Weekend Mirror 8-9 Septmeber 2018

Granger caught in contradictions, fails to provide clarity on policy issues 8-9 September, 2018 / Vol. 10 No. 38 / Price: $100

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

(SEE STORIES ON PAGE 8, 9, 12)

Salaries, benefits dispute between Teachers’ Union, gov’t goes to arbitration

PAGE 17

One-day conference on sugar spotlights failures of APNU+AFC gov’t

SEE INSIDE

Worsening state of PAGE 18 Mabura Road remains a challenge for hinterland residents Harmon PAGE 21 fails to define timeline within which APNU+AFC gov’t will comply with the law

Granger says he has ‘no regrets’ about massive salary increases taken by his gov’t PAGE 9

GECOM receives 62 symbols from LGE 2018 PAGE 17 contestants

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Holding the APNU+AFC Coalition to account – a review of local happenings

Grassroots Democracy: An important component of the governance process

By Hydar Ally (GUEST CONTRIBUTOR)

L

ocal democracy is an important component of the governance process. It allows for people at the grassroots level to have their say on matters affecting their lives at their place of residence.

This is why it is of such great importance for local government elections to be held at regular intervals consistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the country.

Regrettably this was not always the case. The PNC during its tenure in office failed to honour its constitutional mandate to hold local government elections within the constitutionally due period. For twenty four years the citizens of Guyana were denied the opportunity to vote in local government elections. It took the return of the PPP to power on October 5 1992 after nearly three decades of undemocratic rule that the country once again breathe the fresh air of democracy and democratic rule. Indeed, one of the first actions taken by the new PPP government was to set in motion the necessary legislative and logistical measures to hold local government elections in keeping with its Manifesto promise. Accordingly, elections were held the following year and for the first time in decades the citizens of Guyana were given the opportunity to elect

leaders at the community level to govern their affairs.

It is pertinent to recall that prior to 1992, there was only one local government 'elections' that was held in 1970 but like the national 'elections' that preceded it, the 1968 election was blatantly and massively rigged in favour of the PNC. I have some vivid recollections of that dark period when a handful of PNC members held sway in the Local Government area. Prior to 1970, there were several local government areas encompassing much smaller communities which allowed for much more focused and targeted village management.

Besides, it facilitated much greater participation of people in the respective communities in the management of their own affairs. For reasons best known to the then PNC administration, several of the Village Councils were merged into much larger National Democratic Councils.

Take for example the case of the No. 52-74 NDC which is today the largest NDC in the country. There were over six Village Councils within the 52-74 NDC prior to 1970 which were subsequently merged into a single Local Government area.

One consequence of the merger was the fact that management became much more diffuse and impersonal than was hitherto the case.

Many of the councillors were not known to the villagers

and were unfamiliar with the issues and developmental challenges that prevailed in the villages.

There was an even more sinister motive. It was much easier to manipulate and rig the elections of a larger entity than that of several smaller entities. Having rigged the elections at the national level, it was necessary for the regime to do likewise at the local level if only to create a facade of popular support. I recall more than half of the councillors coming from one small PNC stronghold, Union Village and the remainder of the Councillors handpicked from villagers many of whom opportunistically identified themselves with the PNC. The net result was a complete lack of representative democracy which for all practical purposes mirrored a situation at the national level.

Local Government elections were consistently

denied the people of Guyana for twenty four years spanning the period 1970 to 1994.The PNC deliberately stymied local government elections out of a desire to perpetuate its control of power. Unlike the PPP, the PNC suffered from 'elections phobia' and did whatever it took to prolong its political life both at the local and national levels.

With local government elections right around the corner, the Granger administration is seeking to find ways to consolidate its grip on power. Already, there are clear signs on the horizon of

which is today crippled both economically and socially from the closure of several sugar estates. It is no secret that the AFC, the junior partner in the coalition Government has lost considerable ground in the sugar and rice producing areas and is highly unlikely to retain whatever support it once enjoyed. The gerrymandering process initiated by the Granger administration is nothing short of a compensation mechanism for an anticipated loss of support and at the same time deny the PPP majoritarian control of NDCs it enjoyed in the previous local government

of new Local Government Areas as well as the reconfiguration of constituency boundaries.

Regardless of how GECOM may wish to justify its inaction, it is hard to escape the conclusion of key stakeholders that the democratic process is violated with the intention of giving the APNU an advantage at the polls, especially in NDCs where the PPP has a narrow margin of victory as in the case of the Woodlands-Farm NDC. Nor has it escaped the notice of the PPP that the creation of new Local Government Areas are arbitrarily

“Regardless of how GECOM may wish to justify its inaction, it is hard to escape the conclusion of key stakeholders that the democratic process is violated with the intention of giving the APNU an advantage at the polls, especially in NDCs where the PPP has a narrow margin of victory as in the case of the Woodlands-Farm NDC. Nor has it escaped the notice of the PPP that the creation of new Local Government Areas are arbitrarily and selectively done in perceived APNU strongholds.” – Hydar Ally boundary manipulation or what is referred in the literature as "gerrymandering".

The objective is to provide the APNU with an electoral advantage in the upcoming local government elections.

This was felt necessary in light of the growing unpopularity of the Granger regime and a perceived surge in popular support of the PPP especially in the sugar belt

elections.

What is even more alarming is the facilitating role played by GECOM in the entire process. Despite objections from PPP-nominated Commissioners, GECOM turned a blind eye towards a clear case of manipulation by the revelant authorities on the grounds that it is the prerogative of the Minister to determine the creation

and selectively done in perceived APNU strongholds.

The playing field is getting increasingly uneven and is tilted in favour of the APNU. GECOM has a duty and responsibility to ensure that all the parties to the poll have an even chance to succeed commensurate with the extent of their electoral support. This seems highly unlikely at this time.

No action taken against Simona Broomes at gov’t level P resident David Granger has admitted that Cabinet, after considering the police report into a matter involving Junior Minister, Simona Broomes, has taken no action against her.

He also failed to address a possible breach of the Code of Conduct for public officers, which was touted by his Government.

Instead, Granger noted that the police report did not find Broomes culpable of any criminal action. As such, he stated that the mat-

ter to do with Broomes will be dealt with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), the political party which she belongs to.

Granger heads the PNCR. He did not say what action will be taken against her.

The President also shied away from saying if the Broomes’ incident shamed his Government.

In July, Broomes claimed that she and her driver were verbally abused and threatened by two security guards at a Providence, East Bank

Demerara business place.

She also claimed that one of the security guard pulled a gun on her.

The altercation occurred at around 20:30hours on July 8, 2018, after Broomes’ driver attempted to move a no parking sign in order to park the vehicle.

The two guards are attached to KGM Security Services, the firm that provides security for the property at Providence that houses the New Thriving Chinese Restaurant, the Massy Su-

permarket and the Fitness 53 Gym. They were both arrested and later released on self-bail.

CCTV footage, released after the incident, showed that Broomes was lying about the entire affair. Neither of the clips showed either of the two guards pointing a gun at the Minister or her driver.

The footage showed the minister’s vehicle turning into the parking lot and stopping just a few feet away from the entrance to the

Massy Supermarket. A man, who appeared to be the driver of the vehicle, exited, and removed what appeared to be a no parking sign before venturing back into the vehicle. This caught the attention of the two guards, who were seen standing a short distance away.

One of the guards, armed with a rifle, ventured over to the vehicle and proceeded to return the sign to the space it had been moved from. As a result, the driver of the vehicle exited and had an

exchange with the guard.

The footage then showed that Broomes then exited the back of the vehicle and proceeded to push two of the no parking signs to the ground before engaging in a confrontation with the guard, who stood in front of the vehicle. While the Minister confronted the security guard, the driver proceeded to park the vehicle in the no-parking area.

The entire ordeal played out in front of at least half a dozen witnesses.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Public school teachers got APNU+AFC Coalition gov’t more under former PPP/C buckles under pressure: Keith Scott made to apologise governments – GTU W

ith thousands of public school teachers engaged in strike action this week, Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) General Secretary, Coretta McDonald, has made clear that the nation’s educators received more under the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administrations.

Making clear that the issue is not about politics, but about reality, in an address to dozens of teachers, she said, “If we look at what transpired under the PPP Government when they were in power and what is transpiring now…remember we didn’t want the five percent.

We made noise about it. But with the five percent we got a whole lot of non-salary benefits…for the first time in the history of this country, our teachers were able to get

clothing allowance, duty free concessions, and allowances for additional qualifications.

While the PPP Government

since they in the Government. And this is the party that most of the teachers supported. So is our party….

“I don’t want to sound political, this is not about politics, but we have to make the comparison because of all the untruths they peddling out there.” – GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald was in power — and you know I don’t want to sound political, but we have to make the comparison because of all the untruths they peddling out there.”

The GTU official went as far as to say that the current David Granger-led administration is playing with teachers’ emotions. She said, “To say to us that this thing is just three-and-something years

our party’ ain’t working when you have to pay rent; ‘our party’ don’t work when you have to face the bank to repay your mortgage; so ‘our party’ dead.”

McDonald has been at the helm of the leadership of the GTU for several years and would have sat in several negotiations with both the previous and current administrations.

J

unior Social Protection Minister Keith Scott has declared that striking teachers are “selfish and uncaring.” His comments came while he was speaking at the Bursary Awards Ceremony of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union (GPSCCU) last Friday (August 31, 2018).

When pressed on whether the comment was appropriate, Scott doubled down and said, “Our responsibility must be to put children first, we can’t discard our care of them because we want a lil money.”

This remark triggered a response from the Guyana Teachers’ Union, which demanded that Scott apologise.

GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald stated

that his comments came after the Union expressed their uncertainty about the ability of the Labour Department to act as an impartial mediator in the Union’s dispute with the Ministry of Education.

“We said we have no faith in the Department of Labour and they were upset with us…imagine the people who want to mediate in between this story already taking sides and then they want us, the teachers who would’ve created all professions to trust them…the Minister himself said it.

So what else do we want?

Do we want to go to conciliation? No, we’re not silly people. We are the educated ones. We’re teaching them. We will not retreat until respect is given to us.

Teachers have always been

caring,” McDonald said.

Four days later, under pressure and with thousands of public school teachers on strike, the Ministry of the Presidency, not Scott’s office or Ministry, released an apology.

Scott’s apology read: I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to the teachers of Guyana. I regret making such an inflammatory and hurtful statement. I have always and will always hold the teachers of our nation in the highest regard.

It was never my intention to be disrespectful of, or to downplay the legitimate industrial actions taken by the Guyana Teacher’s Union on behalf of its membership and teachers generally. I humbly and sincerely apologise.”

Teachers’ Union blindsided by Gov’t adopts Opposition line on Granger’s comments about no decriminalizing small amounts multi-year agreement of marijuana I

M

onths after Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, made clear the position of the Parliamentary Opposition on the issue of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, the David Granger-led Administration has adopted the same line.

Granger, during a rare news conference last Friday (August 31, 2018), stated that Cabinet has agreed to abolish custodial sentences (jail time) for persons who are caught with small amounts of marijuana. However, he did not expand on what alternative penalties those persons could face.

He committed that legislation will be brought to the National Assembly after October 2018.

Currently possession of small amounts of marijuana attracts a minimum, mandatory, jail sentence of three years.

CLEAR POSITION As recent as May 2018, Jagdeo stressed that promises made to the Guyanese people ought to be kept – this was in response to comments from Government quarters that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic

(PPP/C) is only now addressing the issue of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

He pointed out that the issue of reviewing possession of quantities of marijuana that attract mandatory minimum jail sentence was included in the PPP/C 2015 manifesto. “This did not happen yesterday…we believe that when we put promises in our manifesto they must be kept…check to see how many promises they have kept,” he said.

The Opposition Leader also made it clear that the PPP/C is not in favour of legalizing marijuana – that there is no support to legalise production and sale of marijuana. “We are opposed to this,” he said.

Jagdeo reiterated that decriminalization will only address removing the minimum, mandatory, jail sentence of three years for possession of small amounts of marijuana. “When they are caught, instead of three years in jail, there should be alternative sentencing,” he said.

AFC FAIL Former AFC Chairman

Nigel Hughes, with the help of Attorney Mark Waldron, had compiled a draft Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Bill 2015, which seeks to soften the penalties for marijuana possession.

In December 2015, AFC Parliamentarian, Michael Carrington, tabled a motion, which calls for the Bill to be read the first time. To date this has not been done and the motion remains on the National Assembly’s agenda. The actual draft bill has not been made public.

Notably, soon after Carrington’s motion was tabled, President Granger stated that the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana is not a priority of his Administration. “This is not something that is a preoccupation of the Administration at the present time… I would not counsel the use of marijuana by young people or anybody,” he said in a broadcast of ‘The Public Interest’. The President’s comments, back then, ran contrary to a position of the Alliance For Change (AFC) faction of the coalition Government.

n 2015, the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) made a proposal to the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and to date there have been only a few engagements – all aimed at securing a multi-year agreement, effective from 2016 – 2020.

On Friday (August 31, 2018), President David Granger, blindsided the Union by saying that his Government was not focusing on any multi-year agreement; rather the focus was on 2018.

“At this stage, the imme-

diate need is to conclude an agreement, which would see teachers calling off the strike and entering into long term negotiations for that multiyear agreement. We have not embarked on multi-year negotiations. I think it is desirable but we have not had a chance to complete those talks as yet. Right now we are preoccupied with day-today issues. I personally feel that it is desirable to have a multi-year agreement but this is not the time now.”

Granger said.

At no point, since 2015, were teachers informed that

government was not willing to negotiate a multi-year agreement – a move that had become the norm under the previous People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Administration.

President of the GTU, Mark Lyte, has since said, “The GTU Executive will have to return to its General Council with this information and work from the position they dictate.”

According to him, the union has been negotiating a multi-year agreement and was confused about the president’s declaration.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Guest

EDITORIAL

The plight of sacked sugar workers: An issue for all members of civil society to be engaged in

By Nigel Dharamlall

T

his week’s conference hosted by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), saw ex-sugar workers taking the spotlight to express their struggles as a result of the heart-wrenching decision of the APNUAFC Regime to close some of the sugar estates over the last two years.

The high-point of the forum, themed ‘Sugar Too Big To Fail’, was the contribution of the ex-workers who detailed the monumental challenges that their families confront on a daily basis as they pursue a life without a means of income.

In rural Guyana, the sugar-cane industry has historically created the economic, social and cultural development of many villages, primarily in Regions 3, 4, 5, and 6. With approximately 17,000 workers employed directly by Guysuco up to December 29, 2015, and tens of thousands more who benefit from the spin-off and indirect industries and enterprises, one can imagine the fall-out created as a result of the closure of Wales, Skeldon and Rose Hall estates.

In a matter of moments, 7,000 jobs were lost and almost 40,000 of our fellow citizens had their once progressive lives turned into financial and emotional turmoil. Such has been the impact of a single decision by a Regime hell-bent on pursuing an agenda of political victimization on poor, hapless rural families in West Demerara and East Berbice.

The lamentations of our fellow rural men and women who, only recently, toiled in the harsh weather to provide for their children, the pangs of hurt and anguish started to take effect. Mothers, standing in front of a forum of international and local dignitaries and colleagues as they pleaded for help in securing even menial jobs are a great indignity created by the David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition Government; fathers, too, as they cried out to those in Government to rethink their unjust actions which have made thousands jobless and penniless.

It was an exasperating exercise.

The fact that children are now without food; parents unable to afford the cost of sending their children to school; mothers now washing other peoples clothes for a pittance; fathers harvesting bird seed to make ends meet; brothers requesting help from overseas families; grandparents unable to get diabetes and hypertension medication; pensioners without their NIS benefits; ex-workers still to be paid their legally determined severance benefits, are all daily heartaches taking place in our country whilst the Granger Regime remains unmoved, unconcerned and unashamed.

In a modern progressive society, a government has an integral role in ensuring that its citizens are treated with dignity, respect and due care. The very basis of human development hinges on how our citizens conduct their daily lives.

In this regard, the Government-directed vendetta currently being experienced in Guyana cannot go unnoticed as the primary reason why this country is being sucked into a whirlpool of hopelessness and poverty.

The decision taken by the Granger Regime to close sugar estates and terminate thousands of jobs is immoral, grievous and untenable.

Once prosperous villages, buzzing with life and freedom in parts of rural Guyana, are now ghost towns of their former selves within two years. The effect has become nuclear as other villages are being decimated with rising unemployment, crime, violence and other untoward behavior.

The genesis of this new-found poverty in rural Guyana is at the desk of the APNU+AFC government and our citizens must hold Granger accountable for it. The equivocations of the Regime as it seeks to divert attention on this most heinous act committed on poor working people have to be immediately and frontally repelled.

This cannot be an issue for the ex-sugar workers, PPPC and GAWU alone. All members of civil society must be engaged to contribute in stemming the waves of authoritarian rule currently experienced in Guyana.

Sugar is in the fabric of our history; it has created this diverse melting pot that we now call home. Sugar is too big to fail.

An increasing need for greater advocacy to ensure Indigenous Peoples are able to reach their full potential Dear Editor,

O

n this auspicious occasion of Amerindian Heritage Month 2018, I take this golden opportunity to extend to all my Amerindian brothers and sisters throughout the length and breadth of our land of many waters, a joyous and peaceful month as we together celebrate our unique culture, our achievements and most importantly, our way of life.

We, the first people of our country, firmly believe that the full protection of our rights as Amerindians in the Constitution and in our Amerindian Act that govern us, provide the bedrock for the realization of our economic, social, cultural and political aspirations.

We have made significant strides over the last two decades under the successive PPP/C administration, we clamoured for and maintained the protection of our rights, including the rights to our lands and resources which we have occupied or otherwise used and acquired; is not only fundamental to the realization of our economic, cultural, social and political rights but to our very survival. This resulted in the appointment of an Amerindian Minister and the establishment of a Ministry dedicated to address our issues, the enactment of the Amerindian Act, the settling of several land issues, and most importantly the increase in access to education. Today we are proud to say that we own 14 percent of Guyana’s land mass, even while our compatriots in other parts of the world continues to struggle for their land rights to be recognised. Some pay the ultimate price.

The Amerindian population, as all other peoples, aspire to fulfill our true potential and to achieve excellence in our endeavours. Despite the challenges still to be surmounted, many of our young Amerindian people had achieved distinction in their chosen field of endeavour under the PPP/C Administration. Today, Amerindians can boast to have several secondary schools, scores of doctors, engineers and many other tertiary graduates contributing to the development of our country and also we have seen the greater integration of Amerindians in the retail and security sectors. All our developments became a reality under the PPP/C administration.

However, in as much as significant developments among our Amerindian Peoples of Guyana have been realized under the PPP/C administration, our full potential still must be realized. We must continue to advocate for our rights and for our developmental goals to be facilitated; greater participation, removal of disparities, equal access to goods and services will ensure that Amerindian people can attain greater achievements and help to make our country a progressive, productive and prosperous place for all.

