Recent events review Saturday, July 21st to Friday July 27th
Saturday, July 21 Divisive Cybercrime bill passed
Government yesterday used its majority to pass the contentious Cyber-crime Bill with an amendment excising a controversial sedition clause. However, it failed to win the support of the parliamentary opposition, which said the amendment did not go far enough. Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira called on the National Assembly to amend the Cybercrime Bill by deleting the proposed Section 18, which had contained the clause, in its entirety. In making her case for an amendment to this effect in her name, she noted that when the British Parliament decided to remove sedition in 2009, then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice Claire Ward stated that sedition and seditious and defamatory libel were arcane offences from a bygone era when freedom of expression wasn’t seen as the right it is today. “Freedom of speech is now seen as a touchstone of democracy and the ability of individuals to criticise the state is crucial to maintaining freedom,” Teixeira said.
Need for dialogue behind president’s decision to lead gov’t in talks with opposition-Harmon
President David Granger’s decision to lead the government in long-delayed dialogue with the opposition, in the stead of Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, was due to his strong belief that dialogue between the two sides is needed if the country is to move forward, State Minister Joseph Harmon said yesterday. The decision was welcomed by governing APNU+AFC coalition partner the Alliance For Change (AFC), which stated that Nagamootoo, who is from the AFC, does not feel in any way slighted by the President’s actions as both he and the party understand the importance of the talks. “All of the resources of this country—government, opposition, private sector… and all other stakeholders—are necessary to move this country forward. So dialogue is something he [the President] openly wishes to be associated with and [he] will take every step to ensure we do,” Harmon told reporters yesterday.
Trotman says refused shipment of 30,000 kg of mercury
Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman says that he has refused the importation of 30,000 kg of mercury into Guyana from Mexico as the Government continues to make strides towards the reduction of the toxic metal’s use in gold mining. Trotman made the disclosure during a visit to the new the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) office and laboratory in Crown Street, Queenstown yesterday. “I can add as well that I stopped, restricted, or refused the importation of 30,000 kg of mercury into Guyana. The Government of Mexico contacted me about the ship, which they were being asked to approve, and I have refused to accept it because it is a lot of mercury and I am concerned about the use of mercury in our rivers and poisoning the people of Guyana and of course we had it come home in a real and dangerous way to the employees of GGMC [Guyana Geology and Mines Commission],” Trotman explained. He noted that there was limited information and details on what the mercury was going to be used for, how it was going to be stored and disposed of and he was not satisfied that it was going to be carefully managed.
Sunday, July 22 GECOM needs to make do with budget for local gov’t polls- Jordan
Although the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has signaled that the $1.2 billion it has been allocated for the conduct of local government elections may not be enough, Minister of Finance Winston Jordan says that it will have to make do or be prepared to be interrogated over past, current and proposed spending. “In 2016, $1.5 billion dollars was expended for Local Government Elections. This means that the amount currently allocated is believed to be insufficient and GECOM will be engaging the Ministry of Finance to discuss supplemental provisions,” GECOM said in a statement on Friday. But Jordan said that the same amount cannot be allocated every year to GECOM when it is supposed to have items that it would have used previously. “I don’t know that they need any more money. I think they have enough money. It is not as if they are starting and going to build an infrastructure from scratch. They just finished an election and before that they had another election, so they had about two or three elections before. They have been buying all these stuff before and they ought to have them stored in boxes, crates, whatever the case may be,” Jordan told this newspaper on Friday at the Public Buildings.
Monday, July 23 Minister Sharma laments SOCU sloth
Junior Minister of Finance, Jaipaul Sharma has lamented the sloth in investigations from the 50 forensic audits that government has paid over $133million for saying that he is uncertain now if by the end of his government’s term in office in 2020, there would be any convictions. Sharma says that as the person responsible for the audits and second in charge of the nation’s purse, he wants the respective agencies to speak up on what is causing the delays and indicate if they need additional resources and how soon. “I know that SOCU (Special Organised Crime Unit) is working, I know they are pressured but it is what we can do, how we can help? It is a question I am asking on whether we will ever get a conviction? We have two more years and we are not sure if we will get a conviction with the way things are going,” he told Stabroek News on the sidelines of the sitting of the National Assembly, last week. During his contribution to the debate on the National Payment System legislation, the week before, a seemingly upset Sharma told the House of his annoyance.
