

The above is somewhat of a digression from the main thrust of this presentation which is to demonstrate how powerful the power of ideas could be in the transformation process. In the opening paragraph of the Communist Manifesto, Marx wrote that ' a spectre is haunting Europe; the spectre of communism.'

The Communist spectre haunted not only Europe but the world at large and found concrete expression in the formation of the first socialist state in the USSR which toppled the Czarist regime.

Later, communism spread to several eastern European countries following the defeat of Hitlerite fascism and the creation of a world socialist system. The Marxist 'virus' reached central and South

America with British Guiana under leftist Dr. Cheddi Jagan becoming the first colony in the wester hemisphere to have won political power in 1953 by constitutional means.

Society may not evolve exactly the way Marx had envisaged but there can be no doubt regarding several of his main postulates. Take for example his theory on the class struggle and the class contradictions of the capitalist system. The inner contradictions between the socialized nature of production and the private manner of expropriatio have resulted in sharp battles between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat which is still playing out on the streets of several capitalist countries.

Despite breathtaking advances in science and technology, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.

Millions of people live in a state of perpetual misery while the rich and the famous wax in plenty.

It was precisely this imbalance between the rich and

the poor that prompted the call by Dr. Jagan for a New Global Human Order where the wealth created by human labour could be more equitably distributed. According to Dr. Jagan, there is more than enough food in the world to feed every man, woman and child but it is the highly skewed manner of distribution in favour of the rich that is the main cause of so much poverty in the world. There is, as Dr. Jagan puts it, 'poverty in the midst of plenty.'

The future society based on the principle ' from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' remains a dream to be realized but it represented an ideal that is certainly worth striving for. The capitalist system, based on the primacy of market forces, has proven to be woefully inadequate to satisfy the basic needs of the human race. Under capitalism, the main driving force is the optimization of profits.

Under such dispensation, people are secondary and are treated as commodities. Peo-

ple become alienated not only from the production processes but also from themselves and the only nexus between man and man, according to Marx, is a 'cash' nexus.

The above may appear far-fetched but it does contain more than an element of truth, especially when seen against what is taking place in several capitalist countries.

If there is one area of convergence between Marx and Jagan, it is in relation to the need for a new world order, one in which people are placed ahead of profits and where man to man is like brothers and friends and not like wolves trying to devour one another in order to survive.

As we reflect on the life and work of these two outstanding world leaders, it is important that we do not throw away, as it were, the baby with the bath water. The future society is still evolving and with it the hope of a new dawn for the poor and the marginalized.

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Unruly The

9

Horse

Time to rally around the Judiciary I

n a state in transition to authoritarianism, it is the Judiciary that must stand as the bulwark to prevent the completion of that transition.

The Guyana Judiciary is currently so circumstanced. On an almost weekly basis, its independence is tested. Its mettle is challenged. Thus far, it has firmly stood its ground. The latest exhibition was witnesseda few days ago through its Chief Justice, who delivered an erudite judgement, at the end of which an Order was directed to the Minister of Legal Affairs to bring the Judicial Review Act (JRA), into force. The Court found that the Minister has an “obligatory duty”to do so which he had abdicated.

On 21/10/2010 the National Assembly unanimously passed the Bill. On 2/11/2010 it received Presidential assent. The current Minister of Legal Affairs was in the Opposition. He lauded the Bill, highlighting its grave importance to good public administration, accountable governance and the remedies it granted to prevent, curtail and rectify abuse of power in public office. I tendered the Hansard of the speeches to the Court.

The singular reason why the Bill was not operationalised at that time (and before May 2015) was because the Rules of Court, in forced then, were silent on judicial review and the procedure by which judicial review is to be applied for and the remedies which the Act provides were to be accessed, are contained in the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), which were then in draft.As a result, the draftsman resided a power in the Legal Affairs Minister to bring the Act into force by an Order, when the CPR is

promulgated. The CPR was promulgated in February 2016.Despite my and the legal professions’ best effort, the Legal Affairs Minister, obstinately, refused to bring the Act into force. Hence the legal proceedings to compel him to do so.

The major contention advanced by the Attorney General (AG), in the Court was that since the Legislature vested the power to bring the Act into operation, in the Minister, a member of the Executive, were the Court to compel the Minister to bring the Act into operation, the Court would be abrogating the doctrine of separation of powers. It is simply tragic that such an argument would come from the leader of the Bar! JUSTICE NARESHWAR HARNANAN The legal truth is that the statute books of the British Commonwealth territories are replete with legislation by which Parliament has imposed duties, powers, and discretions on Ministers, other Executive Officers, Public Authorities, and other functionaries forming part of the Executive Government.

From time immemorial, the High Court has been vested with a supervisory power to compel them to perform their statutory duties, or exercise their powers, or discretion when they fail to do so, or, to quash and set aside the exercise of their powers or discretions or decisions when they act unlawfully. Indeed, this is the very raison d'être of the Judicial Review jurisdiction of the Court.

This hopelessly flawed contention was advanced quite recently by the AG in the case of Mohabir Anil Nandlall v the Min-

ister of Legal Affairs et al., 2017-HC-DEM-CIVFDA-78. In this case, the Minister of Legal Affairs had refused to appoint a Governing Board and other officers of the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority under the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority Act. An Order or Rule Nisi of Mandamus was directed to him calling upon him to show cause. Many of the arguments advanced in the written submissions in these proceedings by the Attorney-General, were advanced in that case. In a reasoned judgment, Justice Nareshwar Harnanan soundly rejected every one of those arguments with supporting authorities.

The next contention advanced by the Respondent is that “the date of commencement of the Act is to be set in accordance with the legislative agenda of the Government of Guyana as determined by Cabinet.” Again, the Court was burdened with an argument which makes very little sense in law. This Act is already passed by the Legislature and assented to by the President. It has absolutely nothing to do with Cabinet and the Government’s Legislative agenda. Parliament reposed a power in the Minister of Legal Affairs to bring the Act into operation, simply, by an Order. Parliament did not impose that obligation on the Government or the Cabinet.

The AG also argued that this “legislative agenda is presented by His Excellency, the President at the opening of every session of Parliament.” The President does no such thing. Moreover, if he did it is wholly irrelevant to this matter. In any event, this Act was passed by a

previous Government and by a previous Parliament.

ERRANT EXECUTIVE OFFICER These and many more similar vexatious arguments were advanced by the Attorney General. They were all roundly rejected by the Court with supporting authorities. Expectedly, the Attorney General needs someone to blame. On this occasion, he could not blame me. The Judge became the victim.

Judges cannot defend themselves in the press against public onslaught. It is the responsibility of the citizenry to defend and protect its Judges from abuse, moreover, when Judges come under scurrilous attacks for giving decisions, which enhance the public good. In a Public Statement, the Attorney General has not only attempted to embarrass the Judge, but has clumsily interlaced political arguments, in his attempt to drag the Judiciary into the arena of partisan politics.

I take this opportunity to condemn the untutored verbosity of the AG in that Public Statement. Our Judiciary must operate in an environment that is conducive to the flexing of its independent muscles. Our Judges must function fearlessly. Our Judges must never harbour the apprehension that their rulings will attract any form of reprisal. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our Judiciary is secured by that impenetrable cloak of protection.

In his Public Statement on the Chief Justice’s ruling, the Attorney General asks three questions. I will take the liberty of answering them.

Firstly, can the Judiciary

govern? The answer is yes.

It is indeed an arm of Government – not the Executive arm – but the Judicial arm. It is this arm of Government, which ensures that the Executive obeys the laws of the land and does not abuse its powers; that the Constitution is obeyed; that the rule of law is maintained and that Parliament enacts laws for the good of the people and in compliance with the Constitution.

Secondly, can the Judiciary order the Government to create law? The answer is no. However, the Chief Justice did no such thing in this case. All that the Chief Justice did was to order an errant Executive Officer to perform his legal duty and bring into force a law already enacted by the Parliament. This recalcitrant Public Official was holding the will of Parliament at ransom.

The Judge had every power and indeed a duty to rectify that unlawful situation.

Thirdly, can the Judiciary direct the current Government to implement an Act that the PPP/C Government deliberately failed to implement during its time in office? This case had nothing to do with which party is or was in Government. The Judge made that very clear.

The Judge also made it very clear that the Act could not be brought into force before the CPR was promulgated.

The case had to do with a delinquent Legal Affairs Minister, who failed to discharge a duty, which the law devolved upon him.

THE PRESIDENT In his statement, the Attorney General concocted an argument, which was never advanced before the Court, that is, “Cabinet needed an opportunity to

engage in wide consultations with the Guyanese people before bringing the Act into law.” This is highly technical piece of legislation, designed only for the legal profession and does not require any form of consultation with the wider populace. The Cybercrime Bill does.Yet there is no such consultation.

This Act is the most modern of its kind in the Caribbean. Yet, the Attorney General argues that it needs to be reviewed “to bring it in line with established regional and international best practices” – nonsense! No such deficiencies were mentioned in his submissions before the Court. He would have been requested to identify them.

This is another manufactured excuse.

Significantly, in a Freudian fashion, the Attorney General conceded the reason for not bringing Act into force. He says, “The PPP/C refused to pass the Act to prevent the Opposition and litigants from making claims under the Act which would give them a wide range of reliefs including compensation for damages.” This is the real reason why he refused to bring the Act into force, but he blames it on the PPP, as usual. Only an authoritarian Government will not want its actions to suffer the scrutiny of the ordinary man.

The President started the disrespect of our Judges, when he remarked of the Chief Justice, “she is entitled to her opinion”.

The AG took his cue and verbally assaulted Justice Frank Holder in open court.

Now this! I hope that the lawyer’s associations will not remain silent. They have a duty to speak.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

CARIBBEAN PROFILES IN COURAGE

HONORING THE ARCHITECTS OF INDEPENDENCE

By Albert Baldeo

“I

do not intend to play the role of stooge colonial leader such as Britain loves to parade before the world. I shall not rest until my country is free…Whether I am outside or inside matters little. Prison holds no terror for me…I expect no justice from this or any other Court…Justice has been dead…I am looking for the day when there will be greater justice…”

-Dr. Cheddi Jagan “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free.

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.

Where words come out from the depth of truth, where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection.

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it's way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action.

In to that heaven of freedom, my father, LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE!” -Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali: Song Offerings (from the great Indian philosopher) What inspires the few that can soar beyond ordinary mortals, think and act beyond the institutional barriers of social, political and economic injustice that seek to confine them, conceive ideas beyond their time, and dare to implement the vision of changes others can only dream about? Do lesser mortals each owe these champions an attempt to walk a mile in their shoes at the very least?

How do you calculate the debt owed to these liberators and freedom fighters?

In the Caribbean and wider global context, breaking the entrenched shackles of imperialism and colonialism are a great lesson history has provided as a blue print for the world, because we were forced to fight as insulated independent political units to gain independence. World renowned Guyanese historian Dr. Walter Rodney, examined similar enduring injustices, trademark evil and perverse methods the British utilized in his seminal work, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” (1972).

In “The Growth of the Modern West

Indies,” Caribbean scholar Gordon K. Lewis noted that the failure of the West Indian Federation was largely due to British colonial policy which “kept the islands unnaturally apart from each other for three centuries or more and then expected them to come together in less than fifteen years…Political imperialism, in brief, explains, more than any other single factor, the present disunity of the region, the aimlessness so distressingly apparent . . . with the resulting trend towards micro-nationalism…With the demise of the federation, each member nation was left to brave the unforgiving global economy alone, in what [Eric] Williams called a “disgraceful state of fragmentation,” as the islands were much weaker independently than in the proposed federation.”

Nobel laureate, Sir Derek Walcott, captures this injustice when he wrote, “Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole. The glue that fits the pieces is the sealing of its original shape. It is such a love that reassembles our African and Asiatic fragments, the cracked heirlooms whose restoration shows its white scars.

This gathering of broken pieces is the care and pain of the Antilles, and if the pieces are disparate, ill-fitting, they contain more pain than their original sculpture, those icons and sacred vessels taken for granted in their ancestral places. Antillean art is this restoration of our shattered histories, our shards of vocabulary, our archipelago becoming a synonym for pieces broken off from the original continent.”

Most of the British Caribbean was integrated as the new West Indies Federation in an attempt to create a single unified future independent state between 1958 and 1962, but failed. Eventually, the former British Caribbean island colonies achieved independence in their own right: Jamaica (1962), Trinidad & Tobago (1962), Barbados and Guyana (1966), Bahamas (1973), Grenada (1974), Suriname (1975), Dominica (1978), St. Lucia (1979), St. Vincent (1979), Belize, Antigua & Barbuda (1981), St. Kitts & Nevis (1983), after epic struggles.

T. Albert Marryshow of Antigua, Andrew Cipriani of Trinidad, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow of British Guiana, and others, were the early leaders who inspired the Caribbean people and stirred them into political action, advocating for a reduction in

the power and privileges of the ruling White elite class, and for more local representation in the colonies’ affairs, while championing the recognition of the trade union movement.

Inevitably, Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante of Jamaica, Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Vere Bird of Antigua, Robert Bradshaw of St. Kitts, and other leaders, overcame the odds, and accomplished the monumental attainment of independence for their respective countries.

