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Friday June 18, 2021
ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER
MAYOR BLAMES CITY ENGINEER FOR CITY FLOODING
PAROLED PRISONERS HONOURED FOR FATHER’S DAY
Friday June 18, 2021
MAYOR BLAMES CITY ENGINEER FOR CITY FLOODING
Mayor, Ubraj Narine
With parts of Georgetown severely affected flood waters, Mayor, Ubraj Narine, has laid blame at the feet of the City Engineer under the Mayor and City Council (MMC) for the flood situation in Georgetown. The Mayor said that the poor performance of City Engineer, Colvern Venture, has caused grief to many residents of Georgetown. He failed to provide the council with the relevant information for matters to be addressed directly.
“At this point, the City Engineer, I expect to be on the ground. He had stated a few weeks ago that he is putting systems and measures in place to deal with the pumps and the doors of those kokers or sluices. I sought from the city engineer on June 3, 2021 a full assessment and comprehensive report on all pumps in the city. “This is what I asked for; status on all pumps in the city, run time, rest time factors affecting pumps and I can say this much that
the city engineer did not respond,” the Mayor noted. The Mayor added that with the absence of some technical information the council remains illadvised and as such, the blame should be placed on the engineer department headed by Mr. Venture. “Mr. Venture was to bring a full assessment on these pumps. I don’t know why sometimes we have these issues at the time when the rain starts to fall then you find the pumps giving
mechanical issues. “I had written to him and said get a full assessment and comprehensive report. Let us deal with these matters. I’m not a technical person. The council will hold the city engineer accountable for whatever happened to the city of Georgetown during this rainy season.” The Mayor added that the council has done its part and it’s now up to
the department that has not been functioning well. “The technical officers that the council employed are in the city engineer department; the deputy city engineers- and they have a few there-, supervisor. Everybody we employed ought to ensure that the right thing happens within all these areas that have pumps and kokers or
sluices.” The Major since taking the office has flagged the works of the engineer’s department since he noted that Mr. Venture remains in his post to sabotage the works of the council. The mayor had made moves to fire him but the move was halted as the Local Government Commission said that the Mayor had no authority to fire the City Engineer.
PAROLED PRISONERS HONOURED FOR FATHER’S DAY
MINISTER of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday attended a simple event organised by the Ministry’s Probation Department and Guyana Prison Service to encourage a number of parolees in observance of
Father’s Day this Sunday. The activity, at the Ministry’s Cornhill Street location, was hosted under the theme, “Revealing Our Fathers – Eliminating Stigma and Discrimination.” The parolees were offered words of encouragement, along with Father’s Day
care packages. Minister Vindhya Persaud, in addressing the parolees, made it a point to stress that they should use this new lease on life to reach out to young people and others who may be involved in questionable activities, using their ow experiences to influence
them to desist from lives of crime. She urged them to be a force for good in the lives of youths and to encourage them to turn their lives around. She reminded them that many children live with “absentee father culture” and their own children
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had to suffer their absence because they did not think of their families when they engaged in unlawful acts. Minister Persaud did not dismiss the wrongs that the parolees engaged in, but she admonished them not to go down the same road again.
She also directed the parolees to training that is available to them, and urged that they find themselves in stable working environments. Officers at the prison have observed that due to the absence of fathers in the home, single parenting is a reality in Guyana, which causes many homes to become dysfunctional as a result of parental involvement with the criminal justice system. It is in this regard that the Prison, After Care and Reintegration Services Section decided to host the activity. The section has pledged to continue to make positive impacts on the lives of the parolees, who will in turn make a positive impact on their families, children and society.
