Guyana_Chronicle_Epaper_08_15_2020

SATURDAY 15th August, 2020

' No.106092

SEE PAGE 03

Budget

expected in 21 days

Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo

Schools not ready for Fraud charges against Dr Irfaan Ali withdrawn re-opening in September PAGE

05

PAGE

02

Non-traditional agri exports 10 increase by 13 per cent PAGE

Non-traditional agricultural produce being prepared at Guyana Marketing Corporation’s packaging facility for export

Teen stabs brother-in-law to death

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Schools not ready for re-opening in September

MINISTER of Education Priya Manickchand on Thursday announced that schools will remain closed in September.

The decision, the minister said, was arrived at following widespread consultations with the relevant authorities on the delivery of the curriculum for the Christmas Term amid the current coronavirus outbreak.

“There was little to no decisive and or coordinated approach in delivering education and doing so safely…

Actions that were needed in the months schools were closed were not taken in their entirety, or at all. This is our

reality. We therefore cannot reopen schools on September 7, 2020 as was previously scheduled,” Minister Manickchand said.

She said that in order for schools to be reopened, they will need to have on hand an adequate supply of masks for both students and teachers, as well as hand-washing facilities among other vital necessities.

As such, she said all schools will remain closed, as the authorities work on reviewing and evaluating the situation, with a view to eventually resolving it.

She said she is well aware that teachers have kept in

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand

constant touch with their stu-

dents throughout the ‘lockdown’ period, and would advise that they continue doing so while the Ministry of Education works towards a versatile approach to the delivery of education. This, she said, is expected to be done through the likes of the learning programmes available on the State-owned Learning Channel, and the development of Online programmes and printed learning packages.

In closing, the minister assured the public that they will be kept abreast of whatever decisions are taken, and that officials are working around-the-clock to develop

a safety protocol for schools across the country, so that it can be implemented whenever they are reopened.

The Ministry of Education, under the guidance of the previous administration, had closed schools since March 16, after the country recorded its first COVID-19 case on March 11. The closure was initially effective until April 3, which would’ve marked the end of the Easter school term, leading straight into the two-week Easter vacation. As such, students and teachers were expected to return to school for scheduled reopening on April 20, but the period was later extended

to a date unknown.

Some countries are projecting that their schools will remain closed at least for the rest of the year, as is the case in the United States. Closer to home, sister CARICOM country, Trinidad and Tobago, does not foresee their schools opening their doors before September. In Jamaica, schools were initially closed until April 22, but the authorities there are also expected to shortly pronounce on the way forward for their schools.

New NICIL board appointed -- agency last audited in 2014

By Navendra Seoraj GOVERNMENT has appointed a new Board of Directors for the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited

(NICIL) as it seeks to ensure that State assets are properly accounted for and safeguarded.

NICIL was incorporated as a company under the Companies Act Chapter 89:01

on July 18, 1990 but did not begin to function as a company until the appointment and assumption of duty of the executive director on the July 15, 1991.

According to the compa-

ny’s website, its primary objectives were that of subscribing for, taking or otherwise acquiring and holding the government shares, stocks, debentures or other securities of any company, co-operative societies or body corporate.

As the company moves forward under the guidance of a new administration, it will be chaired by Paul Cheong, while Sasenarine Singh, Christopher Ram, Nigel Hinds, Pauline Chase and Stanley Paul will serve as board members.

The previous board included Dr. Maurice Odle, former Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, Sonya Roopnauth, Berkley Wickham and Oswald Barnes.

The Guyana Chronicle was also reliably informed that Marcia Nadir-Sharma

will be the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NICIL, a position which Colvin Heath-London had been acting in for a few years.

Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, while not naming persons, has confirmed that a board was appointed and will be installed soon.

With the new board imminent, Jagdeo said government will be watchful of the company, as they were not pleased with some of the reports coming out of NICIL and the way the company operated over the past five years.

NICIL has not had an audit in the last five years under the former government, as the last audit was in 2014.

“We had asked for several bits of information, and a lot has not been produced… on the land issue, we want to see

who bought these lands,” said Jagdeo, adding that these documents will be released to the public when the government acquires them.

The company had sold lands that were vested to it by the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. It was reported that lands were sold to Navigant Builders Inc., and a number of other foreign and local investors.

“On the land issue, we want to see who bought these lands… we are not in receipt of all the information,” said Jagdeo.

The vice-president said they will continue to push for access to all information, as there has already been evidence that large amounts of land were vested in individual and company names, but payments were not made.

Government also plans to ask for a list of all the assets, formerly owned by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), which were disposed of and those still in the possession of NICIL. The previous administration had vested GuySuCo assets and shares to NICIL, as part of a “scaling down” of the sugar industry.

Sections of the media had reported that NICIL will be asked to return the closed sugar estates to the state-owned GuySuCo, which will be reopened after a review is done.

“In terms of the timeframe for reopening the closed sugar estates, first of all GuySuCo does not have any assets presently. All the assets of GuySuCo were taken over by NICIL, so GuySuCo will have to own or get back these assets,” he told a news briefing.

The sugar corporation still owns the three estates and factories at Albion and Blairmont in East Berbice and Uitvlugt in West Demerara.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Budget expected in 21 days

By Navendra Seoraj

GUYANA is already eight months into 2020, but a protracted electoral process had restricted the country from having a budget and a clear plan for the year, something which the newly-elected government is working to fix in just 21 days.

Crafting a National Budget usually takes 179 days; however, extraordinary circumstances have forced government to condense this process and present a budget in 21 days, said Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press briefing, on Friday.

“It takes 179 days to prepare a budget from the date the circular goes out to the date of presentation in Parliament… but we want the budget prepared and we are working towards preparing a budget in 21 days,” said Jagdeo, adding that the budget needs to be crafted urgently.

Jagdeo said government is working overtime to get the budget ready within this short space of time, as a speedy completion is important because of the existing socio-economic challenges caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The vice-president said government will also have to account for expenditures made pre-July, as some $116 billion was dispersed from the Treasury, while $111 billion, in revenue, was spent by the past administration.

Jagdeo also said major public corporations such as the Guyana Power and Light Corporation (GPL), Guyana Water Inc (GWI), the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and other agencies are in deficit.

Additionally, the previous administration had disbursed $10.7 billion as a loan to GPL, to pay for a Wartsila Plant. The vice-president said the sum was taken from the Consolidated

Fund, so it was an illegal disbursement.

Other capital expenditures such as the $1.134 billion spent on COVID-19 activities, will also have to be considered in preparation of the budget. The government, he said, will be starting the budget with $135 billion spent already on the capital side.

Jagdeo said there are more transactions which need to be reconciled, but he is hopeful that the budget will be completed on time. The country’s last budget, Budget 2019, was passed in December 2018 to the tune of $300.7B. SUBSTANTIVE FINANCE MINISTER SOON The National Budget is presented in the National Assembly by the minister of finance, and while the Office of the President had announced that it has oversight for finance, Jagdeo said President Irfaan Ali will soon appoint a substantive minister.

The finance minister holds a key portfolio, as he/she has oversight for government’s spending and plays a critical role in the preparation of a National Budget. Prior to 2015, Dr. Ashni Singh had served as the minister of finance under the Donald Ramotar-led administration.

It was reported recently that the newly-elected PPP/C Government is still in “search mode,” when it comes to the appointment of someone to the post of Minister of Finance.

President Irfaan Ali had said his transition team has not yet identified an individual for the position, but hopes to do so soon, as all options are being reviewed.

“And, with the skillset that we have at the moment in the Office of the President, with the former president (Bharrat Jag-

deo), we are hoping to move quickly on a number of issues at the financial level, but it is an area that we are still searching for potential candidates,” said the president.

PREPARATIONS BEING MADE The work of government is, however, not hindered by the absence of a finance minister, as work is ongoing in relation to the preparation of a National Budget.

President Ali had said that government has been doing an assessment of the current economic situation and the availability of resources.

“That is ongoing, and what we have found is alarming in some of these areas,” said the President, noting that a lot has to do with the recent management of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.

To this end, President Ali assured that financing for initiatives to curb the spread of COVID-19, will be a top priority for government.

The urgent need for the passage of a budget was recently highlighted by Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Guyana, Sydney Armstrong, who believes that the swift passage of a national budget would create some traction and stability for the economy.