Guyana has its own architects, who deserve praise in this singular achievement, however their legacies are ultimately viewed. Dr. Jagan, Forbes Burnham, H. Aubrey Fraser, Clinton Wong, Janet Jagan, Sydney King, Ram Karran, Ashton Chase, Rudy Luck, Frank O. Van Sertima, Ivan Cendrecourt, May Thompson, Hubert Critchlow, E. Kennard, Theo Lee, Ulric Fingall, Jainarine Singh, Sheila La Taste, Joseph P. Lachmansingh, Cecil Cambridge, Fred Bowman, Pandit Siridhar Misir, and others, conceived of a free and independent Guyana, and, against all odds, bravely challenged colonial rule. They delivered the first death blow to the British Empire’s tyranny over Guyana, and universal adult suffrage was won in 1953. The PPP, the first indigenous party originating within Guyana, won the elections that year.

The core leaders of these visionaries consisted of Cheddi Jagan as the Leader, Ashton Chase as the Chairman of the new party, Forbes Burnham and Janet Jagan. One must never forget the patriotic and loyal workers who supported them in the struggle.

These militant leaders were imprisoned and targeted, and could easily have all quit, but they stood head and shoulders above the rest, true to their cause. We must always put aside relatively petty political differences and remember these brave leaders who fashioned a new course and history of Guyana, free from British tyranny and oppression.

Political independence was the greatest achievement in these countries’ histories.

At the historic and symbolic lowering of the British flag and the raising of the Golden Arrowhead on May 26, 1966, this seminal day in history, Forbes Burnham and Dr. Cheddi Jagan put aside their political rivalries at the National Park to celebrate Guyana’s new status as an independent country and the realization of their shared dream and pledge to devote themselves to the liberation

of Guyana.

Guyanese, and the Caribbean people, will do well to embrace that vision once again by pondering the questions asked above. I have walked miles in their shoes here in the USA, and the journey was exhilarating, even if excruciating at times. Take courage that it was leaders like these that the great poet H.W. Longfellow memorialized in his poem, “A Psalm of Life,” What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist: Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal; Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,— act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.

Govt needs to end tug-o-war in sugar industry - GAWU

T

he Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), like many Guyanese and even non-Guyanese, have been following through press reports what seems to be heightening animosities between the GuySuCo and the NICIL-SPU. Our Union cannot offer a comment on the veracity of the matters disclosed through various press reports though we believe the facts of the situation could easily be substantiated by the reality. We, however, cannot ignore the underlying problem and the consequences it would have for the sugar industry.

The relations between the two (2) bodies charged with managing the sugar industry seems to be characterized by

acrimony and discord, and has now, seemingly, reached a sad point, where, from all appearances, salvos are being traded in the media. The airing of the disagreements in the public, we believe, cannot be

helpful to the industry’s cause at this time. At this point in time, when the livelihoods of thousands of workers stand in the balance, and the Guyanese people’s assets have been essentially mortgaged to

secure the $30B financing, the confusion that reigns cannot be encouraging.

The apparent infighting between the two (2) sugar management bodies, in our view, has to be laid squarely

at the doorstep of the Government. The Administration, through its own indecision, has, in effect, allowed the situation to reach this sad point.

Our Union, from press reports, also recognized that there seem to be some degree of confusion within the Administration regarding the sugar industry.

That, it seems, has now spilled over into the industry’s management and which will not help in confidence building and commitment, essential elements for success.

Importantly, too, the Government needs to make up its mind regarding the Corporation’s Board of Directors; something which the Agriculture Minister promised would have been settled some weeks

ago. The need for a proper, competent and capable leadership of the GuySuCo cannot be understated, especially, at this time, when expectedly huge sums are being borrowed by the sugar company for its re-capitalisation, among other things. We do not need a repeat of what we have seen in the last three (3) years, as the evidence has clearly demonstrated that it was not helpful.

At this time, the GAWU reiterates that situation cannot be allowed to continue the way it is as it is not in the interest of anyone, especially the workers. The GAWU calls on the Government to apprehend the sad situation that is prevailing.

It is time to end the tug-of-war!

(GAWU Press Release)

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

COMMENTARY

11

By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

The marijuana issue – will AFC be able to stand up against Granger and APNU? T

wo weeks ago, a father of three young children was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for the possession of less than 0.5 ounce of marijuana. Magistrate Judy Latchman was severely criticised, even though she was simply following the law. Following the sentence, there was an outcry and, in their usual opportunistic posture, certain Alliance For Change (AFC) leaders, like Raphael Trotman and Khemraj Ramjattan, criticised the learned Magistrate, currying favour with a large section of the population and trying to demonstrate their independence from their senior coalition partner.

Both of these AFC leaders insist that the sentence should have been non-custodial in keeping with global best practices and consistent with the position that the Leader of

the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, outlined in May 2017.

The problem is that while non-custodial sentences for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana are a global trend, President Granger and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) are opposed to changing the law. Will AFC stand up for principle and support legislative action to reform the marijuana laws? Indications in the past 48 hours are that the AFC is about to surrender to President Granger and APNU and prevent any parliamentary intervention.

Magistrate Latchman’s ruling is totally within a clearly archaic law. She is being blamed for doing her job. But her ruling has catapulted the marijuana debate into national prominence.

The social media debate about the law and marijuana in Guyana is exploding at this moment. The politicians

have been vociferous in expressing contrary views.

Should marijuana use and possession be legalised?

Should the penalties for the use of marijuana be changed to permit non-custodial sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana? How should trafficking of marijuana be treated?

It has been several years now since Caricom mandated a region-wide reconsideration and meaningful reforms of the marijuana laws in Caricom countries. But under President Granger and APNU/AFC, Guyana has been playing “footsie” with the issue. The Granger-led Government is reluctant in addressing the future of marijuana use and possession. President Granger is on record saying that there would be no change in the law. Now Minister Harmon is trying to find a comfort zone in which the AFC can

hide; he is offering national consultations. While national consultations are necessary and are useful for the comprehensive reform of the marijuana laws, including the possibility of full legalisation, as is the case in Uruguay or in several States in America, there is no need for consultation on changing the laws to permit non-custodial sentencing for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

An AFC Member of Parliament had submitted a bill to reform the marijuana laws in 2015. The reforms proposed included non-custodial sentencing for possession of small amounts of marijuana. It is almost three years since he did that, but the AFC at the time ensured that his bill never got onto the Order Paper of Parliament. The AFC killed Michael Carrington’s bill three years ago not because it did

not have merit, but because it surrendered to the power of APNU. The party were compelled to “behave” and that led to Carrington’s bill not seeing the light of day.

When Bharrat Jagdeo called for reforms of the marijuana laws in May 2017, some of the AFC leaders accused him of playing to the gallery, that he was only doing so to gain support of certain sections of the Guyanese population.

But I have had the honour of knowing and serving with the Leader of the Opposition. I have seen him adjust his views as circumstances change. This is what good leaders do. Maybe in 2001, he would have been more cautious in embarking on reforms of the marijuana laws. But I know that in May 2017 when he proposed reforms to permit non-custodial sentencing for marijuana possession, he

was acting on accumulating evidence around the world and on the rapidly evolving public opinion. His recent reiteration of this position is an opportunity for the AFC to support a progressive change in the laws.

Incidentally, the call for reforms of the marijuana laws in Guyana is an old one. The Rastafarians have long proposed these changes, dating back decades.

While the demands of the Rastafarians might have been extreme, Dr MY Bacchus, the late well-known gynaecologist, published letters in the daily newspapers as early as 1997 calling for legalisation of marijuana possession, particularly for the medical use of marijuana. In the coming days, our interest will focus on whether the AFC can stand up to or whether it will buckle once more to the superior power of APNU.

CJ orders AG to bring Justice Review Act into force C

hief Justice George ordered the Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams to bring the Judicial Review Act (JRA) into force by the 31st of July 2018.

In December 2017, former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, the Applicant filed a Fixed Date Application against the Respondent, Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, claiming the following reliefs: (i) an Order or Rule Nisi of Mandamus be directed to the Minister of Legal Affairs compelling the said Minister to bring into operation by a ministerial order, the Judicial Review Act, Chapter 3:06, Act no. 23 of 2010, which was duly assented to

by His Excellency, Presi-

dent Bharrat Jagdeo on the 2nd day of November, 2010 and published in the Official Gazette on the 2nd day of November, 2010 and that the said Minister be called upon to show cause why this Order or Rule Nisi of Mandamus should not be made absolute; (ii) a Writ of Mandamus be directed to the Minister of Legal Affairs compelling the said Minister to bring into operation by a ministerial order, the Judicial Review Act, Chapter 3:06, Act no.

23 of 2010, which was duly assented to by His Excellency, President Bharrat Jagdeo on the 2nd day of November, 2010 and published in the Official Gazette on the 2nd day of November, 2010.

Notably, after hearing the matter in December, Chief Justice George granted an

Order Rue Nisi of Mandamus, directing the Respondent to show cause why the said Order Nisi should not be made absolute.

The major issues identified to be addressed by the Honourable Court were: 1) whether the Minister had discretion to bring into force the Judicial Review Act after the promulgation of Civil Procedure Rules; 2) whether the Minister had a duty to issue the order to bring into force the JRA; 3) whether the Honourable Court can compel the Minister to fulfil his duty.

In addressing the first issue, the Chief Justice examined the relationship between the Judicial Review Act and the Civil Procedure Rules and noted that the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR)

expressly mention that the Judicial Review Act (JRA) contained the procedures by which remedies can be accessed under the Act. The Honourable Chief Justice also took into consideration the Hansard which evidenced the fact that the JRA was unanimously passed. Its importance was endorsed by both the Applicant and the Respondent in the House. It was also recognised in the debates that the Act will come into force with the CPR. Having outlined the importance of the JRA the Honourable Court considered the time frame which would have been reasonable for the Minister to exercise any discretion he had. The Respondent had claimed that the Presidential Legislative

Agenda did not take into consideration the enforcement of the JRA. The Court rejected this argument and concluded that the CPR was promulgated since 2010, and that the present Government was in power and that 3 years now and yet failed to bring the Act into force, notwithstanding, that the Respondent was called upon, in writing to do so, by both the Applicant and the Guyana Bar Association.

The Court accepted the Applicant’s submission that when the CPR came into force, the discretion which the Respondent had to bring the Act into force was transformed into an obligatory duty and the Respondent failed to discharge this duty.

The Chief Justice also considered the Respondents

submission that the Court would be breaching the separation of powers doctrine if it were to mingle in the affairs of the legislative and executive. The Honourable Court made it clear that the JRA had been assented to already which meant it had passed the stage of the legislative arm. Further, that in a situation where the Minister failed to perform his duty, the Court is empowered to compel the said Minister to perform his duty.

The Court cited a number of legal authorities to support the conclusions reached. The Court Ordered the Respondent to pay to the Applicant $100,000 GYD in cost. The Applicant was represented

by Mr. Manoj Narayan and Mr. Rajendra Ramkisson Jaigobin.

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Engineer arrested at CJIA, charged in GMC fraud case

T

he Director of Constantine Engineering and Construction Services Limited based in Trinidad and Tobago was on Wednesday charged with conspiring with others to approve payments for substandard works to the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) building on Robb and Alexander Streets, Georgetown.

Hanniel Madramootoo, 35, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara was arrested early Wednesday morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport after he was blacklisted in 2016.

He is charged jointly with his brother Phillip Madramootoo and Nizam Ramkissoon, all Directors of Constantine Engineering and Construction Services Limited.

Police Prosecutor, Richard Harris told the court that efforts were made with the Trinidad and Tobago Government for the defendant to be arrested and deported to Guyana.

However, the defendant was in hiding, Harris explained.

Hanniel Madramootoo appeared before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly and arrest warrants have been issued for the other two co-accused.

The charge read that between October 28, 2010 and April 25, 2012, Madramootoo conspired with his wife Felecia De Souza-Madramootoo, Phillip Madramootoo, Nizam Ramkissoon and General Manager of GMC, Nizam Hassan to commit the offence by continuously approving payments which were made to the contractor of the engineering firm for works that were incompetently and incorrectly done with inferior materials to rehabilitate the GMC building, knowing that such works should not have been approved.

In 2016, Nizam Hassan, and Felecia De Souza-Madramooto were charged and tried for the offence before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan since the other defendants were not in the jurisdiction.

This case, however, was dismissed in October 2017 due to the lack of evidence.

Madramootoo’s attorney

Glen Hanoman pleaded with the court for his client to be released on self-bail since the charge is a civil one.

However, Prosecutor Harris objected on the grounds that the defendant poses as a flight risk.

After much debate, the Magistrate released, Madramootoo on $500,000 bail and transferred the matter to the Chief Magistrate for June 29.

He was also ordered to lodge all travel documents at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

FITUG calls for reduction of taxes on fuel to offset effects of oil price rise T

he Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) from press reports and our own observations has recognized, in recent times, the significant increase in the cost of fuel.

We saw as recent as May 28, 2018, the state-owned Guyana Oil Company Limited (Guyoil) retailing gasoline for $230 per litre. Interestingly, the May 20, 2018 Guyana Times had reported that Guyoil, at the time it compiled its report, was retailing gas for $220 per litre.

Thus, in the space of days, the price jumped by $10 per liter, that is a significant hike given the shortness of the period. Moreover, we are aware that, similarly, increases have been recorded in the prices of kerosene and cooking gas.

The Federation is aware that the increased fuel prices have their origins in the rising price of oil globally.

While they may not be a great deal we can do about that fact, at the same time, the FITUG also recognizes that this is not by any means a new phenomenon.