Friday June 18, 2021
Harmon wants a halt to Govt finds Haitians the use of Sputnik V abandoned in a Skeldon hotel
Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, is calling for a halt to the Sputnik V Vaccination Programme until Government comes clean about its relationship with a member of the United Arab Emirates ruling family, Sheik Ahmad Dalmook Maktoum. The government also has a relationship with Sheik Maktoum’s associate Umar Farooq Zahoor. They are the suppliers of the vaccines, giving rise to an allegation of a vaccine racketing scandal. Mr. Harmon who hosted a Press Conference this morning noted that with the issues of authenticity and overpricing, he is calling on the Government to halt the programme until full disclosure of the matter is made. “As a result, and for a matter of safety, the APNU-AFC demands that these vaccines should be put on hold until the population is given assurance that what we are dealing with is not a bogus vaccine and that we are dealing with a safe arrangement,” Harmon said Mr. Harmon said the only way Guyanese can be satisfied that their safety is not at risk is if the full disclosure of the matter is done and the details of each step are
revealed. “We demand that the Ministry of Health provide us with the batch number purchased from the Sheik Al Maktoum, the details of the shipping, including the transshipment and the condition under which the vaccines were stored, also, all importation document for the said batches into countries which the vaccines were stored as a result and a matter of safety.” Harmon was at the time relying on a Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang (VG). The newspaper reported on an investigation which said that the Sheik and his associate at the center of fraud would visit poorer countries and pledge vaccine donation and then ask that that country purchase the Sputnik vaccine through their arrangement. The report added the investigation revealed that that vaccine is also being sold to countries at a premium. Mr. Zahoor, a Pakistani national, who grew up in Norway, is wanted in that country as part of an investigation into a massive fraud. He is currently protected by the United Arab Emirates as is his close associate Sheik Al Maktoum. The Government earlier revealed that
some 200,000 doses of Sputnik V through this direct source were purchased at a price that’s double the normal cost, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Opposition noted, also, that with the issue of fake vaccines being a feature around the world, Guyanese are now being put at risk. “In light of vaccines being bought through middlemen, and taking into consideration the global concern about counterfeit vaccines this matter of the vaccine purchase is now a safety matter for all citizens in Guyana. It is a public health concern for the people of this country,” Mr. Harmon added. Guyana has so far issued over 200,000 first doses of the vaccines to the adult population and over 90,000 for total vaccine coverage. The Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony has also insisted that with the vaccines they have seen improvement in the fight against the COVID-19 Vaccines. The Ministry has also noted that they will push to have 80% of the adult population fully vaccinated by the end of the year to have some level of normalcy returning.
Today at approximately 10:30 hrs, based upon information received, members of the Guyana Police Force visited the Swiss Hotel, Skeldon, Corentyne, Berbice, Region 6 and discovered ten (10) persons claiming to be Haitian juvenile nationals. Five (5) of these persons are females and five (5) are males. They did not possess any passports or any form of identification. When questioned by the Police, one in the group who speaks English, explained that they were brought from Suriname by speedboat and left at the hotel since Monday, 14th June 2021. The person who brought them reportedly took away their passports, documents, money, and other personal belongings. It has long been suspected that there is huge trafficking in persons and human smuggling ring, including children, taking place in the Region, and Guyana is being used as a transit point in this racket,
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which includes Cubans, Nigerians, and Haitians, among others. This is the latest manifestation of this nefarious racket at work which seems to be operating on a daily basis. The Brazilian Government has already expressed concern about the situation. The Surinamese government has also shared intelligence which suggests that the racket extends to that neighboring Republic. The Government of Guyana has already engaged the Cuban Ambassador to Guyana on this issue. It is believed that these persons, including children, are being trafficked to various parts of the world. Only last Wednesday, the Police arrested a number of Haitians, Nigerians, and Cubans in close vicinity to Lethem, Region 9. Some of these persons did not have entry stamps in their passports in relation to Guyana. This is taking place when all neighboring borders with
Guyana are currently closed. There is a continuous influx of these persons at both Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugine Correira International Airport at Ogle. In the circumstances, the Government of Guyana feels compelled to inform the relevant international agencies dealing with human trafficking and smuggling of persons, including children. “In this regard, we will engage the United Nations Humans Rights Council, the International Organisation for Migration and INTERPOL and requests their urgent intervention and assistance,” the government said in a statement. The Government of Guyana will also immediately review its immigration protocols and impose such lawful restrictions and conditions that it considers necessary in the circumstances.
