Diaspora News - December 7 - 13, 2013

8/13/2019 Diaspora News - December 7 - 13, 2013

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APNU AT WORK

A WEEKLY SUMMARY OF EVENTS

KEEPING THE DIASPORA INFORMED

December 7

December 13, 2013Vol. 21

APNU MEETING WITH PRIVATE SECTOR COMMISSION DEL-EGATIONThe Leader of the Opposition, Brigadier (Rtd.) David Granger, MP, along with Dr Rupert Roopna-

raine, MP; Mr Basil Williams, MP; and Mr E. Lance Carberry, met with the Chairman of the Pri-

vate Sector Commission, Mr Ronald Webster, along with Mr. Michael Correia, Mr. Ramesh Per-

saud, Mr. Kit Nascimento, Mr. John Willems, Mr. Clinton Urling, Ms. Annette Arjoon-Martins and

Mr. Leon Bacchus of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on Wednesday

11thDecember 2013 at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

The primary purpose of the meeting was in response to the request of the Private Sector Commis-

sion to be informed of APNU position with respect to the passage of theAnti-Money Launder-

ing and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Bill in the National Assembly.The Leader of the Opposition presented the PSC delegation with a copy of APNU Statement andexplained that the APNU is in support of the passage of strong, comprehensive and enforceable

legislation which enshrine the institutional capacity and capability to effectively enforce the provi-

sions of the legislation. Therefore, the 2009 Act must be amended to ensure that an independent

Bank of Guyana and an autonomous Financial Intelligence Unit are empowered and adequately

equipped, including suitably qualified and experienced staffing, to discharge their functions with-

out hindrance in accordance with the objectives for the legislation. He also drew attention to the

fact that Anti-money Laundering legislation has been in existence in Guyana since

the 2000Money Laundering Prevention Act, followed by the 2009 Anti-Money Laun-

dering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act.However, the problem has been

the absence of the political will and commitment to enforce the Legislation.

The PSC delegation expressed support for the APNU position and urged that every effort should be

made to have the legislation passed as early as possible to avoid potentially adverse and damaging

impacts for the transaction of international business.


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APNU CALLS ON PPP/C TO DO MORE TO PROTECT VULNERABLE CHILDRENA Partnership for National Unity is calling on the Peoples Progressive Party/Civic administration

to promulgate and activate a comprehensiveNational Plan of Action for Orphans and Oth-

er Vulnerable Children.

APNU is aware that the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security had sought help from theUnited Nations International Childrens Fund (UNICEF) to design such a plan. There is no evi-

dence, however, that thePlan of Action is functional. Had it been implemented, it could have

provided a framework for supplementary measures to protect orphans and other vulnerable chil-

dren, not only street children, from all forms of abuse.

The exact number of children living on Guyana's streets is difficult to determine but is believed to

run into a few hundreds. The number includes children who live permanently or part-time on the

streets, often because they have fled home because of hardship, neglect or violence.

The PPP/C administration thought that it could solve the problem of the growing number of streetchildren by establishing a drop-in centre in June 1999. The centre was quickly overwhelmed. It

discovered also that groups of vulnerable children were growing in urban areas other than

Georgetown New Amsterdam, Linden and Parika and in rural areas such as the Essequibo Is-

lands-West Demerara, Demerara-Mahaica and East Berbice-Corentyne Regions.

The drop-in-centre approach did not address the prevalence and causation of vulnerability. It was

inadequate to correct the problem of children living on the street and of others who were victims of

violence and abuse. There have been credible reports thatforced labour exists in the form of

forced prostitution and in logging camps and mines and that the law enforcement agencies do

little to address forced labour and trafficking.

It has also been reported that the governments efforts to cope with child labour and enforce

compulsory education are inadequate given that the problem concerns at least one fifth of Guya-

nese children. Many children are engaged in hazardous work and child prostitution is recognised

as one of Guyanas worst forms of child labour. The law on child labour is not enforced effective-

ly.

The situation of vulnerable children, therefore, continues to deteriorate. The Ministry of Human

Services in January this year announced that there were 4,102 reported child abuse cases about

11 cases daily last year. There were also hundreds of cases of sexual, physical and verbal abuse,

teenage pregnancy and delinquency. The Ministrys Child Care and Protection Agency stated that

101 children were separated from their parents and placed in institutions. The Agency pointed out

that mothers and fathers were the main perpetrators of abuse.

APNU demands that Guyanas vulnerable children be given better protection.The result of inade-

quate protection has been that, especially over the last two decades, many children have been

forced to live outside of homes and have become involuntary street children.


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APNU calls on the PPP/C administration to adopt a holistic approach to alleviate the plight of vul-

nerable children. The persistence of the problem in 2013 suggests that there has been a lack of un-

derstanding of the complexity of the problem and a lack of willingness to implement necessary

measures to help children who suffer from multiple deprivations of rights. The administration

needs to initiate a new process for the implementation of aPlan of Action that guarantees that

all children receive the best support possible so they can leave the streets, be placed in training

schools, apprenticeships or jobs and can return to their families and communities.

