Message of Brigadier David Granger, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, for New Year, 2014

Fellow Guyanese,

Guyana‟s ‘Year for Workers’ must dawn 1st January 2014. This country‟s economic future lies in their hands. Many of our working people, however, are underemployed and unhappy and are not as productive as they could be. Workers face unsatisfactory labour relations in the sugar and min-ing industries and in the public and private sectors. Artisanal fisherfolk, craftsmen, small farmers and miners found themselves in difficult circumstances during 2013. Life must be better for all in 2014.

Guyana‟s ‘Year for Workers‟ must be one in which our working people should be able to look forward to a good life. It should be one in which they could look forward to living in safety, to working for „living wages‟ to cope with the cost of living and to enjoying adequate social protection in their old age.

Guyana‟s ‘Year for Workers‟ must be one in which workers can feel free to join trade unions of their choice; in which collective bargaining agreements between their employers and their unions will be respected and in which the state will enforce labour laws fairly but firmly to protect them from adversity and from delinquent employers.

Let us, therefore, make the new year – 2014 – Guyana‟s ‘Year for Workers’ as we all work to-gether towards providing “a good life for all Guyanese.”

My best wishes for a happy new year to everyone!

APNU AT WORK

A WEEKLY SUMMARY OF EVENTS

KEEPING THE DIASPORA INFORMED

December 21 – December 27, 2013

Vol. 23

APNU calls on PPPC to make our roads safer

A Partnership for National Unity expresses its sorrow at the tragic death of Guyana‟s Chief Librari-

an in a road accident on Christmas Eve day. This even should serve as a reminder to all the Guyana

Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs of the road deaths of former Commissioner of Police

Henry Greene last year and Constable Shaquille Anderson and Assistant Commissioner Derrick

Josiah, during „Road Safety Month‟ in November of this year.

APNU reminds the People‟s Progressive Party Civic administration of the Ministry of Health‟s Na-

tional Rehabilitation Services Strategy 2009-2013 which revealed that road accidents were among

the top ten leading causes of death and account for the greatest number of disabilities. One thou-

sand, five hundred and sixty-three persons have been killed in traffic accidents in 2002-2012 and

over 100 have already been killed for the current year, 2013 – a rough average of nearly a dozen

deaths every month.

APNU urges the PPPC to work diligently to achieve the objectives of the UN‟s Global Decade of Ac-

tion for Road Safety 2011-2020 and Guyana National Road Safety Council‟s National Road Safety

Strategy for 2013-2020. The PPPC can save lives and prevent injuries by taken the following steps:

Road safety: Implementation of measures to ensure that roads that run through heavily pop-

ulated villages are better lit at night, provided with sidewalks and are unencumbered by

vendors‟ stalls, stray dogs, farm animals and parked or broken-down vehicles. The surface

of the main roadways – East and West Berbice, East and West Demerara and Linden-

Soesdyke – which have deteriorated must be repaired.

Human Safety: Improvement of the safety of most vulnerable road users – pedestrians, bicy-

cles and motorcyclists. Some drivers of commercial vehicles and minibuses simply do not

have the discipline, skill, experience or temperament to be entrusted with responsibility for

human lives on public roads. Many display aggressive behavior and poor road discipline by

driving under the influence of alcohol. Measures must be taken to disqualify incompetent

and incorrigible persons from driving taxis and buses.

Vehicle safety: Inspection of newly-imported motor vehicles must be carried out to ensure that

the minimum global safety accessories and features are adopted. There are now about

80,000 vehicles on Guyana‟s roadways and their safety performance must be rigorously re-

assessed.

