20-21 August, 2022 / Vol. 12 No. 36 / Price: $100 Email: mirror2018.gy@gmail.com SEE INSIDE Norton’s Voters’ List rubbished‘mathematics’ PAGE 15 GECOM set to commence Claims and Objections on August 22nd PPP stalwart Bibi developmenttocontributionforShadickSaforahailedhernationalCloseto3,000GuyanesebenefitedfromfinancialassistanceformedicaltreatmentintwoyearsGov’tworkingtosecureMonkeypoxvaccinesLocal engagementElectionsGovernmentlikelybeforeendofyearPPP/CleaderscontinuewithGuyanesecountrywide PAGE 3 PAGE 11 PAGE 14 PAGEPAGE2 PAGE8 23
PPP Executive, Gail Teixeira, said, “Big heart ed and generous, fiercely independent, never phased by obstacles in her path. During the long battle of the fie months recount in 2020, despite being unwell, she never shirked from her role as a commissioner on GECOM to protect the right of Guyanese voters to chose their legitimate government at free and fair elections. She fought this last battle and finally was able to have peace; rest in peace my friend and comrade. We shall miss you.”
PPP stalwart
Bibi Safora Shadick hailed for her contribution to national development
2 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022MIRROR
PPP Executive, Anil Nandlall, in a tribute to her said, “You played your part in life, in the life of others and for your country and you did it your unique way…fortunate am I to have met you and shall always be grateful for the much you have done for Throughoutme.”the day, Government officials, fam ily members and friends reminisced on the life and achievements of the late, great political stalwart. She was described as a woman of integrity and dignity who fought not only for justice and democracy but for the betterment of Guyanese. A devout Muslim, the Central Islamic Organisa tion of Guyana said her sad ness brings “deep sadness. “May her soul be granted Jannatul Firadous,Aameen,” the CIOG said. Bibi Safora Shadick, 76, of 317 East Street, North Cummingsburg, George town, was the sister of Bibi Raheel Narima Shadick, Bibi Zeenatoun, Kabeel Shadick and Bibi Aklema Shadick. She was the aunt of Saeed Gafoor, Waheed Hamid, Sayeeda Rennhofer, Majeed Hamid, Zorina Ga foor, Javed Shadick, Irfaan Kalamadeen, Faraz Kalama deen, Sheli and Aliya Shad ick. She was the Great Aunt of Amir Shadick, Raienah Shadick and Farah Chin. Beloved friend of President of Irfaan Ali, Anil Nand lall, Hessaun Nandlall, Gail Teixeira, Sonia Goodluck, Marcia Sharma, Shanaz Danpaul, Mohan, Tony, Clarky and many others. She was laid to rest on Sunday (August 14, 2022). Born on October 28, 1945 in Waterloo Village, Leguan, Region Three, she had eight siblings and re ceived her initial schooling on the island. She attend ed Maryville Government School and was then award ed a scholarship to attend the Bishops’ High School in Georgetown. After completing her secondary education, she joined the teaching profession where she served for a number of years. She read for her Bachelor’s Degree in Ed ucation at the University of Guyana and taught until 1993. She then read for her degree in law at UG after which she obtained her Cer tificate of Legal Education Certificate in 1998 from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad. She was admit ted to the local Bar in the same year. In 2001, she was appointed as Minister of Human Services and Social Security under then Pres ident Bharrat Jagdeo. She also served as Pro-Chan cellor for the University of Guyana and Chairman of the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority. She was one of the govern ment-nominated members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), where she served until her passing.Bibi Safora Shadick’s legacy of service to Guyana will live forever. Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.
S talwart of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bibi Shadick, a GECOM Commissioner and a For mer Government Minister, passed away peacefully at her home on Saturday (Au gust 13, 2022). PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, expresses condolences on behalf of himself and the party, fol lowing the passing of Ms. Shadick. He said, “Cde Shadick served in many capacities, including as a Member of Parliament and Minister of Human Ser vices and Social Securi ty, and more recently, a Commissioner on the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM) up until her pass ing. She left a rich legacy of service to the people of Guyana.”President Dr Irfaan Ali described Ms. Shadick as a great soul, who was resolute in her commitment to the development of Guyana. According him, as a country and a people, we have lost an invaluable asset, who was "family, community and nationally oriented". He said, “This exceptional soul has given Guyana the best of her life. Her con tribution as an educator, cabinet Minister, lawyer, and leader in the PPP, hu manitarian and social work is beyond question. This champion of democracy, freedom and development of Guyana was and will continue to be a great in spiration to me. May Allah grant her peace and a place in the highest heavens.”
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 320-21 2022 3
RELATED REPORTING ON PAGE 11] GECOM set to commence Claims and Objections on August 22nd
T he Claims and Ob jections Exercise, co ordinated by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), will commence on August 22, 2022, to produce an Official List of Electors (OLE). This exercise, according to a GECOM press release, will be conducted at all of GECOM’s permanent Registration Offices in the ten Administrative Regions. During the Claims and Objections period, any per son who will be 18 years and older by the October 31, 2022, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or is a citi zen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a Claim on or be fore September 11, 2022 to be included on the OLE, providing that he/she was never previously registered. Persons desirous of making a Claim to be in cluded in the OLE are re quired to visit the GECOM Registration Office respon sible for their area of res idence with the applicable source document such as original Birth Certificate, valid Passport, Adoption Certificate, or Naturalisa tion Certificate or Certifi cate of Registration to be registered for inclusion. Persons who are re quired to update their reg istration records such as changes or corrections to their names and occupation, or to apply for a transfer concerning their addresses are advised that those trans actions would also be facil itated during this exercise. The relevant source doc uments such as an original Marriage Certificate, Deed Poll with Birth Certificate, or a new Birth Certificate reflecting the changes must be presented in the case of an application for a change or correction.Objections against the inclusion of names in the PLE can be tendered to the Registration Officer of the Registration Area from Au gust 22, 2022 to September 15, Objections2022. can be made by an Elector who is listed in the same Division list or Sub Division list in which the person being objected to isObjectionslisted. can also be made by approved Scru tineers of Political Par ties provided that any such Scrutineer has monitoring responsibilities for the Di vision or Sub Division in which the person being objected to is listed. The relevant original documents such as an orig inal Death Certificate must be presented at the time of the hearing to support the basis upon which the objec tion is Themade.Commission is urg ing all eligible persons to ensure that they use this opportunity to be registered for inclusion in the Revised List of Electors (RLE) and ultimately the Official List of Electors (OLE) to be el igible to vote. “Persons are also encouraged to object to the inclusion of the name of any person whom they believe should not be on the list, based on the legal pro visions. Persons who were registered in the recently concluded Cycle of Contin uous Registration need not reapply to be registered,” the Commission said. [SEE
The misinformation campaign of the APNU+AFC Coalition persists – varying from unfounded claims of corruption, discrimination, and extra-judicial killings to distorted notions about increases in cost of living and the need for a clean Voters’ List. A factual review of these issues exposes a single com monality – the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition seems intent on fabricating a façade (a clean Voters’ List) to avoid facing Guyanese electors at the expected upcoming Local Govern ment Elections, while simultaneously working to mislead Guyanese on ‘imagined’ problems (unfounded claims of cor ruption, discrimination, and extra-judicial killings) in Guyana. At every turn, when called on to back up their claims with facts, the Parliamentary Opposition has waivered and failed. On the question of the Voters’ List, the facts have been adumbrated ad nauseum, but have fallen on deaf ears in the Coalition camp. Importantly, Guyana’s Voters’ List is compiled based on a continuous registration process. This process is similar to that of other Caribbean Countries and the percentage of the Guyanese population on the Voters’ List is lower that some countries, like St. Lucia where, as at 2016, 98.43 per cent of their population were recorded as registered voters. Further, the voter turnout in 2020 was 72.5%. This was a small increase from the 72.19% voter turnout in 2015. Also, persons who migrate to other countries cannot be re moved from the List because Guyana’s Constitution does not require someone to be resident in Guyana to remain on the List. Guyana introduced photo identification to ensure that the person who was registered to vote was the same person who was actually voting. Notably, at the 2020 Elections, 460,352 persons voted from a list of 661,3378 – meaning there were over 200,000 persons who did not vote. Additionally, GECOM still have to remove persons who have died, who remain on the list. To ensure this is addressed at the legisla tive level, the proposed amendments to the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA), address a public and transparent process to ensure that the names of Guyanese who have died are removed from the list. On the unfounded claims of corruption, discrimination, and extra-judicial killings in Guyana, the facts have been provided.Relative to the extra-judicial killings claim, in November 2019, the 32-page findings of an investigate report by the in dependently–run Stabroek News, exposed the falsehoods ped dled by the APNU+AFC Coalition about the crime wave and dismantled the notion that young Afro-Guyanese men were killed indiscriminately. While, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition had claimed that -some 400 young Afro-Guyanese died as a result of extra-judicial killings during the crime wave. However, the Stabroek News investigative report point ed out that some 420 persons were killed between February 2002 and September 2006 – 151 murdered by bandits, 30 security officers were killed and 239 were killed during con frontations with the police and in unexplained circumstances. It added that the drug trade was a major part of the period in question. After the report was published, comments along this line subsidised, but has returned and are now greatly exagger ated with the claim being almost 2,000 young Afro-Guyanese died under the former PPP/C government. Relative to the discrimination claim, in almost every area – from housing to education – Afro-Guyanese have fared better under successive PPP/C administrations, than under the PNCR/APNU/AFC. Further, a call for a debate on this issue by PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo, to Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, continues to be ignored. Relative to the corruption claim, no facts have ever been produced by the Coalition to back up the claims – unlike when the PPP/C was in Opposition during 2015-2020, where documentary evidence, etc. were produced to substantiate statements made by PPP/C leaders. Now, concoctions to avoid facing reality are not for the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition. Guyanese all saw the machinations, political litigation that spanned both national and regional courts, as well barefaced untruths during the fivemonth effort to undermine the will of the Guyanese people and retain power – at the central government level. What is playing out now is not new – the Coalition is again engaged in machinations, political litigation and Coalition’s misinformation intended to fabricate façade to avoid facing electors barefaced untruths for sake of power – this time at the local government level. It is worth noting that Guyana has 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs) and at the 2018 Local Government Elections, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), secured wins in 52 of the LAAs. Nationally, results showed that the PPP/C almost doubled the margin of votes between the Party and APNU and AFC combined – moving from about 24,000 at the 2016 Local Government Elections to over 45,000 at this year’s Local Government Elections. The difference of votes between the PPP/C and the AFC was a whopping 113,000 votes. Between the PPP/C and the APNU, the difference of votes was over 50,000. The track record of successive PPP/C administrations continue to stand the test of time and in the last two years under the leadership of President Dr. Irfaan Ali much has been done to return Guyana and the Guyanese people to trajectory of progress and prosperity.
