Weekend Mirror 24-25 August 2019

House-to-House registration must be halted - Jagdeo 24-25 August, 2019 / Vol. 10 No. 87 / Price: $100

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

PAGE 8

Guyana’s gold reserves depleted by over $15B in less than five years

PAGE 20

SEE INSIDE

Gov’t squeezing more taxes from pockets of Guyanese PAGE 17

– PPP/C presidential candidate

GNBA called out for infringement of free speech PAGE 9

Disrespect for the Constitution equals Disrespect for Guyanese ‒ Civil Society group continues protest

GECOM PAGE 3 decision on the way forward likely to be made soon

2

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Jagdeo engages youth, shares views on several issues

Ali engages Guyanese during continued outreaches

Nagamootoo rejected in Corriverton Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, was met by protestors when he visited Corriverton, Region 6, recently. The protestors made clear their rejection of Nagamootoo and his colleagues in the APNU+AFC caretaker government.

3

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

GECOM decision on the way forward likely to be made soon A

fter meeting for a second time since the new Chairperson was appointed, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is yet to decide on how to proceed regarding elections and the ongoing house-to-house registration.

The meeting on Wednesday (August 21, 2019) lasted some three-hours.

During the meeting Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, at the request of the Commission, presented three possible plans and timelines. However, the details on what was presented by Lowenfield was not disclosed.

Additionally, Government-nominated Commissioner, Vincent Alexander, noted that while discussions

on the way forward have started, outstanding matters still need addressing. He added that the Commission does hope to advise President David Granger “very soon” on their preparedness for the polls.\ It has now been over a week since the High Court ruled that house-to-house registration, while constitutional, should also be tempered by the need for early elections. Her written ruling was delivered on Wednesday (August 21, 2019).

It states that: “(Paragraph 114) GECOM may have to consider other options including what other methods of verification of the list may have to be utilized whether in conjunction with or separately from the house to

house exercise. Indeed, the CEO/CR deposed that the preparation of the Official List of Electors permits the registration of every qualified elector during the registration exercise or a claims and objections period. While pursuant to arts 160 and 162 GECOM is an independent body, that is not subject to the control or direction of any person or authority, and while it is incumbent on GECOM to produce a credible list and a credible election, it is subject to the Constitution and the laws and cannot act as though it is in a normal registration or election cycle. “…(Paragraph 139) There are no laws setting out any additional requirements, more particularly residency,

in relation to a person qualifying to be registered to vote “…(Paragraph 149)By stipulating that a person who has already been registered must be at their residence at the time of the house to house registration exercise in order to be registered, suggests that another qualifying criterion is being added for registration as an elector.

A reading of all the relevant provisions leads to the inevitable and ineluctable conclusion that GECOM does not have the discretion without more to remove the name of a person from the list of registrants or electors because such a person who was previously registered has not re-registered during a house to house registration exercise.

“...(Paragraph 161) GECOM would have no legal authority to remove or de-register such persons who are otherwise qualified unless such registration can be cancelled pursuant to s 8 (cancellation and alteration of registration) and s 15 (claims and objections) of the NRA and the regulations thereto as outlined above.

These persons may have to return to their districts to vote, but their names cannot ipso facto be removed from the register of registrants, which removal would then disqualify them from and deprive them of their right to vote. To do so would be unconstitutional and therefore illegal. “…(Paragraph 178) Whatever verification or re-

vision exercise is undertaken to ensure a fair and credible election, whether house to house or otherwise, for the preparation of the list of electors for national and regional elections consequent on the NCM, must be conducted in the context of the order of the CCJ of July 12, 2019 that the provisions of art 106 immediately became engaged on the passage of the NCM on December 21, 2018. This means that the election should have been held on March 21, 2019 that is within 3 months of the passage of the NCM or such extended date as approved by two-thirds of all the members of the National Assembly.”

A second meeting is set for Friday (August 23, 2019).

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

The ball is in GECOM’s court to uphold the Constitution

By Gail Teixeira

N

ow that the Chief Justice has given her ruling on August 14th, 2019, democratic and progressive-minded Guyanese have been vindicated on several counts once again by a judicial authority: • Elections were due three months after the passage of the No Confidence Motion (NCM) on December 21, 2018 in accordance with article 106 which was immediately engaged; the date

was not extended by a 2/3 majority of members of the National Assembly; • Whilst the House to House registration by and of itself is not unlawful or unconstitutional, the removal of names from the National Register of Registrants based on persons not being home, overseas etc, and scrapping of the National Register of Registrants, as being done by GECOM, is illegal; • the House to House registration cannot deregister people who are already on the National Register of Registrants, and, therefore, those already on the November 12, 2018 voters’ list do not need to register at House to House registration again; • There is no residency requirement for Guyanese to be on the National Register of Registrants and persons’ names ’cannot be removed unless they die or are no longer Guyanese, except Commonwealth citizens who are here for one year; • The CJ mentioned several times that the voters’ lists can be refreshed by other

means as provided in law such as claims and objection; • The Guyana Election Commission must now choose options available to it by law to verify and refresh the Voters’ list taking into consideration the context that elections were due since March 21, 2019.

Madam Chief Justice (ag) Roxanne George-Wiltshire ruling on August 14th in no way deviated from the Constitution, neither the CCJ ruling of June 18th nor its July 12th consequential orders.

The President has not abided with the Caribbean Court of Justice and continues to violate the Guyana Constitution. The President has not acted since December 21, 2018 to name a date for elections.

It is now over 243 days since the passage of the NCM on December 21, 2018. It is over Today is 149 days since March 21, when Elections were due according to Article 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution.

Over the last eight months, GECOM refused

to prepare for elections. In actual fact, it is the Patterson-led GECOM that has been an integral part of the subversion of constitutional rule in our country. This is the first time that elections have not been held within 90 days from the date of dissolution for general and regional elections in 1992, 1997, 2001, 2011, and 2015, and the Local Government Elections of 2016 and 2018 as required by the constitution and statutes. The difference with a No Confidence vote is that the three months period starts on the day that the vote was passed in the National Assembly, and, not from the time the President dissolves the Parliament and the Regional Democratic Councils under normal elections.

There is a new Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, and it is hoped that the now fully constituted Commission shall right the injustice done to the Guyanese people over the last eight months and abide with alacrity with the constitutional provisions of article 106

as exhorted by the Caribbean Court of Justice on July 12, 2019.

Here is what the CCJ said “The judiciary interprets the Constitution. But, as we intimated in our earlier judgment, these particular provisions {article 106(6) and (7) } require no gloss on the part of the Court in order to render them intelligible and workable. Their meaning is clear and it is the responsibility of constitutional actors in Guyana to honour them.

Upon the passage of a vote of no confidence, the Article requires the resignation of the Cabinet including the President. The Article goes on to state, among other things, that notwithstanding such resignation, the Government shall remain in office and that an election shall be held “within three months, or such longer period as the National Assembly shall by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the votes of all the elected members of the National Assembly determine”…

The CCJ then went on

to state that “The Guyana Elections Commission (“GECOM”) has the responsibility to conduct that election and GECOM too must abide by the provisions of the Constitution.”

Following the August 14th 2019 ruling by the Chief Justice, we can logically deduct that this House to House registration--which has insisted that people already registered had to be reregistered-- has been a colossal waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, and, most important, time. Time which has been arrogated by the President and his government for an additional 149 days and counting past March 21, 2019 when elections should have been held. This wasteful and redundant expenditure and exercise must stop immediately.

The Patterson-led GECOM did everything to ensure that no preparations for elections were commenced prior to March 21, 2019, instead preparing for House to House registration (Turn to page 20)

4

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

EDITORIAL

Guyana’s standing among fold of democratic nations at risk

T

he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), met on Wednesday (August 21, 2019), to possibly make a decision following the Chief Justice’s ruling on the challenge to the ongoing national house-to-house registration. However, no decision was forthcoming from this meeting.

GECOM was tasked to ready itself for General and Regional Elections since December 21, 2018, after the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM).

Following months of legal battles, Guyana’s final Court – the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) – ruled the motion was indeed successful. It is apposite to note that it was after this ruling that, GECOM proceeded towards the conduct of house to house registration.

On that matter, the Chief Justice made it clear that the no-confidence motion is an extraordinary circumstance that GECOM must take into consideration.

In her written judgement it was clear: “Paragraph 178: Thus, whatever verification or revision exercise is undertaken to ensure a fair and credible election, whether house to house or otherwise, for the preparation of the list of electors for national and regional elections consequent on the NCM, must be conducted in the context of the order of the CCJ of July 12, 2019 that the provisions of art 106 immediately became engaged on the passage of the NCM on December 21, 2018.

This means that the election should have been held on March 21, 2019 that is within 3 months of the passage of the NCM or such extended date as approved by two-thirds of all the members of the National Assembly.”

As GECOM has been proceeding with their house to house exercise, they have been a few staffers that misrepresent the Chief Justice’s ruling.

The Chief Justice has made it clear that GECOM cannot remove anyone from the National Register of Registrants.

In her written judgement multiply times she clarified it including that: “Paragraph 139: There are no laws setting out any additional requirements, more particularly residency, in relation to a person qualifying to be registered to vote. Thus, there are no laws requiring as a prerequisite for registration and thereby the right to vote the presence of a person during house to house registration once they would have been registered previously.”

The Chief Justice made it clear that “GECOM would have no legal authority to remove or de-register such persons who are otherwise” and to do so would be unconstitutional and therefore illegal.

Highlighting this, simply shows what a waste of resource the house to house exercise is.

Apart from it being a waste of time and money. Some of the staffers are threatening Guyanese with fines and jail time if they chose not to register. They are outright attempting to bully our citizens.

GECOM should be focusing on delivering an election.

The No-Confidence motion passed over 243 days ago and elections were to be held over 153 days ago.

Instead of pushing house to house, they can achieve the same task by heading to a period of Claims and Objections.

The Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, has stated that: “Claims and Objections is tested method. The easiest way to move forward is to use Claims and Objections… it is what we can do in a short time and it is not alien to the GECOM Secretariat.”

A no-confidence motion is not unique to Guyana’s constitution. It is in all parliamentary democracies, as a method to keep the government in check.

Britain from where we inherited our constitution, saw Margaret Thatcher then Leader of the Opposition, brought a motion of no confidence on the 28th March 1979. She won by a single vote, and they held elections on May 3rd 1979, less than six weeks after the motion passed.

Canada, in 2011, saw a motion of no-confidence passing on March 25th and elections were held May 2nd, in about five weeks. 2018 we saw multiple motions of no-confidence brought forward.

Sri Lanka, on November 14th 2018, elections held 5th January 2019.

Spain motion brought on 25th May 2018, debated May 21st and June 1st, the government resigned 5th June. In less

We seem to be heading down the same road that the PNC took in the 1964 period Dear Editor, uyana has always been touted as a country with great potential. At times it has shown glimmers of that greatness.

I refer to the period of the latter 1950s to the early 1960s when some strong signs of what could be achieved were seen in the achievements in every aspect of life.

Despite the horrible opposition that the PPP faced in that period, it still saw our country performing and making important achievements that are still playing an important part in Guyana’s development.

To name just a few, the University of Guyana was established in the face of strenuous opposition from external forces and the PNC at home. However, Guyana’s education system then was producing so many students at GCE examinations that it became necessary.

Moreover, Dr. Cheddi Jagan saw a need for such an institution for the training of our own technicians and managers, and saw it as an instrument to promote democracy and equality of opportunities throughout the land. His Minister of Education, C.V. Nunes, was very capable, and that was achieved in 1963.

In order to realise the country’s agricultural potential, he thought it necessary to put agriculture on a scientific basis.

He and Brindley Benn worked relentlessly to establish the Guyana School of Agriculture at Mon Repos. That institution has served and is serving our country very well to date.

Under the PPP’s tenure, new crops were introduced such as peanuts, cabbage, etc. Guyana’s coffee was processed into Instant Guyana Coffee. Production in every area soared.

Work was being done to make coconut another big and important crop. It began with the establishment of coconut milk at Mon Repos.

The PPP government also had huge land development schemes; Black Bush Polder, Tapacuma, and did a lot of the work on the MMA. Cheddi Jagan also fought the Bauxite Company to establish the Aluminum Plant at Mackenzie, now Linden. In that same period, working people for the first time began owning their own homes. Those houses still stand in Ruimveldt, Campbellville, Lodge, etc.

In health, the Georgetown Public Hospital was significantly expanded and grew. Malaria was eradicated, as medical facilities were constructed throughout the length and breadth of our country.

Other important institutions were created, including the Bank of Guyana.

The transportation system saw massive changes, with three new ferries; Malali, Torani and Makouria. Classes in the ferries and the trains were removed. In so doing, segregation was eliminated.

The PPP in government in that period began the programme of Guyanization of the public service. That was

replacing the British personnel with Guyanese at the senior public service level. Many Guyanese were given the opportunity to shine. One that comes to mind is Gavin Kennard.

As mentioned above, all this was done in the face of unbelievable opposition by an alliance of foreign forces and the PNC. The PNC took power in 1964. That period lasted until 1992. That time could be described as a lost era. Many of the gains were reversed, and poverty and ignorance stalked the land.

We were visited by such diseases as beriberi, and malaria returned with a vengeance. Life expectancy plummeted. Our economy collapsed, and so too our social services. We began to be equated with Haiti as being extremely poor. We became a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPIC).

How did that happen? Why was it allowed to happen?

It happened because the PNC began rigging elections and establishing an administrative dictatorship. Human and political rights were severely curtailed and opposition was met with violence and terror. Political opponents were even physically removed, killed.

The PNC succeeded in this massive destruction because it removed all checks and balances and the three pillars of government, which were supposed to be independent, were merged into one. The mentality that the whole state was just an arm of the PNC, like its youth arm or women’s arm, was most destructive and led to a de facto dictatorship. Accountability was lost, de-professionalism of the Public Service occurred, transparency was non-existent and corruption invaded the land.

