Guyana Times - Sunday, June 7, 2020

See Mingo’s fraudulent declarations further exposed on pages 10 & 12 All SoRs are available on our website Nationwide coverage coverage from from the the best best news news team team in in Guyana Guyana Nationwide Issue No. 4309 guyanatimesgy.com

THE BEACON BEACON OF OF TRUTH TRUTH THE

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Despite SoRs matching SoPs

29 ballot boxes from PPP’s ECD strongholds held up by GECOM ...Lowenfield, Mingo claim they did not receive requisitioned documents

PRICE

$120 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

APNU/AFC P21 supporters flout COVID-19 measures …gather at elections recount site

Pages 22 & 28

…PPP/C holds GECOM Chair to “every vote will be counted” commitment Presiding Officer of Montrose Primary School Wendy Ann speaks out

Berbice man killed after tractor turns turtle

P8

“We were instructed by our DRO to not put the documents in the box.”

“You'd expect the most two (2) POs to make the same mistake, but ALL???

These boxes were sealed in the presence of these DROs, yet, nobody can give account for the missing documents?? And now, the DROs released this joint statement saying they never instructed the POs to omit those documents?? I'll leave that one for the smart people to figure out. Let's hope they publish the names of these DROs and the joint statement they made.”

PPP/C will accept credible recount, govern “in partnership” with all stakeholders – Ali See stoy on page 3

...Granger hedges, says he “will accept Chairwoman’s declaration”

“Don’t let Guyana descend into pit of lawlessness” – Sir Shridath Ramphal Page 7

Recount exposes Mingo’s fraud in Buxton, Melanie, Paradise, Anns Grove ballot boxes

COVID-19 cases rise to 154

P26

…as 1 new case detected

Page

…some boxes had more 23 votes than voters ꟷ Nandlall

Caricom must be prepared to suspend Guyana – former diplomat

WBD man P11 kills brother with scissors

Page 9

…if Granger tramples on democracy

10 murders P29 in 5 months in Region 6 Teen charged for murder P26 of WCD handyman

2

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

3

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS

The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

Sunday, June 7 – 05:30h – 07:00h and Monday, June 8 – 05:00h – 06:30h.

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:

PPP/C will accept credible recount, govern “in partnership” with all stakeholders ꟷ Ali ...Granger hedges, says he “will accept Chairwoman’s declaration”

Sunday, June 7 – 05:10h – 06:40h and Monday, June 8 – 05:50h – 07:20h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

Parika and Supenaam departure times – 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily

WEATHER TODAY There will be thundery showers and light rain showers during the day. Partly cloudy skies will prevail at night. Temperatures should range between 22 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees Celsius.

Winds: Easterly to East North-Easterly to NorthEasterly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres.

High Tide: 17:44h reaching a maximum height of 2.55 metres.

Low Tide: 11:17h and 23:28h reaching minimum heights of 0.47 metre and 0.70 metre.

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$42.30/barrel

+5.46

Rough Rice

$368.51 /ton

-7.22

London Sugar

$392.90/ton

+2.10

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1684.00

$1685.00

Low/High

$1670.80

$1711.70

Change

0.00

0.00%

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

T

he national elections recount that is on its last lap has set the truth free, People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali said on Saturday.

In a live virtual briefing earlier on Saturday, Dr Ali reiterated his party’s commitment to accepting the results from the recount of the votes cast at the March 2 elections.

“The recount has shown nothing different from what we shared with the Guyanese people. The recount has set the truth free. The recount has clarified in the minds of many Guyanese what we would have shared with them since March 4. It is time for us to move forward. It is time for us to embrace the results of these elections and build a Guyana we will all love,” the PPP/C Presidential Candidate said.

“I want to assure Guyanese that as we close up on this recount, the PPP has been consistent in saying that we will honour the results of a credible recount,” he stated.

According to Ali, the recount has thus far confirmed what the PPP/C has been saying all along, that is, it won the elections held more than three months ago. He pointed out that the evidence has been out there since March when the party published the Statements of Poll (SoPs) from the various Polling Stations to show the votes it garnered from the elections.

He went on to note that the voice and will of Guyanese must be respected, adding that his party is ready to do this and act in the best interest of Guyana and its people.

“I want to assure as your next President and the next Government that [my]

Government is committed to constitutional reform and meaningful constitutional reform, ensuring that all Guyanese and all segment of the population are consulted and included in the process of constitutional reform.

But much more than this, we have learned so much from this period. Electoral reforms that are needed, restructuring of the Elections Commission – these are all things that must occupy the agenda of all of us collectively, not only the Government or the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic,” Ali contended.

To this end, the PPP/C Presidential Candidate further posited that he looks forward to a “great partnership” among all political parties, civil society and all citizens of Guyana in ensuring that all these key issues are addressed.

“Reconciliation is important, important for us to get together, important for us to understand that Guyana belongs to all of us and that as [a] Government, we [will] have a responsibility not only to the supporters of the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic but to all Guyanese regardless of who you supported. These are commitments we made throughout the campaign and we are surely going to stick by those commitments,” Ali assured. With the National Recount nearing completion, calls have been mounting for the parties to accept the results from the recount and a smooth transition of Government so that Guyana can move on from this prolonged electoral process.

However, earlier this week the APNU/AFC coalition had stated that any results emanating from the recount cannot be considered credible because of the “high incidence of fraud”, which includes unstamped ballots, deceased and migrant voters and missing poll books.

Commitment to accept

As both domestic and international pressure continues to mount, caretaker President David Granger in an address to the nation on Saturday stated that “those irregularities appear to have been committed intentionally, not accidentally, and demonstrate a pattern of manipulation of the electoral process.”

Nevertheless, he committed to abide by the declaration of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which he reaffirmed is an independent body.

“I had committed, on 30th April, that I shall accept the declaration of the results by the Elections Commission, which will allow for a democratically elected Government to be sworn-in to office. I am committed to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law. I respect the integrity and autonomous nature of the Elections Commission. I will abide by the declarations of the Elections Commission as I have abided by the rulings of the court,” the caretaker President stated.

Granger further lauded the diligence and persistence of the GECOM Chair, (ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, who he said

Caretaker President David Granger

continues to perform her duties under the Constitution admirably, demonstrated respect for the rulings of the Court and has facilitated Caricom’s observation role in the recount process in order to assure everyone of the credibility of the elections.

“The Commission must be allowed to perform its functions in accordance with the Constitution. I encourage everyone to await the completion of the four stages – the current recount, the reports of the Chief Elections Officer and the Caricom observers, the review by the Elections Commission and the declaration of the final results by the Chairman of the Commission,” he contended.

4

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

Views You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544 223-7230,223-7231,231-0544, 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

The recount countdown

I

f there are no last-minute interventions – the possibility of which we cannot discount - the recount of the ballots cast on March 2 should finally be completed by tomorrow.

But unfortunately, even though the leader of the PNC, Caretaker President David Granger, initiated this process to have a definitive determination and announcement of the elections results after seeking the intervention of CariCom, we will be nowhere closer towards reaching that goal. And it is all because Granger and the PNC have shown themselves determined to remain in office at all cost, by throwing up all sorts of colourful objections, as they did in the wake of the No Confidence Motion (NCM).

And part of the problem is that the process between the completion of the recount and the announcement of the results lends itself to further manipulations and delays (at a minimum), since it will involve the same APNU-leaning officials who have shown that they are total strangers to professionalism. After the recount, GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield will have to compile a report that is supposed to indicate the “matrices” of the results, along with a summary of the “observation reports” that were compiled primarily from allegations made by the PNC/APNU/AFC agents to the ballots in each ballot box.

Lowenfield was himself involved in decisions that excised observations by other parties, such as the fact that in hundreds of boxes in Reg 4, the numbers of votes for the APNU/AFC were inflated while those for the PPP were deflated, as compared with the original SOPs. It is clear that his summary will incorporate his biases, and he will present the coalition’s allegations as “evidence” that has probative value, while silencing the manipulations by Mingo on the Reg 4 SOPs. This report, which will be presented to the Commission, will be treated as a preliminary one by the latter, which will then determine exactly what information should be in the final report, which the CEO is statutorily required to make.

It is at this stage that the role of Chairwoman Claudette Singh becomes critical in a Commission that is evenly split between the Government and the Opposition Commissioners, and she therefore has the casting vote on all decisions. The law is very clear that objections questioning the credibility of the votes cast in an election should be the basis of an elections petition brought to the High Court (Art 163 (1)(b)(1), and not be determined by GECOM, since the matter being questioned falls under the latter’s remit.

Chairwoman Claudette Singh, has, however, already betrayed her thinking on the matter when she forwarded to the Police Commissioner a list of APNU’s allegations that hundreds of citizens’ votes were cast even though they were not in the jurisdiction. It seems likely that Chairwoman Singh will either appoint herself judge, jury and executioner in evaluating and deciding exactly what the CEO’s declaration would be on the March 2 elections; or, alternatively, initiate a wider process to investigate the APNU/AFC’s allegations.

This will open a can of worms which neither the law nor the agreement to conduct a recount permits. GECOM, as an institution of the Executive branch of Government, cannot arrogate to itself a power constitutionally granted to the Judicial branch.

None of what we are stating above has escaped the attention of either domestic or international entities that have stood by the side of Guyana to insist that the rule of law be followed in determining the results of the elections.

In the last few days, several of these international parties -such as the western diplomats, the OAS, and the US State Department -- have pointed out that the numbers of the recount “speak for themselves”, and should form the basis of declaring the elections results. At this point, based on the stance of Chairwoman Singh, this outcome seems unlikely.

As with all laws, electoral laws have both a substantive and procedural aspect. The latter, however, is supposed to act as a shield to protect the former, not as a sword to degut it, as the PNC and its allies are determined to do. But this is the consequence of dealing with persons bereft of shame or honour.

Realisation has just struck home for APNU/AFC

Dear Editor, The David Grangerled caretaker Government is a stranger to the truth and even when the truth and facts are staring them straight in their faces they refuse to acknowledge it.

Harmon continues to preach to the choir about allegations of irregularities, and Guyana has now become subsumed in controversy over these elections – example, on multiple occasions, David Granger’s APNU/ AFC representatives have alleged that persons who had died prior to the March 2 election had been found to have cast a ballot. These are sinister statements made by the PNCR fraction. The truth of the fact is, David Granger, Joseph Harmon and the APNU/AFC cabal cannot comprehend how they have lost the General and Regional Elections. It’s like APNU/AFC have awakened from a terrible nightmare, the realisation has just struck home that the billions are out of reach and the oil boom which promises to transform Guyana’s economy completely will no longer enter their personal pockets and wallets.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had estimated that Guyana’s real GDP will grow by an extraordinary 85.6 per cent in 2020 alone.

The main problem for Guyanese is the profound distrust for the incumbent, David Grangerled Government, instead of viewing the oil revenues as a source of wealth for the nation and the citizens of Guyana, the caretaker Government turned

its oil income into a zero-sum game by immediately hiding from the people of Guyana the first monies they received from Exxon Mobil in the form of a signing bonus of US$18 million.

It was Granger’s caretaker Government’s intent from the inception to use the vast amount of resources to remain in power—effectively preventing the people of Guyana from accessing those funds. The oil discoveries intensified the rivalry between the PNC and PPP/C however the PPP/C has proven to the world that they had developed Guyana’s economy without oil revenues in the past. It was the David Granger-led caretaker Government that caused Guyana to have an oil deal far below global standards and will lose out on US$55US$110 billion over the 40year period of the licence for the Stabroek Block.

International corruption watchdog Global Witness has written to Exxon Mobil urging a renegotiation.

In light of the disrespectful and irresponsible behaviour of David Granger and his Caretaker Government toward the people during these elections and recounting process, Guyanese have enough evidence at their fingertips which justify the correct choice in rejecting David Granger and his caretaker Government at the 2020 polls. We cannot afford to have Guyana end up isolated especially with falling oil prices and the suspensions from the OAS and the Commonwealth. These were local and regional leaders that were committed

to a transparent electoral process in Guyana. Before our election’s crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic— which has surely worsened our country’s economic situation—Guyana was positioned to assume key hemispheric and international leadership roles due to oil discoveries and its subsequent oil wealth. Our country is expected to produce 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025, and although the price of oil has significantly dropped, the Exxonled consortium of oil and gas companies remains invested. The oil discoveries and a newly elected PPP/C Administration will set the stage for Guyana to use its newfound wealth and influence to play an increased role in the region and globally. Currently, Guyana is already the Chair of the Group of 77, a forum within the United Nations which could use to enhance our standing as a Leader for the developing world. The oil resources belong to the people of Guyana, the PPP/C elected Government will ensure that oil revenue works for every Guyanese and is spent on improving Guyanese lives, in support of job creation. Guyanese we must come together to develop and promote forgiveness and reconciliation in community building across this nation.

A joint statement from the ABCE diplomats in Guyana could not have put it over better for every Guyanese to harness that unity during this time of healing and coming together of every Guyanese regardless of party affiliation when they said to the Guyanese

citizens: “We congratulate those who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to ensuring full transparency in the recount process. This includes political parties, staff of the Guyana Elections Commission, scrutineers from the Caribbean Community and the Organisation of American States, the Advisor from the Commonwealth and observers.

The dedication of all is a credit to the democratic process in Guyana. We also commend President Granger and the Leader of the Opposition for their support of the recount, and for their clear commitment to abide by the results. As this process concludes, it is important for all stakeholders to uphold the integrity of the process and peacefully accept the wishes of the Guyanese population.

There will be disappointment for those who have lost. Those who are elected must take on this responsibility with humility and demonstrate that they will govern for the benefit of every Guyanese citizen. We encourage party leaders to commit to constitutional reform and reconciliation to ensure every Guyanese, regardless of party affiliation, sees how their Government will work in their best interest. As friends of Guyana, we look forward to working with all parties to further support Guyana’s development for the benefit of all its people.”

Sincerely, David Adams

APNU, GECOM Commissioner stop the butchering

Dear Editor, It is sickening to hear APNU/AFC Executives and the APNU/AFC Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Vincent Alexander demoralise the APNU/AFC and PPP agents, GECOM staff and the police officers that worked at the Polling Stations on March 2, 2020.

In APNU/AFC’s efforts to justify their lies and Mr Alexander’s position to support their frivolous allegations (eg, dead man voting, ineligible migrants voting, missing documents, deliberate unstamped ballots), they have accused the APNU and PPP polling agents, GECOM staff and police officers of collusion.

Massive collusion.

You see, in order for the dead or ineligible mi-

grants to vote, all of the internal controls and safeguards laid out in the Representation of the People Act had to have been compromised. There is no evidence that this occurred but in APNU’s world, it played out like this. The impersonator came into the Polling Station, faked their identification, got their ballot, voted, got their finger inked (possibly 2x), went home and came back to vote again and again. All this was done in the presence of agents and staff and for it to go unreported or undetected, APNU is claiming that all officials in the respective Polling Station colluded in favour of the Opposition for monetary gains. Sounds ridiculous and for some, comical. But what this is doing

is completely demoralising and dehumanising the hard-working people that gave their time to support and serve their country, the people that believed their party would do right by them and the officers that committed their lives to protect. What is even more disturbing is Mr Alexander’s claim goes as far as accusing ethnicities of colluding together. This trumps all. He has stated so on several occasions, as recent as his press conference on June 5.

Mr Alexander believes the demographics of Polling Stations for the Opposition stronghold makes it susceptible for this to occur.

In essence, the agents, staff and police officers of the Opposition stronghold are of similar ethnicity and

because of this similarity, these persons would betray their loyalties, duties and moral obligations for the sake of unifying as an ethnic group to perpetrate fraud. This unproven theory is wrong in so many ways.