Delay tactics of those attempting to tie elections to unfounded demands must not be tolerated
NeilSincerely,Kumar
EDITORIAL
Dear Editor, T he PPP/C Government, in recent national budgets, made available adequate allocations to support these mandatory requirements, and these were approved by the National Assem bly. Given the evidence-driven removal and prosecution of leading GECOM staffers previously associated with electoral fraud matters, one anticipates fewer hurdles in moving the necessary processes forward, and in particular for ensuring the Local Government Elections are held within this year, as previously committed to by GECOM. The Chairwoman and objective Commissioners must not be deterred by the recent unjustified Opposition con venient condemnation and pronounce ments, provided that all operations are conducted within the ambit of the applicable legislation. Our citizens are well aware that GECOM did a comprehensive and well-conducted period of Continuous Registration to update the Register of Registrants, and GECOM must now hold a short period of Claims and Objections to allow all stakeholders to peruse the List and make objective ob servations to inform further transparent and thorough preparation of the Voters List for the holding of LGEs. There are serious challenges at many Neighbourhood Democratic and Municipal Councils. Over the period since the last LGE, all the NDCs and Municipalities have become depleted because of the serious loss of elected members. On many occasions, meet ings are cancelled because of a lack of quorum. In many instances, required services to residents have been attenu ated, while the People’s representation at the grassroots level is of premiere importance for informing the required areas for improvement. Further, the holding of LGEs would allow the com munities to carefully nominate men and women who are prepared to serve their communities.Thedelaying tactics of those at tempting to influence the organisation to only conditionally hold elections subject to conditions of their party likeness, must not be tolerated.
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Dear Editor, D evelopment inevitably brings changes, new arrangements, new views, and hence is full of contradiction. More often than not, the conflict is between different rights. Often, too, certain improve ments are required, but not some of the features that accompany the improvements.The“legalities” must be taken into account as the base on, and from, which some reconciliation is sought. In consideration of the “traditional/natural” rights of Am erindian villages, recall that at In dependence, when the British left, there were sixty-five Amerindian villages listed. It was towards the end of the 1980s that movement from coast to hinterland generated amounts of evident contradiction that required resolution. Dr Jagan and his PPP/C admin istration moved to demarcate, and mark on the ground the original 65 villages, whilst opening the door to the proclamation of new Amerindi an villages. Now more than 150 are listed, and the door has been opened to extension of earlier villages. In the extension and proclamation of new villages, conflicting situations with existing mining and forestry rights were inevitable, and in the case of the Kaieteur National Park, somewhat reversed. The Park was extended to the village boundary, while the village wanted to be ex panded to the earlier KNP boundary. Most of the conflicting mining and forestry situations were re solved generally by encouraging the miner/logger to accept alternative areas, but a few intractable knots re mained, and the parties approached the courts, as they were free to. Was it noticed in a recent newspaper one article denouncing the mining at Chinese Landing: a problem of resolving and reconciling the conflicts (Turn to page 20)
It’s known that GECOM wrote the Minister of Local Government, in forming him about its unpreparedness to hold LGEs almost one year ago. It was not anticipated that the conveyed indication that the LGEs would be held earliest in 2022 would turn out to realise a position at this juncture, where there is still no confirmed timeline. Of note, GECOM is yet to fill some crucial vacancies at the Secretariat. The Chairperson of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh, must dispel the ob stacles and pride herself on leading the organisation to execute the holding of LGEs as early as possible. Hence the Commission must develop a proper work plan for the holding of LGEs thisGECOMyear. must be ready with a Na tional Register of Registrants, and the very short period of Claims and Ob jections would enable the Preliminary List of WithVoters.theupdated NRR obtained through an efficiently run Continu ous Registration process, the delays in moving forward to the Claim and Objections to confirm the subsequent Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) are disappointing concerning the snail’s pace. The steps to ascertain a reflective PLE would ensure the holding of LGEs as soon as possible, and must be ad dressed immediately. GECOM should be aware that if there are other impact ing circumstances, the transparency level requires full disclosure. In Guyana, the lessons of the after math of the 2nd March 2020 Elections must keep this nation on any electoral undercurrents for our people to accept fairness and unite. Our people must participate in the LGEs; particularly, our young people must get involved to preserve our young and growing democracy.WhileGuyana is on the rise, we must develop a nation with brilliant young minds that will say no to racism and never allow anybody to divide us.
Sincerely, Charles S. Ramson, MP
Moreover, on every single instance, he expressly stated that we would not and im mediately provided a list of measures which would be implemented including “better contract administration”. Mr. Jagdeo also stated that all other PSAs would not receive the same contract terms because we were no longer a frontier basin. The videos are on YouTube and on Facebook as evidence of all of this and it must be that this media house knows this. During the campaign, we went into every community and this is what was said by all of our candidates. The Manifesto summary says, “engage oil and gas companies in better contract admin istration/re-negotiation”. That “/” is there for a reason and captures the position just outlined i.e. we would have better contract administration with Exxon and renegoti ate better terms with all other oil and gas companies. I have done interviews with this media house on numerous occasions re-stating this position. So, while I will not speak on any sector outside of my portfolio, as a member of the PPP, this falsity about the PPP’s position leading into the election must be corrected for the record. As for Mr. Ramjattan who is yet to share the information he has about the missing Russians and the missing State ment of Polls, he has not said one word of condemnation of the disgraceful saga with the US$18 signature bonus which was lied about by the APNU-AFC government and the worse re-negotiation of an oil contract in modern history. In fact, he seems to proffer an explanation by saying “Sugar was eating up our treasury’s money. What do you do? Your need a brand new reve nue stream…although it was an imperfect decision”. Incredible! The worse re-nego tiation of an oil contract in modern history is described as an “imperfect decision”. In fact, I remember clearly Mr. Ramjattan went on to do an interview just before the election seeking to discredit the criticism about the re-negotiated contract and the APNU-AFC paid for a full-page ad which falsely claimed that the “Government Take” would be 63%. Apparently, the math wiz ards in the APNU-AFC calculated that 2% royalty + 50% profit oil = 63%. Go figure! While we can disagree until the cows come home, Guyanese do not have to be come grass because a falsehood advances a position which is not agreed on. We all have responsibilities.
PPP never promised to renegotiate oil contract
Dear Editor, T here is a common folk aphorism in Guy ana – “if ya mek yaself grass, cow gon lay down pon ya”! In this my first letter to any media in 2 years, I read the article pub lished today where Mr. Khemraj Ramjattan, Leader of the AFC, falsely claims that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) promised to re-negotiate the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with ExxonMobil and it is patently unprofessional and irresponsible for this media house to repeat this falsehood especially knowing that it is false. Before our re-election to government, I attended or watched every single press con ference held by the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party and then Leader of the Opposition, Honourable Bharrat Jag deo, before our political party was re-elect ed. There were many instances when he was asked by reporters from newspaper agencies if the PPP were re-elected, would we re-negotiate the contract with Exxon.
Dear Editor, Iam very pleased with Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, who stated that “30,000 households (are going) to soon benefit from solar energy”. This disclosure was made at the Fourth Regional Committee Meeting for the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) that was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) a few days ago. Fantastic! This kind of talk reflects reality and development and points to a rapidly evolving Guyana. The Minister explained, quite rightly that “Solar energy, is playing an important role in achieving energy inclusivity, partic ularly through the deployment of solar solu tions in hinterland and remote communities … as Guyana has an off-the-grid population with these persons residing in hinterland and outlyingNow,areas.”fora few comments on this most important project, as I think that a lot of peo ple are still not quite au fait with this kind of driveForworldwide,one,distributed solar energy is on the global rise, generating enough electricity to power millions of homes each year, and resulting in annual carbon dioxide emission reductions equivalent to taking some 4.4 million passenger vehicles off the road. So, in terms of public policy, Guyana is right on track, playing its part in driving the growth of solar energy, as it is recognising the enormous benefits that solar power can provide both today and in the future. I add further that rooftop solar power generally adds value to the electric grid. It not only reduces the need for generation from and investment in central power plants, but over the long lifetime of solar energy systems, it also can increase price stability and grid reli ability, and reduce environmental compliance costs. Therefore, one must compliment the pioneers and pushers of this kind of mindset. A second factor, rooted in scientific data mind you, is that for each 1kW of solar in stalled, home value could increase up to 3-4 per cent. For example, if a property is worth $300,000, that means an increase of anywhere between $9000 to $12,000. Do the math and see what is the value for a non-solar 5 mil lion house? So, at the personal level, solar consideration is the way to go. How about thinking on some overall benefits? Here are a few – positive impact on the environment; reduction of energy bill; energy production during peak hours; solar energy is applica ble everywhere; less electricity lost during long-distance transport; improvement to grid security; and job creation. A closing caveat is in order, as many may want to criticiser this move, which is in its in cipient stages. The Minister noted that “with the support of the Indian Exim (Export-Im port) Bank, we have already concluded a proj ect to procure and deploy 30,000 household solar units to bring solar electricity to 30,000 homes.” He detailed that “Even though our energy transition might not comprise solar as the bulk producer to the grid, solar energy is playing a tremendous role in achieving ener gy inclusivity because even though it is at a small level, at the community level, from that one project, 30,000 households which did not have electricity will now have electricity.” As we all know, many households are far away from the grid to be able to connect but it is good to know that 30,000 households are now going to get electricity for the first time ever and similar solutions can be deployed for other remote areas. For many like me, it is a win-win situa tion. Yours truly, H Singh
commendablesolarGovernment’splansmost
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Many observers share this view that oil funds would benefit Guyanese not in the form of handouts but rather directly and indirectly, through quality education, subsidized hous ing, jobs, state of the art healthcare system, neighborhood revitalization, rescuing NIS, human resource development, agriculture expansion and diversification, development of agro-processing facilities, improvement in the services sector, public safety, better roads/bridges/airports, hinterland develop ment, and social welfare systems. Also, unconditional handouts could empower people but only for brief periods. When the funds are exhausted, recipients might still be in the same place. What is de fensible is limited conditional cash grants for the creation of jobs, business startups, home renovation, housing starts, and education development. These are what empower peo ple for the rest of their lives and not just for fleeting moments. And of vital importance is the role of work in people’s lives. It is work that gives people a sense of self-worth or self-esteem.Unconditional handouts produce the opposite result and could lead to a culture of dependency. Guyana must avoid this.
