In the courts
Gold to silver trio charged: The three persons who earlier this week allegedly attempted to smuggle over 240 ounces of gold to the United States pleaded not guilty to the joint charge when they appeared before the court last Thursday and have each been placed on $600,000 bail. Ian Jacobis, 44, of Lot 749 Plantation Best, West Coast Demerara; Shameena Ahamad, 52, of Lot 38 Roraima Scheme, West Bank Demerara; and Ashiana Salamalay, 34, of Lot 38 Roraima Scheme, West Bank Demerara, were all charged with the offence of exporting gold without a licence in contravention of Section 8 of the Guyana Gold Board Act, Chapter 66:01, contrary to section 23 (a) of the said Guyana Gold Board Act, Chapter 66:01, police yesterday said. The defendants appeared at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman, where the charge was read to them, and they all pleaded not guilty. Bail was granted in the sum of $600,000 each, with the condition that Jacobis lodge his passport at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court and report to the Clerk every first Friday of the month. Ahamad and Salamaly are to report to the clerk every Friday pending the outcome of the matter. The two women are naturalised American citizens and had attempted to travel with their US passports while Jacobis holds a Guyana passport. They are scheduled to return to court on June 18. On Monday, officers of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) reportedly seized a large quantity of gold jewellery from three passengers, who were attempting to leave on an American Airlines flight bound for New York, USA. According to a release, the operation, which was fully supported by officers of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MoNR), and the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), led to the discovery of approximately 240 ounces of virtually pure gold disguised as silver-plated jewellery, intended to be shipped out of the country without the necessary permits and declaration to customs officials. The gold was valued at over US$560,000. GRA said that the outgoing passengers were arrested and taken into custody and handed over to the Guyana Police Force as investigations continue, with a view to determining whether they are part of any ring reportedly smuggling gold out of Guyana without the necessary declarations and permits.
Banking
Central Bank made US$80m injection into foreign currency market: Government last week asked for the Bank of Guyana’s intervention to address a foreign exchange shortage here following complaints from local commercial banks at a meeting, and as a result, over US$80 million was released into the monetary system. “We have in the last week met with the bankers. We’ve seen a situation where we’ve had a short-term mismatch and we’ve asked the Central Bank, last week Minister Singh [Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh] and I met with him [Governor of Central Bank Gobind Ganga] and asked the Central Bank to make a major injection into the foreign currency market,” Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday stated at a press conference held at the Office of the President. “And this morning, most people said that the market is entirely cleared. Our capacity is strong [enough] to do this several times in the year. We don’t want the rate to appreciate too much or that would lead to another set of roblems, but we don’t want the rate to depreciate. We believe the equilibrium; the rate that is struck now, is right for the economy,” he added. Jagdeo pointed to statements made over the past several months where government said that it would continue to monitor the market and intervene when it believed it was necessary. Last August, he was asked about the perceived local foreign currency shortage and had underscored the importance of having an inter-bank market: a global network utilised by financial institutions to trade currencies and other currency derivatives directly among themselves. At the time, government was evaluating complaints that Trinidadian companies were absorbing large amounts of foreign exchange to conduct transactions here and in the twin-island republic. While there had been persistent complaints by persons in the business community about the shortage of foreign exchange at local banks, Jagdeo had said that when one considers the aggregate amount available, this is not the case. However, because there is no inter-banking mechanism, some banks have a smaller supply, he explained. “When I look at the aggregate amount of foreign currency, some banks have significantly more than their requests. In a foreign currency market, you should have an inter-bank market for foreign currency, and that is how systems operate in equilibrium,” he reasoned.
Judiciary
Judiciary’s ongoing flouting of time limit for decisions not justifiable: Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC last Friday said that the continued non-compliance by the judiciary with the law requiring decisions within a certain period cannot be justified. He issued a statement in response to a report on the online news agency Demerara Waves about an exchange in court between him and Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George SC on the time limits. Nandlall said that the “engagement was firm but respectful. Both sides expressed their different and disparate positions”. Recounting the exchange that occurred on Thursday during a Zoom court hearing, he said that at the start of the proceedings, the Chief Justice spoke of her hectic day in the Court. “Her Honour then proceeded to remark that the public and those who criticise the Judiciary for failing to render decisions on time are not aware of the magnitude of this workload. As I have done many times publicly, I empathised with the workload of the Judiciary but retorted that there is a law which requires Judges to deliver decisions within a stipulated time. What I heard next led me to conclude that the Chief Justice said as Attorney General I should have never passed the law. I pointed out that I was not the Attorney General who passed the law but I was in Parliament and supported its passage. I further posited that if the time frame is insufficient, perhaps consideration should be given to changing the law but there must be compliance with (the) law. Further, I alluded to the twelve (12) impending additions to the High Court, predicting that this measure will bring valuable reprieve. The Chief Justice expressed words of welcome for this assistance”, Nandlall said. The AG said that the public record will confirm his repeated calls for compliance with the Time Limit on Judicial Decisions Act 2009. “No doubt the workload of the Judi-ciary is tremendous. A reality of which I am personally aware and have publicly acknowledged. It is as a direct recognition of this reality that the Government continues to resource the Judiciary in every way affordable. Twelve (12) Magistrates were appointed a few weeks ago. Twelve (12) High Court Judges will take the Oath of Office before the end of this month. Advertisements are out to fill several vacancies at the Guyana Court of Appeal. Six (6) Magistrates’ Courts are currently under construction. A new Court has been added to the Court of Appeal building. Judges now have the facilities of Judicial Assistants and are further assisted by an automatic audio recording system. I can go on but I think the point is made”, he said. He added that the continued non-compliance with the law is not acceptable.