Some individuals accused of voter fraud have come forward to clear their names. Similarly, it is imperative that those who have worked tirelessly and diligently for their country on E-Day and who are being accused of these hideous crimes to come forward and denounce these blatant lies. Do not let this matter go unaddressed and allow these bullies to butcher your integrity.

With regards, Bibi Ramdayal

guyanatimesgy.com

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

5

You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com

We still challenge APNU/AFC to produce its SoPs Dear Editor, The almost completed recount of the votes cast on March 2, 2020, has already confirmed to the world, and to citizens at home and abroad, that the PPP/C has convincingly won these General and Regional Elections. All contesting parties are now even more aware and factually empowered with overwhelming evidence of the massive fraud attempted by operatives of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), to deny the PPP/C a deserving victory according to our citizens’ will. The fallible attempts

by PNC and APNU operatives must not be allowed to discredit the process and realise the clear results.

The sequence of events that led us to this point could not have exposed a more glaring abuse of procedure and breaches of legislative obligations. It remains inexplicable that both GECOM and the APNU/AFC, whom their agents attempted to install as winners, have refused to release their Statements of Poll (SoPs) in support of their declared claims. Many citizens, observers, and commentators

still contend that Justice (Ret’d) Madam Claudette Singh as the Chairperson of GECOM, failed miserably when she decided to reject this motion following Mr Clairmont Mingo’s ineptitude and cheating actions as a servant of the GECOM. The fact remains that the Presiding Officers (POs) and the agents representing the contesting political parties in the elections, were present at the tabulation and final count which took place at each Polling Station. They all witnessed and affirmed the validity of the vote counts by affixing their signature on all the SoPs. The respective POs issued each party agent with a representative copy of the signed SoP for that Station; placed a copy outside of the Polling Station and retained the originals and other copies for submission to the Chief Elections Officer, Mr Lowenfield, and the respective Regional Returning Officers (ROs) at the end of the process on Elections Day. Guyana, as a result of some contaminated GECOM staff and the shameless cheating execut-

ed by Clairmont Mingo, became the unfortunate beneficiary of creating history defined by the longest period for the declaration of its election results. In attempting to execute his rigging, halfway through the tabulation process for District Four, Mingo pulled out a prepared flawed spreadsheet and allowed his representatives from GECOM to read from it, figures that were not on legitimate SoPs. This was done in the presence of the national and international observers, along with the diplomats and all the parties elections agents.

This blatant thieving was halted when the Chief Election Officer of GECOM, Mr Keith Lowenfield, was forced to intervene. He came and did a few checks which confirmed irregularity, given that the numbers on the spreadsheets were not corresponding with the figures on the SoPs. Hence, Mr Lowenfield issued clear instructions that the count must continue using the SoPs and the process was smooth and transparent until Mingo once again attempted to use the inflated figures in favour of APNU/ AFC and deflated figures

for the PPP/C. Against justified and vehement protest by all the political parties, Mingo continued, actually making a false declaration based on the fictitious spreadsheet data, even before the detailed tabulation for all Stations in Region Four was completed. The PPP/C rightfully took the matter to the High Court where the Chief Justice (ag) vitiated Mingo’s fraudulent approach and ruled that there must be a recount of the ballots in the boxes.

This did not go down well with Lowenfield and representatives of APNU/AFC who initially tried valiantly to prevent the recount from occurring, eventually taking the matter to the Court of Appeal which upheld the recount decision that was notably agreed to by the Chairman of GECOM Justice Clauddit Singh.

It is public knowledge that Lowenfield, Mingo, and the APNU/AFC’s cabal Commissioners at GECOM along with their party members have tried several times over to swear Mr Granger in as President.

This was to the strongest objections of most citizens and the world at

large, based on Mingo’s deliberate falsification and Lowenfield’s willingness to use it while knowing otherwise. The resulting language of non-recognition and sanctions on individuals and country could not be made clearer and this may have influenced Mr Granger to not carry out the sinful act, given the untoward suicidal revolutions that he was heading into. The Leader of the Opposition and President Granger subsequently agreed to accept the results of a total recount of all votes cast as the final position. This recount is the final count.

President Granger is on record saying that he will accept the result of the recount when it is announced by the Chairman of GECOM. It is clear that the elections held on March 2, 2020, were ‘free and fair’.

These are the words that were expressed by all the political parties including the APNU/AFC before the beginning of the SoP tabulations where all went well in each region excepting Region Four. Guyana must be forever thankful to the staff at GECOM because they did a very good job on

Election Day. Editor, the expectations are sky-high locally and internationally that the elections “dance” will soon conclude and the PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali will be sworn in as the Executive President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and Mr Mark Phillips appointed as the Prime Minister.

As we come to the end of this recount, tensions and frustrations are also having a serious effect on our people. As such, it is expected that the new PPP/C Government will be objective and caring. The new Government must be forever thankful for the overwhelming support of all the people of this country because it was the people, the role of the press, along with all the diplomats and fair-minded persons that enabled us to reach a political solution in this country. However, all this could have been avoided if Lowenfield, Mingo and the APNU/AFC had produced the copies of the SoPs they received from the process on the eve of March 2, 2020.

Dear Editor, Having read and noted the ups and down with this current recount of ballots cast at the March 2 election, it all hinges on Claudette Singh because she has the trump card, so I am certain that she will not adhere to those who are intimidating her because she is a human being who stands up for justice and fair play. I know this individual because I served as a juror in her court. She

was very professional in upholding justice and fair play in her deliberations. On the other hand, she might give in and do the wrong, by giving the perpetrators victory.

So as a reminder, whatever we say and do will live with us forever. Amen. Let justice prevail.

Sincerely, Neil Kumar

Now it’s called interference? Let justice prevail

Dear Editor, The coalition leaders are now clutching at the proverbial straws since the electorate has not only spurned them but guarantee their ultimate demise as a Government and maybe as a political force. Since the coalition’s ascension to Office in May 2015, they have left no stone unturned to guarantee the attainment of the point of no return. They are incompetent and corrupted as have never been seen before, marked by a humongous appetite to spend wastefully.

This was evident by the massive defeat at the LGE in 2018, the disgraceful defeat by the vote of no-confidence in that same year and the most shameful acts to rig the 2020 Elections when faced with imminent defeat.

The fraudulent acts which the coalition have attempted so far will indelibly remain in the annals and the memories of Guyanese and the world at large.

What is even more disgusting is that the coalition does not know when to stop its effort to rig the elections. Having agreed for a recount, the coalition now wants to destroy the credibility of the elections, to annul it and call fresh elections, having accepted that the OLE was credible and the election on March 2 was

free, fair and credible. The coalition must be aware that accepted and insignificant variances will never annul an election and furthermore, such claims can only be entertained by way of an election petition. But as usual, the coalition is not interested in the success of the legal action but they enjoyed the borrowed time until such time that they will announce their dictatorial rule. However, their games are now an open secret.

The coalition will never be able to convince anyone that the PPP/C rigged the elections. From all shreds of evidence available, it is the coalition which has attempted to rig and the recount has exposed that fact.

No amount of whitewashing will erase that. There is also evidence to substantiate Mingo’s rigging in favour of the coalition. He produced his own spreadsheet from ‘doctored’ figures which is such an amateurish way to rig an election but maybe he did not anticipate the recount or was expecting his ‘masters’ to bail him out. The nation is waiting to see how the GECOM Chair address this criminal act once the recount is completed. She has so far failed to address this issue which is tantamount to highway robbery of an entire election as a nation remained trau-

matised for more than 3 months anxiously awaiting the results. Is Claudette in ‘abeyance’ as well?

What is equally disgraceful is the act of trying to kill democracy in this country by debarring the world-renowned Carter Center from completing its observation of the elections. The Carter Center has been in this country since January this year and has set the foundation for a transparent, credible and free and fair elections.

A most glaring attempt by the coalition to kill democracy is to claim ‘interference ‘by the USA, Britain, Canada and the EU. Even international bodies such as the OAS are being accused of ‘interfering ‘in the internal affairs if our country but when the coalition was the opposition, they had welcomed such ‘interference’ since it suited their political agenda.

More recently, Joseph Harmon, the man for all seasons, accused the OAS of ‘interfering’ in Guyana’s internal affairs simply because that organisation stated that the elections recount would be credible enough to declare a winner. He even suggested that the OAS has usurped the role of GECOM. If so, can Harmon say what is the role and functions of

such observers? His party agreed to the recount and signed accordingly. His party had lauded the elections as free, fair and credible and they had wanted to swear in Granger.

There must be a winner so the OAS did not preempt the ruling of GECOM since even the GECOM Chair had said that the elections were free and fair. The OAS did not state that the PPP/C is the winner.

On the other hand, Harmon said that the report of the Caricom team will be ‘persuasive’ to determine the credibility of the elections. How do we reconcile the two different views?

One is deemed ‘interference’ and the other is ‘persuasive’.

It would seem that Harmon believed that Mingo’s fraudulent tabulation is the product of the PPP/C. It would seem also that he is still unaware that those who voted did not migrate and the dead did not vote.

The coalition’s diversionary tactics and attempt to hold on illegally to power will not work and it is clear that the PPP/C has won the elections convincingly and in a fair and transparent manner.

Yours sincerely, Haseef Yusuf

With regards, Albert Persaud Former President of NAACIE

6

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

Page

Foundation

NEWS

7

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“Don’t let Guyana descend into pit of lawlessness” – Sir Shridath Ramphal …reminds political leaders of border case to fight at ICJ

R

enowned Guyanese born diplomat Sir Shridath Ramphal has urged Guyana’s political leaders not to allow the country to descend into a “pit of lawlessness” and to ensure that good sense prevails as the national elections recount of the March 2 General and Regional elections draws to a close.

Sir Shridath on Saturday made it clear that Guyana must strive to remain lawful and maintain its respect on the global stage. He noted that this would all be placed in jeopardy if the law and democracy are trampled on.

“As Guyana nears the tipping point of its ‘elections crisis’ I plead with all my fellow

Guyanese not to allow our motherland to descend into the darkness of denial of the rule of law and regularity,” he said.

He said that as Guyanese, “we owe it to ourselves, to the Caribbean Community which we have helped to bring to life, and to the wider global community whose respect we have earned as an enlightened democratic State – not to debase ourselves by descent into the pit of lawlessness.”

Border controversy case

Sir Shridath reminded that in just a few weeks, Guyana will be depending on the international community and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to seek bind-

74 boxes remain to be counted …Region 10 recount certified

The certified tabulation of Region 10 recount

I

f all goes well, then the National Recount of the ballots cast in the March 2 General and Regional Elections should be completed today, with just 74 ballot boxes remaining to be counted.

On Saturday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) completed 93 ballot boxes from Electoral District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) – Guyana’s largest electoral district. Region Four is the only region remaining to be counted with the other nine already completed.

Additionally, the recount results for District Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was certified on Saturday but despite winning the region, the incumbent A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is still insisting on not signing the Recount Certificates.

According to the certified results, the coalition gained 19,169 votes while the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) obtained 3162 votes, A New and United Guyana (ANUG) – 171, Change Guyana (CG) – 109, People’s Republic Party (PRP) – 47, The Citizen’s Initiative (TCI) – 37, The New Movement (TNM) – 16, and United Republican Party (URP) – 36. The figures were

for the General Elections.

Electoral District Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) is expected to be certified today since the tabulation was already completed. According to the uncertified figures, the PPP/C won the region with 43,440 votes, beating the APNU/AFC by over 23,000 votes. The incumbent amassed 20,339 while ANUG, CG, PRP, TCI and URP got 164, 272, 172, 60, 16, and 44 respectively.

Thus far 2236 of the 2339 Statements of Recount have been tabulated amounting to just over 90 per cent. While the recounting of the ballots is expected to be completed today, the tabulation and subsequent certification of those results can be expected sometime on Monday or Tuesday.

After those results have been tabulated and certified it will make its way to Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield who has the responsibility of preparing a report of the figures and presenting it to the Commission.

The Chair and Commissioners would deliberate and have three days to make the final declaration.

Based on the numbers emanating from the recount, the PPP/C has a mammoth lead of 14,317 votes.

ing legal protection against Venezuela, which has unjustly laid claim to a large chunk of Guyana’s territory.

“In a matter of weeks, we shall be appearing before the International Court of Justice at the worthy instance of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to appeal for global justice under international law against menace to our national patrimony,” the diplomat also said.

“Almost three-quarters of Guyana – of land and sea – is under threat. We must protect it with clean and united hands. Let lawfulness prevail in our country; unless it does, all of Guyana - and all its people - are imperilled!”

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announced that for Saturday, 93 ballot boxes were counted. This means that of the 2339 total ballot boxes, only 74 remain to be counted.

Considering GECOM’s average daily count, this should be easily completed today.

However, GECOM has also announced that it will delay including the Statements of Recount (SoR) from 29 ballot boxes into the tabulation, because of documents that were discovered to be missing when the boxes were opened.

These documents include the marked Official List of Electors, poll books and counterfoil. GECOM also revealed that they have taken steps to resolve the issue, by inviting some of the Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) who were responsible for those Polling Stations, to a meeting with Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield on Saturday.

According to GECOM, however, none of the DROs showed up. GECOM said that it will also be making an effort to contact the Presiding Officers (POs) from those areas, while a meeting will be convened by the Commission to decide on the way forward.

3 months and counting

It has been over three

months since Guyanese went to the polls and voted on March 2, yet the elections have not come to a credible conclusion. Two declarations made by former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, which were widely criticised as lacking credibility, resulted in a Caribbean Community (Caricom) overseen recount being conducted.

Since the recount started, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has put the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) on blast because the numbers being uncovered were vastly different to those declared by Mingo. In fact, the PPP has contended that Mingo not only fraudulently inflated the number of votes in favour of APNU/AFC, but that he also deducted votes from the PPP. A unified international community has already warned Guyana that it could be isolated and even sanctioned if a President is sworn

Sir Shridath Ramphal

in on the flawed results, resulting in an uneasy standoff between the international community and the Government.

With the recount coming to a conclusion, the international community has also been calling on stakeholders to “peacefully accept the wishes of the Guyanese population”. This was communicated in a statement as recent as Friday from the diplomatic representatives for the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union (EU).

8 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Berbice man killed after tractor turns turtle

A

Corentyne, Region Six (East BerbiceCorentyne) tractor operator lost his life on Saturday when the machine he was operating turned turtle.

called “Ganesh” of Number 73 Village. The incident occurred at about 10:30h in the backlands of Number 72 Village.

Rice farmer Toural Singh told investigators

The tractor under which Ganeshwar Jahaman called “Ganesh” was pinned

Dead is Ganeshwar

50-year-old Jahaman

that he was a short distance away in anoth-

er rice field when he saw Jahaman’s tractor turning over. He said he immediately went to his rescue and discovered that the tractor pinned him and he was motionless.

Police were informed of the incident and arrived at the scene after manoeuvring the slippery terrain.

Jahaman was rushed to the Skeldon Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to Jahaman’s cousin, Pamishwar, the now dead man was at the time preparing the field for the sowing of paddy seeds.

He said his cousin left home at about 06:30h for work.

He said at about 10:30h he received a telephone call informing him of the incident.

“They say that he passed away because the whole tractor turn over with the

Temperature rising…

I Dead: Ganeshwar Jahaman called “Ganesh”

wheels at the top and he was sitting in the tractor so, it pin him down in the mud. Only his foot was out and the rest of the body was under the tractor.”

He described his cousin, a father of one, as a friendly person who is well-known in the community.