The PNC managed to do this because many persons in constitutional positions did not stand up for the independence of the institutions. They acquiesced in the creation of the dictatorship. The Parliament became a rubber stamp due to rigged elections and the judiciary lost its independence because judges caved in to pressure to give the regime what it wanted. The police and army allowed themselves to be used by the PNC for political oppression.

Of course, there were some notable exceptions, like Justice Vieira, who delivered an important judgement in the Mirror Newspaper case. He had to leave the country, as did Justice Luckhoo. Those examples only served to highlight the cowardice of the many others in the Public Service and Constitutional institutions.

That nightmare ended in 1992, as the struggle of our people, in a changed international situation, brought an end to that period.

The PPP/C took office in 1992 with free and fair elections coupled with the professionalization of the public institutions restored, our country surged ahead once more. The quality of life notably improved and, most importantly, Human Rights were always respected. Democracy flourished.

(Turn to page 5)

than a week they faced their consequences.

Greece also saw a motion on January 16th 2018, this motion failed.

Guyana saw a motion of no-confidence in the year of no-confidence and the consequences are still to be faced. Our country seems to be the only country to have a successful motion of no-confidence to be unsuccessful.

The President must call an election. It is constitutionally required. Additionally, the APNU+AFC Coalition has failed to govern in the interest of the Guyanese people. They have lost over 30,000 jobs and boosting about creating a thousand jobs. They have been massive loss of welfare, where you see children unable to attend school, mothers not knowing where they will find the next meal, pensioners unable to pay bills.

They chose to remove multiple subsides that were making the lives of Guyanese better. Apart from doing this, they have added around 200 new taxes and fees. This has now lead to an increase in the cost of living. The economy itself is tanking; major industries are failing or struggling. The rice industry is just an example, with the paddy bug problem, the government inaction leads them to a crisis.

GECOM needs to make a decision – it must end houseto-house registration, move to claims and objections and recommend to the President a date for elections. The President then needs to dissolve parliament and proclaim a date for the elections.

Enough time has passed. It is time for constitutional compliance and the rule of law to return to Guyana.

G

5

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Desperate attempts by PNC to deflect from real reasons members are leaving

More reckless, unsubstantiated comments W from Minister Patterson

Dear Editor,

Dear Editor,

I

write to offer a warm welcome back to my parliamentary colleague, Mr. David Patterson; the Public Infrastructure man seems to have been hibernating in a back room, Patterson has returned to the pages of our nation's newspapers in his inimitable splashy style. Mr. Patterson announced a 188 Megawatt natural gas plant would be built by the government, no cost or feasibility study was referenced, it would seem with no parliamentary oversight in place, anything can be said or promised during the election season. Patterson was accompanied by Larry London (of D’Urban Park fame) when he turned the sod for the construction of a new Civil Aviation Authority Headquarters; despite no source of financing yet identified for this impressive-sounding building. The Patterson Style!

While Mr. Patterson is in ‘announcement' mode, the people of Guyana would have been pleased if he could have explained how USD 9000 from the Chinese Consortium appeared in his personal bank account and if he could have produced evidence of transfer of the said USD 9000 to MARAD. The people await announcements that the Auditor General has found the $600 Million missing from the D’urban Park project; A completion date for the CJIA extension project; an explanation of how the CJIA cost the Taxpayers, millions of US Dollars more for a smaller airport than originally paid for by way of ‘fixed price’ contract; he would have come clean on

how the harbor bridge feasibility study has cost 10’s of million more than approved by Cabinet and which has now been referred by the Public Procurement Commission to the Auditor general for forensic investigation.

Patterson has taken every other opportunity for ‘announcements’, a ‘Skype call’ from a Virgin-Atlantic Airlines executive was parlayed into ‘Virgin coming’. Mr. Patterson fears no embarrassment, taking to social media to claim credit for the expected increase in Rice production; the fact is the Rice farmers have demonstrated great resilience and tenacity resulting in an upswing in production despite adverse budget measures of the APNU/AFC, that include application of 14% Vat on machinery, sending up cost of acquisition; increase of land and water charges; the lack of assistance with drainage and irrigation; the removal of fertilizer subsidies and the virtual neglect of farm to market access roads.

The mango season is upon us and we can expect more glib statements and empty promises from Mr. Patterson and his colleagues.

The people of Guyana have seen this play before; Mr. Patterson’s promises’ did not end well the first time, maybe he should have done a feasibility study before returning to the limelight.

Yours Truly, Bishop Juan A. Edghill, PPP/C MP

We seem to be heading down the same road...

(From page 4)

That had a very positive impact on our economy and the social sector. We were, once more, becoming an example to many others as it related to good governance.

When the PNC-led APNU+AFC took power in May 2015, the hope was that they would have built on the gains made and taken our country ever further along the road of freedom and prosperity. That, unfortunately, was not to be.

Instead, from the outset the PNC decided to try to stay in power by returning to the practices of the past. To do so they established the Ministry of Citizenship. This is to use the poverty and desperation of Haitians and other nationals to rig elections.

The ethnic cleansing of the public service was another indication of the direction they are on. Indians and Amerindians were purged from the service.

We seem to be heading down the same road that the PNC took in the 1964 period. It

is leading to poverty and suppression again.

The growing unemployment, the rise in crimes are some of the symptoms of what is to come.

The leadership that the PNC has given to our country has produced grave reversals and an artificial division of our people along racial lines. The PNC leadership is fundamentally an elite group that has always pursued personal wealth above national development.

All democratic and patriotic forces must stand up now to halt the decline! Later may be much too late.

Guyana will only achieve its full potential in a free and democratic environment at the heart of which is free and fair elections.

Nothing else can succeed!

Sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President

e note recent statements by executive member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton.

Norton is reported by a section of the press as saying that activists and other high-profile members who have withdrawn their support from the APNU/AFC have done so as a result of the PPP’s lure of “filthy lucre”.

We view Norton’s comment, though laughable, as a desperate attempt to deflect from the real reasons behind the rapid departure of persons from the governing coalition.

If, according to his claim, the motivation was for enrichment purposes then it would have made more sense for us to remain with the ruling cabal given its stated position, as alluded to by his colleague, PNC Chairperson Volda Lawrence who said “The only friends I got is PNC so the only people I gon give wuk to is PNC”. Those words are supported by actions as there is a plethora of evidence which shows the massive distribution of the State’s largesse to a small group of persons connected to the APNU/AFC. No amount of spin and trickery by the likes of Aubrey Norton will work as we are not aloof like him and his ministerial colleagues who are now subsumed by the trappings of political power.

We interact with scores of ordinary Guyanese daily, many of them supported the coalition in 2015 – and just like us they too feel a sense of betrayal by the numerous unfulfilled promises.

It is the ‘ground troops’ such as ourselves who have had to bear the brunt of the frustration of young people from areas such as Campbellville, Sophia, Kitty, Alberttown, North and South Ruimveldt, East and West Ruimveldt, Albouystown and Charlestown who we persuaded to vote for the coalition in 2015 and who are still yearning for the jobs and the elusive “good life” promised to them.

It is us who have borne the brunt of the criticism from UG students who were promised ‘free education’ but have had to deal with a 48 per cent increase in their tuition fees since the APNU/AFC assumed office.

How do we respond when confronted by UG graduates who were promised jobs within one year of their graduation in 2015 but later heard from none other than President David Granger that it is not the role of his Government to create jobs when the question of his failure to deliver on that promise was put to him?

Norton and the others have no idea what it is like to be accosted regularly by pensioners who’ve had their water and electricity subsidies removed and are now being made to pay taxes on medical services.

We also have to live daily with the complaints of neighbours, fellow villagers and relatives who are teachers, nurses, members of the disciplined services and other public ser-

vants who we told during the 2015 campaign that they will receive substantial increases in salary and other benefits.

How do we now explain the minimal increases given since 2015; the removal of the tax-free one-month bonus etc and then juxtapose it against the hefty increases given by the leadership of the Government to themselves after a mere three months in office?

It is we who have to contend daily with the hardships brought about by the increase in over 200 tax measures by the coalition Administration.

Some of us have had firsthand experience of the suffering of residents affected by the closure of Wales Estate. We interface daily with the struggling former sugar workers and looked on helplessly as they were made to wait for more than a year and even wage a court battle, in order to receive their severance payment from a Government which we convinced them to vote for and which promised to do the exact opposite of what it did.

On a personal level, many of us – like thousands of ordinary Guyanese – have had to contend with hardships brought about by the incompetence of this Government. We worked tirelessly and invested our time and resources towards a coalition victory in 2015.

When this victory was achieved we were neglected and treated with disdain. Some of us had ideas of policies that could’ve been implemented that were gleaned from our interactions in our communities. These were all shot down. We became useless foot soldiers as the objective of an APNU/AFC electoral victory was achieved.

A cabal of corrupt individuals has taken over and it is this group which is experiencing the promised “good life”.

These reasons along with the corruption and disrespect for the rule of law which has characterised APNU/AFC governance left us with no choice but to part ways with the coalition and no amount of lies and misinformation from the likes of Aubrey Norton will change that.

Instead of trying to tarnish respectable, honourable and patriotic individuals, many of whom he rubbed shoulders with, he should be truthful with the public.

Regards, 1. Dave Danny Sr, Former PNC Member of Parliament and Central Executive Member 2. Dave Danny Jr, Former APNU/AFC Regional Democratic Councillor (Region Four) and PNC Youth Executive 3. Ivan Bentham, Regional Democratic Councillor (Region Four), 4. Karen Dalrymple, Former PNC activist 5. Nicola Dalrymple, Former PNC activist 6. Alicia Adams, Former PNC activist 7. Orin Kennedy, Former PNC activist

6

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Granger, PNC claims belief in democracy but actions demonstrate otherwise Dear Editor,

Those who stand against I the Constitution must explain their position Dear Editor,

T

he APNU/AFC coalition Government may see the current political crisis as purely internal and must be solved by Guyanese political forces. While we agree that political issues should be solved by Guyanese political and social organizations, the current situation threatens to escalate to a level that will destroy all the democratic gains of our society.

Such an eventuality will no doubt have a negative effect on local, regional and hemispheric security. The International Organizations should not stand by and allow democracy in Guyana to be threatened by people who resort to lawlessness. The overwhelming majority of the people of Guyana want constitutional compliance, peace and stability and, thus, a peaceful solution to the existing political problems. However, issues cannot be properly resolved when the Government is not adhering to the judicial decisions and are not interested in upholding the democratic process. The political actors within the APNU/AFC coalition have lost their psychological mental stability. The Government must stand ready to discuss whatever diplomatic initiative that may be deemed appropriate within a bilateral and/

or multilateral context that would seek to uphold the principles of preventive diplomacy, democracy, good governance and the rule of law in Guyana.

The Government refused to comprehend that when a supreme (final) court rules on constitutional issues, that judgement is virtually final, its decisions cannot be altered only by rarely used procedure of constitutional amendment.

The General Secretary of the PPP, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, must be complemented for the manner in which the situation was managed, unlike other Opposition Leaders in the past when persons were afraid to conduct their businesses, fearful of their lives, the destruction of private and public properties, etc., was the order of the times. Dr. Jagdeo should ensure that the constitution stands tall, by standing his ground and don’t fall prey to people like, David Hinds, Lincoln Lewis and others to extend the life of this APNU/AFC coalition Government. The burden should not be on those public officials who stand up for the constitution to explain why they are doing so, but for those who stand against the constitution to explain why they should be allowed to do so.

Regards, Zamal Hussain

The PNC is at the end of its rope Dear Editor,

E

ver since the December 21, 2018 successful passage of the no-confidence motion, the PNC has been engaging on non-compliance of Article 106 (6) and (7), which say that the President and his Cabinet shall resign and a date be set for General Elections.

The PNC has violated this aspect of the Constitution to this day, with the most recent delaying tactic of national House-to-House Registration. They have embarked on a veneer of House-to-House Registration which in their terms is the cause for the delay in the President not resigning nor setting a date for elections. This aspect of the Constitution is deliberately sidestepped.

House-to-House Registration which could take at least 20 months is never linked to the President and Cabinet resigning their post, yet David Granger insists that the two are intricately linked.

Knowing that ruse of the PNC, the Chief Justice ruled that House-to-House Registration is a valid process, but, that is a programme for the situation in “normal times”; she reiterated the fact that we are not in normal times and another process must be explored. Madame Justice George in her wisdom, as it were, “ruled in their favour” thus disbarring them from making another one of these senseless appeals.

Had she ruled that House-to-House is illegal, Basil Williams would have seized

the opportunity to appeal which would have taken another endless cycle of appeals and counter appeals which would take us past September 18.

The PNC would have again broken the law, continue their illegal stay in office and think it is funny. However, all of that is of no effect because the Chief Justice has put a block on that illegal route by the PNC for good. Now that things are “in their favour”, they must honour the Constitution as well as the CCJ’s ruling, that elections have to be held on or before September 18.

The point to note here is that with Madame George’s ruling, there is added pressure on the PNC; they must finish the House-to-House Registration, the Claims and Objections, and that aspect of the Constitution that says the President and his Cabinet shall resign and call elections all within the timeframe which ends on September 18. As we say in Guyanese creole is “sh..t to clean now”, Granger and cabal are in hot, hot mess, because they must honour Article 106 (6) and (7) to the letter.

If they do not respect the constitutional requirement, then the Opposition has every right to go straight to the CCJ, not the local court for redress. Granger, your days are numbered.

Respectfully, Neil Adams

write this letter conscious that there are many foreign emissaries and younger persons who may not be sufficiently aware of the groundings of PNC party which is the main political party constituting the APNU which forms the coalition APNU-AFC government of Guyana. The PNC operates on one principle “do whatever it takes to get power and do whatever it takes to keep power”. It is the application of this principle which saw the rigging of elections during the 28-year PNC dictatorial rule prior to 1992 in order to maintain their hold on power even at the ultimate cost of the lives of Walter Rodney, Father Darke, Jagan Ramessar and Bholanauth Parmanand (commonly known as the “ballot box martyrs”) and many others.

