Procurement
Gov’t insists e-governance contract is legal: Insisting that the contract was legal but not addressing key issues and concerns surrounding the US$34 million e-governance deal, government last week launched an attack on civil society group, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA). It also scoffed at the suggestion by GHRA to pause the contract and allow for it to be taken to Parliament. “The unfortunate but stark reality is that the GHRA is a sham organization, comprising a one man show, conducted by an individual who is highly partisan and who is incapable and unprepared to display any modicum of independence or objectivity in the public postures he takes,” a Ministry of Finance releasestated. “The Government of Guyana maintains that the contract with Veridos was lawfully executed, with an internationally reputable group, and is intended to deliver a product that will transform citizen experience in Guyana with the introduction of the integrated electronic national identification card. Once introduced, the card will enable citizens to interact with all government agencies and many private sector entities using this single unique and secure identifier, and will vastly improve the efficiency of service delivery to citizens,” it added. The release did not explain the procurement process utilised. On March 10, the government hurriedly announced the virtual signing of the deal with the Germany- headquartered Veridos with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) acting as an intermediary. To date the Emirates’ financial role in the deal has not been defined. Critics have pointed out that the deal is a flagrant violation of the country’s procurement laws and has been concluded without the requisite privacy and data security laws in place. A key feature of the deal would be an electronic ID card that consolidates the data of the holder, providing for easier access to public and private sector services. Last Monday, the GHRA called on the government to pause the project and submit it to Parliament. In a statement, the GHRA remarked that the signing of a pact for e-governance “without the framework legislation covering Data Protection being in place, is reckless in the extreme. Given the haste, absence of public consultation and threats to the integrity of personal information, not to mention the seeming illegality of sole-sourcing the project, the Guyana Human Rights Association… is calling for the project to be paused and submitted to Parliament.” The GHRA noted that Guyana is unique in the Caribbean at present in having no Electronic Transactions Act to take the place of the time-consuming and stressful paper-based procedures, such as registering births and deaths, opening a bank account, or registering a company. For a number of years, the GHRA explained, CARICOM countries have been holding serious consultations on Data and Privacy Protection legislation on vital matters such as terms of consent, data-sharing by government agencies, and the ‘right to be forgotten’. The human rights body opined that all of this is sidelined by a government dazzled by the prospect of “e-health, e-education, e-security, e-agriculture, electronic permits, and licence processing, etcetera.”
According to the Tech Transactions & Data Privacy 2022 report, published in the recent edition of The National Law Review, the GHRA said that “businesses are increasingly pivoting to digital service models that leverage the internet in place of in-person transactions.”
Cathy Hughes joins calls for pause on e-governance contract: Maintaining that there were procurement breaches in its handpicking of the contractor for the US$34 million e-ID contract, former Minister of Public Communications Catherine Hughes is urging the government to relook at the project, hold public consultations and have an open tender process. “I endorse the former auditor general Mr Goolsarran who says the procurement laws have not been followed. One would start off with [calling for] Expressions of Interests (EOI), then a public tendering process that would involve NPTAB. I think the biggest insult really is that there has been no public discussion, no public information strategy to explain to people and citizens how this would work, and to alleviate their concerns and answer questions,” Hughes, an opposition MP, told the Stabroek News in an interview. “It is not good enough to enter a contract and then just tell us that you are spending this money, and we don’t know the source of the funds and where it is coming from. We don’t know if it is a government loan… The fact that you signed a contract means you should have been ready to answer the concerns of citizens, if you really do care and find them to be important,” she added. Hughes said shutting out the public from a project that would see all of their personal and sensitive data produced on a card, without them knowing the details of how the information would be protected or shared, is worrisome. She said that the government’s actions speak to the “disdain” it has for its citizens. “At the end of the day, the fact that it wasn’t raised in the parliament is also of grave concern. And it really does, to me, highlight the disdain with which this government holds the citizens of Guyana whom it is supposed to serve and of course the Parliament,” she emphasised.
