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Wednesday Nov. 10, 2021

MORE GAS-FIRED POWER PLANTS TO DRIVE DOWN COSTS, EMISSIONS

HEALTH MINISTRY HALTS SPUTNIK V FIRST DOSE

US$32M HYATT COMING TO GUYANA

NO ELECTORAL ADVANTAGE FROM AMENDMENTS TO ELECTION LAWS -AG

DOUBLE STANDARDS IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Wedneday Nov. 10, 2021

MORE GAS-FIRED POWER PLANTS TO DRIVE DOWN COSTS, EMISSIONS

The Government is implementing a plan for a gas-to-energy project which will deliver 250 megawatts (MW) of power from a Wales gas-fired plant to the grid. This is expected to save on costs and emissions associated with power generation.

However, its natural

gas programme extends beyond the Wales operation, as it is preparing more power plants to be fueled by natural gas.

[Guyana Power and Light Inc.] GPL plans to convert 106MW of existing [heavy fuel oil] HFO capacity to dual-fuel engines (HFO/NG) by 2026,”

states the low carbon development strategy (LCDS) 2030 draft.

This adds to new reciprocating 46 MW dual fuel (HFO/ NG) engines which were added to the grid in 2021, located at Garden of Eden on the East Bank of Demerara.

The dual-fueled

engines will build on Guyana’s firm capacity, adding to the gas-to-energy infrastructure.

“The government is currently undertaking the detailed studies and the financing structuring of the [gasto-energy] project,” LCDS 2030 states.

“It is anticipated

that a 250 MW gasfired power plant will be constructed and in operation in 2024.”

For the Wales operation, investments are needed into the pipeline to transport the gas from the Liza field, a processing plant to separate the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and the Natural Gas, and a gas-fired power plant.

The total capacity to generate electricity with natural gas from all of the plants will be 403MW. M u l t i p l e g o v e r n m e n t commissioned studies have confirmed that utilising natural gas would reduce the cost of power generation.

The studies have also confirmed that

substituting HFOs for natural gas will significantly reduce emissions.

LCDS 2030 states that the implementation of this plan would reduce, by half, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with electricity generation.

While natural gas would provide all of these benefits, it will only serve Guyana in the short term, while the country develops the capacity for renewable energy options.

In the meantime, the government and the private sector will explore options for solar power, hydropower, wind power, and biomass technologies.

Health Ministry halts Sputnik V first dose

In order to ensure that those who were administered the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine do get their second dose, the Ministry of Health has made a decision to halt administering the vaccines.

This comes at that time when Guyana in the past found itself with thousands of citizens waiting for their second dose of the vaccine due to the unavailability of the vaccine on the market.

The shortage was suspected to be because of the alleged relationship with a member of the United Arab Emirates ruling family, Sheik Ahmad Dalmook Maktoum, and his associate, Umar Farooq Zahoor. An international media investigation tied the two men to an alleged vaccine scandal targeting poorer countries.

Through this agreement, Guyana

purchased the vaccine at more than US$22 per dose when the actual price then was US$10. At the time some $1 Billion (US$5M) was already spent in procuring the vaccines through the UAE Sheik.

Since then, the government has had to

source the drug from elsewhere and at the time, that source was hard to come by, as thousands waited.

A month has passed.

During the COVID-19 Update today, it was announced by the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, that

the Ministry has made a decision to ease the administration of the first dose of the Sputnik V Vaccines, leaving the door open for the only second dose of the other vaccines.

“We are easing off on the first dose of Sputnik V but we have

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enough second dose for everybody and with the shipment that we got last week that was primarily the second dose. That is to ensure that everyone who received the first, will get their second,” Minister Anthony noted.

Dr. Anthony said that the program

of vaccination will continue, as they are other vaccines available.

“In terms of Pfizer we have opened that up from 12 years and older and a person can come forwards and get that vaccine as well. We have an adequate amount of the vaccine in stock.

We also have J and J vaccines in stock.

“So, we have a wide array of vaccines and people have a choice.

Now they can come and get whichever one they want,” Dr. Anthony insisted.

