Weekend Mirror 27-28 April 2019

Cathy Hughes’ Ministry gave her company contracts worth millions 27-28 April, 2019 / Vol. 10 No. 70 / Price: $100

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

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‒ Videomega Productions also cashed in from other ministries

Granger does another shuffle with Ministers - Patterson-Yearwood, Broomes moved - Two new portfolios created

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PPP requests suspension of all GECOM statutory meetings until CCJ ruling PAGE 13

Guyanese continue to feel the squeeze of increased taxation

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SEE INSIDE

APNU+AFC gov’t action causes Guyana to come under fire from global airline body over collection of airport fees

Absence of a GPL Board facilitates ministerial interference PAGE 10 MMA-ADA transfers Berbice co-op lands for housing project PAGE 20 ‒ Farmers’ lease still valid

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

OPINION

The CCJ and Commonwealth Caribbean Democracy

By Professor Errol Miller Former Chairman, Caribbean Association of Electoral Organizations (This is an opinion posted

by Professor Miller on his website. Its publication was decided on given the relevance to current local political developments)

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he CCJ has been asked to rule on an appeal from Guyana which will have far-reaching impact on other Governments and citizens of the Commonwealth Caribbean. It concerns the simple question.

What amounts to a majority vote by parliamentarians of our jurisdictions?

The facts are as follows: 1. On December 21, 2018 the National Assembly of Guyana, consisting of 65 members, voted 33 to 32 in favor of a No Confidence Motion. The Speaker certified the results of the vote.

2. A case was adjudicated in the Supreme Court in which the learned Chief

“At least Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago should have more than a casual interest in the Guyana case currently before the CCJ and the ruling of that court (the CCJ).”

– Professor Errol Miller Justice ruled that 33 votes in the National Assembly of 65 members constituted a majority in favor of the motion.

3. The alternative proposition before the Chief Justice was that 34 votes constituted a majority.

The mathematical foundation of that proposition was that the total number of 65 members of the National Assembly should be divided by two, then rounded to the next whole number, after which one should be added to the result. That is, 65 divided by 2 = 32.5 rounded to 33 + 1 = 34.

4. An appeal, contesting the ruling of the Chief Justice, was lodged in the Court of Appeal of Guyana, where the case was heard by a Panel of three judges. Two judges upheld

the appeal and one judge denied the appeal, that is, agreed with the decision of the Chief Justice.

5. An appeal has been lodged with the Caribbean Court of Justice, for final decision.

The decision of the CCJ will not only apply to Guyana but to countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean that accepts the CCJ as the court of final authority or hope to do so. The implications for democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean will be profound.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN Up to 2001 the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago had 36 members. The General Elections of December 2001 resulted in a 18-18 tie. It took ten months

Guyanese interested in volunteering asked to contact Party

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he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is now available on WhatsApp number 592-611-PPPC (7772) and it encouraging Guyanese, who are interested in political activism and volunteering, to contact the Party.

WhatsApp allows persons to message from Guyana other countries at no cost.

Operators are manning the line on a 24-hour basis and interested Guyanese are asked to communicate this to the Party.

for the deadlock, hiatus and paralysis in Parliament to be resolved in the General Elections of October 2002.

Realizing all the dangers that had been adverted and counselled by paralysis experienced in governance by a Parliament with an even number of seats, the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago acted

majority of one-seat. All votes in the House of Representatives of 32 versus 31 have been accepted and acted upon as valid and legitimate.

Therefore, at least Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago should have more than a casual interest in the Guyana case currently before the CCJ and the ruling of that court.

PHANTOM MEMBERS The mathematical foundation of the proposition that 34 votes constitute a majority in the 65 seat Na-

Parliament of 63 members.

More votes cast than are constitutionally eligible to vote constitutes electoral malpractice in all jurisdictions in the Commonwealth Caribbean and probably world-wide. The common term is over voting.

HIGH PRINCIPLE, COMMON SENSE AND WISDOM One can only hope that members of the learned profession representing both sides of this case before the CCJ will ensure that all legal procedures and tech-

“The mathematical foundation of the proposition that 34 votes constitute a majority in the 65 seat National Assembly of Guyana represents new electoral mathematics. It requires the presence of two phantom members in the National Assembly.

Thirty-three members were present and voted on December 21, 21018. For 34 votes to constitute a majority then the total number of votes in the 65 seat National Assembly would have been 67.” – Professor Errol Miller to increase the number of seats in the Parliament to an odd number, 41. The General Elections in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2007 was contested on 41 seats in Parliament.

Taking note of the experience of Trinidad and Tobago, the Government and people of Jamaica acted and amended the Jamaican Constitution to increase the number of constituencies in which Jamaica was divided from 60 to 65, with an immediate increase to 63.

The General Elections in Jamaica in September 2007 was contested on 63 seats.

In the Jamaican General Elections of February 2016, the Jamaica Labor Party won 32 seat and the People’s National Party, which was previously the government, won 31 seats.

The Government changed peacefully and without any protest or contest on the

tional Assembly of Guyana represents new electoral mathematics. It requires the presence of two phantom members in the National Assembly. Thirty-three members were present and voted on December 21, 21018. For 34 votes to constitute a majority then the total number of votes in the 65 seat National Assembly would have been 67, two more than is constitutionally eligible to vote. A similar outcome requiring two phantom members would obtain if this Guyanese formula is applied in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

Applied to Trinidad and Tobago, the calculation would be 41 divided by 2 = 20.5 rounded to 21 + 1 = 22 + 21 = 43 votes in the Parliament of 41 members. Applied to Jamaica the calculation it would be 63 divided by 2 = 31.5 rounded to 32 + 1 = 33 + 32 = 65 votes in the

nically are strictly observed in a timely manner and are argued at the highest levels of logic, facts and eloquence such that the matter to be decided by the Judges of the Court are with respect to law and merit. Perhaps the CCJ is a most fitting court to review what transpired in the Guyanese courts and Parliament.

The CCJ’s current president, Justice Adrian Saunders, in a recent presentation at a Human Rights forum here in Jamaica described the CCJ’s deliberation as ‘seeing from near judging from far’. Hopefully this close-up knowledge and understanding of the Commonwealth Caribbean, coupled with its commitment to arms-length application of logic and the law, will exemplify high principle, common sense and the wisdom of proven practices in Commonwealth Caribbean democracies.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Resignations of Ministers with dual citizenship effective April 25, 2019 – Granger A

lmost a month after the confusion over whether or not the four Government Parliamentarians, who also served as Ministers, with dual citizenship had resigned or not, President David Granger, in a statement released by the Ministry of the Presidency, announced that the resignations take effect as of April 25, 2019.

The High Court on January 31, 2019 and the Appeal Court on April 22, 2019, affirmed that Guyanese with dual citizenship cannot sit in the National Assembly as Parliamentarians.

CONFUSION Earlier this month, the Coalition government was put on blast by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, for the “shameful” show of “incompetence” via its failure to address the singular matter of resignations by Coalition Government Ministers who hold dual citizenship.

On Tuesday (April 2, 2019), the Ministry of the Presidency released a state-

ment that said: “As of Monday, April 1, 2019, His Excellency David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, has received and accepted the resignation of all coalition Members of Parliament who are holders of dual citizenship.”

Hours later, on Tuesday (April 2, 2019) afternoon, as second statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said: “Cabinet is satisfied that the resignation of four ministers as Government Members of Parliament fully accords with the decision of the courts. The MPs are

Messrs Carl Greenidge, Joseph Harmon, Dominic Gaskin and Dr. Rupert Roopnarine who HELD ministerial portfolios…these portfolios would now be held by sitting members of Cabinet who previously acted for these ministers on leave or out of the jurisdiction.”

Ten hours later, on Wednesday (April 3, 2019), the Ministry of the Presidency, in a third statement said: “The four ministers, Mr. Carl Greenidge, Mr. Joseph Harmon, Mr. Dominic Gaskin and Dr. Rupert Roopnarine will remain ministers… their resignations will not

take effect immediately.”’

REPLACEMENTS On Thursday (April 25, 2019), Granger said, “I have a duty to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with the Constitution at all times. I have, in accordance with the Courts’ rulings, accepted the resignations of Mr. Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Mr Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Minis-

try of the Presidency. These resignations take effect on 25th April 2019.

“I thank these Ministers for their stewardship as members of my Cabinet and of the National Assembly since May 2015. Their sterling public service has been to our nation’s benefit.

“The resignations of these Ministers have created vacancies in the Cabinet and the National Assembly. It is necessary, in the circumstances, for their ministerial responsibilities to be reassigned and for the transfer of some junior ministers.”

The replacements are as follows: 1. Mr Hemraj Ramkumar will replace Dominic Gaskin as Minister of Business; 2. Mrs Dawn Hastings-Williams replaced Joseph Harmon as Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency; and 3. Mrs Tabitha Sarabo-Halley replaced Dr Rupert Roopnarine as Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency.

Granger was silent on who will replace the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge.

He was also silent on what positions the other three –Gaskin, who is also his son-in-law; Harmon and Roopnarine – will occupy now that they are no longer Ministers. However, local news reports have cited sources at the Ministry of the Presidency who indicate that Harmon will now be Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency.

APNU+AFC gov’t action causes Guyana to come under fire from global airline body over collection of airport fees T

he International Air Transport Association (IATA) is calling for urgent talks with management of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) over the calculation and collection of new and increased airport fees.

Effective April 1, 2019, passengers using the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) are expected to pay an additional $4,000 in fees, thanks to the US$150M renovations at the Airport.

The fees include an airport security fee for $4,300, up $1,800 from $2,500 and the passenger facility charge which moved from $1,100 to $3,300, an increase of $2,200.

The airlines operating have reportedly informed travel agents and other stakeholders. The taxes are being collected from the point of sale and are shown on passengers’ tickets separately.

In a statement issued on Tuesday (April 23, 2019), IATA, a trade association with membership of nearly airlines representing 117

countries, called for immediate dialogue on the implementation process related to the increase in the government-mandated Airport Security Fee and the introduction of a new Passenger Service Charge at Guyana’s main airport.

The fees which the authorities say are to support improvements at the airport, represent an increase in security fees and the introduction of a passenger service charge. The cost to travellers for a round trip is US$35; for departing passengers it is US$17; and for one-way departing passengers it is US$15, payable in Guyana dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate.

But IATA said the airport’s continued refusal to cooperate with IATA on both the proper calculation and implementation of such fees and charges, has now led to a situation where airlines have been forced to manually collect the additional amounts from both arriving and departing passengers.

“It is completely unac-

ceptable that passengers are being inconvenienced in such a manner. This is a direct result of the airport’s management refusal to engage with IATA on a process which is standard practice across the globe. As a consequence, our member airlines have unfortunately no choice other than to manually collect the additional fees and charges,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice President for the Americas in a statement.

IATA says it has worldwide standards in place enabling airlines to collect government-imposed fees, service charges and taxes as part of an airline ticket, which are then transferred to the respective governments. “This has provided a smoother travel experience for passengers, by eliminating the former practice whereby many governments manually collected some of these fees and taxes at airports,” it said.

IATA says it wants clarity from the airport operator on how the fees and charges have been calculated, as international standards set out

by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Document 9082, were not followed.

“We understand that airports need to recover their investment costs. This must however be achieved through a collaborative and transparent process, ensuring that imposed fees are proportionate to the planned expenditure.

This can best be achieved in partnership between all sectors of the aviation industry, thereby unlocking the true potential of a country and its people,” Cerda said.

He added, “As such we

urgently call on the management of Cheddi Jagan International Airport to engage into the requested dialogue, so passengers are no longer inconvenienced, and member airlines can return to their normal business. This will ensure the sustainability of the aviation sector in Guyana and facilitate the growth of tourism and trade, thereby contributing to a vibrant and healthy economy.”

Guyana learnt of the increases via a circular dated January 25, 2019 by the CJIA to airlines.

Last week, Opposition

Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, in commenting in the new fees, said, “These charges were sprung upon us, without any consultations with us, the airline, or anyone else. What are we paying back for?”

The Parliamentary Opposition has highlighted the failure of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government in changing the scope of works for the CJIA US$150M project – changes that has reduced work at CJIA to a rehabilitation project, when the intention was to have a modern airport.

APNU+AFC Coalition gov’t paid $100M more in employment costs during 2018

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uestions about value for money have surfaced following the revelations that the APNU+AFC Coalition Government’s employment costs rose to $59.5B in 2018 – an increase of $100M. The revelations were detailed in the End of Year Outcome for 2018,

The report also detailed increase tax collections.

“Revenue collections remained high,” it said. In 2018, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) remitted $117.5 billion – part of a whopping $216.72B of total tax collections. Non-tax revenue increased by $0.8

billion, 4.8 per cent above the $17.4B that was projected to be collected.

The report also included an acknowledgment of the Government’s failure to spend sums budgeted to deliver goods and services to the Guyanese people in a timely manner.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

EDITORIAL

There is no clear Hands of APNU+AFC Coalition gov’t guidance or policy were not tied when callous decision direction from to make thousands jobless was made Granger-led gov’t

‘T

he buck stops here’ is a phrase that was popularized

by United States of America (USA) President Harry Truman. President Truman was ultimately responsible for everything that occurred in the United States of America, and with that statement he took ownership. This is one of the many lessons in Governance, which sadly, President Granger seems to have missed.

Recently speaking the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, was highlighting that the vacuum in leadership at the top of the Government. It seems as if the leadership has now checked out of leading the people and more so pursuing votes.

As demonstrated in the recent ‘circus’ of taking the Government to the people. The governmental pageantry touring the country is seen as an attempt to once again, sell some false promises to the people. The deluded “leadership” seems to believe people will forget their current existence, one that is hopeless and bleak, and show them support.

A Government’s main job is to create policies to enhance the betterment of the people, they were duly elected to serve.

Under this Government we have seen crime escalate, welfare lost, jobs lost, and the governmental perks increase. They just take from the taxpayers and provide nothing but the constant increase in the cost of living.

This Government is devoid of leadership. President Granger is supposedly the head of state, followed by Prime Minister Moses. However, one you hardly ever hear or see and the other has an empty portfolio.

With the recent ruling of the Appeal Court, we saw the supposed resignation from the dual-citizen ministers, only to then find out they will still find appointments for them.

Harmon is expected to now hold a post as Director General at the Ministry of the Presidency, a position seemingly just created for him to retain power at the executive level. The other three ministers’ will enjoy the same benefit. This leadership structure is baffling.

Leadership in any organization is extremely important, as it’s a top-down structure. With a missing President, who really is in charge of Guyana? There seems to be no clear guidance or policy direction, other than tax the people more.

This Government is a coalition of the APNU and the AFC. The APNU is already a collection of parties, where you see the PNC as the most dominant, and their leaders taking the top positions in Government. The AFC joined with them and was supposed to be their equal partner. However, the AFC seems powerless in this dynamics. They carry no leading leadership roles, if they did, which of their members have the capacity to execute a competent leader for our beautiful country.

The void in leadership shows clearly when the Government choose to swear in a technocratic minister as the Prime Minister, are all the lessons on Governance missed on the elected leaders? Seemingly so, with the multiple unilaterally appointments, the central government over reaching into the local organs, ministers’ handing out contracts and all the other scandals we see popping up.

Under Granger’s presidency, we are seeing a whole host of illegal behaviour from the highest levels of Government.

The bottom line is Granger is ultimately responsible for the happenings of Guyana. President Granger needs to understand that the buck stops with him. He needs to take ownership of all the government's failings and address the nation on these matters.

Dear Editor,

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he GAWU’s attention was drawn to the Director of the Department of Public Information (DPI), Mr Imran Khan’s commentary programme titled “The current political situation”. The programme, a fairly new production by the DPI, has, in our view, taken partisan positions, something the now-a-day Government had bitterly complained about when in Opposition. It, undoubtedly, goes to show, in our view, that talk is really cheap.

In a most recent programme, the DPI Director addressed the issue of unemployment. In touching on the subject, Mr Khan referred to the sugar industry and said that the 7,000 sugar workers who were made jobless were put on the breadline because of the “… necessary and inevitable right sizing of the industry….”. While the DPI Director is entitled to his view, a right we uphold, at the same time, we cannot see eye-toeye with him. The fact remains that the Administration’s hands were not tied, so to speak, regarding its approach to sugar.

Mr Khan, would well know, that the Sugar CoI recommended an alternative path and one which would have protected rather than destroyed livelihoods and deepened misery and hardships in our country. Moreover, we are at a loss to understand how the closure of estates is deemed as right sizing when the Coalition Government has promoted the re-opening of the estates after a divestment process.

The DPI Director, next says that the sugar workers “…have all received severance payments to the tune of hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars…”.

It appears that Mr Khan wants Guyanese to believe that the monies paid to sugar workers were some form of concession by the Government. However, as many already know that the workers were entitled to those payments in keeping with the statute and the collective labour agreement. Also, the sums that the workers received were earned as a result of the many dedicated years of service to the sugar industry. On this matter, we should not forget that the Government openly flouted the laws and withheld the workers entitlements, an injustice that was righted following the intervention of the High Court.

Mr Khan next tells us that “…many of the workers have used their severance pay to start new businesses…”. This indeed may be a fact for some workers and the GAWU is heartened by such

developments. But those developments should not be used to obscure the reality that for very many of the workers, they have been forced to stingily utilize their severance payments to meet the basic costs of life. The reality is that workers have not been able to secure gainful employment elsewhere and had to dip into their payments. The reality is that those monies received, for many, are exhausted or near the exhaustion point.

The reality is that some workers and their families do not have adequate meals. The reality is that some workers have had to make the painful choice to remove their children from school.

The facts of life in the closed communities are far from the blissful picture Mr Khan, sordidly, tried to paint. A recent short film produced by Dr David Dabydeen has highlighted poignantly the real realities of life since closure.

From that film, Gail Garnette, the wife of an ex-worker shared, that “…since the estate close we ain’t getting nothing…”.

We also hear from 13-year old, Devina Budwah who was forced to withdraw from school. Devina explained that sugar workers in the community would assist her to attend school, however, after they became jobless they could not have afforded to help her and she had no choice than to leave school. Gordon Thomas, an ex-Wales worker, pointed out that “…Wales is a ghost town actually…”. This is the reality for many of the villages linked to the now-closed estates.

Several other media reports have confirmed the hardships the peoples of the closed estates face on a daily basis.

The GAWU recalls that the February 07, 2019, Guyana Times reported that ex-Skeldon Estate workers are required to pay a fee, imposed by the state-owned NICIL, to traverse the cultivation to catch fish and pick wild vegetables to feed their families. A December 19, 2018 Inews report, quotes Mr Christopher Ram as saying “[t]he people need employment; they need support and it seems that they’re almost forgotten and its cynical, it’s callous and it’s cruel”.

Mr Ram is reported to have said “… he saw persons fishing in nearby drains during one of his many visits and it was explained that this was for their sustenance”.

We recall too, the September 20, Stabroek News quoted one worker as saying “[m]e a go beg for security wuk to keep me children in school and me na get nothing, job nadeh”. Another ex-worker, Patrick Mahendrasingh saying “[t]his government want me to

commit suicide or murder just to send me children them to school, days when me deh home me ah sit and cry to think that I can’t able take care of my children them…”. The September 30, Guyana Times also quoted ex-worker, Eon Collymore as saying “I does work all over.

Sometimes I does be at the sawmill and sometimes by the koker with a man and help him to bring out wallaba pickets.

Sometimes I gone and fetch up the coast but right now the paddy work get stiff because they bring in grain carts. Since the estate close down, sometimes you catch day work, sometimes you ain’t catch nothing”. That article also quotes Avinash Singh, who also was put on the breadline, saying “[w]ithout a job and without money and have a family to look after, certain times you does get frustrated and you could do anything to get money because you don’t want to wake up in the night and your kids tell you that they are hungry and you don’t have anything to give them”. Another, former worker Royston Garnett is reported by the October 27, Guyana Times International edition to say “[h] e remembers collecting his letter and the hot tears that started to roll down his cheeks making their way to his toes. His entire body was numb. He didn’t cry for himself, rather he cried for the hardships his children would have to face. Yes, he was pessimistic from the beginning, because he knew that there was only so much he could do for a number of reasons. Garnett now spends his days going around in search of employment, only to be told that there are not any jobs available for him owing to a number of factors, particularly his age as well as the fact that ‘business bad’”. Certainly, this reduces the credence of the Mr Khan’s assertion to zero. To claim otherwise, is to add insult to injury.