The flourishing of democratic power has been one of the pillars of a better and more prosperous world for our species and Guyana is no exception. Examine the World Bank data of Guyana’s GDP growth from 1964 when the PNC first took power to 1992 when Guyana had its first free and fair election since independence in 1966 and you will see Guyana’s GDP (a measurement of a country’s annual productive value) moved from US$194m to US$373m which means that over the course of 28 years Guyana’s GDP grew by 92%. On the other hand, Guyana’s GDP moved from US$373m in 1992 to US$3.6B in 2018 which means that over the course of 26 years Guyana’s GDP grew 865%.

The story of Guyana’s Gross National Income per capita over the delineated period evinces more convincingly the importance of democratic rule. Guyana’s GNI per capita moved from US$280 in 1964 to US$390 in 1992 which was a growth of 39% over 28 years while Guyana’s GNI per capita moved from US$390 in 1992 to US$4760 in 2018 which was a growth of 1,120% over 26 years.

Those numbers while stark does nothing to elucidate the untold history of suffering of poverty and repression of undemocratic rule.

Everyone knows that actions speak louder than words and the actions of David Granger and the PNC diverge from their words which

must be understood as a duplicitous misdirection strategy.

David Granger and the PNC says that its believes in the principles of democracy and the rule of law but their action was to make a unilateral appointment of the Chairman of GECOM in the stealth of night which never occurred in 25 years and both prior to and shortly after many independent legal experts advised that it was a breach of the Constitution as was recently affirmed by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

David Granger and the PNC says that it believes in democracy and the rule of law but their action was to set up a secret bank account outside the national treasury and beyond the reach of parliamentary scrutiny for the US$18m signature bonus paid by ExxonMobil which was in violation of Art 216 of the Constitution.

David Granger and the PNC says that it believes in democracy and the rule of law but refused to accept its defeat in the no confidence vote in parliament arguing all the way to the CCJ that the required majority of 65 is 34 and not 33.

David Granger and the PNC says that it believes in democracy and the rule of law but refuses to request the resignation of the two ministers who they know are dual citizens which the Constitution prohibits.

David Granger and the PNC says that it believes in democracy and the rule of law but refuses to have the Cabinet resign and still holds weekly Cabinet meetings and take Cabinet decisions contrary to the Constitution and the ruling of the CCJ. David Granger and the PNC says that it believes in democracy and the rule of law but refuses to call an election before the deadline, as the Constitution requires as opposition said on numerous occasions that it would not extend the life of Parliament.

If you want what is best for Guyana and all Guyanese, the economic record shows that Guyana’s democracy and the rule of law must be protected and preserved at all costs.

Sincerely, Charles S. Ramson Attorney at Law

Elections are now six months overdue Dear Editor,

T

he written judgement of Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire, in the case filed by Christopher Ram, is now available. Significantly, in addition to the written Judgement, the learned Chief Justice issued an accompanying “Order of Court”.

One of those Orders read thus: “This Court further Orders that the declaration sought for the house to house registration exercise currently being conducted by the Guyana Elections Commission, Chief Elections Officer and/or the Commissioner of National Registration is illegal, unlawful, ultra vires, unconstitutional, null void and of no effect is not granted in that the said exercise is not of itself unlawful or unconstitutional however that the removal of the names of persons who are already on the list of registrants and who were not, or have not been, or are not registered in the current house to house registration exercise with a consequence of non-inclusion in the list of electors, would be unconstitutional, unless they are deceased or disqualified pursuant to Article 159(2) with the safeguards for removal of the names of persons pursuant to the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 to be strictly complied with.”

This specific Order of the learned Chief Justice should put, conclusively to rest, the reck-

less contention by the Attorney General that the learned Chief Justice did not grant such an Order but instead, made a “statement” to this effect.

In the circumstances, there should be no more doubt that the house to house registration process should be immediately aborted and GECOM should proceed swiftly to refresh the current list of electors by a suitable cycle of Claims and Objections.

Having regard to the uncanny similarities, in recent times, between positions advocated for by the Government and decisions made by the Chief Elections Officer and the Secretariat, the Commission should vigorously interrogate all timeframes being proposed by the Chief Elections Officer and the Secretariat, in terms of a work plan, because, in keeping with the current trend, those work plans will most likely coincide with a December 2019 elections, the very time-frame which Government Ministers are announcing country wide.

The current constitutional matrix mandates elections to have been held by March 21, 2019.

These elections are now six months overdue.

GECOM is duty bound to be ready to hold them as early as possible.

Sincerely, Anil Nandlall, PPP/C MP

7

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

The paddy bug problem is an emergency - where are the ministers?

Dear Editor,

P

addy bugs have led to the loss of almost 20% of the rice crop in Region 6 so far this year. Reports are that a similar loss has been experienced in Region 2 and smaller amounts in Regions 3 and 5. For Region 6 alone, this loss translate into the loss of 500,000 bags of paddy, equating to the loss of $1.4B in revenue for farmers. Overall, Guyanese rice farmers are estimated to lose about $5B this year, having already lost more than $5B in 2018. Most of these are poor farmers and it is unconscionable that the GRDB and the Ministry of Agriculture are largely missing in action. Even more unforgiveable, the President and APNU+AFC have ignored the suffering farmers, being more obsessed with violating the constitution and avoiding elections.

It has been confirmed, rice production fell by 10% in the first half of 2019. The major

reason advanced for the drop in production of rice is the devastation caused by paddy bug infestation, mainly in Regions 2 and 6.

In 2014, Guyana produced more than 637,000 tons of rice. In the first crop of 2015, production reached almost 400,000 tons, far ahead of the pace to meet the 2015 target of 700,000 tons. But Guyana failed to reach the 2015 target because of a significant drop in production for the second 2015 crop. Guyana failed again in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and now it is highly unlikely Guyana will reach the 700,000 target in 2019. One of the major reasons for production missing the 700,000 target in 2017, 2018 and now in 2019 is the paddy bug infestation.

This week, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) finally sought to assure everyone the paddy bug problem limiting rice production in the last two years, particularly in Regions 2 and 6, is being seriously addressed. According to the GRDB, two experts in paddy bug control were in Guyana last

week, under the auspices of FLAR, to assist farmers in controlling paddy bugs. However, few farmers have confidence the GRDB is of any help in fighting paddy bugs. The Central Corentyne Chambers of Commerce (CCCC) called out the GRDB for its sloth and its lack of serious interest in the paddy bug problem.

Like the farmers, the CCCC called on the GRDB to declare the paddy bug problem an emergency. While supporting this call, I believe the Ministry of Agriculture must lead the fight against the paddy bug emergency.

The paddy bugs are not new to Guyana, but it has emerged as a bigger problem in the last couple of years, seriously affecting production. After meeting with the FLAR experts, farmers contend the recommendations made by the experts are things they are already doing. Some of the things are not possible without the direct intervention of GRDB, the Ministry of Agriculture and other government entities. Farmers believe the GRDB and the Ministry of Agriculture are not just clueless, but they have little to no serious interest in assisting farmers in the fight against paddy bugs. I entirely concur with the farmers. The GRDB and the Ministry of Agriculture have been negligent and have allowed the paddy bug problem to escalate, careen out of control and it is now an emergency.

It is a good thing GRDB, after more than two years of neglect, sought to bring in FLAR, the Latin American Fund for Irrigated Rice. However, farmers, while not questioning the expertise of the two FLAR experts, noted neither of them is an entomologist.

This begs the question - what happened to the resident and local entomologists, persons very familiar with paddy bugs in Guyana? Dr. Vivian Baharally is a resident entomologist

who is an employee of the GRDB and works out of the Burma Rice Research Center. After her studies abroad, Dr. Baharally returned home and started working at Burma since, at least, 2014. Another young entomologist just returned home. While retired, there are also two other very experienced entomologists living in Guyana - both Dr. Leslie Munroe and Dr. Dindial Permaul are not only experienced entomologists, they both have extensive research experience and management experience with paddy bugs. Why were these persons not engaged in the paddy bug fight?

In 2014, the GRDB, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, and my own engagement, commenced a $90M initiative for the management and control of paddy bugs in Guyana's rice industry. Dr. Vivian Baharally, an entomologist, was the lead scientist in this initiative. The initiative was led by a team of experts chaired by Dr. Leslie Munroe. But before the initiative gathered speed, the government changed and most of the persons in charge at the GRDB were either forced to resign or were fired. The initiative died. It is no coincidence, therefore, that paddy bug today has a destructive presence in Guyana.

Many of the field officers were reporting the increasing paddy bug presence since 2016, but their reports fell on deaf ears. The GRDB clearly dropped the ball and their response is still too timid, lacking cohesion. The Ministry of Agriculture has been absolutely negligent.

The Ministers of Agriculture have shown a complete lack of interest. In fact, farmers query if Guyana has any Minister of Agriculture.

Regards, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

Neglecting the productive Continued house-to-house sectors to focus on oil could work is wasting money that can be allocated to ensuring result in jobless growth we have credible elections Dear Editor,

F

inance Minister Winston Jordan has finally admitted that the ‘interim’ status of the administration is impacting adversely on the investment climate in the country.

The failure to find suitable investors for the closed sugar estates, including the once flagship Skeldon Estate, is indicative of the hasty, short-sighted and ill-conceived manner in which the APNU+AFC government proceeded with the closure of grinding sugar estates and the consequential divestment deals which, from all indications, have now grounded to a halt.

The minister further indicated that the economy has recorded a positive growth rate of 4 per cent for the first half of this year.

Among the sectors that underperformed were sugar, rice and fishing, all of which are labour intensive, providing not only a livelihood but employment opportunities for thousands of Guyanese.

The minister cannot blow hot and cold at the same time. On the one hand, he is claiming that there is economic growth which is touted to be among the ‘fastest in the world’, while on the other hand, he is blaming the political opposition for intimidating potential investors in respect to investment opportunities.

My own take on the matter is that the economy is operating at a sub-optimal level due to a flawed economic model in which the productive sectors such as agriculture,

fishing and mining are being de-emphasised in favour of fiscal and oil-related economic activities, which could result in a situation where we could potentially have ‘growth without development’ or what is referred to in the literature as ‘jobless growth’.

While there can be no doubt that the economy would be given a significant lift with the inflow of oil revenues, the experiences of several oil producing nations have shown that unless oil revenues are buttressed by strong growth in the non-oil sectors, in particular the agricultural sector, we could very well find ourselves in a situation where the broad masses of people are economically worse off due to high levels of imported inflation, high levels of unemployment and the destruction of the indigenous agro-based economy.

Growth is a necessary but by no means a sufficient condition for economic and social progress. Other essential ingredients for progress must include good and accountable governance, adherence to constitutional rule and the rule of law, political stability and an investor-friendly environment.

The Private Sector Commission has voiced some serious concerns about the current political environment and its impact on business. Instead of dismissing these concerns, the administration is well advised to listen and take the necessary corrective action to address the concerns raised.

Yours faithfully, Hydar Ally

Dear Editor,

L

ast night I was going through my stories on Snapchat, and I noticed one of my followers posted GECOM house to house team re-registering them. I have been following this matter keenly as I was very concerned about my status on the list.

On the 14 August 2019, the Chief Justice stated: “residency is not a qualifying requirement for registration pursuant to Article 159 (2) and therefore the names of persons which are currently on the list of registrants and voters who are not registered during the house-to-house registration exercise cannot be removed unless the persons are deceased or become disqualified pursuant to Article 159 (2) with the provisions for such removal in the N.R.A. to be complied with.”

This made me very elated as I will not be removed from the voter’s list and my rights not be violated.

“The right to registered to vote and the right to vote is sacrosanct and fundamental.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Guyana has acceded establishes the right to vote as a matter of international human rights law and provides that every citizen has a right to vote.”

Now my issue today is the wasting of resources with the house to house exercise.

The Chief Justice ruled that it isn’t unlaw-

ful but it’s more of a means of verification.

Editor, I was registered during a period of continuous registration, where I actively went into the GECOM office near my house and sign myself up. Why not open a period of such?

Chief Justice R. George S.C. stated: “The NCM is an extraordinary circumstance that GECOM must bear in mind in its decision-making as it conducts the house to house registration and for that matter any verification process that has as objective the compilation or revision of the list of electors for the required upcoming elections.”

Bearing in mind all that has passed since the 21st December 2018, should GECOM be focusing all resources on getting an election in the shortest possible time. As a constitutional actor, they should be concerned with Guyana becoming unconstitutional. Besides that, they should realize how finite resources are, and pouring resources into an activity that can be done in another manner are simply not the most advisable thing to do.

Therefore, editor, I am appealing to all sound-minded Guyanese to see the light and join me in a call for an end to the house to house. Stop wasting money, which can be allocated to ensuring we have credible elections.

Regards, Nutana Singh

8

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 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 (August 22, 2019), including the developments at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the need for the ongoing house-to-house registration to be halted.

House-to-House registration must be halted T

he fate of nearly 800,000 Guyanese, moving forward, depends on a decision form the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his Thursday (August 22, 2019) news conference.

“As everyone know we are in a state of limbo…since March 21, 2019 we have had unconstitutional rule… many people are uncertain as to how to engage with this government…we have made it clear that much of what they are doing in this period, the government is unconstitutional, is illegal,” he said.

The no-confidence motion was passed on December 21, 2019. The No-Confidence motion passed over 243 days ago and General and Regional Elections were to be held over 153 days ago – three months after the passage of the no-confidence motion in accordance with the Constitution of Guyana.

Jagdeo said, “In another part of the world, the government would have been named a dictatorship…what we have is a coup d’état.”

The Opposition Leader called attention to the fact that President David Granger is using GECOM as an excuse to further delay Gen-

eral and Regional Elections – claiming that GECOM must advise him on it readiness for Elections, while “his minions” at GECOM are advancing every act possible to slow down developments at GECOM and the moves

by GECOM to ready itself for Elections.

