Yearly Archives: 2024

Addressing health equity is key to ensuring better pandemic preparedness, PAHO director says Jul 31, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Rio de Janeiro, 30 July 2024 (PAHO) – Addressing inequality and ensuring equitable access to health were key issues raised by Pan American Health Organization Director (PAHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, during a high-level event at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024, in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. “We all know that poverty and disease is a vicious cycle that we have to break,” Dr. Barbosa said during the event — The state of global pandemic preparedness and response — but “when the health sector works properly, it can contribute to improving lives and reducing inequality.” During the event, which included the participation of Joy Phumaphi, Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, Dr. Barbosa also reinforced the importance of ensuring that equity remains front and center of discussions around the new pandemic agreement.“The main basis of global disease surveillance is trust,” the PAHO Director said. “When a country shares information, data, samples, they expect to receive support,” including access to diagnostics, protective equipment, medicines, and vaccines. “If we do not meet these expectations, countries will think twice” about sharing. “Equity is extremely important,” Phumaphi added. “Equity in consultation, in responsibility, in access and in outcomes.” When it comes to ensuring better pandemic preparedness and response, the PAHO Director and Global Preparedness Monitoring Board Co-Chair agreed that while the world is better prepared than before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, much remains to be done. “You can’t talk about prevention, preparedness and response in one single silo,” Phumaphi said. “Everything is interrelated.” “We are not here today but we are getting there,” she added. While there have been some positive developments in terms of improved genomic surveillance, the recent amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) and the creation of the Pandemic Fund, in the Americas “we are still far from where we need to be to be better prepared for the next pandemic,” Dr. Barbosa said. “In most countries, One Health is still a concept that needs to be translated into concrete actions,” he added. “This is the only way we have to provide early detection and to improve response.” Organised by the Ministry of Health of Brazil, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit 2024, which takes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 29-30 July 2024, convenes high-level officials from governments and global health from all over the world. The Summit will focus on a variety of issues key to ensuring pandemic preparedness, including equitable access to vaccines, medicines and other health technologies, and enhancing disease surveillance, among other issues. Related Similar Articles

St. Cuthbert’s man missing after leaving campsite to buy rum Jul 31, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Roy Schuman, a 35-year-old labourer from St. Cuthbert’s Mission has been reported missing after disappearing from his worksite at Chinese Landing in Region One. 25-year-old, Roy Schuman According to his mother, Adlene Schuman, he left his home in St. Cuthbert’s Mission to travel to Chinese Landing to work as a chainsaw operator last Thursday, July 25th. She says he would have arrived at Chinese Landing on Saturday around 20:00 hrs, and that his employer informed her that he went to purchase some alcohol after setting up his hammock. Schuman’s mother says that she was told this is the last time he was seen. According to her, his employer said that a possible explanation is that, after purchasing and drinking his alcohol, he became intoxicated and fell into the river. Reports have been swirling that a body was found at Chinese Landing, but these reports have not yet been confirmed by Adlene Schuman or her family at this time. A report has been made by Schuman’s family to the police at St. Cuthbert’s Mission. Related Similar Articles