We recall in the past that oil prices, in some instances, exceeded the current international prices but policies were embraced which sought

to cushion the local impact.

Here, we refer to the reduction of the excise tax which, in effect, helped to soften, and in some cases nullified, the increased prices due to increases at the global level and which was a welcome effort that gave our people room to breathe.

The Federation, at this time, must express its strong dismay that, as far as we are aware, no attempt has been made to embrace such a policy. From our perspective, there is hardly any credible justification that can be advanced for not moving in that direction. The fact that such moves, long overdue in our view, are not in train, says a lot. We are aware of a view that the Government’s inaction, or reluctance as it were, has to do with its need to have monies available to satisfy its insatiable spending. That spending, as we well know, has not always been in the interest of our people. Here, for instance, the FITUG cannot fail to recall the seldom used Durban Park; or the ‘greening’ of several Government offices and buildings; or the massive structure that now envelopes the Ministry of the Presidency; or travel to

exotic locales in all corners of the world; or the rental of a bottom-house drug bond, among other things which cannot be held up or justified as wise spending.

The reduction of the taxes on fuel, undoubtedly, will bring some reprieve to our already overburdened working people. In recent times, our workers and their families have had to contend with new taxes, increases in extant taxes, higher cost of food, apart from increases in essential and necessary items. The FITUG contends that no person would be spared as the increased costs of fuel will be passed on to the consumer in one way or another. Apart from the increased living costs, the higher prices of fuel will also affect our business sector which, by itself, is facing difficult and hard times. Such a situation, undoubtedly, could have a spill off effect on employment and make a bad situation even worse.

The FITUG, at this time, calls on the Government to stop turning a blind eye to what is taking place and to proactively act in the interest of our people who are already hard-pressed at this time. (FITUG Statement)

Amerindian Land Titling at a virtual standstill – “I have not been able to title any village” says Minister Allicock

L

ittle progress on Amerindian Land Titling under APNU+AFCThe momentum created by the PPP/C in demarcating and giving land titles to Amerindian communities has come to a virtual end.

Last week Minister of Indegenous Affairs, Sydney Allicock,admitted before a Parliamentary Committee that “I have not been able to title any village,” Opposition Member of Parliament, Yvonne Pearson has expressed disturbance over revelations that the APNU+AFC has made little progress in Amerindian Land Titling project under the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs.

Minister Sydney Allicock appeared before a Parliamentary Committee to answer questions in relation to the project but he was unable to provide detailed updates on the status of villages, which have applied for titling.

Chairman, Odinga Lumumba eventually requested that the Minister provide the

details in writing at a later date.

At one point, he remarked that the minister seemed “incapable” of answering the questions.

However, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon took umbrage with the statement and Lumumba subsequently withdrew the remark.

Nonetheless, Pearson raised some concerns that all the villages that have been awaiting approval since 2014 and 2015 are still awaiting approval after more than two years later.

Based on reports in the media, the only village that has received land titling is Nappi in Region Nine but this was completed under the PPP/C Administration.

Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs Sydney Allicock has admitted that in three years his Ministry has not issued any titles to Amerindian Communities.

Since its inception in 2013, only 26% of the total Amerindian Land Titling Project

has been completed, Minister Allicock disclosed.

This prompted Opposition Members Pauline Sukhai and Yvonne Pearson to criticize the Ministry for not continuing on the progress made under the PPP administration in issuing land titles.

Speaking to reporters, Minister Allicock expressed, “I have not been able to title any village because we wanna do things that are truly reflected in the Free Prior and Informed (FPIC) process.”

The FPIC is a mechanism that safeguards the individual and collective rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, including their land and resource rights and their right to self-determination.

The Amerindian Land Titling Project was slated to end in 2016 but since the Ministry made no progress, they were granted an extension of two years.

However, little progress has been made since then and the new deadline is now Octo-

ber 2018.

Minister Allicock said he will be making a request for another extension by writing to the Ministry of the Presidency which will then communicate with representatives in Norway.

The project is being financed from the Guyana Redd+ Investment Fund (GRIF) under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Up to US$10.7M was available for this project but to date, only a little over US$2M was expended.

The Minister said there are a lot of issues ranging from in-

correct demarcation to political issues affecting the progress.

Other issues, he said, include lack of manpower and equipment.

Minister Allicock is nonetheless hoping that four titled communities will be demarcated before the October 2018 deadline.

Indian govt offers Know India Programme for Elders T he High Commission of India, Georgetown is pleased to announce that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India (GOI) is organizing for the first time ever, a special Know India Programme (KIP) for the elder generation to visit India and reconnect with their root.

The Programme is available to many Latin American Countries including Guyana; for Persons of Indian Origin (in the age group of 45 to 65) who have never been to India previously and fall in the low income group.

Know India Programme (KIP) is a flagship initiative of GOI which familiarizes youths of Indian Origin with their Indian roots and contemporary India, through a 25-day orientation programme organised by the MEA. The KIP, in the past, was only available to youths between 18 - 30 years.

Persons of Indian Origin, in the age group of 45 to 65, who may be interested to attend the KIP are asked to take note that the first KIP will be held in India with partner states Delhi, Varanasi, Allahabad, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Behar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala from January 20, 2019 to February 10, 2019 which coincides with the Annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention for which applicants would also have to register for. The second KIP will be organised from January 31, 2019 to February 16, 2019. A formal announcement of the KIP for Elders will be made soon.

The High Commission of India will provide registration details to the general public as it becomes available by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (GOI). (Press Release)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

CCJ represents “one of the best examples of independence” – newly-elected Barbados PM N

ewly-elected Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley has vowed that her country will remain as a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), noting that the CCJ represents “one of the best examples of independence” in a court across the entire globe.

Barbados’ first female prime minister, Mia Amor Mottley, being sworn in at Government House on Friday last.

Asked by the media to give her views about the CCJ, shortly after being sworn in as the island’s eighth prime minister, she stated the government she was a part of in 2005 had worked to establish the court.

“I had as attorney general the responsibility for chairing the preparatory committee; I went the length and breadth of the Caribbean, selling the Caribbean Court of Justice, from Jamaica in the north right down to Guyana in the south”, Motley was quoted

by Caribbean News Now as saying.

“Barbados perhaps has one of the largest number of cases in the appellate jurisdiction and Barbadians as a rule have seen their rights being protected by the Caribbean Court of Justice and we, therefore, are a strong

proponent of it. It is not an immediate drain on the Treasury because of the manner in which we established it through the Trust Fund. And secondly, it is insulated because it is only the president of the Caribbean Court of Justice who is appointed by the heads of government and that is by unanimity. The other judges are appointed by the regional Judicial Legal Services Commission,” she stressed.

According to Caribbean News Now, Mottley identified the CARICOM Single

Market and Economy and LIAT as some of the areas that would be engaging her attention over the coming weeks. Noting that Barbados was the single largest shareholder in LIAT, she stressed that there were issues relating to the airline that had to be confronted within the next few weeks.

She added that Barbados was serious about CARICOM and a team would be attending the upcoming CARICOM heads of government meeting in Jamaica in July.

Indigenous peoples feel disrespected by Govt – NTC …decries President’s “lip service” over follow-up meeting

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he Indigenous peoples of Guyana believe the coalition Government has no intention or the capacity to address issues affecting them, which is highly blatant in their unsuccessful efforts to have a follow-up meeting with President David Granger, whom they say is “unwilling” to meet with Indigenous leadership.

This is according to Vice Chairman of the National Toshaos Council (NTC), Lenox Shuman, who in a letter to the media said they can no longer be silent on the “increasing level of disrespect” being meted out to the Indigenous peoples by the Government.

“We have been trying since our meeting last year to get a follow-up meeting with President David Granger. Imagine, the collective leadership of all the Indigenous peoples of Guyana cannot get to see the President of Guyana. Instead, we are sent from ministry to ministry to see other members of the Cabinet,” he posited.

According to Shuman, the NTC and other Indigenous organisations met with President Granger last year to examine the very contentious Lands Commission of Inquiry (LCoI), which came out of the bilateral agreement between the Kingdom of Norway and the Government of Guyana to address Amerindian Land Titling. At the meeting, the NTC also called on President Granger to sanction Minister with responsibility of labour, Keith Scott, for marginalising the already marginalised Indigenous peoples of Guyana in the highest house in the land, to which the Head of State committed to review the Hansard and will so be guided.

“We are still awaiting action on this issue,” he noted.

The NTC Chairman went

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NTC Vice Chairman Lenox Shuman

on to note that following consultations amongst the Indigenous communities for the past eight months on the LCoI, the NTC met and submitted recommendations in relation to the LCoI and requested a meeting with the President by mid-March 2018 to which he had committed.

“The President has not met with us yet and his office keeps telling us to meet other members of the Cabinet.”

Moreover, he mentioned that the plot of land allocated at Sophia to house the NTC’s Secretariat Complex has still not been granted to the NTC some two years later, while at the same time construction has started at a plot parallel to the one originally considered by the NTC. MINING With regards to mining, Shuman went on to say the NTC was supposed to enter a MoU with the Natural Resources Ministry which appears to be “only a publicity stunt” by the Ministry. He noted that the subject Minister, Raphael Trotman, has not responded to the issue of the MoU. “It is our concern that

with the lack of address to these issues and the incoming IT bill, that the Indigenous peoples could be charged with sedition when these issues are brought out in defence of “our rights.”

It is also our view that the GoG is awaiting the change in the NTC. This is to avoid dealing with the issues, because even with a change in the NTC, the issues will still remain, and the Indigenous peoples will continue to suffer,” Shuman asserted.

The NTC Vice Chair continued that Indigenous leaders expressed fear of further speaking out against “things that are principled wrong” having witnessed what became of the parliamentary Opposition members. They also express fear as they intend on getting into private businesses after they leave office and do not want to be hassled.

“The Indigenous peoples of Guyana are unhappy, and the brewing discontent manifested itself in calls by some communities for mass mobilisation in Georgetown.

At that meeting, we committed to the Indigenous leaders that it would be premature to just start mobilisation without first meeting with His Excellency and asked that we are permitted to meet with him (His Excellency) first and then be guided by those commitments.”

He noted that the President and the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo are both in receipt of the letter by the NTC committing to mass mobilisation “if our rights are not respected. We are yet to see a commitment

by His Excellency to meet the Indigenous leadership – the NTC. I must admit my pessimism of this happening on anything meaningful if not for lip service,” Shuman asserted in the letter to the media.

he Cheddi Jagan Research Center collaborated with the Ministry of Education and the Regional Education Department, Region 6, to deliver several lectures on the late l Father of this Nation and former President, Dr Cheddi Jagan’s contributions to the Independence of Guyana at some schools in Region 6.

Presentations were made to students on behalf of the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre by Dr Frank Anthony, Hydar Ally and Ganga Persaud who was at the Port Mourant Primary School, the first primary school attended by the Dr Cheddi Jagan.

Roads all over the country are in a bad state and this has been affecting farming communities. Picture above shows a road that is used by rice farmers cultivating rice in the MMM, Region 5

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A

young Amerindian child at Mae’s private school was made to suffer indignity after his indigenous wear was deemed inappropriate by teachers at the school and he was mocked during the day by fellow students.

The child’s mother, Karen Small, said her nine-year old son was asked to put on special wear to depict culture day at the institution as part of the country’s independence celebrations. Children were asked to don wear depicting an ethnic group in Guyana.

“He chose, because his father is Amerindian, to dress like an Amerindian based on what he sees.

He’s accustomed to these clothing

and I decided to dress him and paint him up,” Small said. The child wore a skirt made out of tibisiri with underpants. He wore no shirt and sported a beaded chain and a decorated head band.

She explained that when he arrived at school, the guard told the child that he was not allowed to go in because he was dressed inappropriately since he did not have a shirt on.

“I asked why it’s inappropriate and the teacher said it’s because he’s in school and he’s not supposed to dress like that. By that time I was disappointed and he was saying how he hates how he look and that he looks stupid. The child

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018 left home happy and by then he was beat down to that,” Small stated.

She said that she put a shirt on her son and left him at school for the day. It was to her surprise that when she went to pick him up from school he was no longer wearing his Amerindian garb. She said that he related to her that he was teased throughout the day and chose to change.

Small noted that she then took the matter to the head teacher of the school, who also related to her that the way her son was dressed was inappropriate.

“The hurtful part was when I picked him up from school and he (had taken off) every single piece of

Amerindian wear he had on. This is just wrong. You might as well tell them to wear culture wear except for those from the Amerindians. It didn’t say what he should not wear and the letter didn’t say anything of what he shouldn’t wear,” the woman added.

Subsequently, the school issued a statement stating that it was not the intention to discriminate but parents and other Amerindians in different parts of the country, came out and denounced the school’s action.

The government said it would investigate the matter.

Accompanying pictures show different aspects of what transpired.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Region 5 farmers decry deplorable farm-to-market roads

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lack of maintenance to the main access road at Onverwagting, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) has adversely affected the harvesting of rice and is preventing children of communities along the Abary from attending school.

Guyana Times was told that maintenance should be carried out by the MMA however, the Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary-Agriculture Development Association’s (MMA-ADA) has increased its fees for land cultivation and left the farmers and residents to traverse through the deplorable conditions.

When this publication visited the area on Tuesday, farmers stated that thousands of acres of rice still remain in the field even as they are in the heart of the rainy season. This period, farmers said, is generally a time when they would plow and prepare for the next crop, but they are ex-

periencing difficulties in bringing their paddy out of the field.

