Weekend Mirror 31 August - 1 September

APNU+AFC Coalition continues to mislead Guyanese - Jagdeo 31 August - 1 September, 2019 / Vol. 10 No. 87 / Price: $100

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SEE INSIDE

Court action filed to Questionable compel Granger-led gov’t form to comply with Constitution used in PAGE 2

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AFC was ‘front and center’ in the decision to close sugar estates – Ramjattan admits PAGE 22

Protests for constitutional compliance continues

House-to-House registration House-to-House registration discontinued

‒ PPP raises concerns about planned moves to contaminate national voters’ database PAGE 14

Granger’s son-in-law gets more lucrative position

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Reverse VAT on exports.

11. Reverse VAT on building materials.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Deliver quality health care and end drug shortages.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. Protect our national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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

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

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

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Court action filed to compel Granger-led gov’t to comply with Constitution A

ction has been advanced in the High Court by Attorney-at-Law, Manoj Narayan, acting on behalf of his client former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, to compel the David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition to comply with the Constitution of Guyana.

The Application, filed in the High Court, is seeking several Orders of Court to compel the Cabinet, including the President, to resign having been successfully defeated by a Motion of No-Confidence on the 21st December 2018.

In accordance with the Constitution, Article 106 (6) mandates that the Cabinet, including the President, should resign following a majority vote of all the elected Members of the National Assembly.

Article 106 (6) states:

“The Cabinet including the President shall resign if the Government is defeated by a vote of majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly.”

Nandlall is asking the Court for several orders, including: 1. An Order compelling the Cabinet, including the President to resign consequent upon the Government being defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of no- confidence on the 21st day of December, 2018, in accordance with and pursuant to Article 106(6) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana;” 2. A Mandatory Order compelling the Cabinet, including the President to give effect to the resignation of the Cabinet, including the President, which occurred by

operation of law, consequent upon the Government being defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected

members of the National Assembly on a vote of noconfidence on the 21st day of December, 2018, in ac-

cordance with and pursuant to Article 106(6) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana; and 3. A Conservatory Order or an order restraining the Cabinet, inclusive of the President, from meeting, making decisions as, or performing the functions of Cabinet, consequent upon the Government being defeated by the vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly on a vote of no- confidence on the 21st day of December, 2018, in accordance with and pursuant to Article 106(6) of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The Attorney-at-Law, Narayan, in the court documents, said, “On the 21st December 2018, the Applicant was present in the National Assembly and voted in support of a No-Confidence Motion, tabled by the

Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, against the current Government of Guyana, which was successfully passed, by a vote of a majority of all the elected members of the National Assembly, and in consequence thereof, Resolution 101 was issued under the Hand of the Clerk of the National Assembly, certifying that the said No-Confidence Motion was lawfully and properly passed….nine (9) months after the passage of the said No-Confidence Motion the Cabinet, inclusive of the President, has failed, and or neglected, and or omitted, to resign in accordance with the unambiguous prescription and mandate of Article 106(6) of the Constitution, the Supreme Law of Guyana.”

The matter been scheduled for hearing by the Chief Justice as yet.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

EDITORIAL There can be no merger of data collected from HTH with national database

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he Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) embarked on a House-to-House (HTH) activity, with the intention of replacing the National Register of Registrants – a database that had been built up over the past decade. The sinister motive behind it was to de-register, thousands of eligible voters and fraudulently add new voters who are not eligible to part take in the upcoming elections.

GECOM embarked on this on July 20, 2019 based on an Order signed by the unilaterally appointed GECOM Chairman, James Patterson, who has since been removed by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The newly appointed GECOM Chairperson, Justice Claudette Singh, on the August 27, 2019 brought about an end to the House-to-House registration activity – stating that it will come to an end on the August 31, 2019 and the data garnered from house-tohouse registration will be merged with the national database.

GECOM said, “Data garnered from House-to-House Registration will be merged with existing National Register of Registrants Database.”

Bringing about the end to house-to-house was exactly what the Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo was asking for, stating it was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars and the intent behind it was to delay the holding of General and Regional Elections.

However, the second decision from GECOM is problematic because of the way in which house-to-house registration was done.

Firstly, the exercise was un-scrutinized, as the largest political party in Guyana was not formally invited to the process.

The exercise was un-scrutinized, as the largest political party in Guyana was not formally invited to the process. After a long period of rigged elections, a system was put in place for when registering, scrutineers from both the People’s Progressive Party and the People’s National Congress will verify and act as scrutineers.

Secondly, the form used to collect information was not the approved statutory form. The approved form was not used, they removed one item from that form and added five new items to the form that they used. The new form has more space for items that are not so frequently used and items that are obscure.

Thirdly, the entire exercise will be time-consuming if done properly. The entire exercise will be time-consuming if done properly. If a merger is to occur, you have to verify if the person is previously registered, you have to visit their home and see. Verify fingerprints are the same and so on. This will take too much time.

Further, there are questions that must be answered moving forward. What data exactly is merged with the National Register of Registrants? Is it the entire 270,000-plus persons that GECOM claimed to have registered, including persons who were re-registered?

One of the biggest problems of the merger is the re-registering of Guyanese is it violates our laws. Section 11(1) of the National Registration Act provides: “No person shall be registered in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9.” Section 21 of the same National Registration Act also provides: “Every person who procures, or induces another person to procure, his registration in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9 shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of five thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months.”

The smarter move would be to head to a period of Claims and Objections. GECOM needs to identify an Election Date and then pull a Preliminary List of Electors had a claims and objections period and get the Official List of Electors.

We the citizens have to remember our power and continue to call on the GECOM and the Government to deliver elections.

Guyana is the only country with an ‘unsuccessful’ successful no-confidence motion Dear Editor,

T

he term no-confidence motion is not an alien term to me. I pursued (and completed) a political science degree at York University. During my time there the then Prime Minister Steven Harper face a no-confidence motion which led to early elections.

A no-confidence motion is not unique to Guyana’s constitution. It is in all parliamentary democracy, 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, thirty-seven (37) days after the motion passed.

Canada in 2011 saw a motion of no-confidence passing on March 25th and elections were held May 2nd, thirty-nine (39) days later. It should be noted that the Prime Minister actually prorogued parliament twice before

returning and finally facing the no-confidence motion.

In the year 2018, we saw multiple motions of no-confidence brought forward. Greece kicked off the show on January 16th 2018, however, their government was able to withstand the motion of no confidence. Spain’s motion was brought on 25th May 2018, debated May 21st and June 1st, the government resigned 5th June.

In a matter of four days, the Spanish government faced the consequences of falling to a motion of no confidence.

Sweden’s Prime Minister lost a vote of no-confidence on September 25th 2018 and immediately complied with the constitution. He was eventually confirmed on 18th January 2019 as the Prime Minister again. Sri Lanka, on November 14th 2018, elections held 5th January 2019. Sri Lanka’s government after fifty-three (53) days complied. Guyana saw her motion of no-confidence in the year of no-confidence and the consequences are still to be faced.

Just this year the Austrian Chancellor (head of government) was voted out of office by a motion of no-confidence on the 27th May (2019), on May 28th a caretaker government was appointed and elections scheduled for 29th September 2019.

The motion of no-confidence was brought to parliament two hundred and eighty-five (285) days ago, debated and passed two-hundred and forty-nine (249) days ago. This was the first time a motion of no-confidence was filed and debated in by National Assembly. The government decided to challenge its legality on three different fronts after a myriad of court cases it was determined that the motion was successful. Seventy (70) Days now has elapsed since the Caribbean Court of Justice ruled that to the motion of no confidence carried.

Guyana seems to be the only country to have a successful motion of no-confidence to be unsuccessful.

Regards, Nalinie Singh

My right to vote must be protected Dear Editor,

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n Saturday’s (August 24, 2019) edition of the Stabroek News, I observed an article that deeply troubles me to my core: “AG appeals CJ’s ruling on existing registrants.” I am by no means any legal expert, but please allow me to explain why if the Attorney General’s appeal is successful my democratic right would then be deeply violated.

After Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire ruled the AG claimed success. Now he is attempting to partially appeal the ruling. He is challenging her declaration that existing registrants cannot be removed from the database.

The AG is attempting to get a ruling that allows GECOM to scrap the database that has been in existence for over a decade and used it multiple elections (without a complaint from any political parties) From my understanding, he is trying to impose residency as a requirement to be registered. At the time of my registration, I was residing in Guyana.

Anyone registering would have been

residing or physically in the country, as that is how one would go to GECOM and register. It seems as if the AG is also trying to impose this as a right to be on the database. So every time one exits Guyana, GECOM will delete them. In that case, GECOM should set up shop at the airport when we leave delete and register us back when we land.

The law itself doesn’t seem to support these claims. In Article 159 (the qualification and disqualification for electors) of the constitution, section 2 deals with how one qualifies, (a) states a citizen of Guyana and (c) “satisfies such other qualifications as may be prescribed by or under any law.” The AG is attempting to force the court to legislate residency into my right to vote.

I would like to point out in the Constitution of Guyana, there is a section (31) that speaks to the protection of citizen’s rights abroad. “It is the duty of the State to protect the just rights and interests of citizens’ resident abroad.”

Isn’t my right to vote something worth protecting?

The Chief Justice said: “The right to

register to vote and the right to vote are 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.”