So while Mr Khan chooses to “pontificate” from the cushy platform afforded to him by the DPI, the reality is that he is sadly off course when it comes to the facts to life now-a-days in the communities of the closed sugar estates. For the workers life since then has been a painful and difficult experience. They and their families have been forced to make choices they thought they would have never had to make. And worse yet, it appears, that they have been forgotten by those who put them in the sad circumstances they find themselves today.

Yours faithfully, Seepaul Narine, GAWU General Secretary

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Taxpayers’ dollars continued to be wasted by APNU+AFC gov’t

Millions being spent on outreaches with no positive results Dear Editor,

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he APNU/AFC coalition Government’s recently held outreach in Region Six was a testimony of its eroding support and its failure to resolve issues that are confronting residents of Region Six. The President (ag) Moses Nagamootoo and his Cabinet’s sudden diversion to a Cabinet meeting at State House, New Amsterdam, was a deliberate tactic. This was a calculated strategy to delay the Ministers in order to avoid embarrassment, knowing that residents would not respond to the outreach and at the same, protest instead of meeting with the Government Ministers.

The APNU/AFC coalition Government’s gimmickry of, ‘Bringing the Government to the people’ is a very expensive venture with no positive results. The millions expended on these outreaches is a desperate political campaign attempting to support a collapsed regime.

The Ministers reluctantly arrived at Tain Campus at approximately 15:00h, forcing their way and almost hitting the protesters on the roadside because of the speed of these Ministers’ vehicles. This incident was seen by police officers at the location and was brought to their attention too. Imagine, only staff and APNU/AFC activists were there to receive the Ministers, they were forced to leave the location in less than an hour because persons were not there to interact with them.

The President (ag) Moses Nagamootoo, had his staff do a photoshoot to show that he was meeting a resident while the Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan, and REO of Region Six Kim Williams Stephen were speaking with two ministerial advisers in the Communities Ministry attached to the region, Mr Baker and Mr Butcher. The Guyana Chronicle newspaper captioned that as Minister and REO reaching with residents. That was so blatantly desperate and disgraceful.

On the contrary, when the PPP/C was in Government, they reached out to the masses during outreaches. In 2010, President Jag-

deo said during an interview that of all his duties, he enjoys meeting with the people in the nation more and that it is during those outreaches, when he can interact with the people with an ambience of camaraderie and an atmosphere of relaxation and speak with them with cordiality on a one-to-one basis is where he gets to learn first-hand whether the systems the Government has put in place are successful and where and how the breakdown occurs, if and when it does.

This method by the PPP/C Government was responsible for 23 years of good governance and development in Guyana. When we reflect on where we were and how we emerged with a young man thrust unceremoniously into the leadership of a nation in the throes of political upheaval, infrastructural devastation, bankruptcy and severe social dislocations, coupled with problematic neighbours and a distrustful, uncooperative international dynamic, which saw its major industries taking a battering in the global marketplace with the added advantage of an international identity paralleling that of Jonestown, we must complement the PPP/C Government and the stewardship of Bharrat Jagdeo.

The APNU/AFC coalition Government is definitely failing the people in three basic ways, as Guyanese are ruefully discovering: 1. The Government is failing to deliver vital services, these services can be delivered but it is done poorly and expensive while favouring political cronies 2. The Government is crunching Guyanese people under their feet as Government officials accumulate more power, wealth with no transparency or accountability 3. The Guyanese people show that trust in the Government has sunk to historic lows and is still dropping.

These basic failures have shown that the APNU/AFC coalition Government cannot rectify or regain the trust of the people.

Regards, Zamal Hussain

Dear Editor,

B

y definition, an outreach means providing a service or services to people in such areas where they may not have access to such service or services. The recent ‘outreach’ sponsored by the coalition Government which brought various Ministries to the University of Guyana, Berbice Campus at Tain is a misnomer and should be deemed more of a political gimmick and campaign strategy aimed at subsiding the fallout created by the December 21 No-Confidence Motion.

Editor, Berbice is not a remote area which is cut off from civilisation whereby the coalition Government is unaware of what is going on a daily basis. Every issue affecting every Ministry is highlighted in the various media including social media. There is a group called Moving Guyana Forward where a multitude of issues are raised and it is a group which has many Ministers and Government officials on it as well as various stakeholders. Furthermore, the Prime Minister’s Regional Office at Port Mourant is very active and would normally receive hundreds of complaints on a monthly basis, resulting in monthly reports being generated and sent to the Prime Minister directly. Therefore, this ‘outreach’ being an attempt to listen to problems and bring speedy resolutions to these problems is absurd, to say the least, and it suffocates our intelligence.

Moreover, this coalition saying that they are only effective by listening to peoples’ problems personally and on a one to one basis is simply trying to appease the people to get their votes. It is also an attempt to say that there is a complete breakdown and disconnect between the layers of Government.

This is far from the truth since problems affecting the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) are channelled to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) which is then transferred to the Central Government.

Issues such as roads, streets, lights, water, drainage and irrigation are ventilated on numerous occasions but when budgeted for, they never see the light of day at the Central Government level. I have seen that a certain Minister on social media said that the Regional Administration of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is in the hands of the PPP and that they are responsible but she failed to

acknowledge that the holder of the purse is her Government. The region’s development is stymied by the poor budgetary allocations.

It must be noted that the region’s approved Capital Budget for Agriculture for 2018 is a mere $221 million of which $106 million will be used to purchase a bulldozer while $114 million will be transferred to the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority for drainage and irrigation works. It will need a miracle from the Lord for this to adequately provide for a region which depends on agriculture. That is the reason why agriculture is dying a slow death in the region. Furthermore, the NDCs will receive a princely sum of $5 million each and are expected to repair all the streets, provide for drainage and irrigation and garbage disposal.

This is the empowerment of NDCs which the coalition boasts about.

Editor, the plight and woes of the dismissed sugar workers have been echoing incessantly since 2018 and the cries of anguish fell on deaf ears. Are these Ministers in the coalition blind and deaf to the sufferings of these people? They need jobs, they are living in abject poverty and are unable to send their children to school. They have resorted to literally begging from relatives and friends.

The coalition is providing training but where are the jobs? There is a limited market for plantain chips, cook-up rice and dog food!

Until now, the privatisation process of the closed estate is still ongoing with no information available as to its status. It would seem that the bidders have all since fled.

Many of the dismissed sugar workers were hoping to be re-employed. In addition, the elusive $30 billion bonds are yet to be used for its intended purpose, which is upgrading the remaining estates and the construction of two co-generation plants and production of white sugar. On the other hand, heavily indebted small rice farmers are being forced to stop rice cultivation. Their cries are not being heard by this Government. So why an ‘outreach’?

The coalition’s band of ‘good life’ Ministers once again wasted taxpayers’ dollars on an exercise in futility. Their ‘shelf life’ has long expired!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

SOCU must be disbanded following revelations of audit Dear Editor,

A

s one of the persons who aided in the establishment of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), as well as one who is a victim of its malicious prosecution, I feel compelled to comment upon the shocking disclosures of corruption, fraud, abuse of power and the rogue conduct on the part of officers of SOCU, which emanated from the recently concluded audit of the Unit.

These damning disclosures must be viewed against the constant public criticisms, which I have leveled against SOCU since May 2015. You would recall that in many statements in the press, myself and other leaders of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), have repeatedly lamented that SOCU

has strayed far from its original and statutory mandate of investigating reports supplied to it by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), in respect of money laundering, financing of terrorism, drug trafficking and other organised crimes and has metamorphosed into a unit taking directions from the Office of the President and other political quarters to witch hunt the Opposition and those who either serve the PPP Government or are perceived to be its supporters.

One would recall, the disastrous unauthorized motor surveillance of those who were believed to be Winston Brassington’s family, in December 2015, which led to a deadly crash, killing a young solider and his wife, leaving two children orphaned. The then Commissioner of Police, publicly, declared

that he holds no actual responsibility for SOCU and its operational pursuits. It has been downhill for SOCU since.

Minister Joseph Harmon admitted in the National Assembly that SOCU was being financed from the budget of the Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP). Attorney General, Basil Williams, conceded in the Committee of Supply that the Ministry of Legal Affairs budgets hundreds of millions of dollars to pay special Prosecutors to prosecute charges instituted against members of the Opposition

by SOCU. Shalimar Ali-Hack, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), herself, was being investigated by SOCU. Clearly, the advice to do so did not come from that office. It came from political quarters. Then recently, the DPP swore an affidavit in certain High Court

matters stating that she did not advise on a series of criminal charges, which have been instituted by SOCU. One cannot omit the wine drinking session between Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, Dr. Sam Sittlington, Attorney General, Basil Williams and the Head of SOCU, the day the Leader of the Opposition and a number of PPP leaders were arrested and taken down to SOCU for questioning. It is also public knowledge that the Attorney General instructed SOCU to charge me with larceny of my own property. This was after a special audit commissioned by him was done by the Auditor General, who found that there was no wrongdoing.

All of the above occurred before this audit (Turn to page 6)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

GECOM’s credibility continues to be diminished Dear Editor,

S

ince President Granger’s flagrant appointment of Justice (Ret’d) James Patterson as Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the organisation’s credentials has swiftly degenerated to a spectrum of laugh and gaff at every opportunity of examination at home and abroad. In effect, under the watch of Patterson, there is an absolute contradictory derogation from the assigned constitutional mandate, which he and the Government’s Commissioners are trampling in full public view.

The nature of national self-conflict that Commission has become is one of biased factual convenience. One that is solely intent on serving the political control and directions of the PNC/R cabal. We are reliably informed that from the miserable failures to hold meetings, sometimes because of the Chairman’s preference to become ill, to the un-parliamentary and callous approach of addressing matters at meetings have become the characteristic nature. Often times, there has been no agenda, evidence of deliberate poor communication with Opposition Commissioners; together with the Chairman and his PNC colleagues prevailing bias dictatorial altitude.

GECOM is not an ‘arm’ of the People’s National Congress and the meetings of the Commission are certainly not caucuses of the PNC/R as treated by Patterson. Neither is the Guyana Constitution a compendium of jokes written by joker Vincent Alexander, whose current gloating approach will come full circle. The Constitution is our bible and supreme establishment of citizens’ rights and limitations to Government’s excessiveness.

With the passing of the No-Confidence Motion, it is clear that our Constitution kicks in automatically.

Further, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, publicly said that the organisation is ready for elections while the Chief Executive Officer, Keith Lowenfield,

said publicly that the voters’ list is ready. In conflict with its constitutional mandate, the now structurally flawed and biased Commission has taken every possible step to reverse this position, invoking options intended on contaminating an accepted and legitimate prudently verifiable status. The likes of Nigel Hughes and the vindictive Vincent Alexander, who is trying desperately to find a playing space in the PNC/R, is trying all sorts of sand dancing in an effort to kick sand in the eyes of citizens.

GECOM’s website is clear: it states, “subsequent to the 2001 General and Regional Elections, political parties had agitated for legislative changes which would ensure that a new system of voter registration guarantees Guyanese in General, but more specifically their own supporters, their constitutional right to be registered and vote at future General, Regional and Local Government Elections.

This led to the introduction of Continuous Registration with two primary objectives as follow: 1. Introducing a system which would ensure that all eligible persons are afforded unlimited opportunities to become registered on the National Register of Registrants Database. And, 2. Ensuring that GECOM is in a perpetual state of preparedness which would enable it to respond to calls for elections in a timely manner thus guaranteeing eligible persons their constitutional right to become registered in accordance with the relevant legal provisions and to cast their ballots at future General, Regional and Local Government Elections.”

GECOM is a creature (agency) of the Constitution with autonomy and responsibility to comply with the constitutional intent.

In this case, that meant readying itself for General and Regional Elections, which were due on March 21, 2019, after the successful passage of the NCM that resulted in the fall of the APNU/AFC coalition Government.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

SOCU must be disbanded... (From page 5) was done but cumulatively, they form far more than sufficient grounds to close-down SOCU. In addition to the damaging findings contained in the audit report, they are many businessmen who can relate but are afraid to, about the millions of dollars that were either stolen from them or extracted as bribes by SOCU officers. It is a public secret within the business community.

No organisation with such a horrendous track-record can remain as part of the law enforcement arm of the State. The likelihood of destroying or concocting evidence for reward, or carrying out political directions is simply too overwhelming. The fact that SOCU Prosecutors are hired and paid by the Attorney General, an active politician, and those chosen, thus far, are operating out of his private law office and out of the private law office of another Minister/politician and another one is the brother of a sitting Minister, make the whole process too politically incestuous and toxic to meet the standard required

for the administration of criminal justice in a civilized society.

A Prosecutor is a minister of justice. His duty is not to seek a conviction, but simply to place before the Court the relevant and admissible evidence. We have had situations where SOCU Prosecutors have refused to hand over to the defence a forensic audit report from which the charge stem, which they are prosecuting. Prosecutors have a duty to provide such information to the defence and an accused person has a constitutional right to receive such information as a facility for his defence. In the GRDB cases, this facility was denied to the accused persons and their lawyers.

Of course, I can say much more, but I believe that I have made a sufficient case for this Unit to be, immediately, disbanded. We cannot simply afford to place the cherished freedoms of our citizens in its hands.

Sincerely, Anil Nandlall, PPP/C MP

There must be a full-fledged investigation of the changes made by APNU+AFC gov’t to the CJIA modernization project Dear Editor,

I

would like to respond to assertions attributed to Minister David Patterson, on the subject of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport Expansion Project, which seem to have found their way out of his Facebook Page into reporting in at least two national dailies.

Guyana entered in to Fixed-Price Contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for the expansion of the CJIA to address the clear and still present issues of congestion, aged airport terminal and safety, which beset the operations, at a time when there was a significant increase in passenger and aircraft traffic. Payment was made on the usual 30% mobilization advance to CHEC, which was bonded.

Initial delays in project start-up occurred as CHEC sought to extract an increase in the project sum by US$30M. Their effort was refused based on international contracting rules for Fixed-Price Contracts and the considered view that the sought increase was not warranted, anyway.

Project supervision fell, initially, under the Works Service Group (WSG) of the Ministry of Public Works until an international supervision consultant, MMM Group, in association of CEMCO, were awarded the supervision consultancy. This WSG resort was not unusual and natural and necessary in the circumstances to maintain project schedules.

Awaiting project start-up until the process of obtaining a consultancy would have imposed additional time delays on the project.

I stand by the integrity of the supervision undertaken then by the Ministry’s engineers who did daily visits and had weekly project meetings in order to ensure timely initiation of the project.

The Contractor, CHEC, had, and took, the opportunity to examine the project site before entering into a Design and Build Fixed-Price Contract.

Sand had to be provided free of royalties, which are costs that would have been charged back to the project, anyway. Sand provided was designed to allow for placement of an engineered fill, at levels of compaction and stability to provide for a safe, stable runway extension.

On detailed geotechnical examination of the planned northern extension by CHEC resulted in their advice that the entire length of fill to the north would be excessive and a decision was made to share the 1,000 meters extension between the north and south of the runway – 50:50. This was taken as the optimized solution to the issue as extension of 1,000 meters to the south would have, indeed, required more fill based on elevation

and deepen of the swamp sediments – pegasse and soft Demerara clay as the river was approached beyond 500 meters of extension. In fact, the soil conditions beyond 500 meters on direction of the extension ere unsuitable because of volume of excavation and fill required.

By 2015, performance schedules of many national contracts were in difficulty because of budgetary cuts imposed by the then APNU and AFC Parliamentary Opposition.

It is now evident that the scope of this project seems to have been tremendously modified with the effect of impairing the project’s original intended validity and integrity.

Some points to note are: • A stands alone New Terminal Building is now an Arrival Hall addition to the old Terminal Building; • The boarding bridges are now said to be four eventually, instead of the eight planned, along with now smaller and less durable aircraft parking aprons; • The mezzanine floor with escalators to a Viewing Gallery had been cut out from the construction; and • The building’s footprint and actual total square footage are now less than what was contracted for.

It is obvious that the Minister is making an attempt, utilizing his Facebook Page and friends, to assign blame elsewhere for failings on the project after being responsible for the project for almost four years.

The Minister also seems to present a conflicting scenario in his postings – that is, he is not making payments on payment certificates at the time of ‘salvaging’ the project.

This begs the obvious question, where did the money go, if not into payments on a reduced project scope?

Several high-level and well published visits were made by the Ministers extolling the virtues of the project, even while commissioning timelines were being repeatedly shifted. We are, apparently, now being asked to prepare ourselves, via Facebook, to accept less for more in the result along with experiencing excessive and prolong delays related to this project.

In the circumstances, I support calls for a full-fledged public investigation into how a Fixed- Price Contract could be subject to changes in scope and intent.

Regards, Robeson Benn, Former Minister of Public Works

Auditor General must conduct a special audit on the CJIA project being managed by APNU+AFC gov’t Dear Editor,

T

he allegation of corruption at the Cheddi Jagan Airport Expansion Project is becoming worse by the minute and must not go unchallenged. Unless greater transparency is brought to the implementation of this contract, Guyana will be worse off financially and infrastructurally than it was before this US$150 million loan was borrowed. What we are seeing at the airport is the height of human vulgarity.

In the USA, with all the post 9/11 require-

ment, the Westchester 6-gate airport terminal costed about US$90 million from scratch. In the case of Guyana, we shall only be receiving a 4-gate terminal, and an extension of the runaway for US$150 million. That would have been acceptable if it was a new departure and arrival terminal. But now we are finding out that the old terminal has not been torn down. Rather, it has been gutted and reused at the departure area.

Plus we must remember that the PPP in 2011 signed a fixed priced contract for (Turn to page 7)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Guyanese need to understand how the oil and gas sector will impact their daily bread Dear Editor,

W

ith all most every passing day there is a story the mainstream media about the impending oil and gas bonanza that is likely to boost Guyana’s fortunes in the not too distant future.

According to Bob McNally, President of the Rapidian Energy Group; “Guyana is the most recent but rare incident of a brand new petroleum-state out of nothing.”

What is most unfortunate about the stories published in the local media is that they are fundamentally academic and highly technical. There are others that are so esoteric and highfalutin in language that they are making no sense whatsoever to ordinary citizens.

What the public wants it’s not getting.

What’s in it for me? Will I benefit? If so, in what way? Surely, they can’t be blamed for thinking in that way.

The stories about oil and gas that Guyanese are reading are sterile and dull, they soar above the heads of the man on the street.

Some have no relevance to Guyana.

From all appearances, the on-going discourse on the subject has been hijacked by those who claim to be experts or wannabe experts in the sector.

Neither Exxon’s PR Department nor the Government of Guyana’s DPI consider it necessary to engage Guyanese on such matters. As the saying goes; ‘We are too big to bother ourselves with small potatoes.’

So much for the good corporate citizen

and the caring government.

To fill the PR vacuum, some having identified another as their nemesis, are engaged in a race to the bottom with a view to outdoing each other.

The ‘Johnny-come-latelies in oil and gas are working overtime to prove to the ‘Born again’ neo-liberals how much they know, and how better they are acquainted with complexities of the oil and gas sector. It is as if they are talking to each other in a Tower of Babel and couldn’t care less whether they are making any sense to the small man, raising his level of awareness or knowledge about the sector.

A popular view on the street is that the so-called Guyanese experts in oil and gas should learn from Anil Nandlall’s skill in articulating complex issues pertaining constitutional and criminal law. Nandlall they claim, articulates his views in a manner that makes complex legal issues easily understood by John and Jane public.

