Guyana Post Newspaper

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ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

Thursday June 10, 2021

CDC ADVISES THAT COUNTRYWIDE FLOODING IS NOW A LEVEL 2 DISASTER- PRESIDENT ALI

EXXONMOBIL: 20TH OIL DISCOVERY AT LONGTAIL-3 OFFSHORE GUYANA

Thursday June 10, 2021

CDC ADVISES THAT COUNTRYWIDE FLOODING IS NOW A LEVEL 2 DISASTER- PRESIDENT ALI

Dr Irfaan Ali earlier today announced that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) has advised that the flood situation across the country is now a Level 2 Disaster.

The Head of State made this disclosure as he addressed residents of Chesney New Housing Scheme during the second day of his outreach activities in Regions Five and Six. “The CDC advised this morning that the disaster is a Level 2 Disaster so that we can now move the situation to the international community to get international support.”

According to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s (CDEMA) Regional Response Mechanism, a Level 2 Event is one in which the national capacity to respond is not overwhelmed, but some external assistance is required.

The affected State may or may not declare a disaster. In this scenario, the CDEMA

Coordinating Unit may provide technical assistance, specialised equipment, support personnel and information sharing.

In comparison, a Level 3 Event overwhelms the capacity of an affected State to respond.

TEAM ON THE GROUND Accompanying President Ali in Berbice today are Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, the Honourable Nigel Dharamlall; DirectorGeneral of the CDC, Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig; Head of the NDIA, Mr Lionel Wordsworth and Regional Chairman, Mr David Armogan among other representatives.

The President used the opportunity to assure the residents that Government is working assiduously to address their concerns.

He said that the Government will propose a supplementary provision for parliament to secure additional resources t0

support the efforts.

“I am here to let you know that the situation is far from over, but we are going to be here throughout. The same support that you talk about that the Government gave you in the initial phase will continue…I want to assure you that we are going to be with you, we are going to help in the rebuilding process, and we are going to support the rebuilding process.”

WE WANT TO HELP AND WE WILL BE HELPING Prior to his stop in Chesney, the Head of State began today’s outreach activities in Fyrish, where he reassured residents there that every single community in every region affected by floodwaters, including their community, will be aided.

“I am going to every single community across our country to let people understand and to know we are concerned about the situation and we want to help, and we will be helping …So I’m here this morning to assure you as President that every

single community will be served.”

The President explained that the immediate needs in many of the flood-affected communities are to ensure that residents have access to food, shelter as well as health care. He added that the worst affected are farmers and those who rear livestock.

Regarding the actions being taken by the various agencies, President Ali noted that the CDC has already initiated a programme to ensure that food is delivered to affected areas and that medical supplies and shelter are provided.

“We will be working hard to get as much water off of the land as possible; as soon as the water recedes we are going to have a full assessment.”

I M M E D I AT E ASSISTANCE The Fyrish residents raised several concerns with the President and his team, which the Head of State addressed head-on.

The President promised them that the relevant personnel from the various agencies, inclusive of an engineer,

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a representative from the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA), among others, will be on the ground to assist.

“Today, they will tell me what they recommend, and we will see what we can do in terms of the immediate drainage, in terms of food supplies… and the feed. GLDA people will be here with you and the CDC, and once we get the report back today, before Thursday afternoon, you will get the stuff coming in.”

He also instructed that a hymac be sent into the community by tomorrow.

During the interactive engagements, officials from the various agencies were able to brief residents in the communities on the progress of interventions in their respective areas.

In his updates to the residents of Fyrish, the Minister of Agriculture said that prior to today’s visit, there were a number of teams in Region Six to verify and to also put measures in place to deal with the flooding

conditions affecting most NDCs. The ongoing interventions include the excavation of outfalls and canals.

He added that the GLDA officials have been working with livestock farmers to ensure that they take care of their animals.

Lieutenant Colonel Craig also addressed the residents and provided critical updates on relief measures.

After Chesney New Housing Scheme, the team made their way to Chesney Old Scheme.

During that stop, the President also updated the residents about the flooding in other areas and promised them support.

“I want you to be assured that the Government will be with you throughout this process.”

The President is expected to travel to several other affected communities in Region Six today. Yesterday he journeyed to a number of riverain communities in Mahaica and Mahaicony.

