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‘Regional collaboration is vital for tackling hunger and malnutrition’ – Agri. Minister Sep 28, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha on Thursday emphasised that regional collaboration is essential to addressing hunger and malnutrition within the country. Minister of Agriculture “Regional collaboration is vital for tackling hunger and malnutrition,” – Agri Minister The Agriculture minister was at the time speaking during the High-Level Dialogue on, ‘Reflections on the fight against hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean.’ During the webinar, Minister Mustapha said that while the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition report reflects progress, it also reminds the persistent challenges the government faces. “For Guyana, the fight against hunger is not just a policy goal but a moral imperative,” the Minister said. He added, “…That is why we are here today (Friday) to share our experiences learn from each other and renew our collective commitment to eradicate hunger and malnutrition has outlined in the sustainable development goal.” With that aside, the Agriculture Minister also highlighted the government’s public-private partnership initiatives and the regional leadership that Guyana is providing to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). “We (the Government) are proud of our role within Caribbean’s effort to advance food security. Guyana leads the regional agriculture agenda and through public private partnership, we are fostering regional integration in agriculture,” he said. As such this includes addressing non-tariff barriers, expanding market access, and promoting agribusiness development. In relation to the country’s collaboration with international agencies, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), among others Guyana has received support in the areas of sustainable agriculture, capacity building, research and development. “Together we are driving innovation in agriculture, not just for Guyana but the broader Caribbean region. As we gather today here with this seminar it is clear that the regional collaboration is key to overcoming of hunger and malnutrition,” the Agriculture Minister underscored. Related Similar Articles

Rights and responsibilities, imbalance and virulence Sep 28, 2024 News Hard Truths by GHK Lall… Kaieteur News – The only standard placed on me with these writings is that I keep them simple.  To that I add humility and honesty.  And to those, there must be the responsibility to courtesy, regard for the rights of others.  Without venturing into any profound references to the wisdom of the great philosophers and thinkers, inspiring records from antiquity or more recently, I revisit yet again, the rights of one Guyanese versus those of another, all others.  Where does what is due the former stops, those of others start?  When do my rights supersede those of fellow citizens?  What happens, what to do, when they collide, often jarringly? The Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA), a name not held high by some in this polity, recently spoke of paid ads and platforms being used to scorch and pierce.  As much as the prime objectives are to denounce and suppress, there are rights due to those responsible, whether public authors or private backers.  Their freedoms are no less sacred that mine, or any other Guyanese.  The key is what either they or I do with the cherished freedoms given to us or embraced by us.  If it is to disembowel those found disagreeable, or castrate the unyielding, or force-feed a self-serving state of mind on those held as enemies, then cherished freedoms have just been profaned.  The expansive reduced to the narrow, the absolute minimum. As Guyanese, there are enough attackers and despoilers arrayed against us.  The ones here to wrest the national inheritance in exchange for pittances, protections.  How is it that many of the bright men and women of Guyana look the other way?  Why do they generate the rage to scalp their fellow citizens, when the real stealth operators are those who once enslaved our forebears under one banner (spiritual instrument) and now subjugate us with a new one (legitimized weapon)?  This is how patrimony is dissipated.  This is how national wealth is coveted by a declared enemy, a neighbor of all people.  Nemeses inside the gates and across the river.  They crave what Guyana has, and the best that we are capable of, committed to, consumed by, is to maim each other endlessly. Seeing the other group’s maladministration should not be used as a screen to be silent on the equivalent from our own.  What progress is possible then?  How could any individual, any clan, any country get anywhere when one right exercised dilutes another right.  The one to be honest with ourselves, responsible before contemporaries.  