“There is the need for President Ali and his team to swiftly pass a budget for 2020 so as to create some traction for this economy in this difficult time, and at the same time think about Budget 2021,” the economist told the Guyana Chronicle, in a recent interview.

Armstrong strongly advised that the proposed budget be “people-focused”, and especially give priority to vulnerable groups.

He feels that essentially, it should focus on such key sectors as health, education,

Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo agriculture, infrastructure and industries, all of which should be inextricably linked to the new Oil-and-Gas Sector, which should be its central feature.

“As a nation, we are at a defining moment, given the development of our Oil-and-Gas Sector,” Armstrong said, “but it is also important to note that the road up ahead is still going to be challenging, given that we are still in a global pandemic.”

Considering the economic situation and the instability caused by COVID-19, the economist said there is need for a “stimulus package”, as this would ease the “economic hardship” faced by vulnerable groups in society.

Petroleum Commission to be established –– Jagdeo says all Guyanese must benefit from oil wealth

By Rabindra Rooplall GOVERNMENT will establish an Oil and Gas Commission, and an Advisory Committee that will be managed by technically-competent Guyanese, while the Minister of Natural Resources will only focus on the policy inputs and directions.

This is according to Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo at his first Press Conference as vice- president on Thursday, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

“The President has also made it clear that he will establish shortly, an advisory group to himself, on oil and gas, the advisory group will be made up of mainly Guyanese who will be advising the President on these issues,” he said.

Dr. Jagdeo emphasised that the government has made it clear in meeting with ExxonMobil, that its success and prosperity must also be shared with Guyanese since it won’t be sustainable otherwise.

“We will insist that Guyanese must share the prosperity, if they are doing well,

our people must do well too, in terms of opportunities, employment etc., that will be the guiding principle and philosophy in all our engagements with ExxonMobil, and subsequently once we start looking at the other contracts, then with all of them,” the vice-president said.

Dr. Jagdeo said Exxon must treat local content as a top priority as it pursues its business, as eventually, legislation will enable mandatory compliance.

“We want to get the best technical inputs before we come up with a negotiating brief that will be cleared at the policy level and then we want to engage directly with Exxon to see that this happens,” he said.

CONSULTATION Dr. Jagdeo continued: “The President will also meet with the local Guyanese community through a series of meetings, maybe with the sectors to listen to them about their views on local content… people will be free to

express their views, we have heard from the Guyanese public, we have seen how labour is treated and we have seen that opportunities that could have come to Guyanese are farmed out to non-Guyanese.”

Dr. Jagdeo emphasised that Exxon cannot place blame on their sub-contractors for not meeting local content provisions.

He explained that sub-contractors are not paying comparable wages based on skills, since all Guyanese deserve to be paid fairly.

The vice-president said that the President has expressed a great desire to train a large number of Guyanese in order to fill all job portfolios within the oil and gas sector.

“Over the next six to eight months we will move to the establishment of a petroleum commission as we had said before, the petroleum commission will mainly be a technical commission because what you need is technical oversight with some of the best brains and we hope Guyanese would heavily be involved with of course some

foreign help until we can train people,” Jagdeo said.

Meanwhile, focusing on ExxonMobil flaring during its operations and capturing it, Jagdeo said Guyana needs cheaper electricity to develop industrially, while cutting consumers’ cost.

“The availability of gas and how much is available and who will own the facility whether it will be a public private partnership, or if it will be advertised to any other company to do the whole project and then sell the gas to government at a low cost or if it will be a totally government-owned project, all of those decisions have to be made and they will be dependent on the resources available as well as what the market offers,” Dr. Jagdeo said.

He added that ExxonMobil is also eager to move along with the project and a commitment must be made.

Further, he said the Department of Energy will be removed from the Office of the President and transferred to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

US 2020: Biden campaign says Trump 'abhorrent' for fuelling Harris conspiracy (BBC) The campaign team for Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden has issued a scathing response after US President Donald Trump amplified a conspiracy theory about his running mate.

Mr Trump said he had "heard" that Kamala Harris - a US-born citizen whose parents were immigrants "doesn't qualify" to serve as US vice-president.

The fringe theory has been dismissed by constitutional experts.

The Biden campaign called the comments "abhorrent" and "pathetic".

They noted that Mr Trump spent years promoting a false "birther" theory that ex-President Barack Obama was not born in the US. Ms Harris, a senator from California, on Tuesday became the first black woman

and the first Asian-American to be named as a running mate on a main-party US presidential ticket.

"Donald Trump was the national leader of the grotesque, racist birther movement with respect to President Obama and has sought to fuel racism and tear our nation apart on every single day of his presidency," a Biden campaign spokesman said in an email.

"So it's unsurprising, but no less abhorrent, that as Trump makes a fool of himself straining to distract the American people from the horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response that his campaign and their allies would resort to wretched, demonstrably false lies in their pathetic desperation."

Ms Harris was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, Califor-

Saturday, August 15, 2020 ––– 1:30hrs & 14:30

Joe Biden named Kamala Harris his running mate - she is the first woman of colour on a major party ticket

nia, on 20 October 1964. As such, she is eligible to serve as president or vice-president.

Constitutional scholars have dismissed the fringe legal theory that Mr Trump was referring to.

To be vice-president or president, Kamala Harris "has to be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident in the United States for at least 14 years", Juliet Sorensen, a law professor at Northwestern University, told the Associated Press news agency. "She is. That's really the end of the inquiry."

Anyone born in the US and subject to its jurisdiction is a natural born citizen, regardless of the citizenship of their parents, says the Cornell Legal Information Institute.

WHAT DID TRUMP SAY? After a conservative law professor questioned Ms Harris' eligibility based on her parents' immigration status at the time of her birth, Mr Trump was asked about the argument at a press conference on Thursday.

The president said: "I just

heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements and by the way the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer.

"I have no idea if that's right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice-president.

"But that's a very serious, you're saying that, they're saying that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country."

The reporter replied there was no question that Ms Harris was born in the US, simply that her parents might not have been permanent US residents at the time.

Earlier on Thursday, a Trump campaign adviser, Jenna Ellis, reposted a tweet from the head of conservative group Judicial Watch, Tim Fitton.

In that tweet, Mr Fitton questioned whether Ms Harris was "ineligible to be vice-president under the US constitution's 'citizenship clause'".

He also shared the opinion piece published in Newsweek magazine by John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University in California, that Mr Trump was asked about.

What is the law professor's argument?

Prof Eastman cites Article II of the US Constitution's wording that "no person except a natural born citizen… shall be eligible to the office of president".

He also points out that the 14th Amendment to the

constitution says "all persons born… in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens".

Prof Eastman's argument, which he claims is also being made by other "commentators", hinges on the idea that Ms Harris may not have been subject to US jurisdiction if her parents were, for example, on student visas at the time of their daughter's birth in California.

"Her father was (and is) a Jamaican national, her mother was from India, and neither was a naturalized US citizen at the time of Harris' birth in 1964. That, according to these commentators, makes her not a 'natural born citizen' - and therefore ineligible for the office of the president and, hence, ineligible for the office of the vice president," he wrote in the Newsweek op-ed.

Experts in constitutional law have dismissed his claims In 2010, Prof Eastman ran to be the Republican candidate for California attorney general. He lost to Steve Cooley, who went on to be defeated by Ms Harris, the Democratic candidate, in the general election.

Following furious backlash to the Newsweek op-ed, its editor-in-chief Nancy Cooper stood by the decision to publish, arguing on Thursday that Prof Eastman's article had "nothing to do with racist birtherism" and was instead "focusing on a long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate".

WHAT DO OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS SAY? Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that Prof Eastman's argument about Ms Harris' eligibility was "truly silly".

"Under section 1 of the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen.

The Supreme Court has held this since the 1890s. Kamala Harris was born in the United States," he said.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, told the Associated Press: "Let's just be honest about what it is: It's just a racist trope we trot out when we have a candidate of colour whose parents were not citizens."

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Fraud charges against Dr. Irfaan Ali withdrawn

THE Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Friday, August 14, 2020, withdrew the 19 fraud charges against Dr Irfaan Ali, now President of Guyana, for allegedly conspiring to defraud the state of some $174M in ‘Pradoville’ land sales.