They are decrying the condition of the farm to market road which is in a state of disrepair.

Mohabir Gildary, a rice farmer, told this publication that he has 340 acres under rice cultivation and has only been able to harvest 300 acres. He said in some instances ,two or three tractors have to pull one to get the paddy out; as such, the remaining 40 acres will take a very long time to harvest.

“The forty-acre would normally take two days to cut and carry out but with this situation, it might take about three weeks.”

Gildary’s estimate comes from the amount of paddy he is able to get out of the field each day. He explained that he is forced to have his three tractors take one grain cart along several miles before it can

be discharged into a lorry.

“Normally I would only use one tractor but the others have to be there just in case the one stick up and

then is till in front they have to take it. If the road was good the truck could have come till at the back here and full up and gone but the

road too bad.

CASH CROP Cash crop farmers are also affected. Despite Tues-

day being a sunny day, Ramchand Ramnarine, another farmer, said he had difficulty taking his produce to the market.

He noted that on Tuesday he attempted to take some of his produce out to the market but as a result of the condition of the road, the radiator of his vehicle became damaged.

He explained the ordeal of having to leave the vehicle on the road and find alternative means of getting the produce out. He said it had been weeks since the road had become impassible and blames the MMA for not carrying out any repair works to the road.

The current state of the Number 27 Farm Road which leads to the Abary River is also preventing children from attending school. Region 5 farmers decry deplorable farm to market roads. (Guyana Times)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Mabura Road in deplorable state G

overnment continues to boast about making progress in the hinterland but the state of the Mabura Road is a clear example of the struggles of those who traverse those terrains.

The Mabura Road is currently nothing but slush despite heavy allocations in the budget for maintenance; it begs the question what is being done with the hefy sums of monies budgeted every year.

Citizens’ Report has already featured the deplorable conditions of roads on the Linden/ Lethem trail, Kwakwani/Ituni and Yarakita roads.

As is the situation in those cases, vehicle owners incur added expenses because of additional maintenance or repairs to their vehicles and public transportation fees increase significantly.

Residents are calling on the government to urgently intervene so they can get some relief to their road woes.

In some cases, passengers have to disembark the buses and walk uphill while the drivers struggle to navigate the hazardous trail.

Residents complain that the situation is extremely uncomfortable as well as dangerous.

Higher fuel prices beginning to bite - Minibus drivers protest

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everal minibus drivers plying the East Coast of Demerara route parked their vehicles at the Lusignan tarmac in protest of the rapid hike in fuel and diesel prices over the past week.

A check at the various gas stations shows that the price has increased rapidly from $215 per litre last week to prices ranging from $230 to $250 per litre this week.

As of today, the Guyana Oil company is selling for $230 per litre while $247 is selling for Shell per litre for gasoline.

News Room also spoke with Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Eddie Boyer who said the Government should put systems in place to cushion the effects of the increase.

Boyer pointed out that while neither the Government nor the private sector controls the price for oil, there are mechanisms which can be adjusted to ensure the effects are not filtered to businesses and consumers.

“Nobody budgeted for this increase so rapid so obviously it’s for the government

to react to it,” the PSC Chairman told News Room at the sidelines of an event at the Marriott Hotel this morning.

Boyer said soon enough taxis and minibuses will increase their fares.

Meanwhile, Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin said the matter has not been discussed at Cabinet. He noted that while the Government can implement methods, the price has to reach a certain figure for action to be taken.

International reports said oil climbed towards $76 a barrel on Wednesday.

Farm to market roads in New Forest, a forming community, are getting worse with each day

Luncheonon Governance

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

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fter an interlude of some weeks duration the popular, incisive and politically a critique of the current APNU-AFC coalition, Luncheon on Government re-commenced on Freedom Radio during the course of May 2018.

Two Topics were addressed up until May 29, and another would have been selected towards the latter segment of May. These were initially Local Government and the Sequel since the 2015 & 2016 Elections and modern Public (Sector/Private Sector) Procurement.

The former Head of the Presidential Secretariat observed that the governance programme devised by the Granger led government since mid-2015 and the installation of the 11th Parliament, has revealed a stark contrast with the inclusive, constitutionalist and national democratic process adhered to by a successive PPP/C Administrations since (the end of) 1992.

This was the basic contention Dr. Luncheon made whilst highlighting the main points relevant to the transi-

tion of what could be considered as a ‘continuity’ between the 2015 general and regional elections and the Local Government Elections (LGE) held during 2016 for the 71 LAA constituencies.

COURT PETITIONS AND CHALLENGES TO CONSTITUTIONAL VIOLATIONS Subsequent to both of these elections and the controversial Declared Results, the Opposition PPP/C launched challenges to the constitutional, authoritarian, unilateral, undemocratic and politically divisive interventions of the APNU-AFC and its acolytes.

Amongst these were the following in the immediacy of the 2015 poll ● An Elections Petition challenging the illegality of the process, the roles of the Guyana Elections Commission chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally as well as CEO, Mr. Karl Lowenfield. ● Interventions in the National Assembly (the legislative branch), coupled with efforts to solicit from the (Coalition) Executive

responses to serious legitimacy concerns expressed by stake-holders, Guyanese and other (progressive) social elements ● Resort to the High Court by route of Petition subsequent to the LAA elections, specific to the 5 Tied Constituencies and 3? Municipalities endeavoring to obtain a legal ruling that would resolve these conflicts.

Then there was also another Opposition PPP demand (not mentioned by LoGovt) that sought to have authorized a call for fresh elections in these disputed constituencies-that almost certainly would have secured favorable outcomes for the PPP/C. Dr Luncheon expressed the view, held by informed stake-holders, that there was an evident pattern of political behavior, chicanery as well as unconstitutional practices characterized by the political directorate of the Granger led government that undermined any residual accountability of the system, particularly the institutional mandate of Gecom.

City Councilor and AFC Executive Member, Sherod Duncan, has been named the new General Manager of the Guyana Chronicle S

taff Members of the state-owned newspaper learnt of the development at a General Staff Meeting today. The announcement was made by the Chairperson of the Board, Geeta Chandan.

Duncan, who also sits on the Board of the Guyana Chronicle, last served as a Communications Officer for the Ministry of Business.

His appointment comes at a time when the Board of the Guyana Chronicle was left with only five members, including Duncan, following the resignation of four Directors earlier this year, in protest of the firing of two columnists by the Editor in Chief.

If Duncan’s appointment was approved by the current Board and he recused himself from that position, it would mean that his appointment would have been approved by the remaining four members of the Board.

It is understood that Duncan was part of an interviewing process for the job recently and was judged the best candidate for the po-

sition. A few months ago, his weekly column in the same newspapers was discontinued.

At the level of the election Code-of-Conduct attached to Electoral processes and other procedural matters pursued by the PPP, a perspective could be identified-that was both time bound and of primacy to the political process.

Drawing upon his experiences of the process the former Cabinet Secretary placed in context this proposition; “Apart from the considerable number of years involved in the legal petitions (2015 &2016), there was the spectre of another LGE to be held before the end of this year…

“It was highly unlikely that the legitimacy and constitutional concerns as set out in these court challenges would be resolved before the period when the 2018 LGE is scheduled” These are issues that reflect an apparent lack of accountability as stake-holders increasingly (tend to) become frustrated, and a lack of confidence becomes more than a notion.

Deteriorating Evolution of APNU-AFC governance Dr. Luncheon has pre-

viously examined the role of Parliament, its Standing Committees and other autonomous or, quasi-independent bodies such as the Service Commissions.

Last week he again made specific mention of these bodies and statutory committees.

Analyzing the role of the Granger led government and Public Procurement he noted as follows;

● That there had been gross malpractices in the area of public procurement ● That is was necessary for LoGovt to emphasize a clear cut exposure of the Granger led administration ● That there has emerged a reality where, given the court system and other manifestations, this has served the purpose of a new Contract Accumulation class dependent on and loyal to the APNU-AFC directorate. ● That from visible indicators the Granger led government was challenging stake-holders who are aggrieved to have resort to the judicial sector (more or less), assured that the de-

17

layed and at times unlawful rulings would continue to support the constitutional violations of the current political administration.

LoGovt cited the instance of a decision or decisions made by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) concerning matters involving APNU-AFC Ministers on the one hand, and on the other matters alleging misconduct of two senior ‘associates’ dating from the onset of the 200os of the PPP/C. Dr Luncheon noted that all is not lost, that the response of stakeholders, the initiatives of the Opposition PPP, the still not entirely eroded Parliamentary Committees as well as the exposures of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reinforced the prospects for a change at a time where it was also evident that the actions of the Granger led administration will lead ultimately to its demise.

Trotman admits that interests of Guyana were not driving force behind oil contract R esponses from Minister Raphael Trotman to questions raised during the last meeting of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources indicate that the renegotiation of the ExxonMobil contract was not based on national considerations or what is good for Guyana and the Guyanese people.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, proffered this view, where he noted that Trotman admitted that the Coalition Government initiated the renegotiation of the contract and the move was based on threats to Guyana’s territorial integrity by Venezuela.

During the last Friday’s meeting, PPP/C Parliamentarian, Odinga Lumumba specifically asked Trotman, “Who initiated the changes to the 2016 agreement?”

Trotman responded, “The Government of Guyana did.”

Lumumba asked, “Why?” Trotman responded, “We did it because of the threat of Venezuela.”

Jagdeo questioned Trot-

man’s response and pointed out that a renegotiated contract was not needed to keep ExxonMobil from continuing its work since oil was already discovered. “You did not need a new contract to keep Exxon in that geographic area…ExxonMobil had already found oil, they were going to drill in any case in that same location,” he said.

According to him, the controversial clauses, including the controversial clauses, were not addressed significantly. “When he was asked about the stability clause he said it was plucked from somewhere,” Jagdeo said.

The Opposition Leader added, “…I think all of Guyana paid careful attention to the hearing convened by the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources. At that meeting, Trotman sought to explain the thinking behind the renegotiated contract signed with ExxonMobil. All of Guyana was hoping that the Minister would explain some of the very contentions clauses and how they managed to find

themselves in the contract.

I must say I was disappointed.”

Moreover, he noted the worrying admission that there is “no paper trail” regarding the Coalition Government’s engagement with ExxonMobil on significant matters.

Jagdeo noted Trotman’s comments about the government hiring an international law firm to help with the negotiations of future oil contracts, reflects what the Parliamentary Opposition has been calling for since 2015. “We have been saying that we need to get the best people in the room,” he said, adding that the Government cannot tout international experts and then ignore their advice, as was done with Government’s Petroleum Advisor, Dr Jan Mangal.

All considered, the Opposition Leader charged that the circumstances surrounding the signing of a renegotiated contract with ExxonMobil remain very murky based on the Minister’s explanations.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

THE HINTERLAND CONNECTION

THE FIRST PEOPLE (Part 3)

By Jagnarine Somwar

B

y the nineteenth century, the principal Amerindian tribes inhabiting Guyana were the Caribs, the Akawaios or Waikas, the Arawaks and the Warraus or Guaraunos. Interestingly, the Arawaks, Caribs and Akawaios called themselves "Lokono", "Carinya" and "Kapohn", respectively - all meaning "the people" in their respective languages.

Among other tribes were the so-called Arawak-Akawaios, or Wauwejans, who were considered descendants of both the former tribes, though distinct from each of them; the Magariouts, or Manoas, a powerful and warlike tribe dwelling in the region watered by the upper Essequibo and the Mazaruni; the Wai-Wais residing near the source of the Essequibo; the Patamonas (Paramonas) occupying the area of the Pakaraimas and Potaro River; and the Macushis and Wapishana of the Rupununi area.

The Caribs and Akawaios constantly raided the Wapishana settlements, seizing many of these people to use as poitos (slaves). What precise localities the Wapishana occupied is difficult to trace, but in the year 1833, when

their numbers has become greatly reduced, they were found at the headwaters of the Essequibo.

Mention must also be made of the Arecunas and the Pancays who lived in the upper Cuyuni, and of the Pariacots who also possibly inhabited the same district.

Of all the tribes, by far the most numerous and powerful throughout the whole period of Dutch occupation of Guyana was the Carib nation, known as the warriors among the native inhabitants. In the later period, during the British occupation, though still claiming and receiving precedence among the Amerindians of British Guiana, their numbers had become greatly reduced and they were in some instances industrious cultivators of the soil. Next in importance to the Caribs were the Akawaios. The tribe was found in the lower Essequibo, the upper Cuyuni, the Demerara and the Pomeroon.

It is probable that this tribe, like the Caribs, was nomadic in its habits, and was to be found scattered throughout the Dutch colonies of Essequibo, Berbice and Surinam.

In the early years of British occupation, the Akawaios were described as the most pugnacious of the Amerindi-

an tribes, the Caribs having to a large extent lost their ascendancy and being greatly reduced in numbers. The Akawaios were at that period occupying the area between the upper Demerara River, the Mazaruni and the upper Pomeroon.

Following the Akawaios in importance were the Arawaks, described by Major John Scott in 1665 as being "the best humoured Indians of America, being both very just and generous-minded people", and as inhabiting the region between the Corentyne and the Waini Rivers. Nearly two hundred years later they were described by another English writer as "of all the tribes the most docile, cleanly, and of the best stature and personal appearance", but at the same time as being "immoral, fickle and inconstant, and possessing none of the warlike spirit of the Caribs and Akawaios".