Vulnerable children, including those on the street, are the inevitable result of the massive poverty

that prevails and of the widening disparity between the rich and poor. Implementing aPlan of

Action for vulnerable children will need a new political will to deal decisively with this core prob-

lem.

APNU strengthens Parliamentary bid to reduce Berbice Bridgetoll

Kaieteur News, December 10, 2013

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, Joseph Harmon has announcedthat a separate amendment has been added to the motion filed in the National Assembly for thereduction of the Berbice Bridge Toll. This he said has been done taking into consideration that pro-ponents of the government would argue that the Berbice Bridge Company Inc (BBCI), in its cur-rent state is privately owned, hence the motion to bring it to Parliament will not have the desiredeffect.

Harmon however is contending that while that may be the case, the responsibility for establishingthe toll order falls within the purview of the Minister of Public Works and this is provided for in

sections three and four of the Berbice Bridge Act of 2006. Against this backdrop, he posits that theMinistry therefore has the power to reduce the fee.

Harmon also posited that alternatively, the government, which has shares within the Bridge Com-pany through the National Industrial Commercial and Investment Limited (NICIL) and NationalInsurance Scheme (NIS) would have a director sitting on the board who must be able to articulateon governments behalf for a reduction in the toll.

Harmon said that the reductions to the Berbice River Bridge tolls are important since many Ber-

bicians and commuters are complaining over the high costs required to travel over the bridge. He

said the fact that the toll was reduced in August for a holiday special is evidence that the compa-

ny can reduce tolls and still remain viable. The reductions which we have proposed are reduc-tions which the management itself had undertaken in the period of August between the 1st and

12ththey said they were responding to criticisms which were made by the opposition political

parties and that they are also responding to that what they were going to do is implement a holi-

day special for that periodOur belief however is that because that period coincided with the PPPcongress that was held in Berbice, they deliberately reduced the tolls to facilitate movement by

their PPP comrades across the bridge So what we are saying is that if it can be done then itshould be done for all the people not just for the PPP congress Harmon articulated.


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He said that the motion that is being advanced to the National Assembly will seek to address thetransference of wealth from the masses into the hands of a select few.

The motion also seeks to address the question of devolution of wealth from one part of the coun-try and the wealth that goes from the hands of a people into the hands of a small group of persons.If you examine the way in which the Berbice Bridge is structured by the persons who actually holdthe shares in that company you will recognize that a lot of that money belongs to us (the people ofGuyana). Some of the money came from the NIS, some of the money came from NICIL and thatsour money its our money! Harmon stressed.

Harmon established that the liquidated company Colonial Life Insurance Inc (CLICO) Inc had in-vestments in the Bridge and even though the company owed the NIS, it was allowed to dilute theshareholdings into the hands of a company owned by Dr. Ranjisingh Bobby Ramroop. He saidthat it was a scheme where, you are taking money out of the hands of people and putting it in thehands of a small group of persons so that the NIS which is owed by CLICO, is allowed to sell itsshares to an individual and still havent paid the NIS.

We are therefore talking about large sums of money, in this case we are looking at an average of$1.5B annually, which represents revenue from December 2008 to the presentMy understanding

is that the profit is somewhere in the vicinity of $350M to $500M a year thats profit, so whenyou look at those things and you recognize that what has happened is the type of devolution ofwealth from sections of the society into the hands of a private group, that way this type of motionbecomes extremely necessary said Harmon.

The motion in effect seeks to reduce the total costs that are paid by vehicles that cross the Berbice River Bridge. The proposalurges across the board reductions in motor vehicles traversing the bridge with motorcycles traversing free. The motion pro-poses to slash the toll for motor cars and minibuses by more than half.

Civil Society march in protest against corruption The corrupt

enrich themselves at the expense of the poor Anand Goolsar-ran


Scores including members of civil society and opposition politicians yesterday took to the streets ina protest march to mark International Anti-Corruption Day. The march was organized by Trans-parency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), and some of the organizations represented included theGuyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and Red Thread among others. Among those participatingin yesterdays march was staunch anti corruption advocates, Glenn Lall, Christopher Ram, Lincoln

Lewis, Alliance for Change (AFC) leaders, Khemraj Ramjattan, Moses Nagamootoo, and TrevorWilliams and A Partnership for National Unitys (APNU) Joseph Harmon among others. Themarch was led by TIGIs President, Anand Goolsarran, and Transparency Institute of Guyana di-rectors including Frederick Collins, Gino Persaud and Esther Mc Intosh among others.