Thursday June10, 2021

EXXONMOBIL: 20TH OIL DISCOVERY AT LONGTAIL-3 OFFSHORE GUYANA

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickhram Bharrat, who holds responsibility for the

Petroleum Sector today, Offshore Guyana within announced Guyana’s the Stabroek Block 20th Offshore Oil offshore.

The Longtail-3 Discovery at Longtail-3

discovery will add to the previously announced gross discovered recoverable resource

Fire destroys Bagotville supermarket

A fire of so far undetermined origin destroyed the New Life supermarket at Bagotville, West Bank Demerara early this morning.

And this happened even as the skies had opened up.

According to the Guyana Fire Service, the fire started at about 6:00 hours. Station Officer McDonald sought to explain the situation.

He said that Central Fire Station in the city received

a call shortly before 6:00 hours.

Two units of the Guyana Fire Service raced to the scene. One came from La Grange, West Bank Demerara, and the other from West Ruimveldt.

By mid-morning, the fire had been put out and the investigation was underway.

The fireman said that there were some obstacles including sparking electric wires.

The security grills posed

some problems.

The owner of the property, Herman Farrier, was at the scene.

He was at his daughter’s home when he got the call. He had rented out the property which he said he had inherited from his grandparents.

He said that he rented out the property to some Chinese. Now he is thankful for life.

He proposes to rebuild the property.

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estimate for the block.

This is currently estimated to be over 9 billion oil-equivalent barrels.

Minister Bharrat explained that drilling at Longtail-3 encountered at 230 feet (70 meters), high-quality hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs below the original Longtail-1 discovery intervals.

The well is located approximately two miles (3.5 kilometres) south of the Longtail-1 well and drilled in more than 6,100 feet (1860 meters) of water by the Stena DrillMAX.

The Government anticipates that this new development will further increase the potential for more floating production storage and offloading vessels (FPSO).

Additionally, this will increase the estimated recoverable resource given by the operator, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL).

The Ministry and the Petroleum Sector regulatory agencies will continue to work with other operators to expedite their drill programme to expand the sector.

Thursday June 10, 2021

OVER 25,000 HOUSEHOLDS IMPACTED BY FLOODWATERS ACROSS GUYANA.

The Civil Defence Commission has reported that since May 18, 2021, the Commission received reports of more than 25,000 households

impacted by flooding in more than 300 communities across Guyana.

The CDC is collaborating with

stakeholders including Central Government, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils, Regional Democratic Councils, the Private

Sector and NonGovernmental Organisations to provide food, cleaning supplies and shelter to floodaffected residents in

Region Ten. Kwakwani is one of the most impacted communities with a total of 90 residents evacuated to shelters being managed by the CDC. The Aroaima Nursery and Primary Schools currently accommodate 36 residents.

There are 33 at Kwakwani Primary School, seven at Kwakwani Secondary School Hostel and 42 at Hururu Day Care Center To date, the Civil Defence Commission has dispatched 2,250 food hampers and 2,000 cleaning hampers to

support affected residents in the region.

Minister Frank Anthony stated that the Ministry of Health dispatched teams countrywide to monitor for water-borne diseases and to distribute medical supplies to residents.

The Civil Defence Commission will continue to collaborate with Government, Local Democratic Organs, Non-Governmental Organisations, and the Private Sector to provide relief to flood-affected residents in communities in every region in Guyana

EAST LA PENITENCE MAN HELD FOR KILLING GOLD MINER Following the shooting death of a Trans Guyana Airway baggage handler during the course of a robbery late last month, a 42-year-old, a man from East La Penitence has been charged and remanded to jail. The defendant, Allister Naughton, of East La Penitence Squatting Area, Georgetown, appeared before Chief Magistrate,

Ann McLennan, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and was not required to enter a plea to the charge.

It is alleged that Naughton on May 28, 2021, at Camp Street, murdered 40-year-old, Ronald Smith, during the course and furtherance of a robbery.

As such, Naughton was remanded to jail until July

6, when he will make his next court appearance On the day, in question it is alleged that Naughton was one of two men on a motorcycle. He reportedly rode up to Smith, opened fire Smith took a backpack containing cash from a gold deal.

This incident occurred after Smith made several stops via car while

conducting business in and out of the city, in the company of a miner who was driving him in motor car PZZ 6065.

