Week in review-SUNDAY

Apr 28, 2019 My Column

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Procurement Officer caught on tape prepping colleague about tampering probe-talks about $20,000 payment
A few weeks ago, the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) was rocked with allegations that one of its most senior staffers was allegedly fingered in a plot to tamper with a bid document involving a project of the Ministry of Public Works.
The Senior Procurement Officer was alleged to have entered an off-limits room that had sensitive tender documents stored and removed one, with the sole intention to make illegal changes.
He was able to make changes to two of three copies.
Someone reportedly blew the whistle and senior officials who reviewed the security cameras during an immediate probe by the Ministry of Finance, which has jurisdiction, indeed caught him entering the restricted room. He was seen with a bag later.
The Procurement Officer is alleged to have made changes to a bid document for a road project, said to worth over $100M.
The matter has been handed over to the police. The Procurement Officer was sent on administrative leave.
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, has made it clear from his information something irregular happened and that it is something that this administration does not tolerate.
NPTAB is the body through which bids for government contracts are opened, recorded and processed. There had been accusations of wrongdoing in the past with the Coalition Government announcing plans to clean up the system.
Guyana would have lost millions of dollars over time because of rackets there.
The Public Procurement Commission, as the regulator, had reportedly expressed alarm over the incident and the fact it was not alerted sooner to the incident.
There has not been an official statement from NPTAB.
However, there is a shocking tape that has now surfaced in which a voice, identified as the Procurement Officer, meets with a work colleague shortly after the matter came to light, to urge him to hold his composure.
The work colleague, whose name was mentioned on the tape, admitted on the tape that he was given $20,000 on the day that the Procurement Officer was allowed to enter the restricted room.
The almost eight-minute tape indicates that the staffers were careful when they met, knowing that an investigation involving the Deputy Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance was underway.
Below is a transcript of that recording which is said to be in the hands of the police:
For sake of brevity, the Procurement Officer is (PO) while his colleague is (Coll).
Trinidadians build their offshore platforms instead of procuring established foreign suppliers
Ensuring high levels of local participation in the oil sector is not something that happens overnight. But with the right investment by oil companies and the will of the government to put locals first, remarkable outcomes can be achieved for emerging oil producers like Guyana in the long run, says International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA).
To prove its case, IPIECA said one only has to look at Trinidad and Tobago. There, IPIECA said that local content is a major priority of the Trinidad and Tobago Government, which aims to ‘maximize the level of participation of its national people, enterprises, technology and capital through the development and increasing use of locally-owned businesses … and human capabilities in the conduct of all activities connected with the energy sector’.
Committed to achieving this, IPIECA said that Trinidad made the crucial decision to have its locals build offshore platforms that were needed.
IPIECA said, “BP Trinidad & Tobago (BPTT) is that country’s leading oil and gas producer and a significant profit centre for BP globally. As part of BPTT’s expansion, the company needed a series of `new offshore platforms: Cannonball, Mango and Cashima.
Rather, procuring the design and construction of these facilities from established suppliers in Louisiana, the company took a ‘strategic approach’ to this investment decision.”
The Association continued, “BPTT considered the design and construction of these platforms to be valuable opportunities for building competitive local engineering and fabrication capacities. This was a challenging decision in the initial instance, because the local fabrication of the first platform (Cannonball) would incur a US$10M cost premium (on a total project cost of US$54M) relative to international fabrication; and it was necessary to enhance local skill levels in engineering, design and fabrication to support local participation.”
The transparency body added, “BPTT facilitated local fabrication by supporting the creation of two Joint Ventures (JVs). One was for engineering and construction management with Fluor Corporation (USA) and Summit.
The second was for fabrication with Trinidad Offshore Fabricators Co. Ltd. (TOFCO), a JV of Chet Morrison Contractors (USA) and Weldfab Limited.”
IPIECA said that both JVs provided the means to develop local capacities through technical training and mentoring.
Since the beginning of the Cannonball project in 2002, IPIECA emphasized that the benefits of the strategic approach for BPTT have been significant. IPIECA highlighted that there was the development of competitive local suppliers. In this regard, the Association noted that TOFCO and the Summit JV won the subsequent contracts to construct the Mango and Cashima platforms through a competitive tendering process. TOFCO has also secured further platform construction contracts with BHP Billiton and EOG Resources.
The Association noted that there were cost savings too. It said, “BPTT realized more than US$11 million savings on the construction of the two subsequent platforms through reduced design, engineering and procurement costs and shorter fabrication times. The company could achieve additional savings on future facilities required under long-term production infrastructure requirements.”