Education
Gov’t exploring e-schooling, voucher system for private schools in light of strike – Jagdeo: Vice President (VP) Bharrat Jagdeo announced last Thursday that the government is exploring the options of e-schooling and a voucher system to allow parents to enroll their children in private schools, to ensure that they receive a quality education. The announcement of these alternative models comes as teachers continue with their industrial action for better wages. During his weekly press conference on Thursday at the Office of the President, Jagdeo explained that the e-school system would allow parents to choose between physical and online schooling. “We’re starting to work on several models, this e-school model… maybe in the future if we have a proper e-school model, then parents can choose that rather than physical school… and we shall present it as an option to the parents of this country. Secondly, we have to, in the future, examine whether we will give parents a voucher to send their children to private school or not. Because if we’re spending $700,000 now per child, and it costs 300,000 to pay for the school fees for the child, we might as well give, in some areas, the parents $700,000 per child, and then let them pay for the school,” he said. The VP further noted that the government is also exploring ways to improve teacher performance and accountability. On this note, he highlighted that 30% of teachers were absent from school before the strike, and that not all teachers are committed to their duties. “We have like 14,000 teachers, and even before the strike only 70% were going to school so on every given day had about 4000 teachers who were not teaching… So you have to look at that… teachers do have to bear more responsibility in the future,” he said. The VP also emphasized that the government will not pay striking teachers and that they will have to return to work. Additionally, he touched on the notion of disallowing teachers in the classroom with just a few CSEC subjects. “Thirdly, we are not going to compromise on this issue… You can’t be teaching our children anymore with two subjects CXC. In the past we may have accommodated that… we will provide you an opportunity to upgrade. We are going to pay for your scholarship, but you have to study if you’re in the environment because you want better quality teachers. So that will have to happen in the future,” Jagdeo stated.
Cabinet decision
`Negro’ to no longer be used by gov’t agencies – Cabinet: Cabinet has decided that the descriptor `Negro’ is no longer to be used in the operational manuals of state agencies. The decision announced last week by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira comes in the wake of a controversy over the continued use of the term by the Guyana Police Force. The use of the term East Indian is also to be discontinued. In her statement announcing the decision Teixeira took a swipe at the opposition which had recently complained about the use of the word `Negro’ to describe an accused. “Despite being in government from 1966 to 1992 and again from 2015 to 2020, the People’s National Congress and the PNCR-led APNU+AFC Coalition, along with their advocate Mr. Nigel Hughes, failed to address the issue of outdated Police ethnic identification categories, such as `negro,’ which was inherited from British colonial times. These terms, while not enshrined in law, have been used as an identification tool since the colonial era and after independence. “The arrest of Kidackie Amsterdam on cybercrime charges prompted Mr. Hughes and the PNCR-led Coalition to suddenly raise the issue of ethnic identification. Their long period of somnambulism was finally over, but this newfound urgency did not extend to condemning the caller who demanded the beheading of government leaders and displaying their heads on staves by the seawall—an image reminiscent of the barbaric practices of the colonial rulers”, Teixeira said. Recognizing that many Guyanese find the terms “negro” and “east Indian” offensive, she said that Cabinet decided on June 6, 2024, that the terms employed by the Guyana Police Force including Immigration, and the health sector as forms of identification and epidemiological references to ethnic descriptions will now read as follows: Guyanese of African descent, Guyanese of Indian descent, Guyanese Amerindian, Guyanese of mixed ancestry, Guyanese of Portuguese descent and Guyanese of Chinese descent.
Flooding
Did creek diversions play role in washing away section of Lethem Trail?: Following concerns raised by Region Nine residents and commuters, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill says that it is too early to know if engineered creek diversions contributed to the recent washing away of a section of the Kurupukari/Lethem corridor. “I don’t think that I can definitively pronounce on that because the water levels are too high for us to pronounce on that. So cause and water flow… we can’t at this time,” Edghill said when contacted by the Sunday Stabroek. He noted that his ministry had dispatched a team which included Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar and the Chief Engineer to the area. The two had returned to the city on Friday but the remainder of the team had not, so Edghill stated he had not yet been briefed. Residents of Region Nine as well as the operator of a bus service which plies the Lethem-to- Georgetown route told this newspaper that they believe the man-made creek diversions contributed to the washing away of the road along with government not listening to advice on what should be done. They fear that if their advice continues to be ignored, next year would see a similar problem. “What was the technical analysis that formed the decision for them to make the creek diversions? What flood was it designed for? Were they adequately sized? And if they were, then why this overtopping during rainfall? We told them how the creeks flow and the current and energy but no one listens…” an engineer who travels the route questioned as he spoke to the Sunday Stabroek. “My experience aside, you don’t need to be an engineer to know that if you put bypasses and diversions, you have to get another way to effectively make up for that. When you divert creeks, it can cause flooding and landslides, sometimes not in that areas but at another point where that water should be draining. The ground will be saturated and it breaks away. Now it is flooded they will say God’s work and not because of their ignorance,’ he added. One Lethem resident, who is also a bus driver for that route, expressed his frustration.
