National COVID-19 Task Force denies GECOM’s request for more recount workstations

May 29, 2020 News

The National COVID-19 Task Force, through its Health Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) arm, has written to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to indicate that the request for two additional recount work stations has been denied.

National COVID Task Force Officials [from left] Chair, Moses Nagamootoo; HEOC Coordinator, Dr. Colin James; Secretariat CEO, Joseph Harmon

This denial was registered to the Chair of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh, in a letter from the HEOC Coordinator, Dr. Colin James.
The Task Force is chaired by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, while the Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat is Joseph Harmon.
Dr. James noted previous reports the Task Force supplied to GECOM on safe guidelines for operations at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) during the National Recount, as grounds for the refusal. The first was given to the GECOM on April 21, 2020 after the Task Force’s first examination of the Centre, as of GECOM’s initial request for 10 workstations. The second was given on May 15, 2020, after the second visit of the Task Force to the Centre, as of GECOM’s first request for six additional work stations. The Task Force had only approved two.
The May 15 letter had stated “In the conclusion, the HEOC (Health Emergency Operations Center) is of the view that the previous guidelines are not being adhered to and that the ACCC is congested enough and therefore our final recommendation is that we do not envisage more than two additional workstations as this will increase the probability of the spread of infection and is not in keeping with WHO/ PAHO and the HEOC established guidelines on containment and mitigation measures.”
This time around, GECOM had hoped that the Task Force would reconsider its previous guidelines. But it didn’t.
Attaching the reports to the letter, Dr. James stated that the Task Force cannot concede to the request, which would not only increase the number of stations but the number of persons at the Centre during the Recount.
“Conscious of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) nature and scope of activities, at this time, the National COVID-19 Taskforce HEOC deliberations have arrived at that conclusion that public safety and wellness remains the primary focus to mitigate the negative impact and to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Dr. James stated.
It was the People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) that made a request to GECOM for the addition of more stations for the speedy conclusion of the recount, and the party lamented the sloth of the process, even up to yesterday at the recount media centre.
Due to the current pace of the recount, the 25-day timeline initially provided by the legal order will not be enough.
PPP General Secretary Bharrat Jagdeo, Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram and others have complained that the Task Force is compromised by political interests who would wish to derail the recount, as its leaders are political stakeholders in the elections process.