The Week-in-Review - April 4 to April 10

Private sector, CDC mobilising aid for Vincentians following volcano eruption: Guyana’s Private Sector Commission (PSC) and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) are mobilising aid for St Vincent and the Grenadines following Friday’s multiple eruptions of La Soufrière volcano, which spewed ash and steam miles into the air, triggering the evacuation of thousands more from the danger zone. In a joint statement, which listed the items needed and the amounts, the agencies said they are seeking to supply as many items as they can to aid in the relief of affected residents. Among the items requested by the PSC and CDC are water tanks, hygiene kits, sleeping mats, a field kitchen, blankets, reflective vest, respirators with filters, caution tape, portable toilets and buckets. Director General of CDC Lieutenant Colonel Kester Craig indicated that donated items will be stored at the CDC Headquarters until they are ready to be delivered to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The relief packages will go either by air or by sea, depending on the developing circumstances of the disaster. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition, Joseph Harmon, said the opposition stands ready to support appropriate and necessary measures to provide assistance to the people of St Vincent who are affected and are being evacuated to safer locations. He called on the PPP/C government to put suitable measures in place to accommodate Vincentians who need to be evacuated and relocated. President Irfaan Ali on Thursday offered support and solidarity to St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and committed to supporting the island chain’s needs.

Health

Dozens hospitalized with COVID need breathing aid, Anthony says: Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony last Wednesday said that dozens of persons are in state hospitals because of the virus and many of them require breathing assistance. Up to that point the death toll had hit 250. Meanwhile, Anthony said that the Ministry is putting arrangements in place to have samples sent overseas for genetic sequencing to determine whether a variant is circulating in Guyana. Anthony said that the ministry has observed that there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases within the past two months in regions Four, Three and Seven and more infected persons requiring hospitalization in various regions. The majority of the patients, he said, require breathing assistance. These observations have allowed for speculation that a more deadly COVID19 variant is circulating in the country and while this may be so, Anthony said, Guyana does not have the capacity to determine which of the variants is being transmitted as there are several around the world.

Sputnik rollout begins: The rollout of the recently acquired Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines began last Tuesday with Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony and several senior ministry officials being among the first to get their dose of the vaccine. Twenty-five thousand doses of the Sputnik V vaccines arrived in Guyana on Good Friday. According to Anthony, the vaccine needs to be stored at a particular temperature so extra training was done with healthcare workers on how the vaccine should be administered. This has since wrapped up and the teams were deployed to regions across Guyana. The ministry is currently vaccinating persons age 40 and older.

Int’l aid

Canada, UNICEF in $495M project for vulnerable Region One residents: Canada and UNICEF last Thursday announced a three-year $495 million project geared to provide services to vulnerable residents of Region One (Barima/ Waini). Following a recent visit to Region 1 by Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mark K. Berman and UNICEF Country Representative Nicolas Pron, both organizations have signed to the threeyear CAD$3M project that will tackle some of the concerns expressed by stakeholders in the Region. On Tuesday 23rd March, 2021, Berman, Pron and their teams held several meetings with the Region One authorities during a visit to Mabaruma, to better understand the living situation of children, women, other residents and migrants in the area.

Cheap gas power can be real breakthrough but confirming studies imperative – Floyd Haynes: If Guyana can get the approximate US seven cents per KWH projected for electricity from the gas-to-shore

project, it should grasp the opportunity as this could be the catalyst for broad economic development but the suppositions must be underpinned by robust studies, financial analyst Floyd Haynes says. As the debate on the planned project continues, Haynes argues that natural gas at half the cost of Guyana’s current Heavy Fuel Oil rate cannot only reduce environmental pollution significantly but the benefits derived would serve as spin-offs and will also provide a boost for other developmental areas. “The cost using HFO (Heavy Fuel Oil) is [US] 14 cents, using gas it’s [US] 7 cents. This cost includes Operations and Maintenance as well as Capital costs. When you control for these two costs, meaning you take those two numbers out, you find the current cost would be somewhere around [US] 10.7 cents for Heavy Fuel Oil and [3.4 cents] using natural gas,” Haynes told Stabroek News in an interview. “While the ultimate goal is to move towards renewables, we are not there yet and we have to work with what we have. In terms of what we have, this is much cleaner than what we currently have…I think from a pure economic analysis, it is a viable project, if we can pull it off at those numbers,” he added.

Crime

Cops release Rondell Bacchus: Days after he was arrested for questioning in relation to the execution-style killing of gold dealer Ricardo Fagundes, Rondell Bacchus was on Friday afternoon released from police custody without being charged. Bacchus’ attorney, Damien Da Silva, informed Stabroek News that his client was released on $100,000 station bail just after noon on Friday after the 72-hours period in which he would could have been held without charge elapsed. Da Silva added that Bacchus’ release came about an hour after he filed a writ of Habeas Corpus in the High Court. The police, in confirming Bacchus’ release, said he is required to report to them on specified days as the investigation continues.