The Arawaks were regarded as the aristocracy of the Amerindian tribes and superior to all of them in the scale of civilization.

The Warraus originally inhabited the swampy morasses and islands in the mouth of the Orinoco, as well as the lower reaches of the Barima. Owing to

ill-treatment by the Spaniards in 1767, they migrated in great numbers to the Barima district which they, as well as the other Amerindian tribes, regarded as Dutch territory. In this locality they still remained after the British had taken over the Dutch colonies.

The Warraus had none of the warlike characteristics of the Caribs and Akawaios. They were mainly boat-builders, owing to the skill with which they hollowed out - without any instrument but the adze - the canoes used by the Amerindian tribes of Guiana. Almost amphibious in their mode of life, they were expert fishermen who kept up a noted fishery of the lower Orinoco.

The women were skillful in the manufacture of baskets and of the hammocks known as the sarow hammocks which they made from the eetay palm. This pith of this palm also provided an excellent type of bread which was the Warraus' principal means of subsistence. Under the British Government, these people became more industrious and contributed more labour to the sugar plantation than any other Amerindian tribe in British Guiana.

The Macushis and Wapishana drifted from Brazil

into Guyana from the beginning of the eighteenth century. Most likely, they crossed in the area of the Ireng River and began settling in the north part of the Rupununi savannahs. Later, the Wapishana began to migrate to the south of the Kanuku Mountains. Some historians believe that they did so to avoid the slave-raiding Amerindian tribes who came from the Rio Negro and Rio Branco regions of Brazil. There is evidence that during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries both the Macushi and Wapishana villages erected defenses against these raids. It is possible, too, that the Wapishana moved away from the north savannahs because they and the Macushis had become enemies.

In the 1780s, more Macushis and Wapishana who were living in the Rio Branco region of Brazil fled to Guyana to escape from the Portuguese who were forcibly attempting to place them in mission settlements. Smaller groups from decimated tribes from the same region of Brazil also moved into Guyana and joined up with either the Macushis andWapishanas after this period.

The Arecunas originally lived in upper regions of the

Caroni and Paragua Rivers of Venezuela. After 1770, the Spanish Capuchin missions, with the support of the Spanish colonial authorities, began to forcibly resettle them from those areas in missions located on the Orinoco. Groups of these people escaped to Guyana to avoid this forced resettlement and established villages in the upper areas of the Mazaruni and Cuyuni Rivers.

Very little is known of the history of the Patamonas who have probably resided in parts of the Pakaraima mountain region for a very long time. An early contact between them and Europeans was made in the early nineteenth century when they were described as mountaineers.

The Wai-Wais were first found in a village located in the Acarai Mountains around 1837 and their presence was noted by Robert Schomburgh in 1843. They gradually moved to settle in the extreme south of the Rupununi savannahs. There is still some doubt as to when they first arrived on Guyanese territory, but it is felt that their arrival was due either to pressure from the Portuguese in the Rio Branco region or from another more powerful Amerindian tribe.

Rice becomes less nutritious as CO2 levels rise

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ncreased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will reduce the nutritional value of rice, according to an international research team that analyzed rice samples from field experiments started by a University of Tokyo professor.

Specifically, iron, zinc, protein, and vitamins B1, B2, B5, and B9, were reduced in rice grown under higher carbon dioxide concentrations expected in the second half of this century (568 to 590 parts per million).

"Rice is not just a major source of calories, but also proteins and vitamins for

many people in developing countries and for poorer communities within developed countries," said Professor Kazuhiko Kobayashi of the University of Tokyo, co-author of the recent study and expert in effects of air pollution on agriculture.

Populations in countries with both the highest rice consumption and lowest gross domestic product may experience more malnutrition as the nutritional value of low-cost staple foods like rice declines. Not all varieties of rice responded in the same way, so future research

projects may examine the possibility of finding varieties of rice that can remain nutritious despite the change in the atmosphere.

The rice was grown at research sites in China and Japan using an open-field method where researchers build 17-meter-wide (56-foot-wide) plastic pipe octagons elevated about 30 centimeters (1 foot) above the tops of plants within standard rice fields. A network of sensors and monitors measure wind speed and direction to determine how much carbon dioxide

is released out of the pipes to raise the local carbon dioxide concentration to the desired experimental level.

The technique is known as Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE).

"I first started using this technique in 1998, because we knew that plants raised in a plastic or glass house do not grow the same as plants in normal, open field conditions. This technique allows us to test the effects of higher carbon dioxide concentrations on plants growing in the same conditions that farmers really will

grow them some decades later in this century," said Kobayashi.

Local wildlife has sometimes added an additional challenge to the research.

"At our first field site, we learned we have to keep all of the pipes and tubes above the ground because raccoons kept chewing through everything and jeopardized the experiment," said Kobayashi.

Researchers analyzed a total of 18 different varieties of rice for protein, iron, and zinc levels. Nine varieties of rice grown in China were used for the vitamin B1, B2,

B5, and B9 analyses. Other common names for the vitamins are thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), pantothenic acid (B5), and folate (B9).

Six hundred million people primarily in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Madagascar consume at least 50 percent of their daily energy and/or protein directly from rice. This was also true in Japan during the 1960s, but current Japanese receive only about 20 percent of their daily food energy from rice.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Altered Golden Handpicked contractor Arrowhead removed from cannot complete Ebini Road D’Urban Park after outcry - $100M already spent - increasingly authoritarian administration – PPP T

A

fter public outcry from the citizens and a public statement from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), concerning the fact that President David Granger and leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC) presided over the hoisting of a Guyana flag that was altered, the APNU/AFC Administrator has removed the flag.

The altered Golden Arrowhead, was flown at D’Urban Park, up to this morning.

However, the flag featuring a ‘PNC-green’ border along the edge was removed this afternoon. Notably, this was in direct contravention of the descriptions of Guyana’s flag, which is featured in Schedule Two of the Constitution.

Notably, the PPP, in a statement said, “The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) notes the silence from the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, in the face of public outcry, on the despicable and unconstitutional alteration of Guyana’s national flag, which was hoisted to mark the nation’s 52nd Independence anniversary.

The PNC-led Coalition Government seems intent on trampling on Guyana’s national symbols. Guyanese have witnessed the practice of national symbols being treated as the property of this Administration – the last such act evidenced in the seizure of the national flag from the Corriverton Town Council on the anniversary of our Republic.

The Party wishes to make it clear that with regard to alteration of the national flag, the Second Schedule included in Guyana’s Constitution devotes two pages (pages 260 and 261) to the heraldic description of Guyana’s national flag. The description makes it clear that there are five distinct colours – not six – and defines their proportions.

The fact that the unauthorized alteration of the national flag connects one of Guyana’s most significant national symbols to the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), via the inclusion of the PNCR’s party colour along the end of the Golden Arrowhead,

is reminiscent of the repressive regime of the PNC pre-1992. The practice of the PNCR flag being flown above Guyana’s courts has not been forgotten by the Guyanese people.

Guyanese have not forgotten Granger’s utterances in 2016 at the PNCR’s 19th Biennial Delegates Congress, where he hailed his Party’s Constitution as “supreme law”.

Guyanese have also not forgotten that it was at a similar meeting held by the PNC in 1974, where Burnham promoted the principles of party paramountcy, when he said: “It was decided that the Party should assume unapologetically its paramountcy over the Government, which is merely one of its executive arms.”

All Guyanese must reject this act. This act is the latest of an increasingly authoritarian administration and adds to the numerous constitutional violations committed since May 2015.”

Indigenous women, children lack modern facilities – UN study finds

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study on indigenous women and children has found that they do not have access to infrastructure and modern-life facilities to the same extent as their counterparts who live on the coast.

“This fact hinders their access to good, quality education, health and other social services,” the study stated. It was conducted by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs.

According to the study, almost 44 per cent of the households in the hinterland

do not have electricity, as compared to 13 per cent at the national level and six per cent in urban areas.

“The qualitative assessment found that the majority of the villages would have their electric power generated by solar panels but many people reported that the panels were not working properly,” the study stated.

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe, acknowledged that the country’s 78,000 indigenous peoples are a vulnerable group and that past efforts to

help them have not worked.

“What we had over the years are projects and programmes going into communities and many of them were not sustainable; many of them failed,” she stated.

As a result, she said indigenous people remained dependent on government and other agencies for “basic support.”

Guyana has the largest population of indigenous peoples in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Most of them live in hinterland regions, namely Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9.

he APNU/AFC Government has come under flag again by the Parliamentary Opposition. This time concerning the handpicking of a contractor to conduct works on a road at Ebini.

Citizens’ Report understands that over $100M had already been spent on the project up to March 2018. The contract was given to Chung Global Enterprise. Notably, absolutely no tendering was done, the works were offered to Chung Global Enterprise by the Deputy Director of The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Dave Hicks.

Notably, the road works are ongoing.

This raises questions of how much more money will be spent to complete the project.

The arrangement was made while he acted as Director, while the substantive Director, Fredrick Flatts, was on annual leave.

In an invited comment People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Bishop Juan Edghill, asked several questions, as it relates to the procurement process and award of the contract.

He stated, “The Parliamentary Opposition would like full disclosure from the NDIA on the following: 1. What was the contract sum?

2. What is the scope of works?

3. What was the procurement process used

for the selection of the contract?

4. Why were these works not publicly advertised?

5. Why such a major investment, in a community like Ebini, not publicly announced?

6. What was the mobilization fees offered to Chung Global Enterprises?

7. Is there a performance bond in place, and if so, issued by which company?

8. Was the Deputy Director acting under the instructions of the Minister of Agriculture, when this contract was awarded to Chung Global Enterprises?

9. Were these works scheduled as part of NDIA work programme or is it emergency works?

10. Why this contract was handed to Chung Global Enterprises only when the substantive Director was on annual leave?

Notably, another PPP/C MP, Mr. Dharamkumar Seeraj said that “there was no engineers estimates, no scope of work, no bidding process, yet someone was given a contract.” He further lamented that “it appears that Mr. Hicks, who gave the contract to Chung Global Enterprises, is also supervising the works.” “He is also approving the payments, and this is a very incestuous arrangement,” Seeraj argued.

Chung Global Enterprises was one of the companies, which worked on the controversial D’Urban Park project.

In a First for Germany, Hamburg Bans Diesel Engines. On 2 Roads

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amburg became the first city in Germany to restrict diesel vehicles, banning them on stretches of two roads.

Local and national authorities across Europe are considering, and in some cases already placing, restrictions on diesel vehicles in city centers — with one notable exception: Germany. Now, that is changing.

On Thursday, Hamburg became the first city in Germany to put in place any kind of ban on diesel vehicles, after a federal court ruled in February that it was legal for local authorities to prohibit older diesel engines. But the limited nature of the restriction, affecting only a couple of the city’s main thoroughfares, drew criticism from locals and environmental campaigners.

It is a sign that, even though the diesel engine was a German invention, opposition to the fuel is growing in the country. Concerns have mountedover the use of diesel in the wake of a Volkswagen emissions-rigging scandal and increasing evidence of its harmful health and environmental impacts. In contrast

to their neighbors in Europe, though, German authorities had thus far been reluctant to restrict diesel vehicles, after decades of lobbying by the country’s powerful automakers.

“We believe this will trigger a domino effect in Germany,” said Ugo Taddei, a lawyer at ClientEarth, one of two environmental nonprofits that took the diesel ban lawsuit to the federal court in Germany.

“Many cities are facing very serious air pollution problems, and they will need to set restrictions.”

Hamburg, a port city in northern Germany, was forced to outline how it would improve its air quality after being sued by a resident and an environmental group.

So all diesel vehicles without the latest so-called Euro 6 technology will be prohibited from driving through a stretch along Max-Brauer-Allee in the Altona area in the center of town, and trucks without the newest technology will not be allowed on a portion of a nearby highway known as Stresemannstrasse. The two streets were chosen because emissions from traffic tended to accumulate there,

as a result of relatively little open space and wind passing through.

The ban, though limited in scope, has been seen as an important first step to making similar restrictions more widespread across Germany, where the presence of a huge auto industry has made moves toward such measures more difficult. If the move is shown to improve air quality, other cities could use it as evidence to support their own policies.

About a third of passenger vehicles in the country run on diesel, and carmakers have spent decades promoting the technology. But thanks to a series of scandals, sales of diesel vehicles have been falling — the proportion of Germany’s cars that run on the fuel dropped this year compared with 2017, the first such annual decline in decades, according to the German transport authority.

It is part of a wider shift away from diesel, and the internal combustion engine, across Europe. Along with moves by cities to ban or restrict diesel vehicles, countries like Britain, France and Norway plan to do away with gas or diesel engines entirely.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Coalition Gov’t Report...in headlines PSC voices concerns Linden Town Clerk’s PNCR youth about sole sourcing, appointment revoked by increases taxes, Bulkan without notice arm voices decline in value of dollar and dissatisfaction Guyana more with IMF Press Association blasts with Gov't Just three weeks after being cleared by an investigative committee to resume duties as the Linden Town Clerk, Communities Minister, Ronald Bulkan, revoked Ms. Jonellor Bowen’s appointment without notice.

The Guyana Youth and Student Movement, the youth arm of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) held its Extended General Council in the Hall of Heroes at Congress Place Sophia. And the meeting saw complaints from youths dissatisfied with the PNCR, specifically with the performance of the Coalition government.