Road safety management: Increased and sustained enforcement of road safety laws and

standards is necessary to improve road user behaviour. Police enforcement operations such

as „Operation Safeway‟ and „Operation Road Order‟ quickly degenerated into the arrests of

hundreds of petty offenders without stopping the spiraling toll of fatalities. Responses of ex-

cessive on the roadways should also include patrolling high-risk zones by day and night; en-

forcing lowing speed limits whenever pubic roads run through populous rural communities;

ensuring that minibuses and other commercial vehicles carry the lawful complement of car-

go or passengers; banning distracting music and movies from minibuses and prohibiting

the sale of intoxicating beverages in or near public transportation terminals.

Human safety response: Introduction of improved emergency care and pre-hospital services for

victims of accidents by establishing a national ambulance service and training a corps of

first responder emergency care assistants.

Guyana‟s ranking by fatality rates per 100,000 resulting from traffic accidents compared with oth-

er Anglophone Caribbean countries: The Bahamas (13.7); Barbados (7.3); Belize(16.4); Jamaica

(11.6) and Trinidad and Tobago (16.7) – is a disgrace. Guyana, at 27.8 deaths per 100,000 in-

habitants, is the worst by a wide margin. Better must be done.

Administration playing politics with police careers- Promotions pushed back to February Kaieteur News, December 25, 2013 By Dale Andrews The wait will continue indefinitely for the hard-working police ranks who are desperate for promo-tions. Indications point to no promotions being announced at the beginning of the year, as is cus-tomary. The reason being touted is the absence of the Police Service Commission. While the Police Service Commission (PSC) is responsible for the promotion and other matters related directly to the senior ranks of the force, the junior promotions will suffer, since there will hardly be room for their upward mobility if the vacancies are not created at the top of the Force‟s administration. Without the Police Service Commission there can be no promotions from Inspectors up to Assis-tant Commissioners of Police. This will come as a major disappointment to several ranks, both senior and junior, many of whom have been stagnated in one position for several years. “The junior Promotion Board has already met and finalized the promotions, but the commissioner is not too keen on making that announce-ment in the absence of the senior ranks‟ promotions,” a senior police source told Kaieteur News. This newspaper has been making repeated enquiries about the establishment of the PSC, but the responses have been less than satisfactory from senior government officials who are directly or in-directly responsible. Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon had indicated at one of his Press Conferences that the ad-ministration was looking at the establishment of several Commissions, the PSC being one of them, when the question was posed to him. A month ago, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had promised a press conference to deal with the establishment of the PSC and other matters – of course that engagement never came off, although he regularly hosts his Party‟s media conference. “These people are playing with our careers,” one Police Officer lamented. Officers of the Guyana Police Force are worried that the situation that occurred in 1999 when there was no Police Service Commission (PSC), could visit them again. The Police Officers are hoping that that situation, which resulted in no police promotions for three years, would not reoccur, especially since there appears to be no urgency on the part of the administration to deal with the issue. “For a year now there has been no movement, and it is okay to assume that no work has been done since the Chair-man died,” a senior officer of the Guyana Police Force said. The last Commission was chaired by Dennis Morgan who subsequently died in November 2012 while serving in that capacity. The Police Service Commission, a five-man body, was rendered inactive following his death.

Kaieteur News understands that in light of the imminent delay in the establishment of the PSC, the

administration of the Guyana Police Force is hoping to announce its promotions by next February

to coincide with the country‟s 44th Republic anniversary.

