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Does the PPPC Govt mean business? Jul 08, 2024 Editorial Kaieteur News – The Mohameds’ matter stands as a test of the authenticity of the PPPC Government.  The father-son Mohamed combo made multiple stunning headlines locally and elsewhere. The government can manifest how genuine it is in pursuing matters wherever they lead, whoever is involved.  Next steps must include implementing remedies that give Guyana a better reputation, some standing internationally. A slew of allegations have been directed at the Mohameds by the US Government.  It is close to a month since the jarring news broke of alleged wrongdoing and sanctions applied.  A senior public servant left in a hurry, while protesting her innocence about everything associated with her name.  The Mohamed have had their foreign exchange (moneychanger) business halted, and involvement in racing activities stopped.  On the surface, there may be the impression that the PPPC Government is taking the US Government’s allegations seriously and is on the move to do all that it can to get rid of the blots on Guyana’s name.  It must do so with a nod to all the rights and processes that is due to the Mohameds, while giving every confidence that it means business. This has, however, come under question.  Almost three weeks after the US Government allegations burst on the scene, the government appears to be engaging in a clear case of dawdling as if it is buying time, not sincerely committed to moving ahead with closing out this sorry chapter in Guyana.  The objective may be to let the matter be obscured by the passage of time, and with other events consigning it to the back burner.  Developments from the US side indicate that the Guyana Government must communicate with the Department of Justice to gather information and fill in the gaps that exist. This is so that comprehensive following through could occur on the issues of tax evasion, gold smuggling, bribery, corruption in government, and so on.  If there is enough coming from the US, and there is some solidness from what has been disclosed so far, court proceedings must commence, and matters run their natural course.  There are some hiccups, however, that for some reason seem to inhibit the type of urgency that should accompany the Mohameds’ allegations. In the early days of July, Attorney General Anil Nandlall revealed that required communications with the US Justice Department had not yet happened but would follow by the end of that same first week. This is perplexing; given the nature of the allegations and the stains they have put on the PPPC Government.  For its part, the government was quick to make pious declarations about respect for law and order and working with the Americans.  Meanwhile reality is pointing in the other direction.  The Mohameds’ matter has not been moving along from Guyana’s side with persuasive swiftness and energy if only to restore confidence in local institutions and systems.  We at this paper are of the view that the entire issue is stuck in a kind of political and bureaucratic holding pattern.  Why this is so is baffling, and we sound a warning note.  Unless there is vigor and the highest principles at the local level permeating the Mohameds developments, it is taking undue risks, which could lead to severe burning. A former Guyana auditor general, Anand Goolsarran, said that the actions taken here in response to the US allegations look ‘cosmetic.’  Whether that is a representation of the back story remains to be seen.  But Guyanese can be sure of one thing.  The US Government and its officials in Guyana are carefully and closely monitoring every action taken by the PPPC Government.  To this date, they do not instill much confidence for the simple reason that doubts multiply, with more questions arising about the governments inexplicable stonewalling and slowing down when it should be speeding up.  One of the alarming points raised by the US Government was its repeated use of ‘corruption by government officials’ and a network spanning numerous instances of local law-breaking.  This should be concerning for any government, for it could ensnare both political presences as well as public servants.  The ball is in the Guyana Government’s side of the field: it runs with it, cannot afford to stumble over it. Related Similar Articles

Jagdeo as Captain Marvel Jul 08, 2024 News, The GHK Lall Column Kaieteur News – Big bhai Bharrat is a blast.  I have always warned my fellow Guyanese: keep eyes glued on him.  Think of governance in this country as if in Las Vegas or patronizing one of those newly rising local casinos.  The dealer must be watched like a hawk.  In America, I was introduced to the 4-eyes principle.  In Guyana, with big bhai Bharrat (J) citizens need those four, plus another eight in the back of their heads.  It is impressive the marvelous ways in which the mind of Guyana’s Oil President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, works, what is created in impressionable minds.  Of utmost importance, though, is that his hands must be watched. Like one would study a cardsharp.  Guyana’s Captain Marvel, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo always has something up his sleeve.  Notice how he now always wears a suit since returning to unchecked power?  He gave himself the ability to conceal a whole pack of cards up his Armani sleeves.  He does, and for the local Captain Marvel, it is a thing of beauty.  Take this US$7.3 billion audit report compiled by VHE Consulting, and there is Jagdeo clearing the air with his patented version of political Baygon.  Instead of sanitizing the audit report story, he fumigate hee own self.  Like Tony Willams and the Platters crooned, “Smoke gets in your eyes.” Big Boss Bharrat was asked a question about whether the full VHE Consulting report was online.  