My Amerindian brothers and sisters, as we celebrate, it’s cognizance of the fact, that since after May 11, 2015, the lives of our Amerindian people have drastically changed from the good life they had once enjoyed under the PPP/C administration, to a life of unbearable, as a direct result of deliberate acts of neglect and seemingly open hatred of our first people by both the APNU+AFC coalition government and its supporters.

While in opposition, the coalition parties used to preach their big theory of national unity and granting an elevated life for the Amerindians. I use the word theory because, since the coalition parties became the government it has acted in ways towards us that have severely retarded our social, infrastructural and economic growth. Moreover, the gains in lives and lifestyles we lived under the PPP/C administration are quickly being eroded – seemingly by deliberate acts that are being perpetrated against us – individually and severally.

My Amerindian brothers and sisters, the first order of business of the APNU+AFC coalition government when they took office, fired 1972 Amerindian youth under a pretext of lies and nebulous excuses.

Who best knows what is good for us, but we ourselves; and the PPP/C administration had always given the Amerindians the latitude to make decisions concerning our welfare. The APNU+AFC coalition government did not consult with us before taking this unilateral decision of depriving us of much-needed jobs that provided income to take care of our families. We have seen the same callous behaviour repeated in the sugar industry and elsewhere in our country.

Thereafter, we saw the APNU+AFC coalition government setting up a land commission of inquiry to determine the rightful owners of traditional indigenous lands, lands to which the Amerindians have been living on and protecting in sustainable ways for thousands of years and lands to which we can trace both our historical and genetics history to. Under advisement from an advisor to the APNU+AFC coalition government, whose opportunistic theory propagates the fallacy that Africans were here 400 years prior to the Amerindians, ignoring both historical and scientific facts, the APNU+AFC coalition government had acted unilaterally to establish a land COI that threatened the security of our very existence in our traditional ways of life. Displaying deep racial hatred towards us and covetousness of our patrimony inherited from our

ancestors. The APNU+AFC coalition government has totally ignored our concerns over this threat and has appointed a COI in which we have no representation, after no consultation with our representatives.

Since the APNU+AFC coalition government took office, our communities have been deprived of basic infrastructural development.

The Hinterland road network was always properly maintained under the PPP/C administration. Some roadways have now been lost to bad weather conditions, with no timely remedy, to the point of their becoming history under the APNU+AFC coalition government.

The deliberate neglect of our transportation systems has compounded the hardship our people face daily; even though monies have been allocated in the national budgets. My Amerindian brothers and sisters, there is also a great decline in government’s assistance to our communities since May 2015, in direct correlation of President Granger’s famous remarks to the our people at last year’s AMERINDIAN heritage celebrations, when our people of St Cuthbert’s Mission asked for government assistance, the President responded to the effect, "We cannot provide any assistance to Amerindian people, you people are rich.” With this disrespectful statement by the President, is he truly a President for all Guyanese?

Medical services are another issue of hardship we are facing in our communities, with the continuous shortage of critical drugs at our health posts.

Additionally, there is great neglect in our educational facilities and services in our communities. We have seen a great decline in spending on education for our children. Having taken away our children’s $10,000 cash grant, our communities are also finding difficulties in the shortage of teachers at the nursery and primary schools, educational materials and in some cases experiencing shortage of school furniture.

Our teachers were promised salary increases by the coalition parties during the 2015 elections campaign. The teachers had trusted every word the coalition parties told them. Their hopes were built on mountains and their expectations were high. But sadly todate, the APNU+AFC coalition government has turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the pleas from our teachers Under the APNU+AFC coalition government we have witnessed withholding of vital government aid to our communities. We have seen cases where aid that was meant for our people have been converted to personal use by the PNC and AFC party supporters. A typical example of this is the thousands of solar panels that were meant for our people that have found their way to being installed on both state and private properties. The APNU+AFC coalition government should be reminded that withholding aid and stealing aid is a crime locally and a crime against humanity internationally, especially crimes perpetrated against the indigenous people.

Every budgetary allocation for our communities under the APNU+AFC coalition government is meager and that is an indication of the APNU+AFC coalition government’s lack of commitment and caring for Guyana’s first peoples. No adequate spending is being spent on the Amerindian people. Even in the entire country the Amerindians are not seeing any boost in Guyana’s economy. What we have witnessed todate, is a great decline in economic growth. The Amerindians can only conclude that the APNU+AFC coalition government is misappropriating taxpayers’ dollars - overtly and covertly.

This is the APNU+AFC coalition government’s way of punishing the Amerindian people because the majority has always been strong supporters of the People’s Progressive Party. However, the APNU+AFC coalition government needs to be reminded that this bloodless genocide of our Amerindian people is a crime against humanity, punishable by long jail terms in the world court - a court to which Guyana is a signature partner.

With the concerns I have highlighted, which is just the tip of an iceberg, it is evident to any impartial observer that the APNU+AFC coalition government is displaying great animosity to Amerindians in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

My fellow Amerindian brothers and sisters, young and old, we must vigorously protect the gains made and guard against further reversal of these. Let us not forget that we struggled for centuries for our recognition and our rights and now we must be prepared to struggle again to ensure that our achievements thus far are not taken away from us. Not only we have given Guyana its name and its boundaries, we inhabited this country first and welcome those who came after. We must be treated with dignity and respect by the APNU+AFC coalition government, and we must stand firm for what we truly believe.

Happy Amerindian Heritage Month, 2018.

Regards Alister Charlie, PPP/C Member of Parliament

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

GECOM must be transparent Dear Editor,

Nagamootoo has no shame: He betrayed sugar workers, he is now betraying teachers

I

t has been nine months since government promised to pay sugar workers their severance, which by law was due since December 2017.

Since 2015, teachers multi-year agreement expired and APNU+AFC promised that they would negotiate a new agreement. Throughout such repulsive behavior from APNU+AFC, the so-called champion for sugar workers and teachers has been totally silent.

Moses Nagamootoo has no shame. Just as he betrayed the sugar workers, now he has betrayed the teachers. He is silent still, even as President Granger continues the assault on sugar workers by not addressing the non-payment of their severance and even as Granger refuses to intervene to stop the teachers strike.

He is playing the "Follow-the-Leader" game: just as Granger is asking sugar workers and teachers to have patience, Nagamootoo wants the sugar workers and teachers to be patient.

Last week Friday, Nagamootoo reached new lows in the abyss of shame. At an award event for teachers, Nagamootoo demanded that teachers must patiently wait until government is ready to give teachers a raise. Worse, he tried to justify why the President and the Cabinet had to raise their salaries between 50 and 100% almost immediately after the new Cabinet started to work in May 2015. In effect, he was saying that the Minister with their monthly million-dollar salaries could not wait, but that teachers with their low salaries must bear their chafe and wait. He told the teachers that they earn an average of $US350 per month, when he, Nagamootoo, only earned $US30 per month almost 50 years ago. In effect, he told them that they were ungrateful, that if he sacrificed earning $US30 per month, why can they not be patient with $US350 per month.

The man is utterly shameless.

The teachers’ collective bargaining agreement ended since December 2015. That agreement ended a ten-year arrangement in which teachers agreed to two five-year agreements with the PPP covering various areas, including annual salary increases and non-salary benefits. It was during those agreements that benefits such as attendance to university, teachers training, duty-free vehicles, housing funds etc. were introduced. There were agreed annual salary increases. None of these led to salaries and benefits that teachers deserve, but steady improvements were being accomplished. Even if teachers did not get 100% of what they deserved then, they were treated with respect and dignity. It should be noted that teachers on more than one occasion threatened to strike under the PPP government. But because of responsible behavior on the part of the Ministry of Education, the teachers union and the government, those strikes were averted and there were agreements, particularly those two five-year deals.

It should also be noted that while salaries of teachers averaged about $US30 per month when Nagamootoo started teaching about 50 years ago, it was about $US10 in 1990.

That is the base which the PPP inherited and raised it to where it is today. Since 2015, APNU+AFC kept promising the teachers that they would engage them to discuss their salary increases and benefits in a new multi-

year agreement. Just like President Granger is trying to convince us all that it is difficult for him to find time to hold press conferences, so too his government refused to meet with teachers for more than three years. APNU+AFC, through its minister of education, persistently asked the teachers to be patient.

The teachers have been patient.

When in 2017, the teachers appealed to President Granger that their salary and non-salary benefits be addressed and that the government keep their promise of a new multi-year agreement to replace the one that ended in 2015, Granger promised them that that would be done immediately. But he demanded a task force to make recommendations. The task force was appointed by the President and included mostly his people.

The task force made its recommendation and presented to the government more than six months ago.

The teachers did not concoct the 40% increase request from thin air; they used the recommendation from Granger's task force.

President Granger, the Minister of Education and APNU+AFC promised the teachers that they will act on the task force recommendation. In 1999, the PPP had agreed to a task force for public servant salaries. The PPP at the time was agreeable to a salary of 5-8%, arguing that any increase above 5% would stress the budget. But the task force recommended 31% across the board. The PPP respected the recommendation and implemented it. APNU+AFC, on the contrary, has simply threw their task force recommendation out into the dump. They have not only broken their promise, they have betrayed the teachers because, when the teachers accepted the task force, it was on the premise that the recommendations would be binding on both sides.

This is not the first time that APNU+AFC has broken promises to teachers. They had promised teachers during the election campaign in 2015 that all teachers would benefit from a 20% annual increase during their first term. They also promised teachers large increases and better benefits in their manifesto. During the election campaign, David Granger himself promised that teachers deserve to be among the highest paid public servants. Those promises have been shelved and forgotten. Teachers have been betrayed.

Now the only thing APNU+AFC is willing to deliver is a demand for teachers to be patient.

Throughout all of the shenanigans, Nagamootoo has been silent, until last Friday, when he came out and asked for the teachers to be patient. Teachers have had no salary increase since 2015, just like sugar workers.

In that time, Government food and entertainment bill has increased by more than $8B annually, internal travelling has increased by more than $1B annually, international travel has increased by several billions annually.

Corruption is responsible for many billions each year. The temerity of Nagamootoo asking for patience by teachers is simply overbearing.

Sincerely, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

I

n the interest of fairness and transparency, the Chairman of GECOM should not allow any person to be caught by surprise, be disadvantaged, or squeezed by the contracting timelines of the apparently sinister plot.

It seems that several considered factors are contributing elements to the outlined reactions. Standing out is the significant organisational strength of the People’s Progressive Party as the most popular political party in Guyana, and the relationship this has with strong, positive development programme, which overwhelms by far the fragmented approach of its distant coalition competitor.

Further, the PPP’s magnificent performance at the 2016 Local Government Elections still looms as a major threat. Historically, The PPP had always humiliated the PNC at the Village Council Elections; and, in 1970, the PNC resorted to massive rigging, which led to a substantial boycott. 2016, the PPP/C swept the polls again, winning seven of the ten administrative regions and forty-eight of the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils.

For obvious reasons, this magnificent record will continue to get better at the November 12, 2018 LGE. The People’s National Congress took power in 1964 with a coalition Government, and after using the United Force, they kicked them out of power. Rigged Elections were the order of the day, and the 1980 Paramountcy of the Party approach was utilised to suppress the holding of Local Government Elections. It should not be forgotten that the PNC, in desperation, did everything possible to postpone

LGE year after year.

Former President Mr. Desmond Hoyte subsequently agreed to set up a special ‘task force’ to address the numerous complaints, but the PNC representatives did everything to frustrate the completion of the work of the task force. As a consequence, the Eighth Parliament set up a special select committee to look at Local Government Reforms. That Special Select Committee’s work was extended to the Ninth and Tenth Parliaments, hence paving the way for LGE in 2016. The elections were held but were never completed.

While we have serious concerns about the demarcation of the constituency boundaries, we must also be very serious about the recruitment of the staff at GECOM. PNC Commissioner Vincent Alexander’s comments lend no objectivity to an unbiased approach.

It is crystal clear that the GECOM Secretariat does not constitute the Commission; neither do the three PNC Commissioners and the Chairman. It is therefore critical that all and sundry recognise the constitutionally appointed six Commissioners and the Chairman (rtd.) Patterson, who are the people with the responsibilities for GECOM. It is known that the PPP/C and many other stakeholders are against this capriciously vindictive and provocative action.

I also advocate for objective consultations and the full involvement of all the Commissioners in every aspect of GECOM’s work.

We need to see that GECOM be transparent, accountable, and win the trust of our people.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

GAWU remains opposed to the sale of sugar lands Dear Editor,

T

he September 02 Guyana Times reports that President David Granger, at his press conference on August 31, said in relation to lands taken out of sugar would be “…first subjected to the jurisdiction of a State Land Sales Commission…” The President went on to say that “[t]he idea is that we wouldn’t sell off the family jewels, we’ll make sure that the lands that are being taken out of sugar are placed to benefit of the people of Guyana as a whole”.Further the Guyana Times quotes the President to say “…the State Land Sales Commission is going to… make a profit from the disposal of those lands which may not be going back into sugar”.

The President’s announcement, to say the least, is a marked departure regarding lands that were and are being used by the sugar industry. On this score, we recall, Administration’s spokespersons and advertisements seeking investors for the estates identified for divestment had informed that lands would have been leased. Now the President, without any justification being advanced, is saying, seemingly, that lands could very well be sold off. Neither did the President, as far as we saw, provide any elaboration on the State Land Sales Commission save and except that the NICIL-SPU would be involved and would resolve demands for lands by investors.

The sugar industry, as the nation well knows, occupies large plots of prime lands, plots undoubtedly that would attract specula-

tive interests. Moreover, while the President is saying we “…wouldn’t sell off the family jewels…” in the next breath he is saying the Government is desirous of making “…a profit from the disposal of those lands…”.

The two (2) statements stand in stark contradiction of one another. Moreover, the sale of those valuable and prime lands to investors, whether be local or foreign, is a move that Guyana and Guyanese now and in the future would have regrets. The world has provided several examples of instances where land holdings have been sold off and the implications it has had for the citizens of such countries where those practices were pursued. Countries and people have lived through instances where lands sold for one purpose were used for other purposes or resold for significant profits while locals remain landless.

The sale of those lands would be, in our view, the most unpatriotic decision ever taken by a Government in our more than half a century as an independent nation. We recall, former President Hugh Desmond Hoyte was outright in refusing to sell sugar lands when he give thought to the sale of the sugar industry in the latter 1980s.

Out country’s people have lived under the wretched system of colonialism and their sustained struggles brought our country’s freedom. We need not return to those days.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine General Secretary, GAWU

STRAIGHT TALK 6

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

(These viewed were made public in 1968. Its re-printing is among several activities being undertaken during 2018 to mark the 100th birth anniversary – March 22, 2018 – of the founder of the People’s Progressive Party, Dr Cheddi Jagan.)

A review of some happenings under the Burnham-led Coalition government

By Dr. Cheddi Jagan

I

n Guyana, as in Vietnam, United States involvement started out under the administration of the late President J.F. Kennedy. At first there appeared to be goodwill towards us. This was expressed in refutation of charges by a former editor of Izvesita of US interference and subversion abroad. President J.F. Kennedy. At first, there appeared to be goodwill towards us. This was expressed

in refutation of charges by a former editor of Izvesita of US interference and subversion abroad. President Kennedy in early 1962 declared: "…the United States supports the idea that every people should have the right to make a free choice of the kind of government they want. Mr Jagan who has recently elected Prime Minister in British Guiana, is a Marxist, but the United States doesn’t object because that choice was made by honest election, which he

won."

But soon after, the Kennedy administration launched a three-pronged attack against my government. This included: Diplomatic pressure on the British government to withhold independence and change our electoral system; Diplomatic pressure on the Venezuelan government to renew a long-dormant claim to two-thirds of our territory; and CIA-fomented demonstrations, strikes, riots, airline and shipping blockage aimed

The Amaila Falls Hydropower Project would have solved all of this Dear Editor,

I

am reading the news for the day, and I see the bold headline captioned “Essequibians walk out of meeting with GPL.” It is quite a depressing scene to behold persons, utterly devastated by the constant blackouts, have as a last resort appealed to the state-owned GPL for some redress, only to be further frustrated by an endless

supply of lame excuses from its representatives.

It is a situation that would cause even the coolest of individuals in this country to become seriously irate.

The point is: you cannot plan an event; say, a wedding, a church service, or anything for that matter, without that lingering backward thought in mind that there would be a blackout at some stage of the event. This is the naked

truth, and it has tortured us these three doomed years of Coalition rule.

The citizens’ utter frustration stems from the fact that, prior to 2015, all of us in this Guyana were recipients of a continuous and affordable electricity supply.

With the ushering in of the Coalition and the so-called “good life”, we are now saddled with this retardation that would not go away.

at bringing down the PPP government and providing the British government with excuses for denying independence to Guyana under the PPP government.

Those subversive moves have been documented, particularly by the Nation, the New York Times and the London Sunday Times. Journalist Drew Pearson exposed the special trip Kennedy made to London in mid-1963 to persuade the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan

not to permit British Guiana to go forward to independence.

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr, one of Kennedy’s aides, wrote in his book A Thousand Days that, after meeting LFS Burnham in Washington in May 1962, he advised Kennedy that the way to remove from the government my party, which had won three successive elections, was to change our traditional first-past-the-post district electoral system to that of

proportional representation, what Harold Wilson when in opposition called a "fiddled constitutional arrangement", but when in office failed to correct. "Thus far", continued Schelsinger, "our policy had been based on the assumption that Forbes Burnham was as the British described him an opportunist, racist and demagogue, intent only on personal power."

Mr Schlesinger went on: "the State Department at first

The plain truth, which this present regime cannot run away from, is that the PPP/C brought us out of those hellish years of the Guyana Embarrassing Corporation (GEC) into the marvellous light of success and enlightenment; but from what obtains at the present moment, we have gone right back into those PNC years of doom and gloom, where blackouts are our main concern.

So what has this Government achieved in its threeplus years of illegal occupation, and the answer comes back: Nothing! As someone said, this PNC-led Coalition has chalked up on its debit side a series of failures that make the 28 years’ rule of Burnham pale into oblivion.

You are talking about every conceivable sector contracting while the hard life exponentially increases.

The situation is more

distressing when you realise that everything in the economy functions on a power base; without it, everything grinds to a halt whenever a blackout occurs. In this regard, the economy has since been on a backward trend.

Is this ‘the good life’? Is this the flourishing economy the PNC has fashioned for us? I say, “Hell, no! From all appearances, it is the horrible life!”

Compare the present scenario with the progressive and visionary Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, and you will get the real picture as to where we are going.

The PPP/C has left us an internationally accredited project which has been the envy of many a First World nation.

Hydroelectric power generation is cheap, reliable, and environmentally friendly. It is something which, if it had been pursued, would

have put all of our energy matters to rest. But the PNC, with no plans of their own in that vision-less mindset of theirs, purposefully scrapped this project and ushered in the intendant evils we now see on a daily basis. Instead of implementing this world acclaimed project, the PNC, for political expediency coupled with vindictiveness, closed that important chapter in our history.