Tables and narratives proliferate; I suggest that the first graphs and charts be about our own passage and trajectory.  What does that arc reveal?  Spend money, spill ink by the barrel, to bare the malfeasances of competitors, but not as cleverness to distract from an obscure the same (or worse) by our own.  I can live with mistakes.  There is immeasurable contempt for those who willfully cheat, then deliberately falsify, and last seek to intimidate into oppressive silence.  There is difficulty in deciphering how wrongdoing of the past justifies the wrongdoings of the present.  If there is a difference of distinctive strain, as claimed, then the corruptions of the past cannot be repeated, or employed as a rationale.  If then, why is so wrong now?  If now, then what about that from before?  I hope that fellows can appreciate that this is neither a platform nor the ideal for nation building, for the construction of a radically different national character.  I now switch to those leading.  They must be the pacesetters, the standard bearers of a new Guyana.  Not as they say, or claim to be about, but as they live. When a leader revels on each occasion that he speaks in the intensity of a barroom brawler, his followers rush to do their best imitation of their role model.  Respect and courtesy disappear, mayhem takes hold.  Rights are routinely violated.  When another leader is the most sinister expression of virulence for sometimes hours every Thursday, a foaming-at-the-mouth conjurer and fabricator unequalled in this society, then those beholden to him have just received their marching orders.  Instead of when, I should say in what form, but then there is the record that speaks.  So, there were those developments over which the GHRA was so pained, rightly so.  It has absorbed its share of blows for its efforts.  When another leader frowns and fiddles, Rome is restlessly heaving, slowly burning.  What hope, what prospects, for the luckiest (most graced is my preference) people in the world?  The men commanding the rigs have rigged us well.  Guyanese explode at Guyanese, are overjoyed to do so.  And for what and whose benefit?  They called me a subversive when I said that we must think like how those, whose highest priority is to separate us from our endowments, and then seize them.  When we get into the heads of exploiters and potential invaders, then we will never be readier, never stronger.  But that neutralizes the incomparable malice that consumes and controls and leads to nothing, but condemnation preceded by vilification.  Men from the north, and those from the west, have daggers pressed against Guyanese necks, yet there are the psychic delights from our own in the battleaxes that they use to bludgeon those exercising their right to write, right to speak, right to think. Last, some routine constitutional reforms will come, but minimal only.  One of the rights sure to be enshrined is to savage each other at will.  Freedom is a poisoned chalice.  I have only rights, there is no responsibility.  And that, fellow citizens, is the beginning and continuing Guyana story. One where there is rejoicing in making enemies of each other, trampling upon others’ rights. Related Similar Articles

Environmentalism with a dollar sign Sep 28, 2024 News Kaieteur News – President Irfaan Ali’s announcement of plans to convene a Global Biodiversity Alliance strikes as both opportunistic and vulgar. While the preservation of the environment is a noble goal, Ali’s plan appears to be a continuation of Guyana’s crude, crass, and cynical strategy to cash in on its natural resources under the pretext of conservation. The president’s proposal isn’t just a rhetorical flourish; it is a full-throated embrace of the market’s favorite solution to the world’s environmental crises: monetize the problem, package it up for sale, and collect the proceeds. This is environmentalism at its most crass. At first blush, it seems as though Guyana’s intentions might be in line with global efforts to stem the loss of biodiversity, which, by some accounts, is dwindling at an alarming rate. By President Ali’s own admission, some 50% of the world’s biodiversity is being lost. However, instead of confronting this crisis with the gravity it deserves, Ali’s administration has proposed creating new markets—markets for biodiversity credits, scaling debt swaps and accelerating biodiversity bonds. What’s absent in this ambitious financialization of biodiversity is any meaningful discourse about arresting biodiversity loss out of a moral obligation. Guyana, it is not about preventing species extinction or ensuring environmental sustainability for its own sake. It is, in essence, about the cash. Guyana’s original Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), introduced under President Bharrat Jagdeo, had a singular focus: the monetization of the nation’s vast forests. Under the veil of environmental protection, it was a play to leverage the country’s forests for carbon credits, positioning Guyana as a recipient of international funds while claiming to combat climate change. Jagdeo’s LCDS lacked a strong focus on biodiversity. The expansion of this framework to include biodiversity came later, only after David Granger’s Green State Development Strategy sought to center biodiversity protection, coastal zone, and water management as integral parts of environmental stewardship. Now, Ali’s administration has co-opted this expanded scope, not as a matter of principle, but seemingly as another avenue for financial gain. What is most vulgar about this new push is the fact that Guyana is already receiving substantial payments for preserving its forests through carbon credits. To suggest that the country can now also profit from its biodiversity within those very same forests is akin to double-dipping. Guyana, under the auspices of environmental conservation, wants to draw from two financial wells simultaneously: one for its carbon reserves and another for its biodiversity. Yet, both sets of payments revolve around the same resource—the forests. While the carbon credits aim to compensate for not cutting down trees and maintaining the forest as a carbon sink, the biodiversity credits will supposedly reward the country for preserving the species and ecosystems within those same forests. This sleight of hand—dressing up an existing scheme with new terminology—is environmentalism with dollar signs, not conscience. At the heart of this issue lies a crude commodification of nature that ought to trouble anyone who still believes in the intrinsic value of the environment. Ali’s proposed Global Biodiversity Alliance is not a new idea. In fact, it is a poor replica of the existing Global Biodiversity Credit Alliance, which already seeks to use market mechanisms to help protect the world’s biodiversity. But markets are fickle, and the idea that biodiversity can be saved through financial instruments such as bonds and swaps is an illusion. Environmental preservation requires more than just capital investments and corporate endorsements. It requires a fundamental shift in human behavior, an acknowledgment of the delicate interdependencies that exist within ecosystems, and a moral commitment to protect species for their own sake, not because they can be monetized. But let’s not be naïve. Guyana’s entry into the biodiversity market is not driven by an epiphany that the planet’s species are worth protecting. It is, in fact, a calculated effort to chase the next big environmental payday. This approach is particularly cynical given that Guyana has already positioned itself as a “climate leader” by commodifying its forests. Now, by attempting to monetize its biodiversity, Guyana is shamelessly trying to position itself as a leader in conservation, when in reality, it is leading the charge in turning nature into a transactional good. President Ali’s speech at the United Nations may have been well-received by those eager to hear solutions to the world’s ecological crises, but there was no mention of what meaningful biodiversity conservation actually entails—far from it. Instead, what is being proposed is essentially the hawking of biodiversity credits. The unspoken truth is that markets are not designed to save the environment. They are designed to generate profits. This is a basic tenet of capitalism, and any attempt to dress it up as environmentalism is deceitful. The global loss of biodiversity is not a market failure; it is a failure of human responsibility. We should be protecting biodiversity not because it can be sold or traded, but because it is essential to life on this planet. And yet, in the rush to financialize nature, we are erasing the ethical foundation of conservation. What should be preserved as a global common good is instead being carved up and packaged for sale. President Ali needs to understand that his administration’s environmental policy cannot be a mere extension of Jagdeo’s flawed approach. Jagdeo’s LCDS was controversial because it was primarily a financial scheme dressed up as climate action. Ali risks making the same mistake, but with even broader implications. If Guyana’s environmental policy is reduced to a series of transactions, it will be devoid of the moral weight necessary to address the pressing ecological challenges of our time. Rather than doubling down on this crass strategy to commodify biodiversity, Guyana needs to rethink its environmental platform. Conservation cannot simply be about cashing in on the world’s crises. It requires a profound commitment to the future of the planet, a commitment that transcends the pursuit of profit. If President Ali wants to carve out a meaningful place for Guyana in the global environmental movement, he needs to abandon the crude logic of commodification and embrace a more holistic approach to conservation—one that recognizes the value of nature beyond its market price. Otherwise, his Global Biodiversity Alliance will be remembered not as a bold step toward environmental preservation, but as a vulgar display of opportunism in the face of planetary peril. Related Similar Articles