Goolsarran said that TIGI extended invitations to the President, Prime Minister Sam Hinds, Presi-dential Advisor Gail Teixeira, Opposition Leader David Granger, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, PublicAccounts Committee Chairman, Carl Greenidge, and Alliance for Change (AFC) Leader KhemrajRamjattan, to join in the march. An invitation was also extended to the Private Sector Commissionand the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce.


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He had also encouraged all Members of Parliament, non-governmental organizations, the tradeunion movement and the general public to participate in this day of observance. No governmentofficial or member of the Private Sector Commission was present at yesterdays activity.

The march commenced shortly after 10:00hrs from the Umana Yana and made its way southalong High Street, into Main Street and Avenue of the Republic, then made their way to ParliamentBuilding. Chanting slogans such as zero per cent corruption 100 per cent developmentstopthewholesale thieving, the march snaked its way to the Parliament Building with several police rankskeeping a close eye. After converging at the Parliament Building for several minutes repeating theirchants, the group made its way back to the Umana Yana.

Organizer of the event, TIGIs President, Goolsarran in an invited comment told this publicationthat the objective is to sensitize the public about what corruption is and how it can affect themand what they need to do December 9 was designated International Anti-Corruption Day by theUnited Nations in accordance with its convention against corruption which was signed on Decem-ber 9, 2003. Guyana acceded to that convention in April 2008.

Goolsarran said, too, that he was extremely disappointed that there was no Government officialpresent at the march. This has no politics in it, it is a civil society march to observe this day to rec-

ognize that there are many out there, the poor, the disadvantaged, unemployed youths, the vulner-able women and children, people living below the poverty line,as a result of corruption. He said,We can only invite, we cant force people to comeIt is disappointing because it is a UN spon-sored event of which Guyana is a signatory. Asked to convey to the layman how corruption affectsthem, Goolsarran simply said, The corrupt enrich themselves at the expense of the poor.

Harmon who was also present at the march told this publication that he took part in yesterdaysmarch because, I believe that we have to make a stand, make a statement against corruption. Ac-cording to Harmon, Corruption eats away at the sinews of a society; it eats away at the future of acountry. The APNU Executive said that Guyanese must take a stand, if not for ourselves for ourchildrenthe future of this country depend on us having a corrupt free society. This, he said, is

the reason why he was standing in solidarity with persons who are prepared to make a standagainst corruption. According to Harmon, such an event would bring to the publics attention thefact that corruption is eating away at the society and we have to take a stand against it. He saidthat the march represents a step in the right direction.

Lincoln Lewis, who was also a participant in the march, told this publication that corruption alsorepresents a human rights issue and the GTUCs platform centres on rights and the rule of law. Ifwe can reduce corruption there can be better health services in this country, there can be betterpay for workers, there can be better pensions. He asserted that corruption in its entirety is a mat-ter that reduces development in a country, it impacts negatively on development and that is thereason why I am here. Lewis said that the march sends a signal to society that people are becom-

ing conscious of what corruption is doing and is prepared to tackle it.

AFC Vice Chairman, Moses Nagamootoo, said that the march is an excellent way to start publicdemonstrations on an issue such as corruption. We need clean governance, corrupt free transac-tions and we should focus on development. He said that the fact that Guyana has attracted such abad rating by Transparency International hence hispresence at the march.


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Persaud faces scrutiny over mining survey east of New River

Stabroek News, December 10, 2013

Map showing the section covered by the PGGS

Natural Resources Minister Robert Persaud yes-terday came under intense scrutiny over permis-sion granted to a Brazil company in November,2012 to survey the south east of the country forminerals, an area that his ministry had said thatno mining permits had been granted. The Permis-sion of Geological and Geophysical Survey (PGGS)to the Muri Brasil Ventures Ltd, while not a permitcontains a clause which says that a maximum of 18prospecting licences shall be granted for rareearth elements, bauxite, gold and diamonds andother minerals upon application.

The PGGS was yesterday circulated to the mediaanonymously and appeared to have been sent toleading government officials and members of op-position parties. The aim of the document was toshow that Persaud and his ministry did not dis-

close in a recent letter to the media that a PGGS was extant in an area east of the New River Trian-gle.

Amid an ongoing controversy over the building of mining roads in the environmentally sensitivearea of the country, Persauds ministrys Permanent Secretary, Joslyn McKenzie, in a letter to Sta-

broek News on November 27, had said, I am further advised that whilst the GGMC [Guyana Geol-ogy and Mines Commission] had previously received several applications within the New RiverTriangle area, there are no mining permits issued in the areas east of New River.

That statement failed to disclose the Muri Brasil Ventures Ltd PGGS which Persaud himselfsigned on the November 7, 2012 and clears the way for prospecting on satisfaction of the definedwork programme and proof of financial ability. This, analysts say, shows clear intent by Persaudsministry to permit mining in the area despite its assertions to the contrary.

