Keeping you updated on current events...
Saturday May 22, 2021
ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER
Pg2
BRAZILIAN AIRCRAFT CRASH-LANDS, POLICE FIND COCAINE
Pg2
Pg3 Pg3
NANDLALL OPENS $177M
GRA EMPLOYEES AMONG FOUR
BARTICA MAGISTRATE’S
MORE CHARGED
COURT
WITH FORGED CHEQUES
Saturday May 22, 2021
BRAZILIAN AIRCRAFT CRASH-LANDS, POLICE FIND COCAINE
A probe is currently ongoing into the plane that crash-landed in the Orealla Village, Corentyne, Berbice River with close to 1000 pounds of cocaine and two suspected Brazillian national Traffickers. The discovery was made just around 15:00hrs by residents in the area and a quick response by law enforcement led to the arrest of the two men. According to the
police after they received the information, ranks from the Region Six Police Division located a foreign-registered four-seater Bonanza Beechcraft aircraft that had earlier landed on a sand trail at Orealla Village, Corentyne, Berbice River. Subsequently, two male foreign nationals, suspected to be Brazilians, who were in the vicinity were arrested by the Divisional ranks
and an initial search of the aircraft revealed a quantity of suspected cocaine. With such discovery, those were later joined by the Police Force’s SWAT Team, Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) who mobilised and were dispatched to the scene from Camp Ayanganna aboard the GDF’s BEL412 helicopter. A search of the aircraft
uncovered 453 packages containing 453 kilograms of suspected cocaine along with two Global Positioning Systems, one Radio Set, three Mobile Smartphones, two Identification Cards, and the Aircraft Registration Documents. The two foreign nationals, the suspected cocaine, and the aircraft are in police custody as the investigations continue.
NANDLALL OPENS $177M BARTICA MAGISTRATE’S COURT
Caption: Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Hon. Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC and Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette Cummings- Edwards commissioning the Bartica Magistrate’s Court
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC on Thursday opened a $177 million Magistrate’s Court, in Bartica, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). The modern facility is equipped with devices that will allow cases to be heard without prisoners having to travel to the court. The Attorney General described the opening as a tremendous
achievement and a demonstration of the transformation taking place in the country. “In every society in which there is economic development, social progress, and prosperity, you have a judicial system that is functioning, that is efficient, that is considered to be impartial and that enjoys the public confidence of that society. We cannot get progress without that,”
the Attorney General said. The Attorney General said Government is committed to working with the judiciary to ensure citizens are provided with a quality justice system. Minister Nandlall reminded those in attendance that the court is where all disputes must be resolved. “No society has ever progressed where the people feel that they do not have access to
justice. The right to Medi-care, the right to free speech, the right to movement, the right to property–all of them are subject to the right to justice because if you do not have access to justice, then you cannot vindicate, you cannot protect, you cannot defend those rights,” the AG said. Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Yonette CummingsEdwards said the region will have its first
2
resident magistrate, which will allow court sessions five days per week. Previously, the court was held in the region just three days a week since 2009. “A court in a district really is the people’s court. This court is your court, members of this community. We ask that you care it, we ask that you come to court to have your disputes resolved, do not take justice in your own hands and this court
will make justice the measuring line. “It will ensure that justice is served and that at the end of the day, you as members in this community, would be satisfied not on that justice was served, but justice must appear also to have been served,” the Chancellor said. The fully furnished facility has a court office, a lock-up, a domestic violence office, and living quarters. The Chancellor said the government has committed to establishing similar courts in Timehri and Friendship on the East Bank Demerara. Regional Chairman, Mr. Kenneth Williams and Mayor of Bartica, Gifford Marshall also addressed the opening. Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George chaired the ceremony.
