Guyana Post Newspapers

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ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

Saturday April 10 , 2021

The Duke of Edinburgh has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Republic of Korea, UNICEF provide 40,000 high-quality face masks to Guyana for COVID-19 response

FLARING REDUCED ON LIZA DESTINY FPSO AS FLASH GAS COMPRESSOR REINSTALLED

Guyana Post Saturday April 10, 2021

The Duke of Edinburgh has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Edinburgh.

“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.”

The Palace s a i d

The Palace said in a statement: “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of

more announcements would be made and added: “The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”

Prince Phillip, husband and consort

to Queen Elizabeth II, recently spent four weeks in hospital where he underwent a procedure for a pre-existing heart condition, his longest stay ever.

A notice announcing the death was placed outside Buckingham Palace, and mourners came to place flowers at the gates.

The Royal Family website was updated to reflect the sad news, with a note adding: “The official website of the Royal Family is temporarily unavailable while appropriate changes are made.”

Tributes have poured in from around the world, led by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, who said he had “helped to steer

the Royal Family and the monarchy so that it remains an institution indisputably vital to the balance and happiness of our national life”.

He said: “He [Philip] was an environmentalist, and a champion of the natural world long before it was fashionable.

“With his Duke of Edinburgh awards scheme he shaped and inspired the lives of countless young people and at literally tens of thousands of events, he fostered their hopes and encouraged their ambitions.

“We remember the duke for all of this and above all for his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen.

“Not just as her consort, by her side every day of her reign, but as her husband, her ‘strength and stay’, of more than 70 years.

“And it is to Her Majesty, and her family, that our nation’s thoughts must turn today.

“Because they have lost not just a muchloved and highly respected public figure, but a devoted husband and a proud and loving father, grandfather and, in recent years, greatgrandfather.”

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement: “The United Kingdom has lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip.

“Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country – from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh.

“However, he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to the Queen.

“For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability, and hope, even as the world around them changed – most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.

“My thoughts are with the Queen, the Royal

Family and the British people as our nation comes together to mourn and remember the life of Prince Philip.”

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted: “Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country. We will always be grateful for his amazing service.

“We shouldn’t forget Prince Philip was a much-loved husband, father, grandfather & great grandfather. So our thoughts are with The Queen and the whole family at this difficult time.”

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said in a statement: “He consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and, in so doing, provided an outstanding example of Christian service.

During his naval career, in which he served with distinction in the Second World War, he won the respect of his peers as an outstanding officer.

“On the occasions when I met him, I was always struck by his obvious joy at life, his enquiring mind, and his ability to communicate to people from every background and walk of life. He was a master at putting people at their ease and making them feel special.”

Prince Philip, the Greece-born royal who as the husband of Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-serving consort to a British sovereign.

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Guyana Post Saturday April 10, 2021

REPUBLIC OF KOREA, UNICEF PROVIDE 40,000 HIGH-QUALITY FACE MASKS TO GUYANA FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE

-KF94 masks will protect frontline health and child protection, workers The Republic of Korea, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has donated 40,000 pieces of highquality KF94 face masks to the Government of Guyana to help frontline health and child protection workers protect themselves from becoming infected with COVID-19.

The masks, which

have been delivered to the ministries of Health, and Human Services, and Social Security respectively, can filter out SARS-CoV-2 particles which are responsible for the COVID-19 disease.

Brief handover ceremonies today, UNICEF Representative Mr. Nicolas Pron said that the donation stemmed from the long-standing partnership between the Republic of Korea and UNICEF. “Our healthcare and child protection workers

with the government and the people of Guyana in dealing with the pandemic.

It is my sincere hope that this donation will help towards overcoming the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana,” said Mr. Seung-chul Yeo, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Caracas, Venezuela. “I also would like to extend my gratitude to UNICEF for its hard work and cooperation, in particular for the coordination and final handover of this donation,” Mr. Yeo added.

Minister of Health of Guyana, Dr. Frank Anthony, welcomed the donation. “The Government of Guyana thanks the Government and people of the Republic of Korea, and UNICEF for their generous donation which will assist in the protection of our health

are on the frontlines every day ensuring that children, families, and all Guyana are able to receive necessary services and it is important that they receive the best protection possible to enable them to continue their hard work.

“This donation will contribute positively towards protecting those key frontline workers as all partners work to contain and end the pandemic,” said Mr. Pron.

“This donation of masks is our expression of solidarity and cooperation

care workers, who are working tirelessly to provide the highest standard of care for their patients,” said Dr. Anthony.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, also expressed appreciation. “We would like to convey our thanks to the Government and people of South Korea for this timely contribution.

“It is deeply appreciated, as the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s frontline workers have been, continue to and will be continuing to deliver services to the vulnerable, including the elderly, the differentlyabled and persons who need their pension and public assistance.

“The personal protective equipment

will ensure our frontline workers remain safe because it is not only about the delivery of services and ensuring people get these services but is about keeping our officers safe because they have families and we appreciate their contribution every day.

So thank you to the people of South Korea.”

