Guyana Post Newspaper

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Monday Nov. 1, 2021

ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

PFIZER VACCINE NOW AVAILABLE TO ALL GUYANESE

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GTT TO REDUCE BACKLOG OF LANDLINE APPLICATIONS IN BARTICA-COMPANY CONNECTS OVER 20 RESIDENTS & SCHOOLS OVER WEEKEND

NO EXEMPTION FOR PERSONS WITHOUT COVID-19 VACCINE SECOND DOSE – HEALTH

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ERC COMMITTED TO REFORM BASED ON DIALOGUE

Monday Nov. 1, 2021

PFIZER VACCINE NOW AVAILABLE TO ALL GUYANESE

The US-made Pfizer vaccine is now available to all members of the public, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, MP

announced Monday.

During his COVID-19 update, the health minister said the vaccine is now available to anyone,

age 12 years and older in Guyana. Before the announcement, the vaccine was only available to adolescents, pregnant

and breastfeeding women.

“As of this week, we are going to open up the use of Pfizer to anyone who would like to get the Pfizer vaccine.”

Minister Anthony said many persons have been asking when the vaccine would be available to the general population and now that the time has come, he hopes the rest of the unvaccinated population would come forward and take the jab.

Meanwhile, he noted that Guyana is already making preparations for the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine to children 5-11 years.

“We have started

some amount of training of our staff because this particular age group requires a vaccine that is 1/3 of the current dose that we are giving. We have started that training, we are expecting that during this week, we will complete that training,” Dr. Anthony said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already greenlighted the emergency use of the vaccine in that category of children. However, the vaccine must also gain the approval of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), before it can start being administered.

Minister Anthony assured that as soon as the US CDC paves the way for the use of the vaccine in children 5-11 years, the local Government Analyst Food and Drug Department will approve its usage in Guyana.

So far in the trial, the immune response of the Pfizer vaccine in children 5-11 years is comparable to persons 12 to 25 years.

Minister Anthony is once again appealing to adults to take the Covid vaccine and also to grant approval for their children to be protected against the virus.

NO EXEMPTION FOR PERSONS WITHOUT ERC COMMITTED TO COVID-19 VACCINE SECOND DOSE – HEALTH REFORM BASED ON MINISTER

DIALOGUE

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, said there will be no exception for persons awaiting their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to enter public buildings as there is no shortage of vaccines in Guyana.

In the latest COVID-19 emergency measures covering November, only fully vaccinated persons will be allowed to enter public buildings.

If someone is not fully vaccinated and wishes to enter a public building, he or she must make an appointment and present a negative molecular biological test result taken within seven days of the appointment.

The policy states that a person is only considered fully vaccinated 14 days after receiving the second dose of a COVID vaccine.

With this new measure, persons who took one dose and are awaiting their second dose will be barred from entering a public building without an appointment and have negative test results.

Minister Anthony noted that there is no shortage of vaccines in Guyana and persons are free to visit any of the Ministry of Health’s vaccination sites and get protection from the COVID virus.

I think people had a long time to get

themselves in order and what we have noticed from the data that a lot of people came, they took the first dose, and they didn’t come back for a second dose. And a lot of time has elapsed between the first and second doses.

If you only have one dose of the vaccine, it’s not going to be adequate to get full protection and that is why this measure is necessary so that people get both doses of a two-dose vaccine.”

While some persons are still skeptical of taking the vaccine, 382,177 adults have taken the first dose and 244,322 of that number have taken the second

dose. This means 47.6 percent of the adult population in Guyana are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, 52 persons who tested positive for COVID are currently hospitalized.

Thirty-three are at the Infectious Disease Hospital with 13 of them in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

As such, persons are being encouraged to take the vaccine that will not prevent contracting the virus, but will prevent an individual from contracting the severe form of the disease which oftentimes leads to death.

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The Electoral Reform Group (ERG) reiterates its commitment to a process of electoral reform that is based on national dialogue, with civil society playing a substantive role.

We noted the announcement in May this year of a project to strengthen the capacities of GECOM and the Attorney General Chambers. At that time, the Attorney General, given its vital importance to the maintenance of good governance, public order, and national development.

He stressed that time was of the essence.

Against this

background, ERG wrote to the Attorney General and the Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs on September 6, and September 30, respectively, requesting an update on the progress and proposed timelines for completion of the project.