Int’l Airlines body protests CJIA fees increases
Months before the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) increased a number of fees, to cater for the US$150M renovations, airlines had complained to their association.
In late January, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) wrote management of the airport raising questions about the fees implementation and whether there were adequate consultations.
IATA is the trade association of the world’s biggest airlines, consisting ofa almost 300 members.
IATA’s Annaleen Lord, Area Manager of the Caribbean, on January 29, wrote senior officials of the airport, including Chief Executive Officer, Ramesh Ghir, questioning the process.
The airport, since 2011, has launched a major expansion costing US$150M. While the works has controversially been scaled down, the airport quietly told airlines earlier this year to start charging a higher security fee and a passenger service fee.
The accumulated charges- security and passenger fee- added up to over $4,000 on every passenger ticket.
IATA, in its letter to Ghir, disclosed that its members have asked for intervention regarding the planned increase to the security fee and the introduction of a passenger service charge effective April 1, 2019.
“They have requested that we contact CJIAC since no consultation with the airlines occurred in order to allow the airline users to accurately assess and agree to what could be considered fair and equitable charges at CJIA.”
IATA pointed out that according to international guidelines and principles on airport charges, there should have been consultations, cost-relatedness, non-discrimination, and transparency in the process.
IATA requested information on the consultations.
“As such, it would be appreciated if the presentation delivered to the CJIA Board or line Ministry in order to receive approval for the increases is shared with IATA and the airlines in order to better understand the cost-relatedness of these increases. This can be done via a webinar and IATA can assist with airline participation.”
The association stressed that while these are passenger fees that do not directly impact airline costs, it does have an impact.
“Please be mindful that proposed increases in fees in Guyana would increase the overall price of a ticket paid by passengers travelling to and from Guyana. As a result, passengers are likely to choose alternative destinations where no equivalent fee is applied or will just be dissuaded to fly altogether. This can ultimately have a negative overall impact on the Guyana economy,” IATA told the airport management in January.
IATA said that there is a procedure to be followed for the charges to take effect.
“Finally, once the airlines have been satisfactorily informed, in order for these charges to take effect on an airline’s ticket, an airline sponsor will need to file the request to IATA’s TTBS (ticket tax box service). However prior to doing so, several items need to be clarified and agreed to amongst the airlines and the airport authority.”

MONDAY

French oil company operating offshore Guyana has history of corruption, bribery, inflating costs
Much has been said about the attractiveness of the Guyana basin, which holds over five billion oil equivalent resources. The world’s most elite petroleum operators are flocking the now de-risked offshore play. The Government is pleased about the investments heading Guyana’s way.
But what is not being spoken of is the notoriously corrupt backgrounds of some of these companies and what precautions the Government intends to take to safeguard the nation.
Kaieteur News has repeatedly exposed what ExxonMobil has done to countries around the world. Exxon is also the company, which holds the puppet strings of its subsidiary, Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL), which is operating in the Stabroek Block. The entire series on how nations have been left worse off after welcoming ExxonMobil into its shores can be seen by following this link: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/category/what-guyana-needs-to-know-about-exxonmobil/.
Kaieteur News turns its attention to the operators of the Orinduik Block. The oil majors include: Tullow, Eco Atlantic and Total Oil which was recently allowed to farm into the Block with the approval of the government. Total, a French super major, has a foothold in three of Guyana’s oil blocks.
Along with the Orinduik Block, Total has a 35% working interest in the Canje Block, located in water depths of 1,700 meters to 3,000 meters, under the terms of the agreement signed with an affiliate of Canadian company JHI Associates, Inc. and Guyana-based company, Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas, Inc. These two companies will retain a shared 30% interest alongside operator ExxonMobil (35%). Total also acquired a 25% working interest in the Kanuku Block, located in water depths of 70 meters to 100 meters, under the terms of the agreement signed with operator Repsol (37.5%), and will be a partner alongside Tullow (37.5%).
While Total, has been operating quietly in Guyana’s backyard, moving to grab up as much interests as it can in Guyana’s offshore blocks, its history which screams corruption, bribery, inflating costs underscores the need for a close eye to be kept on every move it makes within these shores.

