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Tuesday Nov. 2, 2021

ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

MAYOR UBRAJ NARINE REJECTS MALICIOUS STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

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GUYANA, CARICOM GO TO

GUYANA MOVES TO KICK START TOURISM

CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT WITH UNIFIED FRONT

Tuesday Nov. 2, 2021

MAYOR UBRAJ NARINE REJECTS MALICIOUS STATEMENTS

BY THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Mayor Ubraj Narine today dismissed statements in the print media that suggested that the Council was disposing of assets by sale. The Mayor said that while he has always indicated that he will work with any central Government organization he has a challenge with the current approach by the Ministry of Local Government.

This Ministry seems determined to attack and undermine the work of the elected Council, the Mayor

said.

Mayor Narine said that he was tired of the Minister of Local Government hiding behind releases or “leaks” to the press. He challenged him to produce the evidence of the sale of any property by the Council.

He said that should this evidence be presented he will resign immediately as Mayor of the City of Georgetown.

Mayor Narine said that the Municipal Laws are clear on the

powers of the Council.

The Minister has a role in the process of the sale of properties and assets of the Council but not in leasing, he added.

Sec 239: A council may let any land which it may possess.

Sec 240. A Council may, with the approval of the Minister – (a) sell, at the best price that can be obtained, any land which it may possess, and which is not required for the purpose for which it was being used. (b)exchange any

land which it may possess for any other land either or without paying or receiving any money for equality of exchange.

It is the Council that approves or disapproves of leases following a process and based on its policy which is followed by all applicants for the use of land or property of the Council.

Sec 320 states: All undivided lands in every council area, except private lands held in joint ownership or ownership in common, shall be under the control and management of the council Sec 321. (1) A council may let to any person by monthly or yearly tenancy or for a term of years, and at such rent, as may be determined by the council any undivided lands, not being dams, under the control and management of the council.

Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore also expressed his frustration with the

statements leveled against the Council.

He questioned the motive of the recently published “warnings” to the Council.

He said that the Council was never apprised of any issue which may arise from any lease or applicant.

Instead, the Council is bombarded by letters in the print media.

He added that the administration of the Council is involved in the execution process and as such the Minister has already attempted to infiltrate some elements to effect his micromanagement tendencies in the Administration.

The Deputy Mayor expressed his intention to engage the Head of State on the matter.

This cannot be the official position of the Central Government to engage in such vile attacks against an institution that is cash strapped as a result of the non-payment of taxes by some state entities and the adversarial position of the Ministry of

GUYANA MOVES TO KICK START TOURISM

With the setback of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Guyana Tourism Experience is expected to be in the spotlight for this month, which is deemed Tourism Month.

The Ministry of Tourism and its stakeholders are pushing to revitalize the tourism industry.

The month’s activities

were launched at the Bimichi- Eco Lodge at St Cuthbert’s Mission, Region Four, on Monday.

Under the theme; Preparing For A New FrontierStimulating Innovation Within The Tourism Sector, the Ministry of Tourism is set to work along with tourism stakeholders in the industry to put Guyana’s

tourism products back on the market.

During November those willing to experience Guyana’s Tourism Product are expected to be enticed by 27 activities which include the Moraikobai 4×4 Safari, Guyana Restaurant Week, the launch of several Eco-Lodges, a Tourism Website and an APP to

track the experience, Virtual Tourism Expo, and a Tourism Awards Ceremony.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, said that Guyana Tourism Product is one product that was directly impacted after all businesses had to be shut down.

There was a loss of income for communities and families were also affected.

Minister Walrond said there is the need to revitalize the industry which remains an untapped beauty that sits in Guyana, waiting to the explored.

“The theme comes in the context of the global

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tourism industry which has begun to emerge from the devastation brought on by the COVID-19.

International Travel has resumed with the requisite protocol and many hotels are reporting occupancy.

“However, the harsh reality is that we continue to battle this dreaded coronavirus and its attendant challenges.

We, therefore, are still very much in uncharted territories, but the tourism sector must continue to rebound.

“Many individuals, families, businesses, and communities are dependent on the sector and the Government of Guyana will continue to do all that is possible to ensure the re-emergence

Local Government and Regional Development.

He also indicated his intention to resign from his post as Deputy Mayor should any evidence of the sale of the Council’s assets be presented.

The Deputy Mayor objected to the smear and slander attempts by the Minister who is seeking to insert himself into the work of the Council.

Mayor Narine and Deputy Mayor Mentore both reiterated their willingness to meet with the Minister should a meeting be called to address any issue.

They said that they are willing to work together to ensure that the citizens of Georgetown benefit from improved services and equitable development.

Mayor Ubraj Narine and Deputy Mayor also indicated that as the Council works to improve its service to the citizens it has launched a website.

of the industry,” Minister Walrond The Ministry added that this as such called for innovation on how the service is delivered and move on.