Observers say the Muri Brasil Ventures Ltd deal once again exposed the secret arrangements beingclinched between the government and certain investors without any public ventilating. Prior to

yesterday, there was no detailed information on the agreement that Persaud himself signed withthe company.


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Priority basis

An anonymous letter addressed to President Donald Ramotar and copied to Head of the Presiden-tial Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, Leader of the Opposition DavidGranger, Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan, Vice Chairman of A Partnership for National Uni-ty Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, General Secretaryof the PPP Clement Rohee and editors of the daily newspapers called for action to be taken against

Minister Persaud for what the author described as the selling out of Guyana.

I read in the newspapers and saw on television the response of Minister Robert Persaud to ques-tioning in Parliament about the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. Sir, Minister[Persaud] said to the Parliament that he is not aware of any mining lease or permit issued by theGuyana Geology and Mines Commission in the area near New River Triangle where we have an is-sue with Suriname, the author writes to the president, before alluding to documents that purport-edly challenge the ministers recent statements in the National Assembly.

The documents, including the PGGS, show that despite statements from ministry that no permis-sion for mining has been given out in the area near the New River Triangle, it did give permission

for geological and geophysical surveys to a company mining rare earth elements, which couldeventually lead to mining. The PGGS shows that permission was given for Muri Brasil VenturesInc. to conduct geological and geophysical surveys for rare earth elements, bauxite, limestone,nephelene, syenite, gold, and diamond and granite stones in areas clearly east of the New River.The PGGS quotes the Minister thus, Now therefore I by the virtue of the power and authority inme vested under the Mining Act and as Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, here-by grant Muri Brasil Ventures Inc under Section 97 of the Mining Act 1989 the exclusive right tooccupy the area and conduct geological and geophysical surveys for rare earth elements, bauxite,limestone, nephelene, syenite, gold, diamonds and granite stones for a period of 36 months fromNovember 7, 2012.

One clause of the document said that during the duration of the permission, the permission holdershall have the right to apply to the GGMC for, and shall be granted a maximum of 18 prospectinglicences provided that such grant shall be subject to the permission holder having satisfied the re-quirements of the said work programme for the geological and geophysical survey and that satis-factory proof has been furnished to the Minister of financial resources and technical capabilities tocarry out its work programme. It said too that the GGMC shall treat such applications on a prioritybasis.

Strongly reject

As you would expect, I strongly reject any such baseless assertions, Persaud said yesterday in re-

sponse to a suggestion by the letter writer that his ministry is selling out out the country. In astatement his ministry did, however, confirm yesterday the granting of the PGGS through theGGMC to conduct Geological and Geophysical Surveys in the Rupununi, Mining District No 6, andnoted that the companys expression of interest predated the creation of Ministry. According to theministry, there was a request for expressions of interest in the media from which this proposalwas considered. It also emphasised that the PGGS was done in keeping with the ISO-certified pro-cedures.


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The ministry added that a PGGS is a property exclusive to exploration and does not include anymining and/or profit related activities. A prospecting licence, it noted, requires in depth and inten-sive exploration, while the PGGS caters for reconnaissance-type exploration to move to a prospect-ing license stage for further exploration.

Observers, however, say that the fact that companies will spend significant sums to invest in surveywork means that they might eventually get a prospecting licence and then a mining licence and donot buy the ministers argument that a permission for survey work does not necessarily mean actu-ally mining sometime in the future.

The Ministry said that in addition to previous disclosures through various reporting mechanisms,this information was also shared with the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and the Par-liamentary Committee on Natural Resources, both of which recently met the ministry and agenciesunder its purview. It noted that it was also shared with the National Assembly in response to aquestion that a Member of Parliament asked.

Speaking to this newspaper, APNU Member of Parliament Joseph Harmon said that Minister Per-saud should not even be contemplating any activity in the area.What you have done is extend the borders of Brazil. The Minister should resign or he should be

fired, said Harmon. I dont know how it can be justified in any way, he added of the ministersactions.

Harmon said the holder of the PGGS feels that he has the power of the Ministry and the GGMC be-hind him.I asked him in the committee whether any activity was taking place and he said no.What is his signature doing there? The minister has to explain that. Harmon said. I questionedhim on it and he flatly denied it and offered no explanation on the matter, said Harmon. MuriBrasil Ventures Inc is a company duly registered under the Companies Act 1991 and whose regis-tered office in Guyana is located at 88 C&D Barrack Street, Georgetown, Guyana.

No excuse for absence of National delegation for Mandelas Funeral-NAR It is regrettable that the actions of Ramotar and his governmentgo contrary to everything Mandela stood for and fought against.


A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) yesterday opened to the public, a Book of Condolencesfor those desirous of paying last respects to the late phenomenal world leader, Nelson Mandela.The book is available to the public at APNUs Hadfield Street office, between 9:00 18: 00hrs dai-ly. Many persons affixed their signature to the book yesterday including Opposition Leader, David

Granger, City Mayor Hamilton Green, Deputy Mayor, Patricia Green, former Mayor Ranwell Jor-dan, APNUs Mark Archer and Members of Parliament Christopher Jones and Joseph Harmon.

