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Thursday Sept. 9, 2021
VENEZUELA’S GOVT AND OPPOSITION AGREE TO TEAM UP IN LAND CLAIM AGAINST GUYANA
GTT INTRODUCES MORE SELF- MUNICIPAL MARKETS WILL SERVICE KIOSKS AT SEVERAL NOT INSIST ON VACCINATION CARDS RETAIL STORES
Thursday Sept. 9, 2021
VENEZUELA’S GOVT AND OPPOSITION AGREE TO TEAM UP IN LAND CLAIM AGAINST GUYANA
The Government of Venezuela and the Venezuelan opposition have formally agreed to unite in the fight for legally owned Guyana Essequibo Territory. The agreement was reached in Mexico. The contentious area includes lands with oil discovery. The Government of Guyana has rejected this move by the two sides,
noting that the action stands as a defying factor to the international law and process. It is not a basis for mediating harmony. An agreement signed by the Heads of Delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unity Platform means that the two parties have now agreed that they will
come together around Venezuela’s historical claim to what it calls the Guayana Essequibo territory. The accord further reiterates Venezuela’s rejection of the International Court of Justice’s declaration of jurisdiction over the issue and is urging Guyana to engage in direct negotiations.
In response, the Guyana Government noted that the people of Guyana firmly reject the agreement signed by the Heads of Delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Unity Platform of Venezuela in Mexico City on September 6, 2021. The agreement is an overt threat to the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Guyana. The Government added that Guyana cannot be used as an altar of sacrifice for the settlement of Venezuela’s internal political differences. While the Government of Guyana welcomes domestic accord within Venezuela, an agreement defying international law and process is not a basis for mediating harmony. In addition, the Government maintained that Guyana and Venezuela are properly before the International Court of Justice and will remain there for a peaceful resolution. Guyana laid out how the boundary with Venezuela was established by an arbitral tribunal constituted pursuant to a treaty concluded by Venezuela and Great Britain in
1897. Guyana was later awarded the under1899 Arbitral Award which outlined its land boundary between the two countries. Since then, Guyana has moved to the international court of justice, and also maintained that it has no doubt that the Court has jurisdiction to resolve the controversy that has plagued its relations with Venezuela and undermined its ability to develop its sovereign territory and natural resources. The court later ruled back in December 2020 that it has jurisdiction to entertain Guyana’s case against Venezuela. The Venezuelan government has insisted the court does not have jurisdiction and has decide d to not put up any defense in the court.
GTT INTRODUCES MORE SELF-SERVICE KIOSKS AT SEVERAL RETAIL STORES - -CUSTOMERS CAN PAY BILLS IN LESS THAN THREE MINUTES As GTT continues to ramp up its efforts to make doing business easier for its customers, the company has installed nine additional ‘GTT Express’-self-service kiosks to aid customers in paying their bills and ‘top up’ in less than three minutes. The GTT Express kiosks now available at GTT’s Fogarty’s, Giftland, Grove, and Parika locations will allow customers to pay their GTT bills with cash, VISA debit, or MasterCard. Customers will also have the option to choose either
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a printed receipt at the kiosk or have it sent via email or SMS after each transaction. GTT’s Chief Operating Officer of Mobile Services, Richard Stanton, said the company is pleased to introduce more innovative ways to help reduce the amount of time a customer spends at its retail stores, and in consideration of the COVID 19 pandemic, to conduct their business in a relatively safe environment. “While we have introduced a number of payment options for customers to pay their bills like the MyGTT app and the mmg+ app; many customers are still bent on visiting the stores. Our aim is to completely satisfy all our customers. So, we hope that this new solution will make
their transactions easier and faster at our retail locations,” Stanton said. He added, “Our efforts will not stop here. We will continue to explore other innovative ways to align with our Together We Rise promises and make doing business easier with GTT.” In July, GTT introduced its first two Express kiosk at its 55 Brickdam location. So far, a number of customers have utilised the service and have expressed satisfaction with the new solution.
Thursday Sept. 9, 2021
MUNICIPAL MARKETS WILL NOT INSIST ON VACCINATION CARDS
They are insisting that it would stifle their income in an already damaged economy due to the COVID-19.