The charges were filed in November 2018, by the then David Granger-led administration which accused Ali of conspiring to defraud the Government of Guyana, between 2010 and 2015 when he acted recklessly, in presenting the value of 19 plots of state land, situated at Plantation Sparendaam and Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, and sold the said lands at a grossly undervalued price, without first obtaining a valuation to determine the true value of the lands.

Ali’s attorney, Devindra Kissoon, had made an application for the charges to be dismissed against his client on the grounds of Article 182 of the constitution which stated that while any person holds or performs the functions of the office of President, no criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against him or her.

Additionally, Kissoon had written the Director of Public Prosecutions arguing that it was not in the public interest to prosecute a sitting president, which would also go against the prosecutors’ code of conduct.

During Friday’s hearing, SOCU Prosecutor, Patrice Henry, told the court that they will be withdrawing the charges against President Ali, given the new office he holds.

The Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan then told President Ali that the charges against him were being withdrawn and he was free to go.

Ali’s lawyer Devindra Kissoon then wrote the Registrar of the Court of Appeal stating that the case challenging the constitutionality of those charges before the Court of Appeal was moot, in light of a decision taken by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan.

In a letter of withdrawal to the Court of Appeal, Kissoon extended apologies to the Court and adversaries for the short notice in requesting that the matter be withdrawn and said he appreciated that much work would have been dedicated to the matter.

“I have also been instructed by the President to express his gratitude to the Court for its consideration of his matter. We respectfully request that no order as to costs be made, given the circumstances attendant to the matter and the constitutional immunities afforded to the President,” Kissoon informed the appeal court judges.

The Appeal Court then granted the application to have the challenge withdrawn.

President Ali was accused of defrauding the state of over $174M after selling the lands at undervalued prices. The former minister of housing was accused of selling the lands to former President, Bharrat Jagdeo; former Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon; and former ministers Priya Manickchand, Dr. Jennifer Westford, Robert Persaud and Clement Rohee; Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar AliHack, and former army head Gary Best and Fortune Developers Inc., Guyana.

He also sold lands at the locations to former General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board and daughter of former President Donald Ramotar, Lisa Ramotar; former President of the Private Sector Commission, Ramesh Dookhoo; the son of former Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul, Dr Ghansham Singh; former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) Chief Executive Officer, Rajendra Singh; former president of the Caribbean Development Bank, Compton Bourne; Andrew Bishop, former Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission; former Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) Shaik Baksh, Safraaz Khan and George Hallaq.

The controversial ‘Pradoville Two’ issue came to the fore when the coalition

government commenced several investigations into suspicious financial transactions of state officials that bordered or amounted to corrupt practices and/or abuse of office. It was found that several persons close to the last government had received prime sea-front lands belonging to the state, at extraordinarily low cost.

It was reported that the ‘Pradoville’ recipients, the majority of whom held very high positions within private or state organisations, received, and later built ‘posh’ or luxury homes on the properties after paying as little as $114 per square foot; citizens, on the other hand, were being made to pay as much as $500 per square foot for ordinary land.

The ‘Pradoville’ arrangement was made during the PPP/C’s term of office, 2010-2015. Ali was the Housing Minister during that period.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Fixing State-owned corporations WITH information coming to light that many State-owned organisations are rocked by revelations of conflict of interest, malfeasance, negligence, and greed, His Excellency, the President appointed a special technical team comprising Mr. Christopher ‘Kit” Nascimento, Public Communications Consultant; Mr. Christopher Ram, Chartered Accountant and Attorney-at-law; Mr. Nigel Hinds, Certified Public Accountant and Mr. Sasenarine Singh, Financial Consultant, to immediately conduct a “Rapid Financial and Management Assessment” of some 19 State-owned entities. What was reportedly found in most instances was an unprecedented situation of systemic failure because the policymakers under the David Granger administration seem ignorant of what constitutes good corporate governance.

Under Mr. Granger, there appeared to be a disconnect between the practices of good corporate governance and actual performance and how key members of the inner circle were rewarded. In many instances, board members within the Granger cabal, caused a situation where they were allowed to function either officially or unofficially as senior management which is a total violation of

good corporate governance. As is now being brought to the nation's attention, the actions by these chosen few were primarily intended to raise their personal asset value rather than create value for all the shareholders of these agencies – namely the people of Guyana. In the final analysis, the system was "gamed" to inject financial inefficiencies using techniques such as not disclosing pertinent financial information promptly.

The tenure under Mr. David Granger is a life lesson to all future governments in the philosophy of how not to run a country. What is being discovered today is that this period under Mr. Granger was one that was plagued with falsified information, that was generated to mislead the real owners of these assets – the people.

It was heartening to hear, His Excellency, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, in his inauguration address, committing to right these wrongs. His Excellency committed to running the country in such a manner that no one will be left behind and to bring greater accountability to the process of governing the country. In His Excellency’s words “From this day forward, we must – each of us – become our brother’s and sister’s keeper, ensuring that in our journey to progress and prosperity, no one is left behind.”

What history has taught us is that under the PNC Government before 1992, we have been some experiences that were steeped in this sort of executive bullyism that cause Guyana to become uncreditworthy and technically financially bankrupt. That model failed and that is why it is shocking where we have ended up after a second wave of the PNC rule, this time under the Granger-led APNU+AFC Government.

Give how far the world has advanced with technology and good governance, there is enough evidence being unearthed by the several technical teams working with the new Ali administration to prove that Guyana has not joined this global wave. The preliminary evidence illustrated that Guyana has gone backwards over the last five years with regard to good governance. Despite the world moved forward on ideas like greater internal control, more robust systems of checks and balances, under Mr. Granger there is a preponderance of evidence to prove that structural corporate governance failures occurred on most of the state boards. What was even more disheartening was that the Office of the Auditor-General was being sidelined and consistently being ignored.

Guyana is now at a new juncture and

we all must redouble our efforts to ensure that the idea of professionally managing all state assets must be adhered to and anyone who is found violating the procurement laws of the nation must be made an example. Information is coming to our attention that there are many instances of abuse of the procurement system under the Granger administration using the sole sourcing conduit to justify kickback to politicians and their underling from service providers. Right now, information is coming to our attention of some strange happening in the procurement system at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and we use this opportunity to call for a full forensic investigation of that organisation.

Many in the incoming government have told this newspaper that what they thought they would have met is far from what they met at the handover date. Many have confessed that they were shocked at how bad the system has deteriorated since 2015 when the last government departed office. Many have admitted that it was like Pandora's Box, once they started to dig below the surface, it continues to get worse.

All of Guyana is encouraged to join His Excellency the President, Dr. Ali, in fixing this inherited mess.

Guyana stands to benefit more than Scotland from the twinning of Georgetown and Aberdeen I CONGRATULATE the new government t as it appears to be taking keen interest in the established twinning of Aberdeen UK and Georgetown and the benefits accruing. It is always gratifying when one’s initiative and energetic involvement result in a beneficial union of cities and States willing and able to learn from each other.

In 2018, as Guyana’s High Commissioner to the UK, I was invited to Aberdeen in Scotland by the Lord Provost, Mr. Barney Crock-

ett. The event was facilitated

by ABIS Energy, a leading global energy consultancy based in Aberdeen, which has been working in the long term interest of Guyana for some time now.

As result, in February 2018 I travelled to Aberdeen by train with my friend who was visiting from Guyana.

The Lord Provost had arranged a sumptuous dinner in my honour, co-hosted by Mr. Francis Kiernan, CEO ABIS Energy, at the Aberdeen Town House. The dinner was attended by Scot-

tish politicians, the media, oil and gas executives, the world renowned Petroleum Economics Professor, Alex Kemp from the University of Aberdeen as well as Mr. Bobby Gossai, one of our own, a Guyanese PhD student at the University of Aberdeen.

During the dinner, I was asked to make a speech. Fortunately, I had prepared one on the nine-hour train journey to Scotland.

Aware that Aberdeen is considered the oil capital of Europe, I recognised that the twinning of Georgetown and

Aberdeen represents an opportunity for Guyana to learn and implement best practice in our nascent oil industry and avoid some of the more serious mistakes. Guyana, through Aberdeen, could learn the ropes in stimulating and supporting offshore energy. We would learn to build capacity which is vital if we are to become effective in managing our own resources.