Saturday May 22, 2021
GRA EMPLOYEES AMONG FOUR MORE CHARGED WITH FORGED CHEQUES As the police continue to probe the encashing of several bogus cheques purported to emanate from the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), four new defendants, including two clerks of the GRA were charged for the offence of fraud. The four appeared before City Magistrate Leron Daly and were not required to plead to the charge of conspiring with each other to forge $19.4M worth in cheques in the name of the state agency. Those charged, 38-year-old, Randi
Gladstone; 26-yearold, Leroy Green, an Accountant of William Street, Kitty; 26-yearold, Ivor Dowridge, of Second Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara; and 25-year-old, Tooqwan Clarke, of West Ruimveldt, Georgetown. Dowridge and Clarke are both employees of GRA. The group was charged for conspiracy to commit a charge. It is alleged that Gladstone, between October 28, 2020, and May 11, 2021, conspired with Green, Dowridge, Clarke, Romeschand
38-year-old, Randi Gladstone
26-year-old, Leroy Green
26-year-old, Ivor Dowridge
25-year-old, Tooqwan Clarke
Singh, Komalram Persaud, Devindra Moteeram, Anush Khan, Shareesa Tappin, and others to forge two Bank of Guyana cheques, to purport that these were issued by the GRA Internal Revenue Department. One was dated April 9, 2021, and was made out to the value
of $9,550,000, while the other was dated April 20, 2021, and was made out to the value of $9,875,000. Green, Dowridge and Clarke, were each released on $600,000 bail each while Prosecutor Richard Harris objected to Gladstone’s bail since he had a similar matter before the court.
This was said to have been committed by the Ministry of Business. The Magistrate remanded Gladstone to prison and adjourned the matter until July 2. On Tuesday, Singh, Persaud, Moteeram, Khan, and Tappin were charged for the crime before Magistrate Daly. Singh, Persaud,
Moteeram, and Khan were released on $600,000 bail each with the condition that they report to Assistant Superintendent Caesar every other Monday until the hearing and determination of the trial. However, the Magistrate remanded Tappin to prison since she is currently serving a sentence.
Mabaruma driver crashes into electric pole Killer gets 15 years for manslaughter
The driver from the Hosororo Hill, Mabaruma, North West District is currently a patient at the local hospital after he lost control of his car and slammed into the utility pole. He sustained electric shocks. The Incident occurred just after midday Thursday on the Hosororo Stretch
Public Road, Mabaruma Region One. According to the Guyana Police Force, the driver is identified as 24-year-old, Royston Gill. Initial investigation revealed that Gill was at the time driving motorcar PPP 7069, at a fast rate of speed in a south-westerly direction along the Hosororo Stretch Public
Road. Gill lost control of the vehicle and collided with an electrical pole on the south eastern side of the road. As a result of the collision the electric pole was broken and the exposed wires were hanging. As Gill stepped out of the car he stepped onto a live wire. He was picked up in an unconscious condition and taken to the Mabaruma Regional Hospital where he was admitted a patient to the male ward suffering third-degree burns to both legs and fourth-degree burns to his neck. His condition is regarded as stable.
Alex Matthias
After spending some two years on remand for the murder of a 20-yearold man, a Good Hope resident was slapped with a 15-year jail sentence for his crime. This sentence was
handed down by Justice Navindra Singh at the Suddie Supreme Criminal Court yesterday. Alex Matthias stabbed 20-year-old Kevin Bettencourt to death on December 31, 2019, in a Pomona ball field Essequibo Coast, Region Two. That sentence came after Matthias opted to not waste the court’s time and pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of Manslaughter. According to reports, Betancourt was on the day in question visiting his Pomona residence to collect his sneakers from a friend there. Instead of meeting his friend, Betancourt came
across Matthias who assumed that Betancourt was there for trouble. Matthias whipped out a knife and dealt him one stab to the left side chest, and cuts to the neck. Matthias of Good Hope was part of a trio along Arnold Kennedy of Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, and Mark Rafino of Good Intent, West Bank Demerara, who escaped the Lusignan Prison back in October 2020. Matthias and Kennedy were both recaptured a few days later on the Zeelugt Public Road, East Bank Essequibo. However, Mark Rafino remains on the run.