“Even this stage they are persisting on going down a route to delay the elections further…GECOM must understand that the country is on hold…every day that passes by is another stressful day for 800,000 people who don’t know where are going…a decision must be made urgently,” he said.

RULING IS CLEAR The Opposition Leader pointed to the written ruling of the Acting Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire, and stressed there is clarity on the way forward.

“The ruling is clear,” Jagdeo declared. He referred to several paragraphs of the ruling to substantiate his comments.

Paragraph 141 states that: “A reading of all the relevant provisions leads to the inevitable and ineluctable conclusion that GECOM does not have the discretion without more to remove the

name of a person from the list of registrants or electors because such a person who was previously registered has not re-registered during a house to house registration exercise.”

Paragraph 161 states that: “GECOM would have no legal authority to remove or de-register such persons who are otherwise qualified unless such registration can be cancelled…these persons may have to return to their districts to vote, but their names cannot ipso facto be removed from the register of registrants, which removal would then disqualify them from and deprive them of their right to vote. To do so would be unconstitutional and therefore illegal.”

Paragraph 174 states that: “This is to say, where persons are already registered, it would be unconstitutional if they are removed for the sole reason that they now reside in another jurisdiction or as I have pointed out, another part of the country vis-à-vis where they reside as regards their place or district of registration in Guyana where they would be able to vote. The same would apply if it is that they are simply not present for whatever reason when the registration officer or

enumerator visited or visits.

Once they fulfill the criteria in art 159(2) and are already registered, they are entitled to remain so unless it is proven that they are deceased or have become disqualified or that art 159 (3) or (4) applies.”

Jagdeo said, “These are three sections of the ruling that use the word unconstitutional and illegal when it comes to removing people from the database….it is a waste of money to re-register Guyanese....you are re-registering people you cannot remove from the original list… once you are registered in the past, you are wasting your time, do not re-register… the exercise is illegal now as it was originally structured, which is to remove people who are already on the database and re-register them.”

HTH MUST BE HALTED Jagdeo reminded that the Chief Justice also said that, “GECOM is an independent body, that is not subject to the control or direction of any person or authority, and while it is incumbent on GECOM to produce a credible list and a credible election, it is subject to the Constitution and the laws and cannot act as though it is in a normal registration or election cycle.’

He said, “House-to-house registration should have been halted already….the data, we believe, is suspect…it was unsupervised, there were not scrutineers involved in the process from a major stakeholder like the PPP (People’s Progressive Party)….why are we hanging on? There must be some reason why they are persisting in this direction…. why don’t they stop it now?

They should stop it now… clearly GECOM must act with alacrity…they decision must be consistent with the ruling of the Court and with the Constitution.”

The Opposition Leader decried the move by elements aligned to the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) led APNU+AFC Coalition Government to mislead Guyanese on the ruling made by the Acting Chief Justice in the High Court.

MOVE TO CLAIMS AND OBJECTIONS Jagdeo repeated his call for a move to Claims and Objections, which is a tested method that will deliver Elections in the shortest time possible. “We believe that Elections can be held long before December if they immediately proceed to Claims and Objections process,” he said.

Currently, Guyana has a National Register of Registrants – which is used to produce a Preliminary List of Voters that is then finalized as the Official Voters List to be used at Elections. The current National Register of Registrants has not expired.

The Opposition Leader stated that the very National Register of Registrants was used for the recently concluded Local Government Elections and the Voters’ List – not the National Register of Registrants – only expired on April 30, 2019 – weeks after the March 21, 2019 deadline when Elections should have been held by.

Notably, GECOM has said that a Claims and Objections exercise will allow: Allow any eligible Guyanese who has reached the age of 18-years-old to be registered if their name is not on the Voters’ List; Allow any eligible Guyanese to get a transfer from one voting district to another, in the event that they changed their place of residence; Allow any eligible Guyanese to do a name change; Allow for the removal of a dead person from the Voters’ List; and Allow for objections to be made to the name of someone not eligible to be on the Voters List.

Any Election timeline produced by Lowenfield by be ‘thoroughly interrogated’

T

he noticeable ‘coincidence’ where timelines proposed by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, match up with positions taken by the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) is suspect.

This is according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, who addressed the matter during his Thursday (August 22, 2019) news conference and stressed that, moving forward, any timeline produced

by Lowenfield must be thoroughly interrogated.

He said, “Lowenfield’s timelines coincide almost 100 per cent of the time with the positions of Congress Place (PNCR headquarters)…anything produced now must be thoroughly interrogated by the Commission, otherwise it will remain suspect.”

The Opposition Leader, when asked by the media corps about a realistic date for Elections date, said, “Long before December is what we are looking at.” Pressed further, he said an Election date before the end of October would not be unacceptable.

50-DAY TIMELINE Notably, in March 2019, the Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners proposed a work plan that would allow enough time for all the activities needed to ensure GECOM’s readiness to be completed.

The Plan contemplated a 50-day timeframe: 1. Nomination Day to Elections Day – 40 days.

2. Election Day April 29, 2019 - This is based on a timeline of 35 days provided

to Commissioners on January 23, 2019, by the Chief Elections Officer who indicated that his 35 days did not cater for a few extra days for any risks. This timeline includes the printing of ballot papers.

3. Events preliminary to Nomination Day – 10 days.

These events include sending invitations to interested parties to submit lists.

According to the plan, all the other activities hereunder listed can be done CONCURRENTLY during the same 50 days.

These activities include: 1. Training, testing and selection of Election Day staff - 42 days. During 2018, in preparation for the LGE of November 12, 2018, a total of 10,500 persons were trained of which just over 7,500 were employed. Training manuals

have been corrected and printed. Training aids are currently being acquired. There is need for approximately 12,000 staff to work in 2356 polling stations countrywide. Hence there is need to train about 3,000 new persons and retrain where necessary, any of the 10,500 persons previously trained. The excess is included to account for attrition over the short period.

2. Advertise and invite persons for training and retraining where necessary – 11 days 3. Hold daily training programmes in an intensive training exercise all over the country, to train and retrain all the staff needed – 21 days.

If as is claimed that mostly teachers apply to work, then those who are to be trained can and should be given the

necessary time-off to attend the training exercises which is 2 days or 3 days at most for any group of trainees.

4. Evaluate, select and appoint polling day staff – 10 days. This exercise is the primary responsibility of the Human Resources department.

5. Procurement of sensitive and non-sensitive materials – 42 days. All the necessary waivers can and should be given to allow GECOM to sole source materials, especially from outside Guyana, in order to avoid unnecessary delays. The Chief Elections Officer has or should have a list of all materials needed, what is already on hand, what can be sourced locally and what needs to be sourced internationally. The technology exists within GECOM, to electronically source any

and all materials needed and payments can be wired wherever needed in a matter of days. This exercise is the responsibility of the accounts department with input from the chief elections officer.

6. Civic and Voter education. This very important component of any election process is an ongoing one which can be very competently coordinated and executed by the GECOM’S Public Relations Officer and that department. Infomercials and other material have been procured for the Local Government Elections, last November, and will need only some changes for the General and Regional Elections.

If this work plan were to be revived, elections could be held before the end of October.

9

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 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 (August 22, 2019), including the developments at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the need for the ongoing house-to-house registration to be halted.

GNBA called out for infringement of free speech T

he Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) was called out from infringing on free speech under the guise of regulation, by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

During his news conference on Thursday (August 22, 2019), he noted that the GNBA wrote a letter to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) radio station – Freedom Radio – objecting to the fact that a caller, sharing his views on a call-in programme on July 11, 2019, referred to President David Granger as a “liar” on live radio.

Jagdeo noted that the GNBA, ignoring facts, is seeking to infringe on people’s free speech. “This is not regulation…this is infringing on free speech,” he said.

The GNBA letter, seen

by Mirror Newspaper, noted that the reference to Granger as a “liar” is in breach of broadcast guidelines which

prohibit “controversial or offensive references to opponents” and such content cannot be broadcast.

Felix’s comments on foreign nationals raise more questions M inister of Citizenship and Immigration, Winston Felix recently said thousands of Haitians are leaving Guyana at several unofficial crossings to neighbouring Brazil. According to him, some 8,476 Haitians who arrived here between January and July 2019. Of those, he said 6,925 of them reported to Brazilian immigration officials after crossing the border illegally.

Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his Thursday (August 22, 2019) news conference called out Felix for the “absolute garbage” he has been peddling on this issue and pointed out that the Brazilian immigration authorities’ entry figures should match Guyana’s exit numbers.

According to him, Felix’s cavalier disposition on this matter reflects a clear abdication of his responsibilities.

He said, “I wonder what there is to hide…I wonder how many people are compromised…Felix’s comments are pure garbage.”

The Opposition Leader noted that the matter of thousands of foreign nationals being moved through Guyana is a concern not multiple reasons: concern about borders being porous; concerns about

the foreign nationals being exploited; and concerns, from a political angle, about these foreign nationals being given Guyanese document that can be used to include them in the ongoing house-to-house registration – something that would compromise Guyana’s electoral system.

Jagdeo said, “The Government’s lack of concern make people more suspicious.

Over the past few weeks, the local media corps has been exposing the massive influx of foreign nationals.

According to immigration numbers, thousands of Haitians are being ‘brought’ to Guyana. From January to July, it was, 952, 673, 345, 1321, 2010, 1749 and 1552 respectively – a total of over 8,600 Haitians who arrived in the last seven months. They all arrived on flights of the Panamanian-owned Copa Airlines.

Notably, the last available statistics for January to July 2019 show that some 8,476 Haitian nationals arrived in the country, but only 1170 have left – leaving more than 7000 immigrants unaccounted for.

In addition to the Parliamentary Opposition, several persons from civil society

have been calling on the Government to give answers to the questions about the unaccounted foreign nationals.

The “alarming” statistics on the number of Cubans and Haitians who cannot be accounted for, since entering Guyana, caused the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs to summon Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, on June 13, 2018 to discuss possible human trafficking.

According to the numbers, from 2015 to April 30, 2018, a total of 93,374 Cubans arrived in Guyana, but only 76,663 were recorded to have left. This means that there were 16,711 Cubans were still in Guyana. For Haitians, the numbers show that, from 2015 to April 30, 2018, a total of 6,245 arrived in Guyana, but only 963 were recorded to have left. This means that there were 5,282 Haitians still in the country.

Last year, when this issue came up, Jagdeo stated that the matter will be brought to the attention to the international community, including agencies like the UNDP. “We will bring it to their attention because we believe that this is people smuggling,” he had said.

Guyana is being taken advantage of by oil company because Coalition allows it

ttention was called to A contract signed by the APNU+AFC Coalition and

Tullow in 2016 by Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his Thursday (August 22, 2019) news conference.

Tullow has been the subject of local media reports after it was disclosed that the one per cent royalty that the company agreed to in its deal with the government, can be recouped as costs.

Already, the contract exempts Tullow from paying a range of taxes and duties.

Section 15.1 of Tullow’s contract states that “subject to Article 32 and except as provided in Article 15.2, 15.8 and… Article 15.1, no tax, value added tax, excise tax, duty, fee, charge or other impost shall be levied at the date

hereof or from time to time thereafter on the contractor or affiliated companies in respect of income derived from petroleum operations or in respect of any property held, transactions undertaken or activities performed for any purpose authorized or contemplated hereunder”. The only exceptions are import duties at rates set out in the Customs Act and subject to Article 21 of the contract; income unrelated to what is derived under the agreement and rent owing to the government for any land rights granted or assigned. Additionally, it was only this year that the government passed a motion in the National Assembly, moved

by Finance Minister Winston Jordan, to confirm tax waivers for Tullow.

Also, Tullow’s Head of Media Relations, George Cazenove, had said, “What I can say is that our licence is entirely in line with licences around the world in frontier exploration areas.”

In response, Jagdeo said, “I noticed that Tullow has now said that they are a frontier company…really? These people think that we are stupid as Guyanese. They really think we are stupid.

“How many times are we going to give frontier advantages? ExxonMobil, they were the first company to come here so you can argue that case. But the Tullow contract was signed in January of 2016, after we knew that we had oil in commercial quantities and you had about three billion barrels of reserves,

proven reserves. How can you get frontier advantages when the whole basin had been derisked? You can claim that before the finding of oil…. not after.”

According to him, Guyana could have secured between US$50M and US$60M if the oil block controlled by Tullow was put to public tender and there was a competitive bidding process between companies for rights to the block. “They got it for free and now are claiming frontier exploration standards… this contract was found after we found oil…these people are taking advantage of us, but with this Government in place, they will continue to do so,” he said.

The Opposition Leader noted that the APNU+AFC

Coalition persists in its failure to address key issues such as local content policy, ring-fencing, etc. “All we hear are platitudes from this government,” he said.

OIL FIND It was announced on August 12, 2019 that Tullow discovered oil in commercial quantities at the Jethro-1 exploration well in the Orinduik Block.

This is the first discovery in the Orinduik Block, which is located in close proximity to the Stabroek Block – where United States oil giant ExxonMobil had already made 13 lucrative oil discoveries.

The Jethro-1 well was drilled by the Stena Forth drillship to a total depth of 4400 metres in approximately

1350 metres of water. According to a statement from the company, evaluation of the logging data confirmed that Jethro-1 comprises high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs of Lower Tertiary age, which simply means they date back to millions of years ago.

According to the statement, the well encountered 55m of net oil pay, which indicates a recoverable oil resource estimate that exceeds Tullow’s pre-drill forecast of 100 million barrels of oil.

Tullow Guyana BV is the operator of the Orinduik Block, with a 60 per cent stake. Total E&P Guyana BV holds 25 per cent with the remaining 15 per cent being held by Eco (Atlantic) Guyana Inc.

