Major stories over the last 25 years continued….

Apr 05, 2019 News

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AIDS Alert! Guyana has second highest AIDS rating in the world
The South American Republic of Guyana has the highest progressions of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome [AIDS] – in the Caribbean, when its population and geographical size are considered. In fact, Guyana, by virtue of its growth rate in AIDS, is now placed just behind Kinshash

a in Africa which holds the number one growth spot in the world.
The Caribbean Epidemiological Centre (CAREC) – has confirmed Guyana’s highest rating in the region according to statistics it has supplied.
At the end of 1995, figures from the National AIDS Programme Secretariat in Guyana showed that 796 of Guyana’s sons and daughters had developed full blown AIDS. The report warned that there could have been serious under-reporting of cases. It is believed that the figure of known cases has topped the 1,500 mark. What experts have been doing internationally is to multiply the reported cases by 10 to determine the number of affected persons. If that is done in Guyana’s case, we could end up with a population of more than 12,000 AIDS cases, taking into consideration that some victims are already dead and buried. The latest report from CAREC put Guyana’s official rating at 1,800 affected cases with provision for non-reporting of cases at 400.
Guyana’s last country report on AIDS in 1995 showed 519 males and 274 females affected. There had been an increase in the number of cases during successive years – 10 cases in 1987, 62 in 1990, 105 in 1993 and 192 in 1995.
More than three quarters of the affected persons were less than 39 years old and 17.7 percent were 40 years old or older. 1996 figures show that a growing number of young people are being affected with dominance in the 20 to 25 age group.
While it is being said that AIDS would be more prevalent among homosexual groups, statistics show this is definitely not the case in Guyana. Heterosexual transmission is far higher and the rate of increase of AIDS is greater among females than males.
Females accounted for 25 percent of the reported cases in 1989 and 42.2 cases in 1995. Commercial sex workers are also among the high risk groups. In 1989 samples were collected from 51 prostitutes in Georgetown, and 22 of them tested HIV positive. A second study was done during 1993. It involved 108 persons and, 27 of them tested positive.
Demographic high risk areas for AIDS in Guyana have been identified as Linden, in which hundreds are predicted to die by the year 2000, Bartica, the Essequibo mining town which chalked up several cases last year, Lodge Village, Greater Georgetown, Plaisance on the East Coast

Demerara and Buxton village on the East Coast Demerara. Graphs from CAREC for the year 1996 show AIDS incidence vs deaths on chart 1. Chart 2 shows persons within CARICOM states living with AIDS per 100,000 population. Chart 2 shows Guyana having the most living persons with AIDS, followed by Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica and Suriname.
While there has been a decline in the number of known AIDS victims in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago there has been a marked increase in Guyana, an uptrend in Jamaica, and a decrease in neighbouring Suriname.

 

 

 

‘Success story at the Georgetown Hospital…Rare bone surgery helps Amerindian girl to walk again’ was the bold headline of a story carried in the year 2000.