“Unless something dramatic occurs, like the fast tracking of the PSC, there will be no promotions until maybe February,” the senior police officer stated. Some ranks have been stagnant in one posi-tion for long periods, some as long as 20 years without promotion. It was explained that some ranks have pending disciplinary matters that are hampering their advancement. However, it was pointed out that constables will receive automatic promotion once they have served 15 years or more and have no pending disciplinary matters. One worrying factor is the apparent lack of objective criteria whereby ranks, particularly gazetted officers, are evaluated for advancement in the GPF. Anecdotal evidence suggests that among the reasons persons are not promoted, are to be found in two principal areas, namely (i) pending disci-plinary matter(s); and(ii) adverse annual confidential report(s). However, it is not unknown that favoured officers have been beneficiaries of promotions, sometimes to the extent of superseding more worthy candidates. Some of these (un)worthy things have been given a free ride, never hav-ing experienced the travails of professional policing. The other side of that coin is that those officers, who find themselves in disfavour, are stagnated sometimes to the point of opting to resign in circumstances that can aptly be described as con-structive dismissal, or to not rock the boat and go with the flow until retirement, so as not to jeop-ardise their retirement benefits. Two such cases come to mind, where until her retirement, the most senior of Assistant Superintendents was passed over for promotion for more than 10 years. The other instance is where the most senior of Superintendents has been consistently superseded by persons less experienced/qualified for a number of years. The ostensible reason is that there are pending disciplinary matters against both of these officers. The fact that these people‟s right to a hearing has been violated, contrary to the principles of natu-ral justice, seems not to have made any impression on the force‟s administration. “To regularly raise the spectre of disciplinary inquiries whenever the time approaches for the PSC to consider promotions recommendations, reeks of vindictiveness sheltering in an unstructured, opaque and disorganized process,” one male observer pointed out. He noted that many of those promoted to their level of incompetence are prone to exhibit the worst form of leadership behaviour, including oppressive and tyrannical conduct towards subordinates. But of even greater concern is the stagna-tion of more than 40 cadet officers. In 2008, then President, Bharrat Jagdeo, challenged the Guyana Police Force to appoint 50 Cadet Officers over three years in a move that was intended to strengthen the officer corps of the organi-zation. However, five years later, Cadets, even from the first batch, are still waiting to be confirmed in the gazetted position of Assistant Superintendents. The reason being given for this apparent administrative hiccup is the lack of vacancies in the Assis-tant Superintendent bracket. Cadet Officers are ranks who have been earmarked to be gazetted officers of the Force. The rank is just above that of an Inspector. The Cadet Officers eventually become Assistant Superintendents upon successful completion of their Cadetship. Under what is being touted as the „Jagdeo Cadet Scheme‟, the first batch of 15 police cadet officers graduated from the Basic Cadet Officer Training Programme in 2009.

This group was followed by larger groups of Police Cadet Officers in the following years, up to the last batch of two in 2011. There were four batches in all that satisfied Jagdeo‟s mandate for the Force. But according to a po-lice administrative expert, there was no provision to accommodate the Cadet Officers into the ga-zetted police ranks. It was explained that the system could only accommodate a certain number of Assistant Superintendents and there is a preference for experienced Inspectors and Chief Inspec-tors to fill positions that become available from time to time. Jagdeo‟s 2008 mandate to have 50 Police Cadet Officers appointed and trained, has placed the Force in the dilemma of also stagnating the elevation of some categories of ranks. “The Police, in their haste to satisfy Jagdeo‟s mandate, fast-tracked the Cadetship Programme without making the necessary provisions. Now these Cadets are languishing in their Cadet position for years,” the sen-ior officer added. This newspaper was reliably informed that after two years as a Cadet Officer, once there is no blemish in their files, the officers are eligible for promotion to Assistant Superintendents. “We trained with people from the army and those guys have already been confirmed; some have even been promoted higher, while we are still Cadets,” one of the affected Cadet Officers stated. As a consequence of their stagnation, the Cadet Officers are being denied the benefits of their gazetted colleagues, including duty-free vehicles.

