Guyana Times Monday May 11, 2020

MMG partners with GBTI, DBL to facilitate online uploads Nationwide coverage from the best news team in Guyana

THE BEACON OF TRUTH

PPP demands GECOM release SoPs amid fraudulent declaration by Mingo Issue No. 4282

guyanatimesgy.com

P8

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Page 3

PRICE

$80 VAT INCLUDED

WHAT'S INSIDE:

T&T PM blames APNU/AFC P9 recount case for decision not to resend election officer …says Trinidad wants to preserve “pristine position” by staying out of Guyana’s elections

Ramjattan P13 cites privacy on question of releasing APNU/AFC SoPs – confirms party will not be releasing proof of alleged victory

Dead newborn baby dumped at Nandy Park P2

President David Granger also Voted at this Polling Station

Not good for Guyana to be without credible result 2 months after elections – EU Ambassador Page 12

– urges transparent, credible completion of recount, says country has waited too long

COVID-19 cases in Guyana surpass 100 as 7 new cases recorded Page 13

Friendship man stabbed to death over stolen cellphone P7 GPF arrested over 40 P2 persons for breaching curfew

2 NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GPF arrests over 40 persons Dead newborn baby dumped at Nandy Park for breaching curfew

A

The Guyana Police Force night patrol enforcing the 06:00h-18:00h (6am-6pm) curfew

fter multiple warnings by the Guyana Police Force (GPF), more than 40 persons were arrested for breaching the 06:00h to 18:00h curfew that was implemented by the Public Health Ministry to slow the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.

This was according to Regional Police Deputy Commander for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Senior Superintendent Phillip Azore during an interview with Department of Public Information (DPI).

“Over 40 were arrested and charged; they are currently being placed before the court. So far, five persons have been placed before the court where they were made to pay fines and other punishment that the court has awarded,” Azore stated.

He underscored that the slow rate of penalisation was a result of the COVID-19 restrictions in place at the courts. Presently, they operate three days per week which allow for just five such cases per week.

He pointed out that before an arrest is made, citizens are given a warning.

If that warning is ignored, then an arrest is made.

However, Azore pointed out that most persons were complying with the measures.

The Commander also highlighted that to further enforce the curfew, there were several strategically placed roadblocks.

“The reason for the roadblocks is to stop those persons driving on the road [after the curfew] and ascertain if there is any legitimate reason for them be-

ing on the road. If there is no valid reason, we ask that they proceed home immediately. If persons continue to breach the curfew, they will be prosecuted,” he underscored.

It was highlighted that the Traffic Task force works during the day to ensure minibuses and taxis follow the 50 per cent passenger restriction. If they are found to have breached the measures, they are warned before an arrest is made.

“It is not a case where you commit an offence for the first time and we charge you; you are warned but if you continue, then there is strict enforcement and we have you placed before the court,” Azore stated.

The GPF continues to call on persons and businesses to adhere to the emergency measures. They

are also reminding that any person who fails to comply with any of the measures is committing an offence under Section 152 of the Public Health Ordinance and is liable on summary conviction to the penalty provided under that section.

Meanwhile, just three days ago, Police in Berbice brought some 22 persons before the courts for breaking the curfew, and among those charged were the owners of the Mahogany Hotel in Corriverton, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) Sherwin Paterson and Carlos Angel, and seven Venezuelan nationals.

Two weeks ago, an East Bank man was sentenced to an hour of “standing and displaying the curfew notice” as punishment after he breached the national curfew.

The baby’s body in the black plastic bag

P

olice on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD) are investigating the death of a newborn baby boy, whose body was found wrapped in a plastic bag and dumped along the Nandy Park, EBD access road.

According to reports received, the dead baby was found in front of an elderly woman’s house about 14:00h on Sunday. The afterbirth was also inside the bag.

The elderly woman, who made the discovery, told Police that she saw a bag lying in front of her home and went to investigate. Upon doing so,

she saw the baby’s feet and immediately raised an alarm.

She did not notice any unusual movements in the area owing to heavy downpours during the day.

When contacted, Regional Police Commander, Senior Superintendent Kurleigh Simon confirmed that the newborn baby was found dead wrapped in a plastic bag and ranks were currently investigating.

In such a case, he noted, the matter will be treated as a homicide and once the culprit is caught, they will face the full brunt of the law.

NEWS

3

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, May 11 – 05:00h – 06:30h and Tuesday, May 12 – 09:00h – 10:30h.

PPP demands GECOM release SoPs amid fraudulent declaration by Mingo

The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Monday, May 11 – 06:55h – 08:25h and Tuesday, May 12 – 07:40h – 09:10h.

FERRY SCHEDULE

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

WEATHER TODAY Expect heavy rain, light cloud and thundery showers during the day. There will be thundery showers at night. Temperatures should range between 23 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

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

High Tide: 18:03h06:53h and 19:28h reaching maximum heights of 2.62 metres and 2.38 metres.

Low Tide: 12:59h reaching a minimum height of 0.63 metre.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020

PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali

The National Recount of votes cast on March 2, 2020, is, daily, exposing Region Four’s Returning Officer’s (RO) declarations as fraudulent and the opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) is again calling on the Elections Commission to release its Statements of Polls (SoPs),

LOTTERY NUMBERS I

03 06 09 19 20 21

FREE TICKET

7 Bonus Ball

DAILY MILLIONS

01 14 16 24 25 LUCKY 3

7

0

0

2

Afternoon Draw

1

2

Evening Draw

DRAW DE LINE

01

12

13 14

15 16 21

PAY DAY

PPP/C Executive Anil Nandlall

SUPER PAY DAY FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2020

01 04 08 12 14

08 12 15 19 21

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902

COMMODITIES Indicators

US$

Change %

Crude Oil

$30.97/barrel

+4.88

Rough Rice

$275.30 /ton

-0.08

London Sugar

$348.00/ton

+0.00

Live Spot Gold

USD Per Ounce

Bid/Ask

$1704.50

$1705.50

Low/High

$1708.20

$1700.90

+1.60

+0.09%

Change

since its credibility is now at stake.

The Region Four RO, Clairmont Mingo, is being accused of declaring results for the region that are now being proven as inflated in favour of the incumbent A Partnership For National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC).

Over the past few days, there have been several instances where the figures that were released by Mingo did not match the actual numbers of the official Statements of Poll (SoPs) and the Statements of Recount (SoRs). Some of the figures have been inflated by 100 in some instances in favour of the APNU/AFC and in some cases, the numbers for the PPP/C have been reduced.

In light of the this, Presidential Candidate of the PPP/C, Dr Irfaan Ali stated that it is time for the elections body to release its SoPs since the Statements of Recounts (SoRs) that are being generated from the recount have matched the SoPs published by the

PPP/C. “We have our SoPs,” Dr Ali reminded but indicated also that there are also audio recordings of the declarations used by Mingo at various boxes.”

“And then no one would have to point their fingers to any political party, saying ‘how did you get this number or this is your number…

It is GECOM who are in possession of the SoPs; they’re in possession of Mingo’s declaration and they’re in possession of the SoRs so far.”

As such, Ali argued, “in the interest of the public, in the interest of transparency, we would love for GECOM to publish these three so that the public can have it and the media can have it,” According to the PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate, an easy way to find out whether the declaration by Mingo is false is for GECOM to make the documents public so that the citizenry can compare and draw their own conclusions.

Meanwhile, former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall has also reiterated calls for GECOM to make these disclosures and pointed out that “the fact that the recount is taking place means that Mingo’s declaration is invalid and will not be accepted.”

“If Mingo’s declaration was valid then why are we doing a recount?” he questioned, highlighting, “We are doing a recount specifically because Mingo’s declaration is not valid.”

Nandlall, who is one of the PPP/C’s party agents in the recount, revealed that on Sunday, a number of inconsistencies between Mingo’s declaration and the figures emanating from the recount arose.

“Today alone, several boxes that were counted vividly illustrated and demonstrated the fraud that Mingo perpetrated in those declarations. Today, in particular, several of the boxes that Mingo dealt with and produced false figures in that spreadsheet were today debunked by the actual ballots that were reck-

oned and counted. As we go deeper and deeper, everyday Mingo’s fraud is going to be revealed and is being unravelled as the day progresses,” he told media operatives outside the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

Nandlall went on to point to the origin of those discrepancies, noting that even though a court challenge over Mingo tabulating the votes without using SoPs was before the court, he never halted the process but opted to have it continue using his incorrect method while the issue was before the court.

The former Attorney General also used the opportunity to raise concerns of continued efforts by APNU/ AFC agents to delay the recount by raising unnecessary objections to votes and ballots cast by certain voters on unsubstantiated grounds.

Pointing to what he dubbed as a “ridiculous” at-

tempt on Sunday, Nandlall shared, “An objection was raised by another party when the Pearl Nursery School box was being counted and the serial number of the voter was being objected to and that voter turned out to be David Granger. So, I want the public to know how ridiculous this thing is unfolding.”

Meanwhile, at the end of day five of the recount, 51 boxes were counted, tak-

Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo

ing the total thus far to 208 ballot boxes out of the 2339 total. This update was provided by GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, who disclosed that the count at the end of Sunday

was as follows – Region One, 11 boxes; Region Two, 10 boxes; Region Three, 17 boxes, and Region Four, 13 boxes.

She also indicated that so far, 190 boxes have been tabulated for the General Elections while 180 boxes have been tabulated for the Regional Elections, noting that she anticipates that the gap will close in the coming days.

4

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Views Editor: Tusika Martin News Hotline: 231-8063 Editorial: 231-0544, 223-7230, 223-7231, 225-7761 Marketing: 231-8064 Accounts: 225-6707 Mailing address: Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, marketing@guyanatimesgy.com

PNC stymieing political evolution

T

he introduction of the universal franchise in British Guiana in the 1953 elections, the competition to agglomerate votes in a society that was clearly “plural” presented challenges that went beyond the liberal premises of individuals voting according to their preferences in a “rational” fashion.

Because the plantation society had created identities based on race/ethnicity, orientations arising out of these divisions had to be addressed by the political parties seeking political office. Up to that point, a very restricted franchise based on income and education had resulted in ethnically-based parties drawn from the small middle class.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP), launched in 1950, attempted to bridge the divides of race and class by incorporating leaders drawn from all the various sections of the society and adopting a programme that rallied the people for economic and social justice against the colonial power.