10

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

(Acknowledging the public interest in this matter, this week, the Mirror Newspaper publishes the synopsis and conclusion included in the written ruling of the Chief Justice on the challenge to house-to-house registration)

Chief Justice rules that persons already registered do not have to re-register, persons cannot be removed from Voters’ database

S

everal key points were addressed by Chief Justice, Roxanne GeorgeWilshire, in the challenge to the house-to-house registration.

She stated that persons previously registered cannot be de-registered – this means there is no necessity for Guyanese who are already registered and in possession of an ID card to re-register.

She stated that person cannot be de-registered if they are not found at home when the officials from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) visit your residence. This applies to students studying abroad, persons on vacation and persons working abroad, etc. The rationale behind this, according to the Chief Justice (ag) is that there is no residency requirement for persons to be registered and vote in Guyana, except for those who are Commonwealth citizens living in Guyana for more than one (1) year.

Further, she explained that GECOM has to consider other method of updating the list, in light of the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed and that an election should have been held since the 21st March 2019.

BELOW IS THE SYNOPSIS AND CONCLUSION INCLUDED IN THE WRITTEN RULING HANDED DOWN BY CHIEF JUSTICE: 165. The answers to the questions identified earlier as the issues to be determined are answered as follows: 166. Did the CCJ by its consequential orders judgment fix a date by which or period during which general and regional elections are to be held as a consequence of the validly passed NCM? 167. The judgment did not fix a date by which or a period during which general

and regional elections are to be held as a consequence of the validly passed NCM. The CCJ expressly declined to do so. Therefore, the Court did not fix September 18, 2019 as the date on or by which elections are to be held.

168. The Court cannot decide on a date or period within which elections are to be held. The Court cannot usurp the powers of the executive or the legislature in this regard. The Esther Perreira case (supra), in which Justice Singh fixed a date for the elections can be distinguished, as there the 1997 elections were held not to have been conducted in accordance with the law, to wit the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 and arts 59 and 159 of the Constitution. Also art 106 which sets out what occurs on the passage of a NCM did not apply.

169. As noted by the CCJ – it is for the political actors and other bodies and personages to “exercise their responsibilities with integrity and in keeping with the unambiguous provisions of the Constitution bearing in mind that the no confidence motion was validly passed as long ago as 21 December, 2018.” The Court therefore assumed that they would so act within the bounds of the provisions of the Constitution and responsibly to ensure the well-being of the nation as a whole. There is no need for the Court to make coercive orders as sought by the applicant given that art 106 “immediately became engaged”. Article 106 (6) and 106 (7) themselves provide the imperatives.

170. I can only reiterate what the CCJ has so pellucidly stated at para 7 of the consequential orders judgment – that the setting of any timeline or deadline for elections is “the preserve of the political actors guided by constitutional imperatives.”

171. Is the house to house registration exercise

currently being conducted by GECOM in 2019 unconstitutional and unlawful given the context of the validly passed NCM? The house to house registration exercise currently being conducted by GECOM in 2019 is not unconstitutional or unlawful.

172. Can the name of a person, whose name is currently on the list of registrants and electors, but who is not registered during the house to house registration exercise, be removed from the list of registrants and thereby the list of electors for the next general and regional elections which flow from the validly passed NCM? 173. Residency is not an additional qualifying requirement for registration pursuant to art 159 (2)(c) and therefore the names of persons which are currently on the list of registrants and electors, but who are not registered during the house to house registration exercise, cannot be removed unless the persons are deceased or become disqualified pursuant to art 159 (2) of the Constitution with the provisions for such removal in the NRA to be complied with.

174. This is to say, where persons are already registered, it would be unconstitutional if they are removed for the sole reason that they now reside in another jurisdiction or as I have pointed out, another part of the country vis-à-vis where they reside as regards their place or district of registration in Guyana where they would be able to vote. The same would apply if it is that they are simply not present for whatever reason when the registration officer or enumerator visited or visits.

Once they fulfill the criteria in art 159(2) and are already registered, they are entitled to remain so unless it is proven that they are deceased or have become disqualified or that art 159

(3) or (4) applies.

175. Pursuant to the ELA and the NRA the electoral system in Guyana is meant to be based on continuous registration, with additions being done by house to house registration as one of the methods of doing so.

This is because inherent in a person’s right to be registered as an elector is a concomitant right to vote.

176. The legislation does provide a framework for ascertaining those who have died and those who have left the country permanently, though the fact of the latter does not mean that one would have renounced ones right to vote in Guyana. It is for the State and the policy makers to ensure that the statutory provisions in this regard are properly operationalised. The legislative framework leaves much to be desired. It is repetitive and convoluted and therefore, unnecessarily complicated, moreso as the ELA and NRA have to be cross-referenced to get a picture of how the laws are to be implemented. Any changes, e.g. by way of consolidating legislation, would be for the executive and legislature to determine.

This is as much as the Court can say.

177. I have also concluded that it would not be for the court to determine whether house to house registration should or should not be conducted. It is for GECOM, within the confines of the Constitution and the law and the timelines pursuant thereto for the holding of national and regional elections to determine how and when to hold house to house registration. This is to say, GECOM cannot seek to conduct such registration such as to vary the constitutional timelines for holding elections outside of what is permitted by the Constitution and relevant laws. If this would be a possibility then GECOM may have to

consider other options including what other methods of verification of the list may have to be utilized. And given the exhortation of the CCJ, even though it has a duty to provide a credible voters’ list, GECOM cannot operate as though it is in a normal elections cycle. To itself have credibility, it has to operate within the context of a NCM having been validly passed.

178. Thus, whatever verification or revision exercise is undertaken to ensure a fair and credible election, whether house to house or otherwise, for the preparation of the list of electors for national and regional elections consequent on the NCM, must be conducted in the context of the order of the CCJ of July 12, 2019 that the provisions of art 106 immediately became engaged on the passage of the NCM on December 21, 2018. This means that the election should have been held on March 21, 2019 that is within 3 months of the passage of the NCM or such extended date as approved by two-thirds of all the members of the National Assembly.

179. I agree with the submissions by Mr. Hawke that most of the declarations sought are vague and if granted would not have provided any clarity. This is especially borne out by this FDA in which there is much contention regarding what the CCJ has meant to convey by its pronouncements and orders.

180. For the reasons outlined, the declaration sought at (i) that the house to house registration process is in violation of art 106(6) and (7) is not granted.

181. The declaration that the CEO/CR and GECOM obey the letter and spirit of the CCJ’s NCM judgment and consequential orders would have posed difficulties as to the meaning of ‘letter and spirit”. For the reasons

given, it is not granted.

182. The third declaration that the conduct of the house to house registration exercise is illegal, unlawful, ultra vires, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect is not granted given my conclusion that house to house registration is not in and of itself unconstitutional or unlawful. However, to be clear, I hold that the house to house exercise being conducted by GECOM is not in and of itself unlawful or unconstitutional, howsoever that the removal of the names of persons who are already on the list of registrants and who were not or have not been or are not registered in the current house to house registration exercise would be unconstitutional, unless they are deceased or disqualified pursuant to art 159 (2) (a) and (b) (3) and (4).

183. I have dealt with the fourth declaration which requests a declaration that the house to house exercise currently being conducted is contrary to the NRA and have stated why it cannot be granted.

184. As a consequence of my conclusions, the application by the applicant must fail for the most part. Thus, the consequential orders for a conservatory order cannot be ordered, though I tend to agree with Mr. Hawke that it is an interlocutory and not a final order. There is no need to address this submission in this instance.

185. Similarly, an order compelling GECOM and the CEO/CNR to immediately take all steps and actions necessary and requisite to hold regional and general elections on or before the 18th day of September, 2019 in compliance with art 106(6) and 106 (7) and the CCJ judgments cannot be granted. This too is an order which would have been difficult to implement or enforce as this case demonstrates the subjectivity as regards what would be considered necessary steps and actions.

11

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Real Time Economic Insights (An analysis of Guyana’s economic performance)

Poor management of Public Enterprises under APNU+AFC Coalition

P

ublic enterprises recorded a deficit of $3.3B in the first half of 2019. According to the 2019 Mid-Year Report, a deficit of $10.9B is projected at the end of year for Public Enterprises. The performance of Public Enterprises has been on the decline from 2017 with a deficit of $5.04B and a deficit of $9.36B in 2018.

In the first half of 2019, the National Insurance Scheme recorded an overall deficit of $748.4 million. According to the Mid-Year report, a forecast projects a deficit of $546.7 million, which was mainly due to a shortfall of $1 billion or 4.5 percent in employee contributions, compared to the amount budgeted for at the half-year, as well as an increase of $449.3 million, or 1.9 percent in benefit payments.

A deficit of $9.5B is being projected by the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) at the end of this year. At half year GPL recorded a cash deficit of $4.2B this deficit was attributed to several factors. The Report stated that, GPL experienced a decline in sales collection as a result of a 61.5 percent collection rate for Government accounts, and actual billed sales

falling below budget, by 3 per cent and a reduced income from investments in treasury bills as well as from services provided by the company.

Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) experienced a deficit of $253.3M at the end of the first half of the year, with a projected deficit of $256.4 million at the end of the year. The Report noted that the deficit results from higher employment cost, unbudgeted operational expenditure, rehabilitation works on an office building at LBI Estate, and an advance payment for a seed cleaner.

Guyana National Printers Limited expects a deficit of $80.5 million at the end of 2019. In the first half of the year, a deficit of $21.5 million was recorded. This resulted from

Guyanese urged to use social media platform to make anonymous submissions about corruption

W

ith the four-year mark of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government being in office having passed and with more and more Guyanese forwarding information about increasing levels of corruption in office, a platform has been created to allow for easier communication of such information.

Opposition Leader, Bharat Jagdeo, has urged Guyanese to make use of the social media platforms and participate in the effort to continue to expose the misdeeds of the APNU+AFC Coalition. He assured that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) will continue its investigations in the push for greater accountability and transparency.

Guyanese can make submissions of information anonymously via Facebook on ‘Corruption Watch 592’ and via WhatsApp on telephone number (592)-653-6637.

increased expenditure for additional purchases of paper stock, as well as repairs and maintenance of the equipment used to produce exercise books.

The Report indicated that s deficit of $13.6M is forecasted for Guyana National Newspapers Limited. This agency recorded a deficit of $15.8 million at the end of the first half of 2019, compared to a surplus of $5.4 million in the same period in 2018. According to the Report, the deficit was as a result of a decrease in local sales due to the increase in online broadcast of news.

Notwithstanding the deficits in the first half of 2019, Guyana Sugar Corporation experienced a surplus of $843 million.

However, a deficit of $920M is projected at the end of 2019.

Guyanese interested in volunteering asked to contact Party

T

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.

12

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

PPP/C teams in cou CANAL #2

HIBERNIA

INDUSTRY

INDUSTRY

SOESDYKE

VRIESLAND

TUSCHEN

WOODLEY PARK

13

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

untrywide meetings ABARY CREEK

ANNA CATHERINA

BLACK BUSH POLDER

DIAMOND

GROENVELDT

LIMA

POMONA

SHIELDSTOWN

14

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

OBSERVER

Obscene spending by the CARETAKER gov’t S

ince the successful passage of the no-confidence notion, the APNU+AFC caretaker government has embarked on a spending

spree that has serve to deplete the country’s coffers.

The government continues to use taxpayers’ money in a manner that is not in the

best interest of the Guyanese people.

The spending has been so excessive that they are rapidly depleting our as-

sets, whilst at the same time we are getting very little value for all this spending.

Six months after the passage of the no-confidence motion, there has been a decline of GYD$7 Billion in the total assets held by the Bank of Guyana from GYD$220.3 Billion in 2018 to GYD$213.2 Billion as at June 2019.

When the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) handed down its ruling and advised that the current Government is to assume the role of a caretaker, President Granger said: “In the jurisdictions that adhere to the Westminster system, if you want to call it that, Canada, Australia and other countries – we have consulted with the laws – and interim status means: we do not pass a budget; we have to keep government running, the routine functions; I cannot undertake State visits and sign agreements with foreign countries; we have to limit our expenditure; and we have to ensure that we do not embark on any controversial project.

“There are half a dozen or more conventions with which we have to comply to ensure that the government restrains expenditure, restrains its actions. “…we are aware of the international conventions and both the Chancellor of Judiciary of Guyana and the CCJ, the President of the CCJ, cited a Canadian expert and we are abiding by those six principles. We accept the status of interim government and we are not going to breach the convention.”

Despite this announcement the President, as he is wont to do has reneged and backpedaled on his own comments, and is carrying on as if it is business as usual.

The APNU+AFC Cabinet continues to meet and new projects are being approved. It was only earlier this month that the government announced close to G$1 Billion in contracts being approved. These con-

tracts ranged from major road works to hydropower. This took place, despite President Granger’s admissions on the legal authority of his government being restrained.

The wastage of taxpayers’ money was seen immediately after the passage of the no-confidence motion. Millions were spent on Cabinet outreaches. These outreaches have not brought any benefit to the citizens, but allowed the government to utilize funds for campaigning. Rather, what was exposed was the Coalition’s desperation to use taxpayers’ money in a blatant attempt to buy votes. They are doing this whilst neglecting more important issues.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES Currently our health sector is in crisis and the government is not taking any tangible steps to arrest this.

Monies being wasted on outreaches and shows could be better spent on addressing the rising levels of maternal and child deaths. Also addressing the shortage of drugs should be of primary concern.

In this state of frenzied spending, the government has not seen it fit to allocate any of those funds towards public safety. The crime situation in our country continues to spiral out of control and the government is not taking any concrete steps to address this. It would appear that our safety is not a priority, trying to fool us into voting for them is their priority.

Since December 21, 2018 the government has allocated Billions of dollars towards infrastructure works.

These allocations have seen breaches of the procurement regulations, sole sourcing, and substandard service.