The notion that Guyana is flooded with oil money will lead to exaggerated expectations
Albeit hypocritical, the situation reflects the characteristic nature of the PNC and the ‘Creature’ referred to by former PNCR Leader and President of Guyana, Mr. Hugh Desmond Hoyte (deceased). He cannot put up any legitimate or justified argument why this should happen as long as he has, as claimed, the undisclosed fake SoPs from the 2020 elections.Editor, Norton and the PNC’s glaring doctrine of convenience cannot be made more apparent. They cannot pretend to be unaware of GECOM Chairperson Justice Claudette Singh’s role as the head of a statutory consti tutional body whose office must be respected. Further, the conduct and holding of elections are not entrusted to politicians, but GECOM; and that institution must be fully prepared to hold elections on time, provided that the Government ensures availability of the necessary funds for the proper functioning of the organisation. There is verifiable evidence that the PPPC had done so. However, it is also important for GECOM to make sure that they are account able and provide a fully audited report to the nation. Recent experiences dictate that There must be a clear and written role of GECOM Commissioners and the GECOM Secretariat, as delegated by the Commission. The Com missioners are to decide on policies, and the Secretariat must implement the decisions of the Commission. Further, it is recognised that because of the peculiar situation in this country, the Chairperson of GECOM must be a strong and professional person. Norton’s latest outbursts: that the PPP/C Government does not want to hold Local Government Elections, must be rubbished. Monies were allocated in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 National Budgets for the holding of Local Government Elections (LGEs), with a mammoth allocation of $4.1 billion this year for the intended purpose. It is the practice and the usual cry of the PNC to say that the list is padded, but it must be noted that the PNC/WPA/AFC and now APNU never won at LGEs. While they are criticising the List of Electors currently, it was the same list that they did not hesitate to use in 2016 and 2018 to hold LGEs. Of note, how ever, when they catapulted themselves into Government in 2015, the ‘defector’ APNU/ AFC Government hastily went to parliament and changed the law to decide that a period of continuous registration would give legitimacy to the Voters’ List for six months. In addition, the APNU Coalition, without the necessary consultations, went on a ‘gerry mandering spree’, changing selected electoral boundaries to win more seats. The PPP/C is calling for the holding of LGEs now, and GECOM must act follow ing the institution’s constitutional mandate. Norton’s empty barrel wind-howling and out bursts are synonymous with his characteristic creaturelike status in the PNC, and while he calls for the resignation of the Chairperson of GECOM, he must not forget how he was rudely removed from the position of PNC General Secretary. He was rudely kicked out of Parliament, and was shamefully removed as the PNC District Chairman in Georgetown. Norton was never given a ceremonial hand shake, as he was kicked about the place, and therefore cannot relate to handshakes! Guyanese are awaiting his replacement as the Leader of the PNC. Guyanese must unite and work together for a better Guyana. GECOM must bring on LGEs soonest.
Dear Editor, The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) must be congratulated for commencing the claims-and-objections pro cess. This would enable all stakeholders to peruse the Register of Registrants in pursuit of confirming the necessary verifications of ad ditions and deletions of the names of persons that should transparently remain on the List. By commencing the claims-and-objections process, GECOM has signalled a positive forward process, but has drawn rasping, con venient reactions from the Opposition camp. The Commission should not be worried about the sinister wind-blowers. Since becoming Leader of the Opposi tion, Aubrey Norton has utilised his biggest platform yet to hasten the exposure of his impotent, leaderless strategy of the inexorably fragmenting coalition. His recent ranting and raving over the Voters List and his unjustified call for the resignation of the eminent Justice Claudette Singh from the Guyana Elections Commission lack basis, and are nothing but wind in a desperate effort to propagandise race-based confidence into the few remaining hopefuls.Norton’s ride on a wave of fallout support from those in the PNC camp who have reacted to the coalition’s loss at the 2020 General and Regional Elections has become bumpier and more unpopular for the wrong reasons. It appears that he should rather be working hard to strengthen his internal position and relationship with the few remaining Coalition partners.Theobvious diminishing returns have resulted from his failure to command the perceived and promised aggressive dent in the PPPC Government’s progress, and in gaining national confidence and influencing international recognition and support.
diplomacy in dealing with President Ali, his displays have realised an embarrassing loss of face, rather than gains in strengthening and confidence. Comparatively, President Ali and the PPPC’s admirable work has been creating nightmares for the Norton-led PNCR clan. Consequently, there is no doubt that Aubrey Norton has resorted to gambling in the high-stakes engagement of attempting to challenge the Chairwoman of the Guyana Elections Commission, who was previously approved as the best-proposed candidate by the previous leadership of his PNC Party while he was involved as a senior executive.
The focus here is not over the concerns of a lopsided contract (that has been well documented), but on how observers/critics/ groups view and articulate the revenue stream that flows into the national Treasury.
Norton’s outbursts are now in sync with the sound of wind through an empty barrel!
The thought of oil money floating around has been creating exaggerated expectations by Guyanese who have begun to show im patience and want their years-long nagging problems, fixed almost immediately. The Parliamentary motion by the opposition political parties seeking a handout of $(G) 200,000 per quarter, per adult, for example, has not been properly conceived. Even if one assumes that the existing balance of $(US) 637.277 (as of August 15, 2022) in the NR is dedicated to handouts, this works out to $(US) 1,180 per adult. What the motion seeks is a handout of $(US) 3,902 per adult per year that is 3 times more than the total existing balance in the NRF.
N.Sincerely,Kumar
Dear Editor, S ome civil society groups and individuals have been asserting with uncontrollable zest that Guyana will become another eco nomic miracle as Abu Dhabi or Singapore with the advent of its new petroleum sector. And cliches are literally spreading like wildfire so that some Guyanese now speak loftily as “their journey to prosperity;” “no one would be left behind;” “there could be no better time than now to live in Guyana;” while others say; “the per capita GDP of $US) 7,000 would double in 3 years’ time;” “Guyana will record the highest growth rate in the world in 2022;” and “Guyana would become the richest country in the Caribbean and Latin America.” Nothing is wrong in expressing such strong feelings, but restraint must tame one’s exuberance. To say that Guyana would have a growth rate of 58.7% in 2022 is a quantitative state ment that obscures the existing qualitative conditions. For example, how does a growth rate of 58.7% translate into alleviating poverty whose level of 30% would not be reduced significantly in the short term? How ever, with several government and private sector projects, like job creation, housing starts, education, quality healthcare, agri-di versification and expansion, being put in place covering all 10 administrative regions, Guyana could, within 3-4 years, reduce the poverty level by 50% or even more. But the notion that Guyana is flooded with oil money is misleading, and this has the unintended consequence of creating exaggerated expectations, which could feed into frustration and anger. The data indicate that oil wealth so far has only tangentially touched Guyanese. It is trickling down and would begin to flow in 2025. Currently, of the total amount of $(US) 1.244 billion in profit oil (from December 2019 to date) received by Guyana, a sum of $(US) 607.45 million has been approved by Parliament for 2022 budget support. Assuming that this full amount has been withdrawn during 2022, the uncommitted balance in the NRF as of today would be $(US) 637.277 million. By year end, when Guyana would have received the 5 remaining lifts, the total amount of profit oil in the NRF balance is projected at $(US) 1.012 billion, assuming $(US) 75 per barrel for the next 5 lifts in 2022). When Payara and Yellowtail projects are brought into production (in 2024/2025), then Guyana’s share of profit oil/royalties could reach an average of $(US) 5 billion per year in the current decade (assuming production of 810,000 bpd and a price of $(US) 60 per barrel), according to Financial Analyst JC Bhagwandin. When the other economically viable oil blocks like Orinduik, Kanuka, and Corentyne are put into production, then profit oil would expand appreciably. A major challenge for the government, however, is to keep in check the growing expectations.
The Ghanaian oil expert that visited Guyana to review and advise on the local content law stated categorically that oil money should not be given out as handouts.
Sincerely, Dr. Tara Singh
Rather, Norton has become more asso ciated with attempts to damage control his disappointingly consistent public blundering, focused on a race-driven and hatred-infatua tion of the Hon. Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, whose productive performances and sense of nationalism he could never match! With a sense of lost objectivity and non-po litical behaviour characterised by a lack of
6 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022
The President assured that those living in the hinterland and riverine communities will benefit from improved internet connectivity as the ad ministration moves to ensure equal access to Information and Communications Tech nology (ICT) which is seen as a critical tool for the future in cluding easier access to educa tion and training programmes offered by the government. With agriculture being the main economic activi ty in Orealla, President Ali informed residents of the critical role they will play in CARICOM’s effort to reduce its food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025. He committed to providing the necessary support to farmers including equipment and planting ma terials to ensure that they too benefit from opportunities available in the agriculture sector.At the meeting, Dr Ali was joined by Minister of Agriculture, Honourable Zu lfikar Mustapha; Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Honour able Pauline Sukhai; Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Hon ourable Nigel Dharamlall and other Government and region al officials. The President and his team also engaged residents of Siparuta also in the Coren tyne River.
Solar Systems to be installed at Guyana Learning Channel’s Facilities in Aishalton and Karasabai
– Orealla residents urged to embrace training opportunities
TRAINING CENTER Noting that training is important for the forward movement of the residents of Orealla, Dr Ali revealed that soon they will be able to ac cess technical training with the construction of a new stateof-the-art ‘National Technical Training Centre in the region. “We are building a stateof-the-art national technical training centre that will be focused on skill development for the needs of our country in the future. And that centre will be located right here in Region Six and we expect that your children, the young people to be part of that programme,” he said. This is in keeping with a promise in the PPP/C’s 2020 elections manifesto to deliver quality education to all Guy anese.Meanwhile, President Ali outlined a number of initia tives implemented by his government to improve the lives and living standards of citizens including those living in Orealla. These include an increase in old age pension, return and increase in the ‘Be cause We Care’ cash grant, the expansion of the school feeding programme, rehiring of the Community Support Officers (CSO) and the re moval of VAT from hundreds of basic items.
A contract was signed between the Ministry of Education and Gafsons Industries Limited for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of solar photovoltaic systems at the Guyana Learning Channel facilities located in Aishal ton and Karasabai in Region Nine.There was a public ten dering process and Gafsons Industries Limited emerged as the recommended bid der and was awarded the contract. The project will cost a total of forty-eight million six hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty-nine dollars ($48,699,989). The project aims to pro vide to the students in the two communities the same opportunities that learners along the coast have, which is access to learning resourc es not only in schools but through the distance edu cation platforms the Guy ana Learning Channel and EdYou“We’reFM.able to give them lessons on the learning chan nel and the radio channel all day. We’re able to commu nicate with them the way we are able to do with children in Georgetown but only if we have reliable electricity and continuous electricity,” Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, said. She explained the impor tance of the project and the need for it to be completed within the agreed timeline. Also present at today’s signing was Permanent Sec retary, Mr. Alfred King, Di rector of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development, Ms. Quenita Walrond-Lewis, Head of Procurement, Mr. Quiency Hinds and Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Ener gy Agency, Mr. Mahender Sharma.
FOCUS ON GUYANA’S FIRST PEOPLE
Residents of Orealla, Corentyne River, Region Six, were assured that Amer indians are equally important to the development of Guyana. The Head of State made the assertion during an out reach to the community on Saturday (August 13, 2022). “Today is about you—about listening to you; what are your thoughts about what we are doing? What are the new ideas that you have?” Presi dent Ali said that the time is now for Guyanese “to be bold, imaginative and to realise our aspirations and ambitions,” he said.Hereassured the residents that the Government will al ways be their partner in the development and is ready to embrace them in realising their dreams.