Exxon paid no taxes to Guyana in 2023 but reported US$656M handed over to country Sep 28, 2024 News Kaieteur News – A look at United States oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation’s first-ever disclosure of payments to host governments, it appears as though the company’s Guyanese subsidiary paid US$656 million in taxes to  the Government of Guyana (G0G) last year. President Irfaan Ali However, the reality is that Exxon is not paying income taxes in Guyana. The company has said that while it is subject to Guyana’s income tax laws, the taxes assessed on the company’s operation are paid by the government, rather than the company itself. In addition to this, Exxon is then given documentation to show that the taxes have been paid in Guyana. This arrangement is owed to the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) the Coalition Government signed with ExxonMobil Guyana Limited (EMGL) for the Stabroek Block. On Wednesday, September 25, Exxon made a filing disclosing that it paid US$49 billion in global tax and duties expenses – this includes US$16 billion in income taxes. Recently, this publication reported that EMGL did not have to pay over GYD$197 Billion in taxes to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the past two years [$138B in 2023, $59B in 2022], as the taxes were paid by the Government in keeping with the lopsided PSA. ExxonMobil Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Darren Woods EMGL is the operator of the Stabroek Block, with a 45% interest, while Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds 30% interest and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Petroleum Guyana Limited holds 25% interest. All of the block-partners enjoy a tax-free ride in Guyana. The provision of the Stabroek Block contract which gives Exxon and its affiliates a tax-free ride in Guyana has attracted criticisms locally and internationally. The contract states in Article 15.1 that the Contractor (ExxonMobil Guyana Limited) as well as its affiliates shall not be subjected to tax, value-added tax, excise tax, duty, fee, charge, or impost in respect of income derived from petroleum operations, property held or transactions except as specified under the agreement. Further, Article 15.4 states that the sum equivalent to the taxes owed by the company will be paid by the Minister responsible for Petroleum to the Commissioner General of the GRA. It should be noted that the contract also allows for the issuing of a receipt to ExxonMobil, indicating that it has met the local tax requirements to avoid the burden of double taxation. Article 15.5 of the contract states, “Within one hundred and eighty (180) days following the end of each year of assessment, the Minister shall furnish to Contractor proper tax certificates in Contractor’s name from the Commissioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority evidencing the payment of the Contractor’s income tax under the Income Tax Act and corporation tax under the Corporation Tax Act. Such certificates shall state the amount of tax paid individually on behalf of Contractor or parties comprising the Contractor and other particulars customary for such certificates.” The Irfaan Ali-led administration has explicitly stated that due to the sanctity of the contract, the 2016 PSA will remain in place, despite the deal being labeled as ‘lopsided’. In fact, last year, President Ali, during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) Senior Journalist Gideon Long, reiterated his administration’s position to not renegotiate the ‘lopsided’ Exxon deal. President Ali said, “Well, I would say definitely, we did not have the best of deals, Exxon had a good deal signed by the last government.” Ali then highlighted that the sanctity of contract is “very important” to his government, adding, “And we can’t go back on that.” Exxon’s Global Tax Bloomberg reported that Exxon paid US$7.41 billion in taxes and royalties to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year, which is more than any other country globally. It was stated too that ExxonMobil paid US$49 billion of global tax and duties in 2023, compared with total earnings of almost US$41 billion, according to the company (Sep 25) in a regulatory filing under Section 1504 of the Dodd Frank Act. Indonesia, Nigeria and Malaysia were also among ExxonMobil’s top tax recipients, with combined payments of about US$10.8 billion. In the US, ExxonMobil’s largest production country, the oil giant paid US$6.6 billion, with about two-thirds going to states and local authorities and the remainder to the federal government. ExxonMobil said the figure “does not reflect a reliable estimate” for its total US tax liability, which was more than US$10 billion, due in part to credits and payments related to prior years. Related Similar Articles