Election Observer recalls dispute over Region Four results Jul 31, 2024 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News Trial into 2020 election fraud case… Kaieteur News – Former Election Observer, Rosalinda Rasul, on Tuesday took the stand at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court as the second witness in the 2020 Election Fraud case. Rasul told the court of the dispute between party officials and representatives of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) about the tabulation and announcement of the Region Four results. The trial for the electoral fraud case involves nine defendants that are facing 19 conspiracy charges. The defendants; former GECOM Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield; former Returning Officer (RO) for District Four Clairmont Mingo; former Deputy Chief Election Officer Roxanne Myers; Former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence; APNU+AFC’s Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith Joseph; and former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Liven, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings. On day two of the trial, all defendants were present in court except Michelle Miller who appeared virtually for special reasons. The charge is that Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers between the March 2 and August 2, 2020 in Ashmins’ building, Georgetown, conspired with each other and together with Lawrence, Joseph, February, Livan, Cummings, Miller and others to defraud the electors of Guyana by presenting false votes cast at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. The trial was called at 9:30hrs before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly.  Leading Tuesday’s trail was Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat. Rasul, who was the former credited observer of Amcham Guyana, told the court that on March 2, 2020 she was assigned to several polling stations to observe the casting of votes in Districts Three and Four. She testified that around 22:35hrs she proceeded to the Ashmins building briefly to observe the tabulation process into Region Four. Rasul further stated that around 01:35hrs on March 2 she heard RO Mingo announce that the tabulation process would be halted and resume at 02:00hrs. “He said that there was one SOP (Statement of Polls) that was tabulated when he halted the process to state that the parties will be given an opportunity to put their recipes in order and resume the tabulation process at 2 am,” Rasul said. She said that, while present at the building, she noticed local and international observers, as well as agents from all the respective political parties, including A Partnership for National Unity + the Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) and the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C). The election observer claimed that the tabulation process was halted at 04:15 hrs. and resumed at 9:30h on March 3, though she was not present at the Ashmins building that day. On March 4, Rasul recalled that while she was waiting in the regional office room, she saw Deputy Chief Election Officer Roxanne Myers enter the room announcing that Mingo was unwell and had to be taken away by an ambulance. Myers subsequently returned to the room and according to Rasul announced that she (Myers) will resume the tabulation process of the East Bank Demerara District. Rasul said she observed that three persons from the PPP/C objected to Myers’ statement. Those persons were Sonia Parag, Kwame McCoy, and Sasenarine Singh. She told the court, “Political parties started to speak very loudly against that decision stated that they had not yet completed the tabulation process for Georgetown.” There was a back and forth between the PPP/C and Myers in relation to how many SOPs were tabulated for Georgetown. Rasul continued, “The PPP/C were saying 100 SOPs are still to be tabulated and Myers had said three. Myself and partner opted to present a list to Myers from our laptop as to how many SOPs were remaining.” She said that the outstanding tabulation contained 59 SOPs. Around 14:00 hrs. it was announced that the tabulation will resume with the East Bank Demerara District and two GECOM staff, Alexandra Bowen and Michelle Miller would continue the tabulation process. Rasul observed that Bowen and Miller were calling the number of votes from a document that was not the SOP. At that point, defence attorney Darren Wade objected to Rasul’s statement questioning whether she knew what an SOP looked like. As a result, Rasul rephrased and said that the document looked like a legal sized paper. She told the court that when Miller started calling numbers there were noises coming from the PPP/C party saying that the figures were “inaccurate” and that they were showing a deviation from what they had on their SOPs. Rasul said that the objecting PPP/C members asked the Miller to stop calling the numbers and get GECOM Chief Elections Officer Lowenfield into the room to clear the matter. However, Miller continued calling the numbers. Miller subsequently paused the counting when a member from PPP/C group exited the room to summon Lowenfield. “There was lot of arguments from various persons from the room with Miller regarding the numbers,” Rasul recalled noting that  Lowenfield entered the room and party agents explained to him what was happening and their disagreement with the procedure since it deviated from the norm. The witness told the court that the PPP/C members stated that the numbers being called by Miller were not reflected on their SOPs and that they wanted the procedure to return to normalcy. “Lowenfield at that point had some things to say and he referred to the document as a broad sheet and he said that it was an administrative tool [and] that he had no problem with the figures used in the tabulation process,” Rasul told the court. She recalled that those present in the room objected to the process and Lowenfield in response said if there were issues with the broad sheet and their SOPs then he would provide GECOM’s SOPs to clarify the queries. Subsequently, Lowenfield reportedly used the SOPs to continue counting the votes. Rasul said that Parag called her numbers from the SOPs in her possession while Lowenfield called his. The observer concluded that the numbers presented by both Lowenfield and Parag correlated. Meanwhile, during Tuesday’s testimony by Rasul, lawyers representing the defence Eusi Anderson and Ronald Daniels, frequently interjected by noting that the observer drew her own conclusions based on what she observed and that ought to be inadmissible. Magistrate Daly acknowledged and made it clear that Rasul’s personal opinions would be struck from the record. The matter was adjourned to 09:30h today when Rasul will return to the witness box to resume her testimony. Parag, who is currently Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, continued her testimony on Tuesday is expected to be cross examined soon. Additionally, the Prosecution led by attorney Darshan Ramdhani, KC is expected to call Rawl Nedd and Edgar Thomas to the witness stand this week. Related Similar Articles