“We cannot advance strategies and approaches as policymakers and stakeholders. We must now refine our tourism offerings to cater to what will be the new norm and expectation of the postcovid 21st century.

“We have to therefore embark on a series of strategic initiatives aimed at transforming our tourism.”

She said the Government has already gone into having those initiatives either already started or in the pipeline.

JAGDEO LOOKS FOR PEOPLE FROM AFAR TO WORK IN GUYANA

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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 info@guyanapostonline.com

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 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

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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.

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.

Tuesday Nov. 2, 2021

GUYANA, CARICOM GO TO CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT WITH UNIFIED FRONT

As the date moves closer towards the Conference of the Parties(COP) 26 on Climate Change, Guyana is expected to go to the conference with a united front, consisting of developing nations in an effort of developed nations

to honor their obligations to the Paris Agreement.

This United Front was announced by the Head of State, President, Mohammed Irfaan Ali during a press conference, where it was noted that CARICOM, CELAC,

and the AOSIS are expected to stand together at the summit, as the fight continues towards climate change.

“Almost all the leaders are going to represent their interest, but in CARICOM we have

had many meetings on coordinating our efforts. We are working with CARICOM, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) we are working with (CELAC) Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States on joint position and Coordination.

“That is why the peer discussion and bilateral meetings were so important. So, we are coordinating even with the Maldives” President Ali noted.

The Paris Agreement sets out a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. It also aims to strengthen countries’

ability to deal with the impacts of climate change and support them in their efforts.

The Paris Agreement is the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate change agreement, adopted at the Paris climate conference (COP21) in December 2015 and some 190 countries, including Guyana, have signed on to it.

However, over time countries have complained that the developed nations who pose a serious factor to climate change have not honored those obligations.

One such obligation is to the pledge of $100 billion today’s fighting climate change, in which Guyana and others have not seen.

“At the Alliance for Small Island States Summit, I called for a

renewed global focus in the fight against climate change to meet the goals of the Paris agreement.

“Now many will say that it is a broken record calling for the developing world to meet their commitment in terms of the $100 Billion pledge and that we have been overworked and we are getting nowhere with that message.

“We can compare with the democracy message; democracy is important; we have to keep talking about democracy where it does not exist but it’s not overworked.

“We can’t talk about new commitments on client’s issues and climate change when we are not honoring the existing commitment of $100 billion,” Ali further noted.

Double murder accused jailed Pedal cyclist killed on Vryheid’s for three years on escape charge Lust public road

Double murder accused, 24-year-old, Kapil Gangadin, was slapped with a threeyear jail sentence after he admitted to escaping from the Lusignan prison while in quarantine for COVID-19.

The Annandale resident was charged for the stabbing death of 20-year-old Ganesh ‘Chris’ Persaud on October 15, 2021, and for the January 18, 2020 murder of 24-year-old fisherman, Mukesh Mangra, known as ‘Paul’. He was remanded

to prison on those charges.

While on remand, Gangadin was in the quarantine facility of the prison when on October 28 he made his escape after tampering with the locks.

He then scaled a nearby fence and escaped through the thick vegetation in the area. Subsequently, a wanted bulletin was issued and due to information provided to the police, he was caught in a bus the following day.

The bus was reportedly stopped at Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara (WBD) when it was caught in a police road block. It was proceeding to Parika, East Bank Essequibo.

Gangadin appeared at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Fabayo Azore, on Tuesday, to answer to the charge of Escape From Lawful Custody.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

A rush to catch a traffic light on the Vryheid’s Lust Public Road, East Coast Demerara, has resulted in the death of a Better Hope, Pedal Cyclist who was waiting at the side trying to cross the road.

The dead cyclist has been identified as 27-yearold, Ramesh Jaikaram, of Thyman Street, Better Hope North, ECD. The incident occurred last night just around 22:00 hours.

It was reported that a motorcar, PAB 1884 which was driven

by Jermin Ross was proceeding west along the northern side of Vryheid’s Lust Public Road at about 70 km. The traffic light

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was showing green in his path.

Ross claimed that while going through the flow of traffic crossing with the light, he saw a pedal cyclist standing on the median waiting to cross.

He said that as he was about to pass Jaikaram the cyclist rode into the front of the car.

Ross further explained that he swerved south to avoid an impact but despite his efforts the right side rear of the motor car hit Jaikaram.

Jaikaram fell on the roadway and sustained injuries.

At the same time, PYY 82 driven by 22-year-old, Jonathan Rasulbaksh, was

proceeding behind Ross’s motorcar Ross in the southern driving lane of the said road when he saw Ross’s motorcar swerve south and collide with Jaikaram.

He said that he swerved south to avoid hitting the said car and pedal cyclist.

The injured Jaikaram was picked up and conveyed to the GPHC where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A breathalyzer test was carried out on both drivers, which gave a reading and printout of 0.00% respectively. Both of them were placed in custody pending investigation.

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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