Aberdeen, Scotland, with three of the world’s topranked oil and gas universities including Aberdeen, Heriot Watt and Robert Gordon,

seemed the ideal city from which to forge links with our UG and other local centres of education, apprenticeship and skills development.

We have harvested significant benefits from this relationship and collaboration. Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce and GCCI have signed a formal declaration of cooperation and mutual interest. Formal links have been established between UG and the Universities of Aberdeen, Heriot Watt and Robert Gordon. For UG, the exploration of knowledge transfer, course

content, curriculum development and degree courses is well advanced. There are many other initiatives to be explored.

It is rewarding to note that the early work and investment by the Guyana High Commission in London, has flourished and I hope it will continue going forward.

Yours faithfully, F. Hamley Case, CCH Former High Commissioner to the UK

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Overseas media played crucial role exposing Guyana fraud Dear Editor,

marking my entry into media. My interest, guidance, training, and I SALUTE the overseas me- sustenance in reporting news and dia that played a crucial role penning viewpoints on or about in combating electoral fraud. Guyana and the diaspora continComments applaud my reports ued in New York where I was enon the diaspora and my op-ed gaged in the struggle for liberation pieces, but the media deserve the of Guyana from the dictatorship. I plaudits for the space. Although assisted with preparation of GuyI have been reporting and mak- anese-oriented publications for ing commentaries in the media distribution to the diaspora. since 1976, I am not ‘educated’ I met Ramharack and other as a journalist. I had to correct Indo-Caribbean students in college late Pandit Ramlall, an inde- where we started an Indo-Caribpendence freedom fighter with bean Club. (We were literally put Dr Jagan, who once stated that out of the Afro Caribbean Students I have doctorate in journalism. Association with others telling us I do not. I learnt reporting by we are East Indians not West Inpractising it. dians. So we founded Indo Club).

M y u n d e r g r a d d e g r e e i s We put out newsletters and started Bio-Chemistry and I worked in writing for various school and a science lab as well as a college community publications. Ramlibrarian before becoming a so- harack took courses in journalism, cial scientist and educator. I took receiving the highest grades. I was courses in English and literature training to become a scientist and and acquired some writing skills. took a course on writing science And I taught journalism, English reports where I excelled and wrote language, literature, chemistry, countless reports from science biology, physics, and maths in labs, all of which received the secondary school. (I edited pub- highest grades. I sat in sessions lications and was faculty adviser and seminars and received some to student newspapers). But I had journalistic guidance from English no formal training in journalism, professors and on-the-job training like Annan Boodram or Baytoram on campus newspapers (‘Campus’, Ramharack, two of the diaspora’s ‘The Paper’). I was also involved finest and accomplished writers. in electronic media outfit called If one were to ask to what field I SAME, and CCNY student radio belong, I would say “economics” station (WCCR) where I hosted even though it was one of the sub- the first Indo-Caribbean program jects I did; regrettably I did not around 1979 after I was elected finish my PhD. to student government. Later, The demand of the times and I penned reports and letters in location drew me as a volunteer school and community publicareporter (or journalist) and com- tions (News India, India Abroad) mentator to expose atrocities in on the 1978 rigged referendum Guyana. I reported for student and socio-politico and economic newspapers while in college and conditions in Guyana. And I gave had varied stints with community several radio interviews. papers to gain experience and In the early 1980s in NY, knowledge about press and elec- several community publications tronic media taking advantage of (Newsbeat by Amit Parasnath, the space to write on Guyana.

Caribbean Expo by Vishnu BandDuring the 1976 and 1977 stu- hu, West Indian Graphic by Baldent dissensions on the Corentyne, want Singh, among others) were as one of the leaders of the activ- launched and I was approached ists, I became its spokesperson, to be a contributor. I did much

of their reporting and some editing, as well as editorials. Later, I wrote for publications in Canada (including Indo-Caribbean World, Global Times), UK (Caribbean Times, Asia Times – both founded by a Guyanese), and Trinidad (Sandesh, Bomb, Tribune, among others). And in NY, the group I was affiliated with in the Guyana freedom struggle put out several publications in which I played some role. I helped found the Indo-Caribbean Review, penning reports, editing articles, and writing editorials. Later, I founded Guyana Abroad and other community publications serving as Managing Editor.

There were several other publications in the NY area, including two put out by Annan Boodram (Caribbean Voice and Caribbean Community Links), one each by Kenneth Persaud (Prime News), Rohit Kanhai (Caribbean Daylight), Rohit Singh (Indi International News), the Caribbean New Yorker, Caribbean Voice, West Indian News, West Indian Contact, India Monitor, Caribbean Link, Asia on Line, India Post, among others, where I made contributions in writing and or in editing.

They helped to hone my skill and experience as a reporter and op-ed columnist over the last 44 years.

Guyana and myself benefitted.

Gratitude is expressed to the diaspora and other media for providing space to expose rights abuses in Guyana and pressuring the regime to democratise.

Yours truly, Dr. Vishnu Bisram

MYO congratulates President Ali VERILY we have granted thee a manifest victory – Chapter 48 vs1.

Very apt verse from holy Quran in an attempt to draw parallel with the victory of Dr. Mohammed Irfaan Ali. Whilst this verse was referring to a particular juncture in Islamic history, the Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana believes that the bruising encounter over the past five months which culminated on Sunday with the swearing-in may be considered a manifest

victory.

Indeed, Dr. Ali has triumphed against all odds in becoming the President but triumphalist he must not become. Guyana is much fractured and his first call of duty should be to mend our country.

The Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana congratulates his Excellency, Dr. Ali on his ascension to the highest office in our country; we offer our equivocal support to Dr. Ali and his government to ensure Guyana moves for-

ward and fully realise its potential.

We pray that Allah swt (God Almighty) grant Dr. Irfaan Ali the guidance to lead our country and serve its people in an equitable manner.

Our heartiest congratulations.

Highest regards, Azad Ibrahim President Muslim Youth Organisation of Guyana

Collective effort needed to tackle racism Dear Editor, IT is an indisputable fact that at the individual level, people of Indian and African descent genuinely love and appreciate each other. This is not only a modern-day occurrence but a fact which existed a very long time ago. I am in my 60s and of mixed race. My paternal grandmother was of Indian origin. I believe that there are hundreds of others of my age who are like me.

In the 2012 population census, people of mixed race were found to comprise 19.9 per cent of the population. According to the Bureau of Statistics, the mixed population from 1980 to 2012 has doubled. Analysis of the census data shows that there is a constant increase of the mixed population, while in the case of Indians and Africans there is a decrease. The positive trend of the mixed population is obviously due to increases in inter-racial marriages and inter-racial relationships, which are very common today. It is therefore very likely that mixed people today would account for well over 20 per cent of the population.

This is a significant number in all spheres of human endeavour.

But it is not only romantic relationships which exist between individuals of the two major races.

There are also genuine friendships and camaraderie, as is evident among children at school, people at the work place, in the market place, in clubs and other social organisations, in the villages, the police force, even in criminal gangs – indeed in all spheres of life. But our elections bring a different dynamic to the fore, which fractures the society and causes deep rifts, even between husbands and wives.

This is not to say that only at elections time racism raises its ugly head. However, at other times, racial problems are inconsequential. The big question therefore is, if very good inter-racial relations exist at the personal level, why isn’t this replicated at the group or community level?

Editor, both Africans and Indians harbour the outlandish belief that being in control of the Executive arm of government is their birth right. And this intensifies the inter-racial rivalry at elections time, and sometimes causes raw emotions to boil over. Hence, the strife we see at elections time is inevitable.

I have lived through the disturbances of the early 1960s as a child, and I don’t think that

anyone who experienced those atrocities would like to go through that again. Yet, almost 60 years after the most violent racial confrontations took place, successive governments have failed to effectively address the racial problem in our country. Once in government, our leaders, with their misplaced priorities, and perhaps their heads in the sand, treat racism as an afterthought. It is disappointing also that influential people in the society have failed to pressure our governments to implement the necessary reforms.

Why were we so concerned then that it took five months for the results of the 2020 elections to be declared? Lest we forget, it must be emphasised that racism is an age-old problem in Guyana, which would not go away. Like COVID-19, racism is real, unless we manage it carefully, it will consume us.

