Recent events review Saturday, March 24 to Thursday March 29
Saturday, March 24
Wealth fund requires consensus on fiscal, legal framework – expert
As Guyana prepares for a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) ahead of oil production in 2020, the former manager of one of the world’s most successful funds yesterday stressed the importance of full consensus by the society on its fiscal and legislative framework.
“If you pass the law, you can say ‘we are going to ringfence the resources for the Guyanese people’ and we need that process now. We need to reach the consensus with the full society, then we need to pass the law, hopefully before 2020 because the revenues are coming in 2020, the temptation could be high and because you have an elections,” Eric Parrado said.
The International Finance Coordinator at Chile’s Ministry of Finance, who helped build that country’s SWF, was part of a seven-member group of international researchers and petroleum policy advisors that met with Cabinet ministers this week. The team discussed the emerging oil and gas sector and gave insights into prudent preparations for the revenues that will be generated from the industry. Yesterday, during an interactive session he had with members of the local press corps at the Theatre Guild, the current Professor of Economics informed that he told government that having a successful SWF is possible for Guyana but needs stringent management, expert financial advice on investments and legislation to protect monies from being misused.
Gov’t says all legal requirements met in granting oil licence to Esso, partners
The Government of Guyana yesterday affirmed that every action it took in the issuance of a petroleum production licence to the local ExxonMobil subsidiary and its joint venture partners met all legal requirements. The affirmation came in wake of a report in the previous day’s edition of the United Kingdom’s Guardian newspaper, under the headline ‘Guyanese campaigners mount legal challenge against three oil giants. ’The Guardian report highlighted a planned legal challenge by a Guyanese group of citizens A Fair Deal for Guyana, A Fair Deal for the Planet, to the granting of the licence to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited and partners Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited on the basis that the latter two companies were not granted environmental permits.
A statement issued yesterday by the Director of Public Information on behalf of the Natural Resources Ministry said government reaffirmed that it zealously guards and defends the right of every citizen to seek recourse in law in pursuit of interests they believe to be worthy. “Equally the Government of Guyana is certain, as it is confident, that every action it took with regard to the issuance of the petroleum production license met all legal requirements,” it said. “The Government of Guyana is prepared and willing to present all facts in this regard to any court with jurisdiction,” it added.
Planned Cheddi Jagan centennial stamps scrapped
Cathy Hughes referred Stabroek News to the Ministry of the Presidency for comment on the matter when she was contacted. The Ministry of the Presidency yesterday issued a statement saying that national symbols would be announced shortly to commemorate the lives of both Dr Jagan and the late president Arthur Chung. “The Government of Guyana will announce shortly, national symbols to celebrate the life and work of former Presidents of Guyana, H.E. Raymond Arthur Chung, OE and H.E. Dr. Cheddi Jagan, OE, within the context of set criteria for honouring eminent Guyanese,” it said, while noting that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of both former presidents.
Sunday, March 25
Nothing ‘sinister’ in oil deals signed on eve of last elections - Ramotar
Acknowledging that oil exploration agreements he signed with two start-up private operators within the two week-period in the run up to the last general elections look “suspicious,” former president Donald Ramotar says negotiations had started long before. “I know it looks suspicious but I thought we would have won the elections anyhow and that it was just the continuation of an already started process from 2013,” Ramotar told Sunday Stabroek in an interview last week.
“If the election wasn’t stolen from us, we would have continued along the same trajectory with the same companies, so there was nothing sinister about those signings,” he added. Days before the May 11th, 2015 general and regional elections, in which his party was voted out after over two decades in power, Ramotar signed a contract with JHI and Associates (Guyana) Inc, which was only registered here on May 4th, 2015. Another agreement between the government of Guyana and Ratio Energy Limited and Ratio Guyana Limited, the former incorporated in Gibraltar and the latter in Guyana, was signed on April 28th, 2015.
Monday, March 26
Ministry’s intervention over Jagan stamps unlawful – Nandlall
Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday said the Ministry of the Presidency’s intervention with the post office over stamps to commemorate the centennial birth anniversary of former President Cheddi Jagan was unlawful. The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre Inc (CJRCI) had contracted with the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) to produce the stamps for Thursday’s anniversary. However the stamps were not produced and on Friday the Ministry of the Presidency reported President David Granger as saying that Cabinet has taken a decision that commemorative stamps, must adhere to national criteria. He added that such symbols must not be used for private, partisan or political messages, but ought to be used for national purposes. In a statement yesterday, Nandlall argued that the GPOC is a statutory body corporate managed by a Board of Directors and possesses its own persona. He said it is not a department of the Government but an agency of the state. Noting that it was once a Government department, Nandlall said that its character, structure and personality were transformed into the new status that it now enjoys in order to imbue it with functional autonomy and to permit it to function independently of the Government.