Success story at the Georgetown Hospital…Rare bone surgery helps Amerindian girl to walk again
After being crippled for almost a year, 10-year-old Nelam Bunbury is now walking again, thanks to doctors at the Georgetown Hospital.
During a rare operation in March, 1999, bone specialists at the hospital fixed Nelam’s right leg, which was shattered in a road accident some three years ago. The injury left the damaged right leg some six centimetres shorter than the left leg. It was totally useless, and the girl, who is of Amerindian descent, had to be lifted by her mother.
But during an operation that even some private physicians said could not be done here, the local bone specialists brought Nelam’s leg back to its original length. Except for a scar on the upper thigh, the limb is as strong as it previously was, and Nelam is walking without assistance.
The surgery was done free of cost, thus saving Nelam’s mother at least US$3,000, which is estimated cost of the operation in Bardados.
“I am very thankful to the doctors and Mr Humphrey,” Nelam’s mother told Kaieteur News as she struggled to hold back tears. “There were so many times that I was disappointed.”
The woman Uma Bunbury, revealed that her daughter broke her right leg when a car struck her down near Friendship, East Bank Demerara.
Nelam was admitted to the Georgetown Hospital, where her leg was placed in a device called a ‘traction’, which pulls the damaged bones back into place.
Doctors had planned to put a cast on the injured leg after the traction was removed. However, because of a mix-up between a nurse and Ms. Bunbury, Nelam was discharged without having her leg placed in a cast.
At home, Nelam attempted to walk and this pushed the bones of the still fragile right leg up into her hip. The leg became shortened, refused to bend, and suddenly, the once-active eight-year-old girl was a cripple, who had to be fetched around by her mother. She also dropped out of school.
Mrs Bunbury, a single parent with four other children, sought assistance through the media to raise funds for medical help.
Her appeals were heard by the proprietor of Humphrey’s Bakery, where Nelam’s mother was employed.
Mr Humphrey assisted the mother in having Nelam examined by a private doctor. The physician, she said, told her that Nelam must be sent overseas for surgery, or she would be crippled for life.
Nelam’s mother said that with financial assistance from Mr Humphrey, she acquired passports for herself and daughter. Arrangements were being made for them to travel to Barbados for the surgery, when, by a stroke of good fortune, Mrs Bunbury sought a second opinion from specialists at the Georgetown Hospital.
In March 1999, Nelam was examined by a Guyanese bone specialist at the PHG, and the child was immediately admitted to hospital. Shortly after, Nelam underwent surgery, and when her cast was finally removed a month later, she was able to walk unaided.
However, the single parent, who lives at Friendship, East Bank Demerara, still needs financial assistance to have Nelam readmitted to school.

 

‘Former Assistant Police Commissioner awarded $1.8M for wrongful dismissal –name cleared after 16 years’ was among the many headlines carried by this publication back in 2002 that grabbed the attention of many readers.

After 16 long years, a former assistant Police Commissioner has finally been awarded for wrongful dismissal from the Guyana Police Force. Former Commander of ‘B’ Division (Berbice), Hilton Cummings, was on December last awarded $1.8M for salaries and other benefits owed to him from 1985 to 1998.
The Appeal Court also awarded Cummings some $60,000 in costs, finally bringing to an end a long and frustrating fight for justice for the 68-year-old ex-policeman. “I feel good about this,” Cummings told Kaieteur News last Thursday. “Justice has finally been done.”
Cummings troubles began on August 29, 1995 while he was stationed at Berbice. During that time 12 wooden boats that had been carrying contraband goods were seized at Springlands. According to Cummings, he sent an order from New Amsterdam that two policemen should guard the boats. Nevertheless, the boats disappeared.
Four days later, the Police Service Commission informed Cummings via letter that his services had been terminated “in the public interest.” “The PSC never summoned me for a hearing, neither was I charged with any specific offence,” he said. Cummings decided to fight to have his name cleared. Between 1985 and 1992, the ex-policeman made several attempts to be reinstated in the Force, or to be given his benefits.
His efforts were all in vain. In 1993, Cummings sued the State for illegal and unconstitutional termination of services. “I could have gone overseas, but I decided to stay and fight,” he said. But Chief Justice Desiree Bernard threw out the case accepting the State’s argument that Cummings had waited too long to bring the matter to court. He appealed the decision, and on March 8, 1999, the Court of Appeal ruled in his favour.
The Court of Appeal said Cummings was entitled to salaries and benefits due him up to the date of his retirement. On September 28, the Chief Justice ruled that Cummings was entitled to $1.8M being salary, benefits and gratuity up to January 31, 1988.
But the State appealed the decision, and Cummings was forced to file a counter appeal “for general damages for emotional stress, inconvenience and embarrassment.” Again the State lost its appeal. Nevertheless, no attempt was made to pay Cummings the awarded sum, and on August 28, 2000, he filed a constitutional motion in the High Court, and the Appeal Court ordered that the sum be paid forthwith.
The State made one final appeal, but this was dismissed. In addition, the State was ordered to pay Cummings $50,000 in costs, and six percent interest from the date of the Chief Justice’s ruling in Cummings favour. While Cummings is relieved that the long battle for justice is finally over, he still harbours some anger over his dismissal. “I still feel a bit embittered about the whole thing,” he said.
His ordeal also affected his family Cummings said. “My wife died two and a half years ago, partly as a result of emotional stress. After her death I found documents that indicated that she had been secretly fighting on her own to have my case heard.”

