Oil and gas
Deal inked for US$759m gas to energy plants: In what will be the country’s most expensive public sector project ever, the contract to build the US$759 million, 300 MW combined-cycle power plant and a natural gas liquids (NGL) facility at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WCD), was on Tuesday inked between Guyana and US companies CH4/Lindsayca. At the core of the project is a pledge by the government that power charges to householders and industry will be halved when energy is produced. Signing of the contract came after months of concern that Guyana faces environmental and safety risks from this sprawling project and should not be locked into an enterprise that will burn fossil fuels for decades.
Builders of gas to energy plants bidding with SOL to set up oil refinery: The two United States companies that have been selected to build the Wales gas to shore plant – CH4 Guyana Inc and Lindsayca Inc – have teamed up with SOL Guyana to bid to set up an oil refinery here.
Competing against the partnership of SOL Guyana Inc in collaboration with CH4 Guyana Inc and Lindsayca Inc, are three other companies and on Tuesday they all submitted tenders to the request for proposals that government had issued in October of this year. They are DRL Engineering in a joint venture with GESS, Freight N Cargo Logistics Inc and Berbice Green refining Inc, a joint venture comprising ARC Energy, Polaris EPC and Barson SG.
Governance
President unwraps major salary hikes for health sector: President Irfaan Ali on Monday night announced that effective from January 1, 2023, salaries will be increased significantly for professionals in the health sector with midwives and pharmacists attracting the biggest hikes in a package that will cost $1.5 billion annually. “In order to ensure that the public health care system is able to attract talented young professionals, we will be making salary adjustments to several categories of doctors working in the system,” Ali announced in a live broadcast which was streamed on Facebook. He said the adjustments to the current minimum salaries are additional to the eight percent across-the-board increase for public servants which was announced last month. Over 5,000 medical professionals are expected to benefit from the revisions of the salaries, increasing their disposable income by more than $1.5 billion annually, Ali said. The adjustments will see health care professionals, at the levels of doctors, nurses and Allied health workers, benefiting from increases in their minimum salaries varying from between 13 and 74% in the new year.
City challenge to legality of Local Gov’t Commis-sion dismissed: High Court Judge Navindra Singh has dismissed an application which had been filed by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), challenging the legality of the Local Government Commission. This is according to a press release from the Chambers of Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC, who along with the Commission were listed as respondents in the fixed date application (FDA) brought by Council. According to the release, the fundamental issue raised by the M&CC was that the establishment of a Local Government Commission (LGC) by Article 78A of the Constitution; and the vesting of power in it to regulate and staff Local Government Organs (LGO), and to resolve disputes within and between the LGOs; collided with and was inconsistent with Article 75 of the Constitution which provides for the autonomy of LGOs. According to the release, when the matter came up for hearing back in May, Nandlall submitted that it was always the intent of Parliament to repose authority in a Local Government Commission to deal with all matters relating to the regulation and staffing of local government organs and the power to exercise disciplinary control over local government officers. This, he is said to have pointed out, was evidenced in Sections 13 and 120 of the Local Government Commission Act 2013 (No. 18 of 2013) Sections 97, 114 (now repealed) and 118 of the Municipal and District Councils Act.
The release said Nandlall argued further that the legislature “in their wisdom to alleviate any ambiguity as to their intendment of the role and functions of the Com-mission, went a step further and enacted the Local Government Commission after the Municipal and District Councils Act, Cap 28:01, was updated in 2012.”
Gov’t removes New Market St vendors after standoff over caravans outside GPHC: Vendors who operated along New Market Street opposite the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation were on Wednesday morning removed by the Ministry of Public Works and Mayor Ubraj Narine has since met with them on a way forward. The vendors’ removal follows a standoff between the government and the city over vending caravans positioned outside of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). The situation took a dramatic turn at approximately 11:13 pm on Monday with Mayor Ubraj Narine lying in the path of a truck to prevent the removal of a caravan. He also uttered a statement which triggered condemnation from various sections of society. (He subsequently apologized for his comments but was later in the week charged as a result of them.) The government and GPH management contended that the caravans impeded traffic in the vital section of New Market Street while the city, through its mayor, insisted it had jurisdiction in this area and was never consulted about the removal of the ‘encumbrances’. The city called in vain for a meeting with the government on the matter. The government had on Monday given the vendors a final notice to remove makeshift stalls, sheds, carts, caravans, motor vehicles, and other receptacles used for vending, warning that failure to comply would result in their removal.