Friday June 18, 2021
HIGH COURT REJECTS JAGDEO’S OBJECTION TO AWARD TO ANNETTE FERGUSON
The High Court refused to set aside the $20 million judgement it awarded former Minister Annette Ferguson against Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. Mr Jagdeo was ordered to pay Opposition Member of Parliament and former Minister Annette Ferguson $20 million in damages for libel he caused against.
The award was done in the face of Jagdeo’s default judgement. Jagdeo, back in 2019, uttered that the Former Minister while in office acquired three house lots in the Eccles area by way of a corrupt transaction. That claimed was denied by Ms. Ferguson, who said that the words were said with the aim of
tarnishing her reputation and would have caused her great financial loss. The result is that Ms Ferguson back in March 2020 filed an application in the High Court seeking damages in the sum of $25M. With notice of the matter in court, Attorneyat-law, and now Attorney General, Anil Nandlall,
was given the task of representing Mr. Jagdeo. He was to have filed a defence against the matter in the period of 28 days after the matter was filed. That defence was never filed in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) Justice Sandra Kurtzious ruled that with no notice of defence
Drowned porter suffered blunt trauma to the head
A 22-year-old porter who ran out of patience and tried to swim across Barima River while the tide was high reportedly was struck to the head before drowning. This was disclosed through a post mortem examination conducted by Dr Nehaul Singh who found that Franklyn Benjamin of Four Miles, Port Kaituma, died from drowning compounded by a blunt trauma to the
head. Benjamin reportedly died on June 12, last, when he tried to swim across the river which a truck would normally cross during a low tide. This time the tide was high and had been so for a few days. Benjamin was a truck porter who would assist in delivering food supplies and fuel to various back dams. About six days ago at 6:00 hrs Benjamin and his crew left for Port
Kaituma, to deliver food supplies as they would normally do. About two days later, while on their way back home, he and the crew were forced to stop at the Barima River, where they spent two days, waiting for the water level to drop. According to the report, this caused the porter to grow impatient, and he proceeded to swim across the river to head home. Whilst in the middle
of the river, Benjamin shouted for help and his crew members tried to rescue him but their efforts to reach him were futile. Benjamin eventually went down and did not surface again. His body was subsequently fished out of the river by the crew members. He was later taken to Port Kaituma Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by a doctor on duty.
Jagdeo did not show any interest in defending the matter and as such granted the Applicant, Ms. Ferguson, a sum of $20M in damages. However, since becoming aware of the ruling Jagdeo later and his new Attorney Devindra Kissoon through the means of defending why the defence was not filed asking the court to set aside the ruling since it was the belief that the case had a great prospect of winning and that failure to submit a defence was for good reasoning. Since this intention to have the ruling set aside, new Attorney Kissoon submitted that Mr. Nandlall was then occupied with matters of the court pertaining to the elections at that time. Mr. Kissoon further
contended that they had a chance of winning the case since it was on a fair comment by Jagdeo knowing it was of public interest and by him being a statuary officeholder he was entailed to such opinions. Those claimed were all refuted by the Judge, who said that defendant showed a clear disregard for the rules of the court. The Judge added that Jagdeo’s comments were in no way fair comment, since he would have done so without any evidence. As such the statement, has caused the Applicant great financial losses. Ferguson later during a press conference and in her submission summited that she was only awarded one house lot.
Murder Suspect The Guyana Police Force has issued a wanted bulletin for a Suewanda & Suriname Backdam man that is wanted in connection with a murder committed on a drinking partner over a week ago. That person according to the force is identified as Begong Fakaud of Suewanda & Suriname Backdam, Cuyuni Mazaruni. Fakaud is said to be wanted for killing Shemar Drakes on June 7, at Suewanda Backdam, Puruni River, Cuyuni Mazaruni. The force has indicated that anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Fakaud is asked to contact the police on telephone numbers 620-6836, 226-6978, 225-8196, 268-2328, 2682298/2222, 226-7065, 226-4701, 661-5870, 911 or the nearest police station. All information
according to the force will be treated with the strictest confidence. Reports are that on the day in question, Drakes and Fakaud were on Suewanda L a n d i n g consuming alcoholic beverages and became intoxicated. Sometime after, an argument broke out between the two and during the dispute, Fakaud allegedly armed himself with a sharp instrument, dealt Drakes a single stab to his lower abdomen, causing his intestines to protrude. Drakes then ran to a cookshop where he related to the owner what happened. Shortly after he collapsed and became motionless about 100 feet south of the shop, on the main access road. His body was examined and a single wound was seen to his lower abdomen. The body was escorted to the Bartica Public Hospital.