He is the only National President of Oil who comforts himself with answering a question with a question of his own.  This is how Q & A got a bad name and is now renamed Q & Q by me.  If they were to do that in the White House, everyday would be a Jan 6 uprising.  Jagdeo should be in Jerusalem and not Georgetown, for only rabbis answer a question with another question.  If that was how the world operated, then Christopher Columbus would still be drinking vino with the stevedores in some darkened dockyard dive in Genoa or Castile. When asked whether it was the whole report, Jagdeo asked KN who deh geh that idea from dah is nah so?  I thought that a man of such grandeur would know better.  Journalists and publications do not surrender their sources.  People from the Wall Street Journal and the NewYork Timesstood their ground and refused to divulge what I call protected information.  I recall the huge furor over the leaks by Daniel Ellsberg of what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers.  Surely, Big bhai Bharrat knows of this.  Then again, his readings were confined to the Communist Manifesto and more recently, the US Department of the Treasury OFAC publications.  Like the teachers’ strike, there is this stalemate: KN names its source, and Jagdeo names the released audit report as complete or incomplete. This is why I love Guyana: a thrill a minute, and with laughter as the best cash handout.  I will take that medicine every day.  I warn my fellow Guyanese: take people like Bharrat Jagdeo seriously, and there is the great risk of going crazy.  Not me, buddy.  I just laff at he and how he louses up simple things.  When things start out tangled (full or not full audit reports), then they have to stay tangled, so that people get more tangled up.  It is the PPP Government Way.  Jesus Christ!  (sorry for the blasphemy), Is this a country or a vast criminal conspiracy?  When in doubt, check with the Yanks. Then, Guyana’s Captain Marvel did his best imitation of Captain America.  This banna Bharrat Jagdeo is very good, ah duz tell ayuh.  He said that there is a separate management report.  Ah, so that is the answer to this mystery.  I have my own question to ask of Jagdeo: Skipper, by any chance, is that management report all of 40 pages?  Ho, ho, ho! and one bottle of Demerara Rum.  Talk about gyrations and transformations, and Jagdeo is it.  Now he is talking like super spook James Bond from His Majesty’s Secret Service: For Guyanese Eyes Only.  Is disde same Jagdeo?  What game is he playing now?  Alistair Routledge knows more about this country than Jagdeo and President Ali (and the cabinet) combined. But there is Guyana’s Captain Marvel and oil mastermind, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, pretending at hiding the VHE audit report, the management part, from Exxon.  Who is kidding whom here?  The Americans have a different word than kidding; it begins with an ‘s’.  These are the games that leaders like Jagdeo play, which cause them to engage in all manner of gyrating, cavorting, gamboling, and dancing on their heads, in their efforts to elude that grim stalker.  It goes by the name of truth, and sometimes justice, and other times the straight and narrow way.  As an aside, if any Guyanese is perplexed as to why I persist with calling Jagdeo, Dr. Jagdeo, there are two reasons. I do not allow anyone to out-courtesy me, not even when such is not deserving.  The last is that since Guyana’s Captain Marvel, Bharrat Jagdeo is so overjoyed when he is addressed as ‘doctor’, how can I call myself a believer and not deliver joy to a brother?  Especially one whose life is as barren as a brick on Planet Uranus.  Full audit, separate management report, and there was Big Bhai Bharrat sashaying before the Guyanese people. Related Similar Articles

Hurricane Beryl causes major setback to CARICOM’s plans to reduce food import bill – Pres. Ali Jul 08, 2024 News Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali, during a live statement on Sunday, said that Hurricane Beryl has caused a major set-back for the Region’s plan to reduce its food import bill by 25% by 2025. President of Guyana, Hon. Mohamed Irfaan Ali In 2022, the heads of Government of CARICOM committed to reducing the Region’s large food import bill by 25% by 2025. The Guyanese president is tasked with the responsibility of agriculture and food security in CARICOM and is spearheading the initiative. The goal is to be achieved through the implementation of the CARICOM Agri-Food Systems Strategy, which prioritizes the production of crops and products that are imported heavily in the Region. Beryl, an eventual category five hurricane, made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island and has since moved through several islands in the Region, causing severe damage along its path, particularly to the agricultural infrastructure. The hurricane has severely impacted the islands of Grenada, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados and according to Ali, those countries were all showing great improvement in their agricultural sectors and were on target to achieve the 25% by 2025 goal. “[The initial assessment] is heart wrenching because of the tremendous investment, the tremendous policy commitment and budget support that was placed in the agricultural sector since 2020, investment in infrastructure, water system, technology, crop variety, farm support, farm-to-market infrastructure,” Ali said before adding  “many of these countries would have lost all of this investment,” Ali underscored too, that “not only is the initial investment or cost of damage concerning to him as lead head on agriculture, but also the long term investment cost to rebuild the infrastructure and to find resources, to recapitalize the farmers” Despite the setback, Ali related that measures will be taken to assist the affected islands.  