The risk associated with fire crackers came glaringly to the fore back in 2003 when we were forced to carry an article ‘Firecrackers: Eighty-five-year grandmother dies’ which emphasised the need to embrace a zero tolerance stance against the callous use of firecrackers.
Firecrackers: Eighty-five-year grandmother dies
An 85-year-old woman was one of the latest victims of the firecracker dilemma to which a zero tolerance campaign was reportedly launched. Agatha Clarke of 43 Second Street, Mocha Arcadia, commonly known as ‘Pepper Hill’ died on Thursday 30th October, 2003 at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she suffered a concussion to the head on Diwali night.
Reports reaching Kaieteur News stated that on Diwali night, Clarke was walking along ‘Pepper Hill’ when two youngsters who were lighting fire crackers and steel wool ran into her. As a result she allegedly fell to the ground while the boys ran away. However, as they ran, a neighbour alerted them of what had happened.
One of the boys along with another friend returned, and lifted the unconscious woman to the home of her granddaughter, Jennifer Simon, who also lives in Mocha. When Kaieteur News visited the dead woman’s home, she stated, “What I understand from the incident is that the night one of the boys was running his friend with a lighted steel wool in his hands spinning in the air. As they ran they bumped into my grandmother and she fell to the ground. I further understand that they continued running, but a man saw what had happened, and shouted ‘look ya’ll knock down somebody’.”
She further added, “The one that had the steel wool run away, and the other one turn back with another friend and pick she up in an unconscious state, and bring she to de house. I rushed her to the hospital right away. When the doctor examined her, she has a burst in her head. She was treated and given tablets and we bring she home.”
“While at home the night, she was very dizzy and the next day she was getting worse, so I sent for an ambulance and took her back to the hospital where another doctor examined her. He then told me that she has suffered a concussion to the head, and a stroke to the left side. However, on the fifth day at the hospital, which was Thursday, my grandmother died at about 7:00 am,” Clarke’s granddaughter stated.
Meanwhile, Kaieteur News understands that one of the boys was arrested yesterday; however the child’s grandfather stated that he is still at home, and that the information was incorrect. Nevertheless, this newspaper was not able to reach the child’s mother. Clarke who has two grandchildren alive will be buried on Tuesday 4th November, 2003.

It was found and reported on in 2009 that ‘Guyanese young men not interested in education to elevate self …development programmes provide opportunity for skills training – survey’

