GUYANA POST ONLINE NEWSPAPER

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ONLINE DAILY NEWSPAPER

Wednesday March 2, 2022

REGIONAL FOOD SECURITY, REMOVING TRADE BARRIERS HIGH ON THE AGENDA —PRESIDENT ALI

EXXONMOBIL GUYANA TESTS SPILL RESPONSE READINESS

FINANCE MINISTER CONDEMNS REPEAT OF PRE-2015 MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMAILA FALLS

SOCU HEAD SUES PAUL SLOWE FOR $70M

MOTORCYCLIST CRASHES INTO PEDESTRIAN AT AGRICOLA

Wednesday March 2, 2022

Regional food security, removing trade barriers high on the agenda—President Ali

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has highlighted several key areas for discussion at the ThirtyThird Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which opened Tuesday in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye,

Belize.

The Head of State arrived in the Central American nation this afternoon and highlighted several pressing areas of concern, including regional food security and production system, which he hopes to address.

He will present a paper on these areas. He is expected to provide an outline of the objectives by both Guyana and the Region as a whole, along with comprehensive strategies in achieving the target of reducing the Region’s food import bill by 25% by 2025.

“I look forward to a focused discussion on the implementation of the CSME, led by Prime Minister [Mia] Mottley and as part of the Agri-food system and CSME, discussions on an actionable timetable of the action and commitment

required for the removal of trade barriers that are strangling inter-regional trade, especially on food supply.”

Guyana currently holds lead responsibility for agriculture, agricultural diversification, and food security in CARICOM and is spearheading the regional body’s quest of reducing its US$5b food importation bill.

President Ali said, too, that he also looks forward to “a full discussion on the invasion of Ukraine

by Russia”.

“We must reinforce that this is a Region of peace where we respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations.”

Discussions on regional transportation, logistics and security are also important issues that President Ali expects to

be further advanced at the two-day CARICOM meeting.

“It is also my hope that as a community we will be able to set targets in some keys areas, and those targets must be timebound, implementable of which the Region must be accountable to achieving.”

This week’s meeting will take place under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister of Belize, John Antonio Briceño.

The opening ceremony began at 10.00 h (Belize Time) with remarks by CARICOM SecretaryGeneral Dr Carla Barnett; Outgoing CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne; and new CARICOM Chairman, Prime Minister Antonio Briceño.

FINANCE MINISTER CONDEMNS REPEAT OF PRE-2015 MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST AMAILA FALLS

Amaila Falls

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh has condemned what he termed the misinformation campaign targeting the Amaila Falls Hydropower Project and other major development projects.

He said that it is the same campaign that was carried out prior to 2015 and resulted in major projects being stymied while no other alternative was offered by the party which assumed office afterward.

“I want to express in the strongest possible terms my grave

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disappointment and indeed our government’s grave disappointment at the campaign of misinformation that is being waged in relation to major development projects and in particular, most recently, in relation to the Amaila Falls Hydropower project.”

The Minister said that the project was subject to extremely detailed studies and analysis by international technical experts. It was examined by international development agencies and bilateral partners such as Norway. He added that it was also examined by

international investors.

“In fact, if we were to cast our minds back to the pre-2015 period, we had brought (the project to a point where we had a major, large, credible international investor who was ready and willing to invest in this project.

“It would be recalled that the then APNU/AFC used their one-seat majority while in opposition to derail and ultimately to frustrate the project.

Had the then APNU/ AFC not done so… not only would construction have commenced but construction by now the project would have

been completed and Amaila would have been providing electricity to the National Grid,” Singh explained.

He said that what was particularly significant was that the then Government upon assuming office in 2015, commissioned a study to be done by an international consultancy entity, Norwegian Consultancy Agency, (Norconsult) to complete a study on the project.

“Norconsult did an extensive study and concluded in very favorable terms that the Amaila Falls project was the best option for Guyana to transition to clean renewable energy.

That report is publicly available Minister Singh said. He added that despite all that, the APNU/AFC government did not proceed with the project, nor did they produce an alternative project. He posited that

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the PPP/C Government committed to resuming work on the project and completing it once it assumed office once more. “Let me be crystal clear that the resumption of this campaign of misinformation has one objective in mind–the same objective as the misinformation campaign during the pre-2015 period and that is to frustrate development-to deny the people development as long as the PPP/C is in office,” Minister Singh concluded.

In examining the misinformation on the project, the Ministry of Finance has noted that since the Energy Conference held recently, there have been a series of articles on the Amaila Falls Hydropower project that are either fabrications, erroneous, or lacking in balance and objectivity.

The Ministry of Finance wishes to remind that the

Amaila Falls project has been extensively studied and reviewed.

Many of the current project risks we’re exposed to the public since 2012 and were properly reviewed by all partners including the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Due diligence was conducted by expert firms on behalf of the IDB. As recently as 2016, the project was reviewed at the request of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) by Norway via an independent firm Norconsult.

The current project, taken as a whole, based on independent reviews and analysis, manages risks prudently. The project also represents a clean, renewable means of electricity with significant financial savings for Guyana.

