The Week in Review - September 1st to September 7th 2019
The Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Friday, September 6th, presented to the commissioners a draft schedule of timelines which set the earliest date for General and Regional Elections as March 2020. According to opposition-nominated commissioner Bibi Shadick, the proposals presented by Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield will see elections held “one year and two days after the time provided for in the Constitution.” Based on the passage of the December 21st, 2018 no-confidence motion against the APNU+AFC government, elections were due on March 21st, 2019 but several legal challenges have so far delayed the holding of these elections.
Indigenous leaders call for elections ‘soonest’: Amid ongoing political uncertainty, the National Toshaos Council (NTC) on September 2nd added its voice to calls for elections to be held even as it reiterated the need for the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in matters that affect them. “The Indigenous Peoples of Guyana need to become more and fully engaged in all development projects, programmes and policies that would affect us. We need to know more on the Green State Development Strategy, what is there in oil and gas for us, what will happen in the event of an oil spill, what measures are in place to safeguard our peoples and marine life…,” NTC representative Mario Hastings said as Indigenous Heritage Month was officially launched at the Sophia Exhibition complex as was reported on September 2nd. Coast Demerara. Gentle, called ‘Black Hassa,’ of Lot 42 Golden Grove, also on the East Coast, had left home the previous night to attend a karaoke event.
Ex-cop wanted for allegedly trying to kill two women; Police on Wednesday issued a wanted bulletin for ex-policeman Teon Allen, who allegedly tried to kill two women two days prior in Linden. In the bulletin, the police said Allen, called `Spoil Child’, whose last known addresses are Lobora Creek, Linden and Wismar, Linden, is wanted for questioning in relation to the attempted murder of Denise Grant and Tiffany McBeth. Details surrounding the attempted murders, which occurred on Monday, September 2nd, were not released. Teon Allen
Roger Khan’s return postponed by hurricane: Convicted drug kingpin Roger Khan was on Thursday scheduled to be deported to Guyana but was told at the last minute that the journey was postponed, according to his attorney, Glenn Hanoman. He was not told why the trip was postponed and continued to be held at a Florida detention Centre, Hanoman told Stabroek News at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri on Thursday night. “He was (scheduled) but he didn’t make the flight. I don’t know what happened”, Hanoman said. “…I don’t know what went wrong. They didn’t tell him anything,” he added. Police Commissioner Leslie James said on Friday that Khan’s return had been delayed by Hurricane Dorian. Hanoman that when he spoke to Khan, around 7.30 pm on Thursday night he was anxious to return home.
Trial of accused in Robb St arson murders aborted: The trial of the two men accused of killing a father and his two daughters by setting their home on fire in 2014 was brought to an end on Tuesday by Justice Brassington Reynolds after what he described as “irregular contact” between an “interested” member of the public and a member of the jury. As a result, Justice Reynolds informed the two accused, Ganga Kishna and his former employee Avishkar Bissoon, that they would be further remanded and the case would be brought back to court at the earliest possible date. He then informed the 12 members of the jury that they were discharged. On November 17th, 2014, the Robb and King streets home of Hilrod Thomas and his two young daughters, Clarissa and Theresa Rozario, was set ablaze. While the two girls died the same day, their father died sometime later while being hospitalised.
Port Kaituma cook gets 23 years for rape of boy, 6: Leonard Albert, a 46-year-old Port Kaituma cook, was on Thursday sentenced to 23 years in prison for the rape of a six-year-old boy. Albert, who was charged with violating the child on June 12th, 2012, in the county of Essequibo, had been convicted in July by a 12-member jury.
GPL short of 23 MWs, blackouts coming: With a deficit of 23 megawatts (MWs) of power, the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated on Wednesday alerted the public to another round of blackouts, the latest in a string of problems to hit the electricity company despite its many promises of lasting improvements.
In a statement, GPL said that it “remains committed to supplying reliable electricity supply to our valued customers” but added that due to unforeseen occurrences and generation/operational issues, it was challenged to meet the peak demand. As a result of the situation, Chairman of the Giftland Group Roy Beepat announced that Giftland Mall remained ready to help address the predicament by supplementing the supply of power to the grid. This led to the new GPL Board of Directors saying that it had authorised GPL to move forward efforts to finalise a Power Purchase Agreement and also invite Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from other potential power providers.
City Chamber crafting response to US envoy’s caution on local content push: Two days after United States Ambassador to Guyana Sarah-Ann Lynch contended that the push here for local content provisions may make foreign investors feel unwelcome, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) said it was crafting a response.
“We are currently discussing the matter internally. In fact we spent all day discussing but do not have a position at this time. We have not arrived at position but when we do it will be made public,” former GCCI head Deodat Indar told Stabroek News, as we reported on September 3rd. On September 1st, we had reported that Lynch warned that the tenor of some of the ongoing advocacy for the local content policy for the oil and gas sector may make foreign investors feel unwelcome. Speaking at the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the American Chamber of Commerce Guyana Inc (AmCham Guyana), Lynch had stressed that with the development of a global energy sector, focusing on who owns a firm could be counterproductive.