Police dismiss kidnapping claims: The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Friday denied claims of a recent spate of kidnappings as “misinformation.” “The Police Force is once more giving citizens the assurance that this is far from reality and that there has not been any report of any kidnapping received by the police within recent times,” the GPF said in a statement issued on Friday in response to reports being shared on social media. “While the call for neighbours and others to look out for each other is appreciated, the peddling of this misinformation about alleged kidnappings can result in unwanted tension, anxiety and stress in the society,” the GPF added. It cited a Facebook post referring to the claimed attempted kidnapping of two women and said it has been proven to be a false report.

Grove shopkeeper dies after bloody fight over money: A shopkeeper was fatally stabbed last Sunday during an argument over money at Second Street, Grove. The deceased has been identified as Trevor Alfred, 50, of Nazarene Street, Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara. The Guyana Police Force (GPF), in a statement, said that Alfred and the suspect were gambling at a shop located in Second Street, Grove, when an argument erupted over money. The report said that as a result of the argument both the suspect and Alfred were asked to leave the shop after which the argument intensified as the two began pelting bottles. According to the report, the two then armed themselves with knives and started to fight. Alfred then fell after which the suspect allegedly dealt him several stabs. Alfred reportedly managed to run to another street with the suspect in pursuit. They both subsequently ended up in a culvert, causing Alfred to suffer further injuries. He was later transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The suspect was also taken to the GPH for treatment and was admitted as a patient under police guard.

Swan man stabbed to death: A 24-year-old Swan Village, Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke-Linden Highway man was stabbed to death last Monday. Roy Ross is believed to have been killed sometime between 11pm on Sunday and 6am on the said day. A family member, who asked not to be named, stated that a neighbour of the deceased observed that a door of Ross’s house was ajar when he arrived on Sunday night. The family member said that the neighbour stated that the door was still open the following morning, which led to him investigating and he discovered Ross lying motionless on the floor in his home. He then raised an alarm. A suspect, Ewert Calistro, 23, was charged with the crime last Thursday.

In the court

CJ sets tentative date for ruling on elections petition: April 26th has been tentatively set by Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire SC to rule on the petition filed by the main opposition APNU+AFC, which is challenging the results of last year’s general and regional elections. The Opposition had filed two petitions challenging the results. Back in January, however, Justice GeorgeWiltshire dismissed the other petition after finding that the coalition’s presidential candidate David Granger was not served on time. The other petition on which she is now set to rule came up last Wednesday for arguments, during which Senior Counsel John Jeremie on behalf of the petitioners advanced that Section 22 of the Election Laws Amendment Act (ELAA) by which the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) created Order 60 for the recount of votes from the March 2 polls was unlawful. His advancements were, however, met with objections from attorneys for the respondents, who, in rebutting his submissions, said that the Commission was in fact empowered by the very Act to resolve the difficulties with which it had been confronted. Jeremie’s argument on behalf of petitioners Claudette Thorne and Heston Bostwick, is that Order 60 is “bad” in law because it was brought into force by an unlawful piece of legislation— Section 22 of the ELAA. The petitioners want the court to determine, among other things, questions regarding whether the elections have been lawfully conducted or whether the results have been, or may have been affected, by any unlawful act or omission and in consequence thereof, whether the seats in the National Assembly have been lawfully allocated.

Bradley Beal’s four-point play with 6.1 seconds remaining powered Washington to a win over Golden State in San Francisco.

Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, finished with 20 points — more than 11 fewer than his season average. Russell Westbrook — who recorded his 21st triple-double of the season with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists — notched six of his points in the final period.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry led all scorers with 32 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 23, 11 of them in the third quarter.

Knicks 133, Grizzlies 129 (OT)

RJ Barrett scored 20 points and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining in overtime as New York rallied for a victory over Memphis.

Barrett was among six Knicks to reach double figures. Immanuel Quickley also finished with 20 points, Derrick Rose contributed 19 while Burks scored 16 of his 19 in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Ja Morant led all scorers with 26 points, but the Grizzlies saw their fourgame winning streak end. Morant shot 9 of 18 but also missed 4 of 8 free throws as Memphis shot 61.8 percent (21 of 34) from the line.

Nuggets 121, Spurs 119

Nikola Jokic racked up 26 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds as host Denver built a big early lead and barely held on to beat San Antonio.

By beating San Antonio for the second time in three days at Denver, the Nuggets earned their eighth consecutive victory. Denver is 13-3 since the All-Star break.