Greenidge accuses Govt. of buying votes with supplementary provisions Kaieteur News, December 25, 2013 “How will the Minister spend $500M in a few days when that sum is way more than the initial sum approved in the budget for an entire year?” That was the concern expressed recently by Former Minister of Finance, Carl Greenidge. The Opposition Member of Parliament is adamant that the $500M approved two sittings ago in the National Assembly for the Amerindian Development Fund has nothing to do with national interest. Greenidge described the supplementary provision as the most disgraceful one he has ever wit-nessed during his tenure as a politician. He said that it is being asked for to „buy votes‟ and for Am-erindians to campaign for the People‟s Progressive Party (PPP). Greenidge told Kaieteur News that both of the opposition political parties know that it is an impos-sible task to spend $500M, for “development,” in a few days, unless contracts are involved. Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC) Khemraj Ramjattan had filed a motion to cut $300M from a request for supplementary provision for the Amerindian Development Fund. This money was allocated to fund the provision of transportation, health care and education. This motion at-tracted a protest during that sitting. Some of the placards displayed by the demonstrators read „AFC & APNU will no longer get our support‟ and „We demand development just like any other Guyanese.‟ But the AFC‟s motion was unsuccessful as it didn‟t attract a majority vote. Members of Parliament vote resulted in the motion to reduce the provision not being carried in the Committee of Supply. On votes to pass the provisions, 30 members abstained, two members voted against it and 32 MPs voted in support. Greenidge was one who abstained.

The Shadow Finance Minister for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) called the request an irresponsible one on the floor of the National Assembly and was subsequently rebuked by the Speaker Raphael Trotman. Accepting the Speaker‟s contentions, Greenidge called for a justification in the validity, feasibility and acceptability of the large request. Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai told the House that the $500M supplementary funding comes on the heels of the just concluded National Toshao‟s Council meetings, which sought to provide a forum for Amerindian village leaders to plan developmental projects for their respective communities. According to her, it includes coverage: of transportation costs for school children using both the roadways and waterways; and costs to develop roads and access paths to promote trade and agri-culture, among other priority areas. AFC Member Valerie Garrido-Lowe noted the time frame of the submission, two weeks before the end of the year and few days before school closed. She noted too that the supplementary is more than the initial sum approved in the 2013 Budget, $392M.Greenidge told Kaieteur News that the government is using the money to pay mostly young Amerindians to Campaign for the PPP. “The government is telling us it is for transportation but for children. Yes, the money is being used for transportation but to transport people to come and picket…but it is illegal to use money for oth-er reasons that you state.” Greenidge asked why “the parties” would abstain from the vote knowing full well that the money is not going to be spent the way it is put forward to be. The former Minister said that his personal view is that those opposition MPs who abstained or supported have neither faith nor belief in the Amerindians. “They think that the Amerindians are not smart enough to know that the PPP is using them. The Opposition is basically afraid to antago-nize the Amerindians.” The politician said that he has confidence in the Amerindians and that even if they miss a trick once, overtime they will realize that they are being used to keep the PPP in power. He called on Amerindians to mobilize and take necessary actions “since the political parties seems not to have faith in them.”

Procurement Bill could be voted down again Kaieteur News, December 24, 2013 The Financial Spokesman of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Carl Greenidge has warned that the Procurement Amendment Bill will suffer the same fate if the government does not bring a different draft. However, the Government‟s Chief Whip, Gail Teixeira, had made it clear that there are no guarantees where the different draft is concerned. There have been several compelling arguments put forward by both Government and the opposi-tion over the contentious Public Procurement Amendment Bill. However, one thing remains a seemingly insurmountable hurdle: “the no objection clause.” It caused a heated six-hour debate on the second reading of the Bill at the last sitting of the Nation-al Assembly on Thursday last. It then led to a deferral but with conditions.

The two conditions are that the six-month deferral does not disturb in any way, the current work

being done by the Public Accounts Committee and that the government returns with a different

draft.

Both sides had however agreed that the period should be used for further discussions on the Bill.

Minister of Tourism, Irfaan Ali had elaborated on Guyana‟s position versus the International Fi-

nancial Institutions.

He said, “A perusal of the rules from the various international financial institutions indicate that

the main objective of the retention of the “No objection” clause is to ensure that proper procure-

ment procedures have been followed and further that the beneficiary country does not alter with or

modify any terms of conditions of the contract.”

“The power to review granted to Cabinet is specified with regard to its power to right to object.”