ICCPR was adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by the General Assembly [Resolution 2200A (XXI)] on December 16th, 1966.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights has the right to vote under Article 25.

I have combed through the constitution of Guyana, the Peoples Representation Act, and the National Registration Act, and editor, I am still trying to see how the Attorney General can rationally think to delete the database is in our law books.

I hope the appellate court protects my right to vote and uphold the Chief Justice’s ruling.

Respectfully, Nutana Singh

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

David Hinds and Lincoln Lewis are two peas in the same pod Dear Editor,

Justice Singh is probably D unaware of the complexity and difficulties of merging two lists Dear Editor,

I

n the midst of a highly divided GECOM and the not too disguised threat of “no registration, no elections”, Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh has offered something of a compromise by terminating the exercise while accepting the information on registrations to date for purposes of the long overdue elections. According to a statement coming out of GECOM yesterday, the product of this wasteful exercise, clearly driven by suspect motives, is to be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants Database.

Implicit in this decision is the optimistic and naive presumption that that exercise was properly conducted with all the attendant legal safeguards. From all the evidence, this is not the case. In a perfect world, the product of that exercise should have been scrapped altogether. It was a prohibitively expensive and unnecessary exercise (although it was not strictly unconstitutional), one which was poorly supervised – on the evidence available – by an equally poorly managed GECOM. Justice Singh is probably unaware of the complexity and difficulties of merging two lists in which any variance affecting any single name, will require extensive further work. For example, in the case of a single individual, there could be several rejections: the order of a person’s full name, the spelling of any one of those names, addresses, fingerprints, etc.

And what if the exercise has produced names of persons not eligible to be on the list?

It is unreasonable and wishful thinking to believe that any claims and objections exercise, no matter how extensive, is going to be able to ferret such names. It is far easier and less prone to errors for the Claims and Objections exercise to result in insertions rather than the reverse.

Also, it cannot escape any reasonable person that in addition to the systemic flaws in the house-to-house exercise conducted under the pen of the unconstitutionally appointed James Patterson, we now have two classes of persons: those who were so registered and those who were not. Such a situation would be completely unacceptable in any country with a normal government and a more responsible, impartial and less partisan Elections Commission. And what about those ID Cards which GECOM unlawfully declared would be unlawful? Would there now be two sets of ID cards, the James Patterson’s discredited cards and the previous, lawful cards?

The hard decision forced on the Chairperson means further and more costly delays which this lame duck Government would exploit to its advantage. Yet, while I do not agree with Justice Singh’s decision, I find it painfully understandable.

Justice Singh has partly done what was expected of her. We the citizens must now do whatever we can to prevent the further abuse of the Constitution. We need to do this even if it means having to pay costs for our efforts to protect not only the Constitution but democracy.

According to the June 18 ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice, September 18 is the last day for the lawful existence of the Granger APNU+AFC Government. Unfortunately, the CCJ was timid in its consequential orders and declarations, preferring to hide behind glossy words. Fortunately for those judges, they do not have to live under the consequences of their timidity. We do. So it is up to us the citizens of Guyana to ensure that Guyana’s democracy does not slip by a single day longer.

Yours faithfully, Christopher Ram

r Chia Thye Poh, a former political prisoner from Singapore is credited with the following quotation: “A hypocrite is more dangerous than a dishonest man. A dishonest man deceives and cheats, and a hypocrite betrays and swindles.”

While there are many who fits this description, two immediately come to mind: David Hinds, Lincoln Lewis.

At a time when government’s public policy is to promote social cohesion, these so-called African Rights Activists give the impression of fighting for Guyanese of African descent when collectively, they have done very little to improve the wellbeing of ordinary Afro-Guyanese. Instead, they are more interested in self-gratification, using Black people to benefit themselves. Now to secure their own interest, they will do and say anything to prolong the life of this caretaker government that is known for pilfering the resources of our country and employing frivolous legal challenges to delay the holding of elections.

It is a pathetic David Hinds who, in an effort to showcase his party’s relevance, now dances to the African drums of the PNC/ APNU as he readily admits to planning a series of community meetings in Buxton and other PNC strongholds to win back disaffected Coalition voters. Of course, the five members of the WPA must all be aware that they are being used by the PNC/APNU to campaign in areas where the APNU is no longer welcomed or have support. I have no doubt that David Hinds is being compensated or facilitated with taxpayers’ money for his services. Walter Rodney must be turning over in his grave by this betrayal.

Lincoln Lewis on the other hand, cunningly uses his position as a popular trade unionist to try to influence other disaffected Coalition voters, giving them the impression that it is the Opposition Leader who is being unreasonable by demanding that the President and the Attorney General respect our constitution.

In his usual diatribe in Kaieteur News (August 25, 2019), Lewis accused the PPP/C of neglecting to discharge its constitutional responsibilities, “The refusal of the Leader of the Opposition to return to parliament is an abrogation of constitutional responsibility, highlighting a shortcoming in his leadership as the nation’s second highest political office holder. His promises on behalf of the PPP when he has the constitutional authority to work and ensure these are realised must see us holding him to account. The PPP’s Members of Parliament (MPs) together with the Coalition’s MPs, must return to the National

Assembly and legislate the promises now.”

Lewis’s arguments are totally fallacious.

First of all, it is the government that summons a sitting of Parliament, the Opposition does not have the power to do so.

Secondly, when Parliament was illegally called into session on May 23, five months after the successful passage of the No-Confidence Motion (NCM), government did not invite the Opposition to extend its life by seeking a two-thirds majority, but instead approved a $7.9 Billion supplementary appropriation which included $3.5 billion in funding for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), $2 billion in funding for the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and $1.5 billion for the Ministry of Communities as well as several hundreds of millions in funding for the Ministries of Finance, Social Cohesion, Social Protection and National Security. In short, government used Parliament for an assault on the Treasury, to draw down additional funds to support their shameless political campaign, disguised as “ministerial outreach”.

The truth is, Lincoln Lewis is nothing more than a stooge for the PNC/APNU, employed to do their dirty work, trying to divert the blame from David Granger, the man who continues to disrespect and ignore our constitution, by blaming it all on the Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

Lewis is worse than an apologist who now reflects Granger’s constitutional responsibility as the only person under the constitution with the power to resign Cabinet, dissolve Parliament and name a date for election. None of which he has done.

The CCJ ruled that Charrandas exercised his constitutional rights and freedom of conscience when he voted in favor of the NCM. But the authoritarians and dictators see that as treacherous. Throughout the world whenever a NCM is passed successful, it means that someone from the other side voted for it. In no part of the world are they described as treacherous and traitor except in Guyana.

Unlike the Attorney General who often does not realize how idiotic he sounds, Lincoln Lewis usually commands the respect of his peers. But no matter which way he twists and turns the facts, Lewis cannot refashion the constitution to suit his purpose, which is to ignore Granger’s violations. His efforts to denigrate the Leader of the Opposition speaks volumes of his allegiance and the way he has always seen things, through his ethnic eyes!

Regards, Harry Gill, PPP/C Member of Parliament

APNU+AFC regime is now doing everything, including trampling on our laws and constitution Dear Editor,

W

ithout doubt one of the most important professions in the world is politics. More than any other sphere of activity, it influences peoples’ lives in a profound way. It is the profession that pulls together all others for the purpose of development of a community or country.

It is, therefore, a very noble endeavour.

Yet few other professions have been more ridiculed than politics. Any bad action by a person is often described as that person acting like a politician. It is not unusual to hear

people saying that ‘politics is a dirty game’, or being called very unflattering names, example, scamp, corrupt, etc.

This has come about because far too many politicians make promises that they had no intention of keeping, or some behave in such a way that one can get the impression that the masses of people are there to serve those in power, and not vice versa. Far too many become corrupt with only one purpose, that is, personal aggrandizement. They also abuse power and authority and take advantage on the poor.

Yet politics remains very important in

people’s lives. Like all other professions, you have decent, principled and upright politicians and you have the power hungry, corrupt and unprincipled elements as well. The sad reality is that there are far too little of the former and much too much of the latter.

One would have let things ride at that had it not been for the devastating effect that immoral politics have on the lives of people in any society.

We in Guyana have both these groups in our body politic. When the most corrupt grab power, they do tremendous harm to every aspect of life. We have had experiences with

immoral politics and we know the consequences. Unfortunately, the immorality of the past continues to guide those in power today.

In the last elections campaign, the APNU+AFC made many promises that they had absolutely no intention of keeping. The two parties promised sugar workers a twenty percent increase in wages and salaries. Public servants were also given rosy promises of sizeable increases. Rice farmers were told that they would get nine thousand dollars a bag for their paddy. Amerindians were promised jobs and lands. We were told that the VAT would have (Turn to page 6)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Rice is in trouble while GRDB, Ministers remain in ‘La La Land’ Dear Editor,

I

visited rice farmers in Regions 2,5 and 6 over the last couple of weeks. Rice farmers, small and large, are experiencing a torrid time, the livelihoods of their families in jeopardy, and throughout it all the Ministry of Agriculture and the GRDB are no way in sight. As trouble escalates in the rice industry, as farmers fight to stay afloat, struggle to make ends meet, the GRDB, the Ministry of Agriculture and the caretaker Ministers of Agriculture are lost in "lala" land. The President is comfortably ensconced in State House, the PM avoids farmers like a plague, the other Ministers, including the AFC-designated PM Candidate, behave like all is dandy with rice.