With the halting of the administering of the Sputnik vaccine, for now, it remains unclear whether the Government will ever use the vaccine again knowing what has transpired.

But, as the fight goes, the Ministry of Health is seeking to have herd immunity by the end of the year; with some 80% of the adult population fully vaccinated.

Wednesday Nov. 10, 2021

US$32M Hyatt coming to Guyana

Guyana is set to become part of the Hyatt Hotel family with a four-star hotel. The hotel is estimated to cost around US$32.2m. It will be constructed in the Providence area.

The project is said to be owned by SIR Investments Inc.

Guyana, which is a subsidiary of Universal Investments Limited, a company registered in 1976 in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

Universal Investments Limited is owned by the Ahamad family and is an investment holding company with

subsidiaries in the automotive, financial, and real estate sectors in Trinidad.

UIL’s main operating subsidiaries are Southern Sales and Service Company Limited which is the local dealer for the Audi, Kia, Mazda, and Isuzu Brands, and

Caribbean Finance Company Limited, a prominent finance company in Trinidad.

Through investments in Guardian Holdings Ltd and Agostini’s Limited, the company also has a presence in the insurance, retail and pharmaceutical sectors

in Trinidad and Tobago.

With a timeframe of 36 months to be completed, the hotel will feature 125 rooms, targeting the needs of Guyana’s middle to upper-class corporate clientele and value-conscious business and leisure travelers.

Amenities include

different guest rooms options, disability outfitted rooms, restaurant and bar, meeting rooms, social lounge, fitness center, pools, internet and communication links, room service and guest laundry, and spacious parking spaces.

The property will sit on a five-acre parcel of land situated at Parcel 2441 Block III, East Bank Demerara, Georgetown.

Hyatt will accompany several well-established businesses in the area mainly the Massy Stores, Amazon Mall, and the Princess Hotel among others.

It is anticipated that this project will create significant local content by employing Guyanese nationals.

During construction 250 to 300 persons of whom and 95% are expected to be Guyanese nationals.

When completed some 70 to 80 permanent jobs with several part-time roles and jobs will be available. Again, 90% of these are expected to be Guyanese Nationals.

No electoral advantage from amendments to election laws -AG

Great care went into ensuring that the draft amendments to the recently published Representation of the People Act (ROPA), do not give anyone political party electoral advantage.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, info@guyanapostonline.com

during an interview with the National Communications Network on Monday, said, “These amendments are not intended, and great care and circumspection were employed to ensure that that is clear.

“They are not designed to give any political party

an electoral advantage.

I want to make that abundantly clear.”

Included in the amendment are multimillion-dollar fines and hefty jail times for election offences. One provision proposes a life sentence and a $10 million fine for the Chief Elections Officer

(CEO) for committing fraud.

Minister Nandlall explained, too, that language in the Act that appears ambiguous or unclear has been finetuned.

The amendments became necessary after the painstaking events constituting the fivemonth 2020 electoral saga. The period was characterised by multiple unlawful elections declarations, which had to be struck down by the courts, and repeated attacks on the integrity of the electoral process.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali had promised that he would ensure such attacks on Guyana’s electoral process do not recur. The amendment is one of several actions

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which will be taken by the PPP/C Government to improve Guyana’s electoral process and protect against future abuses.

Minister Nandlall warned that legislative change alone may not be enough to fend off attempts at electoral malfeasance, given how some provisions were deliberately misrepresented during the 2020 elections.

“Whatever weaknesses were in the law; they were exploited to their hilt. Wherever there was discretion, it was abused. Wherever there was latitude, interpretive latitude, it was vulgarised.

Wherever there was an opportunity to bend the law, to the repulsive end, it was exploited.”

The issue, Nandlall said, has demonstrated that it could make or break Guyana and that every citizen should want to have a say in this aspect of their future.

The minister encouraged the public to take an interest in the amendments in the period leading up to the document’s introduction to the National Assembly because the issues concerned are of national significance.

Friday Oct. 15, Wednesday Nov.2021 3, 2021

DOUBLE STANDARDS IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Adam’s notebook

There is a lot of talk about electoral reform.

There are proposals that make for interesting reading. One proposal is that there must be jail time and hefty fines for anyone attempting to railroad the electoral process.