Politics
Ogunseye’s right to free speech must be respected – Opposition Leader: Though he has drawn broad condemnation for remarks that appeared to seek a military-led uprising against the government, Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton last week said that executive member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Tacuma Ogunseye’s right to free speech must be respected. Ogunseye made several claims during a WPA meeting in Buxton on March 9th and urged persons of African descent to be “battle ready.” At the location, he stated that his party along with the opposition will receive support from the Disciplined Services who “carry weapons because to me the institutions” are made up of mostly Afro-Guyanese. Norton yesterday told a press conference that he was present at the location since he was invited by the WPA to speak at the public meeting. Touching directly on Ogunseye’s remarks, Norton said, “the Opposi-tion believes that Mr. Tacuma Ogunseye’s right to free speech must be respected even though we believe that his language could have been better chosen. The choice of his language is his preserve.” He then stated that Ogunseye “accurately described the situation and probably out of frustration he went a little too far.” According to Norton, any attempt to “use the law against” Ogunseye will further “erode the guard-rails of democracy and add to the continued violation of the rule of law by the PPP regime.” He said that “the police must not continue to be misused against the PPP’s political opponents. There is a legitimate expectation that the police should investigate Bharrat Jagdeo for his alleged involvement in fraud and corruption as disclosed in the VICE News documentary. The nation awaits the police’s action on this matter of critical importance to the people of Guyana.” According to Norton, he expects that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) will take a professional approach to the matter as he is hopeful that external forces including the political party and President Irfaan Ali will not influence the army. Stressing that he believes that the head of the army, Brigadier Godfrey Bess should not have commented on the matter, Norton said, that the GDF needs to continue to be professional, however, “we must not fool ourselves. The average man in the Guyana Defence Force feels the pinch of the cost of living, the average man in the Guyana Defence Force, the African Guyanese in the Guyana Defence Force feels the racism, he might not have on his uniform and he’s in his community and he will feel and face the racism, so one has to draw a distinction between the army operating as an institution as well as noting that there are many individuals in the army who will share our positions but because of their role as professionals they wouldn’t comment.” Norton then said that members of the GDF often meet him and tell him that they are dissatisfied with the Guyana Police Force which is being “destroyed and used politically.”
Oil &Gas
US House Committee Chair underlines interest in Guyana’s oil and gas: The visiting chairman of the all-powerful US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith has underlined the need for expanding American participation in the Guyana oil and gas sector and to outcompete China in this arena. While both Washington and Beijing have been quietly jockeying for influence here, the US Congressman from the state of Missouri was not shy about stating this last week. Smith, a Republic and a businessman, said in a release issued by the House Ways and Means Committee in Washington DC that he had met here yesterday with President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo and had stated his interest in expanding America’s participation in Guyana’s energy production where US oil major ExxonMobil is the lead player. The release noted that Guyana is experiencing a massive increase in offshore oil production, a trend that is expected to continue. Chairman Smith underlined how America can lead the way in developing, extracting, and selling Guyanese oil and that this expanding production has the “potential to greatly benefit both the United States and Guyana, and help thwart China’s attempts to achieve energy dominance”. Smith made the following statement after the delegation’s bilateral meeting with President Ali, Vice President Jagdeo, and cabinet officials: “We appreciate the productive conversation the delegation had with President Dr. Ali about the American–Guyanese bilateral relationship. Guyana’s abundant energy resources have the potential to lift its people out of poverty, help power the world, and ensure more affordable energy for American families and job creators. China also is participating in Guyana’s oil production. America must be committed to outcompeting China around the world while strengthening key American supply chains, increasing U.S. production of affordable energy resources, and improving partnerships with allies in the Western Hemisphere and beyond. Our delegation’s meetings have shown how U.S. bilateral relationships in the region benefit American workers and provide a much-needed alternative to countries that might otherwise orient their economies toward China. An energy boom in Guyana can help American workers while also benefiting the people of Guyana and their economy.”
Smith told Fox News yesterday that his congressional delegation helped present the US here as a “much-needed alternative” to China. Guyana signed on to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2018 and this initiative has been a major concern for Washington.
Development
EU in $1.1b grant for sustainable forest livelihoods: President Irfaan Ali last week signed an agreement with the European Union (EU) for the implementation of a $1.1 billion grant that aims to sustainably develop forest-dependent communities in Guyana. The four-year grant will be implemented by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Guianas. According to visiting Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service, Helena König, the main objective of the grant is to maintain healthy forests and natural resources in Guyana by strengthening institutional capacity for effective forest monitoring, and developing livelihood opportunities for local communities. Suriname is also a recipient of a similar grant with the same objective. König is reputedly the highest ranking EU official to have ever visited Guyana. During brief remarks, König commended Guy-ana for its effort to maintain a low deforestation rate but noted that the EU has acknowledged that the country’s booming economy could potentially disrupt traditional livelihoods as well as intensify pressure on forests, rivers and oceanic ecosystems. She added that despite Guyana’s immense natural resources wealth, not everyone is able to generate sufficient income particularly remote and small communities where few job opportunities exists. This, she says, may push communities towards unsustainable exploitation of natural resources which can potentially lead to severe consequences for forest biodiversity and ecosystem services. “The EU has made sustainable forest management the one and only focus in bilateral cooperation with Guyana. Fully in line with Guyana’s own Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), we aim to support Guyana’s ambition to preserve and enhance the sustainable development role of forests as a key asset,” she said. According to König, the EU aims to increase the resilience of local communities and ensure that they have sustainable income generation. She emphasized the importance of working with local communities to create a sustainable environment. During his remarks, President Ali stated that he is pleased by the continuing interest and support of the EU in not only Guyana’s development but the region’s as well and expressed confidence that the project will be successful. He noted that over the years Guyana has been able to create a very delicate balance in the development and enhancement of forest communities when it comes to sustainable forest management. He said that the low deforestation rate was not an accident but by a deliberate policy and a strong understanding of the forest – which provides a global service to the world.