If there was one political leader in Guyana in Guyanese history who was good at communicating his ideas in a way common people could understand, it was Cheddi Jagan. He had the ability to do so in plain and simple language just as his cabinet ministers did in the 1957 to 1964 PPP government.

Of course in those days, the natural way of communicating with the common man and woman was through visits to the sugar estates, the rice fields, the water front, the saw mills and all other places where workers and farmers could be found.

But leaders who were gifted in communicating their thoughts to the people like Jagan, Burnham and Rodney are long gone, and today’s communicators are hooked on Facebook, Whatsapp, YouTube, messenger, email, TV, radio or newspaper.

Unlike the more developed countries, tweeting and Instagram are not used much in Guyana.

That aside, what is noteworthy is that there remain thousands in Guyana who do not have an IPhone, a TV, a radio nor access to daily newspapers.

They are effectively out of the information communication loop save by word of mouth.

In the circumstances, it does not require rocket science to recognize the dearth of knowledge impacting the thousands who have been, and will continue to be left behind lacking the basic knowledge concerning the oil and gas industry.

Consequently, the major challenge is in the social and political arena, that being, how to capture, translate and bring to an acceptable level of understanding for the common man and woman, the pluses and minuses an oil economy in a Guyanese context.

This is not to say that Guyanese are not smart enough to read and assimilate, as best as they can, what is being fed to them on the subject. However, in view of the avalanche of distrust and negative information that obtains in the public domain, serious doubts exist about whether they stand to benefit in anyway whatsoever.

In some quarters, a strong view is emerging that; ‘White man coming back.’ And That ExxonMobil will be the Trojan horse that will replace ‘Bookers Guyana. Will history repeat itself? Will we return to the ‘bondage of far distant powers?’

One is left to wonder whether the current discourse is being kept at a level calculated to keep the populace in the dark with respect to the shady goings-on and perceived concubinage in the sector which thus far, appears to be the business of a few.

It is for this and other reasons that the great majority of Guyanese are skeptical, if not indifferent about the hullabaloo that they stand to benefit from the bonanza that would

flow from the oil and gas economy.

In this connection, Amy Myers Jaffe, Director of Energy Security at the Council on Foreign Relations had this to say: “Guyana seems wholly unprepared for the avalanche of cash coming its way; it’s in political turmoil with no plan in place for how to marshal and distribute the money among a population of just 780,000 people.”

At this stage of the discussion, as far the citizenry is concerned, it’s not just about which party’s oil and gas policies will win but whether the poor and dispossessed will benefit from oil and gas the bonanza.

The CARICOM Charter for Civil Society to which Guyana is a signatory, calls on member states to ensure: ‘The effective functioning of the parliamentary system, morality in public affairs, respect for fundamental civil, political and economic, social and cultural rights … accountability and transparency in government.’

This is clearly not happening in Guyana.

The current discourse on oil and gas needs to be situated in the context of the Caricom Charter if Guyanese are to have a full and appreciative understanding of how this new industry will impact their daily bread.

Benefits of oil and gas need to be stamped on an agenda for national debate at a People’s Fora.

The fora should not be a one-off event, nor should it be held at the exclusive Marriot or the Pegasus, but in towns, villages and communities across the country.

And the panel guiding the discussion should be multidimensional and not be composed of the usual suspects nor the shysters, who know little or nothing about the sector, but are lurking on the periphery hoping to cream-off lucrative contracts from government.

Above all, the ‘People’s Forum on Oil and Gas’ must not be elections driven, on the contrary, it must be people-centered and driven mainly by a deep and abiding interest aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the common man and woman of Guyana.

It is time! They deserve better!

Sincerely, Clement J. Rohee

High risk of wasting oil resources because of corrupt APNU+AFC politicians needs to be acknowledged Dear Editor,

T

here is certainly a buzz around Guyana since the discovery of oil in commercially exploitable quantities. Every day you can read something about Guyana internationally, be it in the Oil & Gas Journal, the New York Times, and so on. But no one speaks about the Guyanese economic prospect because the high risk of wasting all these funds because of corrupt ruling politicians and weak national institutions.

When President Granger spoke from the Parliament Buildings on May 16, 2015, he said, “Let us now put past rivalries behind us and work in unity to banish poverty, ignorance, fear, and hatred. We assemble here today to witness the swearing in, not of a party leader, but of the President of all the people. I shall be a good President for all the people.” Editor, What do you think of his rhetoric now?

Between the rhetoric and the reality, all we got from Team Granger so far was a fairy tale after they spent some G$1.1 trillion of the taxpayers' money. One is struck by the complete lack of commitment and competence by Team Granger toward this concept of the "good life". After four (4) years of Grangerism, the road to a new

Guyana appears littered with the wreckage of the usually PNC empty messages from the past. These messages - “the good life”, “a government of national unity”, “the opportunity to offer democratic renewal”, and so on, were all offered by Mr. Granger personally. But since that offering, all that Team Granger has done was embarked on a massive administrative disaster fueled by high levels of policy paralysis and gross incompetence. This situation is nothing but a bad omen for the Guyanese people.

Very little of what they promised, they have delivered after these four (4) years. It was Team Granger who promised to "free the people from the shackles of racism" but yet in every single appointment they have made, the evidence reveals a ratio of them choosing 9 out of 10 times, people who are “kith and kin” (Hoyte's words) and “PNC people” (Volda's words).

These people promised to solve the endemic problems of corruption, nepotism and domestic terrorism (crime) but they have not. It was Mr. Granger himself who promised to “protect our citizens” using his so called military training to guide policies to allow the Guyanese people to feel safe.

Today every woman, man, and child are at greater risk from being robbed, murdered

or physically harmed at the hands of the domestic terrorist (drug infused kick down the door armed bandits included).

Thus, if one reflects on these Granger phrases, they appear as mere subterfuge and deception. All that talk on the foyer of the Guyana Parliament on May 15, 2015, were really a smokescreen for the real agenda, which Team Granger pursued diligently since coming to the office.

The rational middle was fooled because

regardless of how you dress up the Team Granger, it is nothing but the same old PNC with its nepotism, political intolerance, major acts of conflict of interest, executive incompetence and financial squander.

That is their legacy. The Granger legacy! The PNC legacy!

Regards, Sasenarine Singh

Auditor General must conduct a...

US$150 million that committed the Contractor to an airport as per the contract with 8 gates, new departure and arrival terminal and a 10,800 ft runway to make it a category Code 4E runway (a jumbo jet – BOEING 747-400 aircraft can land). The PNC varied the contract and now offer 4 gates, and a refurbished departure terminal. So picking sense from nonsense, Guyana is getting less and still being charged the same price. What abject nonsense is this? How more bogus can Team Granger get?

If I could have called it fraud, I would have called it wanton fraud, but since the boys and girls in Team Granger are now wealthy

(From page 6)

enough and have access to the State Treasury, they might want to sue the newspapers. So I will not call it fraud, but I leave it to the Guyanese people to decipher the truth.

I appeal to the Office of the Auditor General to conduct a special audit on this project to assess if this nation is securing value for money. I appeal to the Auditor General to safeguard all evidence since any future Government would need such evidence to prosecute those found culpable for misappropriation of public funds.

Sincerely, L. Ally

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Keeping it all in the Family: The DEBACLE involving APNU+AFC Coalition Gov't (This column will focus on exposing the linkages of family and party connections as a fundamental part of the Coalition’s governance structure)

By Gail Teixeira

Conflict of interests, anti-democratic practices and a flawed governance structure under the APNU+AFC gov’t U nder the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, what has been exposed is a flawed governance structure.

It is so anti- democratic that it undermines transparency, accountability, and provides fertile ground for repeated instances of conflict of interest, abuse of power and corruption to the detriment of the Guyanese people and their development.

The May 2015 elections brought the APNU+AFC Coalition into office with a hair breath of voters- 4,526, less than one per cent difference than the PPP/C. Nevertheless, undeterred by these results, the government and its supporters declared repeatedly that it was ‘ahwe time’. Maybe many people thought this insensitive bravado was a passing thing and once the government was settled in office they would get down to running the country on behalf of all the people.

Unfortunately this was not to be – the government started dismantling the public service sending home 1,972 Amerindian Community Service Officers, hundreds of public servants from every Ministry and agencies who were considered by the government to be “politically incorrect” based on assumptions of their political support and ethnicity.

Over 90 per cent of all Permanent Secretaries and Regional Executive Officers were replaced with party affiliates.

All state boards were revamped and one saw the stealthy imposition of the APNU and AFC party “boys and girls” taking over these bodies.

This blatant discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and political affiliation with regard to who were terminated, contracts not renewed, or, intimidation to force people to leave the public service seemed to

cause no discomfort on the part of the President and his Ministers.

However, what was not clear at first was how deep was the family and party connections which permeated the entire public and state sectors. After four years all these connections are slowly coming to light.

If one wanted proof of the network of family and party connections, this was to finally come to light from an unexpected sourceno other than the ‘horse’s mouth’ - the Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence. On Sunday, November 25, 2018, during a presentation at the Region Four District Conference, held at Congress Place, Lawrence had said, “I got news for you: The only friends I got is PNC, so the only people I could give work to is PNC. And, right now, I looking for a doctor who can talk Spanish or Portuguese and ah want one that is PNC.” Lawrence was clearly heard telling attendees that they should not be afraid to give jobs or contracts to party comrades, while indicating that she does the same. Lawrence also noted that the party has found that when they “put people in office they forget is the party put them there and they go and they suck up to the other people, some of them even vote with the other people” – something she contends is “unacceptable.”

This explains how the size of the public service has swelled by over 2,000 new people in the first year and the cost of the government bureaucracy has increased alarmingly every year whilst 7,000 sugar workers were considered a burden to the government and the economy and terminated by the government.

Granted that the population of Guyana is small, but if the systems, process and procedures, and, laws are allowed to function with regards to hiring, selection, promotion and adherence to the Procurement and financial laws, Integrity Commission Act, coupled with timely access to information with up to date public disclosures by government officials and functioning and up to date websites such as the National Procurement and Tender Administration, and those of Ministries and state agencies, allowing for proper scrutiny of government, one may say that the government is being responsible and is taking measures to enhance transparency and accountable.

However, no such thing is happening.

The government believes “the less you know the better for them in government.”

The government has shrouded its operations in secrecy based on a “needs to know’ philosophy. This approach has extended and permeated the regional and local government layers of government.

DAILY INCREASE OF SCANDALS Therefore it is no surprise that the government in four short years has been exposed as the most corrupt since independence with over 67 – and growingscandals and cases of corruption.

It is worth remembering that Guyana ratified two major international anti-corruption conventions under the PPP/C administration- the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (IACAC in 2003) and the United Nations Convention against Corruption (2008) and therefore is bound to act in compliance with these treaties.

IACAC Article 111 (3) states “Standards of con-

duct for the correct, honorable, and proper fulfillment of public functions.

These standards shall be intended to prevent conflicts of interest and mandate the proper conservation and use of resources entrusted to government officials in the performance of their functions. These standards shall also establish measures and systems requiring government officials to report to appropriate authorities acts of corruption in the performance of public functions. Such measures should help preserve the public's confidence in the integrity of public servants and government processes.” Article 111 (4) goes on to provide for “Systems for registering the income, assets and liabilities of persons who perform public functions in certain posts as specified by law and, where appropriate, for making such registrations public.”

Article VI states that “This Convention is applicable to the following acts of corruption: c. Any act or omission in the discharge of his duties by a government official or a person who performs public functions for the purpose of illicitly obtaining benefits for himself or for a third party; d. The fraudulent use or concealment of property derived from any of the acts referred to in this article.

Article X1 of the IACAC in particular states that: (b) “The improper use by a government official or a person who performs public functions, for his own benefit or that of a third party, of any kind of property belonging to the State or to any firm or institution in which the State has a proprietary interest, to which

that official or person who performs public functions has access because of, or in the performance of, his functions.”

For the purposes of UN Convention against Corruption, Article 111 defines: (a) “Public official” shall mean: (i) any person holding a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial office of a State Party, whether appointed or elected, whether permanent or temporary, whether paid or unpaid, irrespective of that person’s seniority; (ii) any other person who performs a public function, including for a public agency or public enterprise, or provides a public service, as defined in the domestic law of the State Party and as applied in the pertinent area of law of that State Party; ….”

So what is conflict of interest of a person in public life? This is a term used to describe “the situation in which a public official or fiduciary who, contrary to the obligation and absolute duty to act for the benefit of the public or a designated individual, exploits the relationship for personal benefit, typically pecuniary”.

This includes spouses and children of the person in public life.

Integrity in public life is based on ethics and a deep appreciation of the bond of trust and confidence reposed by the public in the person who holds a position in public life, such as a President, Minister, Judge, Parliamentarian, Permanent Secretary, etc. To undermine that and to place personal interests before the public’s interests is to tear asunder that fragile trust.

The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of impropriety.

Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before

any corruption occurs. Even if there is no impropriety, that is the person has not acted on their personal or secondary interests, the fact that it exists is sufficient to be addressed seriously and corrected quickly.

The Integrity Commission Act of Guyana addresses the issue of conflict of interest both in the Act itself and in the Code of Conduct.

For the purposes of this Column the number of instances of conflict of interest in government circles is alarming.

The government’s refusal to address these instances demonstrates how deep the insidious network of family and political interests are in the governance structures having encouraged and implemented a policy of “is ahwe time.”

Some you may know of already and some may be new. Some Ministers are repeat offenders.

YEARS-LONG DEBACLE This week’s column will look at the more current ‘conflict of interest’ concern involving an APNU+AFC Coalition government Minister.

The issues of conflict of interest with Mrs. Hughes go back several years. In fact July 2013 was the first known case when she was a Member of Parliament.

According to the then Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, “I wish to respond and I resolutely maintain that a business of Cathy Hughes, known as Video Mega Productions, was hired to do public relations work for the Amaila Falls Project, Sithe Global and Synergy. In this regard, an interview was done with Mr. Fip Motilall in which he spoke extensively about the project and his involvement in the project; also, other promotional work (Turn to page 9)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Conflict of interests, anti-democratic... was done by Cathy Hughes’s public relations outfit in respect of the same hydro project. These materials were aired on television, and were extensively published in the newspapers. Why there is now an attempt to deny these facts of public notoriety is indeed bewildering.”

Mr. Nandlall pointed out that though Mrs. Hughes was not personally employed as PRO at the company, her public relations business worked on behalf of the company.

In August 2013, the revelation that Mr Nigel Hughes was in fact Company Secretary of the Amaila Falls Hydro Project Inc, the Special Purpose Vehicle/ Company created for the development, construction and operation of the US$858M Hydro Power plant, while serving as Chairman of the Alliance For Change led to his subsequent offer to resign from the AFC. Of interest, neither of the Hughes made these financial interests voluntarily public.

It is believed that Nigel Hughes created a smoke screen about his departure from the AFC to obscure the role of his wife, Ms. Cathy Hughes. Her company Video Mega Productions did public relations work for Synergy and Sithe Global. She personally interviewed Mr Fip Motilall in a PR infomercial.

Ms. Hughes was introduced as Public Relations Officer of Sithe Global. She is therefore intimately involved with the project. At the very least, she gained materially as owner of VideoMega.

In July 2014, l wrote the then Speaker Raphael Trotman regarding the non-disclosure of pecuniary interests of Mrs. Hughes on matters before the House regarding the Amaila Falls Hydro Project Inc. and called for the Member to be taken before the Privilege Committee. Trotman denied the request. Trotman once again taking care of friends and family.

As a Minister post the 2015 elections she again became of interest when it was discovered that her property in Middle Street was being rented by Larry Singh, the AFC financier, who rented a house in Sussex Street to the Ministry of Public Health as a drug bond, costing the taxpayers over $300M for an unusable empty building.

The launching of her husband’s legal firm Hughes, Fields and Stoby to estab-

lish a presence in Houston, Texas brought her role as a Minister back into question.

The Firm stated that “From legal representation right through to assistance with the appropriate business protocols and linkage to a network of officials in the public and private sector, a client’s every need is attended to in ensuring the doors to doing business in Guyana are easily and readily open.”

The Public Telecommunications Minister, Cathy Hughes, insisted that there is no conflict of interest with her being a sitting Cabinet Minister and her husband, Nigel Hughes, engaging oil giant, ExxonMobil, with his company opening an office in Houston, Texas, USA. Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, at this news conference, on Wednesday (October 17, 2018), noted Minister Hughes’ comments about declaring her interests to Cabinet on October 9, 2018 and to the Integrity Commission on July 14, 2018.

However, he questioned if she declared her interests in 2016, while the negotiation of the ExxonMobil contract was ongoing.

Notably, the Minister disclosed that she would not participate in cabinet meetings whenever oil and gas issues are discussed, pending advice from both Cabinet and her lawyer, who she has to date not named.

Hughes has also remained silent about the 2016 happenings and the involvement of his firm.

In the signed renegotiated ExxonMobil agreement, on page 4, the address of Nigel Hughes’ law office is listed as the registered office – 62 Hadfield and Cross Streets, Werk-enRust, Georgetown – of Esso, CNOOC and Hess, the oil companies which signed the October 2016 agreement.

Calls for her resignation were rebuffed by the government and Minister Hughes.

In October 2018 TIGI queried what reliable systems have been put in place to avoid possible conflicts such as the one between spouses Nigel and Cathy Hughes. “We want to know that there is insulation of the government, or the business is insulated from her and will not draw on any privileged information that she may obtain due to her position. People in these positions try to impress upon us that they won’t act on these privileges and we are asked

to trust their integrity.”

Noteworthy is that Nigel Hughes, former head of the AFC, was also the one who designed the “34 majority formula” to invalidate the Non Confidence Motion which was passed on December 21, 2018 and which was later the same formula that the Court of Appeal adopted. Again keeping it all in the family.

In April 2019, I went public stating that the company VideoMega Productions owned by the Minister was awarded a multi-million dollar contract by the Dept of Energy, Ministry of the Presidency.

Swiftly the Minister, her government and one of her staff members in the company all responded to defend the Minister. However, the more they talk the more questions are being asked.

VideoMega Productions is owned by Mrs. Cathy Hughes, and located in the same property she owns and rents to Larry Singh of the Sussex Street Bond scandal.

The online news outlet, Guyana Standard, April 10, 2019 reported that Head of the Department of Energy, Dr. Mark Bynoe said that due process was followed for the award of the contract.

Dr. Bynoe did not go into details as to the value of the contract The following day, Russell Lancaster, told a different story, as the producer of VideoMega Productions and an employee in the public service, he says he was personally approached by the Department of Energy (DoE) concerning some work for the agency and in turn, asked that it be transferred to the company. He sought to absolve Hughes from any blame that saw the company, Videomega Productions, receiving $832,200 from the DoE for work, saying she knew nothing of it.

One should also note that Russell Lancaster himself is employed in the government and probably knew he could not accept a contract in his name and therefore proposed it be given to VideoMega Productions. Russell Lancaster has a long association with Minister Cathy Hughes going back many years through broadcasting and Theatre Guild as well as an employee in her company VideoMega Productions and Enrico Woolford who is Ministerial Adviser of Telecommunications to Minister Hughes.

However, the Ministry of

the Presidency told a different story to Mr. Lancaster. It statement said that the Department of Energy contracted Video Mega Productions to “develop three (3) sixty second television and radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs) at a cost of eight hundred and thirty-two thousand (G$832,000), as part of its public awareness and sensitization campaign with regards to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana’s emerging oil and gas sector.

It should be emphasized that the Department of Energy worked closely with the Ministry’s Procurement Unit in finalizing this contract.”

The fact that there is an GoG/IDB loan which includes a component for a “consultancy is to apply a multi-disciplinary approach, with a multi-disciplinary team to design and implement public relations and public education strategies in order to highlight the benefits expected to accrue to Guyana from the oil and gas sector, including the proceeds,” makes one wonder if there are any other connections between VideoMega and the Department of Energy.

The Minister said she had relinquished all day to day operations of the company. Is that true? And is it enough assuming it is true?