Guyana calls for transparent verification of Venezuela’s elections results Jul 31, 2024 News Voters clash with Venezuelan riot police as protest continues over country’s election results. Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana joins the United States of America (USA), Peru, Chile and other regional leaders in calling for a transparent verification of Venezuela’s 2024 elections results. The Guyana Government stated that elections are about people exercising their constitutional right to elect a government of their choice in a free, fair and transparent process while adding, “It behooves all to ensure the integrity of that process through the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and strict adherence to the rule of law, including the rules governing elections, to guarantee respect for the will of the people.” In a statement, the government said, “Guyana therefore, supports the call for a transparent process of verification of the will of the Venezuelan people as exercised on July 28, 2024. The people of Venezuela deserve nothing less. The neighbouring country held its presidential elections on the Sunday, July 28. According to partial results announced by the Venezuela National Electoral Council (CNE), Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro Moros was re-elected for a third consecutive term. The head of CNE, Elvis Amoroso, reportedly a close ally of Maduro, said that with 80% of ballots counted, President Maduro had 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his main rival, Edmundo Gonzalez . The Venezuelan opposition reportedly dismissed the CNE’s announcement as fraudulent and promised to challenge the result. It claimed that Edmundo González, had won with 70% of the votes and insisted he was the rightful president-elect. Exit polls had also shown that Gonzalez was in the lead and left many Venezuela voters believing that the election was rigged. President Irfaan Ali This sparked massive and bloody protests in parts of the Capital City Caracas and other areas of the country.  Statues of former Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez were torn down in retaliation to the results. Armed gangs supporting the opposition have also threatened war against those who support the Maduro Regime while protestors continue their clash with Venezuelan police and other law-enforcement agencies that are trying to restore peace.  Some protestors from Petare Caracas are even planning to protest in front of the presidential palace, Mira Flores. Thousands continue to gather at the CNE’ s office in Caracas clamoring for the electoral body to release the correct election results. Meanwhile, the US government has been on the forefront calling for transparency in the release of the Venezuelan election data. CNN reported that the US on Monday joined Venezuelan civil society groups and the opposition by calling on Venezuela’s government to “immediately” release specific data on the presidential election, citing concerns about the credibility of Maduro’s victory. Brazil, an important regional player, was softer in tone but said it was awaiting “the publication by the National Electoral Council of data broken down by polling station, an essential step for the transparency, credibility, and legitimacy of the election results,” according to a statement by the foreign ministry. President Nicolás Maduro Moros Venezuela’s government, in turn, said it was expelling diplomatic staff from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay, calling them “right-wing Washington-subordinate governments” who were committed to “the most sordid fascist ideological positions.” Only a very limited number of election observers were allowed to monitor the vote. These included The Carter Center and the United Nations, which also called on the country’s election commission (CNE) to publish polling station-level results. “The Carter Center has a big responsibility on their shoulders,” Laura Cristina Dib, the Venezuela Program director at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), told CNN, explaining that it is the only international technical observation mission that can issue a public report on the results. A preliminary report from the Carter Center was scheduled to be released on Tuesday morning, however the organization canceled its publication and is pulling all its staff from the country, according to a person with knowledge of the center’s plans. It is unclear when the report will be issued. Venezuela under Maduro’s reign has seen over 7.8 million people have fleeing the country because of the economic and political crisis there.  Thousands have fled to Guyana as well and on Sunday afternoon they gathered in front of the Venezuelan embassy hoping for a change of government but ended the night disappointed. While Maduro continuously blames the US sanction for the Venezuela’s economic crisis, Venezuelans claim that his regime is corrupt and is main reason why many fled their home. The migrants in Guyana are eager to return home and rebuild their country but said they will only do so if there is a change of government. Related Similar Articles