Guyanese young men not interested in education to elevate self …development programmes provide opportunity for skills training – survey
A survey funded by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) and conducted by a team from the University of the West Indies has found that young men in Guyana no longer consider education as a means through which they can elevate themselves.
As such, the team has suggested that the Guyanese society needs to find ways to encourage boys to participate more meaningfully.
It was pointed out that as it stands, women in the Guyanese society are more responsive and responsible for dealing with the issues of the family and community.
”It is apparent that boys lag behind girls in the education system, and by extension, the working environment also…For the adolescent boys, sports are a big ‘pull’, and in some cases it is the only activity that can bring young boys and fathers together,” the report found.
The team cited that an important concern arising from investigation has been the high drop-out rate among secondary school students.
The report pointed out that, between the period 2006 and 2007, the dropout rate for boys in Region Four was 16.30 percent and for girls, 16.33 with the total number of dropouts being 1336 students.
Several factors were identified as contributing to the phenomenon including: the inability or failure of schools to offer programmes that capture students’ interest, especially that of males; the influence of deviant peer group pressures luring some to fall easy prey to drugs and criminality.
It was pointed out also that unemployment and poverty among households have made it difficult for students to be financially able to travel to school and purchase required materials.
The UWI team also in their report, stated that the potential exists for higher levels of participation among young females, indigenous and poor via homework centres, upgrade of training facilities, mentoring programmes, career guidance workshops, resident camps and entrepreneurial support programmes.
It was also noted that ongoing development and expansion of new and existing industries in Guyana present opportunities for skill development and employment.
”As a result, skills training initiatives are recommended in response to national development projects in the following regions: Tourism, Chainsaw Milling Project, Amaila Falls Hydropower Project, CGX Oil Exploration, Crabwood Creek Drainage and Irrigation, City Directional Map, Food Security, Mining and Quarrying, and Agriculture.”
The UWI did highlight that over recent years, the Government of Guyana has demonstrated a clear recognition of the importance of developing the labour market, as evidenced by increase financial allocations for training and development.
In 2009, the Education Sector was budgeted $19B and of the total allocation, $3.4B was expended on capital projects while $15.5B was dedicated to operations of the sector, including $9B for wages and salaries.
One recommendation by the UWI team for maximising Government’s funding of that sector, is the establishment of a National Training Fund with Government contributions matched by the Private Sector.
”A variety of methods may be used for collecting contributions from the Private Sector, including direct taxes, payroll levies and a levy grant system…As a key intervention strategy to meet Guyana’s projected demand over the next three to five years, for some 10,000 skilled workers for major projects requiring both construction and operational skills. The Multi-sector Skill Training (MuST) Programme and the National On-the-Job Training (OJT) Programme, as implemented in Trinidad and Tobago under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education (STTE) were seen as best practices to inform skills training intervention strategies in Guyana.”
The group highlighted the fact that both the MuST Programme and the OJT Programme are work-based training programmes geared to providing employability and skills for sustainable development.

In 2010 Kaieteur News reported that ‘Govt wants to stop Kaieteur News Haiti fund — claims no permission was sought’ was as disturbing to the nation as it was to staffers and even those further afield.

Govt wants to stop Kaieteur News Haiti fund
— claims no permission was sought’ was as disturbing to the nation as it was to staffers and even those further afield.

Kaieteur News (KN) should be charged under the relevant law for failing to request permission 30 days prior to commencing a fundraiser intended to help victims of the massive Haiti earthquake, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
But yesterday, Publisher Glenn Lall said that someone is asleep. He said that it has not yet been 30 days since the earthquake in Haiti and questioned whether the authorities wanted the people of Haiti to suffer while bureaucracy takes its time.
He also questioned whether the other agencies collection on behalf of Haiti, including the Guyana Red Cross, the Guyana National Committee for Haiti Relief, the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) and the Guyana Chronicle observed the 30-day stipulated being invoked by the Home Affairs Ministry.
This notion was emphasised in a correspondence purportedly inked by Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, instructing Commissioner of Police, Mr Henry Greene, to engage an investigation into the matter.
It must be noted that KN has on several previous occasions raised funds via this newspaper for various other charitable causes without any intervention on the part of the police force or the Home Affairs Minister.
Several millions of dollars were collected through a fundraising initiative in 2004 after an earthquake in the sea created a tsunami which killed thousands in several countries in South East Asia.
This newspaper did not fail to respond again in 2005, soliciting millions of dollars again, after a massive famine overtook Niger, resulting in the suffering and death of several people as food shortage took its toll.
In that same year too, this newspaper had hosted a fundraiser for the victims of an earthquake in Pakistan.
Accordingly, efforts were not spared in 2006 to solicit funds to help the families of the murdered KN pressmen. Support was very much forthcoming amounting to several millions again.
The following year the gruesome Lusignan massacre also attracted a similar action by Kaieteur News. This saw persons again supporting a fund-raising venture unreservedly.
It was just last year that another fundraiser was engaged for the four sons of Mary Sandy who succumbed after being hit by a car at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
On each occasion this newspaper ensured that the processes were done in a most transparent and public manner.
Mr Lall said that it seems as if the administration has a gripe against Kaieteur News. Meanwhile, the fund continues.
This newspaper commenced the fund raising activity for Haiti a few days after the earthquake and has since been able to collect in excess of G$4 million from public-spirited citizens.
Publisher of this newspaper, Mr Glen Lall, first gained knowledge of this development some time after 17:00 hours yesterday when one Inspector Gerald Nieuenkirk, armed with the correspondence and his identification card, revealed that he was investigating the matter and would have to produce a report in this regard to his superiors.
According to the correspondence, dated January 28, 2010, Section 4 (1) of the House to House and Public Collections (Control) Act Chapter 23:02 of the laws of Guyana state: Any person who desires to make any collection for a charitable purpose shall make application in writing to the Commissioner not later than 30 days before the date upon which he desires to make such collection for a permit to do so.
The Minister in the correspondence highlighted that he had become aware that KN had not sought the relevant permission to start the collection of funds. “I am advised by the Permanent Secretary that you are not in receipt of any application from Kaieteur News to raise funds. In absence of such, Kaieteur News should be charged under the relevant law for this contravention,” the Minister asserted.
Mr Lall drew the attention of the Home Affairs Minister to the fact that Kaieteur News is not a person.
Following his deliberations with Mr Lall and two other members of staff, Inspector Nieuenkirk took his leave and indicated that he would return later this week to complete his investigation.