…in PNC

t had to happen sooner or later – as the pressure rises with the approach of “Recount Day”, some of those inside the bunker are going to go bonkers!! How else can you explain PNC member James Bond’s hour-long rant at his own party’s Polling Agents, for “criminally colluding” with the PPP to rig the elections!! This had been implied ever since the PNC launched their campaign to discredit the elections process by claiming Dead Men Voting; Migrants parachuting into the country from unmarked planes to do the same; folks voting multiple times; 8000 Disciplined Forces ballots not stamped and so on!!

But for this chap, who’s ubiquitously at the side of PNC big-wig Volda Lawrence, to say it openly and so bluntly??

Jeez!! What next?? Fistfights between Basil Williams and Joseph Harmon over who’s been carrying the PNC flag longer?? Amna Ally and Cathy Hughes in a catfight over whose hair is more nattily coiffured?? But sadly, folks, this is only the beginning and it’s gonna get real nasty cause the pressure is coming from both inside and outside.

From outside there’s the threat of sanctions from the west that’s intensifying with signs that Granger and his coterie don’t intend to go quietly into the night. Most of the middle strata have never had it so good – what with the mega salaries; duty free SUV’s, first class tickets to NYC etc – and now see not only the gravy train coming to a screeching halt. It’s enough for a grown man like Bond to lose his cool -especially when he had to live up with cracks about coolness his entire life!!

But the internal pressure must be just as stressful.

Now that it’s clear that sooner rather than later the PNC’s going to be banished into the wilderness for god-knows how long, ambition is rising to the fore. The jockeying for the positions to be vacated by Granger, Nagamootoo, Greenidge and the rest of the geriatric brigade is starting in earnest. It’s not just strident rhetoric that will be deployed, but some real dirty infighting that’s coming up!!

Now, dear reader, you may wonder why anyone would want to get onto the deck of a sinking ship. But this is politics – where experience shows that the ship can always be risen to sail for another day.

Wasn’t the PPP in the wilderness for 28 years? And the PNC for 23 years??

So while the fallout from the recount might unfortunately be played out in the streets, the real action will be over in Congress place.

Get out the popcorn…and place your bets!!

…on Mingo’s fraud

Is there no end to the duplicity of Mingo?? His name has now become a synonym for treachery. But some still held out some sympathy: maybe he was just pressured to do the dirty and as such was just made the fall guy for the obscene ambitions of Granger and his coterie? But what was just released proves that he was always on the inside of GECOM working as a PNC fifth columnist with that tight crew of four others in the Secretariat.

Imagine he sent his assistant to several polling stations on the East Coast in the PPP stronghold as the polls were about to close, with instructions that the ‘ancillary paperwork” - which all Guyanese all know by now, thanks to the PNC’s machinations – shouldn’t be placed into the sealed ballot boxes but should be sent to him – along with his copy of the SOP’s.

And he hid, not only the latter but the former.

Threatening thousands of PPP votes.

This is high treason and should be dealt with condignly!!

…on the “sanctimonious Granger”

For years, your Eyewitness has been railing about Granger’s oleaginous act. But it seems the word’s out on his true nature. A respected Bajan diplomat to the UN says in the Caribbean he’s known as “Sanctimonious Gangster”.

Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com

NEWS

9

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Caricom must be prepared to suspend Guyana – former diplomat …if Granger tramples on democracy …as former US anti-terrorism lawyer urges leaders to accept results

A

former Barbados Ambassador to the United States (US) and the Organisation of American States (OAS) has warned the Caribbean Community (Caricom) that it must be prepared to take decisive action against Guyana if democracy and the will of the people are trampled upon.

John Beale, who served as Ambassador to the US and OAS between 2009 and 2016, stressed the importance of Caricom being proactive in a situation where caretaker President David Granger refuses to relinquish power and peacefully step down, should the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) declare that he lost the elections.

“What Granger does is not just a matter for him and the people of Guyana; as a member of Caricom, what happens in Guyana directly impinges on the region as a whole, particularly as Guyana is bound by the Caricom Treaty and the Charter of Civil Society.”

He added that under no circumstances should Caricom tolerate violations of democracy, the rule of law and political and civil rights.

“The latter is a cancer. Once it is not excised in one limb of the Caricom Group, it will spread to all others,” Beale said adding that if Guyana’s Government goes rogue, it would weaken Caricom’s standing in the global com-

Former Barbados Ambassador to the US and OAS, John Beale munity.

He pointed out that Caricom’s position on the world stage is tenuous as it is and, therefore, the group cannot be seen as supporting dictatorship.

“It cannot be business as usual. Caricom is already a weak group of countries in the international community.

The Group would be further weakened and disrespected if it permits any of its members to go rogue,” Beale said.

“It already has no economic or military clout. Allowing Granger to disregard the elections result and maintain his regime in power would deprive Caricom of moral and diplomatic standing as well.”

The former diplomat urged Caricom to do whatever is necessary if the President does not abide by the results of the elections and recount. According to him, this should include suspension and removing the Caricom headquarters from Guyana,

where it is currently located at Turkeyen, right next door to the recount venue.

“In the event that Granger does not abide by the official outcome of the elections, Caricom must act swiftly, not waiting for other countries and institutions, such as the US, UK, Canada, the European Union, the Commonwealth and the OAS to act first, dragging Caricom in their wake.”

He added that if Granger does not relinquish power, should the current recount show that his party has lost, Caricom should immediately suspend Guyana from membership, pending a full return to democracy, and move the headquarters of Caricom from Guyana to another Caricom country.

He pointed out also that numerous opportunities have been given to the Granger, to come clean and while he gives the impression that he supports free and fair elections his actions do not. “Indeed, he is being described in Caribbean political circles as a “Sanctimonious Gangster”.”

Respect recount results

Also adding her voice to the situation in Guyana is constitutional lawyer, former law professor and former legal adviser to the US Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, Deborah Misir.

Misir, who is of Guyanese heritage, said in a statement

that at a time when Guyana should be on the brink of a new era of prosperity for the people, it now grapples with unresolved election controversies.

“There are great things to be done to build the new Guyana and lift all Guyanese out of poverty – new schools, infrastructure, and business.

Any and all Guyanese - regardless of political persuasion - can and should benefit from this new era of prosperity. But it can only be done if the political parties come together to respect the rule of law.”

She called upon all parties in Guyana to respect the voters and accept the election results, adding that Guyana has already endured a three-month election process that featured attempts

by GECOM officials to falsify the results in favour of the APNU/AFC coalition. This conduct, she noted, was criminal and a “clear violation of the fundamental human rights of the Guyanese people.”

According to her, it is important that the country now resolve and put these issues behind it, so that Guyanese can benefit from the prosperity that oil revenue will bring.

She noted that the United States and others in the international community will have no patience for electoral fraud being perpetrated by a Government and that sanc-

tions would heavily impact Guyana’s oil revenues.

“I want everyone in Guyana to understand that any interference with certifying the election results is not only illegal, but incredibly foolish and self-destructive.

Sanctions is not just a word.

It can mean no oil money from oil companies; international arrest warrants for perpetrators; travel bans for perpetrators and their families; seizure of bank accounts; arrests of relatives colluding with illegal behaviour.

It means becoming impoverished and becoming a fugi-

Former legal adviser to the US Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force, Deborah Misir

tive.”

She implored officials to act in good faith and “respect the vote and accept the election results – and let us all work together to build a great country for all Guyanese.”

10 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT Mingo’s fraudulent declarations further exposed SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

S

ince the commencement of the National Recount of the votes cast on the March 2 National and Regional Elections, there have been several instances which proved that Region Four’s Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, has inflated the numbers in favour of the APNU/AFC Government.

Below are additional instances from the National Recount Exercise showing Mingo's fraudulent declarations of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.

NEWS

11

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

WBD man kills brother with scissors Granger is still gambling for resurrection

…surrenders after committing the act three to four time but I didn’t see no response until he died…They does normally argue but last night was real terrible,” the man related.

The police, Ezra noted, had difficulty finding the house, which is located in an alleyway. He contended that the younger Hodge would have survived if

B

ack in March, when Granger called for a recount after the Mingo debacle - which he could not deny because the entire western block had witnessed his perfidy we wrote bluntly, “The recount is just a ploy.” We still do not see Granger letting go of power even now that the recount has proven beyond a shadow of doubt that the PPP won the elections.

We pointed out that Granger and the PNC are using a strategy called appropriately in game theory and politics, “gambling for resurrection” (GFR). Here, leaders who see defeat staring them in the face of Ravi Dev competition or conflict, take high risk actions that would be considered “irrational” in normal circumstance because the high costs of defeat “objectively” outweigh the low probability of victory.

But in this specific instance, the Gambling for Resurrection PNC leaders, Granger and Harmon, figure that while high, the risks are not insurmountable. First of all, they had already polarized its African-Guyanese constituency with their mobilization strategy during the campaign: exploiting historical fears of being “swamped and subordinated” by “circling the wagons” against the PPP, who are presented as devils literally planning to exterminate them. They have deployed classic tactics like personalising their hatred, not only onto their Indian Guyanese ethnic rivals, but moreso onto their leader Bharat Jagdeo. The talk-show hosts have migrated from the local TV screens to the far more powerful social media platforms from where they whip up ethnic fears of their group. Granger and the PNC have the support of their core group.

Secondly, Granger and the PNC know that domestically, the PPP are in no position to challenge their illegal squatting in office. They occupy the seat of authority (the government) and have the ethnic loyalty of all the power centres of the state: the Police Force; the GDF; the Peoples Militia; the Civil Service; the Government corporations where they have appointed ex-army squaddies as Heads of Department plus even supposedly independent institutions like GECOM etc. And just as importantly, they can always call out the lumpen urban elements who have historically rioted on their behalf, such as the post-1997 ethnic riots , to intimidate the Indian-Guyanese business class, who are considered as financial backers of the PPP. It for these reasons that the PNC can confidently announce that they will not “allow” the PPP to return to office.

The only fly in the ointment in the PNC’s gamble is the position of the international community – especially the US. Back in 2011, just before the elections of that year, some PNCfriendly academics, such as Ivelaw Griffith who was later to be appointed VC of UG as a reward, had crafted a document on the “Strategic Culture of Guyana”. This posited that the PNC better satisfied that criterion, which the US was using to evaluate allies after the fall of international communism. This conclusion had been presented to the US administration, especially the US Army Southern Command, which is closely affiliated with the sponsoring Florida International University. The US, in fact did tilt towards the PNC in the 2011 and 2015 elections, when the latter captured office in coalition with the AFC. The more even-handed approach of the US Administration in the subsequent years can only be attributed to the PNC coalition’s inept handling of the domestic situation – especially the economy and politically, with its obdurate refusal to modify its policies to practice consultative coalition politics.

The US must have concluded “this is déjà vu all over again” as they remembered the disaster the PNC under Burnham had wreaked in Guyana. The PPP, on the other hand, had demonstrated they were not going to challenge US interests locally and hemispherically and they were better suited to maintain stability in a country that neighbours the strategically vital Venezuelan oil reserves.

Granger had carefully phrased his commitment on the recount on Chairperson Claudette Singh’s declaration. Going by his history, he would have already gamed the system in his favour. In this situation the PNC leadership is gambling for resurrection by taking on the Americans and the west which have consistently called for the results of the recount to be respected.

As such Granger and the PNC are almost certainly taking the country down the road to sanctions – most likely personal. This will not end well.

pect] come home, he would always be beating him because of his hand. It so happened that it continue for the whole week and this morning [Saturday], he break off a wood from the bed and charge [the suspect] who was in his bed sleeping. Like they had a scuffle and I don’t know where the scissors come

Dead: Timothy Hodge

A

scuffle between two brothers had a deadly ending early Saturday morning at Sisters Village, West Bank Demerara (WBD), after the older sibling picked up a pair of scissors and slit the other’s throat.

Dead is 22-year-old Timothy Hodge of Lot 29 Sisters Village, WBD. His 36-year-old brother later surrendered to law enforcement.

Based on information received, the incident occurred at about 02:00h.

Uncle of the two men, Ezra (only name provided) told this publication that he lives just next door to the family. He said that the brothers were involved in a heated argument which prompted him to call to the police.

According to the uncle, the brothers would usually have small squabbles, but this time around, it sounded serious. As the situation escalated, the older sibling grabbed a pair of scissors and slashed his brother's throat.

According to the uncle, Timothy was discovered alive by family members and several calls to emergency services were made yet again. However, no one arrived until 04:00h.

“The two of them had a lil story and then I hear a scuffling with the two of them. When I come out after, I see Timothy lying down on the floor with his face down. I call the police about

The Sister’s Village residence which the brothers shared with their mother

help had arrived on time.

“If they had come when I called them at 02:15h, this wouldn’t happen right now. I called them and that’s when the story started happening. I decided to call the police at that time because I said like something might happen but at the time, they said they don’t know is where. I went out on the road waiting on them to come and I never see them come until Timothy dead,” he uncle recalled.

Meanwhile, an aunt of the brothers told Guyana Times that the deceased would imbibe on a regular basis, reportedly causing conflicts with the suspect, who has a hand deformity. She spoke about their unstable relationship, alleging that the older Hodge was subjected to physical abuse by the now dead man.

“The small brother does drink and he always take advantage of the big brother. Every time the boy [the sus-

from,” she detailed.

After the intense episode, the suspect went over to the Wales Police Station where he surrendered. As Police continue their investigation, the man is still in Police custody. Both men resided with their mother.

This is the second incident in one week, whereby a man died at the hands of his brother. Last Sunday, a Shieldstown, West Bank Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) labourer was fatally stabbed to the chest by his younger brother during a row over land.

Sarananand Bisnath, 45, of Back Street, Shieldstown, and his 44-yearold brother were imbibing when a verbal disagreement erupted over their father’s land. The younger brother armed himself with a knife and attacked Sarananand, who was still sitting in the hammock. He was stabbed to the chest in the vicinity of his heart.

12 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Mingo’s fraudulent declarations further exposed

13

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

14 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

he trans community in Guyana is unjustly discriminated against.

They are mocked for revealing their true selves as well as stereotyped as only being worthy of doing sex work or low-level jobs. The trans community is painted with a broad brush as being uneducated and rambunctious.

Those stereotypes are far from the truth. The fact remains that trans people in Guyana undergo immense discrimination and are starved of the opportunities to excel. The trans community quite often is reduced to economic dependency.

Trans woman Alessandra Hereman has been working

with her fellow trans brothers and sisters in an effort to bring awareness to the issues this vulnerable community faces on a daily basis. Hereman is presently employed with the Guyana Trans United (GTU) -- the only registered trans-led NonGovernmental Organisation in Guyana. The GTU is involved in gender and social justice work.

Hereman, in sharing her journey as a trans woman, told the Sunday Times Magazine that she grew up within a supportive family.

From a young age when she began exhibiting gender non -conformity behaviours, her family never made her feel as though she was different.

Coming from the Ancient

County of Berbice meant that she was not exposed to most of the challenges facing trans people in Guyana and particularly in the city. She began recognising that she was different from the other children when she was in primary school. Hereman would often be teased and taunted by her fellow students because of the fact she spoke, walked, and acted “differently”.

However, things took a drastic turn when she moved to secondary school and began experiencing gender dysphoria – which is the condition of identifying as the opposite of one’s assigned sex.

“But it wasn’t until a few years after high school that I actually understood what my experiences meant, that is, I was a trans person - someone whose assigned gender is incongruent from [A1] their internal or lived gender experience. This wasn’t a walk in the park, though, I have had moments in my life where I struggled to make sense of my experiences which also included denying them. After understanding and making sense of who I am, I made the decision to affirm my gender. For a lot of trans people, gender transitioning or affirmation is a life-long journey and comes in various forms including medical-hormone therapy and non-medical (name change) transitioning,” she recounted.