One has to ask then why is that on Minister Hughes’ Linked in profile, she is still listed as the Managing Director of VideoMega Productions Sept 1993- present with 27 years and 8 months experience. VideoMega Productions is described as a Company which includes public relations and electronic activities, retail side of audio and video equipment and names 4 outlets.

Address 176 Middle St. The mailing address is hughes@ solutions2000.net. The Guyana Business Directory 2019 lists VideoMega Productions’ mailing address as cathy@videomegaproductions.com Russell Lancaster – Linked in profile – states he is producer not Manager at VideoMega Productions 2016- present. He also omits to say he is employed in one of the Ministries.

Stabroek News editorial correctly put the issue, “As it relates to Minister Hughes, she can claim that she is not involved in the day-to-day running of her company.

However, the bottom line is that Videomega benefit-

(From page 8)

ed from a contract worth $832,200 and a portion of that consideration has accrued to her.

No sitting government minister’s company should be making money off of government contracts. This is the ineffaceable truth that Minister Hughes will not be able to get around. The onus should have been on her to instruct the principals of her company not to bid for government contracts as the appearance of a conflict of interest would be insurmountable.”

However, there is another company, HFS Corporation Services – website- 2007 company formed which include Nigel and Cathy Hughes as experts; company services include real estate acquisition and sales, property management, due diligence, intellectual property, investment etc, corporate filings, legal services. Address:62 Hadfield and Cross St, Werk-en-Rust.

Minister Cathy Hughes appears to be unfamiliar with the Integrity Commission Act which states in section 4(1) (b) of the Code says where a conflict is perceived to exist, the public official must report the matter to the Integrity Commission for the necessary guidance to be provided, and any resolution of the conflict must be in favour of his or her official duties.

This is distinct from the annual declaration of assets and liabilities of a public official, which includes any information about a public official’s private interests.

Further, under section 4(3) (c), a person in public life shall, among others, “refuse or relinquish any outside employment, shareholdings or directorships which create or are likely to create a conflict of interest”.

Are there other contracts that VideoMega Productions has been given in the last 4 years that we know nothing about? Is the Minister saying that $832,000 was the only contract the company received in the last 4 years?

And so the questions flow1. Has the Minister amended the registration of her company VideoMega Productions to indicate that she has relinquished her involvement?

2. Did she declare to the Integrity Commission that she is the owner of

this company since becoming Minister as required by the statutes?

3. Has the Minister declared any other company/property that she is an owner, partner or expert to the Integrity Commission?

4. Has the Minister acted in accordance with the Integrity Commission Act and put her company/properties in a blind trust?

5. Has she paid taxes and duties for VideoMega Productions to the GRA? 6. Has VideoMega Productions received any other contracts since May 2015 from any government agency, or loan/ grant funds to the Government of Guyana?

7. With regards to Lancaster’s defense – why was he approached by the Dept of Energy for a sample of his work?

Why if this was a sample was the Dept of Energy charged and paid such an exorbitant fee of $832,000 for 3- 60 seconds ads?

8. What was the nature / subject matter of the 3-60 second ads? Did they relate to the oil and gas sector? And if so, wouldn’t this be another conflict of interest?

9. Why did the Dept of Energy not tender and ask other companies to submit samples or tenders?

10. Was the $832,000 paid out from an IDB loan to the Dept for enhancing the public awareness on the gas and oil sector?

April 16 2019, the response of the Hughes, is not surprising. Her husband’s law firm sent letters to myself, former Auditor General Anand Goolsarran and SN editor Anand Persaud on behalf of his wife, Minister Cathy Hughes, demanding an apology approved by them and $10M compensation.

Now isn’t this ‘keeping it all in the family’?

Next week the column will deal with several other conflict of interest scenarios involving the APNU+AFC Coalition government ministers.

10

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

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 (April 25, 2019), including calls for an audit into the CJIA airport project and the decision of the Auditor General to do a value for money audit.

Patterson cannot expect to act with impunity A

few Facebook postings

by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, cannot take away from his failures in the management of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) project, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

During his Thursday (April 25, 2019) news conference, he pointed out that, in the social media postings from Patterson, he tried to place the blame for the project failures on the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government – even while admitting only seven per cent of the work on the project had been done

by May 2015 when the APNU+AFC Coalition took office.

“I guess that now that the calls have become more strident for an investigation into what took place, Patterson has gone back to familiar territory – that is to blame the PPP…93 per cent of the work was done under APNU,” Jagdeo said.

On Patterson’s claim that 35 per cent of the contract monies were spent by the former PPP/C government, the Opposition Leader noted that the sum represented a mobilization advance – which is normal in contracts.

He said, “The key issue is how did a new contract for a new airport become a rehabilitation project…the change was made by this government.”

VALUE FOR MONEY AUDIT With calls for an audit of the CJIA project having been made by the Parliamentary Opposition and reiterated by

former Public Works Minister, Robeson Benn, earlier this week, Jagdeo welcomed the decision of the Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, to conduct a value for money audit. “I am pleased that the Auditor General has said that an audit will be done,” he said.

On Wednesday (April 24, 2019) Sharma noted that he has the power to conduct the audit whether it is requested or not. And according to the AG, he is currently making preparations for the audit.

According to Sharma, both a value-for-money and an overall financial audit will be conducted into the airport, the US$150 million expansion project and its associated expenditure.

However, he noted that it was too premature to name a definitive date for the start of the audit.

“I would be doing it on my own, because it’s a very important issue right now…

CJIA is part of my audit portfolio,” Sharma said, when asked if Government had approached him to conduct the audit.

In 2012, under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, Guyana secured a US$138 million loan from the China Exim (Export-Import) Bank to fund the expansion and modernisation project, for which the Guyana Government was slated to inject some US$12 million. The initial design of the project was changed by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

The A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC)

when in Opposition had cut the funds the then Government – PPP/C – had allocated for the CJIA expansion.

Even though it inherited and took control of the project almost four years ago, the coalition Government has of late been throwing the blame for the delays at the feet of the former Administration.

According to Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson, in a statement via his social media account on Monday last, the coalition

Government is not at fault as it has done its best to make do. Claiming that the absence of preliminary reports hampered the project, Patterson went on to accuse the former Administration of allowing extra sand filling and determining the cost of the sand.

But former Public Works Minister Robeson Benn had promptly responded, denying claims that the project was not supervised in its early stages and throwing his sup-

port behind calls for “a fullfledged public investigation” into the project.

In a statement on Tuesday, Benn questioned how a fixed-price contract was allowed to deviate to such an extent. He noted that there have been extensive modifications to the project, with the plans for a new standalone terminal building being changed to an Arrival Hall addition to the old terminal building.

He had also noted that instead of eight bridges, Guyana was only getting four. Benn had also observed that the mezzanine floor with escalators to a viewing gallery had been cut out from the construction; and the building’s footprint and actual total square footage are now less than what was contracted for.

ACTING WITH IMPUNITY The Opposition Leader on Thursday (April 25, 2019)

noted Patterson’s response to an audit being done.

Patterson, according to an April 25, 2019 Guyana Chronicle report, said: “Gone are the days when the cry for ‘an investigation’ sends shivers down the backs of public officials. We are in a more enlightened and informed age.”

Jagdeo said, “What intrigued me was what Patterson said….I wonder if this is true…he is saying with all the wrongdoing and investigation does not send shivers down his back….he does not care…this is trying to act with impunity.”

According to him, Patterson cannot be allowed to act with impunity and must answer for his actions.

He noted that there are several projects that Patterson has been managing, including multi-million dollar projects funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, and he will have to answer for his stewardship.

Absence of a GPL Board facilitates ministerial interference

O

pposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, has expressed worry over the fact that Guyana Power and Light (GPL) has been operating since January 2018 without a Board of Directors.

“We have been asking repeatedly why GPL has no functioning board of directors. Is this not a priority?

We have no answers,” he said on Thursday (April 25, 2019) during his weekly news conference.

According to him, the

subject Minister, David Patterson, and the APNU+AFC Coalition Government seem content with the current state of affairs. “They are happy with the state of affairs at because it allows the Minister to make operational decisions and allows interference,” he said.

GPL’s “Corporate Governance Code” states that a functioning Board is imperative for the company’s operation.

The code said that the

“shareholder” which is the state, “shall appoint the members of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer.”

The code said that the “The Board’s objective is to acquire individuals with the skills and experience that can be of assistance in managing the Company’s business. Directors should possess the highest level of personal and professional ethics and integrity and be committed to representing the long –term interests of

stakeholders (including the shareholder). “…they must also have inquisitive and objective perspectives, practical wisdom and mature judgment.

Directors must be willing to devote such time as may be required to carry out their duties and responsibilities effectively.”

Further, the code said that the Board is supposed to hold twelve scheduled meetings per year; special meetings are held as required.

11

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

‘Significant progress made under successive PPP/C administrations to improve welfare of Amerindians’ LEGISLATION

The Amerindian Act 2006 is an embodiment of policies that cover the protection of the general welfare and rights of Indigenous Peoples. It affirms the declaration of rights of indigenous peoples in specific stipulations that include governance, land rights and preservation, and Amerindian heritage.

Passed a year before the UN-DRIP declaration, Guyana’s 2006 Amerindian Act includes key provisions relating to Amerindian people that are not dissimilar, in most instances, from those outlined in the declaration, and has thus been the legal stronghold for Amerindian development.

TOURISM SUPPORT

In 2012, the Ministry financed eco-tourism projects for 19 Villages, each receiving utmost $1.5M. In 2013, twenty villages will be receiving grants at $1.5M each to the eco-tourism industry in their respective regions.

The initial implementation of the first 27 Community Development Plans (CDPs) funded through the GRIF, 11 % account for projects that are related to ecotourism.

HEALTH

The Amerindian Hostel data on inpatients reflect access to medical services at Georgetown Public Hospital thereby reducing further aggravation of health situations of Hinterland patients and providing better access to quality health services; safe and adequate accommodation for patients and welfare cases help ensure the psychological health and general well-being of those that are affected by sickness and other social issues.

The fact that all villages have a health hut/health centre makes access to primary health care easier in villages and thus improving health conditions of villagers.

Amerindian Residence accommodated a total of 7017 patients with their accompanying relatives up to 2014.

The Residence provides a shelter for those patients who have been referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for medical attention.

Over the years, the purpose of this facility had evolved such that the most significant proportion of persons being accommodated is patients and those accompanying them.

The Residence has also expanded its services to encompass persons in difficult situations including Domestic Violence, Trafficking in Persons, labour issues, discharged prisoners or any other similar situation.

The Maternity waiting room at the Amerindian Hostel was constructed at a cost of $1.2M. The aim of the new facility is in keeping with Government’s commitment to ensure the safety of mothers and their babies and to ensure that every mother and child have access to adequate health care and provided with the best care and treatment.

SOLAR PANEL AND ENERGY ACCESS

A total of 11, 000 solar panels were installed across all the regions. A mini-hydro power plant is about to be constructed in Cheung Mouth River to supply renewable energy to Region 8 villages.

An additional 6000 solar panels are being procured for distribution to additional communities including some riverine communities CORE HOMES/HOME SUBSIDIES

A sum of $107.2M was spent on home improvement and 127 Core home were completed in the hinterlands

GOVERNANCE

Every year since the passing of the Amerindian Act, MoAA hosted the Annual National Toshaos Council Meeting (with an average budget of $50 M) to build capacity on: • Best practices in governance that includes transparency and accountability (audits); • Improved leadership for Toshaos and Village Councils in accordance to the Amerindian Act 2006; • Improved Community Management geared towards a holistic approach in Community Development; • Promoting dialog with government officials for the advancement of Amerindian welfare and total development of Amerindian villages; • Providing an opportunity for All Amerindian elected leaders to be able to have dialogue and exchanges on development priorities which challenges them; and • To provide a platform for the Amerindian Leaders have direct access to Government Ministers to dialogue on development challenges in various sectors and finding solutions ADF-GRIF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS

A total of 187 Amerindian Villages and Communities were considered for economic projects under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) - Guyana REDD+Investment Fund (GRIF).

Some US$6.3M from GRIF is allotted for said projects under the Amerindian Development Fund (ADF).

Twenty- Seven (27) projects from across all regions have been chosen for the initial implementation of the project which has commenced early part of 2013 with a budget of US$1.8M. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of all the projects are in agriculture with the aim of securing Amerindian livelihoods.

ADF Project Management Unit were up and running to facilitate full implementation of 160 CDPs. CULTURE

The preservation and promotion of Amerindian heritage is germane to Amerindian’s identity. The cultural activities have been the media for Amerindian culture to be accepted and understood by other groups in Guyana, at the same time, an avenue for all Amerindians to celebrate their heritage and embrace their indigenous roots and identity.

By continuing to protect Amerindian culture, Amerindians are able to understand the significance of their dances, languages, practices, local knowledge, cuisine, crafts, songs, and literature to the total development of their villages. The government is cognizant of the fact that culture is one of the pillars of sustainable development, and without it, and then development is not fully achieved.

Some $25M was spent on average annually in for Amerindian Heritage Celebrations to promote traditions, values, literature , dances of Amerindians. Another $6M was spent annually for other cultural activities The Initiatives include: Arawak Revival Language Project launched in Capoey; Support to Cultural Expo (North Pakaraimas) - $5M; and Support to cultural groups of Aisalton ($1.4M) and Santa Rosa ($7M) OTHER INVESTMENTS

• Mining including gold, diamond, various metals, bauxite • Forestry • Agriculture • Information Communication and Technology- 99 hubs were completed by 2014 to accommodate the computers 20 in number to commence the computer literacy training of youths, women and residents including children.

LAND OWNERSHIP

Prior to 1992, 74 communities were titled. Since, then 24 more villages were granted titles, thereby bringing the total of titled villages to 98, seventy-seven of which had been demarcated.

Six (6) titles were to be approved prior to May 2015 and seven (7) extension were investigated and in preparation for approval While Indigenous people in many Countries have right of use of the Land only, in Guyana where the Indigenous People account for approximately 9.7% of the population, Amerindians own land, including the forests resources within their Titled Lands.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT/SUPPORT

The MoAA has launched the Youth Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP) aimed to train young Amerindians while employing them at the same time and become powerful partners in development.

Some $200M was spent on YEAP in 2013. Focus was placed on developing 2,000 Community Support Officers (CSOs) participate productively in Education, Health, and Social Welfare, Community Development, Culture, ICT, Infrastructure and small business.

The CSOs received training in various areas, including: • Management of Photovoltaic System • Management of Basic ICT hardware • Governance & Amerindian Act • Youth Voices for Climate Change (Sponsored by the US Embassy/Caribbean Development Bank educate youths on the importance of Climate Change and its impact in the Caribbean) • Business & Sustainable Development • Various aspect of the Community Development Project training The Youth Apprenticeship Programme was aimed at training young Amerindians while employing them at the same time is a medium to empower the young as partners in national development. These youths will be our partners in the implementation of CDPs and other socio-economic activities that are taking place in the villages now. The inclusion of the young in gearing their villages towards progress by letting them participate productively in technical, mechanical, computer, and agricultural activities will definitely enhance the capacity of the villages’ human resources.

AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT

Tractors, farm implements, fertilizers, acoushi ant bait, irrigation systems, and other infrastructures provided for villages every year An average of $50M per year was given in agricultural support for various villages through the years COMMUNICATION

Computer Accessibility through 100 computer hubs commenced in 2013. Some $287.7M was allotted for solar systems for ICT hubs; and 57,000 person-beneficiaries.

As at 2014: 72 of these hubs are completed;9 hubs near completion and the HUBs were constructed into Regions of 1, 7, 8 and 9.

All villages now have radio sets for fast communication, each one costs $500,000 Telecommunication facilities built in Mabaruma, Port Kaituma, Red Hill, Morucca, Aishalton, Annai, Lethem, Ominaik, and Mahdia, thus improving communication in the hinterlands!

12

Granger does another shuffle with Ministers - Patterson-Yearwood, Broomes moved - Two new portfolios created

E

mbattled Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Patterson-Yearwood, has been reassigned.

The announcement was made on Thursday (April 25, 2019) via a statement released by the Ministry of the Presidency.

Patterson-Yearwood will not serve as Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture with responsibility for Rural Affairs.

The now former Housing

Minister was at the center of controversy after it was exposed that her husband benefited from contracts at her Ministry. The Minister married Godfrey Yearwood on August 16, 2017. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Central Housing & Planning Authority (CH&PA) Lelon Saul has admitted that the issuance of contracts to Godfrey Yearwood, the husband of Housing Minister Valerie Adams-Yearwood, should be reviewed since a conflict of interest exists.

Meanwhile, Junior Public Infrastructure Minister, Annette Ferguson will now serve as Minister in the Ministry of Communities, with responsibility for Housing Junior Natural Resources Minister, Simona Broomes, was also removed from her Ministry. She will now serve as Minister in the Ministry of the Presidency with responsibility for Youth Affairs.

No reasons were offered for the changes in the ministerial appointments.

In addition to the creation of the two new portfolios – Youth Affairs and Rural Affairs.

Cathy Hughes’ Ministry gave her company contracts worth millions ‒ Videomega Productions also cashed in from other ministries

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

ExxonMobil adds third drillship to fleet

A

s US oil giant ExxonMobil continues to discover more oil offshore Guyana, it has added another drillship to its existing fleet of three to increase its capacity.

The new drillship, Noble Don Taylor is presently working for Talos Energy in the Gulf of Mexico. Already, the Noble Bob Douglas and the Noble Tom Madden are in Guyana, along with the Stena Carron.

Last week, Exxon announced its 13th discovery offshore Guyana at the Yellowtail-1 well. The announcement came a mere two months after the US supermajor made double oil discoveries at the Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 wells in the south-west section of the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1, located some six miles north-west of the Tilapia discovery, encountered approximately 292 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. According to a press release from ExxonMobil, it was drilled to a depth of 18,445 feet (5622 metres) in 6046 feet (1843 metres) of water.

The Noble Tom Madden began drilling the Yellowtail well on March 27 and it will next drill the Hammerhead-2 well.

This latest discovery adds to the previously announced estimated recoverable resource of approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels on the Stabroek Block. Yellowtail-1 is the fifth discovery in the Turbot area, which ExxonMobil expects to become a major development hub.

The Stena Carron is currently completing a well test at the Longtail-1 discovery and upon completion will next drill the Hammerhead-3 well. Later in 2019, the Stena Carron will drill a second well at the Ranger discovery.

The Noble Bob Douglas drillship is currently completing development drilling operations for the Liza Phase 1 development.

ExxonMobil has previously said that there is potential for at least five floating productions, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels on the Stabroek Block producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.

Start-up of the Liza Phase 1 development is on track to begin by the first quarter of 2020 and will produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day, utilising the Liza Destiny FPSO, which is expected to arrive in the country in the third quarter.

Liza Phase 2 is expected to start up by mid-2022. A final investment decision is expected soon, subject to Government and regulatory approvals. Upon approval, the project plans to use the Liza Unity FPSO to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day. Sanctioning of a third development, Payara, is also expected in 2019, with startup projected for 2023.

The Stabroek Block is 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometres). ExxonMobil affiliate, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, is operator and holds 45 per cent interest in the Stabroek Block.

Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd holds 30 per cent interest and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, holds 25 per cent interest.

No amount of lawsuits will remove questions about Cathy Hughes' conflict of interest Dear Editor,

T

he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has received information that, contrary to the claims made by Minister Cathy Hughes, several contracts were awarded by her own Ministry to her company, Videomega Productions.

The Minister’s company made the news after it was disclosed that the company was benefiting from government contracts and conflict of interests concerns were raised.

Notably, Minister Hughes, on April 15, 2019, in response to queries about a conflict of interest, said: “I have taken no decision in my capacity as Minister of Public Telecommunications or in my personal capacity which has been the subject of a conflict of interest.”

However, in Hughes’ Ministry of Public Telecommunications three contracts were awarded to her company, Videomega Productions: 1. June 4, 2018 – Advertisement of Vacancies - $939,738 2. June 25, 2018 – Facebook Page - $119,670 3. September 21, 2018 – CTU/ITC Roadshow

2018 - $2,291, 128 Videomega Productions benefited, also, from another five contracts awarded by other ministries.