Wednesday March 2, 2022

EXXONMOBIL GUYANA TESTS SPILL RESPONSE READINESS

ExxonMobil Guyana response recently conducted an processes exercise to field test spill readiness.

offshore oil spill, utilising available resources such as in-country personnel, vessels, and response equipment stored in Guyana.

“Our approach to emergency response is to prevent, prepare and practice. Prevention is our primary objective but training for potential scenarios is also an important component of that approach,” said The aim is to ensure ExxonMobil Guyana equipment, readiness to respond in President Alistair and team the unlikely event of an Routledge.

“Through robust training and exercises, utilising advanced technology, we ensure our response teams and stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities and are ready to respond.”

The equipment was deployed at a location near the Sea Buoy Anchorage, off the Demerara River, utilising two open-stern tugs.

The exercise had several objectives including confirming the state of

readiness to transfer emergency kits onto a vessel; safely deploying a containment boom and skimmer packages; utilising support vessels to deploy equipment in open water; and familiarising vessel crew with boom operations in open water.

The response team was also familiarised with the mobilisation and offshore deployment of boom and skimmers in addition to the operation of dispersant application devices.

SOCU HEAD SUES PAUL SLOWE FOR $70M

Former Head of the Police Service Commission, Paul Slowe

Former Head of the Police Service Commissioner, Paul Slowe, has found himself in yet another court battle over his comments about Assistant Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh being

unfit to run the Special Organized Crime Unit(SOCU).

Mr. Slowe is now being sued for $70 Million in damages for his utterances.

A court document

seen by this agency has pointed out that Paul Slowe, while appearing on ‘Speaking Out; Exposing Corruption and incompetence’, and during the Rickford Burke Show that this

Motorcyclist crashes into pedestrian at Agricola

Police in Regional Division 4A are reporting the death of 24-year-old motorcyclist, Nionel Berkley of lot 58 East Ruimveldt Housing Scheme, Georgetown, by way of accident which occurred about 19:00 hours Monday on the Agricola Public Road, EBD. According to the report, motorcycle # CK 5462 (driven by the now deceased) was proceeding north along the center of

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the western carriageway on Agricola Public Road without a safety helmet when it is alleged that the motorcycle collided with a female pedestrian who was crossing from east to west on a pedestrian crossing.

As a result of the collision, both the motorcyclist and the pedestrian fell onto the road surface where they received injuries to their bodies. The motorcyclist was picked up in an

unconscious condition and transported by ambulance to the GPHC where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His body is at the GPHC mortuary awaiting post mortem.

The pedestrian was also picked up in an unconscious condition by public-spirited citizens and taken to the GPHC where she is in the critical bay receiving medical attention.

It is not known at this time if the motorcyclist was the holder of a provisional or driver’s licence. Efforts to identify the female pedestrian are being made as further investigations are ongoing.

was aired on YouTube and Facebook during the months of November, December and January, made several remarks that were aimed at damaging Karimbaksh’s character.

The statements pointed out that Mr. Slowe said that the legal issues he is now facing are because he stood up. “It is all kinds of trumped-up charges all because you said that the people who you are seeking to promote are incompetent. They become angry with such.”

The document

indicated that Mr. Slowe insisted that this has to be so since they have disciplinary matters pending against Karimbaksh and knowing how vindictive and unprofessional he is, he remains the head of SOCU. This, Karimbaksh said, according to the documents has demeaned the minds of right-thinking Guyanese into labelling him to be a corrupt, unprofessional, incompetent, sexual offender, dishonorable person, an abuser of power in office, and as such unfit to serve the

country.

Karimbaksh said that he is none of those things since he has been serving the country for 30 years.

The allegation remains untrue about him but since the numerous posts his reputation has been injured and he has suffered a lot of embarrassment and distress In the document also Karimbaksh is seeking an order to have Slowe refrain from posting such remarks about him and to also remove the public comments that have been viewed and talked about by thousands online.

Antiguans told to brace for increases in prices for food and petroleum products amid RussiaUkraine conflict

Antigua and Barbuda, like many other countries will be affected by an increase in prices for food and petroleum products if the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues escalating, Prime Minister Gaston Browne warns.

Following the news of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, the world began experiencing higher

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gas prices. According to Antiguaobserver news, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has notified residents about the potential increase of local gas prices in the event that the war in Eastern Europe shows no signs of deescalation.

Further explaining the potential economic fallout which could arise out of the emerging conflict, the Prime Minister noted

that the government may no longer be able to protect consumers from high prices at gas station pumps across the country.

Additionally, the price of utilities, such as electricity could also rise as a result of the price of oil skyrocketing because of the closed borders and sanctions because of the war

Wednesday March 2, 2022

International Court of Justice to hear GuyanaVenezuela issue within a week

Guyana is set to return to the International Court of Justice within a week. CARICOM has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Guyana and its territorial claims.

Guyana and its legal team are set to go before the ICJ on March 8 after the court ruled that it had the power to proceed over the matter.