Jagdeo calls out Granger for not meeting with local miners

It has been a month since local miners called for a meeting with President David Granger and he has not responded.

Millions in taxpayers’ dollars being used to fund advisors, special and regional assistants for Nagamootoo More than two months later, questions put to Prime Minster, Moses Nagamootoo, by the political Opposition during the review of Budget 2017 have finally been answered. And it has been disclosed that Guyanese taxpayers are funding almost a dozen special and administrative assistants for him.

$605M bombshell corrupt deal: Volda Lawrence approves sole sourcing of medicines, supplies claiming emergency Another bombshell corrupt deal has been exposed.

This time it is a $606M corruption involving Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence.

The Private Sector Commission met with the International Monetary Fund Mission (IMF) team currently in Guyana. And the Commission raised concerns about instances of sole sourcing of contracts, which have occurred despite the existence of the Procurement Commission. Concerns were also raised over the decline in the value of the Guyana dollar and the IMF representatives suggested that a flexible exchange rate, which would allow the currency to revalue itself in response to market forces, was ideal.

Bulkan acted as ‘king’ and knocked out statutory mechanism to manage local gov’t system – Luncheon The Coalition Government is pursuing “nothing short of abuse of power” when it comes to the management of the local government system, according to People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive, Dr Roger Luncheon.

His comments were made in relation to the continued delay in setting up the Local Government Commission (LGC).

Prominent local Attorney heading State Board part of leading fuel smuggling ring

More than a year has passed without government action on the matter of illegal fuel smuggling, despite multiple reports on the issue. And a prominent Attorney-at-Law, involved currently in two high profile political cases, and head of State Board is part of what has now become the leading fuel smuggling ring in Guyana. Reports about the illegal activity first surfaced last year.

Attorney General threatens High Court Judge: says ‘the last Magistrate who did that to me was later found dead’ During a hearing in the matter involving Carvil Duncan – regarding the challenge of his suspension as Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) – High Court Judge, Franklin Holder walked off the bench without adjourning the matter after being threatened by Attorney General Basil Williams.

Coalition gov’t over ‘unmistakable’ signals of Executive control

The move of Ronald Bulkan, the Minister of Communities, to pen a public letter (published on April 3rd, 2017) upbraiding the Editorial team of the state-owned Guyana Chronicle about editorial decisions has been rejected by the Guyana Press Association (GPA).

Basil Williams targets another professional woman

After coming under criticisms for targeting professional women, Attorney General Basil Williams, is now moving to take action against the head of the Head of the Deeds Registry of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority, Azeena Baksh, who is also the daughter of a former PPP/C minister.

Jordan tells forestry sector stakeholders to ‘bring the evidence’ to show that VAT is hurting industry Facing criticisms over the pressures being put on stakeholders in the forestry sector, particularly as it relates to tax policies, Government remains seemingly unmoved.

Coalition in danger of falling apart, violations of Cummingsburg seen Political commentator, Ralph Ramkarran, has lamented the fact that the Cummingsburg Accord – which inked the partnership between APNU and AFC – is being honoured in the breach and has warned about consequences of broken trust and broken promises.

21

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Businesswoman robbed at GuyOil’s Finance Manager the Botanical Gardens while resigns amid fraud claim collecting her children T P olice are now investigating a robbery under arms committed on a 46-year-old businesswoman and miner on Monday last as she was waiting for her children at the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown.

Enquires disclosed that the victim left home at Grove, East Bank Demerara at about 10:00 hrs on the day in question, using a taxi which she would usually travel with. The vehicle was being driven by a 23 year-old male of Diamond EBD. This online publication

was told that the miner, upon entering the taxi, proceeded to Georgetown ,where she conducted several business transactions, after which she went to the Botanical Gardens with her 54-year-old husband to collect their children.

Police say that while the couple was waiting in the vehicle for the children, an armed bandit approached the car from an unknown direction and stopped at the right rear passenger door.

The perpetrator reportedly fired a single shot at the car, causing the window screen to immediately shat-

ter, after which he demanded cash and jewellery from the businesswoman.

The victim hesitantly turned over her yellow handbag which contained $360,000 in cash and some 10 ounces of raw gold valued at $2.4M. The bandit then he ran away in a western direction and made good his escape on the CG motorcycle which was driven by a second assailant.

The matter was reported and the scene was processed resulting in one suspected .32 spent shell being retrieved.

Murder of two men: Mothers want justice T

wo mothers are weeping for justice to be served after their sons were murdered in separate incidents on Saturday.

Twenty-four–year-old Edward Beveney of Triumph, East Coast Demerara was murdered at about 08:30hrs on Saturday at Beterverwagting, while 23-year-old Brian Dwarka of Third Street, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara was killed around midnight not far from his home.

When News Room visited the home of Dewarka called ‘Blackie’, his family and friends were preparing for a wake this evening.

His mother, Chandroutie Dwarka called ‘Tara’ told News Room that the last time she saw her only son was Saturday evening and he subsequently left to go to a BarB-Que a short distance from his home. She said at around midnight, she was awakened by her sister who told her that something is wrong with Brian.

“When I run in the yard, I see my son lay on the ground and I lift him up and I said ‘Blackie what’s wrong babe?’ and he just said ‘uh, uh’ and that’s all,” the tearful mother recalled.

News Room understands that the young man was involved in an argument with a businessman and his son at the

Bar-B-Que and his friends ran away after the businessman’s son pulled out a knife.

Shortly after, the Dwarka was found motionless in a nearby yard in a pool of blood and he was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A knife, suspected to be the murder weapon, was also found in a trench.

The businessman was arrested at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he alleged that the young man had beaten and robbed him; his son was found hiding in a toilet at his home.

“This man doing plenty people these things them and like they don’t get justice but I want justice for my son. That was my only son…I have no income to get to look after myself, I’m a poor person,” the tearful woman said.

Dwarka also leaves to mourn two sisters, 10 and eight-years-old.

Meanwhile, News Room also visited the home of Beveney, who was a miner. His mother cried uncontrollably and was in no state to speak to the media.

Beveney was allegedly murdered by 35-year old Rawle Monrio of Ann’s Grove, ECD. It is alleged that the two men had an ongoing rift for approximately seven years.

Beveney’s sister, Kimika said the family tried several times to settle the dispute but were unsuccessful.

News Room understands that the feud stemmed from the sale of illegal drugs several years ago in Guyana’s interior. Reports indicate that Beveney removed the suspect’s bicycle from a shop at Beterverwagting on Saturday morning and eventually returned it.

However, it is alleged that as the suspect was about to leave, he was confronted

by Beveney who was in the possession of a cutlass.

It is further alleged that Beveney chopped Monrio on his left hand which Monrio pulled a “jucker” from his waist and dealt Beveney several stabs to his left eye, chest and other parts of his body.

However, Kimika told News Room that the suspect “just come just like that and start stabbing my brother, it was planned. We need justice because even if they had a fight, he shouldn’t have stabbed my brother so many times.”

She added that after being stabbed, her brother jumped into a nearby trench and the suspect followed him and continued to stab him.

Monrio was arrested and handed over the “jucker” to the police.

he Finance Manager of the state-owned Guyana Oil Company Limited (GuyOil), Uma Daniels, has resigned amid an ongoing investigation involving the wire transfer of millions of dollars.

G uyO il’s Chairman, Mark Bender, confirmed that he was informed yesterday of Daniels’s resignation.

Bender confirmed that the police have been called in to investigate the wire transfer that has a supplier claiming that it did not receive the money.

The official, while not going into details, said that the probe is significant. It will involve the local bank, its correspondent financial institution that forwarded the money, and the local players who authorized the wire transfers.

It was reported that earlier this month, Daniels was sent on administrative leave

after the multi-million-dollar transfer failure was reported.

The discovery of the fraud was made at the stateowned company earlier this month.

According to sources, the Finance Manager allegedly oversaw the wire transfer of around US$230,000 to an account overseas.

While details were sketchy, Kaieteur News was told that the Finance Manager claimed she received a request to transfer the monies to an account of Castrol, a major supplier of GuyOil. Investigators are trying to determine what role, if any, the Finance Manager and others may have played.

GuyOil runs a string of service stations and is the largest seller of fuel to the local market.

However, there have been allegations over the years of ‘runnings’ within the entity.

GuyOil, in a statement

Uma Daniels

earlier this month, had confirmed that a probe was ongoing and that no one was fired.

Daniels, in a lawyer’s letter dated May 21, threatened this newspaper with legal action for the report on the investigation.

She wanted a public apology and a public retraction in all forms of media, and local newspaper.

Pregnant woman who allegedly strangled husband to death granted bail T he 28-year-old pregnant woman who allegedly strangled her husband to death on Mother’s Day last, was on Tuesday granted bail when she appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Melissa Cylus of Soesdyke/Linden Highway, was not required to plead to the indictable charge of unlawfully killing her 32-year-old husband, Julian Anthony Reberio, on May 13, 2018.

The woman, who is the mother of a 10-monthold child and is also five months pregnant, was granted bail in the sum of $200,000.

She is expected to return to court on June 18, 2018.

On May 25, 2018, Cylus allegedly confessed to the police that she killed the father of her child following an altercation with the man at their home.

A post mortem examination proved that Reberio died as a result of asphyxiation due to compression injuries to his neck.

The accused initially told police that Reberio came home intoxicated and subsequently fell and hit his head in the house that the couple and their toddler shared.

She recounted that upon

rushing the man to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, he was pronounced dead.

Accused: Melissa Cylus

22

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

AFC’s Abel Seetaram $750,000 found guilty bail for murder E accused M

aryann Daby, the 25-year-old woman who was denied bail at the Georgetown Magistrates Court on May 23, for the charges of attempted murder and having a firearm in her possession while being unlicensed, was granted bail by Justice Kissoon of the High Court.

After she was further remanded to prison by Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan, the Finance Manager of United Commodities took to the High Court to have her bail application granted.

As such, she was released on $750,000 bail.

It was previously reported that Daby, who is the daughter of a popular businessman, was seen imbibing on May 13 2018, at GMRC. She reportedly became annoyed with an individual and as such stood infront of the entity and discharged several rounds in the air.

An off duty police offi-

cer reportedly approached the woman and requested that she cease and desist.

However, the irritated young lady pointed the gun at the officer’s head and pulled the trigger.

At that time, the gun had been emptied so the rank was not injured.

She was later arrested at her home and dragged before the Magistrates Court to answer to the charges.

The young lady is expected to appear at the Georgetown Magistrates Court on May 30, as her case continues before the Chief Magistrate.

Berbice fisherman charged with murder in pirate attack

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erbice fish magnate Nakool ‘Fyah” Manohar was on Wednesday charged with the murder of one of the Guyanese fishermen who was brutally attacked and dumped overboard on April 27 off the coast of Suriname.

Local and Surinamese authorities firmly believe that the attack was one of revenge after Manohar’s brother Somnauth Manohar was gunned down in Suriname.

Apart from Manohar, no one else has been charged with the attack.

The attack on four fishing boats 30 miles (48 km) from the coast of Suriname was described by President David Granger as a “massacre.”

Of the twenty fishermen attacked, 12 are still missing and considered dead. Five

mbattled Alliance For Change (AFC) Councillor Abel Seetaram was found guilty of felonious wounding by Magistrate Rhondel Weaver at the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court.

The case stemmed from a drunken brawl on January 21, 2018 when Seetaram, 36, of Lot 121 B Woodley Park Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB), injured his cousin Netram Rabindranauth.

The prosecution had contended that Seetaram feloniously wounded Rabindranauth, 54, a vendor of Lot 64 A Woodley Park Village.

When the charge was initially filed, Seetaram was released on $100,000 bail.

The AFC Councillor was arrested after he was said to have used a piece of wood to injure Rabindranauth during an altercation after a drinking spree.

Back in January, the victim of the attack had told Guyana Times that he had intervened in an argument and scramble between Seetaram’s son and his son in order to make peace and part them.

Rabindranauth recalled that it was at this point that Seetaram arrived on the scene and dealt him several blows with the piece of wood. Both men took their sons to the Police Station and made reports after which the young men were held for

questioning and subsequently released.

Rabindranauth also reported that he had to be taken to the Fort Wellington Hospital after he sustained a broken jaw, fractured nose, and suffered internal bleeding which also saw him being transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.

At the scene of the confrontation, Seetaram, who was reportedly intoxicated, was heard shouting and telling persons who had gathered that no one could do him anything, since he knows “Khemraj” and is a “big boy in the Government”.

Rabindranauth’s son had spoken out on social media against the attack on his father, who he said made his living selling chips.

Following the guilty verdict on Wednesday, the Court is now expected to hand down Seetaram’s sentence on June 13.

Defence counsel Horatio Edmonson in a plea of mitigation asked the Court to exercise mercy and leniency, since the offence carried a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment.

A decision was then made to have a probation/ welfare report submitted before sentencing took place.

When contacted on Wednesday, Seetaram refused to comment on the decision by Magistrate Weaver,

adding that he has no comment to offer to this media house.

“Just come and see what happens on June 13…just come,” he said.

Seetaram is no stranger to controversy. He was the Special Assistant to Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, but was fired from that post after crashing a Government SUV. Seetaram was found guilty of three charges in relation to that accident on May 8, 2016. He was charged with driving in a dangerous manner. He was also charged with being an unlicensed driver and with breach of insurance.