Linden man arrested for 55lbs of cannabis Jul 31, 2024 News Kaieteur News – A 23-year-old man from One Mile Extension, Wismar, Linden, who was in the company of two others, was arrested on Monday after trying to escape police near the Wismar Bridge in Linden. Arrested: Keron Layne Police said that at about 01:00h two police officers on mobile patrol near the Wismar Bridge in Linden observed three unidentified males riding two unmarked XR motorcycles towards the west on Wismar Bridge from the east. The patrol ranks brought the police vehicle to a halt in an attempt to stop the motorists, but on seeing the police, the two motorcycles suddenly stopped. The three men jumped off the motorcycles and, in the process, threw two large, bulky plastic bags over the bridge and into the river. Despite the men’s efforts to flee, the officers managed to capture one of the suspects, later identified as Keron Layne. The police swiftly retrieved the two bulky plastic bags from the river. Upon examination in the presence of Layne, the bags were found to contain a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be cannabis. The 25.2 kilograms (55.556lbs) of narcotic was weighed in Layne’s presence and subsequently confiscated by police. Layne was arrested and taken to the Wismar Police Station. Related Similar Articles

Duo busted with gun, ammo, during stop and search exercise at Albion Jul 31, 2024 News The firearm and ammunition found in the vehicle Kaieteur News – A taxi driver from Leeds Village, Corentyne, Berbice and a farmer from Nurney Village, Corentyne, Berbice were on Tuesday arrested after the police found a firearm and ammunition in the car they were travelling in. According to a statement by the Guyana Police Force (GPF), at about 6:28h on Tuesday, officers conducted an intelligence led-operation on the Albion public road in front of the Albion Police Station. During the operation, the police stopped and searched a Toyota Premio motor vehicle bearing registration number HD 2128 and found a black plastic bag on the right side of the driver’s door containing a .38 revolver and seven live bullets. Selwyne Gray, a taxi driver, was driving the car, and the lone passenger in the vehicle was identified as Otis Victor, a farmer. Both Gray and Victor were arrested and taken to the Albion Police Station, where the gun, bullets, and the car were secured. Investigations are ongoing. Related Similar Articles

 We can’t afford a slice of mango or a piece of chicken Jul 31, 2024 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists, News Kaieteur News – Dem boys seh Guyana big on agriculture, pushing fruits and veggies all over de Caribbean like we some kinda agricultural giant. But at home, people struggling to find a ripe mango in mango season, much less when the season done. De fruits and veggies prices climbing higher than de coconut tree, and a good mango now worth its weight in gold. It easier to get a job as a labourer than find a cheap mango. Dem boys seh de situation get so bad, even de chicken fraid to come home. De cost of chicken so high, parents driving past dem fast-food places before de children could  ask fuh fried chicken and chips, and dem parents gotta explain de cost of living like if it a maths lesson. One family seh dem had to take out a small loan just to buy a bucket of fried chicken. And de children still want more chips! Dem boys seh de politicians talking bout Guyana feeding de Caribbean, but how we gon feed others when we can’t even afford to feed we self?. Dem boys seh is time we start looking out fuh we own belly before we start feeding others. Else we gon end up with all dem fruits and veggies on de Caribbean shelves, and we home here in Guyana, only smelling de mangoes we can’t afford to buy. Even some of dem funeral parlours blaming de cost of living on de price of coffin! Talk half. Leff half Related Similar Articles