APA raps carbon credits scheme for breaching consultation process: The Architecture for REDD+ Transactions’ (ART) approval of Guyana’s carbon credits has set a dangerous precedent in the business as it overlooked the history of human rights violations occurring in the country, says the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA). According to the Indigenous rights organization, the carbon crediting process has violated the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana. “Having worked with several communities throughout Guyana, we were aware of their observations and concerns about various proposals and commitments that Guyana had made under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030 draft and raised these at the meetings of the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee,” the APA said in a statement. “Some observation that the leaders made were that no one consulted them on whether the communities were in favour of their lands and forests being included in carbon trading. No one had consulted them on whether 15% revenue from any carbon sale is what they agree to; no consultation was done on the mechanics of where funding goes and who has access and oversight of these funds, if the communities, may, in the end, agree to this transaction,” the statement further said.
According to the APA, they submitted concerns and recommendations to the government as well as the ART Secretariat, including that Guyana designed and developed its proposal during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a nationwide restriction on travel and large gatherings. “The decision-making forums of the communities were also restricted under the national system,” the APA noted. However, the responses they received were “vague” and basically disregarded their concern. During the verification process, the APA provided the ART Secretariat with information on the Government’s failure to comply with its standard such as its disregard for the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, respect for FPIC, and consistency with the objectives of international conventions and agreements.
GECOM chair says Local Gov’t Minister exceeded authority on constituencies: Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh SC, on Wednesday ruled that Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, has no authority to constitute constituencies in Local Authority Areas as he did in Order 50 of 2022. Under the order, Local Authorities (Elections) (Constituencies) Order 2022, amendments were made to the boundaries of Municipalities and Neighbourhood Democratic Councils. Opposition-appointed Commis-sioners had strongly argued the case that the minister does not have the powers to demarcate boundaries of Local Authority Areas and Constituencies and by doing so he acted in contravention of the constitution. Opposition-appointed Commissioner, Vincent Alexander told Stabroek News that at the meeting, the chair’s ruling was made based on a report from the Logistics Division of the Commission. “In the meeting based on a report from the logistics division, the Chair ruled that Order 50 of 2022 clearly cannot stand since the minister has no authority to constitute constituencies,” Alexander said as he described the meeting as the shortest in the commission’s history.
In the courts
EPA, Schlumberger lose court battle over Houston radioactive storage facility: Justice Nareshwar Harnanan on Friday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) breached its statutory duty by issuing environmental permits to Schlumberger-Guyana Inc. and waiving the requirement for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the construction of a radioactive chemical facility. As a result, he ordered the quashing of an environmental permit issued by the EPA on June 9, 2021 in favour of Schlumberger to permit it to construct a radioactive substances and materials storage and calibration facility at lot 1 Area X Houston on the East Bank of Demerara. The High Court judge also declared that the decision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to not conduct an environmental impact assessment into the effects of the construction of the facility was illegal, ultra vires, unreasonable, irrational for breaching the Environmental Protection Act, Cap.20:05. At the conclusion of the almost 40-minute-long judgment, Justice Harnanan also granted an injunction against the company to refrain from continuing the possession, use and storage of radioactive chemicals at its Houston facility. The injunction is in place until the company can legally obtain a lawful permit under the EPA Act. The ruling comes in light of a legal challenge brought against the EPA and Schlumberger-Guyana by residents of Houston.
Ubraj Narine charged for comments at standoff over vendors: City Mayor, Ubraj Narine and Opposition Member of Parliament, Sherod Duncan were on Thursday faced with several charges stemming from comments they made during a standoff over the removal of vendors from outside of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) on Monday. The charges include attempting to excite hostility or ill will on the ground of race, using a computer system to attempt to excite ethnic division on the ground of race and obstructing traffic. They also were charged jointly for Obstructing Traffic contrary to Section 61 of the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act Chapter 51:02. Narine faces an additional obstructing traffic charge. They were placed on bail for the cybercrime charge, and the racial hostility charge in the sum of $200,000 dollars each. In relation to the other charges, they were placed on their own recognizance.
Crime
Nigerian stabs State House guard, disarms another before being injured in shootout: After demanding to see the President, a Nigerian man stabbed a State House guard five times and seized a gun from another before he was seriously injured in a shootout on Carmichael Street on Thursday. Both the Nigerian, Dethiel Chimezie, 25, and the presidential guard, Constable Telon Perreira were in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH). The incident has raised serious questions about the level of security at State House.
