The Week in Review - Sunday, August 4th to Saturday, August 10
Board. On July 25th last, Andrew Grant, Gail Williams and Grace Dazzell were given dismissal letters by the then recently appointed minister. The trio protested their termination and Granger order the BoI into the matter.
“The board found that the letters to the three public servants were unlawful. And having regard to its findings, recommended that the letters of termination be immediately withdrawn,” Harmon said. “Secondly, it is expected that the aforementioned public servants will be reinstated immediately and restored to their respective positions within the Department of Public Service and will continue to enjoy all benefits they previously enjoyed prior to the purposed termination of their services,” he added.
A third recommendation, according to Harmon, was that the subject minister be briefed on the due processes as to the rules of the ministry, with respect to employment and dismissal of public servants.
PPP won’t recognise gov’t’s legitimacy after September 18th: Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday, August 8 th , gave notice that if government fails to hold general elections by September 18 th , the opposition party would ignore all of its claims to legitimacy after that time.
“Let me make it clear... as to how we will see the government after September 18 th and that is that it ceases… [the government] will be a usurper and cannot claim (doctrine of) necessity, because it will be self- imposed,” Jagdeo told a press conference.
“We are making it clear that the government doesn’t have any legitimacy [then]. As a matter of fact, constitutional rule stops on that day in Guyana,” he added.
Dave Danny Jr quits PNCR, pledges support for PPP: Longstanding member of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Dave Danny Jr on Wednesday, August 7 th , announced his exit from the party and said he has now pledged his support to the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP). “….I cannot blatantly ignore the groaning of the Guyanese populace for my personal gains. No, I will not. As such, after consulting my heavenly father and by divine intervention I have resigned from the PNC. My resignation ends a legacy of three generations of commitment, dedication and service to the PNC,” Danny said. “My brothers and sisters, this is our reality. The groaning of our people are being ignored by those in authority through inaction. Unrealistic policies, lack of communication, inequitable distribution of resources and absolute denial of our country’s dismal business environment…… It saddens me to say the PNC I knew is seemly allowing wickedness to prevail. The root of their denial and arrogance stems from the disconnection from society. I know that there are many in the PNC, including card holders and supporters outside who are also displeased with the party and by extension the performance in government. I have spoken to many supporters who complained that certain ministers [do] not have 10 minutes time to spend to listen to the various concerns,” he added.
His announcement was made public in a five-minute long video which was uploaded on the PPP Facebook page.
Court to rule on house-to-house registration challenge: Acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire SC is expected to make a ruling next Wednesday on the challenge by Christopher Ram to the ongoing house-to-house registration exercise. The judge is also expected to rule on the application filed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for her to recuse herself from hearing Ram’s challenge as well as the application made by Attorney General Basil Williams, who has asked that Ram’s challenge to house-tohouse registration be struck out.
The ruling is expected to inform how GECOM proceeds with the holding of general elections, which were due within three months of the passage of a no-confidence motion against the government.
Spring tides wash away recently repaired sea defence at Mahaicony: After spring tides washed away a large section of the recently repaired Prospect, Mahaicony sea defence, Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson said on Sunday, August 4 th, that his ministry has already applied for emergency funding to execute rehabilitation works. Chief Sea and River Defence Officer Kevin Samad subsequently said funds, amounting to some $460 million, have been approved by the Ministry of Finance for use on emergency works to secure vulnerable areas within a 3-kilometre stretch of shoreline between Fairfield and Dantzig, Mahaicony.
Polluting Pomeroon coconut operation closes after EPA enforces law: Fat Boy Coconut Ventures, the Pomeroon coconut factory fined $1 million by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month for dumping husks and shells in the surrounding waterways, has halted operations indefinitely and blamed the regulator for not giving it enough time to get its operations in compliance with rules. “It is closed. We didn’t have an alternative. We didn’t get no time to prepare to do anything. Where will we dispose of the waste? They know it was there for so many years and they never came to work with us? So it is closed. We don’t know when we will open back,” Alfro Alphonso, of Fat Boy Coconut Ventures, told Stabroek News on Sunday. “That will take a long time. We are trying to source things from overseas. That don’t happen so quick, you know. So we close,” he added.
However, EPA Head Dr Vincent Adams said that while he has no control of the business managers’ decisions for their establishment, he rejects the company’s contention that the EPA would not work with it and had documents to prove otherwise.
After several warnings, the EPA last month fined the company $1 million for dumping coconut shells and husks into tributaries of the Pomeroon River.
Taxi driver found dead after arguing with passengers over money: Taxi driver Owayne Lynch was found dead at Cemetery Road, Mocha Arcadia, with multiple wounds about his body on Tuesday night, shortly after he was heard arguing about money with his passengers. The murder of Lynch, 42, a taxi driver of Stevedore Housing Scheme, Georgetown, occurred at around 9:45 pm on Tuesday, August 6 th . The dispatcher at Swift Cabs, the Sophia-based service with which he worked, sent Lynch to Sophia to pick up a client destined for Mocha Arcadia, the police said.
Teen succumbs over two months after hit and run: Bariel Hall, the 18-year-old who remained a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital after being the victim of a hit and run accident just over two months ago, succumbed to his injuries on the morning of August 5 th . Hall, who died just around 7 am, had been a patient at the GPHC since May 25 th . He had been hospitalised following the hit and run, which occurred along Avenue of the Republic, in the vicinity of the Route 44 bus park. He never regained consciousness.
South Rupununi rancher killed with arrow: Pius Ernest, a 32-year-old rancher, was fatally shot with an arrow and bow at Karaudarnau Village, South Rupununi on Monday evening.
The police said that investigations revealed that the suspect, a 50year-old farmer who was arrested, noticed his spouse in the company of Ernest at a location in the village. As a result, he armed himself with the arrow and bow and shot Ernest.