Keeping you updated on current events... ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER
Tuesday April 27, 2021
PROTEST AGAINST CHIEF JUSTICE RULING SCHIEF JUSTICE DISMISSES COALITION ELECTION PETITION
COVID DEATH TOLL MOUNTS
STATEMENT OF THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION, HON. JOSEPH HARMON TO SUPPORTERS FOLLOWING THE RULING OF CHIEF JUSTICE ON ELECTIONS PETITION
Guyana Post Tuesay April 27, 2021
PROTEST AGAINST CHIEF JUSTICE RULING
Supporters of the Coalition marched from Square of the Revolution to the courts ahead of the decision by Chief Justice Roxane George. When the ruling came so too
did disappointment. The supporters went along Regent Street. (MVI—0373) There were attempts to block the road. And there were at least three arrests.
CHIEF JUSTICE DISMISSES COALITION ELECTION PETITION
Chief Justice Roxane George
Chief Justice Roxane George dismissed the election petition brought by the Coalition. The petition was filed by two supporters of the Opposition APNU+AFC who were hoping for the results of the elections to be vitiated. The Chief Justice’s ruling came this morning. The petition challenged the constitutionality of Order 60 which was created by GECOM and paved the way for the
recount of votes before a final declaration. In her ruling, the Chief Justice explained that the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM) has the responsibility to independently supervise elections and can issue instructions and take actions as necessary when matters relating to the conduct of the elections arise. She pointed out that Order 60 is not unconstitutional
because it was created to resolve a dispute, further explaining that if there was no dispute in relation to the conduct of the elections, Order 60 would then be ultra vires, (Unconstitutional). “Thus I have concluded that Order 60 is not ultra vires the Constitution or section 22, a combination or article 162 (1) (b) and section 22 conferred the power on GECOM to issue this order if
GECOM considered it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality fairness and compliance on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties on its behalf as regards elections process and the declarations of the results of the elections,” the Chief Justice said in her ruling. It is the view of the Chief Justice that Order 60 as promulgated under Section 22 (1)
can be construed as simply modifying the Representation of the People’s Act (RPA) to provide a mechanism that allows for the recount to be conducted by expanding the recount provisions in that act. She said simply sets out a procedure for the recount to of ballots- a power that GECOM possess under the provision of the RPA. The Chief Justice said the Elections Commission did not amend any elections legislation with the issuing of the Order but merely supported existing legislations. Chief Justice George said the Elections Commission had an obligation to complete the elections process and had to address difficulties to complete the process satisfactorily. “GECOM is meant to be and has to be in control of the process until satisfactorily completed, this is the
ultimate power that GECOM has pursuant to article 162,” The Chief Justice further stated. The Chief Justice said GECOM did not breach the constitution, therefore she declared, “As such the petition is dismissed.” The Chief Justice has also ordered that the Statements of Poll and Statements of Recount that were lodged at the Supreme Court remain there until all appeals in the cases are exhausted. The dismissal of the petition came as supporters of the APNU+AFC were gathered outside the Courthouse, although the ruling was handed down virtually. The supporters marched off in protest at the conclusion of the decision by the Chief Justice. Two election petition cases were filed in the aftermath of the 2020 elections. The first one was thrown out by the Chief Justice over improper service.