Guyana is doomed to failure. We see it and experience it in every facet of our economy. Our only hope comes from the strength and resilience in the populace out there to break away from the decadence and make an about change for the good.

The Year 2020 will soon be here. Come on, people; let us get back on to the beaten path of success.

(Turn to page 7)

Respectfully, N. Adams

More functional, not ‘hardship’ policies are needed A

s it stands presently, the increase in minibus fares would cause some commuters at least $160 more a day, whilst the buses will be earning at least $300 more per trip. With all the glorious plans of enhancement as promised by the minibus union, I would like to know what percentage of bus owners the union represents, and if it’s in all the zones.

Most of the minibuses operate without conductors, and they still hold out to transport the minimum of 15 passengers. At Vreed-en-Hoop that is very much preva-

lent, and the monitor assigned there assists in loading these buses. Now passengers are forced to be in discomfort of opening and closing the door, and extra time is being wasted by this act. Already, the increase has started before the stipulated time, and with the increase, buses are still being overloaded. There are still bus operators telling you a fare which is far above the agreed fare, and this occurs mostly when buses are limited to passengers, especially in the evenings at the Route 32 Park in Georgetown.

Editor, since the authority responsible for monitoring the speedboats has begun publishing the rules, fares and numbers for complaints, massive changes could be seen by the boat operators, especially on the Georgetown/Vreed-en-Hoop route. This has all come about because the authorities are fed up with receiving complaints, and now people have access to telephone numbers that they could call immediately and report. Perhaps the Guyana Police Force could explore the possibility of doing likewise, and establish centres within the

Traffic Department of each station, and assign for each station a direct number that commuters can call and lodge complaints. Commuters can call a station, and the ranks could go out and wait for the oncoming bus, and press charges if the complaints are found to have merit.

Also, while touting is illegal, I see the union and Ministry have plans to help enhance this.

Sincerely, S. Bates

7

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

A review of some happenings... thought we should make a try (to work with me - Cheddi Jagan) - then Rusk personally reversed this policy in a stiff letter to the British early in 1962."

Why did Kennedy go back on his pronouncement on Guyana? According to Schlesinger, "the President went on to express doubt whether Jagan would be able to sustain his position as parliamentary democrat. ‘I have a feeling’, he said, ‘that in a couple of years he will find ways to suspend his constitutional provisions and will cut his opposition off at the knees…Parliamentary democracy is going to be damn difficult in a country at this stage of development. With all the political jockeying and all the racial tensions, it’s going to be almost impossible for Jagan to concentrate the energies of his country on development through a parliamentary system."

It would seem that the aim of the United States is the attainment of economic development and social progress, through a parliamentary democracy.

What is the record of the US-backed, Burnham-led, coalition government?

The puppet government has brought the country to near-bankruptcy. And stepby-step a neo-fascist dictatorship is being established.

BANKRUPTCY Instead of progressing, Guyana is retrogressing. Agriculture in a predominantly agricultural country is in decline. Industry, with the exception of the foreign-owned extractive bauxite industry, is virtually at a standstill.

The country is heavily in debt, short-term and longterm. A credit balance at the end of the PPP term of office in 1964 has been turned into a growing budgetary deficit.

Increasing short-term loans from the banking system have led to a credit squeeze with high interest rates and to deficit financing.

The balance-of-payments position has moved from a surplus to a deficit, necessitating standby credit from the International Monetary Fund to help maintain the external value of the Guyana dollar. And tied as Guyana is to imperialism, it was forced to devalue her currency with the devaluation of the British pound.

Besides, fiscal, trade, economic and foreign policies have been tailored to suit Washington. An American is Economic Advisor to the

Prime Minister. The first Governor of the Central Bank of Guyana was a West German.

The Guyana government voted against the seating of People’s China at the United Nations; and has refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

There has been a break on trade with Cuba. And severe restrictions have been placed on imports from other socialist countries, although the economic advantages, including lower prices, are obvious.

Fiscal policies have resulted in a crushing burden on the poor while over-generous tax, mining and other concessions have been made to the foreign monopolies.

Meanwhile, mass poverty grows and spreads with rising unemployment, coupled with a policy of discrimination in employment, of wasteful public expenditure, of nepotism and corruption.

The former Lord Mayor of Georgetown (the Capital), a government appointee, in a broadcast in May 1967 cried out against a new elite creating "a new, larger area of snobbery", and against bribery which "is all over the place and is fast becoming a national industry…the harm done in any situation in which bribery, corruption, nepotism and favouritism assume national proportions and is a way of life from top down, can never be calculated."

Commenting on the growing disillusion, dissatisfaction and frustration columnist "Lucian", a strong government supporter, writing in the Sunday Graphic of July 16, 1967, said: "Many people -- Guyanese and non-Guyanese are disgusted with the present state of affairs in this country.

Some are packing up to leave out of sheer frustration, while others are dejected from unbearable disgust."

Frustration and dissatisfaction are leading to increasing militancy on the one hand and to anti-social tendencies on the other. During the last 3 years, Guyana has experienced a record-breaking number of strikes - 146 in 1965, 172 in 1966 and over 120 in 1967. Violence, crime and juvenile delinquency are on the increase.

And there is every indication that the situation will further deteriorate. Apart from wasteful expenditure, the burden of the debt repayment is falling heavily on the Guyanese masses. For three

successive years, indirect taxation has been imposed and direct (capital) taxes drastically reduced. The tax load in the first three years of the 7-year Plan is already more than 60 per cent of what was originally estimated to be levied for the entire period.

Debt charges already amount to 16 per cent of budgeted expenditure. This percentage would have been higher had it not been for a moratorium on some loans provided by the United States and Great Britain. It is likely that in the not-too-distant future debt payments will approximate the amounts received from abroad as loans and grants.

As the budget position worsens, the government will impose additional taxation and/or cut the already pruned social services.

RIGHTIST DICTATORSHIP In the face of growing dissatisfaction, discontent, and militancy, the coalition government is preparing to muzzle the working class and to rig the general election, due to be held not later than the spring of 1968.

An anti-strike bill has been introduced in the National Assembly to make provision for compulsory arbitration.

Already enacted is the National Security Act, even more draconic than the US National Security Act of 1953. It gives the government the power without trail to restrict or detain any Guyanese for an indefinite period.

In February 1968, the government refused to issue passports to five Guyanese who were proceeding abroad on scholarships.

From February to June 1968, the biggest attempt at fraud will be mounted. A national Register of all Guyanese 14 years and over is being compiled, out of which will come the electoral roll

of persons aged 21 and over.

In the compilation of this register, the Constitutionally proved Elections Commission, made up of a chairman appointed by the Prime Minister and one nominee each of the three political parties, is being completely by-passed.

The operational headquarters is under tight security and police guard. And the whole machinery of handpicked appointees is under the control of the Minister of Home Affairs. Supervising the registration is Shoup Registration System International, which according to Paul L. Montgomery in the New York Times (December 17, 1967), "has previously performed national registration tabulations in Trinidad, Jamaica and Venezuela. DE McFeely, the concern’s resident manager, said in an interview that he also (understood) that the company had helped with registration last year in South Vietnam."

The registration officers are armed with a great deal of discretion which will be used to advantage for the government. In the case of which our supporters, young persons of voting are can be classified below 21 if they do not have tangible proof. For government supporters, on the other hand, manipulation can permit persons below 21 to be classified as voters.

The government also proposes to register Guyanese resident abroad, estimated to be about 42,000 persons. This will make Guyana probably the first country in the world to adopt this procedure.

Clearly, the coalition government hopes to make up the loss of its support (The People’s National Congress won 40.9% and the United Force 12% of the votes at the December 1964 general election) at home by votes obtained by fraud abroad.

Another possibility of fraud will be multiple registration (a person registering

(From page 6)

in more than one place) and multiple voting, which is facilitated by the right to vote by proxies.

During the 1964 elections, my party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) sharply criticized the Governor, Sir Richard Luyt, for enlarging the scope for voting by proxy. Although we polled 46% of the total votes, we secured only 8.6% of the 7,000 odd proxy votes. This was no doubt the reason why the Commonwealth Team of Observers on the Election commented that the "one administrative provision which seemed open to manipulation was the proxy vote…we feel it is our duty to point out that the proxy system is liable to abuse."

Sir Richard Luyt’s powers are now assumed by the PNC Minister of Home Affairs and Shoup International.

Is Shoup International a CIA front? The New York Times of December 17, 1967 wrote: "The CIA had no comment on the assertion that the Shoup concern is a front."

Whether Shoup is a CIAfront or not, one thing must be taken for granted. In pursuit of its foreign economic policies based on the Truman Doctrine, now Johnson Doctrine, the US government by force and fraud will not hesitate to use electoral fraud to maintain its puppets in office.

Meanwhile, top-ranking US politicians and administrators will continue hypocritically to moralize, to proclaim their beliefs in freedom, democracy and the rule of law. This hypocrisy saying one thing and doing the opposite - has reached the point of deep crisis in respect of US intervention in Vietnam. Under the flimsy excuse of defending freedom and democracy, the US has violated the Geneva Agreements, and is committing genocide in its intervention to prop up a government, which cannot be propped up by its own people.

While US presidents talk about parliamentary democracy, their policies and support are heading Guyana towards a right-wing Latin American type of dictatorship. Arthur Sutton, a US citizen sees Guyana as a potential Haiti Writing in the Frontier (January 1965), he said: "Our troubles in Vietnam stem, in part, from our efforts to implement policies not particularly supported by the masses. Our troubles in Guyana, where we are attempting the same strategy, are just beginning. They

will be equally as perplexing and proportionately as expensive as our Southeast Asian adventure and out ultimate success is just as unlikely.

G u y a n a , h a s , u n f o rtunately the potential to become another Haiti. Is that the goal of our present policy? Continued chaos in the hemisphere benefits on one but our enemies, and Guyana, thanks to our inept actions, is poised on the brink of national suicide."

After this was written, the Guyana Evening Post, a strong backer of the neo-fascist United Force, replied: "The other answer is not easy; it is removing from the scene the Jagans and the Suttons." On February 5, 1965, a columnist, the late Percy Amstrong, of the same newspaper called for preventive detention, which was provided for in the National Security Act of 1966.

All US citizens must now seriously oppose their government’s foreign policy, which has made their country completely amoral.

Gone is the high purpose that inspired it nearly 200 years ago.

Then, the United States preached about "unalienable rights", and governments "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Now it has arrogated to itself the right of intervention ostensibly in defence of freedom and democracy, but in reality for the protection of vested interests. The ballot box is being rigged. And when rigging cannot suffice, bullets replace ballots.

The American people have a manifest duty to call the warmongers, the war-makers and the war-profiteers to order, to return to the spirit of 1775.

Then, Americans, as colonials of Britain, fought a just revolutionary was for the right of self-determination.

Today it behoves all decent Americans to support the right to self-determination of all peoples, be they black, brown, yellow or white, in all countries - Guyana, Vietnam, Greece and elsewhere. They could do not better than follow the lead of General David M. Shoup, who recently bluntly asserted: "I believe that if we had an would keep our dirty, bloody dollar-crooked, fingers out of the business of these nations so full of depressed exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own."

8

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Granger silent on Cabinet confusion over Amaila C

heaper energy to support the development of the local manufacturing sector is one way to bolster the performance of the local economy. This admission came from President David Granger on Friday (August 31, 2018), even as he remains silent on the confusion and contradictory comments coming from his Cabinet ministers of the subject of the Amaila Falls Hydropower project.

“I would like the economy to grow at a faster rate.

The growth of the economy has been impeded by our lack of energy and the under-development of the manufacturing sector…As far as being the ‘Bread Basket’ is concerned, having gone to all the regions, I am convinced that we have

the capability to produce the essential commodities, which countries in the Eastern Caribbean need, in terms of fruits, vegetables, coconut water – whatever you choose to name – Guyana has the capability to produce….the potential is there…it requires cheap power,” Granger said.

In 2015, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, having dubbed any move forward with the Amaila Falls project as “a downright criminal” act.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, on October 2, 2017, said the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project was canned and charged that the financing the project was a problem.

In May this year, Minister Raphael Trotman, con-

firmed that the Coalition Government has “never taken it” off the table. Recently, he told the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources that a two-year hydrologist study is currently ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, has questioned who was conducting the study. He noted too that Trotman should come clear on how the person/company was contracted to do the study and at what cost.

As for Harmon’s comments, Jagdeo noted that it clear that Harmon’s “extraneous” comments regarding the project made it clear that he did not understand the financing model of the project. “It was a private

sector led project…there would have been no debt for Guyana,” Jagdeo stressed.

As the confusion, in the Coalition Government’s camp, continues about the project continues, the Opposition Leader noted that one is clear – the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project was killed for political reasons.

The Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project was initially expected to deliver a steady source of clean, affordable, reliable renewable energy to meet approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s domestic energy needs and remove the country’s dependency on fossil fuels.

As at 2014, approximately US$70M of this had been deposited by Norway in the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF) which is

Granger bows to pressure, indicates willingness to find money to pay teachers

T

he day after Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, called for cuts to planned spending by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, in areas that will not affect development, President David Granger has said that his Government is looking to do just that.

“The government is actively searching for fresh sources of funding to satisfy the teachers’ needs,” he said.

Notably, Education Minister, Nicolette Henry has said that it would cost about $4B to cover the demands made by teachers.

On Thursday (August 30, 2018), Jagdeo listed seven areas where expenditure can be cut from and pointed to the massive increases when compared to 2014 spending levels.

In these seven areas, he charged that Guyana is spending billions more than was spent in 2014 – over $5B more.

Granger, at a news conference on Friday (August 31, 2018) – the first for the year and only the third in over three years – stated that the Ministry of Social Protection is currently engaged with the Ministry of Finance to see where additional funds can be sourced from to meet the requests made by teachers. However, Granger stayed away from specifics on the

issue. “The Government has been trying to meet the teachers’ needs.

After several discussions at Cabinet on the High level panel Report, money was found to augment the initial offer.

Even as I speak, the Ministry of Social Protection, which has responsibility for Labour and Industrial Relations, is in touch with the Ministry of Finance to see whether additional funds can be found from other heads of government expenditure in order to move closer to the goal of providing sufficient funds for the teachers,” he said.

Notably too, the President has ruled out negotiations between his Government and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) on a multi-year agreement that would address benefits for the over 13,000 public school teachers in Guyana. However, he admitted to the need for a multi-year agreement.

In its proposal for a multi-year agreement, the GUT has called for, among other things, salary increase of 40 per cent for 2016 and five a per cent for each year until 2020.

Meanwhile, Jagdeo had disclosed that during his most recent meeting with President David Granger, he called on him to “get involved” to ensure that the issue is resolved. “I said to him, you have been stressing the importance of education…it has

been quite some time that teachers have been waiting…it is in the interest of Guyana to ensure that a multi-year agreement is signed,” he said, adding that under the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government there were two multi-year agreements that were signed – the last one ending in 2015.

The President insists, however, that his focus is only on 2018. He said, “At this stage the immediate need is to conclude an agreement which would see the teachers calling off the strike.”

Granger also refused to rate the performance of the Department of Labour, within the Ministry of Social Protection – more so in light of the fact that his Government downgraded the focus on Labour from being the responsibility of a Ministry to a Department. Earlier this year, APNU+AFC Parliamentarians rejected a motion brought to the National Assembly by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), which called for the re-establishment of a Ministry of Labour.

It is unclear at this stage, based on Granger’s comments about looking for additional resources to fund the requests of teachers, how soon the GTU will be re-engaged on the matter.

channeling investment into seven LCDS projects. The Norwegian Government also announced that it plans to transfer US$80M to the Inter-American Development Bank, to be used as Guyana's equity contribution to the Amaila Falls Hydro Project.

The independent, factsbased 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. “The fastest way forward is to maintain AFHP as the first major step for substituting its current oil fired generation. AFHP

was prioritized as the first hydropower plant because it was the only project with a full feasibility study completed, it has a higher plant load factor than the alternatives, a smaller reservoir and a levelised unit cost in the same range as the most attractive alternatives,” the summary of the 49-page report said. The report also highlighted that Hydro power is the only way in which we can achieve the 2025 renewable energy target; that the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project is the fastest way to get to renewable energy by 2025; that the BOOT model is the most appropriate way of structuring the project and should be maintained; and that the project should be re-tendered since the last tender was in 2008.

No specifics on improving state of the economy offered

by Granger

P

ressed on the state of the local economy, President David Granger on Friday (August 31, 2018) said, “I would like the economy to grow at a faster rate.”

He talked up the need to attract more foreign investments; however, his Government has failed to attract major new foreign direct investments, outside of the oil and gas sector.

According to a report from the Department of Public Information, FDI increased from US$58M in 2016 to US$212M in 2017.

The increase was credited to activities in the oil and gas sector. Notably, even with activities in the oil and gas sector, the 2017 numbers are still lower than the 2014 numbers (US$255M).

Concerns have been expressed about government’s ability to attract foreign direct investments by the Parliamentary Opposition.

FAILED TRIPS? In three years, among several other trips made, there were three massive excursions between 2015 and 2017 – excursions that Guyanese were told focused on securing investments.

To date there has been no details on the outcomes of those trips.

In October 2015, a highlevel ministerial delegation to Canada included, First Vice President and Prime Minister Moses Nag-

amootoo, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and Minister of Business and Investment Dominic Gaskin.

The intention was to address investment possibilities. Despite multiple queries, to date there has been no update on what materialised from this trip.

In June 2016, there was a New York investment conference, which saw the participation of a 16-member delegation, including four ministers and ‘honorific’ advisors. Here too, there has been no work of what investments proposals materialised from the two trips – if any.

In May 2017, a 12-member Guyanese team, including Business Minister, Dominic Gaskin, were on a Trade and Investment Explanatory Mission in Brazil, and were slated to participate in several rounds of discussions with investors in Boa Vista. As with the first no, no outcome statement detailed progress of the undertaking.

In the meantime, Guyana’s economy continues to perform poorly.

NO SPECIFICS The President also talked up creating opportunities for young people, the development of agro-processing, micro-financing opportunities and micro-enterprises.

He failed, however, to offer (Turn to page 9)

9

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Under pressure: Granger holds third press conference after 39 months in office “It simply is not possible now with my schedule. I have to make certain overseas trips which I have been trying to reduce; I have to go to different parts of the country, and it’s a big country; I have to engage in some official duties as I did yesterday; and I am also Leader of a political party, the People’s National Congress [Reform] and I will be going into the local government elections – I have, as a member of my party- a member of the APNU, to go out and campaign.

– President David Granger

Granger buckles: Crime Plan to be laid in National Assembly in October N early 10 months after receiving what he touted as the ‘plan to end all crime’, President David Granger has buckled under pressure and is expected to make the document public, come October 2018.