Amerindians equally important to Guyana’s development – Pres. Ali
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 7 Amerindian Development…
ICT DEVELOPMENT
8 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022
10 TVET educators now equipped with Diploma in Heavy-Duty Equipment Maintenance
PPP/C
Close to 3,000 Guyanese benefited from financial assistance for medical treatment in two years
T he PPP/C Administra tion is actively explor ing the implementation of remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunica tionsTermedtechnology.telemedicine, the new undertaking en ables video or phone ap pointments between a pa tient and their health care practitioner, providing a convenient procedure. With telemedicine, a patient will be able to access help from a med ical practitioner or even a nurse without having to travel to the hospital or clinic in their sick state. The administration’s move to venture into the new medical path is part of its overarching master plan to significantly trans form Guyana’s medical features.Government intends to push the nation’s health sector to mirror interna tional standards, and put Govt actively exploring telemedicine techniques – Anthony (Turn to page 20)
S ome 2,728 Guyanese were able to access medical assistance from the health ministry’s med ical treatment department at a cost of $956 million since government took office 2020.Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony said 204 patients received assistance at the cost of $219 million in 2020.Many of those patients were diagnosed at the Georgetown Public Hospital with heart related ailments. In 2021, the ministry assisted 1,518 persons at a cost of $445 million. For this year, some 1,006 persons have so far received assistance at a total cost of $292Dr.million.Anthony said more persons are expected to ben efit by the end of the year. Under the APNU+AFC Government, some 551 Guy anese accessed medical as sistance at a cost of $95.8 million in 2016. The follow ing year, 602 benefitted from $191.6 million in assistance. In 2018, 464 persons received assistance at a cost of $207.2 million. In 2019, 684 persons benefitted at a cost of $219.9 million. The health minister re layed that many persons required cardiac surgeries in 2020. As a result, many of the surgeries were conduct ed at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI) and paid for by the PPP/C Government. Other areas of assistance included funds for dialysis and MRIs, as well as a range of other surgeries. Dr. Anthony said the ministry’s medical treatment department is specially dedi cated to assisting persons in need. “Anybody requiring such assistance can refer to that department. There are some requirements. Of course, you will have to bring in what is your diag nosis, who is the doctor that is treating you, we will have to evaluate whether or not we can do it in the public sector. If we can do it in the public sector then we will put you in the relevant clinic so that you can get that type of surgery,” the health min isterIfsaid.theservice is not avail able in the public sector, the ministry will seek assistance from the private sector. Apart from surgeries, the health ministry has also recently begun providing hearing aids to patients, free of charge. “Previously a person who had to require a hearing aid, they probably had to spend a minimum $65,000. Many persons could not afford that, so we have removed the fees. We were actually asking persons to pay for the cost of the hearing aid, but since a lot of people could not afford it, we have removed the fees. So, the government is buying those hearing aids and making it available to the patients,” Dr. Anthony said. Since the introduction of the hearing-aid assistance programme a month ago, 156 persons have benefitted. The ministry has targeted 500 persons by the end of the year.
DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’
R esidents of Lethem, Region Nine, are now enjoying first hand reliable and clean energy, with the commissioning of a $472 million one (1.0) megawatt solar farm in the township on Friday.Already 10,000 liters of diesel or some 63 drums of fuels were saved, since the solar power plant started testing on July 26. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Energy Agency, Dr. Mahender Shar ma, said with the current fuel cost, the solar farm will save approximately $136 million annually. In fact, Dr. Sharma stressed that this will allow the payback period for the project to be only three and a halfTheyears.high-powered solar system forms part of the PPP/C Government’s drive to resort to more renewable energy.During the commis sioning ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, under scored that the aim is to en sure the entire region bene fits from renewable energy in the future. He believes that the project will significantly reduce the monthly electrici ty expense for the over 1,400 households across the town that are receiving service from the farm. “I was told that the peak demand in the township on grid is about 1.1 megawatt, this commis sioning with the solar energy given to you by God himself, will deliver one megawatt… its coming into your grid and powering your homes. So literally the town is run ning on renewable energy for about five hours if you get good sunlight,” Minister Indar noted. According to the minister, residents there normally pay $80 for kilo watt, which is a higher rate than Georgetown. This is because the fuel comes from afar, and the transportation price normally takes up the energy cost. He emphasised that with the historic under taking no fuel will have to be utilised for at least five hours daily. “…that means the operating cost of the power company will go down, that means the money that we used to subside could go into infrastructural works and socialAdditionally,goods…” another 2.2 megawatts of hydropower are also in the pipeline for Region Nine, 1.5 megawatts at Kumu, and the 0.7 mega watts in the Moco Moco Village.Altogether the two proj ects will value about $2.8 billion.Government is also ad vancing works at the hy dropower plant at Kato, Re gion Eight. The 150-kilowatt power plant will cost $469 million. A significant component of the $472M one megawatt solar farm commissioned on FridayMeanwhile, the project was financed under a loan from the Inter-American De velopment Bank (IDB) back in November 2018.
$472M one megawatt solar farm commissioned at Lethem
A s the Ministry of Edu cation continues to en hance the delivery of Tech nical and Vocational Educa tion and Training (TVET), ten (10) educators are now equipped with a Diploma in Heavy-Duty Equipment Maintenance.Alongwith receiving a diploma, the TVET prac titioners now have a jour neyman certificate and a certificate that indicates sat isfaction in the related field after completing 1640 hours in this area of specialization. The training is part of an ongoing partnership between the Ministry of Education, Council for Technical and Vocation al Education and Training (CTVET), Trinidad and Tobago National Energy Skills Center (NESC) and RED Deer, a Canadian partner in skills training to ensure that TVET instruc tors benefit from training in the heavy-duty equipment maintenance programme. The training was fully funded by the Organization for American States (OAS). This qualification is locally, regionally, and internation allyTVETrecognized.educators from various institutes across the country benefitted from this training which was done at the Linden Technical Insti tute( LTI) by trainers from Trinidad & Tobago( NESC).
I nfrastructure works are progressing in the Ame lia’s Ward Phase 4 housing scheme which will soon be ready for some 400 linden families to take up residen cy. Minister of Housing and Water, the Hon. Collin Croal on Thursday, August 11, visited the location to see the pace at which works are moving. To date, a massive portion of the land has been cleared and preparation are ongoing for the construction of access roads. Following the first phase of infrastructure works, the other amenities including, drainage, water, and electri cal network are expected to be installed.Lastyear July, the min istry through its Dream Re alise House lot allocation exercise, 400 house lots were distributed in the Ame lia’s Ward, Phase 4 scheme. Approximately $364 million has been allocated for the infrastructural works in that area. While there were some delays in the land clearing process as a result of squat ting, during the Minister’s visit he noted his satisfaction with the work done so far. To date, all the illegal struc tures that were impeding the development process have been removed. However, the Ministry is pleading with residents to desist from car rying out construction of any kind in the area as there have been reports of squatting in some sections of the scheme. Also, while in Linden the Minister visited Mil lie’s Hideout, the newest area identified for housing development. Land clearing is also ongoing in that area which spans approximately 250 acres. That area has been identified for the con struction of the first batch of three-bedroom housing units, another housing op tion for the Region. Mobil isation for the construction will commence shortly. To date, a large portion of the area has been cleared and leveled to facilitate the in stallation of a road network. This project forms part of President, Dr. Irfaan Ali’s commitment to see the con struction of 1000 housing units in Linden, to address the housing needs of Region Ten. The commitment was made back in January 2021 during the President and his Cabinet’s first outreach to the Mining Already,town.some 40 ele vated two-bedroom units are at various stages of con struction and a majority are completed and allocated in the Amelia’s Ward Phase 2, scheme.
T he government is work ing assiduously to miti gate gender-based violence against women and girls countrywide.Thiswill see the Minis try of Human Services and Social Security’s survivors advocate programme and shelters being expanded across the country to im prove the response to do mestic violence cases. Human Services and So cial Security Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud on Monday (August 15, 2022) made the announcement on the side lines of the government’s $100k special needs fund distribution exercise at Pto lemy Reid Rehabilitation Center, willWearewayandifadvocate“ThereGeorgetown.isthesurvivor’sprogramme,hereapersonmakesareportfollowsthroughallthetolegalrecourse,theyassignedtoasurvivor.areexpandingthatsoitbeinallofourregions because the programme has worked,” she said. The survivor’s advocate programme is an essential one implemented to grapple with this growing issue. As many victims have non-existing support sys tems, poor kinships, and fi nancial dependency causing them to stay in life-threaten ing Torelationships.ensurevictims who come forward are safe, the ministry trained and em ployed survivor advocates to provide victims with the support and help needed to overcome their experiences. Survivor advocates are accessible to persons through the 914 domestic violence hotline and have the responsibility of inform ing victims of their rights and the services available to them.Aspart of the pro gramme, victims will be offered ‘survivor kits’ to get them back on their feet. The kits contain essential items for persons, who may be forced to evacuate their homes because of an abusive relationship.Additionally, the minis ter also highlighted the need for more shelters for vulner ablePersaudpersons.said, “We are looking as part of our man date to have more shelters in every region. We are expanding to have more shelters in Regions Two and six and three. So those are coming on board and we are going to be working every year to have more of those shelters.”Currently, the ministry has several shelters across the country, some of which are state-owned and part nerships.Recently, the ministry completed major rehabil itative works at its night shelter at East La Penitence, Georgetown, to accommo date even more persons.
Gov’t survivor’s advocate, shelter programmes to be expanded
T he Government of Guy ana on Friday signed a US$44 million loan agreement with the World Bank as part of the Guy ana Strengthening Human Capital through Education Project.The project focuses on the expansion of access to quality education at the secondary level and im proving technical and vo cational training (TVET). The agreement was signed in the Ministry of Finance’s boardroom by Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for Fi nance, Dr Ashni Singh and World Bank Resident Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Ms Diletta Doretti.Finance Minister, Dr Singh noted that the sign ing of the US $44 million agreement for the devel opment of human capital is a significant part of a much broader and compre hensive policy agenda. He explained with the rapid transformational develop ment taking place, there is a great need for human capital development. “We believe that there is no investment that is more im portant than the investment in theThepeople.”project will support the piloting and national rollout of a new curriculum for Grades Seven to Nine and finance textbooks for Grades Seven to Eleven. It will also see the develop ment of a new TVET sector policy for 2022-203o and improve the delivery of TVET at secondary and post-secondary institutions. Present for the signing were Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary, Mr Alfred King, Chief Edu cation Officer, Dr Marcel Hutson, Deputy Chief Ed ucation Officer (TVET), Dr Ritesh Tularam, Chief Planning Officer, Nicola Johnson along with offi cers from the Ministry of Finance.
Regularisation of Golden Grove backlands to begin within a week
PPP/C
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 920-21 2022 9
US$44 million loan signed to enhance human capital through education
V ery soon, residents of Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara will have legal rights to lands they occupy in the backlands. The regularisation process is slated to commence with in aThisweek.is the outcome of a meeting held with residents, led by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, and Com missioner of the Lands and Survey Commission En rique Monize on Saturday During the meeting, it was agreed after consul tation with the residents that they will work along (Turn to page 21)
Housing development and Infrastructure plans progressing in Linden
DELIVERING ON ‘PLAN FOR PROSPERITY’
President Ali in Trinidad and Tobago for State Visit
President Ali said the sec ond half of his visit will see his participation in the T&T Agri Investment Forum from August 19 to 21, which will also allow CARICOM lead ers to assess progress made to reduce the region’s food import bill by 25 percent by 2025 for which Guyana has the lead role. The Head of State said he will also be meeting with the leadership of the T&T-head quartered Republic Bank Limited to discuss financing for Investment in agriculture. “They have aside some re sources for the food produc tion system in agriculture so there are a number of propos als that Guyana has been able to work with other countries in developing,” he disclosed.