Trio granted bail for assaulting man at CPL match Sep 28, 2024 News Kaieteur News – Former policeman, Sereste Brittlebank and two other men 29-year-old Keron Williams and 31-year-old Trevon Williams, both from Annadale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) were on Friday charged with assault, police said. On bail: Former cop Sereste Brittlebank Keron Williams Trevon Williams. The trio was reportedly seen in a viral video beating a man unconscious at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD) during a CPL match on Wednesday. Police in statement said, “The defendants appeared at the Diamond Magistrate Court before Magistrate Dylon Bess and pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ to the assault charges”. “Keron Williams and Sereste Brittlebank were released on $20,000 and 80,000 bail, respectively, while Trevon Williams was released on $60,000 bail,” police stated. The three men are expected to return to court on October 3, 2024 for trial. Meanwhile, the Force promised that there will be stringent security measures and beefed-up police presence in uniform and plain clothes at the Guyana National Stadium for the remainder of the CPL matches in Guyana. Related Similar Articles

Olympic Kremlin set to race at Mouttet Mile in Jamaica Sep 28, 2024 Sports – Slingerz Stables owner excited Kaieteur Sports – Olympic Kremlin, a standout from the renowned Slingerz Stable, is set to make history as the first horse from Guyana to compete in the prestigious Mouttet Mile in Jamaica, scheduled for December 7. Brazilian jockey Acedenir Gulart saddles Olympic Kremlin to victory in the President’s Cup. Fans celebrating Olympic Kremlin’s win in the recently held President’s Cup. The seven-year-old chestnut horse, who has already secured major victories by winning both the Guyana Cup and the President’s Cup, will be ridden by the skilled Brazilian jockey Acedenir Gulart. Bred in Brazil, Olympic Kremlin comes from an impressive bloodline. Sired by the Japanese stallion Agnes Gold and out of Sweet Lemonade, a mare sired by the celebrated Lemon Drop Kid, the horse boasts a lineage synonymous with speed, endurance, and competitive spirit. These qualities have helped Olympic Kremlin amass close to US$90,000 in earnings, having claimed five wins in his home country prior to joining Slingerz Stables. The horse’s owner, Javed Ali, confirmed Olympic Kremlin’s participation in the Mouttet Mile, which is regarded as one of the Caribbean’s premier horse racing events. Ali, an ambitious figure in regional horse racing, expressed his excitement and highlighted his vision of elevating his stable to one of the top in the Caribbean. He has seamlessly integrated his operation into the broader Slingerz family, which has become a brand of excellence not just in sports, but also in entertainment. Ali’s involvement in horse racing is only one facet of the broader Slingerz success story. The Slingerz family brand is also synonymous with Slingerz Football Club, the one-time Elite League champion in Guyana, and Slingerz Family Sound System, which has established itself as a powerhouse in Caribbean entertainment. Additionally, the Slingerz Record label has worked with several top-tier artistes across the region, solidifying the Slingerz’ imprint on the Caribbean music scene. This blend of sport, music, and business exemplifies the diverse portfolio Ali is building, underscored by his passion for excellence across multiple fields. Ali sees Olympic Kremlin’s participation in the Mouttet Mile as not just a personal achievement, but also a victory for horse racing in Guyana. According to him the event will draw international attention to Guyana’s growing presence in the sport and may inspire local horse owners to broaden their ambitions. Ali said he hopes to demonstrate that Guyana is home to horses of exceptional quality, capable of competing at the highest levels on the regional stage. In preparation for the Mouttet Mile, Olympic Kremlin will be trained by the experienced Jamaican trainer Al Brown while in Jamaica. However, Ali’s horse also benefits from a robust and diverse training team, which includes Florida-based Jamaican trainer Zarie Ricketts and Trinidadian trainer Jon O’Brien. Ali pointed out, that the Mouttet Mile could mark the beginning of a new era for the sport in the country, with Slingerz Stables leading the charge. Related Similar Articles

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