During one of his rare news conferences, held again because of public pressure, Granger said the report will be laid in the National Assembly when it resumes its sittings in October. Currently, the House is in its annual two-month recess.

In mid-August 2018, Granger himself has admitted that the plan is still being studied by his Cabinet.

On January 18, 2018, Granger accepted the Report of the Security Sector Reform Project (SSRP), which was presented to him

by United Kingdom’s Security Reform Programme Senior Advisor, Colonel Russell Combe. But there has been no official move to operationalise the plan – even as the APNU+AFC Coalition Government comes in for blows over the current crime situation.

This is despite the fact that Granger himself admitted to need to roll out measures to address the crime situation. Earlier this year, he had said. “We are deeply concerned about

the security situation and the sooner we implement those reforms, I think, the better,” he had said.

Meanwhile, two weeks ago, in offering an excuse as to why there has been no move with the report, Granger stated that the plan is still being studied by his Cabinet. “We are going through it,” he said last week.

When he received the report, the President had said that the report was the start of security reform in Guyana. He had said, “We are now trying to correct the errors of over two decades of mismanagement of the security sector. There is a lot of work to do.”

Additionally, Combe had an office housed at the Ministry of the Presidency during the one year he took to finish the report.

Combe returned to Guyana in April this year, to continue advising the government on security sector reform. He is on a contract which will end in March next year.

July 2018 ended with a recorded increased in armed robberies, where firearms were used. Statistics released by the Guyana Police Force show that there were 350 reported cases of armed robber-

ies – an increase of seven per cent compared to July 2017. For the same period there was also: a 25 per cent increase in other types of robberies, with 35 reported cases; a seven per cent increase in robberies with violence, with 92 reported cases; a total of 141 reported cases of robberies where other instruments were used; some 36 reported cases of robbery with aggravation; a total of 71 reports of larceny from persons; a whopping 574 reported cases of break and enter and larceny for the same period; and a total of 134 reported cases of burglary. There were also 58 reported murders as at July 2018 – 25 disorderly murders, 16 domestic murders, 11 murders associated with robberies and six with unknown causes. Additionally, 76 illegal firearms have been taken off the streets so far this year – which is less that was taken off the streets when one does a comparison with the previous period. Among the illegal weapons seized were: 14 pistols, 18 revolvers, 8 shotguns, 1 sub-machine gun and 5 rifles.

Crime statistics for August 2018 have not yet been released by the Guyana Police Force.

President David Granger said foreign trips, travelling across Guyana, being head of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and having to do routine things – such as being present for the swearing in of certain officials – are the reasons he has failed to engage the local media corps and answer questions on pressing issues that are of national importance.

Granger says he has ‘no regrets’ about massive salary increases taken by his gov’t

T

he controversy surrounding salary increases and benefits for public school teachers has redirected the spotlight on the issue of massive salary increases taken by the David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition government – only weeks after taking office.

On Friday (August 31, 2018), when asked if he had any regrets, Granger pointedly said no.

He said, “We established a new Cabinet and it was felt prudent at that time to have a one-off review of ministerial salaries, so the Ministers could pay attention to their duties. It was not as massive as some people thought. There were many public servants who were receiving salaries in excess of what the Ministers were receiving….as far as I am concerned, there is no regret.

It is something, I think, that needed to be done early in the Administration and I think the Ministers are able now, better, to pay attention to their ministerial function without worrying about that issue [money].”

In the September 25, 2015 edition of the Official Gazette, it was revealed that the Prime Minister and all Government Ministers have received a salary increase, way above what was offered to public servants in the 2015 Budget.

The salary increases were effective within weeks – by July 1, 2015 – of the Coalition Government taking office. The salary increases were done quietly and exposed via local media reports.

Nagamootoo, at the top of the earning bracket, earns $20.6M. Senior Ministers had their pay packets doubled from $6.9M to $10.5m.

Junior Minister are paid $8.3M. House Speaker, Dr. Barton Scotland, also benefited and his salary was upped from $6.9M to $10.4M. While salary increases were also offered to all Members of Parliament (MPs), the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) MPs have deducted the increases, which are currently in a local bank account, and

the monies are earmarked for charitable undertakings.

In addition to salaries, other benefits from government ministers were also increased.

In August 2015, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, insisted that the per diem allowances (daily allowances) for travelling government officials had not been changed from the rates used by the former Administration.

However, a Ministry of Finance circular, signed by the then Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary, Neermal Rekha, and dated June 2015 – two months before Jordan’s pronouncement – was leaked to the media in September 2015 and exposed Jordan’s lie.

The increases allow for uncapped travelled allowances for the President and Prime Minister, as well as the increases for other government officials.

The increased travel allowances came into effect less than three weeks after the APNU+AFC Coalition Government took office in May 2015.

No specifics on improving state... specifics on these issues.

He charged, instead, that he was satisfied with the work of the Ministry of Business, headed by his sonin-law, Minister Dominic Gaskin.

Notably, the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has already revised its growth rate for 2018 to 3.7 per cent – from the 3.8 per cent that was initially

projected.

In 2017, Government had projected that Guyana’s economy would have grown by a 3.8 per cent growth rate.

This projection was reduced to 3.1 per cent. It was then revised downwards again to 2.9 per cent. The actual performance, 2.1 per cent, was disclosed earlier this year.

The performance of major sectors according to final

(From page 8)

2017 figures, which were revised in February 2018, show that: the agriculture sector only grew by 0.4% (projected to grow by 5.2%); the sugar sector contracted by 25.2% (projected to grow by 13.7%); other crops sector only grew by 2.4% (projected to grow by 4.4%); and that the mining and quarrying sector contracted by 8.8% (projected to grow by 0.7%).

10

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

From the desk of Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo...

Guyana Under Review Several issues were addressed a weekly news conference held by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday (September 6, 2018), ranging the failings of President David Granger, during his news conference, and the issues affecting teachers, as well as Amerindians in Guyana, among other issues.

APNU+AFC Cabinet on ‘break’

A

new normal has emerged in the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, where – despite the current crises gripping the attention of the nation, including the problems with public school teachers – the Cabinet has gone on break.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, lamented

this new trend and noted under successive People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) administrations, this has never happened. “I have never known the Cabinet to go into recess, even for leave, there was no fixed schedule for leave, although it is provided for…ministers, in understand, are abroad

doing medicals, paid for by taxpayers and others are on leave.”

He noted that there are major national issues that demand the attention of government officials. However, he charged that this seems to be the latest failure of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

Rights, welfare of Amerindians in Guyana being eroded S

eptember 1 marked the commencement of a month of activities to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month and Opposition Leader noted that the celebration of an “essential part of our culture” comes at a time when the rights and welfare of Amerindians in Guyana are being eroded.

At his news conference on Thursday, September 06, 2018, he charged that while President David Granger has talked up the need for alleviation of poverty and the removal of inequalities, Amerindians received another “hollow” speech from the President. “It was flowery promises as usual,” he said.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S COMMISSION Looking at what is actually happening on the ground, Jagdeo pointed to the APNU+AFC Coalition government’ push reduce the Amerindian representation on the Indigenous People’s Commission (IPC).

Minister George Norton chairs the Committee of Ap-

pointments, which made the controversial move, via its report which is current before the National Assembly.

Approval of the report – and the reduction of Amerindian representation of the IPC – requires a two-thirds vote of support in the National Assembly.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, has already said that the PPP/C will not support this position.

According to the report, the Coalition Government plans to reduce Amerindian representation on the 15-member Commission to 30 per cent. Of the 15 members, three representatives are from the National Toshaos Council and two are from local Amerindian organisations.

The other 10 members will come from the: Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs; Ministry of Public Health; Ministry of Social Protection; Private Sector Commission; Environmental Protection Agency; Bar Association of Guyana; Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners

Association; Forest Products Association; National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI); and the Inter-Religious Organisation.

DEVELOPMENT In addition to the controversial Commission of Inquiry into land, Jagdeo noted that no land titled has been issued by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, despite the fact that US$10.7M was left to do this by the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government.

He added that the Hinterland ICT programme, another programme for which the PPP/C left money, has had its implementation slowed.

Village economy expansion plans have also been stalled and some $700M has been taken away from Amerindian communities, with the firing of almost 2,000 Community Service Officers (CSOs).

“What we are getting is disrespect for our Amerindian people from this government,” Jagdeo declared.

Gov’t engaged teachers in ‘bad faith’ negotiations T

he APNU+AFC Coalition government has not negotiated in good faith with the Union representing thousands of public school teachers, according to Opposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, during his weekly news conference on Thursday, September 6, 2018.

He rejected the attempts of Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, and the Alliance For Change (AFC) to try to make the issue of the teachers’ concerns a political issue and noted that the demands made by the teachers are legitimate ones that they have been waiting to be addressed for three years now.

Jagdeo added that because of the way the teachers are being treated the Parliamentary Opposition supports the industrial action taken by the teachers.

“Look at the demands, by no way the teachers request unreasonable….the demands are legitimate… they have been waiting for three years,” he said, adding that under former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) governments there were two multi-year agreements that provided for salary increases and other benefits to be given to teachers.

The Opposition Leader also decried the fact that the Government has been confrontational in dealing with the issue – with Education Minister, Nicolette Henry, acting in a manner that is “condescending, haughty and judgmental” rather than acting the way she should.

President David Granger’s disclosure that a new multi-year agreement was not being negotiated was also questioned by Jagdeo,

who pointed out that Granger’s own High Level Task Force, which was set up in October 2017 to deal with the proposals made by the Guyana Teachers’ Union, made recommendations that were based on elements of a multi-year agreement.

He also questioned Granger’s criticism of the High Level Task Force report, which was submitted in April 2018, and noted that Granger has had the report for months and remained silent. “I find it strange…we see all of this as negotiating in bad faith,” Jagdeo said.

Jagdeo stressed the need for a resolution to the matter at hand to ensure that teachers can return to the classroom, the welfare of Guyana’s children is addressed and the worry of thousands of parents is alleviated.

Three issues proposed by Granger for discussion were not mutually agreed to

I

t was made clear by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, that the three issues – crime, environmental issues and the oil and gas sector – which were proposed by President David Granger were not mutually agreed to. “He put them on the table…I still have issues I would like to add,” Jagdeo said on Thursday (September 6, 2018), during his news conference.

Granger, last Friday, had said, “The points that were raised with the Leader of the Opposition were mutually agreed. The agenda could be extended. It is meant to be a continuous engagement.

We met yesterday and I hope that we can initiate the series of meetings in September.”

Jagdeo added that is still waiting on a letter from Granger, inviting him to talks, after which, he will respond and detail issues that the PPP/C would like to be added to the list. Jagdeo had said that internal Party discussions will inform the agenda proposed by the PPP/C.

In the meantime, no set date has been set or even proposed by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government for the promised Government-Opposition talks.

The move to have government-opposition talks came after the intervention of former US President, Jimmy Carter.

At a prior news conference, Jagdeo said, “I received a call from President Carter, Jimmy Carter [former US President James Earl Carter Jr.], and after talking a bit about Guyana, he said to me he had spoken to President Granger, and somehow, (what) he got from that conversation is that the Government wanted to engage with us and we are unwilling to engage because we don’t like Nagamootoo.

So I said to him that that’s absolutely not true….it is not the individual, it is his ability to make commitments that we cannot accept; because — and I pointed this out to President Carter; I said, ‘The AFC can’t even secure a meeting with

APNU. They have written APNU since February of this year, and now it’s July, and I do not think they can secure a meeting with APNU to discuss the Cummingsburg Accord. Secondly, Nagamootoo has absolutely no substantive portfolio. GINA and Chronicle…is not a serious portfolio; and therefore, that is the reason why.”

Jagdeo said that, as a former President, he decided to raise the matter with President Granger in an attempt to seek clarity about Government being interested in discussing with the PPP, so that he could engage his party’s Executive. “I said I’ll raise it with President Granger, and that we will be seeking two things from the President. First of all, clarity on what precisely they wanted to discuss; and two: whether Nagamootoo has the weight to make commitments on behalf of the PNC and APNU; which I did today.”

After raising the issue with Granger, the President offered to lead the talks himself.

11

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

From the desk of Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo...

Guyana Under Review Several issues were addressed a weekly news conference held by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday (September 6, 2018), ranging the failings of President David Granger, during his news conference, and the issues affecting teachers, as well as Amerindians in Guyana, among other issues.

AFC blasted for saying taxes being collected in ‘small increments’ when $60B more collected in three years T

he Alliance For Change (AFC) in one of its published positions said, “We are making some progress, improving revenue collection, in small increments, that will rightfully come to you (public servants). There is absolutely no argument that our people need better pay, and that is our goal number one.”

This comment saw the Party, the junior partner in the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, coming in flow blows by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday (September 6, 2018) during his weekly news conference.

Jagdeo questioned in an increased tax collection of $60B in three years can be

described as “revenue collection in small increments” – as claimed by the AFC. Tax revenues as at June 2018 totaled $195.8B, according to the 2018 MidYear report, higher than what Government had said it was looking to collect.

Jagdeo, has said that the tax collections are placing increased burdens of the Guyanese people. He noted that tax collections in 2014, under the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government, were $135M. And the 2018 midyear numbers show that $60B more is being collected from average Guyanese people.

“In three years they have increased the tax burden

by $60B more a year…. it is unconscionable…the massive increases in taxes are hurting our people….this government has tried to say that it has cleaned out the drug money from the economy and that is why there is a slowdown, but the fact is that they took $60B more out of the economy, that is money from people’s pockets and it is $60B less that people have to spend or to invest and this is why things are slow,” Jagdeo said.

Since taking office, the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has imposed 200+ new taxes and fees and has also increased existing taxes – placing greater hardships on Guyanese.

Granger fails to give policy position on campaign finance laws

O

nce the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) takes office in 2020, the Guyanese people can expect hard work and a reversal of all the anti-poor policies that affect Guyanese. And in the meantime there is support for constitutional reform and support for campaign finance laws.

This position was expressed by PPP General Secretary and Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, in March 2018. And, particularly as it relates to a commitment on

campaign finance laws, Jagdeo reiterated this position on Thursday (September 6, 2018), during his news conference.

He made it clear that the position of the PPP/C has been clear for months now, while the position of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government remains unclear.

Notably, President David Granger, last Friday, when pressed on the issue said, “As far as the campaign financing legislation, I have not seen a draft myself.

Nothing has been formalized…I have not seen a draft and I don’t know what the implications are.”

Jagdeo decried the fact that Granger opted to talk about a draft legislation – when there has been no move in this direction – as opposed to making it clear whether he would support such legislation.

The Opposition Leader noted that this is another area where government policy remains unclear to the Guyanese people.

What has Granger been doing for three and a half years?

W

ith increasing attention being placed on the failures of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government in the oil and gas sector, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday (September 6, 2018) questioned what President David Granger has been doing in the last 39 months.

His question followed Granger’s failure to respond directly to questions raised about the oil and gas sector, during his first press conference for the year.

Instead, Granger said, “I will ask for a thorough briefing, maybe by October, where we could sit down and examine all the questions that have been raised within the last year or so with the Head of the Department of Energy and his team of international experts.

“I cannot say at this point in time about the payment for unsuccessful wells. Again these are recommendations that will be made by the Department of Energy. “… I pointed out earlier that every aspect, and I mean that, every single aspect of the petroleum industry is being brought under review by the Department of Energy. I cannot say what percentage of the Stabroek Block has already been allocated, but every aspect of the exploration, legislative, operational, administrative, negotiations – every aspect is being brought under review.”

Jagdeo noted that while the positions of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) are clear on several issues relating to the oil and gas sector – Granger continues to fail as it relates to leadership in this area.

A CLEAR FRAMEWORK Relative to a Local Content Policy, Jagdeo maintains the view that a strong local

content policy will allow Guyana to safeguard opportunities for locals and not allow locals to be crowded out in the sector.

The Petroleum Commission, he has argued, ought to be a purely technical commission, but in currently configured in a way that gives excessive powers to one Minister of Government – the Minister determines: the size of the establishment; the employment of staff and the terms and conditions of employment; the provision of equipment and use of funds; reorganization or such works of development as to involve a substantial outlay on capital account; training, education and research; the disposal of capital assets; and the application of the proceeds of such disposals.

On the Sovereign Wealth Fund, he noted that a statement of principles, such as the Santiago Principles, on which the establishment of the Fund would be based would have sufficed. As he has done on previous occasions, he stressed the need for there to be: an apolitical approach to setting up the Fund; a clear definition of the purpose of the Fund; clearly defined rules on spending from the Fund; clarity on what share of oil proceeds will go to the Fund; and the conditions under which the government can access the Fund. Notably, government has since hinted that the Santiago Principles are being considered.

The remaining oil blocks, he added, should be subject to a competitive auction or kept for future generations.

CONTRACT On the issue of the renegotiated contract with ExxonMobil, Jagdeo noted that Government has said

it will not review the contract, despite criticisms.

“We have made it clear that ExxonMobil came out of these negotiations way ahead of Guyana by billions of dollars….as a political party we have made it clear that we are unhappy with the process. We are unhappy with the contract itself that was signed. Very unhappy, but I also have to make sure that as Leader of the Opposition and head of a political party that I don’t get accused of contributing to a climate where we repudiate contracts once a legitimate Government has signed them,” he said.

When asked about the way forward, the Opposition Leader said, “We have to put pressure on Government to approach the company.”

In the past Jagdeo had stressed the need for an amicable approach to any review of the contract.

“Anything that any sovereign government negotiates with another party could be renegotiated if the other party agrees to come to the table. It can be done amicably. If it pursues it and the other party does not agree, you end up in a dispute. In this circumstance, I believe that the amicable position is the best one,” he had said.

The Opposition Leader reiterated the need for an apolitical approach to the sector’s development and stated that the Parliamentary Opposition would be willing to engage the Government on this matter. “If they want to approach in a bipartisan manner, we will be willing to meet with them to talk about it,” he had said.

12

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

From the desk of Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo...

Guyana Under Review Several issues were addressed a weekly news conference held by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on Thursday (September 6, 2018), ranging the failings of President David Granger, during his news conference, and the issues affecting teachers, as well as Amerindians in Guyana, among other issues.

Granger caught in contradiction

– Says Legal Affairs not ‘prosecutorial body’ yet hundreds of millions being paid to special prosecutors

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resident David Granger, when asked about the failure of his government to back up the May 2015 campaign rhetoric of corruption, last Friday (August 31, 2018) said, “Corruption, the roles of government should not be confused with what is taking place in the courts.

“The Ministry of Legal Affairs is not a prosecutorial agency. The DPP is engaged in those prosecutions. It is not the business of the Ministry of Legal Affairs to prosecute people. The Minister of Legal Affairs is concerned with public law rather than criminal charges against individuals; so we need to differentiate between the two.”