Editor, little children must be the most colour-blind people in any society. The obvious place then to start to effectively address racism in our country is in our schools – from the nursery level.

But this obviously is a long-term plan. Since our politics is inextricably linked to race, decisive action is required now to remedy the imbalance in the current system of governance, which is out of date and must be overhauled to be in step with present-day realities. Do we have to be told that we are at that juncture in our history where neither Africans nor Indians desire or intend to be governed by the other? Our fiercely contested elections which produce results which are split virtually down the middle are screaming at us to remedy the imbalance sooner rather than later. The current political situation is so bad that at the local government level, would you believe that elected officials who do not support the party in government, prefer to cut their nose to spite their face, when it comes to the development of their own communities.

As we can see, fifty-four years after gaining political Independence, our people have not yet attained the level of maturity required to play by the rules which apply to the current system of governance. So we have no choice but to overhaul it in order to preserve our nation. The ball is in our political leaders’ court.

Yours sincerely, Winston Richards

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

CoI into ‘2020 electoral events’ soon

By Navendra Seoraj THE protracted electoral process, which followed the March 2, General and Regional Elections, had “raised eyebrows” not just in Guyana, but internationally, and in order to ascertain exactly what caused the delay in the process, government has committed to launching a Commission of Inquiry (CoI).

The newly-elected People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration, during the five-month impasse, had promised to have a review of the events following polling day, a promise which they hope to fulfill very soon.

“We will be launching a CoI into what took place during the whole period,” said Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo, during a press briefing at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, on Friday.

He told reporters that the CoI will include inter-

national experts, and the matters arising out of the inquest will form recommendations which will be used to strengthen the local electoral system.

The findings will also be used to hold persons accountable, especially if they were found to be involved in illegal activities.

President of Guyana, Dr. Irfaan Ali, in his inaugural speech, had committed to reviewing the events related to the protracted electoral process, which concluded only on August 2, 2020.

Guyanese, after casting their votes on March 2, 2020, had to endure an unimaginable wait for the results of the General and Regional Elections, as they witnessed unlawful acts and a slew of legal challenges.

“All of us are painfully aware of the trauma and anguish that our people endured over the past five months as vigorous attempts were made to destroy our democratic

credentials, and deny the will of the electorate,” said President Ali. The President said everyone has an obligation to the nation and to themselves, to ensure that there isn’t a repeat of the “unlawful behaviour,” and adversities experienced during the process.

To this end, President Ali said: “Therefore, a review of events – related to the electoral process over the last five months – will begin shortly in order to determine, forensically, exactly what transpired, and to hold accountable any persons who sought to pervert and corrupt the system.”

Earlier in the electoral process, Attorney-at-Law, Charles Ramson Jnr., had filed criminal proceedings against Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, and APNU+AFC’s Volda Lawrence, for the alleged forging of documents so as to defraud the nation.

It was reported that the

Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo

particulars of the offence state that Mingo, having been procured by Lawrence on or about March 5 at the Command Centre for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on High and Hadfield Streets, uttered to the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, the results for Region Four, knowing it to be forged, with intent to defraud the people of Guyana.

And, in more recent times, Lowenfield appeared before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to

three private criminal charges brought against him for alleged fraud and misconduct.

He was granted $450,000 bail.

Lowenfield appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty and was not required to plead to the indictable charges. There were two offences of conspiracy to commit a felony and one charge of misconduct in public office. He was granted $150,000 bail on each charge.

The CEO is expected to make his next court appearance on August 24.

In addition to those legal challenges, the APNU+AFC coalition has threatened to file an election petition, as part of an attempt to be vindicated about claims that there were irregularities and anomalies in the electoral process.

Despite the threats, President Ali made it clear that he will move forward and pursue the necessary reforms to make Guyana’s democracy stronger and its electoral process more transparent.

India’s Prime Minister congratulates President Ali

President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali

PRIME MINISTER of India, Narendra Modi, has extended warm congratulations and best wishes for success to Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, on his being elected President of Guyana.

India’s Prime Minister, in a message, said Guyana and India enjoy close and cordial relations based on the foundations of democracy, shared culture and history,

and there is tremendous potential to further enhance economic, cultural and people-to-people ties between the two countries.

“I look forward to working with you to advance our bilateral and multilateral cooperation in all fora including in the UN and CARICOM, for the mutual benefit of our peoples. I take this

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi

opportunity to convey to Your Excellency my best wishes for your personal well-being and for the progress and prosperity of the friendly people of Guyana.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration,” the message from Prime Minister Modi concluded.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Local youth leaders plug ‘truth and integrity’ – as world dedicates an entire day to celebrating how the new generation is enriching the global conversation

By Alisa Lashley

IN the words of former President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, “We cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”

This famous quote of the US’s 32nd President, often referred to as ‘FDR’, came to mind on Wednesday as Guyana joined youths the world over in celebrating International Youth Day for the 20th consecutive year since the event was first commemorated on August 12, 2000.

And as has been the new ‘norm’ since the dreaded coronavirus first reared its ugly head and set the world in chaos, this year’s activities to mark the occasion were done a bit differently, but with much the same energy as under normal circumstances, and under the theme, “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

According to United Nations, this year’s theme is a reflection of the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, and of how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Young Stephon Gabriel, who happens to wear many hats, among them President of Linden Youth Leaders (LYL), and Chairman of the Presbytery of Guyana’s Youth Council, posited that among activities of the Day is showing how youths enrich the spaces in which they are actively involved, as well as understanding and seeing ways in which

UGSS President, Jafar Gibbons their engagement and representation in areas of youth development can be improved.

Said he: “Locally, we can begin to recognise the work of our youth more. Let’s have more awards; more engagements.

Let’s have an actual policy in place that would ensure that a benefit is derived for the outstanding work that is being done by our young people. There are many who are actively involved, but are hardly recognized; the relevant agencies can bring light to that, and assist in some way in the promotion of the activities being done, or advancing the cause which the young people are fighting for.”

Gabriel also believes that youth involvement, both formal and informal, has proven to be somewhat beneficial to our democracy, in the sense that their vocal nature has promoted active citizen-

ship, strengthened social responsibility, and enhanced some of our democratic processes, such as voting, protection of human rights, and active participation in the social/political sphere).

In addition, he implored Guyanese youths and youth leaders to not limit themselves to the opinions or expectations of others, and to remain involved while trying to not be discouraged in their work, because persistency is always deemed the key in achieving success that is due.

Sharing views similar to Gabriel’s was Jafar Gibbons, current President of the University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS), who said: “International Youth Day, in my estimation, seems to be a day of celebratory actions; celebrations that aim at acknowledging our youth leaders, potential youth leaders, and the works they are doing across the globe.”

Gibbons noted that here in Guyana, given that a large portion of our population is below the age of 35, leaders reflective of that demographic have influenced a lot of policy development from a political standpoint, and due to this, political parties are now ensuring that a particular percentage of their candidates are reflective of the youth population.

In closing, Gibbons left fellow youths a word of advice: “Your message, platform, and direction should stand on two pillars: Truth and integrity. Your truth and integrity should never submit to anyone or anything. Die, leaving intact those two qualities! Jeopardise them not! Too many of times our leaders distort the truth to suit a particular narrative, hence com-

Guyanese youth leader, Stephon Gabriel promising their integrity. We must move away from leadership that compromises our integrity and our truths.”

Enabling the engagement of youth in formal political mechanisms does increase the fairness of political processes by reducing democratic deficits, contributes to better and more sustainable policies, and also has symbolic importance that can further contribute to restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth.

Moreover, the vast majority of challenges humanity currently faces, such as the COVID-19 outbreak and climate change, require concerted global action, and the meaningful engagement and participation of young people to be addressed effectively.

Agriculture Ministry establishes farmers’ hotline IN an effort to carry out its mandate while adhering to national COVID-19 guidelines, the Ministry of Agriculture has established a hotline where farmers can communicate with officers about issues facing them.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, said while he prefers to be out meeting farmers and addressing their issues directly, the current state of affairs will see his office putting additional measures in place to interact with farmers.

“The coronavirus is no joke. We have to take every precaution imaginable. My main focus still remains ensuring our farmers are taken care of and their issues are addressed.

COVID-19 will not stop this government

from ensuring we serve our people. We have a responsibility and the job has to be done and done right so my ministry is putting systems in place to ensure farmers’ needs are met,” Minister Mustapha said.