Outdated laws hinder Govt’s promise to award 20 percent of contracts to small businesses – Tender Board Head

Since January 2019, the Coalition Administration had said that small contractors would have access to 20 percent of all government contracts. But this is being hindered by the unambiguous provisions in the Small Business Act, says head of the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB), Berkley Wickham.
During an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News, Wickham said that the Act only allows for goods and services but not “works”. Wickham said that this term has to be included. He said, too, that the amendment is before the National Assembly.
Wickham said, “There is no provision in the Procurement Act to set aside procurement opportunities, specifically works, for small businesses. This affects the implementation of the requirement in the Small Business Act that at least 20% of public procurement should be set aside for small businesses. The amendment to the Procurement Act is before the National Assembly.”
The official added, “When these amendments are passed, the full effect of the small business set aside programme would be implemented. It is important enough to be dealt with now while we await the wider Revision of the Leal Framework for procurement.”
Turning his attention to strengthening the legal framework, Wickham said that NPTAB together with the Public Procurement Commission reviewed and gave input to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) financial consultancy to strengthen the Guyana’s Public Procurement framework by incorporating international best practices.
He said, “For example, two key areas proposed are the provision for e-procurement and framework contracts. With regard to framework contracts, this means an agreement between one or more procuring entities and one or more contractors or suppliers valid for a specific period of time, which establishes the terms and conditions in particular the price, and where appropriate quantity under which the contractor or supplier will enter into one or more contracts with the procuring entity during the period in which the framework agreement applies.”
The review also seeks to recognize small business and women owned businesses in Public Procurement.
Wickham said that the full set of recommendation for strengthening the Procurement Act of 2003 is now with the Attorney General Chambers for drafting.

TUESDAY

Govt. throws blame on PPP/C for US$150M airport fiasco…
Chinese contractor worked 15 months without independent supervision-in 2015, CHEC claimed US$90M for 7% work
In 2015, CHEC claimed US$90M for 7% work. The Coalition Government, under pressure to explain major modifications to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) project, came out swinging Monday, insisting that the blame has to be laid squarely at the feet of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In a statement, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, also disclosed for more than 15 months, the Chinese contractor had no independent contractor in place to overlook the work, on behalf of the people of Guyana.
In fact, in 2015, when the Coalition Government entered office, it found that China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the contractor, which was not chosen via any tender process, had claimed for up to US$90M — more than half the money– despite only finishing about seven percent of the work.
The project has been dragging on now for almost a decade, spanning three different administrations.
It is the biggest on-land project ongoing at the moment by the Government. Instead of a brand new terminal building with energy-saving roof to house the departure and arrival area, a much smaller one to hold the arrival has been built with the old terminal gutted and renovated.
An analysis of the Bill of Quantities approved by the PPP/C in 2011 found that prices were highly inflated with local contractors insisting that the project with all the bells and whistles should not have exceeded the US$40M mark.
The statement by Patterson also criticised Kaieteur News reportage of the project which has been questioning the spending of that huge amount and whether this country was receiving value for its dollars.
Under the contract, CHEC, was supposed to be paid US$138M for the construction. The balance of US$12M was coming from Government of Guyana for other works.
Scrap it?
According to Patterson, in 2015, his government had faced three choices- scrap the project; plug more money or use the remainder of the loan to complete it.
Patterson said that the contract for the extension of CJIA was signed on November 11, 2011 between CHEC and the then Ministry of Public Works and Communications.
It would have happened day before general elections, near the ending of the Constitutional two-term limit of former President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Sitting at the head of that ministry in 2011 was Robeson Benn.
At the time of contract signing, there were no feasibility studies done; no soil investigations executed; no site surveys and no detailed studies.

Tender Board strengthens physical security of bid/tender documents
-Puts measures in place to detect tampering
The National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) has taken several steps to improve its operations, one of which includes the strengthening of the physical security of bid/tender documents and putting mechanisms in place to detect attempts at document tampering.
This was revealed to Kaieteur News during an exclusive interview with NPTAB Head, Berkley Wickham. The official said while there is still more work to be done, NPTAB has made crucial improvements since 2015.
Wickham said that the physical and cyber security protection of the NPTAB software systems has been strengthened. He also disclosed that improvements were made to the ICT support available to NPTAB by integrating the existing software into the Ministry of Finance’s Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS).
The NPTAB Head said, “We have also assessed the existing software to capture NPTA tender/bids and letters of award details and found it generate data errors around dates which made for erroneous reporting of tenders/bids and letters of awards data. This was corrected and the software can now produce more accurate data.”
“The software is also incomplete and does not support a bidders register which holds a unique bidder’s number which captures all of the bidders information in one place including the bidder’s business registration id, TIN of all owners, small business id number if so registered, biographic data on owners to support analysis by age and gender, type of business etc. This is being addressed.”
The official added, “We even engineered business processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, coordination and value for money of the NPTA operations, clarify the required organizational structure of NPTA and task ownership to support the business processes, and to identify the time it should typically take to carry out each procurement method.”
Wickham noted that there was a restructuring of the NPTA based on the business processes requirement and a recommendation for a structure for procuring entities.