At his weekly news conference on Thursday (September 6, 2018), Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, questioned why over $100M was budgeted under the Ministry

of Legal Affairs for special prosecutors, involved in cases against former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government officials, if the Ministry of Legal Affairs is “not a prosecutorial agency” – as stated by Granger.

He noted that this is just one of the many contradictions Granger found himself trapped in after his news conference.

The brother of a sitting Cabinet Minister, Patrice Henry, and five others - Michael Somersall, Hewley Griffith, Lawrence Harris, Compton Richardson and Trenton Lake – have been retained as special prosecutors to go after former government officials.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ISSUE In June 2018, the issue of

the special prosecutors was raised in the National Assembly via a question, which Attorney General, Basil Williams, had to answer, by way of a written reply.

The question posed by PPP/C Parliamentarian, Anil Nandlall, states: “Could the Honourable Minister provide this House with information on the number of Special Prosecutors that have been hired, their salaries and benefits, travel and hotel costs, etc., incurred, and, the number of cases they are/have been handling for the period January, 2017 – March, 2018?”

The reply makes it clear that the special prosecutors are given a retainer of $2M per case. A total of 12 cases have been handled by the Special Prosecutors, according to

Williams.

Additionally each of them are paid $20,000 per hour of work, not necessarily per hour spent in court. Williams did not say how the number of hours worked was verified or if the government was just paying over the monies based on what the special prosecutors claimed as time worked.

Williams also claimed that government has incurred no travel or hotel costs relating to the prosecutors since they were hired.

During the review of the last two Annual Budgets, the National Assembly was informed that millions of taxpayers’ dollars were allocated under Ministry of Legal Affairs’ budget to pay special prosecutors. In 2017, the House was told that some $109M was

budgeted for this purpose. In 2018, undisclosed funds were also allocated for the hiring of Special Prosecutors, including foreign lawyers.

Nandlall has argued that the retention of the attorneys to prosecute a number of high profile cases is unconstitutional and he had warned that the right to a fair trial will be compromised by a politically-tainted process. “First of all, you have the violation of a constitutional and legal principle taking place…where the AG [Attorney General] is attempting to deal with prosecutions… so you have a trespass in the domain of the separation of powers doctrine,” he said.

The issue of special prosecutors has been a controversial one, given the moves made only against former govern-

ment officials – an effort that has been dubbed a witch-hunting exercise.

In July, 2016, the government had announced that it was awaiting advice on the feasibility of setting up a Special Prosecutors’ Office to handle high-profile cases.

At the time, Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira had voiced concern about the move, saying that it will be yet “another attempt to witch-hunt political opponents.”

Months later, in January, 2017, the six attorneys appeared on the scene. When asked later how government decided on the persons to make up the team, Williams had said he could not discuss internal matters of Cabinet, but added that the lawyers were “well qualified.”

Failure of have elections ‘Power sharing’ was never petition heard an proposed to the PPP after indictment of judiciary 2015 elections

T

he fact that the elections petition, filed by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) in 2015, has still not been heard in the courts is an indictment of people in charge of Guyana judiciary, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

His comments came on Thursday (September 6, 2018) during his weekly news conferences, where he pointed to examples from countries like Trinidad and Tobago, where elections petitions were heard by the courts in a speedy fashion.

The elections petition was filed by former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, on behalf of PPP/C election agent, Ganga Persaud.

The discovery of falsified Statements of Polls (SoPs); the refusal of GECOM to have public vetting of polling day staffers, many of whom were discovered to be activists of the political Opposition; misdirection by some GECOM staffers who “advised” voters; damaged stamps that saw some ballots not being properly stamped; the fact that persons without identification cards were allowed to vote even though their images did not match those in the files of GECOM staff; and the denial of proxy holders to use their proxies, are among the irregularities the PPP has spoken out against.

These issued are addressed in the Party’s 15-

page elections petition, which requests that the court order the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to conduct a forensic recount of the votes.

The petition also questions whether the election was lawfully conducted and the possibility of the officially declared results being altered.

The Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, and heads of the lists of representatives from the eight contesting political parties, which indicated their intentions of entering the elections race to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on April 7, 2015, Nomination Day, are named as respondents in the matter.

O

pposition Leader, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday (September 6, 2018) rubbished the misleading report from an online news site, Newsroom, that “power sharing” was proposed to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) with the APNU-AFC Government back in 2015 – and noted that such distortions are becoming a pattern.

The report surfaced following a press conference with President David Granger last week, where Granger said: “As far as power sharing is concerned, it is too big to embark on a reconfiguration of the Cabinet, so what we have is soon after we got into office, there was a proposal that we should meet to discuss what I would

call inclusionary democracy – but there is no proposal on the table for power sharing – whatever that means.

“But certainly, in terms of inclusionary democracy, you know the history of that but I will continue to engage the Leader of the Opposition to ensure that important elements in society and the economy are discussed and we share ideas. There is perhaps better to say there is an idea-sharing proposal, rather to say that there is a power sharing proposal.”

During his weekly press conference, Jagdeo said, “Let me make this clear, we have never requested power sharing because some people thought we did…now, I think the President is quite clear.

“He never offered power sharing and we are not meeting to discuss that so I was surprised to see, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, when Newsroom, which is from the E-networks Group, suddenly included, and this is becoming a pattern now of fake news, included that there was a proposal at the beginning to the People’s Progressive Party for power sharing. “…I just want to make it clear to people out there who may be talking about power sharing and somehow that the PPP is holding this up… and that we seem to be the stumbling block to this idea.”

Jagdeo stressed that that the Parliamentary Opposition remains open to idea sharing concept touted by Granger.

13

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Real Time Economic Insights The need for an increase in teachers’ salary

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verall, both trained untrained teachers are forced to live a meager life on a wage that is clearly inadequate; The analysis presented, is based on an average lifestyle of teachers, on different salary scales, living in Georgetown. If, however, the analysis was done for teachers, say, living in the hinterland regions, given the relatively high price of commodities within those areas, results obtained would point to a more sever and callous financial situation of our teachers (deteriorated roads, high fuel prices, lack of electricity etc. are all contributing factors for high commodities prices).

Given the rapid deterioration of the country’s economic structure (low foreign reserves, large deficits, failing public enterprises, low private investments etc.) reduction in purchasing power, due to rising inflation, is likely to unfold. (Analyses done by Irfaan Ali, PPP/C MP)

Case One: Untrained Teacher- Single (Net Salary $65,ooo) Inflation (Dec 17-June 18)

ITEM (Basket of Goods)

Monthly Average Expenditure (GYD$)

Variation (GYD)

Food

1.5%

$

28,600.00 $

429.00

Clothing

1.6%

$

2,405.00 $

38.48

Footwear and Repairs

-6.8%

$

1,235.00

Housing

0.8%

$

Furniture

-1.1%

$

3,874.00

$

(42.61)

Transport and Communication

1.8%

$

7,020.00 $

126.36

Medical and Personal Care

-0.2%

$

1,553.50

$

(3.11)

Education, Recreational and Cultural Services

-1.2%

$

2,280.20 $

(27.36)

Miscellaneous Goods & Services

-0.1%

$

3,126.50

$

(83.98)

14,755.00 $

118.04

$

(3.13)

Key Observations:

Note: Variation in Inflation is Based on Georgetown CPI Interesting Facts: • The increase in Bus fare by $20.00, signifies a reduction in disposable income by $800/monthly, or 15% increase in average daily expenditure for transportation and communication.

• Less than $400 weekly is spent on Medical and Personal Care; • Less than $70/daily is spent on recreational activities

Life on an untrained teacher living in Georgetown, financially, is very difficult, given the unlivable wage offered.

Case Two: Trained Teacher - CPCE- Single (Net Salary $85,ooo) Inflation (Dec 17-June 18)

ITEM

Monthly Average Expenditure (GYD$)

Variation (GYD)

Food

1.5%

$

37,400.00 $

561.00

Clothing

1.6%

$

3,145.00 $

50.32

Footwear and Repairs

-6.8%

$

1,615.00 $

(109.82)

Housing

0.8%

Furniture

-1.1%

Transport and Communication

1.8%

$ $ $

19,295.00 $ 5,066.00 $ 9,180.00 $

154.36 (55.73) 165.24

Medical and Personal Care

-0.2%

$

2,031.50 $

(4.06)

Education, Recreational and Cultural Services

-1.2%

$

2,981.80 $

(35.78)

Miscellaneous Goods & Services

-0.1%

$

4,088.50 $

(4.09)

Note: Variation in Inflation is Based on Georgetown CPI Interesting Facts On a Daily basis, trained teacher has less than: • $365 to spend on Transport and Communication; • $70 to spend on personal care; • $120 to spend on recreational or cultural services; • $55 to spend on footwear and repairs.

Case Three: Trained Teacher- CPCE & UG- Married With Two Kids (Net Salary $120,ooo) Inflation (Dec 17-June 18)

ITEM

Monthly Average Variation Expenditure (GYD) (GYD$)

Food

1.5%

$

52,800.00 $

792.00

Clothing

1.6%

$

4,440.00 $

71.04

Footwear and Repairs

-6.8%

$

2,280.00 $

(155.04)

Housing

0.8%

$

27,240.00 $

217.92

Furniture

-1.1%

$

7,152.00 $

(78.67)

Transport and Communication

1.8%

$

12,960.00 $

233.28

Medical and Personal Care

14.0%

$

2,868.00 $

401.52

Education, Recreational and Cultural Services

-1.2%

$

4,209.60 $

(50.52)

Miscellaneous Goods & Services

-0.1%

$

5,772.00 $

(5.77)

Note: Variation in Inflation is Based on Georgetown CPI Interesting Facts: • On average, less than $1,100 is spent monthly on clothing for each family member ; • Less than $550 is spent monthly by each member on footwear and repairs; • Less that $180 is spend weekly by each member on medical and personal care; • The family spends less than $1000 weekly on recreational and cultural services.

Key Observations:

Key Observations:

Again, allocated wages to trained teachers is unlivable and inadequate. In short, teachers are confined to a very frugal life.

A family of 4, headed by the breadwinner, a trained teacher by profession (CPCE and UG graduate), life could be very difficult financially.

14

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Thousands of public school teachers

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

15

engaged in strike action countrywide

16

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

APNU+AFC gov’t inaction this week …a snapshot of headlines making the news

Granger says his gov’t will work to remove disparities among the Indigenous, fails to implement promised plan The Heritage Village at the Sophia Exhibition Centre was the site of the launch of Indigenous Heritage Month 2018. This year’s observance is being celebrated under the theme ‘Proud of our Indigenous identity – celebrating in unity.’

Delivering the feature address at the launch, President David Granger, spoke of the measures the government is taking, to eliminate any inequalities that exist amongst the indigenous population.

He noted that the 10-point plan for the hinterland, which was unveiled in 2015 and focuses on economic opportunities, education, poverty reduction, jobs and land issues, is still relevant today. This plan, he said, has guided the government’s conduct and policies to empower the indigenous peoples.

However, the very plan remains unimplemented.

On August 18, 2015, President David Granger outlined a 10-point “strategic and holistic plan” for Hinterland development. He claimed that the plan would have seen Amerindian communities becoming thriving economic units, extreme poverty being eradicated, youth unemployment being addressed and increased prosperity realised.

Three years later, that plan stands as evidence of more failures of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and increases the list of promises made by the Coalition and broken.

However, despite the failures to address the promises made in his 10-point plan, Granger and his Government ministers have gone silent on the issue.

Lawrence says gov’t working to ‘keep our population safe from diseases’, silent on worsening drug shortages Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence has reassured that her ministry is committed to implementing programmes geared towards the prevention and control of HIV/ AIDS and other Communicable Diseases with the budget available.

Lawrence had stated revised drug procurement system which will bring resolution to the ongoing drug shortage throughout the country is expected to be implemented by the month of June 2016. This was almost a year ago.

To date, reports of drug shortages continue to surface. Just weeks ago, doctors and pharmacy staff are currently engaged in a sit-in at the Skeldon Hospital over shortage of drugs and medical supplies. Reports are that the over since last three months “chronic” shortages of drugs and medical supplies have worsened, despite multiple attempts by staffers to have the matter addressed by the Ministry of Public Health.

After taking office, the APNU+AFC government scrapped the old method used to procure and deliver drugs and medical supplies across Guyana, despite the fact that it worked.

Increase in transportation costs starts to ‘bite’ The United Minibus Union called on the government to consider rolling back some of the hardship measures imposed, such as the ban on used tyres, but no action has been taken. What the Ministry of Business has done instead is to approve an increase in transportation costs – a move that is hurting consumers, particularly school children.

According to the Ministry of Business, the new fare structure applied to the following zones: 31, 32, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 46, 47, and 48. The new fare structure became effective on September 1st 2018.

Granger travelling again, off to Barbados President David Granger left Guyana this week – yet again – to participate in the Ninth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), which was held in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Since being sworn in as Head of State, Granger has attended over 100 international events in various countries on almost all the continents of the world. But he has failed to inform the Guyanese public on the outcomes of these international forums – all of which were funded by taxpayers’ monies.

At most of these international events, the participants would sign off on either a declaration, a plan of action, or a set of commitments. However, on his return to Guyana after these events, the President has never ever reported to the nation on the outcomes of the events he attended as the high representative of the people of Guyana, traveling at taxpayers’ expense.

In fact, last year it was revealed that Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo’s traveling expense reached $19M in two short years. In a written response to Opposition Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira’s question, the Government said that some US$39,604 including G$11.3 million (19.2M) were spent during that specific period, giving a breakdown of all the conferences, cultural events and diaspora engagements the Prime Minister attended.

There have been concerns that these government officials are not adequately representing Guyana when going on these trips.

Trotman silent on $47B lost by Gold Board in three years, moving on project to design ‘gold medallion’ to commemorate 50th Republic Anniversary Guyana will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a Cooperative Republic in 2020. To commemorate this occasion, the Ministry of Natural Resources, in collaboration with the Guyana Gold Board, will be launching a gold medallion.

Meanwhile, Minister of Natural Resources, remains silent on the $47B lost by the Guyana Gold Board, since he took over responsibility for the agency.

17

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Granger touts changes to GECOM composition, Jagdeo warns of danger in his proposal A

change to the composition of the Guyana Elections Commission as outlined in what is commonly called the Carter Formula’ has been touted by President David Granger.

He said, “We are still working under the Carter formula which we generally agreed to have exhausted its usefulness. It’s like having a cricket match with one umpire from each team. It is

not a formula for consensus. “…it’s almost a formula for gridlock. There needs to be a change and like other provisions we need to establish new rules…I am in favour of reform, but we must adopt the architecture.

We must adopt the procedures which are in place for the other Constitutional Commissions.”

However, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo has

warned that Granger’s proposal for a new structure to GECOM to take on the form of other Constitutional Commissions is not one that can be fully supported – given the manner in which the Granger-led Administration has treated Constitutional bodies since it took office. He pointed to functions of Constitutional Commissions being usurped, public officials

GECOM receives 62 symbols from LGE 2018 contestants A total of 62 symbols were submitted to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by the August 29 deadline, by parties and individuals desirous of contesting the November 12 local government elections though not all have been approved as yet.

Symbols were submitted by political parties including the People’s Progressive

Party/ Civic (PPPC), the Alliance for Change, the People’s National Congress Reform. Twenty one (21) voluntary/community groups and 31 individual candidates/ independents also made submissions.

When approval has been given to all candidates, the list of the symbols along with the parties, voluntary groups and individuals, will

be published.

Nomination Day is Friday, September 21, 2018. On Nomination Day, the list of candidates must be submitted to the offices of the returning officers. The time will be announced.

So far, GECOM has published the list of all the local authorities, the names of the presiding officers and their offices.

threatened and the tendency by the Granger government to want to give instructions to the Constitutional Commissions.

Jagdeo made it clear that the Parliamentary Opposition is open to talks on the issue. However, he also pointed out that Granger has already disrespected what exists by unilaterally and unconstitutionally appointment a Chairman of GECOM in the person of 84-year-old James Patterson. Notably, this matter is currently before the courts and a hearing is expected next month.

The right to vote at free and fair elections in Guyana, has had a long and tortuous history traversing the years from 1986 to 1992.

The Report of the Council of Freely Elected Heads of Government, Observation of Guyana Electoral Process, 1990-1992” documents this history and refers to the efforts of the Chairman of the Guyana Project of the Council, Prime Minister George Price of Belize and President Carter of the

Carter Centre in this period.

Additionally, what has become popularly known as the Carter Formula with regard to the composition of the Guyana Elections Commission and the appointment of the Chairman was actually negotiated by the Council and adopted by President Desmond Hoyte on April 12, 1991 (see page 20-21 of the report) after receiving the support and assurance of the political parties comprising the Patriotic Coalition for Democracy.

The process, by providing for shared power between the Leader of the Opposition and the President, was designed to instill trust and confidence in the election machinery and trust in the integrity of the person who was appointed as Chairman.

Legislative and constitutional amendments followed to produce an Elections Commission that the majority of people on all sides had confidence in leading up to the 1992 General and Regional Elections – the first internationally certified free and fair

elections after 28 years of undemocratic rule under the People’s National Congress (PNC).

Article 161(2) of the Guyana Constitution defines the process and provides the mandate to the Leader of the Opposition and the role of the President with regard to the selection of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission as follows:- “The Chairman of the Elections Commission shall be a person who holds or who has held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such court or who is qualified to be appointed as any such judge, or any other fit and proper person, to be appointed by the President from a list of six persons, not unacceptable to the President, submitted by the Leader of the Opposition after meaningful consultations with the non-governmental political parties in the National Assembly.”

Salaries, benefits dispute between Teachers’ Union, gov’t goes to arbitration Kitty market vendors call for

T

he government and the Guyana Teachers’ Union, on Thursday (September 6, 2018) agreed to take their dispute to arbitration.

Chief Labour Officer, Charles Ogle, confirmed this and said the almost two-

week old teachers’ strike will be called off, as the two sides have agreed to go to arbitration.

Among the terms of resumption that were negotiated were no loss of pay for teachers who participated in the strike action and no loss

of seniority.

The Ministry of Education’s team did not make a new pay offer to the Union.

A three-member arbitration panel will now be required to accept evidence from government and the union.

reduction of rental fee proposed for exterior stalls

V

endors who are expected to take up stalls at the rehabilitated Kitty Market are calling on the Mayor and City Council to reconsider a proposed rate of $20,000 per month for the rental of stalls along the exterior of the building.

Town Clerk Royston King has said that City Hall is moving ahead with the rate structure, which would see vendors paying approximately $20,000 per month per stall.

People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Councilor, Khame Sharma, has also called for a reduction of the fee on behalf of the stall holder and suggested that they be subsidized.

In response to this suggestion, King told the council that the fee was fixed based on the operational cost of the market. King said, “We have to cover our operational cost.

They are going to use council space and would have to pay the increase because it is

a new facility. The money collected goes back into the city. We will not be able to manage if we don’t recover the cost.”