They won a resounding victory which surprised them.

Their policies, however, were seen as too radical by the British Government and after a mere 133 days they were removed from office. Subsequently, through the machinations of the Colonial Office, Forbes Burnham, who had been courted because of his academic fame in the African Guyanese community, split the PPP into two factions. Inevitably, his mobilisation efforts resulted in his attracting most of his support from the African Guyanese section and the politics of Guyana now took a decidedly divisive ethnic orientation.

In the 1957 elections, the PPP(J), led by Cheddi Jagan, defeated Burnham’s PPP(B) and repeated this in 1961, when the two parties had been joined by a new party, the United Force (UF), with support from the local business class and Amerindians, and Burnham had changed his party’s name to the People’s National Congress (PNC).

Political mobilisation had now become almost totally ethnicised/racialised which remained fixed for the next 50 years.

The political system was then altered by the British Government from the “First Past the Post”/constituency system that was standard across the British Empire to “Proportional Representation” (PR) in a clear move to remove the PPP from office because of its leader’s “communist” proclivities. The PPP was winning not because it was commanding a majority of the votes, but because its mainly Indian Guyanese constituency was more evenly distributed across the country.

PR removed this advantage, because as the British Colonial Secretary said, it offered an opportunity to fragment the votes and give representation to minorities.

He opined that the larger ethnic/racially-based parties would have to shift their orientations by moderating their ethnic appeals.

After the 1964 elections following ethnic riots that reinforced the ethnic/racial cleavages, the minority PNC coalesced with the minority UF to defeat the PPP which had emerged with a plurality but not a majority. Forbes Burnham and the PNC, however, refused to moderate their positions to mollify the UF and decided to rig the 1968 elections, which made a coalition irrelevant.

Guyana was now to be governed illegally by an ethnic minority party for the next 24 years that kept the ethnic divisions intact. With the return of free and fair elections in 1992, however, the PPP was returned to office on the back of its mostly Indian-Guyanese majority support.

This created its own challenge to democratic governance, where all groups desire to be represented and most African Guyanese felt alienated.

By the 2011 elections, however, changing demographics – as attested by the census of the following year – had reduced the Indian-Guyanese population to a minority in a nation of minorities, and the PPP could only garner a plurality to capture the Presidency. Guyana’s politics had now reached the happy position where with minorities as their bases, each of the two major parties had to moderate their positions to garner supporters from across the ethnic divide.

In the 2015 elections, the pre-electoral APNU/AFC coalition won the elections and in the present 2020 elections, it would appear that the PPP has won by garnering “crossover” votes. We have finally reached a state for the first time in our history where parties can be judged by their performance rather than their ethnic base.

And this is what the PNC’s recalcitrance is stymieing right now.

The Friendship Gate at 10th and Arch was created in Philadelphia's Chinatown sister city, Tianijn, China, and erected in 1984

PNC is back to its hat of tricks

Dear Editor, Election observers are valuable persons for improving the quality of elections.

Observers help build public confidence for the honesty of the electoral processes.

Observation can help promote and protect the civil and political rights of participants in elections. It can lead to the correction of errors or weak practices, even while an election process is still underway.

It can deter manipulation and fraud, or expose such problems if they do occur. When observers can issue positive reports, it builds trust in the democratic process and enhances the legitimacy of the governments that emerge from elections.

Election observation by domestic groups encourages civic involvement in the political process. Following elections, reports and recommendations by observer groups can lead to changes and improvements in national law and practice.

These are the many reasons why the Guyana caretaker Administration doesn’t want The Carter Center and many international observers back in Guyana to observe the recount of the March 2, 2020 General Election.

Any election can be enhanced by observation, but comprehensive observation is particularly helpful in Guyana in which a significant proportion of the population lack trust in the electoral system. It must be noted that in the 1980 elections, the observers were abused and harassed by the PNC, they were not given access to vital information and notes, films and tapes were confiscated – Lord Avebury was even arrested December 15, 1980 will remain as one of the blackest days experienced by Guyanese people. it was on this day the

regime of People’s National Congress (PNC) aided by the military forces, concluded its hat trick of crudely rigged elections, thus maintaining itself in power against the wish of the overwhelming majority of the people of Guyana.

The fraudulent 1980 elections came after the PNC prepared and introduced a constitutional machinery which rapidly eroded the democratic rights of the people of Guyana.

We would all remember that in 1992, it was because of the presence of The Carter Center in Guyana that “the will of the people” had prevailed for the first time after decades of rigging by the PNC regime. Free and fair elections were experienced in Guyana, democracy was restored in Guyana.

After the 2015 General Election which was stolen by the APNU/AFC, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic, leaders and supporters realised what was on the APNU/ AFC’s agenda and immediately accused the APNU/AFC Government of plotting to rig the 2020 General Elections and those concerns had burst into the open with President David Granger’s decision to unilaterally name 84-yearold Retired Justice James Patterson as the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission.

Aside from the Opposition PPP/C, condemnation of Granger’s decision was shared by civil society and several other agencies. The PNC’s history of rigging elections has been cited or referred to obliquely.

History would have shown us that PNC rigging began in 1953. Between 1962-1964 there were successive states of emergency, which laid the basis for change in the electoral system from the first past the

post to proportional representation.

In the 1973 General Elections, the army played a major role in the rigging machinery - seizing ballot boxes, taking them to Camp Ayangana for some fifteen hours, votes were switched in favour of the PNC. In 1977 the PPP won the election but was cheated out of it.

PNC in 1978 rigged the referendum for a new Constitution.

It is clear to all that the APNU/AFC is back to the old playbook of the PNC regime. All indications at the recount stations show clearly the APNU/AFC agents are there to derail the recount process with their main focus being scrutinising the paper works prepared and signed by the PO on March 2. They are there making ridiculous assertions, they continue to peddle lies, spreading misinformation and claiming that dead persons had voted. What Guyanese must know about voting on Election Day is that there is a document called a “folio” which has a picture of all the persons registered to vote at that Polling Station.

That picture of the person in the folio is the same picture which appears on the person’s ID card. All the persons manning the Polling Station on Election Day which includes all representatives of the political parties, called “polling agents”, have a copy of that folio for them to ascertain that the person about to vote matches the picture on the ID card and the folio. The claim that dead persons or migrated persons voted is simply absurd because it means that every single person in that Polling Station including the respective party representatives (polling agents) would have had to act in a grand

conspiracy to allow a person who does not match the picture on the ID card and the folio to vote.

The APNU/AFC’s sinister plot to remove MR Jonas from the recount by claiming he has COVID-19 is another way to remove an observer whose eyes are keen, watchful and one who will speak out at any cause if he observes any wrongdoing, similar to the observers from the Carter mission.

The ANPU/AFC is using the same hat of tricks from PNC in the 70s and 80s, however, it will not work in 2020.

The recount figures from the national vote recount have so far shown, and will continue throughout the District Four recount, that the votes for APNU/AFC were heavily inflated when the first and second vote declarations were made by Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo on March 6 and 13 after the elections held on March 2.

All Guyanese deserve better and should demand nothing less than the truth - transparency is what we need at every counting station. I am aware that GECOM will be pushing to have all phones removed during the counting process. Your phone is another pair of eyes - one must have his or her phone. Our phones help to enrich the highest standard for all Guyanese.

The phone always tells and reveals the truth - a picture tells a thousand words.

So, stop trying to derail the counting process and let’s stick to what every Guyanese citizen and the world at large requires - the vote to be recounted in a timely manner of 25 days Sincerely, David Adams

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MAY 11, 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

Mingo’s fraud fully exposed − time for criminal charges Dear Editor, As the recount takes its painful journey towards a final count, GECOM everyday tries to impose more illegal actions. Now they want to take away people’s phones. These people are morbidly afraid of the truth.

They also want to introduce sign language for the radio audience. They have no shame. But madness is part of the process, the rigging

for Region Four, dramatically inflating the votes for APNU/AFC and reducing the PPP’s votes. Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s total from about 114,000 to 136,000 votes, increasing APNU/AFC’s total by more than 22,000 votes.

Simultaneously, Mingo reduced the PPP’s votes from 81,000 to 77,000 votes.

The table below shows 12 boxes so far that were

ent with its copies of SoPs prepared by GECOM and distributed to all the parties’ representatives that were present for the counting on March 2. The local and international observers and the media also had copies of most of the SoPs from Region Four since many of them took pictures of the SoPs that Presiding Officers posted up that evening.

The GECOM Secretariat

Forces that do not want to see the votes counted

Dear Editor, The 26th of May is our nation’s Independence Day, and Guyanese are finding out that independence much like democracy, once won, must be guarded fiercely.

The two concepts share a relationship as the brain and heart of our body politic of which we the people are the lifeblood.

When Benjamin Franklin was asked after a session of the Constitutional Convention, “What kind of a Government have you given us?” he replied, “A democracy if you can keep it.”

Those engaged in the rigging of the 2020 elections are leching our soul like modern-day vampires; their leader moves in our midst and like the fictional Dracula, he wears the guise of an honest and decent man.

These “forces that do not want to see the votes count-

ed” are intent on protecting their vampirism on the country’s resources; the power lust, perks, and corrupt practices that are draining the treasury and bleeding the citizens dry.

As the recount proceeds and the Statements of Recount (SoR) match the Statements of Poll (SoP) and the Mingo figures are exposed as a blatant fraud; those SoRs have become mini-stakes through the heart of the conspirators, the sheer weight of evidence is overwhelming the “forces” and there are thousands more SoRs to come.

On the 9th of May, ballot box number 4058 was counted at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, a SoR was produced that matches the SoP, no surprise there but when the video record of Mingo’s ‘verification’ exercise was reviewed, it showed inflation of 70 votes

for David Granger’s APNU/ AFC; this incontrovertible evidence was published in Kaieteur newspapers and the incumbent must address it forthwith.

Granger can no longer hide behind the skirts of the sisters like Dracula, he must choose a path to protect his family name and what’s left of his legacy; on the right is a call for GECOM to produce its SoPs for Region Four; on the left, willful ignorance and retreat to the fortress in Pearl. Tick tock.

Editor, Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first published on the 26th of May 1897, and the question is when that date rolls around in 2020, will Guyana be an independent democratic nation or be suffering under the yoke of this undead Government?

