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Thursday March 3, 2022

PRESIDENT ALI LAUDED FOR LEADERSHIP ROLE IN TRANSFORMING REGIONAL AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS

OPPOSITION TO NAME REPRESENTATIVE TO NRF COMMITTEE

KHEMRAJ RAMJATTAN’S SON CHARGED FOR ASSAULT, CASE DISMISSED IDB LAB INVESTS IN STEM GUYANA ‘LEARNING PODS’ TO REACH 1000 CHILDREN

GECOM APPOINTS ATTORNEY-AT-LAW KURT DA SILVA AS LEGAL OFFICER

TWO COMMITTED FOR MURDER OF HENRY BOYS

Thursday March 3, 2022

President Ali lauded for leadership role in transforming Regional Agri-food systems

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali received high praises on Tuesday from the Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño, for his commitment to transforming the regional agri-food systems.

During the opening remarks at the 33rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government which is being held in Ambergris Caye, Belize, the new Chair of CARICOM said that under President Ali’s stewardship, there has been substantial progress.

“I must commend his Excellency Irfaan Ali, the President of Guyana, for his leadership and

personal commitment to transforming the regional agri-food system. The Special Ministerial Task Force on Food Production and Food Security has already made substantial progress to identify priorities, commodities, levels of investment required and policy reforms needed against a timeline.”

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

The CARICOM Chair reminded that

the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) is at the centre of the Region’s integration.

He charged the leaders present to redouble efforts to complete the removal of the remaining barriers to inter-regional trade, empower the private sector and give full effect to the regime for free movement, including by addressing administrative obstacles.

The CSME, he asserted, is the answer to the questions of how to reduce the region’s food import bill, of how to generate economic growth and how we improve and benefit more from trade with extra-regional partners.

President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali

“A robust CSME is indispensable to building resilient economies. It is central to our economic recovery.

Integration binds together our community and this

community is at its core—family.”

President Ali is joined by the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha; Minister of Foreign Affairs

and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd; Foreign Secretary Robert Persaud and other government officials.

OPPOSITION TO NAME REPRESENTATIVE TO NRF COMMITTEE

Despite the People National Congress Reform(PNC/R) stating initially that they would abstain from the participation in the oversight oil resource board, Leader of the PNC/R Aubrey Norton is now indicating that the Opposition will fully participate.

This comes weeks after Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones, had said that Opposition will not participate due to the fact that Bill raises a lot of questions. One contention is that it was illegally passed and that it comes at the time when the Opposition Is contemplating legal action.

That drum however now plays a different info@guyanapostonline.com

tune, with the PNC/R Leader, Audrey Norton indicating that despite the drama the bill brings, they will not shift from having someone to scrutinize the spending of the oil money.

“We believe that the Act has not been legally passed but we are also politicians who live in the real world. The PPP is not a democratic party that is going to be responsive to concerns of people, so they are going to go ahead.

“Now, in the circumstance, we have got to ensure that we have people there to scrutinize what is happening and in that regards, we have agreed that we will nominate people, while at the

same time doing it under protest.” Mr. Norton noted Norton said that this decision was taken simply because the opposition does not want to exclude themselves from what’s happening.

“If you leave the National Resource Fund without scrutiny; you would be excluding yourself knowing what is happening and you will be making the ground much easier for the PPP not only to continue but to expand his corruption.”

No names are so far submitted but in the coming meeting the Opposition collectively is expected to nominate a few persons.

Under the Act which

was passed back in December, “there shall be a Board of Directors of the Fund which shall comprise of not less than three and not more than five members who shall be appointed by the President, one of whom shall be appointed Chairperson by the President.”

The Act also under Section 5(2) speaks about who the directors shall be, explaining that they “…shall be elected from among persons who have wide experience and ability in legal, financial, business or administrative matters, one of whom shall be nominated by the National Assembly and one of whom shall be a representative of the private sector.”

This means that the President can select one director and possibly three in his own deliberate judgment.

The matter was referring to the matter to the Committee of Appointments, in accordance with Parliamentary Standing Order 84(3)(b)(iii), for

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it to make a suitable recommendation to the House on the candidate to be identified as the nominee.

The Opposition will now nominate several name to the committee.

All the names will be deliberated on and in the end go to parliament for full consensus in a vote.

The Act states that in any given year, the government may withdraw 100 percent of the first US$500 million of deposits from the previous fiscal year, 75% of the second US$500 million, 50% of the third, 25% of the fourth, 5% of the fifth, and 3%of any amounts in excess of the first two US$500 million.

In the instance when the actual figures for deposits from the previous fiscal year are not yet available, the figures will be substituted with the best estimate amount. The exception to these rules for the maximum withdrawals made in a fiscal year does not apply to emergency financing, which would be applicable in cases of

major natural disaster(s) occurring in the same or preceding two fiscal years.

These proposed rules stand starkly in contrast to the current rules governing the maximum withdrawals from the Fund.

The rules set formulas that involve the calculation of benchmark oil prices based on a moving average of past prices and forecasts of future prices, estimates of oil production, non-oil revenues, and the NRF’s balance.

The said law set out how the country’s petroleum revenues will be spent. This includes monies earned from oil sales, royalties, and any signing bonuses.

