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Sophia murder suspect shot dead by police PAGE
Melissa Ifill raps Ruel over ‘pathetic statement’
…says trying to skillfully blame victims inexcusable
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HISTORIAN Dr Melissa Ifill has condemned former executive of The Citizens Initiative (TCI), Ruel Johnson, over a statement he issued regarding sexual violence claims by his exgirlfriends.
Dr Ifill, in a letter, said she is disgusted that a “grown man who admitted a 'fling' with a child would then try to skillfully blame the child for his inexcusable, sickening predatory behaviour.”
She said that she could not make it to read the entire statement Johnson issued on the matter. “I couldn't make it to the end. I was disgusted that a grown man who admitted a 'fling' with a child would then try to skillfully blame the child for his inexcusable, s i c k e n i n g p r e d a t o r y behaviour. No! You will not come out of this scandal with any assumed reputation intact! You sir are pathetic! Any grown man who can only find intellectual and sexual stimulation from a child is both pathetic and abusive! Your attempts to gloss over the abuse by 'blaming' your self-described 'intellect' and the victims' mental state are pathetic! More hilarious, in every statement you make, Sophia murder suspect shot dead by police whipped out a handgun and began shooting at the lawmen who returned fire and wounded him. The suspect died while receiving medical attention at the East Bank Demerara Public Hospital (Diamond). An unlicenced pistol was retrieved at the scene. The police had earlier on Wednesday morning, after ascertaining the full identity of Adams, issued a wanted bulletin for him prior to apprehending him. According to information received, Adams, following an altercation, shot dead 37-year-old Sophia resident, Andre Kenyatta. Reports indicate the altercation began when Kenyatta was asked by the reputed wife of Adams to remove his horse from an empty lot in front you exhibit all the classic symptoms of predators and abusers as Akola Thompson s o w e l l e x p e c t e d a n d articulated,” Dr Ifill said.
According to her the “fake contriteness while at the same time offering excuses for the sickening behaviour and blaming the victims, while painting these women as all unstable – is typical of abusers.” “It is my view that Ruel Johnson is a predator and an abuser and fortunately for him, his other victims are unwilling to come forward at this time and it is not my place to tell their stories of abuse but understand that your sickening conduct has long been well known. All the people congratulating this sick man for that pathetic
Johnson in his statement admitted to some of the accusations levelled against him by two of his former girlfriends but denies that he is guilty of physical abuse, statutory rape or grooming. He has admitted that he does have behavioural problems and will be seeking counselling for help. In light of the recent accusations, though The Citizen Initiative (TCI) has let go of Johnson as their Co-founder and Executive, it appears that he will keep his job at the Kaieteur News as he is now taking steps to meet with female staff individually at the media entity to ascertain
Ruel Johnson
statement are as much a part of the culture of rape, abuse, predation and misogyny as he is,” Dr Ifill wrote. whether he has wronged them in any way.
H e s a i d t h a t s i n c e accusations were made against him he was advised by his friends to remain silent but he has decided to respond in light of the public engagement on the issue. However, in his response, Johnson distanced himself from some of the remarks made by his ex-girlfriends, Youth Activist and Stabroek News Columnist, Akola Thompson, who broke the silence on the alleged abuse, and Sinah Kloss, a German woman who also accused the Sub-Editor of ill treatment.
J o h n s o n s a i d t h a t Thompson’s account of their relationship was “largely and deliberately fictitious” and was made up of information contradicted by public and private record. “Ms. Thompson has made very specific accusations of what amounts to allegations of criminal activity on my part. I invite her to press charges and believe that she should be given whatever genuine support she can in that regard. For the record, as much as I am against her false portrayal of events, I equally condemn any attempts to slander or shame her or any woman who comes forward with any story,” Johnson said.
Regarding Kloss, he said that the woman’s account of her “burnout”
Dr Melissa Ifill a dying father was used to incident in which, as I was seek attention. While he lying down, she came over admitted to her account me, held my hands and of him spitting at her, he denied manipulation and physical conflict. Johnson screamed in my face that I should pay attention to her. said: “What she describes Not wanting to physically as ‘burnout’ was a phase, in remove her, yes, I spat at finishing her PhD, in which, her, something I regretted among other things, she doing the moment I did it. I threatened to throw herself ended the relationship after from my balcony and make it appear as if I had pushed her, because I was not that. More than once, for the avoidance of conflict, I was paying enough attention forced to stay away from a to her. What she describes place I frequented due to as ‘spitting’ is a singular her turning up there.”