The vendors, who have been occupying spots along the parapets surrounding the market, are expected to begin occupying the stalls within two weeks.

Meanwhile, works on the market have still not been completed - the entire ground floor of the market is still to be competed.

18

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Focus on Guyana’s First People – issues affecting Amerindian people and communities

Amerindians’ concerns about access, land not addressed by Granger T

he challenges facing Amerindians in Guyana, primarily, as it relates to access to good and services, were acknowledged

by President David Granger on Friday (August 31, 2018), during his first news conference for 2018.

He said, “There is no doubt that the indigenous people who, by and large, tend to live in the hinterland have, perhaps, more difficult access to public services than people in other parts of the country – largely because of distance and largely because of our inability to deliver public service to these areas….I have met villagers – people who are entitled to NIS pensions; people in Aishalton who have to pay $5,000 to go to Lethem in order to collect

their pensions.

“There are real difficulties which Indigenous people in the hinterland face, which the average coast lander does not necessarily face. I feel that they need to have access and it is the government’s responsibility to do everything possible or everything necessary to facilitate that access.”

ACCESS MADE DIFFICULT However, he failed to address the calls for a reversal of the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on flights to the interior.

In 2017, a 14 per cent VAT was imposed on domestic flights. At that time, President of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), Annette Ar-

joon-Martins, said, “The big challenge to us is all of our customers who depend on hinterland transportation… the cost of interior travel will go up.”

Despite calls, there has been no move to reverse this measure.

Relative to the issue of access, the impassable state of many of the roads leading to the interior regions has also been a major concern expressed over the last few months.

NO CONSULTATION Granger also talked up the creation of new towns in the hinterland regions. He said, “We went to the policy of developing capital towns in the four hinterland regions – Mabaruma, Bartica, Mahdia and Lethem – so the

towns can be vehicles for the delivery of public services.”

However, here too, he failed to respond to criticism about non-consultation in some areas, as well as inadequate consultations in others, with hinterland residents before the towns were created.

MAJOR ISSUES Other major issues affecting Amerindians in Guyana, particularly as it related to Amerindian Land titling, were not addressed by the President.

Appearing before the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources, in May, Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Sydney Allicock, admitted that he failed to make progress with the ALT programme, which gave the indigenous

people legal rights to their communities. “I have not been able to title any village,” he said.

Some US$10.7M that was earned by the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government was left for the purpose of completing the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) programme. In 2010, MoAA together with UNDP and the Office of the President has initiated a Land titling Project that sought to process applications for titling and demarcation.

Under the Guyana REDD + Investment Fund (GRIF), the former PPP/C Government in 2013 signed a US$10.7M document for the implementation of the Amerindian Land Titling and Demarcation project.

Notably, after taking office, the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, sent home the entire unit dealing with the Amerindian Land Titling programme. The Project Management Unit was ben established in June 2014 to support the implementation of the project.

The ALT project sought to achieve three major goals: completion of land titles issues and demarcation process for all Amerindian villages that submitted requests, increased use of existing and alternative mechanisms to resolve land titling disputes and thirdly a communication strategy including a handbook describing the process of titling, demarcation and social economic impact of secured land tenure.

Karrau Village observes Worsening state of Mabura Heritage Day celebration Road remains a challenge for A

s Indigenous Heritage Month kicked off this weekend, Karrau Village in the Lower Mazaruni celebrated with a cultural festival, over the weekend.

The celebration saw a number of Indigenous foods, drinks, crafts, cultural ware displayed.

It garnered a number of supporters from families of neighbouring Amerindian villages in Region Seven.

PPP Executive Member, Gail Teixeira, joined residents in from the Village in their celebrations, as part of a visit to several Region 7 areas.

This year’s Amerindian Heritage Month is being observed under the theme “Proud of our Indigenous Identity, Celebrating in Unity.”

PPP Executive Member, Gail Teixeira, participates in Indigenous Heritage month celebrations at Karrau

hinterland residents

19

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018 WEEKEND MIRROR 11-12 AUGUST, 2018

na’s FirstonPeople Focus Guyana’s First People

years later: List of promises made to Amerindians and broken by gov’t dianThree people and communities – issues affecting Amerindian people and communities sincreasing

s

st er of un-

st ed er ed ee nd hso ck se

On August 18, 2015, President David Granger outlined a 10-point “strategic and holistic plan” for Hinterland development. He claimed that the plan would have seen Amerindian communities becoming thriving economic units, extreme poverty being eradicated, youth unemployment being addressed and increased prosperity realised.

Three years later: List of promises made to Amerindians and broken by gov’t sincreasing Three years later, that plan stands as evidence of more failures of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and increases the list of promises made by the Coalition and broken.

However, despite the failures to address the promises made in his 10-point plan, Granger and his Government ministers have gone silent on the issue.

O

n August 18, 2015, President David Granger outlined a 10-point “strategic and holistic plan” for Hinterland development. He claimed that the plan would have seen Amerindian communities becoming thriving economic units, extreme poverty being eradicated, youth unemployment being addressed and increased prosperity realised.

MAKE THE STAND OUT A failures BIT WHEN YOU CoaliDO Three years later, TABLE that plan stands as evidence of more of the APNU+AFC tion Government and increases the list of promises made by the Coalition and broken.

THE LAYOUT PLEASE However, despite the failures to address the promises made in his 10-point plan, Granger and his Government ministers have gone silent on the issue.

PROMISE MADE 1. Hinterland Education Support Programme

The 2017 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Guyana released by the United States of America’s (USA) State Department, on page 11 states that: “They (Amerindians) have limited access to education and health care.”

2. Hinterland Employment and Youth Service Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs,

Sydney Allicock, has gone on record to say that 40,000 persons are unemployed to date in the Hinterland communities.

3. The Hinterland Poverty Reduction Programme

n

d

of ot

ime st ts es r’s ic ns ne nd m C ed es te th . of the rs ’s in

REALITY

No major initiative has been embarked on to date.

No mention of any substantial work to improve the lives of Amerindians in Guyana was made in the 2017 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Guyana released by the United States of America’s (USA) State Department.

Page 11 of the 2017 report states that: “The standard of living in indigenous communities was lower than that of most citizens.”

4. Hinterland Infrastructure Extension

No major initiative has been embarked on to date.

No major Initiative has been embarked on to date. The 6,000 solar panel systems earmarked for distribution to Amerindian communities by the former PPP/C government were taken away from the communities by the APNU+AFC Coalition government.

6. Hinterland Happy Household Programme

No major initiative has been embarked on to date.

7. Hinterland and Indigenous People Lands

No new villages have received titles to lands in the last three years.

Programme 5. Hinterland Energy Development Programme

Commission

The Commission of Inquiry into Lands, which combined Amerindian and African land rights issues raised concerns that Amerindians would be dispossessed of their lands.

8. Hinterland Public Service Provision

No major initiative has been embarked on to date.

9. Hinterland Language Cultural and Sport

The Language Preservation Project started under the former PPP/C administration in 2013 is the only major effort being currently made in this are.

Scheme Service

The Project aimed to preserve the Arawak and other Amerindian languages.

10. Hinterland Tourism service

No major initiative has been embarked on to date.

One month after mercury was found in waterway….

New Port Kaituma well still not activated

A

fter almost four weeks, the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) announced its plans to reactivate a well in Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini) to provide a stable supply of water to residents, as it was related that those works have not yet been completed.

GWI contends that works are still in progress for the reactivation.

These works were necessary after the presence of mercury was detected in the main source of water for residents – the Kaituma River.

Samples were taken from

different sections and sent to the Kaizen Environmental Services Laboratory in Trinidad and Tobago.

As such, the first option was to drill a well in the area after it was realised that the main well at Turn Basin was not functioning. However, an inspection by engineers discovered a well at Citrus Grove, Port Kaituma, which had been out of operation for a number of years.

It was decided that the engineers would rehabilitate this well to supplement an existing one. This would entail a camera inspection,

test pumping the well and determining an appropriately sized pump before it is connected to the distribution network.

Furthermore, plans were also ongoing for the installation of additional storage tanks at the well site and the rehabilitation of another tank in the region. With this in place, the storage capacity is expected to increase to serve the entire community. The tanks will be connected to a distribution network that will be run to each household.

Residents have called for speedier action from GWI.

Still no answers to concerns about planned Mabaruma solar farm T he solar farm located at Khan’s Hill, Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini) is expected to be fully operational soon. However, concerns about the project remain unaddressed.

The APNU+AFC Coalition Government is looking to spend some $264M on a solar farm project in Mabaruma, Region One. The Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley, has said that the project will not generate enough energy to provide 17 hours of daily electricity as is being claimed by the government.

According to him, he spoke with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hinterland Electrification Programme, Horace Williams, who confirmed that the system may not provide the said number of hours which would have been previously announced. “He, too, confirmed that the system may not provide that amount of hours of electricity, and because of what I am seeing here, I would have asked him to correct and give guidance to the necessary persons, whether it’s the municipality or so, as to what would be the work coming out of the

solar farm. That is where our concern is, because residents of Mabaruma are of the view that there will be a drastic increase in the electricity provided and that will not be so,” the Chairman said.

He stated that while the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) is in support of “going green” and utilising renewable energy, the Public Infrastructure Ministry has not properly informed residents, who already have high hopes of benefitting from the increased supply of electricity, about the reality of the situation. “While we at the RDC fully support the idea of going green and using renewable energy, we also like that when a system is put in place, that it be a system that is holistic and that will achieve the objective of why it is being established,” he said.

Ashley added, “…as it relates to the solar farm, our concern is that it is being placed in the media’s domain that the solar farm, in its establishment, will provide 17 hours of electricity.

However, when we were briefed outside of what the Mayor and Town Council would have heard about the

17 hours of electricity, we learnt that the solar system is not something that is going to be working independently, as though they are trapping the energy coming from the sun, but rather that it will be a hybrid system, meaning that it will be integrated into the existing gen set that we have. “…yes, there is going to be an increase in the hours of electricity provided, but not by the additional hours that would make it 17 hours….I was reliably informed that the solar farm does not have the necessary equipment, such as the batteries, that will enable it to trap and store the energy for a long period of time,” he added. “…the only thing significant that will come out of it is, we will have a reduction in the amount of diesel being consumed by the generator set because it will help to take off some of [the] load on the grid through the hybrid system, which will see a decrease in the amount of diesel being used on a daily basis.”

Additionally, to date, it is unclear what additional costs residents of Mabaruma will have to bear once the solar farm project starts generating power.

20

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

SUGAR TOO B Gov’t officials would have been ‘jailed’ in other countries for not complying with law to ensure full severance is paid – Canadian trade union official C

anada’s largest private sector trade union, UNIFOR, has expressed deep concerns over Government’s handling of the sugar industry, particularly when it comes to ensuring that dismissed sugar workers are given their severance package in full.

And Director for Human Rights and International Department at UNIFOR, Mohamad Alsadi, on the sidelines of a one-day conference, themed ‘Sugar too big to fail’ and held on Tuesday (September 4, 2018) at the Grand Coastal Hotel, which they sponsored, that it is UNIFOR’s hope that Government act

quickly to address the workers concerns.

“I have never seen a Government that does something as little as taking someone’s severance, especially after losing their jobs. So, for us, this is a big issue. I mean if this was in Canada, I can assure that they could have gone to jail.

It’s serious stuff. So, the Government needs to take this seriously,” the UNIFOR official said.

Alsadi said his union has had a longstanding relationship with many trade unions, including the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).

He said it was important that

“For us, this is a big issue. I mean if this was in Canada, I can assure that they could have gone to jail. It is serious stuff….the Government needs to take this seriously.” – UNIFOR Director for Human Rights and International Department, Mohamad Alsadi not only Unifor sponsor the event but attend it to get a chance to listen directly from workers and representatives from both sides of Government. “Obviously today’s conference was important for me and for our president to hear directly from the workers. We were

here last year and we did go to some of the estates and met with some of the workers but hearing today from the Minister of State (Joseph Harmon) and the Opposition obviously there are different stories, two different point of views,” he added.

The Unifor official said

they are saddened by what was presented and the sufferings being faced by the thousands of sugar workers that have been put on the breadline. He committed to working closely with Guyana’s trade unions in general and do all that they can to help. According to him, the main goal is to help save the sugar industry. “So we are going to work with them in solidarity and do all we can and hopefully they will be able to sort out some of the outstanding issues for sugar workers because people have families, communities are devastated and that needs to be fixed.”

Meanwhile, President of

UNIFOR Jerry Dias told the attendees at the conference that it is incomprehensible that Government would move to close the number the sugar industry in Guyana, without first carrying out an impact assessment on how people’s lives would be affected by the closure. On that note, Dias said to workers and union heads that now is the time for them to “fight back” and do not take the road of the past of “least resistance.”

The Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act stipulates that workers who are made redundant must be paid severance upon termination.

Sugar sector’s importance cannot be viewed narrowly as a ‘profit and loss’ issue – GAWU President T

he Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) together with Canada’s largest private sector union – UNIFOR – convened a special one-day conference titled ‘Sugar too big to fail’ on (Tuesday) September 04, 2018 at the Grand Coastal Hotel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara.

And in a stinging address, GAWU President, Komal Chand, said, “The GAWU has recognized in recent times that some have sought to downplay its importance and to confine its role merely within the ambit of profit and loss. On the other hand, the GAWU contends that we cannot ignore the widely known fact that any examination of the industry cannot be confined to such a narrow outlook. Sugar has transcended mere finance and has become a social institution in our society. Some have argued that this should not be the case but the reality is that its importance stretches beyond a black-and-white notion of profitability.

“Sugar’s status in Guyana is not unique, by any means.

The GAWU has recognized that across the world, industries and enterprises have grown beyond a mere source

of employment to become centres for the sustenance of entire communities. Decision makers have always recognized the importance of these industries and they seek to protect, encourage and assist them to remain viable and operable especially when one considers the consequences of them becoming non-existent. Literally these industries are ‘too big to fail’.

“As we take stock of those factors, the sending home of some 7,000 workers over the last two (2) years without any plan to address their welfare and loss of their livelihood, clearly this has to be among the most callous of decisions ever made by any Government in our country in our over half a century of independence. The Government, by its very actions, has seriously affected communities; has shattered the hopes of the youth, and has pushed thousands of Guyanese into misery-filled lives.

“Today, for many of the workers who have been placed on the breadline, they remain right there unable to find steady jobs and, in some cases, any job at all. Today, the hopes nurtured from such talk as “sugar will never die” or “we will fix sugar” heard boisterously during

the 2015 elections campaign, have been dashed. It is most upsetting that this approach had been taken especially recognizing that it was not necessary in the first place and that there were very good and real possibilities to overcome the difficulties in the sugar industry.”

CLOSED ESTATES SOLD AS ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENTS According to him, advertisements placed in the media regarding the sale of the closed estates show that the now-closed and for-sale estates, which had been described as irretrievable, are now being labeled as attractive investment opportunities.

He said, “Investors are being told that the estates have the possibilities of co-generation, alcohol, ethanol, packaged sugar, and refined sugar, among other things. We see interested parties being advised, for instance at East Demerara, that there is ‘…the advantage of operating a sugar factory, with packaging warehouse and fields in five hectare plots each next to water transport system’. There will also be access to a “well established research facility and nursery with several cane

varieties and a local pool of experienced factory management and well-educated workforce’. It was also touted that the estate will offer 85% mechanization from mechanical tillage/planting to harvesting and excellent drainage and irrigation systems with new pumps.

“It, therefore, is incomprehensible to the rational thinker that an enterprise with such obvious advantages was even identified for closure in the first place.

The GAWU cannot help but wonder whether these clearly seen features did not leap out at our decision-makers and cause them to second-guess whether they were being properly advised or being led astray?”

NO CLEAR FUTURE The GAWU President reiterated that the decisions for the sugar industry were implemented without any sort of study to have a full understanding of the consequences of the decisions to shutter estates.

He said, “For the GAWU and the workers of the industry the President’s bold statement was a surprise. A cursory look at the Government’s approach to sugar reveals a far from clear approach.

“In the three (3) years of the Granger Administration, we have seen the Government closing estates despite its own Commission of Inquiry saying that it shouldn’t.

We have seen plans to transform cane cultivations to other ventures failing miserably. We have seen the Government saying it would divest estates it previously decided to close without any explanation for the change of course. We have seen the sugar corporation substantially stripped of its assets and its shares transferred. We also cannot forget the imbroglio regarding the Board of Directors. Or neither can it escape our attention that the industry has borrowed thirty billion Guyanese dollars without a plan – akin to being up the river without a paddle. Is this the clear future the President speaks of?”

Chand stressed that GAWU wants the sugar industry to succeed, since a large number of Guyanese depend on its operations. “We have seen the ramifications of the vacuum created by sugar.

But, success must involve a collaborative and comprehensive approach,” he said.

The GAWU President called for hard work and commitment to overcoming the

current difficulties.

“The convening of this Conference, at this time, we believe, is important as it provides us an opportunity to reflect on whether the right decisions regarding the industry were made; what can be done to overcome the difficulties the industry now faces and how we can approach the future to ensure its sustainability and viability.

Such considerations are important as the industry still is, in spite of sugar’s haphazard and callous minimization, our country’s single largest employer. As a state-owned enterprise serious consideration must always be given to the lives of the thousands of Guyanese who its operations touch,” Chand said.

The one-day event brought together decision-makers, present and former sugar workers, GuySuCo executives, trade unionists, politicians, among others, to consider the consequences and the ramifications of the decisions that have been taken with regard to the industry in recent times. The conference also sought to examine, rationally, the current state of the sugar industry and the avenues available to put the industry on the road to sustainability and viability.

21

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

BIG TO FAIL! Real action to save the Harmon fails to define timeline sugar industry a matter within which APNU+AFC gov’t of ‘political will’ – Jagdeo will comply with the law

T

he one-day sugar conference, hosted by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), saw a no-holds barred exchange of views by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.

Harmon had stressed that the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) debts and other financial considerations were the reasons for: 1) the viability of the sugar sector being reviewed; and 2) the decisions to close sugar estates and fire 7,000 sugar workers.

In a hard-hitting comeback, Jagdeo stressed that under the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, in three years, some $47B was lost by the Guyana Gold Board.

“We can find the money now to afford it (afford to make sugar viable),” he said.

DISTORTIONS ON DEBT NUMBERS According to Jagdeo, the debt figure for GuySuCo that

has been repeatedly cited as $82B – but this is a deliberate distortion.

He explained that a significant part of the money was for long-term debt and liabilities, while only about $17B represents short term debt. Of that $17B, Jagdeo noted that $7B is owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). According to him, the only real short-term debt faced by the industry was somewhere around $10B. He said, “It is not true that sugar cannot be restored in the future. It’s not true that sugar cannot be profitable.

If we work real hard and we look at the multidimensional contributions of sugar to the economy we will through an economic analysis that sugar makes a bigger contribution to Guyana than the subsidy it gets in this difficult period.”