Reopening of Colombian Embassy here under discussion
More than two decades after the Colombian Embassy was closed here, Georgetown and Bogota over the weekend discussed having one re-established and the prospects look favourable. “They had economic problems which led to the closure and now they are discussing having a Colombian Embassy here again,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and acting Prime Minister Carl Greenidge told Stabroek News yesterday. The Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, María Angela Holguín, was in Guyana on Saturday for bilateral discussions and Greenidge said that among the range of issues discussed, having an embassy here once again formed part of those talks. Greenidge said he believes that country has now seen an ideal time to have those discussions restarted and is favourably disposed to having the embassy here soon. A Colombian embassy here is seen as significant as both Georgetown and Bogota have had long-running border issues with their mutual neighbour, Venezuela. Border problems have also been exacerbated in recent months by the thousands of Venezuelans who have streamed into Colombia seeking refuge and jobs or to travel to third countries.
Albion man critical after shot by bandit -suspect held
Jagdeo Ganesh, an Albion sugar estate worker is presently in critical condition in the ICU at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital after he was shot by bandits who invaded his parents’ home sometime around 9 pm yesterday. The police last night placed one of the suspects under arrest and are presently hunting the others. Gangapersaud Jadoo Ganesh, also known as `Ramesh’ and `Hassan’, 54, a pump attendant at Albion Estate for twenty years, of Lot 1 High Reef, Albion Corentyne told Stabroek News this morning, that he was in a room located in the lower flat of his house next to his kitchen with his wife, when the group of men armed with a gun, cutlasses, a piece of wood and a knife launched their attack.
Tuesday, March 27
Eyewitness contradicts police’s account of seawall killings
The recent police killing of three robbery suspects along the Kingston seawall, in Georgetown, on March 15th, is being labelled as unlawful after an explosive statement yesterday by a man who says he witnessed ranks beating one of the men and did not see any shootout as has been claimed. Devon Lyte, a labourer who said he witnessed the events from the roof of a Carifesta Avenue building, has since submitted a sworn statement to the police, who said he will be interviewed today. From the inception, there have been calls for the killings to be independently investigated, when the police claimed that the men trailed a bank customer to the location and opened fire on them after they interrupted an attack. Lyte, in the company of attorney Nigel Hughes and the sisters of Dextroy Cordis who was killed along with Kwame Assanah and Errol Adams told a news conference yesterday that he and two other men were working on the roof of the Guyana Softball Association building on Carifesta
Avenue just before midday on the day in question when he heard a “banging” sound coming from the seawall.
Italian oil giant expresses interest in drilling offshore
Italian oil and gas company, ENI is the latest petroleum giant to formally signal interest in drilling for oil here. The Department of Public Information (DPI) yesterday reported on the visit of an ENI team to Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. ENI joins a list of others including Chevron and Petrobras interested in drilling offshore following the major oil discoveries by an ExxonMobil subsidiary in the Stabroek bloc. The government now faces searching questions on how it is going to apportion the remaining blocks, whether by direct negotiations or auctioning. DPI said that Trotman yesterday met the company’s Senior Vice President, Guido Zappala and his team at the Natural Resources Ministry, where he received a packaged plan of action from the company’s representatives. Speaking to DPI after the meeting, Trotman said the oil company had, since last year, expressed its interest to the government. “So, we had a long discussion with them about their practices elsewhere, what they are looking for. And obviously Guyana’s basin has become attractive and they have assured us that they are not worried about the current issue between Guyana and Venezuela. They are prepared to pursue and should there be any cause for concern they will manage”, DPI reported.
Bath NDC worker dies after struck by lorry
A worker attached to the Neighbourhood Democratic Council in Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice was struck and killed by a lorry on Sunday around 6.30 pm. Majeed Indraneah, 68, of Lot 651 Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice was walking to his daughter’s house where he would usually spend his nights, when he was struck by the lorry. The driver of the motor lorry GMM 4713, who is from Section ‘S’ De Edward Village, West Coast Berbice has since been placed into police custody and is said to be assisting with the investigation. Stabroek News was told that Indraneah was attempting to cross the road, when he was struck by the allegedly speeding lorry. The man, who was pitched some distance away sustained a fractured hip and fractured skull. He was rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital, where he was seen by doctors and subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital. However, he succumbed en route to the New Amsterdam Hospital and was pronounced dead on his arrival there.
