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Min Edghill hints at closure of DHB for days to facilitate repairs
BRIDGE OPENINGS BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Saturday, May 21 – 22:00h – 23:30h and Sunday, May 22 – 23:30h – 01:00h.
FERRY SCHEDULE
Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 10:00h-12:00h, 16:00h, 18:30h daily
WEATHER TODAY
There will be thundery showers during the day and night. Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius.
Winds: North-Easterly to Northerly between 2.23 metres and 4.02 metres.
High Tide: 08:22h and 21:14h reaching maximums heights of 2.4 metres and 2.21 metres. Low Tide: 14:36h reaching a minimum height of 0.82 metre.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022 LOTTERY NUMBERS
N 03 13 14 16 26 28 18
FREE TICKET
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022 DAILY MILLIONS
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LUCKY 3
2 7 4
1 9 3
Afternoon Draw
DRAW DE LINE
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Evening Draw
13 16 18
PAY DAY
THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022
02 03 14
13
15 17
SUPER
PAY DAY
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COMMODITIES
Indicators US$ Change %
Crude Oil $112.55/barrel +0.45
Rough Rice $309.33/ton
London Sugar $559.00/ton +1.18 +1.30
Live Spot Gold USD Per Ounce
SATURDAY, MAY 21, 2022 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda sign MoU on economic cooperation
– to establish working group by June 7 to examine, make recommendations to implement areas of cooperation
President Irfaan Ali and Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne during the signing of the MoU
The Governments of Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), providing for economic cooperation in eight areas, including tourism, financial services, agriculture, air transportation and energy.
The Memorandum was signed at State House, Main Street, Georgetown, by Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali and Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister, Gaston Browne.
The two leaders observed that the memorandum is another step in the many collaborative efforts in which Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana have been involved since the Governments of the two countries, along with Barbados, launched the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement at Dickenson Bay in Antigua in 1965.
Recalling that Antigua and Barbuda has been home to a significant number of the Guyanese diaspora for decades, President Ali remarked that there is every basis for the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries, bringing benefits to their people.
“This agreement will open opportunities for the private sectors of both countries in several sectors, including tourism in which Antigua and Barbuda is regarded as a world leader,” Prime Minister Browne said. He added that financial institutions will also be able to cooperate in expanding the range of services offered to their clients.
On regional air transportation, President Ali noted that transportation was identified by Caricom Heads of Government, who attended the Agri-Invest Forum in Guyana this week as “an important factor in achieving food security in the Caribbean”.
“Therefore, we will closely examine the possibility of collaborating with Antigua and Barbuda in the provision of air transportation as an important element in moving produce from Guyana to other parts of the region.”
The two leaders will establish a working group by June 7, 2022, with a mandate to examine and make recommendations on ways to implement the areas of cooperation as early as possible.
Only on Thursday, President Ali pointed toward support from the private sector in dealing with challenges confronting the agricultural sector. These extend to financing, logistics, transport, improving agro-processing, and linking markets.
He highlighted reports which signalled severe food insecurity increasing by 72 per cent within the last year. Moreover, the costs of key commodities are positioned to rise even further in coming years. By 2022, wheat prices are projected to increase by 40 per cent. Global use of cereal, wheat, corn and soya would increase to three million tonnes by 2030, of which developing countries would account for 90 per cent.
Current inflated costs for food products have been driven by a 100 per cent increase in fertilisers. Caricom has also reported a 17.1 per cent increase in transport expenditure linked to higher charter rates.
In light of this, Ali commented, “The challenge for developing countries and us in Caricom is not only the rise in prices, but the supply. As the vaccination war taught us, our position in the line is definitely not in front.”
The Guyanese Head of State related that the overarching strategy of leaders should be aimed at streamlining procedures for exports and imports; a time commitment for the removal of barriers; developing a precarious system for the ex-
port of goods, so as to reduce bureaucracy and spoilage; standardisation of certification process; technical support in developing business proposals for farmers; incentivised agricultural lands for financial institutions; greater involvement of youth and women in the production chain, among other things.