Guyana Post Tuesay April 27, 2021
Statement of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joseph Harmon to supporters following the ruling of Chief Justice on Elections Petition No. 88 APRIL 26, 202
My fellow Guyanese today the Chief Justice has ruled against our petition No. 88 of 2020. Today democracy was stabbed in the heart in this fair land of ours. We must and will lodge an appeal against this atrocious decision of the High Court. Many of you previously expressed doubt and concern that the court will rule in our favour, given the pattern of its ruling in election cases recently. We continued to advise that the judicial system will rule in accordance with the law. I have myself urged that if we do not have a court whose decisions
are sound in law, fair in its application of justice, and perceived as impartial by the society, that critical element that holds us together as a nation will lose its credibility. Today, like you, I am disappointed and feel let down by our judiciary but I remain fortified that our hierarchy of courts will correct this clear injustice that has been wrought on the Guyanese people. This is a clear attempt to protect the installed PPP regime from scrutiny and from being removed from the government where they have no right being. The elections of March 2020 were
COVID death toll mounts
The Ministry of Health (MOH) regrettably informs that as of April 26, 2021, another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died. This takes the total
number of deaths from the pandemic to 287. The latest fatality is one 46-year-old male from Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) who died while receiving care at our medical facility
flawed and fraudulent. The world knows this. The world has seen this. There was clear fraud. We saw that as plain as day when the boxes were opened. Missing poll documents, dead people voting, people outside of Guyana recorded as voting, missing ballots, missing oaths of identity, and a whole host of irregularities, discrepancies, and wholesale fraud. Today when we expected that the legal basis upon which the PPP regime was installed would have been swept away and the laws of Guyana being stringently and robustly upheld, we have been disappointed again by the decision of our courts. This decision is not about justice, this is not about the people of Guyana, this is not about what is right, this is not about democracy, this is not about you. It is about protecting the status quo – no matter
how corrupt that status quo is. This struggle, since August last year, has been gruelling and painful. We have suffered so much. So many of you have suffered so much since this installed PPP regime came into office eight months ago. Many of you have lost your jobs and livelihoods and the country has regressed and reversed into economic decline. People are crying out everywhere. Prices are going up and people do not have money in their pockets. Hospitals do not have medication and crime is on the rise. These are dark days in our country but we must not give up. I must take a moment to express my profuse thanks to our legal team and the many persons who supported them and toiled with them for days and nights to ensure that our case was well presented and air-tight. I must single out our Mr. Roysdale
Forde SC and John Jeremie QC. We owe them an immense debt of gratitude. Their case was solid but the system ruled against them as it ruled against us. Comrades, I must especially thank you for your perseverance, your resilience, your confidence, and your wherewithal. This is not the end. We must appeal this at every level until justice is delivered to us. We must keep hope alive, we must continue to fight. We must continue to work to remove the installed PPP regime. Through it all, you have been resilient and I salute you. We must continue to be resilient and stand firm against injustice. We fight against principalities and powers but our struggle is just and righteous and the struggle must continue. Today is a dark and ominous day for democracy in Guyana.
The ruling of the court must strike fear in the hearts of all democracy-loving people in Guyana, in the Caribbean, and across the world. We have continuously called on our people to keep the peace, to remain calm, and to uphold the law. Today however we have witnessed once again the judicial system failing our people. The APNU+AFC cannot and will not be held responsible for the reaction of the victimised, disenfranchised, and marginalised masses. We will continue to fight and we wish to make it clear that all options remain open to us. It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I urge you, I plead with you to keep the faith. We shall overcome.
River defence breach floods Diamond
The Guyana Civil Defence Commission (CDC) is now investigating the breach of a sluice that has caused some 100 homes in the Diamond area to be flooded. This in turn has caused damage to home appliances and loss of livestock. According to information coming out of the CDC, just this morning that Residence in the Little Diamond and the Little
Diamond Squatting Area experienced flooding in some parts due to a breach at the nearby dam. Last night, a small breach occurred. By noon yesterday, most of the water had receded almost completely. However, at around 4 am today, another breach was reported. This time the water was much more significant and affected more residents in both the Little Diamond and Little
Diamond Squatting Areas Since then Ministries of Home Affairs, Public Works, and Agriculture, the NDC, CDC, National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), and BK Inc., the contractors responsible for repairing the breach, were all present and assessing the situation. Additionally, the contractors are working to repair the breach immediately since the high tide is expected
this afternoon and early tomorrow morning. Adding to that the Neighborhood Democratic Council (NDC) is working along currently along with the CDC to assess the situation and distribute 100 cleaning hampers to residents, as houseto-house assessment is currently being conducted, while food and cleaning hampers are distributed simultaneously.