Members of the party however expressed displeasure with President Donald Ramotars decision toattend Mandelas funeral unaccompanied by any opposition member. Member of ParliamentChristopher Jones told Kaieteur News, It is a total disappointment how our boy just up and wentby himselfThe same PPP that objected when Burnham helped Africa financially now wait tillMandela dead to behave like they were buddy friends.


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Joseph Harmon told reporters that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Governmentshould take a page out of the book of the Trinidad and Tobago Government, which invited its Op-position Leader to be part of the delegation representing the people of Trinidad.

Meanwhile, the North American Region (NAR) of the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR)issued a release bemoaning the fact that President Ramotar decided to use a most dignified andsomber occasion to exhibit divisive posture at a time the world is celebrating the life of a mostmagnanimous and unifying world leader. Guyanese at home and abroad woke-up on Sundaymorning to learn that President Ramotar and his PPP/C friends secretly boarded a flight and head-ed off to South Africa.

The statement said that NAR recognizes Mandelas struggles and salutes his determination andfight for a free South Africa, where bitterness, hatred and oppression are removed from the mindsof the leaders and the people. NAR believes that Mandelas struggle remains relevant to Guyanesetoday. It is regrettable however; that the actions of Ramotar and his government go contrary toeverything Mandela stood for and fought against. At a time when the world is honoring a manwhose life epitomized unity, peace, courage and humility, the PPP/C government decides to usethe worlds stage to tout its national policy of division.

The PPP/C government continues to act in ways which seem to mirror a new form of oppressionby a minority government. There can be no excuse for not having a small national delegation,which represents the people of Guyana, travel to South Africa to pay reverence to a man whochanged the world forever. Why is the Leader of the Opposition not in this Guyanese delegation?It is no secret that Burnham and the PNC Government led the Caribbean nations when it comes tosupport for Nelson Mandelas fight against apartheid.

At the scorn and protest by the PPP, the PNC Government mustered financial and other resourcesto support the fight against the unthinkable oppression which targeted Black South Africans. Presi-dent Ramotar and the PPP/C are well aware of this fact. It is sad, however, that they seem incapa-ble of rising above their shadow of the past and taking a page out of Mandelas book. Is there no

shame? When will leaders demonstrate leadership? It is time Guyanese people stand up and de-mand better leadership which promotes respect and support all, the release stated.

Granger hails impressive Lusignan learning centreGuyana Times, December 10, 2013

Opposition Leader, retired Brigadier David Granger on Monday visited the Lusignan-Good HopeLearning Centre and hailed the institutions programmes as impressive.The centre, which was es-tablished in 2009 by Sandra Shivdat and her brother, Noel Naraine, caters for the learning and de-velopmental needs of more than 135 children from the Lusignan-Good Hope communities.

Centre director Sandra Shivdat, a New Jersey-based accountant, told the opposition leader that themain reasons for opening the facility were the acute poverty and alarming rates of illiteracy plagu-ing the area. According to Shivdat, the centre, which was built by private funds raised by familymembers and overseas donors, was not intended to replace schools, but to supplement them.
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The primary emphasis at the learning centre is literacy and numeracy and toward this end thereare six classes held daily, a release from the opposition leaders office said. Starting at 12:00 noon,these early classes cater for school dropouts; then there are after-school programmes from 14:30huntil 17:00h. Computer classes are held in the centres computer lab on Saturdays. Other servicesprovided at the centre include medical care to those in need, along with free meals, clothing andschool supplies.

Director Shivdat wants the centre to be a sanctuary, a place children would want to come to, aplace not only for learning, but a safe haven for those who come from broken or abusive homes. Ido not want to be their parents, I want them to be better; I want them to move forward, and educa-tion is the way forward.

Brigadier Granger said that he was very impressed with the work of the centre and thankedShivdat and her brother l for their commitment and the contribution they were making towardsproviding a better life for the children of the community. He noted that the drop-out rate was notsustainable, as a child drops out of the school system in Guyana every hour and many more werefailing at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

APNU launches Local Government Election campaign in Ber-bice


In a fiery election rally with speaker after speaker accusing the PPP government of inept govern-ance, the main opposition party A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Friday intensified itselection campaigned for the impending local government election with a rally in New Amsterdam.

The rally was organised by the PNCRs youth arm, the Guyana Youth and Student Movement

(GYSM) and was addressed by Party Leader and Majority Leader in Parliament, David Grangerand a number of other speakers, including youth leaders and members of Parliament James Bond,Annette Ferguson, Christopher Jones and Regional Councilors Kerwin Crawford and Hasrat Hus-sein. New Amsterdam Mayor Claude Henry made the welcome and the opening remarks and intro-duced the chairman of the nights proceedings, Regional Councilor Jeauvhan Stephen.