This government is so clueless they cannot comprehend rice has been helping them to keep the economy afloat.

Dismissing the challenges and the problems rice farmers face, insisting rice is a private sector activity is dangerous and repul-

sive. Rice is too important a part of the economy for the government to be at arm-length, too large to fail, employing a large number of people, directly sustaining the livelihood of almost 60,000, one of the more important foreign currency earners. The truth is, with rice farmers and millers investing easily more than $50B annually in the economy, the rice industry is a public-private partnership. Certain inputs necessary for a successful rice industry are public good. The fight against paddy bug and red-rice are not the exclusive role for the farmers; the government has a mandate to be involved, to invest and to lead the fight.

As of right now the Paddy Bug problem have led to the loss of almost 20% of the rice crop in Region 6 and even worse in Region 2.

In Region 5, the red-rice problem is equally devastating to farmers, even as they too struggle against paddy bug. For Region 6 alone, this loss translates into the loss of 500,000 bags of paddy, equating to the loss of $1.4B in revenue for farmers. In Region 2, the farmers

have lost more than 500,000 bags of paddy because of paddy bug. In Region 5, they have lost more than 600,000 bags of paddy with the combined onslaught from paddy bug and red rice. Overall, Guyanese rice farmers will lose about $9B this year, having already lost more than $8B 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, more obsessed with trying to bribe people with giveaways like a green school bag with the President's name.

The paddy bug and red rice problems are not the only obstacles rice farmers face.

Farmers in all rice-producing regions face alternating struggles with floods and dry conditions, with clogged canals, pumps not working, etc. Neither, the NDIA nor the Ministry of Agriculture have provided any support as farmers try to desperately battle against flooding and try to irrigate their fields. These are times when the government must be not just an active partner, these are times when the government must carry out its mandate, providing public-good services.

Even as they fail the farmers, even as they refuse to carry out their mandated functions in the rice industry, they have gone out of their way to make life more difficult for rice farmers. Land lease rates were increased. In the MMA, lease rates have increased from $1,000 per acre to $7,000 per acre. This unconscionable increase is even steeper in Black Bush Polder. At the same time, Drainage and Irrigation fees have increased across the country. Supplies such as pesticides have increased in cost and subsidies for equipment

in the rice industry have been removed. When farmers protest the unconscionable rate increases, the Minister of Agriculture rebuked them for objecting to a "measly one beer per day" increase.

This is not the first time rice farmers are battling the elements and the government at the same time. The previous PNC government between 1964 and 1992 similarly was unfriendly to farmers and almost crippled the rice industry out of existence in Guyana. But the present APNU+AFC Government is even more hostile to farmers. That the rice industry still helps to keep the economy afloat is testimony to the resiliency of the farmers.

In spite of the grave difficulties farmers face, they tightened their belts and have kept production high, without which the economy would have tanked further. 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, reaching only 697,000 tons. Guyana failed again in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and now Guyana will fall far short of the 700,000 target in 2019. But the failure to attain the 700,000 tons target must not detract from the achievement of sustained high production, above 600,000 tons, helping to keep GDP positive. Yet, our Government is ungrateful and irresponsible, failing to keep their commitment, failing to carry out their function. While rice is in trouble, APNU+AFC is fiddling.

Sincerely, L. Ramsammy

Deliberate destruction of GuySuCo Dear Editor,

S

ugar has been the heart and lifeblood of many Guyanese for over 375 years going back to the 1630s and has been aptly described by one writer as “the pulse of the nation’s economy”. The current state of the country’s economy bears testimony to this fact!

Sugar was king and Burnham wanted to bring it fully under his exploitative state machinery, he saw billions available to be squandered and that was exactly what he did.

The nationalisation of the sugar industry in 1976, which gave birth to GuySuCo, saw the industry being used to finance Burnham’s harebrained schemes to mask the massive stealing which was taking place. In the process, billions of dollars, approximately $16 billion Guyana dollars, was squandered, monies which could have gone to fully capitalise and mechanise the industry in line with existing new technology.

It must be noted that the average US exchange rate was 71:1 from 1976 to 2002 and

from 1976 to 1992 the average exchange rate was 21:1 US. The bulk of the monies were creamed off during 17 years through the sugar levy and flung after the many failings of the PNC dictatorship.

The sugar levy was used to fund the Linden community, the Guyana National Service and the Public service, among others. Today, the sugar industry is cast into ignominy and referred to as the ‘dark hole’ by Moses Nagamootoo, the self-touted ‘champion of the sugar workers’ whilst his comrade in infamy, Khemraj Ramjattan accused the sugar workers of robbing and impoverishing the other sectors.

Why such ingratitude?

At today’s exchange rate at a conservative $210, the sugar levy would have translated into more than GY$100 billion! These monies excluded the cost of the humongous corruption which existed in GuySuCo at that time when managers were living royal and lavish lifestyles.

Sugar was ‘king’ and had produced its share of royalties! This levy was later abol-

APNU+AFC regime is now doing everything...

(From page 5)

been reduced to single digit number. None of their ‘promises’ were made with the intention of keeping them. It was done to deliberately fool the people to dishonestly obtaining their votes.

The APNU+AFC regime is now doing everything, including trampling on our laws and constitution to perpetuate themselves in power.

In doing so, they are destroying the in-

dependence of our institutions and making a mockery of the law. Moreover, the ruling of the CCJ as to the caretaker nature of the regime is totally ignored!

Politics must have morality to serve our nation as well.

Sincerely, Donald Ramotar, Former President

ished in 2002 by the PPP Administration, but the damage had been done. However, the sugar levy was not the only benefit the country received, sugar was a major contributor to the GDP, it was a major foreign exchange earner, provided over 18,000 jobs and greatly contributed to the socio-economic development of this country.

The multiplier effect was extensive and promoted high-level economic growth in the Private Sector as well. Today all of that is distant memory! The urge to destroy the sugar industry has taken precedence over objective and rational reasoning.

Today, the Guyanese economy is feeling the brunt of the harsh and vindictive measures inflicted by the coalition on the sugar industry by the closure of Enmore, Wales, Skeldon and Rose Hall estates.

Not only has the industry been failing to reach its paltry annual targets, not only has the foreign exchange earning capacity dropped by more than half, but the callous dismissal of more than 7000 workers have wreaked havoc in the family lives of these workers and the domino effect has literally destroyed the related and dependent sectors.

Many dependent communities are on the verge of social and economic devastation.

Today, everyone has come to full realisation that the sugar industry was deliberately placed under the guillotine by the coalition in its quest to fulfil the 1991 PNC mandate to destroy the support base of the PPP. It must be recalled that the PPP invested $26 billion dollars in the sugar industry from 2011 to 2015 and the monies were wisely used to capitalise and mechanise the field and factory operations, no estates were closed and no jobs were lost while the much-needed foreign exchange continued to flow and the related

industries and service sectors continued to flourish.

These monies were well spent and properly accounted for in Parliament. Today it is a grave travesty! This coalition has spent $32 billion in ‘bailouts’ and $17.6 billion from a $30 billion bond, a total of $49.6 billion and everything has fallen apart! Even the highly watered down sugar targets are now unreachable. Not only that but these monies have not been properly utilised and cannot be properly accounted for.

The $30 billion bond was supposed to be used to upgrade and mechanise the existing sugar estates, set up co-generation plant and plantation white sugar plant. None of which has even started to take shape. Has this bond been used to perpetuate the corruption which has become endemic and cancerous with this coalition?

The grossly underpriced selling of machinery and equipment of the closed estates by SPU officials has already placed these estates in unsaleable conditions. It has become more urgent that this coalition be voted out of office or GuySuCo will be beyond redemption!

In conclusion, it is the deliberate destruction of GuySuCo which has heralded the downfall of the coalition by the successful passing of the No-Confidence Motion. It is this devastation which ignited the conscience of Mr Charrandas Persaud to vote “yes” in favour of the NCM. His vote has identified him the true “champion” of the sugar workers and I am sure that in a short while, the coalition will reap the bitter fruit of their misdeeds and the ‘pulse of the economy’ will be regenerated hundredfold!

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

There are strong reasons to walk away from the impotent PNCR-led gov’t Dear Editor,

P

lease permit me a space in your letter pages to address the balderdash about myself and son’s departure from the PNCR that was reportedly uttered by PNCR Executive Member Aubrey Norton in the Guyana Chronicle, Sunday, August 18, 2019.

If the newspaper article is accurate, then Norton’s distasteful grumbling could be deduced as an opportunity to be relevant and a needed display of loyalty to the “elitists” at Congress Place. But, the competition seems stiff because since our resignation, beneficiaries of largesse are busy trying to do damage control.

However, I would like to address some untrue statements that Norton reportedly made or insinuated: 1. Myself and son were neither paid nor promised any money or favour to join the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic. It is appalling to think that we could have been bought like objects just to satisfy our immediate self-gratification. Our involvement in politics is to help the underprivileged and see Guyana develop. Had we desired power and wealth, we would have stayed with this Government where bribery and kickbacks are the order of the day. Furthermore, Norton has conveniently forgotten that President David Granger’s Cabinet best exemplifies greed for immediate self-gratification. After, gaining power his Cabinet increased their salary, breaking their campaign promise of reversing “fat cat” salaries.