During that time, Smith made a sale of gold and placed the $437,000 cash received in a haversack, and went to visit his girlfriend.

After the visit, Smith and his girlfriend were standing in front of the

Impeccable Beauty Salon when they were confronted by the suspects who came from an unknown direction.

The pillion rider dismounted from an XR motorcycle and discharged two rounds at Smith who fell to the ground. The assailants then took away Smith’s haversack containing cash and made good their

With effect from Monday, June 7, 2021, members of the media will be required to produce proof of their COVID-19 vaccination

card or a negative COVID test result before gaining access to the Arthur Chung Conference Centre for Sittings of the National Assembly.

Reporters must provide proof of vaccine or COVID test

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escape north on Camp Street.

Smith was picked up and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he died while receiving medical attention. The body was examined and three circular wounds were seen, one to the upper left shoulder, one to the middle region of the belly, and one under the right armpit area

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Thursday June 10, 2021

JOB LOSS COUPLED WITH THE PANDEMIC AND THE FLOODS

ADAM’s Notebook The Ministry of Health regrettably informs that as of June 5, 2021, four more persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.

This takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 409.

That was the traditional opening of the news report from the Ministry of Health.

And the number had increased by five up to Tuesday.

Once more, most of the COVID-19 victims are women. Where a few months ago men outnumbered the women in infections, women have taken the lead.

This may be because women have been faced with the additional burden to keep food on the table. And it is no secret that most of the households in Guyana are single-parent households.

The trend is worrying; the number of deaths info@guyanapostonline.com

is increasing as is the number of infections. For the past two months— April and May—nearly 200 people died of the dreaded coronavirus.

Not long after the nation touted April as he deadliest month, up comes May. Already for the first eight days of this month nearly 20 people have died.

The vaccination campaign is moving ahead. Yes, there is still some hesitancy among a few but for the greater part the wider society having been encouraged, is visiting the various vaccination centres.

No one can fault the reports that the coronavirus is racing beyond control in Guyana. People are no longer dying by the ones and twos; they are dying by the fours. These are terrible times.

Already there has been an impact on economic activity. Many small

businesses have closed their doors if not because of COVID guidelines, then because people simply did not have money to support them.

This situation makes the spate of dismissals in the public sector even more worrying.

People were already struggling in the face of the pandemic. Now the government is adding to their woes. And to make matters worse, there seems to be no end in sight to the dismissals.

There was the initial batch of some 1,500 from the public sector.

Last week Guyana Water Inc announced that it was sending home 157 workers. And this number does not include those whose contracts expired and were not renewed.

All told, according to the Chief Executive Officer Shaik Baksh GWI will trim 300 workers.

People are crying; women who are single

parents have been sent on the breadline with one month pay in lieu of notice. When things are bad they are really bad.

First came the pandemic. Many had to tuck in; some lost jobs. Then came the widespread sackings that forced people to cope with joblessness and the pandemic. As joblessness increased up comes flooding that has wiped almost everything that some people had.

The photographs are telling. There is water to the roofs of houses.

And if the water is so high, imagine what has happened to crop and livestock. People’s entire life’s possessions have disappeared and there is no lifeline on the horizon. Perhaps some may get $25,000 again.

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But there is hope. Irfaan Ali has announced that he is going to create 50,000 new jobs. Employment opportunities loom for those who have been sacked. Rest assured that there are not enough people out there to take up the 50,000 new jobs.

Of interest is the pace with which the government and the government departments are moving to dismiss people. Many of these people are at the bottom of the employment scale. They work for the minimum wage or slightly more. They do not really impact the pay roll.

When the Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Water Inc said

that by sacking 300 people the company would save $230 million per annum, it turned out that the figure is less than one million per year per individual.

If that sounds a lot then divide by 12. It is about $85,000 per month. And these people who had little to keep themselves alive, are being denied even that. But then again, GWI said that the company was overstaffed.

So in my quiet moments I wonder about a government that cares not whether any of its people go to bed hungry. But that is power—the power over whether people eat or whether they live or die.

Email or text your letters to us, we would be happy to have publish them ExxonMobil Oil Rig

lendellnurse6995@gmail.com

adameharris@yahoo.com info@guyanapostonline.com info@guyanapostonline.com

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