The new amendment has started some level of debate around the nation and is being deemed as a policy by the Government to force citizens to be vaccinated. The current debate also has left some business wondering how they are going to function knowing how COVID-19 have hit the business community hard. One known business community affected involves vendors selling in their stalls in various markets. On September 4, At the Bourda market, the Ministry of Health amended Section 17 of the Gazetteer Order for the COVID-19 Guidelines. This now meant that in addition to both public and private buildings, all persons visiting markets and supermarkets, stores, private hospitals, banks, utility companies, institutions of learning, and all other private businesses and the majority of the institutions including stallholders are against places of worship such policy. They say would now have to be that it will only affect vaccinated or show proof their business more of a negative COVID-19 than the COVID-19 has PCR test result. affected it.
billion (US$600 million) by NRG Holdings Inc. According to OilNow some of the features of the facility will include an offshore terminal; dry dock facility; a fabrication yard; offshore components; umbilical preparation and spooling yard; administrative buildings to house offices
persons are expected to be hired during construction and 100 persons for the basic operation and maintenance of the base port facilities indicated in phase one. With the issuance of the Environmental Permit, NRG Holdings Inc. will now have to submit an Environmental and Social Management Plan to the EPA within four months. The Plan will outline the mitigation measures for any impact that the project will have within the proposed area and surrounding communities. The Port of Vreed-enHoop project is a direct result of opportunities that are arising from the development of the oil and gas sector.
The Government markets. However, the vendors and by extension the Ministry of Health, has in the Bourda Market amended the COVID-19 are against the policy.
Safety Measures so that only persons who are vaccinated can enter public buildings including the municipal
EPA approves construction of the ‘Port Vreed- en- Hoop’ facility. land. Approximately 200
The Environmental Protection Agency has permitted the construction of the ‘Port of Vreed-en-Hoop’ facility that will feature a major shore base at Foreshore, Plantation Best on the West Bank of Demerara. The project will see an investment of up to $120
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and modernised logistics centers; warehousing; area for a helipad; a wharf, berths, and a dry dock. The port facility is expected to generate employment and revenue opportunities for Guyanese. The facility is expected to occupy some 400 hectares of coastal
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“We already have a crisis right now since the COVID come about that we ain’t getting no sale really. Now they brought about that measure, people won’t come in the market to shop or anything. “I don’t care much about the vaccine; for me, I won’t take the vaccine. So, people won’t come to the market to shop. As you can see the market is already a ghost town already,” one stallholder said. The stallholder added that the Government should stay with the old
measure of following COVID-19 health measures by ensuring that people wash their hands, practice social distancing, etc., but not the vaccination aspect
of it. Another stallholder said that the Government must reconsider the policy since a lot of people have underlying conditions and have not taken the vaccine. “A lot of people coming here with various sicknesses and not a lot of people could take that injection. So, it will slow up business a lot, yes it will slow up business a lot because that everyone is taking the injection.” Another stallholder also maintained that it will affect the business tremendously. “It going to affect we bad because plenty people aren’t going to take the vaccines and they are not going to come in to buy nothing. I think they should change from that.” And Georgetown Major, Ubraj Narine, has said that such policy will not be imposed on the market since the market has already suffered through losing sales through the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccination policy will only affect things more, he added.
Thursday Sept. 9, 2021
LIFE IS MORE THAN COVID
Adam’s note book
There is more to life than COVID-19. But from the conversations and the news, one would believe that the only thing happening in the world is the spread of C OVID-19. And for good reason. The death toll is increasing as are the number of cases of hospitalization. And this is happening even as people are being vaccinated. For anyone to say that they know what is happening is for that person to be fooling anyone who is listening. All of a sudden, the authorities around the world are saying that the vaccines are almost useless against certain variants of COVID-19. They have stopped short of saying that certain vaccines are now obsolescent. But whatever the case, more and more Guyanese are seeking to be vaccinated and that is a good thing. It may not slow the spread of the virus but it would certainly keep many people out of hospital once Guyanese or foreigners do not import
the more infectious variants. And that is wishful thinking. Sporting events are back. There is cricket, football, tennis, track and field, motor racing, cycling—just name it and the event is being held. Except for Guyana sports is a way of life. In most countries, people take sports so seriously that their sending on certain goods is dictated by the sports personality behind the goods. There was a time when young cricketers gravitated to certain autographed bats. Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers, and the like made money whenever their autographed bats were sold on the market. Today, cricket bats are produced by so many manufacturers that it would not be unusual to see at least six bat makers on display during one inning. These bat makers sponsor players. They pay them a commission each year to use the particular sports gear. In Guyana, we do not make sporting goods.