Some of the plans include mobilizing regional resources to assist governments and farmers in rebuilding their respective agricultural sectors. “There are some thoughts and some initial ideas that I’ve already shared with some colleagues and also the chair of the Ministerial Task Force for agriculture to see how we can quickly mobilize the necessary stakeholders and resources to address this tremendous setback that our 25% by 2025 action plan has been hit with by Beryl,” he explained. The Guyanese president also plans to contact several international bodies for assistance to handle the issues Beryl has posed to food security and the agricultural industry in the Region. “I’m also deeply concerned and will be making the necessary calls in relation to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), ECA (European Commission of Agriculture), and other institutions … To help our farmers and to work with the region, because for sure, there are some changes in the methodology and changes in the approach to food production that we’ll have to take into consideration in this build-back phase,” Ali said. Related Similar Articles

‘We trust our union’- teachers on GTU decision to alter period for negotiation of salaries Jul 08, 2024 News Teachers had taken to the streets during the strike calling for better pay Kaieteur News – A number of teachers across the scope of Guyana have voiced their surprise at the outcome of the conciliation process with the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) but have stated that they trust the Union in whatever action it decides to take. On Friday the Education Ministry announced the conciliation talks have come to an end and they had conceded to an agreement between the ministry and the GTU that the multi-year agreement will go from 2024 onwards instead of the most recent GTU proposal of 2019-2023. The decision came after some 70 days of strike led by the GTU CA. As a result, this publication reached out to a few teachers to have their view on the situation. Abiva Cort, at teacher at Presidents College said that, “My professional view is that most of the membership would have been on different zoom calls and it was settled that the agreement will go ahead and we have to accept the fact that we cannot strike indefinitely.” The teacher however said that he feels that, “If government is put in our position they cannot live on what we are struggling to live on.” Miss Chantelle [only name given] agreed with the GTU saying that, “If they are trying to come to an agreement, I don’t see why we cannot return to our post, however I do not think that teachers should return back to work, if the GTU and the ministry cannot come to a common ground, by the end of the week.” She stressed that there was no point in having teachers prepare a classroom if they would not be in use of it, as the government seems to be pushing for E-learning to be introduced as soon as possible. The teacher lamented, “Additionally there is no point in preparing a classroom you are not going to use and the government is blatantly saying they do not care about teachers since they are introducing E-schooling they can easily use the few teachers who are willing to sit back and accept.” Randy Mingo who has been vocal from day one of the strike explained that he spoke with the [union rep] when they signed to call off the strike. Mingo noted “They were saying that even if the government foregoes the previous years they were looking at, the proposal that they are putting into the 2024-2026 proposal is going to be somewhat huge enough to compensate for those years…That’s my understanding what I gathered from them.” “At this moment I am just waiting to see where we go from here with this. They are saying that the negotiation is going to start immediately, at this moment I don’t know what to think,” He stated. Martin Samaroo, another vocal teacher from Essequibo told this publication that to his “understanding this is a negotiation process, so I trust the union 100% because they have a track record of doing things the right way.” Samaroo “ In addition to that we should remember that since the process is going to begin, official negotiations on the next 2024-2026 the proposal that GTU is going to submit to them for the benefit and discussion of benefits for teachers.” He is of the view that the new proposal is “going to include a lot of the demands that would not have been met in the 2019-2023 agreement but it is going to be in the 2024 agreement. The reason, why I can say that is because if the process fails at that time we can go to another step, and if it reaches to arbitration you might find teachers’ salaries even doubled with a fair understanding of how the arbitration process goes.” Hence, the educator said he has no qualms whatsoever with the GTU agreeing to have them done afresh and to include some of the demands that they would have been making from 2019-2023. Related Similar Articles