P resident Dr. Irfaan Ali is calling on the European Union (EU) to implement systems to issue Schengen visasPresidenthere. Ali said that Guyana is positioned stra tegically in the modern world with great investors’ confidence and it cannot be business as usual. He called for the process to be fast-tracked as he stressed the importance of peo ple-to-people contact. “In the next 48 hours let us double down on this, make the appropriate noise, and get this done. I think this is a very low-hanging fruit…ease of travel is criti cal and facilitating travel is critical. One of the import ant things of the establish ment of these chambers is the people to people contact. Sometimes we rely on tech nology so much that we fail to realize the importance of people to people contact,” President Ali said. A Schengen visa is a short-stay visa that allows a person to travel to any mem bers of the Schengen Area, per stays up to 90 days for tourism or business purpos es. It is the most common visa for Europe and enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member coun tries. There are no border controls within the Schen genTheZone.Head of State made the call as the European Union and Guyana began the process for the estab lishment of a Chamber of Commerce in the country. At present, Guyanese are required to travel to a Euro pean embassy in Suriname or Trinidad to obtain Schen gen visas to travel to any of the EU member states. “I think that the EU must understand that it is in their strategic interest to have that facility here in Guyana within the next three months and we have to find where we can get it done within the next three months. Which embassy is in a position get it done in the next three months, what you want us to do to get it done in the next three months and get it done,” President Ali stated. Nevertheless, the Presi dent urged that the chamber of commerce be used to change the scale of business in Guyana and move away from just conducting trans actions.He said the econom ic partnership agreement with the EU has tremendous advantages for not only Guyana but the CARICOM region by tapping into the EU “Thismarket.is a challenge but it is not a challenge that cannot be overcome or it’s not a challenge we cannot derive the benefit from. It re quires hard work, it requires commitment, it requires us understanding that we have to change our way of think ing, change our method,” the president stated. Food security, energy se curity, climate change, and eco-tourism are some of the areas President Ali outlined that investors can tap into.
Meanwhile, outgoing EU Ambassador to Guyana, Fernando Ponz Canto said the chamber of commerce comes as EU and Guyana celebrate 50 years of coop eration. The Ambassador said the chamber will advo cate for and promote small and medium-scale business es. “The establishment of this chamber of commerce which starts today is proba bly one of best ways to bring more of Guyana to Europe and more Europe to Guyana. This is much more than a slogan, this is something that will bring concrete ben efit to your citizens and to our citizens and we are de termined to work very hard for that,” he Tourism,stated.Industry and Commerce Minister Onei dge Walrond and Chief Ex ecutive Officer of the Guy ana Office for Investment Dr Peter Ramsaroop were present at the event.
President Ali wants Schengen visas to be issued in Guyana – as process to establish EU-Guyana Chamber of Commerce begins
President’s Youth Advisory Council launched – Ali says it is important that young people are involved in implementing policies President Dr Irfaan Ali arrived in the Repub lic of Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday (August 17, 2022) for a State Visit. The visit will allow the two countries to further ex plore areas of cooperation and is a follow-up to the visit the Twin Island Republic’s Prime Minister Keith Row ley made to Guyana where a Memorandum of Under standing (MoU) was signed between.“We will be going through what they are doing, the evolution of their indus trial development, manufac turing, we will go through the MoU to look at areas we can move forward very quickly and that is directly between Guyana and Trinidad in ag riculture, the removal of the trade barriers which we have been working on for the last few months,” President Ali told reporters hours before departing Guyana. The Head of State noted that Trinidad and Tobago also signaled its intentions to build the energy corridor with Guyana and Suriname to have a broad development concept in terms of the gas strategy for the region. “The Prime Minister and I discussed this, and the Prime Minister has expressed Trinidad’s willingness to work with Guyana and Suri name in the development of our gas resource and look at other opportunities in the en ergy sector. So, that has been communicated,” he said.
10 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022MIRROR POSITIONS FROM THE PRESIDENT
The launch of the advisory council is the fulfilment of a manifesto commitment made by the PPP/C administration. The President’s Youth Advisory Council is made up of young people from across Guyana, from various backgrounds and with a wide array of skillset. President Ali told the members of the advisory council that they are living in a country that will be among the best by the yearHowever,2030. it was clearly stated by the president that the composition of young people is not political but rather a national composi tion. “They are here because I believe strongly that we need our young people to be critically integrated into the policy-making and pol icy implementation of our country so they can have a thorough understanding, an in-depth understanding as to how policies are determined, why they are determined and they can contribute in the finalization of policies and programmes that will take our country forward,” he said.The Head of State noted that the advisory council, while it is made up of young people, he pointed out that more than 50 per cent of them are women. He said this speaks volumes as to how Guyana is evolving as a society noting that there was a time when women hardly had any leadership role. Nevertheless, President Ali said the advisory council will operate at every single level of national life. There will be representation in ev ery region and district, sup porting and working along with the Office of the Pres ident. “What they will do, is to work with communi ties, they will work with our hinterland communities in developing programmes and projects. They will do feasi bility studies so that we are always in a state of readiness to have support for projects for young people. “They will work with the banking sys tem, identify opportunities from a business perspective that young people can engage in and these are some of the things they will be working on,” he Membersstated.of the advisory council, the president said, will not be bystanders but actively participate in the development of Guyana in everyHowever,aspect. they were urged to focus on the goals they want to achieve and not pay attention to the “noise” that will come from the nay sayers.“Focus on the task ahead, focus on your country, focus on the future, focus on the legacy you want to leave. Focus on what you want to do, what you have commit ted yourselves to do. Do not focus on the noise,” President Ali Theurged.launch of the Pres ident’s Youth Advisory Council saw the presence of several ministers of gov ernment and members of the diplomatic community.
“It is important that young people are in volved in the definition and the implementation of the policies and programmes that are aimed at taking us to a place that we term as devel opment.” This is according to President Dr Mohamed Ir faan Ali as he launched phase one of the President’s Youth Advisory Council on Friday.
Chairperson of the Guy ana Election Commission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh, on Tuesday (August 16, 2022), clapped back at Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, over his calls for her to Nortonresign.onAugust 9, 2022, the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition does not “see elec tions being held” with Singh as the GECOM Chairper son. He said, “There are many things we can do to put the pressure on the Elections Commission and Claudette Singh, but we at first give her the opportunity to tender her resignation as a decent judge who would have served and to recognize that you cannot claim to be independent and on every issue you are voting with the PPP and you seem to have no interest in finding consensus on these issues. And so we have left the door open, we hope we don’t have to close it and Claudette Singh will do the decent thing and resign.”Inresponse, Singh said, “There will be criticisms. If you sit on the bench and you make an adverse decision, the party who loses would say you are biased, you take a bribe, whatever…so there is always a way you can criticise a de cision. That’s up to them… when the time comes I would leave.”Addressing specifically, Norton’s claims that her deci sions are flawed, the GECOM Chair said, “I’m not aware that I do something like that. Any thing I do, I do in accordance with the law and I try, as a former judge, I always try to uphold the rule of law.”
LOCAL AUTHORITY AREAS Guyana has 80 Local Authority Areas - 10 Mu nicipalities or towns; and 70 Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). The 10 Municipalities/ Towns are: Mabaruma, Re gion 1; Anna Regina, Region 2; Georgetown, Region 4; New Amsterdam, Region 6; Rose Hall, Region 6; Cor riverton, Region 6; Bartica; Mahdia, Region 8; Lethem, Region 9; and Linden, Re gionEach10. Local Authority Area (LAA) is divided into Constituencies for the pur pose of electing members of the Municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils. A Constituency in the context of Local Government Elections is a specifically demarcated part of a Mu nicipality or Neighbourhood Democratic Council as de fined and identified by its givenForboundaries.thepurpose of elect ing individual Candidates to represent the respective Constituencies, each Local Authority Area is divided into a given number of Con stituencies, equal to half of the number of seats on a Mu nicipality or Neighbourhood Democratic Council.
Former Home Af fairs Minister, Clement Rohee was, on Tuesday (August 16, 2022), sworn in as the new Guyana Elections Com mission Saturdaywhoingpolitician,alsoAli.President,Commissioner(GECOM)byDrIrfaanRohee,whoisalong-servingisreplacBibiShadick,passedawayonlast.Hetookhisoath
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 11 11
2018 LGE Notably, the former AP NU+AFC Coalition gov ernment in 2018, created 10 new Local Authority Areas and made changes to the boundaries of 14 other areas, ahead of the November 2018 Local Government Elections. Additionally, existing Local Authorities were tampered with and in total seats in over a dozen constituencies were reduced.Regardless, the 2018 Lo cal Government Elections having been held in 80 Local Authority Areas – 10 towns and 70 Neighbourhood Dem ocratic Councils – saw the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), securing wins in 52 of the Nationally,LAAs. results showed that the PPP/C al most doubled the margin of votes between the Party and APNU and AFC combined –moving from about 24,000 at the 2016 Local Government Elections to over 45,000 at this year’s Local Government Elections. The difference of votes between the PPP/C and the AFC was a whopping 113,000 votes. Between the PPP/C and the APNU, the difference of votes was over 50,000.
Clement Rohee sworn in as the new GECOM Commissioner
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is aiming to be ready to hold Local Government Elections before the end of 2022, ac cording to GECOM Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh.“We just finished our continuous registration. And we are moving now to have a preliminary list and to move then to claims and objec tions…we are very much looking at the end of Novem ber, early December,” Justice Singh said on Tuesday (Au gust 16, Notably,2022).in April 2022, GECOM commenced adver tising for Returning Officers (ROs), Deputy Returning Officers (DROs) and Elec tion Clerks in preparation for Local Government Elections. More than $750 million has been set aside in Budget 2022 for the preparations to be undertaken by GECOM for the hosting of LGE this year. This money is part of an overall $4.1 billion allocation to GECOM’s in Budget 2022 and was ex amined and approved by the National Assembly during its consideration of the 2022 Budget Estimates. Included in the $783 million for LGE is a more-than-$300 million increase in “other goods and services purchased”, which jumped from $250.8 million in 2021 to $575.9 million in the 2022 budget. LGE are constitution ally due every two years in Guyana and were last held in 2018.Local Government Elec tions were deferred, among other challenges, because of the absence of key senior GECOM staffers, including a Chief Elections Officer, given that the former CEO, Keith Lowenfield, was fired and placed before the courts on changes related to public misconduct and electoral fraud.
new GECOM Chairperson. A statement from the then Ministry of the Presidency had said, “Justice Singh satisfies the criteria for the appointment and also satisfies the ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for a consensual ap pointment supported by both the President and the Leader of theJusticeOpposition.”Singh, a former Justice of Appeal, is the first female to be appointed to the post at the helm of GECOM. She had previously served as a Senior Counsel back in Janu ary 2017 and the Guyana Po lice Force (GPF) legal advisor. Granger had previously unilaterally appointed James Patterson as the GECOM Chair – an appointment that was declared unconstitutional by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
Local Government Elections likely before end of year
ELECTION WATCH: LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
before President Ali at the Office of the President, Shiv Chander paulPresidentDrive. Ali, during brief remarks, congratulated Rohee on his new appoint ment, noting that his expe rience will add value to the work of the commission, “it will help to strengthen the commission and definitely will benefit our country as a whole.” “Mr. Rohee is no stranger to our country, he is no stranger to public life and he is no stranger in his pur suit of free and fair elections, of democracy and building a country in which the rule of law defines our action and we are as a people and as a coun try,” the President stated. The Head of State af firmed his Administration’s commitment to democracy and to ensuring that the will of the people remains para mount. “We believe strongly in democracy, this Govern ment will spare no effort in supporting and advancing every opportunity that would strengthen our democracy, improve our adherence to the rule of law, to the respect for each other and the respect of various outcomes as a result of fulfilling our constitutional responsibility.”Healsoreaffirmed the PPP/C Government’s support for the Elections Commis sion. “An elections com mission is tasked with that serious responsibility of en suring that everything they do secure and protect the will of the people and advance democracy and keep our country within the realm of democratic countries… The work you [GECOM] do is integral to our country, in tegral to the development of our country, integral to the stability of our country and you have my full support in ensuring that you continue to make decisions that are in the best interest of our country,” the President stated. Ali also took time to reflect on the life and work of Shadick noting the indelible con tributions that she made to Guyana. “I want to again thank her for her great service and to thank her family for sharing her with us, this country, some times we forget that families make a lot of sacrifices when members of their households or family are called to serve us at different levels of our country.”Rohee, along with at torneys Sase Gunraj and Manoj Narayan represent the interest of the PPP/C on the Commission.Now72years old, Rohee has extensive experience as he served in several high-lev el positions within the Party and the Government. He was Foreign Affairs Minister from 1992 to 2001; Minister of Foreign Trade and Inter national Cooperation from 2001 to 2006 and in Septem ber 2006, he became Minister of Home Affairs. Several Ministers of Gov ernment including Agricul ture Minister Zulfikar Mus tapha, Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall; Chairperson of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh; and other officials were present at the swear ing-in ceremony.