Ministry of Public Infrastructure: 4. September 19, 2018 – Television advertisement - $256,500 Ministry of Business: 5. September 28, 2018 – Video for Caribbean Tourism Diaspora Forum - $198,800 Ministry of Education: 6. July 12, 2018 – Video Production $1,487,700 Ministry of Natural Resources: 7. May 25, 2018 – Artwork - $1,420,115 Ministry of Public Health: 8. July 27, 2018 – Advertisement - $3,592,236 In the space of just about four months, Videomega Production cashed in on over $10.3M.

I

have learnt that Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes has indicated her intentions to take legal actions against the Stabeok News, Annan Goolsaran and Gail Teixeira for public comments they made about an apparent conflict of interest, where her company, Video Mega Production has been receiving contracts from the government of which she is a serving minister.

Editor, this kind asinine approach by a public official is nothing short of an attempt to silence those who sought to expose the nepotism that perpetuate the APNU/AFC government.

Minister Hughes, is claiming that the she ceded her involvement in the company and the utterances of those I named above have hurt her reputation. But, if the minister wants to remove any doubt and clear her name, then the honorable thing to do is to provide the public with documented evidence that she has handed over the company to Russel Lancaster and others, she no longer benefits financially from Video Mega Production and that she

had no role to play in the company receiving contracts from the state.

I also challenge the minister to release her submissions to the Integrity Commission, which can be one of the simplest of ways to show she no longer benefits from the company.

To attempt to use the courts as a means to silence those who have reasons to believe there is indeed conflict of linterest without first providing evidence that will vindicate the Minister, can only been seen as an attempt to deflect attention.

Editor, I wish to reiterate that until such time Minister Hughes can prove publicly that she played no role (even if it's a phone call or the mere fact she is listed as a director of the company)as it relates to the contracts her company, Video Mega Production receive from the government if which she is a senior minister, I have every reason to believe this entire fiasco is reeked of Conflict of Interest and Nepotism.

Yours Respectfully, Eddy Layne

13

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

PPP requests suspension of all GECOM statutory meetings until CCJ ruling T

he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) statutory meeting held on Tuesday (April 23, 2019) ended abruptly. The Parliamentary Opposition-nominated Commissioners requested that the meetings be put on hold until the challenges related to the vote on the no-confidence motion are ruled on by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The CCJ has already set dates – May 8 to 10, 2019 – for hearing the matters.

With no agreement on the proposal and with the continued push for a new national House-to-House registration – something that has been vehemently objected to by the Parliamentary Opposition – the three Opposition-nominated Commissioners walked out of the meeting.

President David Granger’s unilaterally appointed GECOM Chairman, James Patterson, has insisted that the statutory meetings will continue.

The last seven statutory meetings have all seen a stalemate between the Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners and the four Government aligned parties – the three Government-nominated Commissioners and the GECOM Chairman – on the issue of a new national House-to-House registration.

Training of staff to conduct the new national Houseto-House registration has already commenced, with plans for the process to start in June.

Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Bibi Shaddick, in commenting

$3.5B to give for any election. So, the game is being

date is still to be set by Guyana’s High Court in the case challenging the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) planned move to a new national house-to-house registration, which could also see the de-registration of thousands of Guyanese nationals.

A Guyanese pensioner who moves between Guyana and the United Kingdom (UK), Bibi Zeenatoun, last week, called on the High Court to ensure that her rights are not infringed on via the push for Houseto-House Registration.

With the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) likely to hand down the final decision in the challenge

ment is saying we don’t have to have an election in 2019.

We will have elections in 2020.”

FACT SHEET

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

CURRENT LIST OF ELECTORS IS VALID The APNU+AFC Coalition has been calling for house-to-house registration, claiming that the list is not ‘sanitised’ and that young people – first time voters - will be disenfranchised since their names would not be on the list.

on Tuesday’s developments said, “House-to-house registration is not constitutional… it is not the law, Continuous registration is law…these people are playing with us.”

Meanwhile, the fact that the order paper for the April 26, 2019 sitting of the National Assembly has been sent out with no mention of any funds being sought for GECOM has not gone unnoticed by the Opposition.

Shaddick has expressed concern over this telling omission. She noted that this was despite Government promising to put GECOM’s funding on the parliamentary agenda at the next sitting.

She said, “Interestingly, and I pointed this out at our meeting today (Tuesday, April 23, 2019), the President had promised one of the first things on his parliamentary agenda was to get funds in the amount of $3.5 billion to GECOM. The order paper has no such thing on it. I said until we know the tasks that we have to follow, meetings should be held until after the decision.

“I am certain the Minister of Finance doesn’t have

No date set in case objecting to planned de-registration of Guyanese by GECOM

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played and I won’t be a part of it. Basically, the Govern-

to the vote on the no-confidence motion, GECOM continues its push for house-to-house registration. And despite objections, new national houseto-house registration is set to commence in June 2019, according to GECOM officials.

Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, filed legal proceedings against the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, and GECOM on her behalf.

In the Court documents filed, Zeenatoun, is seeking several things from the court, including: • A declaration that the proposed House to House (Turn to page 22)

So what are the facts? » Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission, Keith Lowenfield, on February 5, 2019, declared that the List of Electors was, in fact, clean. » GECOM, less than four months ago, conducted a Local Government Elections on November 12, 2018 with the current List of Electors. None of the political parties, or independent groups and candidates, objected to the List that was used. There were no challenges based on the List of Voters that was used either. » The claim that first time voters being disenfranchised is another fallacy. The Coalition Government argues that persons who turned 18-years-old are not on the Voters’ List. The fact is that the Voters’ List has been updated during several cycles of Continuous Registration that were conducted by GECOM. So there is little chance of young persons, who are eligible to vote, being left off the Voters’ List. » The current Voters’ List was derived from a ‘Continuous Registration, Claims and Objections’ process, which ended October 2018. After such a process the List becomes valid for six months. The current List will expire on April 30, 2019. » Once a cycle of Continuous Registration has commenced anyone who will be 14-years-old or older by that time and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalization, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, is eligible for registration during this exercise. During this registration exercise, persons who are eligible for registration are required to visit one of GECOM’s 28 Registration Offices across the 10 Regions, to apply for registration. » Not allowing someone who attained the age of 14 at the time that the cycle of Continuous Registration commenced to register is an offence. Section 6 of the National Registration Act, Chapter, 19:08, makes it obligatory for persons who meet the registration criteria to apply for registration. Persons eligible for registration could be prosecuted, fined and/or even sent to prison for failing or refusing to apply for registration. In the case of eligible persons under the age of 18 years by the qualifying date, the parents/guardians could be prosecuted for failure/refusal to apply for registration. » Article 42 of the Constitution provides entitlement for citizens of Guyana to be so registered. » GECOM’s website states: “Subsequent to the 2001 General and Regional Elections, political parties had agitated for legislative changes which would ensure that a new system of voter registration guarantees Guyanese in general, but more specifically their own supporters, their Constitutional right to be registered and vote at future General, Regional and Local Government Elections. This led to the introduction of Continuous Registration with two primary objectives i.e. (1) introducing a system which would ensure that all eligible persons are afforded unlimited opportunities to become registered on the National Register of Registrants Database and (2), ensuring that GECOM is in a perpetual state of preparedness which would enable it to respond to calls for elections in a timely manner thus guaranteeing eligible persons their Constitutional right to become registered in accordance with the relevant legal provisions and to cast their ballots at future General, Regional and Local Government Elections.” » GECOM is a creature of the Constitution. As an autonomous agency its responsibility is to comply with the Constitution – in this case that means readying itself for General and Regional Elections, which are due by March 21, 2019, following the successful passage of the no-confidence motion that resulted in the fall of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. » Article 162 (1) of the Constitution states clearly that: “The Elections Commission shall have such functions connected with or relating to the registration of electors or the conduct of elections as are conferred upon it by or under this Constitution or, subject thereto, any Act of Parliament; and, subject to the provisions (of ) this Constitution, the Commission – a) shall exercise general direction and supervision over the registration of electors and the administrative conduct of all elections of members of the National Assembly; and b) shall issue such instructions and take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness and compliance with the provisions of this Constitution or of any Act of Parliament on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with or relating to the matters aforesaid.”

DESPITE THESE FACTS, THE APNU+AFC COALITION HAS BEEN INSTIGATING THEIR SUPPORTERS TO ECHO A MISPLACED CALL FOR A HOUSE-HOUSE REGISTRATION. THE POSITION TAKEN BY THE APNU+AFC COALITION IS A CLEAR PLOY TO DELAY CONSTITUTIONALLY DUE GENERAL AND REGIONAL ELECTIONS.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

PPP/C Presidential Candidate joins scores of Guyanese for Easter celebrations

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

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Ali continues national outreach Irfaan Ali, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate, on Wednesday (April 24, 2019) continued his national outreach – meeting with residents of Karamat, Mora Point (BURMA) at a community meeting.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

PPP/C details priorities to be included in Manifesto ahead of General and Regional Elections The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders is working on a detailed Manifesto, which will elaborate on the Party’s policies for improving the lives of all Guyanese.

Some of the priority actions of the next PPP/C Government will be to: 1. Restore– the $10,000 cash grant to school children. The APNU+AFC took away $1.67B per year, a total of $8.35B from Guyanese children.

2. Reinstate the water subsidies to pensioners. The APNU+AFC removed $500M in subsidies per year amounting to a $2.5B burden that had to be paid by our elderly.

3. Reverse VAT on essential services including water, electricity, and health care. The APNU+AFC imposed this on Citizens which led to billions in tax collection from Guyanese people and escalated the cost of living.

4. Reopen the closed sugar estates. Over 7,000 persons lost their jobs directly and another 4,000 lost their livelihoods indirectly.

5. Restore zero-rated VAT for machinery and equipment for agricultural, mining and forestry industries. For example, a tractor or excavator now attracts in excess of $5M in additional taxes.

6. Reverse cost of license and permits for doing business and accessing Government services. The APNU + AFC increased over 200 fees, e.g. vending licenses increased from $12,500 to a burdensome $65,000. This, added to the cost of living, hampered small business development.

7. Reverse land rents and drainage and irrigation charges. These have moved up in varying degrees, from $2,500 to $293,000 per acre, a policy that is suffocating many sectors including agriculture and tourism.

8. Remove age limits on vehicles. The APNU+AFC added at least $1M to the cost per vehicle, an unnecessary hardship for those aspiring to own a vehicle, especially young people.

9. Remove the restriction on used tyres. The imposition of this restriction increased the cost of tyres by 300%.

10. Reverse VAT on exports.

11. Reverse VAT on building materials.

12. Reinstate the joint services bonus. The APNU+AFC in a Grinch-like move took away the Christmas bonus from the joint services.

13. Remove VAT on data. The APNU+AFC has taxed the internet and your cell phone data.

14. Reverse the 2 A.M curfew. The arrogant implementation of this measure has not helped to address the noise nuisance issue and has affected quality of life and hurt job creation and businesses.

In addition to correcting these draconian impositions, the next PPP/C Government pledges to: 1. Create 50,000 jobs in the first five years.

2. Assist small businesses through the implementation of programmes to help small businesses grow by providing technical advice, small grants, loans, and training for workers. Women entrepreneurship will receive special attention.

3. Deliver 8,000 to 10,000 new house lots per year.

4. Implement a programme for affordable financing for home ownership.

5. Deliver quality health care and end drug shortages.

6. Improve the quality of and access to education at every level including offering 20,000 persons online University education.

7. Implement measures to expand the capability and increase the effectiveness of the security forces so that people can once again feel protected in their homes, on the streets and in workplaces.

8. Create conditions for our young people to prosper, realise their dreams and to involve them in all levels of Government.

9. Ensure better working conditions and remuneration for teachers, healthcare workers and other public servants.

10. Improve infrastructure (roads, wharves, bridges, airstrips, drainage etc) in Georgetown, other Towns and Villages across Guyana.

11. Extend and improve Government services and ICT on the Coast and in the Hinterland.

12. Ensure that revenue from Oil and Gas is not squandered and stolen and leads to the improvement of the lives of ALL GUYANESE. 13. Create the conditions and strengthen the institutions to expand and protect the civil, cultural and human rights of all Guyanese.

14. Improve governance, including expanding and strengthening measures aimed at fighting corruption.

15. Protect our national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The PPP/C has said that it is time to restore Guyana to the path of progress and prosperity.

Since taking office, the APNU+AFC cabal has put forward five budgets, spent $1.3 trillion, borrowed US $ 900M and increased taxes by approximately $88B per annum.

They are spending every year $1.6 B more for food allowances, $1.1B more for rentals, $1.2B more for local travel among other things, as part of their extravagant lifestyle. Meanwhile over 30,000 Guyanese have lost their jobs. The cost of living has skyrocketed and health care, education and quality of life have deteriorated rapidly.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

City Hall in Focus

Continuous control of the City Council by the PNC followed by the PNC/APNU/ AFC coalition has proven disastrous

By Bishram Kuppen

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s part of our responsibilities as People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Councillors with the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), we keep citizens updated on important issues which affects us all who live, work and do business in Georgetown.

Without a doubt, it requires great patience and tolerance to sit for hours around the horseshoe table of the Georgetown City Council and listen to some of the statements, explanations or excuses presented by Officers and Councillors especially as it relates to important and urgent matters and without such lengthy engagements culminating in profound or wholesome solutions. One of the troubling issues discussed for a lengthy period at the last statutory meeting was the Council’s failure to provide consistent and efficient garbage removal services to citizens and businesses.

CRISIS LOOMING AGAIN Recently, citizens saw a buildup of garbage in many areas which led to heated responses on social media and caused a serious backlash to the Council. Photographs and videos surfaced of garbage overflowing the skip bins in several areas which were not emptied for some time. Mayor Ubraj Narine and the Solid Waste Director Walter Narine blamed the garbage buildup on a punctured tyre of the only working tractor in the Council’s vehicles inventory. They had subsequently found a replacement tyre for the tractor and resumed picking up the overflowing garbage.

But it gets worse! At the statutory meeting on Monday, Councillors were advised by the Solid Waste Director Walter Narine that the Council’s only truck which is used to pick up the garbage compactors from various areas including Stabroek Market was not operational due to mechanical problems and it was in the workshop for repairs. He also stated that he was unsure when the repairs would be completed on that vehicle.

As unbelievable as that sounds, it is enough to make any sensible person cringe in disbelief that an organization as large as the City Council which is responsible for the removal of garbage from an extensive area which stretches from Liliandaal to Agricola and where over two hundred thousand residents and also businesses rely on that service, would only have one tractor and one truck at its disposal for this humongous responsibility. There is no contingency plan in place for emergencies either, as we discovered at the meeting.

The lengthy discussions centered around a number of proposals including one supported by the Town Clerk (ag) and Solid Waste Director to hire another small garbage contractor to assist with garbage removal, to

urgently buy a tractor using money from the government subvention, or to repair the vehicles currently in the workshop. In the end, a decision was made to repair the vehicles and to temporarily hire a specialized truck from one of the main contractors to pick up the compactors while the small contractors and the Solid Waste Department will cover any gaps in service.

It is important to recall that the City Council had outsourced all garbage removal services for a number of years to Cevon Waste Management and Puran Brothers at a monthly cost of approximately thirty three million dollars ($33M) to the Council. There were also separate contracts for Cevon Waste Management to clean Stabroek and Bourda Markets at a substantial monthly cost. Even with this high level of costly outsourcing, the Solid Waste Department still employs 38 sanitation workers. In addition, the Markets Department employs 31 sanitation workers according to the records. Many questions will arise from this information and that is why I had called for a manpower audit in the past to assess the relevancy of workers and to check for redundancy but the Council is not interested in pursuing this course of action or to have such information scrutinized by a

PPP/C Councillor.

Most citizens should be aware that the City Council had been using two solid waste contractors for many years to remove garbage from around the City. Those two companies, Cevon’s Waste Management and Puran Brothers have been doing a reasonably good job over the years according to many residents. However, there were a number of service interruptions over the years due to the City Council failing to pay those contractors on time. The contractors had decided to withdraw their services in 2017 and 2018 due to large amounts of money in excess of one hundred millions dollars being owed to them for lengthy periods.

The contractors had claimed they could not continue to pick up garbage without being paid because they had many employees to pay and also massive business overhead expenses to deal with. The Council on the other hand was claiming that they could not afford to pay the contractors even though the Council had willingly entered into legal contracts with the two contractors for a five-year period which will expire in 2020. Many meetings were held during the years by the Council and the contractors to resolve the payment issues but no

permanent solutions were found and the two main contractors are still owed a substantial amount of money.

The contractors were owed over two hundred million dollars in 2017 and the government had later intervened and paid the contractors through a negotiated settlement of that debt. In 2018, the debts again began to accumulate and became overdue and so the two contractors had withdrawn their services. As a result, the Council had made a decision to hire four small garbage contractors to deal with garbage removal and also to use the Council’s Solid Waste Department to fill any gaps created by the withdrawal of Cevon Waste Management and Puran Brothers services. In addition the Council had also later arranged for the two main contractors to perform services at a reduced level and at reduced rates according to the Solid Waste Director Walter Narine but those two contractors still have not been paid.

Both the City Council and the contractors had sought independent legal advise to determine which party was in breach of the contracts. As expected, the attorneys representing each side gave differing opinions but which favored their clients. But neither side took any formal legal action to bring the issue before the courts, so the issue is currently in limbo. The Town Clerk (ag) had originally sought the legal opinion of the Attorney General many months ago but he has not yet responded to the Town Clerk’s request.

Overshadowing this entire situation is the fact that the City Council is also in a financial crisis where many contractors are still owed, former employees are owed gratuities and pensions, credit union and GRA contributions are still not up to date, and other creditors are also owed money for a combined total of billions of dollars in debt. In addition, the City Council’s payroll inclusive of employment overhead was approximately $147 million for March 2019 which represented approximately eighty percent (80%) of total reported expenditures.

From the foregoing information alone, it is clear that the continuous control of the City Council by the PNC followed by the PNC/ APNU/AFC coalition has proven disastrous for the effective management and solvency of the Council and also the best interests of the citizens of Georgetown since many mandated services are not performed consistently or effectively.

The People’s Progressive Party’s call for a complete overhaul of the Georgetown City Council is the only route that will prove to be the catalyst for a renewal of the City of Georgetown and for our citizens to finally benefit from their financial contributions (rates & taxes and government/taxpayer subventions) to the Council.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

APNU+AFC gov’t forcing fictions on the Guyanese people

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fter three years since taking office, the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, published a list of 231 so called ‘achievements’ in May 2018.

However, a close look at the list, revealed Government’s desperation in trying to find ‘successes’. For example, the Government claimed “lower electricity rates” as an achievement, but listed this one point at least two times in the list of 231. A second example shows that the

1. FICTION: Four Budgets in three years FACT: All four budgets introduced policies that negatively impacted working class Guyanese and the productive sectors. Over 200 new taxes and fees were introduced. Others were increased astronomically.

4. FICTION: Youth skills training provided through BIT, HEYS FACT: The BIT is a PPP/C initiative. HEYS was introduced by the APNU+AFC Government, then the decision was made to scrap it.

Notably, HEYS had replaced the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP), which was an initiative under the former PPP/C government. When the Coalition Government took power, the 1972 Amerindian community service officers who were part of the YEAP programme were fired.

7. FICTION: Created over 5000 jobs FACT: Since May 2015, over 25,000 Guyanese have lost their jobs. Government’s claim of creating over 5,000 jobs has been challenged. To date, the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has not responded and has not said where these 5,000 jobs were created.

10. FICTION: State Assets Recovery Unit set up FACT: SARA did not legally exist until May 2018.

The State Assets Recovery Act was only assented to by President David Granger on May 4, 2018 – over one year after it was passed in the National Assembly by a government majority, despite objections voiced by the Parliamentary Opposition.