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea in Guyana, Mr. Ramesh Dookoo, who was present at the handover, remarked, “On behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Korea, I am extremely proud to be associated with this donation from the collective UNICEF effort to distribute masks all across the world and especially to Guyana, a country that has enjoyed extremely good relations with the Republic of Korea over many years.

Sexual abuse cases on the rise with schools being closed

Even as Guyana continues to face a backlog of cases in relations, the country has recorded 316 cases of sexual abuse against children in all ten administrative regions in its first quarter of the year.

This is according to the Head of the Child Care and Protection Agency, Ann Greene, in an interview with this agency. info@guyanapostonline.com

During the past few months, there have been a large number of cases of sexual abuse. Ms. Greene said that this remains a concern and the CPA is currently investigating what may have caused the recent upsurge of cases.

This upsurge in recent times has come from the Regions one and as such needs, great attention says

Ms. Green.

“Yes, there has been a recent upsurge. Yes, definitely when we look at our data, we are seeing that there has been an upsurge of reported cases from Region One. So, its something that is engaging our attention and we plans we’re going in there to do the special program when we go in there in

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this same month of April but it has been engaging our attention and we are looking at the issue” Apart from Region One, Region Seven has been at the top of reported cases of sexual abuse and according to the body, the numbers remain a concern knowing the population that Guyana as compared to countries around the

world with more citizens.

However, even by doing their investigations and trying to curb the bad trend Ms Greene maintained that there is a need for more involvement from the public, the household, and the other agencies since this situation can get worse.

In the instance of community, the need for persons to report and help victims of sexual abuse is paramount to the success of the dismantling of the surge.

“We have to get the community involved.

We are the ones that have to really stand up for children. So that we can get perpetrators of sexual violence out of the community. Not only in Region One, in all the communities we have to get the community involved to help us,” Ms. Greene said.

She said the household also has to play a role

more than ever in these COVID-19 times when children are mostly home.

Parents and other family members ought to become more vigilant and use a method in which children feel comfortable to talk about what has happened since this is usually spotted by teachers.

“With School out, children are within close confinement with abusers. The problem for children is that they are home since the people who sexually abuse children are the ones whom the children trust.

“So, with school being out these children are really in confinement with their abusers and I always say that teachers are front runners in spotting abuse, “A lot of reports come through teachers and they are a necessary factor in the sexual abuse fight,” Ms. Greene explained.

Guyana Post Saturday April 10, 2021

GUYANA HEADS CARICOM AGRI TASK FORCE

With vast experience in the Sector of Agriculture, Guyana once again a role in CARICOM. This country is now leading a Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security which will look at the advancement in the Agrifood systems agenda in Caricom.

The role which has been taking over by Guyana after it was held

by St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the previous administration was relinquished.

This comes as Food Production and Food Security Agenda were put forward by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali during the 32nd

CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting last February.

Since then CARICOM later endorsed the agenda and agreed to the establishment of the task force to implement the strategy.

Earlier today, Agriculture Minister, Zulfikar Mustapha, who also serves as Chairman of the Special Ministerial Task Force, hosted the inaugural meeting with Ministers of Agriculture from the ten participating CARICOM member states.

During his address, Minister Mustapha said the objective of the task force is to guide the regional position towards

the transformation of the agri-food system allowing for a significantly more resilient, wealthgenerating, and food secure Region.

“Food system transformation is at the core of our aspirations and mandate. Therefore, our activities over the next years would be geared towards this goal.

“Specifically, the CARICOM Agri-Food System Strategy seeks to frontally address the complete removal of all technical barriers to trade, development of a CARICOM Cross Border Agri-Food Investment Strategy to support production corridors, accelerating

the pace of finalizing and adopting of the CARICOM Investment Code, completion of the reform of the CET suspension and rule of origin regimes to afford protection to regional enterprises and to support the competitiveness of regional forms, implementation of E-Agriculture Strategy, development of measures to promote de-risking of the sector, improvement of transport and logistics and, investment in production, research and development,” he said.

To this end, the Minister said, an Implementation Plan with 36 broad policy areas has been articulated.

Select priority sectors such as poultry, corn/soya bean, rice, beef, pork, mutton, coconut, niche vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices, ginger, and turmeric have also been identified to advance the commercialization agenda of the regional food system.

The Ministerial Task Force comprises Agriculture Ministers and other officials from Antigua and Barbuda,

Barbados, Belize, The Bahamas, Dominica, Jamaica, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

During the meeting, the Task Force also reviewed, amended, and accepted the Terms of Reference (TOR), which was developed by a team of technical officers from the CARICOM Secretariat. The TOR outlines the objectives, purpose, membership, and governance of the task force.

During his presentation, Programme Manager, Agricultural and AgroIndustrial Development, CARICOM, Mr. Shaun Baugh, discussed the implementation plan for the strategy. He said that the objective of the plan was to commercialize the Regional agri-food industry, with actual commencement of private-sector production activities in priority sectors identified, within a three-year window.

He also discussed several broad policy measures and reforms required to support the commercialization of

the Region’s Agrifood System.

In the short and medium terms, trade barriers were identified as a major constraint that will be addressed. The need for the development of an e-agriculture strategy as well as investments in production, research, and development was classified as long-term areas that need to be addressed.