NOT OPPOSED TO REFORM On the issue of reform and change, Jagdeo made it clear that the People’s Pro-

gressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is not opposed to reform or change. However, he stressed that any move in that direction much be grounded in a realistic assessment of the current situation and on studies.

“No viable decision can be made without a feasibility study,” he said, adding that given the current state of affairs, one can only conclude that the decision to close sugar estates and fire 7,000 sugar workers was a political decision.

The Opposition Leader added, “It is a fallacy that the decision to send home 7,000 sugar workers and close estates was somehow grounded in theoretical work…it is a fallacy that there was a process of consultation as crucial decisions were made about such a large sector.”

Jagdeo added, “…we can find all the money now to help the industry in budget 2018. It is not an issue of affordability. It is about political will.”

T

he Guyana Agricultural and General Workers’ Union (GAWU), on Tuesday (September 4, 2018), hosted a one-day conference to review the current situation in the sugar industry and the plight of thousands affected decisions taken to date by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, represented the government and despite the fact that questions about severance were raised, no interested stakeholder is any clearer on when the monies owed will be paid.

Some 7,000 sugar workers were dismissed on December 29, 2017, without severance being paid “on termination” as required by the law to all of them. Severance was paid in part to over 4,000 of the 7,000 sacked sugar workers.

GAWU President, Komal Chand, who addressed the gathering before Harmon, said, “The clearly heartless,

GAWU sugar conference concludes that there is no rational reason to minimize industry The one-day conference sponsored by GAWU and UNIFOR – Canada’s largest private sector union – came to the conclusion that there was no good nor rational reason for the Government’s decision to minimize the sugar industry in Guyana.

The Conference heard from several of the dismissed sugar workers.

Lalloo Teckchand, formerly of LBI Estate, shared the difficulties he has to secure employment at his age. He shared that he spent a quarter of a century working in the sugar industry and that he is finding it difficult to meet life expenses at this time.

Sohanauth Rabindranauth, who was employed at Rose Hall, said though he obtained a pension he is worried about the future

as he recognizes that many persons remained unemployed. He said personally two of his sons were employed by the estate and since Rose Hall closed they have been unable to secure steady employment and he has taken on the responsibility of taking care of his grandchildren.

Royston Garnette, of Skeldon Estate, said, at this time, he is worried how he will pay his mortgage at month end. He shared, that now-a-days, he is having difficulty sending his children to school and paying his several bills at this time.

He shared with the Conference that some workers have had their families been broken up as yet another consequence of closure.

Nakisha Best, also of Skeldon, said at this time

she is employed washing clothes for which she is paid $1,000 per day after working sometimes as long as 12 hours.

Hafzar Bacchus of Wales said he was employed for 27 years and has unable to secure a job since the estate closed at the end of 2016 and these days he earns by selling bird seeds on the weekends apart from some support he receives from his son who is employed.

Zalina Bacchus said she is having trouble paying her bills and has no immediate opportunity for steady employment.

Glendon Grant who was employed at Rose Hall for 21 years said since the estate closed he has worked for 42 days since the year begun.

He said despite his best ef-

forts he is unable to secure another job. He shared that in the Canje area outside of Rose Hall there is no other place to secure employment and he is worried about what could very well happen in the future since the jobless workers are under strain to send their children to school.

The testimonies by the workers grabbed the attendees attention as they were very moving and the stories of struggle and survival demonstrate clearly the wrongness of the decisions to minimize the sugar industry.

The GAWU has since said that it believes that the Conference met its objectives primarily to bring attention to the severe hardship and the real life struggles of the sugar workers.

and some would say ruthless, approach to the sugar workers and their families represents one of the saddest periods in the history of our country. Can you believe that many workers are still to receive their full severance payment which is a blatant contravention of our laws?”

Harmon, during his 24-minute address, failed to give the Union and other stakeholders gathered any assurance of a timeframe within which the final severance payments will be made.

The Minister of State also hinted that both GAWU and National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NACCIE) were ‘at the table’ when the issue of severance was discussed.

Notably, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, who also addressed the conference, called out Harmon for failing to say when the final severance payments will be made.

He also called out

the Minister of State for hinting that somehow the Unions – GAWU and NACCIE – sat ‘at the table’ to “negotiate” the payment of severance to the sugar workers. Jagdeo made it clear that the fact of the matter is that the Unions, like the Parliamentary Opposition, called on the APNU+AFC Coalition Government to comply with the laws of Guyana and pay over the full severance payments – monies earned by the thousands of sugar workers.

The Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act stipulates that workers who are made redundant must be made severance upon termination. “On termination of his employment, an employee whose severance or redundancy has completed one year or more years of continuous employment with allowance, an employer shall be entitled to be paid by such employee a severance or redundancy allowance equivalent to,” the law states.

Who is in charge of GuySuCo? A one-day conference on the sugar sector, hosted by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), saw the absence of Agriculture Minister, Noel Holder.

GAWU President when asked noted that Holder informed him that he was not the responsible minister for sugar or for the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

Holder’s admission is the same as the one he held in February 2018, when the Minister publicly said that responsibility for GuySuCo, and by extension the sugar sector, was removed from his Ministry. “GuySuCo is vested in National Industrial and Commer-

cial Investment Limited (NICIL). NICIL falls under the Ministry of Finance. In short, GuySuCo has been removed from the ambits of agriculture to the Ministry of Finance,” Holder had said.

However, in April 2018, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, said GuySuCo does not fall under the remit of any other Ministry, but under the Agriculture Ministry. “At no time did you hear the President or anybody say Minister of Finance will be responsible for GuySuCo or the agricultural sector,” Jordan said.

With Holder’s latest comment, it is unclear who hold responsibility for GuySuCo.

22

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

One-day conference on sugar spotlights failures of APNU+AFC gov’t The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) together with Canada’s largest private sector union – UNIFOR –convened a special one-day conference titled ‘Sugar too big to fail’ on (Tuesday) September 04, 2018 at the Grand Coastal Hotel, Le Ressouvenir, East Coast Demerara. (See stories on Pages 20, 21)

23

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Balance of Payments deficit skyrockets to US$94M G

uyana’s overall Balance of Payments deficit has skyrocketed to US$94 million. Compared to US$8.8 million for the corresponding period last year, this represents a telling indicator of Guyana’s economic situation.

The recently released Bank of Guyana (BoG) Quarterly Report and Statistical Bulletin, from which the above figures are culled, attributes this Balance of Payments deficit to an expanding current account deficit and to higher fuel prices.

“This was primarily due to an expansion of the Current Account deficit, despite a surplus on the Capital Account. The deficit on the Current Account resulted from a higher merchandise

trade deficit due to higher imports, primarily fuel,” the report states.

Balance of Payments information is statistical data on a country’s fiscal transactions, including imports and exports. To therefore record a deficit, Guyana would have had to spend more on imports, among other things, than it derived from exports.

According to the report, Guyana’s overall Balance of Payments situation in the 2017 fiscal year showed a deficit of US$69.5 million.

This is a hike when compared to US$53.3 million of the previous year. And a breakdown of the figures shows stunning disparities.

On the one hand, the Current Account shows a

Public debt increases by millions

P

ublic debt is on the rise, and it has been revealed that external debt repayments are also on the rise. This is according to the recently released Bank of Guyana Quarterly Report and Statistical Bulletin, which pegged the hike in public debt at US$19 million. The report divides this debt into external and domestic. External debt increased by 1.5 per cent from a December position of US$1.241 billion to US$1.265 billion.

“The rise in the stock of external debt was on account of higher disbursements by multilateral creditors, specifically, IADB and CDB, for financing of social and economic infrastructural projects,” the report states.

Domestic debt, on the other hand, increased to $89.5 million, from a December position of $88.8 million. Domestic debt, the report notes, increased because of a hike in treasury bills by 1.3 per cent. “(This) resulted mainly from a 1.5 per cent growth in the stock of the 364-day treasury bills during the first quarter,” the report adds.

REPAYMENT Repayment of this external debt, according to the report, grew by some US$24.3 million to US$85.3million. This is a rate of 59.1 per cent when compared to the corresponding period of 2017. This was not the case for domestic debt.

“Domestic debt service payments fell by 14.6 per cent to $726 million, resulting mainly from a 23.2 per cent reduction in interest payments for treasury bills. Interest payments for the 182- and 364day bills fell by 38.7 per cent and 17.6 per cent to G$36 million and G$358 million respectively.”

“This position resulted mainly from competitive bidding, primarily amongst the commercial banks, compounded with lower interest

yields during the review period,” the report outlines as a telling indicator.

Pressed on exactly what the Government is doing to bring down the debt, Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, would only allude to the international threshold of debt to GDP. The Finance Minister did not mention any steps Government was taking to mitigate the debt rate. A subsequent statement had however reinforced this point.

PUBLIC DEBT REPORT The Public Debt Annual Report released by the Finance Ministry last year had highlighted that, since 2015, there has been a 4.1 per cent rise in Guyana’s indebtedness to creditors.

The report details that Guyana’s total debt, inclusive of external and domestic, increased to $330 billion as at December 2016.

A breakdown of the figures shows that total external debt amounted to $240 billion, a 72.6 per cent bite out of the total public debt. On the other hand, domestic debt stood at $90.6 billion, or 27.4 per cent of the total.

“At the end of December 2016, multilateral creditors continued to be the predominant creditor category, accounting for 59.7 per cent of the external debt portfolio, a slight decrease from the 2015 position of 60.6 per cent. Bilateral lenders and commercial lenders represented 38.8 per cent and 1.5 per cent of the public external debt portfolio, respectively,” the Finance Ministry explained.

“Although the nominal public debt increased, the total external public debt to GDP ratio declined from 36.1 per cent as at end December 2015 to 33.7 per cent as at end December 2016, as a result of GDP growth outstripping the rate of growth of public external debt stock,” the Ministry said, in justifying the increase.

deficit of US$287.4 million for the year 2017. But in the previous fiscal year, the report notes, this was just US$12.4 million. The report admits that this is because of a negative balance on the merchandise trade account.

“The further weakening was due to the negative balance on the Merchandise Trade Account. Merchandise exports were slightly lower than projected, mainly on account of lower export earnings of gold and other exports

in the last two months of the year.”

When Finance Minister Winston Jordan presented the 2018 budget last year, he had announced that merchandise imports were estimated to grow by 9.6 per cent. This has been attributed to increased imports of mining machinery, chemicals, fuel and lubricants. According to the 2017 report, imports exceeded the Government’s projections.

“Imports were slightly

more than the US$1.59 billion projected at the time of the presentation of the 2018 budget. As a result, the Merchandise Trade deficit of US$196.2 million was considerably higher than the projected deficit of US$147.2 million”, the Report detailed.

“Notwithstanding the deficit on the Services Account was lower than estimated, the improvement in the Services Account more than offset the weaker balances on both the Non-Fac-

tor Services and Unrequited Transfers accounts,” the report states.

Guyana’s last best growth rate was 5.2 per cent in 2013.

World Bank records show Guyana’s growth rate in 2014 was 3.8 per cent; in 2015 it was 3.2 per cent; and in 2016 it was 3.3 per cent.

For 2017, initial projections of 3.8 per cent were revised to 3.1. This figure then went to 2.9 per cent before the final figure of 2.1 per cent was announced.

24

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Corruption, breach of financial laws, spending irregularities and more….

APNU+AFC gov’t has racked up over 55 scandals since taking office

C

orruption, breach of financial laws, spending irregularities and more….

APNU+AFC gov’t has racked up over 55 scandals since taking office The Parliamentary Opposition has been monitoring the APNU+AFC Coalition government’s use of public funds and the levels of transparency and accountability. From June 10, 2015 to date, over 55 scandals have been uncovered – an average of one scandal for each month – some of which are listed below:

1. The cost of the inauguration ceremonies at the Parliament Buildings and, more particularly, the one at the National Stadium has never been revealed.

2. The removal of 8 containers containing steel by BK International from the Ministry of Public Health’s compound worth millions of dollars - in the first week after government changed - in violation of a court order.

The government did nothing to retrieve the containers and has been silent.

3. The dismissal of 1,972 Amerindian community service officers at “one stroke of the pen” with no cause by the third (3rd) Vice-President and Minister of Indigenous Affairs. Despite a promise by VP Allicock in the National Assembly, during the 2015 Budget debate that the government would create a new programme to hire Amerindian youths, they instead replaced this programme with the Hinterland Entrepreneurial Youth Skills Programme (HEYs).

HEYS is a sixmonth training programme with no entrepreneurial or employment component, which is under severe duress as there are complaints that the facilitators and students have not received their stipends despite the budgetary provision of $1Billion.

4. The appointment of 33 foreign honourary advisors to assist the government and the appointment of a top heavy bureaucracy of Presidential and Ministerial advisors, which have only been partially disclosed in the National Assembly in response to questions to Ministers in 2016. The total numbers are approximated to be nearing 100 advisors (local and foreign) at a huge cost to the taxpayers.

5. India/GoG funded Speciality Hospital – the government gave

a contract to Fedders Lloyd (VP Ramjattan was its lawyer) without going to tender at a price yet unknown and in violation of the procurement laws. Despite public outcry, the government refused to terminate the contract for the Speciality Hospital. The company was delisted by the IDB and the Indian government and Eximbank withdrew the money for the loan. There has been no disclosure as to how much Fedders Lloyd was paid and what work had been done when the company was delisted and the project halted.

6. The first act of the government was to give themselves enormous salary increases between 50 -100 % of what the former government ministers received. This was quietly done in September 2015 and the parliamentary opposition had to wage a struggle in Parliament to bring a motion to reverse this. When the motion was finally heard in December, it was defeated by the government’s one-seat majority. It should be remembered that the media, having leaked the fact that the government was embarking on increasing the salaries of the President, VPs and Ministers, Minister Trotman, on behalf of the government, denied that the government was contemplating any salary increases for the Ministers. This was also denied during the debate on the 2015 Budget in August 2015. Having gone into recess mid-September, the government stealthily published Order No. 6 of 2015 in the Official Gazette, dated September 25th, 2015, increasing their salaries and making it retroactive to July 1, 2015. Contrast this act with the government’s refusal to increase the salaries of the public servants in accordance with their campaign promises.

7. Durban Park Development Project for the Jubilee celebrations - The government has refused to provide information on the “private company,” which was in charge of the preparations of the Durban Park prior to the Ministry of Public Infrastructure’s “take over” of the project on the orders of the President.

It is estimated that the costs, when finally exposed, will be close to $1Billion - for a one-day event.

8. The President pardoned over 100 convicted felons in 2015 and stated that this would be done annually. He promised that these would be felons with non-violent crimes and juvenile offenders. In fact, this was not true. A number of these persons had been sentenced for violent crimes and a number of them are back in prison.

9. The Rudisa case at the CCJ and the pay out to Rudisa - The APNU and AFC, while in Opposition, twice caused the defeat in the 10th Parliament of attempts by the PPPC government to amend the Customs Act in order to pre-empt the case going to the CCJ and save the country millions of US dollars. The APNU+AFC Coalition government settled to repay the entire amount of the Rudisa USD$16M claim without any negotiations for a debt repayment schedule and despite the fact that the company owed and appears to still owe millions of dollars in taxes to Guyana. The first payment was made late last year and the second budgeted for in the 2016 Budget.

10. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the Government and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council on the “Clean Up Campaign” in the city with no public tendering and handpicked companies. In some cases, new companies were created with no experience to facilitate this corruption. There has been no accountability of the amount of monies spent and the Mayor and Town Clerk have rebuffed efforts to allow the Auditor General’s office to do a forensic audit.

11. The write off of debts owed to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the nation by DDL worth billions of dollars (April 2016). If DDL had not issued a press release announcing the write off, this would not have been known.

12. Other write-off of debts by the GRA for other companies who financed the APNU+AFC Coalition electoral campaign, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Minister Trotman said these companies have to be compensated for their financial investment.

13. Following the March 18, 2016 Local Government Elections, Minister Bulkan in violation of the statutes governing the local government system, appointed the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, and the 5 Chairpersons and vice chairperson of the 5 NDCs in the 6 tied LAAs. All of these persons were APNU, although there was a plurality of votes in 3 of the 6 tied LAAs for the PPP and 3 for the APNU+AFC. 14. W r i t e - o f f s b y t h e APNU+AFC dominated Georgetown Municipal Council to many companies for millions of dollars owed in rates and taxes for undisclosed amounts. This is a City Council that is now cashstrapped and cannot pay contractors for garbage collection nor timely payment of salaries of its employees. The cost to the Treasury of these write offs by the GRA, the Georgetown City Council and other Local Authority Areas alone earmarked in this list of scandals is estimated to be between 23% to 36 % of the total 2016 Budget.

15. Parking meters contract with no public tendering, no involvement of the Georgetown City Council, no consultation with the citizens – the scandal deepens, even as the APNU+AFC Georgetown Mayor is being advised to do some damage control by attempting to amend the 49-year contract and make it less embarrassing for the government.

16. The three-year Pharmacy Bond contract between the Ministry of Public Health and the Linden Holding Company was not tendered for by Minister Dr Norton’s own admission on the floor of the National Assembly.

The PPP/C will be submitting its motion of privilege, calling for the Speaker to send the Minister of Public Health to the Privilege Committee for wilfully misleading the National Assembly and the nation.

17. The GoG/BK International settlement of $1.17 B for Haags Bosche - The Ministry of Communities’ settlement of $1.17B to BK International for the Haags Bosche project came to light as a result of a Supplementary Financial Paper on August 8th where the country learnt that this settlement was made and

25

WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Corruption, breach of financial laws, spending irregularities and more….

APNU+AFC gov’t has racked up over 55 scandals since taking office would be paid in three tranches, even though the court did not award costs to BK Int’l.

The government paid BK Int’l the first third of the payment in January 2016, which begs the question - where did this money come from? It was not provided for in the 2015 budget, nor was there any SFP in the interim nor in the 2016 Budget or since to cover this first payment of G$500M. The August Supplementary Financial Paper covers the payment of the second tranche of $501M to BK int’l from the Consolidated Fund.

The third payment the Minister stated would be reflected in the 2017 budget. This is a scandal like the RUDISA and the DDL write offs. Interesting and of note is that BK International is being paid the entire $10M USD for the contract though BK Int’l only worked for 3 of the 5 years of the contract at substandard work. The PPP/C government had terminated the contract due to substandard work and delays.

Ministers Bulkan and Patterson late 2015 both publicly stated that BK Int’l had done substandard work on the project!