During a press conference held just before the Head of Government meeting, on Monday, CARICOM CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett Secretary-General Dr CARICOM agenda for every head Carla Barnett said that among meeting. One is the being behind Guyana Nations.

“There are two border Guyana/Venezuela issue in its fight remains an attitude that is unanimous issues that are on the and the other is the

Belize/Guatemala issue.

Those are issues that the heads follow very closely.

“Those are the issues on which Caricom heads stand strong on the matter of self-determination and territory integrity, and that will not change.”

Guyana currently has Venezuela before the International Court over a re-enforcement of the 1899 Arbitral Award, which had settled the border controversy between the two neighboring states.

In that claim, Venezuela expresses that the Essequibo belongs to them. There are several public claims, especially

from President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro.

After such claims the United Nations intervened by attempting to settle this discourse through the Good Officers Process.

However, court actions were later initiated by former President David Granger after the United Nations SecretaryGeneral found that the Good Offices Process had been exhausted.

Oral arguments were made in the case before the International Court of Justice on the issue of the Court’s jurisdiction to hear the matter. At the time Venezuela said they

not taking part in the proceedings.

Ms. Barnett said that this matter is dear to CARICOM and it is one which will be on the agenda of CARICOM. The Thirty-Third Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) opened today in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize.

President, Mohammed Irfaan Ali is attending the forum. Issues such as climate change and COVID-19 recovery are among the things to be discussed

Exxon dodges question about quantum of its risk insurance

Dear Editor: It’s insulting that Exxon once again seems to believe that Guyanese people are stupid, attempting to bamboozle us with fanciful talk to camouflage the truth; but judging by their modus operandi and reputation around the world, I leave it to the Guyanese people to decide who is believable.

First, with respect to the $2.5 Billion insurance being denied, there is documentation otherwise, at the EPA. The fact is

that Mr. Rod Henson, Exxon’s former Country Manager, hand delivered to me and the EPA Attorney, the insurance documentation, the details of which were explained

by Mr. Henson, and which I personally added up to value approximately $2.5 Billion.

That document sits in the EPA files, so I call upon the EPA to release it. As stated in a previous letter to the Editor, since that time, around April 2019 to August 2020, regular meetings were

held among the lawyers of the EPA and EEPGL to agree upon how liabilities above the $2.5 Billion, would be shared among the parent companies of ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC. Draft documents detailing their proposal were brought to each of these meetings, and I was briefed after each meeting.

I, therefore, challenge Exxon to deny these meetings, recognizing that these draft documents, emails and calendars of participants can be retrieved.

Further, I have the utmost regard for Mr. Henson’s honesty and do not believe that he would take part in any of this brazen denial.

Second, during that same period, April 2019 to August 2020, EPA employees and I, incessantly broadcast through all of the media outlets, this unprecedented accomplishment of obtaining what we called “unlimited liability coverage”.

So much so, that many questions were raised in

the media as to how is it possible that the EPA could depart from the Government/EEPGL Contract when the Government continues to claim that the Contract is sacrosanct.

Thus, with all of that media coverage including the EPA and Exxon ongoing meetings to finalize the arrangement, Exxon must answer the commonsense question as to why they did not ever deny any of it before now?

Third, the highly publicized $2.5 Billion insurance caught the attention of the Guyana Insurance Association, which contended that the insurance carried by a foreign company, has to be transferred to Guyana in accordance with Guyana’s laws.

This triggered a meeting among the Bank of Guyana, the Guyana Insurance Association, the Department of Energy, and the EPA, held at the Office of the Governor of the Bank of Guyana, to discuss how to proceed with the transfer of the insurance to Guyana.

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Numerous email exchanges amongst the parties exist to prove that the meeting was held, along with the reason for the meeting and its agenda.

Fourth, Exxon as typical, responded that “it has insurance coverage for all of its petroleum activities”, but cleverly avoided the amount of that insurance coverage. So, Exxon must state that if it is not the $2.5 Billion, what is it? And it must produce the documentation.

Fifth, Exxon responded that “We have the financial capacity to meet our responsibilities and we are committed to paying all legitimate costs in the unlikely event of an oil spill…quickly and comprehensively as possible” – sounds very familiar to what Mr. Henson said when we responded that with that avowal, they shouldn’t have any problems putting it in writing.

That brought about the agreed-upon plan for full liability coverage.

Besides, we don’t have to go too far to see what

is happening right in our backyard in Peru without a tight contract.

Lastly, Exxon claims that “EEPGL had, as of year-end 2020, almost $US5.0Bn in assets”, cunningly evading admitting what were EEPGL’s assets in 2019, the only time of relevance when the Permits were signed.

The real truth is that Exxon calculatingly dodged that EEPGL’s assets were almost nothing in 2019 before production – the reason why we did not allow them to be selfinsured with little or no assets.

I would urge the media to vigorously challenge Exxon to answer the questions and queries herein with specificity, and without the fluff and fanciful talk to distract.

Again, I leave it to the Guyanese people to decide who to believe.

Sincerely, Dr. Vincent Adams