Respectfully, Robin Singh

Don’t be dumb, deaf and blind!

Dear Editor, We as religious people, when we see an evil, we should try to stop it with our hands, if not, then with our tongues. We need to speak up. I am calling on all the religious organisations. I am calling on Mr David Arthur Granger and the APNU/ AFC hierarchy, as they are supposed to be religious people, to do the honest and decent thing. Concede. Don’t

cabal will use every illegal or stupid delaying tactic.

The truth is the numbers will prove two things - first, the PPP won and, second, somebody committed fraud.

With just about 5 per cent of the boxes counted, both these truths have become evident, plain as day.

The recount is crawling along, slower than a snail’s pace, with a total of 157 boxes counted out of the total of 2339 boxes, after four days. Downtime has accounted for almost 50 per cent of the total time allotted for the four days when one takes into consideration late starts, early closures, breaks for lunch and other things. Even with the small number of boxes already counted, the original Statements of Poll (SoPs) have been totally validated by the recount, with the Statements of Recount (SoRs) 100 per cent agreeing with the SoPs. The table below highlights the recount results for APNU/AFC from twelve (12) Region Four boxes.

This is the region where the Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, abandoned the SoPs for tabulation purposes and introduced a mysterious, bogus spreadsheet which he used to declare rigged results

fraudulently changed by Mingo, with total complicity from the GECOM Secretariat. In each of these 12 boxes, Mingo inflated APNU/AFC’s votes by between 25 to 109 votes, increasing APNU/AFC’s total by 913 votes or by 56 per cent.

As more boxes are counted, the exposure of the fraud will intensify. In three of these 12 boxes, Mingo also introduced a reduction of the PPP votes, reducing the PPP’s votes by 57. By doing this (inflating APNU/AFC’s votes and reducing the PPP’s votes) for hundreds of boxes in Region Four, Mingo was able to increase the actual APNU/AFC votes by more than 22,000 and reduce the PPP’s votes by more than 3000 votes.

The problem is he did it in plain sight, while being live-streamed, in front of local and international observers, the diplomatic corps, with the presence of three former Prime Ministers from Barbados, Jamaica and Senegal. He got caught, he had collaborators at the highest level of the GECOM Secretariat and in the leadership of APNU/ AFC. Volda Lawrence had the temerity to sign the declaration.

But the PPP was pres-

and APNU/AFC have treated the SoPs as highly classified State secrets. But these are public documents.

However, having tried to alter the SoPs, GECOM cannot produce them because they will reveal the fraud as deliberate. Nonetheless, the recount they desperately tried to stop and are now trying to frustrate is fully revealing the fraud.

In any other country, there is already enough incontrovertible evidence to criminally charge Mingo and his collaborators. The recount will continue to reveal the extent of the fraud.

We have 12 boxes from among only 40 boxes from Region Four counted so far already proving Mingo fraud. There are many dozens more boxes from the total of 879 Region Four boxes that will expose the extensive fraud that was committed, a fraud designed to thief the election, a fraud designed as an electoral coup d’état. Mingo did not do it alone. Unless we hold the responsible people accountable this time, elections in Guyana will continue to be opportunities for fraud.

Sincerely, Dr Leslie Ramsammy

wait for God - The Almighty, to judge you all.

What this nation is going through is unbelievable, unreasonable and dishonest.

Don’t take us down the road of sanctions.

Sanctions are not “jokes” and fun. It is serious. Look what sanctioning has done to Iraq, Iran and Venezuela just to name a few.

Personal sanctions could be extremely humiliating to

anyone of us and our family. Let us be responsible people. Think about our country and future generations.

I am calling on the religious people - don’t be dumb, deft and blind. Speak up for the sake of our country as One People, One Nation, One Destiny.

Respectfully, Mohamed Yousuff (Br Bob)

Concrete evidence that Mingo committed electoral fraud

Dear Editor, The Statements of Recount (SoRs) for ten boxes which confirm with the Statements of Poll (SoPs) show that Mingo added votes in favour of the APNU/ AFC and deducted votes cast in favour of the PPP/C. In any world, including the one we live in, this is electoral fraud. The Commission and the citizens of Guyana do not have to wait until the end of the recount exercise to take action against Mingo.

It is my humble view, however, that the Commission will never take any action against Mingo.

There is abundant evidence that the powers are sheltering Mingo at GECOM. All the persons above Mingo, including CEO, DCEO, some Commissioners, and Chairwoman, have said little and done absolutely nothing to penalise Mingo.

If they were against his actions, Mingo would have been investigated and probably placed before the court for electoral fraud by now.

Instead, Mingo’s superiors have been promoting his declaration as lawful. The declaration made by Mingo is on GECOM’s website and the final report submitted by the CEO to the Commission.

A motion was also tabled by Commissioners at GECOM

to approve the CEO’s report with the fraudulent results.

Even the order for the recount exercise makes provision for the fraudulent results to be considered.

As law-abiding citizens, we have to, therefore, take action, and we can do so using the Judicial Review Act 2010. For those who are not aware, the Judicial Review Act 2010 allows citizens to apply to the court for relief where the administrative act(s) or omission(s) by a public officer has caused the applicant(s) harm.

The grounds upon which the court may grant relief are set out in Section 5 of the Act and include, among other things, unreasonable, irregular or improper exercise of discretion, abuse of power, and fraud. Mingo’s actions and those of his superiors, fall into these categories of grounds for review.

Some of the remedies that we can apply for under Section 8 of the Judicial Review Act include the quashing of the unlawful act and restitution and damages in money. These are essential remedies given the economic losses we have all suffered due to the election impasse and the possibility that the fraudulent declaration can be considered at the end of the recount exercise as per the order. We

should not take the risk of allowing the Commission to determine whether Mingo’s declaration should be considered or not.

As law-abiding citizens, we should approach the court to disallow GECOM from considering the declarations by Mingo. This Commission has so far abused its power and continues to do so at the nation’s expense.

The Commission has failed to deliver elections within the three months prescribed after the successful passage of a No-Confidence Motion. It has also failed to declare the results based on the timelines prescribed by the Constitution and did little to cause Guyanese to have confidence in its ability to be fair and decent.

We should take this opportunity to send a strong signal that no longer will we allow the officials at GECOM to abuse their powers. There is a piece of legislation that we can utilise to bring the officials at GECOM in line. All that is needed is a patriotic lawyer to help civic-minded Guyanese to make an application for judicial review by the court. I am ready to participate. Which lawyer is willing to help?

Sincerely, S Pasha

6

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Page

Foundation

Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers. Below is the second part of Social Studies Paper 1, 2010.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT

SOCIAL STUDIES

TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes 1. WRITE YOUR CANDIDATE NUMBER ON THE ANSWER SHEET AND UNDERLINE THE SUBJECT.

3. If you are not sure of the answer to a question, then choose the one which you think is BEST. On your answer sheet, draw a heavy black line through the letter you have chosen.

2. This test contains 40 questions. You are required to answer ALL questions. Four responses are given for each question.

The responses are A, B, C and D. Only ONE response is correct.

4. BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION NUMBER IN THE BOOKLET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU HAVE USED ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET. Here is an example done for you.

1. Carbon dioxide is a

Study the map below, then answer questions 17 and 18.

(A) mixture (B) liquid (C) gas (D) solid

ANSWER SHEET A B C D

A heavy black line has been drawn through the letter B on the answer sheet because Georgetown, the correct answer, is next to B. 5. If you make a mistake, erase the line cleanly, then draw a heavy black line through the letter next to the answer you have now

(B) males and females.

(D) retired persons.

20. Most of Guyana's major manufacturing industries are located in the (A) Low Coastal Plain. (B) Hilly, Sand and Clay area.

(C) Highland Region. (D) Interior Savannah.

21. All of the statements apply to the Golden Arrow Head except that it (A) symbolizes Guyana's mineral wealth.

(B) symbolizes the endurance of Guyanese.

(C) signifies protection for the nation.

(D) reflects the many rivers and water falls.

17. The country numbered 1 on the, map is (A) St. Lucia (C) Trinidad (B) Barbados.

(D) Grenada.

18. The main export of the country identified at 2 is (A) bananas. (B) timber.

(C) sugar. (D) petroleum.

19. All of the following information would be complied for a census except the number of (A) people who died, (C) national holidays.

22. One may become a Guyanese in all the following ways except by (A) employment.

(C) naturalization.

(B) birth.

(D) descent.

23. Monuments are important to Guyanese for all of the following reasons except (A) helping us to remember important event.

(B) helping us to remember important persons.

(C) reminding us of our history.

(D) focusing on our cultural achievements.

24. Which of the following is not a function of the legislative arm of the Central Government?

(A) Implementing laws (C) Making laws (B) Repealing laws

chosen.

6. REMEMBER, each answer MUST only be shown by a heavy black line on your Answer Sheet.

7. Remember only ONE answer must be provided for each question.

8. DO NOT TURN OVER THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

(D) Amending laws

25. Which of the following factors may cause people to migrate? (i) Better job opportunities (ii) Natural disasters at home (iii) Economic stability (iv) Decrease in the crime rate (A) i only (B) ii only (C) i and ii (D) i and iii 26. The economic activities that are done in the Interior Savannahs are (A) Balata bleeding, gold mining and cattle ranching.

(B) Bauxite mining, balata bleeding and gold mining.

(C) Bauxite mining, peanut farming and balata bleeding.

(D) Balata bleeding, cattle ranching and peanut farming.

27. Which group of persons would most likely attend a cabinet meeting?

(A) The President and the Leader of the Opposition (B) The Prime Minister and the Speaker of the House (C) The Minister of Home Affairs and the President (D) The Speaker of the House and the Leader of the Opposition 28. The government earns revenue in all of the following ways except through (A) Custom and excise duties. (B) the importation of computers.

(C) income tax. (D) licences for motor cars.

Use the graph below to answer question 37.

29. The best two-month period to play test cricket in country X is (A) January and February (B) September and October (C) March and April (D) July and August 30. Which of the following statements are true of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy? (i) It is a Regional idea (ii) It consists only of English speaking countries (iii) It is associated with Caricom (iv) Its main objective is the promotion of good health

(A) i and iv (B) ii and iii (C) ii and iv (D) i and iii

TO BE CONTINUED

NEWS

7

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

PPP writes GECOM to remove Dep CEO Myers …was cited by Intl Observers following elections

T

he Opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), is preparing to write a formal complaint to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), calling for the removal of its Secretariat’s Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers, from the National Recount of the ballots cast during the March 22 General and Regional Elections – currently underway at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

Party Executive Anil

Former Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall

Nandlall on Sunday gave the Party’s position while on the sidelines of the recount and noted that Myers has been repeatedly implicated as being part of, or at the centre of a number of acts of skulduggery and intimidation aimed at local and international observers.

Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Nandlall intimated that the Party would be formally writing to GECOM’s Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh with the request, since the DCEO was, in fact, act-

Friendship man stabbed to death over stolen cellphone

A

Friendship, East Bank Demerara (EBD) resident was on Saturday evening fatally stabbed by his 27-yearold neighbour during a heated argument over a stolen cellphone.

The dead man has been identified as 33-year-old Marlon Peters, of Lot 46 Gobin Dam, Friendship (EBD).

According to information received, around 21:45h, Peters was heading home when the suspect confronted him about a cellular phone which was stolen sometime back while they worked in the interior.

The victim denied the allegation and walked away, but was subjected to verbal abuse. A heated argument then ensued between the two men, but af-

ter a while Peters walked away again.

The suspect then attacked the man from behind, whipping out a knife and dealing him several stabs to his upper right abdomen and back.

The injured man fell to the Dam while the suspect ran in the opposite direction into a clump of bushes.

Peters was picked up by public-spirited persons

and rushed to the Diamond hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Police have since retrieved a black kitchen knife suspected to be the murder weapon near the man’s body. The body was taken to Lyken’s Funeral Home to await a post-mortem.

Meanwhile, the Police have launched a manhunt for the suspect who remains at large.

ing inimical to the interest of the Commission.

He accused the DCEO of encouraging ‘side-shows’ during the recount process in addition to other acts and drew reference to initial decisions to ban the use of cellular phones during the recount and tabulation exercise, but more so, to close off opening any new ballot boxes at 17:00h on a daily basis.

According to Nandlall, it was Myers who unilaterally imposed the decision, which was earlier voiced as a request by Joseph Harmon of the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) to not use cellular phones.

The decision to close off opening any new ballot boxes at 17:00h was subsequently agreed to by the Commission in order to ensure that staff and other personnel were allowed to leave in keeping with the National Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Task Force diktats.

Nandlall lamented that by not opening any new ballot boxes two hours before the scheduled close of the day’s activities, at least10 boxes were prevented from being counted.

Qualifying his Party’s decision to call for the remov-

Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers

al of Myers from the recount process, Nandlall told reporters, “you will recall that Myers was even the subject of critical commentary and condemnation by the international observers and we spoke to GECOM about that”.

Nandlall posited while the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Lowenfield “seems to be behaving himself now, Myers has gone awry”.

The former Legal Affairs Minister under the PPP/C Administration said it was not a case of requesting favours but rather in pursuit of having the process concluded smoothly, “we know that we have won the elections”.

Myers has been at the centre of speculation from the

onset. It can be recalled that questions were raised after an incident where Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Karen Cummings had threatened observers to have their accreditation revoked, and moments later, Myers was seen handing her a phone, after which Cummings had left the GECOM Command Centre, which was the Ashmin’s building at the time.

Then, when the agreement was made for a Caribbean Community (Caricom)-supervised national recount, and the ballot boxes were moved to ACCC, Myers had told PPPappointed Commissioner Robeson Benn to leave, informing him he could not keep watch over the containers.

This led to increased suspicion that she was complicit in a plan to tamper with the electoral process and calls for her to be distanced from the recount.

However, the DCEO’s involvement in controversy is not new.

Following her appointment to the post, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had called her out for partisan tweets which were critical of the PPP, despite being in a position that requires her to act in an impartial manner.

8 NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

MMG partners with GBTI, DBL to facilitate online uploads A s Guyana continues to battle the novel coronavirus, Mobile Money Guyana (MMG) has partnered with Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited (GBTI) and Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) to provide an added convenience of online uploads to MMG wallets.

“MMG users can now load their wallets through online banking as provided

by GBTI and DBL. The integration has been successfully tested and is immediately available to the benefit of our shared customers,” said General Manager of Mobile Money Guyana, Bobita Ram. Online banking customers at GBTI and DBL can simply log on to their banking portal and select MMG as a bill payment option.

“It is an easy process - the customer would first need to register their MMG account as a biller. Once the account is registered, money can be loaded directly to their MMG wallets,” Ram

Mobile Money Guyana, General Manager of Bobita Ram

explained.

Through GBTI, funds would be credited to a customer’s account the next day. Via DBL, credit to MMG accounts will occur four times daily.

These two financial institutions are among the first to join MMG in supporting the increased use of electronic payments and commerce.

The collaboration also adds an additional layer of security for custom-

ers through a seamless and cashless bank to wallet facility.

“Electronic payment facilities, including the MMG wallet itself, is no longer the future, it is the present.

Now, and especially during a time of pandemic, electronic solutions are vital to our health and safety – it encourages and facilitates mobile payments without the need to physically come to an institution,” Chief Operating Manager at DBL, Deborah Sugrim stated.

In addition, GBTI’s Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Pamela Binda stated “Electronic payment facilities also play a key role in keeping the wheels of our economy turning – and it provides absolute ease of use to our customers through a very secure exchange. It is our pleasure to join with MMG in providing customers with payment options that support our existing reality of limiting movement. We are in this

T

GBTI’s Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Pamela Binda

together – and partnerships such as these are a testimony of corporate Guyana collaborating for the benefit of all.”

The MMG team is working on establishing relationships with other banks to provide its users with a wider range of online options for continued and exceptional ease of use, including adding the option to load wallets via ATMs in the coming weeks.

GDF honours servicewomen on Mother’s Day

A

s Mother’s Day was celebrated, several mothers who are members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) were recognised for their dedication and sacrifice throughout the years.

The serving mothers were drawn from units across the Force and received Mother’s Day treats compliments of Chief-of-Staff, Brigadier Patrick West.

They all received hampers which were distributed by female Officers to ranks at Base Camps Ayanganna, Camp Stephenson and the Coast Guard.

“The gesture, which is tradition, is the Force’s way of acknowledging the importance of motherhood and

A few of the military mothers who received gifts from the GDF

encouraging the fostering of good families. Military mothers are always urged to uphold their God-given roles even as they continue to

serve the GDF with pride”, the GDF said.

The hampers were distributed at simple ceremonies held at the respective

End…

bases.

The distributions were done by Lieutenant Colonel Natasha Stanford, Majors Greasels Hinckson, and Christine BradfordPorter and Captain Dawn Robertson-Singh.

The Chief-of-Staff, Officers and other ranks of the Guyana Defence Force extended Mother’s Day greetings to all mothers Guyana.

…of Nagamootoo’s road oday marks five years after the APNU/AFC coalition came into office following its victory in the 2015 elections. Moses Nagamootoo, with Ramjattan, pulled enough votes from the PPP’s traditional base to push the coalition across the wire. Barely – with a one-seat majority. But a victory is a victory, once you have a majority.

Nagamootoo, in his only job he has left as a columnist for the Chronic since he was superseded in the COVID-19 Task Force by Harmon – said the coalition needs a “High Five” for its performance!!

Really?? Your Eyewitness wasn’t aware that Nagamootoo did stand-up comedy!! A high five for what?? For him getting a big, fat Larwah rather than the augmented Prime Ministership he was promised in the Cummingsburg Accord

by Granger?? Whatever happened to that committee in the AFC that was supposed to tell off Granger about this?

In his review of the coalition’s term, he said it was “faced with a treacherous attempt at its removal from office”!! He didn’t have the guts to name the member of his party, Charrandas Persaud, who had more principles in his pinkie than he’s ever displayed in his entire political career of 50 years!! He realises he suffers by comparison with this neophyte who voted his conscience to stand up for his Berbice constituency that Granger had shafted by shuttering two sugar factories and throwing over 4000 workers into the streets.

“Treacherous”?? The NCM is one of the bedrocks of parliamentary democratic governance. Didn’t Maggie Thatcher accede to office after an NCM removed Big Jim Callahan by one vote?? Did Callahan bitch about “treachery”?? But Nagamootoo is such a lowlife, not only did he call the principled Charrandas a “Judas”, but along with Ramjattan, claimed that the fellow was bribed. This was an obvious projection of their own inner compulsions and guilt!!

Nagamootoo insisted that the coalition government had created a “Guyana Shining”!! “Shining” with what?? Shame in the eyes of the international community for conducting the most barefaced and inept elections rigging ever seen??

Nagamootoo claimed, “for inexplicable reasons, a potpourri of gullible and opportunistic elements was rounded up as extras among a cast of corrupt, anti-national forces to fake an electoral victory to oust the people’s government.”

Wasn’t it his government which had invited in all the observers and Ambassadors – “a potpourri of gullible and opportunistic elements?? – who denounced Mingo’s blatant attempt to “cock” the Reg 4 SoPs’ tabulation??

Nagamootoo proudly announces his visits to the US to spend time with his children. He should consider what’ll happen when the US slaps personal sanctions on his sorry a55!!

Visas are the first thing pulled. Then comes the orange jumpsuits!! …game for PNC The PNC’s insistence that the “Observations” – outlandish comments by their agents – on the recounted ballots in each box must now be read out and livestreamed encapsulates their strategy to stymie the results of these elections – after being caught red-handed with Mingo’s hapless caper!! First of all, here we have a “recount” being segued into an “audit” by Claudette Singh on their behalf.

She’s once again shown her hand.

The reading of the Observations eats up a significant chunk of recount time, which has already been curtailed by an hour on the PNC’s demand and Claudette’s acquiescence.

This is the first prong of the strategy, which hopes to grind down the patience of the Caricom observers by ensuring the recount lasts for months. The second prong will be to have the “Observations” used as sound bites on their social media blitz, to convince their supporters “they wuz robbed”!

And at the end – not necessarily at the end of the recount - to use the cumulative Observations to claim the elections are fatally flawed!! …of the chain of command Ramjattan says the decision denying the Carter Center re-entry was made by someone “above” him – Granger.

Harmon says “not so”: the NCTF made the decision – meaning himself?

So, he’s higher than Granger??