Infrastructure
Liliendaal Pump Station for $1.3b works: The Ministry of Agriculture, under its capital works programme, last week signed off on close to $2 billion in contracts and $1.3b has been earmarked for the aging Liliendaal Pump Station. Regarded as the “first tranche” of contracts from its $32B budgetary allocation, a contract to the value of $1.3 billion was signed for the rehabilitation of the Liliendaal Pump Station under the Guyana Flood Risk Management Project which is supported by the World Bank via the Agriculture Sector Development Unit’s Sustainable Agricultural Development Project (ASDU-SADP). The rehabilitation works will see the pump station improving its capacity to assist in the drainage of Georgetown and the Ogle, East Coast Demerara catchment. The rehabilitation works valued at $1,288,805,122 will be undertaken by General Engineering Supplies and Services while CEMCO will be executing supervisory works at $43.7M. At the signing ceremony, held at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Boardroom, the World Bank’s Resident Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Diletta Doretti said the US$6M loan, which is financing the project, signals government’s commitment to mitigate flooding within the city. Doretti said she was elated to learn that a local company was awarded the contract for the execution of the works. “The World Bank, in supporting the Government of Guyana, provided technical assistance with the development of a complementary master plan related to the Georgetown area which will be completed shortly,” she said. A contract was also signed with NP Investment for construction of structures at Palmyra, Berbice to the tune of $57M. Under the works programme, M Sukhai Contracting Services was awarded a contract for the construction of revetment along the Lamaha Canal. Works under this contract are valued at $19.6M. In brief remarks, Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that “As we are improving the Flood Risk Management of our country, we are seeing more development especially in the agriculture sector. This project will help the entire eastern part of Region Four which will contribute to the ease of flooding in these areas.” Mustapha said that the contract for the construction of the Guyana Laboratory and Food Safety Authority at La Bonne Intention (LBI) is also equally important at this juncture. With Guyana positioning itself to become the food supplier of the Caribbean, this facility will aid significantly in the promotion of the health and wellbeing of consumers. The contract for the laboratory was awarded to Anil Lalsa Construction. The contract is valued at $199.6M. In support of the Agriculture and Innovation Entrepreneurship Programme, a contract was awarded to Agrosol for the procurement of 100 tunnel houses, which will be distributed to youths in the programme. This contract is valued at $185M.
Finance
BoG issues updated guideline to bank cambios: Amid heightened complaints from businessmen about the unavailability of foreign currency, the Bank of Guyana (BoG) on March 10th issued a circular to bank cambios which is intended to crack down on shadowy transactions. Bank cambios will have to submit invoices against which foreign currency is sold to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA). The updated guideline on bank cambio operations said that the “Bank of Guyana is taking a number of measures to address the current Foreign Exchange situation. One area of concern is the importation of goods which requires a valid import invoice as set out in Bank of Guyana Circular No.05/2017. “The Bank is now requesting all bank cambios to submit invoices against which foreign currency is sold to the Com-missioner General, Guyana Revenue Authority for the attention of The Head of the Customs Department”. Well-placed sources say that it is felt that this guideline will expose shady operations that are accessing foreign exchange not for the stated purpose. The updated guideline is part of inter-agency work between the BoG and the GRA and is also seen as enabling checks and balances. While businessmen have complained about availability, BoG Governor Gobind Ganga has asserted that there is sufficient foreign currency within the banking system. The Guyana Association of Bankers Inc (GABI) through an invitation from the Private Sector Com-mission (PSC) met with the Bank of Guyana on March 6th to discuss the prevailing foreign exchange situation. GABI said that a number of issues were identified and all parties agreed to work constructively to resolve them. “GABI and its members are committed to collaborating with all stakeholders to ensure that every aspect of the financial industry, including the foreign exchange market, remains stable and efficient”, the statement said.