18. Two fuel scandals relating to the issuance of fuel licenses for the importation of fuel to companies that are made up of persons related to top officials or who are top officials themselves in the government, who have no fuel bonds, no storage facilities and no offices. The withdrawal of the fuel importation license to the Chinese company, which has invested millions of US dollars for storage facilities, appears to have been calculated to make room for these alternative importers. In August the second set of fuel licenses came to light regarding licenses issued to Dr. Van West Charles, CEO and other officials in GWI under a private company. It should be noted that an applicant for a fuel license has to acquire an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and 4 additional licences - provision of a bond under detailed specifications, transportation, storage, importation, and restrictions on where fuel storage can be located. It normally takes a long time for an applicant to obtain all these licenses---impossible to do so in 9 months. The licenses were issued in the month that Van West Charles became CEO GWI and,

therefore, he had ample time to remove himself from the company. At a parliamentary opposition weekly press briefing several months ago, this gentlemen’s role in soliciting donations for pipes for the wells in Region 9 was exposed. It was reported that the Brazilian contractors hired by GWI to dig 8 wells in the Rupununi region were unable to pay their workers as they allege that GWI is not paying them (the contractors).

19. Consistent and frequent violation of the Procurement Act by line ministries - e.g, the Minister of Agriculture admitted that the MOA nor the NDIA had gone out to tender for works totalling $234M due to emergency works for El Nino and flooding in regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10. In fact, these monies should have been provided for in the Supplementary Financial Paper # 2 of 2016 for the Consolidated Fund.

20. Requests for information during questions to Ministers and questions during the debate on the two Supplementary Financial Papers on August 8th revealed that the government ministers’ will not release contracts unless they have the permission of the other person/ company/ party to the contract.

This is unheard of and a violation of the role of the legislature under the constitution to hold the government accountable.

21. Undermining the judicial process- the establishment of a Presidential Tribunal to inquire, investigate and recommend whether Carvil Duncan, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, should be removed from office for inability to discharge his duties. Since the charges against Mr Duncan are still pending before a Magistrate of the Georgetown Magistrate’s court, the establishment of this tribunal is premature, pre-emptive and repugnant to the very “due process” to which the President says that his Administration is committed.

22. Auditor General’s special audit of GECOM expenditure in 2015 prior to the general and regional elections—this is on-going, with the use of sole sourcing by the GECOM estimated to amount to $700M in the months prior to the May 2015 elections. However,

unlike other investigations where the heads were sent on administrative leave such as the Head of NICIL, Head of the NDIA, PS of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, head of the Public Hospital Georgetown, to name a few, this CEO has not been sent off on administrative leave.

23. $240M spent on refurbishing the Kitty Market. Photographic evidence exposes the corruption

by City Hall. There are no scope of works, estimates, etc that is available and the project was not put to tender as the city has hired the workers and is implementing the works itself. This project is still not completed.

24. The awarding of the contract for boxed juices for the school feeding programme to a Surinamese beverage company owned by RUDISA that was not the lowest or even the second lowest bid.

The impact on the local farmers and manufacturers will be felt.

DDL has come out publicly to criticise this, so too, has another company Guyana Beverages.

25. Award of the contract for quarry stone to a Surinamese company for the CJIA will have tremendous impact on the local quarries. Toolsie Persaud, one of the stone producers, has protested. There is more to come to light on this issue and this we have earmarked an emerging scandal where government needs to provide answers.

26. The discriminatory dismissals of hundreds of employers in the public service and in the state entities on the basis of their ethnic and assumed political affiliation which started in June 2015 is continuing unabated.

27. Some $1.64B was spent regionally on health, plus an additional added $2.5B that was spent on pharmaceuticals and medical supplies at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) without tender – a massive total $4.17B that was spent by the Coalition Government in breach of the procurement rules.

28. Not satisfied with the huge increases in salary and benefits, some Ministers are greedy and the reports of paying off Ministers for licenses, contracts etc., is astounding. The government has got into the habit of putting

out tenders in the press and then cancelling them repeatedly until their chosen contractor wins the tender.

29. Chicken importation licenses to non-existent/ non-registered companies as well as another company in the name of the CEO, GWI, Van West Charles.

30. The Removal of 6,000 solar panels purchased for the Hinterland Household Electrification Programme and re-allocating them for use at the Ministry of the Presidency and State House.

31. The Wind Farm project being done by Lloyd Singh, an AFC financier. Minister Trotman has said that it is “payback time for one of their election financiers”.

32. Antinfek in drinking water purchased by GWI without tender and without warnings of the health hazard by a CEO who was employed for years by the PAHO. Only after questioning by the Opposition in the National Assembly has the government provided minimum disclosure.

33. Contract for GPL Prepaid meters, awarded after 3 re-tenders to a contractor whose bid was the highest of all bids; in fact, $ 1 B more than engineers’ estimate.

34. Contract for the Water treatment plants- tenders cancelled twice before finally being awarded to their preferred contractor, who was higher than the other tenders.

35. Tendering for the GOG/ IDB Sheriff St road project was repeatedly done and no awards made until we lost that part of the IDB loan of $20M USD while at the same time paying penalty fees.

36. Procurement of drugs and medical supplies, in breach of procurement laws.

37. Consistent and on-going violations of the Procurement Act, financial rules and the Fiscal Management and Enactment Act are pervasive. The most recent examples were exposed during the August 3, 2017 debate with regard to funds for the State Assets Recovery Agency and constitutional bodies including the Public Procurement Commission and the Public Service Appellate Tribunal.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Corruption, breach of financial laws, spending irregularities and more….

APNU+AFC gov’t has racked up over 55 scandals since taking office 38. The on-going saga of the Durban Jubilee Park. It is estimated that expenditure has reached $1.5 B. Auditor General Deodat Sharma aims to wrap up his special audit into the controversial Durban Park Project before the end of the year even if he does not receive certain financial records which appear to be missing. Mired in controversy, millions more are being spent in preparation for the flag raising ceremony to mark Independence.

39. Contract for CCTV cameras for the Ministry of the Presidency- not delivered and paid for since 2015. The company has been declared bankrupt. So where is the taxpayers’ money?

40. Purchase of the Prime Minister’s SUV- bullet proof, latest model, extraordinary extravagance for a poor developing country. Noticeable is the acquisition of a fleet of new vehicles for every Minister yet many have not been budgeted for in the annual budgets.

41. Secret COI targeting constitutional rights commissions, in particular the Public Service Commission and the Ethnic Relations Commission. This is a form of intimidation. No report available.

42. President’s instruction to the Police Service Commission to halt police promotions in contravention of the constitution.

43. The COI into the Police with regard to the way it investigated the intention or plot to assassinate the President. The real plot behind this move appears to be the decapitation of the Guyana Police Force leadership. The President’s instruction to the Police Service Commission to halt these promotions appears to give credence to this theory.

44. The Georgetown Prison Camp Street Jailbreak and fire on July 9, 2017 and the Lusignan escapees coming after the March 2016 riots and fire that lead to 17 inmates being burnt to death. The COI of the March 2016 prison disturbances and fire has been kept secret but more evidence coming to light indicate that the government did not act on those recom-

mendations, including the establishment of a multi-agency multi-sectoral body being appointed by the President to implement the recommendations. Budgetary allocations for the Prisons, especially capital works to increase the inmate accommodation at the Mazaruni Prison in the 2016 budget was unspent and rolled over to 2017 and as of July 2017 these works are still not complete. The new request for $753M appropriated in Parliament on August 3 2017 cannot account for $ 153 M requested.

45. The Amendments to the Broadcasting Act passed in the National Assembly by the one seat majority government are an infringement on the f r e e dom of expression and freedom of the press. Despite public appeals to the President by reputable international organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the International Press Institute as well as denunciations by the Guyana Press Association, private sector, broadcasters, civil society, and the Parliamentary Opposition, the President as of August 17, 2017 denied requests to defer his assent and hold consultations.

46. The Commission of Inquiry into Lands – communal, joint and individual lands and any other lands – with specific focus on Amerindian land titling and land of Freed Africans.

There was no prior consultation with the National Toshaos Council (NTC) or any Amerindian communities on the establishment of this COI. The NTC, five Amerindian non-governmental organizations and the Parliamentary opposition protested the appointment of this COI as it threatened Amerindian land rights which are enshrined in the constitution and in the Amerindian Act. The Parliamentary Opposition brought a motion in parliament calling on the President to revoke the COI or at least the component which is treating with Amerindian land titling which was defeated by the government’s one seat majority. The government 4 months after it established the COI held its first consultation with the NTC. This COI is a recipe to drive rifts and strife between different ethnic groups

in the country.

47. Repossession of lease and transported lands and property - the revocation of 30 MMA farmers leases by the President, the Central Housing and Planning Authority ( CHPA) repossession of transported houses and land and its CEO’s recent renewed threats to take away land from private developers are all unconstitutional.

The judiciary in early August 2017 ruled that the President’s revocation of the leases of the farmers in the MMA was unconstitutional. In another instance the court issued a conservatory order to prevent the government from seizing and taking possession of the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre until case is properly heard.

48. Rental of residences for Ministers- $500,000 each to 2 junior Ministers and one Minister $ 1.5 M. This has been exposed in detail in the media and by members of civil society and the Parliamentary Opposition.

49. The appointment of the Chairman of the GECOM in violation of the constitution and the ruling of the Chief Justice.

50. The US$18M signing bonus from ExxonMobil placed outside of the Consolidated Fund.

51. Painting state properties in APNU colours.

52. Reduction of constitutional bodies budgets 2016, 2017, 2018 in violation of the 2015 amendment to FMA Act. These scandals, not limited to this list, have been uncovered and expose a level of corruption and discrimination that has not been seen since the Burnham era.

53. GPL and their contract with state created and owned Power Producers Distribution Inc. (PPDI) has inspired questions and raised concerns since GPL’s payments to PPDI are higher than those made to Wartsilla – yet there are unresolved electricity problems, including as it relates to the reliable supply of power.

54. Sole-sourcing of $366.9M in emergency drugs in June 2017 has once again brought

into question decisions by the Ministry of Public Health, as documents reveal that a company, HDM Labs was handpicked over three others that went through tendering and were declared to have failed the evaluation process. The company is owned by a supporter of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

55. Government has borrowed $30B G from a joint banking and commercial consortium led

by Republic Bank, for GUYSUCO’s remaining estates at 4.75 % interest rates. The members of the consortium are unknown and the terms and conditions of the loan are also unknown.

56. The contract for a foreign company to rebuild Camp St prison was announced by Minister Khemraj Ramjattan during the 2018 Budget debate and media stated that no one tendered, this also remains secret and no funds are allocated in 2018.

57. The PPC completed its investigation and handed its report over on August 7, 2018, to Teixeira, who has written to the PPC on the matter in 2017.

The report noted that several companies bid for the project – to do the feasibility study and design for the new Demerara River bridge – and 12 companies were shortlisted. The report added that only two of the 12 companies made proposals.

As such the bidding process was annulled. It added that on November 12, 2016, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) approved the move for the project to be re-tendered. The project was not re-tendered. Instead a Dutch Company, LivenseCSO, was engaged by Patterson’s Ministry. The report, on page 7, noted that the bid from LivenseCSO was “unsolicited” and added that Patterson then took the company’s proposal to Cabinet for approval. Cabinet granted its approval for the company to be engaged.

What is clear, to date, is that the APNU+AFC Coalition government has no regard for the promised transparency and accountability, and is prepared to undermine and even violate the procurement and financial laws of this country, as well as other constitutional provisions and statutory provisions.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 8-9 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Body of elderly man found Illegal drugs among contraband items found in New Amsterdam T at Camp Street jail A

joint search of the Georgetown Prison on Thursday (September 6, 2018) by ranks of the Police Force and that of the Prison Service, unearthed the several contraband items.

They included: Nineteen (19) cellular phones; Five (5) phone chargers; One (1) flash drive; Fifteen (15) cigarette lighters;

Two (packs) cigarette; Five (5) pairs of scissors; Seven (7) improvised weapons; and Five hundred (500) grams of cannabis The operation, which lasted for five hours, was commanded by two Senior Officers and involved a total of seventy-one ranks.

Footballer killed, Police constable fails breathalyzer test

A

kemo Anthony, 23, was killed late Saturday night (September 1)on Mandela Avenue in the vicinity of Back Circle, East Ruimveldt.

Anthony was on a motorcycle, CJ 511, which was hit by a heavily tinted minibus, PVV 4652,driven by a police constable. The police constable was proceeding east along the northern carriageway on Mandela Avenue while Anthony was proceeding in the opposite direction on motorcycle.

Anthony was flung by the impact of the collision into a nearby trench, but was pulled out by friends and neighbours who were around at the time.

Meanwhile, the dead man’s family has

called for the police constable responsible for the accident to face the law.

he Guyana Police Force (GPF) is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a person, whose lifeless body was found on Main Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice, on August 20, 2018.

The corpse was taken to the Arokium Funeral Home, which is located at Lot 30 Philadelphia Street, New Amsterdam.

Doctor, Manager robbed outside city restaurant A

Doctor and a Manager were late on Wednesday night (September 5, 2018) attacked by a lone gunman and robbed while eating at a table outside of Subs and Salads, Sheriff Street, Georgetown.

Stephen Muridall, 31, of North Road, Bourda and Vanessa Small, 25, of Bel Air Avenue, Lamaha Gardens were both attacked at around

in front of the gate, when he felt something cold behind his head. The man said he felt a hand on his neck and heard someone say, “Go in the house.” Ramdyal said he complied and was taken into the house. The bandits then placed him to lie flat on the ground, face down, while holding onto two other family members, identified as Molly and Seema.

Ramdyal said the bandits demanded valuables and when he told them that there was none “the beating started.”

The men escaped with an undisclosed quantity of valuables.

Investigations are ongoing.

Diamond family victims of home invasion

A

rmed bandits stormed a Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home and escaped with a quantity of cash and valuables – and in the process left a seven-year-old boy traumatised.

The home owner, his wife and grandson were home at the time of the incident. The family owns a store, Social Variety Store, at 19th Street, Diamond, EBD. The incident occurred at about 23:30 hours on August 29, 2018. The robbers had entered

the premises by scaling a galvanized fence.

The bandits reportedly pointed a gun at the seven-year-old boy and asked him, “Where yuh mammy money deh?”

The child’s grandparents, Premnauth Persaud and Christine Persaud, were bound in duct-tape on the floor.

The perpetrators then fled the scene with a number of mobile phone cards and an undisclosed sum of cash.

Investigations are ongoing.

The victims phones, along with a wallet containing cash and documents, which were on the table, with an approximate value of over $200,000, were picked up by the perpetrator who then quickly reentered his car, driving off in a northern direction on said Sheriff Street.

The matter is being investigated.

Prison officer caught on CCTV ‘shoplifting’

Golden Grove family terrorized A by armed bandits A Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara, family were terrorized by armed bandits, who barged into their home on August 31, 2018.

Three members of the household were tied up and beaten for over half of an hour. three armed bandits stormed the family’s house at Lot 185 Section ‘A’ Block ‘Y’, Golden Grove, around 19:00 hours.

The victims were all down at the Diamond Regional Hospital for medical attention after the incident.

One of the three victims, a badly injured Robin Ramdyal said he was sitting on a bench

22:30 hours.

Reports are that the victims were eating and chatting when they noticed a silver Toyota Allion motorcar, PNN 2660, pulled up in front of them. A man then hopped out and strolled towards the duo before whipping out a handgun from his pocket and demanding that they give him all their valuables.

prison officer was reportedly caught on camera shoplifting from a Chinese supermarket located on the East Coast of Demerara recently, has been fired.

Prison Director, Gladwin Samuels on Monday (September 3, 2018), noted

that the video, which went viral on social media, was sent to him. After the video was sent to him, Samuels disclosed that he confirmed whether the man was indeed a prison officer and upon confirmation sought permission to have the man fired.

As such, he also confirmed

that the officer’s dismissal was recommended “with immediate effect and approval was granted.” According to the Director of Prisons, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) “has no more affiliation with him.”

The matter is being further investigated.

APNU+AFC gov’t moving to set up yet another Ministry W

eeks after establishing a Department of Energy, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of the Presidency, President David Granger has announced that a Ministry of Petroleum will be established that will have responsibility for the oiland-gas sector, President David Granger announced Friday during his first press conference for the year.

Last Friday (August 31, 2048) Granger said, “In due course, we hope to have a ministry responsible for the

petroleum sector.”

Questions have since been raised about the issue, since Granger also said that the Department of Energy is an interim measure. Granger said, “The Department of Energy itself is just an interim measure….we are now setting up, we are now acquiring premises, we’re now recruiting personnel, we’re now reviewing legislation; so a lot of work has to be done. But right now we’re in the early stages of setting up a Department of Energy, and in due course

there will be a Ministry of Energy or Petroleum.”

The Department of Energy has already been tasked with the duties of the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Petroleum Unit – responsibilities that were taken away from Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman.

It is unclear why the APNU+AFC Coalition government did not move ahead to form the new Ministry of Petroleum, as opposed to spending millions to set up a Department of Energy.

Granger not budging to break deadlock to allow for Chancellor, Chief Justice to be appointed “M

y recommendations are still on the table for the Leader of the Opposition to consider…I already did what was constitutionally required of me,” declared President David Granger, on the issue of the failure to appoint a substantive Chancellor and Chief Justice of the judiciary.

His comments came last Friday (August 31, 2018), when pressed on whether he will budge to break the deadlock to allow for substantive appointments to be made.

Granger, when pressed on the issue said, “The selection of the Chancellor of the judiciary is subject to the Constitution of Guyana and I already did was constitutionally required of me. Before I made a recommendation, I established a panel of seniors who conducted interviews with persons who demonstrated an interest in the office of Chancellor and based on those recommendations, I invited the Leader of the Opposition – not that I am bound to accept their recommendations – but I invited the Lead-

er of the Opposition to consultation and this was done. He has not accepted my recommendation and the Constitution does not provide a way forward. So that is where it is at.”

Granger nominated a foreigner, Antigua and Barbuda’s Justice Kenneth Benjamin as Chancellor and Justice Yonnette Cummings-Edwards as Chief Justice.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, with whom Granger has to consult and receive agreement on the appointments, has confirmed that there has been no communication between President Granger and his office on the issue. “There has been no contact…he has not written to me,” Jagdeo said.

Jagdeo maintains that he is prepared to meet with the President to “settle on a process” that will allow nominees to be named, in the interest of securing agreement on both sides.

“I made it clear that after the due diligence I did, I could not offer my agreement as required in the Constitution,” he said.

Asked about the reasons behind his decision, Jagdeo stressed that unlike Granger’s approach to dealing with the nominees for the post of GECOM Chairman, he would not publicly address these. “I am not in the business of judging people in the public domain. These are two distinguished individuals who have had long careers in the judiciary. I will not do like the President did and drag people’s names through the mud….if I am required to give reasons for my rejection, I will do so in the future,” he said.

Relative to the issue of having members of the judiciary acting in positions, Jagdeo noted that the PNC “likes this” since for 12 years they refused to agree to substantive appointments of members of the judiciary, under the former PPP/C governments.

Currently, the acting Chancellor is Yonette Cummings-Edwards and the acting is Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire.

The local Bar Association has called for the two women to be substantially appointed to the posts.

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