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

NEWS

9

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

T&T PM blames APNU/AFC recount case for decision not to resend election officer …says Trinidad wants to preserve “pristine position” by staying out of Guyana’s elections

T

rinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) Chief Elections Officer, Fern NarcisScope, was absent from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) high-level team to observe Guyana’s recount and according to the T&T Prime Minister, the country wants to avoid its electoral officials becoming entangled in further election dramas in Guyana.

T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley made this revelation during their 25th Sitting of the House of Representatives.

He was questioned by representatives in the House why Trinidad did not send Narcis-Scope as part of the second team.

“You raised the question of why the Trinidad and Tobago rep, the Chief Elections Officer, not back in Guyana? I took the position that Trinidad and Tobago had made its position very clear. There was an observer mission in Guyana from Caricom. That mission observed the election, the election took place, that mission left before the results were concluded.”

“Had the mission stayed they would have been there all now. However, subsequent to that, when the difficulties began to appear, a delegation of leaders of

Trinidad and Tobago’s Chief Elections Officer, Fern Narcis-Scope (second right) was part of the original team that came to Guyana to observe the recount

Caricom visited Guyana. I was among that mission.

And we met with all the political parties in Guyana.

And we thought we had brought some positive movements.”

He recalled that subsequent to that, caretaker President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo came together and invited Caricom to send scrutineers to observe a mutually agreed upon recount.

“It was in that context; the Chief Election Officer was identified as the person from Trinidad to be on that mission. Having arrived in Guyana, that agreement

did not pan out, it ended up in the court and very serious accusations were made against Caricom. And it was my view and the view of the Government, that with this being the outcome the Chief Elections Officer, of Trinidad ought not to be in that position, at any time, to be accused in that way in a Caricom country.”

“So, we did not send back our election officer there, because we want to preserve our pristine position in these matters of the conduct of free and fair elections.

But there’s a Caricom team there and we are anxiously awaiting a positive outturn, meaning a conclusion to an

election in Guyana,” Rowley explained to the House.

The first recount team from Caricom was chaired by former Attorney General and Foreign Minister, Francine Baron and included former Minister of Finance of Grenada, Anthony Boatswain; Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government of UWI, Cynthia Barrow-Giles, and Fern Narcis-Scope.

But the Granger-Jagdeo recount agreement was derailed when A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) candidate, Ulita Moore, moved to the courts and secured an injunction against

the exercise from Judge Franklyn Holder. That injunction was later thrown out by the Full Court and the Full Court’s decision was upheld by the Appeals Court. The damage was already done, however, as the team had by then left the country.

Before that, however, the court ruled that Caricom could not usurp GECOM’s responsibility to oversee the recount. The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has always argued that APNU/ AFC deliberately misinterpreted Caricom’s role in the exercise in order to go to court and derail the recount.

GECOM subsequently re-invited Caricom to send a team. This they did, with the second team being comprised of BarrowGiles, Commissioner of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission, John Jarvis and Deputy Supervisor of Elections of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sylvester King.

Before the team even arrived in Guyana, however, there was more drama as the National COVID-19 Task Force, led by caretaker Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, informed GECOM that the team would have to be quarantined in a Government facility for 14

T&T PM, Dr Keith Rowley

days after they landed in Guyana. Nagamootoo also informed GECOM, a constitutional body, that it cannot extend its recount into curfew hours.

After an outcry from the PPP, which accused Nagamootoo of wielding the Task Force like a political weapon to deter the observers from coming, these stipulations were relaxed.

A decision was made for the 18:00h to 06:00h curfew to be relaxed and for foreigners coming here to observe the process to be pre-tested in their own countries as against being quarantined for fourteen days upon their arrival here.

10 NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

GECOM bans party agents from ‘live streaming’ on cell phones during recount …agrees to modify counting sequence to accommodate more boxes daily

C

ommissioners of the Guyana Elections C o m m i s s i o n (GECOM) on Sunday met and decided to ban party agents from using their cell phones to live stream activities at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) while at the counting stations where ballots cast at the March 2, General and Regional Elections are being recounted.

The Commission’s decision was related to media operatives encamped outside of ACCC by GECOM Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, who noted that the deliberations were had as a result of complaints lodged.

It was explained that party agents will now only

be able to take photographs of the ballot boxes before they are opened to be recounted and the completed Statements of Recount (SoRs), generated from a recount of each of the ballot boxes.

Speaking with media operatives, Ward said, “what the Commission decided on is that the use of cell phones particularly as it relates to the counting exercise will not be for any sort of streaming purposes but only to take photograph of the ballot box when it arrives in the work station.”

She explained that this provision is meant to satisfy the agents that the seals are intact “and for their own records as well.”

She said this would be

in addition to being allowed to take photographs of the completed SoRs that is produced at the end of the count.

“Those are the two things that the Commission decided on as it relates to the use of cell phones,” according to Ward.

Additionally, Ward told media operatives that an earlier decision by the Commission to not have any more ballot boxes opened after 17:00h has since been rescinded in part.

It was explained that because of the agreed sequential manner with which the ballot boxes were being counted, persons found that it would be difficult to

complete some of the boxes that contain large amounts of ballots before the prescribed cut off time at 19:00h.

That cut off point had been put in place by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Task Force which has imposed a countrywide curfew.

Ward has since disclosed to media operatives that a decision was taken to have the counting stations be able to not adhere strictly to the sequential opening of the boxes and to be able to check the containers holding the boxes to search for one that is identified as containing a smaller number of votes.

This is in order to be able to complete the ballot box before the 19:00h cut off point since once a box is opened the counting cannot be stopped until that box is completed and the SoR generated.

Ward told reporters “while we will try to stick to that same 17:00h mark but you will narrow it down to make sure that we select a box that may have a small number of ballots.”

As such, the sequential criteria would be essentially suspended at 17:00h in order to break from the rules previously agreed to.

The GECOM PRO indicated that the counting stations would have to work out a modality on how they would go about selecting which box is to be opened at that 17:00h timeline, “so that it is completed by 19:00h.”

She said too that another of the decisions taken by the Commission was to have the observation reports being made during the recount process documented in language to reflect the reality of allegations being made without evidence.

GECOM PRO Yolanda Ward

Ward drew reference to reports and complaints by party agents related to accusations of dead or migrated persons that voted during the March 2 polls.

The GECOM PRO said that persons objected to the reports that had been articulated to sound as though the allegations being made were facts without the evidence being presented.

Another of the substantial decisions taken by the Commission during its meeting on Sunday is to have three party agents present in the tabulation centre for the tallying of the SoRs.

11

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

12 NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Not good for Guyana to be without credible result 2 months after elections – EU Ambassador – urges transparent, credible completion of recount, says country has waited too long

E

uropean Union (EU) Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz-Canto has lamented the unresolved state of Guyana’s election and the fact that after two months, it is not a good place for Guyana to be in.

In a recent interview on the News Room, Ponz-Canto

He expressed his hopes that it can be concluded in a credible manner and Guyanese can have a timely conclusion to the election.

“This is a process that Guyana has decided to do.

It’s something the top leaders have decided to do. We and everyone consider it fundamental that this pro-

The recount is being done at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre

was asked his thoughts on the ongoing national recount at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

cess is now conducted credibly, transparently, properly. After all, the country has already waited for too long,”

the diplomat said.

“It is not a good thing that two months after the elections, there is still no official credible results proclaimed. As friends of Guyana, we and the majority of Guyanese want them to declare the results in a credible way and whoever won be the one to form the Government. Whoever that is, we will work with them.

For that, we need an interlocutor who is democratically installed.”

Asked whether it is likely that the full EU observation mission will return to Guyana, he noted that the EU delegation has already sent two of its permanent staff from Kingston to the recount centre. He thanked GECOM for inviting them, noting that “the more transparent the process is, the more acceptable the result will be.”

Ponz-Canto was also asked to comment on the EU’s relationship with Guyana in light of the election imbroglio. He explained that the relationship is a good one, one the EU is de-

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?

EU Ambassador Ponz-Canto

Fernando

sirous of continuing and even improving.

“The relationship with Europe and Guyana is excellent, I should say. And it goes back almost to the time of the independence of Guyana. We are determined to continue cooperating with Guyana and make our excellent relationship even better. It is true Guyana is going through challenging times. But I don’t want to focus on the problems, I want to focus on the solutions.”

“We want the best for

Guyana. It is in our interests that Guyana is stable, it is prosperous and democratic. So that’s what we want to promote. I would like to stress the importance of solving the democratic problem that exists today. And starting a better time for the citizens, with a more prosperous future for the country.”

But Ponz-Canto, who hails from Spain, also had some words of wisdom to impart on Guyana regarding the importance of it staying a democratic country. This comes even as the international community has made it clear that sanctions can be imposed if an illegitimate President is sworn in.

“I’m old enough to have lived in [General] Franco’s Spain,” he said. “That was a dictatorship. I wouldn’t wish that on Spain and I certainly don’t want it for Guyana or any other country. And this is something that hopefully belongs to the past. And the future should be made of peace, democracy, unity, all the values we share.”

It has already been over

two months of controversies and a credible winner for the March 2 General and Regional Elections is yet to be declared. After two declarations from Region Four’s (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, which lacked transparency, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and caretaker President David Granger had agreed to have the Caribbean Community (Caricom) oversee the recount.

That agreement was derailed when A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) candidate, Ulita Moore moved to the courts and secured an injunction against the exercise.

That injunction was discharged by the Full Court and later, the Full Court’s decision was upheld by the Appeals Court. But by then, the Caricom team had long since left. GECOM re-invited them and the recount started last week with the understanding that it would last for 25 days.

SYMPTOMS

People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Or at least two of these symptoms:

Fever People who think they may be affected by coronavirus need to call the Public Health Ministry hotline 227-4986/624-3067 for further advice. They should not go to their GP, A&E, pharmacy or hospital.

If you have come into contact with somebody who may be infected, you may be told to self-isolate. People needing to do so should take "common-sense" steps to avoid close contact with other people.

(Adapted from BBC News)

Headache

Chills

Sore throat

Repeated shaking with chills

Muscle pain

Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have New loss of taste mild illness. or smell

NEWS

13

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Ramjattan cites privacy on question of releasing APNU/AFC SoPs − confirms party will not be releasing proof of alleged victory

A

mid all the controversies surrounding Guyana’s election and the subsequent recount, a frequent question has been why A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) is so reluctant to produce their Statements of Poll (SoPs), documents which would vindicate their claims of winning the election.