Hereman knew that the route she was taking would not be an easy one, but she was prepared to fight the good fight. As a trans woman, she experienced endless discrimination, verbal assaults, and even harassment on the street. However, she was not prepared for the level of discrimination she would experience when she applied for a government job.

Recounting the experi-

ence, Hereman says that she saw an advertisement for a job she was qualified for, so she applied. She was called for an interview, but that interview turned into a gender interrogation session after the interviewing panel became aware of the fact that she was trans. They inquired about her name change and even made degrading remarks to her.

“They made remarks like ‘we can spice things up a bit by hiring two males, two females, and a trans…and you can wear your heels and stockings and come to work… we will install a washroom for trans.’ They even mentioned that because it was a high-profile job that requires confidentiality I cannot go at the Cathedral.”

Hereman had no idea what the interviewing panel meant when they told her she could not go to the ‘Cathedral’.

She took this to mean that she was now forbidden from visiting the place of worship, but little did she know that she was being insulted at the time. Later, she would find out from a colleague that the remark meant that they considered her to be a sex worker since the ‘Cathedral’ is a hub for sex workers.

She notes that when she looks back at that incident, she now realises that she was stereotyped and discriminated against based on her gender.

For Hereman, it is experiences such as those that lead the trans community to question their very existence as human beings.

The GTU and the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) recently conducted a study which just reinforced what almost every trans person knows – that many of them are dealing with family rejec-

tion, l o s s of formal education, unemployment, and are at an increased risk for violence and victimisation.

The GTU is Guyana’s only trans representative body and because of that, the trans movement is somewhat centralised. However, according to Hereman, the movement is evolving with various trans organising across the country.

“The trans community engages in activism especially around challenging the cross-dressing law which heightened the visibility of trans-Guyanese existence.

But while we have been gaining increased visibility in the media, the community still suffers from the lack of economic and social resources. We don’t have many trans people completing high school because of transphobic bullying and lack of family support.”

She notes that more than often, trans people are forced to discontinue their education because of societal pressures, discrimination, and lack of familial support.

“Trans women don’t drop out of school, because they are not smart, they drop out of school because they are made to feel they don’t belong. The lack of formal qualification means it is harder for trans people to gain employment in the formal sector which results in many trans women engaging in domestic, part-time employment, and street-based sex work.

Engaging in street-based sex work or domestic work, both of which provide subsistence income, increases trans women’s risk for violence and abuse because of economic dependency,” she posited.

Hereman is of the view

that awareness can happen at the State and policy level and at the community level.

“A good place to start is by the State and State agencies recognising that trans people are part of Guyanese society. We have the Women and Gender Equality Commission.

Historically, people who transgress gender have contributed much to feminist theory and praxis, because trans people’s existence demonstrates that gender is a social construct and is not restricted by our sexed body classification – a fundamental feminist ontology that has been used during the feminist movement to argue that biology is not destiny and a woman’s place is not in the home simply because she is assigned female.

“If the mantra of the Women’s and Gender Equality Commission is the liberation of people from gendered discrimination, gender inequality, and gender, then that would be an appropriate place where the awareness should be coming from. Also, we have the National Gender Policy. I am not sure what the status on this is, but it would be nice to know if trans people as a gender minority are reflected in such a policy and what recommendations are proposed to address some of the challenges trans people face because of their gender status,” Hereman said.

At the grassroots level, community-based organisations like the GTU continue with education and sensitisation workshops and training around gender and sexuality diversity. However, one can only expect significant change when the legal framework and the cultural environment are working concomitantly for a paradigm shift.

The challenges continue to shape how Hereman sees the trans community, and its marginalisation makes her even hungrier for change. She has a strong support network with people within and outside of the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to that, she also facilitates gender and sexuality workshops which give her an avenue to speak more of these challenges.

Through her work, Hereman has been able to meet people who admit to having biases against the LGBTQ+ community, but she has also been able to shape their thoughts and extract their willingness to work on their attitude and behaviour.

“I know at times people who struggle with gender incongruent may feel lost or afraid or may even deny their experience, but it is always better to live your authentic self than to live a life of lie for society’s approval. This is easier said than done, but there is strength in choosing to live your life unapologetically,” she advises.

FEATURE

15

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Swami Aksharanananda

By Lakhram Bhagirat

H

indus have the responsibility to ensure that every one of God’s creations is treated equally and with the respect they deserve. Hinduism by itself is a way of life. It guides its followers along the path of Sanatana dharma, which is basically a set of eternal duties a Hindu should fulfil.

One of the main tenets of Hinduism is equality. Not just selective equality, but complete equality. Every creation, in Hinduism, is revered and respected as documented in the various texts that serve as a guide for navigation of one’s duties.

In Hinduism, homosexuality is described as a biological condition and therefore, Hindus should not treat a homosexual person any differently. The very teachings of the various sacred texts stress the points of acceptance, love, and good karma.

Trinidadian-American Professor of Religion, Pandit Anantanand Rambachan eloquently explains the teachings of the Ramayana as it relates to the introduction of a third gender in Uttarakaanda 87 of the Shri Ramcharitmanas.

Uttarakaanda 87 of the Shri Ramcharitmanas states: “purusa napumsaka nari jiva caracara koi, sarba bhava bhaja kapata taji mohi parama pritya soi. Satya kahau khaga tohi suci sevaka mama pranapriya, asi bicari bhaju mohi parihari asa bharosa saba.”

This translates to Shri Ram saying: “Be it, man, woman or one lacking in the characteristics of both, or, for the matter of that, any living being, giving up all the guile, is supremely dear to me. O bird, I tell you in all sincerity that a guileless servant is dear to me as life. Realising this, worship me, abandoning all other hope and reliance.”

Pandit Rambachan, says by introducing the third sex (napumsaka), Shri Ram is saying that gender is non-binary. He explicitly states that napumsaka refers to a gay person and adds that our very teaching implores Hindus to treat them with the respect they so deserve.

“There is no justification; there are no bases in our Hindu tradition for homophobia, for disrespecting, for ill-treating gay people, for denying them rights that we as people enjoy. You may disagree with me on this, but I stand by this to say that homophobia and the denigration

Human Right Activist and lifelong Hindu, Vidyaratha Kissoon

of gays are inconsistent with the highest teachings of our Ramayana and not only that but the Upanishads (the ancient Sanskrit texts of the spiritual teachings and ideals of Hinduism),” Pandit Rambachan said during a yajna a few years ago.

He notes that Shri Tulsidas starts the Ramayana epic by saying that there are so many different beings in this world. So many that even Shri Ram cannot count them all, but appreciates the fact that there is divinity in every one of them. On that note, Shri Tulsidas pens his appreciation and respect for each one.

Hinduism’s traditions call for the respect and deem sacred, the worth of every human being. It speaks nothing about treating differently those who may be considered as different. The teachings are premised on the fact of service to humanity and good deeds beget good karma.

Nowhere, in Hinduism, does it discriminate against any of God’s creation.

Pandit Rambachan says, “Shri Ram acknowledges the third gender - the napumsukas, the people who are born different and they should not be treated differently or unfairly because they're different. Let us not engage in the verbal denigration of gay people, because it is not in our tradition. We have Sanatana dharma. Every human being should follow very basic dharmic rules.”

At no point does Hinduism condone immoral behaviour, but it also teaches the acceptance of those different from what one may consider as the norm. The teachings clearly state that people who have no choice about who they are should not be punished for being themselves. They should be afforded every opportunity there is.

Explaining the fact that homosexuality was referred to as a biological condition in Hinduism, Pandit Rambachan turned to another sacred epic – the Mahabharata.

“Arjuna, in Mahabharata when they were in exile, they had to live incognito… they had to live in disguise for one year and all of them took up different kinds of roles to conceal themselves. What was Arjuna's role? Arjuna pretended to be a gay person and worked in the Palace. The fact that he could have taken up that role showed that people knew what that role was and accepted that role,” he explained.

Though many Hindu

priests are against performing vivah sanskar (wedding ceremony) for homosexual couples they tend to respect the choice of the individual.

Back in 2012, the then President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, the late Pandit Reepu Daman Persaud condemned the legalising of homosexual unions.

However, in the same breath, he informed that the GHDS has no intention of trampling on the freedom of choice as well as democratic rights of an individual.

“I have never read in any holy book of a man who marries a man or a woman marrying a woman; this is immoral and something we should not let into our society, but at the same time, we must not discriminate,” he was quoted as saying by Guyana Times.

Throughout the years, there have been various opinions brought forward

by Hindu priests and notable among them was that of Swami Aksharananda.

Swami Aksharananda would have, over the years, attended various symposiums where the topic of homosexuality dominated.

In 2013, he explicitly stated that homosexuality is not an abomination, adding that he was in no position to judge one’s lifestyle.

Swami Aksharananda, who is also the Principal of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School, stated that in Hinduism it is not one’s responsibility to judge since God does not judge. He reminded that it is the very teachings of Hinduism that informs everyone that they are an embodiment of the very God they serve so to discriminate against another individual for being different is tantamount to discriminating against God. “The LGBTQ community has too long suffered from attacks, discriminations and injustices in society and the systematic alienation of their members by many faith communities has resulted in them losing hope in us as leaders, whom, they expect treatment of non-discrimination, nonjudgemental and non-derogatory innuendos. Dealing with who they are itself is a daily challenge; as such, we as a society ought not to be the judges of people's lifestyle; in this case, the context of morals,” Pandit Deodat Persaud said.

He, like many other Hindu scholars, notes that from the Hindu perspective the scriptures are generally very open and understanding of the

Pandit Deodat Persaud

LGBTQ community, but questioned the difference at points between the open-mindedness of the scriptures and the lack of acceptance. Pandit Persaud, who hails from the Ancient County of Berbice, said he has seen LGBTQ persons being very helpful and co-existing harmoniously within the mandir structures and urged that their lives be respected as much as one would respect one's own.

Human rights activist and lifelong Hindu Vidyaratha Kissoon has been speaking about the correlation between Hinduism and homosexuality for a number of years. He notes that there is a need to explain to Hindus how laws which criminalise same-sex activity create an environment for discrimination and violence against LGBTQ citizens.

“In the Caribbean, reli-

Trinidadian-American Professor of Religion, Pandit Anantanand Rambachan

gious leaders are often called on to pronounce on 'gay rights' and 'homosexuality'.

Caribbean Hindu practice has been influenced by colonialism. There is a desire, where controversial issues arise, to appeal to conservative views so as not to be seen to be so 'morally' different from some forms of Christianity or Islam. Hindus around the world have been talking about human rights and homosexuality. Hindu practices and thoughts are diverse, and a critical feature of Hinduism is the questioning and adapting and application of the teachings based on time and geography,” he wrote in a 2013 post on his blog – Thoughts of a Minibus Traveller.

Kissoon notes that in the context of 'gay rights' there are going to be Pandits and Swamis who would talk about 'dirty Western imposi-

tions' while other Swamis and Pandits have sought to have vivah ceremonies for samesex couples (not marriage) and have encouraged their LGBTQ devotees to live with integrity.

Hindu devotees are a diverse group, and they all have varying opinions on the topic of homosexuality.

Devotee Sumitra Singh says while she is on the fence about gay marriages, she does respect the right of an individual to choose who they wish to spend the rest of their life with. On the other hand, youngster Kevin Persaud said he was totally against the entire “gay thing”.

Hinduism is clear in its teachings that everyone should be respected and treated kindly. Most important of all is that we should share love.

16 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

By Lakhram Bhagirat

E

very human being deserves to be treated with indifference and should be allowed to express themselves freely. The very foundation of humanity speaks about kindness, acceptance and most importantly, spreading love. Quite often, people would use various mediums as an excuse to stray away from those foundational principles.

Perhaps the most widely-used reason for straying from the foundational principle of acceptance is religion.

According to Pastor Marvin Junior Livan, this should not be. Religion should not be used in a way to oppress or to cast judgement on someone. He feels that kindness, acceptance and love should be afforded to every individual despite their perceived differences.

Pastor Livan ministers at the Hope of Christ Anglican Church. The Church falls under the United Anglo-Catholic Church umbrella.

According to the United Anglo-Catholic Church’s website, they are an inclusive Church Family. They have missions in the United States and South America which are continuing the Anglican tradition.

“We are traditional in faith and practice, with both Roman and Anglican liturgical traditions, but modern in our understanding of social justice

Some of the members of the church

and human nature. We are a Church that welcomes all men and women in the name of Christ; to join with us in adoration and worship of the Crucified and Risen Christ,” the website states.

It was those very values that drew Pastor Livan to the Church because as a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) community he felt isolated from the other churches he was attending.

The 28-year-old grew up in an Anglican family, and church played a major role in his formative years. He went to Bible school in Guyana and was later commissioned as a Pastor in the Pentecostal church after marriage. However, he left the church after his marriage was dissolved and went on a self-realisation journey.

“After myself and wife had broken up and we divorced, I found myself in a same-sex relationship. I had always known my sexuality, but thought I could have suppressed it. I just had to be myself, so after I found myself in that same-sex relationship, I was not going to church because of the stigma and discrimination attached to it,” he recounted.

However, he felt lost most of the time and that something was missing from his life. After years of being a devout Christian, Pastor Livan was there trying to navigate between his true self and love for the church.

This led him to the World Wide Web where he came across the Anglican Episcopal Church where he learnt that everyone, despite their gender, sexual orientation and race,

was welcomed. He went back to his childhood church, this time with his same-sex partner. He immediately became involved in the church and served as one of the altar boys.

“Still yet, there were persons that showed me and my other half a bad face and with that, I started to question a lot of things within the church. I started to advocate with the Human Rights and Social Justice Commission that falls under the Anglican Diocese and it didn’t take me anywhere. Because I was a lone soldier there, because a lot of LGBT persons were afraid to come out and advocate alongside us. Me and my partner were the lone soldiers and we were not going anywhere. I began to question whether my same-sex partner can have our union be blessed there? Can

we be recognised as a couple?”

Pastor Livan, at that time, knew that there needed to be changes and work on a plan he always had.

He always envisioned a space where the LGBTQ community could be safe and from that vision came the Hope of Christ Anglican Church.

“I started to look on the Internet for LGBT-welcoming Anglican denominations which is independent. So, I found the United AngloCatholic Church and they are LGBT-welcoming. In that church, same-sex marriages are legal and recognised. I started my research and got hold of Father Rick, who is a former priest of the church and he gave me the information. He also submitted my name to the Bishop and explained what I wanted to do and I was welcomed,” Pastor Livan explained.

Last October, Pastor Livan gathered some of his friends and they formed the Trust Board to manage the church.

They held several meetings and in January they held their first service.

“I was overwhelmed when we had our first service because we finally have a place where the LGBT community can be safe and worship. We were free from the homophobic teachings and I was happy. At first, the community did not know much about us, but from our second service the word started to get out and we

were getting the support. It was very important for us to have our safe place, because persons who were kicked out of their churches now had a place to worship God and be themselves rather than going to a homophobic church,” he said.

“The message I am trying to get out there is God is not homophobic. God loves everyone and being out there is not a sin. Being gay is not a sin.

God won’t punish nobody for being gay,” he added.

Pastor Livan said the word of God is one that encourages kindness and non-judgment so those are the principles on which he bases his messages.

The church now provides an escape for LGBTQ persons who are uncomfortable with the messages being shared in their respective churches.

FEATURE

17

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

By Lakhram Bhagirat

O

ne of the major misconceptions about trans people is that they have a choice in how they feel. Many persons often accuse them of choosing to be another gender when the fact remains that trans people cannot control how they feel.

Trans people are not choosing to become someone else, rather they are becoming their true selves.

No one can tell you about hating themself more than Alexander Augustus Caesar – a trans man.

Prior to his transition, Caesar suffered extensive gender dysphoria and hated the skin he was in. Now, he is proud of who he is and is an active member of the local trans community that continues to push for a change in the Guyanese trans landscape.