The haste in which they are trying to get some of these works completed has resulted in works being done in a haphazard manner. The manner in which the Ministry of Public Infrastructure

have been carrying out their business, especially since the no-confidence motion has left a lot of room for corruption. It would serve the country better if funds being rushed through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure would have been utilized in other areas.

For example the Agriculture sector, especially the rice farmers would have been appreciative if their crisis with regards to paddy bugs would have garnered the same attention than some of the proposed infrastructure works. It would appear that the government believes that the population views infrastructure work more favorably than helping our farmers. Or it may be that the government don’t view those farmers as being part of their support base, and as such do not warrant any urgency.

In the government’s haste to spend money in their continued efforts to mislead the public they have thrown accountability and transparency out the window. The track record of the government Ministers and Ministries does not engender any confidence that they would adhere to the rules and regulations set out. This spending demonstrates the government’s position that they are not accountable to anyone and that corruption and political nepotism is entrenched. It is a chilling thought when you take into account that these are the people who can potentially be responsible for spending our oil revenues.

Their actions have shown that when it comes spending, this government does not place the needs of its citizens in any regard.

We are fast approaching the time when we will be able to evaluate the performance of this government and then make a decision on whether they should continue or not. It is obvious that this will be an easy decision.

Our only choice is to fire this government and replace them with one that have our interest at heart, the PPP/C.

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Perspectives from the PPP/C Presidential Candidate

15

Op-Ed: Economic growth for first half of 2019 comparatively sluggish

By Irfaan Ali, PPP/C Presidential Candidate he half-year report presented by the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, confirms that the economy continues to suffer from extreme fatigue. Based on his report, the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first half of 2019 decelerated to 4 percent, compared with the revised 5 per cent for the corresponding period in 2018 (figure 1). Given the slow start to 2019, the projected growth for this year was adjusted downwards to 4.5 per cent.

Thus, the growth rate of the economy for the first half is not only lower than the corresponding period one year ago, but will contribute to economic growth that is below the level projected for 2019.

These outturns point to an economy that is struggling and consistently underperforming rather than one that is strong and improving. The consistent underperformance of the economy is also highlighted by the average half-year growth of 2.9 percent recorded under the ANPU government during the period 2015-2019 compared with 4.2 percent during the last five years when the PPP-C was in office (2011-2014) (SEE FIGURE 1).

SUGAR SECTOR The poor performance of sugar subsector was due to the late delivery of materials and extended maintenance of equipment that delayed production. This caused sugar production to reach its lowest level of 33,531 metric tonnes during the first half of 2019. Compared with the first six months of 2014, this represented a 159 percent decline in sugar production.

According to the half-year report, production for the remainder of the year and 2020 is likely to be affected by delays in procurement; a clear manifestation of mismanagement. The sugar subsector is now projected to grow my 2.3 percent during 2019 instead of 15.6 percent that was presented in the 2019 Budget.

Consequently, the export revenue from sugar, which declined continuously since the APNU-AFC assumed office in 2015, is anticipated to shrink further. Revenue from the export of this commodity contracted from US$34.4 million during the first half of 2014, to US$12 million during the corresponding period in 2019. The budgeted export revenue of US$29.4 million for the entire 2019, which is 15 percent less than the half-year amount for 2014, was adjusted downwards to US$25 million due to gross mismanagement and the concerted efforts by the APNU-AFC government to destroy this industry.

Figure 1: Comparison of half-year growth rates (%)

Figure 3: Sugar production, 2014-2019

T

PRODUCTIVE SECTORS The poor performance of the economy for the first half may be attributed to notable contraction registered in the sugar, livestock, fishing, bauxite, and other mining sub-sectors which declined by 2.7 percent, 8.1 percent, 12.2 percent, 2.9 percent, and 0.7 percent respectively Leading the sluggish economic performance for the first half of 2019, was agriculture sector which contracted by 0.3 percent; compared with a growth of 4.9 percent during the corresponding period last year (figure 2). This key sector was projected to grow by 3.9 percent during 2019. However, the growth forecast for the sector was adjusted downwards to 1.4 percent this year. (SEE FIGURE 2)

EXPORT EARNINGS The contraction of the livestock subsector was due mainly to the decline in mutton, chicken and milk production that has affected the entire population. One of the factors, which the midyear report failed to highlight for the declining production in chicken is the prohibited and rising cost that is a major disincentive to local producers. Meanwhile, the fishing subsector suffered a major setback from decline in shrimp production and industrial finfish production.

Based on the performance of the livestock subsector during the first half, this sector is now forecasted to register growth of 0.7 percent instead of 2.3 percent for 2019.

The bauxite and other mining subsectors contracted by 2.9 percent and 0.7 percent respectively. As a consequence, the budgeted growth targets for 2019, were reduced. The growth target of 8.6 percent for the bauxite during 2019 was lowered to 1.3 percent. The export revenue from this commodity had to be reduced from US$162.9 million to US$131.3 million.

Similarly, the other mining subsector growth target was revised downwards from 5.3 percent to 1 percent for 2019.

While robust growth is project for the forestry sector that was injured by the spiteful actions of the APNU-AFC government, the export revenue from forestry products is anticipated to less than the amount forecasted in the 2019 Budget.

16

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Perspectives from the PPP/C Presidential Candidate

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS The current account deficit during the first six months of 2019 was US$866.8 million; US$288.3 million more than the deficit of US$578.5 million recorded last year. Notwithstanding improvements in the capital account, the overall deficit was US$86.9 million during the first half of 2019, compared with US$139.8 million during the corresponding period last year.

Based on the BOP in the half-year report, the economy will struggle for the remainder of the year. In his report, the Minister attempted to hide this fact by presenting unrealistic growth forecasts for the various sectors (appendix A1, half-year report). The more realistic projections of the sectoral performance, however, are contained in the Balance of Payments generated by the Bank of Guyana (appendix b). This statement shows that forecasted revenue of all the primary export commodities, including, bauxite, sugar, timber were revised downwards. The poor performance in the key export sectors coupled with the expansion of imports, the deficit in the current account is projected to widen to reach US$1,378.9 million, more than three time the deficit of US$361.5 million in the 2019 Budget. The overall balance which was projected to be a surplus of US$15 million is consequently expected to change to a deficit of US$106.13 million. The international reserves will therefore be depleted further and greater pressure will be placed on the foreign exchange rate, which in turn will translate into higher inflation. According to the BOP the government will be forced to borrow and hope for debt relief.

expenditure. The emoluments was maintained at $70,151.1 million.

Even with higher revenue from income and trade taxes and stable employment costs, the fiscal deficit is projected to widen from $41,497.4 million to $41,832.3 million. According to the half year report, the government intends to finance the larger deficit from external borrowing.

INFLATION The 12-month inflation rate, continued to trend upwards as a result of increases in the price meat, fish, vegetables and vegetable products, condiments and spices. These increases are strongly correlated with the marked reduction in the output levels reported in the livestock and fishing subsectors.

The Minister posited in his half year review that inflation will be contained at 2.5 percent.

However, it is my respectful view that excess demand for these food items will persist thereby and depreciation in the foreign exchange rate will cause further spike in the inflation rate.

Figure 6: Ratio of reserves for loan losses to non-performing loans

PUBLIC FINANCE Apart from downplaying the economic disaster as reflected in the BOP, the Minister skillfully avoided a truthful analysis of the fiscal accounts contained in the half year report.

Based on the fiscal accounts, the government extracted more tax revenue during the first half of 2019 when compared to 2018. The total tax revenue increased from $100,618.3 million end-June 2018 to $108,964.8 million end-June 2019. The increase was attributed to higher income taxes, value added taxes and trade taxes.

The increased taxes financed the growth in current expenditure which ballooned from $92,848 million end-June 2018 to $97,325.6 end-June 2019 million. The overall balance before grants widened from $2,637.7 million end-June 2018 to reach $5,990.1 million end-June 2019.

Even though the economy is struggling with the high taxes and inflation rates, the government is plans to collect more income and trade taxes than it budgeted. The revenue from income tax and trade taxes that were budgeted at $88,673.3 million and $24,479.1 million were increased to $91,853.5 million and $25,165.9 million respectively. This represents an increase of $3,867 million.

The half-year report also revealed that the government intends to extract more from the private sector in the form of non-tax revenue. The budgeted amount of $8,439.8 million from this source was increased to $8,866.2 million.

These funds will be utilized to finance other goods and services that is projected to increase to $60,791.1 million, from a budgeted sum of $59,843 million for this category of government Figure 5: Ratio of non-performing loans to total loans, 2014-2019

MONETARY While the monetary statistics paints a rosy picture of the investment climate it must be viewed cautiously. The monetary statistics revealed that credit to the private sector increased in all the key sectors.

However, the growth in credit should be cause for concern since the commercial banks are increasing credit at a time when the economy is struggling and non-performing loans is increasing.

The ratio of non-performing loans has trended upwards from 5.97 percent at end-June 2014 to 12.58 percent at end-June 2019. Meanwhile, the reserves for loan losses reduced continuously from 67.24 percent to 37.05 percent. Thus, while less reserves are set aside to cater for loans losses there is a continuous increase in non-performing loans.

Since the most important risks that confronts the banking system is credit risk, all should be concerned rather than happy with the growth in credit.

PUBLIC DEBT During the first half of 2019, the domestic debt service and external debt service payment registered growth of 96.9 percent and 7.3 percent respectively. Of concern is the government guarantee $30 billion bond of which the government utilized approximately $17.6 billion and is yet to provide explanation to the people of Guyana regarding the use of these funds. In his report, the Minister also stated that $785.3 million was repaid by NICIL during the first half of 2019.

CONCLUSION The economic growth posted for the first half of 2019 was slower than the corresponding period last year. Given the sluggish growth, the growth rate for the entire 2019 was adjusted downwards.

While the minister attempted to paint a rosy picture concerning the performance of the economy for the remainder of the year, the BOP shows that there will be a decline in the export revenue for bauxite, sugar, and timber. The decline in export revenue coupled with anticipated increase in exports will result in a balance of payment deficit instead of a budgeted surplus.

This in turn will deplete the international reserves and force the government to seek debt relief and debt forgiveness to finance the deficit.

The increase in non-performing loans suggest that the economy is ailing economy and collides with the optimism expressed by the Minister regarding our growth prospect. It is not normal for individuals and businesses to default on their loan payments when things are going well in an economy. Loan default occurs when the economy is on the decline. Indeed, published research shows that rising non-performing is strongly linked to the decrease in economic growth and relaxed lending policies. The expansion of credit to the private sector should therefore be viewed with concern since it may be due to lax lending policies rather than buoyancy in the economy and optimism of individuals and businesses in future growth prospects. This type of behavior is dangerous and was responsible for the last global financial crisis caused by the extension of subprime loans.

It is unfortunate that the debilitating tax measures introduced by the government this year will deprive the people of Guyana of billions at a time when prices are rising. Even sadder is the reality that the increased revenue will not go towards increases in emoluments to public servants but to pay for more goods and services. To add insult to injury, a larger deficit will accrue from the spending spree undertaken by the government which will be financed by more overseas borrowing that will have to be paid by Guyanese in the future.

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Perspectives from the PPP/C Presidential Candidate

17

Ali engages Guyanese during sports events Scores of Guyanese gathered on Sunday (August 18, 2019) for the sports event – horse racing – in Region 6 engaged People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali.

Ali questions how the $30B Gov’t squeezing more taxes GuySuCo bond was spent from pockets of Guyanese T – PPP/C presidential candidate he APNU+AFC Coalition must account for what it did with over $17B, according to People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali. He explained that when Government arranged a $30B bond guaranteed by the State and National Industrial and Commercial Investment (NICIL) assets, it was supposed to recapitalise the sugar sector. However, the sector continues to struggle.

“Of concern is the Government guarantee $30 billion bonds of which the Government utilised approximately $17.6 billion and is yet to provide an explanation to the people of Guyana regarding the use of these funds…in his report, the Minister also stated that NICIL repaid $785.3 million during the first half of 2019.

Given the poor performance of GuySuCo during the first half, an urgent explanation is

warranted,” Ali said.

Since the closure of the four estates, leaving more than 7000 sugar workers jobless, Government has moved to divestment the facilities. The Special Purposed Unit, under NICIL, was tasked with overseeing the divestment. However, the economic rationale used by the Special Purposed Unit to secure a $30B bond remains in question.

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 showed 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 noted too 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.

The document explained 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.

T

ax collection has risen and will continue to rise for the rest of the year, according to People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate Irfaan Ali. He pointed out that the APNU+AFC Coalition squeezed more tax revenue out of the pockets of Guyanese people in the first half of 2019 – a whopping $108.9 billion.

Ali said, “The increase was attributed to higher income taxes, value added taxes and trade taxes…the increased taxes financed the growth in current expenditure which ballooned from $92,848 million by the end of June 2018 to $97,325 million at the end of June 2019.”

Ali also alluded to pro-

jections, noting that the report estimates the collection of $91.8 million in income tax, $95.8 billion in VAT and excise tax, $25.1 billion in trade taxes and $10.6 billion in the category of ‘others’, by this year end.

“This represents an increase of $3.8 billion,” Ali said.

He added, “The halfyear report also revealed that the Government intends to extract more from the Private Sector in the form of non-tax revenue. The budgeted amount of $8.4 million from this source was increased to $8.8 million.”

A breakdown of tax collection documented in the report shows that Value Added Tax (VAT) collection increased by $2.1 billion to $24.8 billion be-

tween January and June of this year. The report notes that VAT from domestic goods rose by $2 billion owing to higher payments from manufacturing, distribution, services, and oil and gas.

According to the report, the net property tax paid by the Private Sector was $3.6 billion, with some individual payments reaching $700 million. Current tax payments from companies increased by $24.7 million, while arrears payments for companies and individuals were $127.8 million and $101.7 million respectively.

Meanwhile, personal income tax revenue grew by $2 billion, or 16.4 per cent, compared to the corresponding period last year.

According to the report, companies in the oil and gas sector accounted for 61 per cent or $1.2 billion.