When asked about this recently, AFC leader and Prime Ministerial hopeful Khemraj Ramjattan made it clear that the coalition will not release its SoPs, claiming it is a question of “privacy”.

“We have offered an explanation; I think why not?

We will wait until we have to go for an elections petition or some such thing afterwards. That is the explanation given. And that is exclusively the privacy of the coalition party.”

PPP Executive Anil Nandlall

“I can understand you’re [asking] why not? Well, that is our position. We would like to see what GECOM and the boxes are showing, so we can make our contrast, so we will be in a better position to make an assessment of the overall nature of what transpired.”

Meanwhile, the issue

was again raised by People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Executive Anil Nandlall in an interview with the media on Saturday. Nandlall, whose party has already released almost 900 of its own SoPs, questioned the coalition’s reluctance to prove the victory it claims.

“Unless the ballots magically transform themselves, the PPP has won these elections. The Statements of Poll that GECOM gave us on election day establishes that without a doubt, by over 15,000. So, I can safely say that unless something magically happens and votes disappear, the PPP has won the elections.

APNU knows that. [Chief Elections Officer] Keith Lowenfield knows that.

GECOM knows that - they have the evidence. Why you think they’re not making it public?”

“APNU, these people

that are so hungry for political power, you think they would win an election and not show their Statements of Poll? Look at the ridiculous lie they’ve been peddling every day. All they need to do is say, this is our Statements of Poll. But they cannot do that. Because they have lost the elections,” Nandlall said.

The recount has not even reached the halfway stage, but stakeholders are contending that the numbers the exercise is producing are exposing the declarations made by Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo as bogus and inflated in favour of the incumbent political party.

In an interview with the media after day four of Saturday’s recount came to a two-hour premature end, Guyana Elections Commissioner Sase Gunraj explained that a comparison

APNU/AFC’s Khemraj Ramjattan

between GECOM’s official SoPs for a Polling Station on the East Bank of Demerara and the Statement of Recount match perfectly.

Unfortunately, it does not match what Mingo declared.

In a graphic comparison of six SoPs it had released, the recount figures and the

ones declared by Mingo, the PPP had claimed on Friday that there was consistent inflation of the votes for APNU/AFC. In the case of box number 4013, the figures PPP released had shown that both the recount figures and the SoP have listed APNU as securing 188 votes. In Mingo’s declaration, however, APNU was given 247 votes, an increase of 59.

In box number 4014, the PPP had shown that while APNU was listed as securing 160 votes by both the SOP and the recount, Mingo had declared them as receiving 215 votes - an increase of 55.

The most graphic increase was in box number 4020, where the SoP and Statement of Recount had APNU as securing 187 votes. Mingo declared them to have received 287 votes, an inflation of 100 votes.

COVID-19 cases in Guyana surpass 100 as 7 new cases recorded

T

he number of persons to contract the novel coronavirus in Guyana has now surpassed 100 after seven new cases were recorded on Sunday.

In its updated COVID-19 dashboard, the Public Health Ministry dis-

in the dedicated ICU. Additionally, the number of persons in institutional isolation has gone up to 59 – seven more than the figure given on Saturday.

While those in institutional quarantine has reduced to just one from three the pre-

closed that the country’s total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases is now 104.

According to the Ministry’s dashboard, an additional 62 persons were tested since Saturday’s update, bringing the total number of COVID-19 tests done in Guyana to date at 914. Of this, 810 persons were tested negative.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 deaths remain at 10. One more person has been admitted to the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). There is now a total of six patients

vious day.

No new recovered cases have been recorded as the number is still at 35.

Only Friday during the Ministry’s daily update, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud disclosed that children account for 5.4 per cent of all positive cases recorded while adults make up 82 per cent and the elderly 12.6 per cent.

According to the CMO, Region Four (DemeraraMahaica) continues to be the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in Guyana, with the highest number of confirmed cases recorded in Georgetown.

Cases have been detected in Kitty, Sophia, Turkeyen, Liliendaal, Cummings Lodge and Alberttown in North Georgetown; and Bourda, Lamaha Park, South Ruimveldt and Thirst Park in South Georgetown.

On the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), positive cases were reported in Atlantic Gardens, Friendship, Golden Grove, Good Hope, Lusignan, Plaisance and Strathspey.

And on the East Bank (EBD), at Diamond, Grove, Land of Canan, Providence and Timehri.

The second-highest number of coronavirus cases have been recorded in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). Only on Wednesday last, it was revealed that the region’s cases had increased to nine – recording the country’s youngest COVID-19 patient, a one-year-old toddler.

The Regional Health and Emergency Committee (RHEC) in Linden noted that six new cases were detected in the region last week alone and five of them were from the same family. They were immediately transported to the quarantine facility in Diamond, East Bank Demerara, including two children – the toddler and a 12-year-old girl.

Currently, children make up a small percentage of those infected with the coronavirus around the world and while they generally have milder reactions, there are some children who need intensive care like dozens in New York – the epicentre of COVID-19 in the United States.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than

3,917,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded around the globe with over 274,000 deaths.

In the region of the Americas, in excess of 1,655,000 cases have been recorded, while over 98,700

persons have died from COVID-19.

The Public Health Ministry continues to plead with citizens to heed the health advisories and observe the correct hygiene measures and precautions.

Citizens are also asked to always practice social distancing in the workplace, public spaces, and while using public transportation so as to reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease.

14 NEWS

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

“He slipped through the cracks” – sister of dead COVID-19 victim …believes brother could have survived if he was tested from the onset

Dead: Samuel Morris By: Shemar Alleyne

T

wo weeks prior to his death, 67-year-old Samuel Morris had visited a few health facilities after he started to experience symptoms related to the novel coronavirus.

Instead, he was treat-

Recollecting the pains and agony her brother went through after the wrong prognosis, Wendella Morris explained that it all started on April 12, 2020, when her brother complained of contracting a cough followed by a slight fever. At that time, they both thought it was a common cold and she advised him to be “careful” due to the fact that he is diabetic.

On April 15, his health started to deteriorate but upon visiting the GPHC, he was told that he was suffering from a lung infection.

However, the grieving sister explained that on April 16, her brother reported sick at work after he had gotten seriously ill. He, nevertheless, forced himself to work the following day and barely managed to get home in the afternoon. He was found sleeping in his car.

States called after she found out that Samuel was not getting better and requested for him to get tested for COVID.” They contacted the Eureka Lab and an appointment was set for him to be tested on Tuesday, April 21.

Anxiously awaiting the results from Eureka Medical Laboratories, Samuel was contacted and ordered to uplift same from the Georgetown Hospital where he was immediately admitted for the deadly virus.

The doctors at GPHC conducted another COVID-19 test and it confirmed that he was a victim of COVID-19.

“I know my brother; he is a bubbly person. You wouldn’t be around him and don’t laugh and when you can see him sitting in the chair just there turning from side to side, the way he talking you can tell he is

Dead: Ratna Baboolall, Michael Ifill, Shadrach Stoll, Osa Collins and Deryck “Mad Dog” Jaisingh

ed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for diabetes since his blood sugar had skyrocketed. After receiving the treatment, he was sent home.

He battled with severe respiratory issues until his demise on April 29 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Hospital while being eventually being treated for COVID-19.

At that time, he reportedly told his reputed wife that his condition had worsened and without further hesitation, he was taken to the Nabaclis Health Centre the next day. There it was revealed that his blood sugar was high and as such, the doctor treated him with insulin and sent him home.

COVID-19 test

“My niece in the United

having shortness of breath,” the sister told Guyana Times.

On April 26, Morris’ respiratory system collapsed and he was placed on a ventilator in the ICU. He succumbed on the evening of April 29, thus being recorded as the 10th death in Guyana to the deadly virus.

To date, his family is still baffled as to how he might have contracted the dead-

PPC implements procurement monitoring software

T

he Public Procurement Commission (PPC) recently collaborated with the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) to develop and implement a procurement monitoring software to enable the Commission to effectively monitor the public procurement system and the implementation of procurement activities by procuring entities.

The specific goal of the system is to allow procuring entities to submit their annual procurement plans to the Commission in compliance with the requirement stipulated in the Procurement Amendment Act No 14 of 2019.

This software will allow procuring entities to electronically upload their annual procurement plans and quarterly procurement expenditure data to enable monitoring and analysis by

the Commission in keeping with its functions listed in Article 212 AA (1)(a) to (m) of the Constitution.

In a statement issued by the PPC, it stated that prior to the implementation of the software, the PPC successfully facilitated six (6) training workshops with staff of procuring entities over the period December 2019 to February 2020 to present the features and functionality of the procurement monitoring software and allow for their feedback.

Over sixty (60) persons drawn from twenty-eight (28) procuring entities were trained to upload the required data, navigate the system’s interface and generate reports.

Significant and useful feedback was received from the participants, which enabled the software developers at NDMA to make enhancements and improve-

ments to the overall performance of the software.

“The procurement monitoring software is expected to be in operation across all procuring entities by the end of May 2020, following which a second round of training would be conducted online in time for its use after the 2020 National Budget is approved,” the release added.

The PPC, the statement contended, is confident that the implementation of the procurement monitoring software will bring significant benefits to the public procurement system in terms of modernisation and efficiency in the execution of procurement activities across all procuring entities.

The procurement monitoring software supports Government’s plan for the implementation of E-Government in Guyana.

Dead: Colonel John Lewis, Sydney Trellis and Lennox Williams

ly virus since he would usually caution them to always take the precautionary measures.

The grieving sister is contending that had her brother been tested for the virus since the inception, he might have been alive since there was ample time to treat him.

In light of this, she called on the Public Health Ministry to ramp up its awareness campaigns to dispel the misinformation being peddled in the public domain.

“I feel that anybody who is at high risk like the diabetic, the hypertensive, the cardiac patients, the HIV patients, all those persons who would consider as high-risk patient, so the moment they see them turn-

ing up any symptoms, don’t wait to see more, even if you have to wait [for] a test kit just to have them saved and have others saved as well, do a COVID test and for me, there needs to be more collaboration on how to handle this.”

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 that had not been previously identified in humans.

Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.

Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute re-

spiratory syndrome, kidney failure, and even death.