In sharing his journey with Sunday Times Magazine, Caesar said he grew up knowing he was different from a very young age. He would always be the father whenever he was engaged in a game of ‘dolly-house’ and always felt as though he was made for the role.

He remembered at some point in his childhood he was watching a talk show where the story of a child changing their sex was being discussed and how accepting the family was. Without knowing the gravity of what he was feeling, Caesar said to himself that when he grew older, he would get a beard and go on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss that.

“While growing, I always had an attraction to women and then again due to hearing homophobic remarks, I suppressed who I was and tried the heterosexual route. I remember going to High School and trying to be fit in…. at this point I walking like a boy and everything and this was something I had no control over because I didn’t even know it was happening. I tried to make a conscious effort to be a bit more feminine and not stand out as this boyish girl,” he said.

However, those efforts were futile since he would instinctively revert to his true self. When he was 19 years old and living with his family at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara, Caesar had to leave home.

He explained that the decision to leave home was for ‘everyone’s sake’ since the environment was toxic. It was even abusive since his family had a tough time accepting him and the societal pressures of raising a ‘normal’ family were telling on his parents. It was around 21:00h that night when he moved out to be with his then partner and ever since he has been on his own.

However, the relationship with his family is slowly mending and Caesar said he is grateful.

“I was in Nursing School when I was walking down the street and a queer guy stopped me and asked me are you a boy or a girl? This was a strange man at the time and I said I am a boy. At that time, it just felt normal and I was dressed as one. I had on the jersey and jeans like a boy but I had still not known what it meant to say I was a boy.

I had no knowledge of what being transgender was at that time,” he recounted.

That initial question led to a friendship and through that, Caesar was introduced to the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD). He drew confidence from his friend and they took part in a needs assessment.

That was when his activism began.

He remembered that SASOD gave him the opportunity to attend an international meeting for transgendered persons. It was this activity that flooded his mind with the information he never knew he needed. At the meeting, participants from various countries were speaking about gender diversity and the challenges of being trans in society.

“I mean it was all just so crazy. It was new to me because all I always thought was that if you’re a girl and like girls, you’re a lesbian and if you’re a boy that likes boys, you’re gay. It never occurred to me that you could be anything different. So, by going there and getting information and educated, the puzzle started to fit together. It was there I realised that I could identify as a trans man.

“At that point, I said to myself I think I found who I am. I know who I am. It was a whole lot of back-andforth for me because now I have to unlearn what I’ve been learning and break down the vital constructs in my head of what I should be and what I am,” he related.

The internal battle waged on for a long time but then he started to tell people about his identity as a trans man.

During that time he was experiencing severe gender dysphoria which is disassociation with your body. He hated the skin he was in because his gender identity did not match his physical construct.

At the meeting, Caesar had met a trans man from Jamaica and kept in contact. He was able to learn, from his trans brother, about his journey.

“I was like wait he’s doing it to the Caribbean. He is on testosterone and is on hormone treatment. It should

be possible for me to start in my country too. I mean like even though I cannot get what I want, I can start on testosterone.”

Then began his journey. Caesar went to the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) where he explained what he wanted to do and was advised accordingly. Initially, the nurses he met at the GRPA thought that Caesar was a man wanting to transition to a woman and not a girl wanting to transition to a man.

However, they were helpful and took charge of him.

There he met with a doctor who advised and recommended him to an endocrinologist – a doctor who specialises in glands, hormones and metabolism. He visited the endocrinologist who talked him through the process and repeatedly asked if he was sure about his decision to begin transitioning.

Having affirmed his readiness, Caesar did some tests and collected the prescription for his hormones, and began his medical transitioning journey on August 1, 2018.

It was not an easy ride for him since he had to overcome depression and realise that he was about to undergo a life-changing experience. He took the fact that he needed to decide who he was and to stop caring about what everybody wants. He knew that commencing his transition journey would result in even more loss of family support.

“After I took my first shot, I was fixated on feeling the drug. After a few, I remembered talking and I felt this itching in my throat. I thought like it was a sore throat or something but I noticed that my voice was deeper and getting even deeper. I went from not wanting to talk to talking all the time because I loved the sound of my voice.”

With that, his muscle tone began increasing as well as he started growing a beard. After about two months, under the guidance of his endocrinologist, Caesar took charge of his own treatment since he is a registered nurse. He knew what indicators to look for so he can know whether to increase his hormones or decrease.

In January of 2019, he received a very important call.

It was a call from a hospital in New York informing him of the date for his surgery. He was anxious and immediately

began scrambling to acquire the necessary finances to support his flight. One of the overseas consultants from his Nursing School days offered to pay for his ticket to New York so that he could have his surgery done.

He had surgery on March 2, 2019, and said it was one of the most life-changing things that happened to him.

“On the morning of my surgery, I didn’t feel any different. I was excited. I got up feeling that today was the day and I went to the hospital. It didn’t bother me that I didn’t have my family there until I was in the pre-op room and I saw someone else who would’ve had some surgery with about 10 of their family members being all supportive. I was like here I am undergoing this life-changing procedure and have no family with me here but it didn’t really bother me because I knew I was going to come out as the man I was supposed to be and I was grateful for having that done,” he remembered.

After his surgery, he woke up to his friends at his side.

They supported his recovery and within a few weeks, he was back in Guyana. Shortly after coming back, Caesar returned to his job as a Registered Nurse.

He is grateful to be working with people who understand his journey and give him the respect of his identity.

Caesar is actively building the relationship with his family while trekking through his journey as a trans man.

He is grateful that his brother was brave enough to support him and walk with him at the Pride March in 2019.

For Caesar, his story is still writing and far from finished.

18 FEATURE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

World Environment Day Message from Dr. Vincent Adams

T

he month of June marks 17 years since the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) was formed and since then, it has been actively changing the landscape for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and other (LGBTQ+) community in Guyana.

SASOD has been leading Guyana’s charge in ensuring basic human rights are guaranteed for the LGBTQ+ community. It has also been leading change, educating and serving communities, to end discrimination based on sexuality and gender.

SASOD was formed in 2003 by mostly students from the University of Guyana calling themselves Students Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination at the time – advocating for the inclusion of sexual orientation as grounds for discrimination in Guyana’s Constitution.

SASOD seeks to have discriminatory laws repealed which criminalise LGBTQ+ people while advocating for

A

A scene from the first Pride Parade held on June 2, 2018

vices, such as health, education, work and housing is severely inhibited. This is where SASOD’s Human Services Programme kicks in. The body provides services, referrals and researches and develops solutions and services to

Trans litigants Angel Clarke, Candacy McEwan, Pheches Fraser and Isabella Persaud at the CCJ for the hearing on June 28, 2018

State and non-State actors to respect, protect, and fulfil the human rights of these groups.

The organisation continues to be both proactive and responsive in supporting LGBTQ+ people by providing and linking these groups to critical services.

There are three programmes which the organisation delivers to achieve its goals, namely Human Rights, Homophobia(s) Education and Human Services.

These three programmes have been coined as the 3 ‘H’ Agenda. The human rights aspect of SASOD’s goal includes advocacy for the changing of laws and policies that target the LGBTQ+ community. This programme aims to address the need to protect LGBTQ+ Guyanese from discrimination, achieve equality, equity and full citizenship. In the major components of this programme, SASOD engages in multi-pronged advocacy to challenge violence, discrimination and injustice, advocates to change policies and laws which exclude and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and utilises the United Nations and InterAmerican Human Rights systems to pressure and hold the State accountable for its obligations to LGBTQ+ people.

Meanwhile, the Homophobia(s) Education programme signals the organisation’s commitment to ending all forms of homophobia against its members. Through a discrimination reporting and documentation system, awareness, sensitisation, training and direct engagement with key stakeholders, the programme seeks to cultivate positive changes in attitudes, which drive stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.

Because LGBTQ+ people suffer pervasive discrimination in Guyana, their access to basic socio-economic ser-

address sexual health, mental health, literacy and remedial education, entrepreneurship and employment, and emergency shelter and housing for LGBTQ+ people.

Over the years, SASOD has been able to influence significant changes to the benefit of its members. Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments for SASOD was the decriminalisation of cross-dressing.

The case of Quincy McEwan, Seon Clarke, Joseph Fraser, Seyon Persaud and the Society Against Sexual

the High Court of Guyana challenging this law on several grounds, including that it is discriminatory and inconsistent with the Constitution of Guyana. The case went all the way to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) where the Court held that the law was also unconstitutionally vague, violated the appellants’ right to protection of the law and was contrary to the rule of law. A majority of the Judges also upheld the appeal on the basis that the law resulted in transgendered and gender non-conforming persons being treated unfavourably by criminalising their gender expression and gender identity.

Another major accomplishment for SASOD was the formation of the Guyana Trans United (GTU). The GTU was registered because of the constant community mobilisation that occurred during the eight and a half years of litigation for the McEwan case. This resulted in a full-blown movement specific to trans rights. GTU was registered in 2012 as an LGBTQ+ Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), specifically focusing on trans rights. GTU is a hub of care and self-improvement programmes.

As of recent, SASOD was able to successfully host Guyana’s first Pride Parade in 2018 as part of its Pride Month activities. SASOD Guyana has been a leading partner of the Guyana LGBTQ coalition and has the responsibility of organising the Guyana Pride Parade. History was made as Guyana held its first Pride Parade – not only was it a first for Guyana but it was also the first of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Some other accomplishments for SASOD include its annual LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the launch of the Guyana Equality Forum, SASOD Women’s Arm Guyana (SWAG) and the introduction of Legal Aid for Vulnerable Groups.

For the March 2 General and

Members of SWAG at their launch event for International Women’s Day in March 2017

Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) v The Attorney General of Guyana began with the arrest of the first four appellants in February 2009 for ‘cross-dressing’. They all pleaded guilty to the cross-dressing charge based on the explanation rendered by the Magistrate.

Upon imposing the sentence, the Magistrate told them that they must go to church and give their lives to Jesus Christ and advised them that they were confused about their sexuality.

Resulting proceedings were brought in

Regional Elections, SASOD, in an effort to ensure the rights of LGBTQ+ persons in Guyana are adequately represented, launched its manifesto which the organisation presented to political parties that contested elections. The manifesto focused on constitutional law and reform, sexual and gender-based violence, education, public health, and social protection.

SASOD continues to advocate for the rights of its members.

t 24 years old, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), although not in its prime, has come a long way over the past two years in its transformation to a culture of providing high quality customer service to the people of Guyana; with the highest degree of transparency, and investing heavily in our most valuable resource -- our human capital -- through aggressive recruitment, development of skills, and enhancing customer service. Such employee development includes exposure to local and international training opportunities; and networking and collaboration with international organisations through memberships and participation in technical conferences and workshops.

Further, capacity building includes tripling the staff to over 300 employees, and building our own fully furnished laboratory by 2022 – all to accommodate the quadrupling of work load already being actualised by advent of the oil economy.

Other significant accomplishments over the last two years include the overhauling and restructuring of the Agency to accommodate the increased workload.

For example, with the help of the World Bank, we have established an Oil and Gas Unit to comprise of 36 highly skilled employees to oversee the industry; and have similarly established other units to oversee each sector of the economy. Also, we have substantially improved accountability of development projects by bringing over 500 expired permits into compliance, and utilised the back revenues to recruit 20 skilled staff, and increase our fleet of field ready vehicles from two to nine, allowing for greater compliance monitoring and enforcement.

In addition, we established a Central Registry to secure custody, accounting, and efficient processing of the voluminous amounts of documents supporting the 2,000 projects.

Another major important area of effort is the timely dispositioning of the approximately 15 complaints per day received by Agency. For this reason, we have put in place a Standard Operating Procedure for Complaints Management, including the set-up of a 24-hour hotline with an acknowledgement of the complaint within 24 hours, and an expeditious investigation, resolution and closure of the complaint.

We have also expanded our public awareness programmes covering new media outlets including a television show titled ‘The Environment Matters’ and the launch of the first ever Green Note magazine; and have moved apace with the development of Guyana by ensuring weekly radio programmes in the outlying regions.

Establishing an EPA office in every region by 2021, and revision of the outdated 1996 Environmental Protection Act which for example, did not consider the petroleum sector are amongst the most urgent priorities of the Agency. Additionally, we will be chartering a new course to address the post 2020 biodiversity agenda, plus the single-use plastics and mercury bans.

Special thanks to our diligent staff, all our partners and other stakeholders, without whom, such meaningful success would not be possible.

Happy World Environment Day and Happy 24th Anniversary to the EPA! You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: The Environmental Protection Agency, C/O Communications Department, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@ gmail.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

19

SUNDAY, JUNE 7 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

20

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

NEWS

21

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

APNU/AFC supporters flout COVID-19 measures …gather at elections recount site

D

espite COVID-19 measures preventing persons from gathering in large crowds, supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition on Saturday gathered in front of the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) to protest.

In front of the ACCC, where the National Recount is ongoing, a makeshift tent was swarmed with persons wearing green and yellow accoutrements, most of

whom failed to wear a mask or practice social distancing.

Public gatherings have been limited to no more than five persons but what occurred outside the ACCC was not adherence to this measure. However, the persons remained for a while and were later advised by Police ranks on site to remove and did not face arrests.

This contrasts to the arrest of two People’s Progressive Party/Civic members, who picketed the

APNU/AFC now berating its agents for ‘colluding’ with PPP/C

APNU Executive James Bond

A

s the A Partnership for National Unity/ Alliance For Change coalition continues to make unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud, the party is now accusing its own polling agents of colluding with its biggest competitor – the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C).

APNU/AFC Executive Member, James Bond, on

collusion, criminal collusion,” Bond aid while berating the very agents his party claimed were highly trained.

However, the attorney-at-law did not stop at accusing his party’s agent but also turned to the GECOM officers as well.

“There is no list in the box.

The council [PPP/C] procured the PO [Presiding Officers] in the Polling Stations and allowed them to issue ballots [to] people who were never on the OLE [Official List of Electors] or these PO simply marked ‘x’ for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic and put it in the ballot box,” Bond said before going off on a tangent.

The APNU/AFC has been peddling the narrative of elections fraud, claiming that ‘migrated’ and ‘dead’ persons voted on E-Day. However, these unconfirmed narratives only began after the na-

One of the APNU/AFC victory parties at Lamaha Street, Georgetown, which was based on the now discredited and fraudulent figures

Facebook live on Saturday threw their polling day agents under the proverbial bus, accusing them of collusion.

“Persons are saying that APNU agents were there [at the Polling Station]. Those agents, so-called agents, that persons are saying that they belonged to APNU/ AFC that were in those places when these things happened, shame on you. If you were there at all, shame on you. Shame on you because it is impossible for us to accept that it is anything but

tional elections recount results exposed that Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, inflated the votes in favour of the APNU/AFC. No one from the APNU/AFC has acknowledged the blatant fraud on their behalf

by Mingo. Prior to the revelations of Mingo’s fraud, the APNU/AFC had claimed victory to the March 2 polls. For one week they hosted victory parties at the Lamaha Street, Georgetown head office based on the now discredited and fraudulent figures.

Some APNU/AFC supporters crowding under a makeshift tent near the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC)

Foreign Affairs Ministry last month and were charged despite practicing social distancing and wearing masks.

They were brought before the court to answer the charge of breaching the COVID-19 measures; a charge the Opposition labelled as intimidation.

Former parliamentarian Neil Kumar and Raphael Boodhoo appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’

Courts to answer to the charge which stated that on May 16, they breached No 2 (1) restriction on social activities in the COVID-19 Emergency Measures.

Kumar was accused of hosting a meeting of a fraternal civic organisation.