Ali asserted that the amendment should be allowed a smooth passage since “Cabinet‟s power to use

objection or no objection does not collide with or impair or undermine any of the functions of the

public procurement commission as set out in the constitution. The power merely affords another

layer of oversight by the government which has a fiduciary responsibility to perform.”

Greenidge, nevertheless, articulated that his collation is firm in its position that the government

would not be given its “no-objection” clause since they currently possess the power but do not ex-

ercise it in a fair manner.

While government insists that they would not let up on their responsibility, Greenidge asserts that

there continues to be complaints as it relates to the allocation of certain contracts as there contin-

ues to be several instances where contractors are awarded contracts and the circumstances are al-

ways questionable.

“In spite of the various complaints of favouritism and political racism, they have no remedies in

place to stymie this problem,” the Member of Parliament contended.

However, while there seems to be much gridlock over the controversial “clause” there seems to be

a place for common ground. Greenidge said, “The only place for common ground to be given

would be cases where the financers or the donors or a multilateral financial institution requires no

objection clauses from the government. In those cases, one would be inclined to have the no objec-

tion provision.”

“But listen. The truth is that the government does not want the commission because once it is es-

tablished, it will go back to the illegal contracts and the necessary actions will be taken against

them.”

He added that members of the public should understand that the deferral merely serves for the

government to discuss other amendments which will be brought to the Assembly on or before the

six month deadline.

“As far as we understand, the deferral was only granted because the Alliance For Change who had a

discussion with the Private Sector, held a meeting or discussion with the Private Sector and as

such, believed in the spirit of compromise that the government‟s proposal on the deferral should

be granted.

“However, APNU was prepared to reject it because we simply didn‟t see the point of them coming

back.

“They will have to come with something different or else it will not receive the agreement to go

back on the Order paper.”

APNU member, Jaipaul Sharma, had also said that even if Government is granted its “no objection clause,” the commission once established can review the $15M threshold and increase it, thereby preventing contracts of a certain amount from going to the Cabinet for review.

We are „fed up‟ of water pollution - Kamarang residents. “Our water is polluted and nobody seems to care.” Kaieteur News, December 23, 2013

This sentiment is shared by the majority of people liv-ing in Kamarang, Region Seven. During a recent visit to the area by this newspaper, res-idents complained that miners have been continuously disregarding the rules attached to conducting mining operations, causing the main rivers to become polluted. “This is a major problem for us. We use the river water to do everything- cook, clean, drink…these miners are dredging near the main waterways. All the waste mate-rials going into our water and it isn‟t safe,” a teacher of the Kamarang Primary School said. The woman noted that it has become an annoyance

that illegal miners are continuously setting up operations near the community, and are mining in a manner that is life-threatening to over 500 persons, the majority of whom are children below the age of 13. “We have been battling with this issue for a long time, but it‟s getting worse, and if it con-tinues, the villagers will be in serious problems health wise,” the teacher said. She added that the miners should at least cater for the children who have their whole lives ahead, and who are at risk for water-borne diseases. Meanwhile, Guyana has recently been selected as the only Caribbean country to be a part of the UN Water Country Brief survey, which is aimed at ensuring that the resource is sustainably man-aged. In this initial stage, 13 countries are beneficiaries to a profile study series carried out by the UN-Water Country Briefs (WCBs).

Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy was provided with a six-page Brief, which details the country‟s water profile; water-related investment flow, evidence and analysis on the state of irri-gated agriculture, drinking water and sanitation, environment and health energy, industry and wa-ter governance. This study has been implemented by the AQUASTAT Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), under the auspices of UN-Water, and with financial support from the United States Department of State. In addition to providing an overview of the countries‟ water system, the WCB is also designed to demonstrate to policymakers the value of investments in water resources. Apart from Guyana, WCBs have been produced for Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Oman, Philippines, United Republic of Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia. FAO repre-sentative, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul pointed out that water is becoming scarce, and that many coun-tries are pumping more than is recharged. She pointed out that it is because of this that decision makers and policy making bodies need to have access to reliable information to allow for the formulation of effective, corrective and preven-tative strategies.Thus far, there has not been a national overview of the water system in Guyana, hence the birth of the WCBs, which is expected to fill the gap in the water knowledge pool. Fletcher-Paul also expressed hope that this initiative will help to further increase political momentum. Meanwhile, Minister Ramsammy acknowledged that while the world faces this challenge, Guyana remains in a better position than the vast majority of countries, due to the local abundance of wa-ter. Dr. Ramsammy pointed out that Guyana is ranked among the top three countries in the world as it relates to water resources. “We have access (if we can harness it) to water that is over 300,000 millimeters per capita whilst most countries are dealing with per capita access of less than 10,000,” the Minister explained. However, he did point out that the irony of the situation is that Guyana can also go from having too much water to not having enough, almost instantaneously. He said that while water is pumped into the sea during the rainy season, “we would want the water back when the dry season steps in.” “ But we cannot take it back, because now it would be filled with salt and other things,” Dr. Ramsammy emphasized. Ombudsman‟s appointment only part of the task-We must ensure that the office is effective – Granger Kaieteur News, December 21, 2013 While the appointment of Attorney- at- Law and retired judge, Mr. Winston Moore, as the new Ombudsman come January 2014 can be seen as a pleasant sign, said Leader of the Opposition fac-tion, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) David Granger. But this is only part of the task, he said. During his presentation yesterday at a press conference held at his headquarters on Hadfield Street, Georgetown, the APNU Leader disclosed that as the laws command, he was consulted by President Donald Ramotar on Moore‟s appointment. And while his agreement was not required, he told members of the media corps that there is another important aspect of this situation which should now be treated as priority.

He said, “While APNU does not have a role in the selection of the person for the office, the ap-pointment of an Ombudsman after several years should be accompanied by a well staffed office. This is what the APNU wants.” The Office of the Ombudsman, he reiterated, must be well staffed so that “investigations can be meaningful.” And, “While it is not everything we would like,” he not-ed that “Moore‟s appointment is only part of the task.” Commenting on the issue, too, was Shadow Minister of Labour, Mr. Basil Williams. The Attorney-at Law said, “The role of the Ombudsman is to basically stand up for citizens. This independent body is also tasked with carrying out proper investigations on the violations of people‟s rights. “We don‟t want the office to become a “sinecure” (a job or place that is paid but does little to no work) which has been the case in several instances in the past and there is a danger of it becoming like that if we don‟t pay attention to it having an effective investigative capacity.” Guyana has been without an Ombudsman since Justice Sheik Mohamed retired in 2005. However, according to a public notification on Thursday last, Moore will be sworn in come Janu-ary 2014 before he assumes office.

Lethem trail bridge collapses Stabroek News, December 21, 2013 A collapsed bridge on the Georgetown-Lethem Trail has residents of Lethem worried about power supply during the Christmas holiday as fuel tankers are currently stuck but Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn yesterday assured that it will be fixed by today. The bridge, located some 20 miles from Kurupukari at a location referred to by commuters as Frenchman Turn, disintegrated after its foundation washed away, Benn told Stabroek News yester-day. “There is a bridge there that collapsed, the foundation wash away. I‟m told light traffic such as bus-es are now passing but heavy vehicles can‟t…a contractor is on the site working and it should be fixed by tomorrow,” Benn said. He noted that he had received a phone call from the Lethem Power Company informing him that it only had one day‟s fuel remaining and that trucks with fuel were stalled at the broken bridge. How-ever, he said that the contractor was working feverishly to have the bridge fixed by this afternoon. Residents yesterday lamented to Stabroek News that coping with a dark Christmas was not some-thing they want as throughout the year they have struggled with power woes. They said that not only the bridge the Public Works Ministry should fix but that when it rains vari-ous points on the road itself are so deplorable that they have to disembark the buses and trudge through the muddy slush.