As of May 8, 785 tests have been conducted of which it was verified that 49 were in isolation. Three have developed worsened conditions and are seeking further treatment in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Ten persons have died to COVID-19. They were identified as 52-year-old Ratna Baboolall; 38-yearold Jermaine Ifill; 78-yearold Osa Collins; 59-year-old Shadrach Stoll; 38-year-old Deryck Jaisingh; 45-year-old Lennox Williams; 49-yearold visually-impaired Sydney Trellis; 77-year-old Colonel John Percy Leon Lewis and Bhaneshwar Ramdial.

GTT recognises women who risk their lives during COVID-19 pandemic

The three frontline mothers who were selected by GTT

A

s we joined the rest of the world in celebrating Mother’s Day 2020, telecommunications giant, the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) has honoured several mothers who are also frontline workers.

As such, the company provided the platform for a few special moms to share their stories that speak to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on their families’ lives.

“Mothers are already selfless, which makes mothers who are essential workers very special at this time – not only are they catering to the needs of their children, they are risking their lives to care for the public also,” Public Relations and Communications Manager of GTT, Jasmin Harris noted.

She noted that “whether they are working in a supermarket, hospital, a pharmacy, or any other essential places, these mothers are our true heroes during these uncertain and anxious times.”

Dr Kittindie PearsonBoyle, one of the mothers that were recognised by GTT, indicated that she has not seen her daughter since the beginning of the pandemic and encouraged the public to do what is necessary to help to “flatten the curve” so that she would be able to see her daughter at the earliest.

GTT also recognised and saluted President of the Guyana Press Association, Nazima Ragubir; Conika Marks-Wilson, a nurse, and Medical Administrative Assistant, Amanda Greene all of whom expressed that their children are a source of motivation as they execute their essential duties daily.

“Mother’s Day will be very different this year given the global pandemic of COVID-19. Our lives have been disrupted with no idea when we will return to normalcy. We at GTT considered it a privilege to highlight the sacrifices being made especially by mothers on the frontlines,” Harris noted.

Essential worker, she reiterated, have provided the vital services during the COVID-19 pandemic and they are the ones who risk their lives every day for the needs of others.

Help and Shelter would have also received recognition for its work. Every single mother in the organisation would have received a hamper.

A representative of the organization, Danuta Radzik expressed gratitude to the GTT team for its continuous support especially at a time when the organisation is remembering single mothers.

Mother's Day is a celebration of honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood and maternal bonds in society.

Mother’s Day is also a much-awaited day for children, as they look forward to surprising their mothers - by giving gifts, cards, flowers, a basket of goodies, while others serve breakfast in bed or treat their mom to a lunch out.

guyanatimesgy.com

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

15

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

GECOM’s recount process must be COVID necessitates discussions among those viewed with cautious optimism who can make evidence-based decisions

Dear Editor, Barring some early delays, the GECOM’s National Recount of the votes cast at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections finally got on the way as had been scheduled for the 6th May, 2020 at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

After two months of wavering, although progressing at a snail’s pace, the recount process is a most welcomed development.

All Guyanese and the world over view this process going forward as the only hope to bring finality to the long-awaited declaration of the winner for the recently concluded elections. A process that will bring closure to the excruciating uncertainties that has gripped the Nation since the two fraudulent declarations made by RO Clairmont Mingo. Everyone one wants to move on with their lives and rightly so, all Guyanese will be winners.

The slow pace of the recount is as a result of the unnecessary orders inserted in the gazette which demands greater alertness and close scrutiny by all agents outside of the Caretaker Government. Those orders give rise to a number of questions and reservations that have already been deliberated upon by a multitude of commentators already in the public domain. The process as publicized fits more into the sphere of the GECOM auditing itself. They are very much identical to the demands as was articulated by Commissioner Vincent Alexander.

Any rational person would conclude that consistent with previous positions supported, once again the GECOM Chairperson’s choice of orders for the recount are premised on Alexander’s call and confirms the popular view of the election body’s partisanship workings and being lined closely with the wishes of the PNC, APNU/AFC rigging cabal. Caretaker President Granger’s address to Nation expressly timed with the GECOM’s gazetted recount orders was not by coincidence. It exposes the correlation between the two agencies. Further; by that action the GECOM’s independence so highly spoken of by Granger himself was found to be highly wanting and complicit.

Granger and the Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo had agreed for a recount of the votes cast at the last General and Regional Elections but in reality, the GECOM’s gazetted recount orders are designed to give Alexander and his associates open opportunities for obfuscation and mischief making.

A GECOM decision on the 3rd day of April, 2020 particularly speaks to a recount of ballots cast, not in the least reconciliation.

Gazetted order number 6- Upon arrival of the ballot box at the workstation, it shall first be examined to ascertain that the seals are intact. The contents shall then be emptied, and the election

materials examined. Notes shall be taken, and records made in accordance with the requirements of the Ballot Box Checklist. Any observation not catered for in the checklist provided shall be recorded on the Observation Report Form.

Those prerequisites exposes the process to unwarranted abuse and undue delays. The APNU/AFC Agents wasted no time in latching on to those preconditions and continues to take full advantage causing long delays and deliberate stymieing of the process. Reconciliation is absolutely unnecessary and is more of time wasting, for it cannot add to or does not subtract from the votes cast.

While twenty-five days are set aside for the recount, given the measured progress in first few days, a review of the process schedule by the Commission in the first week and of course cognizant of the modus operandi of Madam Chairperson there is every possibility for an increase in excess of sixty days or maybe close to one hundred days more.

The completion date certainly looks very open-ended at this point in time and is shrouded in numerous uncertainties and unanswerable questions. What is the intended use of the observation report in the tabulation process? What if Lowenfield refuses the use SoRs and the tabulation process as a basis for the final declaration? Given the three a side Commission, the final declaration will be juggled between Lowenfield and Madam Chairperson.

Lowenfield is the same GECOM CEO that aided and abetted RO Mingo in his two false declarations for District # 4 and even went to Court to defend him. Bear in mind that the GECOM Chairperson refused to nullify those declarations. Do not be surprised if Lowenfield continues his never-ending drama. He should have been made to remove himself completely from the entire process of the recount, he is a huge potential for wrong doings and lacks impartiality.

After claiming to have won the elections and more recently Granger’s address to the Nation in his own words reiterated the said claim and attested to a free, fair and transparent process at the last elections. With the recount in progress the APNU/ AFC have now somersaulted to using the reconciliation aspect as a basis to discredit the very elections they claimed to have won.

They never wanted the recount in the first place and on realizing that the it was eminent they had a huge meeting at Congress Place.

Out of that meeting a decision was adopted to resort to desperate and extreme measures. Within the recount process and publicly all their agents and operatives have been working assiduously to undermine the process of the recount and heap scorn on the 2nd March, 2020 elections.

Their intentions are

abundantly clear; their agents have been instructed to continuously make objections and seek unnecessary clarifications disrupting the process and incurring lengthy delays at the work stations. It has now become very evident that the APNU/AFC Agents enter the recount work stations with preconceived obstructive schemes to delay and drag out the process as long as possible. To that end they have been achieving their objective and continue to act with impunity.

The underlying objective is to pile on as much vile accusation of fraud and make a call for fresh elections. The rigors are using social platforms and the electronic media to spread blatant lies in tandem with their agents’ disruptions in the recount process. They relentlessly poison and create doubts in the minds of their unsuspecting all-weather supporters.

They have no interest in the recount because it will certainly prove they have lost the elections by a great margin and are fully aware of that fact.

The Guyanese people deserves much better. This long drawn out process is hurting very much and only suits the rigging cabal allowing them to illegally remain in power and having extended time to plot and plan more destructive schemes. GECOM’s recount process must be viewed with cautious optimism.

It is incumbent upon the opposition parties to unite and see the recount of the votes cast at the General and Regional Elections March 2, 2020 to its finality and to collectively act to remove the tyrannical rigging cabal from Guyana’s political landscape. The eyes of the world are on this recount.

The ABC and EU countries, Commonwealth, OAS are all determined to seeing that democracy prevail in Guyana and are depending heavily on CARICOM to make the recount achieve that objective.

All Guyana must be thankful for the role they are playing and applaud their efforts.

Respectfully, Parasram Persaud

Dear Editor, As I begin to write, I am reminded of a Martin Carter piece in 1958, when he opined that “just as the man on the peak of a mountain sees a different world from the man in the valley, just so should we, from our particular context of being, see something more and something different from anybody else”. I should mention that I do not reside in Guyana at the moment and the observations and concerns I am sharing with you and your readers originate from a perspective influenced by my involvement with, and experience in advising on health issues in Guyana and many other countries in this hemisphere.

We now have at least 25 days to await the result of the national elections held on March 2, 2020. I suggest that we use this interim period, and not be detracted by the importance of the recount, to reflect on an issue that may have potentially grave consequences for the land of our birth.

The first reported case of COVID-19 in the USA was filed on January 21 in Washington State. This was followed by the first reported case in New York on March 1.

The estimated incubation period, which is the time from exposure to the virus to presentation of symptoms, is between 2 to 14 days.

The first reported COVID-19 case and death in Guyana was on March 11.

So now we come to the case, reported recently in the news, of a 63-year-old male patient at the Palms Geriatric Home on Brickdam, who died at the Georgetown Public Hospital on May 1. Assuming that he may have been infected two or three weeks before being admitted to the Georgetown Hospital, he had to have been infected while at the Palms sometime in mid-April, after the national curfew was put in place on April 2, and I assume, a restriction of visitors was imposed at the Home.

This now begs the question, how was he infected at the Palms? He had to be infected by either a doctor, nurse, maid, porter or someone with whom he was in contact at the Palms who may or may not have been asymptomatic. I doubt it would have been another patient, but on the other hand, if he was not isolated whilst he was in the Palms and at the Georgetown Hospital, he could

have infected other patients, doctors, nurses, maids, porters etc who are now incubating the disease and will soon become symptomatic.

Crises like these are national emergencies, and necessitate discussions among clinicians, laboratory staff and epidemiologists who can make evidence-based decisions on where and whom to test. From the numbers reported, there are not enough tests being done among asymptomatic patients of the at-risk population (here we can think of maids, porters, doctors, nurses and contacts of patients).

We need to congratulate all health workers who provide attention during this period and those working in the Intensive Care Units, while bearing in mind the additional focus on other prevalent diseases, especially among those working in the interior of the country.