Seetaram was driving the SUV on the Bath Public Road at a fast pace when he lost control and crashed into a fence, knocking out some of the uprights and damaging several structures at the Bath Market. He also crashed into another fence nearby, causing considerable damage.

Man who raped and impregnated 13-year-old commits suicide

Tiliknauth Mohabir

Nakool Manohar

men survived, while three bodies were recovered.

Manohar appeared before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court on the Corentyne Coast. He is accused of murdering Tiliknauth Mohabir, called Caiman, sometime between April 26th

and May 3rd this year.

Bail was denied and Manohar is expected back in court on June 13.

Manohar was also further denied bail on two previous charges of robbery for pirate attacks Police accused him of carrying out in 2015 and 2016.

S

hortly after an investigation was launched into a man who is accused of raping and impregnating his step-daughter, the suspect reportedly committed suicide.

His body was found in a cemetery, a short distance from his home, and it is believed that he consumed carbon tablets.

Based on information received, the 13-year-old

girl was left in the man’s custody for a period of time after her mother left to visit the United States during the latter part of last year.

Reports indicate that the teen would confide in her relatives that the man would sexually molest her. However, her complaints and cries were unheeded, as the suspect would also deny the allegations when questioned by family members.

Becoming desperate, the child reportedly then confided in a school teacher who reported the matter to the Child Care and Protection Agency.

An investigation was launched and it was discovered that the teen was pregnant.

The suspect was told that the matter was being investigated, days prior to his suicide.

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

The Other View

23

We don’t need to ban plastic. We just need to start using it properly H

umanity’s relationship with plastic is rather schizophrenic.

It is present in almost every aspect of modern life, from water bottles to aircraft.

Without it, our lives would not be the same. However, it is now considered an environmental evil because of the havoc that plastic waste wreaks. We see it on our streets, in our rivers and lakes, on our beaches and even in our deepest oceans.

There will be more plastic than fish in the ocean in 30 years, scientists estimate.

Let us not be foolish enough to think the plastic will stay there. After it is eaten by

fish and marine life, causing great damage, it enters the bodies of anyone who eats them.

Many environmental activists are calling for a ban on plastics. However, the very properties that make plastic so dangerous - its durability and long lifespan - also make it a great asset.

A material that will not die or be destroyed for five hundred years is valuable. We can reuse it almost endlessly.

The problem is not plastic itself. The problem is using it irresponsibly.

A material that can be constantly recycled is a great help to ecology and the econ-

omy, especially when the human population is growing rapidly and our lifestyle demands are increasing exponentially. The solution is not to ban plastic, but to ensure that it is used responsibly and recycled properly.

However, plastic recycling is a complicated issue.

There are so many different grades of plastic, each requiring their own recycling process. Some of these plastic types are not even recyclable in a commercially viable manner. The process of collecting and sorting these different categories has many challenges, including technological capacity, and

social awareness around disposal.

A blueprint to transform "filth into wealth" is the need of the hour. A comprehensive legal and policy framework to streamline and commercialize the process of plastic recycling must be created. It is the plastic industry’s responsibility to raise the necessary social awareness about responsible use and recycling. If we can show people that plastic is precious, you will not find a piece of plastic waste anywhere.

As host of World Environment Day 2018, India must lead by example, by

eliminating single-use plastic. Strict enforcement of law is key. If the world’s major powers, including India, China, the US and the EU, introduce this ban at a policy level, it will percolate easily to the rest of the world.

Humanity must realize that, given our current footprint, reusing and recycling everything is most important. Right now, we treat ecological concerns as an obligation to fulfil. They are not an obligation - our lives depend on them. Our very body is an extract from this planet. Preserving and nurturing Earth is no different from creating a good life for

ourselves. Our life is an integrated, connected life. There can be no good life without a good planet.

Our ideas about development and the economy have removed us from this reality. It is time we realize that the fanciful notions we have about life and the world no longer work.

We have to do something more mature. This maturity must come from business, industry and government.

In our lives, if we do not do what we cannot do, it is not a problem. But if we do not do what we can do, we are a disaster. It is my wish that we, as a generation, do not become a disaster.

Truth Decay in public discourse and how to fight it Diminishing Role of Facts

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olicy debate in the US is increasingly marred by a blurred line between fact and opinion.

Over the past two decades, national political and civil discourse in the United States has been characterized by "Truth Decay," defined as a set of four interrelated trends: an increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact; and lowered trust in formerly respected sources of factual information.

These trends have many causes, but the report, Truth Decay. An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, focuses on four: characteristics of human cognitive processing, such as cognitive bias; changes in the information system, including social media and the 24hour news cycle; competing demands on the education system that diminish time spent on media literacy and critical thinking; and polarization, both political and demographic.

The most damaging con-

sequences of Truth Decay include the erosion of civil discourse, political paralysis, alienation and disengagement of individuals from political and civic institutions, and uncertainty over national policy.

This report explores the causes and consequences of Truth Decay and how they are interrelated, and it examines past eras of US history to identify evidence of Truth Decay's four trends and observe similarities with and differences from the current period. It also outlines a research agenda, a strategy for investigating the causes of Truth Decay and determining what can be done to address its causes and consequences.

Truth Decay as a system Truth Decay is defined as a set of four related trends: increasing disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data; a blurring of the line between opinion and fact; an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion and personal experience over fact; and declining trust in formerly respected sources of factual information.

Is Truth Decay new?

This report explores three historical eras — the 1890s,

1920s, and 1960s — for evidence of the four Truth Decay trends and compares those eras with the past two decades (2000s–2010s). Two of the four trends occurred in earlier periods: the blurring of the line between opinion and fact and an increase in the relative volume, and resulting influence, of opinion over fact.

Declining trust in institutions, while evident in previous eras, is more severe today.

No evidence of an increase in disagreement about facts and analytical interpretations of facts and data was seen in the earlier periods.

What causes Truth Decay?

Four drivers, or causes, of Truth Decay are described: cognitive bias, changes in the

information system (including the rise of social media and the 24-hour news cycle), competing demands on the educational system that limit its ability to keep pace with changes in the information system, and political, sociodemographic, and economic polarization. Various agents also amplify Truth Decay's trends.

What are the consequences?

The consequences of Truth Decay manifest in many ways. The most damaging effects might be the erosion of civil discourse, political paralysis, alienation and disengagement of individuals from political and civic institutions, and uncertainty about

U.S. policy.

Recommendations: Unravelling the Complex System of Truth Decay Will Require Multifaceted and Interdisciplinary Efforts Interdisciplinary research and cooperation among research organizations, policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders will be necessary to shed light on the problem of Truth Decay and to develop a clearer understanding of the problem and devise possible solutions.

There Are Four High-Priority Areas of Research · Examine more closely how Truth Decay has manifested in the past at home and abroad, extracting lessons that can assist in the fight against

Truth Decay. · Further explore Truth Decay trends, including such areas as how media content has changed over time, the ways in which the speed and nature of information flow have evolved, developments in the education system and its curricula, the ways in which polarization and political gridlock have (or have not) worsened, the erosion of civil discourse and engagement, and changes in the severity of uncertainty about US policy. · Investigate the processes and mechanisms that connect Truth Decay to information dissemination, processing, and consumption; institutions, authorities, and intermediaries; polarization, engagement, and discourse; the benefits and challenges of technological advancement; and agency.

Truth Decay as an interconnected system should also be explored. · Finally, develop and evaluate potential solutions and mitigations to the problems caused by Truth Decay. Priority areas include educational interventions; improving the information market; institutional development and rebuilding; bridging social divides; harnessing new technologies; behavioural economics, psychology, and cognitive science; and organizational self-assessment.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

LIVING IN THE MOMENT� CAN BE VERY REWARDING:

A

re you familiar with the expression "to live in the moment?" This is the ability to be fully present

and aware of yourself and your surroundings as you live each moment. Achieving such a state requires practice as well as observation, appreciation, patience, quiet, and the ability to silence the phone and clocks and put away the calendar. But the benefits are well worth the effort.

While most of us do not experience such times frequently, this is when we feel the most alive. In theory, my good Readers, being present involves learning how to pay attention, and the process of getting there is far easier than you might think. There are a few simple things you can do right now to help you stay in the present and pay attention to your life experience in a very positive way.

Start by setting a few quiet minutes aside each day to close your eyes and take stock of what you are feeling, no matter how good or bad those feelings may be. Do not judge your feelings, just allow yourself to become aware of the emotions behind them.

Next, send your attention outward and become aware of things around you. Notice if you feel warm or cold, what your clothing feels like against your skin, the feeling of the air moving in and out of your lungs. Let the sounds around you filter through you and notice the underlying noises that you may have been tuning out. All of these factors are part of the space you are in!

Next, open your eyes and notice the colors and sights around you in this same subtle, attentive way. By the time you are halfway through this little exercise, comrades, you may be surprised at how much you actually notice about your internal and external presence. If you try this, you will probably find that "paying attention" will take on a whole new meaning, and it will be a very nice one at that.

I hope that you can take some time this week to practice "living in the moment." I feel sure that it will change your experience in "now" time. I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget to spend some time with your comrades and activists doing your political work.

Happy 68th Anniversary to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP). Remember to purchase and read your copy of the Mirror Newspaper and tune to Freedom Radio, streaming on 91.1 FM in GT and its environs, 90.7 in Essequibo and 90.5 inBerbice. Streaming online freedomradio 91.com. Follow us on Facebook at freedomradiogy.

G.Persaud

WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Children’s Corner

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Name: ............................................................................................................................................

Address: ........................................................................................................................................ ......................................................................................... Tel. No: ................................................

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Brazil oil workers begin strike in new blow to government B

Ukraine’s security faked death of Russian journalist T

he assassination bore all the hallmarks of yet another contract killing carried out in the murky shadows of the conflict pitting Russia against Ukraine.

A photo of the victim, a dissident Russian journalist, showed him lying face down Tuesday in a vermilion pool of his own blood. He was found by his wife, and died on the way to a hospital from multiple gunshot wounds to the back, said the police in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital.

Then on Wednesday, the journalist, Arkady Babchenko, to all appearances very much alive, walked into a news conference that Ukrainian security officials had called to discuss his “murder.”

“First of all, I would like to apologize that all of you had to live through this, because I know the horrible feeling when you have to bury your colleagues,” Mr. Babchenko told stunned reporters after the gasps died down. “Separately, I want to apologize to my wife for all the hell she had to go through.”

The staged death, said Vasily S. Gritsak, the head of the Ukraine Security Service, was a sting operation aimed at stopping a real assassination plot against Mr. Babchenko. It was the latest twist — if an especially bizarre one — in the tortured relations between Ukraine and Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and is fueling a sepa-

ratist war in eastern Ukraine.

“Matters of life and death in Ukraine, as well as trust of the international community to its policy, are nothing more than a bargaining chip used to fuel the anti-Russian hysteria of the Kiev regime,” the Russian statement said.

Both the story of Mr. Babchenko’s death and that of his resurrection garnered enormous attention around the world.

Various voices, especially from the world of journalism, called the ploy a bad idea in an era when battling fake news has become a daily problem — and when real news is dismissed as fake news whenever politicians from Washington to the Kremlin find it in their interest to do so.

Critics said Ukraine’s actions would only help the Kremlin raise doubts now when it is accused of wrongdoing, as in the shooting down of a civilian airliner over Ukraine in 2014 that killed nearly 300 people, and the poisoning of a retired Russian spy and his daughter in Britain in March.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the

Ukrainian Security Services, calling it “dangerous” for any government to manipulate facts.

Ukrainian officials defended their actions, saying the ruse had been necessary to try to stop Russian-financed attacks against targets in Ukraine. Mr. Gritsak said there was no doubt that “the assassination of the Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko was ordered by Russian intelligence.”

Mr. Babchenko, 41, a former war correspondent, fled Russia last year after his criticism of the Kremlin for the wars in Ukraine and Syria prompted a nationalist campaign of intimidation against him. He roused particular fury with a Facebook post saying he “didn’t give a damn” about the deaths of 92 people, most of them Russian singers, dancers and musicians, who died in a plane crash en route to Syria to perform.

The authorities identified the supposed organizer as Mr. G., a Ukrainian citizen, and showed tape of security agents arresting a portly man in a white shirt on a city street.

Mr. G., they said, had hired a veteran of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine to carry out the killing. But the hit man secretly agreed to cooperate with the security services, the officials said, pretending to carry out the killing and collecting a $30,000 fee.

(Mr. G. kept $10,000 for himself, they said).

Mexican President Sends Trump A Blunt Message About Paying For The Wall

P

resident Donald Trump called out Mexico on Tuesday last, vowing yet again that the nation on America’s southern border will pay for his proposed wall. But Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto fired back almost immediately with a promise of his own, insisting that will never happen.

Trump made his comments during a rally in Nashville, Tennessee that touched on many of the talking points from his 2016 campaign, from attacks on Hillary Clinton to immigration.

“In the end, Mexico’s going to pay for the wall,” Trump said. “They’re going to pay for the wall, and they’re

going to enjoy it, OK?” Peña Nieto replied on Twitter: Peña Nieto also sent the tweet in Spanish: The border wall has long been a Trump rallying cry. He would ask the crowd “Who’s gonna pay for the wall?” and the audience would shout back “Mexico!”

razilian oil workers began a 72-hour strike on Wednesday in a new blow to President Michel Temer following a nationwide trucker protest that has strangled Latin America’s largest economy for over a week.