 

Kaieteur News was among the media entities which in 2011 reported that ‘Medical Council warns public against four doctors -Child sex-offender may still be practising in Guyana’

Medical Council warns public against four doctors
-Child sex-offender may still be practising in Guyana’

Child sex-offender Dr. Vishwamintra Persaud, who was fired from the Georgetown Public Hospital when his conviction on a child sex offence in New York was revealed, may still be practising, the Guyana Medical Council fears.
The Council has since issued a public warning against him and three other doctors, including Dr. John Austin, a Parliamentarian with the main opposition People’s National Congress/Reform. The others are Dr. Abdul Mohamed Hafiz and Dr. Abdul Wahab.
The Medical Council says that the four doctors are not licensed to practice medicine and anyone seen or attended to by these doctors should contact the Council.
Chairman of the Council, Dr. Sheik Amir, told Kaieteur News that Council has “verbal” reports that the doctors are practising in the country even though they are not registered to do so.
”This is illegal; we are doing this to protect the public,” Dr. Amir declared.
”The Guyana Medical Council is not here to be nice to doctors,” he added.
Dr. Amir said that since the Council has verbal reports that the doctors are seeing patients, it is the Council’s right to inform the public.
According to Dr. Amir, every February, the doctors are licensed and registered to practise in Guyana. The four doctors are not on that list.
Dr. Persaud was convicted in New York for sexual misconduct on a girl and pleaded guilty after which his license was revoked. He returned to Guyana and found work at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), but it was only after Kaieteur News revealed Dr. Persaud’s conviction that he was eventually fired.
Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, had apologised “to all persons we have offended by the decision of the GPHC to offer employment to Dr. Persaud.”
”While at the time we only considered the benefits of adding another experienced doctor to our roster at the GPHC, we could have been more careful in considering the circumstances,” Dr. Ramsammy had stated.
At least one of the other three doctors fingered by the Medical Council has come out to defend himself.
Parliamentarian Dr. John Austin sought to link the decision of the Medical Council to list him among those not licensed to practice to matters he has before the Council.
He told Kaieteur News that he has a court matter that has not yet been determined and he had refused to deal with the matter before the Council without his lawyer, as was being demanded by the Council.
”The Medical Council rules cannot be higher than the constitution of Guyana,” Austin said.
Dr. Austin was educated at Lagos University, Nigeria where he did his undergraduate training in medicine.
He subsequently became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Qualified in Medicine, he served as a Regional Health Officer and Superintendent of the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Dr. Amir said that the “bottom-line” behind the decision of the Council to warn the public against Dr. Austin and the three others is not about matters they might have before the Council but over the fact that they have not met the requirements to gain a license to practise.
Dr. Amir was adamant that there was no vindictiveness involved in the decision of the Council.
”This is not a ‘by the way thing;’ this is a professional thing,” Dr. Amir said of the medical profession.
He emphasised that the only reason why the public was warned against the doctors is because they are not licensed to practice.