WEDNESDAY

Roger Khan asks Florida court to shorten sentence ahead of July release
Convicted drug kingpin, Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, who was jailed in October 2009 for up to 15 years is asking the US courts to release him early, based on new regulations.
The court is fast-tracking the hearings as in any case, he is due out in months.
Under the sentencing guidelines, Khan is supposed to be released by July 8th, 2019.
However, he is asking a Southern Florida court, to rule that he is entitled to additional good time credits, in keeping with the enacted First Step Act passed last year in the US.
Khan is making the petition via a writ of habeas corpus.
He is seeking an order from the court directing the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to award him the credits.
It was ordered by the court that because of the nature of Khan’s claims, the case has to be fast-tracked and therefore the parties have to respond early.
The BOP’s lawyers have to notify the court within one week of receipt of the order, the name of the Assistant United States Attorney to whom the case is assigned.
On or before April 30, 2019, the BOP has to file a memorandum of fact and law to show cause why this petition should not be granted and shall file therewith all supporting documentation necessary for the resolution of this petition.
Khan’s lawyers tendered, in court documents, a notice to inmates, which informed them that on Friday, December 21, 2018, the President of the US, Donald Trump, signed into law new criminal justice legislation called the ”First Step Act’.
It was explained that this law requires the BOP to implement a number of changes.
“The agency is analyzing all the changes required, but taking careful note of which changes are effective immediately and which changes require additional action. We know that inmates and their families are particularly interested in the changes regarding good conduct time. The law will allow BOP in the future to apply 54 days of credit for every year a sentence was imposed, which is a change to the prior law.”
However, the notice had said that while this change may result in additional credit for inmates in the future, it is not effective immediately nor is it applicable to all inmates.
Khan was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment on three separate charges by US Judge, Dora Irizarry in 2009 after she accepted the plea bargain agreement; he had reached with prosecutors.
However, two of the sentences, 10 years for an illegal firearm possession charge, and 15 years for witness tampering, would have run concurrently with the other 15-year jail term.

Energy Dept. unfit to represent Guyana if it can’t stand up to Exxon, others – Dr. Mangal
Until the Department of Energy (DoE) is prepared to challenge huge companies like ExxonMobil and French Oil Major, Total, then it cannot be trusted to look out for Guyana’s interests. This is according to Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr. Jan Mangal.
During an exclusive interview with this newspaper Tuesday, Dr. Mangal commented that the DoE does not have the capacity to manage the nation’s oil industry, since it needs many more experienced petroleum professionals. In addition to this, the former Petroleum Advisor to the Government said that the Department’s stance on numerous important issues such as the need to renegotiate the lopsided contract with Exxon for the Stabroek Block, have not been encouraging.
The Consultant said, “The DoE has to be adversarial, since that is how it works across the negotiating table. It needs to be championing a re-negotiation of the Stabroek Block. It needs to hold back on issuing the permits for the Liza Phase Two Project and it need to rescind the award of the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, etc.”
Dr. Mangal continued, “The DoE is allowing one company to monopolize Guyana’s offshore acreage, i.e. ExxonMobil. This should not be allowed. Guyana will be further exploited if one company owns too much and ExxonMobil already has too many interests in acreage.”
He added, “They will all exploit weak countries where government officials care more about their bank accounts, or protecting their jobs, than about representing their people. Total and ExxonMobil farmed in to the Kaieteur and Canje Blocks, and we know these two blocks were most likely ‘stolen’ from the Guyanese people. Hence Total and ExxonMobil are complicit in the issue with these two blocks.”
Dr. Mangal emphasized to Kaieteur News that any country which cannot govern itself ethically and for the interests of its most needy, will be exploited.
“And these companies know that Guyana is fair game,” he concluded.