The strike is the latest challenge for state-led oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, whose shares have plummeted nearly 30 percent since May 16 over fears that political interference would unwind more investor-focused policies.

Late on Tuesday, Reuters reported that Temer was considering an overhaul of a market-based fuel pricing policy at Petrobras, which could provoke even more investor flight.

The oil strike was declared illegal by Brazil’s top labor court on Tuesday,

but FUP, Brazil’s largest oil workers union, said it had not been informed of the ruling and planned to go ahead with the stoppage.

Petrobras, as the company is known, said any disruption would not have an immediate major impact on its production or overall operations. According to a source close to the company, Petrobras has a significant stock of fuel on hand, especially as a 10-day truckers’ strike has prevented significant amounts of fuel from leaving refineries.

However, the strike has raised the specter of stoppages and protests spreading to more sectors as Brazilians vent frustration with an unpopular government and an uneven economic recovery.

The FUP said on Wednesday that workers

did not show up at work at eight refineries stretching from Manaus in the Amazon to Rio de Janeiro in the southeast. They also walked off the job at plants handling lubricants, nitrogen and shale gas, as well as in the ports of Suape and Paranaguá.

“Initial information points to the workers having adhered to the strike at various locations,” FUP said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The movement is continuing through the morning, when stoppages at other Petrobras units are expected.”

Petrobras, along with the federal government’s solicitor general’s office on Tuesday, had asked the country’s top labor court to rule that any oil strike would be illegal, arguing it was being carried out mainly for political and not labor-related reasons.

Brazil: Imprisoned Lula Maintains Lead in Presidential Polls

F

ormer Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would receive 39 percent of the vote in the first round of October's presidential election according to a recently conducted poll.

According to the poll conducted by the Unified Worker's Central (CUT) and Vox Populi Lula's popularity places him over nine points ahead of the combined 30 percent support received by all other aspirants to the country's highest office.

His closest individual rival, Jair Bolsonaro, a Congressman and member of the Social Liberal Party, finished second in the poll with 12 percent of those surveyed stating that they would support him. While Marina Silva is third on six percent with Ciro Gomefourth having received four percent of the vote. Geraldo Alckmin and Alvaro Diasreceived three percent and two percent respectively.

Other hopefuls in the presidential election such as Henrique Meirelles, Manuela D'Avila, and Joao Amoedo, would receive just one percent of the according to the poll with others failing to receive any traction.

“What we have now are almost 14 million people unemployed, not to mention those who are underemployed, absurd increases in

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. | Photo: Reuters

fuel, diesel and cooking gas and a discredited, cornered government, void of political capital to negotiate the end of the truck driver mobilization,” said CUT president Vagner Freitas following the release of the poll.

Freitas noted that people have not forgotten that Lula was responsible for generating 20 million jobs and more equitable wealth distribution during his term, despite the 2008 international economic crisis.

The survey was conducted between May 19 – 23 and published on Monday.

Lula has been detained in solitary confinement for the past 53 days at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba, Parana.

Despite his imprisonment, an event that many legal experts and observers attribute to lawfare and a salacious mainstream media campaign, he has topped every 2018 electoral poll conducted by Vox Populi, Ibope, Datafolha, Data Poder 360, Instituto Parana, the National Confederation of Transportation/MDA and Ipsos.

Lula's two terms in office were marked by a slew of social programs, lifting millions of Brazilians out of poverty and removing the country from the United Nations World Hunger Map. He left office with a record approval rating of 83 percent in 2011, according to Datafolha.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 2-3 JUNE, 2018

Sport View T

by Neil Kumar

he Indian Premier League was undoubtedly a massive success. As for the real massive crowds that filled the grounds that can only take place in India.

The struggle and keen finish in matches will certainly build the fighting spirit and strengthen the resolve of the young players.

The tough games that eventually led to the top four teams in the play-offs were indeed a manifestation of the highest and most competitive cricket among world class cricketers. The IPL was spectular; we saw some of the best catches on a cricket field. The tournament will certainly give rise to better fielding teams in all forms of cricket. Test cricket will be the biggest beneficiary from this tournament as we will now see that catches will win matches.

The IPL rewards and lucrative contracts will continue to attract players from the entire world. The cricketing world is much more united and richer. The financial

benefits will certainly make the cricketing world more competitive and attractive to much more young cricketers.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are two players that are indeed a source of inspiration to young cricketers.

As for players such as AB de Villers and Chris Gayle we will miss them but their achievements in cricket put them as men, “cricketers’ who have achieve ‘Greatness’ in cricket. They were indeed a source of inspiration to many young cricketers and today India can select two worlds class T/ twenty teams and two test teams. Further, awaiting there are some of the most spectular and great batsmen that India will now release to the world of cricket. Most fantastic, is the fact that the very young Indians players were given the opportunity to play and rub shoulders with the best players in the world. These players played in tension filled situations and dramatic close finishes.

From the IPL the cricketing

world will be moving to the prestigious Caribbean Premier League.

All roads lead to the Guyana National Stadium at Providence. The three matches to be played at Providence will certainly be a continuation of IPL. Massive crowds and spinning wicket can be guarteen. The matches can be high scoring; however the team batting first will have to put runs on the board. The Amazon Warriors is a well balance team, but they will have to score runs quickly. It is anticipated that they will open with a solid opening batsman and a ‘pinch’ hitter. The home team must get enough runs from the restricted first six over’s so that the top order can score runs quickly.

The Guyana top order must be able to give the team a solid start so that the attacking middle order and lower order batsmen could score heavily in the final overs. The Guyana Amazon Warriors must win this year to satisfy their supporters.

Sandals to sponsor Windies for Hurricane Relief T20

C

ricket West Indies (CWI) on Wednesday announced Sandals Resorts as the Windies team sponsor for Thursday’s charity match against the ICC World XI. The high-profile match will be played at Lord’s from 18:00h (13:00h Eastern Caribbean Time/12 noon Jamaica Time).

The announcement was made by Johnny Grave, Chief Executive Officer of CWI, as the Windies arrived in London to prepare for the match. As part of the agreement for the sponsorship, the Windies team will have the Sandals logo on their playing and training clothing, stadium branding at Lord’s and Sky Sports broadcast sponsorship of the match.

“We are delighted Sandals have agreed to partner

with us on this fundraising initiative event. Sandals is a strong Caribbean brand and global leader in the luxury travel industry,” Grave said.

“This match has great significance for the people of the region and we are very grateful for Sandals’ support.”

Managing Director, Sandals, UK and Europe, Karl Thompson, said, “As ambassadors for the Caribbean, Sandals is delighted to be involved in such a prestigious event. The brand has been the pioneer of luxury hospitality initiatives for over 30 years in the region so to be able to give something back always means a great deal to everybody involved with Sandals”.

The Windies are reigning ICC World Twenty20 champions and two-time cham-

pions in the format. They are being led by all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite and the squad includes Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree, Andre Russell and Denesh Ramdin.

Tickets for the match are available at https://tickets. lords.org with all proceeds going towards rebuilding and renovating five major venues as well as other community cricket facilities that were damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The venues that will benefit include Ronald Webster Park in Anguilla, Sir Viv Richards Stadium, Antigua, Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica, Cancryn Cricket Grounds, in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Carib Lumber Ball Park in St. Maarten.

(CWI)

CPL: Guyanese among those to benefit from Digicel Youth Cricket Series D igicel and the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) joined the St. Michael School at Desmond Haynes Oval in Barbados to launch their regional tour for the Digicel Youth Cricket Series.

As the winner of the digital voting campaign in Barbados, the school had a one day session with Barbadian native and Barbados Tridents bowler, Jason Holder and Digicel Youth Cricket Series Head Coach, Vasbert Drakes.

“Digicel has worked with athletes for almost as long as we’ve been in existence. We believe in sports as a positive outlet for youth and we work to provide opportunities for them to become the sporting stars of the future. The Digicel Youth Cricket Series is one such programme that offers children access to the best players and coaches that CPL has to offer”, said Tari Lovell, Group Sponsorship Manager for Digicel.

As a past student of St. Michael School, Holder was proud to pass on some of his knowledge to the current students. “I am pleased with the turnout of students today

and being able to be a part of a program such as this that will hopefully produce some bright sparks. I also want to thank Digicel for hosting this program and for showing their support and sponsorship.”

Jason Holder giving tips to youngsters in Barbados The Digicel Youth Cricket Series will continue in the five remaining CPL countries – Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana – and will feature a local CPL player and coach working with the winning schools.

The development of future West Indian cricketers through the youth series

helps to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the sport in the region.

Coach Drakes said of the session with the students, “I am happy to be here and to be a part of this programme to share knowledge and create a fun and learning environment and being able to give back to the community.”

Digicel and the CPL have had a long-standing partnership and over the years have worked together to create ‘the biggest party in sport’; the carnival atmosphere of the CPL has made the game approachable and exciting for many and draws in fans from all over the world to watch the games each year, either in the stadium, on television or through digital media.

Digicel has also played a fundamental role in bringing CPL to a wider audience through their mobile, social and television platforms across the region. Fans of the game can download PlayGo for free and tune into the dedicated CPL channel to watch live coverage of the 2018 tournament and past CPL games.

Bus operators block public road protesting higher fuel prices O

ver a dozen minibus operators on Thursday morning last blocked the Vryheid’s Lust public road on the railway embankment as they continue to protest the “steep” hike in fuel prices which they say is affecting their livelihoods and their ability to make a profit daily.

They minibus operators and owners say if the Government will not intervene and cause an immediate reduction of the fuel prices, they will unilaterally increase the fares paid by passengers by at least 20 dollars depending on the route and distance.

State-owned, Guyana Oil Company Limited (GuyOil ) Service Stations have increased their gasoline prices from $200 per litre, to $230, while diesel and kerosene have leaped to $214 per litre and $145 per litre, respec-

tively.

On Wednesday last , the The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), as well as the Private Sector made calls for Government to intervene and put measures in place to ensure the effects are not filtered to businesses and consumers.

However, Business Minister Dominic Gaskin was quoted as saying that the matter is yet to be discussed

by Cabinet.

As the prices continue to increase, operators within the transportation sector have begun increasing their fares for passengers to travel.

Just recently, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Irfaan Ali had urged the coalition Government to give some serious consideration into reducing the high prices of fuel on the market.

Ali recalled when his party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) was in Gov-

ernment, they had constantly adjusted the tax regime to cushion the effects of fluc-

tuation in fuel prices on the international market.

He said this was aimed at

ensuring that all Guyanese were protected from increases in their expenditure.

Chronicle posted Countrywide roadblocks wrong, should not be erected unless there Guyana’s map without Essequibo is emergency – Nandlall O

pposition Parliamentarian, Mohabir Anil Nandlall has expressed alarm over the increase and frequency with which roadblocks have been established across the country and has since labeled the exercise as “unconstitutional”, “wrong” and “whimsical”.

Nandlall, during his weekly television programme in Berbice, made it clear that in developed countries and even under the previous Administration, roadblocks are only

erected in situations of emergencies.

“Roadblocks cannot be erected whimsically and capriciously across the length and breadth of this country for no reason at all and used as a mechanism to detain people randomly,” he explained.

Nandlall, former Attorney General, further explained that even if roadblocks are set up outside of an emergency situation, police officers do not have the right to stop people random-

ly without reasonable cause.

He described these actions as an invasion of people’s privacy and liberty.

“A police officer cannot stop me for no reason at all, he must have some reason, some form of suspicion that is based upon reason that I have committed or likely to commit an offence before he stops me. He has no authority to just stop me and request my driver’s license and then check my brakes light or when that is okay he asks for my registration

and when that is okay he asks for my insurance…

This witch-hunting is wrong and unconstitutional,” he asserted.

Nandlall recognised that there is an uncontrollable crime situation in the country but he argued that this does not justify the multiple roadblocks throughout all hours of the day.

Citizens’ Report understands that most times at the roadblocks, police officers are fleecing and harassing drivers.

I

n light of two instances on social media where the Guyana map was depicted without its 83,000 square miles of Essequibo land, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has expressed “deep concern” and asserted that they are “looking into the matter.”

The first instance of this image surfacing was on the Facebook page of the American Home and Beauty Centre- a local company- which was posted on May 24, 2018, wishing Guyanese a “Happy Independence Day” while advertising a “Sale.”

However, the most shocking was when the ‘Essequibo-less map’ popped up on State-owned newspaper, the Guyana Chronicle on Independence morning.

After the images went viral, the two entities posted apologies.

“To our Guyanese People and Valued Customers, we are sincerely sorry for the Independence Ad which would have been published.

The Page is usually managed internationally by our Marketing Department. The incident has caused great disrespect to the people of Guyana and we take full responsibility for the poor representation displayed.

We wish to reassure the country that we would never intentionally do anything to disrespect the country and/ or disgrace the Map,” the American Home and Beauty Centre said.

In addition, the State media blamed a possible hacker for the “mishap.”

“The Guyana Chronicle deeply apologises for the inexplicable publication of a map which annexed the Essequibo on our webpage this morning. Based on our internal checks such a map is not in our photograph database and it would seem that some mischievous person might have uploaded this distorted image of the Guyana map,” the entity explained while noting that an investigation has been launched internally.

PUBLISHED BY NEW GUYANA Co. Ltd., 8 Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana. Tel: 226-2473, 226-5875 Fax: 226-2472