We simply lack the technology. At the same time, we do not sponsor sportspeople. And it is not that there are not businesses that can afford to do so. It is just that our business community is bent on making and keeping money rather than investing in sports. We sit back and we cheer the Jamaicans and the other Caribbean countries that have secured gold medals at international events. Our gold medal came at the Pan American Games and at the Commonwealth Games. Tiny Grenada has an Olympic gold as does Suriname and Trinidad. We do have a bronze in boxing but that was so many years ago. Jamaica is the talking point. It is a powerhouse. It is churning out athletes like Virat Kohli or Joe Root makes runs in cricket. One only needs to look at the money the Jamaican government and the business community invest in sports in that country. Guyana has not been spending money on sports.
Football, one of the cheapest games to promote sees boys from ordinary families. They don’t get much and they don’t ask for much. The result is that almost all the football teams in the region beat us. It is the same with cricket and other sports. The local clubs do their best but they are hard-pressed to get many players on the international team. Fortunately, there are some franchises that put money into the pockets of the players. There is another thing about this country. We do not recognize those who make it to the top. The state named a street after Shiv Chanderpaul, Demerara Cricket Club named a street after Lance Gibbs, and a
part of the East Coast Demerara highway after Clive Lloyd. Lloyd did get a national award. But it is not all bad news. There are young people who are making the best of whatever comes their way. I just found out that a group of young techies won some gold, silver and bronze medals at the recent electronic competition. It would be interesting to know how much money the private sector spent on these young kids. Even more, it would be interesting to find out how much government spending went into the STEM programme. And when one stops to consider that the Lotto Fund had a few billion dollars for sports. Some clubs went to the government for money
Ministry of Education condemns GTU call for strike action
The Ministry of Education has noted what it calls the uncaring and unconscionable call for strike action by the Guyana Teachers Union.
“We condemn this action as irresponsible and not reflective of the realities of the present state of the COVID-19 pandemic nor the needs of the nation’s
children,” the Education Ministry stated in a press release. Children have been home from school for over seventeen months; despite the world’s best efforts, there has been a wellchronicled resultant loss of learning and schoolleaving (dropping out). “Here in Guyana, we have evidence of significant learning loss and drop-outs at every level, with more than six hundred drop-outs recorded at the primary level alone. We are working assiduously to
arrest this situation and reverse this reality for our children who have already fallen victim to these phenomena. “We want all of our children engaged and in school and are working towards achieving this safely. There is no mandatory requirement for children to be vaccinated to return to classrooms.” The Ministry said that teachers have been accorded the status of a most valuable resource and teachers were paid their full salary and
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benefits throughout the seventeen months; there were no salary cuts or layoffs as in so many other countries. “Vaccination of teachers is not mandatory and there are clear guidelines issued for those who do not want to be inoculated, all of this to keep teachers, their families, and our children safe. The Government of Guyana has spared no effort to make vaccines available to every member of the public and return the country to a state of normalcy. “Multiple types and
and got precious little. Often they got nothing. Chelsea Edghill had to rely on her parents for almost all of her playing career. She went on to do well with precious little in Tokyo. Alika Persaud who made us proud in the pool at Tokyo was just one of the few who had to make do with little. This is the culture of our country. Make as much money as possible and spend as little as possible. Advertisers look for the cheapest display and do the least number of advertisements. That is why the government is the largest advertiser in this country, something that you would not find in any other country.
brands of vaccines are still available and easily accessible to all Guyanese.” “The Ministry of Education is adamant that there is no grievance/ basis for strike action and urges all teachers, parents, and administrators not to fall prey to the political machinations of Coretta McDonald and the small cabal of self-serving individuals who have hijacked the Guyana Teachers Union. “The Ministry reminds all that teachers who do not work do not get paid.”
Tuesday Sept. 7, 2021
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON GEA; US ACTIVIST WRITES PRESIDENT ALI CALLING FOR ACTION
Influential US Human Rights Activist, Dr. Joseph Beasley, of the Joe Beasley Foundation, has written to Head of State, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, over the controversy involving SBF International, Inc., an Afro Guyanese petroleum company, and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA). To this end, the US Activist in his September 6, 2021 letter said, “I pledge myself, the Joe Beasley Foundation, and the totality of my influences and resources to assisting in a prompt and equitable resolution of this matter.”