But they need personal protective equipment to both protect themselves and provide the care everyone deserves.

There is an urgent need for the Private Sector to step in and provide materials and equipment such as masks and other supplies before we are again distracted in another 25 days with what could be the final count of the national elections held over two months ago.

Given the domination of COVID-19 in the news with the severity of the spread of the disease in other parts of the world, one must raise the question of the kind of preparation put in place and, particularly, what contact tracing was and is being carried out after the first case was detected in Guyana. If so, one must question the efficiency and effectiveness of the effort, given the continuation of the spread of the disease.

Indeed, it would be useful if we could see the plans and guidelines for testing, and quarantine of all persons positive in the environs of the out-

breaks of cases, as well as for isolation and testing of contacts.

We have seen efforts to make everyone aware, limiting the number of people associating, use of masks and maintaining distance among strangers, but still observe on a daily basis, the pleas of the Chief Medical Officer for attention to the messages.

We need the community to be aware of and ensure the curfew and restrictions are adhered to, if need be, with the assistance of the police. People are away from work and school to maintain distance from each other, and not because someone, somewhere, decided they deserve a long holiday.

We must have a combined clinical and epidemiological approach, taking into account people’s behaviour, to address the ongoing epidemic and prevent an even greater health tragedy occurring in Guyana.

In closing, can we be made aware of the number of tests available in the public and private health systems, and the estimated need for test kits and supplies to deal with COVID-19? What of mobilisation of persons who have sewing machines to make face masks, financing and support from the Private Sector, inter alia the cloth stores, rum, timber, shipping and oil companies, as well as the steps being taken by the Ministry of Finance to address the identified shortfalls, including food for those who now receive no pay?

Our time is limited, we only have three weeks before we are back to the discussion on vote counting.

I assume the dictates of March 25 have been superseded and we are no longer ‘Waiting for Aunty to Cough’ (Samuel Selvon, Trinidad, 1923-1994) before we do a test for COVID-19.

Sincerely, Keith H Carter

16 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Inflated fraudulent figures by Mingo exposed in recount of Reg 4 ballots

H

ere are five additional instances from the national recount exercise of Sunday, May 10 showing Mingo inflating votes for APNU+AFC. Please note that President Granger voted at one of these polling places, Pearl Nursery.

President David Granger also Voted at this Polling Station

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

17

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

Random comparison of Sunday's SoRs with PPP’s SoPs DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

DISTRICT 4 STATEMENTS OF POLL RELEASED BY PPP/C

18 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

19

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

20 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT

21

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

22 ELECTIONS 2020 RECOUNT MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM

STATEMENTS OF RECOUNT

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

CLASSIFIED ADS ASTROLOGY & SPIRITUALITY Having Problems with Marriage/ Love Relationships, Health, Job, Money, Removal of Obstacles of any kind. Meet me once and change your life. Call 688-2135 Are you suffering from Health, Money, Job, Marriage Relationships problems? Removal of Blockage/ Evil Spirits, Clear Negative Energy, Permanent Protection. Call: 696-1857 for appointment.

GUYANATIMESGY.COM

23

– clubs also benefit from scorebooks

T

he Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) on Saturday last honoured Mrs Veronica Cecil as its 2020 Brian Ramphal Mother of the Year.

President Hilbert Foster noted that Mrs Cecil is the proud parent of Leon and Damien Cecil, two players of the Albion Community Centre Cricket Club who represented Berbice at the Under-17 and Under-15 levels respectively earlier this year.

Both players are very talented and have promising careers. BCB Public

FOR SALE Mixed-Breed Puppies for Sale.

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

Foreign Used Washing Machines.

Whirlpool/Frigidaire, Complete Wash, Rinse and Spin Dry Washers.

638-1829/232-0616

Jonathan Rampersaud and his mother receive gifts from BCB PRO Simon Naidu along with Mark Papannah

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. 25 Oronoque St / North Road. Fully Furnished, A.C, Windows / Door Grilled or Mesh, 3 Rooms. Tel. 226-7012

VEHICLE FOR SALE 2018 Toyota Prado, Black, Fully Loaded, Leather Seats, Gas, Excellent Condition. Contact # 662-3725.

The Cecil brothers with their mom during the presentation

Relations Officer (PRO) Simon Naidu handed over a trophy, medal, and several gifts to the proud mother. The BCB programme is sponsored by overseas-based Guyanese Brian Ramphal. Meanwhile, Mrs Rohanie Ramsarran, of Portuguese Quarter, Port Mourant, was also honoured as the Rose Hall Town Youth and Sports Club (RHTY&SC) Mother of the Year 2020 by the 10 cricket teams of the Club. She is the proud mother of national junior cricketer Jonathan Rampersaud.

In extending Mother’s Day greetings to all mothers, Naidu said Ramsarran, “as the RHTY&SC,MS/DTV-8 Mother of the Year, is a perfect

C

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

NOW!

223-7230-1 (Ext 55)

rystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish says that unless Premier League clubs can find a way to stage matches soon, it may be a “very, very extended period” before the top flight returns.

Speaking on BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show, Parish said that initial plans for league matches to be staged again from June may prove unfeasible.

“We would be derelict in our duty if we didn’t find a way to try and bring the game back,” he said.

“It may prove beyond us.”

At least three clubs – Watford, Brighton and Aston Villa – are opposed to the plan to stage matches at neutral venues under ‘Project Restart’, while club doctors have raised concerns over aspects of the proposals.

Parish will be part of a meeting of Premier League club officials on Monday where discussions will continue over how they could get their teams back on the pitch.

In Germany, where the top two divisions are set to restart on 16 May, second-tier side Dinamo Dresden have placed their entire squad and coaching staff into isolation for two weeks after two players tested positive for coronavirus.

A previous wave of 1,724 tests carried out last week by the Bundesliga returned 10 positive results.

“The German example could provide a blueprint for us and clearly we can see some of the early challenges,” added Parish.

“They may prove insurmountable, but the concern for us is that if they prove insurmountable now then we may be in for a very, very extended period of not being able to play and that has huge ramifications for the game.”

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has previously predicted a loss of "at least £1bn" if the Premier League fails to complete the 2019-20 campaign.

Parish believes that deciding t h e final league positions on the pitch, rather than relying on points

role-model parent, who sacrifices a lot to make sure that her son … excels in his school work and on the cricket field”.

“She is known to show up at venues along with her husband to support Jonathan, who has represented Berbice and Guyana at the junior levels with success.” The teams handed over a collection of gifts, trophies, and medals.

Additionally, the BCB with support from the RHTY&SC on Saturday last handed over 10 scorebooks to Assistant Secretary Ameer Rahaman for distribution to teams in the New Amsterdam/Canje area. The distribution of scorebooks is a continuation of President Foster's effort to assist clubs across Berbice. Representatives of Tucber Park, Young Warriors Cricket Club, Edinburgh, Police, Kendall’s Union, Kendall Union Sports Club, Mt Sinai, East Bank Blazers, Flying Star CC and Good Banana Land are asked to contact Rahaman on 642-0890 to uplift their scorebook.

The West Berbice area will also receive a donation of scorebooks under the $300,000 project. The BCB also handed over a scorebook and a copy of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) Laws of Cricket to the Albion CC as the Board’s cricket development programme continues across Berbice despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

per game or taking the current table as the final outcome, is preferable, even if conditions are far from ideal.“Deciding it competitively would be best, obviously if we can play in our own stadiums that would be preferable for everybody, but for the moment that situation is with government and the authorities and not with us," he said.“The police have made it clear that they don’t think they can police every ground.“I have enormous sympathy with [Watford chief executive] Scott

England Captain Joe Root (left) and West indies skipper Jason Holder

E

Crystal Palace's last match was a 1-0 home win over Watford on March 7 (Getty Images)

Duxbury’s position. Having said that, I think it may well prove to be the least, worst option.“There are no easy answers, we have to work through it as a collective and I think we will come out with a consensus in the end.”Parish also underlined that he and his colleagues are keeping football in perspective during an outbreak in which, as of 11:30 BST on 10 May, at least 31,587 people have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the United Kingdom.“Football is entirely unimportant in the context of the public health crisis, that has to come first,” he said.“We will want assurances as clubs that we are not taking resources away from anyone.

We simply can’t take tests away from anyone who is more needful than us."We have been told so far that these are private fa c i l i t i e s that are not being utilised for this particular public health crisis.

We will all want more clarity on that, it is essential that that is the case.”

(BBC Sport)

ngland Test captain Joe Root is in support of finding a way to make sure his side can welcome a visit from the West Indies as early as July.

For that to happen, the players would have to go through rigid isolation and testing protocols, as well as austere social distancing measures.

Of course, the proposal will include officials as well as media and the England skipper thinks it can work.

“I’m optimistic about it. It would be a real shame if it doesn’t happen. The public are desperate for some live sport and the guys are missing it,” said Root.

“The players would be sectioned off in one part of the hotel and would be in isolation together. There would be no interaction with the media, the TV crews or even the opposition when off the pitch.

“We would have separate lunchrooms. It would have a different feel to it but it’s probably manageable. Hopefully that is the case.”According to the proposals, the three Tests would be played at ‘bio-secure’ venues behind closed doors.Those venues, the proposal points out, are those that have hotels on location, like Manchester, Southampton and Headingly.Root, while optimistic, is cognizant of the fact that Cricket West Indies (CWI) would have to take the risk.In response, West Indies Test captain Jason Holder, has said his side would have to be certain of their safety before saying yes to such a proposal.“This thing has been really, really serious as we all know and has claimed quite a few lives throughout the world and that’s the last thing any of us would really want,” said Holder.“I think we’ve got to play the safety card first before we can even think about resuming our normal lives.”In the meantime, CWI Chief Executive, Johnny Grave, has said the England Cricket Board’s proposals were being considered but that first all the moving parts would have to be understood.England will be desperate to get back the Wisden Trophy they lost to the West Indies last year for the first time in a decade. (Sportsmax)

MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

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

guyanatimesgy.com

Pg 23

- Clubs also benefits from score books Jonathan Rampersaud and his mother receives gift from BCB PRO Simon Naidu along with Mark Papannah

Pg 21

Pg 23 Crystal Palace's last match was a 1-0 home win over Watford on 7 March (Getty Images)

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 - marketing@guyanatimesgy.com - PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GUYANA TIMES INC.