18

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

Timeline of what happened since December 21, 2018 21st December 2018: • Motion was successfully carried by the National Assembly by a vote of 33 (Parliamentary Opposition) to 32 (Government).

• The Prime Minister accepts the Government had fallen 22nd December 2018: • President Granger via the Ministry of the Presidency accepts that the Government has fallen and vows to follow the Constitution.

• GECOM Secretariat holds meeting to address preparations for Elections.

23rd December 2018: • Nigel Hughes publicly argues new calculation on the majority of the National Assembly [65/2=32.5, roundup to 1 = 33, add one =34]

27th December 2018: • GECOM secretariat announces, via Public Relations Office, Yolanda Warde, they can hold election in the mandated timeframe. (Article published by Guyana Chronicle - http:// guyanachronicle.com/2018/12/27/gecomready-for-elections) 2nd January 2019: • AG Basil Williams writes to the Speaker to reverse his decision.

3rd January 2019: • Parliament meets to deal with the consequences of the passage of the no-confidence motion • The Speaker refuses to reverse his decision and further instructed that the motion stands 5th – 7th January 2019: AT GUYANA’S HIGH COURT • Compton Reid, private citizen, files a challenge to the passage of the motion using dual citizenship argument • Basil Williams files to challenge the majority of the National Assembly • Chris Ram files that the government should uphold the motion and call elections

9th January 2019: • 18 days after the passage of the motion President Granger meets with the Leader of the Opposition.

• A joint communication came out of this meeting: ■ It was agreed that the two Chief Whips will meet with GECOM. ■ Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield refuses to meet, preferring the Chairman to meet the two Chief Whips.

31st January 2019: • (GUYANA’S HIGH COURT) The Chief Justice makes her ruling on all the matters before her: ■ 33 is the majority; ■ The government stood resigned in keeping with the article 106 (6) and (7); ■ Dual citizens are not eligible to be candidates and Members of Parliament, however, Charandass Persaud’s vote is valid in accordance with electoral laws and art 165; ■ A challenge to the eligibility of an elected Member to Parliament, including dual citizens, must be challenged by an election petition in the High Court within 28 days after elections.

5th February, 2019: AT GUYANA’S APPEAL COURT • The Government files its appeals to reverse the Chief Justice rulings in the Court of Appeal.

The President makes clear that if the Appeal Court does not rule in the Government’s favour it will take the matters to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

5th February, 2019: • GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, declares that a short period of Claims and Objections can refresh the validity of the Voters’ List. “We can move toward the conduct, as I said yesterday, of a claims and objections exercise of a duration to be specified by the Commission so that we can arrive at a list,” Lowenfield had said.

• GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, declares that the last Valid List of Electors was “clean” – a sentiment echoed by all the political parties who contested the November 12, 2018 Local Government Elections.

8th February, 2019: • The Chairman of GECOM during a press conference where the Commission stated that it needed 148 days to prepare for elections.

25th February, 2019: • GECOM asked by the Government to provide a work plan, 66 days after the passage of the no-confidence motion.

6th March, 2019: • Leader of the Opposition once again meets with the President and proposes a face- saving device to the President in the interest of averting a constitutional crisis.

The Parliamentary Opposition proposes that it would give its support for a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly in accordance with article 106(7) to extend the time for elections to be held on or before April 30, 2019, when the voters’ list expires. This was conditional

that no new contracts/agreements are signed by the government in the interim and it is “not business as usual.” This proposal was ignored and rebuffed.

President Granger stated that he was not prepared to call elections until: (a) the Voters’ List is ‘sanitized’; and (b) the legal processes are concluded. The Government continued in its current ‘business as usual’ mode.

8th March, 2019: • President meets with GECOM commissioners • Opposition-nominated GECOM commissioners present a work plan which was rejected.

However, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, informally, accepts copy of the work plan that caters for Elections within 50 days.

19th March, 2019: • The Chairman of GECOM writes to the President requesting more funds for elections and advising elections could not be held sooner than the end of November 2019 after House to House Registration.

22nd March, 2019: • The Government held office illegally for 16 hours • (GUYANA’S APPEAL COURT) The Court of Appeal in a three judge court made a ruling: ■ 2/3 Judges stated that 34 is the majority, making an absurd argument of absolute and simple majority.

■ 3/3 Judges agreed that dual citizens should not sit in parliament ■ 3/3 Judges stated that Charandass’ vote was valid

26th March, 2019: • The Parliamentary Opposition moved to appeal the Court of Appeal rulings in the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

27th March, 2019: AT THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE • The Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and others move to the Caribbean Court of Justice to challenge the Appeal Court ruling on the no-confidence motion case • Zulfikar Mustapha moves to the Caribbean Court of Justice to challenge the Appeal Court ruling on the unilateral appointment of a GECOM Chairman.

29th March, 2019: AT THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE Case management conference held. Decisions are as follows: • Challenges related to the validity of the no-confidence motion are to be consolidated.

• Challenge to unilaterally appointed GECOM Chairman is set for hearing.

19

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

8th May, 2019: AT THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE • Hearing of the unilateral appointment’s case

Brigadier David Granger, President of Guyana was flawed and in breach of Guyana’s Constitution.”

Ram. Representing Ram is former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, and former Speaker of the National Assembly, Ralph Ramkarran.

9th and 10th May, 2019: AT THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE • Hearing of the consolidated cases related to the challenge of the validity to the no-confidence motion.

12th July, 2019: • (CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE - ORDER) In the matter of the unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman, the Court said, (Paragraph 3) It is now a matter of the greatest public importance that the President and the Leader of the Opposition should, as soon as possible, embark upon and conclude the process of appointing a new GECOM Chairman.

This imperative is now of the utmost urgency in light of our decision in the no confidence motion cases that the motion was validly passed thereby triggering the need for fresh general elections.

23rd July, 2019: • While the Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition has been insisting that there can be no move to General and Regional Elections without a new national house-to-house registration process to create a new Voters List, Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, under pressure, has admitted that this is not so.

When pressed by the media on Tuesday (July 23, 2019), he admitted that the last valid List of Electors, as of April 30, 2019, can be refreshed via a Claims and Objections period and used for new General and Regional Elections. He said, “If a claims and objections exercise is to be used, then that will form the basis of a preliminary list.” Asked specifically if the last Valid List can be used to conduct a free and fair Elections, Lowenfield said, “That is correct.”

• Further, when asked to comment on President Granger’s assertion that the voters’ list is bloated by about 200,000 names, Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield said, “You are saying my List is bloated….bloat is not a word it would affix to it (the List).” The Chief Elections Officer also stated that Granger’s claims is based on speculation. Lowenfield said, “It’s speculative. I will want to do an exercise to determine that amount and that exercise can be done,” he said.

April - May, 2019: • GECOM continues to train staff and procure goods for a national House to House despite the matter being before the CCJ. 13th May, 2019: • GECOM’s in-house Legal Counsel advises against House to House registration.

A legal opinion, prepared for the Commission a month before, said: “The use of the word ‘revise’ [in the Election Laws (Amendment) Act 15 of 2000] suggest that the process is not one where a ‘new’ List is generated, but one where the most recent list is updated or amended….I therefore advise that procedures be put in place to ensure the revision of the list, otherwise the Commission would be acting in defiance of the law and may prejudice a by-election that may become necessary.”

23rd May, 2019: • The National Assembly approves the Supplementary Financial Paper allocating an additional $3.4B (equivalent to US$16.5M) to GECOM’s 2019 appropriations of $5.3 B. 18th June, 2019: • (CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE - RULING) The CCJ rules on the consolidated cases related to the no-confidence motion: 1. The no-confidence motion was validly passed; Article 106 (7) was triggered when the no-confidence motion was validly passed.

2. The majority needed for the passage of the vote on the no-confidence motion was 33 votes of “all 65 elected Members of the National Assembly whether present and voting” and not 34, claimed by the Coalition Government.

3. The vote of former Parliamentarian, Charandass Persaud, was valid and Mr. Persaud was not “required to vote against the motion of no confidence along with other members of the APNU+AFC Coalition Government.

4. There was nothing to prevent the tabling of a no-confidence motion by any member of the National Assembly, including the Opposition Leader.

5. Despite the Speaker of the Assembly declaring that the motion had been validly passed, the Government neither resigned nor announced impending elections.

• (CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE - RULING) The CCJ rules on the case related to the unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman.

In their press release, the CCJ said: “The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) today ruled that the process through which Reverend Justice (Retired) James Patterson was appointed Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) by His Excellency,

12th July, 2019: • (CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE - ORDER) The Court makes the following declarations and orders in the consolidated no-confidence motion matter: a) The provisions of Article 106(6) and (7) of the Constitution apply to a No Confidence motion; b) Thirty-three votes constitute a majority of the 65 member National Assembly; c) Mr Charrandas Persaud was ineligible to be elected to the Assembly by virtue of his citizenship of Canada but his vote on the motion of no confidence was valid; d) Nothing in the anti-defection regime established at Article 156(3) of the Constitution rendered Mr Persaud incapable of casting his vote on that motion in the manner in which he did; e) The National Assembly properly passed a motion of no confidence in the Government on 21 December 2018; f) Upon the passage of this motion of no confidence in the Government, the clear provisions of Article 106 immediately became engaged.

16th July, 2019: • Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo, through his attorney, Anil Nandlall, wrote to Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of GECOM, Keith Lowenfield, to “request that he immediately commence preparations for the holding of General and Regional Elections on a date no later than September 18, 2019.”

17th July, 2019: • Order 25 of 2019, issued by GECOM mandating that new national house-to-house registration commence on July 20, 2019 was made public. The Order is dated June 11, 2019.

18th July, 2019: • The People’s Progressive Party releases press statement that said: “Our Party has not received any official communication from GECOM. Our numerous calls to the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield have gone unanswered. This activity is a clear violation of the orders of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), issued on July 12, 2019.

We call on all Guyanese to protest the CEO‘s unlawful act.”

• Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, makes clear that the house-to-house registration is being done illegally.

22nd July, 2019: • A court challenge has been mounted against the House-to-House Registration being carried out by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), by Attorney-at-Law, Christopher

26th July, 2019: • A meeting between Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, and President Granger saw a resolution on the issue of the appointment of a new Chairperson for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Justice Claudette Singh, SC, CCH, was selected as the new GECOM Chairperson.

26th July, 2019: The Caribbean Court of Justice Orders said: ► The Cabinet and President must resign; ► The David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition will continue as a caretaker government; ► The APNU+AFC Coalition must restrain the exercise of its legal authority; and ► That three-month Election clock started on June 18, 2019.

A letter from Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, on July 20, 2019 to President Granger called for compliance in all these regards.

Granger responded to say that these “requests” are being examined by Attorney General Basil Williams.

August 5, 2019 • President David Granger responds to the Opposition Leader’s calls for compliance with the Constitution and the CCJ ruling by saying he will not “accede” to the calls.

In a letter, Granger said, “It is my considered opinion that the Caribbean Court of Justice did not issue orders that I should dissolve the National Assembly, fix a date for General and Regional Elections and that I should resign from the Office of President.”

Notably, the request was for the Cabinet to resign including the President (meaning that the entire Cabinet inclusive of its Chairman, the President must resign); for the President issue a Proclamation dissolving Parliament and fixing a date for elections in accordance with the CCJ Consequential Orders and Articles 106(6) & (7) of the Constitution.

The CCJ ruled that Articles 106(6) & (7) were immediately triggered when the No-Confidence Motion was passed on 21st December, 2018 and must be obeyed.

(Continued on page 20)

20

Guyana’s gold reserves depleted by over $15B in less than five years T

he most recent Bank of Guyana Midyear Report on Guyana’s foreign assets, depict a worrying depletion of the nation’s gold reserves.

Under the former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration in June 2014, the gold reserves stood at $16.268B. However, since the Coalition Government took the reins of office in 2015, the gold reserves have been constantly declining. From June 2015 to date, the gold reserves depleted by a massive $15.678.8B. One month after the APNU+AFC Coalition took office in June 2015, the reserves move from $16.268B to 15.528B.

By June 2016, the reported figure was $12.510B. In June 2017, the gold reserves further declined to $4.877B.

By June 2018, it went further down to $3.128B. As of June 2019, Guyana’s gold reserves stand at a meagre $589.3M. While the significant reduction, there was no explanation from the Government as to what these funds were spent on and why the significant reduction of the gold reserves.

The depletion of Guyana’s gold reserves is a whopping 96.4 per cent.

Timeline of what happened since December 21, 2018

August 14, 2019 • Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire, handed down her ruling in the challenge to the house-to-house registration.

She stated that persons previously registered cannot be de-registered – this means there is no necessity for Guyanese who are already registered and in possession of an ID card to re-register.

She stated that person cannot be de-registered if they are not found at home when the officials from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) visit your residence. This applies to students studying abroad, persons on vacation and persons working abroad, etc. The rationale behind this, according to the Chief Justice (ag) is that there is no residency requirement for persons to be registered and vote in Guyana, except for those who are Commonwealth citizens living in Guyana for more than one (1) year.

Further, she explained that GECOM has to consider other method of updating the list, in light of the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed and that an election should have been held since the 21st March 2019.

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

The Ball is in GECOM’s court to uphold...

(From page 3)

in the said month; this is a travesty that has whittled away the confidence of the people in the Guyana Elections Commission. An issue the new Chairperson and Commission must address urgently in order to win back the confidence of the electorate and it must do so quickly.

The figures, which we have been receiving in dribbles from GECOM with no breakdown by region or by any of the 29 Registration Centres, has not and will not imbue confidence. It now claimed as of August 15th that 230,000 over 14 years old have been registered.

Given the Chief Justice (ag) ruling, any exclusion of persons who were registered previously on the existing National Register of Registrants during the exercise will be illegal.