 

 

It was in 2017 that this publication published that a report captioned ‘Surujbally’s goodbye warning: “Partisan” commissioners not good for Guyana’.

Surujbally’s goodbye warning: “Partisan” commissioners not good for Guyana’
…believes a fit and proper person, not necessarily a judge can be Chairperson

After more than a decade and half in the hot seat of the Guyana Elections Election (GECOM), former Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally, is saying goodbye. And on the eve of his departure he called for urgent changes in the way commissioners are selected.
Engaging the media yesterday on his last day, Surujbally believed that the days of division and party persons being placed as commissioners is a recipe for “polarization” and “partisanship” and would only continue to serve to halt any “coming together” of the people.
Under the laws, it is allowed for the appointment of six commissioners-—three members appointed by the President, acting in his own deliberate judgment and three appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition after the latter would have “meaningfully” consulted the non-governmental opposition parties represented in the National Assembly.
In media packages distributed yesterday at GECOM during the media farewell, it was noted that the current composition is not the ideal situation. Bibi Shadick is a senior member of the People’s Progressive Party who has openly boasted of her loyalty.
Robeson Benn, a former PPP/C minister in the previous Government, was on the PPP platform in Essequibo 16 days after he was sworn in as a Commissioner.
Sase Gunraj, a lawyer, was clad in “PPP colours, accompanied former President (Donald) Ramotar as the latter visited polling stations on elections day (May 11, 2015).”
Charles Corbin, according to the GECOM documents yesterday, is the brother of former leader of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Robert Corbin.
Another commissioner, Sandra Jones, was the returning officer when now President David Granger was voted in the leader of the PNCR.
Vincent Alexander, another commissioner, was the director of elections for the PNCR during the 2006 general and regional elections.
According to Dr. Surujbally, things have changed over the last decade and half. There is little tolerance for “us and them” sitting around the table at GECOM.
FAKE POLLS
The arguments for change to the composition of GECOM would be bolstered by the fact that following the May 2015 elections, a number of fake statements of polls (SOPs) somehow found their way into GECOM’s system. This immediately saw finger pointing. There were deep suspicions where those statements came from with Surujbally yesterday refusing to name any political party or commissioner but noted that “empirical” data existed which could point in a certain direction.
He insisted that the GECOM systems are robust enough to have weeded out the fake statements of polls.
The media, he bemoaned, should have been more vigilant and should have raised questions about those polls.
The matter was handed over to the police but nothing ever came out of the investigations, the former Chairman said.
Some of the questions the media should have asked were who would have benefitted from the fake SOPs slipping through?
Fit and Proper
Meanwhile, with regards to the current stalemate over the selection of a new Chairperson, the former Chairman believed that while a judge is an ideal person according the criteria, it is his belief that a “fit and proper” person could serve the position as well.
The Government and the Opposition are disagreeing over the interpretation of the laws in who should be the new chairperson to replace Surujbally.
A list submitted by Opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, was rejected by President Granger who said that the persons did not meet the requirements.
The difference of opinion on the interpretation of the Constitution has seen the Opposition describing a meeting Monday with Attorney-General, Basil Williams, as futile. In essence, there is a stalemate with the administration making it clear that the President has the final say.
According to Surujbally yesterday, nobody would have expected that the current stalemate would happen with the selection believed to be a mere “shoo in” with some back room negotiations.
He said that while it would be ideal for a judge or someone along those qualifications to be selected, the reality is that GECOM has never been without legal minds.
As a matter of fact- two lawyers- Bibi Shadick and Sase Gunraj- are practicing lawyers; Vincent Alexander, another commissioner, has legal knowledge.
A former Chairman, Doodnauth Singh, was from the legal profession. GECOM itself, he pointed out, has access to legal aid.
Surujbally does not believe that the selection of a new chairperson should be taking so long. There are some messages that could b

e drawn- that the 2020 is a serious affair for all the parties involved and everyone wants to have a say in the selection.

 

 

The reportage in 2018 was intense and saw the reports such as ‘Govt. will not have full access to US$300M earnings from first oil for development – Finance Minister’ was published.