The incumbent GECOM Chair was appointed by Nor ton’s predecessor, former president David Granger, af ter a long process of rejecting 18 names by then Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo. Jagdeo, in a letter dat ed July 26, 2019, named the following persons as his nominees: B. S. Roy (Retired Judge); Claudette Singh (Retired Judge); Kashir Khan say2019Ramlallney-at-Law);RonaldLawrence(Attorney-at-Law);Latchmansingh;Burch-Smith(AttorandWilliam(RetiredJudge).Granger,later,inaJuly26,letter,thenrespondedtoheselectedSinghtobethe
GECOM Chair rubbishes Norton’s criticisms
12 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022MIRROR18 SUNDAY CHRONICLE August 7, 2022
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 13 13SUNDAY CHRONICLE August 7, 2022 19
14 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022MIRROR PPP/C leaders continue engagement with Guyanese countrywide
The final report from the Election Observer Mis sion fielded by the Carter Center, on page 10, said, “The number of registered voters seems disproportion ate to Guyana’s estimated population, in part because Guyana allows Guyanese living overseas to remain on the voters Further,list.”the European Union Election Observer Mission in their final re port, on page 16, said: "... Guyana’s high emigration rate may be the most sig nificant factor accounting for an ‘inflated’ list.” However, the interna tional EOMs lauded the mechanisms in place to en sure that no person who is not eligible to vote does so. The European Union Election Observer Mission in their final report, on page 16, also said: “Overall, ex isting safeguards – notably the use of voter lists with ID pictures by polling staff and party agents – were ro bust enough to prevent the risk of voter impersonation on election day.”
Norton’s Voters’ List ‘mathematics’ rubbished
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 15 T he narrative from the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition continuously ped dled by Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, was dis missed by Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Com mission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh. Norton on Tuesday (August 17, 2022) argued that mathematically the list clearly bloated. “I don’t know if you know what is happening, but the Pre liminary List of Electors are out. And when you add the new registrants to the new Voters’ List, you will only be left with about 68,000 people as non-el igible voters. It might be 168,000. Not 68,000. No, it is 68,000, correct. It is 68,000.“Now if you have, using the Minister of Education figures on school enroll ment, there are more than 100,000 school children. How on earth, could you have a Voters’ List that only has 68,000 people who are not eligible to vote. “What they are saying, in essence, is that look is that children have got to be on the Voters’ List. That is why we want a clean Voters’ List. Because the figures just don’t add up. When you see this Prelimi nary List that is out you will recognize that from.” When asked for her po sition on the matter, the GECOM Chair dismissed Norton’s claims. She said, “I am saying everyone on the list, the people who are there, they weren’t bloated they were legally put on the list and if the list is bloated, well we are moving now to claims and objections and people would have a chance to object to who’s not sup posed to be there.”
When this was pointed out to Norton at his recent press conference he skirted the issue and said, “So the court’s ruling, as I under stand it was a particular context. We will deal with those issues.”
GUYANESE WHO MIGRATED As per Guyana’s con stitution and a ruling of the High Court, Guyanese who were registered to vote, but have since migrated can not be removed from the Voters’ List. International report from Elections Ob server Missions (EOMs) in 2020 recognized that this contributed to the total number on the Voters’ List.
GUYANESE WHO DIED A second major cause for the total number on the Voters’ List is persons who have died, but are yet to be removed from the List. GECOM still have to remove persons who have died, who remain on the list.To ensure this is ad dressed at the legislative level, the proposed amend ments to the Representa tion of the People’s Act (ROPA), address a public and transparent process to ensure that the names of Guyanese who have died are removed from the list. This was pointed out to Norton, specifically that dead persons cannot be removed from the Voters’ List without a death certifi cate, and he was asked how he intends to move forward with his narrative consider ing the facts. A befuddled Norton said, “As we deal with this issue, we will unveil what should happen to get a clean Voters’ List.
OLD CLAIM This is not the first time, the PNCR-led Coalition has claimed that the Voters’ List is bloated. In 2019, the justification advanced by then President Granger for his delay in setting a date for Elections was that the Voters’ List. He has claimed that the Voters’ List was bloated by 200,000 and there must be a new 370,708200,000from570,708.GovernmentthethatElections2015Guyanese200,000.Voters’posed.thenanalyticallyregistrationhouse-to-housetocorrectthis.IfGranger’sclaimwasconsidered,itsfalsenatureisexGrangerinsistedthattheListisbloatedbyHowever,thelistofregisteredfortheGeneralandRegionalin2015(anumberwasnotmuchvariedatNovember2018LocalElections)wasIfyoureducedthatList570,708byGranger’syouendupwithvoters. This 370,708 is less than the number of people who actually voted at the 2015 General and Regional Elec tions. A total of 412,012 Guyanese voted at the 2015 Elections – an election that the Coalition Further,won.GECOM in 2019 made clear that Granger’s claims were speculative.Importantly, Guyana’s Voters’ List is compiled based on a continuous reg istration process. This pro cess is similar to that of other Caribbean Countries and the percentage of the Guyanese population on the Voters’ List is lower that some countries, like St. Lu cia where, as at 2016, 98.43 per cent of their population were recorded as registered voters. Further, the voter turnout in 2020 was 72.5%. This was a small increase from the 72.19% voter turn out 2015.in At the 2020 Elec tions, 460,352 persons vot ed from a list of 661,3378 – meaning there were over 200,000 persons listed on the Voters’ List who did not vote.
16 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022
PPP/C development agenda does not create disparity based on race – finance professional
The Parliamentary Opposi tion was chided for “liv ing” in “La-La-Land” by At torney General, Anil Nandlall. On Tuesday (August 17, 2022), Nandlall noted the call by Leader of the PNCR and the APNU+AFC Coalition, Aubrey Norton, for the PPP/C government to implement cer tain programmes. However, he underscored that these are the very programmes the AP NU+AFC Coalition removed when it was in office. Nandlall noted that Norton promised to “bring back free University of Guyana” and pointed out that it was Coa lition that imposed fees and increased fees at the national university by 35 per cent. The Legal Affairs Minister also said that while Norton noted his party would remove Value Added Tax (VAT) from education, it was also the former David Granger-led administration that imposed taxes on “Wheneducation.youlisten to him speak about his policies, you realize that this man is in ‘la la’ land; he is dreaming; he is living in another reality because every single thing he says, they did the very oppo site, the exact opposite when they were in government,” NandlallAccordingsaid. to him, it is important that the Guyanese public see and hear the pro nouncements made by the Opposition Leader and com pare that to the APNU+AFC’s performance while in govern ment.
Nandlall calls out Coalition over its latest ‘promises’ Advertising for a forum backed by the PNCRled APNU+AFC Coalition, themed ‘Resisting the emerg ing apartheid state’, opened organizers to criticisms. Banker and financial ex pert, Floyd Haynes, issued a statement insisting that the the Cuffy 250 Commit tee, which is organizing the event, remove his name from theirHaynes,advertisements.inaletter to chairman of the committee, Dr Norman Ng-A-Qui, said he was not asked formally or informally to be part of the programme and called for his name to be removed from an advertisement circulated by the Cuffy 250 Committee with immediate effect. “Moreover, I completely reject the phrase ‘resisting the emerging apartheid state’ to describe conditions in Guyana. In my view, this statement is a disservice to all Guyanese, as such, I wish to categorically disassociate myself from it. More impor tantly, I am a firm supporter of His Excellency, the Pres ident of Guyana and I am absolutely convinced that it is not part of the President’s agenda to create any disparity based on race,” said Haynes. The Committee has not, up to press time, commented on the matter publicly.
– Lauds Seventh Annual Youth Parliament
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 17
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips at tended a dinner hosted by the National Assembly of Guy ana in honour of the com mencement of the Seventh Annual Youth Parliament. The Prime Minister, who delivered the keynote address at the event on Wednesday (August 17, 2022) evening at the New Thriving Restau rant, stated that the Govern ment remains committed to engaging youth to ensure the success of future generations. He said, “Our Government is steadfast in the belief that we must amplify the voices of our youths, and through initiatives such as these and many more, we have ensured that youth interests are ad equately represented in our mandate and that youths are seen and heard at the forefront of our country’s decision-making platforms.” Addressing youth partici pation in democratic process es, the Prime Minister stated that it is critical and must be strengthened in the future. Phillips said, “Youth partici pation must be strengthened at critical levels because it is their right to make decisions, give their ideas and lend their talents to addressing key issues we face today and suggest solutions for how we can make a better tomorrow.”Thesenior government official was also keen to note that the administration recog nises the youth Parliament’s significant impact in instill ing in youths the impor tance of democracy and their participation in democratic processes. “Youth Parlia ments provide a platform that brings together like-minded, ambitious youth to foster a sense of community and empowerment as they debate critical societal issues and aim to develop solutions for them,” he stressed.
The Prime Minister who lauded the initiative add ed,“Over the last six days, as more than 80 young, brilliant minds participated in Guy ana’s Seventh Annual Youth Parliament, we witnessed, once again, a transformative moment where our children were able to speak for them selves”.The Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal; the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson, several other Cabinet mem bers; Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Na dir; Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lenox Shuman; members of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as others.