The duo was arrested while picketing for The Carter Center to be allowed into the country to complete its observation of the March 2, General and Regional

Elections.

Following the hearing, Kumar said the aim of the charges is to intimidate them, but he promised to continue the fight for the restoration of democracy in Guyana.

“This is extremely frustrating! What we were doing was protesting peacefully.

All of us had our masks on, we were 12 feet away [from each other], and we had our peaceful picket hand

bands. I have been picketing for over 40 years now, and I have never seen such rude Police and this type of action. What we were protesting for is for Guyana; is for the people of Guyana we were protesting for; so that The Carter Center and the IRI [International Republican Institute] could come back here and be at the recount. This is nonsense that is going on in this country!” Kumar noted.

22 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Despite SoRs matching SoPs

29 ballot boxes from PPP’s ECD strongholds held up by GECOM ...Lowenfield, Mingo claim they did not receive requisitioned documents

T

he Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) has placed 29 ballot boxes, from Polling Stations between Ogle and Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, on hold until it can decide the way forward as it relates to the issues of missing ancillary documents.

This decision was taken on Friday by GECOM Commissioners and communicated on Saturday to the media.

The areas from which the ancillary documents are missing are from several of the Peoples Progressive Party’s strongholds. Among the missing documents are poll books, counterfoils, the marked (ticked off) Official List of Electors.

Following the discussions, the Commission decided that the SoRs prepared for those ballot boxes should

not be included in the tabulation at this point in time.

The commission then directed the Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield to investigate the matter.

However, several of the presiding officers have since indicated they were instructed by the Returning Officer’s (Clairmont Mingo) clerk to hand over these documents to the Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) in a last minute despite they said was outside of their training. This should not have happened because those documents should have been placed in the corresponding ballot boxes for the polling place. Nevertheless, the POs sealed the ballot boxes with the votes for their stations.

However, it has since been revealed that Lowenfield, upon the insistence of the PPP/C, prepared a document where he out-

lined the rules that govern the operations of the POs but those were disregarded. The PPP/C raised this issue with the then Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, who assured them that it was a mistake and would be addressed administratively.

However, now that the recount is being conducted, the CEO and Mingo has since denied that they are in receipt of the documents.

GECOM has since said that the ballots that were in those boxes were counted despite the missing documents which the Commission became aware of only after the boxes were opened on Friday.

The Commission has decided that the SORs prepared for those ballot boxes should not be included in the tabulation at this point in time, GECOM said on Saturday.

Presiding officer speaks out

However, Presiding Officer of Montrose Primary School, Wendy Ann has since taken to social media to dispute GECOM’s rhetoric on the issue.

She said in her social media post that “we were instructed by our DRO to not put the documents in the box.” She said that by now GECOM should realize that it could not be mere coincidence that all the PO under one particular DRO did the same thing.

“You’d expect the most two (2) POs to make the same mistake, but ALL???

These boxes were sealed in the presence of these DROs, yet, nobody can give account for the missing documents??

And now, the DROs released this joint statement saying they never instructed the POs to omit those doc-

uments?? I’ll leave that one for the smart people to figure out. Let’s hope they publish the names of these DROs and the joint statement they made.”

PPP/C Elections Agent, Anil Nandlall had said that this was raised with Mingo, who acknowledged the mistake and assured that it would be rectified.

Mingo’s instructions

PPP/C argues against disenfranchisement

A Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) who worked at the Chateau Margot Primary School Polling Place, ECD, has written to GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, informing her that they had received instructions to place ancillary documents separately from the ballot boxes.

DRO Paul Jaisingh said the instruction was passed down from the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo’s Clerk.

In his letter, he stated: “Please be informed that instructions were given by Miss Carlyn Duncan (Clerk to the Returning Officer Mr Clairmont Mingo-District #4) to include only unused, valid and rejected ballots in the ballot boxes. This was communicated to the respective Presiding Officers who complied. As a result, the other documents were placed in the bag provided.

This instruction was given on Election day a few hours before the close of the poll.

Other Deputy Returning Officers affected by this decision can confirm the same.”

Additionally, a Presiding Officer at the Montrose Primary School – one of the disputed polling places, took to social media to explain what exactly happened there.

She released the following statement on Friday: “Throughout this entire election shenanigans, I chose to remain quiet but now that the polling place which I worked at was brought into question, I cannot keep quiet anymore. On behalf of the Presiding Officers that worked at the Montrose Primary School, please note that this is a lie!… All documents for the four (4) Polling Stations were submitted to the DRO as per instructions by the Clerk to the RO… The original SOP attached would explain the desperation to lie! This is beyond ridiculous now!

“PS: The Presiding Officers were given specific instructions not to seal the ballot boxes without the DRO being present to verify what was placed in the boxes and these instructions were complied with,” Wendy Ann wrote on her Facebook page.

Several Polling Stations between Vryheid’s Lust and La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara, upon instructions from the Clerk to the Returning Officer for Electoral District Four, left ancillary documents out of the ballot boxes. The documents included the Official List of Electors, poll books, counterfoils, and others.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), following the revelation by GECOM that the boxes would be placed on hold, argued that no matter what documents are missing, the electors should not be disenfranchised.

“We wish to make it abundantly clear that whatever is the outcome of GECOM’s investigations of their internal issues, not a single Guyanese elector must lose their franchise in the process. It is hoped that the Commission will address this matter satisfactorily in accordance with the purpose of the exercise, which is a recount of the ballots cast on 2nd March 2020, and consistent with the comment of the Chairperson at the commencement of this exercise: “Every vote will be counted’,” the party said in a statement Saturday night.

The party noted that rather than dealing with the issues internally, GECOM issued several statements in an effort to confuse the public as to what the next move is.

However, the PPP/C is demanding to see the letter signed by those DROs. “…another letter from a group of Deputy Returning Officers, apparently from the East Coast of Demerara but it is unclear who these DROs are and whether they are from the same geographical area under review, where the DROs’ dispute the controversial instructions.

This public statement seems to be in concert with the narrative and false allegations peddled by the APNU+AFC, aimed at disenfranchising electors in PPP/C strongholds,” the party said.

GECOM to summon Presiding Officers

Meanwhile, GECOM in a statement on Saturday said it checked the poll bags in hope of recovering those missing documents but they were not found. It summoned the DROs, who worked between Ogle to Lusignan to explain what transpired on Elections Day but those officers did not turn up to the meeting. However, GECOM has not published to names of the DROs who deliberately missed the meeting.

GEOCM has since claimed that efforts would be made to contact the Presiding Officers who were responsible for the respective Polling Stations. The Commission will convene a meeting to determine the way forward,” the statement explained.

NEWS

23

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Recount exposes Mingo’s fraud in Buxton, Melanie, Paradise, Anns Grove ballot boxes …some boxes had more votes than voters – Nandlall

I

n one of the most scandalous elections in recent memory, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo has come under fire for fraudulently adding votes to A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC), and in some cases taking away votes from the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

The recount currently underway has revealed votes that line up almost perfectly with the Statements of Poll (SoPs) for Region Four that were released by the PPP. What they do not line up with are the figures that Mingo declared.

Mingo’s figures would have

the PPP, 25. On the SoR, the coalition received 238 votes and the PPP, 25. However, Mingo declared that APNU/ AFC had received 339 votes, an increase of 101.

Ballot box 4743, which was also located in the Melanie Nursery School, had APNU/ AFC receiving 268 votes on the SoP and the PPP, five votes.

On the SoR, APNU/AFC received 269 votes and the PPP, five. Nonetheless, Mingo declared that APNU/AFC received 368 votes, gifting the coalition an extra 99 votes.

A similar story of vote manipulation exits in the Buxton/ Friendship polling division. In ballot box 4723 (Friendship

allowed APNU/AFC to win the elections, had it not been for the united condemnation of the local and international community against the lack of credibility when he tabulated the figures.

A sample of just a few locations on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) will show exactly how the votes were manipulated in a futile attempt to rig the elections, gifting APNU/AFC with over 1500 votes it did not earn.

A case in point is ballot box 4739 (Melanie Playfield tent) in the Enterprise division, where the SoP showed APNU/ AFC receiving 263 votes to the 10 received by the PPP. The Statement of Recount (SoR) generated by the recount lines up exactly to these figures.

However, Mingo declared that APNU/AFC received 363 votes, an increase of 100.

Ballot box 4737 at a second Polling Station in the Melanie Playfield also showed increases. Based on the SoP, APNU/ AFC received 236 votes while the PPP received 12. The SoR also shows APNU/AFC receiving 237 votes to the PPP’s 12.

When Mingo made his declaration, however, APNU/AFC miraculously gained 287 votes, a 50-vote inflation.

In ballot box 4738 (also in a Melanie Playfield tent), APNU/AFC got 206 votes based on the SoP and SoR, while the PPP received 15 votes. By the time Mingo was through with this ballot box, the number had changed to 266 for APNU/AFC, a 60-vote inflation.

Another case was ballot box 4740 (Melanie Nursery School), also in the Enterprise division. On the SoP, APNU/ AFC received 239 votes and

Primary School), both the SoP and the SoR show APNU/AFC as having received 269 votes.

But despite the area being widely perceived as an APNU/ AFC stronghold, Mingo felt the need to declare that APNU/ AFC received 299 votes, an increase of 30.

Other boxes

There is also the case of ballot box 4724 (Buxton/ Friendship division), at the same Polling Station. Mingo declared APNU/AFC as having received 388 votes… despite the SoP saying the coalition got 358 and the SoR, 357.

In contrast, the PPP got two votes. Thus, Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s votes by 31.

In addition, ballot box 4720 (Buxton Secondary School).

The SoP showed APNU/AFC receiving 236 votes to two votes for the PPP. The SoR showed APNU/AFC claiming 237 votes, with no change to the PPP’s tally. However, Mingo declared 256 votes to APNU/AFC, an inexplicable increase of 19 votes.

The results in other Polling Stations in Buxton were also tampered with, including ballot box 4721 in Tipperary Hall.

There, APNU/AFC got 247 in the SoP and 248 in the SoR. However, Mingo's tabulation showed APNU/AFC with 291 votes.

Mingo added as much as 94 extra votes at the Company Road Primary School Polling Station 4718. APNU/AFC got 337 in both the SoP and SoR, while PPP got 14. However, Mingo declared APNU/AFC as having 431 votes.

Meanwhile, fraudulent figures were a prevalent feature in Melanie and Paradise, where Mingo added 70 votes

(ballot box 4753), 80 votes (ballot box 4750) and 60 (box 4738).

At Anns Grove Secondary School, Mingo converted the 181 APNU/AFC was recorded as having in the SoP and SoR, into 221, an increase of 40 votes. In all, this publication examined SoPs and SoRs for 27 Polling Stations along the East Coast which, when compared, showed that Mingo declared 1516 extra votes in favour of APNU/AFC.

More votes than ballots

In an interview with this publication, PPP Executive and it's East Coast agent on Elections Day, Anil Nandlall, noted that Mingo’s fraud was pervasive and the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) was no exception.

"Mingo’s fraud in Region Four was pervasive. It occurred in certain parts in Georgetown, on the East Bank. And already we have discovered over 40 boxes on

the East Coast, contaminated

by Mingo's fraud."

"He has cumulatively inflated APNU's votes by the thousands, with as much as over 100 votes in certain Polling Stations. He had to inflate these boxes by extraordinary high numbers, to surpass the margin of votes which the PPP was leading APNU by in the nine other regions."

Nandlall noted that even as the recount draws to a close, more evidence of Mingo's fraudulent tabulation will come to light. According to him, it was found that in some ballot boxes there were more votes than voters.

"In some boxes, Mingo's fraudulent number of votes gifted to APNU/AFC exceeded the number of ballots in the ballot boxes. They got more votes than the total ballots cast, on the East Coast and in certain areas in Georgetown too."

At first willing to accept Mingo's declarations as facts,

APNU/AFC has now switched to calling the elections invalid because of alleged voter fraud they uncovered. These include allegations of dead and migrated voters.

The PPP has since found hundreds of cases where persons whom APNU/AFC claimed were out of the jurisdiction but voted, were, in fact, present in Guyana at the time of the March 2 General and Regional Elections.

The media itself has carried several such exposés, with APNU/AFC claims even being denied by a Berbice couple, Shirley and Aubrey Nicholson of Kortberaadt Village, who said that not only were they in Guyana on Elections Day, they voted for the coalition.

A plethora of other persons have also come forward debunking the coalition’s claims that they were out of the country on Elections Day.

24 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Political parties must respect recount results – GGDMA

A

s the curtains draw on the much-anticipated national ballot recount from the March 2 polls, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has called on all political parties to support and respect the national elections recount.

The organisation on Saturday joined the calls expressed by several international and local entities that Guyana should move forward in a democratic and peaceful environment.

According to the GGDMA, all political parties must “respect the process of the recount and follow the laws of Guyana.

The GGDMA repeats its call for the transition of Government to only take place in line with transparent and democratic principles that lead to credible results.”

It further indicated that any Government that is

sworn-in based on non-credible results “will not receive desired public support and international recognition”.

The statement also highlighted the consequences of sanctions on the country’s third-world economy.

The mining association added that it is concerning that Guyana could face sanctions that would cripple our fledgeling economy.

“We need the support and backing of our international partners to not only purchase our exports, but also, as a net importer, to give us access to many of the goods we rely on in our daily lives.”

According to the GGDMA, the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the need for funding – something which cannot be put at risk.

“Thus far, no significant funding for our fight against the COVID-19 disease has been forthcoming and it is unlikely that sub-

stantial assistance will be given to an illegitimate regime. All Guyanese will face the harsh consequences as access to the funding made available by the World Bank, the IDB, the United Nations, and other global partners will be meagre at best and non-existent at worst. We urge all parties to work diligently towards concluding a sound process that provides the democratic outcome that all Guyanese need and deserve,” the association pointed out.

On Friday, the international community was very vocal about the need for stakeholders to “peacefully accept the wishes of the Guyanese population”, saying, “as this process concludes, it is important for all stakeholders to uphold the integrity of the process.”

The sentiments were communicated in a joint statement on Friday by Ambassadors Sarah-

Ann Lynch, for the US Government along with British High Commissioner, Greg Quinn, Canadian High Commissioner, Lilian Chatterjee, and the Ambassador of the European Union, Fernando Ponz-Canto.

Acknowledging “there will be disappointment for those who have lost”, diplomatic representatives for the United States, Canada and the European Union (EU) called on party leaders to commit to constitutional reform and reconciliation to ensure every Guyanese, regardless of party affiliation, sees how their Government will work in their best interest.

According to the plenipotentiary representatives, with the recount process concluded, “those who are elected must take on this responsibility with humility and demonstrate that they will govern for the benefit of every Guyanese citizen.”

COVID-19 Pandemic: Business continuity planning

D

uring crisis period, the intellectual resources of a business organization becomes more crucial for the survival and longterm continuity of the business. Business continuity and disaster recovery plans are being tested by rapidly evolving challenges, namely, travel restrictions, and as large-scale remote working becomes a reality (Accenture, 2020).

The spread of COVID-19 has proven to be rapid and difficult to control. Therefore, the means to contain it and actions taken ought to be equally agile and focused. Such actions need to be in line with the organization’s business continuity planning.

Empathetic Leadership and communications are two key areas that aid human resilience in difficult times: (i) Adopt pragmatic, collaborative approach to help adapt to new ways of running the business and make things happen in a timely, empathetic manner. Recognition where due can help to improve wellbeing and engagement across teams – both locally and globally – which contributes to maintaining business continuity. (ii) Emphasize a strong and active communications strategy when dealing with a major crisis. Communications to employees, clients, suppliers and partners should be rolled out as part of a phased approach.