Fallout from US$150M CJIA renovation…
Opposition demands public probe-says airport’s fixed-price contract was changed in scope, intent
Amid the continuing fallout over the renovated Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), the latest of which Minister David Patterson has laid the blame on the door of the Opposition, there is strong denial coming now from the latter.
Tuesday, former Minister of Public Works, Robeson Benn, of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which is now in Opposition, called for a public investigation into the circumstances that would have seen the Coalition Government deciding in 2015 to reduce the scope of the works on a project that had a fixed-price contract.
The project, since coming to light in late 2011, has been dragging on under three different administrations now, and missing several deadlines.
It was supposed to be finished in December, but there have been no announcements that the controversial Chinese contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has been given more time, although a reduced workforce is there at the Timehri facility.
On Monday, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, said that the blame for what Guyana is getting should be laid at the feet of the Opposition – the PPP- which lost the 2015 general elections. He said that on entering government in 2015, the Coalition Government after assessing the project was faced with three tough choices – scrap the project; plug more money or work with the remaining sums.
He also said that CHEC worked 15 months without an independent supervising consultant and that up to 2015, the Chinese contractor had claims of up to US$90M for just seven percent of the work done.
The entire project was pegged at US$150M. It is the largest ongoing project on land that is being carried out by the Government of Guyana.
Last evening, Benn, who was at the helm of the Public Works Ministry in 2011 when the contract was signed, in his response to Patterson, explained that Guyana entered into a fixed-price contract with CHEC for the expansion of the CJIA. The idea was to address the clear and still present issues of congestion, aged airport terminal and safety, which beset the operations, at a time when there was a significant increase in passenger and aircraft traffic.

THURSDAY
Local content policies have little to no teeth-NRGI says laws necessary
Quite often policies, which are aimed at ensuring oil companies make maximum use of local goods and services, have limited impact. As such, several countries have adopted complementary laws aimed at increasing the size of the local supply and workforce that is used in the oil sector.
Highlighting this was the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving countries’ governance over their natural resources.
According to NRGI, these complementary laws include provisions aimed at increasing local participation via specific requirements to transfer ‘know-how’ and skills to local enterprises and workers, and the requirement to train the local labor force.
A related legal strategy it said is the requirement to form joint ventures with local public or private companies to ensure in a more direct way that foreign companies transfer knowledge and technology to local companies.
In countries where the State is an active economic player, such as China and Brazil, NRGI said that this approach has been accompanied with an increasing share of public ownership of oil, gas and mining- related industries.
These initiatives also can come from the companies themselves and nongovernmental organizations when they design and support programmes for private sector development. (Examples of this include The Small Business Initiative, Anglo Zimele by Anglo American in South Africa, Chile and Brazil; and Newmont’s business link programmes with the International Finance Corp. in Peru and Ghana.)
NRGI said, “The impact on the local supply depends on the timely coordination of complementary industrial, educational, technological and local content policies.
For instance, if there are no significant educational investments in relevant areas, it would be difficult to identify and train suitable local workers. Furthermore, the local supply needs to be sustainable and ideally internationally competitive in terms of quality, value and scalability. “
Further to this, the Institute said that even after coordinated efforts have been made and significant revenue has been invested, the local industry can remain uncompetitive.
At the sub-national level, NRGI explained that countries such as, India, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines and South Africa have mandated spending on enterprise and skills development as part of social funds that companies are required to set up.
In the Philippines, it outlined that the law requires companies to not only produce development plans for the host and neighbouring communities, but also to contribute to “self-sustaining income generating activities, such as but not limited to, reforestation and production of goods and services needed by the mine and the community.”

FRIDAY
US$150M airport renovation…
State auditors to target duty-free concessions in probe
It appears that the authorities are paying attention to rising concerns over the ongoing expansion of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), at Timehri.
A major probe is to be carried out to determine whether Guyana received value for its money.
It would come after almost a decade of criticisms for a project that was born in secret and has been saddled with one problem after another.
According to Auditor General, Deodat Sharma, an audit is being planned at the moment.
Declining to go into details, he admitted, however, that all aspects of the US$150M project will be looked at.
“The Auditor General has a mandate. We don’t have to be told to carry out audits on state entities or ministries. We can move in and conduct one.”
The project has been raising alarm bells, with constant finger-pointing taking place between political parties, and no one taking the blame for what was to be the country’s showpiece.
The project was signed secretly in late 2011, days before general elections and the ending of the Constitutional two-terms of Bharrat Jagdeo. Since then, it remains incomplete, with Guyana getting a smaller-than-promised terminal building, almost a decade later. The project was supposed to last for 32 months.
The quality of work and the amount of concessions that the contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), received, has been under question.
There were reports Thursday that a section of the runway collapsed due to the early morning rains.
In recent days, an under-pressure Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson, under whose remit the project falls, in response to a number of stories by Kaieteur News, disclosed that on entering office in 2015, the Coalition Government during an assessment found several things wrong. One of them was that for almost 15 months, CHEC was doing its work without any independent supervision from a consulting engineer.