This is a most interesting proposal. It appears to stem from what the People’s Progressive Party said happened in the wake of the 2020 elections. The offshoot is that a number of the staff of the Guyana Elections Commission are before the courts on numerous charges.

Some of these charges contend that these people conducted themselves to warrant charges of malfeasance in public office. These charges began as private criminal charges. Then they

became charges brought by the state.

The Director of Public Prosecutions stepped in when those bringing the private criminal charges failed to provide the evidence to support the charges. Needless to say, when these people appeared in court on the private criminal charges they were placed on substantial bail. Some of them were detained and placed in the lockups.

The principle of innocent until proven guilty was thrown out the window. Clairmont Mingo, a senior citizen, was locked up for days.

It was the same with Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers.

The DPP stepped in with the same charges and these people were required to post bail.

They were answering to

the same charges twice.

Somebody must have come to the realization that these people were facing the same charges twice. The DPP later withdrew the private criminal charges.

As things stand, there are reports of boxes of evidence purporting to be represented by Statements of Poll and Statements of Recount.

There was also an interesting aspect of the charges. They were all indictable and therefore should attract the attention of the High Court.

Then came a move to have the matters tried summarily—to be determined by a magistrate.

Roxanne Myers insisted and won the right to an indictable trial. Some people were not happy. I have not heard about the decision being challenged by way of an appeal.

At the rate things are going, only heaven knows when the trials would begin. Surely, for such an important matter

the courts could move faster. The nation waits.

Meanwhile, those charged remain outof-pocket. Combined, they have had to lodge millions of dollars as bail. One can imagine being unemployed, in need of an income and having a sizeable portion of what they could be spending being tied up in court interminably.

What is interesting about matters going before the court is the extent of the investigation by the police and the requisite action. A number of people await the completion of the investigation by the police.

There was the case of the Region Nine official who shot a woman. He was never charged.

There were reports of police ranks approaching the woman as intermediaries. That is now a dead issue. The other issue involved the shooting to death of Essequibo businessman, Orin Boston. The police were said to be looking

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for illegal weapons and other substances.

They reportedly kicked in his door and killed him. The initial report was that Boston reached for a weapon although none was found.

The police claimed that the matter is one for the Police Complaints Authority. Two months have passed and there is no further word on the investigation. Is the policeman still under close arrest?

A third incident involves a woman who was the Permanent Secretary in the Amerindian Affairs Ministry. That matter, according to reports, has been sent to the DPP. There has been no further word after more than a month.

The signal is that charges are not mandatory if one is closely affiliated to the ruling party.

Now there is another proposal. From the time Guyana adopted the electoral system of Proportional Representation Region Four has always been a stronghold of the People’s National Congress. This proposal seeks to have Region Four broken up into two voting blocks.

I have seen talk about the PPP seeking to gerrymander the boundaries of Region Four to highlight those areas controlled by the PPP. If the system of Proportional Representation remains, then the total votes would not be changed.

What may change is the number of regional seats. This would have an impact on the number

of seats coming from the National Congress of Local Democratic Organs and consequently the number of seats to the PPP in the National Assembly.

If a simple majority in the National Assembly is needed for this alignment of the boundaries in Region Four, then the PPP would have its way.

These are interesting times. It goes to show that the PPP is planning ahead to consolidate its hold on government.

So far, there is what is said to be a case of having these proposals go to all parties. Then the ruling party would accept those of the recommendations that come from those consulted.

I am not au fait with the laws governing shifting the electoral boundaries.

I know that it was done in Trinidad. Perhaps Guyana is bent on going in that direction.

Whoever is the Chief Elections Officer would present the results. I still remember a former Chief Elections Officer, Gocool Boodoo, doing just that and when challenged advised the challenger to go by way of an election petition.

Until then, his decision stands.

He is once more vying to become the Chief Elections Officer. He was removed by a vote in the Guyana Elections Commission with the then Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, casting the deciding vote. Soon after, as a sign of his neutrality, he was employed by Office of the President during the Donald Ramotar presidency.

continued from pg3

Wednesday Nov. 3, 2021

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