Mr. Granger, in his short address, mentioned the many alleged atrocities committed by the rulingparty. He told the audience that the APNU is destined to win and make a clean sweep in the up-coming elections. He urged party members to work hard and not to make the mistake like in 2011when a number of them did not vote. Mr. Granger in his address highlighted the partys symbolwhich he says is a good one. He accused the PPP of sowing division among Guyanese.

Robbery, murder, suicide, crime and piracy are dominating the country and Berbice, it muststop, the opposition leader said. Granger called on residents to put race aside and vote on issues.He also appealed to youths and women to step forward and take charge. We are winners and wewill win this Local Government election, but we have to be prepared to work. We must visit all thehouses, every street corner and make sure that this time around you all make sure that every eligi-ble voter goes out and casts that ballot in favour of the APNU.


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Members of Parliament James Bond, Annette Ferguson and Christopher Jones and CouncilorsCrawford and Hussein all weighed in on blasting the government for bad stewardship and a dicta-torship style governance. Mention was made of the Presidents refusal to sign one of the billspassed in Parliament. The governments imposition of its customary 5 percent pay hike on publicsector workers- including teachers, nurses and the military and the neglect of the East Bank Ber-bice road, the high cost to cross the Berbice River bridge also came in for examination at the rally.

The neglect of the municipalities and the Neigbourhood Democratic Councils, which are integralparts of the local government system, were hot topics and were touched on by all of the speakers,as well as the appointment of City Hall Town Clerk, Carol Soba.Parliamentarian James Bond stated that even decisions that are made at parliament when theGovernment Ministers are involved are ignored by the regime. And Christopher Jones likenedGuyanas situation to that of a plantation. He called it Plantation Ramoutar where everything isimposed on the Guyanese people and one cannot say much. He told the gathering that braved theinclement weather to vote resoundingly to release ourselves from the clutches of impending slav-ery which is being imposed by the PPP dictatorship and Plantation Ramoutar.

APNU attacks NIS for poor customer serviceGuyana Times, December 9, 2013

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) executive member Joseph Harmon has complained

about the alleged poor customer service at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).According to Har-

mon, pensioners travel from all parts of the country to access the services of NIS, but are more

than often confronted with a situation in which the services are below par.

He emphasised that customer service at the scheme leaves much to be desired, and according to

him, employees are not to be blamed holistically. Based on information reaching APNU, NIS em-

ployees operate under inhumane conditions. We believe that the conditions under which theseemployees work have a lot to do with the type of enthusiasm which they display in dealing with the

public, he opined. Even as technology continues to evolve, Harmon said NIS is operating in a

world of manual typewriters, traditional time-keeping methods and stand fans. He said the gov-

ernment should take the necessary steps to upgrade the facility, paving the way for staff to operate

in comfort. Harmon was speaking at APNUs weekly press conference at the opposition leaders

office on Friday.

APNU had also called for NIS to be reformed to avert a major collapse. The coalition on Friday de-

clared that the scheme was in a crisis. In 2011, NIS recorded a deficit of $371 million while in 2012;

it had a deficit of approximately $474 million. The coalition is contending the figures will jump at

the end of 2013.Contributions collected over the period January to August 2013 were approxi-

mately $7.754 billion while total expenditure over the same period was approximately $9.120 bil-

lion, Granger was quoted as saying. He said the government should be swift in implementing the

eighth actuarial review which indicated that NIS was rapidly approaching a crisis stage.
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APNU is contending that the NIS has indulged in risky investments as it alluded to the schemes

investments of US$30 million in the bankrupted CLICO and the US$10 million toward the Berbice

River Bridge. But following a series of consultation, the Donald Ramotar administration had con-

cluded that the recommendations in the actuary report were not favourable. The recommendations

contained in the eighth actuarial review were presented in the three counties, but did not find fa-

vour with sizable segments of those consulted and other stakeholders of the NIS.

NIS operates out of 14 offices countrywide, providing social security to over 45,000 pensioners andmedical insurance for thousands of Guyanese in the formal and informal workforce.

Major problems facing Enmore factory GuySuCo- grinding of 60,000tonnes of cane postponed to next year

Stabroek News, December 7, 2013

The decision to hire two foreign experts for Enmore sugar factory is to help solve a number of criti-cal problems affecting production, the state-owned company confirmed yesterday.According to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), that East Demerara estate has been facingsevere problems for the last six crops, forcing hundreds of hours of technical downtime.While GuySuCo did not give details of the two engineers over the past week, Kaieteur News hadidentified them as coming from a prominent sugar company out of India.

Over the past six crops, the East Demerara estate has been plagued with various challenges bothin the agriculture operations and in the factory, including engineering and processing problems.During the course of the current crop-to-date, almost 425 hours were lost through factory tech-nical downtime, GuySuCo said in a statement.The problems have forced GuySuCo to postpone processing over 60,000 tonnes of cane until nextyear.