Sugar
GuySuCo to supply interpreters for Cuban experts: Complaints from the staff of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) about the language barrier between them and the Cuban experts here to help resuscitate the industry will be addressed and they will be given interpreters, GuySuCo Chairman Paul Cheong has assured. The Sunday Stabroek was informed, on the condition of anonymity, that the Cuban workers have to use the Google Translate feature on their cellphones and it is frustrating them and the local workers. They are asking for an interpreter to be assigned to each of the four estates that they have been attached to. When contacted about the issue, GuySuCo’s new chairman told this newspaper that he was on his way to meet with the affected staff members. Following the meeting, he said that the issue was addressed and they will be assigned interpreters. A source told this newspaper that government “was under the impression that they were bilingual so there would not have been a problem.”
Earlier this month, an industry source had explained that a number of Cuban experts were coming to provide assistance to the sugar industry. This newspaper understands their contract is for one year and they will be paid around US$5,000 per month, a fraction of what other experts had quoted. There was no announcement that the team had arrived and had already begun working. Industry sources had informed that the Cuban team would include factory engineers, field experts, and technicians.
Governance
State has violated rights of Isseneru villagers – IACHR: The regional human rights body, IACHR has found that the State of Guyana is responsible for the violations of the rights of the Akawaios of Isseneru pertaining to collective territorial property, right to equality under the law and rights to health, food and water among other areas and has called for reparations. In a report published on April 24th, 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said On November 28, 2023, the Commission adopted Final Admissibi-lity and Merits Report No. 297/23 and issued its final conclusions and recommendations to the State. This was based on a petition to it from Isseneru and the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) on September 5th, 2013. On December 6, 2023, the Commission transmitted the report to the State with a deadline of one month to inform it on the measures adopted to comply with its recommendations. On January 10, 2024, the IACHR said that the State of Guyana requested an extension of 3 months to submit its response. On February 1, 2024, the IACHR granted a 3-week extension. As of April 24th this year, the IACHR said it had not received a response from the State in relation to the report. Isseneru and the APA had claimed violations to property, to equality before the law, to justice and a fair trial, to the protection of mothers and children, to the preservation of health and wellbeing, and to enjoy the benefits of culture, all of them protected by Articles II, VII, XI, XIII, XVIII and XXIII of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man (hereinafter the “American Declaration”), on account of the State’s alleged failure to adequately recognize, respect and protect the community’s territorial rights, its alleged granting of mining permits in the community’s ancestral lands without prior consultation or consent, its lack of protection of the community from the negative impacts of mining, and its alleged failure to provide the community with effective judicial remedies to counter the violations of their rights.
Police
Complainant against Dharamlall says police were `grossly incompetent’ in probe: Sarah Hakh, who had lodged a rape complaint against former Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall has labeled the police as “grossly incompetent and negligent” in their dealings with her report. Though she has not stated her next steps regarding the matter, Hakh said that it will not end as is.When this newspaper reached out to Hakh on recently, she initially agreed to provide an update on the matter, however, on Thursday evening she decided against this.
“Unfortunately I won’t be doing any one-on-one interviews… I will say that the police are grossly incompetent and negligent so this won’t end here,” she later told Stabroek News, adding that various media groups will be informed on proceedings in due time. On May 10, the former Local Government Ministry employee went public with her allegations of rape against Dharamlall. In response to the woman’s claims, the former Local Government Minister issued a statement denying the allegations. After being publicly lambasted by the Guyana Press Association for its lack of response to questions pertaining to the matter and possible charges against the accused, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) on May 13th announced that Dharamlall would be taken in for questioning. This was done, and he was later that day released on $500,000 bail. On May 24th, the GPF issued a press statement notifying that it had received legal advice stating that there was insufficient evidence to charge Dharamlall in relation to the rape and sexual assault allegations made against him. The legal advice, it said, was based on the fact that there were several inconsistencies and discrepancies in the complainant’s story. “There were also statements from several independent witnesses that totally contradicted the complainant’s story. These included alibi witnesses who placed Nigel Dharamlall in a different Region on the date that the alleged incident occurred in September 2020. “Statements also disclosed that Nigel Dharamlall is not the owner of the house where the alleged incident occurred in January 2021 and he has no access to same.