The group also requested information on the Government’s electoral reform plans, including the review of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA) and proposed timelines for completing the reform plans. No response has continued pg4

Monday Nov. 1, 2021

JAGDEO LOOKS FOR PEOPLE FROM AFAR TO WORK IN GUYANA

Adam’s

note book

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that Guyana will have to import labour. He has not specified the reason except to suggest that Guyana does not have enough people to satisfy the job market.

Many years ago, in fact, more than 40 years ago, the then Minister of Economic Development, the late Dr Kenneth King, had uttered a similar statement. His comments stemmed from the fact that the hydroelectric plant that the then government was establishing at the time in the Upper Mazaruni was going to open up industries.

That project went belly up because the World Bank, under pressure from Venezuela, withheld funding. A lot of work and equipment had gone into the Upper Mazaruni Hydro Project but such was the Venezuelan opposition that the project was halted. It eventually died.

At the time, also, Guyana was funding the project startup from its coffers. Rice and sugar had brought in substantial foreign exchange. The government was using this windfall for national development. It goes without saying that Guyana could not fund the entire hydroelectric info@guyanapostonline.com

project from its coffers.

It funded the road.

On this occasion, Mr. Jagdeo is talking about importing labour from the Middle East. We don’t know why as yet.

Guyana has a high rate of unemployment.

The government itself rendered a number of people jobless because of perceived political differences. At the same time, current programmes and situations have people trying their utmost to bail out of Guyana.

But let us say that there are not enough people in this country to pursue the jobs that would pop up. If the saying that charity begins at home is anything to go by, then if labour is to be imported, Guyana should first look to the Caribbean.

Even more, there are thousands of migrants from neighbouring Venezuela and Brazil.

These people are coming because they see Guyana as a haven. They would jump at job offers.

Is Jagdeo saying that the migrants are not enough? At last check there were more than 50,000 Venezuelans in Guyana. And since he feels so strongly about the shortage of labour why has his government moved so harshly against the Haitians?

The Haitians are seeking a better life outside of their country.

They have skills as those who have reached the United States have demonstrated.

Already, there are people in Guyana who believe that the outreach to the Middle East is to help the PPP consolidate its hold on power. It has not made a similar outreach to Africa.

There was the same raised eyebrow when Indian nationals were constructing the Providence Stadium.

This was happening about the same time as Guyana was heading to the 2006 elections. The rules allow for people from a Commonwealth country who have been residing in this

country for more than nine months to vote at elections.

A few weeks ago, Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon said that he was on the Essequibo Coast when he found out that Robert Persaud was arranging for birth certificates to be provided to some Venezuelan migrants.

Indeed, some of the migrants are Guyanese who were born in Venezuela to Guyanese parents. So they would be speaking Spanish and have all the traits of people from the Spanishspeaking Republic.

Although they are Guyanese they cannot have Guyanese birth certificates.

They would be required to produce the necessary documentation to be granted Guyanese citizenship. There are no shortcuts unless the authorities have some nefarious intention.

They simply cannot get Guyanese birth certificates.

However, the focus should be on the labour shortage as perceived by Jagdeo.

Have these shortages been advertised so that Guyanese could attempt to fill the vacancies? And what numbers is Jagdeo talking about?

There was a time when we hired teachers from Sri Lanka because

we did not have enough.

Others had come and had recruited our teachers who were only keen to pursue greener pastures since we were not paying enough.

But this country ended up being penny wise and pound foolish.

The imported teachers were paid better than the locals and they were provided with housing.

Surely, each foreign teacher cost this country more; money that could have been paid to the locals and so keep them at home.

And while this talk about recruiting labour from the Middle East is going on, the government is not doing anything to keep the people at home informed. There are no post-Cabinet briefings to inform of what is happening.

Press conferences have become rare. And to think that David Granger was criticized for not hosting press conferences. Parliament is once again rarely meeting.

To better understand why some people believe that the institutions are under threat, just take into consideration the fact that the Public Accounts Committee, the body that examines how the government spends the public funds, has been effectively shut down.

ERC COMMITTED TO REFORM.... been forthcoming thus far.

The ERG agrees that GECOM and RoPA reforms are pressing necessities that must be carried out swiftly to make way for Local Government Elections, which were expected this year, and in preparation for the next general and regional elections.