As a consequence of the perpetually high factory downtime, an estimated 60,000 tonnes cane thatcould yield 4,600 tonnes sugar will have to be carried over from the existing crop to the first cropnext year.The Corporation said that the same factory problems caused approximately 39,000 tonnes to becarried forward from the first crop this year to the current crop, and in the second crop last year,36,000 tonnes cane were carried forward to the first crop 2013.

GuySuCo made it clear that unless the factory problems are fixed, Enmore will have to be perpetu-ally carrying forward canes from one crop to the next. This is unacceptable and must be correct-ed.

To assess what is needed to arrest the situation, there were separate visits by three internationallyrecognized firms in factory engineering and processing. It was recommended that the Corporationsolicit technical assistance to fix the problems. A series of corrective interventions were recom-mended together with a plan to improve the overall efficiency of the factory.

GuySuCo said that the decision to seek external help was one that grew out of a consensus. Estate,corporate management and the Board of Directors have reviewed the recommendations and neces-sary interventions and collectively agreed that external resources be sought to help fix the EnmoreFactory.


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GuySuCo said that an internationally reputable firm whose representatives have recently visitedthe Enmore Factory was approached to send two engineers who have the relevant expertise in en-gineering and processing, to work together with the existing factory staff to remedy the existingproblems.

The engineers are expected soon and GuySuCo looks forward to working with them to improvethe efficiency of Enmore Factory.

While GuySuCo did not name the Indian company, Kaieteur News has reported union and otherofficials as saying that the two experts are from the Integrated Casetech Consultants (P) Limited, amanagement firm. Casetech is a sister company of Simbhaoli, said to be Indias largest integratedsugar refinery.

There were modifications works done on the factory a few years ago to ensure it is compatible to anew sugar packaging plant next door.The problems at Enmore are part of the bigger problem besetting the entire sugar industry. Thisyear, in its worst performance in 20 years, GuySuCo is set to fall below 200,000 tonnes of sugar.Government, with little answers to the under-performance of its US$200M flagship project atSkeldon, East Berbice, has been examining a number of measures, including hiring a number of

consultants from Tate and Lyle, its largest European customer.

However, despite placing one of them at the Skeldon estate some nine months ago, there has beenno reversal of fortunes. Five others are reportedly here. GuySuCos Board is now contemplatingending the management contract with Tate and Lyle.Production targets have been revised downwards from the 260,000 tonnes set at the beginning ofthe year to 203,000.The years first crop fell short of the 70,000 tonnes by an alarming 22,000. This year, too, as partof assistance to help the ailing industry, Government earmarked $1B for GuySuCo. This was $4Bless than last year.

At one time the biggest export earner for the economy, sugar has been overtaken by gold and rice.It also has in excess of 16,000 persons directly employed on the coasts of Demerara and Berbice.

A Conflict of Interest to have EPA and Natural Resources withinthe same Ministry- Harmon


Attorney at Law and A Partnership of National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP), JoeHarmon, has expressed the fact that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE)

has embedded within it, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a conflict of interest.

According to Harmon, the MNRE headed by Minister Robert Persaud has the power to implementmeasures that would be counterproductive to the protection of the environment and be unopposedsince it has influence over the EPA.Harmon said that the conflict comes when you have two bodies that are meant to counter balanceeach other being headed under one Ministry.


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He offered the Low Carbon Development Strategy LCDS as an example where nothing is beingdone or heard of LCDS in Guyana since it was championed by Bharrat Jagdeo, while there is nowan influx of MOUs and agreements dealing with exploiting extractive and agricultural resources.LCDS seems to be abandoned; and he questioned if the government is no longer concerned aboutreducing green house gas emissions.

Harmon said that the amount of money that the administration can pilfer from the mining and ex-

tractive industries exceeds what can be made from LCDS, hence the reason why nothing is beingheard about LCDS anymore and why silent contracts and MOUs that are being done with theseIndian and Chinese companies.Harmon said that had the EPA been an autonomous body that was headed by another Ministerthen the likelihood would have been that the Ministry of Natural Resources whose functionalitydeals with increasing production in the extractive industry would be flagged when it reached apoint where it infringed on the protection of the environment.

However since both are intermingled within one Ministry, it is clear that one would be suppressedsubjectively to suit the other said Harmon.This is also evidenced in the revelations that emanated from the EPAs report that was mentionedabout staffing issues where EPA staffers positions were being usurped by the MNRE. According toHarmon the EPA does not have the capacity to work and is being devoid of its resources so that theNatural Resources Ministry can be bumped up.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Robert Persaud, in addressing that issue releaseda statement that established among other things that the Ministry of Natural Resources and theEnvironment has recognized that there is an increasing demand for services of the EPA and that ithas been somewhat lacking in capacity to effectively achieve its mandatefor that reason, MNREhas since engaged with the EPA and an international consultant to draft proposal to investigatemeans to strengthen the EPA, improve cost recovery mechanisms and improve staff retention.