Friday June 18, 2021
PM ROWLEY OUT OF LINE AND RECKLESS – SPUTNIK V VACCINES SAVING LIVES IN 74 COUNTRIES- Dr. Leslie S. Ramsammy
PM Rowley Dr. Leslie S. Ramsammy
Globally, the use of COVID-19 vaccines became an emergency, an imperative. Individual countries considered clinical trial data and used their national registries to approve emergency use for vaccines. The UK and other European countries began using Astra Zeneca before World Health Organization (WHO) approval. The US began using Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson before the WHO approval. Russia began using Sputnik V before WHO approval. India, China began using locally produced vaccines before WHO approval. Given the data available to us and which were submitted to the WHO, Guyana made a decision that saving lives is more important than risking people's lives and approved Sputnik V, AZ, SinoPharm, Pfizer, and other vaccines. Guyana did not do so lightly. Where we needed to, Guyana utilized another independent scrutiny. For example, with SputnikV, we considered not only the data submitted from clinical trials by Russia but also carefully considered the scrutiny of the clinical trials data done by The Lancet, the British Medical Journal, one of the most prestigious medical journals in the world. The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago is out of line. Reckless too. He insulted Guyana and info@guyanapostonline.com
the seventy-four countries that presently are using vaccines like Sputnik V. Guyana has utilized three vaccines in our program – Astra Zeneca, SinoPharm, and Sputnik V. So far, more than 225,000 persons (48% of the adult population in Guyana) have received their first dose vaccines. Of these persons,95,000 (20% of the adult population) are now fully vaccinated, having also received their second dose vaccines. President Irfaan Ali and his Government acted in the best interest of our people and, globally and in CARICOM, Guyana's bold and decisive actions on COVID-19 vaccination is acknowledged and admired. Already, Guyana is seeing the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Only a handful of persons who received their first dose (less than 0.1%) have tested positive for COVID-19 after they would have had their first dose vaccines. In terms of each of the vaccines, AZ, SinoPharm, or Sputnik V, testing positive for COVID- 19 after taking the vaccine, is less than 0.01%. But the majority of these persons who would have tested positive for COVID-19 are likely to have been infected prior to taking their vaccines. Of the persons who are fully vaccinated, not one has tested positive after their second dose. Not one person has been in the ICU after they were fully
vaccinated. These are the facts. In defending the vaccine fiasco in his country, Prime Minister Rowley, unwittingly or deliberately, implied that Guyana's successful vaccination program so far is an illusion because Guyana utilized vaccines not approved for use. He boasted that Trinidad and Tobago have the most vaccine doses already incountry than any other country in CARICOM, except Guyana, but that Guyana's vaccines do not count since they are not approved. I will not comment on how Prime Minister Rowley has managed his country's vaccine program; how he has managed the Island's vaccine program is a matter his people have already pronounced on. The criticism from his own people must be stinging enough for Prime Minister Rowley to attempt changing the narrative. It is his right if he chooses to change his country's narrative, but he should not seek to change his country's narrative at Guyana's expense. Let me set the record straight. First of all, at the time the Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister stated that Trinidad and Tobago had within their country 234,000 doses of vaccines, Guyana had in our possession 465,000 doses of vaccines, the number of
doses that Prime Minister Rowley's country had. But this is not the important point, it is his raising legitimacy issues with the vaccines Guyana has approved for use. Let me make it clear – all the vaccines in use in Guyana were registered and approved for use by Guyana's Food and Drug Analyst Department. Those registrations and approvals are not automatic. They are based on a number of considerations and a process Guyana has used for decades. It is the same process that saved thousands of lives when we registered Indianproduced and locallyproduced HIV medicines. The following are vaccines and the amount administered and present in Guyana: Astra Zeneca (140,400 doses), Sinopharm (20,000 doses), Sputnik V (305,000 doses). In addition, Guyana expects to receive an additional 471,000 doses of vaccines between now and September, as follows: 38,000 doses of