2. Norton associated us and the PPP/C with filthy lucre. It seems that Norton has evidence that would be important for a police investigation and should not withhold same.

Norton should ask Robert Corbin and Amna Ally about the Danny’s contribution of time, energy and millions of dollars to the Party, whilst he was fighting to be noticed. It’s a shame that he is still struggling in the great quest to find relevance in a Party that treats him as Chief Jack about. Perhaps his role as an Executive Member is to curse out and find spurious arguments.

3. Norton accused us of being weak and vacillating persons who could defect easily.

Apparently, he and the PNCR did not value our decades of service and contribution to the Party and the departure was the correct decision. Also if weak and vacillating means

respecting the rule of law; wanting an enabling business environment; desiring proper social services for youths, women and the underprivileged; engaging in pro-Guyana oil and gas deals; and having a transparent procurement process then yes we are. At least, we are not bullies, who are disregarding the rule of law to hold onto power at all cost to benefit cronies.

4. If indeed persons are leaving the PPP/C and joining the coalition then they should not be afraid of contesting the General and Regional Elections. In fact, PPP/C’s victory in both Local Government Elections should not be a problem. After all, the coalition has strength in numbers. Perhaps a little advertisement could act as encouragement to others unless their new members are ashamed to be affiliated with them publicly.

5. What is the good life? How do we measure the good life? Who are the beneficiaries of the good life? Could Norton say whether the good life means getting a salary of $700,000 plus? Does the good life entail leaving on your AC of the state owned vehicle whilst you dine just to ensure that it is at the right temperature when you reenter with the girls from bambam alley? Does the good life mean creating ruckus for a prohibited parking spot? Does the good life mean awarding contracts to close relatives whilst ignoring the small contractors, who were promised 20 percent of infrastructure works? Does the good life mean building a mansion just three years in office?

6. If the coalition knows anything about prudent management of a country the cost of living would have reduced. And, the heavy taxation burden faced by citizens would have been removed. But, the Government prefers to tax the working class to finance their lavish lifestyle. They boast about bus, boats and bicycles for school children but took away $10,000 grant and placed VAT on school uniforms. They have made homeownership challenging owing to burdensome tax on building materials. Importantly, they cannot be trusted to manage the oil and gas sector which is evident from poor deals they are making on behalf of Guyanese.

To every Guyanese reading this letter please be patriotic and walk away from this impotent Government. Vote for the PPP/C. Yours Truly, Dave Danny Snr. Dave Danny Jnr.

There must be full disclosure on concerns about foreign nationals Dear Editor,

T

he current debate over the unexpected and unexplained arrival of thousands of Haitians all of a sudden in our country was bound to attract national attention.

It is not so much the arrival of the Haitians but the timing of their arrival and the mystery surrounding their departure that has created the stir.

Thus far, no plausible official explanation has been forthcoming either from the Commissioner of Police, Head of the Immigration Department or the Ministry of Citizenship about the Haitian arrivals/departures.

The special arrangements in place for the Haitians on arrival at CJIA and the absence of any convincing information about their departure continues to fuel suspicion.

The crescendo of queries from a wide cross-section of society notwithstanding, the government refuses to clarify whether the Haitians like everyone else, are stamped in by an Immigration Officer on arrival at CJIA and whether they are stamped out once again, by an Immigration Officer, when departing the jurisdiction.

Where there’s smoke there is fire. And government’s refusal to come clean on this matter is precisely why suspicions will persist in respect to the Haitian presence in Guyana.

It is not for members of the public to do the work of the police and to inform the police what they have uncovered. Experience has shown that when that happens the informant is usually abused and asked by the police; “Who asked you to do police wuk?”

Caught in the web of ethnic solidarity and perhaps, because of some undisclosed agreement with the authorities at Port-au-Prince, the response by spokesmen of the caretaker government, is to talk from the two ends of their mouths.

If there’s anyone to blame for this state of affairs, it is the APNU+AFC coalition administration. And it is because of their refusal to answer certain questions raised.

We need to situate the Haitian arrivals/ departures in context and the big picture.

It is a global and wider problem. Climate change in Haiti has had a profoundly negative impact on land use resulting in degradation, reduction in food production and insecurity.

Consumables in Haiti have become more expensive and cost of living has surged to unreachable heights. Unemployment is the order of the day. The thought of social revolution to usher in changes in ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange at this juncture of Haiti’s historical development is out of the question.

We Guyanese have witnessed on TV and social media, images of millions from Africa and the Middle East pouring into Europe. We were numb to these images. The happenings were far away from us so we couldn’t care less. At that time, we were not affected, neither a host or transit country for persons fleeing their country of birth.

As the mass of human souls continued to

move worldwide, xenophobia hate crimes and naked racism raised their ugly heads in those countries where migrants and refugees were forced to batten down and to hanker out on the periphery of society. Currently, there are approximately 70 million refugees around the world. 37,000 are forced to flee their countries every day.

It is within this global context that we must situate the Haitian arrivals to departures from Guyana.

What we shunned internationally is now visited upon us nationally. Why are Haitians moving out of their country?

Here is just one explanation. Haiti ranks 168 out of 187 on the UN Human Development Index. According to the World Bank, 80% of Haiti’s population live in poverty.

59% of the population numbering approximately 104 million live on US$2 per day, while 24.7% live in extreme poverty on less than US$1.25 per day.

About 75% of Haiti’s poverty stricken live in rural areas whilst 49.7% live in the urban areas.

Out of every 1,000 59 Haitians die before reaching their first birthday. The infant mortality rate is 55 per 1,000 live births. Twothirds of Haiti’s labour force have no jobs.

These are facts about the depressing conditions obtaining in Haiti, a sister CARICOM country.

We Guyanese know what it is like, we were there once. Our greatest fear is going back there under the APNU+AFC. The searching questions that Guyanese would like to have answered about the Haitian arrivals and departures at this time, is bound up with their preoccupations about free and fair elections.

And this is quite understandable in the context of an elections season. It has nothing to do with the Rights of Haitians within the meaning of the CARICOM Treaty. Nor does it have anything to do with racial prejudice as is being suggested by the usual suspects.

While in government, the PPP/C administration extended tangible support to Haiti in September of 1994 when a detachment of the GDF, was despatched as part of a CARICOM military contingent to Haiti, to assist in the restoration of democracy and to help rebuild the various facets of free and democratic institutions in Haiti.

In today’s context, the interconnection between concerns over the Haitian arrivals and departures, and free and fair elections is a genuine concern of the Guyanese electorate.

To claim that the police have investigated the matter and found that the concerns raised are groundless is not good enough.

Given the historical antecedents of elections in our country, full disclosure of the facts by government in respect of the Haitian arrivals and departures is a sine qua non if the deep concerns of the electorate Guyanese are to be dispelled.

Yours faithfully, Clement J. Rohee

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 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 29, 2019), including the continued moves by the caretaker APNU+AFC Coalition government to mislead Guyanese people.

APNU+AFC Coalition continues to mislead Guyanese T

he misleading of Guyanese continues by the caretaker APNU+AFC Coalition Government, despite the decision of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to scrap house-to-house registration.

This is according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, during his Thursday (August 29, 2019) news conference, where he referred to a Guyana Chronicle report on August 29, 2019 that was headlined ‘Do not panic – House-to-House registration has not been scrapped says PM’.

The article details comments made by caretaker Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, who was speaking to residents of La Parfaite Harmonie at a Government Outreach on Wednesday (August 28, 2019).

“Imagine now, this caretaker government – the caretaker president and the caretaker prime minister – says to

T

The Guyana Chronicle article that reported on Nagamootoo’s misleading comments

people ‘don’t panic’ houseto-house registration has not been scrapped…this is the misleading…APNU+AFC continue to mislead people,” Jagdeo said.

Jagdeo added, “How can you believe any promise they

make. We see how they treated the Constitution, but now to lie blatantly.”

He stressed that the untrustworthiness of the APNU+AFC Coalition has been repeatedly demonstrated for all Guyanese to see.

Move to revise Cummingsburg accord grounded in ‘greed’ T he meeting between A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) scheduled for Monday (August 26, 2019) to address a Revision of the Cummingsburg Accord did not take place.

And this week, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, called attention to the fact that the meeting on revising the Accord is focused on “splitting the spoils of office” as opposed to addressing policies to correct the Coalition’s multiple wrongs in office.

“Who gets what, that is what this is about…it is obscene what they are do-

Questionable form used in House-toHouse registration

ing…it is unbelievable what they are doing…it’s about greed,” he said on Thursday (August 29, 2019), during his news conference.

Already, the 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. “Some of our supporters are saying

that the AFC got more than they deserved in the last election 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,” said WPA’s David Hinds earlier this month.

Meanwhile, AFC Leader, Khemraj Ramjattan, has said that the AFC is looking to increase its representation in the Coalition, both in Government offices and in the National Assembly.

The Cummingsburg Accord expires on February 14, 2020.

he decision to merge data garnered from the house-to-house registration with the Guyana’s national voters’ database – the National Register of Registrants (NRR) – is a cause for concern because of several reasons, according to Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.

During his weekly news conference on Thursday (August 29, 2019), he noted that one of those reasons is that the form used

by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staffers during the houseto-house registration was not the statutory form.

“The form did not have the approval of the Commission, nor Parliament,” he said.

When compared the differences on the statutory and new forms were clearly visible.