The country must not be confused with regards to the time for the House to House field exercise and the time allocated for the total House to House registration to be concluded. Given GECOM’s work plan dated February 25th 2019, it was projected that the House to House exercise would take from June 2nd to December 18, 2019, a total of 199 days or 6 months and 16 days. Since the exercise started one month and 18 days later it means that the date would most likely be pushed to early February 2020. Add to that the other consequential processes such as data verification and entry into the National Register of Registrants, cross matching of fingerprints, the production of a Preliminary Voters Lists, a Claims and Objection period, followed by the production of the Official List of Electors, and elections could very well be held into mid-2020.

With this in mind, GECOM must avoid the trap of believing that it has now gone so far in the field exercise that it might as well finish the exercise. To do so would be to extend the life of the government into mid-2020 and contribute further to the subversion of constitutional rule, the demoralization of the Guyanese electorate and more wastage of precious time and resources.

Based on the Chief Justice ruling the APNUAFC government has been illegal since March 21, 2019, surely this must give impetus to GECOM to act righteously with the full backing of the Constitution.

The Guyana Elections Commission has the power to halt and should halt this wasteful exercise and immediately commence Claims and Objections period, with the existing Registration centres and staff already in place that has been used for the House to House registration, and be ready to hold elections long before the month of December.

Most interestingly in the last few days, Mrs. Garrido-Lowe and the WPA using Congress Place talking points in public statements are now trying to condition December as the month for elections; Congress Place is behaving as if it is above the constitution; it can usurp the constitution, and, throw out the judicial rulings. This new strategy should be condemned.

Ultimately it is the President’s call and he has not named a date.

I wish to remind the President that article 9 of the Constitution states that: “Sovereignty belongs to the people (not to GECOM, not the President, not the Cabinet, not the government), who exercise it through their representatives and the democratic organs established by or under this constitution”.

How do we exercise this sovereignty? Through our power and our right to elect those representatives at elections--a right that the President has been denying the Guyanese electorate since March 21, 2019.

The President and his government lost the mandate to govern after its resounding defeat at the Local Government Elections on November 12, 2018—a hard pill to swallow, I am sure.

Nevertheless, the voters in those 80 Local Authorities Areas represent 90.5% of all voters. The PPP/C won 65% of the 80 Local Authorities. Following that the government lost the confidence of the

Legislature on December 21, 2018.

The President and APNUAFC Coalition government, therefore, stand exposed without moral, political, parliamentary and constitutional authority.

Whilst the President has exclusive powers, these are given within the confines of the constitution and he is subservient to the Constitution, therefore he must announce the following forthwith: i) The President and Cabinet stand resigned: ii) A caretaker government with restrained and limited authority as spelt out by the Caribbean Court of Justice and Commonwealth parliamentary norms; iii) Name a date for elections; iv) Dissolve the Legislature.

How long is Mr. Granger prepared to hold out on calling elections? Is President Granger prepared to go down in history, as one of the first leaders in a parliamentary democracy in any part of the world, to have defied a No Confidence Motion legitimately passed and refused to hold elections within the constitutionally required time frame? I cannot think of one parliamentary democracy where this has happened. Will this be Mr. Granger’s legacy?

We assert our right under the Guyana Constitution to exercise our sovereignty and our power to elect our representatives to govern our nation and demand that the President and his illegal government name a date for elections.

We urge GECOM to act with alacrity to prepare for elections. GECOM’s mandate is that it must always be ready to hold elections.

This is no time to sit on the fence. Who are those amongst us prepared to defend the constitution and democracy? As the next few days and weeks unfold we shall learn who will join us to defend our constitution and our democracy.

21

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

City Hall in Focus

Misplaced priorities and continued cause for concern at City Hall

By Bishram Kuppen

O

ver the years, we have heard of ambitious programs being proposed by the Georgetown City Council including the Clean and Green Initiative, restoring Georgetown to its pristine state as the Garden City, Smart City, parking meters, City Hall Restoration, Sister City relationships with foreign Cities, anti-littering campaign, repairing Kitty Market and much more. But none of these initiatives have been successful so far but yet we continue to hear of new initiatives being bandied around by City Hall.

The latest initiatives which the City Council is pursuing are internet hotspots, computerizing the Council’s operations and enhanced security. These all sound great and should be on the list of things that the Council should implement in the future. But none of these services are free or would be costfree to implement and maintain especially at a time when the Council is in a financial mess.

Take the issue of computerizing the Council’s operations, they already have computerization in many areas of the Council’s operations but they have wasted millions of dollars on software programming which is obsolete or will soon be, in a mystifying arrangement with a local software programmer who cannot seem to complete the project which has been going on for years now.

Why would they be pursuing internet hotspots across the City at this time, instead of urgently focusing on fixing the myriad of internal problems plaguing the City Hall right now which are caused by corruption, incompetence and under-performance in almost every area of the Council’s operations to the detriment of the interests of our tax-paying residents and businesses of Georgetown?

In the area of enhanced security, it may be a complete waste of time and resources since the current composition and acceptable ‘ethics’ of the City Constabulary does not lend itself to the type of enhancement which is absolutely necessary for law enforcement activities to be managed and executed in the manner that is necessary to achieve the desired results.

But it seems as if they are running away from dealing with the difficult issues facing the Council and seeking the more exotic and trendy engagements, perhaps as a distraction or a need to look busy.

We still have flooding in Georgetown! Many of the drains are still clogged. We still have garbage problems. We have numerous areas with overgrown grass or weed. We still have congestion on our streets and pavements. We still have crime across the City. They still have dysfunctional departments in the Council. They still owe billions of dollars to contractors and others. There is still the absence of accountability and transparency. And they still do not provide efficient, effective and professional services to our citizens.

And I do not recall that the visit by the Mayor and his entourage to the Ministry of Telecommunications was even discussed at a Council meeting.

will show that the Councillor had visited the area many times since he was elected. He had also recently visited the areas of Campbellville, Prashad Nagar and Bel Air to complete a works proposal for that constituency which he had submitted to Mayor Ubraj Narine for action sometime ago.

The issue was addressed satisfactorily when Councillor Ali interacted with the residents and I gave them the assurance that we will continue to visit and also push the Council to do the necessary works in the Constituency.

TROTMAN TRYING TO SCORE CHEAP POLITICAL POINTS You may have seen news reports recently showing Mr. Rafael Trotman of APNU+AFC in the Cummings Lodge area meeting with a few residents who had claimed that they had never seen the Councillor for that area and that they did not even know the name of the Councillor. Mr. Trotman had stated that he would visit the City Council with the residents to locate their Councillor and report their concerns.

In any event, Mr. Trotman along with a few residents visited City Hall last Tuesday and Mayor Ubraj Narine and the APNU+AFC Councillors hastily suspended the monthly statutory meeting to allow Mr. Trotman to address the Council.

Mr. Trotman said that he was there on behalf of the residents who had complained to him about the condition of their Constituency and that they did not know who their Councillor was and that the Councillor had never visited the area. He asked that the Councillor meet with the residents to which the Councillor agreed and went outside the Council Chambers but was greeted instead by the full press fraternity where Mr. Trotman repeated what he said in the Council Chambers to the press.

The Councillor for that area is PPP Councillor Dimitri Ali and it was a false claim that he had never visited the area and that he is not known to residents. In fact he has visited the constituency numerous times and continues to visit the constituency on a regular basis.

We strongly believe that this was a carefully orchestrated effort to try to embarrass the PPP Councillor but the facts

STRANGE HAPPENINGS At a recent statutory meeting of the Council, the Mayor announced that the Guyana Forestry had sent a letter to the Council recommending that a tree, which is located close to Carnegie, be taken down.

One APNU Councillor said that the tree was a donation from the Ghana Government and that the Council should consult with the Ghana Organization.

Another APNU Councillor wanted the records to be checked to find out the age of the tree and if it outlived its period. He further suggested that they meet with people who have full knowledge of the tree and since there is no evidence that the tree outlived its life, then Council should not end the life of the tree.

But I was thinking that perhaps they did not hear that the recommendation came from the Guyana Forestry Commission who are the experts in this field and they would not randomly call for the removal of a tree.

So I asked the Mayor if the letter which the Guyana Forestry Commission sent stated the reasons for recommending the removal of the tree which would serve to convince Councillors of the need to remove the tree. The Mayor responded that the tree posed a risk to life and property.

That seemed like compelling reasons to remove the tree.

But another APNU Councillor agreed that the Forestry Commission was the authority on trees and warned that if the Council did not act on the recommendation, it may be responsible for any damages caused. Then he incredulously recommended that the issue be turned over to two Committees of the Council for the matter to be examined and then brought back to Council. That suggestion would undoubtedly delay the entire process for months and who knows when the Committees will meet and then make a recommendation which has to come back to one of the monthly statutory meetings for a final decision.

In the meantime, the risk exists where someone could be injured or property could be destroyed by the falling tree.

Unbelievable, but they are exposing the City Council to massive monetary damages if someone is injured or their property is damaged but they do not seem to care.

Infighting among Coalition parties….

WPA says AFC got too much from ‘lopsided’ agreement T

he Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a member of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), has described the Cummingsburg Accord— the sweetheart deal which binds APNU and Alliance for Change (AFC) — as a “lopsided” agreement, since it benefitted some parties more

than others.

The WPA is one of five parties which came together in 2011 and formed A Partnership for National Unity.

WPA Executive Member Dr David Hinds disclosed, during a recent news conference, that the agreement was clearly disproportional and

they are hoping also to have the APNU’s charter reassessed.

“Clearly, the last agreement created a sort of lopsided arrangement kind of within the coalition. We would hope that as they go into the second round of the Cummingsburg Accord and perhaps a reassessment of the APNU charter, be-

cause there is an APNU charter that binds the five parties together. We did not look at it in the 2015 elections,” he said.

His remarks come on the heels of the Cummingsburg Accord being set to be reviewed in the near future.

Hinds indicated that their supporters are of the opinion that

the minority party in the coalition, the Alliance for Change (AFC) received more than what was deserving.

“We feel that there should be much more participation by all parties within the coalition.

Some of our supporters are saying that the AFC got more than they deserved in the last elec-

tion and parties like the WPA got less than they deserved. We would imagine that when they sit down to iron those things out, they would come to some conclusion that would be fair to all the parties,” Hinds said.

The Cummingsburg Accord expires on February 14, 2020.

22

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 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.

WEEKEND MIRROR 24-25 AUGUST, 2019

23

PPP/C teams continue community outreaches in Region 9

Nandlall flays AFC Leader over Coalition’s refusal to accept consequences of no-confidence motion ‒ Ramjattan hints at elections date sometime in 2020

T

he Acting Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire, made clear the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) cannot operate as if it is any normal elections. “GECOM cannot operate as though it is in a normal elections cycle.

To itself have credibility, it has to operate within the context of a NCM having

been validly passed,” the Chief Justice ruled on August 14, 2019 on the challenge to the ongoing house-to-house registration.

Former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, and Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, clashed on this and several other critical issues, during a recently

broadcast panel discussion.

Nandlall said, “The judge was recognizing the constitutional matrix in which we are currently position….the judge was highlighting the fact that a no-confidence motion was passed…that no confidence was validly upheld by the final Court…the judge was simply emphasizing that

there are consequences that flow from the passage of a no-confidence motion which are outlined in Article 106 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution. “…the Chief Justice was speaking against that constitutional reality…GECOM is bound by the Constitu-

tion…GECOM come cannot operate as if it is operating under a normal electoral, therefore decisions that GECOM would ordinarily have made in a normal situation, it cannot now make…. it must make decisions that are conversant and conducive with the current constitutional imperatives.”

Ramjattan refused to address the points raised by Nandlall. Instead he insisted that the Chief Justice rule that house-to-house registration was not unconstitutional.

This is despite the fact that the Chief Justice ruled that persons previously registered cannot be de-registered – this means there is no necessity for Guyanese who are already registered and in possession of an ID card to re-register. She stated too that person cannot be de-registered if they are not found at home when the officials from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) visit your residence. This applies to students studying abroad, persons on vacation and persons working abroad, etc.

The rationale behind this, according to the Chief Justice is that there is no residency requirement for persons to be registered and vote in Guyana, except for those who are Commonwealth citizens living in Guyana for more than one (1) year. Further, she explained that GECOM has to consider other method of updating the list, in light of the fact that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) ruled that the No-Confidence Motion was validly passed and that an election should have been held since the 21st March 2019.

When asked about an Election date, Ramjattan said, “It is possible to have it later down the year but if you cannot have it later down the year I suppose it will have to be early next year.”

Nandlall, in response, said, “The youngest child in Guyana who can read me

may be familiar with Article 106 (6) and 106 (7) of the Constitution, which say that three months after a no-confidence motion is validly passed an election must be held…you are glossing over that this this Constitution; that is the supreme law of this land…must the Constitution subject to government directives?”

He added, “Nobody can amend the Constitution. The three months have passed and we are in terms of nine months now since in no-confidence motion was passed and elections became due….

GECOM’s duty now is to hold those Elections at the earliest because the time for has long gone.”

At Ramjattan’s insistence that the APNU+AFC Coalition has upheld the Constitution of Guyana, Nandlall asked, “Well where is the Election?” He added, “The PPP has been fighting to uphold the Constitution of this country, we have bene struggling for rule of law in Guyana. “….the damage that the Coalition has done to the fabric of this country, the Democratic fabric of this country, will take us years to repair…. we descending every day…. the government has not issued a single statement or made a single statement that one can interpret with some positivity, with regards to the holding of an election or constitutional compliance.”

The former Attorney General added that the members of the APNU+AFC Coalition seem almost robotic in their denial of the consequences of the no-confidence motion – that is Elections that should have taken place since March 21, 2019. “Elections are due in Guyana under the Constitution and every right-thinking Guyanese should be clamoring for elections…we have an election that we have to go to.

It is long overdue. The government is finding one reason or another to delay.”

PUBLISHED BY NEW GUYANA Co. Ltd., 8 Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana. Tel: 226-2473, 226-5875 Fax: 226-2472