Guyana Post Tuesay April 27, 2021
Man rapes daughter for seven years, COVID-19 claims 52 lives to date in gets 28 years, 24 lashes
A man who raped his daughter for about seven-and-a-half years was jailed for 28 years and sentenced to 24 strokes of the cane on Monday. The 44-year-old Singapore permanent resident had also molested his daughter’s best friend when he came by to hang out with her. By his own count, the man had raped his daughter, now 13, between 10 and 20 times, and forced her to perform oral sex on him even more times. Both man and daughter cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity. Sentencing the man from the European Union, Justice Mavis Chionh noted four aggravating factors to his offence: the vulnerability of the young victim, the man’s abuse of his position of authority and trust, the premeditation, and grooming of the victim, and that the sex acts were unprotected. “I should add that the tenderness of the victim’s years and the pathos of her vulnerability are obvious from the (statement of facts). At the start …she was a young girl afraid of showering alone. At the tail end, she was by all accounts still a young
girl afraid to return to her room to sleep because she found the sounds of her room fan weird. “The greatest tragedy, in this case, is that she (was) robbed of her childhood innocence by her own father.” She noted that the prosecution told the court that even today, the daughter continues to write letters to her father to tell him that she loves him. “This is the other great tragedy in this case that the victim (was) preyed upon by the person meant to protect her,” she added. As for the mitigation, Justice Chionh took into account the man’s plea of guilt, which spared the victim the trauma of having to testify in court. She did not assign mitigating weight to the man being diagnosed with a pedophilic disorder or that he had no criminal history, given the lengthy period he had been abusing his daughter. His offences were committed from 2011 to 2019. The man earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of statutory rape of his daughter when she was between nine and 11 years old. Another 19 charges of a similar nature, such as sexually assaulting his daughter, showing
her pornography and molesting her friend, were taken into consideration for sentencing. His wife has since divorced him. The man worked as a product manager in Singapore and stayed in a condominium with his wife, their daughter, and her baby brother. The couple, who were married overseas, moved to Singapore in 2008. The man first sexually assaulted his daughter when she was between three and seven years old. After watching a television programme about people drowning while swimming, the girl became afraid of showering alone and took a shower with her father. At that point, the man developed a “sexual desire” to touch the girl. He realised then that he was a pedophile and there was “no turning back”. He continued abusing her for the next seven-and-a-half years, with the sexual assaults increasing in frequency after the family moved houses. He knew that the girl did not like the incidents as she would keep her face turned to the side when they happened, to avoid looking at him. He would go into the girl’s bedroom or ask her to enter his bedroom, before
locking the door and raping or sexually assaulting her. When the girl expressed reluctance, he would say it would only take a few minutes. The girl often felt she could not protest further as the man was her father, whom she should listen to. At times, the man would show her pornographic material from his phone or laptop. One of these was a child having sex with her father. He also molested his daughter’s best friend when the girl went over to play and watch movies. This girl stayed in the same condominium, and her parents regarded the man and his wife as “close friends”. He kissed this girl on the lips and told her to keep it a secret. Once, as the man, his daughter, and her best friend watched a movie in the master bedroom, the man molested both girls at the same time while lying between them. Eventually, this girl stopped going to the daughter’s house. The police eventually learned of the sexual assault after the second victim made a police report about the man’s inappropriate behavior. In June 2019, as the girl’s best friend was preparing to undergo her first communion in her home country, she was asked to confess her sins and revealed the man’s offences. She made a police report upon returning to Singapore. The man was then arrested. When settling the man’s affairs, his wife came across child erotica stories in his email inbox. The man had downloaded and sent these to himself.
April
…4 more deaths, whopping 152 new cases recorded
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported the death toll for the month of April as 48. On Sunday there were two more deaths. Since the pandemic started, Guyana has seen 286 persons succumbing to the virus. From 1760 swabs that were taken for analysis on Saturday, 152 persons tested positive for COVID-19. Now, the total confirmed cases are at 12,600 – 6364 males In the facilities, 16 patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, with 74 in institutional isolation and 11 in institutional quarantine. Another 1529 persons are in home isolation. Guyana has tested 117,000 persons thus far and some 10,702 infected persons have since recovered. New cases were detected across eight administrative regions with three in Region One (Barima-Waini); six in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); 30 in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara); 83 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 12 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); seven in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and eight in Region 10 (Upper
Demerara-Berbice). During an engagement on Saturday, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony reminded Guyanese to take their vaccines as it offers 100 percent protection against coronavirus deaths. Persons were also asked to encourage those within their neighbourhood and various social circles to get immunised. “It would reduce your possibility of getting into the hospital. It would reduce your possibility of getting into the ICU and it would prevent you from dying, which is very important. All the vaccines that are right now in use totally prevent people from dying from COVID. Let us remember that so we can persuade people to take this vaccine,” the health official positioned. He added, “The Government of Guyana has invested a lot of money to ensure that we procure vaccines for every single adult in Guyana… We have tied up some arrangements to ensure that everyone in Guyana would be able to get that COVID-19 vaccine. “That cannot be said for many countries. What we need to do is to ensure that people take the vaccine. It is of absolutely no use if we have these vaccines and we keep them in a room.”