President Irfaan Ali and Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne after the signing ceremony at State House on Friday evening
Views
Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com
Noise nuisance
Governments come and go, but the scourge of noise nuisance continues unabated, even though the adverse health effects of noise are trumpeted at various forums, and complaints by those affected are plentiful. There are so many people who seem to be oblivious to the injurious effects to the general health and wellbeing of victims when perpetrators uncaringly engage in activities that create noise nuisance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), noise causes a wide range of health effects, including sleep disturbance; cardiovascular effects; damage to work and school performance; hearing- impairment including tinnitus.
The WHO also avers that noise has negative impacts on cognitive performance. For recall and reading, a reduction of the day and night noise levels by 5 dB(A) within the range of 65–80 dB(A) was shown to improve performance by almost 10 per cent. For attention and memory, a 5 dB(A) reduction in average noise level results in approximately two to three per cent improvement of performance. The Organization surmises that adverse impacts of noise on cognitive performance can lead to a reduction in productivity at work and learning performance at school.
The lack of a sustained campaign against noise nuisance has created a dynamic wherein the noise emanating from various sources has grown to unbearable proportions countrywide.
It would appear that playing music loudly has become part of our national culture. The situation has become worse because of advances in electronic technology, which have helped musical sets to become much more powerful than what they were a couple of decades ago.
Announcements by several Home Affairs Ministers over the years: that the Guyana Police Force (GPF) would adopt a ‘no nonsense’ approach, and the full force of the law would deal with offenders, have all come to naught.
Although the Ministry has, over the years, admitted that it continues to receive numerous complaints from senior citizens, the sick, working parents, students, and several other law-abiding people to the effect that they are being affected by loud, repetitive, and continuous noise emanating from a range of places in the different Police divisions, there is no evidence pointing to any long-term relief for victims.
Reports verifying that were checks made at the locations complained about on specified days and times have reenforced the validity and justification of the complaints, yet little or no relief is provided by law enforcement agencies, even though, sporadically, relevant Divisional Commanders of the GPF have been provided with the details pertaining to the complaints and have been directed to take appropriate action to ensure that Subsection (1) of Section 174 A of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, as amended by Act No. 1 of 1989, is not breached.
The law states: “No person shall, in any road, street, public place or land or in building or premises, by operating or causing or suffering to be operated any stereo set, jukebox, radio, wireless loudspeaker, gramophone, amplifier, automatic piano or similar instrument of music, or by any other means whatsoever, make or cause or suffer to be made any noise which shall be so loud and so continuous or repetitive as to cause a nuisance to occupants of any premises in the neighbourhood.”
Another aspect of the noise nuisance the Ministry should look at is loud music emanating from privately owned vehicles.
Somehow or the other, it would appear that the operators believe they have the right to play music as loudly as they feel.
The campaign against noise nuisance must be relentless and sustained, or else this scourge would not be stopped, because it seems that some people get a sense of pleasure when they play loud music and disturb others.
President Dr Irfaan Ali, along with his colleagues, on Friday visited the Rudisa Motor Company booth at the Agri-Investment Expo. In photo are, from left: Chris Sheophrasad of Rudisa Motor; Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr KJ Srinivasa; Prime Minister of Antigua, Gaston Browne; Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceno; Prime Minister of Trinidad, Dr Keith Rowley; CEO of Rudisa Motor Guyana, Maurice Gajadhar; Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley; Deputy Prime Minister of Bahamas, Chester Cooper; and Prime Minister of Montserrat, Easton Farrel
Guyana is heading in the right direction
Dear Editor,
Reading that “Guyana targets aquaculture, soya, poultry (in order) to cut food import bill,” is very heartening. This utterance came from President Dr. Irfaan Ali, who delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Agri-Investment Forum and Expo.
His audience comprised regional Heads of Governments and their Cabinet members; Caribbean Community officials; diplomats; dignitaries, and invited guests, who were seated at the Arthur Chung Convention Center this past Thursday. The address was timely, and it got the deserved attention of our leaders in the region.
Now, I want to put things in perspective, so that we can grasp the import of what President Ali really said. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 report, “Projections now show the world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, by 2030, and despite some progress, most indicators are also showing not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further, due to the health and socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
I hope this would remain with us, and motivate us to rally behind the efforts that are ongoing in Guyana.