GNBS verifies breathalysers for Guyana Police Force, other stakeholders
The Legal Metrology Department of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has finally built the capacity to conduct the verification of breathalyzers used by the Guyana Police
Force, other companies, and organisations. As the institution responsible for measurements in Guyana, the GNBS has long been sought after by these stakeholders to build
capacity to provide this verification service. As a result, the Bureau recently procured a Breathalyzer Test Bench, which is capable of verifying a wide range of breathalyzers. Additionally, Inspectors were trained to provide the verification service by the supplier of the equipment and by the Measurement Institute of Argentina (INTI). Breathalyzers would require regular verification
to ensure accuracy is maintained. On average, the verification process will take about two hours and a verification certificate would be provided to stakeholders for each piece of equipment verified. The cost of verification is very affordable. Currently, for an introductory period of three months, the cost of verification is reduced by 25 percent. Stakeholders are encouraged to take
3
advantage of this offer. With the introduction of this new service by the GNBS, the Guyana Police Force would be one of the key beneficiaries. Once a verified instrument is correctly used by the GPF in its enforcement processes, the credibility of the test results would be established. These results will now be able to stand up in a court of law during the prosecution of offenders.
Just recently, the GNBS conducted training on the use of breathalyzers and speed guns for a large number of Traffic Ranks across the country. During these sessions, ranks expressed concern about the need have these devices verified. The GNBS has already procured the necessary equipment to conduct the verification of Speed guns. This service will be rolled out early in the second half of this year.
Friday May 21, 2021
In an effort to clamp down on a racket of stolen vehicles, Police in the Berbice Area has made an arrest of the main suspect while recovering a number of stolen cars yesterday. In a statement, the Guyana
POLICE SMASH CAR THEFT RING
Police Force noted that a party of police ranks headed by an Assistant Superintendent of Police conducted an operation in the Berbice area and unearthed from an area four
suspected stolen vehicles. Those vehicles were later taken to the Rose Hall Outpost pending an investigation. The police reported that the said raid was conducted in the New Market Street, where a white Fielder wagon bearing registration number PVV 6272, and a silver-grey Premio bearing registration number PRR 3989 were found Further checks in Rose Hall, Corentyne, Berbice found more cars, is a silver-grey Premio PTT 9316 and a Fielder
wagon PTT 7651. A search was also conducted at the home of a female nurse of Rose Hall, Corentyne, and in the lower flat, a quantity of car-related documents was found. These were taken to the Rose Hall Outpost and lodged, pending investigation. A search was also conducted at the home of a 75-year-old pensioner of Rose Hall, Corentyne in the upper flat but nothing was found. During the search, a named suspect was detained and is presently in hospital under guard.
BULLYING AND DISCRIMINATING ARE HALLMARKS OF SOME PEOPLE
ADAM’s Notebook The world is full of examples of the strong and powerful taking advantage of the weak. Bullying is a classic example of the powerful subduing the weak. More often than not the bully or the perceived strong and powerful may pick on a person who, though possessing the ability to retaliate, would often shrug and try to move on. While this may work sometimes, for the greater part, bullies being less educated than the average person who would reason or who would let better judgment prevail continues the attack. The past week saw a continuation of the perceived strong and powerful using the seat of power to bring an ordinary person to his knees or at worse, demean him in the eyes of the wider society. This is the case of Brian Tiwarie, a self-made businessman, who climbed the ladder of entrepreneurship and expanded his operations. He set up a number of diverse companies.
