Education
Guyanese students capture top awards at CSEC, CAPE: Guyanese students have once again secured outstanding results at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). At the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and O’ level examinations, Alex Muntaz from Anna Regina Secondary School has emerged as the highest performer in CSEC, closely followed by Virendra Dookie from Saraswati Vidya Niketan in Region Three. Furthermore, in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), Naresh Jagnanan and Joshua Gulab, both from Queen’s College, have secured the title of top performers within Guyana. Beyond local accomplishments, Guyana has, once again made an indelible mark in the Caribbean regional arena as well. Muntaz has claimed the prestigious title of the Caribbean’s most outstanding student at the CSEC level. Additionally, Muntaz has snagged the coveted award for the most outstanding student in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) across the entire Caribbean. Sadiq Gaffar from the ISA Islamic School achieved the most outstanding business student distinction in the Caribbean region. Meanwhile Naila Rahaman from Queen’s College has been recognized as the most outstanding Humanities student in the Caribbean. Abigail Stephanas, also from Queen’s College, has earned the distinction of the most outstanding Science student in CARICOM. Notably, for CAPE, Jagnanan who is originally from Wakenaam clinched the title of the most outstanding student in the entire Caribbean. Jagnanan’s academic prowess extends to the field of Business Studies, where he achieved the highest recognition.
Tragedy
Policewoman killed at BV roadblock: A female police rank was struck down and killed at the Beterverwagting Police Station while performing duties last Thursday. The dead policewoman has been identified as Annette Abel of Vigilance on the East Coast of Demerara. Stabroek News was told that three motor vehicles were involved. One turned over and the other two were badly damaged. The driver of the speeding motor car that caused the death was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and was subsequently arrested. Several occupants sustained injuries to their bodies. The newspaper was reliably informed that another police officer was injured but the state of his condition is unknown. The police force this morning issued the following release on the accident:
Oil & Gas
Gov’t relaxed criteria for auction awards: With only two of the six awarded bidders for oil blocks here meeting industry standards, the government said the criteria were relaxed for the auction awards process but promised a thorough due diligence process during the negotiations round. “I don’t think they assessed the individuals. They assessed the proposals made. So that is how the due diligence was done; on the proposals. So, the consultants did that and then our evaluation team looked at the consultants’ reports,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said last Wednesday. “When we get to the contracting stage… this is where [it will be more vigilant], because this is where you have to talk about concluding deals, to deliver on what you put in a proposal, because your proposal was assessed. So, when you come to that stage, that is where you have to be more vigilant and vigilance has to be exercised,” he added. Jagdeo said that of the six awards, only the two large oil majors had met industry standards and implementing that across the board would have put local companies at a disadvantage. He explained it was why the government took the decision to implement large financial penalties in an effort to eliminate less reputable individuals and companies. “With the exception of the two major ones, which is the one that involves Total and Qatar and the ExxonMobil, every other assessment, for all the other blocks, identified weaknesses in the submissions. If you look at all the weaknesses you would not have awarded anything else,” he contended. “Where does that leave us? With these blocks unallocated,” he added, as he explained the rationale in implanting the huge upfront monetary payments that are tied to the contracts. “We made it clear that given the upfront fee, the risk then gets transferred to the bidding company,” he said. “Many of them have not had any major track record in working in not just shallow waters… They did not have track records but I answered why we moved away from prior experience… that would have excluded all the locals and we inserted instead a big financial penalty and a big upfront fee.” All six companies that had submitted bids for eight of the 14 offshore oil blocks that were up for auction in September have won an area and will now move to stage one of negotiating terms with the government.
Mining
Gov’t taking charge of Troy Resources assets, sharing small claims to miners – Bharrat: Having taken control of the lands and assets of the Australian company which left its Region Seven mining site without notice and owing royalties to the state, the Government of Guyana last week said it has begun distributing small claims to local miners. Minister of Natural Re-sources Vickram Bharrat yesterday announced that so far some 50 local miners have been given small claims on the site with others pending soon. In addition, sources say that the power generation plants on the Troy Resources Inc facility at Karouni will now be moved to the Onverwagt Power Station for use while other assets such as the gold processing mill and machinery remaining will be sold to recoup some of the funds owned. “We were expecting Troy Resources to restart production and to offset liabilities to the government, however, we know what would have happened to the company. What we are doing as a government is, we have identified areas in the former Troy Resources property and we are allocating claims to some Guyanese small miners. To date, we have awarded 50 claims to local miners,” Bharrat yesterday told a press conference. He said that the “process is being done by way of a lottery so it is a fair process. Many of them have already moved into the area and mobilized.” The Minister informed that it is planned that the Guyana Gold Board will establish a presence there so that the miners can easily sell their gold to the GGB. “In terms of the value of the property and what we would have acquired. Again, it is a multi-agency approach. The GRA (Guy-ana Revenue Authority) is involved in it. We know that the GRA would have secured a number of assets on site and in containers. The GGMC has taken over the site with the processing plant,” Bharrat said. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that his government accepts that it is partially to be blamed for waiting to collect on royalties from the company. But he was quick to point out that the company had the bulk of the royalties that was owed during the 2016 to 2020 period when his government was not in office, coupled with the facts that the company had already ceased mining. “I am accepting that we probably dropped the ball too,” Jagdeo told a press conference on Thursday.