The inner details from the expo show that “Guyana is looking to upscale its food production in key areas, to avoid the pitfalls of food insecurity challenges.” This is like a go-go-now situation, more so that it is not only the effects of the global pandemic that we have to counter, but the escalating war between Russia and Ukraine. With this background, “President Ali pointed out that Guyana will (rightly) invest heavily in areas such as fisheries. The reason is that, “By 2030, less than 50 percent of the marine stock will be fished sustainably,” and thus proper management measures are necessary, even as climate change will push numbers further downwards. After all, Guyana, and the region by extension, wants to minimise imports, and hence aquaculture production and expansion must be pushed extensively.
The staggering truth is that, “In 2020, close to 100 metric tons of fish and fish products were imported, amounting to close to US$340 million.” This is draining us. It is therefore vital that we grasp the necessity of pressing on quickly towards “…improved management of the fisheries and investment in aquaculture, in order to supply farm fresh and salt water species to replace declining catches.” I mean, we have no other choice, except to face dire circumstances.
I feel very optimistic that we can make it, as more than G$100 million has been invested in brackish water shrimp production. This is proving a good move so far, as it has realised an increase from 250,000 kilograms a year ago to 1.2 million kilograms in the same time frame. The world as we know it is that some additional G$150 million is expected to be invested in this said area to boost production by more than 50 percent, while some $40M will be invested in state research and green programmes of indigenous freshwater species of fish, of which trials have already begun. This kind of incremental investment shows wisdom and futuristic thinking, and that is the safe way to go.
In fact, as of the present, some 50,000 metric tons of poultry are being produced in Guyana, but (thank God) that number is projected to reach 90,000 metric tons by 2025. In the area of corn and soya, the figure stands at 4300 metric tons, but here, too, that is likely to increase, reaching some 35,000 metric tons by 2025. The signs are good, and things will, in all likelihood, continue the upward trend. This is because of a whopping G$651 million to be allocated to develop the area deemed a “consortium” of farmers.
I will not belabour the issue, so I close with a most importunate reality, that is, “We cannot continue thinking of agriculture, the environment, health, poverty and hunger in isolation.” This is according to Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), who spoke at the virtual launch of the report. He added that “World problems are interconnected, and the solutions are intertwined.
The current pandemic is a wake-up call to all of us.” Guyana, as we can see, is on the right track.
Sincerely, H Singh
Think before you speak and act
Dear Editor,
My attention was drawn to an article in the Kaieteur News on the 19th day of May 2022, under the title “Govt. gives in to private sector demands and removes tax duties”. The article was focused on the presentation made by Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Juretha Fernandes, who was described as the “Shadow Minister of Finance” during the debate on the Tax Amendment Bill, which simply removes the need for business owners to affix revenue stamps to receipts for retail purchases. stated, according to the article, that “… the bill highlights the priorities of government, namely addressing the needs of the business class ahead of addressing with a sense of urgency the plight of the poor and working class citizens.”
The Member of Parliament (MP) based this on the assertion by the Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr. Ashni Singh, MP, that it was the Private Sector Commission (PSC) who asked for this measure to be implemented.
Editor, it is my contention that the Government of Guyana and Private Sector Commission (PSC) should be praised for this measure. Simply because anyone with common sense knows that businesses pass on their costs to the consumers. Even primary school children know this fact. Therefore, this is a measure that benefits the consumer and the working-class citizens.
The Minister of Finance even pointed out this fact during his debate as well. This fact is lost on the “Shadow Minister of Finance”.
I am amazed by the lack of understanding that permeates the National Assembly in the form of Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs). My advice to the Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) is not to oppose something simply because it is brought by the Government.
You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com
Girmitiyas and the Police Force
By Guyanese of IndIan ancestry assocIatIon
The BG Police Force was formed in 1839, and run by White officers. The early ranks were mostly Bajan immigrants, to reduce sympathy for local freed slaves. When the latter proved compliant, the indentured labourers brought in to replace them were now defined as the “threat”. By the 1870s, Governor Kortright noted, there were over 60,000 Indians on the plantations – with cutlasses in their hands, and this presented a clear and present danger of an uprising. Armed Police were recommended for the rural areas.