Amplifying the voices of youths a Government priority – PM Phillips
In its bid to ensure constitu tional reform, government moved to the National As sembly with the Constitution Reform Commission Bill 2022, which seeks the estab lishment of a Constitution Reform Commission to re view the country’s supreme laws.The Bill was presented by Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister, Gail Teixeira.Theexplanatory mem orandum states that the Act seeks the establishment of the Constitution Reform Com mission which will consist of 20 members.Members of the Commis sion shall be appointed by the President and will include five members of the PPP/C, four members of the AP NU+AFC, one member each from the ANUG, the Guyana Bar Association, the La bour Movement, the National Toshao’s Council, the private sector, representatives of women organisations, youth organisations, Christian, Hin du and Muslim organisations, as well as nominee represent ing Detailsfarmers.of the Bill state that the commission will re view the constitution to pro vide for the current and future rights, duties, liabilities, and obligations of the Guyanese people.Itis mandated for that purpose to receive, consider and evaluate submissions for the alteration of the consti tution, and report its recom mendations to the standing committee for transmission to the national assembly. In conducting the review, the commission will consid er the full protection of the fundamental rights of and freedom of Guyanese under law, the rights of indigenous people of Guyana, the rights of children, eliminating dis crimination in all forms, im proving ethnic relations while promoting ethnic security and equal opportunity. The commission will also, among other things, implement reforms relating to elections and the Guy ana Elections Commission (GECOM), taking into con sideration its composition, method of electing its chair man and members and its jurisdiction over national registration and electoral process.Government’s model for constitutional reform is laid out in its 2020-2025 manifesto, and promotes the inclusion of all Guya nese in the review process. “We are aware that issues concerning constitution al reform, particularly in relation to a national, in clusive governance model, management of elections, fiduciary accountability, en hancing rights of Guyanese and ensuring constitutional language is simple have been raised and discussed in the public domain. However, we believe that these, as well as other issues, must be part of a process of widespread con sultation with the people of Guyana before being acted upon. The extensive changes to our Constitution under the PPP/C followed such a process,” government said in its party’s manifesto. The manifesto said too that it is committed to contin uous revision of the Constitu tion and will ensure that the Committee on Constitutional Reform which will advance the work, will pursue nation wide consultation following the model used in the past, with half of the members from civil society and equal representation from Govern ment and the Opposition.” The Constitution of Guy ana is the highest governing document in Guyana. It came into effect on October 6, 1980, replacing the consti tution enacted in 1966 upon its independence from the United Kingdom. Guyana’s Constitution was last amend ed on August 3, 2000.
Efforts to establish Constitutional Reform Commission moving apace
18 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 19
Chinese Landing, and another by some resident women villagers bemoaning no opportunities in that area to earn money? With all protections in place, a win-win solution is a possibility if mutual respect could be attained and retained. President Ali’s proclamation of, and urging the development of, a sense and reality of “One Guyana”, within what many sense as “One World”, would be a good starting point. History is full of wrongs that could not practically be righted today. Mutual understanding, respect, and reasonable accommodation are what are called for, and are possible now.The case could be made that all Guyana was Amerindian, just as all the Americas were held by the Indigenous Peoples.Wemust go forward. We can hustle forward under a banner of “One Guy ana”, a part of “One World”.
(From page 4)
Sincerely, Samuel A A Hinds Former Prime Minister and Former President Chinese Landing: a problem of...
Guyana on the world map as a first-choice health careHealthdestination.Minister, Dr Frank Anthony said his ministry will commence the trial phase of the new mechanism in the next two months, beginning with four remote communities in in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo). “We will train the com munity health workers that are there so that they can deliver the first line of care, and if they need assistance, they can dial up to be in contact with a doctor in Georgetown, so that that doctor could help them to go through the paces of making adequate diagnosis,” he noted.
The Minister added, that in areas where there might be little to no in ternet connection to fa cilitate the telemedicine process, the project will be run on satellite con nection. Accordingly, the device or computer which is assigned to the medical outposts in those commu nities will also have the appropriate built-in soft ware that will allow for good connectivity. “So, the doctor in Georgetown could here breathe sounds or heart sounds. We will be able to use the probes to do ultrasounds and so forth,” Minister Anthony underscored.Itwasnoted by Minis ter Anthony that Guyana is transforming the health, and skills of healthcare professionals. “We are transforming how we do health in Guyana, and with that transformation we need every health care professional to up their skills, up their game in this particular direction, because some of the things that we are accustomed to do in the traditional way, with the use of technolo gy, we will have to change how we do some of these things,” the minister add ed.
Govt actively exploring telemedicine...
20 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 (From page 8)
Dr. Anthony was at the time delivering keynote address during the 42nd Annual Caribbean As sociation of Pharmacists (CAP) Conference, which was held at the Guyana Marriott omy.serveimprovetheexpandssaidhealthcareofstressedMinisterrecently.AnthonytheimportanceadvancingGuyana’stechnology.Heasthenationrapidlyinotherindustry;healthsectormustalsotoeffectivelythegrowingecon
Tedwin Roach who was recently appointed by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali will be leading the exercise.
The commencement of the process is the ful fillment of a commitment made by the Attorney Gen eral during a recent meeting in Melanie Damishana. During that meeting, he had committed to start the regularisation process for persons who occupy unti tled lands on the East Coast. Queries were also raised by residents as to what will happen when the process is completed and there are vacant lands. In response, the Minis ter said that once the pro cess is completed and lands are available, persons from the area can apply for the vacantLandlands.Surveyor
He further added that “we want to bring formality to this, what you call squat ters because if you have no title to the land, you are essentially squatting until you are regularized.”
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 21 with the government to get leases for the lands they occupy.This was after it was explained that the process to get the least had begun close to two decades ago but was Residentsabandoned.were in formed that since the pro cess had already begun, all that needs to happen now is to update the claims list. The Attorney General said “it is a very tedious exercise and it spans village across the coastland. So, it is not an easy task and it takes some time. We are do ing on the Corentyne Coast, we are doing in West Coast Berbice, we are doing on the East Coast Demerara, we are doing on the West Coast Demerara and we are also doing in Essequibo.”
Regularisation of Golden Grove backlands... (From page 9)
Clueless Norton makes promises to do very things PNCR-led Coalition rejected when in gov’t
22 WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 COMMENTARY
By Dr. Leslie Ramsammy T rying to emulate the leadership of Bharat Jagdeo when he was Oppo sition Leader is a daunting choice. Aubrey Norton has tried to engage the media on a weekly basis like Bharat Jagdeo did during his term as opposition leader. While Dr. Bharat Jagdeo earned kudos and admira tion for his overall lead ership of the opposition and for his effective media conferences, Aubrey Nor ton each and every time he engages the media or get out into the community embar rasses himself, his party and his Eachsupporters.week, it has be come a display in hypocrisy, brazenness and just sheer shamelessness. During his latest marauding in front of the media he promised things that they promised in previous elections cam paigns, but when in gov ernment are the very things that they terminated. This is what is called GALL. Aubrey Norton should seriously consider stay ing away from the media. The executive of the PNCR ought to seriously consider banning Aubrey Norton from engaging with the media. Every single time, Aubrey Norton engages the media he exposes how clue less he is, how hopelessly devoid he is of any kind of effective representation of the supporters of the PNCR. In his latest media en counter, Wednesday Au gust 17, Norton disgraced himself and his party and insulted the intelligence of the Guyanese people, again. Unable to mobilize his supporters, Norton is desperately throwing darts hoping that one of the darts will stick. All his darts have totally missed the board. One of his favourite fall backs these days is to make more and more wild, dubi ousInpromises.hismost recent press er, he promised that if the PNCR were to become the government again, he will end university fees and will make university free. This is a shameless man. When it comes to the promise of making university free, Nor ton should be advised by other leaders of the PNCR to stay far away from men tioning anything to do with free university education. In the election campaign of 2015, Norton joined his colleagues in the PNCR on the APNU/AFC platform to promise free university education. Not only did the senior members of the PNCR, AFC and from the myriad of one-man parties making up APNU vigorous ly promised free university education, they promised that if elected, they would immediately, as one of the acts within the first 100 days in government, end fees for UG.The PNCR-led APNU/ AFC government assumed office in May 2015. They immediately suffered from political amnesia and pre tended they never made a promise for free university education. In their 2015 budget, they made no pro vision for any reduction in university fees. They failed to keep their promise also in their 2016, 2017 and 2018 budgets. In fact, in 2017, they increased the universi ty fees by almost 40% and also increased the many other fees students were obligated to pay. When asked why the PNCR-led coalition was reneging on the promise for free uni versity education, President Granger chastised univer sity students, telling them they must be patient. They betrayed the young people who they had promised free university education within the first 100 days in gov ernment. In fact, in the first 100 days in government, they did none of the things they promised to do. One of the things they actually did in that same period of time is that they increased their own salaries and benefits. At the same time that the university fees were increased, APNU/AFC waived $5B of taxes owed by DDL, one of the big gest local corporations in Guyana. With the money they gave away to DDL, the PNCR-led APNU/AFC could have increased UG’s subvention by $1B each year for five years. This was but only one of the sweet deals the PNC-led APNU/ AFCWedid.had exposed them in 2016 when they rented a small Georgetown house for $15M a month to serve as a medical warehouse, which ended up for years storing some expired condoms. Now we have also dis covered within the last cou ple of weeks that they had also rented another house that amounted to about $15M per month also to house the UNDP. Now that the PNCR is in opposition again, after they were resoundingly dumped by the people in the March 2020 elections, the PNCR has rediscovered their pas sion for free university ed ucation. It is shameless that the PNC’s leader would want to ever raise this issue. But he is pretending that the PNC never promised free education before. He ignores the hard, cold facts that the PNC had five years in government to keep their promise, that, in fact, they raised the university fees. In contrast, the PPP in the March 2020 elections campaign promised free university education. The promise was not only made by speakers after speakers at public meetings, but is etched in black and white in the PPP’s manifesto. To date, thousands of young Guyanese are accessing GOAL scholarships to pur sue tertiary Additionally,education.given his track record, we know that the President will keep his other promises to Guyanese. Afterall, the PPP has shown that its promises are more than promises, these prom ises represent a contract with the people of Guyana. Recall, in the 2015 election campaign, David Granger and APNU/AFC promised that they would continue the “Because We Care” cash grant to school children? One of the acts they did in their first 100 days in government in 2015 was to abolish the “Because We Care” grant. They, in addition, introduced 15% VAT on education and edu cation materials, something that the PPP had fought against. But Granger and the PNC/APNU/AFC brazenly promised in the March 2020 elections campaign that should they be re-elected they would reintroduce a bigger “Because WE Care” cash grant. But when the PPP immediately re-intro duced the school cash grant program with a significant increase, now twice as large as the cash grant in 2014, the PNC opposed the grant and deemed it a “waste of the people’s money”. Yet, Norton at his August 17 presser again promised they would have a bigger cash grant to school chil dren if re-elected in 2025. It is sheer hypocrisy and an insult to all reasonable GuyaneseNortoncitizens.inhispress con ference promised that a PNCR government would provide hefty subsidies for utilities, including water and electricity. To prom ise things that you ended in the first place is sheer brazenness, hypocritical and, frankly, treating the Guyanese people as stupid. They had made a similar promise in the 2015 elec tion campaign. What they actually did once they got into the government was to increase electricity and water charges by introduc ing for the first time ever in Guyana VAT on water and electricity. Do not forget they also removed the wa ter and electricity subsidies that pensioners enjoyed prior to 2015. Norton has no moral right to talk about subsidies for electricity and water. If he sincerely made this promise now, then he should apologize for the role the PNCR played in adding VAT to electricity and water fees between 2015 and 2020. But exactly as promised by President Ali and the PPP, the current government immediately after August 2020 removed all VAT from electricity and water.While most Guyanese might not remember, one of the most famous PNC promises ever was in 1968 when Burnham promised to “house, feed and clothe” the nation. But he and the PNC then closed the Housing Ministry and the inventory of housing never improved until after 1992. Yet in the 1997, 2001, 2006, 2011, 2015 and 2020 elections campaigns, the PNCR repeated the promise of housing the nation. But given an opportunity be tween 2015 and 2020, the Granger-led APNU/AFC government actually again closed the Housing Minis try and in five years, other than homes built by their ministers and high officials, housing construction came to a crashing Thankfully,halt.the housing inventory is once again on the rise, rising faster than ever in Guyana’s history, under the President Ali-led PPP government. At the same time, they are accus ing the government of dis criminatory practices, more Afro-Guyanese have been allocated house lots and more today own homes in just the last two years than they did in five years under the PNC-led coalition. Should someone re mind Norton that it was the PNCR who had promised thousands of jobs during the 2015 election campaigns and, that, on the contrary, during their term in office, more than 37,000 jobs were actually lost, most forceful ly taken away. More than 7,000 sugar workers lost their jobs. The PPP in two years has been restoring most of those lost jobs, but has also been creating new jobs. The 50,000 jobs the PPP had promised is no longer an impossible dream, it is happening rapidly right in front of our eyes. The expanded scholarship and training programs APNU/ AFC promised in 2015 and which they reneged on between 2015 and 2020, they are promising again. The 20,000 scholarships promised by the PPP is happening in front of our very eyes. Citizens in every region, from all political groups, from all religious and ethnic groups are bene fiting from the cash transfer programs and other pro grams being implemented by President Ali and his government.Oneparty continues to promise what they them selves proved they would never do. President Ali and his PPP government is de livering on every single promise they made in their manifesto.Itisclear to all Guya nese, who it is that they can trust.