Following the initial priority communications, daily ongoing updates are recommended.

Accenture (2020) recommends the following actions for organizations looking to address what to do immediately, in the short and long term.

(1) Prevent: What to do now – take immediate steps to ensure safety and well-being of employees.

Prioritize actions that put your people first and exploit global business services offer: • Enable people to work and connect with colleagues from diverse, safe and secure locations • Create safe and secure working environments through regular sanitization • De-densify workplaces by limiting the number of people working together, curbing large meetings and ensuring that protocols are followed in canteens, elevators and areas of common use.

• Limit all non-essential business travel and client visits.

• Align with local health and safety guidelines (2) Prepare: what to do next – identify priority processes and establish a command center to manage virtual workforce.

• Take actions to meet the needs of key stakeholders: identify priorities - Critical processes, including functions such as employee payroll, healthcare and supply chain (to keep goods moving and services ongoing).

- Highly important processes and other services such as payments and necessary services in healthcare, insurance and banking.

- Important / other processes such as order management and reporting.

• Establish a command center for a virtual workforce to measure quality, productivity, compliance, insights and intelligence, people engagement and workforce well-being.

(3) Predict: What to do for the long-term – be proactive and establish a comprehensive, customer – oriented plan that is sustainable.

Prioritize actions that will help you pre-empt the impact of volatility: • Bring together highly skilled, distributed teams that can log in anytime, anywhere and deliver on customer commitments at scale.

• Build a broader ecosystem around the organization’s workforce to enable collaboration across a broader set of priorities – including health care and childcare. This will lead to improved morale and engagement levels resulting in better business outcomes.

Five steps to operational resilience 1) Establish a resilient culture: in a highly volatile world, being calm, dedicated and compassionate in all situations should be actively encouraged. Organizations should continue to execute work in a collaborative manner – with critical knowledge workers augmented by digital capabilities. Success depends on proactively addressing and managing critical situations through applying innovative solutions.

Identify opportunities to adapt and reshape priorities and develop new business models to create an evolved work environment.

2) Create broader ecosystems based on social collaboration: move beyond employee workspaces to broader ecosystems that employees can access, such as healthcare or childcare. Consider how all these environments can be woven into new forms of collaboration with an improved sense of corporate social responsibility. How executives think and plan for employee expenses is likely to change to include home offices, childcare support etc. An organization’s workforce could include niche, skilled, flexible and part-time workers who form part of its broader ecosystem.

3) Employ agile, elastic work models: the best combination of working from home and office, depending on the nature and type of work and relevant skills required, can be enabled by technology, data, security, and cloud computing. Current investments in technology and the related infrastructure make such scenarios possible; in the future, this fluid approach is likely to become the new normal. Elastic workplaces using agile leading practices, align with millennial expectations – “log in anywhere anytime” – employment that focus on key priorities across business functions such as finance and human resources to resolve new or unexpected issues.

-----Cited from Accenture, Continuity in Crisis (2020).

To be continued…

By: JC. Bhagwandin, MSc., Exec Cert.

(The author is a macro-finance and research analyst, lecturer and business & financial consultant. The views expressed are exclusively his own and do not necessarily represent those of this newspaper and the institutions he represents. For comments, send to jbbankingadvice@gmail.com).

NEWS

25

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“I love this country” – overjoyed stranded Guyanese …as 137 return home …over 1000 stuck in US – GCAA Director

A passenger being disinfected upon arrival at CJIA

O

ne hundred and thirty-seven Guyanese returned to their home soil on Saturday after being stranded in the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic for over three months.

The passengers arrived at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport via Eastern Airlines flight 321, which came directly from the Miami International Airport.

Some 1000 Guyanese have been stranded in the United States following the closure of Guyana’s borders, including airspace, from March 18 - one week after recording its first imported COVID-19 death.

A feeling of relief combined with a whirlwind of other high emotions consumed the passengers who relayed to <<<Guyana Times>>> that they are delighted to be home with their families.

“I love this country, and I could not wait to come home, and I thank God that I am here and without no sickness. I was over there since the 8 of March, and I was quarantined over there all the time, I never leave to go anywhere,” those were the words of Drupappie Mohan – a Guyanese who had been stranded in the US for three months.

Another incoming passenger, Nicole Griffith, stated that she was in the US since February but got stuck there before she could have returned to Guyana.

“I am happy to be back.

It is an extraordinary feeling to be back where I belong, but it does not end here. There are a lot more people that are left behind, and the struggle continues for them,” Griffith explained.

Further, this publication caught up with former Deputy Mayor of Georgetown, Lionel Jaikaran, who explained that he is happy he is alive

and well given that the US is one of those countries that was walloped by COVID-19.

“I have been out of Guyana since February 19, 2020, and it feels fantastic that I have a second life right now being back in Guyana. I miss my country terribly…When the aircraft touch down, tears came. I am happy to be home,” he posited.

These stranded Guyanese have been pleading with authorities to help them return home, as such, last month, they received approval by the Guyana Government to be repatriated.

However, before they returned, they had to complete a repatriation form and submit a COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test 48 hours prior to arrival, which had to be sent to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and then to the Public Health Ministry.

Only persons with negative results were permitted to return.

Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt Col (ret’d) Egbert Field stated that he is happy that these persons were able to return home without any glitches given that the Foreign Affairs Ministry only started the process two weeks ago.

“A lot had to be done for this to be very successful.

There were a lot of logistical problems because some of these passengers were scatted all over the United States,” he stated.

The Head is calling for the Foreign Affairs Ministry to start the selections process early, given that there are over 1000 stranded Guyanese in the US. Once that is done, he is urging the authorities to allow passengers to provide their test results to the airline rather than having it submitted to the Foreign

Affairs Ministry and then the Public Health Ministry.

“From the GCAA, I would advise that those PCR tests should not be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Public Health. They should be retained by the passenger and the airline should take the responsibility to ensure that the passengers [have] a negative PCR test,” the GCAA Head posited.

He also explained to this publication that the relevant authorities in Guyana are currently working on having some stranded Guyanese in Trinidad and some 70 students in Barbados repatriated to Guyana in the coming weeks.

Lionel Jaikaran

He noted that another flight is expected to arrive sometime during the new week. Further, in welcoming the passengers, caretaker Public Health Minister, Volda Lawrence stated that the flight was possible due to measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“The fact that today [Saturday] we can be

Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt Col (ret’d) Egbert Field

able to open our airport for Guyanese who are in various countries, today [Saturday], we specifically looked at the USA to begin to come home is because we would have been able to put in place several elements needed to ensure that we will be able to cushion any

Nicole Griffith

effects that will spill out from persons travelling from high-risk countries to Guyana,” she stated.

These persons are now mandated to spend one week in self-quarantine at home.

Over the course of the seven days, they are not permitted to leave their homes for any reason other than to seek emergency medical attention. (Shemar Alleyne)

26 NEWS COVID-19 cases rise to 154 SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

…as 1 new case detected

A

fter five days of constant statistics, Guyana has recorded one new case of the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) – moving the number of positive cases to 154.

The country’s rapture of no new cases was shortlived and adds to the evident growing curve. Through the Public Health Ministry’s dashboard on Saturday, figures show that the number of deaths remains at 12.

The total number of persons tested is 1797 with the total number of negative cases being 1643.

Another three persons have recovered, which adds to a total of 80 recoveries.

Meanwhile, there are still 62 active cases in institutional isolation, three patients in the COVID Intensive Care Unit (UNIT) and; 14 persons in institutional quarantine – a decrease by nine.

Throughout the past

week, residents of Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) were reminded to desist from crossing the borders as COVID-19 continues to affect Brazil, Suriname and Venezuela.

“We wish to remind the residents of Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine to desist from crossing the borders as COVID-19 continues to strike viciously and take lives in Brazil. Let us continue to pray for guidance and protection for health workers worldwide and especially our frontline workers who are heroically waging the war against COVID-19,” Director of Primary Healthcare Services, Dr Ertinesa Hamilton had urged on Tuesday.

In Brazil, authorities are battling with over 500,000 cases and more than 30,000 deaths. Crossing the bor-

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gordon-Boyle

ders can bring more cases into the country, some of which might go undetected.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gordon-Boyle said on Friday that residents of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) are at an increased vulnerability to the virus, given increased cases in Venezuela.

Village leaders were asked to refuse any permission to enter their communities from persons who crossed the borders.

“We are calling on the Toshaos and other authorities to ensure that residents do not cross borders and that persons from those other countries are not entering your community. Community members must report any migrant entering your community & anyone who has signs and symptoms, and immediately bring this to the attention of the health authorities,” she had explained.

Persons experiencing the signs and symptoms associated with the disease are asked to contact the hotline or the closest health facility to access the necessary services. The same is being asked of persons who have been in contact with a positive case.

Globally the total number

of cases stand at 6,535,354 with 387,155 deaths. In the Region of the Americas,

there are 3,084,517 cases with 172,276 deaths.

Teen charged for murder of WCD handyman

A

juvenile was on Friday arraigned for the murder of Andrew McCurchin, a handyman, whose lifeless body was discovered at the Zeeburg seawall, West Coast Demerara (WCD), last month.

The 17-year-old, a fisherman/labourer of Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE), made a virtual appearance before Magistrate Rushell Liverpool at the Vreed-enHoop Magistrate’s Court.

According to reports, on May 18, 25-year-old McCurchin of Zeeburg was found in a pool of blood along the foreshore. He reportedly worked at the dock-

ing area for fishing boats as they came in from the sea.

Reports are the man was last seen by his girlfriend at around 19:00h on May 17 as he was heading in the direction of the Zeeburg seawall., but he never made his way back home.

However, on May 18, his motionless body was discovered lying in a pool of blood by a passerby. Police were summoned to the scene, and it was found that there were lacerations to the man’s head.

The teen was remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre and the case will continue on July 27, 2020.

NEWS

27

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

School reopening

Start new semester in phases – Caribbean Public Health Agency tells Govt

T

he Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has advised the Education Ministry to start the new school semester in a phased approach, as the COVID-19 crisis continues to affect education delivery.

According to Chief Education Officer Ingrid Thomas on Friday, they will look at integrating the senior levels first of both secondary and primary schools.

For now, the assumption is that the new school year will start in September.

“Let us assume that we begin in September. We are following the guidelines that were recommended by

CARPHA which says that we should return in a phased manner. So we’re looking at having the senior or the older students in first. The secondary and the Grade Four and Five of the primary level would start to go in the beginning when school re-

3 Berbicians charged for cocaine, ganja trafficking

T

wo men and a widow from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) were on Friday arraigned for the possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Reginald Motie, 24, a cattle farmer of High Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, was hauled before Magistrate Peter Hugh at New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court and pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.

During the court hearing, the prosecutor told the court that on May 30 at about 15:00h, Police ranks, acting on information received, swooped down on a location at Vryheid, West Canje, Berbice, and caught Motie tending to the acre of marijuana plants which measured between two and five feet in height. Also, 6500 cannabis seedlings were found and subsequently destroyed.

According to Police, the estimated street value of the cannabis plants is $5,824,000. Magistrate Hugh released Motie on $100,000 bail. The case will continue on June 30.

Meanwhile, 27-yearold Devon Pydana of Adelphi Village, East Canje and Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, Berbice, also appeared before Magistrate Hugh.

The charge stated that on May 30, at Stanleytown, he had in his possession 27 grams of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

He too denied the charge and was released on $100,000 bail. His case will continue on July 8, 2020.

In 2015, Pydana was charged with three counts of

Charged: Devon Pydana

causing death by dangerous driving after he drove a car filled with party-goers into two parked trucks along the Golden Grove Public Road, at West Coast Berbice, and one count of refusing to undergo a breathalyser test.

Additionally, 54-yearold Bibi Habida Yakub of Johanna North, Black Bush Polder, whose house was searched and a quantity of marijuana was found hidden in a gas stove and concealed in two bottles, was also hauled before the Mibicuri Court in Black Bush Polder to answer to a marijuana charge.

The widow appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore and pleaded guilty to the offence when it was read to her.

The court heard that when the plastic bottles were opened, ranks discovered several foil wrappings containing what was suspected to be the leaves, seeds, and stems of the cannabis sativa plant, which weighed a total of 65 grams.

After listening to the prosecutor, Magistrate Moore ordered Yakub to pay a fine of $30,000. Failure to pay the fine will result in her serving three weeks in prison.

opens,” she informed.

According to the CEO, a large volume of students means that classes will alternate throughout the week, to curb a crowded learning environment. Later in the semester, childhood institutions and special needs will return.

“In a phased manner, we would look if we have to have them in big schools where there is a big enrollment, we

would probably have some persons coming in on different days, maybe alternate days or we might have a shift system. Our younger children of the early childhood level and the special education needs would be the last set of persons to begin the school year, at a later date,” Trotman informed.

While the Ministry is planning to move forward with the reopening and sitting of exams next month, the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has opposed this decision. After a meeting with education officials on Friday, the representative body said in a statement that this is putting both students and teachers at risk.

As such, educators were urged to continue working from their homes through online means.

On Monday, teachers are required to report for school to prepare for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CSEC). On June 15, students sitting these exams will be required to attend school.

A total of 11,998 students are registered to write the CSEC exams from July 13 to

August 4, while 852 are registered to write CAPE from July 13 to July 31. For the NGSA, four core subject areas will be tested on July 1 and 2.

The Ministry is assuring that all safety protocols will be implemented to ensure both students and educators are safe during this time. According to education officials, every scenario has been catered for ‘from the gate to the classroom and back’.

28 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

PPP/C holds GECOM Chair to “every vote will be counted” commitment Full statement from People’s Progressive Party/Civic:

I

t is public knowledge that during the course of yesterday, at the National Recount Exercise, certain ballot boxes were recounted from a particular part of the East Coast of Demerara. These boxes contained only ballots cast which when recounted, matched the Statements of Poll. Other documents that were supposed to be included in the ballot boxes were excluded. A Presiding Officer who worked in one of these very Polling Stations published on social media that the Presiding Officers, including herself, were specifically instructed by the Deputy Returning Officer to place the ballots cast into the ballot boxes and to exclude all other materials in separate packages for transmission to the Returning Officer.

We also noted that a letter addressed to the Chairperson of GECOM was written

by Mr Paul Jaisingh, a Deputy Returning Officer, who worked in that specific geographic area. This letter was also published on social media. In this letter,

Mr Jaisingh confirmed receiving the very same instructions pertaining to the used, unused and rejected ballots outlined above, from Miss Carlyn Duncan, Clerk, to the Returning Officer, Mr Clairmont Mingo. Mr Jaisingh further pointed out that as a result, the other documents were placed in a bag provided and delivered to Mr Mingo.

Rather than deal with the issue internally, with what is clearly an inhouse matter, the GECOM Secretariat chose to make a public statement that it received yet another letter from a group of Deputy Returning Officers, apparently from the East Coast of Demerara but it is unclear who these DROs are and whether they are from the same geographical area under review, where the DROs’ dispute the controversial instructions.

This public statement seems to be in concert with the narrative and false allegations peddled by the APNU+AFC, aimed at disenfranchising electors in

PPP/C strongholds.

The matter is made even more complicated by another statement issued by the PRO Yolanda Ward later today, informing the public that the investigation of the matter is not yet completed since “the CEO has also contacted some of the Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) responsible for those areas for a meeting and while they have committed to meet with the CEO today, 6th June 2020: as at 16:00 hours, no DRO showed up to be interviewed.” It is clear that the Secretariat intends to create unnecessary public confusion and excite tension in the public domain by including these issues in a press statement.

We wish to make it abundantly clear that whatever is the outcome of GECOM’s investigations of their internal issues, not a single Guyanese elector must lose their franchise in the process.