Local Africans were now recruited to deal with this “threat”, and set into motion a historical discrimination against Indian recruitment that used various stratagems to exclude Indians. In Guyana, “minimum physical requirements” was one of their prime tools. The physical requirements for males were as follows: Height: 5’, 8", Weight: 135 lbs., Chest: 34". During the nineteenth century, the average height of the Indian male was about 5’, 3", and so, in one swipe, most Indians were excluded.
The age requirement was 18-25 years, and the applicant was also required to be unmarried. Up to the middle of the 20th century, however, Indian cultural practices ensured that most males were married by that age. Food, which was geared for the taste and diet of the Africans, was another barrier to Indians, who had religious proscriptions against certain foods. Breakfast was typically tea and bread, while lunch and dinner leaned heavily on ground provisions, (plantains, yams, eddoes – fried and in soups) beef, pork, saltfish. Muslims did not eat pork, while Hindus ate neither beef nor pork.
As late as 1884, of the 624 non-commissioned officers and Police ranks in the GPF, only forty-nine constables (8%) were from India. The remainder were Bajans and local Africans. It was not a question of literacy in English, since many Barbadians, local Africans, and even Whites, who were admitted, were illiterate. During the entire 19th century, in only one year (1885) were Indians recruited in significant numbers - 58 of 157. The record showed that they performed credibly, yet there was no increase of Indians in the GPF. They turned elsewhere for employment, and began to accept they “were unsuited for Police work”.
Colonial GPF: White officers, African ranks
Bengal Sepoy (soldier)
DID YOU KNOW?
• Not “capable”? In 1857, the Bengal Army consisted of 151,361 men of all ranks, of whom 128,663 were Indians recruited from the same areas our Girmitiyas originated.
Many emigrated to BG after the 1957
“Mutiny”. • Since the Police enforced the “pass law”, and shot and killed striking Girmitiyas in 1872, 1896, 1903, 1913, they were resented by the community.
Actions taken to bring relief to ordinary Guyanese should be commended
Dear Editor,
There is no doubt that the rise in the cost of living is affecting all our Guyanese people.
The Government’s announcement of a number of interventions, such as the $25,000 cash grant for households in riverine and hinterland communities, is a welcome move. News reports quoted the President as saying that some $800M will be put into households in communities across the country. This is quite a significant figure, and Government must be lauded.
Secondly, the farming community suffered a triple whammy. Farmers have had to contend with the effects brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, then the massive flooding which destroyed crops and livestock; and, to make things worse, they have had to deal with the effects of a steep rise in fuel, which sent up transportation and fertiliser costs.
This rise was undoubtedly transmitted to consumers, as the prices for vegetables, other farm produce and meat went up significantly.
The announcement by the President: that Government would purchase $1B worth of fertiliser to be freely distributed to all farmers, is therefore welcome, as it would reduce production costs.
These and other interventions, though they might not see a drastic reduction in the prices of food and other items, would still provide some relief.
Guyana is not alone in terms of feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, which drove up fuel prices. At present, the Guyana Government collects zero taxes from the sale of fuel. This, along with the other relief interventions, should all be commended. Many other countries right here in the Caribbean and across the world have not seen this sort of action taken.
Respectfully, Attiya Baksh
Another third force, or farce?
Dear Editor,
I have noted, with keen interest, a letter in a section of the media, making another call for the formation of a third-force party to hold the Government accountable. This party, according to one letter writer, must comprise of “decent people”.
I have also noted that even though the unaccountability, corruption, mismanagement and large-scale thievery of the Coalition is well documented, the letter writer gave an elaborate list of allegedly “untenable and bad or questionable practices under this government”, and made a passing remark of what pertained under the previous Government.
The corruption and mismanagement under the Coalition are not mere allegations, but indisputable evidence is available.
There is a huge similarity between the contents of the letter in question and what the AFC’s Founding Principles outlined in that party’s Action Plan of 2005. This letter in question spoke as follows: “The coming together of small parties in a new third force might be enough to galvanise meaningful support to displace the two behemoths”. The 2005 AFC Action Plan made similar statements: “Trotman and Ramjattan bemoaned what they described as Guyanese being exploited by the PNC and the PPP, and concluded that neither Party was of any good for Guyana”.