The Task Force will also work to engage the Regional Private Sector, foreign investors, international and regional institutional partners, and the diplomatic community with a view to formulating effective partnerships to take the work forward.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Mustapha tasked the Heads of Government to discuss the TOR and implementation plan with their fellow Cabinet members ahead of the next Ministerial Task Force meeting, which is scheduled to take place once monthly ahead of the next CARICOM Heads of Government Conference.

REPUBLIC OF KOREA, UNICEF PROVIDE 40,000 HIGH-QUALITY FACE MASKS TO GUYANA FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE

ExxonMobil Guyana has completed reinstalling the repaired and upgraded components of the flash gas compression system onboard the Liza Destiny, Floating, Production Storage, and Offloading info@guyanapostonline.com

(FPSO) vessel.

The team onboard the vessel has now initiated a three-phase testing programme.

In an update yesterday, ExxonMobil noted that the team successfully

completed the first two phases, which are intended to verify the effectiveness of the changes to the equipment and control system logic.

Pilot level flare was attained during the

testing and a significant volume of process and mechanical data collected.

The final stage of testing will take place this week after the removal of temporary

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instrumentation.

The third phase involves monitoring the performance of the machine closely in normal, steady-state operation.

The gas compressor

had encountered difficulties on the Liza Destiny FPSO during oil production operations on January 27 and was sent for repairs to MAN Energy Solutions in Germany.

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Guyana Post Saturday April 10, 2021

COVID has people dying by the twos and threes, daily

It is strange that bad things always come just as good things are coming. I remember Pakistan playing West Indies in a Cricket World Cup semifinal. Courtney Walsh refused to run out a tail-ender, the spinner Abdul Qadir, (pronounced Kardar) and West Indies ended up losing the match because the same man, Qadir lashed him for double-figure runs in the final over.

In fact, it was the last pair at the wicket. That was how West Indies failed to advance.

Young men decided to host a fete match. They decide that they will cook and enjoy the day. The next thing that happens is that there is a shower of rain. Everything is shut down. It used to be the same when Test cricket came to Guyana.

People would make all the preparations; some would take leave from work. My mother would often tell me, “Man appoints; God disappoints.” Rain would come and that would be the end of the Test match and all the plans for a good time.

For young children, things could be even worse.

There is a picnic or a party and the parents—mainly the mother—would give permission for the child to attend. Then that child makes one mistake or does

info@guyanapostonline.com

something wrong.

The party date of the picnic comes; the child starts to dress when the mother would announce, “When you think you going? Tek off them clothes.”

coronavirus (COVID-19) has died. This takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to whatever number.

“The latest fatalities are…”

And the story continues. It was not long before people began to say that the Ministry of Health is killing people in the hospital. “All the time was one- one. Now is two,” people began to say.

So it is that various COVID-19 vaccines have come to Guyana. That should begin the downward trend in infections. Already, more than 11,000 Guyanese have been infected and more The month is barely six than a few have ended up in days old and 17 people hospital. have already died. Ten of The vaccination has begun them died over the Easter and while there are those who weekend. Six died in one are skeptical about being day on April 3. Three died on vaccinated, many are going Tuesday, April 6. to the vaccination centers.

The records are showing They fear COVID, and with that 28 people died within very good reason. the last ten days. In March, The government says that 36 people died, the secondit wants to vaccinate 40,000 largest number since the people within a week. At last outbreak last year March. count about that number has This rapid rise is worrying, been vaccinated. especially since the country But then the death has been bombarded with toll begins to mount at messages about staying safe. an unprecedented rate. People are being advised to Suddenly, from the sedate avoid crowds and to stay at one death almost every day, home unless it is absolutely the Ministry of Health began necessary. to report two deaths every Of course, the government day. This begins toward the encouraged the spread when latter part of March.

People began to take it reduced the curfew hours notice. Every day the Ministry and allowed bars and rum of Health would report, “The shops to reopen. There is Ministry of Health (MOH) a saying that if you give regrettably informs that as of somebody an inch that this date, two persons who person would take a mile. tested positive for the novel That is what is happening.

Someone posted a video about a group somewhere in the city. A man is talking about a COVID party, Masks are absent and the crowd is as thick as a soldout cricket ground. The fact is that people are not afraid anymore.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, to come out with a statement explaining what is happening.

Of course, some people believe that the government is listing every death—COVID or not– as a COVID death so that the country could It could be that they see the attract money for COVID vaccine as the cure-for-all. If relief from overseas. Such a we get COVID all we have concept is not farfetched. got to do is go and take the There was a previous vaccine.

Health Minister who jacked In the rural areas, people up the HIV figures to get go about as though COVID funding. He proclaimed that is somebody else’s worry. some four percent of the I suppose the lack of population had been infected. enforcement is encouraging There was a race to place such behavior. In the capital, scarcely anyone ventures Guyana alongside Haiti and out without a mask. They the Bahamas. It was only certainly cannot enter any when one official examined shopping centre without one. the figures that it became clear that the HIV percentage When the number of deaths was just over two percent. increased many expected

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Guyana Post Saturday January 30, 2021

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