Diplomatic
Gov’t says will not engage with `fact-finding’ mission from US: The Government of Guyana last week said that it will not engage with a `fact-finding’ mission from the United States comprising several state legislators, charging that it is biased towards the opposition and constitutes interference in domestic politics. In a statement, the government said that it had noted from publications on social media that a delegation from the US intends to travel to Guyana on Monday, November 13, 2023 for a “fact-finding mission”. Stabroek News has reported on the impending visit. A press release on October 26th stated that the team consists of US state legislators, civil rights activists, and entrepreneurs, and will be led by President & Founder of Organization World Leaders and former Chair, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, Dee Dawkins-Haigler; and former Chair of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, Rep. John King III (SC). They will endeavour to assess the validity of the allegations of racial discrimination and intimidation tactics and “shed light on the truth and pave way for a brighter, more inclusive future in Guyana.” In its statement last night, the government said that the delegation and the intended visit appear to have resulted from a conference organised by Rickford Burke, a Guyanese residing in Brooklyn, New York. “During the month of September, 2023, Burke organised a so-called “Conference on Guyana” in Washington, DC, to which the Government of Guyana was not invited but which was attended by members of the Opposi-tion. This one-sided engagement presented the platform for Opposition Politicians to spew concocted and fabricated narratives about the Govern-ment of Guyana, including their usual diatribe about racial discrimination and extra judicial killings, without any fact-checking mechanism and without the Government being afforded a hearing or the facility of a response. It is obvious that these jaundiced, baseless and unfounded narratives of these Opposition Politicians, unsupported by any evidence whatsoever, have influenced this delegation”, the government said. It charged that Burke is wanted by law enforcement agencies in Guyana for a number of criminal offences.
Bilateral
Mustapha says he’s disappointed at stalled Suriname fishing licences: The government of Suriname has not yet issued the 150 SK fishing licences to Guyanese fishermen, which were promised in 2021 following an agreement between the two countries, and Guyana’s Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha said he is disappointed. In 2021, an agreement between Suriname and Guyana was reached for 150 fisherfolk here to be granted licences by Paramaribo starting from January 2022. This is still to be realised after pushback from licence holders in Nickerie who currently rent licences to Guyanese and stand to lose revenue. Stabroek News made contact with President of Suriname Chan Santokhi for an update and was told by his public relations arm to speak with Minister of Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Parmanand Sewdien. However, efforts to contact him proved futile. Surinamese purchase yearly fishing licences for US$50 and rent them to Guyanese fisherfolk. Stabroek News was told that rented licences for 2023 were the highest ever, costing Guyanese between US$4,000 and US$6,000. Before the issue arose, annual licences were being rented to Guyanese for US$2,500 and US$3,000. Minister Mustapha, when contacted for an update on the matter, told Stabroek News that he has attempted to raise the issue at every forum possible and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, Mustapha said he was disappointed with the way in which the situation has been stalled, adding that it was a show of bad faith by Suriname’s Ministry of Agriculture. Mustapha stressed that Guyana supplied all of the documents and requirements that were requested by the Suri-namese authorities so as to have the licences issued, but that they have not responded. He noted that a “firm commitment” had been made and he will continue to raise the matter. In September 2022, Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a chronology of events leading up to the impasse after Suriname breached its agreement to provide the licences.
Crime
Williamsburg gunshot victim succumbs: Ashmin Mahadeo who was shot on October 1 at her Williamsburg, Corentyne house, succumbed last Sunday evening at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital. The 30-year-old Lot 25 D Williamsburg, Corentyne, resident was shot in the back of her neck resulting in the bullet exiting the lower area of her jaw on October 1. Since then, she had remained hospitalized in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. However, she was recently transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where she died yesterday just around 7.30 pm. Her relatives had said that doctors informed them that Mahadeo was paralyzed as a result of the injury. Her brother, Naresh Mahadeo, last evening confirmed that the woman had passed away, noting that relatives after receiving the news were heading to the hospital. He fiancé Neil Madramootoo, an engineer attached to The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority, was charged with the attempted murder of Mahadeo late last month, and placed on $500,000 bail.
Woman found murdered at Sunset Hotel: Detectives of the Guyana Police Force are currently probing the murder of a Berbice woman, who was found in the Sunset Hotel in Kitty with several stab wounds about her body. The dead woman, 32-year-old Romona Lall, a resident of Kilcoy Chesney, Corentyne, Berbice, had checked into the hotel with a man. According to a police press release, the murder occurred between 17:50 hrs on Saturday and 12:15 hrs last Sunday. On Saturday afternoon, Lall and an identifiable companion checked into the hotel and were given keys to a room. They were told that the checkout time was 12:00 hrs yesterday, Khersattie Bettencort, the proprietor of the Sunset Hotel, explained to the police. Bettencourt said that around 20:07 hrs on Saturday, the man left the hotel. The receptionist who took over the front desk at 07:00 hrs yesterday, told the police that she observed from the overnight sheet that 11 rooms had guests who had to check out of the hotel at 12:00 hrs. At 12:15 hrs, she observed that Lall had not checked out and decided to make enquiries. According to the police, the receptionist said she knocked on the door and called out but got no answer. She then opened the room and saw the victim lying motionless on the floor, naked. She immediately informed the owner of the hotel and later called the police. On arrival at the scene, the police said, they noticed broken beer bottles on the floor and bloodstains on the bed and walls of the room. Emergency medical technicians responded to the scene and the victim was pronounced dead. The scene was then photographed and processed by detectives, the release added.
Accident
Madewini pedestrian crushed to death by lorry: A 63-year-old pedestrian, Arnold De Santos, was crushed to death on November 16th at Farm Track access road at Madewini, East Bank Demerara in an accident involving a motor lorry #GAD 7213 driven by a 27-year-old. Police say the accident occurred at around 6.15 pm on Thursday. Enquiries disclosed that the lorry was reversing south on the eastern side of the Farm Track access road at a fast rate when it struck De Santos who was walking on the same side of the road. He was picked up in an unconscious condition and taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The body was escorted to the Memorial Funeral Home to await a post-mortem examination. The driver is in police custody assisting with investigations.