“5 percent growth does not tell us anything”- Basil Williams Kaieteur News, December 21, 2013 While the government recently boasted of the economy having an almost five percent growth, de-spite harsh global conditions, Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. David Granger, says that this can most certainly be a reflection of “jobless growth.” At a recent press con-ference, the politician contended that while it is possible for this situation to be true and some may argue that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a good means to measure the macro-economic health of the economy, the reality is that “we live micro lives and there are a lot of poor people at the bottom who are not benefitting from the revenues from timber, gold and rice. “It is those people that the APNU are concerned about. They are the ones who suffer from a de-graded health and education system, despite high flyers who can afford private schools while the bulk of the people attend poor schools. In APNU we have always fought for equitable living stand-ards for our people and that is what we want.” Shadow Minister of Labour, Basil Williams said, “The Minister of Finance (Dr. Ashni Singh) is al-ways looking at macroeconomics but when you look at the income distribution, you would see right away that it is skewed, especially when one considers who are the ones receiving US$2,000 as their salary.” Williams also contended that while there can be an almost five percent growth, it could only be the “cabals enjoying that while the people who are actually doing the hard work get nothing.” He noted too that the five percent growth, “Does not tell us anything. We need to look and see how the people live, how they exist and under what conditions.”

Granger disagrees with govt‟s withdrawal from democracy pro-ject Guyana Times, December 21, 2013 The A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) on Friday expressed disappointment in the govern-ment‟s move to reject the 2012 United States Agency for International Development (USAID) pro-ject.The US$13.1 million Leadership and Democracy (LEAD) project was designed to advance de-velopment in health, economic growth, and democracy and governance. The government rejected both the design and the project, citing its non-involvement in the process and flaws in the pro-gramme. However, APNU Chairman, retired Brigadier David Granger said the government‟s decision to pull out comes as no surprise to the opposition. “I don‟t understand the mind of the government, but this is not the first time that they would have rejected assistance; the most notorious case is when the country signed a 3.5 million pound sterling agreement with the United Kingdom government and then they rejected it,” Granger told reporters. In October 2009, the Security Sector Reform Project with the UK collapsed following differences between the two countries. The leader of the opposition also alluded to the National Drug Strategy Master Plan which expired approximately two years ago.

Turning his attent ion back to the USAID project , Granger said the People‟s Pro-gressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)) administrat ion should put the c it izens of Guyana f irst , posit ing that the USAID project was s imply designed to foster growth in the country, with major emphasis being placed on the young. “APNU‟s posit ion is that they should have accepted the programme, because it is for the benef it of the people.”

Flawed

Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, in explaining government‟s reject ion of the project , had said: “The project that habitual ly and convent ional ly is an en-gagement between Guyana and its development partner USAID – this one in 2012 departed f rom that convent ion. First ly , we were presented with an agree-ment to sign, over which we had zero contr ibution. Secondly, when we off ic ial ly got the design, there was considerable object ion, as far as the administrat ion was concerned. This design would have never ever been provided for in any bi-lateral relat ionship; as a consequence, it was rejected.”

The Cabinet secretary added that the design al lowed for the involvement of USAID in the nat ional l i fe and pol it ics of Guyana.

APNU executive member Basil Wil l iams, in supporting the sent iments of the co-al it ion ‟s chairman, said he could not comprehend why the government would re-ject a project that sought to educate the Guyanese public on the local govern-ment electoral process.

Other components

In addit ion to strengthening Guyana‟s electoral process , the project would sup-port the legislature in maximising the effect iveness of its exist ing website and the use of other technology in the National Assembly.

This may include l ive broadcasts of proceedings to better inform cit izens, br ing-ing the Nat ional Assembly closer to the public and encouraging greater publ ic involvement . Project act iv it ies would have also included consultat ions, drawing on internat ional experts , the public , members of pol i t ical part ies, and repre-sentatives of Parl iament.