The minister also said that while it is his desire to meet with as many farmers as possible, the health of ministry officials and farmers remain a top priority. He further stated that he will continue meeting with farmers but in smaller groups.

Since taking office, the subject minister has had several meetings with farmers and other stakeholders. Although COVID-19 guidelines such as social distancing, temperature checks, wearing masks and washing and

sanitising hands are requirements for staff and other persons visiting the ministry, the ministry has taken a decision to establish another avenue to liaise with farmers.

In light of the recent COVID-19 diagnosis of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd, ministers of government are now tasked with taking extra precaution while carrying out their respective functions.

Persons can call or send a message to 6946978 if they have concerns or issues that are agriculture related. The information will be filtered to the relevant agency and addressed as soon as possible.

Accompanying photos can also be sent via WhatsApp.

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Non-traditional agricultural exports increase 13 per cent

-- amid COVID-19 pandemic GUYANA has recorded a 13 per cent increase in export of non-traditional agricultural commodities in the first half of 2020 when compared to its corresponding period January to June 2019, amid the COIVD -19 pandemic.

For the period January to June 2020, a total of 5,160 metric tonnes of non-traditional agricultural commodities valued at GY$1.3 billion or US$6 million were exported from Guyana. This represents a 13 per cent increase when compared to the same period in 2019.

According to a release, of the total non-traditional agricultural exports, 99 per cent (5092 metric tonnes) was shipped via sea, representing a 20 per cent increase from 4267 metric tonnes. This increase is due to a 41 per cent (3036 metric tonnes) and 25 per cent (153

metric tonnes) increase in the export of dried coconuts and coconut water respectively.

Exports of coconut products such as coconut water, coconut oil, and coconut choka have all shown significant increases when compared to the same period in 2019.

Furthermore, the country saw a 22 per cent increase in regional exports and a 12 per cent increase in extra-regional exports. The major regional export destinations were Barbados, Trinidad, Suriname, and Antigua, while the extra-regional export destinations were the Dominican Republic, USA, Canada, and France.

Meanwhile, 55 metric tonnes (one per cent) of non-traditional agricultural commodities were sent via air, during the period January to June 2020. The 55

metric tonnes represents an 81 per cent decline in exports via air when compared to the 296 metric tonnes sent during the same period in 2019.

The 81 per cent decline is mainly a result of the continued cessation of flights

by Caribbean Airlines due to the closure of the international airports as a result of the measures implemented to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Consequently, there was a decline in the export of commodities such as bora, boulanger, achar, thyme, sweet basil, mangoes, and wiri-wiri peppers, which are exported mainly via air to the USA and Canada.

Further, the clos ure of the Canawaima Ferry Stelling has also directly affected the export of ginger, eddoes, and pineapples to Suriname.

The Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), in collaboration with the farmers and exporters, is working aggressively to maintain this trend (increase export) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officers will continue to create linkages between buyers and sellers of non-agricultur-

al commodities. The ongoing facilitation of the use of the Corporation's Packaging Facilities will continue.

GMC's General Manager, Ida Sealey-Adams, would like to thank the exporters for their determination and collaboration in ensuring the export trade remained unhin-

dered amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The table below provides information on the 15 most exported commodities along with their respective export destinations for the period January to June 2020.

Teen stabs brother-in-law to death -- inflicts brutal assault on sisters, nieces and nephew IT was a sad moment for the Williams family of Bat Creek, Upper Pomeroon, Region Two, on Thursday evening, after they witnessed the most horrific ordeal unfold before their eyes. Dead is 55-year-old Ramdat Singh called “Shami” formerly of Aberdeen, Essequibo Coast.

He was stabbed in the abdomen and chest at Bat Creek, Upper Pomeroon, by his teenage brother-in-law, Fidel Miguel, who later surrendered to police. The incident occurred on August, 13 around 15:00 hours. The suspect’s sister and children, who were also stabbed about their bodies, are currently in the Intensive Care Unit at the Suddie Public Hospital.

According to information reaching the Guyana Chronicle, the deceased was living with his wife, Adona Williams, in the Pomeroon River. The suspect lives nearby with his sister, Joanie Williams.

One of the children injured in the stabbing TURN TO PAGE

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Case against Lowenfield adjourned –– DPP to make decision THE case filed against Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, was postponed until August 24, 2020, to allow the Director of Public Prosecution, Shalimar Ali-Hack, to review the file and decide the way forward.

On Monday, August 10, 2020, Lowenfield’s attorney, Nigel Hughes, wrote to the DPP requesting that the three criminal charges of alleged fraud and misconduct against his client be withdrawn.

However, when the case was called on Friday, August 14, 2020, before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at

the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, an adjournment date was given after the DPP intervened. The DPP will now have to decide if the case will continue against Lowenfield or will be withdrawn.

In July, Lowenfield appeared before Magistrate McGusty to answer to three private criminal charges brought against him for alleged fraud and misconduct. He was not required to plead to the charges and was released on $450,000 bail.

The charges in question were filed by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member, Desmond

Morian, and by general secretary of The New Movement (TNM), Daniel Kanhai, on June 30, 2020.

In his private criminal charge, Kanhai is alleging that Lowenfield, between March 5 and June 23, 2020, at Georgetown, in the Georgetown Magisterial District, County of Demerara, State of Guyana, conspired with person(s) unknown to commit the common law offence of fraud, to wit, by representing to the Guyana Elections Commission, that tables attached to his Election Report, dated June 23, 2020, accurately reflected the true

Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield

results of the said election, in order to materially alter the results of the said election, with intent to defraud, knowing the said tabulation to be false.

Morian is also alleging

that Lowenfield, between March 5, 2020, and June 29, 2020, while performing his duty as the Chief Elections Officer of GECOM, without lawful excuse or justification, wilfully misconducted him-

self at Georgetown, within the Georgetown Magisterial District, by ascertaining results of the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections for Guyana, knowing the said results to be false, the said wilful misconduct amounting to a breach of the public’s trust in the Office of the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission.

The second charge which was filed by Morian against Lowenfield claimed that he, allegedly, with Region Four District Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, altered results that had been declared in March for that district.

Case against Lawrence, Mingo likely for August 24 THE private criminal charges filed against the Returning Officer (RO) for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo, and Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence, is expected to be called on August 24, 2020.

The charges were filed by attorney-at-law and People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) member, Charles Ramson Jr. five month ago, and was finally called on Friday, August 14, 2020, before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

However, the matter was adjourned, since the defendants in the case were not present in court. Evidence in the case will be led by special prosecutor in the case, Glenn Hanoman.

In March, the now Minister of Culture, Youth and

The charges alleged that Mingo and Minster Lawrence colluded to forge that Form 24 document. Lawrence’s signature was affixed to the said document, which had shown

Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence, and Returning Officer (RO) for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo.

Sport, Ramson Jr, filed criminal charges, contending that Mingo and Lawrence uttered a forged document with the intent to defraud the public, contrary to section 278 of the criminal law Offences Act Chapter 8:01.

Particulars of the offence stated that Mingo, having been ‘procured’ by the accused Lawrence, on or about March

5, 2020, at Hadfield and High Streets, Georgetown, uttered to the Chief Elections Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Keith Lowenfield, a Form 24 Representation of the People Act Regional Elections Election Return, dated March 5, 2020, knowing same to be forged, with intent to defraud the people of the State of Guyana.

Teen stabs brother-in-law ...

FROM PAGE

According to Joanie, she and her three children, Nallie Williams, six; Kissoon Williams, three; and Chrissy Williams, one, along with her sister, Jennel Williams, left home to take a bath at the nearby landing. She spent about half of an hour at the landing after which she left the landing with Kissoon and Crissy, while her sister Jennel was left with Nalie.

The woman said while she was walking home, she saw her brother Fidel, who was armed with a knife. He rushed to Ramdat, who was standing in the yard, and

began to stab him about his body.

Witnessing the ordeal, she began to scream and Fidel rushed towards her and dealt her four stabs to the chest. Joanie said she tried to run away from him but he stabbed Crissy in the back and Kissoon in the lower abdomen. The suspect then ran to the landing towards Nallie Williams and slashed her throat and dealt her sister, Jennel Williams, four stabs to the chest.