President Granger announces shakeup in Govt. in dual citizenship fallout
*Broomes moved from Natural Resources; Patterson-Yearwood no longer at Housing
*Hastings-Williams is new State Minister; Rajkumar takes Business portfolio
*Resignations of Harmon, Roopnaraine, Greenidge, Gaskin effective April 24

Four months after a shock no-confidence vote against the government by one of its parliamentarians, Charrandass Persaud, rocked Guyana, the fallout is continuing.
While government has challenged the validity of the vote, the court cases saw questions raised about the issue of dual citizenship.
It was found that four ministers- Joseph Harmon, Carl Greenidge, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine and Dominic Gaskin- also had foreign passports.
At least three Opposition parliamentarians – Odinga Lumumba, Gail Teixeira and Adrian Anamayah – also have dual citizenship. They have reportedly resigned.
According to President David Granger, Thursday, the changes are in keeping with Coalition’s upholding of the Constitution of Guyana. However, there were no details, in his statement, of what would happen to the four ministers who have resigned their positions as parliamentarians and as a result could no longer be ministers.
“Adherence to the Constitution is an essential element of democratic governance and the maintenance of public trust,” Granger explained.
He referred to the ruling of the Chief Justice, Roxane George, SC, in the case of Compton Reid vs Speaker of the National Assembly et al, which declared on 31st January 2019, that it was unconstitutional for a person holding dual citizenship to be elected as a Member of Parliament. “This ruling was affirmed by a majority decision of the Court of Appeal on 22nd March, 2019.
I have a duty to ensure that the Government acts in accordance with the Constitution at all times.”
The President said that he has, in accordance with the courts’ rulings, accepted the resignations of Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency.
These resignations took effect Thursday, 25thApril, 2019. The men are all seasoned campaigners.
Insiders indicated that they will likely be retained as advisors, with Harmon tipped to be appointed head of the Ministry of the Presidency.
Gaskin is the President’s son-in-law, but not part of A Partnership for National Unity, which forms the larger part of the Coalition Government. Rather, he is from Alliance For Change, the smaller faction of the Coalition.
“I thank these Ministers for their stewardship as members of my Cabinet and of the National Assembly since May 2015. Their sterling public service has been to our nation’s benefit.

Video surfaces of inmates ‘pit bull fighting’ in Lusignan Prison-Authorities launch probe

Prison officials are investigating an Easter Monday incident at the Lusignan Prison, in which inmates, with leashes around their necks, snarled, leapt, rolled on the ground and bit at one another while pretending to be dogs.
The raucous incident occurred in the holding bay of the Lusignan Prison, reportedly in full view of prison warders.
In the video, some of the inmates squatted, snarled, leapt, grabbed and bit at one another, while their ‘handlers’ and onlookers yelled encouragement to the fighting ‘animals.’
Some of the inmates were also observed clambering up the prison fence.
Director of Prisons Gladwin Samuels confirmed that he learnt of the ‘dog fights’ after seeing a video of the incident.
Samuels said that the alleged ringleader has been identified and has been removed from the Holding Bay. A Board of Inquiry is scheduled to begin investigations today.
The investigation will also focus on ascertaining which ranks were on duty and why the ranks failed to report the incident.
“The fact that nothing was reported, all of this will be factored into the investigation,” the Prison Director told Kaieteur News.
Samuels said that while the alleged ringleader and other inmates said that they were merely playing, “it is something that should not have happened and they should not have been in possession of phones which they used to make a video.
“There are limits to what you can do (while incarcerated), and the fact that all of this went on and was unreported is a matter of concern.”
It is just the most recent of a number of disturbing videos that inmates have brazenly posted of their illegal activities.
Last month, an online video surfaced of three inmates brandishing improvised weapons, cursing and threatening to ‘kill’ individuals.