Wednesday, March 28 American Airlines to fly here
said. In what will be a major boost to airlift here, AA yesterday announced it was beginning flights to Guyana in December. The announcement seemed to have taken key decision-makers by surprise. The airline said that starting on December 20 its new service between Miami and Guyana will be operated four times per week, increasing to daily during the summer season in 2019. Tickets will go on sale from April 2. It will service the route with an Airbus A319 which can carry up to 160 passengers. The announcement has been welcomed by the government here.
City cop to stand trial over rape of juvenile
Clifton Pellew, the city policeman accused of raping a juvenile, was yesterday committed to stand trial at the High Court for the crime. Pellew, a Lance Corporal of the City Constabulary, was charged in February with the rape of a juvenile who was in his custody at the constabulary’s Regent Street outpost in August last year. At the conclusion of the Preliminary Inquiry into the charge, which was held in-camera in a Georgetown court, Magistrate Leron Daly committed Pellew to stand trial and placed him on $500,000 bail pending his trial. City Hall’s leadership has faced significant criticism for its handling of the case since the allegations against Pellew surfaced. Despite a report being made internally about the alleged assault, the municipality did not formally contact the police until October after media reports about the case. Pellew and another constabulary officer who reported the alleged assault were sent on administrative leave after initially being served with termination letters.
Man gets two life sentences for raping child
Sheldon Lynch was yesterday afternoon sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall after he was convicted of raping a child on two occasions, beginning when she was 10. After about three hours of deliberations, a 12-member jury returned its unanimous verdicts, convicting Lynch on two of the four counts levelled against him for raping the same child. Lynch was convicted for raping the child in December of 2010 and November of 2011. The jury was, however, unable to arrive at verdicts for charges that he had also raped the child on January 1st and December 31st of 2012; and then again on January 25th of 2013. The judge ordered that Lynch spend a minimum of 35 years on each conviction before being paroled.
Thursday, March 29
President orders police probe of seawall shootings
President David Granger has ordered that the police launch an investigation to determine the circumstances under which three robbery suspects were shot and killed along the Kitty seawall, Georgetown two weeks ago. “The matter has been dealt with at the National Security Committee and it is my instruction that on any occasion where there is the death of a person by unnatural means, that death should be investigated particularly in the defence and police forces”, Granger told reporters yesterday following an event at State House. The President said that the Commissioner of Police has received clear instructions about the investigation. “…Even if such instructions were not necessary. He should be proceeding with those instructions”, he said.
He said while he has not received a report, he believes that Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan has. “I believe that some action will be taken to have the file sent to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) to determine whether there is any blameworthiness in the death of the persons”, Granger added.
GuySuCo secures $30 billion in bond financing
The cash-strapped Guyana Sugar Corporation is expected to soon begin tapping a $30 billion syndicated bond which it has secured from a group of local and regional banks for the revitalisation of its remaining sugar estates. “It is a syndicated bond, thirty billion Guyana [dollars], from not only local but regional banks and we expect to start [collecting on it] in two weeks,” Head of the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) under government holding company, NICIL, Colvin Health-London, told Stabroek News yesterday. The SPU has been entrusted with overseeing GuySuCo and its assets. “This money is only for GuySuCo’ s (retained) estates, I want to make that very clear,” he added while explaining that the $30 billion will be collected in “staggered” payments. When the money begins to be released in the next two weeks, Heath-London said it will immediately be streamed to meet GuySuCo’s objectives in revamping the remaining three estates. The taking on of bond obligations by the debt-ridden GuySuCo will raise eyebrows among industry stakeholders. The terms of the bond agreement have not so far been released and will likely have to be tabled in Parliament.
Chris Ram urges land for severed sugar workers
Outlining a six-point plan for thousands of laid off sugar workers, including land for them to earn a livelihood, commentator Christopher Ram yesterday waded into the unions that represent them, government, GuySuCo and the former PPP/C administration for the state of the industry.
“GuySuCo and sugar are not just a company, it is part of the economy, part of our culture, part of the fabric of our society…this is a sector that has carried this country since little after its discovery,” Ram told attendees at the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana’s (FITUG) 6th Delegates Conference, which was held at the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union head office in High Street, Kingston, Georgetown, He said that from estimations, when “the so-called reorganisation of the State-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation is completed” approximately ten thousand persons, whose only job-skills were learnt during sometimes decades of work, the nature of which has changed little since slavery, will have been put on the breadline to eke out a living along with approximately forty to fifty thousand dependents. “I have found it difficult to find another parallel and in terms of sheer numbers, this must be the single largest layoff in the history of Guyana. But what did I find. Neither the Government nor the Corporation has put in place mechanisms to cushion the financial, social, economic and personal impact and consequences on lives and livelihoods of these people,” he stressed.