In 2011, the AFC and the PNC had a majority in Parliament, and the PPP became a minority Government. According to the letter writer’s theory, the AFC should have been the “counter-balance against bad governance”, but he admitted that this never took place. He admitted that “The AFC had let us down during its marriage with the PNC. So the nation can no longer depend on it for good governance as a third force”. But was this scenario not clearly visible for all to behold when, after 2011, the AFC fully supported the PNC to derail the PPP Government’s socio-economic policies and make the country ungovernable? And which eventually led to the No Confidence motion?
The AFC was never interested in being a “counter-balance”, and this was as bright as daylight. The AFC simply wanted to be in Government by the shortest route possible. The goal was to cut up the Government and share it. The unsatiated lust for power became paramount to everything else; yet, some Guyanese were so blind that they felt the AFC would have been able to control the excesses that the PNC is noted for, and they voted for the Coalition.
The AFC became as gluttonous as the PNC. Together, the AFC and the PNC embarked on a most notorious journey to bankrupt the Treasury in the shortest time possible. How can any sane-minded individual even try to put the PPP and the PNC in the same light? The PPP, in 23 years, brought Guyana out from being a poor and highly indebted country to a middle-income one. The PNC had devastated the socio-economic fabric of this country.
What happened from 2015 to 2020 during the Coalition’s reign? The PNC and the AFC resumed where the PNC had left off in 1992. How can a reasonable person conclude that the PPP Government is the same as the Coalition?
Where is the evidence? It will take volumes to even outline the vast socio-economic development taking place since the PPP took Office in 2020. The PPP had to undo the countless wrongs of the Coalition, and then resume its developmental policies once again. It is clear that while the Coalition destroys, the PPP builds. They are opposites!
In conclusion, once again there is a call for a third force, and the agenda is quite clear, but will some plead ignorance again? This is not about making the Government accountable, but to aid in the removal of the Government and to resume a PNC dictatorship. Apparently, the PNC is resorting to an old technique. The UF did this, and the AFC perfected it, and now the same old strategy is being put into action.
Everyone knows about Mr Trotman and the Nassau Connection. He never left the PNC, and those “decent people” who are called upon to defect will undoubtedly be the same. Guyanese can be assured of a Third Farce. Maybe some Guyanese have short and selective memories, and the five months of the worst attempts to usher in a dictatorship will be forgotten. Those who do not remember the past…
This thing is not about politics
Dear Editor,
I am a hard-working and proud Indigenous woman who provides for, and takes care of, my family of three while my husband is away in the interior in Region Seven.
Sometimes it’s difficult for me to send my children to school and put a nutritious meal on the table, but I makedo with what is at my disposal.
Recently, I read in the newspapers that the Government intends to give us a cash grant of $25,000 to assist us with the effects of the hardships brought about by the rise in cost of living. As one of the intended beneficiaries, I must say that this is welcome. So, too, will be the $800M in total which would be placed in the hands of residents of the hinterland and riverine communities like myself.
I therefore want to thank the Peoples’ Progressive Party Civic Government and President Irfaan Ali for this impending relief and gesture.
I am grateful to them because they saw us, Amerindians and Indigenous people, as important and worthy of such an allocation at this time.
I am proud to say that had the sum been $15,000 or $20,000, I would have quickly joined any line and collected it. $25,000 will go a far way in ensuring I can meet the shortfall I am experiencing in the household with groceries.
This grant is the sort of intervention needed by hinterland families to help us withstand the hardship brought to bear by many factors. We suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, then our suffering was made worse by flooding and the rise in fuel prices and essential food items.
In closing, I wish to urge all Guyanese to work towards making President Ali’s vision of “One Guyana” come true. Every single affected resident or family must get this cash grant. They must feel like I do, that the Government cares and is trying to make our lives more tolerable as they fight off the effects of the rising cost of living.
This thing is not about politics; it is about the people surviving the storm caused by the prices.