The statutory from has 31 items, whereas the new one has 35.

The new form asks for: your Local Authority Area Name has been added (num-

The ‘new’ form, highlighted are additions that were made when compared to the statutory form that was supposed to be used

ber 10 on new form); and Date of Entry has been added (number 17 on new form) into Guyana. The new form also asked for several source documents, including: Birth / Adoption Certificate Number had been added (number 23 on new form); Natural-

ization Number had been added (number 24 on new form); and Certificate of Registration had been added (number 25 on new form).

Notably, the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, has not commented on this issue.

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Positions from Freedom House this week (A look at the latest statements made by the People’s Progressive Party)

There can be no merger of data garnered from the house-to-house registration with the National Register of Registrants T he People’s Progressive Party (PPP) notes the

belated decision of the Guyana Elections Commission

(GECOM) to discontinue house-to-house registration

on August 31, 2019.

House-to-house registration, as conceived by GECOM to create a new National Register of Registrants, by removing names of eligible voters, has been deemed unconstitutional by the High Court.

The ruling of the Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire, on August 14, 2019 said: “(Paragraph 141) 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…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.”

For weeks now, the Party’s General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, has said that house-to-house registration, in addition to being a waste of taxpayers’ resources, was intended to delay the holding of Gener-

al and Regional Elections, which should have been held since March 21, 2019.

Further, the Party is of the view that the decision made by GECOM today, is the only logical decision that could have been made.

Additionally, the PPP notes several misleading positions that were communicated to the Guyanese people via a press statement issued by GECOM – positions that seem intent on confusing the Guyanese electorate.

First, the headline of the press statement – ‘Data garnered from House-toHouse Registration will be merged with existing National Register of Registrants Database’ – leaves more unanswered questions.

What data exactly is being merged with the National Register of Registrants? Is it the entire 270,000-plus persons that GECOM claimed to have registered, including persons who were re-registered? If it is only the new registrants, why embark on this process, which will take several months to be completed, when it could easily be done in a Claims and Objections period.

Secondly, the GECOM press statement said: “Based on the ruling of the Chief Justice on 14th August 2019 that House to House Registration is not unlawful and is constitutional, the data garnered from that registration exercise must be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants Database.” This is an attempt to distort the

ruling of the High Court.

Nowhere in the ruling of the Chief Justice did she direct any such merger of data garnered from the houseto-house registration with the National Register of Registrants.

Thirdly, the GECOM press statement said: “In this regard the Commission will move to an extensive Claim and Objections Exercise before extracting the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).” The author of the GECOM press statement seems clearly confused on the process that must be followed to arrive at an Official List of Electors – saying that there will be Claims and Objections Exercise before a Preliminary List of Electors is produced. In accordance with practice and law, Claims and Objections must be preceded by the publication of a Preliminary List of Electors.

We reiterate the position of the PPP, which is that the planned merger of data from the house-to-house registration will not improve the quality or ‘credibility’ of the database – rather it will further contaminate the National Register of Registrants and cause further delays in the holding of Elections.

That said, the Party urges GECOM to move decisively by immediately launching a Claims and Objections exercise, which will allow those who are not on the National Register of Registrants and are eligible to be properly registered.

(August 27, 2019)

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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

Tax burden on Guyanese on steady increase A

t the end of 2018, revenue collected from taxes amounted to $198.51B, which is an increase of $63.2B from the year 2014, under the

former People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).

This represents 28.8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2018.

Over the last four

years, revenue collected from taxes have been on the constant rise, which is indicative of an increasing tax burden on the citizens of Guyana.

The most important objective of taxation is to raise required revenues to meet expenditures, however, increasing revenue collection creates a burden

on the people, if there is no increase in the tax base.

In 2015, Guyana’s tax burden was 24.8 per cent, with it decreasing in 23.9 per cent in 2016. The year

of 2017 saw an increased tax burden of 27 percent.

The tax burden is expected to increase further in 2019, with revenue from taxes forecasted at $223.58B.

Tax burden is an indicator at the macro level of the total amount of taxes in a country. It shows the proportion of GDP that the public sector has at its disposal. The most common way to depict this is to measure the total taxes and duties as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) at market price, a method adopted by OECD. Below are some of the tax measures implemented by the government in the last four years: 1. 14% VAT on water consumption 2. 14% VAT on electricity consumption 3. VAT On Health Services 4. VAT On Internet Services, etc.

5. Environmental tax of $10 per unit on the importers and local manufacturers of products using non-returnable metal, plastic or glass container of any alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage.

6. Increase in the Tributors Tax from 10% to 20% 7. The imposition of a 2% withholding tax on the gross payments made to all contractors 8. Restriction of Mortgage Interest Relief to loans up to $15 million 9. Increase fees for TIN certificates 10. An increase the travel tax from $2,500 to $3,500 11. A Premium Tax on Re-insurance Premiums for Local Aircraft Operators 12. An increase in the fees for transfer of motor vehicle registration for motor cycle and other vehicles, ranging from $5,000 for motor cycles to $25,000 or 2% of sale price, whichever is higher.

13. Ban on the importation of used tyres for motor cars, vans, pickups, SUV’s, and mini-buses older than eight-years-old from entering Guyana, with effect from April 1, 2017 The increased taxation imposed by the APNU+ AFC Coalition Government has been widely criticized.

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.

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.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

PPP/C teams continue grassroots outreach Bottom-house meetings continue to take place in communities across the country by People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) teams, as part of the ongoing grassroots outreach.

Apoteri Village - Region 9

Canefield - Region 4

Foulis - Region 4

Jacuba - Region 5

Moraikobai - Region 5

Patentia - Region 3

Referendum - Region 5

Reliance - Region 2

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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PPP/C presidential candidate leads team in Region 10 outreach

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

House-to-House registration discontinued ‒ PPP raises concerns about planned moves to contaminate national voters’ database

T

he most recent meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) – including all six GECOM Commissioners and GECOM Chairperson, Justice Claudette Singh – ended with a decision to end the controversial house-tohouse registration on Saturday, August 31, 2019.

The hours-long meeting, held on Tuesday (August 27, 2019), also saw another decision being made that has already stirred concerns and negative reactions from the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), as well as representatives from civil society.

GECOM decided to merge the data garnered from the house-to-house registration with the National Register of Registrants – Guyana’s database of voters.

The PPP in a statement raised several questions about this. “What data exactly is being merged with the National Register of Registrants? Is it the entire

270,000-plus persons that GECOM claimed to have registered, including persons who were re-registered? If it is only the new registrants, why embark on this process, which will take several months to be completed, when it could easily be done in a Claims and Objections period,” the PPP said in a statement.

The Party called for GECOM to act decisively by immediately launching a Claims and Objections exercise, which will allow those who are not on the National Register of Registrants and are eligible to be properly registered.

DELAY TACTICS CONTINUED At the last meeting, the third since Justice Singh was appointed GECOM Chair, on Friday (August 23, 2019), the Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners pointed out that the Government-nominated Commissioners engaged in

continued delay tactics.

GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, expressed his disappointment at the outcome. He insisted that timely elections is the foremost issue to be addressed.

“We did not reach any meaningful decisions…I can’t even say that the discussions were meaningful.

That is as far as I can go.

It is clear that the delaying tactics continue and that has stymied any developments that we can have…We need to have elections in a timely manner. That is the bane of all my discussions today,” Gunraj said, last Friday (August 23, 2019), about the three-hour long meeting.

CALL FOR CLAIMS AND OBJECTIONS Moments after the Friday meeting was concluded, the PPP, in a strongly-worded statement, expressed concern about the lack of clarity from GECOM on a decision on the way forward and stressed the need for a move to claims and objections exercise – a tested method that would allow for credible

elections to be held in the shortest time possible.

The PPP’s statement, issued last Friday (August 23, 2019), said: “Another week has passed, but still there is no clarity from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), in respect of a likely date for early elections. While GECOM procrastinates, the nation is becoming more frustrated and more impatient.

“Despite the clear pronouncements from the Chief Justice that elections were constitutionally due since 21st March 2019, and that the house-to-house registration can neither result in the creation of a new National Register of Registrants (NRR) database, nor can it be used to remove the names of persons already registered, the Government-nominated Commissioners continue to irrationally argue at Commission meetings that the data generated by this exercise must be used.

“We have already pointed out that this data is deeply flawed, not only by the sheer speed by which it is being

accumulated, but also it is not scrutinized by all the political parties, the wrong registration form is being used and the exercise is being boycotted by tens of thousands of Guyanese.

“In fact, they are arguing for this data to be used to create a second database.

This is clearly illegal. Duplicate registration is a criminal offence under the National Registration Act. Yet, GECOM is insisting that the house-to-house registration exercise continue, which results largely in duplicate registration.

“We take this opportunity to reiterate our call to every Guyanese to boycott this exercise. We caution Enumerators to stop threatening Guyanese who are refusing to participate. We advise the Enumerators that to register a person who is already registered is to aid and abet the commission of a criminal offence, for which they are equally liable as the perpetrators and that we will report this matter to the Police with a request to institute criminal charges.

of the Chief Justice’s pronouncement that it is unconstitutional and unlawful to remove, from the National Register, the names of persons already registered, more specifically, on the ground of “residency”.