Power outage updates will be provided in real time from control center-Jagdeo Jul 08, 2024 News Kaieteur News – In the near future after all the upgrade works are completed on the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) grid, the wait for reports from the outstations on outages will be eliminated. The updates are expected to be provided in real time and this will enable staff to be immediately dispatched to the area affected. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo During his weekly press conference at the Freedom House on Robb Street last Thursday the Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo said that, “We are upgrading the whole system, and these would be smart grids. On the line itself, you have a fibre-optic cable that will be connected to the control centre.” The VP explained that with the new control center at Eccles, “you won’t need to get a report when a blackout takes place anywhere else. In real-time, you can know from the control centre at Eccles…wherever in the country…or on the inter-connected grid, if you have a power outage, you can dispatch people immediately.” Additionally, the center will also enable remote disconnections. It was recently reported that the GPL intends to spend approximately $200 million to upgrade the national grid. The Vice President was at the time speaking at a press conference held at the Office of the President. He was asked to provide an update on the additional 30MW of power the government intends to acquire in a similar arrangement with the Turkish Powership – Karpowership – contracted by the government to supply Guyana with some 36 megawatts of electricity for two years. “So the existing system now we have to look at that with all that new power in the place, (that) we have grid stability to transmit and distribute the power. So they have come up and they have gone to tender for about $200M of work to upgrade the grid, put in more transformers, change out the lines and stuff like that,” Jagdeo said. The Vice President explained that the updating of the national grid will ensure that the country has a more stable distribution system. Related Similar Articles

House to debate motion to empower PAC to summon witnesses for examination of public spending Jul 08, 2024 News Kaieteur News – The National Assembly is set to debate a critical motion, which aims to enhance the authority of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), Member of Parliament (MP), Jermaine Figueira The motion, presented by A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), Member of Parliament (MP), Jermaine Figueira, who is also the Chairperson of the PAC, seeks to grant the committee the power to summon witnesses, a capacity it currently lacks. The PAC is a key parliamentary body responsible for examining how public funds are utilized by the government and its various entities. Established under the Constitution of Guyana and guided by the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, the PAC scrutinizes accounts showing the appropriation of funds granted by the House for public expenditure. It also reviews reports from the Auditor General, ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of public resources. The committee’s oversight extends to all central and local government bodies, state-controlled entities, and projects financed by foreign loans or grants, making it a crucial mechanism for maintaining fiscal discipline and preventing misuse of public funds. The motion titled “Authority of the Public Accounts Committee to summon witnesses” seeks to have the PAC be deemed as a legislative body, in accordance to the Legislative Bodies (Evidence) Act, Chapter 2 of 2012. The Act stipulates that a “legislative body” meaning-the Cabinet, any Special Select Committee of the National Assembly or any Committee of the National Assembly are empowered by resolution of the Assembly to summon witnesses. With the support of the Government of Guyana (GoG), the motion will be passed and the PAC will be empowered to summon witnesses when examining the spending of public funds. Figueira underscored the necessity of the motion, citing challenges the PAC faces.  “The Committee for the purpose of examining the accounts of entities is required to invite persons to produce books, plans, or documents, to aid in the work of the Committee,” he said. However, he noted, “on occasions, some persons are reluctant to appear before the Committee, thus affecting the work of the Committee.” The lack of summoning authority, he argued, hampers the committee’s effectiveness in scrutinizing the use of public funds. The proposed resolution seeks to officially recognize the PAC as a legislative body under the Legislative Bodies (Evidence) Act, thus empowering it to summon individuals and require the production of relevant books, plans, or documents to aid in its investigations. “The Public Accounts Committee has observed that it is not deemed a legislative body as defined in the Legislative Bodies (Evidence) Act, Chapter 2 of 2012 and is not empowered to summon persons to appear before the Committee… [The] Committee is desirous of summoning persons to appear before the Committee to explain the use of Public Funds during their tenure,” Figueira noted. If passed, this motion would significantly strengthen parliamentary oversight and the PAC’s ability to ensure accountability in the use of public funds. Related Similar Articles

Thieves break into Selector Carl’s car and cart off with Macbooks, IPad and other items Jul 08, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Popular 96.1 FM radio D.J. Carl Alexander Primo known as Selector Carl was left at his wits end on Sunday after thieves broke into his vehicle while he was attending a funeral service and stole several items valued at an estimated $502,000. The back passenger window that was broken Primo told Kaieteur News that he locked his car with the items inside and parked on Middle Street, between Carmichael and Waterloo Streets, Georgetown and went to attend his father-in-law’s funeral. He said that he later sent somebody to the car to collect the iPad to stream the funeral, when they discovered that the back passenger window on the left of the vehicle was broken and the items were missing.  An alarm was raised and Primo later discovered the items were missing when he went to the vehicle.  He said that this was at around 13:20hrs. The items are three MacBooks, an iPad and a focusrite interface. The DJ told this publication that the stolen items are estimated at approximately $502,000. A distressed Primo said, “…All my work gone there.” A police report was filed and investigations are ongoing. Related Similar Articles