As such, queries have been raised about SARA’s operations prior to Granger’s move to assent to the SARA Act – specifically as it relates to how monies were allocated to the State Assets Recovery Agency for the year 2018 Budget to acquire an office at Lot 56 Main and New Market Streets, SARA letterhead, staff, etc., prior to that date (May 4, 2018), when the agency did not legally exist?”

APNU+AFC Coalition claimed the work of private companies as their own success, when it listed “4G internet” in its list of 231. The work to bring better internet services to the Guyanese people was done by the private telecommunications companies.

This week, the Mirror, by simply looking at 30 of the Government’s claims, will expose the FICTIONS peddled by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and will detail the actual facts.

2. FICTION: $50,000 Christmas Bonus in 2015 and $25,000 Christmas Bonus in 2016 FACT: No attention has been given to increasing the salaries of public servants – teachers, policemen, nurses, etc. since the APNU+AFC Government took office. The two bonuses were one-off payments for only two years.

5. FICTION: Sugar industry right-sized fo5r self sufficiency through diversification FACT: There have been no efforts in the direction of diversification. While government said it has “right-sized” the sugar industry, all it did was close down major sugar estates – leaving thousands of sugar workers on the breadline – in the worst mass firing in Guyana’s history.

3. FICTION: Training opportunities for GuySuCo workers FACT: No substantive support has been given to the 7000+ sugar workers who were fired by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. Government’s unwillingness to support the sacked sugar workers has been evidence in the fact that the government broke the law and did not pay the workers their full severance. It was seen again when Government refused to say if was informing the sacked sugar workers that millions were available under the Sustainable Livelihood and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme, which is supposed to provide financial support for entrepreneurial ventures and create income-generating opportunities, etc.

6. FICTION: Reduce the sugar industry dependence on the national coffers

FACT: There has been no move in this direction, not even the start of a feasibility study to assess such a plan.

FACT: The sugar industry’s dependence on the national coffers has not been reduced. In fact the national treasury is exposed with the borrowing of $30B, via bonds issued at 4.75 per cent, since the borrowing has been backed by a government-guarantee.

11. FICTION: Special organized Crime Unit operational

9. FICTION: Lower Electricity rates

FACT: Three years of being operations under the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, not a single case against money launderers has been advanced. SOCU has only been involved in cases filed against former government officials, one of which has already been thrown out of the courts. Also, in the case SOCU brought against GBTI, the expert witness fielded by the Unit was also rejected by courts, which ruled that the ‘expert’ was in fact ‘no expert’.

SOCU has been involved in a number of controversial operations. These include the high-profile car chase of the wife of a People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), which resulted in the death of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Sergeant Robert Pyle and his wife Stacy, along with another civilian in a smash-up on Carifesta Avenue in December 2015 – an incident that remains the subject of many unanswered questions.

The Unit’s establishment was part of Guyana's international obligations to strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework and was intended to support the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The mandate of the SOCU, as acknowledged in the protocols, is to address investigations, detection and preparation of criminal investigative reports and case files for prosecutions of financial crimes, including money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Little to nothing has been done by SOCU, under the current APNU+AFC Government, which fits the reason for SOCU’s establishment.

FACT: Electricity rates were subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) in 2017, meaning that electricity costs were increased, not lowered.

8. FICTION: Plans to bridge Essequibo River

12. FICTION: Outstanding court settlement paid FACT: Court settlements have been subject to intense questioning, as it relates to the how these settlements were reached. The last big court settlement related to the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) matter. The sum owed by DDL, according to the GRA assessment, was $5.392B from 2001 to 2006. The settlement saw DDL paying only $1.5B and also writes off all possible liabilities in respect of Excise Tax up to March 9, 2016. Since then, Banks DIH has filed a case against the Coalition government, saying that DDL was given special treatment. In the meantime, several questions asked about the DDL settlement remain unanswered. The questions asked include: Was an assessment of DDL’s liabilities in respect of Excise Tax for the period 2006 to 2016 done and what was the sum of that liability?; Who negotiated the settlement?; Is it legal? Was the settlement approved by Cabinet or the Board of the GRA?; On what principles was the sum of $1.5B arrive at? And How many other deals have been concluded or are being negotiated?

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

APNU+AFC gov’t forcing fictions on the Guyanese people 13. FICTION: New Guyana Election Chairman appointed FACT: The 84-year-old GECOM Chairman was unilaterally and un-constitutionally appointed, in breach of 25 years of practice and common understanding of the constitutional procedures that have to be followed for such an appointment to be made.

14. FICTION: The establishment of three new towns FACT: The towns were established without consultation and in some cases encroached on titled Amerindian Lands in breach of laws --and showing that the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has no qualms about breaking the laws of Guyana.

15. FICTION: Improved education attainment FACT: The 2017 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Guyana – released by the United States of America’s (USA) State Department – underscores a major failure of the APNU+AFC Coalition government. Page 11 of the 207 report states that: “The standard of living in indigenous communities was lower than that of most citizens, and they had limited access to education and health care.”

In contrast, the 2015 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Guyana, on page 14, said: “All indigenous communities had primary schools, and as of 2012, there were 13 secondary schools in remote regions. All indigenous communities had school dormitories that housed students at government’s expense. Government programmes trained health workers, who staffed health facilities in most communities.”

16. FICTION: Free transportation for school children FACT: A total of $1.7B was taken away from public schools when the $10,000 cash grant was scrapped. The APNU+AFC Coalition Government says it has provided buses, but these do not serve all public school children. The cash grant was given to every public school child.

17. FICTION: Provision of medical equipment FACT: Shortages continue to be reported. And with the dust barely settled over the $632M drugs and medical supplies procurement scandal, sole-sourcing of $366.9M of drugs and medical supplies in 2017 has once again brought into question decisions by the Ministry of Public Health – and the likely of increasing corruption at that Ministry. As was the case with the spending of $605M, the Ministry – headed by Volda Lawrence – claims that the spending of the $366.9M was to cover emergency expenditures. Documents revealed that a company, HDM Labs Inc. – owned by a supporter of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government – was handpicked over three others that went through tendering process.

18. FICTION: De-politicized the National Toshaos Council FACT: The NTC is not a political body. It is the elected body that represents Amerindians in Guyana. As such, claims of de-politicizing the NTC have been viewed as APNU+AFC rhetoric.

19. FICTION: Extended the Amerindian Land Titling (ALT) programme FACT: Not a single Amerindian village has received a land title under the APNU+AFC Coalition Government. Minister of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Sydney Allicock, admitted that he failed to do any work with the ALT programme, which gave the indigenous people legal rights to their communities. “I have not been able to title any village,” Allicock had said in May 2018.

Notably, after taking office, the 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.

A total of US$10.7M was earned by the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government and left for the purpose of completing the ALT programme.

20. FICTION: Piracy smashed FACT: Less than two months ago, a piracy attack led to several deaths of local fishermen.

The bodies of some of the fishermen have still not been found.

21. FICTION: Major criminal gangs smashed, members prosecuted FACT: There has been no such report. Also, no cases in Guyana’s court have substantiated this claim.

22. FICTION: Crime rate down FACT: As of June 2018, a whopping 304 cases of robbery under arms, where firearms were used, were recorded at the end of June 2018, marking an increase compared to last year. Another 116 cases of robbery under arms, where other instruments were used, were also recorded for that month. There were also 28 other cases of robberies, as well as 73 cases of robbery with violence. Robbery with aggravation cases numbered 30. Larceny from persons numbered 62, while burglary cases totaled 112 and break an entry with larceny totaled 498. In total these cases numbered 1,223. There were 44 murders. The APNU+AFC Coalition Government continues to come in for criticisms over its inaction to address the current crime rate.

23. FICTION: Establishment of the Department of Environment FACT: There is no Department of Environment as of July 2018.

24. FICTION: Freedom of the Press restored FACT: The Guyana Press Association has blasted Coalition gov’t over ‘unmistakable’ signals of Executive control since it took office.

The Association cited other acts that include: The continued role of the Director of Public Information as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited, publishers of the Guyana Chronicle; Direction from a senior government Minister on coverage of his office to the Editor- in-Chief; Direction being given to the Chronicle for stories sent for his approval once it has to do with his office or the PNC, the main party in the governing Coalition; and weekly meetings of the Prime Minister with senior executives of the state media.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

The Bottom Line – A look at issues affecting cost of living in Guyana

MMA-ADA transfers Berbice co-op lands for housing project ‒ Farmers’ lease still valid

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embers of a co-op society are calling for the repossession of lands at Trafalgar, West Coast Berbice (WCB), which were leased by the Mahaica Mahaicony Abary – Agricultural Development Authority (MMAADA) back in 2006 and then permission was inexplicably given for persons to operate on the land, even though the previous lease was still valid.

Head of the Co-op Society and Councillor of the Region Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Lloyda Angus explained that the lease was granted for persons to utilise three plots of land after registering with the Friendly Society Organisation. Shares were sold and 30 persons obtained a spot to conduct economic and agricultural activities. The lease was valid for some 50 years.

“We formed ourselves into a co-operative where we sold shares and we embarked on projects like beekeeping, poultry, sewing and so on.

That lease was valid for 50 years and I signed as the les-

see,” she explained.

However, in 2015, the office was visited by a group of APNU supporters, who demanded that she hand over the key to the building, indicating that they would be the new occupants. Angus said she was also told to relinquish the lease documents.

She said, “In 2015, the APNU supporters said they’re coming to break the office unless I give the present persons that are there the keys. With the threats I received, I choose to leave. In the process, they also called the police. Until this day, those things are still at the Fort Wellington Police Station,” the Councillor related.

Angus stated that in 2018, the MMA-ADA then gave the land to the Food For The Poor organisation for houses to be constructed for persons within the community. Last December, the matter was heard in the High Court, where Justice Navindra Singh ruled that that the present occupants are trespassing.

“The MMA-ADA cannot

do that. As the lessee, only I can give permission in writing for someone to use the land. An official there was the one who give them permission to use the land even though he wasn’t supposed to do so,” she said.

However, the attorney representing the co-op society offered to settle the matter by having an election with the two parties.

“On December 12, 2018, this matter was heard and Justice Singh told the occupants that they are trespassing. The attorney said to us that in order for us to regain possession of this land, we must go for an election, forming an interim committee with the illegal occupants,” she said.

It was indicated that the shareholders have been paying monies to the MMAADA for the past three years, but yet, they cannot access the land. The Councillor told this publication that they are seeking to regain possession of the land, which is now occupied by trespassers. She reminded that the lease is still valid MMA- ADA officials have been silent on this issue.

Gaskin admits that increase in fees will negatively impact tourism

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he now Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin (his resignation having taken effect on April 25, 2019) has said that the newly implemented fees at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri will have a negative impact on the local tourism sector.

Effective April 1, 2019, passengers using the CJIA are expected to pay an additional $4,000 in fees, thanks to the US$150M renovations at the Airport. The fees include an airport security fee for $4,300, up $1,800 from $2,500 and the passenger facility charge which moved from $1,100 to $3,300, an increase of $2,200.

Essentially, the cost to travelers for a return (round) trip is US$35 (GY$7,315), while for departing passengers it is US$17, and for one-way departing passengers it is US$15, payable in Guyana dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate.

The airlines operating have reportedly informed travel agents and other stakeholders.

The taxes are being collected from the point of sale and are shown on passengers’ tickets separately.

He said, “People book flights based on price and if you charge US$20 more, it will have an impact. Countries who

know this, they don’t just raise arbitrarily, they do all kinds of assessments to decide on how it will impact the industry. “…Guyana is already an expensive place to visit and I was a little concerned when I read it. If you want to attract people, you don’t do so by making it more expensive to travel to those countries.”

While the increased were announced last week, Gaskin claims he did not know about it – a comment that has caused him to come under fire by the Parliamentary Opposition, who questioned how as Business Minister he could claim he was unaware.

UG Student Society walk-out plans is response to increase in tuition fees

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niversity of Guyana’s (UG) decision to hike tuition fees is not sitting well with the University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS), which has planned a walk out on Friday (April 26, 2019) to voice their concerns over what has been described as the “unlawful charges”.

This was revealed by the President of the UGSS, Devat Ramroop, explained that the students will be walking out of classes at 16:10h.

“It’s not a protest, it is a walk out. A walk out meaning we’re just pausing all activities for 10 minutes and assemble on the tarmac and we go back to class after 10 minutes. It’s just a statement to say that we don’t think business should go on as usual,” she said.

Ramroop added that the University has been hiking tuition fees much to the dis-

like of the students. She said that most persons who attend the University are already under a lot of financial strain and increasing the fees would mean that some students may be forced to drop out.

Single parents, the UGSS President added, will also be forced to adapt their budgets just to ensure that their children complete their studies and hopefully find a job amidst reports of the high unemployment rate.

“So 2017 we had a 15 per cent increase, then in 2018 we had 10 per cent and now in 2019 we’re having another 10 per cent,” she complained.

According to her, these increases were approved by the governing bodies in 2015 for the three consecutive years that followed.

She said she hopes to send a message on Friday to

both the Government and the administration of the University that they cannot continue “business as usual”.

Furthermore, the UGSS President said that they are gathering young people to raise their voices on this issue so that the strain can be less on both parents and students who attend the University.

She noted that the UGSS has already met with some 5000 youths, who have responded positively towards calling for free tertiary education, adding that she is hoping to gain about 20,000 more in support.

The student body’s request for free tertiary education comes at a time when UG is bracing itself for a financial audit into spending as it has been accused of lavish disbursements in insignificant areas.

Unemployment a challenge in Region 10 – Chairman R

egion Ten Regional Chairman, Renis Morian, has admitted to an unemployment problem in his area.

In a press release, Morian noted that the Region continues to battle with youth unemployment. According to him, the Region is looking at how to address the unemployment challenges facing the region.

The promise made by the Coalition during the 2015 General and Regional elections campaign was that it would “create jobs, jobs and more jobs in the shortest time possible.” Over three years later, the Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, is yet to unveil a national plan to create jobs.

Instead, like President David Granger, he is now talking up the focus on persons creating jobs for themselves. “All good paying jobs, as far as I am concerned, can come from self-generation and that is why we have to focus a lot on small and medium businesses, creating entrepreneurs rather than

traders out of people,” Jordan has said.

President Granger has admitted that under his Government, the economy has not been able to produce “sufficient” new jobs. “On one hand I believe that the young people themselves have to stay in schools so they are better qualified. On the other hand, I think investors must allow what you call microenterprise to flourish, particularly in agro-processing,” he said, adding that it is his intention to engage the private sector to create funds for microenterprise, which can serve as a lending facility to young people.

Notably, the plan for microenterprise funding was not included in the APNU+AFC manifesto. In a message from Granger, the manifesto stated that the APNU+AFC Coalition will provide: “Employment opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mining, agro-processing and the arts to provide jobs and promote economic growth.”

The manifesto also prom-

ised that public expenditure measures would be determined by related factors, which include: Stimulating productivity, investment, savings and growth of the economy; and the provision of jobs, among other moves.

“The APNU+AFC objective is an integrated employment strategy,” the manifesto added.

Notably, however, President Granger, in a May 2016 broadcast of ‘The Public Interest’ noted that the Government does not have jobs to give out. “We need to change from the mindset that government owes people employment and create in the minds of young people the desire to go out there and work and do well…people even while they are in school will be encouraged to go into business rather than to look forward to jobs in the private sector,” he said.

In the meantime, job creation concerns continue to grow and Guyana’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth continues to decline.

21

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

The Bottom Line – A look at issues affecting cost of living in Guyana

City Hall tells vendors to be Guyanese continue to feel the squeeze patient after complaints about of increased taxation more have been 2. 14% VAT on electricity ators garbage pile up at Stabroek Market Billions 15. An increase in the fee raked in by the AP- consumption

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endors at the Stabroek Market are complaining of the dysfunctional compactor that is unable to properly collect waste materials.

The vendors contend that they are forced to work in a filthy and smelly environment, with flies and other pests frequently bothering them and their efforts to make sales.

Reports are that compactor has been down for a few weeks, hence the buildup of garbage at the market.

The drains of the Stabroek Market environs are lined with garbage, while the bins overflow with same Situated not far from where the static compactor

had been located are food stalls which have been feeling the brunt of the effects as well.

Solid Waste Director at the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Walter Narine, has admitted to the prob-

lem, but was unable to say when it will be fixed. “We have a static compactor that (does) collect the garbage there, but the compactor is down,” he said, adding that vendors are being asked to be patient.

$1.5B lost to paddy bug infestation in Region 6

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total of 17 Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) rice farmers have been forced to dump their paddy after it was rejected by milers since more than 35 per cent of it was damaged.

In addition to the loss as a result of the paddy bug infestation, many farmers were faced with additional expensed for the current crop after having to pump water

into their rice fields.

The prolonged dry spell, coupled with difficulties encountered by the regional administration, caused some rice farmer to pump water as many as seven times during the crop as compared with three times on an average per crop.

The region was expected to produce an estimated two million bags of paddy this crop. However, former

Rice Producers Association (RPA) Extension Officer, Ramlakhan Singh, says there will be a shortfall of 500,000 bags.This will be reflected in the amount of $1.5 billion on the record books.

The Region Six economy has been fragile since the firing of thousands of sugar workers, as Government sought to downsize the sugar industry; closing several sugar estates.

Essequibo River farmers counting their losses

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armers along the Essequibo River are counting their losses after major loss of income following destruction of their crops. The farmers have also complained about lack of support from the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

Famers are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Agriculture

Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) to implement new technology to give much-needed assistance and guidance to farmers.

The three main common diseases affecting the farmers in the area are: Black Sigatoka, Moca Disease and an issue with nematodes.

Notably, over the weekend, farmers in Region Two

(Pomeroon-Supenaam) also made calls for the intervention of NAREI in trapping and bating the palm weevil, which is killing coconut trees in the region. More than ten farmers from Hubu backdam, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), are also experiencing the same issue with their coconut trees.

NU+AFC Coalition Government in taxes, even as Guyanese people feel the squeeze of the downturn in the local economy.

Current revenues or taxes collected moved from $145.7B in 2014, under the former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government, to $216.72B – higher than what was the projected tax collection for 2018.

According to the End of Year Outcome Statement for 2018, “In 2018, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) remitted $117.5 billion, 59.2 per cent of tax revenue collections, reflecting higher remissions for companies and businesses.”

The increase in total revenue was attributed to enhanced collection of value-added taxes (VAT) and excise taxes; income taxes from private corporations and personal taxes; greater earnings on trade taxes; and increased collection of other tax revenues.

Meanwhile, the report said non-tax revenues stood at $18.212B. BELOW ARE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE TAX MEASURES IN PLACE: 1. 14% VAT on water consumption

3. VAT On Health Services 4. VAT On Internet Services, etc.

5. Environmental tax of $10 per unit on the importers and local manufacturers of products using non-returnable metal, plastic or glass container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage 6. Increase in the Tributors Tax from 10% to 20% 7. The imposition of a 2% withholding tax on the gross payments made to all contractors 8. Restriction of Mortgage Interest Relief to loans up to $15 million 9. Increase fees for TIN certificates 10. Increase in fees for painting name and number on carriage or cart for hire from $15 to $5,000 11. Increase in cost to paint certain particulars on a carriage or cart nor kept for hire from $150 to $10,000 12. Increase in costs of affixing of a notice-board licenced to keep a butcher’s shop in rural districts to up to $10,000 13. An increase the travel tax from $2,500 to $3,500 14. A Premium Tax on Re-insurance Premiums for Local Aircraft Oper-

for a passport from $4,000 to $6,000 16. An increase in the fees for transfer of motor vehicle registration for motor cycle and other vehicles, ranging from $5,000 for motor cycles to $25,000 or 2% of sale price, whichever is higher 17. An imposition of a fee of $2,000 for a Driving Permit issued to drivers residing abroad but visiting the country temporarily, and $2,000 for persons requiring a Letter of Authenticity for verification of drivers' licences 18. An increase in fees for customs services ranging from reporting and clearing of coastal vessels (from $500 to $2,000) to yearly licences $3,000 to $15,000 19. Increases in the penalties for licences and spiritual liquor - with penalties running as high as $2M 20. Ban on the importation of used tyres for motor cars, vans, pickups, SUV’s, and mini-buses older than eight-years-old from entering Guyana, with effect from April 1, 2017 The increased taxation imposed by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government has been widely criticized.