Murder suspect, (now deceased) Keron Mark Adams. KERON Mark Adams who was wanted in relation to the murder of a Sophia man on Tuesday has died, following a confrontation with the police.
According to information received, about 13:45h, police, acting on intelligence gathered, went to a location at Mocha, East Bank Demerara in search of Adams. It is reported that the suspect, on seeing the ranks,
phase due to studies and
of her home, after which she started abusing him with expletives, and, subsequently, got the suspect involved. An argument ensued and the suspect pulled a gun and made threats to Kenyatta’s life. Following that altercation, Adams made good that threat and shot Kenyatta dead on Tuesday morning.
The home belonging to Adams was completely destroyed by fire, on Tuesday evening, while he and his reputed wife were on the run.
No quarantine exemption for Guyanese entering UK
GUYANESE arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) will still have to undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement.
The UK, in an updated report, announced that nationals of 12 Caribbean territories are among a list of 59 countries that are exempted from quarantine restrictions, effective July 10, 2020. Included among the 12 Caribbean countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia and Curacao.
Of note, is that the United States, like Guyana, did not make the list. The report quoted UK's Prime Minister as saying, at a news briefing, "Instead of quarantining arrivals from the whole world, we will only quarantine arrivals from those countries where the virus is, sadly, not under control." Guyana has to date recorded a total of 284 coronavirus cases with 16 deaths. Health authorities, meanwhile, continue to plead with citizens to adhere to the quarantine restrictions, in an effort to avoid a further spread.
The new UK advisory that goes into effect on Friday, July 10, 2020 specifically states that, if passengers arriving from the 59 named countries or territories did not visit or stop in any other country or territory in the preceding days, they will not be required to self-isolate, on arrival in the UK. It is a requirement for both visitors and residents of the UK, that all passengers, before arriving in the country, complete a passenger locator form which is presented upon arrival. In the circumstances, persons are therefore asked to continue to monitor the UK gov’t’s website for travel advice. Also, they can check the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website for update information.
$37.5B expended on Public Infrastructure in 2019
MEETING its budget almost exactly, the Government of Guyana expended $37.5B of a $38.5B budget on public infrastructure in 2019 catering to the areas of roads and bridges, air and water transport and sea and river defence.
This was revealed in the recently released End of Year Outcome 2019 report by the Ministry of Finance on the fiscal performance for the year. Of the $37.5B expended $10.8B accounted for current expenditure and $26.7 B was capital expenditure. In total it represents 12.5 per cent of the national budget.
From this total, $14.6B from a budgeted $16.3B were spent on roads and bridges. Projects which were completed include the feasibility study for the East Bank/East Coast Road Linkage project; the Better Hope/Annandale four lane highway and the two-lane Buxton-Belfield Road upgrade. Over $2B was spent under the hinterland roads programme, for the completion of the construction of Mahdia community internal roads and the rehabilitation of several roads such as the Port Kaituma main road to Fitzburg Housing Scheme; the Wainaina Bridge
Concessional financial support for Caribbean countries is imperative as a response to the crisis unleashed by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and to confront the economic and climatic vulnerabilities affecting them. So said Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), today during a session of the United Nations High-level Political Forum 2020 (HLPF), which is taking place virtually this July, where she also presented five proposals that would enable these countries to increase their fiscal space.
The event entitled Mobilizing international solidarity, accelerating action and embarking on new pathways to realize the 2030 Agenda and the Samoa Pathway: Small Island Developing States was to Yarakita; the Barabina Swamp Road; and the Bartica/Potaro Road Mile 33 to Mile 52, among others. 2019 also saw the construction and upgrading of internal roads in the newly-established townships of Mabaruma and Lethem, the implementation the internal roads and drains programme in Bartica. Preparatory works to improve road linkages between the coast and hinterland continued to an advanced stage by the end of the year. These included the feasibility study for the Linden-Lethem Road Project; the studies and designs for the 72 km Linden-Soesdyke Highway at cost of $207 million; the studies for the reconstruction of the Wismar Bridge; and, the studies for the construction of the Kurupakari Bridge.