Ramdat, along with Joanie, Jennel, Nallie, Kissoon and Chrissy were all placed in a boat and

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rushed to the Charity Hospital where Ramdat, who received a stab to the chest, and right and left sides of the abdomen, was pronounced dead on arrival.

Joanie, Jennel, Nallie, Kissoon and Chrissy Williams were all transferred to the Suddie Hospital.

Kissoon and Nallie had to undergo emergency surgery, while Joanie, Jennel and Crissy were treated and remain in stable condition at the Suddie Intensive Care Unit. Police are investigating the incident.

a win for the A Partnership for National Unity plus the Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).

However, when the PPP/C counted from the SOPs in its possession, it

showed otherwise, while the international and local observers deemed the count not credible, and eventually a recount was done which declared PPP/C the winner.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Work to restore Georgetown begins

THE Inter-Ministerial Committee which was tasked by the President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, with devising a plan to enhance the quality of life in the City of Georgetown, conducted its first meeting on Friday.

Head of Committee, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, disclosed that several programmatic areas were discussed including infrastructural support, security and safety, drainage and ir-

rigation, aesthetics, resource mobilisation and stakeholder participation.

Based on discussions during the meeting, a taskforce headed by Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, was immediately put together to conduct a rapid assessment of the physical works to be done in the City.

The taskforce has been deployed to begin work on Friday. They are expected to produce a report for the inter-ministerial committee

as early as Monday August 17, 2020.

Further to this, a sub-committee comprising Minister within the Local Government Ministry, Anand Persaud; Public Works Minister, Deodat Indar and technical adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture, Ricky Ramraj, will conduct a desk review of the resource mobilisation capacity of the City and present their findings next Friday.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, has been

tasked with mobilising the resources necessary to undertake and advise on the security aspects of the inter-ministerial city plan.

Public Works Minister, Juan Edghill, and Minister Dharamlall will take the lead in engaging the private sector, City residents and other interested bodies as part of the wider stakeholder plan to ensure collaboration and buy-in.

Earlier this week, Ministers Dharamlall and Persaud

met with City Mayor, Ubraj Narine, to discuss areas of mutual interest and possible collaboration between the M&CC and government.

The mayor has since met with Minister Benn to discuss security issues that continue to plague residents and citizens of Georgetown.

Following Friday’s launch of the inter-ministerial committee, it is expected that a management sustainability plan for the City will be pursued with the Mayor and City

Councillors.

Georgetown, which was once known as the “garden city” is home to the country’s capital and the seat of government.

Georgetown has had a rich and culturally diverse history; one that the Irfaan Ali-led government intends to restore to its previous splendour.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked by the President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, with devising a plan to enhance the quality of life in the City of Georgetown, at its first meeting on Friday

306 persons out of isolation -- 18 new COVID-19 cases recorded

By Navendra Seoraj THE Ministry of Health has cleared 306 persons from isolation, in accordance with updated guidelines released by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Guyana recorded 18 new cases over the past 24 hours, as the numbers climbed to 649, with the deaths related to COVID-19 remaining at 22. As of August 14, the number of persons tested was 5,809 with 5,160 persons being negative.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, said there are 104 persons in institutional isolation, 73 in institutional quarantine and six persons in the COVID-19 ICU, while the

remainder is in approved home isolation.

“To date, 306 persons have recovered as defined by the new WHO guidelines for releasing COVID-19 patients from isolation,” said the CMO. Although the new guidelines apply, Dr. Persaud urged persons to be mindful that there were 59 new cases over the period August 10 to 14. These cases came from Regions Nine, Four, Seven and 10.

As seen here, there continues to be a steady rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, and even though the situation is grim, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, believes that cases have been going “under the radar”.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud

Many persons have tested positive for the disease in recent times, but a large number of those persons

were asymptomatic, meaning they did not show symptoms of the disease.

This discovery has since

prompted authorities to distribute more sample kits across the country, especially to regions where the infection rate is high. Most of the cases have so far been recorded in Regions One, Four, Seven and Nine.

“We are sending out more kits, so there will be an increase in sample collection…the testing itself has components…one is sample collection and then there is the processing of samples,” said Minister Anthony in an invited comment, on Thursday. The actual testing will be done centrally, at the National Reference Laboratory because regional facilities lack the capacity and technical skills needed to get it done.

While government hopes to improve capacity in those regions, the immediate need for sample testing takes pre-

cedence, especially with the high number of asymptomatic cases.

“We will be doing it in hotspot regions, but we will also do it in regions which have not shown any cases because we suspect that it is because we are not testing in those regions, it is showing zero.

“Technical people believe once we start testing in those regions or giving people an option to come in and get tested, we might see there are positive cases,” said Minister Anthony.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people, who fall sick with COVID-19, will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Chinese Gov't strengthens fight against COVID-19

Chinese ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun, hands over items to Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, in the presence of a representative from the Chinese Embassy in Guyana (DPI photo)

CHINA’S Ambassador to Guyana, Cui Jianchun, on Friday, handed over a number of supplies to the Ministry of Health to further its efforts in protecting persons against COVID-19 in Guyana.

The items handed over were 350 large personal protective coveralls, 900 googles, four RESmart BPAP machines (used for enhancing breathing capacity of the lungs) and 5520 KN95 masks.

The Chinese ambassador expressed his satisfaction to have been given the opportunity present the donation - the fourth of its kind to Guyana; and committed to continued support from China for as long as is needed.

“I want to let the Guyanese people know that whatever happens, whatever changes, the Chinese People and the Chinese government are committed to supporting the Guyanese people and the Guyanese government. We

are committed to working towards the better life of the two peoples of two countries,” the ambassador said.

China is the first country to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana with an initial donation made in March.

“I have spoken with the President, His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, and we will be working harder. I just had discussions with the minister on how we can work together because we have to

win this fight,” Ambassador Cui Jianchun added.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, acknowledged China’s stalwart efforts to ensure Guyana effectively battles the disease.

“You are one of the very first governments who responded to COVID-19 here in Guyana by providing us, at the time, very scarce supplies of PPE when there was a global shortage. You were somehow able to find PPE

to assist our efforts here in Guyana in combatting the disease.”

The supplies will go directly towards ensuring frontline workers are protected.

Permanent Secretary of the Health Ministry, Colette Adams noted: “We are fighting COVID-19 and we are all in it together and this contribution will enhance our needs and it will help us to fight COVID.” Adams also indicated that with the ministry recently intensifying its

efforts, more donations like this will be crucial.

“I am happy that the Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, has come with his wealth of experience to help us put together systems that are lacking if there is need to improve what is already there so that we can all work together in unison to fight the deadly disease.”

(DPI)

Homeless man stabbed GRDB says it followed all protocols to death at Durban Park -- following cocaine bust in Germany A 51-year-old, who slept regularly on one of the stands at Durban Park, Georgetown, was found dead Friday morning with multiple stab wounds to the body.

The homeless man was identified as Clint Gravesande.

Enquiries disclosed that the victim usually occupied stand number five, which is located on the southern side of Durban Park.

The victim was seen lying motionless, cladded in a multicolored short pants which was partly pulled down below the butt.

When his body was checked, stabs wounds were observed about the neck and around the body.

He was picked up and taken to Georgetown Public

Dead: Clint Gravesande

Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The body is currently at the Lyken Funeral Home awaiting post mortem examination.

THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) says it followed all the requisite procedures in light of the discovery of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in rice on a cargo ship container that was seized in Germany, which passed through Guyana’s port.

The GRDB, in a press statement on Friday, noted that it has no policing role as the records show that the containers were scanned by customs authorities on May 21 and 22, 2020 before being loaded onto the ship.

According to the rice board, the officer on duty on the day the rice was packed confirmed that all of GRDB’s standard operating procedures were followed.

The GRDB said the rice originated from a mill in Berbice, and was consigned to a company, FHU KONPACK. The rice was then transport-

ed by several trucks from Berbice to the Georgetown wharf, and then loaded onto the containers at the wharf by labourers, a process which takes several hours.

“After the container is fumigated, and the shipping line seal and GRDB’s fumigation sticker is placed on the container, GRDB’s responsibilities end,” the GRDB said in a statement.