Key reform issues and agendas to be addressed included needed reforms to the Guyana Elect ions Commission, reform of the Const itution, local elect ion pol i-c ies, decentral isat ion, and pol it ical party f inancing.

The project was also expected to bui ld capacity within the pol it ical part ies and support the holding of local government elect ions, as wel l as women and youth pol it ical leadership.

On Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Guyana D Brent Hardt , in another sect ion of the media, disclosed that the project would be implemented, while denying the government‟s claim that it had zero input. The U.S. embassy released a ser ies of correspondence showing the act ive involvement of the government from the start , the art icle stated.

“We wil l engage with those stakeholders who wish to engage… We wil l continue to work in that spirit . We hope the government wil l f ind a way to work with us,” the U.S. ambassador was quoted as saying.

Taking a closer look at the Private Sector Commission Kaieteur News, December 21, 2013 [Letter] Dear Editor, Seeing allegations by the opposition in the media that the Private Sector Commission (PSC) be-haves more like an arm of the government rather than a non-governmental organisation and re-cently voted down PSC‟s anti-money laundering petition, I decided to examine its structure to see what the private sector stands for and who its corporate members and functionaries are. This in effect could give credibility to the opposition‟s allegation that this is not a private sector organisa-tion which caters to the needs of the private sector. The corporate members of the Private Sector Commission on their website are:

1. Banks DIH and their representative to the PSC is Ramesh Dookoo. 2. BK International. 3. Correia Group of Companies. 4. Demerara Distillers Limited. 5. Edward B. Beharry & Co. Ltd. 6. Excel Minerals Inc. – a Brazilian company. 7. Grace Kennedy Remittance Services. 8. John Fernandes Group of Companies. 9. National Milling Company of Guyana Inc. 10. Neal and Massy Group of Companies. 11. Queens Atlantic Investment Inc. 12. Roraima Airways Group of Companies 13. SOL Antilles & Guianas 14. GT&T The PSC website is so up to date that mahadeo@gtt.co.gy is still listed as its contact person. In and of itself this list, on the surface, looks innocent enough. But look closely, quite a few members are definitely pro-PPP and others are known to be on very friendly terms with Jagdeo, so in a vote which necessitates criticising the government, this Private Sector Commission would definitely be pro-government.

To put it another way if I had a problem with the government and I had to approach this Private Sector Commission to get satisfaction, I would not be confident that I would get it. And I certainly would not agree, were I the opposition, to accept any nominee from the PSC as impartial or inde-pendent on, for example, the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting. Additionally, the Private Sector Commission operates through certain committees namely: The Governance & Security Committee – of which the chairman is Gerry Gouveia. The chairman of the Finance & Economics Committee is Ramesh Persaud of IPED. The chairman of the Agricultural Committee is Mr. Beni Sankar The chairman of the Trade & Investment Committee is Ramesh Dookoo The chairman of the Social Sector Committee is Annette Arjoon-Martins The chairman of the Natural Resources Committee is Kit Nascimento. The chairman of the Energy and Power Committee is Clinton Williams. And the chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is Michael Correia. Also, incredibly, the commission issues positions on certain matters without convening a meeting. So again, if one were to look carefully at these people, with very few exceptions, one is looking at a list of companies which are doing very well in Guyana, a country which is notorious for not having a vibrant private sector unless they pander to the administration, according to the opposition. The executive management committee of the private sector commission is as follows. Chairman: Ron Webster Vice chairman: Clinton Urling Secretary: Andrew Astwood Treasurer: Ramesh Persaud In Thursday‟s newspaper, Mr. Urling of “German soup” fame is attempting to turn us all into soup drinkers by telling us that there was nothing wrong with the Foreign Relations insanity of explor-ing the New River Triangle and that we must support it. Tony Vieira

Visit our website for more information—www.apnuguyana.com or follow us on

facebook-APNU GUYANA and twitter-APNUGuyana