State counsel, partner found dead in apparent murder/suicide: The bodies of a State Counsel and her partner were on Tuesday discovered in a locked Nissan X-Trail SUV at Canal Number 2, Belle West, West Bank Demerara (WBD). Investigators suspect that the man shot the woman and then turned the gun on himself. Dead are 31-year-old Asasha Ramzan of Enterprise, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and Peter Charles, 31, of Canal No.2 whose bodies were found in the vehicle which was parked on a deserted section of Clay Brick Road in Belle West. Ramzan, who was an attorney, was admitted to the bar in November 2020 while Charles was a barber.
No criminal charge to be brought against SOCU officers who detained attorney: The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has recommended that no criminal charge be brought against SOCU officers over their detention of attorney, Tamieka Clarke and private criminal charges against the three officers have also been tossed. A letter dated December 12, 2022, which was signed by DPP, Shalimar Ali-Hack was sent to Magistrate Annette Singh, discontinuing the private criminal charges. The letter was copied to Clarke. “In exercise of the powers conferred on me by article 187 (1) (c) of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana, I hereby discontinue the charges,” the letter states. The DPP also outlined the reasons why she discontinued the charges. Among the reasons provided is that the issues included in the allegations ought to be addressed through civil action.
Flooding
Food, water in demand as floods grip Mazaruni: Food and water were in great demand at the start of the week as communities in the Upper and Middle Mazaruni battled devastating flooding as a result of torrential rain over the previous week. Region Seven Chairman Kenneth Williams told Stabroek News the situation was severe in the Middle Mazaruni, with businesses suffering millions of dollars in losses. Williams explained that many shops in the mining district have been inundated. “From what I have seen in the Middle Mazaruni it is millions and millions in losses for the shop owners. I did not get to go up to the Upper Mazaruni area but communities there are flooded as well,” he explained. He stated that shop owners are severely impacted as this is the second time in approximately 18 months they are facing losses. At Pappy Show Landing, eight businesses are flooded with water levels at 8 to10 feet, Williams had previously stated. There is a similar situation at Tamakay Landing and Martin Landing, where four businesses are inundated while at Apaique Landing, 15 businesses are affected. “The surging floodwaters have returned with fury and vengeance. Many residents and more particularly businessmen are again facing another season of huge losses and deprivation…Many businesses at Issano, Pappy Show, Surinamo, Semang, Martin’s Landing, Apaika, Hymeraca and Tamakay are facing financial ruin because of the floodwaters that have invaded their premises”, Williams said in a social media post.
Politics
PNCR’s General Secretary, Treasurer resign: General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Geeta Chandan-Edmond and Treasurer Faaiz Mursaline have resigned from their respective posts. Both resignations come close to a year after each was appointed to serve in the positions following the conclusion of the 21st Biennial Delegates’ Congress in December 2021. Party sources have confirmed Chandan-Edmond resigned effective December 14, 2022, after a leave of absence. However, she remains a member of the party and a functioning Member of Parliament for the opposition APNU+AFC. Chandan-Edmond was appointed to serve as General Secretary of the PNCR on January 3, 2022 by party leader Aubrey Norton. Chandan-Edmond is a former AFC member but joined the PNCR a few years ago and was elected to the Central Executive at last year’s Congress. Chandan-Edmond took over from long-serving General Secretary Amna Ally, who resigned last year. According to party sources, no one has been functioning in the post during her absence.
Public transport
Vreed-en-Hoop to city speedboat fare to stay at $100 after President brokers deal: The Office of the President on Sunday night announced that President Irfaan Ali had clinched a deal with speed boat operators to have the fare for the Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop crossing remain at $100. Speed boat operators had been demanding a fare of $120 and staged a one-day strike on Friday which caused enormous dislocation and led to the government mobilizing boats and vehicles to assist on the crossing. The boat operators returned to work the next day, with some charging the $120 for the crossing and others $100. In its statement the Office of the President did not say what had led to the operators agreeing to hold the fare at $100. The statement said: “His Excellency Dr Irfaan Ali brokered a deal with the speed boat operators who work the Georgetown to Vreed-en-Hoop route to have their fare remain at $100 per person. “The decision was made after the Head of State met with members of the Demerara River Speed Boat Association at the National Track and Field Centre in Leonora this evening. The President committed to helping improve the service of the speedboat operators and the landing area while continuously aiding their growth.