The vessel arrived at CAUCEDO, Dominican Republic on June 7, 2020 and was discharged on the same day. The containers were loaded on a vessel titled CMA CGM Jean Gabriel on June 13, 2020. It departed CAUCEDO, Dominican Republic on the same day and arrived in Hamburg, Germany on June 27, 2020 and was discharged the following day.

As such, the GRDB noted the officer on duty on the day the rice was packed confirmed that all of GRDB’s standard operating procedures were followed. The containers were inspected and checks were made in keeping with the operating procedures.

Meanwhile, the container in question was then taken to the city’s Waltershof customs office in Germany and examined in a testing facility.

Officers found 47 large packages hidden between the rice sacks and within those packages, a total of 1,277 small parcels with cocaine.

The parcels all had various symbols on them, including a cat’s face, the Gallic rooster, and the Ampelmännchen (red and green traffic light symbols shown on pedestrian signals in Germany).

Several hundreds of the packages were marked with the same logo.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

RUSAL employees leave the Berbice River AFTER six months and two weeks of assiduously preserving a barrier across a section of the Berbice River, as a form of industrial resistance, the last of the vigilante employees of the Russian-owned Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), last Friday, quietly rolled up the rope and left the river.

Though the employees are unsure if they will ever see justice for their resistance, they do not see the effort they made as having been in vain, gratified in just having been able to have maintained their fight as long as they did.

“It was six months two weeks, and that’s history in the making; I don’t think anybody ever fight the Russians like how we did. They came under tremendous pressure for the short period of time that we block that river there,” shared Garfield Brutus, who was one of the last two employees who left the river last Friday.

Even so, having to see the fight come to an end, without a resolution, was not easy for some.

“It was really hard,” expressed Ephraim Velloza, who worked as a Truck Operator at BCGI, and was also a union representative for the workers. He too is still proud of the effort that the workers put out “It wasn’t like all that we put in was a waste of time, it didn’t fall on deaf ears. But there’s nothing else we can do personally. We need the intervention of the government. We ourselves we shut up shop.”

The employees had been vigilantly guarding the block-

age at Landernsville, since January 23, days after the BCGI had laid off 142 employees.

The employees were further bolstered in their resistance when RUSAL then terminated 326 local employees on February 2, and suspended operations.

The blockade prevented the company from transporting materials or equipment from its Kurubuka Mines in Region 10, which the employees saw as their only leverage in getting attention for their grievances. In orig-

Workers of the BCGI have blocked a section of the Berbice River in an effort to have their demands met

inal demands, the employees had called for the re-hiring of employees; the addressing of compensation for two employees who suffered electric shock while on duty, in December 2019, and increases in wages and salaries.

Over the months, the employees had even had to defend their blockage against confrontation with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) when officers had descended on the area in February. The police presence was eventually removed.

With just two employees remaining, Brutus said, they are not looking forward to coming up against any future confrontation with law enforcement.

MOVE ON “We decided to move because we don’t want another problem like what we had before. We don’t want any bloodshed. When the police came there we had a lot of problem with them with guns and those things,” Brutus said The employees are now leaving it in the hands of their union, the Guyana Bauxite & General Workers Union

Former BCGI employee, Garfield Brutus, (second from left) and some members from the community on August 7, as they removed their blockage across the Berbice river

(GBGWU), to see if anything will come from their months of struggle. The GBGWU is a subset of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), which, last Friday, had al-

ready begun discussions on the RUSAL issue, when it held its first meeting with the new Minister of Labour, Joe Hamilton.

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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 15, 2020

Help underway for Essequibo farmers affected by paddy bug infestation

AGRICULTURE Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha has urged the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) to take swift action to address the severe paddy bug infestation on the Essequibo Coast.

The minister issued the directive during a meeting with officials of the rice board on Monday.

During the meeting the minister instructed the head of the rice board, Nizam Hassan to look into the issue and prepare a detailed report on what is happening and what can be done to assist farmers.

Minister Mustapha informed the officials that this is a matter that needs to be handled urgently, as the rice industry remains one of the country’s largest industries.

“The interest of rice farmers and all other farmers are of utmost importance to this government. We need to work immediately to solve this issue in Essequibo. Millions of dollars in losses are at stake and we must ensure that our rice farmers do not suffer. They are already dealing with the financial hardship of the Coronavirus,” Minister Mustapha said.

Rice farmers have complained that the paddy bugs have been swarming in abandoned fields waiting to destroy the rice crop which is flowering at this time. It was reported that close to 33,000 acres of rice are under threat as Essequibo Coast rice farmers are once again grappling with the invasion of paddy bugs, which they fear could destroy the crop if swift action is not taken to get the infestation under control.

GRDB has since issued an advisory to guide farmers on ways they can control and minimise the chances of paddy bugs destroying their

great concern about the paddy bug infestation and told reporters that he has a

Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha

crops.

GRDB General Manager, Nizam Hassan said the board has put several measures in place to deal with the infestation.

“These measures include the monitoring for paddy bugs by Extension and Paddy Bug Management Officers in the various regions and the employing 'spraymen' to spray for the bugs when required. We will be providing the chemicals to spray in addition to standing the costs to have these fields sprayed,” Hassan said.

Hassan further stated that in some cases, GRDB provides the mist blowers used to spray fields for paddy bugs FIELD VISITS Senior staff of GRDB will conducting field visits to meet with farmers and support the Extension and Paddy Bug Management Officers.

Persons are also asked to contact GRDB’s Regional office on 232-1395 for further information.

In 2019, the GRDB had to intensify its spraying programme to assist in man-

aging the paddy bug infestation.

GRDB Entomologist, Viviane Baharally explained that the paddy bug has a lot of natural enemies, inclusive of spiders, beetles and other bugs. As a result, Baharally said when farmers do preventative spraying, they kill other insects that often feed on the paddy bug, which then allows the pest to thrive unhindered.

“When they move one by one in the fields, those natural enemies can take care of them. When they invade by the millions, that’s when the farmers have to take care of it. The important thing is to know when the invasion occurs so you can kill them before they have a chance to spread,” Baharally had explained.

Officials present at the meeting were GRDB General Manager, Nizam Hassan, GRDB Chief Scientist and Plant Breeder, Dr. Mahendra Persaud and GRDB Entomologist, Viviane Baharally.

During a recent visit to flood affected areas in Upper Corentyne region, Minister Mustapha expressed

RUSAL employees leave ...

FROM PAGE

Grievances between the Russian company and its Guyanese employees have dated as far back as 2009, spanning the changeover of three different Ministers of Labour, and two different political parties serving in government.

“Right now we trust nobody but God; we can’t trust humans like ourselves because they make promises and they don’t fulfil them. So we just decided to remove the rope, and let the GTUC take up the matter, because we can’t fight by ourselves anymore,” Brutus said.

RUSAL is a 90 percent stakeholder in BCGI, while the Guyanese government owns the other 10 percent, managed by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).

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The employees had been awaiting the results of the March 2 elections to see how the situation may develop going forward.

With the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) declared the new government earlier this month, it is hopeful that negotiations will continue.

“We don’t know what this new administration will do about it, they still will be given a chance because the GTUC will be taking up the matter, so we leave it now in the union’s hand to see what will happen,” Brutus said.

It is uncertain what has become of the 326 employees who have since left the company. Brutus is currently at home, unclear of his future.

team in place to assess the situation. The minister also plans to visit the region

soon to get a firsthand look at the situation and see how best government can assist.

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Amazon Warriors look to 2020 CPL with fresh hope 23

Ashmead Nedd of West Indies celebrates the wicket of Jack Lees of South Africa during the ICC U19 Cricket World Super League Play-Off Semi-Final match between West Indies and South Africa at JB Marks Oval on February 01, 2020 in Potchefstroom, South Africa. (Photo by Jan Kruger-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

Robbery in Lisbon!

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Barcelona’s German goalkeeper MarcAndre Ter Stegen reacts after conceding an eighth goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final football match vs Bayern Munich at the Luz stadium in Lisbon ysterday. (Photo by Manu Fernandez/Pool/ AFP) (Photo by Manu Fernandez/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Organisers of the local promotion said that it was important to keep fans heavily engaged from the comfort of their homes. (Delano Williams photo)

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Carib Beer bowls off ‘Play At Home’ campaign ahead of 2020 Hero CPL

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SATURDAY,AUGUST 15, 2020