AFC and APNU members of Parliament meet with Mahdia resi-dents to discuss problems affecting the Potaro- Siparuni Re-gion:

Alliance for Change(AFC) Member of Parliament Ms. Eula Marcello and A Partnership for Nation-

al Unity Parliamentarian Mr. Ronald Bulkan were part of a combined opposition team that met

with residents of Mahdia last night ( December 1oth 2013). At a town hall style meeting at the

Mahdia Community Centre, that was attended by more than 100 residents, the Members of Parlia-

ment fielded numerous questions, and informed residents of the work of the combined opposition

in the 10th

Parliament, and matters pertaining to the long over-due Local Government Elections.

The main focus of the Town- Hall style meeting was the state of the Region and more specifically

Madhia; residents complained that they were dissatisfied that the work of the Regional Democratic

Council was being stymied by the Regional Executive Officer.


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They also voiced their dissatisfaction with conditions of the roads and other infrastructure in theregion. They told the MPs that scheduled maintenance was not being done on the roads and bridg-es in particular the Mahdia surface roads; the Mabura Junction; Mango Landing and the roads toTumatumarie, Micobie, North Fork and Princeville. Most of the complaints that were raise by theresidents were related to; Education, the Cost of Living, Health Care, electricity supply and PureWater Supply. The residents were of the opinion that the Central Government was stifling the de-velopment of the Region.

It was suggested that an improved transportation network and properly maintained roads wouldhelp to reduce the cost of bringing food stuff to the region. APNU Member of Parliament RonaldBulkan called on the Peoples Progressive Party Civic(PPP-C) administration to commit resourcesto the rehabilitation of the Tumatumari Hydro Electric plant, so that resident of Mahdia and sur-rounding communities would have cheap, reliable and continuous electricity.

Leader of the Opposition Brigadier David Granger who was also in attendance said that it was his

vision to see Agricultural Institutes in all of the ten administrative regions of Guyana. The opposi-

tion Leader also told the gathering that it was time that Guyanese started weaning themselves off

of fossil fuels. Granger said that wind, solar and hydro were all credible alternative sources of ener-gy.

The Opposition Leader told the residents that the Potaro- Siparuni Region was not a Cinderella

Region but one of the biggest and potentially the richest region of the country-yet according to

Granger it remains one of the poorest regions. APNU Shadow Minister of Local Government Mr.

Ronald Bulkan said that the Central Governments failure to allow the Local Democratic Organs to

function was responsible for the underdevelopment of Madhia. Bulkan said that the PPP-C had

chosen the path of neglect and abuse rather than care and concern.

Villagers protest prolonged absence of drinking water and elec-tricity:Leader of the Opposition Brigadier David Granger yesterday (December 10th2013) met with resi-dents from the Amerindian Village of Campbeltown in the Potaro- Siparuni Region (Region 8).Campbelltown is a village with a population of 700 located near Mahdia.

The residents told the Opposition Leader that even though their houses have pipelines installed(indoor plumbing), presently, there is no running water. Residents of Mahdia and its environs gettheir water from the Salbora creek, but due to poor management and lack of maintenance at thereservoir, residents are suffering. Campbelltown residents also complained about the sporadicelectricity supply which they claim has adversely affected their quality of life.


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The residents claim that the PPPC administration had promised them 18 hours of electricity prior

to the November 2011.However that promise was not kept and Campbelltown now get 12 hours of

electricity from 6 pm to 6am.

The residents told the opposition Leader that they believed that they were being punished by thePPPC administration because they voted predominantly for the Alliance for Change (AFC) and APartnership for National Unity (APNU). Regional Councilor Mr. Timothy Junor who was present

at the meeting said that the Region was being systematically underserved by the PPPC under thestewardship of the Regional Executive Officer Mr. Harsawack. This sentiment was shared by manyof the residents who claim that this type of politics was the cause for the lack of infrastructure andother development in the Region. Brigadier Granger told the residents that they should not have toendure these types of hardship in 2013. He said because of poor governance the people in one thepotentially richest regions of the country were subjected to neglect.

The Opposition Leader told the residents that APNU would ensure that their problems were

brought to the attention of the relevant government ministers. Granger said that if the Opposition

was not satisfied with the governments response then the matter would be brought to the floor of

the National Assembly. Brigadier Granger was accompanied on his visit to the Paotaro Sipariuniby Mr. Ronald Bulkan APNU Shadow Minster responsible for Local Government. Mr. Bulkan also

has Parliamentary responsibility for the Potaro- Siparuni Region- Region 8.

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Diaspora News - December 7 - 13, 2013

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