info@guyanapostonline.com
There is the story of the moth and the flame. The moth saw the flame and thought that it looked beautiful. Sadly, it got too close and got burnt. Some people flirted with the flame but decided that it was too dangerous and moved on. But the flame can be unforgiving. There are many people who have found an unforgiving political situation. Most of them worked with a previous administration, some as far back as forty years. These people remained unforgiving and moved to destroy them. The cases of the public servants who were dismissed these past few months are just one example. The placing of other public servants before the courts, even though the charge may fall through is another. The bottom line is that these people charged would have to find money that could have been used in other areas to satisfy legal costs. Soon after acceding to the seat of government, there were people who turned their attention to
Tiwarie. They attacked his ownership of the property; they revoked contracts granted under the previous administration; they threatened to shut Tiwarie out of future contracts. This threat was mouthed by Minister Deodat Indar. He said that he was going to write to the Central Tender Board to have the body refuse to accept tenders submitted by BK International. Indar does not end there. He goes to the press with a statement that Tiwarie is removing sand from Number 63 Beach on the Corentyne. Banks DIH and Demerara Distillers Limited produce a brew that does strange things to some people. If one imbibes too much one could become disoriented. Many people have lost track of time. Some went home but could remember how they did. Indar went to Number 59 Village where he saw a pit resulting from reef sand extraction by BK International. He stood at the location and
announced that he was at Number 63 Village. This must have been the result of the brew produced by Banks DIH and DDL. Indar must have been disoriented not to know where he was. His outburst continued the attempt to bully Tiwarie. He actually said that he would have Tiwarie return the sand to the location, something that he has no power to do. Such was his intention that he got favourable news outlets to publish his utterings on the front page of their newspapers. Despite all the attempts to correct him, Indar simply refuses to change his position. In
4
fact, confronted with his mistake he opted to remain silent. And rest assured, there will be no apology to Tiwarie for the embarrassment. And no sooner had the Number 63 Village accusation ended than another surfaced. One of Indar’s followers published another statement designed to accuse Tiwarie of something of which he knows nothing. The accusation is that Tiwarie owns Village Voice, a nascent newspaper that is published online and in hard copy. The writer of the social media post states that Tiwarie is behind the paper and
that Adam Harris is one of the principals. Perhaps the brew that Indar drinks are shared among his followers . It clouds their vision and removes their short-term memory. The man behind Village Voice moved to the courts and secured a writ against the publishers of the newspaper. He named every operative and how much money they were paid. None of the names was Brian Tiwarie and none was Adam Harris. But that information seemed not to make its way into the heads of those who are bent on attacking Tiwarie and slandering him.
Vaccine refusal is as dangerous a pandemic as COVID-19
By Sir Ronald Sanders (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College at the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own) Vaccine refusal is fast becoming as dangerous to human health and to economies as the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, even before the novel coronavirus was confirmed and began its spread around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that vaccine refusals had led to a resurgence of diseases such as measles in countries that were close to eliminating them. The WHO identified vaccine refusal as one of the 10 leading threats to global health. At
that time, complacency, inconvenience in access, and a lack of confidence were said to be the driving factors for people’s refusal to inoculate against disease. Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem has become worse and so widespread that a comprehensive approach by all governments and non-governmental organizations, globally, is now necessary to overcome it. Promoted on social media platforms by farright organisations and church groups in the U.S., the anti-vaccine propaganda has spread like wildfire, convincing persons at all levels of societies that they would either die from an inoculation or some harmful material would be injected into their bodies. Religious groups in the Caribbean, influenced by fundamentalist U.S. churches, also encourage
their followers not to vaccinate. Research done by the New York Times reported, on April 5, that “among evangelicals in the U.S., Pentecostal and charismatic Christians may be particularly wary of the vaccine, in part because their tradition historically emphasizes divine health and miraculous healing in ways that can rival traditional medicine”. Charismatic churches also attract followers in the Caribbean. The most popular social media platforms used by anti-vaxxers are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram which have all committed to banning anti-vaccine content. But, accounts on these platforms turn up as quickly as they are taken down. In turn, the propaganda, which includes fabricated videos purporting to show actual events, is communicated tens of thousands of times around the world on