SATURDAY

Conflict of interest debate…
Favouritism can be shown when a Govt. official owns a company – TIGI
-urges details of procurement process followed be made public

Watchdog body, Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI), in the ongoing debate over government officials and government contracts, on Friday argued that even when a minister who owns a firm has not acted directly on an existing conflict of interest, there is the possibility that favouritism can be shown to his/her firm due to the known association with the government.
In a statement, TIGI said that an examination of the procurement procedures would provide important insights on the potential for such an occurrence.
It was noted that recently, two cases about conflicts of interest have emerged in the public domain.
These cases involve the issuance of contracts to Godfrey Yearwood, the husband of the former Minister within the Ministry of Communities with responsibility for Housing, Valerie Patterson-Yearwood, and to Videomega, a media company owned by Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes.
The contract for the latter was issued by the Department of Energy.
Patterson-Yearwood was moved from the Housing portfolio this week.
According to TIGI, in the latter situation, the Minister has indicated that she had relinquished control of the day-to-day operations of the firm prior to the contract being issued and that she was unaware of the award before it was mentioned in the public domain.
“The revised code of conduct for public officers states in Article 4 (3) that “A person in public life shall – (c) refuse or relinquish any outside employment, shareholdings or directorships which creates or is likely to create a conflict of interest.”
The body said that the view that individuals should give up their private firms to take up Ministerial positions is therefore relevant based on the code of conduct.
However, it advised, it is not the only approach available.
“Article 4 (1) (b) of the code provides for seeking guidance from the Integrity Commission on what steps to take and this is separate from declaring interest in a firm. We are not clear on whether the actions taken by the Minister were based on guidance received from the Integrity Commission or whether they were self-determined.”
The watchdog body argued in its April 22, 2017 statement on the draft code of conduct that the appropriate steps to take to address a conflict of interest should not be up to the discretion of the person in the conflict of interest situation.
“An overarching issue is that based on the code of conduct, the minister would need to have made or participated in making a decision that she ought to have known further her private interest or that of a family member or some other entity (Article 4 (2), code of conduct).”
TIGI said that indicating ignorance about a contract award is therefore not enough.
However, if ignorance of the award means that the minister did not participate in any such decisions or any fora at which the matter was discussed or a relevant decision was made and did not otherwise influence the process, she would not have acted on the conflict of interest.
“Nevertheless, even when a minister who owns a firm has not acted directly on an existing conflict of interest, there is the possibility that favouritism can be shown to his/her firm due to the known association with the government.

Govt replacement MPs sworn in

The government had challenged the validity of Charrandass Persaud’s vote in support of the No Confidence Motion on December 21 last year. They argued that his dual citizenship rendered him ineligible to serve in the National Assembly. That challenge resulted in much public outcry over the dual citizenship of other parliamentarians.
According to Article 155 of the Constitution, persons who have acknowledged allegiance to a foreign power are not permitted to serve in the National Assembly.
Four of those dual citizens were government-aligned MPs, Joseph Harmon, Rupert Roopnaraine, Carl Greenidge and Dominic Gaskin. All of those MPs were also ministers of government.
During the reconvening of the National Assembly on Friday, those four members of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition were absent. The Speaker of the House, Dr. Barton Scotland, informed the assembly that this was due to the fact that they tendered their resignations from the House.
Since those seats were vacated, Scotland said that it was necessary to have them filled by interested persons who are on the same list as the MPs who have resigned. They were drawn from the list provided by A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition.
Scotland said that Roopnaraine resigned effective April 4, while the other three dual citizens tendered their resignations on April 25. Those individuals also resigned from their ministerial posts.
President David Granger had said that he has, in accordance with the courts’ rulings on dual citizens in public office, accepted the resignations of Carl Greenidge, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dominic Gaskin, Minister of Business; Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency and Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, Minister of the Public Service in the Ministry of the Presidency.
Joseph Harmon, Rupert Roopnaraine, Carl Greenidge and Dominic Gaskin were replaced by Mervyn Williams, Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, Donna Mathoo and Reynard Ward respectively. Those persons took the oath of office yesterday, during the opening session.
Scotland notified the assembly that he also received notice that the dual citizens from the Opposition, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), have resigned as well. When the speaker made the request for representatives of that party to fill the vacant posts, no one answered the call.
As Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo stated during a press conference last Thursday, no parliamentarians from that party attended the sitting.

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