The aforementioned two sections of the National Registration Act along with the Chief Justice’s ruling aggregate to establish beyond doubt that the data generated by the House to House exercise is grounded in illegality. Yet, at the behest of the Government Commissioners, GECOM continues to deliberate on what use can be made of this, largely, illegally accumulated data. These Commissioners continue to, irrationally, argue that an alternative database should be created using this data, although the clear policy and intent of the National Registration Act is to create a singular database. In any event, this will take months to accomplish and the only use

which can be made of it is to extract the new registrants, since the Chief Justice ruled that names already on the register cannot be removed.

These new registrants can easily be captured in a cycle of Claims and Objections.

These arguments advanced by the Commissioners simply constitute another clumsy attempt to delay the elections.

The Attorney General, who first claimed a “massive victory” after the Chief Justice’s ruling, is now appealing the ruling. In essence, he wants the Court of Appeal to add “residency” as a qualification for registration when Article 159 of the Constitution, which enumerates the qualifications for registration, does not so provide. This appeal is therefore completely without merit but will provide another platform for the Government Commissioners at GECOM to dilate. Rest assured, next week, they will argue that GECOM should await the determination of

“We remind GECOM that its actions and inactions continue to violate the Constitution, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Consequential Orders and the recent decision of the Chief Justice. We emphasize that GECOM is violating its constitutional duty to the people of this country and is continuing to squander hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars in an unwarranted house-to-house exercise.

“We wish to, once again, make it clear that the PPP will not support any decision or actions of GECOM that will continue to violate our Constitution, disrespect the rulings from our Judiciary and perpetuate an illegal Government in office.

“We again call on GECOM to proceed to hold a cycle of Claims and Objections and to ready the machinery for elections.”

MOVE FORWARD Additionally, with the latest developments at GECOM, certainty on the way forward is left to be seen. The next meeting of GECOM is expected to provide greater clarity.

Basil Williams moves to court to call for Guyanese Op-Ed: Duplicate registration is illegal to be de-registered

A

ttorney General, Basil Williams, has move to the Appeal Court, claiming that the Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire, erred and handed down a ruling that was misconceived in law.

His move to the Appeal Court is a partial appeal – only challenging the points that the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) pointed out as a win.

Williams in his submission has provided 16 points of appeal, claiming that: • All Guyanese voters have to re-register; • Students studying abroad, persons on vacation and persons working abroad, etc. have to be de-registered and removed from the National Database; These were among key points were addressed by Chief Justice, in her ruling on the challenge to the houseto-house registration, which was handed down on August 14, 2019.

She ruled that persons previously registered cannot be de-registered – this means there is no need for

Guyanese who are already registered and in possession of an ID card to re-register.

On this point, she stressed that the National Database of registered voters cannot be deleted or changed, unless it is to add the names of new voters or persons who will become eligible to vote once they turn 18-years-old.

She ruled 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 year.

She ruled too house-tohouse registration, being done for anything other than de-registering, is not unconstitutional.

By Anil Nandlall, PPP/C MP

S

ection 11(1) of the National Registration Act provides: “No person shall be registered in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9.”

Section 21 of the same National Registration Act also provides: “Every person who procures, or induces another person to procure, his registration in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9 shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of five thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months.”

The aforementioned provisions of the law not only prohibit duplicate registration but make it a criminal offence and every enumerator who registers a person already registered, commits a criminal offence.

We are already aware

this appeal.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of GECOM seems to be facilitating these prevarications and political shenaniganism in apparent oblivion to the clear language of Articles 106(6) and 106(7) of the Constitution, the Consequential Orders of the CCJ and the recent ruling of the Chief Justice which all concatenate to the conclusion that elections are constitutionally overdue since March 21, 2019. From my vantage point, it appears there is an attempt to appease both sides. The reality is that the demands of one side is for constitutional compliance while the demands of the other side is to perpetuate constitutional non-compliance. In such a matrix, there is simply no place for compromise. Constitutional compliance is the only option. The Chairperson of GECOM knows this more than most others.

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

OBSERVER

15

AFC, WPA has sacrificed any principle they had for perks of office T

here is a famous quote whose author is unknown. When I think of this quote it reminds me of the senior officials of the Alliance For Change (AFC) and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). The quote goes as follows: “There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty.”

I believe this quote is quite apt when it comes to the senior officials of the WPA and the AFC parties.

From all indication it would appear that these persons are willing to sacrifice their character to continue enjoying the perks that comes with being a part of this illegal government – trading principles for perks.

WPA’S OPPORTUNISM The diminished membership of the WPA must be disillusioned with their leaders for the positions they have taken with regards to this coalition government.

On assuming office, one of the first reports the APNU+AFC Coalition government had to accept was the report from the international Commission of Inquiry into the death of WPA leader, Dr. Walter Rodney. The Commission’s 155-page report concluded Rodney’s assassination was a “State organised” act that was executed with the knowledge of the

then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham, who had “large and detailed” knowledge of what was being done by the State and its agencies during his tenure. It also detailed the political, economic and social conditions of the Burnham era – including the move to transform the PNC as the “major national institution” at the expense of the Guyanese people. In August 2016, the report was debated in the National Assembly after the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) pressed for the report not to be shelved, but be discussed, so as to avoid a repeat of history – to avoid a duplication of the circumstances under which Rodney was assassinated. PPP/C Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, on that premise, had moved the motion, which called for the National Assembly to adopt the international CoI report on Rodney’s death and its findings and for the Government to take measures to implement the 11 recommendations in order to ensure that the democratic architecture of the state is preserved and strengthened.

The APNU+AFC Government’s position was that it will not adopt the findings of the report; rather it will acknowledge the report.

Despite this however, the WPA has remained largely silent with regards to the inaction of the PNC-led AP-

NU+AFC Coalition government with regards to the report.

To continue enjoying the perks of the government the WPA members have muzzled themselves on this subject and it would appear that they have absolved the PNC in this matter – an action that exposes the WPA’s opportunism.

The WPA’s most outspoken member David Hinds has been writing in the newspapers and have been making speeches at public meeting all basically saying the same thing: “Despite all the broken promises of the government, their inefficiency, their corruption and all the other negatives we must still vote for them.”

This request to vote for them is under the assumption that they will do better next time around. Mr. Hinds is being disingenuous at best as he knows fully well that the Coalition has shown no intention of changing.

There are many instances Mr. Hinds can identify where recommendations were made by members of the WPA and they were totally ignored.

What makes him think that this will change? Or is he just playing along to preserve the perks handed out to a few WPA members?

Mr. Hinds seems not to care that the wider population is suffering; he only cares for

the small group that forms part of the government’s cabal.

It is extremely sad that Mr. Hinds and his ilk within the WPA can look upon the suffering of the Guyanese public and ask them to endure more suffering under a misguided hope that the government will change their behaviors and policies.

There is indeed something wrong? Why else would there be an allowance for opportunity to control one’s loyalty.

ONLY A MATTER OF PERKS The AFC too have shown their willingness to sacrifice their beliefs to continue benefitting from the largesse’s of the state.

This is a party that in the last General Elections garnered a large majority of their support from the sugar workers.

One of the first acts of the government in 2015 was to close several sugar estates, putting the majority of the AFC supporters out of work.

The AFC to date have not stood up for those persons who voted for them, but have completely abandoned them.

They have done so in order to ensure they continue to be a part of the coalition and to benefit from the perks that come with that.

By time the 2018 Local

Government Elections (LGE) came around, it was clear that the AFC was severely diminished. The difference of votes between the PPP/C and the AFC was a whopping 113,000 votes. Nationally, the PPP/C has almost doubled the margin of votes between it and APNU and AFC combined.

The results clearly showed that the supporters that they had abandoned had turned the tables on them. These results have only served to bring out the desperation in those to individuals and to other members of their party.

In the months after, there has been major infighting within the AFC, a leaders jostled for positions within the Coalition – not fighting for the Guyanese people; rather the fight was for perks and privileges.

One of the major boasts of the AFC was that they were different from the PNC and the PPP. The AFC, however, has fully embraced the PNC in order to enjoy the perks of being a part of the coalition government. They have pledged their loyalty to ensure that their corruption and incompetence are overlooked. They have allowed opportunity to control their character.

In recent times it is becoming more and more obvious that the PNCR

– the largest party in the Coalition – is seeing the likes of the WPA and the AFC as albatrosses around their neck. They are concluding that those parties need them more than they need them. With this view in mind they have been reducing the roles of those members and elevating PNC members. Ministries controlled by non-PNC Ministers responsibilities have decreased, and more now being held under the Ministry of the Presidency.

Despite this however the minority members of the coalition are blindly following the PNC and parroting the lines of the PNC party. They have given away all semblance of independence, all to ensure they remain a part of the coalition from which their perks are derived from.

These parties are no longer fighting for the downtrodden in society; they are only fighting for themselves and their ilk. They are willing to do anything to ensure the continuance of their perks.

Ken Poirot stated “Success awaits those who steadfastly commits to any sacrifice.”

Unlike those individuals we must be steadfast. We must be willing to sacrifice; our success is guaranteed once we stick to our principles.