ERG is concerned that amendments to RoPA alone, while necessary, are insufficient to address the core of Guyana’s electoral

problem.

We welcome press reports that the Government plans to circulate proposed amendments to RoPA. However, there has been no indication as to whether this process will address the electoral system.

ERG is of the view that, as minimum requirements, electoral reforms must: 1. Address the structure and composition of GECOM itself and not

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just staffing matters of GECOM’s Secretariat, or electoral offences.

2.

Incorporate substantive, effective citizen involvement in the reform process, consistent with Article 13 of the Constitution and the creation of an inclusionary democracy in Guyana, via a comprehensive national consultative process aimed at achieving a consensus reform proposal for parliamentary consideration.

Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, by way of letter, said that the clerk is stressed out and therefore cannot sit. He said that no other clerk wants to work with the Committee. What joke is this?

The clerk is a public servant. Which other public servant can report to his or her employer at this time and say that he or she would not be working because he or she is stressed?

To compound the issue, others say that they are refusing to work with the Public Accounts Committee.

Minister Oneidge WalrondAllicock actually stood in the National Assembly and said that those who were terminated when the government came into office had expressly stated that they could not work with the government.

Why is this different?

Is it because the Public Accounts Committee is chaired by the opposition? Had the government been chairing it, would the same situation have occurred? And would Gail Teixiera have remained impassive if not deaf to the happenings?

It just goes to show.

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3. Ensure that a new and improved electoral system, which increases the accountability of Parliamentarians to citizens, is used for future national elections.

The Electoral Reform Group (ERG) stands willing to participate, along with other stakeholders, and lend support to the electoral reform process.

ONE GETS THREE-YEAR JAIL TERM, CO-ACCUSED REMANDED FOR COCAINE

Three days after ranks from the Customs AntiNarcotics Unit (CANU) swooped down on the home of well-known suspected, drug trafficker Andre Gomes aka Zipper, and caught him along with another man with over four pounds of cocaine, the two appeared in court today.

Joseph was slapped with a three-year jail sentence while his coaccused was remanded to prison.

The two, 33-year-old Eon Joseph, and now 60-year-old Gomes, called

Zipper, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan today.

The two on October 26, last, at Craig Street, Campbellville, had in their possession two kilograms of cocaine.

Zipper pleaded not guilty to the charge.

However, Joseph took the rap for the bust and was slapped with a three-year jail sentence along with a $3.1 million fine.

The two were represented by Attorney at law, Stand Dhurjon.

In an application for bail for Zipper, Mr. Dhurjon said that the 60-year-old while being accused of similar crimes, was never convicted.

Attorney Dhurjon went on to note that Zipper is the only breadwinner of the family and is an outstanding member of the community It was further explained that on the day in question, Joseph went to sell Zipper the product but the 60-year-old refused. It was then that he was arrested along with Joseph.

Dhurjon said that his client never confessed to anything and had maintained his innocence.

The Prosecutor however objected to bail based that the fact that Zipper is no stranger to the court.

According to a prosecutor, on the day

in question, CANU, acting on information went to the area and saw the transaction while mounting surveillance.

The Prosecutor said Gomes while being in the process of buying the drugs was caught along with the other defendant.

However, in an explanation to the court, Joseph first said that he was very sorry for his action and only went to sell the drugs because he was told by some men that he would make a lot of money since he is currently poor.

Joseph explained that as such, he went ahead with the transaction and later was caught in a car close

to the home.

Making a decision following the guilty plea, Chief Magistrate slapped Joseph with the three-year

jail sentence, and Zipper was remanded to prison until the coming month when he will make his next court appearance.

Fire service saves Post Office after arson attack

evening and was The Guyana Fire alerted to a fire at the Service received a call Charlestown Post Office at 21:08 PM Tuesday located at High Street,

eastern wall on the ground floor and three meters of the eastern and southern walls on the top floor were damaged as a result of the fire.

A guard hut was also completely destroyed as a result of the fire.

The supposed cause is a malicious setting by a person (s) unknown.

The Guyana Fire Service is once again reminding citizens that there are harsh penalties to arson Ruimveldt Fire Station contain the fire and save attached Georgetown. attacks and once caught immediately responded the two-story wooden Water tenders 76, 105, perpetrators will face and concrete building. and 107 from the Central to the scene. the full brunt of the law.