Meanwhile, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector window, continued their assessment of developing the New Demerara River Bridge using a Public-Private Partnership (P3) arrangement. The Finance Ministry noted too that progress was made on the Sheriff Street-Mandela presided over by Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, who is Vice President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and moderated by Fekitamoeloa ?Utoikamanu, UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). Participating in the discussion along with Alicia Bárcena were Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General, Minister for Economy and Minister responsible for climate change in Fiji; Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives; Terri Toyota, Head of the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Markets Group; Karol Alejandra Arambula Carrillo, Executive Director and Founder of MY World Mexico; Marsha Caddle, Minister of Economic Affairs and Investment of Barbados; and representatives
Workers compacting concrete just beyond Port Kaituma Police Station back in 2019 (DPI photo)
Avenue Road Programme though it was slower-than-anticipated because of unfulfilled contractual obligations, while $2.2b was spent on the maintenance of roads, dams and trails.
When it comes to air and water transport, $1.8B from an allocation of $2.2B was spent to improve connectivity across Guyana. This sum catered to expansion of various countries.
In her presentation, Alicia Bárcena specified that Latin American and Caribbean countries are suffering the effects of the COVID-19 crisis through five channels: a drop in trade with their main trading partners, lower prices for commodities, the disruption of global value chains, lower demand for tourism services, and a decline in remittances. In particular, Caribbean nations currently face three significant vulnerabilities, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary said: a fall in tourism-related visits calculated at between 57% and 75% in 2020, which will entail a loss of between US$22 billion and US$28 billion in income; high exposure to climate change, which is manifested in the 400 disasters that occurred between 1990 and 2019, 90.4% of which were caused by hydro-climatic phenomena (and 2020 is forecast to be works on the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), which was approximately 90 per cent completed by the end of 2019. The additional work which took place included the construction of the North-East and South-West runways; the completion of the apron and taxiway; the completion of the new terminal building and rehabilitation of the existing building; a very active year with an estimated 16 named storms expected); and a high level of public indebtedness: 11 countries have a debt/GDP ratio that is above the 60% threshold for sustainability, and three are nearing or have exceeded 100% of their GDP.
“High debt service in Caribbean countries limits their fiscal space for responding to the COVID-19 crisis,” the senior United Nations official emphasized. They are currently spending US$1.2 billion to address the pandemic, but debt service is very high, between 30% and 70% of their revenue, which puts great pressure on their fiscal space, Bárcena added.
Alicia Bárcena also underscored that the countries of the Caribbean do not have concessional financial support, and receive very little Official Development Assistance (ODA). “Concessional financial support (to the the completion of the diesel generator room; and, the fire pump station.
Works also progressed the development of the Aviation Master Plan; a study to upgrade the Lethem aerodrome; the rehabilitation and construction of stellings at Bartica (Phase II) and Leguan and the study for the modernisation of the Parika Stelling. Caribbean) is an imperative, regardless of whether they are considered to be middle-income countries,” she indicated.
In this area, she explained that ECLAC is proposing five, very concrete recommendations: a debt relief initiative through a debt for climate change adaptation swap, which includes the creation of a resilience fund; a debt service standstill and a change in international financial institutions’ (IFIs) eligibility criteria for granting concessional funding; stage contingency bonds, especially with hurricane clauses; green and blue bonds; and liquidity support via the issuance of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). “There are warning signs with 10 years left to fulfill the 2030 Agenda and the Samoa Pathway. We are not going to achieve the goal of reducing poverty, or the full goals related to women’s
Completed were the docking and rehabilitation of MV Kanawan and MV Sabanto and the rehabilitation of a section of the Parika Stelling. Regarding sea and river defence, the government spent at total of $5.7B on the maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of sea and river defences. This expenditure exceeded the initial budgeted sum of $3.9B primarily as a result of emergency work undertaken to address breaches at Mahaicony.
Meanwhile, construction and rehabilitation of defence structures were completed in
Crane/Mary, Windsor Forest, Waller’s Delight, Grove/Look-Out, East Bank Essequibo;
Crabwood Creek and Bush Lot/Maida on the Corentyne; Vryheid’s Lust; Canje River; and,
Orealla Village. The Ministry of Finance also noted that stakeholder consultations continued during 2019 to inform the Environmental Impact and Social Assessment and the design phases of the study to develop the waterfront of Port Georgetown and along the East Coast Corridor to
ECLAC presents proposals to increase fiscal space in Caribbean
Ogle.
empowerment, food security, unemployment and the strengthening of health and sanitation. That is why concessional funding is a must,” Bárcena stated.