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

17

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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

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

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

TOURISM SUPPORT

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

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

HEALTH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SOLAR PANEL AND ENERGY ACCESS

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

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

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

GOVERNANCE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LAND OWNERSHIP

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

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

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT/SUPPORT

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

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

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

AGRICULTURAL SUPPORT

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

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

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

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

2019…Year in Review 18

MAY 2019

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Foreign Company calls on the High Court to have Jordan face jail time

APNU+AFC Coalition gov’t failures…

Guyanese have had a chance to compare DoE Head admits that contract for and assess which Party will deliver work was not supposed to go to Minister Hughes’ company Former Attorney General challenges illegal SARA Director, Deputy Director Increasing mining permit fees will be detrimental to the sector Public Procurement Commission – miners’ association called on to investigate award of contracts to APNU+AFC Coalition Leaked letter exposes damning allegations… supporters in Region 9 Staff complains about Basil Williams exposing genitals to female staff, abuse Economy cannot be managed just for and more positive ratios, Gov’t have responsibility ‒ Granger received complaint months to people ‒ Jagdeo ago, does nothing Gov’t incompetence on display yet again with failure to arrest increase in crime APNU+AFC Coalition Parliamentarians have a stained their commitment to ‘rule of law’ – US Embassy Harmon says outreaches are intended to promote inclusion ‒ Protestors call for jobs and better services

GECOM’s legal officer confirms validity of objections to house-to-house registration Increase in gun crimes a major cause for concern Platform provided to allow anonymous submissions about corruption, more Guyana’s democratic credentials damaged during Coalition’s time in office – Jagdeo

Four years later....

APNU+AFC Coalition ensconced in a vortex of inefficiency, corruption - Opposition Leader

Teixeira calls for investigation into use of taxpayers’ money in Compton Reid appeal at CCJ

Once CCJ upholds vote on no-confidence motion as valid, Elections should be ordered in shortest possible time – Lead Attorney in case

Declaration of assets to Integrity Commission…

President Granger admits that he has not complied with Guyana’s laws

Case on unilateral appointment of GECOM Chairman…

CCJ questions Granger’s reasons, justification for rejecting 18 nominees for position of GECOM Chairman

GECOM Chairman knew since April 2019 about legal advice warning against house-to-house registration

2019…Year in Review 19

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Despite no-confidence motion, upcoming CCJ ruling…

Granger says completion of five-year terms depends on GECOM

Work on the manifesto includes efforts to ensure faster implementation – Jagdeo Auditor General to investigate US$9,000 paid into Minister’s personal bank account JUNE 2019 More details on the payment for study on new Demerara River bridge…

‘Straight-forward case of theft’ must be investigated – Jagdeo

New Minister fired personnel, accounting department staffers

APNU+AFC Coalition’s desperation on display ‒ Jagdeo Coalition gov’t remains under the ‘illusion’ that crime is down PPP/C working on ‘twin-track’ ahead of CCJ ruling Historic political ties between Ghana, PPP spotlighted MP calls on Police Commissioner to investigate ‘fraud’ involving PNCR member

Whistleblowe details transfer of over $20M to children of Minister Broomes

Three years later…. PNCR-led Coalition gov’t refuses to act on recommendations of Rodney CoI

PNCR will have to repay any monoes used from treasury for campaigning

Elections must be held within three months – Jagdeo

PSC calls attention to increase in crime

CCJ ‘knocked us down on every point conceivable’ – Basil Williams admits

Continued ramblings of SARA officials expose political nature of oil block investigation

No guarantee that new house-to-house registration will include all eligible voters – Shaddick

Gov’t nominated GECOM Commissioner gives contradictory timelines for The path of progress is one all Guyanese House-to-House registration will walk together under new PPP/C gov’t – Ali ‘Sweetheart deal’ to sell off Rose Hall Estate will not succeed –Jagdeo Harmon cuts Nagamootoo down to size Unemployment recoded in productive, public sectors

AFC’s newly elected top leaders tainted by corruption, conflict of interest issues

David Hinds’ true nature has been exposed

Diplomatic corps call for respect of the CCJ ruling

2019…Year in Review 20

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Three-month election deadline is non-negotiable – Jagdeo

Firearms and ammunitions being ‘unlawfully’ used by NICIL/SPU – GuySuCo

Ramjattan admits that taxpayers’ monies are being used for campaigning

Challenge to GECOM’s proposed de-registration of Guyanese voters will likely be ‘overtaken by CCJ’s consequential orders’ – Nandlall

APNU+AFC Coalition gov’t continuing with ‘business as normal’ position despite CCJ ruling --Letter advising of Budget 2020 preparations sent out three days after CCJ ruling Thousands of acres given away after passage of the no-confidence motion to persons linked to gov’t hierarchy Gov’t attempts to mislead CCJ judges send clear signals about the fight for democracy – Nandlall JULY 2019 PPP/C hopeful, cautious of gov’t assurance of good-faith engagements ‒ Process for appointment of new GECOM Chair agreed on ‒ Three-month election deadline remains non-negotiable Supreme Court condemns use of judges’ photos on Coalition gov’t campaign poster Public servants continue to be targeted Facts about massive giveaway of State lands have not been refuted, Granger remains silent ‘Marijuana talk’ by APNU+AFC gov’t a transparent ploy

Third meeting…

Harmon unable to confirm that Granger’s eight names are all acceptable to him --Teixeira says Granger’s representatives deliberately undermining CCJ guidelines Elections are impending, derailing of democracy will not be allowed - PPP/C presidential candidate New Voters’ List will not have more credibility - UN Needs Assessment Report Granger’s eight suggestions for GECOM Chair connected to PNCR Jordan admits that sugar sector is currently non-productive Constitutional crisis…

APNU+AFC Coalition, GECOM in open defiance of CCJ Lowenfield called on to start preparations for Elections candidate Was the Order for House-to-House registration backdated?

--July 20, 2019 named as starting date Fight brewing between PNCR, AFC over prime ministerial candidate ‘Wanton wastage’ of taxpayers’ monies on non-functioning LRC – Nandlall

2019…Year in Review 21

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Granger’s public statements can no longer be believed by the public – Teixeira

Coalition’s lack of concern about thousands of foreign nationals being moved through Guyana suspicious

President, Cabinet called on to resign -Jagdeo calls for Election date to be named

Granger confirms that he will not comply with Guyana’s Constitution ‒ Jagdeo

Under pressure…

Lowenfield admits that house-to-house registration is unnecessary for impending elections

Coalition cannot argue away provisions of the Constitution – Jagdeo --Elections deadline is clear

T&T Parliamentarian warns his gov’t against dealings with Guyana’s caretaker gov’t AUGUST 2019 After September 18…

Granger’s gov’t illegal New GECOM Chair commits to ‘free, fair and transparent elections’ Jordan engages in barefaced denial of position voiced by Chief Elections Officer Local Content Policy is critical for ensuring readiness, greater benefits to Guyanese – Ali

GECOM cannot remove names from National Register of Registrants, other options can update Voters’ List– CJ orders People smuggling….

Teixeira says Felix’s suspicious positions hint at nefarious agenda Constitutional crisis that will ultimately destroy our economy and add tremendous hardships – Ali Region 9 residents question value for money House-to-House registration must be halted – Jagdeo Guyana’s gold reserves depleted by over $15B in less than five years

Granger declares commitment to perpetuate Burnham’s legacy

Gov’t squeezing more taxes from pockets of Guyanese – PPP/C presidential candidate

PNCR Leader backpedals on claim that Voters’ List is flawed

GNBA called out for infringement of free speech

ERC called on to monitor, investigate comments made by PNCR sympathizers

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

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WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

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

Ramjattan has lost his mind

By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

E

very human being has some moral compass and decency. Whatever moral authority and decency Khemraj Ramjattan might have possessed, he has totally lost today. His arrogant boasting, taking responsibility for the closure of sugar estates, for putting people out of jobs, the very people who helped him become a Minister and rise to the position of a Vice-President prove he has totally lost his mind, has no moral authority and any decency left in him. The sad caricature of Ramjattan today

despised by the vast majority of Guyanese, including in his own home-region, some of whom once genuinely admired and treated him as a hero, is utterly humiliating.

He is now a traitor who betrayed decent people, a liar who "sings for his supper", a consummate soup-drinker. Ramjattan is a despised puppet, dangling on a string.

His parents had higher hopes for him.

Last week, Ramjattan boasted he, Moses Nagamootoo and their AFC colleagues did not just "went along" with APNU to close sugar estates, they actually advocated for the closure.

He went out of his way to take credit for the closure of the estates, taking credit for terminating the employment of more than 7,000 workers, directly jeopardizing the livelihood of more than 60,000 persons, including children, women and the elderly, and indirectly jeopardizing the livelihood of tens of thousands more. After the closure, the unemployed sugar workers had to fight for their

severance and many of them had to approach the courts to force APNU+AFC to pay the legally-required severance.

This is the burgeoning insanity, the steaming garbage this arrogant, blithering idiot is taking credit for. It is disgraceful to see him singing for his supper, all because he wants power and salivating at the prospects of being Prime Minister, zero chance it may be.

It is baffling, outrageous, unfathomable, just plain bizarre Ramjattan is owning and boasting of the most potent, painful mistakes APNU+AFC made since May 2015, one that APNU+AFC itself is trying to hide from, one that has led to the most humiliating defeat any government can experience, more than two-thirds rejection in two local government elections and the loss of a No-Confidence Motion.