Many Amerindians still waiting for promised licenced firearms

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uring the amnesty for unlicensed firearms in 2015, scores of Amerindians handed in weapons used to protect their cattle and crops and support their livelihoods, with the promise of receiving licences.

However, to date this promise has not been totally fulfilled. In October 2018, only some residents from villages in Region Seven received licenses.

Meanwhile, Government has already approved

the Firearms (Amendment) Bill, which increases licensing fees. Licences for shotgun were increased by $3,000 to $5,000; handguns from $5,000 to $25,000; rifles from $5,000 to $40,000; and dealers from $7,500 to $150,000.

People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP), Dharamkumar Seeraj, had argued that there are categories of firearm holders who need firearms, not to

protect large sums of money, but ones that need it to support their livelihoods, specifically, farmers and Amerindians.

Guyana as just over 8,000 persons who are licenced firearm holders, according to Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan. He disclosed that currently there are about 3,000 licenced shot guns, 4,500 licenced pistols and revolvers and 347 licenced rifles.

22

No date set in case objecting to...

Registration exercise to be embarked upon by the Respondents in or about June 2019, shall be unconstitutional, ultra vires, illegal, null, void and of no effect.

• A declaration that the proposed House to House Registration exercise to be embarked upon by the Respondents in or about June 2019, to create a new

National Register of Registrants from which will be extracted a new Official List of Electors, shall be unconstitutional, ultra vires, illegal, null, void and of no effect.

• A declaration that the proposed House to House Registration exercise to be embarked upon by the Respondents in or about June

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019 (From page 13)

2019, will exclude existing qualified registrants currently on the National Register of Registrants and on the Official List of Electors, shall be unconstitutional, ultra vires, illegal, null, void and of no effect; • A declaration that proposed House to House Registration exercise to be embarked upon by the

Energies and resources of Guyana Police Force should remain on important matters Dear Editor,

W

hen I wrote in an earlier letter about an impending arrest of the Opposition Leader, I was absolutely right, because that is what nearly took place on Wednesday.

We were in receipt of information from reliable sources that the Police were given instructions to arrest Dr Jagdeo for offensive remarks he made at Babu Jaan.

Maybe that would have been the case if the information was not leaked out earlier, and the public and the international community were not alerted. But seeing that the public out there was well informed, it seems that the arrest plans suddenly changed to a mere “visit” by the lawmen.

Now, that chance drop-in was not just a drop-in as we know it, because those lawmen came with a few questions for the former president. The questions stem from two alleged statements he made: “Chase them out” and “Jackass”. The last utterance, Jackass, is a fabrication, because a recording of his address shows that he used the word “Judas” and not “Jackass”.

But whether he used the word “Judas”,

as the traitor Iscariot from the Bible, or “Jackass”, as the animal Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Easter Week, the point remains the same: the Opposition Leader is within his constitutional rights to free speech.

And speaking of free speech, isn’t it strange that all of this is happening around the time when The Easter Story is told? So, if we are to take a cue from the PNC and its coalition, we can rewrite some parts of the Bible to read, “Moses betrayed his brethren for a 50 per cent increase in salary and David is vainly trying to enslave the Guyanese public with one big stone in a one (1) seat rigged election”.

I hope the Guyana Police from the “Criminal Investigations Department” do not read this, because there might very well be an arrest warrant out for me. I have made light banter of this an asinine — oops, I used the wrong word — rather ludicrous performance by the CID. At a time when persons are being beaten, robbed and murdered, this is the time the lawmen are idly seeking after seemingly harmless statements made by the Opposition Leader. Isn’t this the height of stupidity? The last murder — of the mon-

Respondents in or about June 2019, will exclude the Applicant who is currently on the National Register of Registrants and on the Official List of Electors, and will contravene her constitutional right to vote; • A writ of prohibition directed to the Respondents restraining them by themselves, their servants and

their agents from embarking upon House to House Registration scheduled to commence in June 2019, or any date thereafter; • An injunction restraining the Respondents by themselves, their servants and their agents from embarking upon House to House Registration scheduled to commence in June 2019,

ey-changer — took place a mere stone’s throw from a Police sub-station.

Isn’t this the silliest of things we could ever witness? Shouldn’t the Police be directing their energies and resources into important matters, like crime-fighting? But this is what Guyana has been reduced to, the most foolish of republics ever.

And it all stems from a Government that is equally foolish and is clutching at straws, or anything for that matter, that can make it look good.

So I would like us to again revisit this latest act of desperation. If you are to judge Dr Jagdeo’s statements as disrespectful, divisive, demeaning and volatile, then we should listen to a couple of statements made by the Government’s side also, to see if those warrant a visit by the CID. Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo called the Honourable Dr Jagdeo a “Coolie Bully”, to rapturous applause by the coalition members in Parliament. Isn’t that a slanderous, humiliating and racial rant?

Then if it is not considered thus, what is?

Certainly that was not meant to be a spontaneous piece of banter.

We turn to Security Minister Ramjattan, who told a reporter, “Haul you rass”. He, too, was never sanctioned for that vile remark.

Yet another minister made a boom out video. Minister Simona Broomes made a “Boom out Jagdeo video” in the hallowed chambers of Parliament. She was never reprimanded, nor did she ever get a visit from the CID. Now, mark you well those Boom out lyrics rhyme with Buju’s Boom bai bai —-”, and you are asked to fill in the blanks here. Because, earlier in Parliament, this very same brawler of a minister repeated the phrase that “only men are found on this side of the house,” end of quote. So when she made that “boom out” video, it must

or any date thereafter; and • A Conservatory Order restraining the Respondents by themselves, their servants and their agents from embarking upon House to House Registration scheduled to commence in June 2019, or any date thereafter; GECOM officials have not commented on the case.

be taken into context. So why wasn’t she “questioned” for that statement? Interesting!

Then there is the call for “war” if the PNC do not have their way on an illegal house-to-house registration. This war cry was made in the presence of ministers who cheered those vile singers on. Shouldn’t they be investigated also?

Even before that, the PNC were guilty many times over of hostile and divisive songs and statements. Using the community of Buxton as pawns during the crime years, a highly controversial song with equally violent lyrics was penned, “Bad man a bad man, bad man a Buxen Man….Bad Man a shoot man.” Are we to interpret that song to be a call to violence, or, as the PNC would have it, a chant by PNC church boys on their way to high mass? This song was penned at a time when scores of people were dying, including members of the very same Police Force who are now commanded to investigate the former president.

So, is this Government telling us that words and statements have harmless meanings when they use them, and a totally different connotation when they come from the Opposition? Is that what they are telling us? I hope not, because that would be the dumbest thing I have ever heard in a long time.

But come to think of it, that is exactly what this Government is preaching: there are one set of rules for the Government, and another for the Opposition.

Come on, Mister President, your administration is full of sh…..t. Oops, sorry, I accidentally used that word. I hastily retract that statement. For a slow learner like myself, I’d rather go for the use of the simpler language: Sir, your administration is full of that “miasmic fluid.”

Respectfully, Neil Adams

Exposed conflict of interest requires urgent national attention Dear Editor,

A

s the dust from the Ministers’ conflict of interest contracts continues to swirl over and around us there have been a number of suggestions on the way forward. A careful analysis of the ongoing media coverage would reveal both, converging and diverging views/ themes, as well as, what appears to be defensive positions from writers/speakers across the political spectrum. There are, generally, three categories of conflict situations: real conflict of interest, potential conflict of interest, and perceived conflict of interest, and each type of conflict presents its own problems and requires careful review, appropriate management or strategies for elimination. These conflict situations all have a common theme – discriminatory sweetheart deals – which must be adequately addressed to allay public distrust

in the institutions and processes and level the ‘bidding’ playing field.

The litmus test for conflict of interest was established in the 1998 ‘Pinochet’ case. Pinochet’s legal team had learned that one of the judges was linked to a charity which had raised funds for Amnesty International, a party in the case against Pinochet, and that the said judge’s wife was an administrative staff with Amnesty International. Pinochet, therefore, appealed the decision of the House of Lords on the grounds that its decision was tainted with bias because of conflict of interest. His team argued that the relationship between the judge and Amnesty International “gave rise to a reasonable apprehension or suspicion of bias”. There was no allegation that Lord Hoffmann was biased, but the contention that there was a real danger or reasonable apprehension or suspicion that Lord Hoffmann might have been biased, that

is to say, an alleged appearance of bias not actual bias.

The fundamental principle is that a man may not be a judge in his own cause. This principle has two implications: First, if a judge is in fact a party to the litigation or has a financial or proprietary interest in its outcome, then he is indeed sitting as a judge in his own cause, which is sufficient for his automatic disqualification. The second application of the principle is where a judge’s conduct or behaviour may give rise to a suspicion that he is not impartial, for example, because of his friendship with a party.

As I have mentioned in previous letters to this column, and as others have in different words alluded to, Guyana is a small nation where everyone knows everyone, and where some people at various rounds of the social strata, as well as employees, are likely to

take partisan positions based on any number of perspectives/alliances/relationships. It is, therefore, necessary for us to urgently address this conflict of interest issue with the view of putting in place socio-legal and structural arrangements to reduce or eliminate the incidence of conflicts of interest and promote greater procedural transparency, and equity in awarding contracts.

In a nutshell, conflict of interest, whether real, potential or perceived, requires urgent national attention as part of the government’s transparency in granting contracts. While the Ministers and public officials may deny actual knowledge or direct involvement in the process, the potential conflict of interest and perceived conflict of interest may be real.

Yours faithfully, Ronald Singh

23

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Appeal Court dismisses Larry Singh’s claim of millions in rent owed by GRA ‒ Judge calls for criminal investigation into breach of laws that would have seen over $36M being paid over

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call for a criminal investigation into the evident breach of Guyana’s procurement laws was made by Justice Navindra Singh, in dealing with an appeal of a High Court decision – an appeal that was dismissed by the end of the court’s sitting.

Justice Singh said, “I am of the view that this breach should have been investigated criminally.”

The appeal was filed by controversial businessman Lawrence ‘Larry’ Singh – who was also at the center of the ‘drug’ bond scandal, where a house on Sussex Street, Georgetown, owned

by Singh, was rented by the Ministry of Public Health as a drug bond. Singh was paid over $320M in just under three years in that deal.

Singh and the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) entered into a contract in May of 2016 for the three years for rental of a sub-lot B 194 Camp Street, Georgetown property. The tenancy agreement for a fixed term of three years was at a cost of US$5,000 per month – a total of over GYD$36M that would have been paid to Singh over the three-year period.

GRA said it erroneously entered into the tenancy

agreement and also erroneously paid rent for several months. By letter, dated October 7, 2016, the GRA served notice of termination of the agreement, contending that it had erroneously paid rent to the tune of $5,250,000. Singh, on the other hand, said the contract was entered into and signed by then acting Commissioner General Ingrid Griffith and is binding on the Revenue Authority. The matter then made its way to the Courts.

On January 31, 2018, High Court Judge Diana Insanally dismissed an action Singh had brought against the GRA for rent, ruling that the agency had no authority to enter the contract of tenancy without permission from the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) given the size of the contract.

Singh appealed this ruling in Guyana’s Appeal Court.

The matter was heard by

Justices Navindra Singh and Gino Persaud. Both judges arrived at different findings.

As such, the initial ruling of Justice Insanally stands. In accordance with Sections 75 (2) of the High Court Act, where the two Full Court judges are unable to arrive at an agreement, the ruling of the first instance judge has to be reverted to.

Agreeing with Justice Insanally’s position that the GRA needed permission from the NPTAB before the contract could be considered valid, Justice Singh ruled that in accordance with Section 17 (1) of the Procurement Act, it is the National Tender Board which is given jurisdiction over procurements, (including leases (Section 2)) over a regulated amount.

GRA’s current Commissioner-General, Godfrey Statia, has confirmed, in court documents, that, indeed, no approval had ever been given by NPTAB for the contract.

SOCU pussyfooting around Patterson probe – Jagdeo W

ith no action taken on the findings of the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), relative to the award of a contract for a feasibility study on a new Demerara River crossing, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, contends that the Special Organised Crimes Units (SOCU) is pussyfooting around what is a hot-button issue.

At a prior news conference he said, “It all hushhush because it’s not just Minister Patterson but all the members of cabinet who approved that contract will be liable…I haven’t seen any member of this cabinet being called in to say what made them approve such a study. “…we have seen the same thing with Volda Lawrence and the [Cheddi Jagan] airport project where we’re paying more and getting less.

Yet, they are not being called in or questioned. “…this is a documented case of corruption of unbelievable proportions, directly involving a Minister of the Government who bypassed our laws and the designated authority, according to our laws, to a Cabinet, to approve an illegality....we believe that this report could result in either the Minister or the entire Cabinet being charged for corruption.”

LAST WORD Notably, the last work on the issue from Head of the Special Organised Crimes Units (SOCU), Sydney James, was that the Unit’s work had been completed.

He added that the file on the matter has been with the Police Legal Advisor for several weeks now.

Additionally, with the Patterson investigation com-

plete, according to SOCU, there has been questions about why no action has been taken in the matter.

FINDINGS OF PPC REPORT SOCU’s involvement in the matter came after a call from the PPP/C for an investigation. The PPP/C, on August 16, 2018, forwarded to SOCU a report from the Public Procurement Commission (PPC), which was asked to investigate the manner in which the contract was awarded earlier this year.

The PPC completed its investigation into the award of the contract for a feasibility study on a new Demerara River and handed its report over on August 7, 2018. The findings of the report were damning.

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.

The report, on page 7, stated that monies to be spent on the project were taken from the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation (Asphalt Plant Accounts).

The report said, “The PPC noted that the Minster of Public Infrastructure, by memorandum dated November 18 2016, made a request to the Cabinet for Government seeking consideration and approval to use funds from the Demerara Harbor Bridge Corporation to fund the feasibility study and to commence a contractual engagement with LievenseCSO as of the 1 Jan 2017. The PPC noted that this request to Cabinet was not forwarded through the NPTA but submitted directly by the Minister of Public Infrastructure. The PPC also noted that Cabinet considered the memorandum submitted by the Minister of Public Infrastructure and in November 2016 approved a total sum of $161, 514, 420 to be used from the Demerara Harbor Bridge Corporation to cover cost for the feasibility study for a new bridge across the Demerara river.”

Notably, the General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge Corporation, according to the PPC report, disclosed that the Board of the Corporation was not involved in the decision to spend its monies.

The report said, “He (Mr. Adams) stated that he had not signed the contract on behalf of the DHBC, but only because he was requested to do so by the Minister of Public Infrastructure.

The Parliamentary Opposition’s position is that the findings of the report evidence a flagrant breach of Guyana’s financial rules.

APNU+AFC gov’t silence on questions about $30B bond continues

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epeated questions about the $30B bond secured by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government have continue to go unanswered.

Months after the move by National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), under the instructions of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, to borrow $30B, there is still little clarity on the arrangement.

Earlier in March, Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) executives, on the condition of anonymity, indicated that they are yet to see the terms of the Bond. GuySuCo’s management contends that the corporation has been left in the dark.

Last year, NICIL’s Special Purposes Unit (SPU) acquired the $30B bond.

In the latter part of June 2018, a leaked document

- ‘The Private Placement Memorandum’ – details the arrangements of the $30B fixed rate bond.

The document shows that NICIL plans to sell off assets of GuySuCo, including land, to help pay off the $30B, plus interest, that it has borrowed.

The document shows that NICIL expects to start selling of GuySuCo lands in 2018 and expects to collect $14B in 2018 and another $22B in

2019. “The cash generated from operations appears sufficient to service the coupon and repayment of the principal for the bond facility,” the document said on page 14.

Notably, before now it was unclear if the $30B was a bond or a loan. The document makes clear that it is a bond.

The document also explains that the move to issue the Bonds, at a 4.75 per cent

interest rate, is a five-year agreement. Interest is payable semi-annually, starting October 2018. The Bonds will mature in April 2023.

Also, the bonds have been issued “free and clear” of all corporate taxes. It has also been issued 355 basis points above one-year Bank of Guyana Treasury Bills.

Additionally, the bonds have been secured by a government guarantee.

The 17-page document said the $30B bond facility is being arranged by Republic Bank, raising questions as to the amount of fees that are being paid to the bank.

Republic Bank has since halted disbursements of the bond monies over concerns related to spending mismanagement. It is unclear if these concerns were addressed and how much more monies were disbursed, if any.

24

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

ICJ Border controversy case….

Guyana to ask World Court to proceed with case T

he Guyana Government will be moving to have the International Court of Justice (ICJ) go ahead with the proceedings after Venezuela failed to submit its counter memorial on jurisdiction within the court-imposed deadline.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press statement, on Thursday (April 18, 2019), indicated that Guyana regrets that Venezuela, notwithstanding its obligations under the Geneva Agreement and the Secretary General’s decision to refer

the matter to the Court, has chosen not to participate in the case.

The Ministry said, “In consequence, Guyana has decided to ask the Court to proceed directly to the holding of oral hearings, at the earliest possible date, to determine its jurisdiction over the case. Guyana is confident that the Court will agree that it has jurisdiction, and then proceed to decide on the merits of Guyana’s suit. “…Guyana takes note of the Venezuelan Foreign Minister’s recent tweet that,

at some point in the future, it will supply the Court with “information” about the case to assist it in the exercise of its judicial functions. If this is a first step toward Venezuela’s full participation in the case, Guyana welcomes it….at the same time, Guyana has reserved its right to object to any submission by Venezuela that violates the Court’s rules or is otherwise prejudicial.”

The next step going forward now, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, will be for the Court to

schedule the dates for the oral hearing on jurisdiction.

ON SCHEDULE As scheduled, on Monday, November 19, 2018, the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana has submitted to the International Court of Justice its Memorial on Jurisdiction in the case brought against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to confirm, in a final and binding judgment, the full legal validity of the arbitral award that established the international

boundary between Guyana and Venezuela more than a century ago.

Guyana filed its Memorial in accordance with the Order of the Court dated June 19, 2018 that determined it would first resolve the question of the Court’s jurisdiction in light of Venezuela’s refusal to participate in the proceedings based on its claim that the Court lacks jurisdiction.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Guyana’s Memorial shows there is no foundation to Venezuela’s contention that the means of settlement listed in Article 33 of the UN Charter must be selected by the Secretary-General successively, such that the means listed ahead of judicial settlement have to be exhausted before recourse to the Court can be chosen. Nothing in the text of Article IV of the Geneva Agreement, which provides a menu of options, not a predetermined sequence, supports Venezuela’s interpretation. Nor is Venezuela correct in arguing that, as it has recently asserted, the controversy must be resolved exclusively by friendly negotiations, a claim that is belied by the express terms of the Geneva Agreement and contemporaneous statements by the parties during its negotiation and ratification.

“Guyana prepared its Memorial bearing in mind the Court’s instruction that it should be informed of all the legal and factual grounds on which the parties rely in the matter of its jurisdiction. Guyana’s submission accordingly sets out how the boundary with Venezuela was established by an arbitral tribunal constituted pursuant to a treaty concluded by Venezuela and Great Britain in 1897. Venezuela accepted this unanimous award, which was rendered by five eminent jurists on 3 October 1899, celebrated its outcome, participated in a joint commission to demarcate the boundary on the ground, and insisted on the award’s strict implementation. Only decades later did Venezuela, in anticipation of Guyana’s independence, cease recognizing the award’s validity and binding nature, using that pretext to lay claim to more than twothirds of Guyana’s territory.”

As a result of Guyana’s filing, the ICJ had fixed April 18, 2019 as the date for Venezuela to submit a Counter-Memorial on Ju-

risdiction in response to Guyana’s submission.

APPROACH TO ICJ On March 29, 2018, Guyana filed an application with the ICJ requesting that it confirm the legal validity and binding effect of the 1899 Arbitral Award on the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela.