They were able to Two meters of the Fire Station and West

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Faulty electric point causes fire scare at NIS head office

Days after the Brickdam Police Station went up in flames, National Insurance Scheme (NIS) went on high fire alert and called in the Guyana Fire Service after an overloaded loaded switch started to smoke on Monday.

operations started to change the damaged points.

Later when everything was under control, some staff operating in the affected area were told to take the rest of the day off, as power was expected to

The NIS was said to be the third fire emergency call for the day. There was another at the Guyana Post Office.

Speaking to the media after the incident, the Divisional Commander of the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), Hemchandra Persaud, said that with such high fire risk the GFS remains on high alert also.

“We have seen an increase in calls especially from (Monday). We had three calls. We would have responded to the GPO, NIS, and a bridge in Campbellville where there was a rubbish fire lit by someone.

that GFS due to the high risk has also shifted its approach due to high-level risk.

“We are going to raise the level of preparedness; we are at the drawing board right now with senior officers knowing that we had a serious fire at the Brickdam Police Station. Of course, in life, we have to go through the vicissitude of life and there are always changes that we have to adapt to.

“So, we are working as it is right now to look at our resource and to see what necessary we need, especially in this point in time, when we

According to the Guyana Fire Service, just before midday, in the Office of the General Manager, Holly Greaves, an electrical point started to smoke.

The fire service responded with three fire trucks, an ambulance, and the ranks from Guyana Police Force.

On arrival on the scene, firefighters explained that a point in the room was indeed smoking. With the aid of the policemen and women, the building was cleared of staff and others.

With smoke still emanating from the point, prompted the shutting off the power to the building, they quickly tackled the affected area and the situation was quickly brought under control.

The police also indicated that later the NIS Electrical Engineer quickly took over and

out for some time.

The police advised the NIS to check the entire power supply chain to ensure that the problem does not occur again.

The police also with safety in mind, to avoid a recurrence of the Brickdam Police Station fire a fire tender was left on standby.

“That fire was extinguished by the Campbellville units at GPO because it’s a high-rise building, it’s a Government building with lots of occupants.

We would have sent a full response so that nothing got out of control,” Mr. Persaud explained.

Mr. Persaud added

have a very hot weather and of course what is unfolding currently we have to first start thinking ahead and anticipate any eventuality.”

This comes as the President, Mohammed Irfaan Ali blasted the GFS on its preparedness for the Brickdam Police Station fire.

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Guyana to release CSEC, CAPE and NGSA results

by Oct. 15.

The Ministry of Education announced on Saturday, that the Caribbean Examination Council has chosen Guyana as the host country to ‘release’ this year’s CAPE and CSEC results on October 14, 2021. In addition, NGSA is expected to be released on October 15; with raw exam scores coming from Barbados.

The Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certification (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) were written during June -July this year. The examinations were written at a later date this year due to the effects, consequences, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean and the world.

The Ministry of Education announced on Saturday, that the Caribbean Examination Council has chosen Guyana as the host country to ‘release’ this year’s CAPE and CSEC results on October 14, 2021. These results will be available to candidates on the CXC’s online portal from October 15, 2021.

The National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) was equally affected by the pandemic and was written on August 4-5 of this year. Since 2016, CXC was contracted by the Government of Guyana to develop, administer and mark this examination/assessment annually.

This year to further

advance the transparency and integrity of the examination/assessment, CXC’s responsibilities were extended and increased to include verification of raw scores. Additionally, to conduct and manage all reviews or appeals after the results are published and further to present the data and analysis of each year’s assessment.

The Ministry of Education has been informed by CXC that the raw scores will be ready and sent from Barbados to Guyana by Tuesday, September 28, 2021, after which the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) will standardize the scores and offer placements according to the scores, and print results’ slips.

In addition, from this year: 1. NGSA candidates will NOT be penalized with their raw scores because they were older than 12 years 6 months at the end of March of the year, the examination was written.

2. The standardized scores per subject will be rounded up to the nearest whole number and the TOTAL score will be given as a decimal number thereby offering candidates more fairness.

The Education Ministry also encourages this year’s NGSA, CSEC and CAPE candidates to return all textbooks and resource materials to their respective schools.

Failure to do so may result in being unable to access results

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