Mark my word, APNU(PNC) itself will distant themselves from the closure of the estates and the termination of employment for more than 7,000 people, insisting in the

upcoming election campaign that they merely "went along" with the AFC. Not only did they close four estates, but APNU+AFC is doing everything, including pushing incompetence and mismanagement of the remaining three sugar estates, everything to demoralize the remaining sugar workers and create the excuse for the entire closure of SUGAR in Guyana. Ramjattan and none of his colleagues can now assure anyone the rest of SUGAR will not close under APNU+AFC, should they still be there in 2020.

Who will believe the same people who told them during the 2015 elections campaign no estate will be closed and every worker will receive a 20% wage increase, and, immediately after closed four estates, terminated more than 7,000 jobs, and froze all sugar workers wages, that they will not proceed to close the whole industry? I said before the 2015 elections that one of the major goals of APNU+AFC was to close sugar estates and eventually SUG-

AR. They railed that I was fear-mongering. But, sadly, my prediction came through.

Now I am again predicting, should APNU+AFC stay in government, the other estates will also be closed, with Uitvlugt being next, followed

by Blairmont and eventually Albion.

Ramjattan, as he bloviates nonsense, refuses to talk about the $30B loan they took on the books of GUYSUCO. He refuses to talk about the more than $1B in interest already paid. He refuses to say who has the money, how it was spent.

NICIL insists it has given GUYSUCO more than $17B of the money already and that GUYSUCO cannot tell them what they did with the money. GUYSUCO denies this assertion, but Ramjattan is boasting he personally, together with his AFC colleagues, including Moses Nagamootoo, are the ones calling the shots.

As families sink deeper into poverty, as local small family businesses like the grocery shops struggle for

survival, as local seamstress and tailors barely survive, as local vendors find it hard to make ends meet, this blithering, arrogant man feels he needs to boast and take responsibility for the suffering foisted on innocent people.

Why? Because he wants to be Prime Minister, he wants to continue to live the "good life" on the backs of poor people, he wants to suck the blood out of the very people he once fooled into voting for him.

Now it is election time, he will make more promises to them, he will brazenly lie full-throated, as he sings for his supper. If ever there was a poster child for a soup drinker, Ramjattan has laid claim to be the champion soup-drinker poster child. Meanwhile, since the disgraceful admission that AFC played the pivotal role in estate closing, Nagamootoo has gone silent. Is he also willing to publicly boast he too is responsible, as Ramjattan confessed?

AFC was ‘front and center’ in the decision to close sugar estates – Ramjattan admits L

eader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan has admitted that his party played an integral role in the decision to close sugar estates across the country.

Currently, only three GuySuCo estates have been kept open – Uitvlugt, Albion and the Blairmont estates.

On a social media programme that was broadcast recently, Ramjattan said, “When the sugar sector decision was made to close estates and factories and merge some of them, it was primarily the AFC who was a big part of that decision…myself, Mr [Prime Minister Moses] Nagamootoo, and a whole host of other AFC members were part of that decision.”

NOT A SOUND DECISION Ramjattan claimed that an “economic decision” had to

be made for the sugar sector.

In addition to the fact that thousands lost jobs after the decision to close several sugar estates, the economic impact has been both direct and indirect – affecting not only those who are now without jobs, but the children of those former sugar workers, village economies and more.

Notably, prior to the closure of the sugar estates, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned about decisions taken in the sugar sector. On the issue of the sugar sector, the IMF called for careful decisions to be made about the future of the industry. . The IMF warned the government to be “mindful of the large social impact’ and the need ‘to protect those affected’ by the process of change in the industry The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) also made similar arguments, in advocating for the sugar es-

tates to remain open.

On the issue of reform and change, Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, had made it clear that the PPP/C is not opposed to reform or change. However, he stressed that any move in that direction much be grounded in a realistic assessment of the current situation and on studies. “No viable decision can be made without a feasibility study,” he had said.

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

According to him, the debt figure for GuySuCo that has been repeatedly cited as $82B – but this is a deliberate distortion. He explained that a significant part of the mon-

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

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

SELL-OFF OF ESTATES In the meantime, the fate of the closed sugar estates, has also stirred concerns.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reportedly submitted a report and

recommendation on the way forward to the steering committee of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), including the preferred bidder or bidders.

This disclosure came even as concerns were expressed about the role of PwC in the divestment of the estates of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), including the selloff of the closed estates.

Despite being handed a two-year ban last week for allegedly overstating the earnings and assets of Indian software company Satyam Computer Services, the international audit firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) was engaged by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and commenced the process of valuing the assets of the GuySuCo in January 2018.

In 2017, under the

National Industrial & Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), the APNU+AFC Coalition Government set up a Special Purposes Unit (SPU) to oversee the divestment of assets owned by GuySuCo. The divestment (sell-off) of GuySuCo assets was intended to be guided by the Pricewaterhouse Coopers valuation report.

In October 2018, Jagdeo, repeated his call for the document to be made public. “Where is the valuation? Why don’t they release it? They promised that there would be no privatisation of any estate until valuation done,” Jagdeo said.

However, to date, the valuation report remains secret.

Other concerns about the future of Guyana’s sugar sector also remain unaddressed by the Coalition.

WEEKEND MIRROR 31 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER, 2019

Granger’s son-in-law gets more lucrative position D

ominic Gaskin, former Minister of Business, has been named the new Chairman of the Small Business Council.

In an August 24, 2019 edition of The Official Gazette, Government announced the new board, effective from July 1, 2019 to serve for a period of one year.

In May, the David Granger-led APNU+AFC Coalition government created a new position to accommodate the rehiring of Gaskin, who had served as Minister of Business. Gaskin, Granger’s sonin-law, was been appointed Director of Manufacturing and Marketing within the Ministry of Business.

Gaskin’s new position as Chairman of the Small Business Council is seen as a more lucrative post. The full scope of Gaskin’s salary, perks and other benefits has not been made public.

Gaskin was among the dual citizens who resigned as Ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs) effective April 25, 2019, in compli-

ance with an interpretation of Article 155 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana by the Courts – the first time such an interpretation was given.

Article 155 (1) states that: “No person shall be qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly who (a) is, by virtue of his own act, under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or state.”

PNCR’s Volda Lawrence takes no blame for drug shortages, says health workers at fault

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n response to claims of widespread shortages of drugs and medical supplies across Guyana, Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence, has refused to take responsibility. Instead, she has placed the blame on local health workers.

According to the Minister, drugs are oftentimes available at the various storage facilities in the respective regions, however, it is the responsibility of the public health sector workers to ensure the supplies are requested before they are depleted.

“If persons do not make a request then that will not be fulfilled and sometimes we have a lot of system failures where persons don’t do what they’re supposed to in a timely manner,” Lawrence said.

The explanation given by Lawrence, also the Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), contradicts with local reports

coming from health centers across Guyana – specifically that requests are made to the Health Ministry but the drugs are not delivered.

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

Lawrence, had stated revised drug procurement system which will bring resolution to the ongoing drug shortage throughout the country is expected to be implemented by June 2016.

However, this has not been so.

Also, this is not the first time that Lawrence has blamed local health workers for the reports of shortages of drugs and medical supplies.

In March 2017, she blamed a conspiracy among drug suppliers and ministry staff for the crisis in the sector.

23

‘I acted on instructions’ ‒ Trotman on Tullow agreement criticisms

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mid increasing criticisms of the agreement signed between the APNU+AFC Coalition Government and the oil company, Tullow, the Natural Resources Minister, Raphael Trotman, has finally broken his silence on the matter.

However, his comments have added to the cause for concern.

He said, “I’m unable to discuss beyond saying that as with the contract, I acted on directions.”

Questions have been raised as to whose directions Trotman was acting on. Caretaker President, David Granger, has not commented on this issue.

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.

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 discov-

ery 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.

Ali assures of greater support for vulnerable groups

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here must be greater attention placed on women, children, the elderly and vulnerable groups, according to People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) presidential candidate, Irfaan Ali, who assured that this will be done by a new PPP/C government.

“Women are mothers, women are daughters, women are teachers and they play a very critical role in moulding our society in terms of moulding children and keeping our society safe and ensuring that we have a good value system and so on,” he said during a televised interview earlier this week.

He added, “Women play a very critical role at the family level, at the community level and the society level.”

Ali made it clear that women will be involved all levels, this was further highlighted in the bits of the manifesto the party has been releasing.

He said, “We have to empower women to participate

greatly in the economy…. so small and microcredit is very important for women, the vulnerable groups and so on….so we an initiative under the PPP/C, we will be looking at micro and small business opportunities and credit facilities for women.”

According to him, increasing women’s role in governance is also a critical issue. He said, “A very important issue is women participation in the governance of our country at all levels; how do we mainstream that, ensuring that there are equal opportunities. These are issues that we will be going after and ensuring that women have a greater role at all levels of government.”

Notably, increasing women’s role in governance has always been a part of the PPP/C’s agenda. The Party has implemented the 30 per cent rule for representative in the Parliament. In line with this this trend, the Pres-

idential Candidate has made it clear that this will only improve under a new PPP/C government.

Ali also said, “More and more we are having more women being qualified more women having the experience and the skillset and we have to ensure that those talents are utilized also.” With more of the female population choosing to further their education, our women are now more talented than ever; and he recognized that.

In recognition of advances in society, the PPP/C presidential candidates said, “If we want to change the mindset on how we, people view women, view men, view families in our societies, we have to ensure that we can plant the positive message from a very early age and these are things that the people refer to as softer things, but they are very important and very import in our society and our country.”

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