Guyana Post Tuesay April 27, 2021
Mayor Narine requests Human Services Ministry immediate financial accepting WhatsApp calls assistance from Government
as proof of life for old age pensioners
The Georgetown Municipality is suffering under the management of the Government of Guyana, the Municipality is yet to receive its budgetary subventions of $10million for 2020 and $30 million for 2021. Meanwhile, two hundred million dollars is set to be handed by the Government of Guyana to employees working in an unproductive sugar industry. Guyanese heads of organizations, citizens of Georgetown and
across Guyana, and Guyanese within the diaspora all complain of the state of the city, especially where the collection of garbage and the rise in the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The City Markets need to be closed to facilitate deep cleaning for full sanitation to aid in reducing and spreading COVID-19 in and across the city’s shopping areas. The city sprays and fumigates the markets weekly to maintain a healthy environment
COVID death toll mounts
The Ministry of Health (MOH) regrettably informs that as of April 26, 2021, another person who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has died. This takes the total
number of deaths from the pandemic to 287. The latest fatality is one 46-year-old male from Region 6 (East Berbice-Corentyne) who died while receiving care at our medical facility
and prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is now time for a deep cleanse of the Markets as the rise in the infection of COVID-19 and deaths is spiraling out of control. The Markets and the city environment need to be fumigated to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the city. The United States has warned its citizens on travel to Guyana because of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security wishes to advise pensioners who have to provide quarterly Life Certificates to ensure continuous old age pension payments are deposited into their bank accounts can now make a WhatsApp video call to the Ministry to confirm proof of life. Currently, life certificates are signed and stamped by
either a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, Commissioner of Oaths, Medical Practitioner, Head Teacher, Minister of Religion or a Manager of a Bank or Branch of a Bank and can be dropped off at any of the Ministry’s Offices countrywide or scanned and emailed to pension@mhsss.gov.gy. The Ministry, mindful of the need to be adaptable to this category of our elderly citizens, will
now be facilitating video submissions as proof that they are alive. Pensioners can video call our staff via WhatsApp 6621572 Monday through Thursday – 8:00 am to 4 30 pm and Friday – 8:00 am to 3:30 pm. Additionally, during the call, they would have to clearly show some form of valid identification, albeit National ID or passport.
COVID-19 claims 52 lives to date in April …4 more deaths, whopping 152 new cases recorded
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported the death toll for the month of April as 48. On Sunday there were two more deaths. Since the pandemic started, Guyana has seen 286 persons succumbing to the virus. From 1760 swabs that were taken for analysis on Saturday, 152 persons tested positive for COVID-19. Now, the total confirmed cases are at 12,600 – 6364 males In the facilities, 16 patients are seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, with 74 in institutional isolation and 11 in institutional quarantine. Another 1529
persons are in home isolation. Guyana has tested 117,000 persons thus far and some 10,702 infected persons have since recovered. New cases were detected across eight administrative regions with three in Region One (Barima-Waini); six in Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam); 30 in Region Three (Essequibo IslandsWest Demerara); 83 in Region Four (DemeraraMahaica); three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 12 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); seven in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and eight in Region 10 (Upper
Demerara-Berbice). During an engagement on Saturday, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony reminded Guyanese to take their vaccines as it offers 100 percent protection against coronavirus deaths. Persons were also asked to encourage those within their neighbourhood and various social circles to get immunised. “It would reduce your possibility of getting into the hospital. It would reduce your possibility of getting into the ICU and it would prevent you from dying, which is very important. All the vaccines that are right now in use totally prevent people
from dying from COVID. Let us remember that so we can persuade people to take this vaccine,” the health official positioned. He added, “The Government of Guyana has invested a lot of money to ensure that we procure vaccines for every single adult in Guyana… We have tied up some arrangements to ensure that everyone in Guyana would be able to get that COVID-19 vaccine. “That cannot be said for many countries. What we need to do is to ensure that people take the vaccine. It is of absolutely no use if we have these vaccines and we keep them in a room.”
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