Census
Preliminary census data shows `significant’ population shifts – Chief Statistician: Preliminary data from the concluding Census 2022 have revealed significant shifts in the population, Guyana’s Chief Statistician, Errol La Cruez said while cautioning that data collected to date is in the analysis and verification process. “We have seen important and significant changes in the population, some expected, some not expected… but the information collected is a rich source of data that will influence development planning at all levels,” La Cruez, who heads the Guyana Bureau of Statistics related in a recent interview with Stabroek News. He could not expand on the preliminary findings of changes in the population due to the ongoing analysis. The National Population and Housing Census 2022, where all persons in Guyana are counted, commenced in mid-September. The census takes a complete count of the population and buildings of the country with the aim of providing vital data for developmental plans for the nation, as well as providing the private sector with information that will help in new areas of investment. Although the timeline for the completion of the field exercise was eight weeks, La Cruez noted they are in the process of wrapping up their field exercise. The extended period, he explained, is a result of challenging weather conditions and persons not being home at the time of the enumerators’ visit. All regions have been completed except regions One, Four, and Seven. Enumerators, according to La Cruez, have worked in “sun and rain, across all terrain: rivers, paved roads, dirt roads, jungle trails, mountain passes – to provide that accurate population count and crucial associated data.” “The reason for the delay was largely due to inclement weather conditions in regions One and Seven. The weather made it challenging to get through the terrain during the late December-January period. In Region Four, the weather played a part but it was challenging finding people at home to facilitate the interviews,” the Chief Statistician pointed out. With most people in the cityscape and outskirts coming from professional backgrounds, he related that the enumerators could not find them at home when they visited and returning to their homes was dependent on their availability.
Crime
Shot police sergeant dies at GPH: The 32-year-old Police Sergeant, Jermaine Semple, who was nursing a gunshot wound to his head after he was allegedly shot by his cousin on March 12th Linden, succumbed to his injuries on last Saturday afternoon while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital. Commander of Regional Police Division #10, Senior Superintendent Hugh Winter confirmed that Semple died late Friday afternoon at the institution.
Semple’s cousin, 27-year-old Fawazz McRae, a building contractor of Amelia’s Ward, Linden, who allegedly shot him, was on Wednesday charged and remanded to prison for attempted murder and the matter was adjourned until March 29th when he will appear again. Police enquiries had revealed that at about 21:00 hours on Sunday, Semple, who is stationed at the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), was with his brother Dervon Semple and cousin McRae at the Crown and Anchor Grill and Bar in Linden when the two Semples got into a fight. The police had said that McRae then attempted to ‘part’ the fracas between the brothers but a further fight then ensued between him and the now dead Semple which resulted in McRae taking out his .32 licensed handgun and allegedly discharging two rounds in Semple’s direction, one of which struck him in his head. The police sergeant was rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex but was transferred to the GPH and admitted in a serious condition where he died yesterday afternoon.
Kuru Kururu man found dead: Police detectives from Regional Police Division #4B are investigating the death of Brian Thomas, a 59-year-old resident of Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, who was allegedly murdered on March 8th, 2023, between 23:00hrs and 23:30hrs. Police enquiries disclosed that a 60-year-old unemployed woman, the ex-wife of the deceased, and of Kuru Kururu visited the Kuru Kururu Police Outpost on March 6th, 2023, at about 11:00hrs and reported that her ex-husband (Thomas) threatened to ‘chop her up’ and kill her. As a result, Thomas was arrested and placed into custody at the Highway Patrol Base pending further investigations. A police press release stated that on March 7th at about 22:00 hours, Thomas was released from custody, and upon arrival at his house, he observed the front door open, and the house ransacked. Thomas subsequently reported a ‘break-in’ at the Kuru Kururu Police Outpost and related to the police that his ex-wife wanted to kill him for his house and land. Then on March 08th, at about 23:45hrs, the police release said that a 30-year-old female of Grant Sand Road, Soesdyke, reported to the Timehri Police Station, that earlier that evening (at about 21:00hrs), she went to Thomas’ home to pay for a quantity of blocks which she had ordered. According to the police, the woman said that while standing at the bottom of the stairs on the southern side of the house conversing with Thomas, two unidentifiable men — one sporting large puffy hair, rushed past her from behind and went up the stairs and charged towards Thomas. The police said that the woman recalled hearing one of the perpetrators telling Thomas, “You eyes pass me…” The woman immediately ran out of the yard and went to the Timehri Police Station and reported the incident. When the police arrived on the scene, Thomas was seen lying motionless, face down with his head positioned southward and feet in a northern direction in the doorway of the second bedroom. The deceased was clad in a grey vest and blue short pants. A reddish substance suspected to be blood was observed on the right side of Thomas’ abdomen. Checks were made for anything of evidential value, and two 9mm spent shells were found on the kitchen floor. Investigations are ongoing.