Crane man dies in Vreed-en-Hoop accident
A 20-year-old man of Crane is now dead and his friend is in critical condition after an early morning accident at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara yesterday. According to the police, 23-year-old Bishram Ramkishore of 29 Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara was driving motor car PTT 6297 along with his two friends, 20-year-old Victor Aditya Ram of Crane Housing Scheme and Kevin Henry, 23, also from Goed Fortuin when the accident occurred. Ramkishore was reportedly driving east along the northern side of the Vreed-en-Hoop Public Road around 2 am when he noticed a pedestrian crossing the road and swerved left to avoid a collision. He careened off the road and then crashed into a metal signboard before ramming into a concrete fence in the vicinity of the Hand in Hand Insurance Company. The three men were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where Ram was pronounced dead on arrival and Ramkishore was transferred to the Dr Balwant Singh Hospital in a critical state. Henry was later discharged and is currently at home. Stabroek News spoke to Henry yesterday who had bandages on his head and a cast on his left hand. He bore multiple bruises and other minor injuries about his body.
Arson seen behind destruction of Thakur sawmill at Canal #2
Millions in losses have been sustained by the Thakur family after their sawmill on the West Bank of Demerara (WBD) went up in flames on Saturday night in an apparent arson attack and a suspect is in custody. Stabroek News visited the R. Thakur and Sons Sawmill in at 40 Alliance, Canal #2, WBD, yesterday where there was nothing standing but a toilet at the back of the facility. The entire sawmill had burnt to the ground and was still smouldering up to late yesterday afternoon. The police say that a report was made to them about arson committed against Bibi Shaheeda Thakur, 39, who was on the premises at the time. The sawmill is currently the subject of a High Court matter. According to the police, it is alleged that an estranged relative of Bibi Shaheeda visited the premises at about 10 pm on Saturday with a knife in his hand. He then damaged her car, PXX 509 with his Canter truck. He then went to the lumberyard located on the northern side of the house and set it on fire. By the time the police were summoned, the entire yard was ablaze. The damage is estimated at $20 million, the police say. The suspect reported to the La Grange Police Station at 1 am yesterday.
Tuesday, July 24 ExxonMobil ups estimate for Stabroek Block to four billion barrels
As had been expected, ExxonMobil today said it has increased its estimate of the discovered recoverable resources for the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana to more than 4 billion oil-equivalent barrels. A statement from the company said it has advanced its analysis to support a third phase of development and consideration of two further phases. “Outstanding resource quality across these opportunities combined with industry-leading project execution capabilities will provide great value to resource owners, partners and our shareholders”, the release said. The hike in the estimated recoverable resource follows completion of testing at the Liza-5 appraisal well, a discovery at Ranger, and addition of the eighth discovery, Longtail, into the Turbot area evaluation and completion of the Pacora discovery assessment. The previous recoverable resource estimate was 3.2 billion oil-equivalent barrels. “Outstanding resource quality across these opportunities combined with industry-leading project execution capabilities will provide great value to resource owners, partners and our shareholders,” said Neil Chapman, senior vice president, Exxon Mobil Corporation was quoted as saying.
IPA CEO charged with selling unregistered drugs to GPHC
Lloyd Singh, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Pharmaceutical Agency, which is one of the country’s largest suppliers, was yesterday taken before a city magistrate and charged with selling unregistered drugs to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The charge against Singh alleged that on August 12th, 2017, he sold and supplied unregistered Rituximab 100mg/10ml to the GPHC, which was in violation of the Food and Drug Regulation. He was also charged with selling the same drug to the GPHC on October 23rd, 2017. Rituximab is an intravenous drug that is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Singh was released on a total of $60,000 bail, representing $30,000 for each charge, by Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman. The matter was then adjourned until July 27th. According to the Food and Drug regulations, all drugs must be registered and all drugs/pharmaceuticals must be properly labelled and packaged.
Driver, passenger charged over ammo hidden in SUV
Sherwin Christian, 28, and Hayland Hardy, 40, the two men arrested after police found a quantity of ammunition hidden in the vehicle they were travelling in along the Barama Road last week, were yesterday charged. The charge, which was read separately to each man, alleges that on July 18th, at 70 Kilometers Police Outpost, Essequibo, they had in their possession, 49 rounds of .38calibre ammunition. Each man pleaded not guilty to the charge. Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan placed the men on $150,000 bail each on condition that they report to the Bartica Police Station every Friday until completion of trial. The matter was then adjourned until August 9th, when it will be heard at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.