It is hoped that the Commission will address this matter satisfactorily

GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

in accordance with the purpose of the exercise, which is a recount of the ballots cast on 2nd March 2020, and consistent with the comment of the Chairperson at the commencement of this exercise: “Every vote will be counted”.

29 10 murders in 5 months in Region 6 NEWS

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

R

Dead: Chanderpaul Dhoman

egion Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) has recorded 10 murders for the first five months of the year, compared with seven for the corresponding period last year.

Among those murders were a woman, who was killed and stuffed into a barrel, which was later dumped into a trench; a businessman who was killed when he went down the street to jog; his house later ransacked and a labourer who was killed by a teenager who wanted a place to sleep.

In fact, that senseless murder was the first murder for

the year.

On January 3, Dave Jacobs, 19, attacked and killed 43-year-old Persaud Kamaldeo, called “Tyie” at a stand at the Corriverton Market because Kamaldeo was sleeping on the stand he wanted to sleep on.

Kamaldeo had been sleeping on the streets for a number of years and Jacobs was having his first night on the streets after arriving from Orealla a few days prior.

The matter is currently engaging the attention of the Magistrate’s Court. While it was the first murder for the year, it is not the first on the record books.

On January 1, Chanderpaul Dhoman called “Jack” of Johanna North, Black Bush Polder, succumbed to his injuries after being beaten by two villagers on December 30, who made allegations that his animals were grazing in their farm. The two men are also before the court.

On February 1, a rice and cattle farmer, forty-year-old Parmanand Lakeram, also

Dead: Lomenzo Johnny

called “Bachan” or “Fancy”, of Number 58 Village, Corentyne, was shot and killed on his farm. With his dying breath, he reportedly told two of his workers who it was that shot him. Two men are before the court for his murder.

On February 25, Anthony Permaul, 41, called “Banks”, of Clifton Settlement, Port Mourant, and his 52-yearold reputed wife were imbibing at their home when they had a misunderstanding which developed into a heated argument.

Permaul reportedly assaulted his spouse, who al-

legedly picked up a cutlass and chopped him. He died two days later. The wife is currently before the court.

On February 27, the battered body of a Rose Hall Town businessman, 49-yearold Lomenzo Johnny, was discovered in a yard where a building was under construction; it was located some 400 metres from his home.

His feet were bound together with a shoelace. The sweater he was seen wearing the evening before was found a few feet away from the body.

A pair of scissors and a piece of wood were also found near to the body.

There was a wound to the back, bruises to his hand, while his head and face appeared to be swollen.

When Police went to his home, they found that the front door was not locked and the inside of the house was ransacked. A safe along with other items were reportedly removed from the building.

Four persons were sub-

sequently arrested after a professional was called in to open the safe. Police later issued a wanted bulletin for a fifth suspect. All five are now before the court.

On March 7, Keron Nicholson, 33, of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, was reportedly engaged in a heated argument that escalated into an altercation with another man. However, Nicholson reportedly left the scene and went to another location, where he was attacked with a piece of wood.

Nicholson was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital but was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he subsequently died.

Police later issued a wanted bulletin for 29-yearold Donald Sheriff. He has since been arrested and is before the court.

On April 6, Mahindra Mangru also called “Papo” of Port Mourant was involved in a scuffle with one of his employees over payment for work done. The businessman was found in an uncon-

Dead: Parmanand Lakeram

scious state in front of his gate after the fight. He died shorter after. The worker was arrested and is before the court. On the morning of April 11, the gruesome discovery of the body of a woman was made at Hampshire Village, Corentyne. 24-yearold Devika “Vanessa” Narinedatt was killed two days prior and stuffed into a barrel which was thrown into a nearby trench.

Her husband, Suraj Veersammy, called “Radesh” or “Rabbit” was later charged with the murder after confessing to hanging her.

30

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

Premier League rounds of coronavirus testing…

T

here has been no positive result for coronavirus from 1,195 tests

on 17 June, when Aston Villa host Sheffield United at 18:00 BST, and Manchester City en-

There have been six rounds of testing in the Premier League

done in the latest round of Premier League testing. The sixth round of twice-weekly screening of players and club staff took place on 4 and 5 June.

One person tested positive in the previous round, and there has been a total of 13 positive results in total from 6,274 tests done since testing commenced.

Suspended since 13 March, the Premier League is set to resume behind closed doors

tertain Arsenal at 20:15.

Liverpool are 25 points clear at the top of the table, while Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City are in the relegation zone.

There are 92 games remaining this season.

W

orld number one Novak Djokovic has called the coronavirus safety protocols, planned in order for the US Open to take place, “extreme”.

The hard-court Grand Slam tournament is scheduled to start on 31 August at Flushing Meadows in New York.

“We would not have access to Manhattan, we would have to sleep in hotels at the airport, to be tested twice or three times per week,” said Djokovic.

“Also, we could bring one person to the club which is really impossible.”

T h e 33-year-old, speaking to Prva TV in his native Serbia, added: “I mean, you need your coach, then a fitness trainer, then a physiotherapist.”

World number two Rafael Nadal said on Thursday he currently has little desire to travel to New York to defend his US Open title.

The Spaniard does not think tournaments should restart until every single player is able to travel freely and safely.

No tour events will be staged until the end of July - at the very earliest.

Djokovic, a three-time US Open winner, added: “I had a telephone conversation with the leaders of world tennis, there were talks about the continuation of the season, mostly about the US Open due in late August, but it is not known whether it will be held.

“The rules that they told us that we would have t o

Novak Djokovic is a threetime winner of the US Open

respect to be there, to play at all, they are extreme.”

Analysis

Russell Fuller, tennis correspondent This could prove to be a very significant intervention by the world number one, who is president of the ATP Player Council.

The US Tennis Association (USTA) is seeking government approval for its plans to stage the US Open behind closed doors. But a green light would not amount to much in the face of sustained opposition from players, especially the leading lights of the game.

Giving up a favoured Manhattan hotel or eating spot seem like a small price to pay for the chance to win and earn again. But given the size of the teams that travel

the world with the top players, an entourage of one may prove impossible to sell.

The ATP is currently soliciting the views of their players, with the USTA expected to decide whether the US Open can go ahead in the second half of June. (BBC Sport)

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

CLASSIFIED ADS FOR SALE Puppies for Sale. Pure-Bred German Shepherd Pups. Vaccinated and Dewormed. 622-0015/220-8559 Mixed-Breed Puppies for Sale.

Contact: Tel- 253-3114/692-0126.

All Tools, Equipment and Accessories for setting up small Brass and Aluminium Foundry. Tel.: 227-1830/227-1813

SERVICE Washing Machine Repairs.

Mahaicony/Berbice/Corentyne area. 232-0616/638-1829

TAXI SERVICES GR TAXI, 24 HOURS. PHONE: 225-7878, 219-5000, 227-2100

TO RENT Bottom Flat to Rent, Fully Furnished, window/door mesh, grill, Business / Domestic, 25 North Rd. Oronoque St. Bourda. 226-7012

wanted Live in Family Husband – Driving, semi-mechanic, Wife- Sales Person, Tel.: 227-1813/227-1830

T

wo promising national footballers returned home last evening after being stranded in Miami for over 10 weeks.

Jeremy Garrett and Kurtez Kellman breathed a sigh of relief as they landed on Guyanese shores following their inability to return home owing to travel restrictions at Guyana’s National ports. The pair of defensive players were in the U n i t e d States on Scholarships; Garrett pursuing a diploma in Rehabilitation Science at the Louisiana State University and Kellman a Business Administration major at

31

tional boxers are still stuck in Cuba. Colin Lewis, Keevin Allicock,

Kurtez Kellman and Jeremy Garrett on board their flight to Guyana

Eastern Florida State College.

Cognizant of the closure of Guyana’s airports back in March, Garrett and Kellman had booked flights

but the ports in Trinidad and Tobago, where they were scheduled to in-transit had already shut its doors, thus affecting the flight.

The pair were figurative-

ly rescued by the Guyanese Consulate in Miami, who put them up in a hotel until their departure at noon on Saturday.

On the other hand, 4 na-

Desmond A m s t e r d a m and Dennis Thomas initially travelled to the Spanish island for the purpose of training (for three months) in preparation for the Americas 2020 Olympic Boxing Qualifiers, which has since been cancelled.

However, before the could get a flight home the ports were closed. the boxers have since received permission from the National Covid-19 Task Force to return home and preparations are being made for such. The boxers have been in Cuba since

Sports is no longer our game, it’s our business

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020

guyanatimesgy.com

End of the GAPLF-imposed one-year suspension…

G

uyana’s celebrated strongman, the irrepressible Carlos Peterson-Griffith, and Junica Pluck, two athletes of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation (GAPLF) who had violated the rules of the GAPLF and the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) by participating in a StrongFit competition in Barbados on May 4-5, 2019, have each served the one-year suspension imposed on them by the powerlifting entities.And now that the suspension has been lifted, it is more of a bittersweet moment for these two athletes, because of the threatening presence of the deadly novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which has rocked the entire world.Guyana has been affected with more than 150 cases of this disease, and has been forced to suspend all sporting disciplines indefinitely. In 2019, as one would recall, this pair of athletes had participated in an unauthorized powerlifting competition, and the GAPLF had said it would need to make a decision on their future in the sport. They were suspended for having violated the rules of both the IPF and the GAPF. Article 14.9 of the IPF Constitution states under Participating in non-IPF Competition: “Any lifter, coach, referee or official who competes or participates in an international powerlifting or bench press competition not organised, sanctioned or approved by the IPF shall not be permitted to take part in any IPF international or regional competition for a period of 12 months from the date of that non-approved competition.”That aside, the GAPLF Constitution states in Section 12, Article 1, point 4: “The stated reasons for suspension are not a closed list, and the executive members shall collectively exercise their discretion when opting to suspend a member of the GAPLF.

Junica Pluck

The following may be subject to suspension: “Any lifter who participates in a contest with other countries without the permission of the GAPLF.”Neither athlete had informed the Federation of their intention to participate in a competition in Barbados. Had the Federation been made aware, it would have been able to let them know that Barbados was not an affiliate of the IPF, and the event in which they had competed was not sanctioned by the IPF. Nevertheless, when the deadly COVID-19 pandemic has passed, the pair would be rearing to go in an effort to again shatter records and retake their position on the powerlifting throne.

Carlos Peterson-Griffith

StrongFit

CPL Trophy

Local team the Guyana Amazon Warriors

-young cyclist Jeremiah Joseph anticipating return of racing

T

he CPL has received a proverbial shot in the arm after the Trinidad & Tobago Government indicated that it is "very, very much open" to hosting the 2020 edition of the tournament in that country.

However, Shamfa Cudjoe, the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, stressed that a final decision would be subject to permission from the Health Ministry and the CPL providing a "commitment" to stick to the guidelines.

Earlier this week, the CPL submitted a proposal to hold the entire tournament, comprising 34 matches, at two main grounds in Trinidad.

Originally the CPL, which comprises six teams, was scheduled Randolph Roberts (right) receiving face masks from Ryan Alexander to take place between August 19 and yan Alexander, Senior Vice-President basis. In a comment September 26 at six venues. In its of the Berbice Chamber of Commerce invited from this daily Flying Ace cyclist proposal, the CPL mentioned that and Development Association (BCCDA), publication, Joseph Jeremiah Joseph it would conduct the tournament presented the Flying Ace Cycling Club (FACC) said he is anxiously across 25 days with several double of East Berbice with 30 face masks during the awaiting the return headers. past week. of competitive The CPL had, in 2018, signed a The FACC has also recently benefited from racing. three-year contract with the T&T the receipt of food hampers as the dreaded "The only thing I can Government to host the semi-finals novel coronavirus continues to menace all do is keep my body fit, and and the finals in addition to home sporting activities. continue to be prepared," matches of the local team, the Led by Cycling Coach Randolph Roberts, Joseph noted. He posited that Trinbago Knight Riders. Last year, the FACC has expressed gratitude to those his goal will always remain Trinidad hosted eight matches who have donated to the cause of its the same: to be positive in his comprising five of the TKR members in such a trying time as this; and approach. home matches along with the Roberts has explained that, despite the "I want to be the best; knockouts in addition to two T10 menacing threat posed by COVID-19, cyclists to always ride and keep my women's exhibition matches. As have been engaging in training under his head up and win races," per the contract T&T government watchful eyes, in order to prepare themselves Joseph explained. is meant to pay US $ 1 milion to for the resumption of competition.

He is calling on his fellow cyclists CPL to facilitate the matches in the Coronavirus cases are mostly being to protect themselves while staying f i t , country. found in regions other than Six (East Bce/ and to equip themselves with a neverCPL had, on June 4, its first Corentyne), but the cyclists under Roberts’ say-never attitude; and the able coach meeting with the T&T Government, charge are taking all precautions while Randolph Roberts is calling on more which was attended by Cudjoe along training in small numbers. business entities to come on board the with the country's Chief Medical Young and promising cyclist Jeremiah effort to assist Flying Ace cyclists during Officer and officials from the Ministry Joseph declared that he trains on a daily this period of the pandemic.

R

of Health. According to Cudjoe, the CPL proposal, which she called a "draft document", primarily focused on health protocols and travel arrangements for the six franchises to follow.

"They wish to hold CPL in Trinidad and Tobago only," Cudjoe told I95.5FM, a Trinidad-based radio station hosted by local broadcaster Andre Errol Baptiste, hours after the meeting. "The proposal speaks primarily to the health protocol, and doesn't cover budget or anything of that sort.

“I must commend CPL for taking this time out to touch on and examine each and every part of the health protocol - from quarantine period after the players land, as to how they are going to be housed, how they are fed and how to maintain social distancing, even rules as to whether saliva or sweat can be used on the ball - they went into detail."

Despite both parties walking out optimistic from Thursday's meeting, Cudjoe said without the health ministry's green light nothing would move forward. "Most importantly, we are asking the Ministry of Health to give us clearance, and guidelines, to see if this is even possible, and what's the best way to execute these games.

But we are open to hosting, and as long as our numbers (Covid-19 cases) remain low, and we can establish the right health protocols and guidelines, and get the commitment from CPL to abide and adhere to those guidelines, then we are very much, very, very much open to hosting the CPL at this point in time."

Cudjoe did not reveal tournament dates, but said CPL was "recommending mid-August, very

early in September, playing games almost every day". Cudjoe reiterated that the government would not gamble with the safety of the people at a time when the pandemic has caused close to 400,000 deaths worldwide. T&T has remained vastly unaffected so far with 117 people having tested positive for Covid-19 with 8 deaths.

"All of that (the tournament dates) would have to be looked at based on the health guidelines and the protocols from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of National Security," Cudjoe said. "You don't want to chance anything. Our priority is safeguarding the athletes, the workers and all the stakeholders, most importantly the wider public of Trinidad and Tobago.

"So we will not be taking any chances, we have to examine these protocols very, very meticulously, and then we will come up with a way forward as to whether this makes sense, whether we can remain healthy, whether this is safe, before we give the go-ahead. We will be deliberating on the matter during the next week, and we hope to come up with a proper and solid response to CPL soon."

Cudjoe said, as part of the next step, the CPL has been asked to present the "budgetary items", which would be initially examined by the Sports Company of Trinidad & Tobago, the government arm administering various sport in the country. A "concrete position", Cudjoe said, is likely to be taken next week once CPL returns with further details in the proposal. That then would be heard by the T&T government cabinet before taking a decision. (ESPNCricinfo)

GUYANA TIMES - www.guyanatimesgy.com, email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, NEWS HOTLINE: 231-8063 EDITORIAL: 223-7230, 223-7231, 231-0544, 225-7761 SPORT: sport@guyanatimesgy.com SALES AND MARKETING: 231-8064 - lezas@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.