According to Section 16(2) of the amendments, all withdrawals from the Fund shall be deposited into the Consolidated Fund, meaning that Parliament will know how the money is being spent and the National Assembly will have to give approval.

KHEMRAJ RAMJATTAN’S SON CHARGED FOR ASSAULT, CASE DISMISSED

has been charged for assaulting a woman.

Divesh Ramjattan appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and denied the allegation made against him.

According to the charge Ramjattan, at Delph Divesh Ramjattan Street, Campbellville Divesh Ramjattan, Change (AFC) leader unlawfully assaulted the the Son of Alliance for Khemraj Ramjattan woman.

His father, attorney-atlaw Khemraj Ramjattan represented him during his court appearance.

However, the state chose not the pursue the matter after a restraining order was issued against Divesh and the magistrate opted to dismiss the assault charge.

IDB Lab invests in STEM Guyana ‘Learning Pods’ to reach 1000 children Country Representative

IDB Lab, the innovative laboratory of the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) is providing financial support to STEM Guyana Inc. to help 1000 children across 40 communities in all ten regions of Guyana.

This support includes technology tools and supplementary learning in Maths, English, and Science. IDB Lab is investing US$950,000 in the three-year programme, ‘Guyana’s Learning Pods – Supporting Success in Education for Vulnerable Children.’

The STEM Guyana pilot will expand the education model, which caters to children ages

seven to fifteen from lowincome and vulnerable communities. In the pilot, small groups of children in communities across Guyana access a connected learning platform at a local community centre to foster ‘STEM’ skills, with the support of an in-person facilitator and an online teacher.

The IDB Lab support will create more ‘Learning Pod’ centres for public spaces for students from grades one through ten, to access content and technology tools, as well as in-person and online live teaching sessions, three times per week. The program will use the core

public school curriculum for an expanded range of subjects.

Karen Abrams of STEM Guyana says, “The Learning pods programme provides for small class in person and tech-driven learning support for students who have been disadvantaged by the COVID pandemic school closures, and also ensures their safety as the program makes available cleaning supplies, masks, and temperature checks to all enrolled students.”

“Opportunities are increasing in Guyana and the demand for skills is rapidly changing,” says Guyana’s IDB Chief of Operations and acting

Lorena Solorzano Salazar.

“There is a need for us to adapt and learn innovative technologies and talents that can contribute to inclusive and sustainable development and guarantee the future wellbeing of our people, our country, and the region.”

The ‘Learning Pod’ programme is expected to contribute to better performance of all students and help reduce attrition from the school system.

It targets 50 per cent participation of girls.

STEM Guyana expects a future expansion of the program to benefit as many as 5,000 vulnerable students over the life of the investment post COVID-19.

STEM Guyana is a nonprofit tech organization that partners with public and private sector agencies and uses software tools to help solve national and regional problems.

Thursday March 3, 2022

KHEMRAJ RAMJATTAN’S SON CHARGED FOR ASSAULT, CASE DISMISSED

Two-person charged with the brutal murder of cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry was committed to stand a high court trial for the murder, on Tuesday.

Vinod Gopaul, called ‘Magga’, 34, of Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice; and Anil Sancharra, called ‘Dan Pole’ and ‘Rasta’, 33, of D’Edward Village, WCB, appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh at the Blairmont Magistrate’s Court.

The magistrate found that sufficient evidence was made out against the two men by police Legal Advisor Mr. Mandel Moore. As a result, they were committed to stand trial at the next convenient sitting at the Berbice Assizes.

Gopaul and Sancharra were jointly charged and remanded to prison on Friday, January 15, 2021, for the murders of teen cousins, Isaiah and Joel Henry in the Cotton Tree ‘backdam’, West Coast Berbice.

The cousins, Isaiah and Joel Henry were found murdered one day after they went to pick coconuts in the #3 Village backdam.

A post-mortem found that the two teenage cousins had died of haemorrhage and shock,

due to multiple incised wounds. They’d both sustained a severed spine, along with multiple chops about the body.

The killers went so far as to carve a huge ‘X’ on Isaiah’s head, and cut open Joel’s chest back in September 2020.

The two were freed following a no-case submission.

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., wrote to the magistrate requesting the documents from the PI to ascertain why the accused were discharged.

The DPP then concluded that there is sufficient evidence available to pursue the charges against the duo.

With the two being committed, Sancharra’s step-brother Akash Singh still remains in custody on the said murder charges.

GECOM Appoints Attorney-at-Law Kurt Da Silva as Legal Officer The Guyana Elections Commission at its Statutory meeting held on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 appointed Attorney-atLaw Mr. Kurt Anthony Da Silva as the Legal Officer.

Mr. Da Silva holds a Master of Laws Degree in Public Law from the University of the West

info@guyanapostonline.com

Indies.

Shortly after being called to the Bar in Guyana in 2017, he served the Chief Justice (ag) and other Judges of the High Court as a Judicial Research Assistant. He then moved onto the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in 2019 where he currently serves as the

President and Judges as the CCJ as a Judicial Counsel.

Based on his experience in both the Caribbean Court of Justice and Guyana’s High Court for researching legal issues, analyzing submissions in cases from Attorneysat-Law, writing legal opinions for Judges, and

his knowledge of the new rules of procedure and the electoral laws, the Commission appointed Mr. Da Silva as the Legal Officer.

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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

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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