no one had noted. These challenges were often made on the ground of death and migration…the team viewed much of the exercise as a fishing expedition designed to gather data for a possible election petition and which resulted in considerable time being wasted during the re count. Furthermore, the net was cast extremely wide in the hope of at least making a small catch and at times the anticipated harvest ended in slim pickings.”
Norton-led Coalition attempting to incite... (From back page)
BELIEVING THEIR OWN LIE Nandlall quipped that the PNCR-led Coalition has repeated the lie about being cheated at the elec tion so often, they now believe it. “So this narra tive that they keep spew ing, they end up apparent ly believing it,” he said. The Attorney General added, “This is the kind of people you’re dealing with, people who are liv ing in an alternate world and they want to take you into that alternate world with them. And that’s why I’m telling you it is like a mental sickness. I listen to them, these people are living another reality “…they want the peo ple to believe that they were hallucinating… that they made up these things in their heads and that they didn’t see these things happen. They want people to doubt their own senses and their own real ity. That is the narrative they are running since 2020, now it has charac terised their entire con duct.”He charged that re gardless of the facts, the Opposition is making empty noisen to incite tension and confusion in the public’s mind.
T he Health Ministry is working with the Pan American Health Organ isation (PAHO) to secure vaccines for the Monkey PoxWhilevirus.there has been no reported case of the virus in Guyana, the Government has adopted this proactive measure as the number of cases is rising globally Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, said, “The vaccines are for people who have been exposed, so since we haven’t had a case we have ordered minimum quantity, just to keep it as a prophylaxis for the person who might be exposed…be cause we don’t want to over order too and then we have vaccines that we will never use, so we have to keep that balance in mind.”
Dr. Anthony noted that though Guyana is seeking a ‘relatively small amount’ of vaccines it is hard to come by, especially for small, less developed countries. “We have put in the order with PAHO, PAHO is in the pro cess of negotiating, to see whether they will be able to procure these vaccines, the number of vaccines we are looking for is relative ly small and therefore, to source it directly it would be challenging, and we also have to understand that there is a global shortage of these vaccines, there is one company in the world that is making them,” he added. He explained that the developed countries have bought most of the current stock, which makes it chal lenging for individual coun tries to access the vaccines. However, through PAHO, the process could be easier as it will group countries and make repre sentation to the manufac turer to be able to access the vaccines.“While the supplies are limited, we see the cases are going up because we now have monkeypox in about 98 different countries and it has surpassed more than 35 thousand cases globally, the US having more than 10 thousand cases so it’s challenging,” Dr. Anthony started.Brazil, Guyana’s south ern neighbour, has recorded 44 new cases of Monkey pox, over the last 24 hours. It currently has a case count of 2,393 cases, and about 3,400 suspected cases. Meanwhile, Guyana will continue monitoring the sit uation. A response team has been set up that can verify suspected cases and take necessary action. “We have trained our staff to do laboratory detec tion, we have had seminars with our doctors, we have sent out guidelines, we have developed guidelines, what constitutes a case how to recognize a case, that has gone out to our medical professionals and so you know, we are in a state of preparedness and if a case comes to Guyana, hopeful ly, our physicians would be able to detect it and we would take the relevant series of steps,” Minister added.
Gov’t working to secure Monkeypox vaccines
C OVID-19 continues to affect many persons not just in its acute phase or period of infection, but also after infection, a condition termedStudieslong-COVID.haveshown that about one-fifth of persons infected or re-infected with COVID-19 can develop prolonged symptoms that last for more than a year in someHealthpatients.Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, in com ments, said, “After someone would’ve had the acute phase of the infection, let’s say they were hospitalised and discharged, some per sons would continue to ex perience symptoms for long periods of time, in some cases as much as a year and in other cases probably longer.”Minister Anthony ex plained that having pro longed symptoms does not mean a person is infectious but is experiencing linger ing health problems caused by the infection. He noted that according to the British Medical Jour nal, about five per cent of persons who were infected or re-infected continues to have problems with their smell and taste. The latest symptoms of long-COVID include problems with sex drive and hair loss. Dr. Anthony noted that studies are ongoing to determine all the symptoms of long-COVID.Meanwhile,the Ministry of Health has established a multidisciplinary team to monitor and provide care for long-COVID patients. “In Guyana, we have set up teams of people who would normally see these patients depending on what symptoms we’re seeing or what symptoms they’re pre senting with and we contin ue to treat them symptom atically,” the minister said. In addition, 400 lo cal physicians have been trained by top experts from the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to help them bet ter detect and treat patients affected by these prolonged symptoms. The health min ister added that the medical team at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) will work with patients to ensure they receive treat ment. last longer than a
year – Health Ministry
Long-COVID symptoms can
WEEKEND MIRROR 20-21 AUGUST, 2022 23 23
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“The Opposition knows this well; but keep repeating the lie that they were somehow cheated out of office. This is not a new narrative, they expressed this at the recount, the CARICOM team rejected it. They canvassed it before the Courts before the results were declared and the Judi ciary rejected it and advised them to file elections petition and raise those matters in the elections petition. They filed two elections petitions and were so incompetent that both were dismissed on preliminary points,” Nandlall said.President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced an International Commission of Inquiry into the debacle that was Guy ana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections on June 16, 2022. The members are Justice Stanley John, Retired Justice of Appeal in Turks and Caicos (Chair man); Justice Godfrey P. Smith, SC, former Attorney General, High Court Judge and Acting Justice of Appeal, Eastern Caribbean Court; Justice Carl Singh, former Chancellor, Guyana; and Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former Chair and Chief Elections Commissioner of India. Dr. Afari Gyan and Dr. Nasim Zaidi will serve as resource personnel.
Norton-led Coalition attempting to incite tension, confusion among Guyanese – Nandlall
This narrative being ped dled by the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition as to the reason for its electoral loss in 2020 is dangerous and must be corrected, according to Attorney General, Anil Nandlall.Andhe charged that the international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) will rubbish, with finality, the claims that have been debunked before.
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49 BALLOT BOXES Among the misinforma tion being peddled by the Coalition is that statutory documents were missing from 49 ballot boxes Nandlall, who worked on the East Coast of Demerara to represent the PPP/C, made clear that the ballot boxes, the APNU+AFC Coalition was referring to, were for the Bet ter Hope/LBI locality which was under the control of the Guyana Elections Commis sionHe(GECOM).saidexplained that he was informed that the documents were not includ ed in the 49 ballot boxes on elections night and swiftly brought it to the attention of Clairmont Mingo and Keith Lowenfield who were the Chief Returning Officer for Region 4 and GECOM Chief Elections Officer back in 2020.Nandlall said, “Mingo investigated it and informed me that he is aware that the documents were not put into the ballot box as he had in structed, but that they were sent separately to him. And Mingo confirmed to me that he received those documents. And it is Mingo who in formed me that he gave those documents to Keith Lowen field, the chief elections offi cer. Keith Lowenfield subse quently confirmed to me that he received those documents from Mingo and that he stored them at GECOM stor age facilities at Colidgen on the East Coast of Demerara, and that I must not worry the documents are with GECOM. No one can dispute what I am saying. I was the person (there)”, the Minister said. Nandlall stressed that GECOM must locate those documents. He added, “Lowenfield must answer where those documents are, GECOM must answer where those documents are. The Commission of Inquiry will enquire into all of that…” the Minister stated. Notably, both Lowenfield and Mingo, as well as several other GECOM Secretariat and the APNU+AFC are facing charges before the courts for issues relating to the Heelections.said that GECOM must find the statutory doc uments that it allegedly mis placed. However, those doc uments are immaterial to the count of ballots which are in the 49 ballot boxes. “It is the ballots that are counted. It is the statements of polls that are totaled. And that is what gives you the results. The ballots are counted and recorded on the Statements of Poll …and SOPs are to taled. All of that are laid down in the law. Statutory documents are not necessary for the counting of ballots”, he argued.TheAttorney General said that an errant presiding officer will never be permit ted by the law to throw away the statutory documents or file them improperly to cause people’s ballots to be inval idated. “That is not the law of Guyana and that is not the law of any part of the world”, he insisted. NOT NEW Wild claims by the Co alition are not new. In May 2020, leader of the PNCR and the APNU+AFC Coali tion made wild claims that at a polling station in Bush Lot, Region 5, the People’s Pro gressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) secured 199 votes and the Coalition secured four votes – but there were only 199 registered voters for that polling station. He had said: “I want to point out that in Box number 5083 at Bush Lot, Region Five, the official list of elec tors had 199 However,persons.”thepolling sta tion in reference was at the Bush Lot Nursery School [Division 52213C (ii)]and the number of registered voters whose ballots would have been placed in Ballot Box number 5083 is 257 – not the 199 that Norton claimed. Importantly, the misguid ed claims from the Coalition persist, despite the report from and findings of the Ca ribbean Community (CAR ICOM) three-person observer team.The report from the team, which witnessed the national recount of votes from the March 2020 Elections, said clearly that: “…nothing we witnessed warrants a chal lenge to the inescapable conclusion that the recount results are acceptable and should constitute the basis of the declaration of the results of the March 2, 2020 elec tions….the team categorical ly rejects the concerted public efforts to discredit the polls up to the disastrous Region 4 tabulation…the numerous requests for information on several serial numbers were so bizarre that on one ob served occasion, an APNU/ AFC agent was prepared to query serial numbers on the OLE (Official List of Elec tors) in a work station where