The involvement of the foundation, according to Beasley, comes as a result of recent reports, communications, and news releases that suggest that SBF International, Inc., is being subjected to discriminatory practices in the cancellation of its operating license without a fair hearing of the entirety of circumstances surrounding this matter, or the proper opportunity to cure any potential violations of regulatory compliance. Dr. Beasley in his letter to President Ali said, “…There also appear to be inconsistencies in the standards applied to other companies either in their approval to operate or in the latitude granted for them to continue operating when minor violations are detected.” “In view of the fact that SBF International, Inc., is a company with a demonstrated record of impressive growth,
substantial earnings, and profitability, and that its operations appear to benefit a broad spectrum of the Afro Guyanese community in particular and the entire Guyanese economy as a whole, it seems premature, unfortunate and somewhat odd that an order to cancel its license was issued hastily and peremptorily rather than an appropriate time of suspension accompanied by an opportunity to resolve any misunderstandings, minor misdeeds or errors in judgment. The Foundation’s involvement follows appeals made by SBF International Inc., President, Mr. Dorwain Bess to several members of the US Government. These included Congressmen Hakeem Jeffries and Hank Johnson; Georgia State Senator Michael Rhett, Alabama State Representative, Laura
Hall, South Carolina State Representatives, John King, and Annie McDaniel, and former State Representative Mrs. Dee DawkinsHaigler of Georgia. Additionally, Bess has also written to the US Ambassador to Guyana, Ms. Sarah Ann-Lynch, and Guyana’s President, Dr. Ali calling for immediate intervention. In his letter to the President, Bess drew reference to the fact that at the recently held Third Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM)—attended by both President Ali and US Ambassador to Guyana, Sarah AnnLynch—“the two of you both addressed issues pertaining to licensing in Guyana.” SBF International Inc since its establishment in 2016 has grown its annual revenues to $24,704,180 USD in 2019, prior to the license
Motorcycle bandits and woman rob men at Annandale
Five persons hanging out at an Ital shop in Annandale are now counting their losses after six armed bandits robbed them of their valuables. Reports are that five persons were at the said Ital shop located at Annandale Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara, Tuesday info@guyanapostonline.com
evening just about 10:20 hours when the incident occurred. The victims were reportedly watching television while playing a game of cards. They were approached by the suspects, who held them at gunpoint and proceeded to relieve them of their valuables, while the
female remained on the motorcycle. The suspects then got on their motorcycles and made good their escape on four motorcycles in the western direction. The victims were identified as a 32-year-old male of Buxton; He has robbed of one Samsung cellphone valued at
$23,000 and one Eagle wallet valued at $2000 and containing one ID card, and $16,500; a 28-yearold male of Buxton, who was robbed of one black Samsung Galaxy 8 plus cellphone valued $70,000. Additionally, a 27-yearold male of Buxton was also robbed of one iPhone 8plus valued at $70,000, while a 27-year-old male also of Buxton was robbed of one 13 pennyweight gold chain valued at $70,000. The fifth victim, a 29-year-old male of Buxton was also robbed of one Samsung J3 Star cellphone and one 12 pennyweight gold chain valued at $70,000. Checks were later made for the suspects but they were not seen or arrested, as the investigation continues
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cancellation in 2020.” SBF International, Inc., has to date also contributed over $2 billion in taxes to the nation of Guyana. According to Bess in his letter to President Ali, “At the time our license was cancelled, the company employed over 100 permanent and 250 temporary AfroGuyanese from the underserved community of Linden, Belladrum, Georgetown, Eccles, and other areas in the West Demerara District.” He further contends that the sudden and improper cancellation of “our license” has caused severe and near irreparable harm to the company, its employees, and our community. “The cancellation, in my view, is a continuing manifestation of the ongoing inequitable practices of the Guyana Energy Authority (GEA) under the leadership of its Director, Mr. Mahender
Sharma.” The company has since filed a suit against the GEA and Mr. Sharma. That matter is currently pending in the courts. In his appeal to the President, Bess said, “this entire matter should never have gotten this far and should have been a meeting between SBF and their attorney with the GEA and their attorney to fix whatever grievance there might have been.” Any other time, Bess affirms, “this would have been settled between the parties.” He additionally used the occasion to remind that in a public missive published in the local dailies, the Chairman of the GEA, Mr. Jerome Khan, stated that other groups received Import Licenses without meeting the GEA requirements.
Gunmen target Demerara Harbour Bridge commuters, two arrested
Several persons early this morning while waiting for the Demerara Harbour Bridge to retract so that they could head to Georgetown were robbed of their valuables by armed gunmen on a motorcycle. According to reports, early this morning, eight men reportedly armed with guns pounced on several commuters on the eastern side of the bridge waiting to cross. Police responded with their anti-crime patrols in Division 4A and intercepted two of the suspects with one of the motorcycles.
Those two suspects have been identified as a 23-year-old and a 15-yearold, both males. When the two were searched, police later discovered three cellphones, a pink handbag, a female makeup kit, a lip gloss, $8,100 cash, two lighters, two packets of cigarettes, a bunch of keys, and a black 110 motorcycle without a registration number. The two were later taken into police custody. Further searches for the other perpetrators are being conducted.
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