secured enough vaccines to vaccinate all adults before the end of this year. We hope this would be true for all CARICOM countries. The vaccines used in Guyana are all safe and effective. This includes Sputnik V. The largest amount of vaccine doses used in Guyana as of now is the Sputnik V vaccines. Millions of doses of this vaccine have been administered safely to persons around the world. Production of the vaccines is now global. Not only are these vaccines produced in Russia, but production has started in India, China, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt. Production is also likely in a number of European countries. Sputnik V vaccine effectiveness and safety have been scrutinized by the British Medical Journal, the Lancet, one of the world's most prestigious medical journals. Lancet studied the clinical trial results for this vaccine. They did not take anybody' sword; they did their own
Astra Zeneca vaccines in July from COVAX, 183,000 doses of Sputnik V in June/July, 100,000 doses of SinoPharm from China within the next two weeks, 150,000 doses of vaccines, including the Johnson and Johnson vaccines by August from an arrangement with the African Union. With what Guyana has and what is coming, Guyana has
scrutiny of the clinical trial data. As reported in the Lancet, Sputnik V has a 93% effective rate of preventing SARS-CoV 2 infection. This effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 infections is comparable to the Pfizer vaccines in the USA. But the most important data is that when persons are fully vaccinated with Sputnik
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V, these persons are 100% protected against serious COVID-19 illness. The Gamaleya Research Institute, the developer of the Sputnik V vaccine, is one of the most respected biomedical research labs in the world. The vaccine is in use in 74 countries around the world, on all continents, except in North America. Fully 33% of all counties in Latin America are using the Sputnik V vaccine. More countries use Sputnik V today than use Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson because these are not yet available to most countries. Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines are presently undergoing World Organization (WHO) approval process and are expected to receive WHO approval within months. So far, WHO has completed an evaluation of the clinical trials data for and has approved Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, Moderna, SinoPharm, and SinoVac vaccines. Both Moderna and Sinopharm vaccines only obtained approval recently. Sputnik V vaccine is also being evaluated by the EU Regulatory Authority and is expected to be approved within months. Saving lives, rather than risking people's lives is the reason why more countries are turning to Russia for Sputnik V vaccines. Recently UNICEF, the UN agency responsible for children and adolescents, signed a contract with Russia to procure 220 million doses of Sputnik V. When the availability of all vaccines no longer is an issue countries can pick and choose. Right now the vaccine in front of us, as Dr. Tony Fauciputs it, is the best vaccine.
Friday June 18, 2021
Woman dies in Baramita road accident
Wanita Sober
The village of Baramita, Region One, is now mourning the loss of one villager who tragically lost her life while heading home through the rough Baramita Access Road in the bus when it lost control and hit a baranka (raised embankment). Reports suggest that
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the accident occurred just after 17:30 hours yesterday. The now dead woman is 39-yearold, Wanita Sobers, of Central Baramita Village, North West District. She was seated in the front passenger seat of the bus driven by Route 32 Minibus Driver 23-year-old, Deonarine
Kumar, from the Citrus Grove, Port Kaituma. The minibus with number plates BPP 9730 was proceeding west along the southern side of the road with five passengers including Ms Sobers. It was reportedly descending a hill about 30 to 40 kmph.
The driver claimed that his vehicle suddenly started to wobble so he tried to apply brakes to stop the vehicle but despite his effort the vehicle collided with a baranka (pile up of materials at the edge of the road) on the northern edge of the road.
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As a result of the collision, they were all thrown out of the vehicle onto the road surface where Ms Sobers received injuries about her head and body. Sobers was seen lying motionless under the said minibus while the driver received injuries
to his back. They were both picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Baramita Health Centre where Juanita Sobers was pronounced dead. The driver remains hospitalized. The police indicated that they intend prosecuting the driver.