The 1899 demarcation – the 1899 Arbitral Award – of the territorial limits considered the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela settled and made clear that the Essequibo belongs to Guyana. The Award was disputed and in 1966, Guyana and Venezuela signed the Geneva Agreement. This agreement took note of the fact that Venezuela was disputing the validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award. While it did not take any position about Venezuela’s claim to Essequibo, it committed Venezuela, Britain and Guyana to ensure that “any outstanding controversy… should (be) amicably resolved in a manner acceptable to both parties.”

Last year, the ICJ found that it would be appropriate to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the case before considering its merits.

Efforts over more than half-a-century, including a four-year Mixed Commission (1966-1970), a twelve-year moratorium (1970-1982), a seven-year process of consultations on a means of settlement (1983-1990), and a twenty-seven-year Good Offices Process under the UN Secretary-General’s authority (1990-2017), all failed to end the border controversy.

The move to the ICJ was advanced there was no success with a further attempt, using the United Nations’ Good Offices process, to resolve the matter of Venezuela’s renewed claim to Guyana’s territory, the Essequibo County. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in 2015, charged that the signing of the 1966 Geneva Agreement rendered the 1899 Arbitral Award null and void.

On 30 January 2018, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, acting under the authority bestowed upon him by the Geneva Agreement, chose adjudication by the Court as the means for resolving the controversy with finality. Guyana commenced proceedings before the Court on 29 March 2018 in accordance with the Secretary-General’s decision.

Guyana’s representation before the Court includes the efforts of Sir Shridath Ramphal.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Guyanese Journalists are still subjected to harassment via prosecutions, suspensions, and intimidation – Reporters Without Borders P

rime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, whose sole responsibility in the APNU+AFC Coalition Government is oversight of the state-media (Guyana Chronicle, NCN and the Department of Public Information) has talked up the increase in Guyana’s ranking on the 2019 World Press Freedom Index – an increase of four to the number 51 spot out of 180 countries.

However, silence by Nagamootoo has permeated the news cycle, relative to the findings of an equally weighty report – the 2019 World Press Freedom Index – published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Of primary concern was the Cybercrime Bill that was passed into law in July 2018. President David Granger signed the controversial Bill into law in August, according to Extraordinary Gazettes, dated August 13, 2018.

Reporters Without Borders has said, “Although Guyana’s constitution guar-

antees free speech and the right to information, officials often use various pieces of legislation—including defamation laws, which provide for fines and up to two years in jail—to silence opposition journalists.”

According to the group, the Cybercrime law remains imperfect. “The members of the media regulatory authority are appointed directly by the president. This restricts the freedom of certain media outlets, which are denied licenses. Recent attempts to improve regulation of the broadcast industry involved no consultation with any broadcasters.”

Reporters Without Borders added, “Journalists are still subjected to harassment that takes the form of prosecutions, suspensions, and intimidation.”

Notably, in June 2018, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged the Guyanese Parliament to amend the draft Cybercrime Bill, noting that it could have a damaging effect on press free-

dom. On June 7, 2018 RSF sent a letter to Nagamootoo outlining its concerns with the legislation.

CYBERCRIME BILL Laid in the National Assembly since 2016, the Cyber Crime Bill had catered for, inter alia: illegal access to a computer system; illegal interception; illegal data interference; illegal acquisition of data; illegal system interference; unauthorised receiving or granting of access to computer data; computer-related forgery; computer-related fraud; offences affecting critical infrastructure; identity-re-

lated offences; child pornography; child luring and violation of privacy among a slew of other offences.

Previously, section 18 (1a) of the Bill had stated that persons commit an offence of sedition when they “attempt to bring into hatred or excite disaffection towards the Government”.

Section 18 (1) now states that “A person commits an offence if the person, whether in or out of Guyana, intentionally publishes, transmits or circulates by use of a computer system, a statement or words, either spoken or written, a text, video, image, sign, visible

representation or other thing that (a) advocates the use without authority of law of force as a means of accomplishing a governmental change within Guyana”.

The amended section goes on to state that the law also criminalises anyone who “incites, counsels, urges, induces, aids or abets any person to commit, participate in the commission of or to conspire with another person to commit treason under section 314 or 317 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act”.

Breaking this law, according to the amended section, carries a penalty on

conviction on indictment of imprisonment for five years.

Meanwhile, the amended clause nine of the Cyber Crime Bill states: “A person commits an offence who, through authorised or unauthorised means, obtains or accesses electronic data which (c) is stored on a computer system and is protected against unauthorised access”.

The penalty on summary conviction is a fine of $3M and imprisonment of three years, while conviction on indictment earns the accused a fine of $8M and five years’ imprisonment.

he Legal Practitioners Committee is still to deal with a complaint against now Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan, made

by Veronica Da Silva, now 68-years-old.

Da Silva had accused Ramjattan, of cheating her out of her property at Lot 240-241 Camp Street. In August of 2012, Da Silva lodged a formal complaint against him to the Registrar of the Supreme Court under the Legal Practioner’s Act Cap.4:01.

Her move followed a

complaint from her that Ramjattan, without her permission, gave consent that her valuable property located in a prime part of the city and highly saleable (240 & 241 Camp Street) be sold, and that she had paid the AFC leader the agreed sum of $1M as legal fees, but he took $3M from her money, apart from what she alleges as fraudulent sale of her property for millions of dollars less than the government evaluation.

The property at the centre of matter was willed to her by her aunt and was evaluated at

$88M by the government’s evaluating officer. She says that with Ramjattan’s consent, the property was sold for $55M. The elderly woman accused Ramjattan of failing to heed her instructions not to sell the property and collaborating with interested parties to sell the property below government valuation, thereby causing her to suffer severe losses.

Thus, the elderly woman was seeking that Ramjattan refund her the $3M in fees he took, and that he compen-

sates her for $2M in losses she suffered, and she also seeks that the AFC Leader ensure that the property, which was her home before what she terms the illegal sale, be restored to her.

She charged that his actions caused her to lose the property that was willed solely to her, for which probate had already been passed, and on which she paid rates and taxes for 17 years.

It is unclear when the Legal Practitioners Committee will publicly address a decision on this matter.

Complainants still waiting for ruling from Legal Practitioners Elderly woman still waiting for justice, claims Committee on she was ‘cheated’ by Ramjattan case filed against Harmon T F our years after it completed its hearing, the Legal Practitioner’s Committee, the committee with oversight responsibilities for local Attorneys, has not made a determination in a case filed against now Minister of State Joseph Harmon.

Harmon was taken before the Legal Practitioner’s Committee over an alleged failure to reimburse some $500,000 to UK-based Guyanese, Floyd Doris. The monies were part of an agreement for the sale of a property located on Hadfield

Street.

According to the case documents, Harmon was retained as an attorney to deal with the legal aspects of the sale of the property. The deal was not concluded, as such the claim for reimbursement was made.

The matter against had concluded in 2015 before a previously constituted committee. That committee was dissolved before a ruling was made. The newly formed LPC panel is chaired by Attorney-at-law, Andrew Pollard S.C.

26

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

Three months pass without Inmate starts fire at NA prison concrete progress into A shooting of school principal O n January 27, 2019, School of the Nations Director, Dr Brian O’Toole, was shot three times as he was returning to his Bel Air, Georgetown residence.

Months later, he has expressed fears about a “cover-up” in the case.

“I suppose it’s hard to be positive. I am trying to be but it’s difficult. At least show some respect to me.

Everybody I talk to they believe that there is a cover-up.

They believed that indeed somebody very influential is behind it. They believe that the police can’t be trusted.

I haven’t met anybody who challenged me to say, ‘Look, you’re not being fair, give the police one chance.’ Not one person,” he said, according to a quote in a local media report.

To date, police are yet to apprehend the perpetrator and/or perpetrators of the attack.

Information reported indicated that one of the persons involved is a former student of School of the Nations from about nine years ago and is the son of a prominent person in Government circles.

n inmate on Saturday evening (April 20, 2019) attempted to start a fire at the New Amsterdam Prison.

The inmate, identified as Devon Griffith, is serving

fered with the main switch box in the men’s prison. As a result, smoke began to emanate from the switch box.

Ranks of the Guyana Prison Service were able to contain the blaze.

One dead, another escapes captors

T

he miner who was allegedly abducted following a shooting incident at Kuribrong Trail, Pataro River on Sunday (April 21, 2019) managed to escape his captors.

The police have not

Crime Chief Lyndon Alves last Wednesday (April 17, 2019) called on O’Toole, to provide the police with the identity of the shooter.

The call by the Crime Chief comes mere days after O’Toole said that his shooter was flown out of Guyana.

After the Wednesday (April 17, 2019) meeting, O’Toole disclosed that detectives asked that he respond to media reports that he knew who his shooter was. “I did say I knew the person that made the threats. He posted that he was going to blow up the school. There is no question that he was the one

and he begged for immunity and promised to cooperate and give all information and was subsequently flown out of the country,” O’Toole said to the media.

O’Toole noted that he is dissatisfied with the slothfulness of the Guyana Police Force into the investigation regarding his shooting. According to him, 11 weeks have elapsed since he dispatched two letters to Police Commissioner Leslie James with information regarding the incident and he has not received a response.

Investigations into the matter are still ongoing.

released any information that might have led to the abduction of the miner.

Meanwhile, Police are investigating the murder of 34-year-old Perion “Redman” Bobb, a driver/ mechanic of Lot 23 Cari-

bese Hill, Bartica. He was reportedly shot at close range to the stomach and died immediately.

Reports are that the miner was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

Businesswoman nabbed with ganja

A

35-year-old businesswoman is now in Police custody after law enforcement officers visited her shop on Saturday (April 20, 2019) and noticed her trying to dispose of a quantity of cannabis that she had in her possession.

Reports are that Police acting on information went to the shop at Vigilance South, East Coast Demerara, to conduct a search.

According to the Police, upon their arrival, the businesswoman reportedly “quickly disposed” of a parcel through one of her shop’s windows. However, this act did not go unnoticed by the ranks.

The parcel was immediately retrieved and it was found to contain a quantity of cannabis.

It has since been confirmed that the prohibited substance weighed 120 grams.

Court clerk found Corentyne house burglarized dead in bathtub

Four busted with illegal drugs

A

family of Number 6 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, are counting their losses after burglars raided the family’s home.

Reports are that the armed men escaped with a shotgun, 25 rounds of ammunition, a quantity of jewelry and an undisclosed sum of money.

Based on information received, the family left their home on Sunday morning (April 21, 2019) for a day of horse racing and upon returning, they found that their home was broken into.

Investigations are ongoing.

T

he body of a Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) woman was early on Tuesday morning (April 23, 2019) discovered in her bathtub in her home.

Dead is 24-year-old Olita Shondel Mendez, a clerk at the Court of Appeal. Reports are Mendez’s body was found by a relative who went to check on her after she had been in the bath for a considerably long time.

Reports are that the relative pulled Mendez from the tub and attempted to revive her to no avail.

The police were called

a 25-year sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of his aunt, in the course of, or furtherance of a sexual offence of rape. He was reportedly in solitary confinement and allegedly inter-

T but no marks of violence were found on the woman’s body.

Investigations are ongoing.

wo males and two females from Berbice were arrested, last weekend, after police ranks swooped down at their homes and unearthed a quantity of cannabis.

Reports are that ranks from B Division (Berbice) along with officers from the Police Narcotics Branch carried out a cordon and search operation which lasted for over four hours.

The two males along with a female were apprehended at a house in Number Two, Canje Village, while the other female was arrested at a home in Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam.

Reports are that over nine kilograms of cannabis was found in the yard in Canje and two pounds of cannabis was discovered in the home at Angoy’s Avenue.

27

WEEKEND MIRROR 27-28 APRIL, 2019

‘Prospects look good at CCJ’ – Jagdeo T

he People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) has “solid arguments” going to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in the challenge to the vote on the no-confidence motion.

“We have solid arguments…we are hopeful…I have great faith in the CCJ,” he said.

The Court of Appeal on April 22, 2019 overturned the ruling of the Chief Justice (ag), Roxanne George-Wiltshire, relative to one of the three cases that challenged

the validity of the vote on the no-confidence motion on December 21, 2018 – a vote that was upheld by Guyana’s Legislature.

In a 2-1 vote, Justices Yonnette Cummings-Edwards and Dawn Gregory ruled that the 33 votes is not a majority of 65; rather it is 34.

Justice Rishi Persaud voted to uphold the ruling of the Chief Justice (ag), which was handed down on January 31, 2019.

In the Application, the lawyers representing the Opposition Leader applied for

(Compiled by Eddi Rodney) COMMUNITY KITE DISTRIBUTION During the course of last week People’s Progressive party activists, organizers and local supporters engaged in kite distribution to various groups of children.

The communities included Houston and Albouystown in Georgetown as well as the northern neighborhoods of Bel Air, Liliendaal, Sophia, Tamery and Cummingslodge – the latter on the lower East Coast of Demerara.

Mirror understands that elsewhere, further along coastal West Berbice as well as the East Coast, Demerara, these Easter tokens were provided to eager youngsters.

From the inception of kite distribution, party leaders including former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, Member of Parliament, Nigel Dharamlall as well as Executive Secretary Zulfikar Mustafa were involved in the activities.

several things, including: 1. An order setting aside and/or reversing the majority judgement of the Court of Appeal of Guyana given on the 22nd March, 2019 in Civil Appeal No. 27 of 2019 ad restoring the decision of the acting Chief Justice made on the 31st January, 2019; 2. A declaration that Resolution of the National Assembly No. 101 is valid and affectual; 3. A declaration that the no confidence motion moved

by the Leader of the Opposition was validly passed on the 21st December, 2018 by a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly; and 4. A declaration that thirty-three (33) votes/members constitutes a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly within the meaning of Article 106 (6) of the Constitution of Guyana; The Respondents in the case are: Attorney General, Basil Williams, and House

Speaker, Dr Barton Scotland.

In addition to this case, there are others relating to the no-confidence motion vote.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was added as a party to these matters by order of the CCJ. Jagdeo said, “So, 98 per cent of Guyanese believe that the mathematics used by the Appeal Court – the ruling based on that mathematics will not stand….if the ruling stands it will have implications of region.”

The Opposition Leader

has said that the Constitution of Guyana is pellucid on what number of votes is needed for the passage of a no-confidence motion; it is a majority of all elected Parliamentarians – the majority of 65 is 33 votes.

Article 106 (6) of the Constitution states that: “The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of confidence.”

Party News

MORE LOCAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS PLANNED Sub-regional PPP Organizers have plans to programme bottom house events aimed at reaching members and supporters of housing schemes adjacent to Triumph, Mon Repos North as well as the western ‘edge’ of Lusignan – an area developed over the past two decades known as Good Hope scheme, comprising of an entire stretch of regulated dwellings constructed by owners on demarcated lands. Elsewhere similar activities are being considered for Non Pariel Scheme.

These are locations where traditional village bottom house ‘assemblies’ are being arranged to complement demographics, and even class responses e.g. New Eccles and New Diamond areas.

PPP STALWARTS PASS ON Two long standing and dedicated PPP cadres recently passed away, after lifelong service to the cause of the working people.

Comrade Floris Ramjattan, of Referendum Bath, former PPP group chairman, and Guy-

ana Agricultural & General Workers Union (GAWU) representative, passed away on April 5, 2019. Comrade Ramjattan performed as a NDC chairman for some years and at the time of his death was a Councilor for the Bath/Woodley Park NDC. A PPP member for nearly 40 years, his contribution as a militant was immense.

Also last week another Party Cadre, Balkissoon, resident of Triumph Village E.C.D.,

passed away. He was the Mirror agent responsible for ensuring the delivery of the PPP’s organ to several other distributors. Additionally, this comrade could be relied upon to mobilize substantial numbers for protest exercises and other grass roots participation. Employed at the time at East Demerara Estates, he worked alongside other well-known organizers such as Hyder Ally, Richard Bactawar, Poondaillow and others.

Digitization of records with Felix at the helm is suspect – PPP General Secretary A

n unequivocal response – a clear ‘no’ – was given by the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, when questioned as to whether he has any trust or confidence on Minister responsible for the Department of Citizenship within the Ministry of the Presidency, Winston Felix.

And he contends that a major worry for the Party is the digitization of hundreds of thousands of citizenship related records, including birth and death certificates,

by Felix’s Department.

In May 2018, Felix announced that the digitizing of records at the General Register Office (GRO) is set to be completed by 2020. In January 2016, Felix disclosed that records from 1987 to somewhere in the 1990s were digitized up to that point. He insisted that the digitization process will “capture and digitize all the records” at the GRO. Jagdeo in commenting on the issue has said, “You have to go and look at the integrity of the entire system about

this so call digitization of our records… now it’s very suspect…because you can easily input anything that is not real.”

Any action that is not above board in the digitization process, the PPP General Secretary noted, could bring into question the integrity of Guyana’s passport. He reiterated that the PPP has “grave” concerns about corruption given the number of people who are “passing through Guyana.”

Already, weeks after concerns were raised by Jagdeo

about the process being used Felix’s Department to give Guyanese citizenship to persons applying to be naturalized, even more worrisome revelations have come to light.

Local media reports indicate that some of the persons applying to be naturalized did not even reside at the addresses given in the naturalization notices, which were published in the local newspapers.

Additionally, two persons who have indicated that they are Cuban nation-

als – Hajime Beltran Abreu and Julio Antonio Beltran –appeared in advertisements in the Guyana Chronicle on March 29, 2019, as applicants for Guyanese citizenship.

However, in speaking to the Mirror Newspaper on April 8, 2019, Madhai Abreu, the wife of Hajime Beltran Abreu and daughter-in-law of Julio Antonio Beltran, admitted that the two men have only been in Guyana for just over a year. According to Guy-

ana’s laws, any applicant seeking Guyanese citizenship must have lived in Guyana for five consecutive years.

Madhai Abreu also admitted that the name of her father-inlaw is not Julio Antonio Beltran, rather it is Julio Antonio Beltran Rodrigues.

The PPP General Secretary has expressed the hope that the International Organisation of Migration, which has an office in Guyana, will look into the matter.

President Granger warned against ‘heavy workload’

H

aving completed his first round of radiotherapy, President David Granger and First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger, returned to Guyana from the Republic of Cuba, last Saturday (April 20, 2019).

However, while the President is back in Guyana, his doctors have cautioned against too heavy a work load immediately and have advised that care must be taken in pursuing excessive public engagements.

Granger is set to continue a schedule of medication prescribed by his doctors and is expected to return to Cuba at a time to be determined by his Cuban medical team.

Granger’s visit to Cuba from April 2, 2019 to April 20, 2019 was his eighth visit to Cuba. On the seven previous occasions, Granger was doing chemotherapy.

In May 2018, President David Granger visited Trinidad and Tobago for an annual medical checkup, after which it was claimed that he was given a clean bill of health. Granger was back in Trinidad and Tobago, a few months later. Granger, according to the Ministry of the Presidency, started to experience certain symptoms which were persistent – hence his decision to return to Trinidad to revisit the tests that were done in May 2018.

Little information was released on the status of the President’s health, prior the November 14, 2018 confirmation that he was diagnosed with cancer, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

The President returned to Guyana from the Republic of Cuba on November 20, 2018 after spending approximately three weeks there, where his medical team performed a number of medical interventions, including the first round of chemotherapy treatment.

Granger’s second round of treatment was done after he left Guyana on Tuesday (December 4, 2018). The President’s third round of chemo was done after he left Guyana on Christmas Day (December 25, 2018). His fourth round of chemo was done after he left Guyana on January 15, 2019. His fifth round of chemo was done after he left Guyana on February 5, 2019. For his sixth visit, Granger left Guyana on February 26, 2019. After his seventh visit, when he did a last round of chemotherapy, the President returned to Guyana on March 23, 2019.

Cuba’s Centro de Investigaciones Médico Quirúrgicas (CIMEQ), according to the Ministry of the Presidency, has drafted a schedule of treatment which will run until May 2019.

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