Govt. will not have full access to US$300M earnings from first oil for development – Finance Minister
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan said yesterday that due to fiscal rules, which will be established when Guyana enacts the Natural Resource Fund (NRF) legislation; the full projected earnings from oil revenue will not be available to the Government.
When Guyana starts producing commercial oil for the first time in 2020, it is projected that the country will receive approximately US$300M derived from the 50/50 split of profits and the 2% royalty.
”When this money comes, it goes into the Natural Resource Fund or Sovereign Wealth Fund, so it is not available to the Government yet. Some of it will become available based on the legislation when it’s passed, and when that legislation is operationalised, then there are rules for withdrawal from the fund,” Jordan stated. He added, ‘At no time will US$300m be available to the Government to spend.”
According to the Finance Minister, the funds will essentially be offline, so that it doesn’t create disturbances to the economy.
The NRF has three objectives: intergenerational saving, stabilization and economic development.
”The part to do with economic development will be withdrawn and put into the Consolidated Fund,” Jordan stated.
The Finance Minister explained that foreign currency earnings will go to the Bank of Guyana, which will provide the equivalent in Guyana dollars to be deposited into the Consolidated Fund.
It is not known at this stage how much of the US$300M Government intends to set aside for economic development. Nonetheless, the Minister foresees improvements in the social and economic status of Guyana.
”I foresee progressive improvements in the human, cultural and other developmental aspects of the country. I know we have been through lean periods and for many of us….those who lived through the ’80s understood what it means by structural adjustments and to have incomes overnight turn into pennies because of the significant devaluations that we have had,” Jordan noted.
The Finance Minister warned that everything must be placed in context, pointing out that production has to be increased through diversification of the economy.
Ahead of the legislation, Government published a Green Paper on the NRF, which states that the Ministry of Finance will manage requested withdrawal from the fund in the annual budget proposal.
The Ministry will also be responsible for calculating the fiscally sustainable amount, drafting the investment mandate, and entering into the operational agreement with the Bank of Guyana.
Additionally, the Green Paper highlights that the Ministry of Finance will appoint a five-member Macroeconomic Committee, which will determine the economically sustainable amount for the fund.
Further, the intention is to have the Minister also appoint a seven-member Sovereign Investment Committee, which would be responsible for advising the Minister about the fund’s investment mandate.

Apart from funds being transferred to the national budget, the Green Paper notes that NRF investments are to be made in overseas markets.
The vision for this, according to the Green Paper, is that this will serve to ensure that the country has a long-term stable source of income, which will allow for the fund to meet its stabilisation and intergenerational savings objectives.

 

 

As we continued to bring the news to our readers in 2019, word of an increase in the estimated quantity of oil in our country is expected to find was highlighted in an article headlined ‘ExxonMobil estimate jumps to 5.5B barrels’
ExxonMobil estimate jumps to 5.5B barrels
The gross recoverable resource from the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana has now increased to approximately 5.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels. This is according to Deedra Moe, the Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs at Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL). EEPGL is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.
Moe said that this estimated resource update includes the recent Tilapia-1 and Haimara-1 discoveries.
She said, “Exploration activity in the Stabroek Block is continuing. The Noble Tom Madden drillship will next drill the Yellowtail-1 well, approximately six miles (10 kilometers) west of Tilapia-1 in the Turbot area.
”The Stena Caren will next return to the Longtail discovery to complete a well test. Baseline 4-D seismic data acquisition is also underway.”
The Senior Director of Government Affairs said that there is potential for at least five floating, production storage and offloading vessels (FPSO) on the Stabroek Block producing more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day by 2025.
Further to this, Moe said that the Liza Phase One development is progressing on schedule and is expected to begin producing up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day in early 2020, utilizing the Liza Destiny FPSO.
Pending government and regulatory approvals, the Senior Director said that Liza Phase Two will use a second FPSO designed to produce up to 220,000 barrels per day. She noted that start-up is expected by mid-2022.
Moe said that a third development, Payara, is being planned, with startup expected as early as 2023.

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