WhatsApp. Governments and social media platforms, such as those named in this commentary, as well as organizations such as the WHO and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), must gather specialists together to find ways to counter the antivaccination propaganda campaigns and to strengthen educational progammes showing the benefit of vaccines. PAHO has started using Facebook to educate about the benefits of vaccines, but more effective communications techniques should be used, including dropping huge images of syringes and needles, that may be reinforcing reticence to inoculate. Groups of persons in many parts of the world, who decline to take the COVID-19 vaccine, now pose a risk to themselves and the people with whom they come into contact, especially their families. They also pose a risk to the opening-up of the economies of their countries. Data, gathered worldwide, shows that the claims of the anti-vaxxers, concerning detrimental effects of the vaccine, are wrong. Figures confirm that the COVID-19 vaccine prevents severe infection and deaths at astounding rates. Studies show that
in Israel for instance, vaccines prevented hospitalization among adults 65 and older by 94%. They also prevented symptomatic infection among healthcare workers by 97% and blocked severe disease by 97.4% in Qatar. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an Infectious-Diseases Specialist, and Professor of Medicine at The University of California at San Francisco, reports that serious infections among vaccinated individuals are extremely rare. She points out that “of over 115 million vaccinated Americans, only 0.0009% contracted severe COVID-19 after vaccination despite the virus continuing to circulate in their communities. As she concluded: “Vaccines truly defang the virus”. In the U.S. and Britain where (at the time of writing on 20 May) 48.09% and 55.49% of the populations have been vaccinated, data shows that vaccines also block transmission. People, who have been inoculated against the coronavirus, are rightly concerned that, despite their responsible action in taking the vaccine, irresponsible persons are asserting their right to refuse it. The question that has to be asked is: whose rights are greater? Are the rights to safeguard lives and livelihood less than the right to put lives
and livelihoods at risk by refusing to be vaccinated? This is not a moral dilemma; it is a commonsense question, deserving a common-sense answer. However, no answer is being attempted as individual governments and their health authorities shy away from the question for political reasons. No ruling political party wants to risk losing electoral support to its rivals on the back of an accusation of depriving people of their rights. Yet, when that right is upheld, it threatens others and entire societies. Just as measles has returned in countries where groups of people decline to be inoculated against it, COVID-19 will not be subdued or eliminated in countries where groups of people refuse to be vaccinated. This conflict must be tackled and resolved by global agreement and action. No one country can act alone. Maybe the answer lies in an intense education programme globally constructed, financed, and implemented. The mantra that “we’re all in this together” assumes a profound global relevance for maintaining life and sustaining livelihoods. Doing nothing is not a solution. The 74th World Health Assembly being held from May 24 to June 1, is the ideal place to start.
Unnecessary hassle at CJIA Dear Editor, On April 25, 2021, I was making the midnight Jet Blue trip to NY. In the departure lounge after clearing Immigration, and preparing to be screened, I had my second most horrifying experience with the screening technician. Because of a radiationrelated cancer surgery I had in 2007, I requested
a pat-down instead of using the x-ray machine. This request was denied, I was made to parade myself four times in and out of that machine with undue care from uncouth staff. As if this was not enough, CANU continued with the most degrading search on my personal effects. I am a septuagenarian; I was never involved in
transporting any illicit stuff, and would like to know why I am being targeted when attempting to depart Guyana. I would like Mr. Ramesh Ghir and the Civil Aviation Director to note my harassment. These people need to be trained. They are an embarrassment to Guyana. Traumatized citizen.
‘Big Head’ gets 11 years jail in New York
Guyanese Businessman Shervington Lovel
Guyanese Businessman Shervington Lovell also known as “Big Head” was slapped with an 11-yearjail sentence in the US. Lovell, who is the Owner of the Tower Suites Hotel, admitted in a New York Court to conspiring with others to ship Cocaine to the Netherlands. Lovell was charged in 2018 for allegedly conspiring with others to ship more than 1,300 pounds of cocaine to The
Netherlands in a drug trafficking operation that involved laundered money from South Africa and other countries. The drugs were reportedly found in the vessel on the sea during an operation in which Lovell was being watched before as he and others made rounds to different countries in an effort to plan the shipment. Lovell while in Jamaica was arrested as he was under watch by US Agents and other local authorities
in a house in Jamaica. Lovell was later extradited back in 2018 after he was arrested with a number of other suspects by a US Anti- Drug agency during an investigation that spanned from Guyana, Jamaica, and New York. As the allegations were put to the accused, Lovell was the only one who denied the allegation and as such was set to go on trial in 2020 but opted to change his mind and later admitted to the offence.
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
6